[Vol. Vt. containing yvmbtrt h to XII : July 1886 toJumUil,]
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THE

Tropical Agriculturist^

A

MONTHLY RECORD OF INFORMATION

FOR

PLANTERS

OP

Tea, Coffee, Cacao, Cinchona, Sugar, Rubber, Tobacco, Palms, Spices, Rice,

AND OTHER PRODUCTS,
SUITED FOR CULTIV1A.TI0N IN THE TROPICS.

[ISSUED ON OR ABOUT THE 1ST OF EACH MONTH.]

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MDCCCLXXXVII.

V. 6

PItlXTED AT THE " CEYLON OBSERVEB " PRESS: COLOMBO, CBTLON : 1887.

TO OUR READERS.

LIBRARY

NEW YORK

BOTANICAL
UAKUtiN.

In closing the Sixth Vohime of the " Tropical Agriculturist," we have
but to repeat what we have said on similar previous occasions, in directing attention
to the large amount of useful information afforded, and to the great variety of topics
treated in our pages. From month to month, we have endeavoured to lay before
our readers the latest results of practical experience and scientific teaching in all
that concerns tropical agriculture ; and our ambition has been to make this periodical
not only indispensable to the planter, but of service to business men and capitalists,
never forgetting that agriculture trenches upon every department of human knowledge,
besides being the basis of personal and communal wealth.

While directing our attention chiefly to the products prominently mentioned
on our title-page, we have never omitted to notice minor industries likely to fit in
with tropical conditions ; and our readers have an ample guarantee in the pages before
them, that, in the future, no pains will be spared to bring together all available
information both from the West and East, the same being examined in the light of
the teachings of commonsense as well as of prolonged tropical experience in this,
the leading Crown and Planting Colony of the British Empire.

The official Reports on the Royal Botanic and Economic Gardens in Ceylon
are republished in full in the present volume, and throughout our pages will be
found reviews of, and extracts from, the Reports of other Botanic Gardens situated
in or near the tropics. W^e are ready to give copious extracts from, if not to
reprint in exte^iso, the Reports of all other sub-tropical Public Botanic Gardens which
may reach us. Most of these Reports we already receive and utilize as above-
mentioned for the benefit of our planting readers.

A full and accurate Index affords the means of ready reference to every
subject treated in this, the sixth volume, which we now place in our subscribers'
hands, in full confidence that it will be received with an amount of approval, at least
equal to that which has been so kindly extended to its predecessors.

We are convinced that no more suitable or useful gift can be made to
the tropical planter or agriculturist, whether he be about to enter on his career,
or with many years of experience behind him, than the half-dozen volumes of
our periodical which we have now made available. They are full of information
bearing on every department and relating to nearly every product within the scope
of sub-tropical industry.

In conclusion, we have to tender our thanks to readers and contributors, and
our wish that all friends may continue to write instructively and to read with approval ;
for then, indeed, must the "Tropical Agriculturist" continue to do well.

A. M. & J. FERGUSON.

en Colombo: 7th June 1887.

I. •- J

INDEX.

A'

PAGE,

343, 638, 669
34

Abrus Precatorias

Abutilon Aaiaticum

Abyssinian Economic Plants ... ... 430

Acacia Conciiua ... ... ... 343

Acacias ... ••■ ... ... 683

Acalypha Indica ... ... ... 34:5

Acid, Boracic ... ... ... 269

. , Salicylic ... ... ... 336

Acorn Coffee ... ... ... 280

Acorus Calamus ... ... ... 344

Acreage Keturns of the Oriental Bank Estates

Company
Acronycbia Lancifolia ...
Adelaide Botanic Gardens
Adulteration of Coffee...
. — — of Tea ...

268

344

[See Botanic Gardens]

[See Ooffeel

[See Tea]

577

538

[See Coffee]

801

696

46

546

673

Adverti.-iing ...

Africa, Central, Planting in

., Coffee Cultivation in

, Eastern, Arts and Industries in

, Fruits in

African South, Boxtree

, East, Drugs ..

Enterprize ... ... ... „,„

Agricultural and Horticultural Societiesl32, 258, 412, 663

Chemistry [See Chemistry, Agricultural]

Education ... 85, 433, 522, 560

Exhibits 51, 29", 383, 728 734, 766

Exhibits at Colind Exhibition [See Colonial

and Indian Exhibition]

Implements ... ... 522

School, Ceylon ... . . 433

Students, Ceylonese ... ... 85,186

47, 369, 431, 546

Agriculture

and Insects
Experiments in
for Natives
in Algeria ...
in America
in Arakan
in Australia
in Borneo ...
in Burma
in C'eylou

566

...68, 602, 690, 704, 761

... 356,522

625

384, 590, 597

44

118, 225, 320

... 584, 786

415

38, 161, 270, 287, 321, 356, 438

526, 567, 613. 796

... 228,250

[See Coorg]

„ ... 247, 254,316

■ in Europe 4.3, 158, 195, 249, 283, 441,703, 762

775, 843
. in India 82, 337, .341, 369, 475, 493, 519, 562,

820
38
647
[See Java, Planting in]
... 685, 799
... 485, 579
... 422, 750
India... [See Netherlands
India, Planting in]
in Straits Settlements [See Straits Settle-
ments, riantiug in]

• , Obstacles to ... ... 823

— , Questions in ... ... 660

Agricxilturist, Troijical [See Tropical Agriculturist]

Agri-Horticultural Show, Kandy ... ... 815

Society of India ... 2.>S

in Chiriqui

in Coorg ..

in England

• in .Jaffna ...
in Japan ...
ia Java

■ in Johore ...

■ ill Jlalaya ...

• in Mauritius

■ in Netherlands

Air-Propellors

Aji-Aji

Alfa Cultivation
Algeria, Agriculture in.
Alligator Apple
Alluvial Soils
Aloe Cultivation
Fibre Rope

PAGE,
222
406
625
625
173
[See Soils]
300
503

Aloes, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288, 360, 432 504

,, . . ,„ , 568, 640, 712, 784! 856

Alummmm vvorks ... ... ^ jyo

America, Agriculture in

, Cinchona Cultivation in...

-, Cinchona Soil in

, Coca Cultivation in

, Coffee in

, Forests in ...

— ■ , Fruit Cultivation in

, Indiarubber in

, Opening for Young Men in

, Quinine in ...

, Tea Cultivation in

[See Agriculture

[See Cinchona

212

[See Coca]

[S-e Ooffeel

[See Forests]

... 91,761

[See Indiarubber]

807

... 685,778

mi /^ ,x. ,. . •■• ••• [See Tea]

Tobacco Cultivation in [See Tobacco Cultvn ]

20

32,88

American Coffee Imports
Ammonia

as Manure

349

A mmoniacum, Gum, Market Rates for 72 144 216 ''SS
360, 432, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Amsterdam Quinine Woiks

Anacardiacse

Analysis of Produce

of Coconut Oil

Andamans, Tea Cultivation in
Animi, Gum, Market Rates for

432, 504.

Anona Polustris
Antigua
Ants on Trees

, Remedies for

, White

233, 366

792
588
496
518
72, 144, 216, 288, 360

568, 640, 712, 784, 856
173
478
345
425

.. [See White Ants]
812
426
793
173
520
264

Anuradhapura Gardens, Ceylon .

AphidfB

Apocinaceaj

Apple, Alligator, Tree ...

Apples, Nova Scotian ...

Arabian Date Tree

Desert, Domestic Remedies of the ... 788

Arabic Gum, Market Rates for 72, 144 216 288 360

^ ,,. ,. . "ISa, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784', 8.36
Arakan, Cultivation in... ... .,. 4,^.

Arflcanut Cultivation ... ... ... 269

as an object of Taxatiou ... 70

Arekane ... ... ... ... ^2S

Argol ... _ ... ... ... 737

Arracacha Cultivation ... ... ... 415

Arrack Supply ..;' ... ... 724

Arrowroot, IMarket Rates for 72, 144. 216, 288, 360, 432

504, 568, 640, 712, 784. 856
Artemisa ... ... ... ... ' 7^3

Artesian Wells ... ... ... 290

Artificial Manures _ ... ... [gee Manures]

Asbestos veriiug Indiarubber ... ... 266

Ashes as a Fertilizer ... ... [gge Manures]

Asimine ... ... ... . 520

Assafcetida, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288, 360, 432

504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856
Assam, Planting in ... ... ... ng^ 793

, Tea Cultivation in ... [See Tea J

INDEX.

Assam Tea Company . . .
Australia, Agriculture in

• — , Coffee Cultivation in

__——", Eucalyptus in

_ , Flora of

, Forests in

— , Geology of ...

— , Gold in

. , Labor in

, Northern Territory of

— , Planting in

PAGE.

78

[See Agriculture'

[See Coffee'

611

639

249

342

342

342

118, 225, 320, 342, 392

566

, South, Diamond Drill in ... 8-15

Sugar Cultivation in [See Sugar CultivationJ

-, Western, at the Coliud Exhibition

Australasia, Fruits in

, Olive Cultivation in

, Vegetation in

Australian Blue Gums ...

Timber

Austria, Fruit Trade, in
Avenue Trees

159
93, 695

793
()87
611
[See Timber]
104
728

B-

Baboon

Btdulla Botanic Gardens, Ceylon

Bael Fruit in Dysentery

Bags, Tinfoil

Bahamas, Sponges in ...

at the Colind Exhibition

Balata Gum Industry ...

Bamboo

Bananas

Bangalore, Horticulture in

Barbados ...

- at the Colind Exhibition
— , Value of Sugar Estates in

383

813

557

80

716

[See Exhibition!

... 230,331

..64, 348, 414, 60S, 704

223, 257, 335, 6U6, 676

219

54, 241, 478

[See Exhibition]

832

720

[See Cinchona]

66j!

Barbary, Beverages of

Bark

Barrels, Wood Pulp for making

Bats in North Borneo ... ... ... 335

Bats' Dung ... ... ... [See Manure]

Bean, Calabar ... ... ... 076

Beche-de-Mer ... ... ... 19, 104

Bees in India ... ... ... 673

Beeswax, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288, 360, 432

504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Beet, Manure for

Beetles as Enemies of Coconut ...

Borgamot, Essence of ...

• Juice

Betel, Cultivation of Chavica

Leaves

Betehiut as an Object of Taxation
Beverages in Common Use

of Barbary ...

Bhang

Bhutan, Trade iu

Birds' Feather Trade ...

, Small, Destruction of

, Wild, Protection

Birdsnests, Edible

Bixine;e

Blood Orange

. — as Manure

Blue Gum ...
Bonedust as Manure ...
Books, How to Clean ...

Boiacic Acid

Borax

Borers, a Remedy for ...

Borneo, British, Company

_ Camphor ia

, Gold in

, North ... 12, 51, 297, 383, 723, 787, 855

, .-, at the Colind Kxhii>ition [8ee Exhibition]

, Batsia... ... ... 335

, Plantain and the Horse-Shoe Bat in... 335

, Planting in ... ... ... 584,786

.Products of ... ... 69,623,654,766

Botanical Societies ... ... ... 501

Research, Facilities for... ... 125

[See Manures]

I See Coconuts 1

Enemies of]

14:3

143

651

340

76

556

720

358, 485, 543

725

301

301

438

563

792

346

[Sej Manures]

[See Eucalyptus J

rSes Mannresl

043

269

88

837

766

197

13, 658, 659

Botanic Gardens, Adelaide

, Calcutta

, Oeylon

, Jamaica

, Kew...

-, Nilgiris

-, Bockhampton

PACE,

lg2

157

69, 811, 819, 825

785

... 607,802

294

26

... 297,311
720
562

46

.340

... 639, SCO

[See Cacao J

^See Cinchona]

[See Coffee]

233

840

24, 764, 829

334

... 261, 829

48

80

[See Indiarubber]

24, 764, 774

764

Bread-making ... ... ••■ 368

Breathing, Difficulty of, Caused by Pelargoniums 720
Britain, Decline of Farming Profits in ... 832

British-Grovvn Teas ... ... ... 113

Guiana, Sugar Cultivation in [See Sugar

Bug ... ... ... [See Coffee Bug'

Burma, Gamboge in ... ... ... 262

, Indigo Cultivation in ... ... 416

, Intoxicating Liquor in ... ... 700

, Natural Beauty of ... •■■ 275

, Planting in ... ... ••• 415

, Rice Cultivation in ... [See Ricej

Botany

Bottles, Stoppers for ...

Bouquets

Boxes for Young Plants

Box-tree, South African

Boxwood, Caucasus

~, Substitute for

Brazil, Cacao Cultivation in

, Cinchona Cultivation in

, Coffee Cultivation in

, Financial Crisis in

, Flowers in

, Libor iu

, Mice Plague in ...

, Planting in

, Progress in

, Railways in

, Rubber in

— , Slavery in

— , Sugar Cultivation in

Cabinet Woods

Cacao Cultivation in Brazil

in Ceylon

in Dominica

in Jamaica

in Venezue'a ...

in West Indies, 100 years ago

, Enemies of

, Preparation of ...

Prospects

• Trade

Cacti
Cactus Hedges
Spirit

Caffeine

Calaliar Bean

Caladium Esculentum ...

Calcutta Botanic Gardens

Calico Printing and Dyeing in India

California ...

Calophvllum Inophyllum

Calotropis Gigantea ... ... ,- ,

Calumba Root, Market Rates 72, 141, 216, 288, 300, 432

504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856
Camphor in Borneo ... ... ••• 1?7

1— , Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288, 360, 432

504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Canada ... ■•■ ••• ••• '*^^

at the Colind Exhibition ... ^see Exhibition]

381
832

344, 505, 814
744
228
762
491
185

138, 270, 774
849
'^See Cocoa]
... 284,833
30O
520
211, 502, 658, 672
676
699
157
441
761
552

413, 564, 669

, Fruits in

Canary Islands Cochineal
Cankering of Fruit Trees
Caoutchouc...

. Yielding Plants,

Capparis Spinosa
Cirbolic Acid as Manure
Carbon, Porous . •••
Cardamom Cultivation

in India ...

in Queensland

. Market

695
414

... 648, 680

rSne Indiarubber]

Cultivation of ... 853

789

See Manures]

440

.. 154, 325

1.54, 155, 325

350

130

INDEX,

PA(tE.

Cardamoms, Market JRates for 72, 144, 216, 288, 360

432, 504, 568, 640, 713, 784, 856

Carolines, Planting Industry in the
Cassia Fistula

Lignea and Chinamen

852
316
176, 202, 224
173, 367, 459

608

Castor Cake

Oil as a Dressing for Leather

, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288, 360, 432

504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856
Casuarina ... ... ... ... 608,717

Caterpillars .. ... ... 271,409,845

Catha Edulis and Coffee Husks ... ... 672

Cattle and Sheep, Indian ... ... 719

Food ... ... ... ^48

Murrain ... ... ... 356

Caucasus Boxwood ... .. ... 340

Caustic Lime ... ... ... 836

Cedar ... ... ... • 757,775

Celery Cultivation ... ... ... 385

Cement ... - 159,256,440,464,758

WsLsh

Centigrade Tbermometrical Scale
Central Africa, Planting in
Ceylon, Agriculture in . . .

Agricultural School

J Agri-Horticultural Show ...

and its Plautiug Industries

as a Field of Euterprize for Youth...

at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition 83,

675

104

[See Africa

[See Agriculture

433

rSee Kandy]

545

1

111

222, 234, 238, 310, 343, 418

— Botanic Gardens [See Botanic Gardens]

— Cacao Cultivation in ... [See Cacao]

— Cinchona Cultivation in ... [See Cinnamou]
— ., vSyndicate for [See Cinchona]

— Cinnamon Cultivation in [See Cinnamon Cultn.]

— Cocoa ... ... ... 304,505

— Directory and Hand-book... ... 1

— , Estate Companies for ... ... 838

— , Fish Curing in... ... ...[seeFish]

— Flora ... ... ... 341

— , Gems in ... ... 115, 808, iS^/j.

— , Gold in ... ... ... 757

— Guttipercha ... ... [See India Rubber]

— Hides ... ... ... 51,65

— t\ India and China as a Tea Producing

Country ... ... ... 364

— , Irrigation in ... ... [See Irrigation]

— in the London Exhibition [See Colonial and Indian]

Exhibition]

— Lace ... ... Su'jyploiient.

— , Metals in ... ... SupplrnviU.

— , Minerals in ... ... [See Minerals]

— , Native Industry in ... ... 393

— Orchids ... ... ... 243

— , Pinapples in ... ... ... 3G6

— , Planting io 8, lo, 16, 50. 80, 98, 115, 146, 161

187, 217, 244, 289, 313, -321, 356, 4()1, 435, 467
474, 484, 505, 522, 531, 537, 553, 593, 613, 614
633, 713, 728, 717, 779, 798, 809, 848,850

Supjjlvmcnt.

... 186,321

214

36, 423, 484, 487

Productions

Kainfall in

Soils, Analyses of

Tea Seasons ...

Tea Syndicate...

Tobacco and Oils, .Official Reports on

Vegetation

... [See Tea]

.,.ts

Ceylonese Agricultural Students

Chamler of Commerce, Madras

Charcoal

Ohavica Betel, Cultivation of

Chemistry of Tea «.

^~ ; Agricultural...

Chena Cultivation
Chestnut Water
Chicago as a Tea Market
Chickens, Treatment of
''" ''' j Food for
Chillies, Market Rates for

China Grass

<^^ — , Tea CultiratJOTi iu

See Tea]

550

148

85, 186

135

272

651

97

161

109

140

154

[See Fowls]

[See Fowls]

72, 144, 216, 288, 360, 432

904, 568, 640, 712, 784 856

. • [See Rhea I

...[See Tea]

Chiriqui, Agriculture in
Cigar Boxes
, Jaffna

Cigars

PAGE.

... 228,250

345

669

53

[See Cinchona]

273, 276, 395, 396

669

424

399, 501, 555, 630

797, 798

Bark, Inorganic Constituents of ... 476

Syndicate for ...
Syndicate for Ceylon
Trade

Cinchona Alkaloids

. Bark and Bark Analyses

-, Samples

-, Cultivation in Brazil
in Ceylon

in Colombia
• in Europe ..,
in Fiji
in India

748

... 411,829

105, 222, 370, 332

501, 729, 797

445

88

412

135, 147, 245, 358

383, 440, 449, 552, 729, 748

in Jamaica... ... 775

in Java ... 14, 149, 166, 167 172

211, 225, 243, 270, 446, 473, 479, 485, 501

521, 575, 621, 704, 729

, in Mexico... ... 653

-, in South America

. Euterprize

Exhibits
•, Extracts of ...

Febrifuge

• Growers, Outlook for
Harvesting of

■ in Medicine ...
Literature
Manufacture ...

• Market ...38, 81,95, 105, 110, 130, 138, 155

352, 358, 554, 473, 685

Market Kates for 72, 144, 216, 288, 360, 132

.504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Plantations in Nilgiris, Government 449

390
367
160
383
744
110
... 797, 835
400, 545, 796
105, 314, 327
[See Quinine]

Production
-Prospects

- Seed, Java ...

- Soil in America

- Statistics

- Succirubra

- Supply

-, Synthetical Manufacture of
■ Thatched and Unthatched
Trade

105, 314, 327
177, 299, 302, 329
536
[See America]
... 585, 592
95
555
14
833
[See Cinchona Market]
Cinnabar ... ... ... ... 6-59

Cinnamon Cultivation ... 31, 328, 381, 439, 744, 746

■ Market in London ... ... 61)

, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 2.S8, 360, 432

504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Oil, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288, 360

432, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856
Citronella Cultivation ... ... ... 746

Oil, Market Rates for ...72, 144, 216, 288, 360

432, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Citron Cultivation
Citrus

Clay, Puddling
— - Soil ...

Climate, Influence of Forests on
and Tropica] Cultivation

.. and Vegetation

Clover

Clove Tree ...

Cloves, Market Rates for

Coal in India
as Manure

Coca

166

[See Orange]

551

...[See Soils]

[See RaiufaHl

74.i

688

328

72",'i44, 216, 288, 360, 433

504,568,640,712, 784,856

172

728

65, 80, 96, 169, 249, 337, 413, 469, 501, 595

— Bitters
Cultivation in Java

in America

Cocaine .*,

Cochineal, in the Canary Islands

Cockchafer Grub ..■ .

Cockchafers

Cpckroacbf)*

to

369

96

139

31, 70, 97, 448, 672

414

[See OoflPee]

366

<" 63<S

INDEX.

(!ocoa

Driukiug
- Market
-, Market Kates for

Cocoe?, Disease of
Ooeo-de-Mer
Coconut Cultivatiou

Cultivation aud Irrigatiou

fAGE.

[See Cacao]

78:2

3(), Gd, 848

72, 114, 216, 288, 360, 4a2

504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

728

128.271,403

50, 104, 127, 145, 228, 302, 497

508, 551, 680, 681, 74G, 747

750, 757, 77!)

.. , Desiccated

Enemies of

, Fibre

-, Dust

- iu Fiji
-, iu Florida . . .

- iu West ludies

- Oil

Trade ...

, Analyses of

- Palm iu the Indian Court of

Colind Exhibition...

- I'alms and Lightning ...
Pearls

641

711

... 82,425

...[See Coir]

457, 458, 493

412

392

561

85, 494, 503, 519, 779, 835

779

496

the

— , Kef use
— , Seed Nuts ...
— Shell Charcoal
— , Toilet Soap ...
-, Uses of

126

... 73, 271

. . 677, 722

... 475,787

772

272

248

. ^ ^ 24, 93, 162

Coculus Imiicus, Blarket Kates for 72, 114, 216, 288
360, 432, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856
f oITgc TVcom ••• **' •** 4-ou

; Adulteration of 129, 155, 252, 465, 486, 494

aud Tobacco, Duties on ... ... 836

,as a Disinfectant ... ... „„ 224

' Bu" 121, 457, 526, 759, 771, , 797830, 833

' ° 834, 835

■ Colour of ... ••• ••• 70

— Companies ... 172,217,218,492,497,774

. — — Consumption ... •.. ••• 94,1..!)

OroDS 85,154,171,209,333,430,446 658

. Cultivation in Ceylon 7, 16, 69. 202, 249, 252

367, 500, 505, 506, 531, 535, 775, 813, 831

J in Africa ... ••• 658

______-, in America ... ... 94,191

.. , ia Australia ... 70, 242, 290, 438

, in Brazil 38, 80, 94, 142, 209, 289

446, 523, 533, 587, 681, 829

=. , in Fiji ... ... 412

, in India 65, 154, 157, 202, 249, 255

269, 287, 290, 430, 454, 472, 541
755, 835, 836

-, in Jamaica ... ... 75,530

■, in Straits Settlements ... 642

-, in West Indies ... 491

-, Dciuking ... ... 96, 130, 456, 472, 547

-, Enemies of ... ... .•• 426, 759

., Grub ... ... [See Grub]

- Husks and Catha Edulis ... ... G72

- Imports, American

- in America
-, Indian

- Industry

- Leaf-Disease ...
-, Liberian

- Literature
-, Maracaibo

- Market

-, Market Rates for

-, Preparation of

- Production

- Prospects •.• •••

- Pruning

- KoUs

-, Sediment of ...
-, Shade-dried and Sun-dried
-, Substitutes for...

- Tea...

20

94,272,274

... 12», 136, 155, 252

502

327, 382, 523, 524, 831

[See Liberian Coffee.]

... 323,709

128

36, 211, 236, 626, 642. 850

72, 144, 216, 288, 360, 432

504,568,640,712,784,856

1)6, 223, 489, 502, 594, 637

313

819

35G

383

530

67

446, 59.3

20

Trade
Tree, New

21, 94, 182, 236, 289, 390, 384, 446

I'AUE.

Coir Dust... ... ... 457,358,475,494

Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288, 360, 432, 506

568, 640, 712, 784, 853

Yarn ... ... ... ... 718, 748

Coke as Fuel ... ... [See Tea, Fuel for]

Cola Nut ... ... ... [See Kola Nut J

Colds, Cure for ... ... ... 34t>

Colind Exhi' ition aud the Planters Association

of Ceylon ... ... ... 396,465

Colombo Root ... ... [See Calumba]

Colonial and Indian Exhibition 3(), 51,6c>, 84, 86, 111

121, 124, 128, 129,858, 178, 195, 196,223

224, 234, 238, 258, 297, 302, 310, 342, 343

384, 396, 417, 418, 465, 477

Supple incnt a.-h.

Colonial Fruits ... ... „. 679

Colonisation, Dutch versus English ... 686

Colour, Retention of, iu Colored Cottons ... 301

Columbia, British ... ... ... 445

, Cinchona Cultivation in ( See Cinchona]

Companies, Estate, for Ceylon ... ... 838

Conifers at Hakgala ... ... ... 815

Composts for Pot Plants ... ... 839

Cooking Recipes ... ... ... 93, 96

Coorg, Coffee Crops in... ... ... 430

-, Planting iu ... ... 85,224,755,836

431

24

779

... . 141

565
104
208
793
760
166
172
... 638, 829
422
305

Copal, Commercial
Copalchi Bark
Copra, Drying

Trade

Coral Fishing

, Leaf ...

Corks

Cornaceaj ...

Corn Meal, Creole

Corsica, Citron Cultivation in

Corundum ...

Cotton Cultivation

Picker

Seed Cake

, Uses of...

... 305,317

, Silk ... ... [See Kapok]

Cottons, Colored, Retention of Colour in ... 301

Couch Grass
Cows aid Milk

in Calf, To Know if

Creole Corn Meal

Creosote

Crete, Vegetable Products iu

Crocidolite ... ... '

Crocodile Leather
Crops and Weather in India
Croton Oil Cultivation
, Medicinal Properties of

Ants on

Plants, Enemies of

340

441

160

750

351

54Q

... 136, 139

243

[See India]

156, 352, 425, 605

800

425

l.=;6, 167

Seed, Market Rates for ...72, 144, 216, 288, 260

432, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Cryptomeria Japonica.., — ••• 154, 775

Cubebs ... ... 735,761,797,806,820

Cuca ... ... •" [See Coca]

Curing, Fish ... "• 102,361,393

Cyder -- ". "• "• "^'^^

86,

Cyprus at the Colind Exhibition

Damascus, liicorice in...

Darjiling, Planting in...

Date Palm...

Decorations, Floral

Deli, Planting in [See Straits Settlements

Deniarara, Floods in ...

Deodorisiog Iodoform ...

Desiccated Coconut ...

Dettrioration of Tea...

Dews ... .. 159,347,

Dboll riant

Diamoii ', Artificial

Drill in South Australia

Dinde Tree... •••

Diospyros . •••

Dipbtberift ... "• "'

153

itt

■jgi

109,

469

704

264,

495

673

,it

159

,PlautiDg in!

...

787

...

421

711

...[See Tea]

552,

648,

744

• ••

501

•••

270

8i?

<«*

412

«••

758

««l

5dii

INDEX.

PAGE.

Disinfectants ... ... ••■ 224, 7^'0

Diving , ... ... ••• ••• 7/^

Domestic Kemedies of the Arabian Desert [See Arabian]

Dominica ... ... ... 477, 652, 744

Dniiuagc ... ... ••• .•• 75.^

Draughtsmen, Hints for ... ... 710

Drought ... ... ... ... filS

Drugs, INew Commercial ... 131, 161 752

at the Colind Exhibition ... ... 196,118

and Quinine ... ... ... 80S

, East African ... ... ... 546

of Mauritius ... ... ... 822

, AVest Indian ... ... ... 744

Dung, Bats'... ... ... [See Guano J

Durian Fruits ... ... ••• lt>9

Dutch East Indies, Coca Cultivation in the... 337

Dutch Quinologist, Mr. Moens, Death of ... 379

Dyeing and Calico Printing in India ... 441

Ear-ache, Cure for

Earwigs

East African Drugs ...

Eastern Africa, Arts and Industries in

Exchanges and Tea

Ebanacefe

414
324
[See Drugs]
[See Africa]
205
793

Ebony, Market Rates for

Economic Plants

Eczema

Edible Birds' Nests ...

Fungus

Education, Agricultural

Egg Shell ...

Electric Light

Eletricity for Tea Machinery

Printing by

England, Agriculture in
, Fruits for ...

72, 114, 216, 288, 360, 432

504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

... 439,813

437

563

331
[See Agricultural Education]

53

... 377,518

359, 377, 638

526

. [See Agriculture]

... 409,411

Erysipelas, Cure for ...

Erythroxylon Coca

Estate Companies for Ceylon ...

Management ...

Produce, Wire Tramway to Carry

Esparto Grass
Essences, Manufacture of
Essential Oils
Eucalyptus and Malaria
Cultivation

Oil from.

in Australia
in Ceylon
in Italy

351
249
838
248
436
85,86
143

...[See Oils]
776

483, 683, 789
611
815
776

186, 789, 855

Uses and Value of, as Timber trees 27, 789
Varieties of

Eulyptol ...
Euphorbiacese
Europe, Agriculture in

., Cinchona Cultivation m...

, Licorice Cultivation in...

Exhibition, Colind

789

422

793

[See Argriculture]

[See CicchouaJ

689

[See Colonial and

Indian Exhibition]

J Bahamas at the ... 477

— — , Barbadoes at the ... 241, 386

, British Guiana at the ... 86

, Canada at the „. 258

, Ceylon Court at the 83, 111, 222, 234

238, 310, 343, 418

, Ceylon Products at the [Supplement]

, Cyprus at the ... 158

, Drugs at the... ... 196,418

, Fiji at the ... 178

^ Hongkong at the ... 86, 197

, India at the... ... 303

. , Jamaica at the 241, 342, 38G, 477

, Mauritius Court at the ... 121

, North Borneo at the ... 196,297

, Products at the ... 195

, Queensland at the ... 158

, Straits Settlements at the 124

Exhibition, Colind, Trinidad at the 241, 303, 477
, Victoria at the ... 159

PAGE.

Exhibition, Colind, A\'esteru Australia at the 159

, West Indies at the ... 241, 477

, Moorland Culture ... ... 734

, Royal Jubilee, Manchester ... 793, 745

Experimental Station, New York [See New York]

Experiments in Agriculture ...68,602,690,704,761

Fabrics, Starched ... ... ... 160

Fahrenheit Thennometrical Scale ... 104

Falkland Islands ... ... ... 312

Farming ... ,., ... [See Agriculture.]

Profits in Britain, Decline of ... 832

Feathers, Birds
Fence, Wire

, Posts

Fertilizers ...

Fever, Weather and ..

Fibre Companies

Industry, Indian

Machinery

Preparation

Rope

Trade

Fibre-yielding Plants ..
Fibres

for Ropes

Fig Cultivation

Fiji and its Industries

, at the Colind Exhibition

, Cinchona Cultivation in

, Coconut Cultivation in

, Coffee Cultivation in

, Fruits in

, Hurricanes in

, Labour in

, Planting in ... .

Financial Crisis in Brazil
Fins, Sharks'
Fire-proof Trees
Fi.sh ...

Curing in Ceylon

Manures

, Preserving of

Rearing

Flax Cultivation in Russia
Flora of Australia

of Ceylon

Floral Decorations

Florida

, Coconut in

301

••• • • iiy

639
[See Manures.]
24
405
... 341,596
... 428,536
211
503
81, 83
370, 409, 413, 564, 659, 824
... 81, 83, 131, 211, 668
503
768
548
178
[See Cinchona]
412
[See Coffee]
696
55
267
370, 544, 572, 579
233
655
417
655
102, 361, 393
751
... 19, 22
80, 657, 659
629
639
341
159
121, 392, 761
392
Orange Cultivation in [See Orange Cultivation]

Flowers, Brazilian

, Preservation of

, Production of Heat in...

Flying-Foxes

Fodder

Foochow Tea Trade ...

Food for Cattle

Forage Plants

Cactus as a

Forest Trees,

Produce, ifinor

Forests and Rainfall ...

in America

in Australia ...

in British Colonies

in India

in Japan

--Planting

Forestry

British School of

in the Straits Settlements

Formosa, Trade of

Fowls, Diseased, and Gum Leaves

, Raising of

•, Trade in

— , Treatment of

Fowl, Yard

Fragrant Products in the West Indies

France, Orange Flower Crops in

Frogs

840

675

233

474

715, 723

57

48

586

833

70

607

664, 824

783

247

629

601, 609

61, 445

87

591 757

591

837

59

577

638

639

84

608

374

777

720

INDEX.

Frost

Fruit Cultivation

, Drying

-, Eating

in Canada

, Juice...

, Preserving

, Trade... ...

Trees...

, Cankering of

, Lichens on

Pruning of

Ringing of

, Wine

Fruits, Australian
, Colonial

for England ...

in Fiji

, Tropical

Fuel

, Liquid

Fungi

Fungoid Diseases

Fungus, Edible

PAGE.
... 30t>, 6(tn
24, 42, 45, 78, 89,248,520
520, fi32, 722, 724
in Africa ... [See Africa]

in America ... [See America]

in Ceylon ... 42, 45, 514

732

312

695

330

70, 219, 336, 69G

... 24, 93, 104, 384, 409

692, 732

227, 648, 680

... 648,680

643

[See Pruning]

503

336

... 93, 695

679

... 409, 411

696

78,181,350,791

... [See Tea, Fuel for]

729

... 382,460

... 392,445

331

Galls, Market Kates for
Gambier, Market Rates

in .Johore

Gamboge ...
Garden Labels

Pests

Gardening, Tropical
Gas Lime as Manure...

"Well, Largest

Gems in Ceylon
Geological Discoveries
Germination of Seeds...
Ghaut Forests of the Nilgiris
Ginger-beer
Ginger Cultivation
, Market Rates for

Gardens

(reology of Australia ...

Gcraniacae

Girl Graduates in Prussia

Gladioli

^41aziug Salt, New Method of

Glycerine ...

Gneiss, Varieties of

Gold in Australia

in Rorneo

in Ceylon

72. 144, 216, 288, 3G0, 432

504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 8.5G

for 72, 144, 216, 288, 360, 432

oOl, 568. 640, 712. 784, 856

... ■ ... 085

... 212, 262

[See Labels]

... [See Insect Pests I

120, 391, 629,744

[See Manures]

427

[See Ceylon]

764

336, 341. 647, 720

609

675

... 549,675

72, 144, 216, 288, 360, 432

■)04, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

[See Botanic Gardens]

[.See Australia]

792

552

256

430

... • ... 437

331

342

13,658,059

[See Ceylon]

275

449

351

Gorakas, Cooking

Government Cinchona Plantations in Nilgiris

Grafting, Crown, Advantage of ...

Grain Cultivation in India ... ... 3;!7

Gram ... ... ••• ... 54

Granada ... ... ... ... 478

Granadilla ... ... ... ... 518

Grape Cultivation ... ... [See Vine]

Graphite ... ... ... [See Plumbago]

Grass, C«uch ... ... ... 310

— — (Cultivation ... ... ... 143,637

, Esparto ... ... ... 85, ,s6

, .Tohu.son ... ... ... 739

, Patana ... ... ••• 585

Grasse and its Perfume Industry ... ... 375

Green Rug on CotTee ... ... [See Coffee Rug]

Manuring ... ... [See Manures]

Groundnut Trade ... ... ... 31, 439

Grub, Cockchafer ... ... ... 835

Guano, Rats' ... ... [Sec Manure]

-, Fish ... ... ... 853

TACE.

19J

86

. 507, 520

577

514, "■.2

611

230 331

72, 144,'216, 288, 360, 432,'504,

568, 640, 712, 784, 856

... .524,606

... 548, 733

457

48, 262, 272

245

■ : in Borneo and Sumatra 245

, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288 300,

432, 504, 568 640, 712, 784, 850

Producing Plants ... ... 262

Gymnema Sylvestre ... ... C73

Guatemala, Coffee Cultivation

Guiana, British, at the Colind Exhibition

Gum, Arabic, Senegal

Leaves and Diseased Fowls

Gums

• , Australian Blue

— ~— , Ralata

, Market Rates for

, Kauri

Gunjah

Gunstocks, Timber for ...

Guttapercha

Cultivation

H-

Hakgala Rotanic Gardens, Ceylon

Hands, Ablution of

Hawaii, Tea Cultivation in

Health, Human

Heartwood, Relation of, to Sapwood

Heat, Production of, in Flowers ...

Hedges, Cactus

Nclopcltt's An/nnii

Hemp, Indian

, Manila

, INlauritius

, Sisal

llenaratgoda Rotanic Gardens, Ceylon

Hens

Hides, Ceylon, and How to Cure them

• , Preparation of

Himalayan Larch

Hindu Pharmacy, Ancient

Hints, Useful

Hogs

Honduras, British, Agriculture in ...

Hongkong at the Colind Exhibition

, Tea Firing in

Hops

Horse-shoe Bats

Horses, Warts on

Horticultural and Agricultural Societies

... 812,827

88

711

731

689

233

300

[See Cacao Rlight and Tea Bug]

... 48.5, 7.08

... 564, 824

805

... 564,803

812

[See Fowls]

... 51,65

643

87

442

... 147, 148

441

384

... 80, 197

609

... 353 639

335

70

132, 258, 412,

663

— Gardens at Luckuow ... 292

Society, Netherlands, ludiau ... 852

Horticulture at Raugalore ... ... 21H

in India ... ... ... 132

in Natal ... ... 821

Hot Water, as an Insecticide ... ... 441

Hurricanes in Fiji ... ... [See Fiji]

Hybridisation of Plants ... ... 30

Hybrids ... ... ... ... 422

Hydroquinine ... ... ... 105

I.

Ilippp Oil from Mauritius

Imbul

Implements, Agricultural

India, Agriculture in ...

, .\gri-Horticultural Society

at the Colind E.xhibition ..

, Bees in

, Cardamoms in ...

. , Cinchona Cultivation in ..

, Coal in

, Ooit'ee Cultivation in

, Crops and Weather in

■ , Dyeing and Calico Printing

, Economic Kesources of

, Forests in

, Grain (Cultivation in

, Horticulture in

, Indiarubber Cultivation in

, Labour in

, Natives and Wilds Beasts

— , Orange Cultivation in

of

160

[See Kapok]

[See Agricultural]

[See Agriculture]

258

303

[See Bees]

[See Cardamoms'

[See Cinchona"

[See Ooal'

[See Coffee"

... 372,373

441

667

[See Forests.]

3,37

132

[See Indiarubber]

... 337

601

... 345

INDEX.

India, Planting in

, Silk Culture in

, Tea Cultivation in

, Tea Seasons

, Tree Planting in

, Value of Tea Property in ...

Indian Cattle and Sheep

Fibres

Hemp

Patents

^— Roads

Textile Industries

Indiarubber as a Cure for "Wounds

Cultivation

'■ • in Brazil ...

-, in Ceylon

'■ , Market Rates for 72, 144, 210, 288, 360,

432, 504, 568, 610, 712, 784, 856

Trade ... ... ... 161

— 'i'ersMS Asbestos ... ... 266

Indigo Cultivation ... ... ... 401

in Burma ... ... 416

Industry, Diversified ... ... ... 229

Inga I'uloherrima ... ... ... 424

Insecticide
Insect Pests

PAGE.
475
[See Silk Culture
[See Tea
[See Tea^
[See Forests."
85
716
... 341,796
... 485,558
[See Patents]
[See Roads]
341
... 266, 642
... 747, 853
261, 427, 658
617, 814

42, 177, 346, 352, 368, 612, 647, 755, 845
82, 101, 140, 21.j, 228, 301, 324, 345, 358,
415, 461, 526, 557, 566, 600, 604, 720

749, 797

Insects and Agriculture

, Preserving of ...

Insulators, Perfect
Intoxicating Liquor in Burma
Iodoform, Deodorising
Irrigation in Ceylon

of Rice, "Water required for

and Coconut Cultivation

Ironwood Cultivation

Italy, Eucalyptus Cultivation in ...

Itching

Ixtle, Mexican

566
346
383
700
421
333
600
641
191
776
437
659

38
669
669
219
241, 342, 386, 477
228
[See Cinchona
[See Coffee

Jaffna, Agriculture in

Cigars .,. ,.

, Resources of ...

.Jalap Cultivation

Jamaica at the Colind Exhibition

. Cacao Cultivation in

— , Cinchona Cultivation in ..

— , Coffee Cultivation in ... ^

, Planting in 75, 96, 228, 273, 380, 713, 785, 831

■ — , Products of ... ... ... 728

Public Gardens ... ... 785

• — , Vegetable Oil in ... ... 422

Jambul Seed, Medicinal Properties of ... 808

Japan, Agriculture in ... ... ... 647

• • Clover ... ... ... 238

Forests in ... ... ... 61, 'Ur>

— Labour in ... ... ... 608

P^'opermint Culture in ... ... 445

'Tea ... ... [See Tea]

Japanese Tea Boxes ... ... [See Tea Boxes]

Libor in the Sandwich Islands ... 625

and White Ants

as a Tea Country
Cinchona Cultivation in
Seed

, Cocoa Cultivation in

, Coca Cultivation in

, Coffee Cultivation in

, Leaf-Disease in

, Labor in

, Planting in

, Statistics of

, Sugar Cultivation in

, Tea Cultivation in

, 'l^jb-icco ( 'ultiratiou in

, Trade and Commerce of

Javanese for Queensland
.Johnson-Grass
Johor e, Gambier in

474
...[See Tea]
619
[See Cinchona^
[See Cinchona'
[See Cacao"
[See Coca
[See Coffee
[See Coffee
7;iS
16, 423, 438, 500
368
[See Sugar]
.'..[SeeT-a]

0-0

.'.'. 106

394
739
685

Johore, Pepper in

, Planting in

Jungle Fowls, Ceylon
Jute Cultivation
Trade

K-

PAGE.

685
685, 799

682
561, 829

128

443

Kainit ...

Kandy Agri-Horticultural Show TSee Agri-Hor Show]

Kapok ... ... 85^78, 413, 447, 524, 558

Kauri ... ... ... [See GumJ

Keema ... ... ... .,, 654

Kelani Valley, A Trip Through Tea Estates in 848

Kerosine .. ... ... .,, 53Q

as an Insecticide ... .„ 42

, Test of ... ... ... 9

Kew "Bulletin'' ... ... ... 834

Gardens ... ... ... 607, 802

Museum, Tropical Fruits at the ... 791

Kino, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288, 360, 432

504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856
Kitul Fibre ... .„ ... 746

Kola Nut ... ... ... ... 422,489

Kus Kus Tatties ... ... ... 855

Labels, Garden

Labor in Australia ... ...

in Brazil ... ...

in Ceylou

in Fiji

in India ... ...

in Jamaica ...

in Japan ...

in Java

in Malay Archipelago

in Mauritius

in Natal

iu Sandwich Isles

Lace, Ceylou

Land, Paring and Burning

Lantana as a Medicine

Larch

Laudanum Drinking ...

Jjaws of Nature iu regard to Health

Leaf Disease ... ...

Jjeather, Ceylon

, Crocodile

— ■ , Castor Oil as a Dressing for

Leaves, Luminosity of
Legal : — Tea Delivery Case
Lemon Cultivation
, Esseuce of

Juice ... ...

in Malta

in Medicine

, Preservation of ... ... 70

Lemons ... ... ... ... .351,392

Lemongrass Oil, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288,

360, 4.32, 604, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856
Lepidoptera ... ... ... 745

Lespedeza Striata ... ... ... 328

Liberian Coffee Cultivation .. 17, 138, 438

Lice on Plants ... ... [See Insect Pests]

Lichens on Fruit Trees ... ... 643

Lichtis and Mangos beens on the Nilgiris ... 290

Licorice ... ... ... ... ."^91

Cultivation iu Europe ... ... 689

Life of Assam Hybrid Tea Tree ... ... 843

Lightning and Coconut Palms ... ... 78,271

Conductors ... ... ... 209

Lime as a Manure 31, 145, 470, 475, 535, 582, 589, 717

Caustic ... ... ... 8.36

Juice ... ... 437, 58S, 750

Limes, Essential Oil of ... [See Essential Oils]

Tjinnean Society ... ... ... 501, 728

Liquid Fuel ... ... ... 729

Liquor, Intoxicating, in Burma ... ... 700

Luanda, Tobacco iu ... ... ... 445

Locusts ... ... ... ... 101

London Purple ... ... ... 368

Lucknow, Horticultural Gardens at ... 292

Luminosity of Leaves ... ... ... 447

699

342

24, 764, 829

139

267

337

831

608

738

... 485,579

85

277

625

[See Ceylon]
180
422
87
711
734

[See Coffee]
51,65
243
608
447
521

418, 448, 660
143
143
258
160

INDEX.

PAGE.

M-

Mace, Market Kates for

Machinery, Tea

, Fibre

Madras Botanical Department ...

Chamber of Commerce ...

, Ciuchona Bark in

— Palantation, Quiuological

Works in the ...

72, 144, 216, 28S, 360, 432,

504, 508, 640, 712, 784, 856

...[See Tea]

[.See Fibre 1

:i88

135

358

Government Central Museum

, Planting in ...

Mahwa Flowers
Mail Service, Ocean
Maize Oil ...
Malaria Altitudes

and Eucalyptus

Malay Archipelago, Labor in

Malaya, Agriculture in

Malta, Lemon in

Malvacefe ...

Management of Estates

Manchester Royal .Jubilee Exhibition

Maudioca ...

Manganese in Plants ...

Mango Cultivation

Mangoes, Wild

Mangosteens

Manila Hemp

-, Planting in

388

• 293

420

[See Sugar]
.563
C02
290
776

... 485,579

[See Agriculture]

258

792

[See Estate]

[See Exhibition]

340

612

... 82, 559
643

... 246, 290
564, 761, 824

245, 447, 578, 795, 820
Manures and M^anuring 47, 104, 117, 145, 173, 232, 296,

300, 317, 340, 349, 373, .392,

406, 445, 462, 470, 519, 535,

552, 582, 587, 592, 608, 637,

647, 651, 728, 751, 800, 839, So3

Maracaibo Coffee ... ... ... 128

Market Piates for Old and New Products ... 72, 144,

216, 288, 360, 432, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Markets, New, for Tea ... [See Tea Markets]

Mauritius, Agriculture in .. [See Agriculturej

at the Colind Exhibition ... 121

, Drugs of ... ... ... 822

Hemp ••• ■•• ••• 805

-, llippe Oil from ... ... 160

, Industries of ... ... 68"

. Labor in ... ... ... 85

', Planting in ... ... ... 422

J Sugar Cultivation in ... ... 790

Medicinal Properties of Abrus Precatorius 343, 638, G69

of Abutilon Asiaticum ... 343

M_ of Acacia Conciinna ... 343

of Acalypha ludica ... 343

of Acorus Calamus ... 344

of Acronychia Lamifolia 344

of Artemisa ... 788

of Calotropis Gigantea... 788

of Capparis Spinosa ... 789

of Citrus ... 89,160,800

of Croton Oil ... 800

of Eucalyptus ... 789

. of Jambul Seed ... 808

of Kus Kus Plant ... 855

— — of Lantana ... ••• 422

of Pompgr.inate Root Bark 344

of Santolina Fragrantissima 783

of Spartium Monospermum 788

of Strophanthus hispidus 774

— ' of Verbena ... ••• 351

Plants and Medicines of Ceylon ... 343

Mediterranean Orange Trade ... ••• 89

Metals in Ceylon ... ... [See Ceylon |

Meteorological Factors ... ••• ^28

Mexican Ixtle ... ••• ••• ^'•'>9

Mexico ... ... ... 344,616,653

, Cinchona Cultivation in ... [See Cinchona]

Mica or Talc ... 232, 287, 358, 368, 424

Mice Plague in Bra2il ... ... ••• '534

Michelia Champaca ... ... ■•• 127, 448

Mildew ... ... ... ••• 727

Milk, Cow... ... ... ... 441

MiUet ... ... ... - 47,666

Minerals in Oeylon .... ... 310,629, Sup.

PAGE.

Mining ... ... ... ... 756,851

Mistletoe ... ... ... ••■ 441

Uoens, Mr., the Dutch Quinologist, Death of 379

Montserrat... ... ... ... 42,478

Moorland Culture Exhibition ... ... 734

Mortgage Securities ... ... ... Ji32

Mortgages, Guaranteed ... ... 750

Mo.'iquito Blight ... ... [See Tea Bug]

Mosquitoes ... ... ... 776

Mother-of-Pearl Fisheries in the Red Sea ... 854

Motors, Electric, for Tea Machinery [See Tea.J

!Mud as Manure ... ... [See Manures]

Muga Silk... ... ... ... 422

Mulberry Bark ... ... ... 169

Mulching ... ... ... ... 345,596

Munj Plant ... ... ... 48

Murrain, Cattle ... ... ... 356

Museum, Madras Government Central ... 293

Mushrooms ... ... ... 165

Musk-Kats and Tainted Wines... ... 562

Myrobolans, Market Rates for ... 72,144,216,288

360, 432, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Myristiacete... ... ... . . 793

Myrrh, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288, 360

432, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Myrtaceae ... ... ... ... 792

Mysore, Planting in ... ... ... 32,423

821
277

... 105,277

[See Ceylon.]

[See Agriculture.]

[See Burma.]

753

172

567

74, 101, 117, 237

N.

Natal, Horticulture in

, Labor in

, Planting in

Native Industry in Ceylon
Natives, Cultures for ...
Natural Beauty of Burma
Nectarines ...
Neilgherry Company ...
Nephthytis Liberica ...
Netherlands India, Planting in

316, 485, 500, 708, 729; 778, 848

Indian Horticultural Society ... 852

New Caledonia ... ... ... 392

Products, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288

360, 432, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

York Experimental Station ... 823

Zealand Flax ... ... ... 564

, Edible Fungus in... ... 331

, Life in... ... ... 632

Nilgiris, Botanic Garden [See Botanic Gardens]

Ghaut Forests of the ... ... 609

, Government Cinchona Plantations in 449

. , Planting on ... 172, 449, 605 748 836

Nitrogen as Plant Food ... ... 628

Northern Territory of Australia ... [See Australia]
Nova Scotian Apples ... ... ... 520

Noxious Weeds ... ... ... 383

Nutmegs, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288, 360

432, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Nux Vomica, Market Rates for ... 72, 144, 216, 288

360, 432, 504, 568 640, 712, 784, 856

Obstacles to Agriculture ... [See Agriculture^

Oil,Coconut ... ... [See Coconut J

Oils, Essential ... ... ... 512

, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288

360, 432, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856
and Oil Seeds in India .. ... 669

and Tobacco, Ceylon, OflBcidl Repo.ts on 550

.Eucalyptus ... ... 186.789.855

, Vegetable ... ... ... 422

Ol.cin^-w ... ... ... ... 792

Old and New Products, M.irket R.ites for 72, 144, 216

288. 360, 4;i2, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Olihanum, Market Rates for ... 72,144,216,288

360, 433, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Olinda Creeper ... ... 343.638,669

Olive Cultivation ... ... 70, 88, 257, 739, 793

Oil ... ... ... ... 88

Oodeypore ... ... ... ^''4

Opening for Young Men in America [See America]

INDEX.

Opium

Orange Cultivation

61, 89, 345,
660,

, Blood

, Essence of

Flower Crops in France

Trade

Oranges, for Flavouring Purposes

— , Preserving ... [See Fruit

in Medicine ...

Orchella Weed, Market Rates for 72,

360, 432, 504, 568, 640,
Orchids

Oriental Bank Estates
Overproduction
Oysier Raising
Oysters j

PAGE.

548

358, 360, 384

725, 753, 855

346

143

777

89

56

Preserving]

I'iO

144, 216, 288

712, 784, 856

243

... 268,478

409

... 80, 744

... 655, 807

Paddy Cultivation

Paint

Pakhoi, Exports of ...

Palm, Date...

Kernels

Palms and their Uses

and Lightning...

, Areea

, Coconut

Paraguayan Tea

Passifloree ...

Pasturage ...

Patana Grass

Patents Indian

, Oeylou

Paper, Impermeable ...

making Industry of India

Manufacture ... „

Materials for ...

Pipes

Plant

Peach Cultivation
Peaches in Ceylon

, Manures for...

Pearls and Pearl Shells

and Pearling Life

, Coconut

Pearl Fishery of Ceylon

Fishery by Electric Light

Oyster Beds

— — , Oysters
Pears, Packing
Peaty Soils...
Peermaad, Planting in
Pelargouiams
Pepper Adulteration of

Cultivation

in Johore

Market Rates for

- Trade
Preparation

[See Rice]

704

59

... 86, 264

337

162

209

[See Arecanut]

[See Coconut]

[See Tea]

792

738

585

SO

574

758

841

559, 800, 841

85, 291, 559, 596, 800, 841

776

320

160, 253, 629, 656, 675, 753

118

647

141, 633, 6.55

&n

... 677, 722

772
518
774
104
444
[See Soils]
350
720
675
23, 659, 776, 797
685
72, 144, 216, 288, .360
482, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

3S4
406
445
69,811,819,825
625
375
... 143, 375
.. [See Insects Pests'!

Peppermint

Peradeniya Gardens ...

Perak, Planting in

Perfume Industry in Grasse

Perfumes ...

Pests, Insect ... ... , ^o^ iu.T>.oun ^ c.^u-.

Petroleum, as Fuel 118, 119, 12?, 137, 274, 501, 586

in Ceylon... ... ... 7s8

Pharmacy, Ancient Hindu ... ... 442

Phenyle and Green Bug ... ... 797

Philippine Island.^
Phormiuiu Tenax
Phylloxera
Pigeons, Homing
Piueapple Cultivation
Pine, Tannin in
Pink, Ivory...
Pinus Insignis
Piperine
Pisciculture...
Pituri Tree...

... 101,«-^0

[See New Zealand Flax]

... [See Vine Disease]

268

366. 409, 681

474

141

290

344

80

758

PAGE.

Plantains ... ... 228,257,835,666,676

Plantmg Entsrprize ... ... [See Agriculture]

Experiments... ... ... r,i9

Plants, Chinese, Acclimation of, in India ...

in Pots

, Composts for

, Living, Method of Transmitting Abroad 60

that Eat
Raising of, from Seeds

G12
296
727
839
845
580
581
626
501,827

439,

Plant-beds

Plants, Catalogue of Ceylon

, Comicalities in

, Culture in Pots

, Dispersion of, by Birds

, Economic

, Hybridisation of

, in Living Rooms

, Inorganic Elements of

, Life of

, Medicinal

, Starch in

, Useful

, Variation in ...

, Young, Boxes for

Ploughing

Plumbago v.,

, Market Pates for 72, 144, 216, 288 360, 432

^, . ^ , 504,568,640,712,784,856

Plums in Ceylon ... ... _ ' jj^g

Poetry ... ... .. "20,76,528

on Products ... ... __ jq

Poison, Cabinet ... ... ' gyg

, Snake ^ ^ ••- ^ ... [See Snake]

Pomegranate Root Bark, Extracts of ... 344
Pomelo, Sour,
, \yild

414
391

548

813

30

840

627

24

343, 520, 822

474

824

549

[See Boxes]

... 48, 296

746

551
159
439
601
551
64, 443, 605
... 182, 659
680
334
700
639
[See Fowls J
281
284
526
588
54, 702
Products at the Oolind Exhibition ... {95

, Market Rates for Old and New 72 144 916

288, 360, 432, 504, 568, 640, 712; 784^ 856
Prumng ... ... ... 356,444,537

Prussia, Girl Graduates in ... k=o

Pondicherry
Potash, Manufacture of
■ , German Trade of
Potato Cultivation

Fungus

Potatoes, Preserving ...

, Sweet

Poryhyra Laciniata

Posts, Fence

Poultry

Precious Stones, Investing in

Prickly-pear

Printing by Electricity

Produce, Analysis of ...

, Notes on

Pseudo-Guttapercha ...
Pudding, Coconut
Puddling Clay

Pure Produce Company, Ltd.
Purple, London

oo:;
262
93
551
394
368

Q-

Queensland, Agriculture in ... [See

, at the Colitid E.vhibition

, Cardamoms in

, Economic Products in

, Fibres in

. , Labour in

, Planting in

QuiuiiK^ and Drugs

, Artiticial 265, 277, 382, 401,

, Chivip

— in America ...

Industry .. 14, 85, 179, 207,

• in Bengal
131, 178, 207, 402, 468,

- Market
-, New Elixir of
-, Substitutes for

- Sulphate of ... 88, 578,
-, Synthetical Manufacture of

Agriculture]

158

350

158, 350, 370

370

394

■•• 471,676

808

4<'3, 404, 411

870

... 68.5, 778

i«;{, 269, 744

8<t9, 810, 845

.554

473, 524, 778

54

... 265,489

555, G69, 733

14

INDEX.

Quince, Bengal
Quinological Works

PAGE.

557
233, 336, 348, 388, 469

R.

Rafters, Measurement of
Railways in Brazil

in Manila

Rainfall

. and Forests

at ilanipur

. in America

in Ceylon

Raisins, Manufacture of

Ramie

Rats, Remedies for

Reali'orestatiou

Red Gum ...

— ISea, Mother-of-Pearl Fisheries in tlie

Seeds ...

Spider

Wood, Market Rates for 72, 144,

432, 504, 568, 64(1
Resins and Oleo-Resins
Varnish

845

SO

447

701, 705, 727, 796

664

647

213

rSee Oeylon]

[See Vine]

[See Rhea]

256

[See Forests]

[See Eucalyptus]

854

660

610, 701, 727

216, 288, 360

712, 784, 856

513

841

292, 300, 305

Rhea Cultivation and Preparation 70

309, 366, 368, 445, 653, 723, 738, 750
Rhurbarb, American ... ... ... 808

, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288 360, 432

504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856
Rice Cultivation ... 141, 215, 333, 439, 637

Insects in Ceylon ... ... 358

Ricinus Communis Cultivation ... ... 459

Rivers, Drying up of ... ... ... 662

Roads, Indian ... ... ... 269

Rockhampton Botanic Gardens ... ... 26

Rope, Fibre ... ... [See Fibre]

Rosaceae ... ... ... ... 792

Rose Culture ... ..■ • • 20

Flowers, Cutting of ... ... 508

Leaves, Red Rust on ... ... 154

Oil ... ... ... ... 012

Root Hairs... ... ... ... 440

Pruning ... ... [See Pruning]

259, 285, 340, 371, 387, 407, 414

Roots

Rubber

Rubies, Artificial

Russia, as a market for Ceylon Tea

— — — Flax Cultivation in

— Tea in

[See Indiarubber]
798

... 455,492
629

...[See Tea]

Safflower, Market Rates for

Sago

, Market Rates for

Salicylic Acid ...

Salt as a Fertilizer

, Value of

Saltpetre
Sandalwood

72, 144, 216, 2S8, 360, 4.32

504, 568, 040, 712, 784, 856

... 609,, 723

72, 144, 216, 288, 360, 432

504, 568, 640, 712 784, 856

336

[See Manures]

232

... 645,675

Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288, 360

432, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Sandwich Islands, Japanese Labor in the ... 625

Sandy Soil... ... ... [See Soils]

Santolina Fragrantissima ... ... 788

Santos, Trade and Commerce of... ... 557

Sapanwood, Market Rates for 72, 144, 216, 288, 36"

432, 50J, 568, 640, 712, 784. 856

793
792
127
219
676
431
... 166,659

Sapotace:u

Sapindace;« ...

Sapu Tree Bark
Sarawak ... ...

Sarsaparilla

Sash, New Method of Glazing

Sawdust

Scalding, Cure for

Scale Bu2s in Florida ...

Scent, Manufacture of

Science in Agriculture

.Popular

Scientific Tea Manufacture
Screws, Rusty, Method to Extract

701

121

674

[See Chemistry]

... 369,474
32;1

•I. 38o

Seed Oysters

Pearls ...

Seeds, Germination of

, Prolonged Vitality of

, Testing of

Senegal <Jum Arabic
Senna, Market Rates for

Sensitive Plant

Sequoia

Sericulture

Shade Trees

Sharks' Fins

Shea Butter Tree

Sheep and Cattle, India

Sicily, Oranges in

Sida RhombifoUa

Silk Cotton

• Culture

. Industry

in India

, Muga...

Spider...

. , Wild ...

Science Notes, Popular...

Sikkim

Silver-Leaf Disease

Sisal Hemp...

Slavery in Brazil ...

Snake Poison

. ■, Antidote for

Soap

Tree ...

Soils

. — — , Analyses of

and Moisture

, Firming of

, Nitrification of ...

Sugar ...

PAGE.

80

655

336,341,647,720

304

508

507

72, 144, 216, 238, 3()0, 432

504, 5G8, 640, 712, 784, 856

621

... 154, 328

... [See Silk Culture!

[See Trees]

655

101

719

89

668

[See Kapok]

48, 71, 626, 726, 754, 833, Sup.

744

626,754,8.39

422

551

... 416, 723

267

245

120

... 564, 803

[See Brazil]

659

209

248

269

212

... 213214

845

548

174

665

843

[See Boxtree]

275

788

••• i22o

520

... 655,716

264

... 272,478

[See Manures]

160

Soot as Manure

South African Box Tree_

Spain, Olive Cultivation in

Spartium Monospermum

Spider, Red... ... ...

Spirit, Cactus

Sponges

Squirrels

St. Lucia

Stable Manure ... ...

Starched Fabrics

Starch in Plants ... ... ... 474

Stinkwood ... ••• ... ... 457

Stoppers for Bottles ... ... ... 720

Strophanthus Hispidus... ... ... 774

Straits Settlements, at the Colonial ami India

Exhibition ... ... 124

. — ■, Coffee Cultivation in [See Coffee]

, Economic Plants at the... 198

• , Forestry at the [See Forestry]

, Planting in 577, 580, 642, 657, 750

819, 851, 852
-, Vegetable Products at the 837

Strawberry Cultivation
Strychnine, Antidote to
Students, Ceylonese Agricultural
Stumps, Getting Rid of
Sugarcane Disease
Sugar, Consumption of

Cultivation in America

in Australia

■ in Barbados

• in Brazil

• in British Guiana

■ in Burma

• in Fiji

■ in India

• in Java

• in Mauiitius

• in Netherlands India
in Perak

• in Queensland ,..,
> in the Philippines

... 385, 611
845
[See Agricultural]
659
128
32
272
... 342, 471
832
764
... 142, 597
669
83, 544, 579
... 644, 728
83, 173, 438
790
48.-)
782
674
447

INDEX.

Sugar Cultivation in West Indies...

, Enemies of

from Beetroot ...

Mahwa Flowers

Manufacture

, Manures for

Production, World's

, Eefining by Electricity

Soils

, Use of, in Cement

Sulphate of Ammonia as Manure ...
Sumatra and Borneo, Guttapercha

, Planting in ...

, Tobacco Cultivation in ...

Sunflowers as Fuel

, Uses of

Swallows' Nests ... [See

Syndicate, Ceylon Tea ...

PAGE.
492
347
727
... 64, 710
G4, 309, 683
[See Manures.]
5&i
644
66.5
464
349
Cultivation in 245
... 322, 368
... 25, 441
616
352
Edible Birds' Nests]
... 73, 102

Talc or Mica ... 232, 287, 358, 368, 424

Tallow Tree ... ... •■• 774

Tamarinds, Market Rates for ... 72, 144, 216, 288, 360

432, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

Tanks in Ceylon
Tanners, Hints to Ceylon
Tanuin, Plants Pach in
Tapeworm, Cure for ...
Tapioca Cultivation ...
, Market Rates for

Tar in the Poultry House

Tartar, Cream of

Tasmania ... ... ...

Tavoy, Planting in ... ...

Taxation, Betelnut as an Object of
Tea Adulteration of ...

and Eistern Exchanges

, as an luTe.stment for Capital

, Assorted

. , Australian

Averages

773

1S2

... 474,567

737

800

72,144,216,288,360,432

504, 568, 640, 712, 784, 856

608

629

... 10, 39

[See Burma]

76

, Blending of

, Bonded

Boxes

Breaks

, Brick

Bug

... 153,303

204

295

428

177

562

... 220,496

6.)8

... 418,15;}

... 141,708

413, 431, 464, 527,

426

, Bulking of ... - 119, 427, 454

. Bush, Duration of an Assam Hybrid ... 849

Buying Brokerage in India ... 467

Ceylon 7,33,80,116,134,136,137,142,151

154, 169, 211, 226, 264, 290, 352, 354

^58, 364, 378, 394, 395, 400, 409, 497

518, 522, Sup. 569, 571, 577, 594, 614

631, 649, 724, 740, 74(i, 769, 809, 824, 835

, in America ... 427,522,524,787

, , Deterioration of 130, 155, 156, 167, 171

175, 193, 206

, , Russia as a Market for ... '155

, Charges on .. ••• ■■ CT6

, Chemical Composition of ... ... 97

, Chests ... ... - 211,508

, China . . 26, 52, 57, 76, 118, 119, 140, 151, 264

321,535,714,771,777,848

, Coffee ... ■•> - 20

. Companies 35, 52, 78, 172, 411, 43.5, 447, 466, 475

497, 507, 518, 678, 794, 798, 846
•, Consumption of ... ... 94,657, 836, 848

Crops ... ••• — 171,794

Cultivation in Ceylon 53,112,139,140,186,211

222, 246, 272, 315, 356, 364, 377

392, 409, 450, 493, 508, 531, 561

589, 659, 676, 681, 71^6. 780, .S29, S32

in Africa ... ... 471

Tea Cultivation in America ... 94, 716, 829

in Assam ... 140, 145, 290, 464

in Australia

. in Burma ... ... 416,711

in China ... 71, 364, 461, 484

— i iu Fiji ... ••• ^'^

PAGE.

Tea Cultivation in Guatemala ... ... 725

■ in India 80, 104, 117, 132, 140, 162

• in Jamaica

■ in Japan

• in Java

• in Johore

■ in Natal

364, 469, 740, 836

75

16, 28, 37, 41, 153, l86

233, 272, 382

... 270,619

... 322, 740

23,71,105,163,227,244

474, 740

in the Andamans ... 518

Delivery Case (Legal) ... ... 521

Driers 291, 354, 363, 424, 463, 465, 468, 483, 535

Drinking ... ... 287,427,540

Duty... ... ... ... 76

, Enemies of ... ... ... 271

Enterprize ... ... 49,163,615

, Experimental ... ... ... 53

Factories ... ... ... 104, 747

Firing ... - ... 168, 609

Fuel for ... ... ... 137,524

Green ... ... ... 635, 688

Hair ... ... 408,447,458

in America ... ... ••• 272,364

: Indian 77, IIB, 121, 136, 142, 194, 220. 256, 29U

321, 330, 426, 569, 594, 649, 678, 715, 724, 740, 824, 832

Industry ... ... 220,378,567,798

, Injury to, from Iron ... ■•• 170

, Japan ... ... ... 118

— -, Java ... ... ... ... 702

Leaves, Abnormal ... .•• 185,833

, Lecture on ... ... ... 97

Literature 2, 246, 351, 436, 456, 47B, 636, 639, 832

Machinery 81, 83, 102, 184, 438, 574, 610, 7.%, 798

, Electric Motors for 359, 377, 638

• • , Watcrpower for ... 411

Makers ... ... ... .328

, Manuring of ... ... ■ ... 317

Markets 9, 17, 18, 19, 53, 74, 83, 1.30, 151, 154,

459, 569, 572

19

[See Red Spider]
383
114
427
322, 474, 794
339
322
151
173

168, 425, 832, 845

Marking

Mite ...

, Natal

, Outlook for

, Overproduction of

, Packing

, Paraguayan

, Physiology of ...

Plantation, Life on a

Plants

, Plucking of ... ... , . .

Preparation ,3,83,1,37,1.53,168,184,18.5,272,

291, 324, 109, 425, 459, 484, 529, 535, 603, 770
, Prices for ... ... ... 185, 459

Producing Country, Ceylon fcrsus India and

China as a ... ... ••• 364

, Production of ... ... 99,364,701,704

Property in India, Value of •••• 85

Prospects 98, 100, 109, 119, 142, 183, 316, 7(19, 849

Pruning ... ... 168,277,615

Rollers 40, 56, 136, 176, 468, 534, 561, 584,

607, 636, 852
, Scientific Manufacture of ... ••• ^23

Seasons in India and Ceylon ••• 641

Seed ... ... 173,427

Soils, Chemical Improvement of ... 476

Statistics .. ... ••• ^'^^

Syndicate, Ceylon '..'. 73, 102, 194, 210

Trade .33, 77, 94, 142, 290, 553, 649, 70 (, 721

743,781,806,824

254

;:: ... 497,526

54

585
103, 332, .368

45, 104, 201, 354, 363, 424, 52S, 536,
603,610,747

Teak 291

Teas, British Grown ... ... •■• 113

, Different Designations of .•■ .•• '^-^

Textile Industry, Indian [See Fibre Industry]

Thfiiue ... ... ... - 50^

, Transport of

, Unassorted

, Tlniformity in

, Varieties of

, Weighing of

Withering

INDEX.

nlBPKPi<->4ffi^nn^

Therapeutics

Tliernioraetrical Scales

Thibetan Market

Timber, Artificial Seasoniug of ...

Imports

. in N»rth Borneo

, Preserving ...

Seasoned

- Trees

in Ceylon

. , Value of Eucalyptus as

Timbers, Ceylon

. , Colonial

for Guustocks

for Tea Boxes

PAGE.

101
725

7r(;

(J08
13
... 415, 7.51
700
27
601
... 27,789
Svp.
429, 682, Sup.
•157
[See Tea Boxes]
Tin Foil Bags ... ... ... 80

Tobacco and Coffee, Duties on... ... 836

and Oils, Official Reports on Ceylon

[See Ceylon]

Cultivation ...

in Africa

in America .

. ■ in Borneo .

in Burma .

in Ceylon .,

in Deli

. iu Java

■■ in Loanda ...

^— in Netherlands India

iu Sumatra ,..

. in Trinidad...

in United Kingdom

, Curing of

, English

Exhibits

. — in France ...

Toddy

Tomato as an Insecticide

Cultivation ...

Tree

Tonics

Tonquin, Industries of

Tooth Extraction

Tortoiseshell

Tramways

Travaucore, Planting in

Tree, Measuring a Growing

Planting

Pruning

Trees

, Ants on

, Avenue, in India

■ , Fireproof

, Forest

— -. Fungus

, Mechanism of ...

, Ornamental

, Sanitary Value of

Slow Growth of

.527, 562

245

731

13, 584 798

252

37, 505, 550, 768

441, 795, 801

252

445

... 6.50, 795

... 25,441

337

60, 70. 247,

254, 316, 325, 338

25

824

Sup,

840

.578

612

24, 445, 664

... 518, 753

368

676

437

655

... 547, 552

182, 283, 384

648

616, 662, 728

[See Pruning]

48

[ SeAuts]

728

417

78

600

700

... 64, 456

414

, - ... ... 608

Tripoli, Vegetable Products in ... ... .344

Trinidad at the Colind Exhibition [See Exhibition

, Planting in 241, 300, 303, 337, .508

Tropical Af^ricultimst 69, 71, 80, 82, 95, 145, 174, 227

and Climate

Tropical Cultivation

Fruits

Gardening ...

Trout for Madras Hill Waters ,

in Ceylon

Tuberoses

Tumba Plant

Tunis, Esparto and Date Palm

, Vegetable Products iu

Turbines .-.

Turmeric, Market Kates for

Turtles
Tuscany, Olive iu

Ullucufi Tuberobus
United States

744
78, 181, 350, 791
120, 391, 629, 744
749
80
160
209
i* ... 86

344
. [See Water Power]
72 144, 216, 288, 360.
432, 504, 568, 640, 712, 784, SM

655
18

u.

Upas Tree ...
Useful Plants
Usine Sugar

P.VGE.

756

824
600

Valencia, Orange in
Vanilla Cultivation ...
, Market Rates for

V-

814
[See America]

358
... 385,658
72, 144, 216, 288, 360 432,
504. 508, 640, 712, 784, 856
Varnish Resins ... ... ... 841

Vegetable Cultivation 228, 250, 282, 378, 415, 691, 814

Oils ... ... [See Oils]

— Products ... ... ... 66, 344

in Crete ... ... 649

of the Straits Settlements 837

Wool

Vegetables as Food ...
Vegetation and Climate

Ceylon

in Australia

Venezuela, Climate and Products

, Cacao Cultivation in

Veutnor, Isle of Wight
Verbena

Verein and Binue River
Veterinary Education
Victoria, at the Colind Exhibition
Orange Cultivation in

[See Kapok]

... 440, 528

588

148

687

52

762

302

361

607

141

[See Exhibition]

61

Vine Cultivation 176, 336, 444, 445, 629, 758

Disease ... ... .587,676,758

, Manures for ... ... [See Manures]

Seeds, Germination of ... ... 336

w.

Walnut Wood
Warm Water for Plants
Warts on Horses
Washing Colored Cotton
Water, Absorption of, by Plants
-, Purification of

Watering Plants
Water Power
Wattle Cultivation
Weather and Fever
Weeds and Worms
-, Noxious

227

[See Plants]

70

301

[See Plants]

... 270, 853

[See Plants]

411

248, 353, 359, 385, 531, 567

24

194

383

280

748

[See Artesian Wells.]

78, 90, 696, 752

Wedding, Flower

Weevil, Black

Wells, Artesian

West Indian Fruit Trade

Indies, Cacao Cultivation in, 100 years ago 491

, at the Colind Exhibition ... 241, 477

, Coconut Cultivation in ... 561

, Coffee Cultivation in the [See Coffee]

, Fragrant Products of ... 374

— , Planting in 229, 250, 334, 468 483

White Ants ... ... - - - .-

Whitewash

Whistling Tree

Wild Beasts and Natives of India

Birds Protection

• Date in Southern India ...

Wight, Isl« of
Wire Fence

Tramway to Carry Estate Produce

Wood Ashes as a Fertilizer

— and their Uses

, Growth of

, How Made

, Preservation of

Pulp for making Barrels ...

Woods

, Cabinet

Wool, Vegetable
"Worms, and Weeds ...

iu Pots and on Lawns ...

Wounds, Indiarubber as a Cure for
Wynaad, Planting in ... „

Yams

Yerba ; Ilex Paraguayensis

300,

312,

474

...

662

679
232
601
438

...

496

ice

302
119

436

See Manures]

...

607

700
328
392

[See Timber]

• ••

662

[See

Timber]

• ■ •

381

[Bee

KapokJ

•••

194

• ••

612.

629

266

642

207

245,

352

320

334

• ••

107

July i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURT^'^'

OEYLON AS A PLANTING FIELD OF ENTER-
PRIZE FOR YOUTH.

It is curious to note, how, during the course
of a long connection with Ceylon, it has been found
necessary at ahnost recurrent periods to vary the
advice to be given to parents seeking a field in
wliich their sons may commence life. " What
sliall we do with our boys ? " is a question
constantly ' heard in England from parents and
guardians. Only a short time back, we were
obliged to tell such that this colony presented no
opening ; tliat the market for young men was
overstocked ; and we had to instance to them the
numerous cases of sad distress which were witness-
ed among us. We do not say that wo should be
altogether justified in changing the tone of that

advice even now as regards tliose who may desire
to select Ceylon solely with a view of obtaining
employment. It will be some time yet, we fear,
before the demand for young Europeans at a rate
of pay commensurate with their wishes, and even
needs, can render it desirable that any consider-
able influx of such men should be counselled. But
there is another class for wliom, jjerhaps, the
condition of affairs in Ceylon and the prospects
it opens out, will shortly offer a singularly eligible
opportunity. We feel, therefore, that we may well
direct the attention of parents in England to the
opening this island is now developing for their sons,
wiio may have the prospect before them of ultim-
ately being able to invest capital.

Some years have passed since we were able to
make a recommendation of such a character, and
there is no doubt that instances[of ill-sUccess during
the prevalence of the depression which has through-
out those years characterized our planting indus-
tries have given this colony a bad name at home.
Parents who some ten years back looked to a start
in Ceylon as ensuring to their sons a prosperous
future, have long ceased to regard the island in
such a light, and have preferred to send them
even to the distant farming lands of Manitoba and
British Columbia rather < than here. We have been
so repeatedly appealed to for our oi^inion on the
subject of this island as affording an opening for
the start in life of British youth, and have
for so long a time past deprecated its selection,
tliat it is doubly a pleasure for us now to feel
justified in improving the position in this respect
that it has lately occupied.

We may feel confident, however, that the dis-
trust we have above alluded to will not suddenly
be removed. It has been engendered by conditions !
which have unfortunately been too long existent I
to justify any hope that it can be so : nor have '
we failed, when personal reference has been made, !
to insist on the desirability of further waiting before
sending out young men with tlie object of future
investment in Ceylon planting pursuits. A great
responsibility necessarily rests upon those who tender
advice upon which the life of a youth just enter-
ing upon manhood may be ultimately wrecked.
We have felt this responsibility often weigh heavily
upon ourselves, and have constantly refrained even
when of late we had felt almost justified in en- ■
dorsing the desire of many friends to send out
young men to begin life as planters among us.
That hc^.^itation, we now feel assured, need no
longer be felt. We are satisfied that the improve-
ment in our planting prospects has every chance
cf bjiiig pt-imunent and progressive, and under
that imprf^.^ion we desire no longer to tell our
I

friends in England to wait, but, on the contrary,
to assure them that the present time affords op-
portunities for their sons, of which they will do
well to avail themselves.

It is in a transition time, indeed, that such op-
portunities have a specially favourable character.
One or two thousand pounds sterling judiciously
invested within the next few years, will, we believe
go as far as double the amount will do later on
in the history of our tea-industry. We cannot
and ought not to forget the lessons of the past ,
how land rose to a price at which, although it was
eagerly bouglit, h could offer no prospect of re-
munerative culiivrition. It was the eager, the al-
most insane, rusli after land when selling at such rates
tliat contributed greatly to intensify the distress which
was afterwards experienced when bad seasons, and
that fell enemy of our coff'ee trees, the leaf disease,
at'tlicted us. We desire tlierefore never again to witness
such a mania for speculation in land as we saw during
the years 1S7'2, mi at intervals, to 1878. But we
feel that if this is to be avoided, young men
possessing capital must begin their career here
before increasing scarcity of land brings about any
chance of a recurrence of what took place during
tliose years. A youth coming out now might well
serve an apprenticesliip to planting in all its
branches including of course, tea preparation, for
a term of say three years. The rule of thumb
no longer applies to estate cultivation in Ceylon.
It has become a science, one that requires to be
studied before success can be hoped for. An
aspirant for that success should, while learning
the methods which alone can ensure it, make him-
self acquainted not alone with the routine of tea
cultvation and preparation, but with those peculi-
arities of soil and situation, knowledge as to which
can alone fit him to select judiciously for his opera-
tions where experience has prepared him to
undertake them. With the reservation, therefore,
that in all cases this preliminary training should
be submitted to before investing, we feel that we
can, with sincerity, recommend fathers and guardians
once again to regard Ceylon favourably as afford-
ing the prospect of a successful career to Englif.h
youths.

"THE CEYLON DIRECTORY AND HAND-
BOOK."

THE CHANGE IN THE COLONY IX EK.HT Yii.UIS.

{ComviKiiicated.)
The Ceylon Directory for l8H.5-S(i duly reached
me, and I must really add my testimony to the
many complimentary remarks on its usefulness,
already published by you. In my library I have
the guides and directories of almost all our co-
lonies, but none of them can compare, in the
smallest degree, with the Ceylon one, which is not
only a Directory but contains a general outline of
the history of the whole country and an immense
amount of information of various other kinds.
Comparing the present volume with that of 187('i-78,
which I brought home with mo, when I left Cey-
lon, I find the new one larger and more complete,
and in every way belter, although, at the time
the other one was published, I thought it could
not be more complete tlian it vran. In some re-
spects the matter which is contained in the new
directory, is not pleasant rcadi)ig : for, on turning
up the list of estates in the old district, in which
I lived so long, I find several estates abandoned ;
one of the best ones, now in the hands of a native,
has been abandoned to the extent of more than
one- third of its acreage ; and another, which, in
my day, liad over 200 acres of coffee, now only

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

rjOLY I, 1886.

returns a few acres of carciamoms ; the group of
estates which had the character of being the best
ill the district has dropped from 7.50 acres cultiv-
ated to 520, whilst one estate, which was con-
sidered a second-rate one in my time, has added
no acres to its cultivated area, and as 1 was told
the other day by one who ought to know, is far
the most valuable estate in the district, thanks to
good management. The ups and downs oi these
estates I suppose arc on a par with those of other
districts, and it is interesting to read the inform-
ation and to try to account for the difference
between then and now, whether bad management,
short funds or worn-out soil has most to answer
for. Although many old names arc wiped out of
tlie list of the estates, they are not singular in
this respect, for on reference to the list of Colombo
firms I find no less than twelve well-known and
well-to-do ones have been withdrawn.

But these drawbacks do not appear to have
interfered with domestic arrangements, for I
find that the population of the island has
gone uj) 300,000 and this in spite of a
decrease of Tamil immigrants from 164,000
in 1876 to 45,000 in 1885. All the centres
of population appear to be adding to the
number of their inhabitants in a most marked
manner, except poor Galle, which has drop-
ped from 47,000 to .33,000.* Under the head-
ing " Occupations of the People," I find only 2,719
returned as coffee-pickers, and yet, ten years ago,
that number would have been attached to the
mills of one firm alone in Colombo — -but coffee
was King then. In the class called " landed pro-
prietors," there are entered 452 males and 1,525
females. This seems strange to me, but not more
strange than the fact that, in the commercial class,
there ajipears under " tavalam men," one female,
and that there are 47 female barbers in the island.
Woman suffrage will soon follow this, I fear ! !
Reading a dictionary or a Directory is supposed
to be dry work — but, to any one, at all interested
in Ceylon, the reading of the " Ceylon Handbook
and Directory for 1885-86 " will be 7iot only agree-
able, but entertaining and instructive,

Cos:\IOPOLITE.

" THE CEYLON TEA PLANTER'S CATECHISM,"

Ought to be the title of the information collected
under the auspices of the Maskeliya Planters' As-
sociation when the same is republished in a com-
plete form with the questions and answers duly
following each other. Today we find room for the
very full summary sent us by special arrangement
with tlie Sub-Committee through the Honorary
Secretary, Mr. Welldon. We think that the thanks
of their brother-planters not only in jMaskeliya, but
throughout the island have been earned by the Sub-
Committee for the considerable amount of useful
practical information brought together in a concise
form in their summarizing Report. Could a better
illustration be afforded of the untiring, almost in-
satiable craving of the Ceylon planter for " more
light " in reference to every branch and detail of
his profession ? Here we have a body of men in one
district, — and that not the largest or most im-
portant in the island, — and although they have had
sc serai gentlemen of experien';e to leclure before
them, though they have had all the essays locally
published and all the practical books, we and others
have been able to introduce from India — from Moiicy's
l>rize essay to Dowhng's " Notes " ; from the Vade
Mecum to Brace's papers in our Handbooks for
1H74-5— yet, they are not content. They resolve

* The liinilsof the to'-n h^. - h^ .-n circumscribed.
-F,l).

to get at the diverse opinions of the men of most
repute in dift'erent parts of the island, as cultiv-
ators and makers of tea. They form a Sub-
Committee : draw up a series of questions :
have the same printed and circulated ; and
the result does not disappoint them. The
typical Ceylon planter is as ready to give as
to receive information, and although the Mas-
keliya catechism was laughed at in some quarters,
the result has fully justified the trouble taken, as
our columns testify today. The names of the
gentlemen who have furnished answers' based on
their own experience — apart from Mr. Barber's
special report — afford ample guarantee for inform-
ation of very considerable practical value, repre-
senting too a variety of districts at different ele-
vations and with differing conditions. Now it is
this spirit of enterprise and restless enquiry among
our planters that have justly earned for Ceylon her
high reputation in connection with the agricultural
industries carried on within the island. There is
nothing like it, at least in Northern India ; and
if so much has been done here almost at the very
outset of the enterprise to examine, check, simplify
and improve all the details of the cultivation and
management of the tea-bush, and the preparation
of the leaf, how much more may we not look for as
time rolls on? In Tea Machinery alone, how much of
invention and improvement is likely to be due to Cey-
lon planters. Full credit is given in the Report before
us, as to the — in some respects — unequalled position
attained by Jackson as a machinist, whether in his
Rollers, Driers, or Sieves, and if this leading patentee
succeeds with the Witherer he is now said to be busy
on, at home, he will indeed have i irnished a series of
machines of unique importance in the Tea-plant-
ing world. But it is undoubtedly encouraging to
learn how Ceylon planters and colonists are
following hard on the men of many years of
Indian experience: Barber's Roller is an illus-
tration, though it is said to owe much, very
much, to Thompson's "Challenge"; more local is
Frater's Uva Roller jiar e.rceJlence; and now we
have Kerr's improved roller, costing no more than
R350 ; while just as we write we hear that under David-
son's and Law's patent, a very serviceable Roller
nearly all in hard wood, jarrah perhaps — will
be offered for as low as price as R250, guaran-
teed to do all that is required on a small
garden and to give the utmost satisfaction in
the quality of its work. What Falrweather and
Megginson have done in the improvement of
Withering arrangements is duly noticed; and there
are several other suggestions both as re-
gards appliances, and the several modes of
plucking and manufacture which are certain to
arrest attention and to be subjected to the test of ex-
perience, or to searching criticism.

One result mentioned is rather startling in the high
amount named for the cost of erection and fitting up
of a suitable Tea Factory, for a plantation of 200
acres, namely R12,000 to R15,000. This, however, is
likely to be modified as time runs on. But what are
we to say to the force of 300 coolies required to work
200 acres of tea ? At this rate fir the 150,000 acres
likely to be un.ler tea before 1886 closes, we shall
have to provide a force of 225,000 coolies. Alto-
gether therefore in Ceylon, over 300,000 labourers
will be required on the plantations for tea, cacao,
coffee, cinchona, etc. and even with all the assist-
ance that Sinhalese may give, our draft on South-
era India must be greatly increased. We have no
doubt however, that it will meet with a full response
in due season.

Altogether, it is very satisfactory to learn that
the Maskeliya Sub-Committee arrive at the con-
clusion that careful planters under average cir-

JuLV I, iS86.]. THE TROPICAL AGklCULTURlS'I^.

BHrtinijB

cunistances as regards climate, soil, jat of tea,
&c., in Ceylon, ought to turn out their tea at
not more tlian 24 cents per lb. This is enough
to warn our Indian and even China competitors
of what they have to expect. " No more plant-
ing"— ought to be the cry in both Northern and
Southern India — " until we are better able to
judge what the 150,000 to 250,000 acres of lea in
Ceylon are really going to do." But, whoever yet
took warning after this fashion ? Nevertheless,
we may, with the Maskeliya Keport before us, well
believe that in the coming tea struggle, Ceylon
will hold her own, and that if we are to see
the " survival of the fittest," the position of our
little island ought to be well in front.

TEA PREPAHATION IN CEYLON.

UEsujyr OF unquiky by sub-committej<; of juskeliya

planters' association.

answers to questions by some 10 i'kactical

PL.\NTEHS.
I'APER BY ME. BAEDEK.

QCESTIONS ON TEA CULTIVATION.

Wc have seen the questions on tea manufacture seat
out by the Maskeliya Planters' Association, and we
would ask any of our readers who receive them to
reply to them, as we feel that the answers of the 100
tea manufacturers to whom the questions have been
sent, carefully collated, will be an extremely im-
portant addition to our information on tea, and
will probably be a means of still further improv-
ing manufacture and raising the repute of Ceylon
produce in the Loudon Market. As the report will
be published, each of those who reply will benefit
by the information obtained from the replies of the
others. So we hope no one will refuse to assist as
far as he is able. Every effort has been made by
the Committee to save those applied to trouble, even
to supplying stamped directed wrappers for the re-
turn of the pa.pev. It is by such means as this that
District Associ.itious really do good, and the Maskeliya
Association hae. always been well to the front. These
questions are >: contmuation of the work commenced
by the Dimimli Association, and we hope the Dikoya
Association will not be behind in this kmd of work.

The questions are as follows: —

PLXJCKT^l..

1. — De.^ning fme plucking — weaving the bud loaf
and i of the nt^xt leaf and plucking including the tip
25 leaves — a".d coarse plucking — leaving 1 proper leaf,
h the second and -]■ of the next, i.r., plucking iuchiding
the tip 2-] and a half leaf — which do you consider most
trying to the tea tree ?

2. — If by the latter method 500 lb. tea per aoe was
obtained, about how much per acre do you think- could
be obtained by the former — other circumstances being-
equal — aud w'lat would be probable difference per lb»
in value of the tea made ?

3.^ — Off old and young bushes should bangy be-
low pruning level be plucked, should the tlowcr lie
pulled off ■.'

4. — How do you pluck first four rounds after prun-
ing'.'— and do you pluck high class and inferior jat
the same way ?

5. — Do you me cutty sacks or baskets for pluckera?

WiTHEKlNG.

fi.— Do yon sift green leaf ?— What kind of sifter
do you use '!

7.— Do you take oft' water from wet leaf before put-
ting it out' to V ither '.'—and if so, how ?

S. — Do you advise hard withering or if anything
slightly under vithering ?

9. — Is natural withering better than sun or artificial
withering ? — nud of the latter which do you prefer '?

10. — Is a draught of air and much light good for
W -'Ug?

11. — What kind of withering tats are best ? — For 1 lb
leaf bow much roow is required ?

KOLLING.

12.— What roller do you recommend for a small
garden ? — How nuiny lb. withered leaf will it do per
hour and how nuich at a fill'? — what horsepower is re-
quired to drive it and what is cost?

13.— (Same question for large gardens.)

14. — Do you recommend hard or light rolling ?—
and your reasons ■"

15. — If hand-rolling what is task per cooly'? — and
do you prefer plain or grooved table ?

1''. — Do you sift rolled leaf'? — when and through
what sieve '?

17.— Do you roll twice ?— if so how long :' — aud hard
or lightly '.'

Fek.mentation.

18. — What is best temperature for fermenting :' —
how do you ferment aud how long ? Do you encourage
or by turning stop heating during fermentation?

l.t.— Does roll ferment or oxidize ? — how do you
accoimt for change of color '.'

20.— Cun you advise any plan to assist fermentation
or mention anything that should be avoided?

21. — How can flavor or strength be increased ?

FllUNCi.

'I'l.—Vliiiliis — Wood supply being near what is task
of charcoal per diem from dry wood ? — from green
\vood ?

23. — To 1 lb. tea how much charcoal is used ?

24.— What kind of chula do you use, and have you
a grating? — do you replenish charcoal from sin oveii ?

■25. — To each tray how much roll is put and how long
taken to fire off ?

20. — Do you fire tea quite crisp or take olf a little
sooner ?

27. — What effect has leaving tea in tray all night
over embers ?

28. — Before packing do you finaly fire ? — and how ?
and do you bulk after or Ijefore this ? — If by machine,
at what temperature ?

29. — FiriiKj 3/udiines — Which one do you prefer? —
can you suggest any improvement ?

30. — At what temperature do you fire ? — Hovf" nmcli
roll to a tray and how much tea per hour ? — how long
do you take firing each tray?— what does fuel cost
per lb. tea ?

Sifting.

31. — What sieves do you use ? — How do you sift
or what machine is best ? — What grades of teas do
you make ?

Cost of Worktni;.
32. — Where are tea requisites of best quality obtained
cheapest ?

33. — What machinery, what number of coolies are
required for an estate of 200 acres gi\ing 100 Jb. tea
per acre ?

34. — Wliat should be cost per lb. made ten, on this
estate thus distributed : —
Superintendence
I'luckmg

Manufacture — withering, firing, sifting
Packing (final for " boxes lead " )
Transport to Colombo

Cultivation, weeding, pruning, manufacturing,
field, A'c. :' '

3,1. — ^\ hat would be approximate cost of erecting
factory and machinery for the above estate ?

Cni.TlVATION.

3ti. — Would you use water-wheel, turbine or en-
gine?— what is cost of fuel per lb. made tea for the
last ■'

37.— Fo)' witliPring-shcd should you put iron or w^ood
roof ?

3S.— What effects have you seen from manuring,
digging, burying prunings, and would you do it before
or after pruning ?

39. — What month do you prune ? — or how do you
prune ? — and do you treat high-class and inferior jat
the same? — do you prune whole estate at once or half
at one time and the rest 0 months later?
General.

40. — Do you know any invention not generally used?
that if used would save labor, such as utilizing coft'ee
uiachiuery for tea gifting, breaking, &c.,— and can you

^m 't'MPitAL AomctJLTvnwf.

L/ui.y I, 1886,

suggest any metliod that will cuable us to make better
teas and get higher prices ?

41. — Would you eradicate really bad jat plants and
trees V

42. — Wliat do you consider the best shape and
material for a clioap external withering-shed or sheds ?
Will j-ield from inferior jat at high elevation be less
than yield from high class ji'it.

From ■which caji best tea be made.

Answers.
Report of Snh-Committee of MasheUi/a Planters''
Associatton on 'Tea Manufacture.
The Sub-Committe have drawn up this Eepovt
from the replies of Messrs. Jas. Taylor, T. J. Grigg,
W. Turing Mackenzie, J. Koydon Hughes, H. Deane,
J. N. Campbell, T. Dickson, F. L. Clements, W.
Cameron, W. Eaffin, Giles F. "Walker, W. B. Hope,
A. Cantlay. T. W. B. Crowther, S. G. Tench, R.
Webster and E. Maclure, and some which were un-
fortunately not signed. The Committee thank these
gentlemen for replying to the questions and also
Messrs. Blacklaw, Cantlay, J. Ferguson and Ruther-
ford for assistance rendered. The Sub-Committee
regret that delay in the publication of their Eeport
has in some respects lessened its value.

Questions 1-2. The definition of fine plucking
given was not universally accepted. The Committee
consider the majority of the replies sent in, advise
that the metliod of fine plucking, as defined,
should be adopted four or five months after
pruning in order to get the highest return
per acre combined with a good average price.
The replies lead them 'to think line plucking as
defined by Mr. Taylor (an extract from whose re-
ply is annexed) is decidedly more trying to the
bush than medium plucking, as the shoots are re-
moved before the bush benefits by them ; the
dilierence per acre in return is put at about 150
lb. per acre in favor of medium plucking the Jirst
year, later on perhaps more ; the diifcrence of price
from "id to 3d per lb. in favor of line plucking,
the cost of the latter system of plucking being
much more expensive, perhaps double. All replies
agree that before fine plucking can be safely
adopted the bushes must have a good i)lucking
surface and that on no account should it be com-
raenced until the fourth or fifth month after pruning.
(Extract referred to.)
Question not intelligible.— If the bushes be
allowed to get a good start after the pruning by
leaving three or more leaves on all primary shoots,
there is no apparent harm from finer plucking, that
is, plucking the same leaves and leaving a leaf,
the same as in coarser plucking, but doing it at
an earlier stage of growth. Nevertheless it is reason-
able to suppose that the finer plucking must be
more exhausting to both tree and soil, yield being
the same. Tliere is practically no difference in
quantity and the difference in value is fully nine-
pence per lb. in favor of the finer plucking which
costs about twice as much for plucking or nearly so.

3. Bangy leaf below pruning level at the sides of
young bushes should not be plucked, but where the
bushes are old and cover the ground, this is not so
important. It is not generally considered necessary
to search for bangy in the centre of the tree be-
low plucking level; a few replies however state
that if bangy in the centre is plucked close during
drought the yield when rain comes on will be
greatly increased ; to pull off seed and flower though
beneficial is practically impossible.

4. After pruning it is advised that for three
rounds 5 to G inches of primary shoots above
pruning level should be left, or 3 full leaves, per-
haps more after a heavy pruning ; after third round
all primary shoots may be plucked. On secondary
shopts it is at first well to leave 2i leaves includ-

ing the bud leaf. Inferior jilts should be kept lower,
some however say prune lower and pluck the,
same ; the general opinion is that if thus carefully_
plucked after pruning, the bush will better stand
hard plucking later on.

5. Baskets are unanimously recommended.
For steep faces or when plucking new flush after
pruning, cutty-sacks may be used with ad-
vantage if the leaf is continually turned out.

6. In a few cases leaf is sifted through |
inch mesh. The sieve can easily be attached to the
waterwheel, and we are .surprised it is not oftener
done as it certainly improves the wither and fermen-
tation and takes off some water from the leaf and
bruises it very little.

7. By spreading wet leaf thick in the sun and
turning it frequently or by continual turning
without sun, water can be partially taken off.

8. Hard withering is almost unanimously advised.
Mr. Taylor's remarks are : — " As hard as possible
to allow the rolling to be properly done, so that
no yellowish or unsquashed patches of leaf may be
found in outturn from the tea-pot, and so that
the depth of color in the liquor be not reduced.
With under-withering, rolling will also be im-
IDerfect as the mass of leaf is too soft and
slushy and slips about without the tissue being
perfectly squashed ; and depths of color of liquor
will also in that \\ ay be reduced. Besides a lot of
water must be evaporated from the leaf in with-
ering or else juice will drop from the machine
during rolling."

9. Natural withering is undoubtedly the hest,
but rather than keep leaf over till the second day
it is advisable to utiliiie sun or artificial heat in
moderation {i.e. Chula or Sirocco heat). At high
elevations tliis is often absolutely necessary. Sun
withering is preferable to artificial. The result
of much heat in artificial withering is bad ferment-
ation. It is advised by some that after sun or
artificial withering, leaf should, be allowed to cool
before rolling. Artilicial withering is apt to dry
the leaf.

10. Plenty of air and light are necessary for
withering purposes but whether the air should
be damp or dry is disputed. The direct rays of
the sun should always be excluded. The cold
at high elevations retards withering. Mr. Taylor
considers it a question whether light, except for
the heat connected with it, is not a disadvantage.

11. Messrs. Fairweather's or Megginson's system
of Tats is recommended : one pound of green
leaf thin spread covers 6 sq. ft. Leaf withers
best on boards.

12. For small gardens Jackson's hand-roller
worked hy power is highly recommended It takes
45 to 50 Ih. withered leaf at a fill, rolls it in 40
minutes, requires 1 to Ih horse power ; costs E550
without power fittings. This refers to the old
hand roller. In the new one there is no move-
ment of the bottom tray and it is similar in
action to Kerr's old roller which is also recom-
mended in some papers. Jackson's Universal rolls
120 lb. withered leaf in 1 hour, in two fills ;
costs £85 stg f. o. b. in England ; requires 2
horse power. For a large garden where thoe is
plenty of power, Jackson's Excelsior is unani-
mously recommended. It takes 300 fb withered
leaf at a fill, rolls it in 40 minutes, requires 4
horse power ; price £138 stg. in Colombo. Barber's
Blaclcstone I'ollers have the advantage of doing
much work in a short time and require little
Ijowcr ; there are two of them, the '' Standard "
takes 100 lb withered leaf at a fill, requires 20
minutes to complete the roll, which equals 300 lb
withered leaf per hour ; cost E900 in Colombo.
Ppiuiona ou tliie eubjccl expressed uow will prob*

jf'uLY I, 1886,]

THE TROPICAL AGHlCULTURiST.

ably be obsolete"" in a few months as improve-
ments and new inventions are announced, among
which may be mentioned Kerr's new roller and Fra-
ter's. In none of the papers is the Challenge referred
to, but we have heard it well spoken of. The price of all
rolling machines is still exorbitant, but we hope com-
petition will before long lead to considerable re-
duction.

14. Hard rolling and plenty of it, is generally
recommended for giving strength and body to the
tea, but not for appearance, which, however, is
not so much considered at home at present. Hard-
rolled tea will show little tip : for a hard roll a
hard wither is necessary, and for a hard ^^^ther
a hard roll is necessary. As the object of rolling is
to break the sap cells of the leaf, the length and
hardness of the roll depends to a certain extent
upon the weather and the quality of the leaf.
It is advisable not to put great pressure on at the
commencement of the roll as it prevents an even
twist, but weight should be added later on. For
fancy teas light or hand rolling is preferable.

1-5. Task for handroUing is 35 to 40 lb. green
leaf ; a plain table is generally recommended.

10. Koll is generally sifted during fermentation
through a No. 4 ; some prefer to sift immediately
rolling is completed : some about one hour alter ; some
at the end of the fermentation.

17. A second rolling of about 10 minutes or more,
and a hard one is generally recommended ; the
time when this rolling is done varies as the above-
mentioned sifting is always done first. Second roll-
ing is said to improve the twist.

18. Fermentation is generally done by spreading
the roll about 3 inches deep on a table, turning it
every .J hour, temperature 75 to 90. 1^ to 4i hours
seems to be the minimum and maximum time
for leaving the ferment. In some cases baskets
arc used, and the roll is kept in a cool place.
Turning the roll prevents it heating and gives an
even ferment. The process is supposed by some
to be oxidization : only a few replied to this question.
In answer to No. 18, Mr. Taylor says: — "I do not
think that temperature at least within range of
climate here, has very much to do with it, though
I think it has a little. My time is usually two-
and-a-half hours, and three hours for first roll of
the day, I spread loosely to ferment in flat trays
about two or three inches deep for two hours,
turning it at the end of one hour ; at the end of
two hours I put it into a deep basket, still loosely,
to ferment the rest of the time. It gets a little
warm during the process, but my turning of it is
to let air get more evenly at it and to break small

umps."

20. It is considered advisable to avoid great
heat during fermentation as it dries the roll, also
cold draughts which blacken it. Eoll should not
be pressed down : free access to the atmosphere
should be allowed and all balls very carefully
broken up. Fermentation of fine leaf is quicker than
that of coarse. A hard even wither followed by
hard and long rolling of good leaf give a good
fermentation. A damp cloth spread over the roll
in dry weather is said to hasten the fermentation.

21. A few say that light rolling improves flavor
at the expense of strength. Strength is obtained
by line plucking, hard withering and rolling. It
is mentioned that tea from a new clearing gives
stronger liquor than that from bushes on old land.
Slreugf -^nd flavour depend much on soil, thejat
and th^. tmuude, and brisk firing and as little
exposure to the air as possible is recommended.
Mr. Taylor deprecates long fermentation as he
considers it a sign of deficient rolling, and states
tbat for tea fermented for only one hour, he has

obtained a 2s average, but he considers his present
ferment better.

22-8. Average task for charcoal is 80 lb. or by
contract 75 lb. From colfee stumps 60 lb.
per cooly has been obtained. To one pound of tea,
one to three lb. charcoal is used, according as rolls
can be fired consecutively or not.

24. Chulas 2 ft. 5 in. wide at top, 13 in. at
bottom, 2 ft. 6 in. or 3 ft. high are usual. Eeplenish-
ing from oven optional : without gratings preferred.
Brick is better material than stone for building
them.

25. To each tray 3 to 4 lb. of roll is put which is
fired in from 35 to 45 minutes ; the former preferable.
Koll is generally fired quite crisp, some take it a
little sooner, some take it off wJien | dry, empty
contents of three trays into one, fire over milder fires
or leave over the embers at night. Unless care-
fully watched coolies are inclined to leave too
much to the dying embers to perform. Properly
carried out this systeju tends however to ensure the
drying being perfect and is said to develop aroma.
The trays should be covered to keep out rats or
anything falling on the tea. If roll is taken off
before it is quite crisp, thorough final firing is
required if not put over the embers as aforesaid.

28. Final firing by Sirocco or Victoria is
done at 150 to 200" putting 5 to 6 lb. per tray.
Final firing over chulas is done over slow fires,
takfng |- to i hour to each tray, 5 to (5 lb. per
tray ; firing before bulking is perhajis preferable to
bulking before firing, as the latter is apt to falsify
the bulking; but in the majority of instances the
former system is adopted. A piece of cloth spread
over the tray and under the tea is a safeguard against
burning when chulas are used.

29. The Sirocco is certainly the firing machine
generally preferred. Jackson's Venetian and Victoria
are well spoken of. No. 3 Sirocco fires at 240 to
280" F., 11 to 14 lb. roll, 20 to 25 min. per tray,
55 to fi5 lb. tea per hour. By using coffee stumps
carried when knocking off work, cost of fuel has
been reduced to less than 1-Oth cent per lb. tea
made. Jackson's Victoria at 280° F. has fired 240
lb. tea per hour, and cost of fuel for rolling, firing
and sorting was about ^ cent per lb. tea. No. 1
Sirocco at temperature 300° F. 4^- lb. per tray, has
fired 35 lb. tea per hour, 18 min. per tray, cost
of fuel l-5th cent per lb. tea. Since this information
was received great improvements have been made
to the Sirocco.

31. Sifting by hand Nos. 14 or 12, 10 and
8 are used for 3 grades ; 12 and 7 for 2 grades
are recommended ; dust being taken out through
No. 30. Gore's Sifter with patent mesh for taking
out flat leaf. No. 8 and 12 sieves have sifted over
200 lb. bulk per hour. Bailey & Thomson's Sifters
and Jackson's Eureka are well spoken of.

33. Machinery required for 200-acre garden yield-
ing 400 lb. tea per acre.— The following machinery
advised : —

Jackson's Excelsior with hand Jackson in case
of accidents ; or

Barber's Big Boiler with a Venetian Drier and
improved T Sirocco ; or

Two Improved T Siroccos, price each £95 f.o.b.
Liverpool ; or

A Victoria and No. 1 Sirocco, a Tea Sifter, a
a Jonas' or Jackson's Cutter.

It is recommended to use the old pulper-sifter
for a roll- sifter and attach green leaf sifter for
the water-wheel.

300 coolies will be required for an estate as above
described.

31. Cost of manufacture per lb. made tea in-
cluding superintendcuce 5c ; plucking 12c ; manu-

6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July j, 1886.

facturo He ; packing 3c ; transport Ic— 24 cents
per lb. in Colombo.

'So. Approximate cost of machinery ami factory
for estate as above described is from 1112,000 to

Kir,,ooo.

B<5. Water-power is best where possible. Tur-
bine is advised ; a water-wlieel being a less steady
power and requiring more water ; the former is,
however, most likely to get out of order. Cost of
fuel for engine per lb. tea is ,|- cent.

38. Digging is highly recommended. The effect
of castor-cake manure in one case good ; in an-
other it did not improve the (juality or price of
tea. Cattle manure has undoubtedly shown good
results ; also burying green prunings and applying
other bulky manure. In very dry weather it is
advised not to manure ; about a month or two
before or during pruning are the times preferred.
Jlanuio increases strength.

3i). Two papers advise pruning all the year
round to keep the labour occupied and never to
have a large lot of inferior tea all at once. A
few recommend pruning half from June to Sept.
and half from Nov. to Jan. The majority advise
from June to Sept. and get over it as quick as
possible. Indigenous and hybrid can be pruned
the same ; bad jat hybrid is j^runed after the style
of China or at any rate lower and more severely
than good jat. I'runing at two seasons keeps labour
employed. To prune or dig ni very dry weather is
not advisable.

10. To be careful in every detail is the only
way to make good tea. Good soil and jat help
greatly, and good leaf and hard withering and roll-
ing are advised by all. In time the whole pro-
cess may be done mechanically, and at any rate
great improvements in machinery may be effected.

41. When a supply has been put in and has
well started near a bad jat plant in young tea,
take out the bad jat, but not before ; as it is
difficult to grow supplies. In old tea do the best
possible with the bad jat.

42. An oblong wooden building of jungle timber,
boarded Hoor, thatched or wooden roof Avith plenty
of light and air make the best withering shed.

43-1. One paper says in a very wet climate a
medium jat will flush better than a high jat, but
the majority prefer the latter. The highest class
hybrid and indigenous will not yield so well, and
bad jat teas will yield 100 to 200 lb. per acre
less and value per lb. will be 2d to 3d less. The ap-
pearance of the bush alters with soil. In bad soil
no jilt will appear good.

The Sub-Committee are of opinion the falling-off in
the (juality of tea comj^lained of is not owing to any
weakness or disease of the tea bush and must be
sought for from other causes, perhaps the recent fall
in price has caused this complaint to be exaggerated.
C. E. Wellbon, Honry. Secretary,

fMr. Barber'n paper.)

BlackstonEj 4th Jan. 18SC-.
1,2, 4. — There is but one mode of plucking that can
be safely reconmieuded for the good of the bush, as for
the (juality of the tea to be manufactured : an entire
leaf with the bud and stem attached to it, with
the best part of the leaf below it, but without the
stem attached— all taken at one nip. This can be
done with safetj' at all times of the year ; except
Boon after pruning, when the newly-grown shoots
arc being nipped. Calling these shoots primaries or
primary shoots here for the sake of distinction, I
will recommend that for the first four rounds or so,
while still plucking the primaries, that they be nipped
still jnore sparingly, a leaf with the bud and stem
attached to it being all that should be taken; an
entire leaf being thus left to develop at the end of
the shoot, the next flush will be retarded somewhat, I
aod tbe bueb iu the meautimes wilj usture, a J

condition to be observed if we aim at securing (pjality.
At this early season of the year, instead of displaying
an eagerness to fall with unsjjaring liauds on the
green stalks and leaves just shooting, and glutting (ur
withering racks and machinery with vast (iiiantiti('s
of insipid vpg(!table matter, which no art or skil' ran
convert into good tea, as turned out later in the
season,— if we exorcise a little forbearance, and permit
the bush to grow and ' gradually mature, taking
meanwhile just enough to keep it in shape
and form, we shall be speedily compensat(!d for
the apparent loss, with an ample yield of more
matured leaf, witliout any very appreciable reduc-
tion of quantity in yidd at the end, and we shalj
be the better enabled to maintain imimpaired the
prestige wo have won for quality in Ceylon.

3. Bangy leaves below pruning level should not
be plucked, I think. A vigorous shoot is not com-
monly found ending in a bangy terminal, where the
field is duly attended to, at the regular intervals.
Twigs with unsutificient supply of sap are gener-
ally not worth attention. Flowers may with advant-
age be pulled off when flowermg, and seeding are
due to a change of season or inferiority of j;'it.
Where however the cause is to be found m poverty
of sod, something more than taking away the flowers
will be found necessary to be done at once, viz.,
manuring. When due to age of bush a treatment
m()re heroic will have to he prescribed, viz., the
knife. In some instances trees badly planted with
the tap-root bent or injured also speedily run
into seed.

5. Cutty sacks for plucking should not be
tolerated for a moment ; their use would lead to
the brnismg, crushing and heating of the leaf iu
the field.

6. I do not sift green leaf ; as I sift the green
" roll " I am inclined to think that the pekoes
would be less liable to be broken if rolled along with
the souchong.

7. I do not remove water from wet leaves before
spreading to wither. I do not say it should not
be done.

8. I do not advocate either under-withering or
hard-withering, though it may be safer to incline
towards the latter than to the former. 3t) to 3.5 per
cent for wither is a sufficient average.

0. Natural withering is better than sun or arti-
ficial withering especially for flavour. Sunning is
preferable to artificial withering.

10. Light and air are among the acknowledged
agents in natural withering ; a draught is no dis-
advantage if it does not blow away the leaf.

11. The withering tats I use are similar to Mr.
Fairweather's, only a little moi-e primitive in the de-
tails and perhaps a trifle less expensive. I believe
his arrangement with the wire to guide the web a
better plan than mine, but in principle they are
much the same. For both serving and discharging
they afford greater facilities than any other wither-
ing arrangements I know of, while they have
the merit of being the least expensive at the
same time.

12. 13. The " Blackstone " roller, of cjiirse ; as
for its merits — well ! are they not chronicled in
the columns of the local papers ? I s'rculd wish to
be spared discussing rollers in this paptr vnderthe
circumstances.

14. When the souchong leaf has acquired tFe
necessary twist for a marketable tea, and thejuico
is readily expressed on the roll being grasped by the
han(l, it is time to stop rolling. Hard and light
rolling being relative terms may be differently
understood according to the apprehension of different
individuals, but if we go by the above tests any-
thing under it would not ferment properly, while rolling
beyond it would, to my mind, be barren of profitable
results. The disadvantages would be the following: —
Discoloration of tip, breaking of tip, risk of getting the
coarse and nnwithered leaf broken up and mixed with
the broken pekoe; waste of time and energy; fuel
wh(3re an engine is used, and water in the case of a
water-wheel being used ; extra wear and tear of machiu-
eiy. Where, iiow ever, early pluckiug is resorted

JOLV I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

to, that is to say, within the week, the mixing up of
the grades would not matter much, as the souchong
itself will command an extreme price; so that we
should not be in a hurry to jump to couclusious
and generalize from the success of one or two estates.
Among the believers in hard-rolling there are some
I am aware, whose opinions are entitled to great
weight. It is ueverthele.ss, a creed that cannot be
followed by one and ail, indiscriminately.

15. Forty lb: is a good task for hand-rolling ; a
plain table is preferable to a grooved table. Kolling
being a process of gradual compression and bruising
combined, there shjuld be no endeavour to hasten
the progress of work by corrugating or flirting the
table; as it may result in the tea getting broken up,
before getting flaccid enough to be rolled, espv'cially
when found underwithered, during the wet season.
The table should be not only flat but sufficiently high
to prevent too much weight being put in the leaf
during the process at the start.

16. I sift about 40 to 45 per cent of pekoe
out of "roll" after fermentation by means of
a simple sifter with No. 3. Sieve, designed by
me and manufactured by Messrs. McllwTaith Walker
k Sons, at a cost of H80. It takes two minutes,
driven by power, to work off a lUO lb. roll. It is
not patented and may be bad from Messrs. W. H.
Davies & Co., Colombo.

17. I re-roll for about three or four minutes, tlie
igouchong only just before firing.

18. Fermentation should be cariied out in a cool
room not exposed to the wind ; especially the dry
N. E. wind. It is a good plan to turn the " roll"
over occasionally. I do not encourage heating during
fermentation ; on the contrary I check it. The roll
is spread about two inches thick on tables for about
three hours. If leaf be found to overfermented, and
cannot be fired off speedily for want of chulas or
fiouj machinery, adequate to the demand at the
moment, the leuf should be thinned out at once.

I!>. Whether oxidation or fermentation be the cor-
rect word to be used for the purpo.se of expressing
the chemical change the roll has to undergo before
firing, can hardly be said to be of any practical use
to us without being prepared to carry the investig-
ation further with the a'-sistance of scientific men.
As fermentation includes oxidation I see no reason
«hy we .should change this now familiar word into
one less comprehensive and probably less aoplicable.
The hr.st chemical change that the bruised leat under-
goes when exposed to the action of the air at a
certain temperature is oxidation. We cannot say
we stop at this, before the leaf undergoes ferment-
ation. Ftrmeatation, according; to M. Pasteur, is said
to be essentially the life history of certain microbes,
the germs of which are to be found in the
air everywhere and nlways. According to the suit-
ability of any organic matter for the development of
any particular variety of these microbes, a particular
kinil of fermentation will result. There are, it is .«aid,
innumerable species of microbes each of which starts
its chatacteri.stic fermentation. It exists for a while,
during which it produces a certain chemical changt?,
by which the t.irgaiic matter is rendered fit for the
growih and dtvelopmeut of ano'her species, which
m turn gives place to a succeeding variety, and so
on, till all fernif ntation ceases. What we have now
to ascertain will> the aid of science, is what that
particular stage or kind of fermentation is which con-
duces most to the development of the qualities we
desiderate in tea. It is possible, I believe, for a com-
petent chemist both to define this particular stage and
to help the planter with simple means by which to
n.scertain the right fermentation since every kind of
fermentation (every stage according to advocates of
this theory) can be ascertained by means of chemical
tests and the microscope.

20. Heaping up haf. — Putting roll thickly in
baskets, appeirs to help fermentation. liut the safest
mode, I think, is to spread on tables.

21. Flavour to begin with, is due distinctly to
altitude ; care in the details of manufacture, a good
wither and full fermentation will secure flavour, as

far as it can go on any given estate. But strength is
a matter outside the factory. I have said before,
the art of good tea making begins in the field. I do
not believe that we can obtain more strength from
tea leaves, by passing them through " rollers " and
firing machines than there is to be found chemically
in the leaf itself ; briefly we cannot get more out of
a roller than we put into it. But we can get far less,
by neglecting the cardinal rules of tea-making. It is
by careful selection of our jat of tea, attention to
the soil, a rational mode of pruning, maturing our
bushes, and regular plucking, instead of waiting till
the leaves get bangy, that we should hope to secure
strength. The student who pursues his investigations
exclusively in the factory is apt to gradually nurse
himself into the pleasant delusion that good tea like
good wine needs no bush.

I pass over questions intended for those who use
" chulas."

28. Before packing I first bulk and then re-fire
at a thermal heat, not exceeding 180 for Broken
Pekoe, 200 for Pekoe ana 240° for Souchong.

29. I have no fault to find with the Sirocco. I
think it can hold its own a good while yet.

30. In firing I keep to the instructions.

31. The sieves I use are 14 and 10 for Broken
Pekoe, that is 10 for Broken Pekoe out of " dhool-
glioorie " (the 40 per cent sifted out from "roll")
and 14 for Broken Pekoe left in the bulk. No. 9 for
Pekoe, and Nos. 7 and 6 for breaking and sifting
Souchong.

38. Manuring has a marvellous eft'ect on tea.

39. I prune at both monsoons to find work for the
coolies all the yearround.

40. I have answered this already partly.

41. I cannot recommend the eradication of bad j.lt
plants and bushes now; as if followed, it may lead to
the denuding of much of the present planted area
of Ceylon. The result may prove disastrous to the
prosperity of the colony.

42. For external withering sheds I would recommend
the use of round timber " jungle sticks" ami shingled
roof with jote nailed on the sides to keep off the
wind. I have two such here. Hundred feet by twelve
or fourteen is & .good *ize, with jute stretched ou
either side ou rollers and laths. Ten lengths of jute
on each side giving 4,.'5CO square feet of withering
area or a total of 9,000 square feet for the room.
Such a building should cost no more than RloO.
Boarding the floor of same R112; rollers and laths
for the jute R30. The total, exclusive of jute, with-
in 11300. J. H. Barber.

" W. M. L." ON COFFEE IN THE PAST AND
TEA IN THE PBESENT IN CEYLON.

LoNooN, April 30th, 1886.

Many of those who have lost their money in
the struggle to keep the coffee plant going in
Ceylon must have [read with deep interest, per-
haps even with a melancholy satisfaction, the
account given in your columns by Mr. Elacklaw
of the dying out of the once flourishing coffee
estates in Eio districts. The similarity of the fate
of these coffee districts to that of the estates of
Ceylon, though apparently witliout the intervention
of that arch dsetroyer, Hemileia Vastatrix, raises
the question, (one now purely of speculative interest
to the Ceylon planters) how long even under
the most favourable circumstances could coffee
cultivation in extended areas as practised in Brazil,
Ceylon and Java be expected to flourish ?

Strange it is that this question, twenty years
i'.^o of most vital practical importance to all engaged
in the cultivaiion of coffee in Ceylon, should even
at that date Lave received little or no attention.
The coffee estates had so far borne regular crops,
were still bearing them, and " next year " almost in-
variably was promising a bumper.

What more could hopeful man require ? Why
seek to peer into the certainly uncertain future ?

8

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July i, 1886.

Between the years of 1800 and 1870 one word
of warning, and one only, came to the ears of
the writer. It came from one who had never
seen Ceylon, from a gentleman in London of very
wide experience and learning, noted both in financial
and philosophical circles. His son was proposing
to join a flourishing Ceylon business. ]5ut the
father i)ut an unhesitatnig veto on the proposal on
the ground of the uncertainty of the future of
coffee cultivation.

Now on what grounds had this gentleman, so
early as l.SOO, formed so strong an opinion as to
the probable doom of Ceylon coffee that on his
faith therein he should be guided as to his son's
career '?

Can you, sir, from the fulness of your stores
of information in regard to the history of the
coffee plant and its cultivation, say on what grounds
such an opinion may have been formed at the
date named '? and how it came that in spite of
such causes of mistrust the feeling in Ceylon was
then and continued for some years later one of
serene confidence in the future.*

It was not til) about 1871 that the first cries of
warning were heard within the household of Ceylon
itself. About that date Dr. Thwaites of Pera-
deniya made public his fears that Hemileia Vasta-
trix would in time be the death of the coffee
enterprise, and among planters about the same
date Mr. William Mackenzie stepped forward as
the prophet of the doom to come. Almost with
tears in his eyes he confided to the writer the
depth of his fears, especially as to all coffee
north of Kandy. We were inclined to laugh at
the time, but the sad truth has even exceeded
in its misery these first gloomy forebodings
of evils.

As has beeii said above, the question of the
permanence of cofi'i'e is for Ceylon now only of
speculative interest. All practical interest, for the
future centres in lea. How lies the matter with
that plant ? Are there instances in history of large
contiguous areas being planted with the slu'ub, to
such an extent as will surely soon be the case
in Ceylon ? and if so, how long did the cultiv-
ation flourish? One naturally turns to China for
a reply, but it must be remembered that, in re-
gard to consoling information derived from that
empire if such be forthcoming, the plant grown
there differs much in habit and in hardihood
from the Assam plant grown in Ceylon. Whether
any reliable data as to the permanence of the
Assam j'lant are to be obtained except from the
Indian estates the writer knows not. He only
ventures to bring this matter forward as subject
for inquiry that may prove useful in guiding future
operations m the direction of extending teacultis'-
ation in Ceylon.

A matter of more immediate and present im-
portau'^e to the tea planters is the course of prices
in Mincing Lane. It is pretty, clear that the high
l^rices ruling for the good Ceylon teas last year
are, like high, prices for -so many other kinds of
goods, a thing of the past. The net result of the
praiseworthy efforts of Ceylon i^lanters will be, as
was foreseen, that the- British consumer will at

* 1886 was the black year of Overend-Gurney's down-
fall and Ceylon suffered terribly in the re-action, money
being so scarce that it was" said scarcely Ll.oo'o
could be raised in the Fort of Colombo (.n the best
estate seciuity at that time available. There was
also a great oiiteiy then about the heavy rate
of expenditure on estatcH. 'i'be only other pos.siljle
reason we could suggest is that the philosojiliie-
financier had formed a w dl-groundcd objection to a
colony dependent on one staple, and to the turning
of the Ceylon forests into fields with one product,—
En.

the same price as before, if not at a lower one,
drink a much better tea than he has been ac-
customed to drink.

The fall in the better classes of tea has been
very great during the last three months, and it
is dillicult to see how, as the weight of good lea
from Ceylon rapidly increases (as needs it must), .
the continuance of the fall is to be arrested.

Within a few days th^^ nrveat Exhibition of the
year will be opened in great pomp by Her Majesty
— a recent visit showed something like a state of
chaos in the Ceylon Court. But there were many
willing hands at work, Messrs. Saunders and
Davidson with several native attendants. Dr.
Trimen, Mr. Smither, Messrs. Shand and Whitham,
all under the command of Mr. Commissioner Birch,
and no doubt by the 4th proximo, some sort of
order will have been evolved.

The Kandy Tea House is approaching comple-
tion, and will no doubt be very pretty. Unfortun-
ately it stands crouched between much higher
buildings, and its goodly proportions will be
dwarfed by those of its great ugly neighbours.
After the opening it will be more easy to speak
of the merits of the various exhibits from Ceylon.

The Government of India has spared no effort
and no expense to make a grand Show, and with
the vast resources at its command, it can hardly
be but that poor little Ceylon, India's neighbour
at Kensington as in the East, will be in some
sort eclipsed. It may be hoped, however, that in
the economical products Ceylon may, in spite of all,
hold her own.

CEYLON UPCOUNTEY PLANTING KEPOBT.

-THE FCTURE

CEOTON OIL TEEES AS A CATTLE FENOE-
OF COFFEE — liEER's EOLLEES.

May 24th, 1886.

Y'et another use for the Croton. A man tells me
that he has discovered that it is a perfect fence,
once it is grown up and bearing, for all kinds
of wandering cattle. They take kindly to eating
the seed, and when they once do that, they never
come back again ! For years he has been worried
with trespassing buffaloes ; has tried both mild
and drastic measures with the view to mitigate
the evil, and had given up all hope of any really
effectual relief until he saw a buffalo stiff on its
back, and some of his seed-bearing croton plants
pretty well eaten into. He calculates that that
dead buffalo with its hoofs turned up to the sky
had been browsing thereon. The owner of the
brute mourns over it a great deal more than the planter
does. To have croton s growing about anywhere with-
in the reach of cattle or horses is rather dangerous.
I know of a planter who lost his horse, by its
eating a mouthful of croton seed, which it snatched
oft' a tree in passing. It made the misfortune
all the worse to bear that he had sold the horse,
and the animal was to have left the estate that
day for its new owner.

As to Coffee, I see, that the black-bug is again
appearing on it, and this too on the best trees
which had been left with the hope of getting a
little therefrom. Ah ! it 's a heart-break. I like
your cheery cry, Mr. Editor, that those who keep
up tlieir coffee will in due time be rewarded !
Yet I know of some coffee which has been pampered
and petted, treated in season and out of season
in the most handsome manner, and that almost up
till now, and when you look at the results, — well,
you want a lot of faith' to believe in that bright
future. I suppose we will be trying to grow it by-and-
bye as an ornamental shrub, a sort of thing to
point out to a visitor from liome, a plant with a
history.

JVL\ 1, 1886.]

THE TROPfCAL AGRICULTURIST.

I hear rather good accounts of Kerr's Rollers. The
hitch in the manufacture has been got over and
the difficulties which until lately existed in getting
a machine have been altogether removed. The
price too is moderate (E350) and in the hands of
the new manufacturers there should bo no delay in
placing them on the market. A rival engineer who
saw one lately had only one fault to find with
the m — they were too cheap. That, as I take it, is
not likely to prove a fault in the eyes of in-
tending purchasers, and if that really be the only
objection, I should say that Mr. Kerr has a chance
before him of making up in some measure for the
worry he had in connection with his first
roller. I understand that a charge of 100 lb. of
withered leaf can be rolled off by coolies in 40 to
50 minutes or by water-wheel in hulf-an-honr.

PRPPERCORN.

NEW MARKETS FOR CEYLON TEA.

What Mr. Rutherford mentions in his letter
(page 18) about " Rings " in New York buying up
Indian teas and reshipping them to sell in London
at aprolit, was experienced also in the more dis-
tant Melbourne market to the natural disgust of
the Calcutta Syndicate. We quite agree that the
best means of checkmating such operations on the
part of " Rings " or merchants opposed to a
change in the present course of trade, would
be to get at the country retailers or the
consumers and to show them how they can
obtain equally cheap teas of far better quality
than the " posts and rail " stuff now seen in
" the bush " in Australia, or the adulterated green
teas of Japan chiefly used in America. Mr. C. M.
Henry who knows a good deal about the tea
business in Victoria, shewed very clearly in the
letter we published in our issue of the 25th inst.
how this can best be done in the Southern Col-
onies. If a Tea Syndicate can be formed under
the auspices of the Ceylon Planters' Association,
and a reliable as well as smart man of business
acquainted with the Australian tea trade em-
ployed to travel through the Colonies — the
country towns especially — no doubt a considerable
impression would be made, and a new demand
created for wholesome good tea. Perhsips this work
could best be done in conjunction with the Calcutta
Syndicate and their Melbourne Agents, and as to
this the Phinters' Association will do well to
inquire. We call attention to what our Tasmanian
correspondent has to say today about small boxes.

In reference to the United States and Canada,
we feel sure that no better means of checking
and overcoming the opposition can be found than
through the employment of Mr. J. L. Shand as
lecturer and reporter. America is the country of
" Rings " pur excellence. The latest develop-
ment is that which renders cattle -raising in
the far West uuprofitable, because all the
Chicago " beef buyers " have established a
" Ring" not to compete with each other for
the cattle sent for sale there. New York is
esi^ecially the head and centre of the trade in
Japan and China teas. All are distributed
from that trading capital, save what San Francisco
gets by sea to distribute through California and along
the North Pacific Coast. Now to defeat the New
York " Ring," we must get at the tea-retailers in
the surrounding States and their distributing
towns, and not only at the retailers, but at the
heads of families and we know of no better
means of reaching the American intelligence than
by Ip^tiir,--; such as Mr. Shand could so well

arrange for and deliver. Mr. Ruthei'ford in,
right in referring the organisation of this matter
as a duty incumbent on the Planters' As-
sociation aud we hope that an early oppor-
tunity will be taken of considering it. We
found the greatest possible interest taken ia
Toronto in our Ceylon tea industry and
Alderman Lobb of that city — a leading resident —
was prepared to become agent for Ceylon teas
and to do his best to j)romote their acceptance
and consumption throughout the Dommion. At
that time (April 1-*81:) the tea market in London was
too good — and the Ceylon supply too limited — to
make " new markets " an object of much practical
interest. The case now is rather different and
just as we lectured in Toronto with the result of
interesting a circle of well-known citizens there,
so sliould we like to see Mr. J. L. Shand dis-
coursing on the merits of Ceylon teas (with, if
possible, practical illustrations for matter-of-fact
householders and housewives) in the towns of New
England and at any rate the Northern division of
the Central and Western States. It is perhaps
too much to expect that the jieople of the Southern
States from New Orleans to St. Louis and from
Richmond to Kansas should give up their favorite
coffee. But among the numerous town and agric-
ultural population. West and North of Wasliing-
ton, New York and Boston, we feel confident that
there is the grandest opening for the introduction of
ihe wholesome, superior teas of India and Ceylon that
can be found anywhere on the world's surface. The
entire population of Australasia is not equal
to that of one of the rising American States, and
moreover, the surplus population of Europe keeps
pouring into the region we refer to, going to
swell the host of coffee drinkers although many of
them have been accustomed in the (still) United
Kingdom to drink nothing but tea. We travelled
across from Yokohama to San Francisco, with
a gentleman who was pointed out to be the largest
buyer (and best judge of) Japan teas for the
American market, and he freely confessed to the
artificial facing and adulteration o£ their green
teas, saying tea-drinkers would have them so pre-
pared to their taste. But there is a vast pro-
portion of the people who have no such
taste and who therefore do not drink tea at
all in America, because they cannot get that
quality to which they have been accustomed in
Ireland, England and Scotland. With such Mr.
Shand should find ' little difficulty in persuading
them to become not only drinkers but upholders
of the good qualities of our teas, so soon as they
learned where they were to be obtained ; and so
by degrees we should have also the bad taste for the
adulterated green teas of Japan superseded even
among native-born Americans.

THE TESTING OF KEROSENE OIL.

A correspondent writes: — "Having heard of kero-
sene lamps exploding in tea houses and also that
there is a tremendous amount of bad oil being
sold, I write to enquire if Government tests all
the oils that arrive, and if so whether by the
open or close test. I send you a little information
on the subject as unhappily very little is known
about it. In Ceylon, it ?eenjs, kaiosene or refined
pelroleunr is the principal product of the distill-
ation of petroleum, crude American yielding 50 to
70 per cei;t of Its weight. A similar product is
obtained from bituminous shale in the south of
Scotland. Good lamp oil should have a tolerably
high boiling point, behig neither too viscous nor too
volatile. In addition to the density, the temper-,
ature at which kerosene commences to give off

fd

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July i, 1886.

1 illaniinable vapour is important and was made
IIP standard of test in both thf Petroleum Acts of
I >71 and l.sTi) and was called tlie oil rtashin;,'
loint. The 1871 act adopted tlie open test whicli
"vas found inaccurate, while the 1879 Act describes tiie
.lose test so minutely that it is practical and
workable.

" Cold kerosene oil of good quality will not take
lie when a light is applied nor will the supev-
latant vapour inflame. The flashing point Ly the
i;s71 Act was limited to not le.ss than 100° F.
whereas th(> 1S79 Act shows and has lixed it at
not less than* 73' P. r- D. 22.7 C. Now the
I'urning point may be 10' or 20° liigher and the
two mu'^t not be confounded, as oils when spilled
will ignite instantly on the approach of a flame
,vhen heated a degree or two above their Hash-
ing point. Now experiment shows that an oil
flashing at 8Ct" by open test and burning at 107°
can be made to liash at 100' by removing 6 to
7 per cent by distillation, on the other hand a
small admixture of Naphtha will reduce them
greatly. Water -white oil is the best brand I know
of, it has a flashing point of 140° F. and over,
accompanied by a low specific gravity. The par-
tial exhaustion of the U. S. supply has necessitated
a larger use of Canadian oil, which is heavier,
hence the greater density of that recently im-
ported. The heavier and more viscous oils re-
quire a more loosely woven wick for their satis-
factory consumption. The N. Y. Produce Exchange
lias adopted the test and limit as described iii
Act of 1879 for export oil test to England."

IN SEARCH OF A HOME IN TASMANIA.
{By " Old Coloimt," F. R. C. I.)

illE FRUITFUL DISTRICT ©F FKANKMN — THE GRAND
HUOX ROAD— GREAT EUCAJ^YPTS AND PINES — A COACH

AND FIVE SPANKERS THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE —

FR.\NKLIN TOWNSHIP — IN THE FIELDS : THE ODOUR

OF OLD FAVORITES ORCHARDS AT £100 PER ACRE —

A JA.M FACTORY — TIIE FIRST SHIPMENT OF CEYLON
TEA TO HOB ART.

"AVhatever fruits in different climes are found,
That proudly rise, or humbly court the ground ;
Whatever blooms in torrid tracts appear,
Whose bright succession decks the varied year ;
Whatever sweets salute the Northern sky
With vernal lives that blossom but to die ; —
These here disporting own the kindred soil,
Nor ask luxuriance from the planter's toil."

No one is supposed to have seen Tasmania who
has not visited the fruitful district of Franklin.
One might as well talk of having seen Ceylon
without having done Dimbula. Franklin— named
after the celebrated Sir John — lies S. W. from
Hobart, (50 miles by water or 30 by land, and
is famous for its fruits and valuable forests. The
climate is decidedly damp, the yearly rainfall
being ii'A inches against 19 at the Botanical Gardens,
Hobart. The soil as a rule is very good, but the
lay of the land being rugged and rocky, it is reck-
oned unfit for general agriculture. Admirably adapted
for fruit-growing however, and as yet, free from
codlin moth.

The magnificent road leading to Franklin —
for the Huon — is one of the chief lions of the
south-side oi the island. "Have you seeia the
Huon Road ?" is the usual query put to the
new-comer by fair Hobartina, when she makes her
formal call. A certain clement of danger seems
necessary to give zest to the enjoyment of travel-
ling. The Huon Road has not so many awkward
zig-zags as the old Ramboda Pass, but more break-
neck gullies, and i:)leasant surprizes in the shape
of lovely peeps by the wayside. A ratthng good

an d the
hill. On
the roni-

coach leaves Hobart every morning drawn by five
spanking horses. Mr. Froude, in his " Oceana"
expresses his diappointment with Melbourne horses,
thinks them decidedly " a scratch lot " and surmises
that the best may be away in Hobart with their
owners during the hot season. But the fact is, it
takes the eye a little time to become accustomed
to the Australian horse : he is less compact and
graceful than the English or Arab horse, but has many
good qualities, and there can be no question that the
gum-sucker is an admirable whip. Talk of horses
and you at once rouse the dormant enthusiasm of
young Tasmania, and rise in his estimation. To
thoroughly enjoy a ride like this, one would cert-
ainly require a driver in whom they could place
implicit confidence. The first few miles of the
road are well-known to all who have done Mount
Wellington, and is daily being traversed by picnic
parties, whose destination may be the fern tree
bowers. A charming view of Hobart
Derwent is obtained as we ascend the
the right, some hundred feet below, is
antic cascade hollow, in which is pointed out that
excellent institution " The Training School " for
boys, so admirably managed by Mr. Longmore
an indefatigable young Aberdonian, and born
manager of boys. A little further up the hollow
is the Cascade Brewery, an institution which
if less admirable, is probably quite as much ap-
preciated. We soon arrive at the finger-post
pointing towards Wellington's pinnacle, and pass in
succession fern-tree bower, and fern-tree inn, and
onwards we go at the rate of 9 or 10 miles an
hour, now holding in our breath as the horses
turn the awkwardly acute angles, and cannot help
thinking how a little bridging would have saved
much road-making, and the nerves of many an
old gent. These deep dark gullies are no doubt
very pretty, and very interesting, but I doubt if
the best way to enjoy them is riding in a coach
and five and, I confess, I breathe much more
freely when we get upon a tolerably straight bit
of road, from whence we can have peeps of the
distant channels. A fine view of Adventure Bay
(where Cook landed) is^to be had from here.

The little clearings themselves are not encouraging
examples of the petit culture. Fruit, potatoes and
grain are grown in a half-hearted sort of way,
amongst the dead gum trees, which like gaunt
skeletons extend their bleached arms from a height
of 250 feet and upwards ; their colossal trunks
measuring from 50 to 80 feet round. What pigmies
men look while perched on a scaffold ringing one
of these gigantic denizens ! The Eucahjtus amyg-
dalina may indeed be allowed to rank amongst
the largest trees in the world : the celebrated
Lady Franklin's tree is 107 feet in circumference at
four feet from the ground, and other trees are pointed
out with boles capable of holding a party of 15 or 20,
and Sir John is remembered to have once attended
service held in the bole of one of those trees I
The most valuable tree, however, in this part of the
world is the Huon pine, Dncri/diitm Franklini, which
is restricted to this island, and most abundant in
this locality. An extensive trade is now carried
on in this fine wood, used for boat-building, house
furniture, and anything for which oak is used in
England ; it is very durable, and in the hands of
the cabinet-maker takes on a beautiful polish.
I am afraid to trust myself to express exactly
what I think of the unmitigated vandalism which
destroys those fine trees for the jDurpose of dibbling
a few potatoes or scratching in a few grains of
oat-seed ; and yet the poor immigrant— driven back
from the agricultural land — is not to blame, but
no langurtge is strong enough or gibbeting bad
enough for the men who have idiotically

July h iB86s]

THE "rmpiCAL Ai^mcuL'^anmT,

ii

bartered away the millions of acres of purely
agricultural land in this island. B^or the vulgar
cry in England of restoring the land to the
peoijle, I have no sympathy. Landed, or any other
property honestly acquired, must be respected, but
to speak of ' conjiscatioii ' as applied to the recovery
of the agricultural lands of Tasmania is a contemjjt-
ible misuse of language. The shady transactions
by which these lands were alienated will not bear
light, and the sooner light is brought forcibly to
bear upon them the better. A thousand pities
that a valuable island like this was not retained
as a Crown Colony, or united to Victoria until
able to walk circumspectly alone.

Near the 2ith mile-post from Hobart we reach
theHuon, — a dark and dismal-looking water, crossed
here by a fine bridge, at one end of which is a
good hospitable little hotel, and here roads branch
otif to Port Cygnet on the one hand, and up
the riverside to Victoria on the other. A pleasant
drive of seven miles more brings us to Franklin,
the iJrincipal township of the locality, situated on
the banks of the black sluggish river. Franklin
is by no means a cheerful spot, .showing but few
signs of life, and, like too many other townshi2)3
of Tasmania, seems to have begun to decay ere
it reached a tithe of the dimensions anticipated by
the sanguine surs'eyor who traced its stately streets on
paper. There are two comfortable hotels — where much
hospitality is received at very little cost — which
is more tlaan one can say at most places,
two unattractive little churches, two miscellan-
eous (very) store.s where haberdashery and honey,
silk sashes and soft soap, gold bracelets and galvanized
iron barrows may be bought at the same counter; but
the general aspect of the place is not inviting,
and I am soon fain to seek the suburb of the
village in ho)ies of finding something more attractive,
nor was I disappointerl. The climb up a rough
lane was both exhilarating and inspiring. Suri^rised
and delightt'ii, I was too, to see so many of tke
Old World fiivourites growing wild around me.
The air was laden with the scent of white clover;
soon it chan:;"<l, for the white gown-like flowers
on which I iiod, were nothing else than camomile,
(the vuiitabk rnmowi/ne o' my dear auld mither) ;
and yonder i aLhery bush is Soiitlierincoud, to be
sure; lost M.:n./, too, like dockons, and mint,
horehound, Ihyme and marjoram, all wasting
their fragrance on this desert air ; while tlie bells
o' bonuie blue, deck the dykes and the whins
and sweet briar still struggle for the mastery:^
" And golden rods, aud tausy ruuiiiug high,
That o'er tlii', pale top smiles on passer-by ;
Flowers in uiy time, that everyoue would praise
Though thrown, like weeds, from gardens uow-
a-days."

All this is very delightful and unexpected. It
is only when I come to the more prosaic orchard
that my feelings of dismay and disappointment
return. Coffee in its darkest days was never so
rudely treated as these poor fruit trees, which
seem so willing to do their best, and yet few
things more amuse me than the conceit of the
crude cultivators. The cooly used to say : " Tamil
teriyadu oonum teriyadu," meaning, I daresay,
that the man who knows not Tamil, knows nothing.
The Tasmaa is equally decided in his opinion
that the new-comer must necessarily be an ignoramus.
Armed witli an introduction to an orchardist
who had advertised his garden for sale, I pro-
ceeded at oiice to critically inspect his property,
but it was easy to see that if I did not over-
value his piactical cultivation, he did not over-
estimate my experience ; if I made awkward
allusions to surface weeds, grass, yellow leaves,
dead tipti and falleu apples, lie waa ready to i

overawe me with dissertations on the mysteries
of budding and grafting; and while I attempted
to make commonplace remarks on the hopeless
state of the strawberry beds, or jungle of rasps
and brambles, he spoke eloquently of the delicious
flavour, and the tons per acre, " them paddocks "
produced. But to business, "What is your lowest
figure for cash down ?" " £100 per acre " " £100 !
Why I could buy virgin forest for £2 per
acre." " Yes and it would cost you £90 to
clear out them stones and roots." But I do not
consider it neceosary to clear out stones and roots
for the purpose of fruit growing. A look of
withering scorn was the reply to this, enough to
daunt the boldest V. A. and no further attempt at
business was nuade, though— as I have often said
of the Ceylon planter of 1873-4— it would be very
interesting to ascertain upon what basis ho framed
his valuation.

I observe that in most cases the cultivation of
small fruits is Jjeing abandoned here, the price
(;ls Id per lb.) realised at the Jam Factory being
insullicient to pay for the gathering ; the great
staple being now apples, the crops of which are
quite as heavy as in the best parts of the Derwent
Valley, and as yet they are free from the codlin
moth, which the oichardists confidently attribute
to their wet climate ; but as I have seen the
ruinous effects of this pest in districts of the
island where the rainfall exceeds even that of
Franklin, I hope there is something else to account
for this immunity.

Being now in the neighbourhood of what is
stated to be the principal .Jam Factory of Tasmania
I had a desire to inspect the establishment. "You
need not trouble yourself, " said my friend the
apple planter, " strangers are not admitted," and
on knocking at the gates the manager frankly told
me "it was against their rules." However, after
eyeing mc from head to foot, and satisfying him-
self I did not look like one of those newspaper-
writing-fellows, he admitted me. I feel now almost
sorry he did, for I do not like to seem ungrateful
or to betray contidence, but one has a duty to-
wards their neighbours at large, and Jam is a
very important article on the breakfast table of
the Anglo-Indian. I am not satisfied with this
Jam Factory. To speak plainly, it is no factory at
all. Merely a rcccivinfj houne, and a very dirty one.
The immense quantities of small fruit smell like a
pulp heap, as they are pitched into large casks,
and the only curing they got here, is a bit of burning
brimstone, the fumes of which are blown into the
bung hole ! This may for a time effectually prevent
decomposition or the growth of fungi, and if anyone
thinks that it sufficiently preserves the colour, flavour,
and wholesomeness of the fruit, he is at liberty
to do so. In this state it is shipped to Mel-
bourne in order to save the heavy protection duties
imposed by our big sister, and best customer,
Victoria. In Melbourne, the mess is boiled with
sundry additions, duly labelled and sent out to the
world as "Finest Tasmanian Jam:'" Try it, — and com-
pare with Moir or Keillor. I have no object in
advertising either, but the comparison may be inter-
esting as showing the difference between Free
Trade Jam and Itcciprocity Jam.

Thk First Suipmkxt of Ceylon Te.^ reached
Hobart a fortnight ago and has all been sold at
Is 8d (in bond). There is no mark on the chests,
not even the weight, and the quality is rather a
dusty P. S. though it liquors better than the
atrocious stuff in common use here, which reminds
one of ^Itip or Waverley Hotel tea. If the peo-
jile here excel in anything it is in tea drinking!
I have never seen anything approaching to it.
It 'i tea to breakfast, dinner and suppev. Tea wiien

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[JUL^

1886.

you call at any hour of the day or night and
when friends take a walk for a couple of miles
or so, they almost invariably carry the everlast-
ing tea-kettle. I should think 10 lb. per caput per
annum would scarely suffice here. The Chinese
have the trade simply because they take the trouble
to get the tea up in nice little boxes to suit the
market. The Ceylon chests were all said to be
95 lb. though really 92 was the weight of the
one I purchased. Few families care to take 90 lb.
at once and to break up and divide, costs money.
Mind you, labour is labour in a colony where the
poorest creaturs^will rather go to the invalid hospital
than take less than 6s 6d for 8 hours' dawdling.

BRITISH NOKTH BOENEO.

The British North Borneo Herald for 1st May
has reached us, and proves an interesting number
as our extracts show. The chief paper is on "the
Climate of British North Borneo," a Beport by J. H.
Walker, Esq., m.d., Principal Medical Officer. This is
an instrvictive and business-like account, though with
the comparatively short experience and insufficient
meteorological and other data, the conclusions
drawn can only be provisional. We read :—

The climate of British North Borneo is noticeable
for nothing more than for its equability and the
absence of extremes. The Temperature, Rainfall,
Winds, Natural Phenomena generally and the
diseases arc, for a tropical country, of the most
mild and temperate types.

Monsoons and Winds. — The Monsoons are the
North-East and the South-West. The North-East
Monsoon commences about the middle of October
and continues till about the middle of April. The
South-West Monsoon lasts from about the middle
of April till the middle of October.

Rainfall, etc.— The Amiual Rainfall near the
coast, according to the records kept has during
the last seven years ranged from 156'9 to 10126
inches and has averaged 124 34. The true Wet
season occurs in the North-East Monsoon and in-
cludes the months of November, December and
January, and generally part of either October or
February or both. The true Dry season immediately
follows this true wet season and includes March
and April and generally the whole of May and
part of February.

Temperature. — The temperature recorded at the
coast has ranged between the extremes of 67'5 and
94'5. Until within the last few months however
these records have been taken from thermometers
kept m the shade of a verandah — with the excep-
tion of Kudat where there was a thermometer shade
two years since, and little or no inferences can be
drawn from the records there as the meteorological
station is on a sandy plain, the temperature of
which is several degrees above that of the
country generally. Judging from the results of
the observations at Bandakan since the proper
shade was erectf d I think the minimum record.s fairly
wftll represetit the truth, while the maximum records
are from two to three degrees over the true "temperature
in the shade,"

The ahpence of Ternadoes, Cyclones, and Earth-
quakes is to be noted. The only indication
of the existence at the present day of volcanic action
is the report of a hot spring- in au island near the
Coast. In i-ome individual parts the South-west mon-
soon is by far the most uuhealthj', and this is e.s-
peeially noticable at Kudat and Silara, where during
the South-west monsoon fever is prevalent and rather
severe, while during the North-east it is mild and at
Kudat now almost absent. At these stations the evil
influence in the South-west monsoon is undoubtedly
the stronger winds which, blowing over the whole of
Borneo, reach these places laden with the impurities
collected from swamps, &;c., in their passage; while
Sandakan is protected from this influence by the
purifying effects of the bay, over which the South
VWi wiods h»ye toeirpep ioi a distance of come Sfteeo

miles before reaching the town, and consequently at
that station there are no clearly defined healthy and
unh'^althy seasons as at the two others mentioned.

The CHiEi" DISEASES to be considered undor this head arc
Fever, Beriberi and Dysentery. In addition to these s,
few lines will be given to Anaemia and Sunstroke. Bei-i-
bcri occupies a far more important position in the list
of diseases of Borneo than would be gathered from
the small proportion it forms in the table in the
appendix (only 1-75 per cent of the diseases treated) ;
partly on account of the high rate of mortahty it
gives and partly on account of the extent to which
it has already interfered with planting. It has broken out
in each of the plantations opened in the rivers in Sanda-
kan Bay and has claimed its quota of victims not
only ill these — Sigaliud, Domoondong, Suanlamba and
to a less extent SapHgaya — but also in the native village
of Malapi, at the Birds-nest caves at Gomantou, among
some of the parties of Dyaks collecting produce on
the upper waters of the Segama and to some extent on
the island of Banguey. This disease generally appears al-
most in the form of an epidemic and is generally
closely restricted both to the locality and the race
among whom it first appears. The cases enum-
erated in the appendix were chieHy drawn from
the various rivers in the bay (patients sent to
Sandakan for treatment,) but include also a few
sporadic cases that appeared in the low-lying ground
in Sandakan, and a few cases in the commence-
ment of the recent outbreak in the old gaol here.
The cause of this obscure disease is as yet un-
certain ; some ascribe it to the food, more especi-
ally to bad rice and lish, and there is no doubt
that a generous diet has a strong curative iniiuencc
on the disease ; but on the whole, from its many
analogies with Malarial fever and the strict localis-
ation of the disease, I am more inclined to the view
that is due to a specific maisma or exhalation
from the soil. There are two distinct forms of
the disease, and I think it not improbable that
these may ultimately prove to be distinct diseases.

The Indian races on the whole stand the climate
well. The Sikhs and Bengalees have attacks of fever,
colic, constipation and ocoasioually shght dysentery,
but there have been but few deaths among them ;
one or two from fever, one from heart disease, one
from opium smoking, one from chronic neglected
dysentery and one sudden death, cause unknown. The
Klings are also fairly healthy here but like others
have occasional attacks of fever and in two cases
Beri-beri. The Sinhalese who were brought here for
the survey department suffered severely from fever
and its results. The Chinese are the only race that can
be said to be decidedly unhealthy in this climate and even
of them this can be said only of those fresh from
China and sent to work in the Jungle before they
arc acclimatized. Men such as those contribute more
than half of all the deaths registered in Sandakan,
succumbing chiefly to Fever, Beri-beri and Anteumia with
ulcers. The Dyaks from Sarawak have excellent health
in British North Borneo.

Sanitaria.— In the future when the country gets
opeued up there will bo compariitively little diffic-
ulty in forming Sanitary stations on the hills near
the West ('oast. Probably the best site will be
found on some of the spurs of Kinabalu, such as
that described by St. John on the West-North-West
spur, where, at an elevation of some r),000 to 6,000
feet, on a good site to which a road could
easily be made, is be found good water and an average
temperature of 75° at midday, 03° at sunset, and
56 ° at sunrise. At Bode Silam also on the East
Coast it IS possible that a site may be found at an
elevation of some 2,000 feet, but this would probably
prove much less satisfactory, not only on account
of the smaller elevation, but also because from the
isolated nature of the hill there would probably be
dilticulties about road, water-supply and shelter from
the wind. 2. — At present, in default of such sani-
taria, 1 find the short sea voyage from this to Singa-
pore and back has a most powerful recuperative effect
in convalescence from sickness. The voyage to Hong-
kong is not found so satisfactory iu such cases, as
(be trau^iticu of climate is 69 i'»pid, aud, though

|uLY t, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST-

13

the distant effects may be good, the immediate effect
is to stir up any seeds of fever and other disease
that may be latent in the system and cause an
outburst of the disease.

We make further extracts as follows :—

Count Gei.oes d'Elsi.oo, the first Netherlander to
take upland in Biitish North Borneo, described m the
Java papers as " The land of promise," left Staidakau
for Singapore on the night of the S^d April by the
S. S. " Bauca." Count Geloes, who whs the Governor's
guest during his short stay, appeared -much pleased
and somewhat surprised at the liberal lines on which
the (Government of this territory is carried on ns com-
pared with the Dutch regime in the magniticient
Netherlands Possesions in these seas. He was more
amused than pleased with the freedom of intercourse
existing between the Europeans and the Chinese,
yulus, Malays and other nationalities. The Count
obtained on favourable terms the lease for 999 years of
2G,000 acres of land ip the vicinity of the Kanow river
in i\Iarudu Bay, making, with the 4,000 acres already
taken up by his agent Mr. Persyn, a total acreage of
30,000 acres. He also made certain propositionsj which
have been forwarded for the cousideration of the
Court of Directors, for the coucession of Mineral right
on the Segama river.

Tobacco in Noeth Boenko. — The Dutch Count'
Geloes d'Elsloo visited the Suan Lambar Estate of the
Chinese Sabah Laud Farming Company, and is said to
have formed a high opinion of the ijiutlitij of the to-
bacco. It appears that oiie leaf of tobacco from the
Bauguey Estate had found its way to Java, which did
not stand the burning test, whereas the Suan Lambar
tobacco wa8 demonstrated to burn beautifully. Surely
it must be to tbe advantage of Planters that their
numbers in this country should bo increased, with the
result of better communication, cheaper supply of
labour, attaps, and so forth, and it is difficult to un-
derstand how the solitary bad leaf found its way to
Java. On the 13th April the Chinese Sabah Land
Farming Company had ready packed 110 bales of 117
pouiuls of tobacco each, and are only waiting for mats
to pack the remainder of their crop of about 430
pikuls. It seems that a large quantity of the mats
procured by the Manager had been destroyed by rats.
We learn that the German Borneo Company, Banguey,
have 50 bales of tobacco ready for shipment by the
S. S. " Paknam " in about a fortnight's time.

Timber in North Borneo, — Mr. E. E. Abrahamson
has converted his business as a Timber Merchant into a
Company under the stylo of E. E. Abrahamson & Co.
The principal works of the Company at present are on
the right bank of the Dumoundong river in Sandakan
Bay, an hour and a half by steam launch from San-
dakan, where permission to fell over 100 acres of
Government Forest land has been acquired. A visit to
the locality would well repay any person who has not
had previous experience of the way in which heavy
timber is brought out of the jungle with a motive
power of Chinese and Malay coolies only. Biljian of
excellent quality abounds, also large quantities of
Sirayah (cedar) and some Camphor. About 30
rough tracks have been made up the small valleys
separating the undulating slopes and on these are
laid crossways from side to side wooden spars, at
distances of three to four feet, on which a sledge made
of billian, and kept well greased with tallow by men
running alongside, is hauled by Chinese or Malay
coolies. On this sledge heavy logs of billian 30 to 40
feet long are transported to the river, where they are
made up in rafts with light timber to float them off to
the ship. At the present time some 1,000 tons of wood
are ready for shipment including one raft of 400 tons
of Sirayah. The timber is as a rule squared by Chinese
at so much a foot, the Malays not being handy with
the large squaring axes. About 60 to 70 Brunei Malays
are engaged on monthly wages and on pieee work in
one part of the ground and in another about 30 Chinese,
who work entirely on contract, providing their own
tools, rope and other requisite appliances. Ou the
score of cost Mr. Abrahamson says there is little to
choose betweeu tbe Malay and Chinese coolies.

Gold in North Borneo.— Mr. H. Walker returned
from the Segama on the 9th April with Mr. Ah
Chee, leaving Captain Beeston to prosecute his re-
searches further up the river, where he will be accom-
panied by Mr. Callaghan of Silam. It appears that
Captain Bueston is of opinion that the alluvial below
Sabandar Pungut's Oainpong is not rich enough to pay
working, but above that the river working will pay
Chinese and Malays well for some time to come, its
richness improving as the river is ascended. The gold
is confined to the bed of the stream, beiug continually
washed down from the sources or the upper waters, so
that in all probabiUty the ground will take a long time
to work out. Mr. Ah Chee appears much pleased with
what he saw and intends to commence operations at once.

New Products.— Kef.rring to the paragraph in out-
last is.sue to the effect that the Government had
allowed a grant of §1,000 for the purpose of encour-
aging the planting of gambler and pepper we are
informed that the Chinese of Kudat have promised
to contribute a like sum tor the said purpose. Eesi-
dent Davies must feel gratified at this proof of the
confidence placed in him by the Chinese community.

We hear that sport is good round Kudat just at
present. Ou the llth of April, Mr. G. L. Davies shot a
large boa-, his head being 22 inches long. On the
13th April Messrs. Davies, and Wheatley were out
again, when the former's dogs, brought a fine young
Buck across the road within 20 yards of them. The
den- fell with an express bullet placed just behind his
shoulder by Mr. Davies, and with another shot in the
stomach fiom Mr. Wheatley. Ou the same evening a
native also shot a fine young Buck.

We hear that the results of the Tawarau expeditiou
have even exceeded the expectations formed by the
Resident Mr. G. L. Davies, and that fifty-two villages
have tendered their allegiance to the Government, and
agreed to give up head-hunting. To show that they
really mean it, they have already sent in part of the
Poll Tax, which would be due from them in about
one month's time.

Gaya Sago Factory has been shewing greater acti-
vity during the past quarter. 500 piculs of Sago Flour
having been shipped to Singapore. A change oi man-
agement has recently taken place which will probably
act beneficially.

BuKiT MiNDALONG.— Would not this fine mountain
be a good point at which to form a Sanitarium, if
one is ever contemplated, lying, as it does, an easy
distance from the Coast, on the true right bank of
the river Sayap, an affluent of the Tampassuk in the
true right bank of the latter, — easily approached up
the levell Tampassuk valley, and offering any elev-
ation up to 8,000 and 10,000 feet? The word " Sayap,'.
it may be added, is Illanun for the pointed, plaited-
straw hat, worn by the Dustms, and is synonymous
with the Bajau "•' Sadok," the Brunei "Sirahun,"
and the Dusun " Siong." The Sayap valley owes its
designation to a lofty, peaked mountain at its head.

In Consequence of the expedition against Pen-
assan and Sirambutan, some fifty four villagers have
signified their wish to come under tho flag of the
ComiDany. The country may be said to be quieted down
up to the banks of Kinabahi. This is a gratifying
result to have been achieved with so little bloodshed,
aud it is to be hoped the head-hunting Hydra has
been scotched, if not altogether killed.

The Hon. Ealph Abercromby tra\elling round
the world, gives his impressions of North Borneo,
and states among other things :—

There is not the slightest doubt that the soil and
climate of British North Borneo are eminently suited
to the culture of valuable big loaf tobacco. Two
plantations are already started in Eanguey and the
first samples arc now ready for market.

Ou the whole Sandakan seemed to bo a very little
hotter than Singapore, damper but not so hot as
Colombo, much less baking than Port Louis in
Mauritius, and greatly less trying than SavainFiji.

A well-known Ceylon Colonist Mr. L. B. von
Donop, was acting for Colonial Secretary during
the absence of Mr. Malcolm Browo and we real

H

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July i,»i886/

the Goveruor has been pleased to appoint INIr. John
Robertson of the Land Ofl5cc to act as Superinten.
dent of Public Works during the absence on leave
of Mr. J. Sampson.

CINCHONA CULTIVATION AND SYNTHETICAL
MANUFACTUBE OF QUININE.

We are indebted to the correspondent who writes
to us as follows — and we feel sure he is right
i)i his conclusions on tlie subject : —

" The enclosed advertisement appears in the last
Lancet. If quinine can be produced by synthesis
it will be a bad look-out for cinchona growers :—

' Synthetical Manufacture of Quinine. — A Syndicate
is now being formed for the above purpose. Capital
£50,000. As the medical profession are almost the sole
users, it is proposed to confine the interest to them —
Particulars by post (stamp), M.D., 50a. Lincoln's -inn-
fields.'

Wo arc certainly living in wonderful times, and the
progress of science will before long alter the inter-
ests of many industries. I always thought the
chemists would have a shot at the artificial
manufacture of quinine, and perhaps their efforts
have had some effect in keeping down the price
of the article. The former high price no doubt
■set many minds thinking how it would be done,
but I doubt the feasibility of the proposal as all
efforts hitherto to produce expensive alkaloids arti-
ficially have ended in failure in a commercial point
of view. What has been the result of the artificial
production of indigo ! "

TJbe marvellous cheapening of quinine by the
successful cultivation of cinchona in the East
operates against the usual inducement to manu-
facture by chemists, and, as our correspondent
says, the " synthetical manufacture," long ago
announced, of other products. Indigo for example,
has not so far been very successful.

THE GOVERNMENT ENTERPEISE IN JAVA.

REPORT lOB THK IST QUAKTER OF 1886.

(Iransiatcdfor the " Ceylon Observer")

During the month of January and the half of Febru-
ary there was comparatively very little rain ; the second
half of the quarter was, on the contrary, very rainy.
The planting out in the field was carried on unin-
terruptedly during this quarter. The young plant-
ations thrive generally very well and rapidly develop,
which is to be attributed to the selection of fine robust
plants. At Nagrak the young plantations were subjected
to an attack of grasshoppers( locusts?) which caused some
damagp. The results of the harvest of 1885 was des-
patched to Batavia at the end of January. It amounted
to 432,718 half-kilograms of bark pacfcftd in 1,008
chests and 2,023 bales. The harvest of 1886 is as yet
very small, chiefly in consequence of the continued
damp state of the weather, which in many establish-
ments stopped the gathering. On the whole the quant-
ity- collected has been about 40,000 half-kilograms,
almost exclusively obtained by the extremely necessary
tbiuning-out of the closely growing ledgerianas and
succirubras of which 9,794 half-kilograms were sent
to Batavia by the end of March.

For the purpose of securing further data res-
pecting the influence which the succirubra stem
exercises on the graft of ledgeriaua upon it,
samples of bark from grafted branchtvs from
well-known and repeatedly examined parent trees have
been transmitted to chemical examination. From tlicst-
aualysce it eeenis eviduut ibat iu opposition to former

opinions, the succirubra stem acts beneficially on the
ledgeriaua grafted on it as shown by the quantity less
or more of cinchonidiue which is found in the bark
of the ledgeriana, and which is not to be discovered
in the parent ledger trees. The conclusion appcar.s
uoquestiouable.that the yield of cinchonidine increases
with the age of the tree, whatever may be the i.ssue
of future experience. It remains still to be ascertained
whether or not the succirubra stem affects the higher
parts of the ledgeriana grafted on it ; and if it does
so, to what extent? Even should the results cause,
no small degree of disappointm«'nt, still the analyses
show plainly that the graft plantations of Tiitasiiri will
yield a very valuable produce of ledgeriana bark, and
that there does not exist the smallest rea.son for re-
laxing in the application of the system of grafting on
a large scale^ or even for placing any limits to it. The
original ledgerianas, and the graft and cutting plant-
ations at Tirta.sari produced during the last quarter such
a trifling quantity of seed, that up to the present time,
it had not been possible to hold any public sale of
cinchona seed. (Signed) Van Ko.munde,

Director of the Government Cinchona Enterprise.

Bandoeng, 6th April 1886.

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LOWCOUNTEY PLANTING REPORT.
(From an Old Hand.)

MONSOON — COCONUT PLANTING — THE COPRA TE.UJE.

Hapitigam Korale, 25th May ISSC).
The Monsoon oi^ened here on the 17th, and it
has diibbleil daily evei since, with very little
wind, except one fierce squall on the 23rd, that
lasted only a few minutes, but quite long enough
to tear forest trees up by the roots, and scatter
large limbs of jak and other fruit trees in all directions.

This is the proper season to plant Coconuts,
but most of the clearings in this part are some-
what behind, and in some cases the proper tune
may slip away and leave some of us up a tree.
In my own case I was a trifle late, but I am
getting on with lining and holing about 20 acres
of new clearing as fast as the rainy weather will permit.

Within the past ten or twelve years, a vast
improvement has taken place in the management
of Coconut property in this district. A clean
estate was then the exception, it is now the rule.

There are still a few, who stand true to old
ideas ; for instance, there are a few acres of the
best soil in my neighbourhood, that about fifteen
years ago was given out to goiyas and planted.
When they had taken all they could from it, the
land was left without another cent being expended,
the lantana rushed up, and in a couple of years
not one coconut plant remained. At the end of
seven years it was again cleared, again cropped
by goiyas, and again it ran precisely the same
course. It has this season been taken in hand a
third time, and it remains to be seen whether
it will be better cared for on this occasion, than
on the former attempts at cultivation.

On the other hand there appears to me to be
more energy and liberality in some cases than
knowledge of the plant and its requirements. My
idea of Coconut Cultivation can be conveyed in
two words, manure and jjloiigh, and those two
operations should be modified according to the
character and quality of the soil.

Within the past few years a revolution has taken
place in the Copra Trade, ihe local oil mills cannot
comiaete with the export prices, and have had to
close up, but the export trade requires a better
article than the smoked and less than half dried
commodity, that satisfied the local trade. The
copra dealers that used to compete keenly for
the estate crops have not readily accommodated
themselves to the new development, and, in con-
sequence, they are not so prompt to purchase crops,
and nuts accumulate so as to induce proprietors
seriously to consider the expedience of drying
their own copra, and such among them as have
any constructive talent are using it in the in-
vention of drying houses to render -themselves
independent of weather and enable them to turn
out a good clean well-dried product that will
take the top of market. I had occasion many
years ago to test the difference between thoroughly
dry copra and that taken to market by native
dealers, and founl that thorough drying brought
1 cwt. to 95 lb to say nothing of the discolour-
ing of the resulting oil by smoking the copra,
to save it from too rapid deterioration, before it
could be sold in its less than half dry state.
In those days, copra rose and fell in price,
according to the supply and the wants of the
mill and chekku owners, but there was no dis-
tinction of qualities. The rise of the export trade
has done much to remedy this state of things,
and the planter has now the chance of being
rewarded for careful preparation, and more or less
perfect drying apparatus will soon be made o«
most etitatea.

i6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July i,-i886.

JAVA AND CEYLON.
Some idea of the difference between Java and
Ceylon in planting enteqjrise may be gathered
from the following particulars taken from a Batavia
newspaper. At a meeting of the Planters' Asso-
ciation of Sukabumie held at that station on the
22nd April Mr. G. F. Mundt, a planter, set forth
his experiences during a recent tour in Ceylon as
regards plantation matters there. He spoke in
hiph praise of the excellence of the roads in that
country which taken on the whole, is un-
suitable for the cultivation of the soil. On
railways in Ceylon there is heavy traffic even
in small produce articles in consequence of the
low freights. The rapid progress and widespread
destructiveness of the coffee disease were mainly
ascribed by him to the unfavourable and stony
nature of "the soil and the gross carelessness shown
in laying out estates. ^Yhat struck him parti-
cularly was the rapidity with which_ in Ceylon
substitutes were found for the declining coffee
arowing industry. The light pressure of taxation
There has thus made it possible for planters to do
what is beyond the reach of their fellows in
.lava. Abroad, people have been astonished at
the enormous quantities of cinchona bark unex-
pectedly thrown upon the market from Ceylon all
at once. Tlie explanation must be sought for
in the hasty planting of cinchona often between
standing coffee trees, or their stumps and in
equally hasty cropping, so that bark is actually
shaved off from small trees barely a few feet
high from below in consequence of eagerness to
make money and take advantage of a rising
market. At the outset, the favourite varieties
were those styled Officinalis and Succirubra, but
latterly great activity has been shewn in cUre-
fullv laying out I.cdgcriana estates with plants
raised from seeds procured in Java, which
found their way to Ceylon in spite of the
hindrances laid in the way of their export from
fear of competition abroad. In Ceylon, tea cultiv-
ation has been taken in hand with not less
thorough-goingness and energy. Within the five
years since that form of cultivation was under-
taken, six hundred thousand rupees w-ovth of tea
seeds were bought in India. This branch of
planting industry also has been carried on with
an overhaste natural under the circumstances.
Deep loosening of the soil, terracing, &c., were
ne"lected. Tea also has been of ten planted among
coffee and occasionally among cinchona as well.
Plucking operations too quickly begun and too
often repeated cannot have a favourable effect
on the life of the plants. In spite of these
drawbacks, the area under tea increased last
year from 13,500 to fully 100.000 acres. Mr. Mundt
held that reports from Ceylon bearing upon estim-
ates of crops are sometimes misleading from a
desire to influence capitalists. In his opinion the
80 millions of pounds of produce expected to be
gathered in within the next few years may be
safely reduced to 2.5 millions, that estimate being
high enough for all practical purposes. There was
also every prospect of tea in the long run f(?eling
the harmful effects of the washing away of the
thin layer of culturable soil loosened by weeding.
Generally speaking Mr. Mundt felt no alarm at
the prospect of Ceylon competition with Java, so
far as regards planting enterprise, but as regards
fiscal burdens and means of transport and the
silver difficulty the balance of advantages was on
the side of Ceylon fr^m hardly any taxation at
all falling on estates. He concluded his observ-
ations by noticing cocoa cultivation in Ceylon -which
yielded 100,000 hundred weights in 1885. This
form of enterprise also bore the mark of the same

eagerness for speedy profits in order soon to re-
turn to Britain with a fortune, which charactei--
ised Ceylon planters generally, and has been all
along a source of harm. Sometimes in this way
shade trees were cut down to secure a larger out-
turn of cocoa with the result that insect pests
grew rife and the trees had to be replanted. —
Straits Times.

[Some of Mr. Mundt''- '"; ^ures, if correctly I'e-
ported, are very wonderful, like the 100,000 cwt,
of cocoa : we have not got to 10,000 yet ; and
who estimated 80 million lb. of tea? In taking
25 millions as the estimate for a few years hence,
Mr. Mundt is merely following the " Ceylon
Directory." We put the export for 1887-8 at 20,-
and for 1888-9 at 30 millions lb. Mr. Mundt is too
hasty in condemning the Ceylon modes of planting,
though his criticism on a few points is deserved — Ed. j

" Market Gardsners " upcountry in Ceylon
ought to be encouraged by the advertisement
which appears regarding the requirements of
the Military Commissariat for Colombo and Mount
Lavinia. Were tlie railway running into Uva,
there would not be the slightest difificulty in re-
ceiving a perennial supply of vegetables of all de-
scriptions and of cheap, good fruit in abundance.
But Nuwara Kliya and Dimbula can do a good deaf.

Japan Tea. — The Japan Herald translates the
following from the Bulila Shinqw : — '-' If the price
of the first tea of this year be compared with that
of last year there is a difference of some $30. The
cause of this diff'erence is the carliness of warm
weather and tea leaves coming out very early in
various districts, especially at Surnga province.
The amount of the new tea transported to Yokohama,
before the 24th instant, when the American mail
left with the first teas, reached 15.000 catties, and
until the Kiyofjaira-marn entered the port with
new tea, the price was about ^70. But just before
the American mail left foreign merchants offered
low prices, and holders afterwards agreed -to sell.
Indeed the first price, is not a real price at all, and
it is usual at the time of the second mail for the
price to fall to about $40. Now in this year the first
tea showed the second price, on account of the
great amount transported to Y'okohama at the time
when the first mail left. Therefore in this year
there may not be any great diff'trence of price at
the time of the second mail.

Coffee in Uva ix the Old Days. — A correspondent
writes as follows : — * * * Eeferring back to old
memories which Mr. Irvine's letter has " brought
to mind," the finest native cofi'ee in all Uva was
grown in the villages behind Ella and about
Leangawelle. (By the way, how few Europeans of
today have seen the site of the old Ella Fort and
the grave of a European officer who died at his
post, name lost and unknown.) This coffee weighed
much heavier than any other coffee in Uva or in
Ceylon : the traders who bought the coffee by
measure and sold it by weight ma'e at least
10 lb. on every cwt. as compared with ordinary
native coffee. I recollect well the wild coffee trees
in the strips of jungle, now the outlying fields
of Broughton estate ; these trees were upwards of
20 feet high and were fully 5 inches in diameter
at the bottom and tapered like a fishing rod, the
villagers used them for rafters. These trees were
not indigenous ; the seed had been carried by wild
animals from the villages and where the forest
shade was not too dense the whole ground was
carpeted with coffee seedlings. When coffee stumps
or plants were required for planting, the coolies
sent for plants were simply told to go and bring a
thousand plants which they easily got, not in the
villages but in the forest. * * *—Cor.

July i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

^7

^orr^spondenoo.

To the Editor of the " Ceylon Observer."

NEW TEA MARKETS.

Madulkelle, 20th May 1886.

Sir, — Mr. Scovell has certainly opened up a sub-
ject which deserves the attention and support of
all tea planters. But while I agvee with him that
it is highly important for us to endeavour to find
fresh outlets for our teas, yet it is my firm belief
we could do more in a given time but perhaps at
a greater cost by endeavouring to cut down retail
dealers' profits and so lower retail prices. If all
grades of tea were lowered in (retail) price at least
from 4d to 6d per lb. I scarcely think there can
be a doubt but that the general consumption would
largely increase — so largely indeed that I think
all our tea would be absorbed for a few
years at least, and this would give us time to
attend to new markets also. I do not think
Ceylon planters can hope to carry out this sort
of work alone ; the co-operation of India must be
sought and if possible obtained ; for the opposing
interests at home are wealthy and influential.
But there is another factor in the future which
tea planters ought most carefully to watch, namely
the price of silver and exchange. If, by any
tinkering legislation at home to give silver a
fictitious and high value, exchange is caused to
rise against us ; a very severe blow will be dealt
at our industry, and not ours only but against all
India ; and there does seem to be a " reasonable
prospect" of some legislation of that kind being
proposed.

Will not Mr. Scovell himself initiate a move-
ment in the matter, through the Association or
otherwise ?— Yours truly, A. M. W.

NEW MARKETS FOR TEA— AUSTRALIA.

Goatfell, 21st May 1886.

Dear Sir, — With the view of supporting Mr.
Scovell's suggestions with regard to the immediate
necessity for some efforts being made to increase
the demand for what is now our staple product,
I beg to offer a few remarks. The subject has
been mooted in your columns before, and a little
has been done towards making known the exist-
ence and quality of Ceylon tea far and wide, but
our efforts seem rather to have slackened of late,
while as yet but very poor results have been
attained.

The passage from Messrs. Gow, Wilson &
Stanton's review quoted by Mr. Scovell will com-
mend itself to all who are in any degree interested
in the matter ; and the question only remains as
to what are the most likely means to ensure the
placing of our teas before the consumer. Mr. Scovell
says the existing channels are capable of expansion,
and this is doubtless true ; but at the same time
there are obstacles, in the shape of trade interests and
inordinate profits, to be removed before those
channels will yield the required expansion. I
believe that in Australia there is a market for
Ceylon tea capable of very considerable development
if properly worked up ; but it must not be left to
the meie efforts of individuals struggling to earn a
livelihood in pushing an article, almost, if not quite
unknown, and this in the face of a well-established
trade in the Chinese rival. Doubtless the Melbourne
E:hib'tion did much to make Ceylon and Ceylon
tea kno'.v.i lo many in the Colonies ; but out of the

many there are probably very few indeed, who have
either seen or heard of Ceylon tea since. Some-
time in 1881 ; I think it was, Mr. Poett wrote
to your columns and pointed out a means of bring-
ing Ceylon tea before the Australian public which
I quite agreed with at the time, and still think is the
most feasible method of securing the desired result ;
viz., to establish travelling agents to sell our tea all
through the country, the more directly to con-
sumers the better. To carry out this plan, capital
would be required in order to sustain the risks attend-
ant upon an undertaking of this nature at the outset.
Tea is looked upon by travellers as one of the
most paying commissions in their line of business,
and it is not to be wondered at, when the re-
tailers consider !kl per lb as no more than a fair
profit. This is one reason why our teas do not
fetch their value in Melbourne, for with China
tea procurable at prices from 6d to Is, and the
low duty of 3d per lb, the selling price to con-
sumers is easily fixed so as to allow the hand-
some margin I have quoted. Dealers will not buy
Ceylon tea at its value, when in order to secure
this high profit, they would have to raise the
price at least Gd pel' lb to the consumer, who
would not give it. But place Ceylon tea of average
quality before the consumer, and he will give 2s
per lb. for it and want the same article next
time. It cannot be done through the dealers,
^as the trade is deeply interested in China
*tea and simply pooh-pooh anything else. I took
samples of good Ceylon Pekoe Souchong to two
dealers in a town in Victoria, both doing a very
considerable business and making tea a speciality.
One said the tea was undrinkable, and the other
valued it at Is 8d. I sold the hulk of it at Is 5d
at auction. The man who condemned it was very
largely interested in China tea, and I am inclined
to think his palate was rather in sympathy with
his interests.

An accredited representative with the ability to
lecture through the country would no doubt achieve
a great deal, and by making Ceylon known as a
field for the investment of capital, he might be the
means of bringing about sr.ch commercial relations
as would inevitably secure the diverting of a portion,
at least, of our produce to the Melbourne mart.
The population of the Colonies is not large, com-
paratively, although it is rapidly extending ; but it
is an eminently tea-drinking population, and it is
certainly worth while making some effort to
establish a demand for our teas in view of the
vast amount of competition which will be ere-
long, and is even now, beginning to be felt in
its effects upon our industry.

Since writing the above I have seen " A. M. W.'s "
letter ; and as our ideas seem to be coincident
as regards the retailers' profits, I feel all the more
justified in putting in my word. There is another
point which I will just touch upon. I don't think
there is much to be gained by a wholesale
vilification of China tea especially in the colonies.
Ceylon tea will easily make its way upon its own
merits, but it is calculated to engender needless
hostility to de(3ry indiscriminately a commodity,
the trade in which, al!fects such large and im-
portant interests. — I remain, sir, vours truly,

GHAS. M. HENRY.

LIBERIAN COFFEE.

Mahaoya Valley, 22nd May 188(i.
Dear Sie, — I send dimonsions taken of three Liberian
coffee* trees growing in the above valley between 6
and 7 years old, and would b'ke to learn if there s^re

i8

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July i, 1886.

any finer specimens to be seen elsewhere :

1st tree measured : — Feet inches.

Height .. ..lis S

Circumfereuce . . 27 G
2ud tree : —

Height . . . . 15 G

Circumfereuce . . 28 G

;ird tree topped at . . 10

Circumference , . 33

— i'ours truly, VISITOR.

NEW TEA MARKETS.

Colombo, 20th May 1880.

,SiR, — Mr. Scovell lias the interests of Ceylon
Toa thoroughly at heart when he advocates ex-
tended markets for this product.

Mr. Scovt'll's scheme of a combination to ship
at a loss, so as to establisli a market in America,
in the hope of ultimate K'ain, is not so easy of
realization in its dual aspect, as it is in its first
stage, viz., that of shipping at a loss.

From the experience gained by the Syndicate
formed for pushing the sale of Indian teas in
America it would seem t!iey were perfectly success-
ful in shipping at a loss, but lamentably failed
in their endeavours to establish a market. Our
American cousins in the tea trade formed a " Ring,"
bought up all the Syndicate shipments as they
arrived, and quietly re-shipped tliem to London,
thus preventing their being sold in America, ,
and frustrating the designs of the Syndicate.
It is not the prejudice of the people in favor of
China and Japan teas that we have to over-
come so much as the determined struggle the
m.erehants interested in China and Japan teas make
to keep us out of their field.

Now, this will not be overcome simply by placing
large quantities of tea in the open market for sale,
as it will be bought up by those opposed to its
introduction, but it is more likely to be so by
sending small consignments well distributed, thus
getting in the thin end of the wedge. It will be
well to recall the method by which our teas were
introduced so successfully into Great Britain, which
was by the distribution by Ceylon planters among
their friends, of small packages of Ceylon teas.
Their friends soon learned to appreciate the
gooit qualities of the tea and demanded Ceylon tea
!rom liieir grocers, who in self-defence were bound
to keep the article. From family to family the
knowledge of the excellence of the tea spread, and
the trade generally (after a good deal of prejudice)
wa'; compelled to satisfy the demands of consumers.
It is thus seen that the public first discovered the
good quality of Ceylon tea, and that the grower
is not indebted for its introduction either to
the London sale room or to the London broker.
The sale of Ceylon tea must be introduced in
a somewhat similar manner into America, but it
is obvious that exactly the same lines cannot be
followed as the grower is not so intimately con-
nected with that country.

Although I hold that it is more within the
province of the trader or merchant than of the
grower to introduce and c:;tablish himself in a
new field, still, under the special circumstances
of our i^roduct, the (question arises whether it
is not rather a subject for combined action
than individual effort and one which the Ceylon
Planters' Association might well take up in the
interests of what will undoubtedly become in a
year or two the staple product of Ceylon.

I am, therefore, strongly of opinion that at one
of the early Committee-meetings of the Association
this question should be prominently brought for-
ward for discussion, so that by unity of action
some defined plan may be formulated which would

ensure the introduction of our teas into America,
where, althou«h the development of consumption
might be clover than it was in England,
still when di.-e established, it should go on
increasing and eventually assume very large pro-
portions.— Yours faithlully,

H. K. RUTHERFORD.

NEW MARKETS FOR CEYLON TEAS.

Kandaloya, Nawalapitiya, 28th May 1886.

Sir,— With regard to the opening up ot fresh
markets for Ceylon tea, Messrs. Scovell and Ruther-
ford are at one on the point of comhinntiou, although
the latter gentleman is not sanguine of America
absorbing much of our produce. There is an old
saying that we should " look at home afore looking
out o' window " ; and, looking at home, I maintain
that we have not tapped the home market. With
tlie exception of families who have friends in
Ceylon, and are supplied by them direct, the
proportion of people at home who knew the taste
o£ Ceylon tea is infinitesimal.

Whenever I send tea home, my friends invariably
write " We would always drink Ceylon tea if we could
get it." When the Ceylon Tea and Coffee Agency
first started, I sent them a list of addresses of
friends at home. These rehgiously dealt with the
Agency so long as they could : but latterly the tea
supplied has lieen so inferior in quality that my
friends have been obliged to provide themselves
elsewhere.

No doubt there is scope for the Planters' Associ-
ation to move in the matter : but in the meantijne
I would venture to suggest that private enterprize
might do a great deal on the lines laid down in
some letters which I wrote, and which appeared
in your columns, so far back as 1881.*

Let proprietors of estates combine and form a
Company to start a " Ceylon Tea Refreshment Room
and Retail Agency " in some central part of London.
I believe that many coffee-houses pay satisfactory
dividends. Why should not a Tea House do so
also ? While, in addition to paying on its own
merits, it would serve as a depot for the retail
sale of produce sltq)2>i'd to it direct from the gardens of
the shareholders, and would introduce Pure Ceylon
Tea to multitudes to whom it was only a name
before. — Y'ours faithfully,

W. TURING MACKENZIE.

^' We (Ed. T.J.) append a few extracts from the
letters referred to : —
(Addressed to Indiiui Tea Gazette, 2Srd Oct. 1S80.J

Your address to Euglish housewives in your issue
of 1st September has suggested to me a plan
by which our Indian and Ceylon teas might be
brought more prominently before ■ the tea-drinking
public. I don't know if the plan is at all feasible,
but here it is, in a very crude form to establish in
some central part of London, an Indian and Ceylon
Tea Refreshmeut Room (on the same principle as
the teatoilers' coffee-houses) at which a cup of Indian
or Ceylon tea and a sandwich or bit of bread and
butter could be always obtained. We all know what
a refeshing thing a cup of tea is, to men whose brains
or eyes are tired with much reading or \vritiiig ; and I
doubt not that many a jaded clerk would often turn in
for a cup of tea, not to mention ladies out .shopping
who frequently don't caru to go to regular oatiiig-
liouses. The same pluce could beadei:)i)t for the sale
t if tea, and if only people .it home who ave interested
in tea, would combii j to carry out such an idea, I
have little ftar thit in time ii would paj- well, both
directly as a Tea Refreshment Ro»m, and indirectly,
by introducing to the public pure Indian tea. If
found to pay well in Lond>iu, similar establishments
could be started in other large towns. The sijie qua
non of succos.s is that tea must bo sold on the
spot, so that if a man iiked a cup of tea, he could

jvLV h me..] fHE tUOPlCAL AOHICULtURiri^

iy

buy some of the same at once to take home : after he
has drunk a pouud or so of Indian or Ceylon tea,
he will never go back to the China.

(To Ct'ijlon Ob.<ieircr, 16th May 18S1.)
I was afraid that my proposal to establish in Lon-
don a Tea Boom and Agency had quite fallen to
the ground. I see however that Sir "Wm. Gregory
comments favorably on my letter ; and as you yourself
have taken the matter up, I begin to hope that
something may yet come of it. I feel convinced
that such an establishment would be the best adver-
tisement that our tea planters could have ; and as
a considerable portion of our planting community is
now interested in tea, it would only seem natural
for the Planters' Association to move in the matter.
Wants of funds, of course, would be the serious
difficulty ; but surely the numerous gentlemen now
engaged in tea-planting could, if united, command
sufficient intiuence to start a company for the pur-
pose of establishing a Tea Koom and Agency in London,
with a view to stimiilating a demand for our teas.
It may be said by some that wc have no tea should
a large demand arise, and what is the use of creat-
ing a demand before we have the supply to meet
it ':* But if we wait to create a demand until we
have a large stock of tea, the market will be glutted,
and prices ruinously low. Ok^arly therefore the sooner
a start is maile the better. Apart from the benefit
of the tea rooms as an advertisement, the Agency
would be mos.t advantageous to planters, who by
shipping direct could realize a decent profit them-
selves, while ihey could put their teas in the market
cheaper than if they went through the broker's hands,
in fact the planter woulil sell at a low retail price,
and the consumer would get a good genuine article
at a cheap figure.

{To " Ceylon Observer," -Mh June liiSl.)

Your extract from the Home and Colunial Mail in
your issue of the 28th ultimo shows that what the
Ceylon tea planters ought to do in Loudon, viz., es-
tablish agency for the sale of their teas has already
been done in Dublin by an energetic Indian Tea Com-
pany with respect to its own produce, and that the
venture has been attended with success. If nothing
better can be done, by all means form a tea syndic-
ate to be affiliated with the Indian syndicate ; but I
maintain that by the establishment of such an agency
as I advocate a great deal better can be done than
affiliation with a syndicate whose j)ower is necess-
arily handicapped by having to find maikets for and
disprsc of .such large quantities. Another point in
our favour is that Ceylon tea is more readily appre-
ciated than Indian which, though as good, takes longer
than ours to accustom itself to the palates of people
who have beeu in the habit of drinking China tea.
Of course the whole secret of success would lie in
advertising, and this should be done not only at
home, but in the local papers bete, with, at the foot
of each advertisement, a '■'note'' to European resid-
ents in Ceylon: "Please cut"' this out and enclose it in
your next home letter ! Say 100 onlj- responded to
this' and each house used 2 lb. of tea a week, there
are 10,0001b. per annum disj^osed of at once.

MARKS OF CEYLON TEAS IN MINCING""
LANE.

Matale, 29th May, 1886.

Deaf, Sir, — In the list of tea sales published in
your paper from time to time I have frequently
noticed very large breaks sold under the mark of
Highlands. Can you or any of your con-espondents
inform me oi the whereabouts of this estate ? It is
remarkable that an estate putting in breaks into
Mincing Lane of over 100 chests at a time should
be so little known. Highlands estate does not
seem even to be mentioned in the Ceylon Directory.
Tea on this side flushing well. — Yours faithfully,

INQUIEEK.

[We take " Highlands," " Oya" and some others
to be Colombo marks, put on by buyers of tea in
small parcels at local sales in making up big breaks.

CEYLON TEA IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

29th May 1880.

De.\r Sir, — Should you think these few lines
worth a corner in your valuable paper please
insert them. Feeling deeply interested in the wel-
fare of K, C. 13. (alas ! a title soon to be erased),
and particularly after persuing a letter of Mr.
Henry's in the Oh'>erver of the 25tli, induces rae
to pen a few lines, endorsing his sentiments with
regard to Australia being a good market for Ceylon
teas. I have as a bait sent a few pounds of
good tea to Western Australia, and I am glad to
say, it has been much appreciated ; and by the
last mail I heard from a friend, and quote his
words merely to show there is a demand for it : —
" If anyone would let me know what they would
sell tea a pound for and would send it over, I
could guarantee them ready sales, as people here
are paying 2s yd for real trash. I have spoken
to several of the merchants, and they are ready

to buy at high prices. Mr. should send

his tea here, to pay well." I have also forwarded
samples to a friend in Melbourne and am waiting
the results. I think the above will show Ceylon
teas will sell in Australia. K. C. B.

Pkeserving Fish in a Fri-sh Sxatk uy
means of a mixture of salt and boracic aci-l, forms
the subject of a paper which has been sent to us
by the Madras Government. Deputy Surgeon -General
G. Bidie, M.n., c.i.e., ever on the watch lor im-
proving the resources of the country, was struck
with the abundance and cheapness of large sardines
at Tellicherry and desirous that a chdp means
of preserving the harvest of the sea and distrib-
uting it inland in a fresh state should be dis-
covered. He found what he wanted in a series of
articles in the Scvlsman on a chemical powder, the
constituents of which we have indicated, by means
of wliicli herrings sent from Norway in a fresh
state were underselling English herrings in the
English market. There should be two pounds of
salt to one of the acid, and the fish .should be
packed between layers of the mixture. The full
details appear on page 22.

Of tjie Beche-de-jier fishing in Torres Straits
Mr. Douglas reports that it is passing into the
hands of South Sea Islanders who •■ will require
pretty close watching." He believes that " lliere
is not much margin of profit in it, unless very
cheap labour can be obtained. This, however, is
secured in the native inhabitants of the islands
in the Straits, who arc glad enough to Avovk for
small wages in order to earn what is called their
' tucker,' " He estimates that there are 500 men
and boys employed, of whom probably a third,
though possibly a half, come from the mainland of
Australia, and he has reason to " believe that there
has been a good deal of quiet kidna,pping." In
one case especially he ascertained that a lot of mere
children had been purchased from their relatives on
the Jardine and Batavia river.'s. They were sub-
sequently brought from Darnley to Thursday Island,
in order to be entered on shipping articles, but it
was so evidently a case which required his inter-
vention, that Mr. Douglas " caused tlicm to be
taken back to their own people at the expense of
their so-called employers." This action had a
beneficial effect in checking the employment of
mere children, and also established more friendly
relations with the native inhabitants of the main-
land. Port Kennedy, the seat of Government on
Thursday Island, is a progressiva place. Tlic
revenue collected in 1885 amounted to ZA'lJ^'t'.) :
and the exports of pearl shells were valued at
£86,990, while the beche-de-raer sent away was
worth £,7,dbo.^Australasian,

29

i^n^ rnoPicAL agriculturist.

fJULY I, I §86,

IMPORTS OF AMERICAN COFFEES FOR

FISCAL YEAR 1885.

The first quarterly report of the Bureau of statistics
of the 'J reasury department has just been issued, and
it gives in detail the imports into the United States
from all the countries south of us for the fiscal year
ended June 30, 1885. From the statistics given we
compile some statements that will be of interest to all
dealers iH coffee.

The following table shows the imports of coffee, by

poun Is, into this country for the fiscal year 188S, from

the principal coffee producing countries of America,

comparal with the imports of the two precediug years: —

Countries 1885 1884. 1883.

Brazil 406,714,346 347,873.001 315,465,986

Mexico 10,041,421 9,975,466 17,020,669

Central American

States 36,811,072 31,827,573 22,449,112

Hayti 19,034,988 16,825,183 22,527,950

Dutch West Indies. 322,620 1,221,858 3.442,467
British West Indies 3,596,698 5,205,957 2,888,404
United States of Co-
lumbia 4,608,889 8,817,733 6,956,008

Venezeuela 53,506,130 53,363,495 43,369,170

Porto Rico 4,864,188 217,827 80,286

Total 539,800,352 474,288,093 491,974,968

It will be noted that the imports for 1885 are some
65,000,000 hirger than for 1884, and nearly 50,000,000
pounds more than for 1883. The imports from Brazil
are very large^nearly 60,000,000 pounds in excess of
last year. Outside of Brazil the increase is something
over 5,000,000 pounds. The Central American states
and Venezuela still continue to furnish large supplies,
while Mexico does not loom to the front with the
bigness of a few years ago.

It has frequently been said that low prices would
decrease the cultivation of coffee, but no evidence has
yet been produced that there is any decrease in coffee
culture. On the contrary, there appears to be an increase.
— St. Louis OrocevK

SEEDTIME AND HARVEST.

[Not poetry, but a good deal of common sense for
cultivators of the soil. — Ed.]
The sowing time and reaping are surely linked together.
The issue often pending on the rain and clime, and

whether
The tiller has attended to his duties with the soil
By making a good seed-bed, not thinking of the toil.

***
Economy of labour is good enough 'tis true
To warrant an endeavour to limit it all through ;
If while the work we spare thus we do not touch

our purse,
And show our progress downward from bad right on

to worse.

Temptations most alluring assail the planter's heart
To well reduce the labour and try by scheming part,
To make secure his profits without the t^il or care.
Which trouble those who patiently and well the soil
prepare,

***
But .lince the world began it has been thus decreed

That from the sweat of brow no tiller can be freed,

Put without fit preparation the soil can never do

The will of those who work it, or cheer them fully

through.

***
Then with good will bestow ye that daily meed of toil.

Which surely will reward you with an abundant spoil,

In sowing time be thorough that in reaping time you may

Rejoice in full and plenty and make a good display.

# *

*

Resist the wily tempter who whispers " never mind,

The soil is there and seed too, so in good time I'll find
A crop all ripe to garner whether I work or play."
Beware ! or lessened profits will chill you with dismay,
•^PhnUv and Farmer.

COFFEE-TEA.

(TO THE EDITOR OF THE "ADELAIDE OBSERVER.")

Sir, — The following extract from the " Chemistry of
Common Life," by Professor Johnstoa, is, I think, of
suflBcient interest to warrant me in asking you to
publish it. — I am. Sir, &;c., Conrad N. Wornum.

" Attention has been drawn to the use of the leaf of
the coffee-tree as a substitute for that of the tea-tree.
In 1845 Professor Blume, of Leyden, who had travelled
much in Java, made known in Holland that this leaf
WAS 80 used in the Eastern Archipelago, and recommend-
ed it for trial in Europe. Subsequently it was known
in this country by Professor Brande ; and at the Great
Exhibition, in 1851, Dr. Gardiner showed specimens of
prepared coffee-leaves, announcing at the same time
that they contained theine, and suggesting that they
should be substituted for our ordinary tea. These,
along with other circumstances, have drawn the atten-
tion of Eastern merchants to the subject ; and it appears
from various communications which have been made
public that the use of coffee-leaves in this way is an old
practice in the Eastern Archipelago. In the Dutch
island of Sumatra especially, prepared coffee-leaves
form the only beverage of the whole population, and
from their nutritive qualities have become an important
necessary of life. The leaves are roasted over a clear,
smokeless bamboo fire till they become of a brownish-
buff colour. They are then separated from the twigs, the
bark of which, after a second roasting, is rubbed off and
used along with the leaves. In this state they have an
extremely fragrant odour, resembling that of a mixture
of tea and coffee. When immersed in boiling water
they give a clear brown infusion, which, with sugar and
cream, forms an agreeable beverage. Mr. Ward, many
years settled at Pedang, in Sumatra, thus narrates his
experience in regard to the use of the coffee-leaf in
that island : — ' The natives have a prejudice against the
use of water as a beverage, asserting that it does not
quench thirst or afford the strength and support the
coffee-leaf does. With a little boiled rice and infusion
of the coffee-leaf, a man will supfiort the labours of the
field in rice-planting for days and weeks successively, up
to the knees in mud, under a burning sun or drenching
rain, which he could not do by the use of simple water,
or by the aid of spirituous or fermented liquors. I have
had the opportunity of observing for twenty years the
comparative use of the coffee-leaf in one class of natives,
and of spirituous liquors in another, the native Sumat-
rans using the former, and the natives of British India
settled here the latter ; and I find that while the for-
mer expose themselves with impunity to every degree
of heat, cold, and wet, the latter can endure neither
wet nor cold for even a short period without danger to
their health. PJngaged myself in agriculture, and being
in consequence much exposed to the weather, I was
induced several years ago, from and an occasional use of
the coffee-leaf, to adopt it as a daily beverage, and my
constant practice has been to take two cups of a strong
infusion with milk iu the evening as a restorative after
the bu.siness of the day. I find from it immediate re-
lief from hunger and fatigue. The bodily strength is
inert ased, and the mind left for the evening clear and
in full possession of its faculties. On its first use, and
when the leaf has not been sufficiently roasted, it is said
to produce vigilance ; but I am inclined to think that
where this is the case, it is rather by adding strength
and activity to the mental faculties than by inducing
nervous excitement. I do not recollect this effect on
my.self except once, and that was when the leaf was
insufficiently roasted. As a beverage the natives univers-
ally prefer the leaf to the berry, giving as a reason
that it contains none of the bitter principle, and is more
nutritious. In the lowlands coffee is not planted for
the berry, not being sufficiently productive, but for the
leaf the people plant it round their houses for their o\m
use. It is an undoubted fact that everywhere they
prefer the leaf to the berry.' {Phaimaceutical Jonrnalf
vol. xiii., p. 208).

" He adds further that while the culture of the coffee-
plant for its fruit is limited to particular soils and more
elevated climates, it may be grown for the leaf wher-
ever, within the tropics, the soil is sufficieotly fertile.

1, I886.J

THE TROPICAL AGRICLTLTURIST.

:il

This is a very important fact, and, should the leaf come
into general use, will no doubt lead to the introduction
of new forms of husbandry in many tropical regions,
from which the coffee-tree, as a profitable article of
culture, has been hitherto excluded. At present the
price of the prepared leaves in Sumatra is about Ihd. a
pound, and they may be packed, if good quality, for the
European market for 2d. a pound. In regard to the
constituents of the dried coffee-leaf, the agreeable
aroma emitted shows that, like Chinese tea, it contains
a volatile oil, which will probably act upon the system
like the similar oils of tea and coffee. It has been
proved also to contain theine to the extent of about I5
per cent (Stenhouse), and an astringent acid closely re-
sembling that which is found in Paraguay tea. Both of
these are present in it in larger proportion than in the
coffee-bean, and hence, probably, the reason why the
leaf is preferred to the bean by the natives of Sumatra.
These, with about 13 per cent of glutin and some gum,
are all the important ingredients yet found in the leaf.
But the presence of these substances proves it to be so
similar to the tea leaf in composition as to lead to the
belief that it may be successfully substituted in common
use for the Chinese tea. {And this conclusion is support-
ed by the wakefulness which is said to be produced by
the infusion of coffee-leaves, by the bodily refreshment
it is found to yield, by the directly nutritive power
which the leaves possess, and by the general favour they
have found in the estimation of the people of Sumatra.
To boiling water the dried coffee,-'eaves yield about
39 per cent of their weight — as much as is taken up by
water from the most soluble varieties of the coffee-bean,
and more than is yielded by average Chinese tea. In
this property, therefore, the leaf of the coffee-tree is
also equal to the bean."

ANNUAL STATEMENT OF THE COFFEE

TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES.

The more prominent features of the coffee trade of
the United States during 1885, have been, first, a further
increase in consumption as compared with previous
years ; second, an extremely low range of values through-
out the year ; and, third, the change that has become
established in the methods of conducting business,
more particularly with respect to the product of Brazil,
which constitutes the bulk of our supply. Inci-eased
consumption has been due partly to the growth of
population, but unquestionably tha most important
element has been the increasing popularity of coffee as
a beverage among all classes, while its relative cheapness
to consumers as a food staple has not been without its
influence. The extent to which roasted coffee is now
prepared and distributed has had much to do with its
increased popularity. So long has this preliminary pre-
paration had to be accomplished in the kitchen, the loss
and labor that was entailed deterred many from its use.
A lack of care or experience in this important process
was apt to cause waste, in addition to the ununiform
and imperfect results obtained, but this has been
entirely obviated by the erection of large roasting
establishments throughout the country, where, with the
aid of improved machinery, and by the utilization of
many ingenious inventions this labor is all performed
perfectly and satisfactorily, and consumers are enabled
to obtain from retailers an article that is thoroughly
prepared for cooking. This fact, together with the
relatively low prices that have been established during
the past two years, has made coffee peculiarly the poor
man's diet, and greatly popularized and extended its use
with all classes. The extent to which low prices have
influenced consumption may be readily appreciated
fiom the fact that the average price of Rio during the
year under review is the lowest since 1852. The
changed methods of doing business relate to the manner
of importation and sale. Jobbers and roasters now
supply their wants chiefly by purchases made direct in
Rio, that is, instead of coffee b'jing imported here for
sale, its sale has been accomplished in most instances
before it is shipped, and the sea coast ports have become
clearing-houses, and distributing centres, rather than
(Sftrts where actual merchandize ie bought ami sold.

The net results of low prices and new methods of
business have been narrow profits to importers and
dealers and a year of trade that, while in no sense
disastrous has not proved one of singular pro.sperity to
those engaged therein. These features have not been
confined, however, to the coffee trade alone, but have
_ characterised, to a greater or less extent, the operations
of the year in almost every department of commercial
activity and may be readily traced to the natural
development of the tendencies of the times, after
experiencing'a long period of trade depression and the
practice of close economy. The existing condition of
affairs has resulted from keen competition, a radical
improvement in the methods of transportation by water,
as well as on land, increased facilities for rapid communic-
ation with all parts of the world, the abundance and
cheapness of money, the closer relations existing be-
tween buyer and seller, and a consequent disposition to
trade upon a narrower margin of profit. The fact that
the yearly average price for fair to prime Rio is the
lowest since 1852, is the best proof of its relative
cheapness during the year, but the very narrow
fluctuations of the market have been of still greater
importance in restricting the opportunities for obtaining
more than a living profit.

Consumption east of the Rocky Mountains has
increased in comparison with 188-1, il,855 tons, or 5-3
per cent, which although not as great an increase as
shown the year previous, nevertheless means about
one-half poimd more for every man, woman and child of
our population, which is a very considerable expan.'.ion,
considering the relative proi^ortion of this population
that are not coffee drinkers. This brings the per capita
consumption of the country up to about 9"31 pounds,
against 7"(J1 pounds in 1879. While the United States,
as a whole, is one of the largest consumers of coft'eo in
the world, its population is not so universally addicted
to its use as Holland, where the per capita consumption
is about 21 pounds or in Denmark and Belgium, where
it amounts to about 13^ pounds, but with these excep-
tions we are the largest individual consumers of the
beverage. In this connection it is worthy of remark
that Great Britaiu shows a steady decrease within the
past few years, the (|uantity imported last year, which
amounted to only 41,0UU tons, being less than one-half
what it was four years previously.

The total importations of all kinds of coffee have betn
16,938 tons in excess of the previous year, that the
stocks carried over January, 1, 1886, were 1,785 tons
less than at the correspondmg date ui 1885, and that
there was exported 3,700 tons more than during 1884,
thereby resulting in an increased consumption of 11,855
tons- Brazil has been the most important source of
supply, the United States absorbing by far the largest
proportion of the ))roduct of that empire, and the direct
importations from there forming about 7'^ per cent of
the total quantity of all kinds imported. The total
importation of Brazil coffee last year from all sources
was 3,180,343 bags, against 2,787,111 bags in 1884, an
increase of 393,232 bags. There has been a slight
falling-off in the importation from "N'euezuela and the
United States of Columbia which amount to only 417,632
bags, against 462,040 the year previous. This has been
due to the political disturbances in the latter states,
which prevailed from March to September, and in some
unexplained way led to the disappearance of over 40,000
bags that was expected from that source. The direct
receipts from Java and Sumatra show a considerable
decrease compared with last year owing to s/ualler
crops in those islands, but the deficiency has been
more than made up by increased importations from
Macassar, which, although inferior in quality and price,
has no doubt been readilj' consumed by an unsuspecting
public as "old Government Java.'' There has been an
increase in the receipts of Mexican, which are nearly
double those of last year, and would seem to point to
increased cultivation. These grades are of excellent
quality and appearance, but in the hands of the distri-
buter they lose their identity and find their way into
consumption in the various mixtures that are sold to
the public under other names. In addition to 43,753
packages received at New York, about 32,500 packages
were imported at New Orleans and Galveston. The

22

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July i, iS86,

re

importatiou of Mocha is about the same as last year,
Imt the 18,000 bales received at all the ports is but a
sniiill percentage of the Mocha consumed, Santos I'ea
Berrj' ami other similar appearing beaus being used l)y
mixers to supplement the supply of genuine Mocha.
There has been a considerable increase in the import-
ations from Holland, which are nominally brought over
as the ijroduct of the East Indies, but the mixing
proclivities of Dutch coffee traders are too well known to
make the identity of these grades in any sense sure.

— yew York Sliip/'i"!/ List.

^.

PRESERVATION OF FRESH FISH.

In my official report on the town of Tellicberry
corded in (!. O., Financial Department, No. 1G(3
M., of 20th Februarj 188(), it was mentioned that
" at the time of my visit fresh sardines of large size
were being sold at the rate of 100 for quarter of
an anna." It was further remarked that " as this fish
is so abundant at certain seasons and so cheap, it
seems a great pity that it could not be cured in
large (juantities so as to keep good for some time
for. the benefit of the inland population.*' At other
places on the coast I was also much struck with
the rich harvest of the sea both as to numbers and
variety, and the subject of the more general utilization
of fresh fish has at intervals occupied my thoughts
ever since. It was, therefore, with much satisfaction
that I noticed in recent issues of The WeeUi/ Scots-
man a series of papers by so distinguished an authority
as Trofessor Cossar Ewart on the preservation of
fish, and, as one of these is calculated to be of some
use now or hereafter in the way of increasing the
food supplies of the rural population of Southern
India, I take the liberty, and have now the honor,
to submit it to the Right Honorable the Governor
in Council with the suggestion that it might advantage-
ously be republished in the District Gazette of Malabar
and perhaps also in the Gazettes of some other
maritime districts on the East Coast. Professor Ewart's
attention was directed to the subject by the discovery
that through the use of a " chemical i^owder"' in
preserving her fish, Norway was driving indigenous
fresh herrings out of the Enghsh market, as many
as 30,000 barrels having been sent across during the
present winter and sold at prices so low as to defy
all local competition, and in a state which led the
consumers to believe that they were eating ab.solutcly
newly caught fish. Before giving the extract from
the Professor's paper, I would express a hope that
its perusal may induce some euterprizing firms on
the West Coast of Madras to try the experiment of
sending fish, prepared with the "chemical powder,"
by rail into the interior, where no doubt they would
find a ready market. There is apparently no reason
why stations all along the line, such as Goimbatore,
Salem, Trichinopoly and Bangalore, and even places
on the north-west line, should not be thus supplied
with some of the admirable species which at certain
seasons are so plentiful off the Malabar ports. I
am not in a position to discuss the commercial as-
pects of the proposal, but pfimd facie it seems likely
to be remunerative. At present the Madras Railway
carries fresh fish at reduced rates, and if the traffic
were increased it is probable that a further reduc-
tion would be made. It may be also anticipated
that with an increased demand more extensive and
skilled means of capture, and more speedy delivery
at the curing stations, would follow. In a European
climate the " chemical powder" is said to keep fresh
fish perfectly good for several weeks, and if in India
it would perform the same office for one week or
even three or four days, the gain to the country would
be very great. The preservative is a mixture of
common salt and boracic acid, and the latter can be
bought in England for less than six pence a pound.
The following are Professor Cossar Ewart's remarks
on the subject, including instructions as to the appli-
cation of the powder: —

TUK T'KESt.KVATlON OF I'EKSH 1 ISH.

The " chemical powder" used by the Norwegians
for presarviug berriug is a mixture of boracic acid

and common salt. From our greatest authority in
antiseptics 1 have learnt that bonicic acid has been
in use in Norway for at least fourteen years
" for the preservation of articles of food, kc." Those
accjuaintcd with Norway can well understand how
necessary it is for tbe farmers and others who live
far removed from the town.s — by the margins of the
long winding fords, or on the slopes of the great
mountains — to provide themselves with various kinds
of ])ickling agents. It seems boracic acid, after a long
trial, has proved a most valuable preservative, chiefly
because it keeps fish and other food stuffs in a perfectly
fre.sh condition for several weeks, and, without being
hurtful, it often tends to improve the flavor.

Recentlj', a mixture of boracic acid and salt has
been used with so great success for preserving
herring in a fresh condition that it is now possible
for Norwegian herring to compete successfully with
absolutely fresh herring in the English market.
Thousands of people in England have consumed
Norwegian herring a week or more after their capture,
believing they were fresh from Yarmouth or some
of the great Scottish fishing stations. I need not
say that herring rapidly become unfit for food when
taken out of the water. In summer they are often
useless twenty-four hours after they are captured,
and in winter the process of disintegration is not
long delayed. What is true of herring is to a great
extent true of other fish. Often in summer the fish
landed at Newhaveu (from fishing beats becalm_e<l
at sea) is all but putrid, aud were it thorougly in-
spected, as it doubtless should be. it would often be
at once comdemncd as uufit for food. It is, as
already pointed out, this extreme perishableiiess that
necessitates the rapid dispatch of fresh fish, and
affords an excuse for the high rates charged for
carriage. Hence the boracic acid will be welcomed
as a great boon if it preserves fish in a fresh con-
dition for several weeks. On learning some time
ago that the Norwegians were seudhig us herring
preserved in a chemical powder, I succeeded in
getting a sample and had it at once analyzed. After
an elaborate examination, Dr. Atkinson, Assistant tj
the Professor of Materia Medica in the ITniversity, •
reported that the substance submitted to him was
a very pure preparation of boracic acid. Mr. David
Murray, of Anstruther, who takes a keen and iiractical
interest in all question relating to the fish trade,
was good enough to pickle several samples of herring
according to the Norwegian plan. Some of^ these
samples I have examined with the most satisfactory
results. Herring pickled on the 19th January are as
fresh and sweet to-day as they were when introduced
into the mixture, and when cooked they can ssarcely
be distinguished from herring only a few hours
out of the water. I understand that eipially good
results have been obtained by Mr. M'C^ombie, of Peter-
head, with haddocks.

Let us now indicate how the boracic acid should be
applied. For preserving herring, the best plan seems to bo.
to make a mixture of powdered boracic acid and fine salt,
taking two pounds of salt to every pound of boracic
acid. This mixture having been made, the fresh herrings
should be arranged in layers in a barrel, in exactly the
same way as cured herring are packed, and each
tier covered with a thin layer of the mixture. When
the barrel is full it should be tightened down in
the ordinary way, and then "pickled" ./ith a weak
solution of pure boracic acid. For treating a Imrrrl of
herrings in this manner, 2| lb. of acid aud 5 lb. of
salt are required for spreading on the tiers of heriiugs
during packing, and about 10 ounces of pure acid for
dissolving in the fresh water used for pickling. After
further experiments it may be found advisable to
alter somewhat the ))roi)orlions here given. The barrels
(vhcn packed should be kept in a cool place where
there is a nearly constant temperature. The expense
of pickling a barrel of herrings (a barrel holds from
800 to 1,000 herrings) ii\ this way need not be great,
for boracic acid can be purchased under 6d. per pound.
A barrel of herring, which cost oiiginally 8x., might
be preserved in boracic acid aud delivered in Loudon
for 14i. ; this is buppo&iug the pickliusj ty cost o*.,

July i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

23

and the carriage 3s. If sold for 20a-. {i.e., three or
four for l(/.), a considerable margin would be left for
profits to the curers and others,

lu addition to preserving fish, boracic acid might
be of use for preserving fishermen's bait. Often the
fishermen (or more often the fisherwomen, at con-
siderable expenditure of time and money, bait their
lines in vain. All arrangements are made for a night's
fishing, when a change of weather prevents the boats
reaching the fishing ground. Before another night
arrives tbe bait has usually lost its catching powers,
and the tedious process of baiting the lines has to
be repeated. Whether boracic acid wid preserve bait
the fishermen only can settle. If at Anstruther, or
some other fishing station, two or three fishermen
use bait which has been preserved for some days
ia an equal mixture of salt and boracic, and com-
pare its catching power with fresh bait, they will
be able to ascertain whether this preservative will in
any way lessen their labors. The United States
fishermen titen have wonderful success when they
use frozen herring as bait ; the herring are usually
frozen and exported from Lakrurior.

It may be hoped this system of treating fresh fish
will be useful. It ought at least to enable our curer3 to
compete with Norway, for in addition to other advant-
ages they have better material to work with, our herring
being undoubtedly superior to those taken around
the t^candlnavian coast ; even the Norwegians prefer
Scotch-cured herring to their own. ^Further, if curers
preseive herring with boracic acid they will to a great
extent be independent of the Uailway Companies, it
will no longer be necessary to dispatch fish by ex-
press trains, and pay for their carriage two or even
three times their value. Whether the herring take
a day or a week to reach London, Manchester, and
other large towns will make no differece, and in many
instances curers may with advantage forward parcels
f)i fish by the ordinary coasting steamer.s. The
saving made by sending fish by sea will be evident
when it is stateil it would probably cost less to send
a barrel of herrings twice round the world by ste imer
than to send it once from St. Andrews to London
\>y rfiil Wii must, bowev(!r, iiot expect too much
troin boracic acid. Something more will be required
before the fishery industry recovers from its present
state of collapse, and begius to assume the importance
it deserves. The consideration of a more thorough
system of reaping and distributing the harvest of the
sea will be better reserved for another communication.

TEA CULTURE IN N.VTAL.

Sir, — In mv previous letters respecting the above,
dated C)ct. 10, 1884, and Aug. 28, 1885, which you
kindly publisbed, I endeavoured to convey to your
readers that a profitable and pleasant industry, re-
quiring but small capital to commence with, was
open to those anxious to benefit themselves and
relieve the congestion of population in this couiitr}-,
whereby others would be also l)enefited.

At the Colonial and Indian Exhibition your read-
ers have an opportunity of seeing the exhibits of
Natal ti a, and assuring themselves that tea of really
superior quality is grown and manufactured iu South
Africa, a fact th:it I have heard many question.

The A''atal Mercury of March 23 has the following : —
" Up to date Mr. .1. L. Hulett has manufactured this
season 28,500 lb. of tea. His estimate for the season
was 35,0(>0 lb., which he wiii be able to secure now
without much diflicultj-." " Messrs. Lyle and Ueynolds,
Kirkby Vale estate, have .secured over 5,000 lb. tea
this season, but they anticip^ite getting 10,000 lb. alto-
gether before the present season closes." These
paragraphs refer onljf to two estates. The oldest,
Mr. Hulett'?, conimenc;'d with the planting of half-
an-acre, Nov., 1877; 5:V acres planted out Nov., 1880;
26 acres Nov,, LsBl ; 18 acres 1882.

Now that the industry is assured, extensive planting
is going on throughout the coast lauds of the colouy.
Mr. Hulett kindly volunteers any information required
to beginners on the spot, or to correspondents. I
am also open to afford all imformation at my dis-

posal, and desire to state that the tea-growers in
Natal have all had to grope their way without
special training. I have heard it suggested that with
the cultivation of ludian and Ceylon teas increasiug,
that over-production is sure to be the result in the
course of a few years. I put the question to a practi-
cal man .some few weeks back, and he replied thus :
China teas year by year decrease in strength and
value, owing to overcropping and the natural ex-
haustion of the soil. The demand for good tea is
ever-increasiag, and to keep up the standard of quality,
increased quantities of Indian teas have to be mixed
with those from China for retail trade. In other
words, China at present supplies bulk, and India and
Oeylou quality or strength. The sample of tea enclosed,
of Mr. Hulett's, has just been valued at 2s. 7d. in
bulk, and partakes of the full character of Indian
and Ceylon teas in hquoring and appearance.— Mortov
Green.

[Having submitted the inclosed sample to a firm
of high standing, we have received the following
report as to its quality and value : " It is very like
a Ceylon tea, has a very pretty leaf, but not nnich
of a liquor, and would be almost sure to find a
market in England. If it was printed as a Ceylon
tea no doubt it would fetch Is. 3d. to Is. 4d., but
being a new tea people would not care about giving
more than Is. to Is 2d., as they would not know
how it would do for bulking purposes. The infusion
is good, but inchned to be greenish.'"— ED.J—/''/V;?f7.

PEPPJiK. — Discussing the future prospects of pepper
generally, the (irocer says :— " High as prices may be
considered in Loudon, they are looked upon as being
very moderate or low in Singapore and Penang, and
it has been reported that .shipments from thence
have in consequence been stojiped. Be tliatas it may,
the arrivals from the East are certain to be later
than usual, having only lately beguii, -whereas in other
years at this time they have been near at hand ; and
besides that, heavier stocks weri' also alreatly in ware-
house. The bulk of the supply of black pepper may
consist of Penang descriptions, or it may not, and the
answer to this question will decide whether or not the
season's shipments to this port will be large, restricted,
or small. Advices from Eastern India are silent on that
point, and it is of course impossible to predict whether
the market will go higher or lower. Home buyers natur-
ally would prefer to see the value further decline, as it
enables them to get rid of a larger quantity of stuff and
that too at a better profit. At the same time the export-
ers are much freer purchasers when prices tend more
iu their favour ; and although their being so increases
the competition between one branch of the trade
and another, it helps to quickly absorb the supplies
on offer, and make the necessity for liberal import-
ations to this country all the greater. It thus appears
that the tendency of the market is as much depend-
ent OH the largeness or sruallness of the demand for
export in the spring or autumn, as it is on the
scantiness or abundance of the whole season's supply,
and until the one or the other of these probabilities
develop themselves into living facts, it is mere coquett-
ing with the question to say what will be the prevailing
condition of the peppet market during the next six
mouths. There are, nevertheless, one or two things
of which we may be sure, and the first is, that specul-
ators for a rise— should there be any persons so
foolish or misguided— will not have much scope for
operating as they wish, as with Singapore white
pepper of fair merchantable quality at lO^d. to lid.,
and black at ()|d. per lb., there is but little room
f._:- a fresh advance, unl.-.ss the enquiry is very strong
or the consignments hither extremely light. Another
circumstance which ought not to be lost sight of is, that
while the supply of pepper in general does not ap-
precial)ly augiu'^iit, the consumption and deliveries at
the leading depots are gr.adually extending, and may
at no distant day assume bigger proportions that
!Vny dealer or exporter ever supposed."— //o)»'^ rtwri CoU
niiial atii/.

24

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July i, 1886.

A JnDiCAL Slave Aitction was lield at Limeira,
Sao Paulo, a few days since, which was largely attended.
The bidding on somo slaves went up as high as 1,600S,
notwithstanding the niaxinnim valuation in the Saraiva-
('otegipe compact is 900 $. It woidd seem that the
planters have little fear of an inuuediate collapse of
"tho foundation of our society." — Hio Newn.

A Succ'Kssi-ur, FKriT-(ii{owKR in the Rockhanipton
district gives us a chapter from the dark side of his
experience as follows: "I see some one signing him-
self -O. M. H.' fancies that the scale is the orange
grower's worst enemy. 1 guess if he had to fight the
orange moth as we have had to do it this season he
would alter his opinion. On the evening of April l.'ith
1. and T. caught .'55(>, and during the fortnight, from
the 10th to the *i4th of April, we got L',;i'5:}. For
three weeks we had to work almost all night at them,
and we still have to patrol every night, and after all our
work 1 believe that to estimate the portion of the
crop thus destroyed at eleven-twelfths is very moderate.
Out of the large quantities of guavas on our trees we
gathered only sevei! sound ones, for the grubs and
flying foxes got the rest." Fruit-growing in some parts
of Queensland at any rate is not all " beer and skittles."
Daylight matauders are bad enough, but these " night
birds " are evils magnified, and " hanging is too good for
them," especially the flying io^efi.— Planter find Farmer.

The Fritit Trade wuh Nova Scotia. — Our contem-
porary, the Cohniea and India, says: — "Very few
consumers kuow that the nice rosylooking apples which
they see in the fruiterers' shops come from Nova Scotia,
or that there is exported from that province to this
country something like 100,000 barrels out of an annual
average production, say, of 200,000 barrels. It is only
in late years that the people of the valley have awakened
to the remarkable adaptability of their lands to apple
culture. Cheap railway and ocean communication and
the opening of the Engli.sh markets a few j-ears ago
inaugurated, however, a new era. In 1871 the acreage
of the valley devoted to Apple culture was .5,152 ; in 18S1
it h.ad increased to 8,500. To-day it is over 10,000 acres.
When the next census is taken there is reason to believe
it will be 16,000 acres ; while the acreage of the province,
which to-day is about 25,000 acres, will then at least be
30,000 acres. Nova Scotia's greAt advanta;j;es as a fruit
producing country are these:— 1st, its nearness to
Europe and consequent short land and ocean carriage
and cheap freights ; 2nd, the generally ackaowledf>ed
fact that her Apples, as a rule, have better keeping
qualities than the same Apples grown on any other part
of the continent, so that if propei-ly handled the risk of
loss from decay and overripeness is reduced to a mini-
mum.— Gardeners' Chronicle.

Tomatoes in Pots. — The great demand that has
ari.«en for tomatoes has led many to give up other crops
and to concentrate their energies on the production of
tomatoes, which never seem sufiiciently plentiful. "W^ith
such a strong-rooting plant as the tomato, there is little
diflSculty about growing it, the main question being how to
get a maximum weight of crop from a given space.
We find fonfining the roots to a limited area, and cut-
ting off a'! side shoots, so as to make regular cordans of
each plaut, to produce the best rt suits. For main crops
under glass, we sow in January in heat, and grow the
young plants on by giving them successive shifts until
they are in 8 in. pots, which are allowed to get rather
full of roots. This induces free flowering, and then
they are set on boxes filled with good rich soil, and
allowed to root through into it. By keeping the soil
moist by frequent applications of water, a very heavy
crop may thus be produced in any position under glass
exposed fully to sunlight. As regards varieties, I find a
good selection of the old smooth red kitid to be very
prolific, and not easily excelled for general u.se ; but all
have their special merits. The main point is to prevent
excessive leaf production by timely attention to pinching
out the side shoots directly they are visible, and
only leaving large and healthy foliage on the main
stem. It is sheer waste of force to let a crowd of
shoots grow and then cut them oft". Preserve the foli-
age on the main stem intact, and do not let any other
be produced. Plenty of fruit will set on the leading
shoot for any one plant to swell off to full size. — HaNT8,
—Field.

Pr.ANT Lite is invigorated by the mechanical con-
dition of the soil as certainly as by its fertilising pro-
perties. Unless the pores of mother earth are kept
open above and below for air to rush in and water
to move downwards healthy vegetation need not be
expected, lioth air and water should be able to per-
meate the soil freely to ensure good vegetable growth,
— Planter tad Farmer.

A Hir.i. has been introduced into the Sao Paulo provin-
cial assembly by Visconde 1 • "iuhal for the repeal of
the law imposing a tax of 2,000> on all slaves imported
into that province. According to the Diario Mcrcantil
the reason for this is to be found in the fact that some
40 or 50 slaves have been brought into Sao Paulo from
Bahia and are for sale. When this hard-fisted Paulista
gets down to Rio, he will probably ask the imperial
assembly to repeal the Kio Branco law and the auti-slave
trade law of 1831, so that Brazil can return once more to
unrestricted traffic in human flesh and blood. — Rio Nev.t.

OoPALCHi Bakk.( Ci'Oion nivevs, Jacq.,) forms the
subject of a note by M. E. Schmidt {Repertoire,
April, p. 157). According to the author its first
appearance in European commerce was in 1817, when
it was brought to Hamburg under the name of Trinidad
or Cuba cascarilla. He finds in the bark a bitter
principle, -soluble both in water and alcohol, also a
resin. The atpieous infusion of the bark has a yellow-
ish and the alcoholic a brown colour. A careful
description of the physical and microscopical charac-
ters of the bark is also given, such as will serve to
identify the article examined for future reference. —
Phannacevtical Joxmal.

The AVeather and Fever.— Mr. C. E. Paget,
medical officer of health for the Westmoreland Combined
Sanitarj' District, has published a detailed review of the
prevalence of " fever " in the borough of Kendal. He
compares it with the average rainfall, barometer
records, and temperature. The records of only a few
years are available, so the results may need revision, but
it seems that excessive falls of rain have been followed
with an increase of enteric fever ; sudden falls of the
barometer, especially when accompanied by heavy rain,
have a similar effect ; and a rise or fall of the mean
annual temperature generally corresponds with an in-
crease or decrease in the mortality from the di.sease.
The Lane:t points out that heavy rainfall forces the air
from sewers to escape from every available outlet ;
reduced atmospheric pressure sucks the air from sewers
and from soil alike; so that it is possible that the
ajsparent relation between disease and the weather may
have a simple explanation. — Cheinint wnd Jirnggint.

Desiccated Cocoanut. — Messrs. Linton, Hubbard
& Co., Red Lion Square, London, are bringing out, by
means of a new patent and improved process, the article
known as " desiccated cocoanut," so largely used by
biscuit manufactm-ers, confectioners, pastry-cooks, and
now slowly gaining hold with the English house-wife
for puddings, cakes, tarts, &c. Hitherto this has been
imported by this country from the United States, but
the American goods are found frequently to be adulter-
ated with starch, topioca, Indian corn-meal, and even
with '• terra alba " or pulverised soap-stone. Messrs.
Linton, Hubbard & Co., who do a large business in goods
of this description, have therefore determined to make
desiccated cocoanut and " Noix de coco " themselves,
and to produce none but the purest goods. We are
confident that by this enterprize they will command the
general approval of the Engli.sh consumer of these
productions, and they also deserve the thanks of the
public for introducing what is a new industry in this
country, as they are the only manufacturers of these
goods outside the United States. We have examined
their samples, and find them much whiter and brighter
than the American product. They are, moreover,
fresher, and retain the full flavour better after baking.
With sugar, and spread on tarts and buns, desiccated
coco.vnut is a delicious substitute for peel or almonds ;
and as such its use is likely to spread very con.siderably
when it has been properly brought before the attention
of the trade. Messrs. Liutou, Hubbard & Co.'s pro-
ductions cannot be too highly commended, and we wish
their enterprize all the success that such energy deserves,
—British Trade Journal.

JULV I, 1886.}

THE TROPICAL AGRICUI^TURIST.

25

CUEING OF TOBACCO.

At the close of Mr. Tackson's very iuteresting article
ou this subject he takes exceptiou to my recommeud-
ation as to allowing the plants to he a short time on
the ground before removal to the drying-shed. He
also appears to deny the necessity of any fermentative
action at all. In my own practice I found it u.se.ful
to let the plants lie for an hour or two, for this
reason— that the leaves, especially the lower ones,,
which stand out from the stem, are succulent and
brittle to handle when freshly cut, and so liable to
become bruised or broken when placed on the carter
wheelbarrow. "When slightly wilted this does not occur.
In one of the notices which I have read this is carried
to excess, as the crop is directed to be laid in heaps
at once, under cover, and kept there for some time ;
this is there called "the first sweating." I made
some experiments in this direction, but found the
process did not suit our climate. From the various
accounts I have read it is evident that there are " more
ways than one " in " killing the cat." The artificial
heating process for producing the fashionable yellow
colour is new to me; but, in fact, the same thing is
effected in my simple way under the ripeniiig vine
leaves in a warm September. In none of the descrip-
tions I have read can I find anything like perfect
information as to the physicial changes which take
place in the plant between the cutting of the crop
at the beginning, and the " perfect cure ' at the end.
I hfiive watched these closely, and will try to describe
them. There are, in fact, two yellows concerned, which
seem to be confused together la the description. A
plant in proper condition for harvesting will have the
lower leaf perhaps quite yellow, and the next ones,
counting upwards, more or less tinged, the topmost
ones remaining without apparent change. When such
a plant is hung up as I have directed the whole plant
will turn yeUow in a few days — sometimes in forty-
eight hours. Now this is yellow No. 1, and is, in
fact, the " sere and yellow leaf " of normal, seasonal
decadence, in which life still faintly lingers. After
this, and extending over a much longer interval, comes
the next grand changa — the change from life to death.
Then appears yellow No 2 : that is the tint of tobacco-
paper, minus the ripening or ferment, which is the
result of any tight packing. I use the term " yellow "
here, but, in fact, you can never tell what colour,
differing somewhat in which individual plant, will
turn up. I am familiar with every gradation, from
true yellow, through varying shades of chestnut-brown
to nearly black. Another example of yellow Tobacco
making was described a year or two since in an ad-
mirable article in the Times by Mr. Hamilton Lang.
Here the changes I have described seem to have been
effected in the full sua. I tried this system also, but
found it impracticable in our uncertain climate. I
believe, however, that the col.*ur of the ultimate
product is due to soil and conditions of cultivtttion.
This would appear from Mr. Jackson's quoted pamph-
let to be either virgin or unmanured soil, and in
my remarks on this subject I deprecated the use of
manure as hkely to encoui-age a rank vegetation
antagonistic to the development of the aromatic and
other organic products peculiar to the plant.

The phenomenon of colour is a very curious and
interesting subject, and well worth investigation. I
have .seen a beautiful bale of yellow from China, and
the Japanese I am told will produce any colour to
order, from plain black shag to imperial Lebanon.
Why is Turkish yellow as gold, and Latakaia as black
as your hat? In all the processes I have read of, and
thty are many, a fermentative process is indicated,
notablj' so in Mr. H. Lang's article, where it is de-
scribed as going on for several mouths. Doubtless the
treatment varies in different countries, and according
to the purpose to which the article is destined, whether
for cigars or cut Tobacco for instance. In the former
instance I believe the material takes a heat after its
formation into cigars. I think if Mr. Jackson were
t } taLo a pipe, before and after a ripening or fer-
4

meutativo process he would find the difference very
remarkable indeed.

Finally, the subject is new to us here in England
and we should be cautious in criticising eacli other's
work. I have only had it in hand four or five years
and I begin to suspect that neither I nor anybody
else "knows everything."— R. T, Clarke, — Gardeners,
Chronicle,

DELI TOBACCO PLANTATIONS,

Deli tobacco owes its good quality mainly to the
seasonable rainfall. The soil is not so good as in Java,
but there, the weather has to be struggled against,
whereas planters in Deli do not trouble themselves about
it. Tho longest drought lasts generally 20 to 25 days
at the outset of the planting season. It is by no naeans
easy to get nowadays suitable land sure to yield satis-
factory results as is too evident from the heavy losses
suffered by growers from neglect, wastefulness or ig-
norance, owing to most of them lacking experience. A
few lucky enough to pitch upon good land at the
start gained enormous profits. Others took up land at
a venture, only to abandon it on finding that they could
never make the enterprize pay. All the laud fit for
tobacco growing has been taken up throughout Deli and
Serdang. Even land formerly abandoned has been again
brought under cultivation generally with saccess. The
terms for leasing are 75 years at a quit rent amount-
ing to one guilder per houw, besides the purchase money
which varies from 2 to 6 dollars per bouw. Seeking
and demarcating land is no trifling matter owing to
diSiculties arising from jungle swarming with leeches,
ants, &c. Should the land prove to he of doubtful quality
•the safest course is to be always prepared for failure
at a slight loss rather than to sink capital sure to be gone
beyond recovery in that case. Tobacco is gr^wn by
means of Chinese coolies from Penang or Singapore.
To bring out singkehs or coolies direct from China costs
S50 each. Experienced coolies may be had for $30
each. Large companies always work with singkehs.
Pioneers and small land owners get on better with the
other class of coolies from their being cheaper, more
fully acquainted with the details of cultivation, and
stiin ding the climate better. Planters deserving of con-
fidence say that singkehs are preferable chiefly from
their being less troublesome to manage. Ou starting an
estate 60 to 100 Chinese are engaged. In clearing,
roadraaking, and housebuilding operations 100 Chinese
are made use of on a plantation of large size together
with 30 to 40 .Javanese. The wage of the latter is
from 6 to 8 dollars a month. They have to work 10
hours per day and set their hands to anything handy
besides the planting of tobacco. Felling jungle is under-
taken by Malays and Battaks, the Chinese bearing
part of the expense. After it is over, burning the felled
timber, &c., is set about when the dry season sets
in, generally in December. In January the Chinese
set to work planting, fifteen thousand plants being set
out on the average every season. They receive 5 to 8
dollars per 1,000 plants delivered into the stctjhouses
according to quality. These houses are built of jungle
timber and roofed with thatch. To every 10 Chinese,
there is usually one storehouse 150 feet lone, 60 broad,
and .30 hij:h. In Deli sometimes the yield becomes
higher than usual when the plants admit of a second
cut. The planters being almost the owners of their
holdings, can manage better than their fellows on (tOv-
vernment land in Java, besides having Chinese labourers
who are simply invaluable when compared with Jav-
anese. Safety of life and property is sufficiently en-
sured. The Chiuese are generally well treated. Alost
of the difficulties \\ith them arise out of ignorance of
their language. There is medical aid ut iiand on every
estate. I never saw any Deli planter ill-treating his
coohes. The planters are first-rate fellows, hardy,
muscular, hospitable, open hearted, and helpful. On
the East Coast, the most unbounded hospitality is met
with. Visitors are wt^lcomed everywhere and readily
supplied with information. The planters bein.; good-
humoured and enterprizing get ou very well with on«

s6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July i, 1886.

another. They do not foolishly compete with each
other, bit help one another as much as possible. Owiag
to the bad weather, I was prevented from seeing the
wonderful work wrough by the Deli Company, whose
successful opei-afions are borne witness to by the large
dividends distributed. Other e-^tates held either indivi-
dually, or on the joint stock priuciple are also doing
well. Oae remarkable characteristic that strikes the
eye ill Deli is the total absence of lavish display of any
kind. Jirtolling houses and tobacco sheds are fi'ted up
hiuipiy just em>ugh to meet practical requirements.
Lvnd after being crip^d OQCe is allowed to lie fallow
for several yearK, Sorting operations are carri'd through
by CdinesB only wtio do the work very quicikly, it
being greatly fuci'ltated by the circumstance that the
rains wh'ch usually fall at the season make the tobacco
pliant and easy to handle. Everythiwg seems to work
together to render the count y fit for tobacco grow-
ing. However hrilliaatly auc.-essful many planters
have been in Deli, I would not advise any one to go
there at a voulure trusting to luck, from the slender
chances of his doing well in that quarter. There ire
more applicants for employment than there are situ-
ations available. I met with many young men tramp-
ing through the country vaiii'y seeking for somethi;g to
do. Oeueratly speaking, the assistants there are of a
superior stamp to those i a Java fiom their being men
of a determined and fearless cast oi mind. Many of
thm are highly educated aad th -y coniprise a great
nnmber of foreigners Livin^' in Deli is not cheap.
SiTvants in particular are expensive there. Matters
however in this respect show signs of improvement.
The Deli Oomfjany ko--ps a store of its own where
ordinary food supplies are obtainable by its employees
at low r%tt<s. In cmc usion, I h artly wish that the
idanters may do Well and miv be amply rewar ieil for
iheir toilsome excrti n- to d velop the resources of the
country. — SamSirOi.vg Locomotief .

EOCKHAMPTON BOTANIC GAEDENS.

THE EOSE.

Most people are tond oi a good rose, but only a
few take the troub'e to grow plants so as to get
blossoms worth 1 lok ng at. Numbers of plants are
annually put in the ground something after this fashion.
They are Vought from some nurseryman, and a small
hole is dug, very likely about a foot square. Into
this th'? , Ian-, is put, the soil filled in and watered.
Possib.y the plants thus dealt with are watere i every
day. A good deal of the soil in town, which has not
been previously dr.aned, when holed in this way wii;
hold the water until it is dried out by evaporation.
I have seen hoies two feet deep that have been full
of water for months at a time. Is it any wonder
then that so many plant* die. A mo.st amusing thing
is that when ail has been done inadvertently that
could be reasouablj expected to try and kill the
plants, the climate of Queensland gets the blame and
hard words are used by the wuuld-be rose grower.

My experience is, there is a great number of varie-
ties of roses that can be grown here to prefection, if the
ground has been properly prepared, and this is re-
quisite in any country. Almost any good .soil will
.suit roses. Experienced growers prefer a rather strong
loam, but very good roses are produced here on a
light sandy loam. Wh.atever the soil may be, it is
indispensable .that it be trenched and drained, and if
bones are avi-.ilable a layer should be put in the bottom
of each trench, and plenty of rott<^n manure spread
on the surface, w^•ll dug in, and forked over two or
three times to thoroughly mix it with the soil, iioses
should always be grown in a bed or border by th"m-
selves, unless in cases where ground has been prepared
for fruit trees. For three or four jears they will do
very well in the spaces betweBU the trees if the
ground is specially manuri.d for them. When the
ground has been prepared the next thing is planting.
If a border, the climbing and tall-growing varit-ties
should be "et at the back, and the dwarf varieties
n front. Tlie climbers c/\n be either trained as pillars.

or on a trellis. If in a bed, put all the tall sorts
in the centre.

Now, about the varieties to plant in this district.
The nurserymen are offering from two to three hun-
dred varieties in their catalogues for this year, so
that it is easy to get a large collection if anyone
wishes it. For my own part, I prefer a dozen or
two of well-defined varieties, well cultivated, to having
a larger number not skillfully and properly taken
care of. For the benefit of those who may contem-
plate planting I will give the names of a few varieties
which have done well in our gardens:— Acidal, Adam,
Aimee Viuert, Baronne Hallez, Beauty of Waltham,
Cehne Forcstier, Charles Lefebre, Cloth of Gold,
Comtesse de Bertha. Cramoisie Superieure, Devoniensis,
Eclair de .lupiter, Gloire de Dijon, Glorie de Lyons,
Victor Yerdier, Paul Xeron, Triomphe de Lyons,
Souvenier de Dr. Gommes, Lyonaise, Dr. Ardre,
Robin Hood, lord Raglan, Marie Guillot, Madam
Moreau, Marechal, Neil, Solffateur, White Banksian,
Yellow Ban ksian, Souvenier de la Malmaison, Souvenier
de un Ani, Gloire de Ducher, Madam de Vatry,
Aeturios, Amelia Hoste, Duke of Oonnaught, Mrs. Baker,
President Thiers. Mast of the above varieties are
free growers, and are of easy cultivation.

Those who wish to propagate any favourite variety
have three methods open to them; first, budding,
which is very little practised in this country, and is
rather a difficult operation to be performed by
amateurs. I don't think it is necessary to describe
how it should be done. Second, by cuttings which
is easy if the .season is a good one, and the cuttings
are put in during the month of .July. The cuttings
should be made of well matured wood of the last
season's growth, cut off square just below one of the
eyes. Six inches is quite long enough for rose cuttings,
and a very small portion should be left above the
surface. The bed is best!made of nice sandy loam,
and shaded slightly. Thirdly, comes the easiest plan
I can recommend, which is layeri 'g. All that is
necessary is to carefully bend down the branches,
and make a small hole three or four inches deep
beneath where the middle of the branch touches the
ground. Bend the branch until it is well down on
the bottom of the hole. Cut it half through with
a sharp knife; fill in soil; cut the point of the branch
off to within a few inches of the grouud ; water
occasionally, and the following Autumn the plants
can be taken up, and put in a nursery bed, or planted
out permanently. If the season is good layering can
be done at any time from March to the beginning
of August. It is very little use trying to propagate
roses or anything else iw such a sea. sou as the present
unless there is a good supply of lagoon water to be
bad. It is not easy in au article like this to explain
how roses ought to be pruned a.s this needs to be
done according to the strength of the growth of the
diffe-eut v<irieties. As a general rule it is safe to cut
back all tall straight growing varieties to one third
of the season's growth. Those that form compact
heads do best by cutting off the ends of the branches
so as to mike the hearl as symmetrical as possible,
and removing all dead and useless brush out of the
centre. Climbing roses require different pruning to
all other varieties. They require stakes or trellising
to support them. Train in the young shoots as they
grow, in the spring. Take the -shoots off the trellis
or stake, and shorten them by about one-fourth
of their length; cut oft" all dry or weak branches,
and tie them up again neatly. I have found that
from the middle of July to the middle of August is
the best time to prune most varieties. — J. S- Edgar. —
Rockhimptmi BuUetin.

TEA.

We took occasion, some months ago, in commenting
on the relief afforded to Java tea in the Netherlands
budget, to remark that Chinese statesmen also would
do well to realize the fact that Indian tea is a
suflBciently dangerous competitor on its merits, with-
out being helped by a handicap on its rivals. There

/uiy I, me.] THfi TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

'■'?

18 uo doubt that one reason of the rapid increase
of production of India is the absolute freedom from
impost, and Hulland is wise in giving the nascent
industry in Java similar encouragement. China tea
is handicapped in two ways. Sir Robert Hakt has
lately pointed out that the imperfect preparation of
the leaf places it at a disadvantage with the produce
of its rivals, which it will feel more keenly as the
shipments from India and Ceylon augment still further
in quantity ; and— supplementing this argument — there
has lately appeared, in the columns of our Shanghai
contemporary, a series of letters insisting that heavy
taxation is a still more serious fastor in the case.
It is beyond question that China tea might be very
much improved if the same care were given to its
manufacture as is given in India, Oeylon, and Java ;
still, though the export figures have lately become
stationary; the taste for it is not dying out; England
and America will still buy it at the same relative
value as that from other countries ; " but buyers
"naturally look for the best value, and that can un-
" doubtetUy be better found in the duty-free produce
" of other countries." The import duly of sixpence a
pound which it encounters in England is no doubt in
itself a heavy burden, and we have more than oncp
suggested that there is room for grave remonstrance
against the incidence of a tax which amounts to
nearly a humlred per cent, on the cheaper teas, and
only five-and-twenty on the dearer. It might perhaps
be argued that, from this point of view — the China
teas being the cheapest in the market— it constitutes
an indirect handicap on the latter against their dearer
rivals. There is however, here, no direct disadvantage.
The sixpenny duty falls on all teas alike — whether
from India, Ceylon, Java, China, or Japan. "Where
the shoe really pinches is at home. In India and
Oeylon there is no tax at all ; in Japan the duties
amount only to about one dollar a picul ; while China
tea starts with a handicap of from 30 to 40 per cent.
in the race. In the Hunan and Hupeh provinces, it.
appears that local duties are exacted ranging from
Tls. 5.22 to Tls. 0.38 per picul— nearly, in fact,
doubling the export duty ; while the districts which
feed Kiukiang have to pay from Tls. 4.41 to Tls.
5.74, and Green Teas of Chekeang from Tls. 4.05 to
Tls. 5.17. The legitimate export duty of Haekwan
Tls. 2.50 per picul constitutes, of course, the larger
portion of these amounts, and that is probably the only
portion which subserves imperial purposes ; lekin —
ranging from about a tael and a half in the majority
of case.s, to 11. K. Tl.s. 2.50 on one district of Kiang.si
— comes next, and various petty local taxes go to
make up the total.

It may well be asked, how can China tea be expected
to hold its owi, under such conditions, against abso-
lutely untaxed rivals? The policy of remitting direct
taxation, in faUh that compensation will be found in
a consequent increase of general prosperity is, as
we remai-ked on a former occasion, as opposite
as possible to the principles of Chinese Governraei\t;
and even if P^-king statesmen could be brought to
see that China tea, weighted by lekin and local
taxation and subject to a heavy export duty beside",
is unwisely handicapped, the bare idea of relieving
it of all thi various squeezes wliich go to fill the
pockets and coffers of the locul officials would be
sufficient to produce a^ rebellion in IMandarindom.
Either by din cfc remission, however, or by a more
gradual process of evaporation, it seems clear that a
great portion of these taxes are certain to pass from
them. If the trade is not relieved from their pressure,
it will be gradually killed by increasing competition.
"England," to quote the concluding words of the
writer whose statistics we have taken, "will be virtu-
ally " independant of China in a few years, owing
" to the rapidly increasing production of India and
" Ceylon. The United States, another large customer,
"promises to bo chiefly supplied from Japan. Can
" China afford to lose the two best customers she
" has ? She can only retain them by a great effort.
"First, by making tea duty-free; second, by improving
"the article itself."

We remarked, io a receut article on the same sub ject,

that the Chinese arc indebted to Sm HuBEEt Hart
for having impressed it upon their attention. Tney
will be still more indebted to him if Le will return
to the attack with improvsd statistics and with the
additional weapon which the above arguixients furnish.
We pointed out that the figures quoted by him for
India and Ceylon, produce were— unle.'^s' a clerical
error could be suspected— very far beljw the mark;
ind his representations could obviously not be expected
to have the weight they deserve, so long as they
fail to indicate the real extent of the competition.
A quarter of a c'^ntury ago, China had nearly a
monopoly of supply to the tea markets of the world.
The demand for tea has since then very greatly in-
creased [.ut, though the value of her tea has fallen
heavily, her export stands nearly where it did ; while
an additional supply of 115,000,000 lbs. has grown
up from India, Ceylon, Java, and Japan. The
200,000,000 lbs. sent forth by China still give her aa
immense preponderance ; but the fact has to be faced
that they constitute now only two-thirds instead of,
as they once did, nine-tenths of the world's supply,
Hitherto, as we have said, increasing demand has kept
pace with the incrf?a^ing s.ipply from other qnaters,
but that supply threatens 'o increase so rapidly within
a very easily measu. a Md period, that keen competition
must ensue in which the heavily taxed and less
carefully prepared China tea is sure to suffer. Al-
ready the increase of export which might have been
looked for uudi'r fair conditions has been stopped ;
in one case, even, the current would seem to have
turned — the export of green, which in 1874-5 rr-ached
31,000,000 lbs., against 19,500,000 lbs. from Japan-
having fallen this season to about 28,000,000 lbs.,
against 38,000,000 lbs. from Japan ! Let the Insp'^ctor-
Ceneral of Customs, we repeat, return to the attack
with greater vigour, improved statistics and greater
breadth of argument than before. There is here, as
his commentator points out, no question of conceding
anything for the benefit of foreigners. It is one of
importance to the Chinese th^'mst'lves. If the du+ies
are not reduced, they must be prepared to stand by
and see the tea trade go to othe:' countries which
have a mure intelligent fiscal policy. "C'lina will then
grow nier»-ly for it.s Ovvn wants, and the districts
" which have profited by supplying foreign markets
"will become imppverished ; while a speedy reduction
would again give life and importance to the trade."
The prospect may seem remote ; 260,000.000 lbs. is
a great figure to overtake ; but the tendency is dis-
tinctly in that direction, unless Chinese statesman
and Chinese growers agree to mend their wnys
—L. i)'- C. Ea-piest>.

THE VALUE OF THE EUCALITTS AS
TIMBER TREES.
By D. Honitz, Forest Conservatoi',

The EucaUpts, or Gum-trees as they have been called,
have of lat-j years attracted a great deal of attention
on account of their healthy properties, but their value
as timber trees has hitherto not penetrated to the
great markets. There have been several reasons for
this, the distance from far-off' Australia, their native
place, the difficulty of transport to the shipping
place, the peculiarities of the wood, which as a rule
is very heavy and hard, and last, but not least, that
people have not known the quality of these timber
trees, nor quite understood how to treat them. There
is as yet a large ft -Id open for experience with these
trees, but as it is likely that they will play a promi-
nent part in the near future, it may not be without
interest to know a little of their general character
and utili/.ition.

The first objection. I'i:. . the distance to the great
markets, will in a few years be somewhat modified
by the introduction of the more valnrible Eueal.\pt.s
on a lai-ge scale into the countries around the
Mediterrane^m, and partit^ularly in the colony of .\l-
giers, where the cultivation of theRo valuable trees is
being executed at a great rate. As thi; Bucalypt timber
gets more known, the demand for the more valuablo

i§

fan -fmPiCAL AGmcvtttjm^f.

[JvLY i, i986.

kinds and dimensions will also cause a bn«!ker trade
in Australia, and thereby lessen ihe freight and the
co!=t as better means of obtaining these dimensions
are discovered.

Foremost amongst the Eucalypts, of which a couple
of hundred species are known in Australia, the great
home for the whole Myrtle family, stands the Jarrah
tree (E, Marginata) of AVestern Australia, where it
is found on the ironstone ranges along the cost. The
exact extent of the .vast forest containing Jarrah
timber cannot be exactly ascertained, as this tree
gradually gives room for other trees, but Baron von
Miillor, the celebrated botanist, maintains that the
bt U stretches from the Collie River as the southern
boundary as far as the Hershel ranges in a width
of varying size. The wood is brownish, and if taken
from dense forest of a straight and even texture,
hard, resinous, closely grained, and particularly from
rocky ground of an oily appearance. It receives a
fine finish and polish, and shipbuilders prefer it to
teak and oak. This wood is exceedingly durable, but
its chief ^nrtue consists in the now recognized fact
that it resists the attack of the "teredo navalis " as
well as that of other insects destructive to timber
in exposed positions. It is therefore extremely well
suited for piles, wharves, railway sleepers, and
telegraph poles, and as it also resists the attack of
fungi or rot caused by putrid water, it should find a
prominent place as wood pavement. In Australia it
is a common theory that vessels built of this wood
do not require copperplating, a fact only men-
tioned to show that it resists animal or organic
parasitical life. India has alreadj' during several de-
cades been monopolizing this tree for railway sleepers,
and a great export trade has long taken place from
Perth to various places in India. On the south-eastern
part of Australia is found a congener, called the
Bastard Jarrah {E. hdtri/oides), which resembles the
Jarrah, but its wood is not so durable or oily and
does not le.sist the attacks of insects so well. The
Bastard Jarrah is found in Gippsland, in the colony
of Victoria, where it forms fine forests. It grows
taller and furnishes straighter and larger dimensions
than the Jarrah, and though not so durable as that
tree is still a most valuable timber tree. In Western
Australia there were about thirty saw-mills in 1882,
and most of these were only employed on the Jarrrah
for sleeper-cutting.

The next in rank should be the Red Gum {E.
rostrata), on account of its durability when used for
underground work. This tree is a native of Southern
Australia, where it is found on river flats, in swamps,
and on the plains. The wood is reddish, resinous,
hard, works well, and receives a high degree of
polish. Ship-builders utilize it extensively for all purpo-
ses wheie stiength and hardness are required. If used
for planks the wood should be steamed befcre use. This
tree is being cuttiv<ited largely in Algiers, and it will
not be many years before its presence there will
make itself felt on the flats at Lacaile, and near Bona,
where this tree seems to prosper and grow exceedingly
well, but no information is as yet to hand about its
timber value. For railway sleepers it is extremely
well suited, and even in very awkward positions it
has been known to last for upwards of 23 years be-
fore showing sig!;8 of decay. Also for wood pavement
this timb. r should be utilized ; aud as it resists the
attacks of insects nearly as well as the Jarrah, it
should take a prominent place in importation for
that purpose. To this class belong also the so-called
"Flooded Gums " of South Australia and New South
Wales, but as transport to the seaports is difficult,
and they do not play a very prominent part, they
are only mentioned here.

There are many more valuable Eucalypts, but I
will not wearj' the reader with their names aud
descriptions, and only remark that amongst them are
found the hardest and most durable woods known,
for experience has shown that some of them aie
practically everlasting as fencing posts and sleepers,
wear and tear, of course excepted. The large giant
tree, the stringybark (ij. obliqua), furnishes immense
4imeii&iou9 of a li^bt Resile wopd, u»f tU for sbiogles, ,

rails, &c., and when it becomes more known, perHaps
some more paying use might ba found for it, while
some of the mahogany Eucalypts furnish beautiful
wood for cabinet-making and ornamental work. With
the present facilities for transport it is a curious fact
that these timber trees are so little known in the timbei-
market, where they ought to take a very prominent
place, and it is also curious that the greatest part
of these woods are exported to India and to America,
while Europe kuow.s little or nothing about them.
The most practical way to test the value of these
timber trees would most likely be to form a company
of timber merchants to deal with the matter, and
then, after having communicated with the various
agent-generals in Loudon to send a practical man out
to make himself acquainted with the various places
and to form business acquaintance with the saw-mill
owners, so as to secure a supply of good tipjber to
throw on the market. I have no doubt that the
public would back such an effort, and I feel sure that
the Australian colonies would, singly and collectively,
do their utmost to aid the success of the undertaking,
whereby everybody would be a gainer.

The next important Eucalypt .should be the Karri
of Western Australia {E. diversi color, Miieller) ou
account of the large dimensions of a straight even-
grained timber which it furnishes. This timber is
much sought for masts and ship-building, and is not
so heavy as the before mentioned, but of a lighter
and more elastic character. The tree is of a rapid
growth and reaches a great height and considerable
girth. In the valleys and on the flats in South-west
Australia colossal Karries are found, frequently reach-
ing a height of 300 to 400 feet aud a girth of 40
to 50 feet about 6 feet from the ground, liut it is
rarely found except in mixture with other Eucalypts.
Most important is also the so-called Ironbark tree
(£". Lev.coxylon) found mostly in Southern Australia,
although it does not furnish such large dimensions
as the above named. The wood of this tree is close
grained, firm, and of remarkable elasticity and dura-
bility. Carpenters, ship-builders, and wheel -wrights
use it, and for treenails, rudder stocks, belaying pins,
blocks, &c., as well as for wheels, spokes, &c., it
cannot be surpassed. There are already several saw-
mills at work, and there is room for many more, as
the supply is very great. For axe handles and handles
in general it excels the hickory {Carj/a alba) both
as regards durability and elasticity, and as this
valuable tree prefers a rocky, stony ground it will
most likely be cultivated to a very large extent on
the otherwise useless ranges. This tree has received
some attention in Algier.";, whence it may confidently
be expected that a good supply will be obtained be-
fore manj' years. The Ironbarks of New South
Wales and Queensland furnish also most valuable
timber of this kind, and will, no doubt, be cultivated
largely as soon as the demand for them arises ; but
the ignorance of the European market with regard
to them has caused them to be but little appreciated
as yet, and consequently the forests have not been
properly protected. — I'hiihei- Trad.es Jvuraal.

TEA IN JAPAN,

Through the courtesy of Messrs. J. M. Robertson
k, Co. we have been enabled to Jnspect several models
of Japanese tea machinery aud implements which have
been procured by Mr. Drummoud Deane and which
are to be eventually present"d to the Colombo Musuem.
These miniature models are very neatly executed in
the material from which the originals are made, the
basket-work and sieves been really pretty specimens
of workmanship, and are worthy the inspection of
those who take an interest in knowing how the Jap-
anese manipulate their produce. It may also be of
interest to give some information as to the whole
coui-se of tea cultivation and manufacture in Japan,
The plantations are opened in similar localities to those
we have in Ceylon, the only difference apparently
being that on steep land the slope is cut into terraces
to prevent wash, A gently undulating country is pre*

Jtrtv 1 iSse,-}

TME TROPiCAL AGRiCVLTUUiBT,

29

ferred to steep land, and great attention is psid to
complete drainage. It is when we come to the plant-
ing of the tea bushes that the custom in Japan differs
so much from what we have been accustomed to.
The seed is planted in circles of about two feet diameter
and about five feet apart. As many as thirty seeds
are at fiist sown round each circle. The circle of
seed developes into one thick bush, and here a diffic-
idty presents itself which we avoid by our single plant
system. The plants in the circle develop into
different classes of bushes, so that it often happens
that several varieties of plant are growing also, and
consequently the leaf gets mixed together. Plucking
commences in the third year, and the bush is considered
at its best from the fifth to the tenth year, after
which it may require manure. The bushes are topped
ao a height of from tliree to four feet. There are
not more than three rounds of plucking in the year ;
and each lasts about twenty days or a month, the
first beginning at the end of April or the beginning
of May, the second in June or July, and the third
(which is not always available) later on in the year.
This work is done principally by women and girls,
and seems to be done very roughly, as whole shoots
and long stems are frequently met with in the basket.
Quoting from Mr. H. Gribble's '• Preparation of Japan
Tea " a pubiioation by the Asiatic Society of Japan,
" as a rule the tea belongs to very small proprietors,
who fire their few catties a day, generally in the
entrance of their own apartments, and then sell the
fired leaf to larger dealers, who as principals or go-
betweens, mix their various purchases together and
then send 20 or more boxes of similar tea for sale
at the treaty ports. But the process of preparing the
green leaf is the same whether done in a small shanty
or the godowns of a well-to-do merchant." This is done
by steaming it for about half-a-minute in a wooden
tray with brass wire bottom, placed in the mouth of
an iron cauldron set in plaster, over a wood fire and
covered over with a lid. The workman t'tkes a look
at the leaves and stirs them before removal, and the
moist leaves, with their natural oil brought to the
surface are thrown on a wooden table for a few minutes
and then fired. "A box-shaped wooden frame, about
four feet long by 2| feet broad, coated with plaster
forms the oven. Charcoal (well covered with charcoal
ash) is alight at the bottom of the oven, and about
a foot and a half above the charcoal rests the wooden
frame with tough Japanese paper stretched across
it." Six-and-a-half lbs. of steamed leaf is reduced
by firing to about one-and-a-half. " At first he throws
up the soft, moist leaves in quick succession aud keeps
the whole mass moving without any attempt at rolling
or twisting ; gradually the leaves assume a darker
color, and gradually he works them up into balls,
rolling the balls between his hands, separating the
leaves again, rolling them on the hot surface of the
paper, and finally does so with considerable strength
and pressure, occasionally resting one elbow on the
edge of the tray and rolling the tea between the
pakns of both hands with all his might. After some
hours' work (depending upon the quality of the tea)
the leaves have all become separately twisted, and have
changed their color to dark olive purple. They are
now crisp, long, thin, wiry spills, and in the case of
the best leaf look more like slender tooth-picks than
the leaves of a shrub. When finished the tea is strewed
on a similar firing ti^y, but at a lower temperature
(about 100 ° ), and is then allowed to dry until it becomes
quite brittle. .The heat is then further reduced to
about 95 ® and the tea left for four to six hours,
even longer, if it is intended to keep it in stock for
many months. Tea well fired in this manner and
afterwards packed in earthenware jars will keep for
a whole year without spoiling." From this description
our readers will see that, though steaming is substi-
tuted for withering, and a great saving in time is
thereby) effected, still the process as detailed above
is one that requires considerable time and trouble ;
and to such as it is, must be added ''sorting" by
hand trays; "sifting" through sieves suspended from
the ceiling ; and finally " hand picking " by which
tsa^lks »od refuse are separated and removed. After

this, the tea is collected and taken to the treaty
ports to be finally manipulated and forwarded to
America and Canada, which constitute its principle
markets. " There are two systems of final-tiring Japan
tea— pan-firing and basket-firing. Pan-tii-ing is done
in rows of iron pans (21 inches in diameter by 13
inches deep) set in brick work and heated by charcoal."
About 5 lb. weight is put into each pan, and stirred
until sufficiently done ; then it undergoes a second
stirring in a cold pan and is sifted to remove the
dust, being packed into the lead-lined chests while still
warm. The hot firing may take from 40 to 65 minutes
and the cold-pan stirring from 25 to 60 minutes.
If coloring matter has to be added it is thrown in
during the firing process, and is absorbed by the tea.
The American demand for colored tea is becoming
less every year, and in all probability will fade away
altogether before long. Allusion is here made to a
matter of which we have heard before '' the remanu-
faeture in London or New York of teas shipped from
the East, a process for which merchants here are not
responsible." Then we have to learn how basket-firing
is effected. "Basket-firing consists in simply refiring
the tea without any of the stirring process as gone
throug-h in the pans. A bamboo basket, shaped like
a dice box, but open at the ends, is placed over a
large iron brazier containing lighted charcoal (well
covered with ashes), and the tea is strewed about an
inch in thickness, on a close-woven bamboo tray which
fits the neck of the dice box. The baskets are oc-
casionally removed from the brazier and the tea turned
over by hand in order that all may be equally fired.
They are carefully replaced on the brazier without
allowing any dust or leaves to fall through the tray
on to the charcoal, and in the course of 40 to 60
minutes the tea is ready fof packing."

The foregoing description'relates to the manufacture
of ordinary .Japan tea, known as Japan green tea, and
in which, as our readers will no doubt note, ferment-
ation takes no part, but in the making of Japan
Congous fermentation has to occur. Hitherto the
financial result of Japati-made Congous has not been
a success, but, as the demand for green teas is year
by year less than the supply, and American and Canada
are the only markets for it, it is felt that by making
black teas instead of green an outlet would be found
in Europe and Australia. The greater part of the
Coagou made in Japan is shipped to England, where
it is mixed with Indan tea.s, the former most effectu-
ally toning the latter, and thus forming an excellent
combination. To make the black or Congou the leaf
is " spread out on bamboo or straw mats in a sunny
place till it is quite soft. In wet weather, or when
it is cold, the leaf may be rendered sufficiently pliable
by wilting on iron plates or ordinary firing jjans over
charcoal fires. Steaming, as in the green tea process,
must be avoided, as it takes too much vitality out of
what is naturally a weak tea," The rolling is done
by hand : " each cooly takes a double handful and
rolls, as a baker kneads dough, for thirty minutes,
after which it is packed tightly in large round baskets
and covered over with a cloth for an hour or so to
allow it to ferment, at the expiration of which time
it attains a reddish brown tint. To assist the process
of fermentation the basket containing the rolled leaf
should be placed in the firing-room. The leaf is then
tipped out on the rolling-table, well shaken out and
rolled for fifteen minutes more and fired on iron gauze
sieves or drum baskets, over charcoil fires. The first
mentioned process takes 45 minutes and the drum
baskets seventy-five." Sifting and sorting are much
about the same in making both green and black teas :
in the latter case, the larger leaf is broken by the
hand, and the bulk is fiually reduced to 5 sizes— large
and small congou, large and small pekoe, and dust.
The models we have had the pleasure of inspecting
fully illustrate every implement that is used in the
manufacture as above described even to the box and
brush for the paste used in papering the boxes. Mini-
ature boxes ready for shipment are also included with
a remarkable sample of tea in one of them. It is
not j)robable that our planters can learn much, it
auytbing, from the Jspaneee tbat would be of adraut«

so

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

fJULY I, lfe86.

age to them in Oeylon, thougli the " withering " by
steam is a hint which might be taken so far as ex-
periments are concerned. But iu regard to native
holdings of very small extent the relation of the
Japanese method of curuig is especially of interest,
showing as it does what can be done on a small scale
and with inexpensive tools, though, as we have already
stated we believe the general custom here will be for
the natives to sell the green leaf as picked from the
bushes to small manufacturers much as they have
been accustomed to do with their coffee in past days.
Mr. Drummoud Deane lias done a service to the island
by introducing his Japauesi' tea boxes, and his models
of implements used in Japan maybe regarded as an
interesting addition to our store of a material for a
general knowledge of the tea interest and cultivation
throughout the world. — Local " Times."

A PLEA FOR THE PRACTICE OF HYBRID-
ISATION OF PLANTS.

BY JAMES I'lNK, ESQ., F. U. H.S., 11RISB.«JE B0T.4.NICAL
OAK DENS.

The produce of vegetation as found in its primitive
state conduces little in a direct manner to the main-
tenance of civilized man, and it is not until it has
been improved by culture that it is really of any
value to the world in general. This beneficial result
has been brought about by the practice of the arts
of cultivation and hybridisation. In this short paper
I intend to deal with the latter of these, viz : —
hybridisation, including cross-fertilisation.

It may be fairly assumed that in the origin of
vegetation distinct species only were in existence,
all other forms being merely varieties of such sj^ecies ;
and this opinion is confirmed by the fact that, even
at the present day, botanists are unable to define
what strictly constitutes a species.

It is only within a comparatively recent date that
the organs of fructification of flowers have been thor-
oughly understood, although the ancient s appear to
have had certain ideas as to the sexuality of flowers.
Emijodocles and Anaxagoras in the fifth century before
the Christian era, claim for vegetables the same sex-
uality as animals ; and Herodotus states that the Greek
cultivators of the date, Phfenix dactylifera, brought
the flowers from the male plants and attached them
to the fruit-bearing trees, that the produce might
attain maturity. Yet it was not till 1787 that any
great improvements had been efi^ected in varieties of
fruit and vegetables. In that year, Thomas Andrew
Knight, President of the Royal Horticultural Society
of England, commenced his experiments in hybridis-
ation, which he carried on uninterruptedly for forty
years, since which time the general appearance of our
cultivated plants has very much changed. It matters
not whether we look to the useful or to the orna-
mental department of the vegetable kingdom — at the
beautiful flowers that adorn our gardens and add a
charm to our daily lives ; or to the more useful, the
fruits and vegetables that supply our wants. In each
department is the thou:;ht and skill of man apparent,
as year by year new forms of beauty are added to
our already large list of flowers, and new and improved
varieties to our stock of fruits and vegetables. For
years past both the Queensland Acclimatisation Society
and the oflBcers of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens have
searched the world for fruits and plants of economic
value ; and with great success as the garden and
orchard throughout the colony testify. But here the
matter has ended ; with the exception of one solitary
instance — so far as I am aware — no endeavour has
been made to improve such plants by raising indigen-
ous hybrids, for it is only by such means that plants
can be really acclimatised. Some one has truly said
that plants like men thrive best on their native soil.
The one exception to which I referred is that of our
President, Dr. Bancroft, who has succeeded iu raising
a new and indigenous variety of grape by hybridising
or crocsing the Isabel with the Sweetwater, the former

being the mother and the Sweetwater the father of
the new variety. This was -loue as an experiment,
an I no great result could be expected of it. To have
raised a really improved and invaluable hybrid I would
have suggested the crossing of the Muskat of Alexandria
with the Isabel. This cross would probably result in
a distinct break in our varieties of grapes, anil by
such means we might obtain a hybrid possessing the
hardness and productiveness of the Isabel with the
large and delicious fruit of the Muscat.

The art of practical hybridisation is very simple in
itself, but it is absolutely necessary for the operator
to have a knowledge of the various parts of the
flower, and especially of the functions of the organs
of fructification. A typical perfectly formed flower is
composed of a calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistil.
It is with the two latter essential organs that the
hybridist has to deal. The pistil is the central organ
of the flower and is divided into three parts, the
ovary, style, and stigma. The ovary is that part of
the pistil which is to contain the future .seel. The
stigma is the moist, spungy surface destined to receive
the pollen-grains by which the ovules are fertilised,
and the style is the column supporting the stigma,
through which the pollen-tubes pass to the ovary. A
stamen consists of a stalk called a filament and the
anther containing the pollen-grains. It is by convey-
ing the pollen-grains from the anthers of the flowers
of one distinct species or variety to the stigma of
the flower of another species or variety that the pract-
ical process of hybridisation is effected. Hybrid-
isation is one of the most interesting departments in
the whole field of horticulture, and one which from
its simplicity can be carried to a successful issue by
anyone especiallj' after having once seen the operation
performed. Morning and evening, in fine weather,
are the best times for effecting the process.

It will be well to glance for a moment at what other
countries have effected by hj'bridisation. Take Amer-
ica, as an example and where America has led surely
Australia can follow, and in her turn raise hybrid
fruit of her own, better adapted to her climate than
imported kinds.

America in the early days of her history did exactly
as we are doing, that is, introduced all her fruits from
the Old ■\Yorld, with various results. The apple as
introduced from Europe would not thrive, neither is
it indigenous to America, and early writers say that
nearly all the varieties had degenerated to the normal
state of " crabs." As soon, however, as Knight had
promulgated his theory of crossing and hybridising,
through the agency of the Royal Horticultural Society,
the Americans, ever ready at grasping inoproved ideas,
at once commenced experiments in raising new varieties
of apples by means of artificial hybridisation. The
result is that at the present day America has the
finest collection of apples of any country in the world,
and these all raised on her own soil. St local r.r<>
many of these varieties, that they will not thrive
out of the State in which they were raised. As with
apples so with grapes. The early American colonist,
crossed the European varieties with the native grapes
nth labrusea. This latter unfortunately gives to all
the American varieties a slightly '• foxy "' flavour, but
it also gives them a strong constitution and large pro-
ductive powers, and California is to-day reaping the
benefit of the exertions of her early settlers, in both
grapes and apples. To improve our own grape I think
we could not do better than follow the exampk- of
America, and cross the best European or American
varieties with one our native kinds, as a basis for
further hybrids. I have been informed by several
gentlemen that there is growing around Cooktown one
of tlie tuberous-rooted varieties of grape. I have never
seen this plant, but I very much wish to do so, for
if it is only half as good as the description given
me — which I have no reason to doubt — here is the
very thing to our hands : a plant with a fleshy tub* r-
ous root, and consequently capable of withstanding
any amount of drought, nature having adapted it. to
the position it occupies, and from which an endicss
variety of Australian hybrids might be raised perfectly
suited to our climate.

July i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIS-^

31

I am quite aware that there have been in the past
tens of thousauds of chance seeiUing fruits such as
oranges and peaches raised in this colony, yet we never
get a peach equal to the original varieties as grown
in Europe, in consequence of ail the Earopeau kinds
degenerating when importeii lune. The cause of the
lack of improvement in these seedlings is that they
have been raised from seed produced from flowers left
to fertilise themselves, or to chance fertilisation by
insect agency, instead of by judicious hybridisation.

Hybridisation aud cross breeding of plants have now
become a science of which the results in either fruit
or flowers are made an almost absolute certainty. The
hybridist should have a clear conception of what he
wishes to obtain, and then operate on the two varie-
ties possessing the desired qualities that he wishes
■50 concentrate in one. For instance, take two varieties
of oranges or peaches as the case may be. One is
very hardy aud productive variety that can be alwaj's
depended on for a crop but its fruit is of inferior
quality. Another varietj' may be of weakly constitu-
tion and a shy bearer, but its fruit i> superb, and
we think if the robust hardy variety would only
produce fruit equal to the weakly kind what a
grand thing it would be. That can never he ; but
there is no reason why a hybrid should not be raised,
a distinct cross between the two, combining the hardi-
ness and productiveness of the one with the superior
quality of the other. To accomplish this flowers of
the robust variety should be fertilised with pollen
from the flowers of the weaker kinds, thus making the
strong-constitutioned plant the seed bearer. If this
were properly carried out the result would be a certainty ;
the hybrid seedling possessing the strength of the
mother plant with high qualities of the male parent.
It is rare that the progeny of two distinct varieties
represent the parents in a perfectly intermediate
degree but the general habit is usually that of the
mother or seed-bearing-parent. No absolute principle
can be laid down on this point, but as a rule the
strongest constftution should be made the seed-bearer.
l>ropping from the useful to the ornamental, there
Ls another wide field open to the labours of the hybrid-
ist. There is not a flower of any standard growing
in our gardens that has not been more or less civil-
ised or improved by this art. All our hybrid per-
petual roses originated in a cross between Rosa dam-
oscena and the prepetual chineats, and from this
group all our hybrid Noisettes, and Tea and scented
roses have been raised. Again, it is now difficult to
realize that one of the commonest and showiest flowers
grown here (the geranium) is the result of a simple
cross of a variety growing wild in S. Africa with the
small, flowered and sweetly-scented, foliaged G. cilrio-
rfora. But so it is, and still new varieties are being
added — the result of artificial fertilisation. It has long
been considered an undeniable fact, thit distinct .ipe-
oies will not cross. It has always been a stock argu-
ment that no one has ever yet succeeded in crossing
the apple with the pear ; the gooseberrj' with the
currant ; or the raspberry with the strawberry. Last
season this fallacy was swept away by Mr. Culver-
well {Gardeners' Chronicle, Vol. XIX., No. 490), who
succeeded in crossing the gooseberry with the black
currant and raised seedlings the result of the cross ;
and also in raising hybrids from crossing the straw-
berry with the raspberry. The successes have opened
up to scientists a vista of unlimited possibilities, aud
the f\i]l effects of which on our orchards and gardens
it is impossible at present to anticipate. — Planter and
Farmi'v.

CiNNAMONUM Obtusifolium.— Mr. Peal writes that
Cinnai)i07ium obtusifoUuni is wrongly named, the leaves
being fairly acute, unless bitten off by insects, which
is commoidy the case, and this may have givt-u rise
to the idea that they are ohln-^e. — Indian Forester.

Lime is helpful to the soil by hastening the de-
composition of the organic matter, and liberating the
fertilising elements contained therein. Lime should

not be too frequently appli?d to land, and is always
better when mixed with some other good fertiliser
which it can assist. Many have proved the great
value of lime to mix with "weeds, leaves, or decaying
vegetable matter of all descriptions, for it hurries on
decompo.-^ition and prepares the compost for immediate

usefulness. The old farming proverb is a true one :

"Lime and lime without manure

Makes both soil and farmer poor."
Another axiom equally sound is —

" To well manure and dress with lime

"Will surely give good crops in time."
— Planter awl Farmer.

It appears from Mr. D. C. Robbins's 'Review of
the Drug Trade of New York for the year 1885,'
that the total import of drugs and chemicals into
that port during the twelve months was valued at
46,07.'),('63 dollars, showing a decrease of nearly
6,000,000 dollars as compared with the previous year,
the falling-oif being manifest in respeeet to both
dutiable and non-duti|ible goods. The import of cin-
chona bark, however, showed an increase for the first
time in five years— from 2,.588,307 pounds in 1884 to
8,559,091 pounds in 188.5; whilst that of quinine
also rose from 1,263,732 ounces to 1,390,(391 ounces.
Opium is another drug which shows a marked alteration
in the figures, since although the increased import
of medicinal opium only about compensates for the
increase in population, the imposition of a duty of
ten dollars per pound on opium prepared for smoking
has practically transferred the manufacture required
for home purposes from India to the States, crude
opium being now largely imported for the purpose.
— Phnrmacevtical .Journal .

Cocaine. —Mr. AVm. Copeland, m.r.c.s., Darlington,
rel.ites in the Lancet his personal experience of cocaine
as an an.'Bsthetic in an operation for cataract. He is in
his 70th year. Dr. Bell Taylor, of Nottingham, per-
formed the operation. He says:— "The solution of
cocaine was applied to my eye three times at intervals
of fis'e minutes before the operation, and each step of
the operation was explained to me by Dr. Taylor as it
was successively accomplished ; the preliminary incision
was completed without pain, as was also the excision of
a small portion of the iris made in the upward direction—
a satisfactory answer, it appears to mc, to the query.
Does cocaine aft'ect deep-seated parts ? I can truthfully
affirm thnt the whole affair was painless, that the
cataract was removed without pain, that 1 have had
very little pain or discomfort since, and cin now. little
more than a fortnight after the operation, see objects
distinctly, make out words of small print, and am improv-
ing every day. You have had satisfactory evidence of
the value of cocaine before, but I venture to think none
so conclusive as this which I have now to offer." — ChemiM
and Druggist.

The Geound Nut Teadk at Pondichehry.—
The ground nut trade continues unsteady : notwith
standing prices keep within the neighbourhood of R14
per French candy of o29 lb. Tip to date shipments
approximate to about 2,00,000 bags, or to one-fourth or
one-fifth of the probable total crop available for export.
The prices in Marseilles are stationary, and show no
signs of advance, while freights have gone up from 32-7
to 36-6 within the last mouth or six weeks. A fall, how-
ever, is expected on the setting in of the south-west
monsoon ; meanwhile Pondichi rry is filled to overflow-
ing, and storage is getting scarcer every day. Penruti,
the principal district market for the nuts, is crammed.
and large quantities are reported from the surrounding
villages. Cuddaloreloaded a steamer with ab<jut30,000
hags last month, and Messrs. Parry & Co. are now s.aid
to be buying .30.000 bags more for export, but the faci-
lities for shipping seom to be greatly inferior to those
of the French port. Until within the last fortnight or so
the railway ran- an average of three special '• nut "
trains daily into Pondicherry fovtive or six weeks ; just
now the receipt., are very irrsgulir, a better price being
deraanded, which buynrs are uotdisposed to consent to.
Judging from the shipments already gone forward, and
the enormous stocks on ha'id and to come forward,
the ground nut season of the present year is likely to
be a late one. — Madras Mail.

32

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[July i, 1886.

Doctoring Plants— Amjiokia.— In cold l)leak spring
weather, such as oharacteris-d the prfs. nt year, many
crops— e.^., French oeatis, come up ypllosv, weak, and
mioerable. It is usual to root tliem up and re-sow.
I prefer another course. I wait uutil the weather
becomes warm and settled and then give them a
dose of the"' doctor.'' which is prepared as follows: —
Take 1 lb. of the strongest spirits of ammonia, price
9d., and mix it in a quart bottle with a pint of rain
water. To eight gallons of ordinary water add two
fluid ounces of the solution of ammonia, and then
well water the plants with this weak solution. The
result is surprising. Two waterings will restore '.he
plants to an exuberant vigour with dark emerald
leathery foliage. — "W. M. — Journal of Hm-ticuHxire .

The' Successful Inteoduction into India oE the
tubers of the Arracacha esculent of South America.
W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, Esq., Director, Royal Gardens,
Kew, to the Under Secretary of State for India, d ited
Kew, 4th January 18>*6. In 1882, it was ascertained
that the Arracacha was natm^lized on the hills in
Jamaica, and Mr. Morris, the Director of Public
Gardens and Plantations in the Colony, stated that
he believed it, " to be a most valuable food-plant," and
that for his own part he not merely liked it but found
it to become more palatable and desirable the longer
it was used. He added—" If the natives of India
take to it as an article of food, I can conceive nothing
more likely to flourish in the hill districts, and to
afford, with little labour, the means of sustaining life
under adverse circumstances." A supply of tubers
received at Kew from Jamaica was sent in 1883 to
Saharunpore, Ootacamund and Ceylon, and in 1884 to
Calcutta, for Darjeeling. Mr. Lawson, Director of
Government Cinchona Plantations, Parks and Gai'dens
Nilgiris, reported in 1 88-i that plants had been raised
from the tubers sent from Kew. The result in the
other two botanical establishments in India has not
reached us. From Ceylon Dr. Trimen has recently
reported that he has raised the Arracacha from seed
obtained direct from Jamaica. He appears to have
obtained the tubers without difficulty and in abundauce.
As a matter of taste, he has a less favorable opinion of
them than Mr. Morris. But the point to which I wish
to draw your attention is that the introduction of the
esculent into India is accomplished, and that its further
diffusion need present no difficulty.

Coca in F.^tigce.— Dr. E. 11. Palmer, of Louisville,
gives in the Amtrican Prnctitiorirr a,n account of a very
remarkable experiment made with Eraser's wine of coca.
Vie visited a seven-day " go-as-you-please '" jiedestriau
match on the sixth day, and found that a girl of IT, who
had completed 217 miles, had abandoned tbe contest,
but had been persuaded to resume it on a written
contract to pay her slOO extra if she completed 350
miles in seven days. She was walking with evident pain
an>l weariness, gait uusteaily, eyes sunken 8nd surroun-
ded by broad dark rims. She had nearly 103 miles to
complete in 3(3 hours to save her distance. At the
doctor's suggestion Fr-ser's vrine of coca was givnn,
under his own s:ipervision- She drauk a large sherry-
glass-full :it ome, and another in 20 minutes. At 30
minutes after the fiist dose her step was quick aiid
elastic, head up, and she declared that she felt like a
new woman. In 10 hours .she consumed a pint of tbe
wine, and walked 48 miles, then slept for 2| hours,
walked 3 miles, a.ud slept again for about C hoars. She
then walked lor 8^ hours, with an hour's rest for food,
covering 31 miles. At this period she was the freshest
of all tbe CO .Tip.: titers, and her time the best, barring
the spiu-ts of a professional runner. At the 339th mile
she had a fall which rendered her insensible, but. she
returned to the contest, and completed the 350 miles,
with m minutes to spare. The wine of cocn wjs
given freely whenever .she called for it; it did not
interfere with her digestion. During two days after
the contest the wine was administered regularly. It
was then withdrawn, whfu the pulse somevhat increast^d
with slight irre.'ulirity. which soon disappeared. Dr.
Palmer says the wine of the US. Pliarmacopteia is
inelegant and possessed of all the nauseal properties of
the fluid extract from which it is prepared. He implies
that these can and .should be removed. He says, " To

my mind the experiment was both etriU'.ng and conclusive,
ill every way fiivourable to the vaunted eiScacy of the
' jcawine in physical fatigue."— Cfte^wio- and Druggist.

The South Mysoee Plantehs' Association
Annual PvEI-ort.— New Products.— It is most agree-
able to us to record that Mr. Cameron, the obliging
and talented Superintendent of the Government
Horticultural Gardens, has signified his readiness to
atford both friendly and ■ '.r^ial assistance in all
matters connected with facilitating the introduction
of new staple products, and we cannot but hope
that this offer may lead to the happiest of results
in Mysore, in the same way as has resulted in
Ceylon, Jamaica, nnd >ther Crown colonies. Coffee
Adulteration. — It is a mttter of supreme importance
to all planters, and one wh'ch should not be lost
sight of in the future, but should be regarded as one
of the most baneful influence hitherto unceasingly at
work to frustrate the endeavour of the producer to
bring within the reaeh of the consmuer a genuine and
nutritious article. We must trust to time and future
e.^ertions to induce the general public to insist on
having a pure article supplied for then- daily wants.
Holding as we do this opinion, it is gi-atifying to note
that a Company has been started for the sale of the
whole bean, and we venture to regard this as an
indication of a growing desire on the part of London
merchants interested in the welfare of coffee to leave
no means untried which are in any way calculated
to revive the efforts which were so strenuously made
some time ago by some of the leading brokers to check
the sale of spurious admixtures. — Madras Mail.

The Effect of the German Sdgak Boun-
ties on the consumption of Sugar was thus noticed by
Mr. Mundella in an interview with sugar refiners :-

Mr. Mundella : Why, with the German consumption
pot more than 121b. per head, an EngHsh, what.
(" 671b.") 731b. this last year. It is the most marvel-
lous thing in the world. Then, as Mr. McLean said,
there is no depression in the sugar trade— in the demand
for sugar. The demand for sugar increases by leaps and
bounds. I have an interesting little book here, published
by a Professor of Political Economy (Wm. Graham
Sumner) at Yale College, and he says, speaking _ of this
system of bounty and drawback, having seen it in his
own country, he says : " Germany has an excise tax
upon beetroot sugar, but allows a drawback on it when
exported which is greater than the tax. This acts as
a bounty pai.l by the German tax-payer on the ex-
portation, onsequently, beetroot .sugar has appeared
even in our market. The cheap market for it, however,
is England." He goes on to say : '■ So that the conse-
quence is that the sugar, which is 9 cents a pound
in Gerraanv, and 7 cents a pound here, is 5 cents a
pound in England; and that the annual consumption
of sugar per head in the three countries is as fallows :
"England GTilb." (now 731b), -'United States, 511b.,
and Germany^ 121b.;" and he concludes: "I s->me-
Hmes find it difficult to make peoplt- understand the
difference bet'\'eeu wanting an ' indnst'-y ' and wj.ntiug
goods, but this case ought to make that distinction
clear." He concludes : " Obvi-»u.sly, the (Termuns have
tbe industry and the Englishmen have the sugar."
Well now, that is a fact. The evideaee that has come
before me is indi~patable. In consequenc? of the great
cheapness of sug^r in our market there is a growth of
subsidiary trades, not merely in London hire, but in
many of our provincial towns; for instance, in some
of our iron districts there ar^ large confectionary e„s.
tablishmeuts, and sweet bisouHs, and trades of that
kind, which, I am quite satisfied that the evir'enc?
cannot be doubted, is employing a vast many mora
men than we could hope to employ by the refinery
trade So that is our compensation, to say notinng
about the cheapness with which Jur people get the
su^ar. I believe it is computed that they have given
us'£.U,OO0,0OO sterhng, in one way and another, by their
tolly.

This is the truth. The Germans have injured
tha West India planters and the sugar refiners, but
they have given the English people cheap sugar..

/uLY t, ism.]

tHE tROPlCAL AGRieOLtaKlgt%

33

CEYLON TEAS IN THE HOME AND LOCAL
MARKE TS.

HOW INFEKIOR TEAS AND STRANGE MARKS ARE AC-
COUNTED fob; AND HOW TO IJIPBOVE OCR TEAS.

(Co7nviunicated.)
Our attention has been drawn to some com-
plaints which recently appeared in one of the
London tea brokers' circulars, that a large break
of inferior Ceylon tea was offered for sale in Lon-
don under the new estate name. It appears to us
that the broker who made the marks knew very
httle of what is going on here in the way of
local tea sales. The explanation given to us how
so large a break as about 300 chests could be offered
in one sale, is very simple ; they were, we are told, the
aggregate purchases of a local buyer, who, to
prevent inquisitive and impertinent outsiders from
following and critcising his operations, erased the
estate names of his purchases, and put his own
mark on the packages. It is said, this practice
is being generally adopted by local tea buyers, and it
accounts for the disappearance, from the London
sales list, of the names of many estates, known
to produce large quantities of tea.

The local sales, «; our readers arc aware, in-
clude a very large number of small quantitie.=:,
often single packages of broken tea, broken mixed,
red leaf, dust and fannings : the buyers of these
little lots probably make much larger profits out
of their purchases than they do out those of
the better descriptions. These small lots, we are also
told, are added together and bulked in London, and
thus large breaks are made which the trade
largely bid for. What therefore is the use of
London brokers complaining of parcels of inferior
tea being offered for sale ?

It is well known that every estate has a portion
more or less of what is called inferior tea. When
the proprietors can obtain for it, prices which
more than cover cost of manufacture, etc., is it to
be expected that they will throw it away to meet
the views of those who write about what they
can scarcely be expected to understand? It is
suggested we should sell all our inferior rubbish
to the natives ; now these, we have Ho doubt,
have a great and growing capacity for imbibing a
lot of inferior lea, but they can scarcely swallow
the quantities that are being rapidly produced.
What then is to be done with this tea, but to
follow John Chinaman's example? There is a great
outcry at present amongst unthinking critics, re-
garding the falling-off in the quality of some of
the Ceylon teas ; but it is asked, reasonably enough,
who are the sufferers by this?— not the brokers, nor
the buyers who get tea very cheap, nor the con-
sumers who evidently drink what they like, but
the estate proprietors. Is it to be supposed, we
are asked, that their own interests are not
sufficiently strong to induce them to make
and ship the best tea their circumstances will
permit ? We shall be having London brokers very
soon recommending proprietors to make nothing
but broken pekoes, with a bright coppery infused
leaf and pungent liquor, just as we remember
coffee planters were formerly advised to grow
nothing but peaberry and first size, and to sell
all their triage to natives ! It must be admitted
that the Ceylcn planter as a rule knows very
well what he is about, and is quite able to look
after his own interests.

A manager of an estate wrote to his principal : —
"For goodness sake don't write to me any more
of the Colombo opinions, regarding the withering
and fermenting of our teas ; by endeavouring to
follow them, I bavp overwithered and overfeiineuted
5

my tea, and I have now been taught by Mr. Gow
the folly of adopting the opinions of the people
who absolutely know nothing about the subject."
May not this be the case with London brokers ?
That the quality of the tea from some of the
older estates where the names can be followed
has deteriorated, admits of no doubt whatever.
The explanation offered is, that, in the majority
of cases, it is only temporary ! Until every planter
acquires Mr. Gow's method of making good tea
out of inferior leaf, there will be a recurring period
of inferior quality after pruning, and this will be
intensified and prolonged if the weather after
pruning sets in dry.

Apart from this cause of inferiority now, much of
it is attributable to the large and rapidly increasing
quantity of young tea made by superintendents
who have neither appliances nor the requisite
knowledge for making good tea. The art of tea-
making is not acquired in a day. So London brokers
must make up their minds that for a good many
years to come they will have to sell a good lot
of inferior tea from Ceylon.

In order to bafHe the idle curiosity of those who,
having no concern in the matter, make invidious
comparison of the teas made on various estates, it is
reported that proprietors are shipping all lots of
inferior tea which they may have under initials,
reserving the estate's name for all good (lualities.
As all teas are sold on their merits, no advantage
is obtained by putting estate names on the cases,
except in those instances where the average prices have
generally been high ; buyers are induced to look at
lots of these, which they would otherwise pass by.
As germane to this subject we may mention that
we have been shown some samples of tea recently
made on Mr. Gow's system ; as far as we can judge
they arc very fine, a great contrast, we are in-
formed, to the last month's tea from the same
estate. These samples are valued at an average of
85 cents per lb. against 57 cents, the last sale price.
1 Why, then, should proprietors grope any longer in
! the dark ? May not much of the inferiority com-
plained of be owing to inexperienced planters trying
; to make teas on the advice of empirics?

THE WHOLESALE TEA TRADE.

As all matters relating to the tea trade are import-
ant to our readers, we give some particulars of the
annual meeting of the Wholesale Tea Dealers' As-
sociation, which took place on Friday last, at the
London Oommercial Sale Rooms, Miacing Lane.

After the notice convening the meeting had been
read, the secretary read tiip following report: —

Your committee have again the pleasure of present-
ing their annual report and statement of accounts
made up to the 3Ist March last. The meetings of
the committee have been as numerous as usual, and
the subjects which have engaged their atteution varied
in charactt-r, the following being some of the most im-
portant affecting the interest of the wholesale tea
trade. An action at law was brought against a whole-
sale tea dealer to recover warrants in his possession,
which, althouijh paid for, were said to be held as a
lien for an unpaid account. Three or four witnesses
were examined in court, but they failed to furnish any
evidence of the custom of the trade, and in order that
no doubt might exist in future on this point, a cir-
cular letter was addressed to the trade, and the As-
sociation have sufficient replies to enable any mem-
ber to give satisfactory and complete evidence as to
the custom of the trade. Serious complaints were
made respecting unreasonable delays in the delivery
of weight-notes, and the subject was brought under
the notice of the selling brokers, who at once met
the case iu a fair spirit and a marked improvement
has since taken place. The weighing of ludian teas
opoo tbo average net weigbt pdocipl^ was foun toi

34

fMg fiOPiCAL AdRietJLTURIST.

[July

[886.

work with some injustice to the recipients of single
packages, and a representation was made to tlie
Customs' authorities which resulted in the amended
regulation of November !Hh last. It provides tliat it
the variation in the test packages exceeds 2 lb., the
whole parcel »ust be weighed gross and tare as
formerly. Your committee would be glad to re-
ceive the opinion of the members generally upon
the working of this amended regulation, as two
or three cases of gross irregularity have recently been
reported. An improved method of sampling tea has
been adopted at Butler's Wharf, by ■^hich a return
of fair value is guaranteed, and by the introduction
of the principle of payment by stamps the de.ders'
returns are lendered unnecessary. This, it is confid-
ently believed, will relieve the dealers from some
trouble, and no inconsiderable risk of robbery ; at
the same time, purchasers will, in all cases receive
returns, nearly, if not more, than equivalent in
value to the sample drawn. It is hoped other
warehouse proprietors will see their way to adopt a
similar course in this respect. The charges for
sampling aud carding tea at the bonded warehouses
have for a long time beeu considerei exorbitant,
and your committee, after making repeated applic-
atious to the proprietors for redress, h ive at last the
pleasure to state that these rates were reduced on
February 1st, the former by about 30 per cent, and
the latter 60 per cent. This the members will no
doubt consider a satisfactory step. There is, how-
ever, a matter in- respect to the varying rates of in-
surance for teas lying at the docks and Wixcehouses
which is engaging the attention of your Committee,
who expected the warehouse proprietors whould have
met the case liberally. Two or three, however, have
arranged either to piy or allow the aniouat paid for
insurance, and negotiations are pending which will,
it is hoped, result in the trade being placed iu a
position to be indepLuidcnt of wareliouses where no
allowance is made. The thanks of tne Committee
are again due to Mes.srs. Francis Peek, Winch &
Co. for the use of their room for meetings' and in
conclusion your Committee would acknowledge the
continued confidence and valuable support of the mem-
bers, upon whose assistance they rely to successfully carry
on tiic important work of protecting and advancing
their interests. — Signed on behalf of the Committee,
Charles Hilhonse, Chairman.

The Chairman moved — "That the report and state-
ment of accounts be adopted, printed, and circulated
amongst the members." He said he thought the
report, as a whole, must be deemed satisfactory, in-
asmuch as one or two causes of complaint had been
met. One regarded the facilitating of the delivery
of weight-notes, and the other — which was still more
important — affected the trade in the reduction of
charges both for sampling and carding tea at the
bonded warehouses. There was a further reference
in the report to a matter at present in embryo —
a matter which must be pushed forward with con-
siderable energy and determination on the part of
the trade, inasmuch as it was of the most vital
importance to the wholesale man and to the dealer
in the country — that was the question of sampling.
There were very few days in the week in which
wme of them did not receive some notice as to the
quantity or quality (>f tea in chests forwarded to
iheir customers. The plan that had been adopted
at one wharf of making payments by stamps Jiad
inaugurated a principle which had occupied the
attention of the trade for some years, aud they
hoped that the system at Butler's Wharf would be
permanently adopted at all warehouses. It would im-
prove the returns, and insure the recipient of the tea
that quality which he had a right to e.xpect. With
regard to insurance, it was a very broad and ditficult
question, but it was within the knowledge of the trade
that the rates of insurance liad been considerably en-
hanced lately, and the committee thought they had a
very fair claim on the dock companies, looking to
the charges that the trade was subjected to. The
committee, therefore, asked that the trade might be
met to a certain extent in the extra payment. The
Pfoj^Ktotif <jf yue war«l;ioub« bad altogether ajreud to

pay the extra charge, and from the proprietors of
another a satisfactory answer liad been received ; but
with regard to some of the larger warehou.ses — thost
belonging to the East aud West ludia Docks and
general warehouses — tho committee had not made the
progress they had hoped for. They were still, how-
ever, having interviews with gentlemen interested, and
he hoped that before long they would be able to get
those gentlemen to see the force of the reasons
actuating them. In reference to the accommodation
for the bonding of tea the committee felt that, with
the large increase in the importation of tea which
had taken place in the last twenty-five or thirty years,
since the abolition of the charter, there was not suffi-
cient accommodatiou for the trade, and an applic-
ation had been made to the Customs to sanction an
increase of bonding facilities, which they did not
seem at present inclined to grant. They had referred
the Committee to the Treasury, and a deputation
would very shortly wait upon one of the Lords of the
Treasury on the subject, because the Committee felt
that if they could get more bonded warehouse
included in the Customs bond they would be able
to bring more power to bear on the warehouses,
which at present had a control over tea which
amounted almost to a monopoly. If there were
other warehouses to which preference might be given,
an outside force might be brought to bear on
the companies, so that the trade would have a
chance of carrying its point. He hoped the members
of the trade would consider the report satisfactory.

Mr. Worthington seconded the motion, which was
agreed to.

Mr. Pearse proposed Mr. Jones seconded, and it
was resolved : — " 'That the members of the Committee
and the Honorary Treasurer be re-elected for the ensu-
ing year; and further, that the thanks of this meet-
ing be tendered to them for their eflScient »ervices."

On the proposition of Mr. Peek, seconded by Mr.
S. Edwards, it was resolved: — " That inasmuch as the
importation of tea has increased nearly 100 per
cent since the present bonded wharves and ware-
houses were licensed by the Customs authorities,
aud as the limitation of bonding accommodation has
tended to combination and exorbitant rates to whole-
sale dealers, this meeting requests the Committee to
take such steps as may be necessary to secure addi-
tional bonding facilities."

Mr. S. Edwards moved— "That the experiment of
having sample returns placed by warehouse proprie-
tors in the packages in their keeping, selected from
standard qualities, having proved to be practicable
and an act of justice to buyers, this meeting requests
the Committee to urge the general acceptance of this
principle."

ThSs was seconded by Mr. Lowcock, and agreed to.

The Secretary, referring to the recent fire at Hay's
Wharf, said he visited the premises the day before
that meeting. The system that had been adopted
where tea was stored three packages on one
making a pile of four pickages, and the water came
through from the uppar tloor, was this— they treated
the toj) and bott)m pickages as damaged atid
the two intervening ones as sound hence iu
the lists exhibited in the warehouse, the numbers
ran irregularly. The proprietors ot the wharf in-
formed him tiiat if any dealer wished to have the
teas inspected be could send down, and the tea
should be laid out for inspection without any ex-
pence to the dealer. It was impossible for them to
tell with certainty in all cases which packages were
damaged aud which were not, and it was very de-
sirable in the interests of the wholesale dealers that
the teas should be inspected before they were sent
away from the wharf, since the liability of the ware-
housekeepers ceased upon the teas leaving the bonding
warehouse. He had a list, made up to 11 o'clock
that morning, of the teas destroyed by the fire,
and a long list of those damaged by water, but the
proprietors of the wharf had not yet been able to
furnish a complete list of all teas burnt, or damaged
by water or smoke.

Mr. Harrison asked what assurance dealers would
Uavt that teas uot iucludcd in tUe list really wer«

JULV tj 1886.J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURISl*,

^5

not damaged. Damage by smoke would probably not
be detected except by tasting.

The Chairman observed that teas would become
affected by remaining long in the atmosphere of the
wharf.

Mr. Peek said the water ran down the sides of the
packages, and, therefore, tho.sc besides the two at the
top and bottom must be more or less affected. He
thought all the packages in the warehouse destroyed
ought to bave been handed over to the insurance offices
as salvage, and that a claim ought to have been made
on all of them.

I'he Chairman said that that was the only .safe plan.

The discussion was contibued by Mr. f eaisc, Mr.
Worthington, Mr. Harrison, and the Chairman.

The Secretary and Mr. Peek suggested that the pro-
prietors of the wharf should be asked to give a list of
all teas lying on April 2Ist in t)ie building destroyed,
and on the west of it. The Secretary promised to
forward copies to all members of. the Association. —
//. <t- C. .Mail.

TEA COMPANIES REPORT.

Darjeeling Company, Limited.

Nominal capital £250,000, in 12,500 shares of £20
each ; paid-up capital £135,420, in 6,771 shares of
£20 each. Directors :.Tohn Farley Leith, Esq., Q. C,
Chairman ; Sir George Macleay, k. c. m. g. ; William
Sangster, Esq.; James Percy Leith, Esq.; Henry
Smith, Esq. Calcutta Agents ; Messrs, Begg, Dunlop
and Co. General Manager ; William Roberts, Esq.

The following is the report of the directors, to be
made to the members at the twenty-first annual
ordinary meeting, to be held on May 10th.

The directors beg to present their annual report
and several accounts for the consideration and ap-
proval of the members of the Darjeeling Company,
Limited.

The directors are pleased to be able to state that
the gross profit derived from the operations of 1885
amounts to ii 14,253, which is an increase of £2,429 over
the gross profit realized in 1884, and after setting
apart a sufficient sum to meet the payments of com-
missions on profits and income-tax, the sum of £12,249
16s M will remain as net profits.

The directors accordingly have the pleasure to re-
commend to the members of the company the declar-
ation of a dividend at the rate of fight per cent,
clear of Income Tax, (which is one per cent above the
dividend paid this time last year), and to carry the
residue, say £1,416, to the credit of the reserve fund,
which will then amount to £5,384 IBs 2d of undivided
profits.

The croj) of 1885 amounted to 511,037 lb. of tea,
showing a considerable increase of 37,831 lb. over
the crop of 1884; and the average price per lb. was
Is 5"72d against Is 5'41d in 1884; thus clearly in-
dicatiug that the increased quantity of tea made
in 1885 did not in any way reduce the high
standard of quahty that has been maintained for some
years past. The proceeds of the sales amount to
£37,196 19s lOd, being an increase of £3,219 19s 7d over
l.^S4.

There was a further decline in the rates of exchange
between India and London during the year 1885, and
consequently the difference between these rates and
the par rate of two shillings per rupee on the amount
of drafts (£17,000) negotiated by our Calcutta agents
was £4,330 lOd, showing an increase of £1,037 Is lid,
over 1884, when drafts to the extent of £16,500 were
drawn.

Thus the proceeds of the crop of tea, and the differ-
ence in the rates of exchange, amount to £41,526 8d ;
and adding to this the sum of £64 12s 5d, realized by
the sale of teas in small boxes in 1884, the total rec* ipts
amount to £41,590 I3s Id, being £4,268 4d, above tiic
bum realized iu 1884 under similar headings.

Compaimg the debit side of this profit and loss
account for 1885 witii that for 1884, it will be found

that the expenditure at Darjeeling was £1,315 2s ^A
iu excess of that in 1884.

Miscellaneous expenditure was £57 5s 7d lees than ia
1884.

Insurance and charges on tea show a large iuLrease
of £681 13s Id over 1884, caused by the extra charges on
the increased quantity of tea manufactuied and sold,
and by largely enhanced rates levied for warehousing
and working teas in London.

Thus the total expenditure in 1885 was £27,337 Ss 8d
being £1,839 10s Id more than in 1884, and the gross
profit in 1885 was £14,253 ; against gross profit in 1884 ;
£11,824 ; iucrea.ve in 1885, £2,429.

The usual cmpaiative statements for the past three
years are now i\ corded : —

Total Oit-hihk ofTea and Cost at Plantation,

lb.
Acres. lb. per acre. R.

In 1883 ... 1,562 ... 473,810 at 303 ... 182,965
Iu 1884 ... 1.586 ... 473,206 at 298 ... 174,932
In 1885 ... 1,661 — 511,037 at 307 ... 188,082

GEOSS EXPENDITUBE AND COST PER LB, OF TFA,
after DEDUCTING THE DIFFERENCE IN THE RatES

OF Exchange.

In 1883, £25,461 ... cost per lb. Is l7d
In 1><84, £23,s56 ... „ Is 18d

In 1885, £25,010 ... „ Os 91d

Account Sales Weights of Tea, Average Prices

AND Pkoceeps.

In 1883, 463,681 lb. at Is 6'59d, £5,927
In 1884, 468.289 „ at Is 5-41d, £33,975
In 1885, 503,754 „ at Is 5 72d, £37,195

The diiectors have recommended a dividend at the
rate of 8 per cent, the members will be asked to con-
firm the same resolution, ujakiug it payable on aud
after May 10th, clear of income-tax.

From 1883 crop of tea, at 7t per cent
„ 1884 „ 7' .,

„ 1885 „ 8 ,,

The amount to the credit of this fund on 3lst

December 1884 was £3,275 0 11

From profit and loss account, 1884 693 7 9

From profit and loss account, 1885

£3,968 8 8
1,416 4 6

Total . . . . £5,384 13 2

This reserve fund has been found most useful in

the financial arrangements of the company, more

particularly as there is no other working capital

available.

The following are the estimates prepared by the
manager at Darjeeling, showing the probable quant-
ity of tea that will be made during season 1886, and
the expenditure at Darjeeling for cultivating and
maintaining the several plantations in a high state
of efficiency, and for gathering, manufacturing and
packing the crop of tea.

Estimated Ckop of Tea and Expenditure

lb.

Ambotia Plantation
Ging do.

Tukdah do.

Phpobsering do.
Sudder Charges

208,000

140,000

112,000

72,000

IN 1886.
R.

58,372

47,669

37,720.

2.10O4

12,827

Totals 532,000 181,292

These estimates cjmpaie favourably with the actual
results of the previous seaso.!, v'z. :— Crop of 1886,
estimated .332,000 lb ; outlay, l8Sw, estin.ated Rial, 292.
Crop;of 188.5, actual 511,037 lb ; outlay. 188.J, actual
Iil88,083. lucrbase, 18S6, estimated 20,963 lb ; outlay
dticrease, estimated RG,791.

Sir Georg« Macluay retires by rotation on .this occa-
sion from the direction and, being eligible, lie oftV.rs

himself for re-election as a director of the

Company.

Mr. John W. Roberts, the auditor of the company,
begs to offer himself for re-elecCi'tu for tljn ensnitiu-
year. — H.andC. Med.

36

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

fJULV I, 1886.

HABD FOR THE PRODUCER OF SUGAR,
TEA, [COFFEE, COCOA, &c.

From the Home and Colonial Mail, April 30th.

' The totals given by Sir William Harcourt in his
Budget speech lead to the inference that commercial
operations during the first quarter of the present
jeir have been more satisfactory than usual. The
Grocer takes exception to this view, and, while ad-
mitting that the volume of business passing through
the grocers' hand has been large, is considerate enough
to admit that the continuous decline in prices has
been very unfavourable to importers and producers.
Undoubtedly this is so, as producers know to their
cost. The following figures show that the consump-
tion of many articles of food and manufacture that
are entirely " duty free " has increased in an aston-
ishing degree within the last fifteen years: —

1870. 1873. 1876.

Tea ... lb. 140,986.000 162,341,100 185,698,000

Coffee ... cwt. 1,60.5.730 1,683,700 l,.'?4l,.38 '
Cocoa ... lb. 14,793.000 19,661,250 20,382,300
Sugar ... tons 721,800 833,500 779.860

1879. 1882. 1885.

Tea ... lb. 184.510,800 211,080.300 212,375,300

Coffee ... cwt. 1,617,380 1.358.960 1,035,800
Cocoa ... lb. 26,341.760 18,990.400 23,4)9,100
Sugar ... tons 885,6u0 l,l-,'8 7ii7 1,236 000

With the exception of coffee, which has given place
to tea and cocoa, there is a marked increase in
qunntities, but muoh of the iut-rea.se in the quanti-
ties consumed Las been due to their ex'raor-
dinary cheapness as to the abundance and fret dooi
with which they have been offered on the different
markets. Nearly all kinds of produce have be^ii
declining in value since the b°girjing of January last,
and amongst others, sugar, coffee, cocoa, tea.

The losses in the te« trade during the past tvro or
three months ou sales by auction " without reserve,"
especially where the parcels on offer have been in
•' second hands ; " and Indian teas, for example, have
lately been disposed of in London at a decline of
8d to Is 2d per lb., from the cost prices in Calcutta in
November and December last. Similar instances of on
alarming depreciation in the value of produce couUi
be mentioned as having taken place of late.

A furthf^r illustra'ion of the lowuess of prices,
and the disparity existing betwet-n them and those
towards the end of April in 1870 is afforded by the
following statement of the quotations for some of
the leading articles of produce, viz: —

SUQAK.

Demerara. Low E. I. Pieces Loaves. Beet.

f.o.b. (88°/°)
1870... 34/ to 38/... 21/ to 29/. ..30/ to 38/.. 40/ to 41/ .. 33/
1886...16 6,. 20/6. ..10/,. 14 6.. 12/,, 17/. .16/6 „ 17/6.. '

Maize.

Tea.
good com.

Coffee.

mid. to fine
P. 0.

187U.,.28/ to31/... 1/ to 1/1 ... 72' to 90/...
1886.. .20',, 21/.. .0/8 „ 0/8*.. . 66/ „ lOS^...

13/
Cocoa.
Grenada

46/ to 72/
70/ „ 80/

ME. SHAND ON CEYLON PRODUCTS AT THE

COLONIES AND INDIAN EXHIBITION.

Planters' ABsociation of Ceylon,
Kandy, 27th May 1886.
To^the Editors, C»ylon Observer.

Sirs, — I beg to enclose for publication copy of
letter received from Mr. Shand on the subject of
the Colonial and Indian Exhibition. — I am, sirs,
yours faithfully, A. PHILIP, Secy.

Ceylon Commission, Colonial and Indian Exhibition,
South Kensington, S. W., London, 7th May 1886.
The Secretary, Planters' Association of Cej'lon,
Kandy.

Dear Sir, — Your letter of 15th March, which seems
to have lain in Colombo for some tnne, reached at
last safely.

Since I last wrote to you we have had a very busy
time unpacking and arranging, and though I was
not quite ready on the 4th, and it will be some days
still before I get our exhibits entirely ia order. With

the assistance of Mr. "Whitham I was able to place
our collection fairly before the public. You will, of
course, have detailed accounts of the opening ceremony,
which was grand and impressive, and Ceylon was
fortunate in the position of the seats which were
alloted to it and a very liberal allowance of tickets
for the Exhibition ceremony was placed at the dis-
posal of myself and others by Mr. Birch for Ceylon
friends.

Our three tea cases are arranged along the wall
and contain samples if commercial teas from thirty-
six (36) different estates ; we had not enough to till
these up sent specially so we had to make
a selection from the teas of other estates
which had enough to show in these cases.
Above those cases are Mr. Ferguson's photographs
with drawings of tea, coffee, cocoa and cardamoms
which I received from Dr. Trimen, and we have also
thirty (30) bottles of fancy teas for show on one
of our auxiliary stands, while Messrs. Henry S. King
& Co. have 343 bottles in the tea trophy opposite
one of the Ceylon tea rooms and adjoining the ijidian
trophies, which is a larger number than Assam or
any other Indian districts show.

Our Cardamom case contains eighteen specimens
of cardamoms from different estates, and we have
filled up the vacant corners with mace and nutraega
from Roseneath, and two samples of vanilla.

The Cocoa case contains twelve (12) samples of
cocoa, the corners being filled up with six specimens
of Liberian coffee.

Cinchona bark and sections of trees are not things
which one can make a pretty show of, but we have
made a trophy showing off the splendid section of
trees chiefly from Glenlyon, and the magnificent quills
frorn Stair, Glenyon, and other estates and with
sections of own space occupied by coffee barrels
it has been pronounced by many connected with
Ceylon a very effective Show ; the rest of our coffee
barrels are shown in a pile and show off very well
too. I must mention that the show cases and the
coffee barrels are very much admired and certainly
exhibit their contents to great advantage. I have
had a case made for cinchona shavings and pieces
which contains the collections from Yarrow, St.
Leonards and Mr. Lane's and the Lanka Company.

I have also had a couple of additional stands
made for showing oft' our fancy teas, the samples of
coiee for w'aich there are no barrels, Mr. Borron's
collection of aiiatto and Mr. Dickson's collection
from Lebanon, and poppers, cotton and other things
which we have no special room for. There was a
tremendous rush to get things at all in order for
the opening, but when I next write I hope to be
able to tell you that everything, as far as arrange-
ment goes, has been finished.

The pamphlet is in Messrs. H. S. King & Oo.'s
hands and the colored paintings were submitted; to
me yesterday. I do not like them and do not con-
sider them natural, nor does the artist, who says
they could be better done if the photographs were
departed from altogether, but as what I presume
we desire is a faithful representation rather than a
work of fancy I have declined to agree to this.

The Ceylon tea room, adjoining my office, in
Kandyan palace style, is much admired and frequented,
but this is only the third day after opening and
there are details which are not yet quite satisfactory
but which we shall, I liope, soon adjust. A great
many people connected with Ceylon have visited
the Exhibition already and they have all expressed
satisfaction with our space and arrangements.

I have not yet been able to shake down in my ofiSce so
I must ask you to excuse this letter which I cannot close
without recording the valuable co-operation I have
received from Mr. Harry Whitham and also the
assistance I havp received from Messrs. Birch
Davidson, and Goodwin, (Mes.«rs. Henry S. King &; Co.)
who have all helped me in many ways. — I remain,
faithfully yours, (Signed) .7. L. Shand.

F.S. — Messrs. Gow, Wilson and Stanton have sup-
plied us with two large diagrams illustrative of the
projiress of Ceylon tea which have been placed one
adjoining our tea-casfis and one close to the tea
trophy. — (Initialed) J.L.3.

July r, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

37

TOBACCO CULTIVATION IN CEYLON.
The fact that Parliament has decided under
Csrtain fixed restrictions to once again permit the
cultivation of tobacco within the British Isles is
evidence of the extension of the demand for the
fragrant weed. In spite of all that has been urged
against its use, there seems to be no chance of
a diminution. No doubt — as is the case with
most of the other gifts of Nature — it is the abuse,
i.e., the inordinate use of tobacco, which is in-
jurious, and probably as long as the world lasts, some
indulgence in "the weed" will continue. There is

.10 room for doubting that the supply of genuine
Havana and Manilla tobacco ij no longer sufficient
to jueet the tastes of the many thousands who
restrict their smoking to the pioduct of Cuba
and the Philipoines. But the expense of the
supei-ior Havana tobacco, compels men of raoderate
means to forego its enjoyment, and, as the re-
sult we find the growths of many other countries
possessing a place in the tobacconists' shops in
London which has hitherto been wanting to them.
We n\ay naturally ask way our island tobacco
should not comi^i-te successfully with these— why
it is that among the varieties now offered to the
patronage of English smokers Ceylon tobacco finds
hardly a place ?

There is no cultivation, perhaps, the resulting
qualities of which are more dependent upon
peculiarities of soil than tobacco. The finest seed,
if deposited in unsuitable soils grows up coarse
and rank, its leaf departing in a special degree
from the original type. But good authorities regard
as certain that in Ceylon there are certain localities as
well fitted to the growth of the finer descriptions of to-
bacco as are the West Indies. It only needs that those
should be sought out with the same care, and
with the same scientific di. crimination, as have
been given to other forms of cultivation in this
island. We have learned from experience how
varied are the capabilities of the soil of Ceylon,
which in years past had been condemned as suited
to scarcely more than a single product for the
hill-country and one or two for the plains ; and
the results which have arisen out of that experience
should certainly lead us to extend the information
we possess in respect of the growth of tobacco. Such
extension can only be gained by full enquiry, and
it may be hoped that Dr. Trimen, when he re-
turns, may be enabled to prosecute it. An industry
which has for so many years afforded occupation
to a large body of native cultivators in Ceylon
should not be allowed to lag behind for want of
the research for which the means exist ready
to our hands.

Among the exhibits forwarded to the exhibition
at Kensington from this island was a considerable
quantity of the coarse Jaffna tobacco, which was
labelled as for "chewing" purposes only. We
are told that when the case containing it was opened,
the remark was made: — "Oh! this is only that
eommon Jaffna tobacco. It can be put anywhere."
It is a pity, we think, that with the capabilities
possessed by Ceylon any such remark should be
warranted. The coarse and strong tobacco referred
to has its market, and an extensive one, among
our Indian neighbours, who highly appreciate it,
but those who have tried the finer sorts of to-
bacco which have been successfully grown on our
uplands, and especially in the IJadulla and Dunrbara
districts, know how widely the qualities of Ceylon
grown tobacco may vary. Mr. J. K. Ingleton, we be-
lieve, sent to the Exhibition, samples of his
Pumbara cigars, but we do not hear of their

being noticed as yet. Experimental shipments of
the Central Province growth and the cigars as well as
cheroots made of it, have been sold in the London
shops under the name of " Lankas." But they did
not take the public taste, and we learn from a
corespondent that they are now rarely to be seen
offered for sale. We are told that this was chiefly
due fo the appearance of the cheroots. It seems
certain that there is a fashion in English smok-
ing circles, and that there are many who dislike
to smoke a cigar, however good its flavour, —and
that of the Ceylon importation was almittid to
be good — because it could be recognized not to
be of the Havana type. We are assured that
there is a very extensive sale of cigars made
in England and on the Continent of Europe, from
the Havana leaf, because, although their flavour
is poor as compared with g<»nui;ie foreign cigar:*,
they satisfy the critical eye by their appearance.

Now there are divers and strong reasons why
home-made cigars, however fine the leaf from
which they are manufactured and however perfect
their manipulation in rolling may be, can never
aspire to the quality of those prepared in the
countries where the leaf is grown. That leaf, after
packing and shipment, becomes dry and hard, and
it is necessary for its preparation —and especially
for the removal of the stronger ribs — to re-steep it
ill saltpetre and water. This ini'itates against
its flavour v/hen soaked, so marked 1;-, tiiat any tyro
in the art of smoking can pronounce against the
genuineness of it as a foreign cigar. Then, again
the spots on the tobacco which are the result of
dew falling on the leaf during drying, are lost by
the second stripping referred to. We see, conse-
quently, that home-made cigars ought not to be
able to compete with those prepared when the
t'^bacco is naturally soft and yielding.

We would urge therefore, that endeavour should
be made so to select soils suited to our island
growth as should ensure it a fair competition with
the West Indian products in flavour, and that,
secondly, the dictates of an imperious fashion
sliould be complied with, so as to overcome the
dislike to the use of cigars which betray by their
appearance that they are not of the coveted growth.
Efforts we know have been made in this direction,
and successful efforts too, by a gentleman in the
Dumbara valley, — but they want further pursuit to
ensure such a success as would mean the estab-
lishment of a profitable industry of permanent
value to the island and to no insignificant number
of its people.

♦

PUKE JAPAN TEA.

In the articles on " Tea and Tea Customs in Japan,"
concluded iu this issue,* the statement is made that
"tea in the West and tea in the far-off' East are,
two quite different beverages." This is largely due
so far as the United States is concerned, fc.i
hasty and imperfect preparation for market
and the prejudice of consumers. It is thirty
years since Japan tea was introduced into this
country. The first large cargo of 3,100 half-
chests, about 124,000 pounds, was imported by Messrs.
A. A. Low iSc Bro., and consisted entirely of a leaf
of a blackish color, in which no coloring matter of
any sort was employed. These teas won their way
iiito popular favor because the people objected to
the then highly-colored China teas, made so by the
use of Prussian blue, gypsum, etc. In 1866-G7 the
Japanese coiainenced to adopt the Chinese method
and pursued it so diligently that they overdid the
matter, the hif;hlycolorcd teascausiiig a scnin to form
on the infusion. The trade reriOiistr..,ted and the
abuse was modified, but to this day the bulk of .Japan
tea sold in the United States is mou or less arti

* Republished in full, sse pages 40-41. — Ed,

38

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July i, 1886,

ficially colored, it being claimed that the coating of
the leaf, to some extent preserves the flavor.

The fact that colored Japan tea retains it flavor
more tenaciously than pure tea, or natural leaf, is, we
believe, due to the more thorough twisting of the
leaf by the manipulation necessary to properly Otat
it with plumbago or other substance, than to the «^ior-
ing matter.

Elsewliere Messrs. A. Schilling & Co., Chicago, 111.
agents for the .Japan Tea Syndicate, call attention to
efforts now being ma(1e to place before the trade Japan
tea that is free from coloring matter, that is not mani-
pulated by band, and that is packed in Japan while
hot in a patented package and shipped only by direct
con.signmeut to merchants in this country.

The nearer the native method of packing Japan tea
is followed the better it is for flavor. The large earthen-
ware jar used in the producing country is impractic-
able for export by reason of its expense and liability to
breakage. The next best package is tin, and if the tea
is packed therein when hot and sealed it must reach
our market in better condition than if sealed in lead-
lined chests, which the retailer must open, emptying
the contents into a large tin canister, where it is more
or less exposed to the air, causing a rapid loss of
flavor. If there is no exposure between the packer and
the consumer the full flavor of the tea must be pre-
served.

The use of Prussian blue or gypsum for coloring tea
is wholly for the purpose of pleasing the eye of the
consumer. The time has come when the use of articles
in the preparation of food, requiring explanation or
defence, must stop. The use of plumbago, Prussian
blue, gypsum, etc., in an article like tea, that must
always be judged by its cup quality, and not its appear-
ance in tne leaf, is indefensible. Does any one doubt
that purer teas mean an increased consumption ? Or
that a better understanding on the part of consumers
of methods of preparation will not tend to popularize
the beverage? The country increases its per capita
consumption of coifoe every year, while that of tea
dots not increase, but rather diminishes. We there-
fore welcome any move calculated to raise the stand-
ard of the tea supply. — Americdi) Grocir.

Cocoa. -Accounts from Surinam arc very favour-
able respecting the Cocoa- cnltuve : even the young
trees, planted only five years ago in the Districts
of Surinam and Conimewyne on abandoned suj^ar-
tields, have surmounted the many difficulties, and
promise a good crop. The one-year-old trees, on
the contrary, are in a less favourable condition,
owing mainly to insulHcient sheltering against the
lieat of the sun, and are partially lost. Additional
plantings of cocoa are constantly being continued.
There is great scarcity of available manual labour,
and this want is felt most severely in proportion,
as the estates are farther from tlic capital. — Inch'an
M'-rcfiri/.

Java Plan'jer arkan«ino fok Eiitaii. Sai-es
OF QuiM.NE B\RK. — A Cinchona planter in Java,
of high repute in the cour.se of a business letter,
under date 2nd May, wi'ites to us as below : his
news will be of interest to " A. M. W." and other
Ceylon planters : — "Nobody can tell what will be the
future for us, but as a powerful means to keep
up prices, we are trying to increase the consump-
tion of quinine by taking the retail-sale of
this drug as much as possible in hand ourselves,
and for this purpose liave got up a Committee.
No doubt the necessary funds will be forthcom-
ing, because some trials have given good results.
Quinine from the Brunswick manufactory was
offered in very beautiful gelatine quills at 1.3.5
guilders a kilo, and within a very rdiort time sold out.
We, moreover, got sulphate of quinine crystallized
in tin-boxes of half a kilo each for tiO guilders,
and the Amsterdam manufactory offers quinine in
paper jmrcels of a gram each — very neatly packed,
for 100 guilders a kilof'i'am, delivered at Batavia.

If there are, perhaps, among your countrymen
such that want to escape too high prices from
apothecary or druggists, I shall only be too happy
to interpret their wishes to the said Committee,
You will tind more a bout it in — — ."

The Dkiade.nce .\m> Advance of Cofi-ke Culture
IN BuAziL are thus noticed in the Rio News : —

The commerce of Santos lias been making rapid
advances, and as a coffee-shipping port is rapidly
overhauling Rio itself. In a few years, fewer
perhaps than most men realize, the port of Santos
will be even more important than that of Rio in
the coffee trade, and a close second in the import
trade. The reasons for this are clear. While the
cofi'ee-producing areas of Rio and Minas cannot be
much further extended and are already showing
signs of decline because of the exhaustion of the
soil and the character of the country which re-
quires the slave and his hoe for its cultivation,
the coffee-producing ai*eas in Sao Paulo ai'e being
rapidly extended and '^lill have extensive tracts of
arable land yet untouched. In Rio the steep hill-
sides preclude the use of the plough and cultivator,
while in Sao Paulo nearly all the coffee lands
can be cultivated with these tools, thus rendering
the employment of free labor practicable and pro-
fitable. While therefore the coffee product of Rio
and Minas must decline with the extinction of
slavery, that of Sao Paulo will surely increase.
Besides this the speading railway system of Sao
Paulo is bringing an enormous section of the
Empire into direct communication with San tos,
and as the districts within this area become set-
tled with free laborers, and as their industries
are developed, their consumption of imijorted goods
will tend to swell the trade of that port. It is
clear, therefore, that the future of the city of Santos
is most promising, and that no time shonld be
last in anticipating the needs of a great com-
mercial port.

AoEiciTLTURK IN Jakfna. — We are in receipt of
a pamjihlet coiitainiuij an essay on agriculture by
11. O. D. Asbury, Esq. delivered several years ago
before the .Taft'na Christian Association. We have
perused it with mucb interest, and have no doubt
that a careful study of its pages would repay any
one of our numerous gentlemen farmers in .Taffna. Of
course none of the i^umant class could prolit by it
nor would thry if they could. After discussing the
importance of agriculture and agricultural science, and
setting foith its true object, the author discusses at
some length the opuiutions of tilling the soil, manuring
weeding and watering. In treatmg of ploughing
some very just criticisms ar<? made of the native
plough, and .such ploughs are recommended for import-
ation as have been .since introduced b}' the Director
of Public Instruction. With reference to the 3'oko,
it is suggested that it would be well to adopt, the
European methoti of yoking Liillooks, vix., by sub-
stituting a wooden bow, shapjd like the let;ter II
for the wooden pin.=i and rope now in use. We
confess to a feeling of surprize that no native, with but
a single excepti'iu, and that Mr. Asbury himself,
has ever tried or even thought of trying such a
yoke, its advantages are so manifest. The bullock
can then pull n.iturally and easily with the shoulders
and hence can put forth all its strength. The cattle
of the country are so weak and puny that some
such method of yokiujj would si'em indispensable in
Older to enable them to do proper work. There are
many sensible and practicable hints scattered through
the pamplct. on the nccesnfy of knowing the ingre-
dients of the soil in any particular field, so that the
croi) .and the fertilizer may be adapted to its qualities
and needs ; on the care that should be tnkon of manure
on the rotation of crops ; and on many other matters
connected with agriculture. Appended to the essay
we find a list of topics for future investigation, the
following up and discuss. on of which might be very
valnnhle.— Jaffna " Morning Star."

JULV 1, 2886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

39

IN SEARCH OF A HOME IN TASMANIA.
{Bij " 01 J Cohiiis/;' F. R. G. 1.)

•'Near youder copse where once the garden smiled,

And still where many a garden-flower grows wild."

"Is this place in Chancery ? " 1 enquired of the

driver of the trap in which I had a few minutes

before left Longford railway station.

" Chancery ?" he replied, " I downt knowc what
you call chancery, but them places he e be all much
aloike now, they be different in ould toimes."

I could have guessed as much. The dilapidated
gate we had just passed, had evidently in its day
no small pretensions to gentility, though now it
hangs on one hinge, pulling, in its downward
course, the ornamental pillar off the plum.
The approach is no longer approachable, the
thistle and sweet-briar having taken possession
of what had once been the neatly gravelled walk ;
along which, in brighter days, guests may have
been welcomed and children merrily played. The
garden, alas ! is now a jungle of the most motley
description. The once carefully introduced and
nurtured European plants, degenerated into weeds
of ungainly shape, the strongest crushing down
the weak, though all flowering with a brilliancy
strangely out of keeping with the sombre surroundings.
The great hedge-rows have long ceased to get their
annual trimming, and now open at the bottom, branch
out at the top into huge gormandizers, heavily laden
with haws. The buildings themselves — originally a
comfortable compromise between an Indian bungalow
with godowns and a Scottish homestead — are now
sadly dilapidated. The "stich in time " has evidently
been omitted, and there seems a settled air of
decay and despair around the gloomy place.

I challenge any living man to say if this is
not a faithful picture of the homesteads in this,
the oldest, and one of the best agricultural dis-
tricts of Tasmania. Nor is the cause far to seek.

Take one case in point. Mr. M came here

from India 40 years ago, with a little money, and
a nice young family. The Government rule in
those days was, show your money, and we make
you a free grant of land, an acre to every pound
of capital you pofisesn. A system which led to very
obvious abuses, and old chums still chuckle as they
relate how they hoodwinked the officials, by lend-
ing to each other for the moment ; so that, in
the same way that one hat did duty with a dozen
planters at the levee in Kandy, £1,000 would
secure to many the coveted thousand acres.
And the paternal Government in those good old
times, not only supplied the land free, but the
labour too, or at a merely nominal price, and as
the demands of Victoria for all kinds of produce
were then all but unlimited, prices rose to a fabulous
figure. Under such circumstances, he would indeed
be an indifferent farmer who did not rapidly make
a fortune.

Mr. M was a good farmer, and, more-
over, a man of honour, great energy and good
taste ; his carefully husbanded capital might be
looked upon as accumulations of seJf-deniah. One
great object in his life being to make a fixed and
comfortable home for his family, and gain them
a better start in life than he himself had. His
farm of GOO acres became a model in the district,
and the admirably laid out fields still testify to
his taste and skill as a practical agriculturist.
But, as is too often the case, the sons of this
thoughtful and frugal man, grew up with tastes
the very antipodes of their father's : never having
been accustomed to work, they had no belief in
the dignity of labour ; never having earned money,
they had no compunction in spending, Honfe-rucing
was more i» their line, and the days of their early

manhood were chiefly spent in galloping round the
country, settling up for the past or arranging for the
coming races. In course of time, the old colonist died
— for, even in this best of climates, the best of
men do die on reaching the end of their allotted
space. The youths now had full swing and in-
dulged their tastes without restraint. The usual
result rapidly followed : the money-lender, the
foreclosed mortgage, " the worst inn's worst room,"
— one such " gentleman" was pointed out to me the
other day in the capacity of sub-stableman at a
village Drunkerage.

But I beg my readers' pardon, all this I
own has got nothing to do with bona fide farm-
ing and the decline. No, there are other causes
for the collapse, the chief of which, is the labour
difficulty. Prison labour is no longer available, and
no supply as yet to take its place. I note that
farmers are advertising for hands at (is 6d per day
to gather potatoes. Meanwhile Victoria much more
than supplies all her own requirements, in all
kinds of farm produce, and prices are down to a
limit that leaves no margin to the cultivator. Such
is the present condition of farming here, and I
am convinced that things have not yet reached
their worst ; for ask the ^xlce of land and fully
oO per cent more is asked than for similar land in
England ! The prosperity of the past is not yet
sufficiently distant, nor the true cause of the pre-
sent depression sufficiently realized. And yet, I
am no pessimist, I feel assured, indeed, there must
be a glorious future for this beautiful island gen-
erally, and particularly for this rich agricultural
locality, but the conditions are not now i^resent,
and probably will not be in our brief time.

Longford lies 113 miles north of Hobart. I
have said nothing of the intervening country, the
scene of desolation is really too painful to dwell
upon. District after district has been cleared of
its inhabitants by the remorseless sheep-owner,
the frugal little farmer forced into town. Villages
extinguished in their infancy and the people com-
pelled to emigrate elsewhere. But there is an agency
at work which may in time break down the power —
which fostered as it was by corrupt legislation — the
people were helpless to resist, and it is wonderful
to think of the apparently insignificant agents
Providence often employs to work revolutions. We
all know what a very minute fungus can do. In
this case, the llabhit is the honoured instrument
and has already been put in possession of the
abandoned fields, the result being that instead of
so many sheep to the acre, as estimated by the
grasping wool -grower, it is now a case of so many
acres to the sheep. This, together with the great
fall in wool, has recently brought sheep farmers to
their hunkers, whining to Government for help to
exterminate " the pest." The only cure, I believe,
is population, and the ultimate outcome will prob-
ably be the breaking up again of the big runs and
encouraging the return of the people to a con-
tented country life. I only wish all our "pests"
were as curable as the rabbit inffiction.

Longford is the largest surviving village in
Tasmania, containing a population of 1,286 spread
thinly over a level space, sufficient for the site of
a mighty city. To the S. W. the " Great Western
Mountains " rise abruptly from the plain at a
distance of about lo miles, while in the distant
N. E. Ben Lomand raises its blue head 5,000 feet
above us. The Arthur's Lake river winds its way
sluggishly through the fiat fields in which the
well-conditioned cattle leisurely browse. An air of
extreme stillness pervades the scene as I sit listening
to the measured peal of the church-bell, and am
reminded that cix\y laat week (April 37th) the

40

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[JuLV I, i8S6'.

remains of a gentleman long connected with Ceylon
found a resting-place in yonder churchyard.

Poor John Frederick Gihbs ! I knew him well. It
seems but the other year I met him at 31, Craven
Street, London, where for 20 years he had been a
valued servant, now being induced— somewhat re-
luctantly- -to try his fortune in Colombo. It seems
but yesterday I took him for his first ride into
the interior of Ceylon, even into the heart of the
distant Morowak Korle, where he first beheld ^yith
evident delight the promising young estate into
which he had hopefully cast the savings of a life-
time. The Colombo connection was not a success.
Kather late in life and feeble in health poor Mr.
Gibbs did not transplant kindly, and it must be con-
fessed he was most ungraciously received. A man
of scrupulous integrity and systematic industry,
lie ought to have proved invaluable to his firm,
if generously and fairly treated, but this was im-
possible under the circumstances, he was unequally
yoked, and the connection came prematurely to an
end. Of the fate of " the wattle " it is needless to
write. Opened by that prince of careful planters,
Le Coc(i, it promised well, but ere it had yet
time to give its maiden crop, Hcimleui overtook it,
and — milt, was the word written upon the Abbey Rock.
With failing health and, doubtless, depressing
spirits, Mr. Gibbs struggled yet a few years in
Ceylon. At length, in search of a c^uiet retreat
in a genial climate, he, four years ago, came to
Tasmania. Last year he underwent a painful surgical
operation, and has since been ((uite an invalid,
frequently suffering much which no medical aid
uor circle of sympathizing friends could do much
to alleviate. His relief came on 25th April, at the
age of 51. Mrs. Gibbs and family of six receive
much kindly sympathy in their trouble from the
good neighbours amongst whom they are deserv-
edly much esteemed.

I wrote the above before I had seen the follow-
ing figures, fresh from the hands of the Govern-
ment Statistician. They are certainly not encourag-
ing reading, and only confirm my growing im-
pression of the country that it is doomed, for a time
at least, to suffer seriously from the gross errors
of the past, that it is indeed on the verge of
disaster. Lovely country, no doubt, but what's the
good of ruffles when we want shirts ? The area
under wheat during the last season, is smaller than
it was 50 years ago, when the population was
only one-third of what it is now. It is pro-
bable that the whole yield of wheat for the last
season will fall short of local requirements by
440,000 bushels :—

Eesults from

C2 districts.

Season 1885-6.

Season Season

In-

De-

1885-6. 1881-5.

crease.

crease.

AVheat—

Acres...

17,029 19,535

...

2,562

Bushels

312,247 382,899

70,652

Bushels per acre

18-34 19-60

...

1-26

Barley-

Acres...

3,963 3,103

860

Bushels

124,186 93,-208

30,978

•••

Bushels per acre

31-33 30-03

1-30

Oats-

Acres...

18,38(J 17,79(3

590

Bushels

512,788 542,899

...

30,118

Bushels per acre

» 27-83 3506

7-23

Hay-

Acres...

22,876 24,477

...

3,101

Tons...

29,180 31,311

...

2,131

Tons per acre. . .

1-30 1-28

. 0-02

...

Potatoes-

Acres...

7,510 6,067

1,443

...

Toaa ...

35,385 26,271

9,114

...

Toue per acre ...

471 4-33

0.38

.J*

Hops-
Acres...
Lbs. ...
Lbs. per acre

Apples —
Busheli<

Pears —
Bushels

601 ().o7
.. 699,110 850,391
.. 1163-54 1294-33

.. 199,713 197,521

56

150,9Hl

130-59

2,192

... 12,013 9.536 2,507

Land in crop, acres 86,462 85,750 713

Land in permanent
artificial grasses,

acres 117,086 120,607 ... 3,521

Total land in cultiv-
ation, acres ... 252,8.50 257,571 ... 4,721
So far behind the rest of the world is Tasmania,
that the wave of depression which years ago
overtook all other civilized regions, has only now
reached this Ultima Thule. Much of the best
capital of the Colony, its bone and sinew, is
leaving for more favoured lands, and until property
here is re- valued and re- arranged there is little
hope f; r the investment of capital. Indeed, I am
more and more convinced that the only thing to
save Tasmania from endless trouble, is to (let united
to Victoria. Victoria needs more land. Here is
the natural outlet for her superabundant capital
and energy. Here is scope for her active agricul-
turists and a sanatarium for her dust-choked in-
valids. At present Victoria is only teasing and
squeezing the poor silly little sister, by her cruel
anti-reciprocity, taxing almost the only thing she
(Tasmania) has to sell at 100 per cent A. V. _ See
a case tried last week in Melbourne, where it is
decided that par- boiled Tasmania fruit— with or
without sugar— is jam, and subject to duty !

Poor misguided Tasmania 1 with all her ex-
pensive paraphernalia of Upper and Lower Houses.
Government House and London representatives,
too weak to cope with colonies too strong for her
own weak and scanty population. The mimicry
is as painful to the on-looker as it is costly to the
taxpayer.

" The Te.v. Roller of thk Fctcke," according
to a rumour round the Fort yesterday, is 'Davidson's
and Law's"— that is the roller to which we re-
ferred as doing its work well on Gikiyanakanda
estate. But today we have the following testimony
from the purchaser of one of Kerr's " new and
improved '" rollers : —

" I consider the roller a vast improvement on the
old one ; it rolls the tea beautifully with as small
a percentage of broken leaf as I have seen from an/j
machines. I rolled 700 lb. of green leaf to day in five
charges, the shortest time was 40 minutes."
The rolling here referred to was done by hand

OOBTEX CiNCHON.K. — Tho direct imports of cinchona
barks into France as compared with former years have
greatly dwindled, and that country has ceased to be
a factor of importance in estimating the situation of
the article, while Great Britain has gained in import-
ance as a market, owing to the increased production
of quinine bark in Ceylon. The United States are
now almost entirely dependent upon London for
their requirements. Another factor of importance is
found in the increased exports of Java barks, mostly
to Holbuid ; the total exports of the island amount-
ing to 1,321,569 lb. 989,168 lb., and 735,3M lb.
during the seasons 1884-85, 1883-81, and 1882-83
respectively. An increase in the supplies of better
class Columbia bark is anticipated this year, tin-
course of (exchange favouring exports from that
country. No importance is attached to the rumoui s
recently circulated regarding the discovery of a forest
of cinchona trees in the neighbourhood of Kio de
Janeiro. It is a fact that some two years ago specimens
of bark were brought to Kio by an engineer employed
in the construction of a railwisy in the interior : hut
upon examination they proved tube devoid of quinine
although closely resembling the cinchona bark.--C/(c'/»-
ist ^ Dru^y'ist for May,

JULV I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

4i

TEA AND TEA CUSTOMS IN JAPAN.

A very iuteresting historical and descriptive article
on the cultivation of tea and on tea customs in Japan,
by F. A. Junker von Langegg, appeared in the
February number of the English IlLv.strated Magazine.
He places the time of the introduction of tea in the
first half of the eighth century, a. d., basing it upon
the record of a " religious festival in 1'29, at which
the Mikado entertained the Buddhist priests with tea,
a hitherto unknown beverage from Corea, this country
haviug been for many centuries the high road of
Chinese culture to Japan. Plantations were laid out
in 815 by order of Saga Tenno, the itikado. The
product was prepared after the Chinese custom by
being first steamed, then dried and ground into a
fiae powder. Subsequently it became almost unknown
and was not permanently cultivated until 1199-1210.
In 1200, tea seeds were brought from Chiui and
planted in the northern province of the island Kiu-
Shiu, the climate of which was particularly favorable
for the growth of the tea plant. Uji in the province
of Yamashiro has since that time been famous for
the superior quality of its tea. The growers in that
village still show their appreciation of the abbot of
the monastery who introduced the plant by annually
offering at his shrine the first-gathered tea leaves.
Prior to 1570 it was the custom to immerse the
leaves in boiling water, immediately after picking, and,
after having dried them in the sun, to make them
into powder.

In 1670 a tea merchant invented an apparatus
called Hoiro, for drying the leaves, but it was not
universally used for "tiring" until llld. Until the
year 1700 tea leaves were fired in a pan, which process
was called Nabe-iri, " pot roasting."

" Tbe same tea merchant also first distinguished two
sorts of tea, the Usu-cha, 'light tea,' and the Koi-cha,
' dark tea. The word 'Usa' in this instance means
•light, thin,' and, although spelled in Japanese like
'Csu, to pound,' is written with a different Chinese
character. He likewise was the first who introduced
matting covers raised on poles about eight feet high,
in order to protect the plantation in winter against
hoar frost, and in summer against the sun. Such
covers are still universally in use. When riding, in
June, the time when the young leaves, which yield
the first quality of green tea, are fully developed, the
whole country about Uji is under matting, over which
the head of the horseman just rises, so that, with
the exception of the distant hills and mountains and
the roofs of the homesteads, the landscape is hidden
from his view.

" In Japan green tea in leaf is universally used.
Powdered tea, which at present is most expensive
luxury, is reserved for rare ceremonious occasions.
Tea is not prepared by making an infusion with
boiling water, as is habitual with us, but the boiling
water is first carefully cooled in another vessel to
176 deg. F. The leaves are renewed for every infusion,
the same never being used for inexhaustible replen-
ishings of the teapot, as is our custom. Tea prepared
in the Japanese manner is of the color of pale Sherry
or Sauterne, and constitutes a most refreshing, re-
viving beverage, especially when travelling or when
fatigued by exertion. The Japanese, like the Chinese,
drink tea without milk or sugar, which, they contend,
spoil the delicate aroma ; but they recommend the use
of both with black and green teas of inferior quality,
prepared after the Chinese method, in order to cover
their roughness.

" The preparation of good tea is considered by the
Japanese almost an art. Persons particularly expert
in this accomplishment are called 'Chajin,' lit., 'tea-
man.'

" Tea is cultivated in Japan as far as to 40 deg.
N. The best tea land is the district of Uji in the
province of Yama.shiro, after which the plantatiors
of the other provinces rank in the following order ; —
Those of Omi, Ise, Shimosi, Eehiu, Totomi, Kadzusa,
Inab",^ Suwo, Sui-ugo, Na:Ja^o and Musashi on the
luiiiu i-land Hon-do, and those of Hizen and Higo on
the Isbud of Kiu-shiu, ' Nine lauds," "
tj

I The tea plant must be raised from seeds. ^

I " The first leaves are gathered in the fourth year.
The harvest commences m the beginning of the sum-

[ mer, when only tlio youngest leaves are picked.

; Thirty days after the first gathering the second takes
place. Some tea growers have lately made a third
picking, in cou-equence of tie rise in the price of
tea, but this proceeding ought to be energetically
discountenanced, as it has proved most injurious to
the plant."

The success and excellence attained by the Japan-
ese in many undertakings, is ascribed by F A. Junker
Von Langegg. to their treatment of detail; they being,
"great in small things." He describes their treat-
ment of tea leaves -is c>rried on at Uji as follows:
The leaves, immediately after having been gathered,
are taken to tlie factory. The tea plant abounds in
stipules, and is thus unlike other plants of the order
of the Ternstroemiaceas, which are usually ex-stipuiate.
Here the stipules are separated by means of a bamboo
sieve, and all impurities are removed. This done, tue
leaves are exposed to the action of steam, by placi>ig
them on a bamboo hurdle over water heated to 200
deg. F. in a covered pan. Those intended for t«a
in leaf are steamed for fifteen seconds, tho.se intende.l
for powdered tea for half-a-minute. After this, thev f-r
tnicovered, turned and airtd by means of fans in the
shape of the wellknown palm-fans of ihe leaf of th
Con/pha rotiindifolM. Lenn. The.se fans, which serve
for a great many purposes, are called Uchi-wa. and
are made of a frame of spilt bamboo covered with
pai)er.

IJefore the steam has ceased to escape, the leaves
are placed in a basket, " the cooler," in which they
are continually turned and fanned. The fanning must
be particularly attended to, else the leaves wotild turn
yellow and lose their fine aroma.

AVhen perfectly cooled, the leaves are taken to the
Hoiro, the apparatus for "firing the tea." The Hoiro
proper is merely that portion which contains the fuel,
but this term is generall extended to the whole ap-
paratus, in which sense I likewise shall use it i 1 this
paper. It is a wooden frame measuring six feet by
four, lined with a layer of eement, and covered with
an iron grate, a short distance above which a copper-
wire net is stretched. On this the desiccator holding
the leaves is placed. The desiccator is a box of ex-
actly the same dimensions as the Hoiro proper, formed
of a wooden framework anu piper.

The fuel, of which twenty-three pounds are used
for every firing, consists of equal parts of charcoal
of hard and of soft wood. When the fire is quite
bright a sufficient quantity of straw is burnt to obtain
a layer of ashes in order to prevent the direct action
of the radiating heat. During the process of firing,
the leaves are continually rolled between tbe hands
until they commence shrivelling and are nearly dry,
when they are transferred to a SL'cond Hoiro for com-
plete desiccation. In preparing the sort of tea which
is known by the name of Giyoku-ro-cha, lit.: "Dew-
drop tea," the leaves are steamed but for an inst mt,
and while drying over a .<ilow fire, each single leaf
is most carefully rolled betwen the fingers.

The leaves when perfectly dry are removed from
the Hoiro, into sieves of copper-wire, in which the
petioles, which may have remained attached, are
separated by gentle rubbing between the palms of
the hands.

-After having been winnowed the leaves are assorted
into three qualities, and sifted through bamboo .'ieves,
of which there are six different degrees of fineness.
Common tea is sifted but once, tliL' better qualities
from six to .seven Limes, and the powdered tea even
as often as ten times, which expeiiditmc in time and
labor renders this kind of tea extremely dear.

The leaves for the powdered tea are likewise desic-
cated on iiio Hoiro, but in a .somewhat ditfereut man-
ner. The apparatus consists merely of the lower bos
for the fuel, with a grating of bambo.i instead of the
iron grate and the wire-net on the top. On this is
placed a bamboo hurdle covereil with a sheot of card-
board of the same size as the Hoiro proper, on which

42

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[JOLY I, 1886.

iLo leaves are spread. Instead of roKing the leaves
'ittveen the fiuge'-s, they are alternately collected ia
he midd'.e of tlie cardboani, aud spr-r-ad out a^aiii by
lueaus oi' tiny pincers in order to secure the uniform
drying of every single leaf.

The temperature of the room in which the ll'jiro
is placed, must be very high, aud the doors aud
windows kept closed against the cooler cuter air an'i
drau^^ht. When the leaves are nearly dry, they are
removed from the Ifoiro ami fanned, then all the
faulty ones, and those which had turned yellow, are
cirefuUy picked out, and the remaining placed again
on the Hoiro until perfectly dry, when they are spread
on shelves near the fire and left for sometime with-
out being touched. Finally the leaves are sifted
through a series of selves from No. 4 to No. 10.
The mode of the ultimate picking likewise differs
.Torn that employed with the tea in leaf. Tho leaves
are placed in a square dish, spread by means of a
feather, and the faulty, ones removed with a pincer.
For the first quality of powdered tea even irore
precautions are taken. The dish remains covered with
a sheet of paper, and only those leaves are exposed
which are taken up one by one with the pincer. —
Aiuerican Grocer.

INSECTICIDES: KEROSENE EMULSIONS.

It cannot be too strongly impressed upon all who use
Icerosene as an in.secticide that it can be considered a
iafe remedy only when properly emulsified. The
formuhi for the kerosene and soap emulsion, as found
most .satisfactory by Mr. Hubbard, is as follows: —

JvPtosene 2 gals. -^07 per cent.

Common soap or whale oil soap. ilb. \ — ."53 per cent.

Water 1 gal. j

Heat the solution of soap and add it boiliiig hot to
the kerosene. Churn the mixture })y means of a force-
j)ump and spray-nozzle for five or ten minutes. The
cmul.sion, if perfect, forms a cream, which thickens on
cooling, aiid should adhere without oiliness to the
.surface of gla,«s. Dilute, before using, one part of the
emulsion, with nine parts of cold water. The above
formula gives 3 gallons of emulsions, and makes, when
diluted, 30 gallons of wash.

The kerosene and soap mixture, especially when the
latter is warmed, forms upon very moderate agitation,
an npparent union ; but the mixture is not stable, and
separates on standing, or when cooled or diluted by the
addition of water. A proper emulsion of kerosene is
obtained only upon violent agitation. It is formed not
gradually, but .suddenly; in short, to use a familiar
phrase, " it comes " like butter. The time required in
churning depends somewhat upon the violence of the
agitation, but still more upon the temperature, which,
however, need not be much above blood-heat.

When obtained, an emulsion of kerosene and soap is
known by the perfect union of the ingredients aud the
absence of oiliness, so that the liquid clings to the surface
of the glass or metal. It rei?embles a rich cream, more
or les.s thickened, according to the proportion of soap
u.sed in the mhture. — Avierican Entomologist.

MONTSERllAT.

" And now, on the leeward bow, another gray mountain
island rose. This was Montserrat, which I should have
gladly visited, as I had been invited to do ; for little
iMoutserrat >s just now the scene of a vt-ry hopeful and
aud iiupoitant espeiiment. TIih Messrs. Sturge hjive
established there a large plantation of limes, and a manu-
factory of lime jui.e, which promises to be able to supply,
in good time, vast quantities of that most useful of all
.sea medicines » * * * and I for one heartily bid
<;od speed to the enterprize — to any eiiterprize, indeed,
which tends to divert labor and capital from that
exclusive sugar-growing, which has been most injurious.
I vorily believe the bane of the West Indies."— '• .4i
Luiit," by Ri-v. Charlrs Kniyalei/.

The little island of Montserrat, consideind the most
hcalihy of the Antilles, is Kituated in 16° 45" north lati-
tude, an 1 ■')2"^ we-t longitule, and about eight miios in
length Iromnorffa to boutli, h\ a b. ■'.adth of fivj mil^s
from east to west. This island was discovered in 1193 Ly

Oolumbun, who gave it the name of Montserrat, after

ili'i noted mountain of Montse-rat in Catalonia.

The island of MouiS'-rrat is composed of a small
clu.ster of volcanic m^uu'aiu tops, rising out of the
Caribbean Sea, to the height 01 3,000 feet, the summits
neing more often concealed by flo.iting clouds. Their
steep sides are covered with virgin forest, abounding in
graceful cabbage paini — " the glory of the mountains" —
exquisite tree ferns and wild bananas, with their magnifi-
cciJt broad leaves, and are intersected by deep rugged
gorges, in which the tree fern, bauaua aud mountain
palm flourish.

Ihe negroes now form the greater part of the popul-
ation. Ihey, most of them, own land and cattle or
sheep; and taltivate the sugar caue aud ground vege-
tables on their own account, so that their position is far
more independent *han that of the European peasantry.
They are a light hearted, g 5od tempered race ; so accus-
tomed to work in gangs rhat it is almost impossible to
get them to do anything aloue.

The first lime tree orchards were planted in 1852, by
Mr. Burke, an enterprising planter then living in the
island, but the speculation was at first by no nieaus
profitable, as this is an enterprize that involves a large
outlay of capital, which is for a number of years uupro-
di'ctivc, and even then only remunerative on a large
scale, although the low rate of wages and extent of
uncultivated land in a salubrious climate render the
island of Montserrat particularly suitable for the pur-
pose.

The lime tree {Citrus Zo«^/?rt), is a member of the
orange tribe, which grows wild in many tropical countries
but does not flourish even so far North as the Azores.
it is a thorny, bushy, evergreen tree, with handsome
dark green leaves. These are so fragrant that they are
universally used in the West Indies to perfume the
water in the finger glasses at dessert. The small white
flowers resemble orange blossoms, and the scent is
equally delicious. The lime flourishes best in light soil,
near the sea, and comes into full bearing about seven
years from the planting of the seed.

From the International Magazine we learn that the
plantations of the Montserrat Compauy already cover
more than 800 acres, and contain 160,000 trees. These
are generally planted fifteen feet apart, and the high
roaci passes through them for a di.?tauce of more than
two miles. No more beautiful sight can be seen than
these orchards, when the trees are laden with tlieir
bright fruit, aud at the same timp the air is pervaded by
the luscious fragrance of the blo.ssom. The fruit is
gathered by the negro women, and they carry it down in
baskets on then- heads. — American Grocer,

FRUIT CULTIVATION IN CEYLON.

Our correspondent, "Oranges anl Limes,"' brings
forward a subject which periodically crops up in the
public prints, and, reciiviug no further attention, fades
out of sight for a time, until it is again revived by
some one who recognizes in it a public want which
he imagines could be supplied without very much
difficvilty. There can be little doubt that Ceylon could
supply an abundant variety of tropical fruits, if suitable
situ-ition were selected aud care were taken in their
culture, and we should thiuk their production might
be m-ide a fairly profitable one, if undertaken on a
l.trge scile, aud with a sutficieut supply of capita' to
eiuble the cultivators to wait, as they would have to
do, for ti or 7 years before receiving any appreciable
returns from their investment. We know that orange
and lemon aud many other kinds of fruits trees begin
to give crnps in three to four years, but they cannot
be considered to l"'e really in bearing in less than
double that age. It must not, however, be forgotten
that during the time the gardens are growini a very
considerable trade might be done in native-grown ^'ruit,
fioin which preserves of various kinds cotil I be manu-
factured, and sold in the local market as well
as exported in large pa,ckai;ti8 to be put up in an
attractive form in T" ircpt^. This is the course adopted
by Messrs. M.<ir and soiif< in regard to their tnarmalade.
Tnc;y prep re it in .Su-iin or Portugal, aud forward
it to Aberdeen, or some other of their large factories,

jvtf I, jm.j THE TUOPiCAL AQUiCVLfUkm^.

4:'-

where it is put up in the smaller tins with which
we a-e so familiar. We must, however abandon any
idea of growinir ]']urope'.u fruits at Horton Tiaius or
niar Nuwara Eliya. There is no doubt that such
fruits can be grown, and in fact are grown, near
Nuwara Elija and the higher elevations of the sur-
rounding districts ; but they are grown undei; consider-
able difficulty, the crops are very uncertain, and the
fruit but seldom of any value, wanting as it is in the
flavour and piquancy o" fruit grown in England. There
is much more probability of success as regards Eu-
ropean fruits by making arrangements iu the Australian
colonies for a supply of apples and pears to be sent
up by the mail steamers. The " Kaiser-I-Hind " from
Australia last week took on a quantity of magnificent
pears, one of which shown us was as large as an
ordinary Chaumontel grown iu Jersey, and in splendid
condition; and nothing we can giow in the Island
could be expected to compete with such fruit as this.
As regards these tropical fruits alone, it would be
necessary to have more than one orchard, in which
different varieties of fruit could bo grown on a soil
and iu a clinjate best suited to their respective
characteristics. In the lowcountry no doubt a suitable
locality might be selected, say at Mahara or Henerat-
goda, ^whilst for oranges of all kinds a very favorable
situation would probably be found in the vallies of
Kadugannawa, should it be found necessary to go up
so high in the hills. For native-grown fruit, suitable
more especially for converting into jams and jellies,
Kandy would probably be the best pjssible centre for
collecting a large quantity. With agencies in Matale,
Gampola and other places, a very considerable trade
coula be done by agents understanding the people an 1
their language. Suitably .sugar could no doubt be
obtained iu quantity from Baddegama at a compar-
atively low rate, and its purchase would doubtless give
a stimulus to the production of sugar amongst the
competitive native growers who do a little iu that
direction alrea ly. Many of our readers will recollect
the jams whicli old " Francis Appu " of Staiutou's
Hotel used to retail in pickle bottles, and for which
we believe he had a brisk demand. Experiments on
a small scale for testing the Colombo market have
not been by any means remunerative hitherto; the
latest we believe in the way of tomatoes did not by
any means prove satisfactory t.o the enterp-izing
grower ; and in another case within the twelve mouths,
a grower of Milta lemons upcountry failed to obtain
a single response to notices and samp'e-< sent down.
"Without p-etending to give an opinion upon the sui-
tability of the c imate .or the preserv.^tion of fruit
in the shapes of conserves, we would suggest that
the headquarters uf tho tnerprize should be Cjlom!,j
itself, wheie, m failure of obtaining a market for the
fruit, it might be converted into preserves instead. As
long as the steamers 'n harbour, or the or Unary local
demand, supplied a market, the produce might be
sold in its natural state, and when that dem;tnd fell
off, say for a day or two, it would by put into the
hands of the boiler and confectioner. In ad'iition to
anything to which we have already referred, attention
might be paid to the manufacture of lime-juice and
the different varieties of ciwic acid and similar pre-
parations, for which there is an immense demand.
Fickies again ,-hould prove an additional source of
income, tljough possibly the demand would be rather
limited.^ Local "Times."

AGKICULTURE ON THE CONTINENT OF
EUROPE.

(6'2)ecial Lcttci-)
Paris, May 15. — The strength of a horse is in pro-
portion to it.-! health, and the latter depends on its
food and stabiiag. Some cases of blood-poisoning
have been rep"rted, and which arc traceable lo sudden
changi' iu diet, and to the drinking of stagnant water.
Some tanners conclude, that so long as animal refuse
is kept oit of the drinking pond, no bad results can
ensue. It should never be forgotten, all putrid matters
are sources of disease. Insjflicieut air is a cause of
sickness in lior^es as in bumau beiugs. \i bas bet;o

estimated than an ordinary^sized horse, needs 130
cubic yards of air per day. But tha"; it requires 33
cubic yards per hour to get along comfortably in
general stable life. The aim then should be to induce
a con,stant supply of fresh, and to expel the viaated
air. .\ high, rather than a low-roofed stable ac-
complishes that end best.

This being the season for greeu fodder, the subject
naturally suggests itself, how far is such, good for
working horses '■^ There cannot be any question about
turning them into a meadow there to feed. That
plan is excellent only for colts— that rest and liberty
develop. M. Gronier held tljat green forage acted
ou horses, like mineral waters when employed as
medicaments on individuals, A Vichy, .iVpoUonaris, &c.
efficacy. Fresh grass, &c., kept away imminent illness,
cured existing ones, and discounted convnlescence.
It forms a kind of annual salad refreshing for animals
of an irritable tenn..o.-ament, th;it have narrow intestines
or the system heated from too copious oat rat ons.

If hay be taken as the standard to test the com-
parative value of the various green feeding stuffs,
there will not be found any very great difference be-
tween them, in point of nutritive power. Certainly,
some will vary in point of volume, that which im-
plies, not to overload the stomacli, but lo multiply mod-
erate repasts. The green fodder is most apt to pro-
duce flatulency, when after being cut, it has been
allowed to lie exposed to the sun, or even some time
in the shade under a shed. Many believe that it is
good to let the" wild fresbuess of morning" disappear,
before using green food ; enable the dew to evapor-
ate, &c. On the contrary, it is more prudent before
using to sprinkle faded grass, clover, tares, but above
all luscern, which have been exposed to the action of
the sun with water. M. Eeynal has demonstrated,
that fodder rich in sugar, ferments more readily iu
the digestive organs, in proportion as it has beeu
preliminarily heated.

In spring, stock have a natural longing for fresh
food. Occisionally, that desire may even be the symp-
tom of disease; an indication of a morbid condition
of the digestive organs. The change of diet will
facilitate the falling-off of the old hair; develop
transpiration; induce brilliancy of coat and freedom
in the intestines. Fresh forage has also the reput-
ation of getting rid of cutaneous aft'ections and
thus of purifying the blood Old horses, accustome.l
to a dry aau substantia' dietary, do not benefit by
a green bill of fare. AniuiUs of a weak constitution
ought not to receive green forage.

From experiments tried ou civalry horses at S'er-
sii^les, it was found that the green t'o^-age when com-
ing into flower, was the stage most iiiopitious foi-
consumption. A sharp eye ought to be kept ti notice
hoiv ihc* chai'ge operates on the animals subjectad to
green soiling. If la.xity Oi* weakness appear, the ration
of oats sh JLild be at once augmented. Never, in tho
c iS'j of working horses diminish the o.its, when en-
ter'iig on the green feeding. It costs dearer to feci
ba.lly. than to nourish well, and the latter system
secures more health and strength that which implies
more profit on capital.

The practice is exterding in France and Switzer-
land, to cut or castrate cows, so as to ei S.r e, after
a certain age, for a definite period, a unuo;ni yield
of milk, simultaneously with the putting up of juicy
flesh for the butcher; to transform in a word, tlie
cow into a veritable milk and beef machine. .Al.
Charliei- is the great advocate of the new plan of
ovariolohi//. which is effected by a special instrument,
and is never alt nded with danger i. the hands of
a \'et. The cow will be ill abjut tigiit or fourteen
days after the operation. Daring this period, the
animal should be kept covorel, to guard against cold,
and on half-diet, to avoil indiy:estious. Ou recovery,
the cow will be found less liable to diseas;S, since
gestation an I parturitiou have been rendered imp . sible.

M. Seippel of Switzerland has adopted ovari itoinvj
or spla} UjS executed by th.; new instruui nt, since
1885, and with deci led success, Ou tvvea y cows, he
has hid a daily yield of 10, and hopes to reach
li, quarts uf markedly rich milk, I^ut bvbas above

A4

THE Ti^OPlCAL AdRICULtURIST.

(July i, 1886'.

all obtained, a quality of meat, tender and succulent,
which the butchers have reluctantly admitted, to be
equal to the best ox beef. To briug the cows up to
the slaughtering standard he had to employ neither a
special diet nor extra rations. The cut cows were
ever in exct-lleut condition. In ordinary cases, a cow
after producing the usual number of calves, only pro-
duces beef of a poor quality, which is hard under the
tooth, rebel in point of digestion, and devoid of nut-
ritive power, and all this despite their fat appearance.
Ovariotomy should be practised whea the cow is 5
or 15 years of age ; when slie can be kept on milk-
ing and simultaneously fattening, for eighteen mouths
and then sent to the butcher, with the certainty of
proving renmnerative.

Dr. Frank was delegated by the Prussian Govern-
ment to investigate truffle culture. He bore in
mind the ideas of Midler and Schlosing as to the
role of animalcules in the nutrition of plants and the
nutrification of soils. He now shows that in the
case of some trees, oak, ash, and pine, the two last
especially, their rootlets are composed of bauds of
ir.icrobes, which form a veritable screen, and devour
the humus, prepare the food, while forming a "felt"
round the interior cellules of the plant. In the case
I i' wheat, the rootlets are capillary libres, which secrete
an aiil, to dissolve the mineral matter.s, in the soils
preparatory' to their absorption by the plant.

♦

CULTIVATION EXPERIMENTS IN THE AHA-
KAN HILL TEA' TS : NEW PRODUCTS.

Mr. V. C. Funshawe, acting Deputy Commissioner
of the .A.r»kau Hill Tracts, has submitted an interest-
ing report on experimental cultivation of certain
economic products in these outlying tracts, but the
re.sults obtained by him do not encourage the hope
of bringing these remote n gions, peopled by ignorant
savages, within the palo of civilised cultivation of
uaeful products for the market.

Tljere are two gardens in which these experiments
were cariied on; one at Paletwa and the other at
Kyoukpandaung. A sum of El, 000 was allotted for
the year 1884-85, of which E889 were expended,
.•^ince the last report was submitted in May 1884, the
gardens do not show any marked improvement. The
money is chiefly spent on gardeners' wages and cooly
hire, as it is fo'md very difficult to keep ';he gardens
free from weeds and grass during the rains, and nearly
half the allotment is spent on cooly hire for this purpose.

The Paletwa garden occupies an area of 4i acres.
Its situation is unfavourable, the ground befng low
and swampy in some parts. The I'ea plants here are
said to be looking healthy, and have been leased out
for one year for RIOO. The Potatoes proved a failure ;
but this was owing chiefly to the seeds having arrived
m a bad state ; another reason being that they were
not planted as they should have been, i.e., in hght,
sandy soil, and on ridges; but sown on heavy soil,
on low ground, and in trenches. In a country poss-
essing a naturally humid climate, with a heavy rainfall,
this result was to be expected under the circumstances.
Mr Fanshawe, however, is of opinion that the ex-
periment is worth trying again this year. The I'cpper-
vhie seemii to have done fairly well, and it is iut-euded
to plant it extensiv. ly ou the Burmese method of
growing betel-vines. The Cinnamon has been a coiu-
plete success, and " a small forest of them " is said
to e.xist at Kyoukpandaung. The variety of Coffee
grown was the Liberian, and the plants appear to
have done well. The Arahian coffee was also tried,
but it did not get on well. ManiUa hemp is said to
get on well, and the same is said of the Hetel-iine.
Two Cocoa trees have reached the height of n and
4 feet res-pectively, and may be pronounced a success.
There are no Sugar-canes in the Paletwa garden, but
Mr. Fanshawe thinks it would pay to plant them
Among Fri'it. the Mam/o, the Plantain, and the Pine-
tipp'e are mentioned. The last-named is said not to
do well. An important feature in the report is the
rena-k about Kltalci cotton. A little of it is grown
for home consumption, but very little is exported,
Mr. FhusIjw© tbioks eowe seeds might be giren to

the cultivators as an experiment, as the price is double
that of white cotton ; and that when the peasants find
that it will pay well, tbey would probably take to
cultivating it regularly. The Chief Commissioner has
sent seeds to Mr. Fanshawe, and we shall be glad to
hear the result of the experiment. There were no
new experiments during the year,

Mr, Fanshawe, we regret to see, does not seem to
take a hopeful view of the utility of the garden at
Paletwa. He says : —

The experimental cultivation in the Arakau Hill
Tracts has done little or nothing, I am sorry to say,
to induce the peasantry to ti-y new products, and I
am afraid that, as long as they live the life that they
do at present, they will never attempt anything new.
Their staple products are of course rice and seesamum
for home consumption, and tobacco and cotton for
both home consumption and export. Their time is
pretty well taken up in their taungyas and tobacco
fitUds, and the month or two in which they have no-
thing to do they spend in a series of feasts. The
ground used for the cultivation of tobacco could not
be used for permanent garden land, as it is all under
vater during the rams ; and if tuugyas were cut far
from the water, the labom- would be immense to keep
the ground properly watered during the hot weather,
and that is just the time that they are all hard at
work cutting their taungyas for planting paddy, &c.
They are too lazy and indolent to put themselves out
in any way, and as long as they have enough to eat
and drink, with a few rupees to spend yearly, they
are quite contented. Different kinds of tobacco and
cotton they would willingly sow, I think: and if Mr.
Bridges supplies seeds next year, as he has very kindly
offered to do, I have no doubt that the experiment
will be a success.

Even if planters were induced to settle up here, I
do not think they would find cultivation profitable, as
the great difficulty of course would be cooly labour.
The peasantry here simply would not work regularly,
and all the labour would have to be imported, and
even then I am afraid the coolies would be constantly
down with fever, for the first year or two at any
rate, and unless they were paid at ruinously high
rates, they would desert whenever they got a chance.
Burmese peasants are, as a rule, of the stamp Mr,
Fanshawe has described, and much cannot be expected
of them. "With regard to the garden at Kyoukdandaung,
which is of more pretensions, it may said that Tea
and Ctnchona thrive well, and may be cultivated with
success. The tea garden is ah-eady assuming lare
proportions, and the time is coming when, with a
little skilled labom- for curing processes, the trees will
yield a return which ought to make the garden more
than self-supporting. The nuiuber of trees and young
plants exceeds 12,000, and this number is capable of
large extension, so as to form the nucleus of a fairly
good tea estate, which would pay well in anj- part
of the countiy where labour was procurable at ordinary
low rates. The fact, too, that there are over 400
cinchona plants at Kyoukpandaung, all doing well,
particularly the larger ones, seems to prove that the
locality is favourable to the growth of this very im-
portant vegetable product.

Fotatocg and Coffee wore failures. Fruit trees, such
as raspberry and apricot, have done well. Tobacco
seems to have proved successful, and Mr. Fanshawe
has been supplied with seed for extended experiment.
The tobacco produced is said to be very good of its
kind, and fetches a good price in the local market.
Looking at the experiment as a whole, it may be said
to have ))een fairly successful : but in our opinion
something more than merely official supervision, such
as that exercised by a Deputy Commissioner, is needed
to pro\e to demonstration whether the results obtained
cannot be improved upon. The Commissioner, Colonel
Sladen, is of the same opinion, as he say>; — The ex-
periment need not for the jn-esent be repeated until
the conditions are more favourable, and we can count
upon more skilled supervision. It has, however, been
decided to continue the grant of K1,(XI0 for another
year. Let us hope that the results of the next year
will be njore satisfactory.— /nrfifire A(/riculturist,

JtfLY I, iH86.y

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

45

TEA WITHERING BY MEANS OF HOT AIE

is advocated by Mr. Tercy Swinburne, late of
Sylhet, Cachar and Assam, who writes : —

Natural withering, as generally luuU-rstood, means
that the leaf is placed in open or closed houses in
•;?hich the draught of air may be regulated ; while
artificial withering includes the use of heated air, or
of machinery.

A large proportion of the best tea which is sent
to the market is now niadv? from artificially withered
leaf, that is to say, from leaf which has been withered
by heated air. The lofts of the pucka tea houses are
heated by the sun, to a temperature of over 100 degrees,
and are often intolerably and suffocatingly warm. In
dull and wet weather also, the temperature in these
pkces is still considerably higher than that of the
surrounding atmosphere, as they are heated by siroccos
or other firing machines, the chimneys of which pass
through them.

There has for a long time been a strong prejudice
against artificial withering. Closed hot houses were
used because the weather so often proved unfavour-
able, but natural withering, under favourable circum-
stances, is always suppose^l to give the best results.

In natural withering, the faster the process the
better the result, .so we may conclude that perfect
withering would consist in removiug all superttuous
water from the leaf instantaneously, without disturbing
the oils, juices &c., while sufficient heat was applied
to reduce the fibre to the soft condition recjuired for
rolling.

A series of careful experiments have been made in
a small house heated by smoke flues, with one maund
of leaf soread on about 15 square feet to a pound.
It was found still, that the faster the operation the
better the result. That the greater the heat the
thinner the leaf must be spread, aud the more care
and nicety required.

The finest tea was made from leaf withered in 3
hours, at a temperature of 140 degrees. The tea was
on several occasions carefully assorted, and true samples
of the bulk were sent down to Calcutta to be valued,
and the quality of the liquor as well as the appearance
were pronounced excellent. The average valuations
were about 14 annas, and the leaf was good, but not
finer than that plucked on most estates in Darjeeling,
or Sylhet, or Cachar, being two leaves and a bud.
The market at the time was depressed, and the
average price of the teas of the districts mamed was,
at that time, between 9 aud 10 annas.

In 1883 the entire crop of the Kainagar Estate,
Sylhet, ju>t under 900 maunds, was withered in hothouses.
heated by smoke flues, and realized U annas per lb.
average. The houses were " kutcher " ones built of
bamboo and plastered ekur. They were 14 feet high
m the roof, 7 feet high walls— breadth 20 feet. Two
four ,feet wide, passage, and 4 rows of chalnies 3 feet
wide. The pipes were 9 inches in diameter, and ^ inch
thick and ran along both sides of the house under-
neath the outer row of chalnies. The heat was much
greater near the furnaces than at a distance from
them, and the house gets thoroughly heated for a
distance of about 1.5 to 20 feet only from the fur-
nace.

The heat is also uneven, and the greater it is the
more difficult it becomes to equalize the withering. The
leaf must be thinly spread and carefully watched.
One part of tht- house withers mucli more quickly
than another, and if the leaf is left for an hour only,
after it has reached the right stage, much quality
is lost.

These houses, defective as they are, are preferred
to those of the old style.

When the men have learnt how to arrange the leaf,
and work the fires, the rolling can be commenced at
5 a.m< every day in all weathers-

The leaf does not turn red unless it is bruised in
some way during the withering process, aud its ju'ces
become exposed to the air. This may happen from
the le if being gathered up a second time, and removed
from one place to auothor.

If it is once established beyond dispute that the
best tea can be male from artificially witliered leaf,
there shoidd be no difficulty in making a hot cham-
ber in which the L af could be verj' thinly spread
out, and the heat equalized and regulated, and the
moisture removed.

Oue of the great disadvantages of open houses is,
that the damp cohl air which checks the withering
is admitted, as well as the warm air which favours it.
Withered leaf absorbs moisture, and is refreshed by
it — as a Tsouquet of faded flowers is revived by sprink-
led water. But when the leaf has withered a second
time, it loses its freshness, and when the flowers
have again faded, they begin to give out an offensive
smell ; the first stages of decomposition having set in
in both cases. Leaf whicli has once lost its volatile
freshness and delicacy, never recovers it, and can
never be converted into fine tea.

The fine qualities in the leaf may be chemically
altered in the hot withering process, but they are
not lost altogether as is proved by the quality of the
tea produced by it.

In the same way, however, as the flavour of the
tea is affected bj' different firiug proce'ises, so it is
probably also affected by the degree of heat applied
in the withering, as well as by the manner in which
it is applied.

Good tea can be made i>f leaf which is carefully
withered, rolled, fermented, and finally baked, but,
although strong, it is peculiar, and has not the
delicate flavour and smell of tea, which is roasted
over charcoal in the usual way, and this again is not
so aromatic in flavour as that which is drietl by the
rapid hot-air draught of the "Sirocco."

It would appear that the best withering would be
accomplished by a strong draught of moderately warm
and quite dry air passing over the whole surface
of the leaf.

If the juices can be kept uninjured, the more the
leaf is withered, the better the quality of the tea.
The presence of water in the rolled leaf appears to
affect the fermentation injuriously. It is not accur-
ately known at present what chemical changes take
place in the various systems of manafacture, but
we know that we are more or less dependent on the
weather, and that the changes which take place
satisfactorily oue day, will not do so on another, under
apparently exactly the same condition. Lightly with-
ered leaf makes tea without strength or body, and
this is probably due to the presence of too much
water in the rolled leaf, which causes an injurious
fermentation. On the other hand, over withering
or bad withering, by which the juices have been iu-
jureil or destroyed have the same effect, and produce
weak pale liquored tea. As far as we know, the feel-
ing amongst Ceylon Tea Planters is adverse to hot
air ? — Planters' Gazette.

FRUIT-GROWING IN CEYLON.

I noticed in a recent issue of your paper, an
article upon fruit-growing for the Colombo market,
and, as one who has more than once tried to meet
this want, I will relate the chief reasons why hither-
to all attempts have been failures. Everyone has
noticed how universally unsatisfactory the fruit of
Ceylon is, aud how the whole might be characterized
throughout as inferior. Indeed, it may truly be said
that few in Ceylon have ever tasted really good
Ceylon ripe fruit, atid those who have lived all
their lives in the island have never developed the
taste.

I once grew some very fine limes, each of them
equal in size to three of the usual bazaar specimens,
aud the?e I offered for sale in the market, but no one
would buj' them for more than the usual rate per
l.OOO for limes. I now sell them to natives who
pay roe by the thousand, irrespective of size or
quality, and I might almost add the greener the
better. Indeed, the more inferior the fruit the better
it will pay the producer, for ill weeds grow apace,
This is very different to a fruit shop in Europe,
wbere excelience overrules everything; there, if yov^

46

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST*

[fi/LV I, i$S6,

observe a particularly fine basket, you may be sure
the price will In: double or treble that of any ordinary
reproseutativea of the same fruit. Here, as I say,
a thousand limes, whether large or small, are a
thousaui-i limes, and, even though a better price may
be obtained for the higher ((ualities, it is never
commensurate with the real intrinsic value— not even
weight for weight or measure for measure.

It is ditficult to say how this can be remedied ; for
my part I am most passionately fond of fruit, being
practically an abstainer from alcoholic beverages. 1
have a very great craving for fruit, yet I do not
care for the tough pulped oranges with their jackets
of Ijincolu green with skin upon them that will ouly
come off with the greatest exertion, and, when
removed, what remains is but a stringy casement,
filled with an acid sweet orange-peel flavor not of
any decided lusciousuess, making me always think,
as I do when I eat tomatoes, " because the doctor
says they are good for j'ou." This last opinion is,
however, only personal, for many are very fond of
tomatoes. To make a long story short, fruit cannot
be too good for real enjoyment; the better it is the
more pleasure it gives and the more wholesome it
is. Indeed, it is like the middy's idea of eggs —
" better have one good one than a dozen bad."

To repeat, how it is that good fruit is unprocur-
able in Colombo'' I reply as follows.—

1st. — Those who have never been out of the is-
land cannot appreciate the true value of good fruit,
consequently they do not know that there arc pines
and pines, oranges and oranges. Fruit is to them
like every other commodity, sold in bulk. 2nd. — Our
good European housewife will not go to market herself :
consequently the only way she can purchase it is
through her appu, and he buys a pine or a dozen
oranges or maagoes just as he would buy a bundle
of Mauritius grass or straw. Indeed, I may tell the
good housewife that I can buy better fish than she
gives me in Colombo when I dine with her at Nanuoya,
and for not a highsr price than she pays her appu
or butler, or whatever she calls the supreme being
■who controls her dinner table.

To return to fruit: if it is required good, it i/ui.st
be cultivated, and cultivated fruit cannot be produced
in small quantities as cheaply as that which grows
like the jungle around it. In time, however, if a
market spring up for better kinds, the prices would
scarcely be more if the consumption were greater,
and this latter would inevitably be the result of
really good fruit coming to market. Whoever saw a
more disgusting spectacle than the mangoes exposed
for sale in the Colombo market ? Swedes for sheep
and food for pigs in Europe are more attractive.
Then take the pines ; they are one-fourth of ihem
unfit for human food and should be condemned as
such, and I doubt if one-half can be called even
wholesome. Now, if it were necessary, owing to
some defect on part of the climate, to lilame things
thus it would be another matter, but fruit ripens
as well in Ceylon as elsewhere. Certainly I think the
producer very badly protected, for I have sold my
fruit to natives for far more than they could grow
the same themselves, and they say they have to
pluck it green to save it from depredation. Does
it not naturally follow that in every probability the
bulk of the fruit in the Colombo market is stolen
property ? For my part, I believe a very large pro-
portion is ; but my experience in this case is that
"stolen fruit is tar from the sweetest." A careful
reflection over all I have written will show the number
of adverse circumstances against which a grower of
superior fruit would have to contend. He would
naturally, with European notions, begin, as I did,
with quality until he found it was not appreciated,
and then he would, as I have done, go in for quan-
tity. The large shipping Companies, such as the P.
& O., Messageries and B. I., might do something,
for they require a steady supply of fruit, and, if
they had it carelully inspecting and rejecting what
was not up to the standard, the public would benefit,
and they before the public. Of all places where
good fruit is appreciated boardsbip in tbe tropics

comes first. With or without sea sickness, I know
nothing more delightful than a good orange or pinu-
apple, and from time immemorial it has been an
understood thing that fruit is beneficial to counteract
other inrtueuces which without it are prejudicial io health.

To summarize : good and ripe fruit is not obtain-
able in Ceylon for several reasons. When grown,
there is no way of putting it into the hand of the
right consumer who will pay its value for it. The
natives cannot grow it because depredators would
steal it before it was ripe. If placed in the market,
the indifferent, though self-interested, appu who
caters for his master or mistress will naturally not
buy it, as it would cut down the margin of his
clippings. If all the large shipping companies would
take the matter up, being more particular than they
are as regards the quality of their fruit, in no
very long time the necessity to produce a butter
quality would be recognized everywhere, and stolen
property of this nature would become less and less
in request.

Another point not to be lost sight of is the length
of time before most kinds of fruit-trees reach the
bearing stage. I know of some of the kinds mo.st
in request, besides the plantain, that bear no appreci-
able quantity of fruit before they are from six to
ei.ifht years old. Upon an estate I am interested
in, in the low-country, orange trees planted seven
years ago have only given a partial crop. Limes of
the same age gave their first good crop last year.
There is no market for my limes, so I have to
squeeze them and ship the juice, which in London
has fetched one shilling a gallon for unconcentrated,
and 'Ss. for concentrated to a fourth its original bulk.
This is scarcely good enough for what it costs. The
chief reason whj' country-grown pines are not so good
as those grown in hot-houses in Europe is that no
care is taken of them, for I have occasionally tasted
this fruit in Ceylon. When carefully tended, they
are as rich and full of flavor as could be found on
a dinner-table in England. — A Believer in Feuit. —
Local "Times."

A SOUTH AFRICAN BOX TEEE.

In the last number of Hooker's Icones I'lnntaruvi
is figured and described (t. 1518) a new species of
Buxus under the name of Buxus Macowani. It is
of special interest (says Professor Oliver)" as the first
representative of the genus in that region, as also
in certain structural characteristics, but it is more
particularly on account of its possibly furnishing a
supply of Box-wooJ for engraving purposes that we
c&ll attention to it, as the supplies of Box-wood from
the Black Sea districts is rapidly being exhausted.
The following extracts are from the " Report of the
Superintendent of Woods and Forests (Cape of Good
Hope) for 1884." The Conservator of Forests, King
William's Town reports.- —

" The coast forests have come into notice during
the year by the discovery that the so-called Cape
Box is of value for engraving and other purposes for
which Box-wood is used. The area of Box-producing
forest in the Buffalo River valley is estimated at 15
scjuare miles. Box also occurs in the valley of the
Keiskama River, near the coast, but has not as yet
been detected west of this in the va'leys of the Fish
River, Kowie River and Bushman's River.'

And again, under ''East London Forests:''—

" The event of the year for these forests has been
the discovery of the commercial value of Cape Box-
wood. This is a small tree like the genirality of
trees in the East London forests. It is rarelj' met
with over a foot in diamete: by 25 of bo!e, but it is
suflSciently abundant to turuish a large supply of
wood. Submitted to an expert, it has been tltclare.l
to be worth about one- penny a cubic inch, if seasoned
free from cracks. Cape box (Kafir, Gard-gara) does
not appear to coppice, but has a good natural re-
production from seed. The tree was placed on the
reserved list a year ago. Previous to that it had been
sold at 5s. the waggonload for firewood. See also
note by Mr. Jackson on a ' New Box-wood,' Journ.
Soc. drtD, 1886, p. ■^."-'Gardeners' Chronicie.

July i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

47

PLANT CULTIVATION AND MANUEES.

The roots of plants will only absorb from the soil
such materials for food as are in a liquid or gaseous
form. No matter how richly plants may be supplied
with food-substance, they cannot avail themselves of
it, or assimilate it into their structure while in a
solid condition. Bearing these facts in mind, it is
not difficult to understand the great su'icess which
has attended the application of Liquid Manure for
garden purposes in Flanders, Jersey, and in various
parts of our own country, soils that previously
were proverbially barren being by this treatment
rendered enormously productive.

The late Dr. Voeleker said, " Any one who has
passed through Belgium, and examined the nature
of the soil, must have been struck with the wonder-
ful change which liquid manure has produced there."
The gardener in his practice must, however, alway
remember that soils containing a fair proportion of
clay, and more especially stiff clay soils, are diametric-
ally opposed in their chemical and physical character
to those which are porous and sandy. Generally
speaking the retentive and stiff soils contain not
only the more common mineral elements which we
find in the ashes of plants, such as' lime, magnesia,
.soluble silica, sulphuric acid, kc, in sufficient abundance,
but also the more valuable mineral substances, such
as phosphoric acid and potash. They, moreover possess
in a high degree the power or absorbing nitric acid,
;ind retaining it for future use; and in addition,
under good garden cultivation, the vegetable remains
lett lu such soils, in the shape of roots and ftaves
from former crops, yield much nitrogenised organic
food for succeeding plants. The decided benefit which
IS usually found by the gardener to result from a
liberal dressing of stable-dung is owing to the fact
that by the very bulk of the manure the physical
and chemical characters of the soil are so altered
tliat in reality the plants feed upon a new and
artificially formed soil.

Particular cultures may demand particular manures,
but the standard man-ire, such as well made farm-
dung, affords all the ingredients necessary to the
development of plants. Such manure contains all the
usual elements which enter into the composition of
plants, and all the mineral substances which are
distributed throughout their tissues; in fact, carbon,
hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen are found therein united
with the phosphates, sulphates, and chlorides, &c.

In order to be directly efficacious, every manure
must present this mixed composition.

The nitrogen of nitrogenised organic substances
only benefits plants when converted into nitric acid,
hence no Di.acerial can act as a powerful fertiliser
untd it passes into a state of oxidation or decom-
position, and the presence of any ingredient which
hastens the material applied as manure into that
condition, although in itself probably comparatively
unnecessary to the plant in that particular soil, yet
furms a useful manure. It is in this way we often
may explain the great benefits derived from an
application of lime, marl or gypsum. Straw, Bracken-
Fern, Potato haulms, turf and vegetable refuse, are
sometimes mixed with quicklime and earth, to form
a compost, in order to facilitate their disintegration
and decomposition. The utility of this practice cannot
be disputed while confined within reasonable limits,
but It is sometimes abused ; fur it is beyond question
that alkaline salts, such as that supplied by lime
mingled indiscriminately with manure, become in
reality very mischievous on certain classes of very
light soil, where the business is rather to preserve
than to destroy the substances that are used as manure.
Such soils part too easily with the stores of fertility
committed to them ; consequently we find soluble
plant-food is washed away by the rain, or even eva-
porated into the air. Mechi aptly remarked that
"the best portion of manure is always attempting
either to run away, or to fly away ;" and time tends
to increase this action.

The most suitable manure for the looser and more
friable classes of soil, is some substance which wil,

combine intimately with the fertilising materials, and
thus husband them securely for future plant use.
Thus hungry loose sands are rendered fertile by the
application of c^ayf^y composts or materials for con-
solidating the mass, so as to impart a greater resisting
power to atmospheric action.

One great objection to the extensive employment
of composts, however, is the amount of labour they
require in the repeated turnings which are ht;ld ne-
cessary in their preparation, and in the large quantity
of matter which has to be transported.

In order to show why potash, lime, phosphoric acid
and nitrogen are the most important elements of
plant food, it is necessary to consider the chemical
composition of our of various garden productions, and
the amount of each constituent they remove from
the soil in order to build up their vegetable fabnc.

The following table, compiled from various sources'
brings before us at a glance the amount of these
constituents removed from the land in 1 ton of each
crop in a fresh condition as taken from the garden,
which of course includes a very large quantity of water.'

Amount of Selected Chemical CmiMituenU in Prodnce
Removed from the Land, in Pounds.

In 1 Ton of each : —

Nitro-
gen.

1

Phos-
phoric
Acid.

Potash.

Lim

Potato tubers

lb.
5-6

lb.
3-4

lb.

12-3

lb.
1-5

Carrots

Parsnips

4-5
4-9

2-0
4-3

6-3

81

1-8
9-0

White Turnips

40

11

6-7

i-r,

Peas (including pods)

64-8

10-3

12-5

5-7

Cabbage (edible portion) ...

67

29

2-9

rv2

.Terusalem Artichokes

5-3

67

22-6

1-3

Asparagus

50 ,

2-0

07

0-5

Onions (bulbs)

.5-4

1-fi

3-4

1-3

Cucumbers

0-7 i

20

67

07

Broccoli (heart)

4-4 :

5 6 .

10 8

11

Cauliflowers (heart)

4-6

40

5-2

05

Spinach

2-.5

36

4-5

fiO

Radishes

5-0

5-8

31

1-4

Kidney Beans (including
pods)

1
61-5 i

2-3

5-6

17

Lettuces

2-5

1-7 ;

89

1-2

Celery (stems)

4-5

2-8

5-4

3-1

Beets

4-4 1

0-7

65

0-5

Khubarb (stalks)

31 :

2-0 i

5-2

1-G

The true economy of manure can be understood
only when we become aquainted, as by the statistics
given above, with the special characters of the crops
we cultivate ; but we not only have to con.sider the
materials required to form a crop, but the power the
particular plant we are cultivating has of assimilating
the higredients applied in manure.

For this reason farmyard dung, purchased or home-
made, which supplies all the essential elements of
plant food, and particularly the constituents shown to
be required to such a large extent by the vegetables
we cultivate, is so largely used by growers- But on the
other hand the immediate return from an application of
farmyard manure is muck less than from the same
aniount of plant food applied in well selected arti-
ficial manures. We shall hope to continue the sabject
on a future occasion.— Gfmleneis' Chronic/ 1.

Olli Aiii-UKAN Exchanges say that golden millet
{setaria yermanica) is the best of annual grasses for
hay, as it yields largely can be cut in six or eight
weeks after planting. This is borne out by Queens-
land Q\\)Qnence.— Planter and Farmer.

4S

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July i, 1886,

Farmebs should plough their lands a trifle deeper
every time they are worked to thereby secure more
of its dormant fertility. The deeper the land is
ploughed the more productive it will be. — Planter
and Farmer. [A rule with marked exceptions. In no
cftse should the subsoil be brought to the surface,
and ploughing or digging deeper than 18 inches, is
generally a mistake. — Ed.]

About Hardiness. — Many kinds of trees quite
hardy after they attain some age are very tender
when young, and need protection until they are five
or ten years old. It is hardly to be supjjosed that the
growth of the previous season is better fitu-d to
withstand cold on an old tree than on one five years
planted. The fact seems to be that most young
trees have an excess of plant food. This produces
a vigorous though sappy wood, wich does not ripen
and cannot resist cold. In a few years the tree
becomes partially starved, and grows no more wood
than it can ripen. The moral of this experience should
be to manure and cultivate young trees somewhat
less, and old trets more. — ISovthrrn Planter.

Silk Cultuke. — There are hundreds of families in
A'irginia who might add a good many dollars each year to
their annual income by engaging in siik culture, liaising
a few pounds of cocoons each will not materially
interfere with household duties, and how many far-
mers' wives and daughters would gladly avail them-
selves of so good an opportunity to add to the
family's income if they only knew what l^ilk culture
was and how to j^o about it. To all such, I will
aay, first purchase yourself a book on silk culture.
By following instructions in these books, success is
sure to follow. Either of these books can be bought
for twenty-five cents. Last summer I bought SI
worth of silk worm eggs. 1 was so pleased with
my success that I am now feeding about G0,000
worms, which I will be spinning in about two weeks
from this date. All persons interested are cordially
invited to visit my cocoonery, and any information
I can give I will cheerfully do so. The time from
the hatching to the spinning of the cocoons will
vary from thirty to forty days. The food for the
silk worm is mulberry, either the white or the com-
mon purple mulberry. The lat ter grows in abundance
in the fields and forest of Vinjinia, and they can
al.so he fed on osrige or.ange — The Uockinyhaw L'egi.i-
ter.— Very Re'-pecrfuily, CroA.i Keys, I'a., June 1.5,
IS.S.').— Mrs. S. a. Vosck-r —^■oiitl/em Fhinter.

GuTTAPEacHA. —Sir John Kirk, writing in December
last, ror.-ard^Ml a samp'.t of n!i.rive African guttap'.-rch.i,
the produce ..fa yet unkn-wn tree nbich he found at
]\lomb«sa. From the papers now published, it wcnld
appear that after esan.ination of the specimen there
remained no doubt *hat the substance would prove
an acceptable addition to the present supp'ies, its
value beiu, about lO/. per lb. At the same time
Sir John Kirk also forwarded a .specimen of some
india-rubber taken from plants supp'ied from Kew
(iardens about five Neirs ago, thesu having flourished
and propngated f re. ly at Zanzibar. The report on
this specimen valued it, if taken from the trunk of
the tree, at about l.s. dd. to 2.s-. per lb. As Sir John
Hooker, the Director of the Royal Gardens at Kew,
remarks, " the attention of Her Majesty's Consular
officers in these countries (india-rublu-r producing
states) cannot be too closely addressed to matters
of this kind, which are not merely of great scienti-
fic interest, but may form the basis of a lucrative
and beneficial trade." — Chamber of Commerce Journal.

Brazil, — Mr Acting-Consul Hampshire, writing on
the Tiade and Commerce of Santos for the yea-- \HM,
refers to the suiiject of the investment of British
capital in that province, and points out that would-
be investors should first ascertain from disinterested
sources the particulars of the enterprise before accep-
ting all that is stated in the prospectus. " Hailways.
sugar mills, and gas f-ompanies are (juite sufficiently
developed in the province of Sao Paulo for actual
needs. With regard to the first of these, any fur-
ther augmentation of the present lines that is necessary

can be carried out without appl5nng for foreign
capital unless the result is of doubtful issue. Only
a more diversified agriculture, with an extensive immi-
gration, could warrant any considerable augmentation
of the present railway system. Sugar mills are already
establiKhed in sufficient numbers to provide for local
consumption, and present values abroad are far from
encouraging any exportations. In some directions
there e.xists a strong feeiinnr in preference of native
to foreign undertakings: this, in itself, is a natural
and laudable sentiment, but in its nppHcation it
constitutes, by further development, a possible rock
ahead to foreign enterprise, unless the concessions of
privileges which have attached to some are clearly
irrefragable and safe from any interference or molest-
ation.''— Chamber of Commerce Joxiriud.

Salt for Cattle in BuB^fAH.— "We noticed briefly
last week the enquiries instituted by the Chief
Commissioner of British Burmah concerning the extent
to which salt is usually given to cattle in that Province.
We print this week the entire correspondence that has
passed on the subject, omitting only the detailed replies
of cultivators in the seven districts where enquiries were
made. It appears that salt As given to cattle, and that
they not only need it as a .salutary diet, but take to it
with avidity, thereby proving that it is an essential
necessity in the internal economy of cattle. It is a
practice that should, we think, be encouraged largely
in all districts. Prom the correspondence before us
it is abundantly clear that salt forms an important
element in the diet of oxen, and from the fact
that ij is administered when the animals are tired
and worn out, after a hard day's work, shows the
necessity there exists of impressing upon cultivators
the wisdom of employing salt more largely than
appears to be the case. — Indian Ainicvltvrist. [The
curious part of the matter is that although the .salt
duty in Burmah is only one-tenth that of other parts
of India, yet the Burmese do not give more salt to
their cattle than their neighbours. All, including cattle
owners in Ceylon, need to have the benefit of salt given
to cattle, pressed them. — Ed,1

The USEFULNE.SS of the Har Kanda, or Mvnj plant,
in the south-east of the Punjab is, according to the
author of one of tlie recent settlement reports of
that part of the country, hardly less than that of the
bamboo and palm in other localities. Ttie leaves, we
are told, are used for thatching houses, the reeds
being bound round the edges and across to strengthen
the thatch. The reeds are also used tor making
furniture, such as chairs and stools, and for agricultural
implements, such as trays and baskets, and the
frame-work of receptacles for chopped straw. The
plant, further, often alfords the only pasturage available
for cattle, and though the (!ry leaves are said not
to be very fattening (a statement which may be
readily credited) they suffice to maintain the cattle
in condition. The green leaves naturally yield greater
nourishment ; but these appear only when the plant
is fired ; and as reeds are seldom produced after the
plant has been so treated, the villagers rarely resort
to this process, except in the case of inferior plants.
But the principal value which munj possesses in the
eyes of the cultivator lies in the inexhaustible stores
of fibre which it produces for ropes and string,
without which no agricultural operations could be
carried on, and no comfort would be found in their
homes. In the autumn, the view is closed in on
every side by the high flowering stems of the p'ant,
and then is the chance for the zemindar to lead
you a rare dance in search of his fields. Of lata
ye.-irs, the villagers have taken to selling the sar
kanda of their lands, and in many cases a very con-
siderable income is realised from disposing of this
natural product. — Indian Ar/ricidtHriit. [All travellers
in Northern India are struck with the prevalence
of this bamboo-like reed, growing along divisions be-
tween lands. It mak' s splendid thatch for houses,
being laid on the roofs tnickly in bundles. It also
makes nice chairs and small couches. If it would
answer in Ceylon ; it ought to be of considerable value
to farmers and others. — Ed."]

jvLv 1, me,]

THE TROPICAL A(J,mCULTUUmT,

4'

STATISTICS OF THE TEA ENTEEPEISE :

THE CARD-BOAED TEA ALJIANAC.

The Card-board Almanac issued by Barry I'b
Co. of Calcutta, is calculated to be very use-
ful, hung on the wall of an office, showing,
as it does, the main facts connected with the
great tea industry of China, India and Ceylon,
The almanac proper simply gives the days of the
week and those of each month, the latter coloured
red when Government holidays fall on them, July
of all the months is the only one not brightened
W)th a red coloured figure, January, May, June,
September, March and August, have each one ;
February and November two ; April and December
three each ; October is nearly half-red, with fourteen
days, twelve of these consecutively from the 2nd
to the 13th, and again the '2(jth and 27th. The
total result is that, in addition to the /)2 Sundays
of the year, the Indian Government and its servants
have 28 holidays, for two of the October (Doorga
poojah) holidays are Sundays ; that is to say, HO
non-working days out of the 8(55, the working days
being, consequently, 285. The figures for tea are
given for each month of 188H, 1884 and 1885, a
blank column being left to be tilled up with similar
details. Our readers ' may care to be reminded that
the imports into Britain of Indian tea (Ceylon in-
cluded) were

1883 .. .. Gl,6(j<;,000 lb.

1884 .. .. 67,153,000 „

1885 .. .. 66,803,000 ,,

There was, therefore, a very material check to pre-
viously rapid advancement of production in 1885.
But there was no check but a wonderful advance
in deliveries in Britain (for export to some extent,
but mainly for home consumption), thus: —

1883 .. .. 6'.),0!)7,000 lb.

1884 .. .. 64,217,000 „

1885 .. .. 68,896,000 „

An increase of over 9 millions of pounds in 1885
as compared with 1883, and over 4 millions above
the deliveries of 1881. The stocks were reduced
in proportion, the figures being : —

1883 .. .. 24,11(;,000 lb.

1884 .. .. 27,076,000 ,,

1885 25,780,000 „

Tlfe highest deliveries of Indian tea which ever
occurred were in March 1885, 8,654,000 lb., and in
April following 8,704,000 lb., or 17^ millions in
two months. But this was the consequence of a
budget scare, and the average for 1885 was some-
what over 5,700,000 monthly. We have good reason
to hope that the average for the present year
will equal, and, perhaps, exceed 6 millions per
month. Lately there has been renewed liveliness
in the China enterprise, the wretched peasantry
being aj^parently contented to produce the article
at a price which would seem to leave no margin
for even the tmallest profit. But in the three
years in which Indian and Ceylon teas were in
such increased demand, there was retrogression ia
China kinds ; the imports having gone down from
160,873,000 lb. in 1883 to 139,940,000 in 1885 ; the
deliveries sinking from 155,820,0001b. to 151,877,000.
The consumption of tea in Great Britain rose
rapidly in the 20 years between 1864 and 1885 ;
beginning with 81J millions and ending with 175J
millions, a considerably more than doubled con-
sumption in the score of years. In the first year
of the series Indian teas constituted only 3 per
cent against 97 per cent China : last year the
figures were India 39 pei" cent, to China 01. The viso
7

in the consumption of tea in Britain has been, pe.

head of the population, from IJ lb in 1840 to 4? lb.

in 1885. The probabiiity is that the round 51b.

per caput will be considerably exceeded in 1886.

The " district averages " realized in Calcutta, show

a steady difference of at least an anna per lb. in

favour of the Darjiling and Terai teas, the figures

for 1885 being :—

Darjihng and Terai,— annas 10/10 per lb.
Assam .. .. 9/8 ,, „

Kachar and Sylhet 9/3 ,, ,,

All other districts . . 9/4 ,, ,,

The area under tea (in all stages, no doubt) are

given at

Assam ., .. 107,000 acres

Kachar and Sylhet , . 83,000 „

Darjiling .. .. 53,000 „

All other Indian Districts 15,000 ,,

Total for India
Ceylon

258,000
100,000

Grand total, India and Ceylon 358,000 acres.

If all this area were in bearing at 300 lb. per

acre we should get a total " production of

107,400,000 lb. " It will be observed that in acreage

Ceylon is already on a par with Assam, where the tea

enterprise commenced half-a-century ago, only that

of course a much larger proportion of our acreage

is immature, and some of it, — a good proportion,

being not yet exclusively tea. The yields of the

various districts in 1885 were : —

As,sam . . . . 31,209,000 lb.

Kachar and Sylhet . . 19,328,000 ,,

Darjiling ,. ,. 11,34(5,000 „

All other Indian districts 4,526,000 ,,

Ceylon ... .. 3,797,000 „

Total India and Ceylon . . 70,206,000 lb.

There was a moderate increase in the three years
everywhere, but in the case of Ceylon, the produce
of 1885 was considerably more than double that
of 1883. The estimated average yields per acre
were : —
I Assam ., .. 3311b.

I Kachar and Sylhet . , 263 ,,

Darjiling .. ,. 214 „

Other India districts . . 302 ,,

The Ceylon average figures cannot yet be given, but we
\ think the general anticipation of 4001b per acre will be
more than realized. For estates on virgin forest soil
the calculations have been : — 700 lb. lowcountry
and 500 high, with 300 lb. on old coffee estates,
more or less worn. Looking at the record of tea
sales in Calcutta, we observe " Nil " against April,
and low figures against Feb., March, May and
June. The great sales season seems to extead
from July of one year to Jan, of the next. The
highest number of chests sold in any one month
was 04,556 in Nov. 1885 ; while in London 104,000
were sold in Oct. 1883. The highest average price
in Calcutta was 11 annas, 3 pies in June 1885. The
lowest was 7 annas, 4 pies in March 1884. Against
371,000 chests sold in Calcutta in 1885, the number
in London, including of course the great propor-
tion of those sold in Calcutta, was 813,000.

The Indian Commissariat Department takes about
1,500,000 lb. of Indian tea per annum, at an aver-
age price of 7-3 to 7-3 annas per lb. The vast
bulk of the Indian teas go to Britain, but we are
glad to notice that the exports of Indian tea to
Australia is increasing, thus : —

1883 . . 699,790 lb.

1884 . . 1,029,463 „

1885 .. 1,939,009,,

T^E TROPrCAt AGRreULTURIST.

[July

J 886.

The exports to the United States, on the other hand,
have diminished from 208,00011>. in 1883 to l'2C.,000)li.
in 1885. The London and Lancashire Fire
Insurance Company insure bungalows and tea
factories at rates which differ according as the
buildings are pnclui (permanent and solid,) oC brick
or stone and iron, or hitcha (temporary) slight
and combustible ; the rates being given at,—
Bungalows and

Contents. ..Pucka Premium from J '/„ per annum.

Kutcha... „ IJ- )i
Factory Build-
ings Pueka... „ 1§ »

Kutcba... „ 2J „

Our readers who have effected insurances, maybe
able to tell us how the above charges compare
with those made by the Agencies of Assurance
Companies in Ceylon. We learn from the almanac
that a Gibbs <t Barry Tea Drier, 10' x 3' 6", price
L o. b. £240 to £250 (less 5 p. c), is capable of
" 7/8th — drying " 160 lb. to 200 per hour. Nearly
one side of the cardboard is covered with a table of
equivalents for teas shipped on factory account,
freight being taken at £2 5s per ton of 50 cubic
feet, with exchange varying from Is 6d to Is lOd
per rupee. As our readers are aware, exchange is
now down considerably below Is Gd and the signs of
tho times seem to point down to Is 3d ! In the
three years under review exchange began with
1 7 21-32nds ; rose in October 1883 to 1 8 I-K;, stood
between 1 8 and 1'8 5-32nds between March and June
1884 and in 1885 sunk from 17 10-32nds to l/tj 5-16th.
How low silver may go in I88(i, it seems impossi-
ble to tell. Tea sold in Calcutta in December 1885
at annas 11 11 per lb. At l/GJ per rupee, this
was equivalent to nearly Is 3d per lb.

Our readers will thus see that the Ofhce Wall
Almanac which Messrs. Skrine & Co. as the
Agents of Messrs. Barry & Co., have sent us is
replete with most valuable information regarding
the great tea enterprise in which Ceylon is likely
erelong to take a foremost position, its acreage
already under tea being equal to 2-5ths of the
tea area of all India, or 2-7ths of the aggregate
tea area of India and Ceylon.

CEYLON UPCOUNTRY PLANTING REPOET.

WEATHKK R.VTHER DRY AC..UN — TIMBER RESERVES .\ND
TIMBER GROWING— GROWING OF FLOWERS.

June 7th, 1886,
The desirability of having timber reserves is too
manifest to be questioned : but the dilliculty in
getting tho timber to grow within any kind of a
moderate figure is where tho pinch comes. What
to plant ? and how to plant ? are ticklish questions ;
for those who know anything about timber-growing
tell ub that valuable wood won't grow in waste lands
without considerable care. And yet what a divers-
ity of opinion there is about what should be planted.
More than a year ago I was encouraged to try the
"Wah" tree, which was said to be goodwood and
was a quick grower. I had this opinion confirmed
by a high-class authority, while immediately after
another man with a large experience laughed at
the idea and gave it as his opinion that perhaps
in thirty years or so it might be big enough
for cutting for fuel. But as I was committed
to a nursery I went on, and as far as I
can judge from a year's growth of the planted
out plants, I incline to think that the last
mail has rather understated the length of time
required tu mature lor the furnace, and that hall-

a-century will be nearer the mark.* In this world .
of change it is a comfort to have a tree of this
kind growing, for you might go home for a trip and
stay away for a year or years, feeling quite satisfied
that on your return things would be pretty much
as you had left them.f

In the search for new products which will he a stand-
by in tho day of low prices, for our staples, there has
been considerable ingenuity and energy displayed.
What to grow which no one else has gone into is, how-
ever, the didiculty ; for as soon as the rumour is
abroad that from such things as pepper, tobacco
or limes coin can be landed, there is a rush for
them. I had a call the other day from a gentle-
man representing a Paris firm of perfume manu-
facturers, who had a whole bundle of suggestions
for new industries, the most practical however be-
ing the growing of flowers, and the distillation of
their essential oils. From among others he specially
mentioned the sacred Champak of India (Miccfielia
champaca), the " sapu" of the Sinhalese. For these
oils there was a ready market in Europe, and at
remunerative prices. The quantity of Howers re-
quired to produce a pound weight, was something
excessive, or at least it seemed so to me; but it
would be pretty much a matter of experiment and
a trial on a small scale would not be a costly
venture. There was also in India a large market
for rose water, it being so much used in native
courts, and among the higher castes of the Indian
people. Peppercorn.
♦

PROFITABLE COCONUT CULTIVATION IN
CEYLON.
(From an Old and Practical Coconut Planter.)

Hapitigam Kor.vle, 9th June.
Since the monsoon rains opened on the 17th
ultimo we have had few days without more or
less, but today has capped all, in heavy squalls
and a great fall of rain. This is probably the
last effort of the season, and we are likely to
have a dry spell now.

I was lucky enough to finish all the planting
I can do this season, while the rain lasted, and
the gowiyas have very nearly finished their sowings,
so that our operations bid fair for success all round.
The gowiyas having felled and cleared the land,
the owners' work begins, and the following is the
cost of my operations : —

Lining per acre . . . . . . RO-25

Holing ,, . . . . . . 2-25

Plants „ 3-00

Planting and carriage . . . . 0'37

R5'87
Being only five miles from a railway station, I
have, oil this occasion, cleared R8'50 per acre for
firewood for the engines, so that the operations of
the season leaves me R2-()3 per acre profit.

The gowiyas keep the land in hand for three
years ; they first sow kurakkan and muneta,
and mamottie-weed the land by way of harrowing,
then sprigs of sweet-potato vine are put ten or
twelve feet apart, and bits of cassava stem five
or six feet apart. The grain and pulse first take
up the growing, and keep everything else down,
while they occupy the ground ; when they are

* We received tlie assurance of Mr. Strong of the
Railway that in the lowcouutry the " Wah " gave
fuel ill its fourtli year. Of the value of the wood
as fuel I here is the highest testimony. We have seen
the tree growing at J,500 feet, but generally its range
is up to 2,500.— Ed.

t Our friend surely draws a conclusion from insuffici*
ent experience. — Ed,

JVLY I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

5^

harvested, in the fourth month after sowing, the
cassava gets its innings, and keeps the ground for
about a year. The sweet-potatoes come in at the end
and continue to be gathered for twelve months
or more. Of all those crops, the land share is one-
third, and the value may aiDount to anything
between five and thirty rupees, according to the
soil and seasons, but, taking the mid term of Rio,
we have nearly R'20 per acre, to the good, at the
end of the third year. As soon as the crops are
finished, any germs of jungle, that survive in the
land, rush up at once, lantana shoots up in all
directions, and the seeds of kinds of weeds, common
in the vicinity, find their way to the land. All these
are easily and cheaply dealt with at first, but if
allowed to spread, they soon close in and overtop
the plants, and those that are not fairly smothered
out, have to maintain a severe struggle for exist-
ence, being in no case the fittest to survive. At a
cost not averaging more than R5 per acre per
annum, a fine field of natural pasture grass may
be established, and kept up till the trees come
into bearing.

Of 200 plants I put down in May 1879, ten
per cent are now in flower, and I have already
• gathered nuts from the most forward tree.

It appears then, that, though coconuts are not
suited to the views of those who think to make
rapid fortunes, there is no undertaking in the colony,
where so much can be got, for so little outlay, by
those who have the patience to wait, and there is
nothing so suitable for such of the people of the
country as have a little capital to invest if they
will only ilo it justice during its early years.

CEYLON HIDES AND HOW TO CURE THEM.

Referring to your editorial on the subject of
Ceylon Hides (page 65), and the poor price which
they fetch in the London market, I think you are
wrong in supposing that the effect of pasturing on the
salt grou'ids the island would of have an evil effect or
otherwise on them. Perhaps the best hides in
Australia come from the salt bush country, where
water even is brackish — but, at the same time, if
any dry salt was put on these hides when drying,
it would, to a certain extent, spoil them. In
curing hides of all kinds, bullock, sheep, horse,
kangaroo, &c., I have been specially successful, and
in^variably topped the market with any batch that
I had sent forward, and my plan of curing was
always the same, which, in the case of bullock
hides, was as follows : — The hide, as soon as poss-
ible after it has been taken off, was spread on
a smooth piece of ground and pegged round the
edge, driving the peg through the edge of the
hide into the ground. The greater the number of
pegs, and the tighter the hide was stretched, so
much the better. Also the hotter the sun which
shone upon it, and the sooner it dried, the better.
No salt was required, but no wet or damp had
to be allowed to get to it afterwards. I have no
doubt, from what I have seen of bullocks in Gey-
Ion, India and Italy, that the secret of the low
price for Ceylon hides in London is the curing.

Before King Coffee becomes a thing of the
past, I wish some planter would try the following
remedy, just to satisfy one that no loophole has
been left' untried to save the annihilation of the
old staple. I tried every conceivable method to
overcome leaf-disease, in my planting days, but
this one I did not try, and, although it may seem
a tedious process, still, if it proved successful, no
rl. aljt a simpler process might be discovered of
applying the remedy. I allude to the " infallible
remedy " against the ravages of phylloxera on the

vine, discovered by the able Rotland, of the de-
partment of Lyons, France. Strange to say, our
old friend the blue gum plays an important part
in the remedy, and the process consists of inocul-
ating the vine with the pure essence of eucalyptus
globulus. A broad incision is made through the
bark at the neck of the vine, in which a few
drops of the essence are deposited by means of a
camel's hair brush. The result is that, in about
three days, the phylloxera entirely disappears, while
the vine is not in the least injured by the oper-
ation. The incision may be made through any
other part of the bark, with equal success, but the
result is more speedily attained the nearer it is
made to the roots. If the remedy is so success-
ful with phylloxera, why should it not be equally
so in extirpating Hemeleia vastatrix.

Cosmopolite.
[The phylloxera is an insect pest, our leaf enemy
a fungus like the vine oidium : still an experiment
is worth making. — Ed.]

^

NORTH BORNEO AND INDIA AT THE

COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION.

The Exposition made by the youngest of the
Britsh colonies — that of North Borneo — though of
comparatively limited extent, as might be safely
predicted of a colony not yet (five years of age, is a
very striking example of the utility of the exhibition
in making generally known the nature of the pro-
ductions of the lands under the protection of the
British Crown. North Borneo is not altogether un-
known to the readers of The Field. In the issue
for May 3rd and December 20th, 1884, Mr. H. Pryer,
the brother of the Resident at Sandakan, described
the extensive caves in the limestone rocks at Gor-
manton forty miles from the coast, which are in-
habited by myriads of bats and swallows, whose
droppings have produced beds of guauo so deep
that they are regarded as bottomless. Specimens of
this guano have been exhibited by Mr. Dc Lissa and
Mr. Dobson, who estimate its value as being from
Jib to £10 per ton, it being excessively rich in
phosphates. The caves also furnish a peremiial sup-
ply of the edible birds' nests so dear to the epi-
cures of the Chinese empire. Among the more
striking zoological products of the infant colony is
a mounted specimen of the orang-outang, the anthro-
poid ape of the Eastern Archipelago. This is one
of the finest ever seen, and fully bears out the
drawings of its prowess in combat with the natives
which are given in Wallace's "Malay Archipelago."
There is also the skull of a mature specijuen that
is of unusual size. Among the mineral products of
a commercial character that are forwarded from
the settlement may be enumerated the trepang, sea
slug, or beche-de-mer, so largely used for food by
by the Chinese; tortoise-shell, produced by a turtle
not unlike the "hawk's-bill " species; and splendid
Bpecimens of the mother-of-pearl univalves, mounted
as ornaments. The vegetable products are numer-
ous ; they comprise very good tobacco, both in leaf
and manufactured ; and cotton and hemp of ex-
cellent quality, the latter exceedingly long in fibre.
The coal of North Borneo is abundant, and i3
found in several places cropping out on the surface;
it is exceedingly hard, and resembles anthracite in
its fracture, the small pieces that are subjected to
the action of the waves on the sea shore being
rolled into black pebbles that have a singular ap-
pearance.

Amongst the singular chjeets exhibited iu the
court is the model of the last piratical proa. This
is excessively long and narrow, having an outrigger
on each side. It carries an enormous square sail,
supported not on a mast, but 011 a narrow tripod, con-
sisting of three slender spars, two rising from the
sides of the proa near the stern, Jaud the other
from the bow. With a reaching wind, these craft
cuuld make rapid progress through the water, and
were admirably adapted to the piratical purpose^

52

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[JULV I, 1886.

of their
las put

crews ;
a stop

but the advent of the white mau
to those pursuits, and the flag of
he last of the pirate proas of North Borneo orna-
luents the court of the colony at South Kensington.
IJglylooking creeses or crooked daggers are present
in numbers, with dresses and shields and scabbards
of the native warriors, ornamented with short fringes
of the hair of their victims. There are specimens
of the " sunipitan,' or blow tube, more than six feet
lonL', and as straight as a gun barrel.

Not the least curious amongst the products of this
Eastern land are footballs about seven or eight
inches in diameter, made of interlaced cane, so as
to present the appearance of open network. These
balls are struck only with the foot, and are kept
up for a length of time. Of . the magnificent
timber of the country there are a number of samples
varying in liardness and density, from the exces-
sively hard "billian" which is heavier than water,
and ia procurable in logs 2 ft. 6 in. square and 40
feet long, to the tough " gagil," which though
easily worked, has the desirable quality of being
ant-proof.

The usual products of the islands of the Eastern
Archipelago such as vegetable tallow, gutta percha,
lac, etc., are to be found in the small court off this
colony but these require no special notice.

The Indian commercial or, as it is called in the
catalogue. Imperial Court, is an admirable exposi-
tion of the economic resources of the Empire of
India, with its population of 250 millions. It is
entered through an archway composed exclusively
of Indian timber ; the table, formed of one complete
section of the Andaman redwood tree, shows the
gigantic size attained by this valuable timber. At the
back of this trophy isa magnificent pair of buff alo horns.
A second trophy consists of a platform on the top of a
transverse arch formed entirely of bambus, no less than
thirty distinct species being employed in its construction.
Among the most iuteresting objects in this court are the
four Indian stores, which illustrate, in the most real and
truthful manner, the customs of the native trader. The
first .shows a grain merchant, surrounded by liis baskets
of produce, which he vends to bis customers. Close at
hand isa group of women, grinding corn in a hand mill,
according to the method which has been in use since
the time of the patriarchs. In another store is repro-
duced a dealer in the culinary vegetables used in the
East. A third sliows us the fruit-.seller, with his waiea
in circular baskets; but still more indicative of the
life in the East is the druggist's store, in which
an old herbalist, with his drugs in bags repro-
duces with the utmost exactitude of a sceiie
familiar to every Indian resident.' Opposite to
these stores is the model of an Indian fish-wife,
surrounded by most admirably modelled and coloured
representations of fish ; they are so well executed
that tliey appear to have f)ecn just taken from the water.
The natural history articles in the commercial court are
not remarkably numerous, but the collection of Indian
game birds, such as the Argus, bustard, &c., from the
Indian Museum, may be noticed, asals© tbcplates from
" Gould's Bird.s of Asia," which are hung about the
walls.

Am.)ngst the most interesting exhibits, though how
it obtained a place in the commercial court ia difficult
to perceive, is a collection of the earth snakes (Uropcl-
tidaj) of southern India and Ceylon, exhibited by Col-
Beddome. These singular reptiles, which arc local iu
their tlistribution, not extending farther north than 20"
north latitude, burrow in the earth and live under-
ground, coming to the surface in wet weather. The
earth snakes have pointed heads, well fitted for pene-
trating the ground. The nocks are stout, but the head
is not uufrequently found turned to one side, as if it
had been partially displaced by the vigorous efforts of
the animal to penetrate the soil when in i)uri<uil
of the earthworms, which constitute its chief food.
The tail is short, and usually cut off at an angle, so as
to form a flat terminal plate, admirably adapted to
form a point Wappui ivonx which the burrowing efforts
of the animal can be exerted. These snakes are by
o means rare, but are rarely seen, as it is neces-ary
. dig some feet into the earth to obtain theni. Those

in the court are well shown in long bottles, having
been preserved in spirits. On the opposite side of the
court is a glass case containing models of snakes in
action. These are well shown, the cobras striking and
otiiers gliding along or in diverse natural attitudes.
The ethnological models in this court are exceedingly
numerous, and give a hotter idea of the various races
inhabiting tiie peninsula of Hindustan than could be
acquired by any other means, except visiting the
country. Of no less interest is the collection of agri
cultural implements in the annexe to this court, and the
models of agricultural life, such as the representation
of a village in Northern India.

The models illustrating farm operations in Bengal,
which are all most faithfully represented, should be
studied by the aid of the special catalogue. The dis-
tinction between the modes of cultivation followed by
an agrictdtural population of many millions, which has
remained unchanged for tliousands of years, and those
pursued in our own country, is most interesting to.
follow.

Ploughs which only scratch the soil without turning
it over are still in use, and improved instruments, such,
as are used at the Government experimental farms
are rejected by the natives, who prefer to plough the
ground over half-a-dozen times with their effete in-
struments to adopting the more efhcaeious and improved
appliances. — Field. *

Thr Ass.\.m Cojipany. — The directors of the As-
sam Company recommend a dividend of 15 per
cent., or £3 per share, to be paid on the 1st July
to shareholders registered on the loth .Tune, mak-
ing, with the interim dividend of 5 per cent paid
in January last, a total of 20 i^er cent for the year.
— Home and Colonial Mail.

Tea.— At the Liverpool Exhibition a Liverpool
firm of tea dealers, Messrs. Roberts, have a tea
exhibition. In a Chinese house, with neat lattice
work fayade, they display samples of almost every
known tea, including Indian, Ceylon and even Verba,
tea used by the South Americans, side by side
with which are the vessels made from pumpkins,
in which the tea is concocted, and the silver pipes
through which the liquid is supped. A decided
novelty to Englislj consumers are the samples of
brick tea. It is not the semi-divided cakes of
ordinary pressed tea sometimes sold in ]Ongland,
but large cakes as hard as stones, consumed in
Siberia and the North of China, and sometimes
passing current as money. — Home and Colonial Mail.

CoFFKE IN Venezuela. — President Crespo's Mes-
sage to the congress of Venezuela. Speaking of the
economic situation of the country the Pjesident
said : — I regret that our economic situation is not
good, owing to causes entirely beyond the control
of the Government. Agriculture, which is the
main source of our riches, is completely prostrated
at present by causes which could not be foreseen,
and which threaten to continue ; for example, the
great and increasing depreciation in the price of
coffee, the cultivation of which has long been the
support of many of our citizens. We look for
alleviation of this unhappy position when the great
public works, such as the Port of La Guayra and
the great railways now in course of construction,
are finished. In the meantime we must have
recourse to the most rigid economy, and as in the
present state of the country the j^ublic cannot
stand further taxation, we consider it better to
reduce our expenses by at least one-thirtj. There
is another circumstance which leads us to this
conclusion. The duty upon imported cereals usually
yielded 150 to 200 Bolivars per month, but in
view of the destruction of our crops by locusts the
Government considered it to be advisable to suspend
this duty for a season. This has now been in force
for five months. — S. A. Journal.

JOLV I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

53

Tea-plantixg and Transplanters. — A tea planter
writes and there is much force in what he says : — ■
" I have been thinking a good deal lately about
transplanters and am greatly surprised they are
not more commonly used. This change in the
weiither has shown the advantage of them and
in one clearing where I put out about 40,000
plants with transplanter I will not lose forty plants,
as against 15 to 20 per cent, with hand work in
another field. People imagine that the use of
transplanters adds to the first year's expenditure
greatly. It is the greatest fallacy going, as at a
moderate estimate on an average there are 10
per cent of failures and with transplanter there
are literally none at all, the extra cost of using
them, say R3 per acre, being more than coveed
by the saving in supplies, and besides this tea put
out with transplanters has a start of at least three
months over other tea."

A Lesson in an Egg-shell. — Five hundred million
dozen of eggs are annually consumed in the
United States ; their value, at 8d. per dozen, being
considerably more than £16,000,000. These figures
are to some extent accounted for by the national
fondness for pastry, of which Udc declared eggs
to be "the great original." One of the best signs
of a thriving industry is the little public fuss
made about it ; and American poultry-farmers have
for a long time been naturally and profitably
silent. But a cause of disquietude has at length
arisen. No duty is imposed on foreign eggs, and
some 16 million dozen of these are annually
imported into the United States. The competition
is not very severe at present, the foreign supply
being less than one-thirtieth of the entire consump-
tion. Still, forewarned is forearmed ; and an
American " trade" journal presumably expresses
the sentiments of its subscribers when it indig-
nantly asks whether the native egg industry is to
be crushed by the rivalry of the " cheap pauper
fowls of the Old World." There is perhaps more
pique than propriety in this expression, though it
suggests obvious matter for reflection on our side
of the Atlantic. If we may judge from the in-
umeiable treatises founded upon the problem " How
to make poultry pay," poultry seldom does pay in
PJngland. In regard to this matter there is a singular
if not a painful contrast between linglish ni-
ditference and American enthusiasm. America.n pro-
ducers are excited by the fact that a quite in-
significant proportion of foreign eggs finds its
way into their inarkets. English should-be pi'oducers
are in no way disturbed, althougli every retail shop in
the kingdom has practically lo rely upon the foreign
supply The statistics of these imports tell their
own significant story. During the summer
months, from fifty to eighty tons of eggs are
landed every twenty-four hours on the quays of
Harwick. These come ahnost exclusively from
North Italy, by way of the St. (xothard Tunnel.
The daily cargoes occasionally amount to as much
as 130 tons, representing about 2 millions of
eggs, of which London is almost the sole destina-
tion. Besides these, from 50 to 60 millions of
eggs are sent into England every month from
Denmark, Germany, Belgium, and France. The
last country does a thriving export trade after
supplying the egg-loving Parisians with the 40
million dozen which is their annual consumption.
It may be instructive to note some of the points
on our coast at which this foreign produce is dis-
charged. Weymouth receives from 3 to 4 millions
of eggs per month. Newhaven and Soutiiauiji-
ton over 8 millions each; London (port of), 5 mil-
lions ; Hartlepoul, 8 millions ; Grimsby and New-
castle, 5 millions each Leith, 2 millions. The duty
on imported eggs was repealed in 1860,

Experimental Tea a Failure.— For many years
an experimental farm has been in operation in South
Carolina at Government expense, devoted to the at-
tempt to introduce tea culture into this country. It
has never met with more than indifferent success.
The tea plants would j^row well enough, but curing
the tea required much labor and skill, and neither
could he cheaply obtained near the tea farm. The
severe cold this Winter has prematurely stripped the
plants of their leaves, and the plantation is now in
a more discouraging condition than ever. Commis-
sioner Ooleman of the Department of Agriculture
thinks the farm had better be abandoned. If more
thought had been given the subject the experiment
would never have been tried. We cannot compete
with China in tea growing, for the reason that wages
in that country are only five to ten cents per day.
If the Chinese will consent to leave our staple pro-
ducts unmolested with their competition, we can well
afford to leave them the monopo of tea-growing.
Much of the price we pay for tea goes to middle-
men, as the trade in tea has always been enormously
profitable. — American Cultivator.

Cigars and " Cigars."— What Mr. Sala has to
say about the making of Havanna cigars is appe-
tising, what he hints at about the making of cigars
which pretend to be from Havanna, but are not, would
almost put an end to smoking. "If you offer a
Spaniard a cigar — not with the view that he should
smoke, but that he should criticise it — he will,
after expressing a preliminary wish that you may
live a thousand years, produce a sharp penknife
and slice the weed through diagonally. Then with
a strong magnifying-glass he will scrutinise Ian tripnn
and tell you as confidently as any Loudon or Lin-
nM'US could the precise order of vegetation to which
the cigar belongs — whether it is of the superhne
vuelta de abajo, the clos vougeot of Nicotia, or of
some inferior growth, either from the island of Cuba
itself, or from Hayti, or Porto Eico, or Virginia,
or Maryland, or the Carolinas, or, haply from the
south and east of Europe ; for that vast quantities of
Hungarian, Austrian, Sardinian, and Bessarabian
tobacco do find their way to Cuba, and come back
to us in the guise of prime Havanas — that is
certain. A minute investigation of lax tripax may
also lead to the painful disclosure that the cigar
is not composed of tobaccoat all. — Austrahxxian.

New Markets for Ceylon Teas. — For the
benefit of any of our planters or merchants who
wish to do business in a new field, we repeat
an extract from a letter addressed to us by Alder-
man Lobb of Toronto (Lloyd's Ontario Agency)
after he had tested samples of Ceylon teas, under
date 8th August 1884:—

" I have submitted them (the samples) to some
of our leading merchants and they have been
very highly approved, some of them remarking,
'they were the finest black teas they ever -put
the water on.' They are undoubtedly a high
grade of teas and could be sold here, if price
'an obstacle. Having no idea of
I can give no definite opinion,
your friends wsuld like to consign
'an assorted parcel of, say, 100 half-chests I could test
the market here and elsewhere and should hope to
make satisfactory returns. I can refer you to the
Bank of Montreal here, the Imperial Bank and
Messrs. Fra. Peek, Winch & Co. of London,
England, whom I represented for nine years. Trust-
ing you are again safe at home much benefitted
by your trip, I am tfcc, J. Lobb."

As already stated, the supply of Ceylon teas in
1884 was so limited in proportion to the good
demand for them in London, that no one thought
of looking to other fields; but the case may be
different now and perhaps Alderman James Lobb
of Toronto, may hi^ar from some Ceylon friend
with reference to business,

would not be
your valuation
any

but if

of

54

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[JuLy I, 1886.

The Island of Babuados is Uie most densely
populated part of the earth. With an area of
106,000 acres, it contains a population of over
175,000 souls (!) per cont of whom are whites),
or an aveiage of l,0r)4 people to the square mile.
The Oliiiiese province of Keang-su, which was atone
time imagined to bo tlie most uncoinfortably-crowdcd
district under the sun, contains hut 850 Celestials
to the square mile, while East Flanders, in Belgium
the most thickly-populated neighbourliood in
Europe, can boast ol only VO/i inhabitants to the
square mile. — J\[<i(lriis Mnil.

A New Elixih ok Qdinink. — Oik! of the grcjitistob
jections to the use of preparations of (niiiiiiic, especially
in the case of cliildren, is thi^ int(!ns<i bitterness of all
its salts, more particularly of the sulphate. A ready
and effective mean.'; of overcoming this ililficultj' will be
found in a coiupoiuul wine or elixir of quinine contain-
ing glycyrrbizin, the sweet principle of liquorice root
In preparing this coiubinaliou Sherry, Orange or Malaga
wine may be used at discretion ; the latter is perhaps,
the best. Two ounces of dried and decorticated
liquorice root, in coarse powder, are macerated for
seven days in one pint of Malaga wine. The wine is
then filtered, enough fresh wine being poured over the
marc to procure a full pint of filtrate. Forty grains
of sulphate of quiiune and sixty grains of citric acid
are then dissolved in two ounces of the filtrate, and
added to the bulk. An elixir of this strength, contain-
ing one grain of quiniue in the table-spoonful, will be
found of the most convenient strength for administer-
ing to children, and will be pleasantly sweet and almost
entirely free from bitterness. If the Malaga wine be
good, and of a full alcoholic strength, the prepsratiou
will uot be found to deposit much ou keeping, if at all.
— Burgoifiie, Burhidiies, Cyriax 4- Farries' MojiUdy
J\.)'2''ort Prices Current.

Tmk Cheapening of Graji. — It appears that in a
few localities gram was dearer in 1884 than in
1878, and doubtless this is capable of easy explan-
ation ; but generally speaking, the article had
declined in price to the consumer., and consequently
was not so well worth while growing in the latter
as in the earlier year. This is remarkable, for the
rupee has declined most seriously in value in gold
using countries with which India has an enormous
business connection. If the shilling in England were
reckoned at its intrinsic value, instead of at a
statutory token value, it would now buy only thi-ee-
fourths of what it would have bought twenty years
ago ; or, whereas in 1866 it might have bought twelve
penny loaves, it would now buy only nine of such
loaves. In India the rupee has no statutory value,
but it Is left to find its own level, and yet, not-
withstanding the great decline in its external value,
it buys more, or goes farther in regard to gram,
than it used to do when exchange was nearly 6d,
or 25 per cent, better than it now is. It is, how-
ever, the general belief that it costs more to keep
liorses now than it used to do, or that the rupee
does not go so far as it did in filling the^ grain-bag.
— Madras Mail.

NoTF.s ON Pkoducf.. — Commenting on the opening
of the new season for China teas, \\\e Grocer says: —
" Wonderful bargains in China teas have been secured
under the hammer, and purchasers have been enabled
to execute their orders for any description of tea
at almost their ow'ii prices. IIow the merchants or
consignees here can reconcile this policy of ' smash-
ing ' the London market, with their more exalted
opinions of the value of the article, in giving at the
recent opening of the new season at I[ank;:\v rates
lo per cent above those of last year, we cannot tell,
hut leave it to them to explain, and can only say
that by such a contradictory course; as this they are
multiplying their own risks and spoiling the market
for the completion of their regular operations. The
mistake of paying high prices at the opening of the
Chinese market sliould always be carefully guarded
against, as, to quote the words of advice we used
early in March, it causes the shippers there 't

form an exaggerated idea as to the true market
value of the article, and is greatly to the detri-
ment of the dealers and others here. Purchases for
a time go ou very briskly, to be followed by consider-
able sbipnieiits to biUgland, when, as fast as the teas
arrive, they are probably forced off by auction at
rapidly declining rates, and cause a deal of depres-
sion to prevail all round.' This is what is likely to
happen between now and the end of next July, if
holders do not exercise more tact and judgment in
buying in one market and selling in another ; and
what comes of all the complaints or idle boasting
about severe losses (?) wlion they can afford to re-
alize their teas at a material reduction, and tlirive
without making the smallest gain or profit '.' Either
the reports of higher prices are without real found-
ation, or the prices themselves are watered down by
discounts and allowances which leave them practic-
ally at a compartively safe level. If so, it is so much
the better for all concerned, whether they are large
or small operators in tea, and it is to be hoped that
the condition of the trade generally is sounder and
more satisfactory than at first sight appears. As,
therefore, most circumstances encourage the belief
that quotations for China tea in the ensuing season
will be very moderate, if not positively low, it is a
matter of good augury for the wholesale and retail
trade, who will thus be able to supply the con-
suming public with a serviceable article at a cheap
price." — //. and C. Mail.

Uniformity in Tea. — The Grocer is publishing
a number of letters upon the subject of the want
of uniformity in tea. Some of these throw some
light upon the blending operations of the grocer.
One correspondent writes :^" To show the utter
impossibility of any wholesale blender being able
to produce suitable blends of teas for all neighbour-
hoods, it is only necessary to remember the very
great difference in the water of different localities.
Why, sir, the effect of the water on the same
tea on the south side of the Thames is totally
different from that produced on the north side ;
and this I confidently assert after very many
years' experience as a tea traveller. Sir, it is
not a vital question to me whether I sell my
mixers or not ; my living in no way depends upon
that. All I am desirous of doing is to impress
upon every grocer the extreme danger of listen-
ing to the advice of those who tell him they can
do his business for him better than he himself.
No grocer can possibly have the smallest title to
the distinction of ' tea dealer ' unless he sells an
article which, so far as the blending is con-
cerned, is the product of his own skill and judg-
ment." Another says : — "What grocer would ever
dream of exposing good tea ? My business was not a
very extensive one, but in teas my sales were
chiefly at 2s 6d and 4s per lb. — at the latter price
far in excess of the former. Competition with
persons who had tea sent direct from Civil Service
stores, and supplied old women in the villages, as
well as competition from London wholesale houses
who send 20-lb. cads to gentry in the neighbour-
hood— these never materially affected my sales.
My customers returned to the good tea, stating
they would rather use less, pay more, and have
it good, as one spoonful of 4s went as far as
two at 2s 6d of the London teas, besides being
excellent in flavour. Now, the grocer must be a
dunce at his trade if he cannot mix six pourKls
of fine Kaisow, six pounds fine Moning, and six
pounds good Afsam with a pound and half of the
finest Pekoe. This mixture I always found to give
satisfaction. My friends who sent occasionally for
a 20-lb. cad could never understand why they
could not get tea like it in the large towns where
they lived at 4s — there was so little difference in
tlio 2s (id and 4s : the same strong capery or
Pekoe flavour pervaded both. Too much of either
spoils fine Cliina teas." — Home and Colonial Mail,

July i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

S3

To the Editor of the *' Ceylon Observer."

AN EX-CEYLON PLANTEB'S EXPEEIENCE

OF A HURBICANE IN FIJI.

Taviuni, 3rd April 188(;.
Dear Siii,— On the night of the 3rd March last
the most severe hurricane that has been experienced
in Fiji for many years past, swept over Taviuni and
other islands in the group, doing an enormous amount
of damage to property, and the following account
from one who went through it, and still survives,
may prove of some interest to your readers, es-
pecially to those whose inclinations may prompt
them to come and settle in Fiji. My only desire
is to quit it. In 1881 it was my fortune, or mis-
fortune, to pass through what I thought in my in-
nocence tc be a regular proper hurricane, but that
was only a gentle zephyr compared with the one
of last month. To resume. I was on a visit to
my brother at the time, who has charge of the
wellknown Alpha tea estate, and was getting quite
an fait with rolling, withering, firing, etc.,
and in fact with everything appertaining to tea
cuUivation.

I beg to state, en parenthesis, that the above is
not an advertisement, but if there is any tea estate
proprietor in your part of the world who wants a
manager who can show him an infallible method
whereby he can reduce the cost of production to
nothing per lb., he can apply to the undersigned.

I can fancy Mr. Editor, your exclaiming " How
this fellow does blow, why does not he tells us about
the hurricane ? " Well ! on the 2nd March, it com-
menced to blow hard from S.-E. and continued in
this direction all day, the wind gradually increas-
ing in violence, until on the morning of the 3rd,
it was blowing half a gale. It increased all that
day, and at about 2 p. m. my brother informed
me that we were in for a regular hurricane. I
felt quite cheered at the prospect at G p.m. The
labour houses, hospital, etc., were all level with
the ground, and most of the unfortunate coolies
took refuge in the upper floor of the tea house
(which was formerly the pulping house when the
estate was in coffee), they could not get into the
store which was a high double-storied building,
as my brother had all the doors and windows
battened up early in the afternoon, a vain pre-
caution as events turned out. Our dwelling-house,
the walls of which were wattle and daub, lined over,
stood it out well until 11-30 p. m. when the first
sheet of iron was torn from the roof. The wind
all this time was blowing with freat fury from
S.-S.-E. and S.-E. accompanied by rain. We
managed to keep the doors on this side of the house
secured, by means of tables, chairs etc., and it took
us all our strength to keep same in position.
We heard a crash about this time which proceeded
frem the pantry in the verandah. The walls had
given way and the plates, lamps, etc. were having a
lively time of it. At about 1-30 a. m. on the
morning of the 4th, there was a lull for about one
hour. It got quite calm, and I really thought the
worst was over. About this time a good many of
the labourers who had taken refuge in the Tea
house, came and informed us that that house had
been blown over, but fortunately for them it fell
against the Store whidh supported it, and they
were enabled to make their escape, with the ex-
ception of one man who was killed by a beam
falling on him and several others were seriously
injured. After this short spell, the wind veered
round suddenly to N.-W. and reooinmeuced to

blow with terrific violence. We saw that the
house would not protect us much longer for the
sheets of iron were being ripped off one after
the other, and the walls looked as if they were-
going to fall in every moment. It was really hardi
lines having to leave the house, and I sincerely
wished at that moment that we were both in a com-
fortable bungalow not 100 miles from Gampola
town, but there was no help for it, so taking up a
blanket we vacated the premises. I had no sooner
got outside than oil went my hat, and I thought my
scalp had gone too, liul on passing my hand over
my cranium, I' found that the few locks of hair
which nature has left me, were still there. We
managed to stick togetlier although with great
diificulty, and after groping our way a short distance
from the house, wc plumped down on the ground,
and drawing the blanket over our heads, we waited
as patiently as we could for daylight. How bitterly
cold it was to be sure, the covering we had was but
a poor protection to^ the furious blasts of wind
which assailed us. * I felt sorry for the poor
labourers ; there were over 100 on the estate and they
must have felt the exposure terribly. The principal
source of uneasiness to me was the reckless
way in which the sheets of iron were flying
about. I must confess I did n't half like it, not
that I was afraid, but I would gladly have ex-
changed places with anyone for a short while.
We were too near the house to please me. I
should have liked to be about .5,000 miles away.
Had one of those sheets of iron which were 8 ft.
long X 2i feet wide caught edgeways, it would in
all probability have put an end to our career, and
this valuable article would have never been
written. Many of them were found over 200 yards
from the house. At one time, while we were
crouching together, I heard a curious clattering
sort of a noise which I made sure was caused by a
piece of iron coming our way, but which really
proceeded from my brother's teeth which were
chattering at a fearful rate, only caused by the
cold I have to state. I thought daybreak would
never come, but it made its appearance at last, and
then what a scene of ruin and desolation met
tne eye ! The walls of the house were still standing
wonderful to relate, but they collapsed at about
8 o'clock smashing up all the furniture, and in fact
everything we possessed ; the work of destruction was
complete, I can tell you.

We started down the hill that leads from the
house to the store when a gust of wind got hold of
me, and away I went at a fine pace. I am sure
I must have covered 100 yards in not more than
8 or 9 seconds. We found the store and tea-house
one mass of ruins, and we had to dig one poor
cooly out who had sustained a severe injury to hifl
spine. What a fearful night the poor wretch muat
have passed '. The man that had been killed was
only found the next day, he was badly crushed.
It is to be hoped he did not suffer much. Most
fortunately the machinery was not damaged to any
serious extent. The chimney belonging to the
Davidson's Sirocco my brother was using was
smashed up and the upper part of the Sirocco
containing the withering trays was dragged off the
lower, or furnace portion, and one of tlie trays
broken, but that damage is easily repaired. The
Kinmond's roller escaped. Alpha estate belongs,
as 1 think you know, to Mr. James E. Mason, who
is at present in London reiwesenting Fiji at the
Exhibition there. That gentleman has been most
unlucky with his property. When I visited Alpha
in 1881, it was one sheet of most magnificent-
looking coffee. Leaf-disease soon after made its
appearance, and the coffee had to be all pulled up,
as the trees would not give any crop. Tea was

56

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[JVLV I, 18B6,

substituted and e\'idently the climate was suitable
for it, for it flourished exceedinglj- when just as
everything was progressing so satisfactorily, this
hurricane must needs visit the place, doing the
damage above recorded.

My brother is very busy getting cooly lines re-
built, but a month has elapsed already, and it will
take another six weeks at least before work can be
resumed. It will cost £750 to £1,000 to put up the
necessary buildings again. There are about 10 acres
of tea 4 years old and 30 acres 2 years old ; about
20 per cent of this has suffered severely, and will take
some time to recover. There were 15 acres of
splendid-looking cardamoms that had a large crop
of fruit on them, the whole of which has
been totally destroyed. The coconut planters have
all sustained an immense amount of damage,
and there will be no copra manufactured by them
to speak of for the next 18 months at least,
and it is not only their coconuts that have
sutfered. Many of them have lost their fine
copra houses, etc., which for convenience of trans-
poit were built on the beach by the sea which
rose several feet above its normal level, and came
inland with an irresistible rush carrying everything
before it. It is very hard on these men most of
whom have been in the country for many years,
and have worked from morning till night trying
to make their plantations pay. I have spoken to
several old residents of 18 and 20 years^ standing,
none of whom remember to have seen such a
severe hurricane as this. I fear you will deem
this letter too long, so I will bring it t© a con-
clusion hoping you will spare me room in your
valuable journal for the same. I apjiend some
barometrical readings which are reliable. They were
taken by the Captain of a steamer who rode out
the hurricane in a ghcltered bay. People have
not ceased to talk about the hurricane yet, and I
expect it will be a long time before the 3rd
March 1886 is forgotten in Fiji. Apologising for
the extreme length of this letter, I am, sir, yours

faithfully, J. N. 0. S.

{Barometer readinfja referred to.)
1886. Time. Bar. Re'gist.

March 2 8a.m. 2975

5 p.m. 29-63
„ 3 7 a.m. 29-57
„ 3 10 a.m. 29-75

11 a.m. 29-49

2 p.m. 29-32

4 p.m. 29-22 Strong E. gale with fierce

6 p.m. 2915 do. 'squalls
8 p.m. 29-00 do.

9-30 p.m. 28-85 do.

10-30 p.m. 28-68 do.

Between midnight and 0-20 on the morning of
the 4th it fell suddenly to 27-62, and at 1-30
a.m. it was 27"57, the lowest point. J.N.O.S.

MR. JOHN HUGHES ON CEYLON PUBLIC-
ATIONS AND REPORTS.

London, E.G., 7th May 1886.

Gentlemen, — I have great jjleasure in acknow-
ledging the receipt of your valuable Ceylon Hand-
book and Directory for 1885-86, which I found
awaiting me on my return from Egypt. It is
indeed full of useful information, as all those who
have had previous editions can well understand,
while those who have never had the advantage
of possessing a copy, should certainly lose no
time in purchasing one, especially as the book
can now be obtained through any of your London
Agents.

I suppose no Crown Colony except Ceylon pro-
duces such a Directory which from the extensive
tndes appears to furDiab iuformation upon every

possible subject connected with the planting inter-
ests of your beautiful Island.

It always gives me pleasure to refer anyone
requiring information respecting Tea. Coffee, Cin-
chona, or the other numerous productions of Ceylon,
to the pages of your Directory. Of course you
will have it well represented at the Colonies Ex-
hibition, which I have not yet visited since it was
opened, but hope to do so shortly.

I send you a page from this week's A'lriinltnnd
Gazette containing a short paper of mine upon the
amount of fat in Fish (iuano. It may do for the
T. A. I have frequently recommended the Tropical
Ajiricultiirist to persons who come to me for a
useful book upon current information respecting
Tea. Coffee, Cinchona, Sugar and Tobacco, and I
doubt not that you find the circulation increasing.
You are aware that it is now taken at the
two Agricultural Colleges in this country, namely
Cirencester and Downton. — Yours very truly.
JOHN HUGHES.

ORANGES AND CITRONS FOR FLAVOURING
PURPOSES.

June 12th.

Sir, — I have pleasure in forwarding American
recipe for making the above :

Cut the rind into thin shreds; half fill a wide,
mouthed bottle with it, fill up with whisky or
brandy. Cork tightly and shake now and then
for the first mouth. This will keep good for
months and be better for age. SANITAS.

Davidson's and Law's Tea Roller. — One interested,
refering to a paragraph we had a few weeks ago,
writes: — "Your mercantile informant would have
done well not to have made an assertion of the
kind he did, as you may be sure that we have
carefully taken the opinion of a competent engineer
before patenting the machine, and we hope to
arrange with Messrs. Walker & Co. for it manu-
facture, and at all events before any are sold the
public will be satisfied that there is no infringe-
ment whatever. — It is rolling splendidly now and
turning out more tea than we expected."

China c. Indian Tea came into the opium
debate in the House of Commons, the Under-
Secretary for India using the following argument : —
Not long ago a Government was turned out on
the question of raising the duties on alcoholic
drinks. There would, therefore, be a touch of
Pharisaism in our dealing so drastically with the
question of opium as his hon. friend would desire.
He would, therefore, make two suggestions to his
hon. friend. The first was that he should agitate
for the increase of revenue at home from alcohol,
and apply that increase to replace the loss occa-
sioned to India by taking away the opium revenue ;
the second was more practical. The balance of
trade as between India and China was against
China, owing to the vast quantity of opium going
from India to China. As between China and this
country the balance was against the latter, owing
to the Chinese tea consumed in this country. It
had even been said that China paid for her Indian
opium with the income derived from Cliiiiesc tea
sold in this country. His hon. friend then ought
to consider that when he drank Cliinese tea he
was encouraging Chinamen to consume opium —
(iaughter) — and his suggestion accordingly was that
his hon. friend and others should use Indian tea,
which he believed was very good, instead of Chinese
tea. Even if the Indian tea were not good, his
hon. friend should still drink it in the interests
of morality — (laughter), and thereby practise a
virtue for the benefit of those in whose welfare
be was so much interested.— L. c^ C. Express.

July i, 1886,]

^HE TROPICAL AGRlCtrtTtrRlS'T.

S'/

TEA; CHINA CONSL'LAR EEPOBTS— 1885,

Much interesting information on the China tea
trade will be found in the following extracts: —

FOOCHOW AND ITS TEA TRADE.
Mr. Consul Sinclair reports as follows: — * *
Exports, of the same denomination as those in 1884,
are, outside of tea, altogether the cargoes of Chinese
traders engaged in the coasting trade. These cargoes
represent a value of 1,548,369 Haikwan taels, and con-
sist principally, of timber, paper, oranges, olives, dried
fruit, &c. Tea, the staple article of export, gives
employment to some twenty-eight British firms, who
engage solely in this trade. Less wild speculation and
more sober trading characterises the business of this
year. There has been more judgment exhibited ia
the shipping of cargoes to London ; instead of the
old system of shipping off in a hurry, and clearing
vessels in a heap, by means ot combiuatiou, the de-
partures have been gradual, so as to avoid too large
arrivals at one time in London. The year 1835 has
not been unsuccessful to most shippers of tea, and
may be counted among the tolerably fair years. In
many cases full charges and commissions have been
realised, besides a slight profit on merchants' own
account. That fortunes can now be made in tea spec-
ulation is beyond expectation, considering the low
range of prices of the London market for the last few
years, and the demand for common and cheap teas.
Owing to shortness of supply on the London market,
consequent on the large increase of home consumption,
Foochow red-leaf teas have fared better than might
be expected, looking at the poor class of teas, almost
throughout, that were brought down from the -tea-
growing district-;. The teas of both first and second
crops were pronounced .somewhat badly prepared, owing,
it was thought, to the cold and wet weather daring
the spring months ; the musters were generally clean
and well fired, and fairly free from dust : they were,
for the most part, strong in the cup, with a bright
infusion. The most striking characteristics of the crop
ai)pcared to be the ab.sence of really fine teas from
any of the districts. The Paklings were hardly so well
curled as last year's, whilst the Paklums were of
similar quality to those of last season, with, perhaps,
rather more stren^^'tli. The other kinds, such as Kaisows,
Suey-kuts, Saryunfs, Tong Foncf-Toiigs, and Yuughows
were of poor (luulity, and were inferior to last year's
produce, both in make and liquor. Of Souchongs the
general quality of the crop was poor, the liquor being
thin, and the leaf showng careless preparation. During
the first fortnight on the opening of the market busi-
ness was steady and active, but without excitement.
Prices then commenced to decline on the advent of
bad .advices from home. Prices have shown consider-
able fluctation during the year, ranging from 17 to
49 taels and 12 to 32 taels at the opening of the
market; and 16h to ISh taels and 13 to 20 taels in
November. Australians were larger buyers this year
than formeily, there being an excess of shipments
beyond the wants of the population, Australian busi-
ness is creating a serious competition to buyers for
London, while it has an undoubted tendency to making
bargains more difiScult for the latter.

The manufacture of brick tea of varieties of tea-
dust by Russian merchants only, for export to ."Siberia,
is acquiring considerable importance. The low cost of
the dust, the cheapness of manufacture, the low export
duties upon it, together with the low import duties
in Russia, combine to make this trade a success and
a profitable business. The most expensive part of the
business is the freight on the bricks by sea to Tien-
tsin and the carriage on camel-back to Kiachta. The
Kussian merchants' export tea-leaf, but in small quan-
tities, for Russia proper — their chief business being
the making of brick tea, their commissions on orders
from Russia bein^ large, and no loss is incurred. The
brick is so beautifully made, and is so portable, that
it has surprised me the British Government does not
get its supplies from this port ; they would find it
lesi expensivg and wbolegomer for the army tbau

what is now given the army and the navy. I think
a trial should be made, or that a Government agent
should be employed on the spot to manufacture the
brick tea in the same way that the Russians here and
at Hankow do. For the whole year, according to
Custom-house returns, the total export of every kind
of tea— black, green, brick— is 733,599, 6t3 piculs, at
133f, equal to 97,813,238 lb., inclusive of the import
to Chinese ports, amounting to 93,581,42 piculs, for
foreign export. According to the Chamber of Com-
merce MarKet Reports, the shipments from the open-
ing of the market in June to the end of the year
come to 80,110,418 lb. as follows:—

Lb.
To London and Continent of Europe 5-',839,30a
Australian and New Zealand 21,930,755

United States and Canada 5,334,354

The market opened somewhat later this year, actual
buying not commencing till June 19. The delay is
specially attributable to the anxiety of the native tea
brokers for the establishment of fixed rules in the
conduct of the trade in regard to weighing and the
date of payment. They had cause of complaint in
these respects on the part of a few foreign buyers.
After much di.scussion a set of rules was adopted by
nmtual consent, and came into operation oa June 13.
The hope that greater regularity would result from
this fresh agreement with the buyers has not been
wholly disappointed, and confidence has grown out of
the new system between seller and buyer. I am
indebted to a commercial friend for the following
valuable letter on tea: —

■' In reviewing the tea trade of this port for the season
1885-86 there are, I think, several novel features which
it might be well to touch upon in the first place.

" 1. I would mention the sudden and unexpected
termination of the Frauco-Chiense war, which upset
many calculations ; and more especially the reopening of
Formosa altered the whole position as regards the trade
in Oolongs with the United States, preparations for
greatly extending which had been made both here
and at Amoy but which were rendered nugatory by
this .action.

"2. The inconvenience attending the shipping of
cargo by the closing of the port and the removal of
the[anchorage to Sharp Peak; but it is noteworthy that,
although there was necessarily much delay, there was
not a single accident of .any, importance, although the
risk was greatly increased. It will be in your re-
membrance that the Pagodn Anchorage was reopened
on Sept. (> last.

" 3. The New system of weighing tea, and of the
cash payments for same, introduced under the auspices
of the Foochow General Chamber of Commerce and
the native Tea Guild, the time taken in the settle-
ment of these questions causing great delay in the
opening of the market, the teamen refusing to show
samples until they were .settled. You are aware of
the nature of the agreement entered into, and 1 need
not further refer to it beyond saying that the
terms agreed upon seemed alike fair to buyer and
6 dler — that experience has proved this, business as a
rule progressing smoothly and pleasantly. Aad I am
of opinion that, so long as it is carried out in its
integrity, the agreement must continue to exercise a
most beneficial effect on the trade of the port.

"4. The agitation in London List spring, caused by
the expected increase in the import duty on tea, re-
sulting in enormous duty payments and the consequent
reduction in the bonded stock of this article to a
very low i)oiut.

" 5. Another novel feature has been the re-employ-
ment of sailing-ships in the carrying trade of tea, no
less than five vessels, carrying about 7,0:J0 tons,
having been dispatched from this port during this
last s 'ason. This was brought about by the action
of the Conference Lines of steamers preventing com-
petition aiul fair rates of freight, the average rate per
steamer being £3 per ton of -10 feet, ^yhilc by sailing-
ship the rate was only 30s. to 40. per ton of oO feet,
the dill'crcucc being a heavy percentage on tho laying*

I'Hfi "^tnOPtCAt AQRtCVLrvmSf.

[July i, i8S6.

iliwii cost of common teas. As far as can be at prcscut
ascertained, shipment by sailing-ship have shown a
more sutisf ictory result than by steamer, and it may
he predicte 1 that, should the Conference system be
continued next season, it will have the effect of still
further divertinif the carrying trade to siiiling-ships.
Tlie new season's Congous began to. arrive on
May 13 last. 'With the exceptioM of a few Paklius,
musters were not shown uutil dune 10, when about
.'>15,U00 chests had come to market, the result being
that it was impossible to taste and value more than
a very small portion of the samples before the open-
ing of the market, which took place on June 19, the
following being the quotations for the various districts
as compared with the previous season: —

Season 1885-86. Season 1884-S.l
Tls. per picul. Tls. per picul.

Paklins lU to 26 ., 15 to 80

Paklums 17" to 49 ... 20 to 35

Panyongs 12 to 32 ... 15 to 33

Sueykuts 10 to 20 ... lOJ to 27

Yunghows 12 to 20 ... 10 to 23

Saryuues 9 to 16 ... 10.^ to 1%

Scumoos 12 to 34 ... 14 to 35"

Tong-fong-tongs... 14i to 16 ... 10 to 17
Dust&Siflings ... 4 to 9 ... 4 to 7§
Hates of exchange being 3s. 7^d., against last
season's 3s. 9f., for four mouths' sight credits ; rates
of freight to London, £4 to £3 per ton, or the same
as| last season; and to Australia 3()s. per ton, against
£2 and £2 10s, per ton. As regards the quality of
the crop, the general impression was that, owing to
the unusually wet and cold spring, there was again
a scarcity of finest kinds, but that the teas generally
were of fair average quality, and possessed consider-
able strength, the exceptions being those from the
Sen Moo, Sar Tune, and Youug How districts, which
were below the average. For a few days after the
opening transactions were not on a large scale, buyers
securing their favourite chops of fine and finest teas,
while medium Pan youngs were selling cheaply. Dust
and sittings were, however, in strong demand at full
rates. The "Gleneagles" was despatched for London ou
June 27, and after this buying became more general,
very large transactions taking place for both England
and Australia, prices for the lower grades being well
supported while the better kinds went in the favour
of the buyer. All through July the active demand
continued, the low rates of exchange enabling a com-
paratively high tael cost to be paid ; and early in
August advices being received that fine and finest kmds
had met with a favourable reception, both in England
and Australia, the remaining first crop teas were
cleared otf the market at full rales. "With heavy
arrivals in Loudon recourse was again largely had to
' public sale without reserve,' with the usual result
of low prices and losses to the importer ; still buyers
on this side being sati.sfied, that with the increased
export to Australia, supplies of Congou could not be
in excess of the actual requirements, there was no
falling-oif in the demand here; and in fact, as the
.-eason progressed, rates for common kinds gradually
bardene ', and in November the highest prices were
reached, when low dust realised 5 to 6 taels per
pk'ul, and low cofflmon Congou 9^ to lOj tales per
picul. And it was a matter of surprise to most
merchants that, with such quotations, the teamen were
uuabie to bring larger supplies to market ; but, juding
from the quality of the latest arrivals, ib was evi-
dent that every available leaf had been collected,
bome of it being from three to five years old, and it
still remains to be seen whether such low quality will
be allowed to go into consumption in England.
I'Three to five years old leaf made into tea ! Talk of
baugy leaf after this. — Ed,]

" The results to the tea men, they having profited
by then- severe experience of last season, must have
been most pleasing, they having secured large profits
on their first-crop ventures and a good percentage
throughout the season ; while so far it is doubtful
if the foreign merchant has done more than come
o ut clear. The supply of first-crop Congou was about
30,000 chests less than laat year* but the total

af-rivals for the season were 600,000 chests, as com-
pared with 612,250 chests last season. Souchonf/s, as
a rule, could not compare in quality with those of
the previous year; but fine and finest kinds found
ready sale at very full prices, while the common
grades throughout the .season have, in sympathy with
Congous, brought high rates as compared with taol
cost of last season.

" Odloiicis. — As noticed in the early part of the
report, the teamen made preparations for doing an
extensive business in these kinds ; but the reopening
of Formo.sa upset their calculations, and though the
market opened at about last year's rates, the result
was a heavy loss to them. And this remark will also
apply to the fine string.s, which sold cheaply as com-
pared with former years; but the autumn crop being
bought .at very low ra.tes in the country enabled sellers
to recoup themselves. The quahty of these teas
throughout the season has been most disappointing,
besides which there has been a much larger admixture
of dust, which is most detrimental to their sale in
the great cousuming country, namely, the United
states ; and unless much greater care is taken in their
preparation there can be no doubt that this valuable
trade will be wholly diverted to Amoy, whose teamen
are fully alive to the importance of the question.

" ,'<cenled Teas. — It would appear as if these teas
were going out of consumption in England, for although
laid down this season at a fairly moderate cost, the
result h:is been most disastrous to the buyers.

" Floiren/ Fckoes proved to be a fine quality,
and found ready sale at extreme tael cost. The
circulars issued by the Foochow rjeneral Cham-
ber of Commerce furnish you with full and de-
tailed tabli^s of statistics, so that it is unnecessary
for me to append them ; but you will notice that
while to England the export shows a further small
decrease, that to Australia and the United States is
again lai'ger, while the Kussian trade in brick tea
continues to increase; but of this we have no parti-
culars beyond those given in the Customs Keturns.
You will have noticed the continued fall in the value
of silver, the latest quotation for four mouths' sight
credits on Loudoa being 3s. SJd. per dollar. In
conclusion, I would draw your attention to the following
startling figures as regards the import into, and con-
sump'ion of tea in, Great Britain. For the eleven
months ending Nov. 30, 1885, the total amount of
tea delivered was 204.290.693 lb., against, during a
similar period in 1M82, 192,126,826 lb., or an increase
in three years of 12,163,867 lb.; but the deliveries
of China Congou alone had fallen from 120,345,012
lbs. for eleven months in 1882 to 111,644,820 lb. in
1885, or a decrease of 8,700,192 lb. The import
of China Congous showed a still more alarming de-
crease, the figures being: — Imported into Great Bri-
tain, Juno 1 to November 30, 1882, 122,214,950 lb.,
against, for same time in 1885, 98,647,700 lb., or a
tailing off of 23,567,256 lb ; while the consump-
tion of Indian and Ceylon teas for same time were,
in 1882 16,040,006 lb., and, in 1885, 03,387,384 lb., or
an increa'^e of 17,347,378 lb.

" The sole ctuse for this enormous decrease in the
consumptiuM of China Congous is undoubtedly the
continuous falling off in the quality of the tea pro-
duced, and this should be a matter for the serious
consideration of all concerned in the prosperity of the
port; and you. Sir, would be doing a good work— Could
you bring these facts home to the officials of this
province ? " To this highly-interesting and exhaustive
letter of my obliging friend on the engrossing subject
of tea there can be but little, if anything, to add.
More than once has it been brought to the notice of
the high officials that so little care is taken by the
tea-growers in the upper districts to produce again a
fine quality of Cougou, as was the case some ten or
fifteen years back, and that they should be encouraged
to put in fresh tea-shrubs and root out the old ones,
and otherwise to be careful in the cultivation and
the rearing of the plants. I will again make a fresh
endeavour to bring the Viceroy's attention to this
important matter, and I hope it may meet with the
desired success. But it must be said, ca the other

July i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

59

hand, that buyers must expect to pay higher prices
than they have lately been doing in this market ;
tl-.ere has been so little eneouragenient ou the part
of the buyers in this respect, the demand being for
cheap and common-class teas to suit the London
market.

Feeights in 1885.

To London and Continent of Euroiie. — As regards
tea, from January 1 up to the opening of the tea
market at the end of .Tune, there is nothing of interest
to report. The first steamer for Londou direct left
Sharp Peak on June 28. The scale of freights was
on the same basis as the previous year, namely, £4
for the first and £3 10s. for the second boat. After
these departures the rate v^as fixed at £3 per ton,
at which figure it remained as long as the berth was
occupied only by steamers belonging to tlie regular
or Conference lines. At the end of July the British
steamer "Ascalou" was advertised to load, wiien it was
decided by the Conference to reduce their rate to
£1 10s. per ton to meet the opposition, and, if pos-
sible, to prevent other steamers from cdling. After
the departure of the "Ascalou" the freight was ad-
vanced to £3, but was again reduced in the middle
of August, as another non-Conference steamer took
the berth. These tactics were again repeated at the
end of November, since when the normal rate of £:^)
has been maintained. The feature of the season has
been the fact that five sailing-vessels have taken full
cargoes from this for London — about 7,000,000 lb.,
or, say, 10,000 tons of 40 cubic feet — whereas not a
single sailing-ship was despatched last year. Many
shippers have apparently come to the decision that
it is necessary to regu'ate the arrivals on the home
market, and have thus to a certain extent reverted
to the old mode of shipment. This has, no doubt, had
a beneficial effect on the tea trade of this port by
strengthening the London market.

Australian Colonies. — The two principal lines at-
tempted to prevent opposition at the beginning of
the season by offering shippers the same inducement
as is done by the Conference lines to London, to
confine their support exclusively to them, namely, a
return of 5 per cent on freight paid. This, however,
did not take effect, as a third line entered a strong
competition, and freights at the opening of the season
were £1 10s, per ton, and have remained at this rate
throughout. The first steamer got £2 10s. per ton ;
second and third, £2; but later in the season the
quotation was as low as £1 per ton, consequent on
excessive competition.

America. — The trade from this port, being small,
is not of great interest to the shipping. Kates have
ruled very low ; the bulk of shipments have gone to
New York, transhipped in London, at the very low
rate of £1 KXs. under throag'i bill of lading, the
competition at other ports having been very keen.

The value of the tea export trade in 1885 may be
estimated roughly at §16,000,000, at 3s. 6M. =
£2,833,000.

PAKHOI.
Mr. Consul Allen reports as follows: — - *
Exports.— Exports from Pakhoi may be divided
into two classes — those whose final destination is a
foreign country, and those which are intended for
local consumption. The first class, unfortunately, re-
quires but a very short list. Cassia and aniseed,'with
the oils extracted from tlie phi,nts, head the catalogue.
Our foreign merchants in I'akhoi are largely inter-
ested in these articles, and export considerable quan-
tities to Europe and Bombay. The present export
duty on cassia is a little licavy, being six mace on
each i)icul, valued by the Customs authoiities at three
1aels; in other words, 20 per cent., instead of 5 per
c. nt.. the estimated tax on each article of export
w'liou the Treaty of Tientsin was made. This tnight,
perhaps, be ri^membered shouhl there be a revision
of the tariff at any future time,

TAMSUY AND KELUNG : FORMOSA.

[Formosa is so rich in soil and so genial in climate
aiul the quality of its tea so good, thfit if good
government gives protection to life and property
the island may prove a formidable competitor to
India and even Ceylon in the produce of tea. —
Ed.]

Mr. Consul Giles reports as follows : — * * *
The following table shows an enormous increase
in the export of tea for 1885 over any previous
year : —

Lb.

1880 ... ' ... 12,063,450

1881 ... ... 12,859,4(37

1882 12,040,447

1883 13,206,727

1884 ... ... 13,156,581

1885 ... 16.364,000

The quality of the Formosa tea is steadily improv-
ing, and American buyers have written in glowing
terms respecting the successful issue of the 1885 crop.
Ihere is, in fact, every prospect of the Formosa tea
trade expanding before very long to little-dreamt-of
proportions.

Since my arrival here in November last I have twice
been mto the interior to visit the savages. It is a
very interesting trip, and the country in which the
savages live is beautiful- beyond description. At the
boundary between Chinese and savage territory there
are camps of Chinese soldiers to guard the agricul-
turists from savage depredations ; and on my arrival
the petty m.andarin in command came to meet me,
and disappointed the party very much by saying that
no savages had " come out," or would come out for
several clays, so that we should not be able to see any
on that occasion. He then advised us to come again
another day, when he promised to send an escort of
sokh'ers with us for safety's sake. An hour after this
myself and party (which included Mrs. Giles, the
first lady who ever crossed the border) were strolling
along in savage territory, accompanied by some half-
dozen savages, men and women, who were delighted
to see us, partly because we showed no signs of
wearing the hated pig-tail, and partly because of sundry
strings of beads and other various odds and ends,
an earnest of which had already been bestowed upon
them. We were of course alone. Our chair-bearers
had refused to follow, and wisely so, for it is certain
death to any Chinaman who shows his half-shaven
head on the wrong side of the line. We had a very
pleasant ramble, and hoped at one time to reach a
savage " village ; " but time was against us, and we
were forced to retreat, carrying with us the. evid-
ent goodwill of our hosts, while they carried away
with them other and more tangible spoil. One of
them knew a few words of Chinese, but this vocab-
ulary did not run much beyond " Chinaman bad man.
You know Chinaman; you good man," &c. They
were a pleasant-featured, healthy-looking lot. But
they are doomed, and tuat in the near future. General
Liu is carrying on operations against them which
can only have one end ; he is overwhelming them
with numbers. Every now and again he sends iu
two or three thousand men, who come back minus
one or two hundred, killed by the deadly fire of tlie
savage matchlock, and having apparently accomplished
nothing, j^teanwhile, there are signs that the savage
resources are not without a limit. In one direction
eight large "villages" have already submitted, and
while 1 write an expedition of no less thau 10,000
troops, acting at diffor.nt points, ha- b^-eu organised
liy the vigorous ofticial whom even Fiance will have
good cause to remember. General Liu has wit enough
to see that Formosa, under the civilised rule of China,
has a grand future before her. The hills over which
the savages are now sparsely scattered would grow
tb(insai)ds of tons of that delicate-flavoured tea over
which even now New York purchasers are writing in
sut^h hopeful terms. So the savages have to go. Tlwy
can, if they lik(!, take grants of land, paying no
taxes for ft certain number of years, and I)f>ing

6<y

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST*

[July i, i886#

fi!l the time taught agriculture free of charge,
hrough an agency speciallj' established for that
Durpose. Hut if they do not like, and many
)refer the old free jungle life and the excitement of
I he daily chase, then it becomes a question between
their unerring but scattered matchlocks and the
liristling breech-loaders of half-drilled Chinese troops.
Through part of the territory already recoved the
Chinese have constructed a good military road, a,nd
iiefore long this is expected to debouch on the east
. oast, at So;i-bei, where, by the way, there is a fine
spring of mineral water, of what value is not known,
8 none of the water has been subjected to analysis.
The authorities are extremely jealous -of foreiguers
\isiting these savages. 'I'he petty mandarin above
mentioned did all he could to prevent my party from
.idvaucing, deviating boldlj' from the truth in order to
effect his object. Before long the occasion will hardly
arise. Those foreigners who would study the Form-
osan savage in his native haunts must make haste ;
there will soon be none left to study. — London and
China Euprt ;iS.

♦ •

CULTIVATION OF TOBACCO IN GREAT

BRITAIN.

As considerable interest is being taken in this subject
;it present, it may be interesting to agriculturists to
know that about the year 1800 an attempt was made to
cultivate Tobacco in Scotland, and it is recorded in the
Statistical Account of Roxhioyhshire tha.t ^^ in one season
a tenant-farmer in the parish of Crailing (about 6 miles
west of Kelso) drew £115 for Tobacco plants, and
afterwards grew a crop of between 12 and 13 acres,
which he sold upon the ground for £320, but an Act of
Parliament intervening, the purchaser was unable to
tulfil his bargain, and the farmer was compelled to
dispose of his Tobacco to the Government at only -Id.
per pound, at which rate it brought him only £104."
And it is further remarked: — "It appeared from the
trials made at that time that Tobacco would thrive well
in the southern part of Scotland." It was also grown
largely in fields a little to the east of this town (Kelso),
part of which is now a cemetery. A road at the west
end of the cemetery is still called the " Drying-house "
Lane from the fact that the house where the Tobacco
was dried stood there. INIr, Brotherston, botanist here,
informs us that between twenty and thirty years ago he
used to grow regularly in his garden at Ediiam (about
two miles north-east of Kelso, as much as furnished him
with smoking Tobacco ; and at the present time we
know of its being regularly grown in a nobleman's garden
for the purpose of fumigating the greenhouse plants,
the sort generally grown being the Virginian, a vafiety
of Nicotiaua tabacum, though there are many other
sorts in cultivation, one being Nicotiaua rustica, the
common or green-flowering variety, which is much
hardier than Yirginica, and, we believe, the first to be
cultivated in this country, though the Virginian was
introduced fully 130 years earlier. "We may say, that
for this country the young plants require to be raised in
a hot bed, and planted out about the end of ISIay in
deeply trenched soil heavily maimred. The greatest
enemy the plants have to contend with (but only in their
young state) is the slug. ^Ve have no doubt whatever
that Tobacco could in most seasons be profitably grown
in this country, provided Government will be somewhat
lenient as to the conditions and taxation. If we
mistake not, the parliamentary Act referred to was
passed almost solely for the benefit of encouraging the
growth of Tobacco in the colonies ; and surely our
colonial friends have had a fair monopoly of its growing,
and it is to be hoped that the Government will allow our
farmers at home (who maj' wish to grow it) permission
to do so on reasonable and encouraging terms. — Laing
& Mather, Allow me to say a few additional words on
the cultivation of yellow Tobacco, which I omitted for
the sake of brevity in my last communication. To a
certain extent the writer of the pamphlet quoted by me
is at one with Colonel Trevor Clarke, " that the colour
of the ultimate product is due to soil and conditions of
cultivation." Like C(jlonel Clarke, he deprecates the
use of farm manures, but -strongly advocates the use of

prepared fertilisers. Thus he says: — "Eleven years'
experience in the use of the Anchor Brand Tobacco
Fertiliser, manufactured by the Southern Fertilising
Company, Kichmond, Virginia, has convinced the writer
that it is the planter's best aid in the production of rich,
silky, bright yellow Tobacco. Lands cajjable of pro-
ducing yellow Tobacco need just such help as is fur-
nished by this fertiliser in hastening th(! growth and
giving size, substance, and early maturity to the plant.
From 100 to 300 lb. per acre of the fertiliser may be
profitably used." Regarding the black colour of liatakia
this is due to a great e.xteut to the system of dr3-ing
over the smoke of burning Oak-wood, by which it also
obtains the smoky flavour characteristic of this 'J'obacco
I am fi'lly aware of the difference in the flavour of
Tobaccos that have been fermented and those that have
not, Or only slightly so ami I prefer the later because-
they are lighter and more fragrant. — John R. Jack.son,
Museum, Kew. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

ON A METHOD OF TRANSMITTING LIVING
PLANTS ABROAD.

BY II. LIND8.U', CUit.\TOK, KOY.VL BOT.VNIC GARPEN.

" The method usually adopted in transmitting living
plants, particularly where very long journeys have to be
undergone, is to pack the plants in AYardiau case.s, i.e.,
cases fitted with glass sashes, which, when closed, are
nearly air-tight. This is no doubt the best mode of
conveying plants safely, provided they are properly
attended to on the journey. To do so it is almost
necessary for some one who understands the require-
ments of plant life, to take charge of the case as, when
sent without any special attention being paid to them,
the results are frequently unsatisfactory. The dangers
attending such structures appear to be want of ventil-
ation and shading. The plants contained in them .soon
become drawn up and weakly in the steamy atmosphere
of a close-fitting case, and often arrive at their destin-
ation m a dying or dead condition. One of the most
succe.ssful importations of plants that I recollect of
having seen was contained in a small wooden box sent
to the Garden from Australia by Baron von JMueller, in
ISCG. The plants had been over three months on the
journey, but were found to be in perfect health on their
arrival at the Garden. This r> suit we attributed
chiefly to the simple manner in which the case was
constructed. It consisted of a rough square wooden box,
filled with soil, into which the plants (which had
previously been grown in pots) were placed, two narrow
strips of wood were nailed on to the sides of the box in
an upright position, to which a cross-piece was attached,
constituting a handle. The whole was then covered
with strong cotton cloth, no glass being used. In vol.
viii., p. 482, Tran.tactions of the Botanical Societi/, a
description is given of this case by the late Mr. McNab.
In July last our associate, Mr. John Buchanan, when
returning to Central Africa, being desirous of taking
some economic plants out with him to that country, an
opportunitj' was thus afforded of trying an experiment.
This was rendered all the more necessary as on previous
occasions similar plants sent to Central Africa from the
Garden, packed in Wardian cases, although taken every
care of on the way out, were found to be mostly dead
on their arrival. On this occasion, a case similar to
that exhibited was prepared. It is 18 inches long, 12
inches wide, 1(5 inches deep, has a ridge roof with a
handle fastened on the top for carrying. The main
difference from an ordinary "Wardian case is in the
substitution of cotton blinds for glass sashes. The
blinds are nailed to the top of the ridge and tied down
with cords to the sides of the case, so that they may be
easily rolled up or down as re<juired. The advantage
of this method is the admi.ssion of sufflcient light and
air to maintain the plants in a healthy condition ; the
fine meshes of the cloth acts a.s a shade from strong
sunshine, and do not admit so much air as to cause the
interior to become quickly dried up. The plants sent
on this trial consisted of India-rubbers, several Tea
plants. Cinchonas and Ipecachuana. They were all
turned out of the pots in which they had been growing
previously, the balls of soil slightly reduced, and then

July i, 1886,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

6r

wrapped up tightly amongst sphaguuin moss. The
plants were then packed in the case firmly, in an upright
position, using sphagnum for filling in the interstices.
Thin strips of wood were placed across the balls, the ends
of which were nailed to a flaniie insiile the case for that
purpose, thus preventing the plants from moving, even
if thi- case was turned on end. After being well watered
and allowed to settle for a day, the hliuds were tied
down and the case sent up to Ijondon, where Mr.
Buchanan took it in charge. He was eighly-two days on
the journey out, and in a letter to Mr. Taylor received
iu December last Mr. Buchauan reports that all the
plants arrived in a perfectly healthy" condition, except
the Cinchonas, and that he had not given up all hope
even of them. I may mention that the Cinchonas
referred to were not very vigorous plants to begin with ;
they were the best we had at the time, but were merely
young .seedling.s. It would be well to laave this method
still further tested, either by havijig a few plants sent to
a distance alone, or at all events in charge of some one
less skilful in the management of pliuts than Mr.
]4uchanan. For all but very tender plants (where
special provision would be required), I ihiuk much
more favourable results would be attaiued by the use of
a case such as that describeil, always provided it were
placed free from danger of sea water getting through
the canvas, than if the usual Wardiau case were used."
Edinburgh Botanical.

FORESTS OF JAPAN.

The area of Japan is about 915,000,000 acres, and
the forest area, exclusive of the Loo Choo and the
Bouin Lslands, is about 29,000,000 acres. The forests
are held in nearly equal proportions by Government
and by private owners. Forestry has long been niaile
a study in Japan, and it is stated in a recent
report of the United States Commissioner of Agri-
culture that no people are more skilled in grafting
and dwarfing trees than the Japanese. The Govoru-
raeut Forestry Department is now an important
branch of the State. The head office is iu the capital,
Tokio, but in each of the forty-four Km or States,
into which Japan is divided, there is a branch oftice
from which the respective forests and plantations
are managed. During the days of the old rulers,
each lord had his own fonstry laws, all of which
were very strict ; one of these m;uli! it a punishable
offence to be found in the forest after nightfall.
Since the new reifiuu: the forestry laws have been
consolidated, and their old feudal strictness some-
what abated; but the existing laws are still strict
enough to secure the due preservation of the forests.
In Tokio there is a Government .school of forestry
which was established three years ago, and is now
attt-nded by 150 pupils. Some of these pupils are
preparing themselves for practical work in tlie State
forests ; others are the sons of landowners and far-
niers acquiring a scientific knowledge of arbori-
cidture in order to qualify thenistdvcs for the efficient
management of their own lands. The curriculum in
the forestry school includes botany, the cliemistry
of the soil, a little natuial philosophy, surveying,
and the practical work of planting and rearing trees.
Illustration is given to the pupils by Japanese officials,
who have themselves studied forestry in the schools
of (Germany. Large plantations have been formed
under Government auspices, and every year the area
of forest land is being added to — cedars, oaks, spruces,
and firs being the trees more generally planted.
>Vithin the last few years an important experiment
has been made iu the introduction into Japan of
the seeds of trees and shrubs from other countries.
Tea is e.xteusively cultivated, but it was only in
1R79 that the first coffee berries were brought from
the Sandwich Islands and planted in Japan, and
f^reat hopes are entertained of tiie success of this
expi'rinient, from a coininercial point of view. The
cinchona tree was introduced from India in lyis,
but the climate of Japan does not appear to be
favourable to it, and iu 1880 large importations of
forest trees were made from Europe and America,
and planted in the experimental gardens of the

forestry department at Tokio. Some were failure.'},
and others took favourably to the country — the list
including several firs, oaks, and maples, the birch,
the German larch, lime, ash, pinns wehh!n/m, and
other trees, which will in time form an important
addition to the timber supply of the country. Ex-
tending over 15 degrees of latitude, and with hii,di
central ridgis of mountains on the larger islan^ls,
the climite of Japan differs considerably in the north
and south, on the plain and in the mountains, so
that the vegetation partakes both of tropical and
temperate zone ch iracteristics. The country itself
may be divided into five distinct tree regions or
zones. In the first the temperature is high, and the
forests consists of broad-leaved evergreen trees, then
comes the zone of the .oak and the beach, and other
broad-leaved deciduous trees ; next that of the family
of cedars, among others the Tlnnas and Rethinitporas
for which the country is remarkable. Higher still
is the region of the firs and pines, the conifers in-
cluding many of the finest specimens of the Ahies
veitchii. Chief, however, among the trees of Japan
are the Cri/ptomeria japonica and Retinospora ohtusa,
which attain to a height of about 120 feet, and a
girth of 20 feet. The United States Commissioner
of Agriculture says, that to those who have only
been accustomed to see small dwarf specimens of
the Japanese arbor vitces and conifers used for lawn
decorations, nothing is more astonishing than the
great slabs of wood which such trees supply in their
native country. Of such slabs many specimens are
seen in Japan, and the ornamental woods are also
very numerous. A very useful Japanese hardwood
is the Kej/eki, which has a reddish hue ; and there are
many varieties of oak. From one of the trees grown
in Japan — the liron^onetia papi/rifera — the inner bark
is taken and m^iuufactured into paper, while from
one of the climbing plants the woodmen make their
clothing. The wood is steeped in water, then beaten
with hammers, and the fibrous mass thus obtained
is woven into cloth, which is dyed a deep blue colour.
In the way of timber, the .Japanese are able to
supply the greater part of their own wants, and as
the houses are largely built of woo<l, the quantity
required is very considerable. A large quantity of
timber is exported to China, and a small (juantity
is imported from America. In .Fapan there are large
numbers of ponds m which timber is preserved.
These are usually constructed near the mouth of a
river, and iuto them fresh and sea water is allowed
to flow, in the proportion of six parts salt to four
parts fresh. Should there be a larger proportion of
salt water, the timber is apt to become black ; if
a larger, proportion of fresh water, the wood is liablt-
to attack from worms. The ponds are about five
feet in depth, and by means of canals many of
them are often connected. The timber is piled in
the form of a cube, and is kept in the pond from
two to five years before being used ; the trees most
frequently treated in this way being the Retino^poros
and Oryjitomerice; a part of the preserving process
being tHe thorough washing and re-arrangemmt of
the wood twice a year. Some of the ponds are made
large enough to contain 10,000 pieces of timber.
— Journal of the Societi/ of Arts.

VICTORIAN OEANGES.

The value of orange culture in Victoria is ainuially
becoming more distinctly apparent. The quality of
the Sydney fruit, upon which we are at present al-
most entirely dependent, has been deteriorating for
soiue 5'ears ; while the few of Victorian growth that
aie occasionally brought to market, testify to its pro-
fitableness. One of our correspondents, Mr. Sydney
Williams, whose garden is sitnated to the east of
DoneasliT, 1ms a small plot of oranges and lemons,
that brings him in more profit than an equal area of
any other kind of fruit in his extensive garden. Still
finer oranges are grown iu other districts, especially
to the North of the dividing range, whence magnifi-
cent specimens liave been sent from several parts of

62

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July i, 1886

the district ; while from the neighbourhood of ,S\van
Hill specimeus have been shown in Melbourne sur-
passing in size and appearance any of th(! >S3dn(\y
grown fruit. Therefore, Victorian fruit growers need
not fear being starved off the face of the earth by
the action of the reciprocity treaty with Tasmania, of
which they affect to feel such a dread, whih: it re-
mains in their power to utilise such a valuable source
of profit as that of orange culture, which might be
successfully conducted over a large portion of the
northern plains, extending from beyond AVaugaratta
in the east to the extremity of the colony in the
west.

The chief inducement to plant orange groves in
\'ictoria, however, independent of Custom duties, is
the fact that, the orange groves in New South Wales,
at any rate in the neiglibourhood of .Sydney and
Paramatta, the great centre of orange cultivation in
that colony are rapidly decaying, owing to bad manage-
ment, neglect, the use of unsuitable stocks, besides
other causes. In a lecture on orange growing deli-
vered in Sydney a short time ago, by Mr. S. AV. Pye,
it is stated that " orange growing in the county of
(^umberiaud is a very profitable piu'suit to those who
understand it, but 99 Out of every 100 who possess
orange orchards know very little from a scientific point
of view, i.e., regarding its culture, the failure of crops,
and the cause of many diseases affecting the whole
of the genus." The great bane of orange cuUure is
disease, and the worse kind is bark disease, which
appears to affect the trees in all soils and situations
when they are worked upon unsuitable stocks. In
a letter to the Mail, Mr. Pye states that " an orangery
at Lane Cove, 2U years ago contained 2,000 trees ; of
which 1,998 have since died out from various causes,
and the only '2 that remain are Seville orange trees,
now 40 years of age. In an orangery at Seven Hills,
once the property of the late JMr. Pye, which con-
tained about 1,000 trees, the whole of them, with the
exception of 5 Seville orange trees, suffered so much
from the rottiug of the barks that they had to be
destroj'etl ; while the 5 Seville orange trees were in no
way affected with the disease."

When the bark disease was causing such havoc
among orange trees in Madiera, Portugal and other
orange growing countries of Europe. Mr. Charles Moore,
Director of the Sydney Botanic Gardens, was despatched
by the Government of New South AA'ales to iustitute
an investigation of its nature and the means to be
used for its extirpation. In the report wh'ch he gave
after his return in the early part of 1 868, he showed
that working the sweet orange on stocks of the Seville
or bitter orange was the only method of preventing
the disease. He instances a plantation near Alcira
which had been a very fine one ; but every tree was
either dead or dying, with the exception of a group
of a dozen all on the bitter orange, which were en-
tirely unaffected and in fine healthy condition ; while
some of the surrounding trees which had suffered
so severely from the disease were raised from seed,
others had been budded, some on citrons, some on
lemons, both of which have obtained preference as
stocks ; but so satisfied was the Spaniard, although
singularly adverse to change an old custom, of the
value of Seville stocks, that their price had risen to
2s. 6d. each, whereas the other stocks — citrous and
lemons — were unsaleable at (id. each. Culturists are
therefore recommended to bear these facts in mind,
for undoubtedly the bark disease is the greatt-st of all
drawbacks to successful orange cidture. Propagators
of oranges appear to pay as little attention to the
nature of the stocks they use as the Spaniards paid
previous to the appearance of the disease amongst
their trees. No one with the knowledge we now
possess respecting the universality and the destructive
nature of the disease and its cure ought to platu a
single tree that he is not sure is on a bitter orange
stock ; it would be better to buy a few cases of
Seville oranges, throw them iu rot heap, raise seed-
lings and wait until they are propagated rather tlian
risk the chance of having the whole or even a portion
of his trees affected with disease, and giving out, one

after anotlier, as soon as they have arrived at their
best.

The immunity from disease exhibited by the Seville
orange is proliably due to its hardiness, it being able
to bear great extremes of both beat aud cold with
impunity. It is said to be the only variety that thrives
and bears fruit in the neighbou'-ho I of Calcutta. While
in Italy, in the nt'ighl)ourhood of Florence, where the
cold is so intense that skating is sometimes practised
during four months of the 3-ear, there are standards
in the open air that have attained a height of 15 to
20 feet. It is in favour of seedlings of the Seville
orange that they are easy to deal with, either in the
nursery or in the transplanting, as they produce much
fibre, which enables their removal to be effected with
great certainty of success. An instance is given of
their facility for being easily shifted, in which, aa
equal number of plants grafted on the common lemon,
and the Seville orange were planted on the .same
ground by one man, and that, of the former, nearly
all died in about six weeks, while the others throve,
though another cause might have shared iu producing
the disastrous result.

In th(! cultivation of the orange, as in the case of
most other fruit trees of somewhat delicate constitution,
soil, aspect and shelter are the most important items.
It is, however, very accommodating as regards soil,
thriving in those of various qualities, disliking only
the heaviest clays and such as have become soured
through deficiency of drainage; showing that the
subsoil is, in most cases, of equal or greater importance
than the true soil. With these exceptions, we believe
there is very little soil in the northern districts, un-
less where there is hardly anything but sand, in which
the orange would not succeed. It, however, does best
in a friable loam mixed with vegetable matter on a
porous subsoil ; it may be therefore assumed that the
Oak Eises on the northern plains would be specially
adapted to its requirements. The black and brown
soils with clay subsoils, which occur .so frequently in
the colony, are also suitable if properly drained. It
is stated by Mr. Pye, of Parramatta, that " a small
proportion of salt in the soil sulHcient to render the
drainage water slightly brackish has a very beneficial
ell'ect upon the growth of the orange. " Very light
sandy soils are not to be recommended as they re-
quire too DQuch manure. There is, at present, a
drawback to the use of some of the .soils in the
northern districts, in the deficiency of moisture, which,
however, is certain to be to a large extent remedied
erelong; for though the orange invariably succeeds
best where artificial water is not recjuirt^d, it cannot
thrive on soils that are subject to drought during
several months of the year unless water is used ;
but watering orange is a very particular process, and
frequently produces results more injurious than liene-
ficial when applied by the inexperienced. The novice
should he therefore, particularly cautious in his first
applications of water, and it regular, irrigation is to
be practised then drainage is the first process to wliich
the land should be subjected in its preparation.
Regarding aspect and shelter the best aspect is north-
east on a gentle slope, sheltered from south and
westerly winds. In .situations liable to be aft'ected with
spring "frosts, it is not advisable to choose an aspect
directly opposite the rising sun, its heat causing a too
sudden expansion of the frozen sap, which may pro-
duce serious injury to the foliage. Should the situ-
ation chosen be a sloping valley, it is not advisable
to plant the lower part, as there frosts are most
severe; but if it should meet another valley running
across its mouth with a good slope, and especially if
it contains running water, the cold air wouhl be carried
away and no injury might result. The practice of
sniothei- burning' might be also beneficial in such cases.
ShtMter from violent winds, from whatever (juarter
they may come, is absolutely necessary. It may be
obtained— imtnrally— either from the confonnation of
the grounil or from indigenous timber; artificially —
from orc.h;uds, belts of plantation, high hedges, tall
brush f(^nces, or stone wall ; of which the first two
arc decidedly the most efficient.

July i, 1886.]

^HE TROPICAL AGRICULTaRiST,

6j

■-*—*■=-?■

The site having been chosen, the preparation of the
soil may be begun. If drainage is required, that must
first of all fiuishcJ. Early spring is the best season
to commence before the drought has rendered the
soil difficult to work. The depth to which the soil
should be trenched or subsoiled depends to a consider-
able extent upon its nature. Though the feeding roots
of the orange are to be found near the surface, it is
nevertheless necessary to break up the soil to a con-
siderable depth, mainly with the object of affording
a free descent to water and air. Where a bed of clay
underlies the surface soil at a depth of less than 2
feet, it should be dug down to and well broken up
with fork or subsoil plough, and if, as is frequently
the case, there happens to be a bed of gravel above
the clay, a mixture of the two would keep the clay
more open, but it should not on any account be brought
to the surface. During the summer the soil should
be pulverised with the scarifier, and should it be al-
ready tolerably friable but not very rich, one or two
crops of rape may be sown and partly eaten off by
sheep or the whole ploughed down. In the following
autunni or winter the land may be ploughed into
ridges of a width corresponding with the distance
apart the trees are to stand.

The planting of orange trees demands the exercise of
the utmost care, combined with a knowledge of the
nature and requirements of the plants. To bury the
roots deep in the soil is certain to cause either immediate
death or permanent decrepitude,, for the roots of the
orange, at least the true feeding roots, are never found
far from the surface, hence they should never be buried
under more than a very few inches of soil, the tap roots
or fangs, if there are any, being of course accommodated
in regard to depth and position to those they previously
occupied. The rule should be strictly adhered to not to
place the stem at a greater depth in the soil than that
which it occupied as a seedling. The graft should on no
account be beneath the surface, otherwise it would be
liable to take the bark disease.

As the orange is one of, if not the most valuable of
fruit trees that can be grown in this climate, so it is
deserving of the best kind of treatment. The soil in
which it is grown should be kept in an open friable state,
in order that the roots may be able to run through it
with freedom, while rain and other meteoric influences
are also more freely admitted. It should never l)e
ahowed to become injuriouslj' dry nor dangerously wet.
To prevent the former the soil should be mulched anuuid
every tree as soon as planted and continued year after
year while the trees exist, for even the largest trees are
liable to sustain injury from hot suns if the soil over
their roots is not shaded by some means, while water
must be applied during drought of extreme severity.
With regard to manure, if the soil is of average fertility
not nniuh isrecjuired until the trees commence to bear
beyond what is conveyed in the mulch, for gross growth
is rather objectionable in young trees. But as the fruit
of the orange contains a considerable proportion of
mineral constituents, these must be replaced or repro-
ductiveness will ail. It is found that the ash of the
orange contains 36 per cent, of potash, 24 percent, lime,
11 percent, soda, II per cent, phosphoric acid, 3 per
cent, sidphuric acid and 3 per cent, common salt. These
figures and names of constituents enable the intelligent
cultivator to supply the constituents required in proper
quantities, and teach that it is useless to depend upon
any one or more substances that do not contain the
whole of the constituents the crop demands, for if one
constituent a'one is absent or even deficient, the full
benefit of the others cannot be obtained. A large pro-
portion of the necessary mineral constituents may be
derived from the mulch, which must never be remove. 1
from the soil, neither is it necessary or advisable to di"
it under the surface. .Stable manure, which is the
substance generally used, contains a large portion,
though not all the necessary constituents. The leaves
of trees form a still better mulch, containing a greater
quantity of mineral constituents, esijecially potash ami
lime. In addition to the mineral constituents, nitrogen-
ous substances are also necessary; these are found to
some extent in stable dung. Blood, which contains 15
per cent, of nitrogen wbeu dried, is reckoued one oC the

best of orange manures. Nightsoil, superphosphate and
Peruvian guano should be occasionally used. Mr. Pye
states that a mixture manufactured by Elliott Bros.
from a recipe given by him is by far the cheapest and
most valuable manure used ; its use increasing the
amount of crop six-fold in some instances.

The orange is a tree that reciuires very little pruning ;
it has, indeed, been said, " prune not at all," but that
principle is only applicable in the case of full growu trees ;
in that of young trees, espt-cially thp.se that have been
worked and transplanted, ihe well known proverb must
be acted upon. It is a not uncommon opinion that the
orange tree cannot endure pruning, but that is annually
disproved in the immediaie neighbourhood of where we
write. The trees in the garden of the Horticultural
Society having been too closely plante i, to prevent them
from interlacing and injuring each other, Mr. G. Neilsou,
curator, annually prunes the branches back to stumps
without any evil consequences resulting, the crops
being abundant as well as of good size and quality.
While young oranges, like other trees, require pruning
to some extent, all that is generally necessary is to form
them into the proper shape ; indeed some young trees
form themselves, and therefore need not be pruned.
Afterwards all that is required is to prevent any brancli
from outgrowing the others and to thin out useless
spray. It is, psrhaps, more important that sufhcient
space should be allowed for expansion in the case of the
orange than in that of any of our ordinary fruit trees.
Ajiple or pear trees when they become overcrowded and
interwoven through deficiency of space, may be cut back
root and branch and rejuvenated iu a year or two ; but
who would think of planting oranges so that they would
require to have half of each destroyed when they were as
their best '^ The case previously referred to merely
proves that the orange will endure somewhat severe
pruning, when from aiiy mischance it becomes necessary
to do so, but it does not prove that trees are the better
for it ; had those trees been allowed sufhcient space for
development, and the growth that has been destroyed
in the course of the last half dozen years been allowed
to remain, they would now have been grand trees, many
times larger, finer and more productive than they are at
present. The orange, therefore, that is, the ordinary
large growing varieties, should not stand less than 30
feet apart. Healthy, well managed trees will occupy
that space before very many years ; for every orange tree
should have a clear space of some feet in width on all
sides, otherwise, if the branches become crowded,
they dwindle, grow weakly and unfruitful, atmospheric
influences are shut out and insect pests increase. It is
not to be supposed, however, that the remainder of the
ground is to remain unoccupied while the oranges are
growing, on the contrary, the more it is cropped, cvilti-
vated and manured the better for the soil and ultimately
for the oranges. The only precaution necessary is to
let nothing interfere with either leaf or root of the
oranges. It need hardly be mentioned that the soil
must be kept clear of weeds, but, as before mentioned,
it should not be dug ; the best growers are unwilhng to
admit the use of any tool that penetrates deeper than
the Dutch hoe over the roots, but that must be frequently
used ; beneath the mulching and over the whole of the
roots there should be a layer of dust in summer, except,
of course, immediately after watering or rainfall.
Irrigating the orange is a practice that requires the
utmost nicety in its performance. In dry winters a
soaking should bo given that will penetrate to the
deepest roots, but in sumner time great caution must be
exercised ; in the cise of young trees the soil should not
be allowed to become dry until they have finished their
growth, after which it should remain quite dry to
enable them to ripen it. In the case of mature trees,
summer irrigation should be avoided as much as possible ;
as the trees are liable to sustain .severe injury from it ;
only when really necessary to prevent the trees from
sustaining injury from drought should the water be
applied, and then for only a very short space of time.
Irrigating at a time that would cause a second crop to
start mu.st be altogether avoiiled, a second crop being
"a calamity."

Under all circumstances oranges are liable to the
attacks of scale iuseots, but, if taken in time, only a

64

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July i, iS86.

slight amount of injury may result, otherwise they will
prusfeutly cause the destruction of the trees. The
brown scale is more easily destroyeil than the wliite and
is less destructive in its nature. Acconipanyiug the
scale their exudation forms a nidus for a disyustiny iilack
tungus, whieli does nearly as much harm anil has a
more disagreeable appearance than the scale themselves.
A dusting of fresh slaked lime, applied when the trees
are wet, will clear them of both the insects and the
blight. The kerosene solution will produce an equal or
more immedate effect. Gishurst compound or a strong
solution of soft soap will easily destroy the brown scale.
Even water alone, if at the temperature of 150 degrees,
will clear the trees and cause no injury if applied after
the cessation of growth. As previously mentioned, the
orange is also subject to the dread bark disea.se, for
which there does not appear to be a remedy, though
the disease may be checked, if not quite stopjied, if
taken in time, and the whole of the diseased bark cut
out, the cuts extending clear into the healthy bark.
The trees should be, therefore, carefully examined every
spring, the soil cleared away some iuches in depth
from the base of the stem, and the hark washed if
necessary, so as to make sure whether the disea.«ie is
present or absent.

It is objected to the orange that it does not come
early to profit, but really, under proper treatment, it
comes into bearing as early as many varieties of apple
and pear, and, when once it begins to bear, it never
leaves off, but continues to increase in fertility year
after year for generations ; for the orange far excels in
longevity any other of our fruit trees. "We believe
there are numerous orange trees in Mr. Pye's garden at
Parramatta upwards of 50 years of age still in full
vigor, while on the continent of Europe there are living
trees known to be several centuries old. In some of
the best oi chards at Parramatta, the crop of oranges
has been valued at upwards of £400 per acre. Mr. Pye,
some years ago, cut down a tree 40 years planted that
for 20 years had yielded 300 dozens of oranges annually,
and we have not the slightest doubt that equally good
results may be obtained in the suitable portions of our
own colony.

Those who cultivate oranges for market will, as a
matter of course, grow such as will pay best, but they
should certainly refrain from planting such inferior
varieties as some of those offered in the Melbourne
markets, which can be only grown for their productive-
ness, as they possess no other good quality and bring
only half the price of the best varieties. Among the
best market varieties are: — Paramatta Seedling, Poor
I'JJan's Orange, large and prolific, best adapted for
ujar.malade ; .Siletto, Naval or Bahia, is also excellent
for private use, being one of the best of oranges ;
8t. Michael's is also suitable for both purposes ;
Mandarin, Emperor of China; the Blood Orange or
Maltese is one of the best varieties ; Teneriffe is
similar in quality. — Leader.

Mahw.\ Flowers. — The expert trade in Mahwa or
or Mowha (Bassia latifolia) flowers to Europe for
distillation, which attained such large proportions a few
years ago, seems to have suddenly ceased. In 1884,
209,329 cwt.. valued at £67,066, were shipijed from
India; in 1885, 30,872 cwt., valued at £6091, were
shipped ; now the export has stopped. These flowers
constitute an important article of food among the
natives. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

Sv(iAR IvEriNiNG BY LuJNiTE. — The Aunce Scienti-
fique states that IM, Kleeman, of Schteningen, has
discovered a new method for purifying beetroot juice
by lignite, which it appears possesses the property
of purifying liquids. If pulverised lignite is mixed
with a turbid fluid, or with one having a disagreeable
taste or odour, a deposit is rapidly formed, and the
liquid soon becomes clear and loses its bad smell.
Cane, as well as beetroot sugar, may be refined by
lignite, and the process is very economical. The sugars
produced in this way have an agreeable taste, and
the syrups completely lose their taste of beetroot. —
Journal of the Society of Artg,

The i..\kgk Bamboo of India — An a few days
ago in tlu.' columns of the Pioueer, conveying a
public-si)iritrd offer from Mr. G. Jasper NichriU.s, C.S.,
to send, at his own expense, to anyone applying a supply
of seeds of the Bdjitbusa katany. But probably few
people not botanists appreciated the meaning of the
offer. The Hambusa katwix'j is not only the largest
bamboo grown in India, outside of Burma and
Assam, but from its habit of flowering only once in
55 or (JO years it is also excessively rare. Some speci-
mens exist at Jubbulpore, where they arc; remarkel by
every visitor for their beauty and size; but until these
should have arrived at the time for maturity and decay,
in another 40 years or so, it was not known tliat ther(^
would bo any seed procurable, in these parts of India at
any rate. 5Ir. Nicholls, however, was fortunate enough
to discover a clump in full flower recently on the banks
of the Mahauadi, in llaipur, and linowing what it was,
had all the seed scrupulously collected by the villagers,
and in the hope of getting the tree widely distributed
over Upper ludia, he is now offeriug it to the public.
The Bamhiisa katanr/ grows to a height of over (JU feet ;
its tall stem gives the best natural material for scaffold-
ing and in beauty as well as size it may claim to excel all
the varieties of bamboo known to the Ganges plain and
Deecan highlands. — Pioneer.

Seed potatoes must be carefully selected if good
re.sults are to be realised. Scabby potatoes planted
will yield a scabby crop, and disease put in the ground
to grow does so while the increase from the seed
potato is making. The " cheap und nasty " style of
doing things in agriculture, as in many other indus-
tries, is not the most profitable. — Planter and Farmer.
[Do the natives of Ceylon ever select seed in their
agriculture ? and has .■my one cultivator appreciated
the pedigree principle ? A good sweet potato is excel-
lent: a b?d one most ditasteful. — Ed.]

Uandsojie TkEES. — We have been informed of an
atrocious piece of vandalism which merits condign punish-
ment, if only the barbarous or malicious perpetrator or
per petrators of it could but be discovered. Two grand
specimens of that beautiful ornamental shade tree —
Calojilij/lluin inriphylliiiii—hnvc been seen and admired
for years past on the Card well beach by all who have gone
on shore there, and the tree although indigenous to Nor-
thern Queensland and India is very rarely to be seen in
this colony and does not take kindly to mote southern
latitudes. Old residents of the place take, a gi eat pride iu
these handsome trees, and they have deservedly been
looked upon as being among the " lions " of Cardwell. To
our astonishment we are informed that one of these
trees ha.s fallen by me;ins of the woodman's axe, and
that the remaining one is in danger of spoilatiou if
not annihilation. The Divisional Board of the place
say they have no control or responsibility in c )uuection
with the matter, and the entire population of the
place is in arms against the spoiler ; but the deed is
done and cannot be undone, and unless power is
granted — or exercised by those possessing it — to pre-
vent the evil going further the remaining tree is as
likely to disappear before this nineteenth century
vandalism as has the other. The tree takes its name
from its extremely beautiful foliage, the leaves being
oblong with a rounded apex and fully six inches or
more iu length. It is known iis a timber tree of con-
siderable value, and often grows to the height of 100
feet iu India, the wo id being reddish, with a d^rk^-r
coloured heart-wood, and is moderately hard and close-
grained. The seeds yield a dark green strong-scented
oil, which is used in India for burning aoil also
medicinally. Surely there are authorities in C^irdwell
who have sufticient powers vested in them to prevent
and punish such outrages, and to allow such v«iidal-
.■jsm to pass unnoticed, unchecked and unpunished is,
" 'isgrace to the colony and to nineteenth century
y.v'ilisation. — Planter and Farmer. [The tree alluded
to, (mentioned recently in our coluuins, with reference
to some fine specimens, recently in blo.ssom, now in
copious fruit in the ('oloiubo General Cemetery,) is not,
by any means valued as it ought to be as a shade
and ornamental tree. It is one of the few trees which
floiuishes iu the ealt-laden 6ea-breeze,— Ed.]

Juty i> iMij fm TUOPiCAL AdRICt/LTURlST,

65

CEYLON LEATHER.

A Loudon correspondent, writing by a recent mail,
says that he finds it extremely difficult to satis-
factorily account for the fact, that, while nearly
every other description of Ceylon produce receives
due appreciation in the London market, and fetches
a price exceeding that of similar articles sent from
other countries, the leather exported from this
colony always realizes something below the rates
obtainable for that sent from India and Rangoon.
Strictly speaking, perhaps, we should have used
the term " hides " in making this comparative
statement. It may, however, be well understood,
for of course, we do not export leather in its
finished state as such. But why, he asks, can it
be that buffalo hides sent from Ceylon as the rule
only secure rates at t)ie public sales something
below those obtained for such as are sent from
the countries abovenamed. He had heard it alleged
that the quality of the hide may puffer from the
fact that nearly all our island buttaloes, or a very
large proportion of them, are pastured on the salt
grounds on our coasts. Such pasturage as they
obtain there, is no doubt to a very large extent
subjected at certain seasons to the inroad of tidal
waters ; but then we may feel sure that even as
regards India and Rangoon a very considerable
number of the animals from which the hides ex-
ported thence are obtained, have similar feeding
grounds.

This reason, therefore appears to us to be hardly
a possible solution of the question. Indeed it
would almost seem as if the effect of salt in the
feed must go some way towards preparing the hides
for subsequent treatment. We certainly do not
see how it can exercise any prejudicial effect.
Another reason suggesting itself is that the Ceylon
shipments are greatly less in quantity to those
made from competing localities, and buyers never
bid so freely for small parcels as they do for con-
siderable (juantities of any description of article.
But, apart from these two guesses, our correspondent
feels there must remain some hidden cause which
has not yet seen the light. As we have said,
Indian and Rangoon or Moulmein hides top the
in competition with Ceylon ; but again,
buffalo hides beat all others. Tl.c
buffalo leather, indeed, has a very marked
pre-eminence in London sales. A friend of our
correspondent once purchased a travelling trunk
in Naples covered with this hide. That purchase
was made 22 years back and he is assured that,
notwithstanding the wear and tear of repeated over-
land journeys to and from India to which that
trunk has been subjected, it is as sound and as
serviceable as ever. Now there must be some
reason quite apart from any natural peculiarities
in the animal itself or from any circumstances
arising out of the character of its feeding grounds,
to account for the exceptional preference shown
by buyers at home for Italian hides. It would
make a considerable difference in the value of this
article of our export list if any defect now present
in our hides could be properly overcome. In re-
spect of bullocks, we know that the scarifying
and scoring of marks on their cattle by the
Sinhalese not only disfigure, but greatly destroy the
hides, but this would not apply to

market
Italian
Italian

the

value of
buffaloes

We are inclined to suspect that, after all, there
may be difference in the character of the treat-
ment by which the hide is prepared for shipment
9

after having b^en stripped. All those who have
prepared the skins of beasts that they have shot
know how comparatively difficult it is to do this
with efficiency if any time is suffered to elapse
before the skin is pegged down after death. It
would not be the first occasion by many in which
our products have suffered in reputation for want
of proper curing. There is an art undoubtedly in
the preparation of hides as in any other form of
preparing produce for sale, and, if our brethren
in India, or the natives ofjitaly, possess and pract-
ise superior methods to ourselves, we can under-
stand why London buyers give their skins the
preference. The vast acreage of land which is
available in Ceylon for the rearing of herds of
buffaloes makes it desirable that an industry so
suited to the instincts of a very large proportion
of our native population should be fostered as
much as possible. Can any of our readers give
us information on the subject? Many of them
. have travelled in India or have visited the Straits
Settlements, while not a few have silent some
time in Italy. Were we able to make a comparsiou
of the various methods of curing adopted in those
' several countries with that in vouge in Ceylon, we
should perhaps he able to arrive at a solution to
our query.

All that bears upon means of impiovement for
our island industries ought to possess a great in-
terest for every intelligent member of the com-
' munity. As we have said, in many matters of the
kind Ceylon has gone ahead of all competitors.
When, therefore, we see that in one particular
article of export she is lagging behind such com-
petition, it behoves us to do our best to set the
matter right. Is the question we have raised one
arising out of natural disqualification, imperfec-
tions of breed, or some such agency ? We strongly
suspect not, and that, as artificial methods always
admit of improvement, it only needs ventilation
of the subject to induce those who may liave
some experience in the matter here and elsewhere,
to come forward with their suggestions for effecting
the needful improvement. The matter is one in-
, deed so closely affecting the prosperity of the
; people, especially in the Cva and Eastern Pro-
I vinces, that the Government might well be asked
I to cause enquiry to be made.

Cuc.v or Ooca leaves in Peru have risen iu price
aim st 15 per cent. The soiling price being Is 9d a
pound, with an upward teudenoy. There is scarcely a
montlis' supply of these leaves ia the London market
— such is the demand for cocaine. — Kih/iri ICvpyexs.

OoFiEi; IN Southern India. — The unfavourable pros-
pects nf a month or two ago, have greatly improved since
the rains began. Leaf-disease was prevalent through-
out the di-strict and was disheartening the cotfee
planters, but now it has disappeared and altogethur
iudications are favourable. In the South and East crop
will be as good as can be expected. .Several small
estates were recently sold in Ootacamund, by order
of the Civil Court at ridiculously low prices. One coffee
estate with a foreclosed mortgaged debt of 7-000 rupees
realized ?00 rupees onl}', and others proportionately
small amounts. The c ntinued depression in the coffee
market at home prevents agents taking up the busi-
ness and making advances, and for want of such
assistance fine properties arc lapsing into jungle. One
of the Calicut firms ia doing a little in the way of
advances, but is feeling its way and picking and
choosing. The Investment Company have takeu
over the business of Stane & Co. in licjuidation, and
the latter are setting up in the premises formerly
occupied by the Cotton Cleaning Companv. Iheir
circular to their old constituents does not iudicate any
intention of travfclling in former QXQQyQ!i^-=-Jbi(J,

m

TUB TKOPXCAt AOmCVLTVmST,

[July i, i8S6«

CACAO: THE LONDON MARKET AND PRO-
DUCTION.

In order to arrive at any correct appreciation of the
movements in the cacao market it is necessary that the
sources of demand for the product should be understood
as well as the causes which lead to the fluctuations so
frequently taking place iu the value of the various
kinds. Cacao differs from coffee in this essential, that
it is used for purposes of manufacture, whilst coffee
goes directly into consumption, though it may ; perhaps,
be urged that even if coffee is not manufactured it is
considerably manipulated. Cacao is consumed by three
classes of purchasers, each distinct from the other, and
each having their special requirements. There is, first,
the home consumption of the most ordinary description
for the common flake cacao taken in very large quantities
by the Government for use in the Navy, in Jails, Poor-
Houses, S^c, whilst the English makers of chocolates
take only iho lower-priced article. The chocolate-
makers on the Coctinent.are divided into two classes :
those who flavor their goods with vanilla and other such
substances for France and Northern Europe, and those
who employ only cinnamon as a flavouring material.
These latter make for Italy, Turkey, Spain, Portugual
and other southern countries, and inasmuch as the
lower kinds of cacao do not readily combine with the
cinnamon flavoring, and more over do easily amalgamate
with such substances as arrowroot, sugar, and vanilla,
which enter into the composition of ordinary chocolates,
these are in request in England and France, but not in
the other countries named. You may notice that the
highest-priced cacao is the Guyaquil, especially the
" Ariba " kinds^ the reason being that this description is
of the finest golden brown, and is of such a delicate
nature as not to stand any adulterants or strong
flavorings, and, as the Spaniards and Italians are
extremely particular in regard to their chocolates, far
more so than the French, Germans, or English, the
makers for them will have none other, and do not care
much about price in order to secure what they want.
Ceylon cacao the most nearly of auy approaches the
Guyaquil description, especially in brightness of color ;
hence, when there is any short supply of the latter,
there is found to be a stronger enquiry for Ceylon kinds
of good quality. This was the case in the latter part of
last year, when, owing to drought and consequent short
crops in Guyaquil, shipments fell off from the ordinary
average of 220,000 arrobas of 100 lb to less than one-half.
The run upon Ceylon sorts, as you may remember, sent
the market price over 100s. Since then, however,
better times have occured, and this year it is expected
the Guyaquil crop will amount to 340,000 arrobas. —
London Cor. Local " Times."

KXAfc^ND

CINNAMON: THE LONDON MAE
PRODUCTION.

After a protracted difference between the London
brolers and the Cinnamon growers of your island, in
re.'pect of the holding of sales of spice, the practical
men of the Lane have been enabled once moie to adopt
the old moile of quarterly, in perference to the ill-
udged resort to monthly sales. On Mondav next, the
old system will be again adopted, that of selling on the
last day of every tbird month, and .so the 31st of .Alay
will henceforth be remembered as the restoration of
the ancient order of tbing.s, whether it will help to
restore the old scale of prices or any approach to them
n mains to be ceen. A few days ago I had a long
conversation with Mr, Kilby, of the old and well-known
.firm of spice broker.'^, whose acquaintance I had made
forty years ago when First Sort Cinnamon was selling at
eight shillings a pound. You may, perhaps, remember
that Mr. Kilby, during the wordy contest re monthly
Cinnamon sales, carried on for a long time, stoutly
opposed the innovation on the ground that it would be
iletrimental to the interests of all engaged in the
trade — grower.", shippers and dealers. He reminded me
that, in the controversy carried on upon the proposed
change, he had predicted as a consequence a fall in the
price of the article of thirty to forty per cent. And
what has been the result Y Second Sort spice was then
ftsbilliug;it isaow geveu peuce!— a decliue vl quite

forty per cent. In reply to my enquiry as to the effect
of reverting to the idd system he remarked that it was
alway.'< a most difficult task to work up prices from a
fall. The trade, once centred entirely in London, was
now scattered over the world, and, although Ceylon
still enjoyed the monopoly of the .article, which no other
country produces, there is a keen competition amongst
sellers in various countries. Orders are now executed
in Colombo for foreign houses at fixed rates, and those
continental firms put their spice on the market in Com-
petition with the London article, and so the price is
lowered as well as the market. This .system, added to
the monthly sales, was exercising a disastrous effect on
the cinnamon market. Whilst admitting his facts,
I .suggested that the diversion of the cinnamon trade
had no connection with the change in the order of sales,
but had taken place long previously, and was one con-
sequence of the opening of the Suez canal, and it could
no more be brought back to its old and accustomed
channels than could that of coffee. I reminded him
also of the existence of foreign mercantile firms in
Colombo, who will, of cours<>, conduct their business
relations direct with their continental constituents
rather than through the circuitous route of London.
He, however, maintained that a proper conduct of the
Cinnamon trade on the part of growers in Ceylon might
be the means of raising the standard of prices to what
they were five years ago. In reply to my further
enquiry as to the competition of Cassia, he said he
attached no importance to that ; it was such a different
article, and could only affect the fourth class of spice.
As for the effect of over-classing cinnamon, he said it
was quite inoperative. The trade was not to be deceived
by any such device, nor did the making up of low
qualities of spice in small thin quills to resemble the
finer sorts exercise the slightest influence on market
prices, which depended on the intrinsic quality of the
bark and not on its make up. — Ibid.

VEGETABLE PRODUCTS AT THE COLON-
lAL AND INDL\N EXHIBITION.

We propose in these notes to draw special atten-
tion to anything novel or striking in the collections of
vegetable products from the several colonies and de-
pendencies that may be likely to interest our readers.

Commencing with the West Indian Colonies, the
finest collections of fruits are those of New Grenada
and Jamaica. Those of the former colony are not
only large and well preserved samples, but the fruits
themselves are fine and extremely well grown. The
Nutmegs (Myristica fragrans) are remarkable for their
size as well as for the development and colour of the
iNIace. Here are also enormous clusters of fine fleshy
Cloves (Eugenia caryophyllata), splendid Cola nuts
(Oola acuminata) ; in the fruits, remarkably fine
Liberiau Coffee (Coffea liberica). Tamarind (Tama-
riudus iudica). Bread Fruit (Artocarpus incisa), Sweet
Potato (Ipomtea Batatas).

The Jamaica collection, though not such large speci-
mens, are well preserved, and are a very interesting
series. Besides many of those already mentioned are
several others of couiderable interest, such, for
instance, as Anacacha tubers (Anacacia esculenta),
an umbelliferous plant cultivated in the mountainous
districts of Nothern South America for the sake of
the tuberous roots, which form a staple article of
food amongst the people. When boiled they are
said to have a flavour between that of a Chestnut
and a Parsnip. ThR arnatto seeds (Bixa orellana)
shown in this collection are very fine and bright red
in colour. As these seeds are valued for the colour-
ing matter which surrounds them their commercial
value is considerably increased by their plumpuesa
and high colour. jNrnatto seeds are imported into
this country from ihe "West Indies, Eist Indies,
and Ceylon, besides which Arnatto paste is also
brought from the last-named island, but as this
commodity often reaches us in anything but a
fresh state, and as it is used largely iu cheese and
butter-making it would be to our advantage were
planters to send the seed* themselves, and of such
quality as is shown in the Jamaica collection, It is,

JVLV I, 1886.J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

^7

however, only just to several of the other colonies to
say, that their exhibits of Arnatto seeds are for the
most part of good quality. Amongst other products
less generally kuowu are fruits of the Akee (Blighia
sapida), a sapiudaceous tree, native of tropical Africa,
but iutroduced to the A\'est Indies by Captain Bligh,
of H. M. S. " Bounty " in 1793. These fruits are fleshy,
somewhat Pear-shaped, but flattened on their sides.
When ripe they are of a reddish colour with a yellow
tinge. They dehisce by three longitudinal slits, each
division containing a shining black seed partly en-
veloped in a white fleshy aris, which is the edible
part and has an agreeable sub-acid taste, which seems
to be developed only in tropical countries; those
grown in hothouses here are said to have no such
flavour, but to be very insipid. The collection from
the island of Dominica is one of much interest, some
of the exhibits being of excellent quality and unusual
size; this is notably the case with the pods of the
Purging Cassia (Cassia fistula), the soft, pulpy dis-
sepiments of which is used in English medicine as
a laxative, being imported from both the East and
West Indies. The tree is well known in tropical
and warm countries on account of its ornamental
character, for which purpose, as well as for a shade-
tree, it is much grown. In this court are shown
some specimens of Cairo ginger in remarkably large
brands, indicating, that if this quality of the ginger
is equal to that of Jamaica it might be worth some
attention. Antigua, St. Lucia, Tobago, and St. Viuceut
all make a good display, and each has many interest-
ing exhibits which want of space alone prevents us
referring to more in detail. There are also some
striking exhibits from British Honduras, notably a
magnificieut slab of figured Mahogany, 10 or 12 feet,
by about 4 feet wide. Honduras, it is well known,
is a Mahogany producing country, from whence large
(juantities of this valuable wood are sent to England,
but the dark transverse wavy lines as seen iu this
specimen, are exceptional iu Mahogany, and if it
were more frequent so as to be procurable in sufh-
cient (juantity a demand would soon be created for
it for superior cabinet-work. A large and interesting
collection of water-colour drawings illustrating the
flora of the West Indies, by Mrs. Blake, wife of the
Governor of the Bahamas, most of which are extremely
well done, are displayed iu the centre of the court.
The whole of the West Indiau divisiou is well arranged
and its general aspect pleasing, reflecting very great
credit on Mr. A. J. Adderly, C.M.G., the Executive
Commissioner for the West Indian Colonies. — John
E. Jacksox, Museum, Royal Gardens, Kew. — Gardeners'
Chronicle.

SHADE-DBIED AND HUN-DRIED COFFEE.

Nearly a year ago we commented on the alleged
deterioration of colour in InJian plantation coffee,
and endeavoured to find an explanation of the bad
prices that had been realised by the previous season's
crop. The numerous letters which we received about
the same time from correspondents proved that
planters were well aware of the importance of the
subject. As might have been expecti-d, unusual care
was taken duriug the last season on estates and in
curing establishments, and, as a result— although the
season was on the whole unfavourable, owing to heavy
rain in December — the account sales already to hand
show, in most cases, a marked improvement, which
we hope will be maintained to the end. At the
beginning of crop, wheu everyone concerned was cast-
ing about for some means of improving his treatment
of the coffee, information was received from London
— so circuitous are the modes of conmiunicatiou
between planting districts in this country — that the
most surprisingly good results had been obtaiued by
a few Goorg and Mysore planters from a new, or
revived, sy.stem of drying their parchment under
shade. The improvement was so marked, that some
coffee done in this way realised £20 per ton better
than another shipment from the same estate dried
in the open. One planter, whose coffee sold for over
£100 a ton, was said to have not dried it at all, but

to have loaded it into carts from the pulping
vats. We presume that in this case the estate was
near the curing-works. The experiment strikes one
as rather a dangerous one, though it has been tried,
we believe, in Ceylon on estates near the railway,
where coffee can be delivered at the Colombo works
a few hours after its despatch. The plan, however,
that is said to have answered best was to drain off
the water ia the sun for. about twelve hours ; then
to dry down to about 401b. per bushel under shade
pandals; after which, the parchment could be reduced
to any convenient despatching weight iu the sim.
The London brokers testified to the superiority of
this coffee over the ordinary sun-dried, and the (juestion
arose, if it were worth while to adopt the system
generally, or if the better price realised was merely
accidental, and connected with the locality where the
coffee was grown. The district which suffered most
from the low prices in 1884-85 was Wynaad, and the
Planters' Association there appointed a Committee to
make experiments with a view to discovering where
tlie fault in curing lay. The Committee's report
has not yet been published, but it is understood that
neither it, nor the Coast fii-ms who cured the Wynaad
crop, are able to detect any marked difference iu
the shade-dried over the sun-dried coffee. It may be
admitted that nobody can speak with absolute cer-
tainty as yet, because the full results of the Loudon
sales have not yet reached India, and, in several
cases, owing to the shortness of notice that was given,
only the latter part of crops could be shade-dried ; but
it is worth noticing that the crop from Coorg, where
the new plan was presumably more generally known
and adopted, is spoken of in the brokers' circulars
as very disappainting, and as inferior to last year's.

Without, however, attempting to guess what sur-
prises Mincing Lane may have in store for planters,
there are two facts which lead us to suppose that
the good prices given for a few shade-dried crops
last year was due to some other cause than the
drying, and that it will be found unprofitable and
impracticable to carry out the process on most estates.
The first is, that from the time the parchment is
taken from the vats till it reaches a fair despatching
weight of about 35 lb. per bushel, the colour of the
bean remains perfectly good, whether it is sun-dried
or shade-dried, and nobody who has taken samples at
dift'ereut weights is able to perceive any dift'crenco
between specimens vmdergoing the two processes.
For peeling it is necessary to dry the coft'ee further
down to about 28 lb. per bushel, and as it is imposs-
ible (except on an experimental scale) to accomplish
this in the damp climate where the coft'ee is grown,
it has to be done in the curers' yards. There is uo doubt
the colour does fade to some extent between these
last weights, but, as far as experiments go, it fades
in the case of shade-dried as much as in the other.
Tedious as the process would be, this last reduction
might be made under shade — it must be remembered
that it was not done so in the cases we reft'ered to
from Coorg — if the certainty existed of better prices
being obtained, but, as far as we know, there is no
evidence of this. The second objection to shade-
drying is its great cost. In the ordinary process,
and with fair weather, the parchment can be put
into store after about three days' sun, and, on
most estates, the barbecue space is only avail-
able for a quantity based on this calculation, so that
even as it is, planters often find themselves a good
deal hampered in rainy weather. Now, the Coorg
advocates of shade-drying calculated that from thirteen
to seventeen days are required for their system ; hence
at least four times as much room would have to be
provided, and before people begin to cut out coft'ee
to provide this, they will need some stronger assur-
ance than they yet possess of the certainty of im-
proved prices, and the absence of all riok, for, in a
good many cases where the experiment was made
last season, the shade-driers found themselvt-s on the
verge of disaster from their parchment heating.

It may, perhaps, be asked what steps may be re-
commended for avoidance of the repetition of the
low prices realised in 1884-85. To a great extent,

68

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July i, x886.

doubtless, the difficulty ia one that planters can grap-
ple with without going macli outside the ordinary
groove. As we have said above, a great iuiprovumeat
is ah-eady visible iu pric(!s from the extra attention
paid to curing this year. It is presumed that this will
continue to be given in future seasons, and that
whatever improvements may bo possible will bo made
in buildings. Cotfee should not be kept longer on
estates than is absolutely necessary ; it is often so
kept iu order to avoid sending small <iuautities down
to the coast, as lb is considered mure convenient for
the curing firms to receive a large consignmsut. Bat
coffee kept amidst the alternating heat and wet of
the planting districts would seem almost certain to
deteriorate. The questions of manuring and shade,
which have been persistently dragged into the con-
trover.sy have, most probably, nothing to do with the
question of colour; they are important in themselves,
and cannot be too mu';h attended to by planters ;
but a study of the prices realised in 1884-85 show
that in some cases parchment from semi-abandoned
estates commanded as high prices as that from
hi;ihly-mauured and well shaded ones. Shade and
manuie are two of the chief factors iu making an
estate pay now-a-days, but the colour of parchment
has nothing to do with them. — Madras Mail.

AGRICULTURAL EXPERIBIEXTS.

At the present time much attention is being directed
to the subji^cb of agricultural experiments, an 1 several
couuty societies are organising various schem ;s with
a view ta verify or disprove the teachings of Rotham-
sted and Woburn, as regards their particular localities.
Thus the Norfolk County Society are going to ex-
periment on root crops ; the Yorkshire Agricultural
Society are following in a similar line; whilst the
Bith and West of England have induced a large
number of their members, in different parts of their
extensive country, to go in for what we trust may
prove most va'.uable work. At such a time, then,
it may interest som of our readers to hear what
have been the results of the work of the Sussex
Association for the improvement of agriculture in
1385. It will be remembered that this association
was formed a few j'ears since, partly in order to
test the correctness of results obtained by Professor
.Tamieson in Aberdeenshire as to the comparative
effects of finely ground coprolites and superphosphate,
and the question of division or dissolving in ths case
of steamed bone flour versus dissolved bones, inas-
much as the northern investigation appeared to indic-
ate that the use of sulphuric acid was not only
unnecessary, but actually injurious. This was indeed
a result so surprising, and, if correct, having such
an important bearing on future practice, that it was
most important that similar experiments should be
carried out under climatic conditions as widely dis-
sinylar as possible ; hence the Sussex experiments, which
have been under the managemfnt of Professor
Jamiesoa, whose opinions have naturally met with
much opposition from many agricultural chemists.
The laying down of permanent pasture and the
improvement of oil pasture land were the subjects
decided ii be dealt with, as of great importance in
a county where tenacious clay prevails to a large
extent, and where nearly three-fifths of the entire
agricultural area is occupied by pasture. Dry summers,
though highly advantageous for most purposes, have
not favoured the work either as regards seeding
down, or applying manures to ol<l pastures. Thus,
at the Harvest Hill Station, where the experiments
are on old grass, the drought prevented any bene-
ficial influence from drainage; indeed, the undrained
plots gave best results. Harrowing in renovating
seeds was also a failure. Manuring, however, did
good ; the light and active aimual dressings of manure
gave bettor results than from the heavy and .slow
flressiu'^s, and from dung; and that the best results
followed from annual dressings containing dissolved
phosphate and nitrates of potash and soda. At this
same station, a plot of the worst portion of the old
grass has been ploughed out and resown, but, owing

to climatic conditions, the results so far are anything

but satisfactory ; the plant is thin, though vigorous,
and, in consequence of blank spaces, smothered with
weeds. It will be desirable that this experiment
should be carefully tested, because we believe that
however poor old grass land is, it is capable of im-
provement by judicious treatment, which may include
well harrowing the surface, and possibly iu some
cases subsoiling, rather than by breaking it out.

There are many interesting matte s treated of in
the report, the question of cost of different grass
seeds for example. A table is given stating jjrice
per lb. and per milli m germinating seeds, which show
that whilst catstail (Phleum pratense) costs only 3d.
per miilion seeds, meadow foxtail (Alopecurus praten-
sis), which is at the other eud of the tal)le, cost 7s.
lid. per million seeds, and prices range from 2.Vd. to
Is. 6d. a lb., the lowest rate being that of Italian
and perennial rye grass, which sufficiently explains
why these grasses figure so largely in many seeds-
men's mixtures. A table is given showing the cost
per acre of different grasses for a full seeding of
eight million seeds per acre, equal to one seed to
three-quarter square in A: Pnleum p'-itense, 2s. 3d. ;
Poi trivialis, 7s 2d. ; Ljlium perenne, 7s. 9d. ; Dactylis
glom>'rata, 13s. 41. ; Cvnosufus cristatus, 19s.; Festuca
pratensis, 33s.; Alopecurus pratense, tl3s. 7d,

The experiments of tae Sussex Society are not
confined to grasses. On very pojr sand at Hassocks a
series of experiments are in progress, to prove the
comparative durabdity of different manures on a
rotation of crops comprising turnips, barley, hay,
grass and oats. The results on the turnip crops in
18 ia were as follows: —

Weight in tons
lier acre.

(1) 10 cwt. |in. bones 12-61

(2) 15 „ dissolved bones 1S\S(3

(3) 0 „ steamed bone flour 15-84

(4) I) „ steamed bone and 1 cwt.

nitrate of soda 16'9G

(5) 1 „ nitrate of soda and 1§ civt.

nitrate of potash 5 "13

(6) 10 „ ground coprolites 1(M8

(7) 22 „ dissolved coprolities

(superpho.sphate) 17"18

(8) No manure '53

/"o cwt. bones, 3 cwb. dissolved "^

,Q\J bones Cir. IS

■'Ih » Nitrate potash and 12 tons r^'^^''
V, dung ...)

{6 cwt. steamed bone flour, | nit- \
rate of soda ............. L^g.
k ,. nitrate of potash, 12 tons i
dung - j

The interesting features of these results are .- — First,
the absolute necessity for phosphorus ; secondly, the
effect of ground coprolitis, and the very slight^ in-
crease when they are dissolved, as seen by comparison
of Nos. 6 and 7.

A subject of even greater interest is the comparative
tendency to disease iu the crop when treated with
coprolites and dissolved coprolites, which was shown
by similar experiments in Aberdeenshire, where in
two plots, each lOOth of an acre, that treated writh
coprolites contained only five diseased plants, a similar
plot with superphosphate gave twenty-three diseased
plants, We know that some sheep breeders have
attributed increased tendency to diseases in their
flocks to the use of artificial manure. It may possibly
prove that, as regards one form, which contains
free acid, there may be some truth in this idea.
Experiments as to the comparative value of finely-
ground coprolites, and similar quantities of coprolites
dissolved, and steamed bones against dissolved bones,
are so easily carried out, and the results are financially
so imoortaut, that local societies will do well to
advocate such tests. Yield of crop, proportion of
disease, and chemical composition are the questions
to be answered. Farmers are only beginning to under-
stand the importance of such questions, or to have
an idea of what a correct knowlelge of manure,
values means financially. We recently met with a

July i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

69

farmer who, by great industry, had studied the question
and learnt the commercial and agricultural value of
manures and farming on a large scale, who estima-
ted the value of such knowledge as he possessed at
a saving of fully £'200 a year.

The Manchester and Liverpool Society are carrying
out a series of experiments to determine the best
mixture of seeds for (1) permanent grass, (2) for
leys of two or three years, (3) the comparative value
of different artificial mixtures on oats, and experi-
ments on varieties of potatoes, and plots for tke
growth of the different grasses. Land has been
provided on Mr John Roberts's farm near Chester,
owned by Mr. W. E. Gladstone. The grass seed
mixtures have been sown in a crop of oats, and
each member of the society has been furnished with
a plan of the plots and full particulars. The arrange-
ments have been made by Mr. Robert Holland, the
society's botanist ; aud in carrying out the details
he has been ably assisted by Mr. John Roberts, the
tenant of the farm, one who fully appreciates the
immense importance of the work. The following
extract from the report of the Experimental Committee
will show the object in view: —

The committee suggest that, in addition to the
practical test of grazing the permanent grass seeds
next year, which the council aud members may judge
of for themselves in occasional visits, the society's
botanist, Mr Holland, should make periodical visits
of inspection, and report annually in the Journal
on the quality of all the pastures, their growth in
this and subsequent years, the degree in which the
grasses are grazed to stock, their comparative value
as pastures, their relative cost in seeding, and such
other facts as would lead to a better knowledge of
the best kinds and proportions of seeds to sow for
permanent pasture.

We anticipate very important results from this
movement on the part of local societies, and we
feel sure that, if carefully and conscientiously worked
out, these experiments will in time give data which
will influence our practice, and lead to more econom-
iail and scientific agriculture. — Field.

Dr. Trimen's Report for 1885 on the various bota-
nic gardens in Oeylon, of which he is Director, is
a very satisfactory document, as such reports from
our colonial gardens generally are. It contains a
considerable number of meteorological observations,
and describes the arrangements made to carry out
the scheme of a garden at Baduba, in the new
province of Ceylon, for which funds have been voted.
The usual report on the distribution of plants and
seeds is given, and then comes a long list of addi-
tions to the collections of plants at the various gardens,
which is followed by some interesting notes on economic
plants and products. Under this h^ad be makes various
recommendations and suggestions which wdl no ioubt
be of the utmost value to perplexe 1 plmters who
are assailed on all sides by dangers which are only
too apparent, but which it reqnire-i wcie itific train-
ing and inv. stigation to combat. Thus he advises
thao tea and cinch jna should not be growu together,
a'* it is only in such cases that the plan'er's .scourge,
helopeltis, does any appreciable damage to tea. un
the other hand, he thinks that the diminution in
the cultivation of cacao, through dread of helopeltis,
is unreasonable, for the insect only attai;ks cacao
grown in the open, and not th^t. htowu under the
shaiie of trees, for example. Th»- Ceyl'>n Herba'-ium
has been arranged during the y' ar in accoiditnce
with Dr. Trimen's " System.ttic Oat logut- of (Jeylou
Plants," and in the worn: of rearranging ue was able
to put together a series of notes tlescnhing about
2ft0 additions to the flora of Ceyl'ju, a:id 40 new
species or varities. That much yet remains to be
done is obviou!? from the fact thao daring 1885
fifteen additional have bean discovered in the island,
many ^f which are striking plants. The Government
has approved the formation of an exhiintion con-
tuiuing specimens of the plants, grains, &c., of the
island. Like many other colonial officials, Dr. Tri-

men has been busy during the past year preparing
for the Colonial and Indian E.xhibition, where the
series of woods in the Ceylon section was prepared
by him. — Nature.

Coffee in Cfa'lon lias come to a low pitch,
but scarcely so low as the Editor of the "Journal
of Horticulture" would make it out to be, when
ill writing on the " Colindies," he speaks of an
average of 500,000 lb. of coffee berries being re-
ceived in London from Ceylon. "Cwt" was
probably meant, though of late years 200,000 cwt.
would be nearer the average ; but in "lb." this would
be well on for 25 millions.

The T. a. — A Fiji planter who has never been
in Ceylon, writing by last mail, says : — "I feel I must
express my acknowledgements and thanks that
I have continued to receive your most vain-
able aud practical paper most regularly. We
have been for some time passing through a
most trying time of depression in this colony, and
it still seems very doubtful when and how any
change for the better is likely to arise. Hoping
however for better times yet."

Ro^.vr, Botanic Gardens, Ceylon. — Dr. Trimen's
report indicates continued progress aud usefulness in
the gardens under his charge. A Thwaites Memorial,
in the shape of au octagonal building in the ordin-
ary Kandyan style, and modelled after a Sinhalese
temple, has been erected in the garden. No rain
fell in January at Peradenyia, but the total for the
year was 92 inches, distributed over 14G days. At
Ha-kgalla the rainfall was 83 inches, over 215 daj's.
The maximum air temperature at this station was
79^', on August 31 ; the minimum 43'^.5, on February 3.
Coffee planting is steadily diminishing, but Tea has
been exported very largely, and Cinchona bark also.
In spite of an estimate of 70,000,000 of trees, and
an acreage of 18,24b under Cinchona, Dr. Trimen
counsels the further extension of planting. Caoutchouc
and Gutta-percha trees of various kinds are mostly
doing well; Sechium edule is mentioned as a pro-
mising vegetable, while the beautiful Carica cundina-
marccusis is spoken of as '■ a very valuable intro-
duction. Stewed, or cooked in tarts and puddings,
it has very much the flavour of apples, aud for
mincemeat it is quite equal to them. It is also very
good, when fully ripe, eaten raw with a little sugar."
The Kumara, Ipomcea chrysorhiza has turned out
very suitable for culture in Ceylon as a substitute for
the Potato. A second edition of Dr. Trimen's useful
Hand-guide has also been issued, with maps. — Garden-
ers^ Chronicle.

The Products of Borneo. — In a report from Buinei,
Borneo, it is stated that amongst the staple articles
of produce, sago and gutta-percha hold a prominent
plhce ; the planting of new lands with Sago Palm is
making steady progress to meet the demand. During
the year 1884 the sujiply of gutta-percha fell off,
•'but this was owing, to some extent, to the increas-
ing scarcity of the gutta-yielding trees, which are
ilt-stroyed for the sake of the immediate larger yield,
an<l no system of planting beiug introduced to make
up for the continual drain, the work of collection
is gradually becoming more burdensome and less and
less profitable. For a like reason the collection of
gutta susiu, or ludia-rubber, shows a falling off, though
in this case a rise in the market value would with
less difficulty be met by au increased production.
The cultivation of Gambler (Uncaria gambier) and
Pepper, now amongst the settled industries of the
cou'.itry, do not make such progress as the resources
of tlie jungle lands could well stand, nor do the
liberal terms on which the (ioverument are willing
to make grants of laud for agricultural purposes
appear to attract the attention from outside which
they deserve ; still the production of Gambier last
year was larger than in any previous year." " Rattans
form another important item in the export from
Sarawak, with the prospect of the trade increasing
as th*^ Baram district gets more thoroughly opened
to collectors." — Gardeners' Chronicle.

70

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[July i, 1886.

Colour of Coffek. —There has been considerable dis-
cussion among the various Planters' Associations during
the past year on this subject, but we none of us hive
apparently arrived any nearer the solving of this
difficult problem. Shade drying was thought to be
able to set the colour better : but from all accounts
this is not the case, and coffee cured in this way has
realized considerably lower prices than that dried in
the open. It is probable that the seasons have more
to do with colour than anything else. — From Ik port
Coory Planters' Association.

Coffee. — At the late meeting of the Acclimatisa-
tion Society, the Governor, 8ir Anthony Musgrave
insisted very strongly on the value of coffee as an
industry for Queensland. " The coffee grown here "
he said " would not probably be so good in (juality
as Jamaica coft'ee, but it would make up in quantity
for quality. It was a most important subject for
the Government of this colony to consider." Inter-
viewed subsequently he said that " the expenses
attendant upon the construction and maintenance of
proper mills was prohibitive upon small holders of
land, costing as they did from £t,000 to £5,0(J0 in
initial outlay alone, but by the establishment of a
large Central Mill, encouragement could be given to
cultivators large and small, who could dispose of their
produce much more profitably, than could be the
case with sugar growers." Sir Anthony Musgrave is
the owner of coffee plantations, and deserves to be
listened to with attention on this subject. — Mackay
Mercury. — [While Brazil swamps the world with coffee
as it now does, the Queensianders had better content
themselves with going merely for local requirements,
although we doubt if even that will pay. — Ed.]

The Yield and Cost of Cocaine.— Dr Squibb
(Ephemerin, July, 1885) says the arrivals of coca leaves
have been abundant, and the quality generally good.
Assays of various samples gave proportions of alkaloid
varying from '38 to *55 per cent., equal to 266 to 38'5
grains per lb. The latter should theoretically yield
43*36 grains of hydrochlorate, " but, although such coca
has been worked, no such yield has been realised by the
writer, and it is rather discreditable to have to say that
not over 33 grains to the lb. has yet been reached, and
this not as a general average." The price of coca leaves
has been very uncertain for some time past, Ijut it may
be assumed " that good coca, giving an available yield of
33 grains to the lb., can now (June 29) be had at 50c.
per lb." Dr. Squibb's calculation is, therefore, in
English money: —

1 lb. coca leaves 2.v. Id.

Cost of extraction ... 5s. Qd.

for 33 grains, or say 2kd, per grain. Vial, label, and
overweight inputting up brings this to 3(/. per grain, to
which he ailds 2(/. per grain for manufacturer's profit,
as " such articles ;.re not worth making unless the profit
upon them be liberal, especially until the losses in
acquiring a g^-^d process be ful'y compensated." —
Chemist and Druggist.

Lemons Pke.ekve.i Eight Months. — The following
from the Sunfo ', F.a , Journal touches upon a matter of
importance to fruit-growers and shippers, and should
lead to experiments and tests iu the direction
named: — AV« hnve in our office a lemon, of common
variety, that was clipped From the tree that bore it,
with a number of nt lers, in July last. It was grown
by J. F. Prince on Dr. Gordon's place on Silver Lake,
and, with a quantity of others— perhaps a half-bushel
— was buried in the grove when clipped, as an ex-
periment. Mr. Prince had forgotten the circumstance
until a few days ago, when, while ploughing the
grove, several of the lemons were upturned by the
plough. Recalling the fact that he had placed them
there, his surprise and gratification upon finding all
of them in a state of perfect preservation can well
be imagined. These lemons were buried in ordinary
soil, and not under cover, and therefore have been
subjected to the vicissitudes of weather, heat, cold
and moi.sture. Query : If lemons will keep under
such circumstances, why should not oranges? And
if oranges can be kept thus, is not the question
of the protraction of our marketing period settled ?
To us the lesson taught by Mr. Prince's expcrimeut

is a valuable one, if a lesaou at all. It is at least
a suggestion which producers should regard of sufficient
significance to prompt further experiment. — American
Grace /■.—[The inference seems to be that oranges
and lemons could be sent long distances packed in
earth. — Ed.]

How Forest Tbees Spread. — It is a wise provision,
which insures the multiplication of our most valuable
forest trees, that their seeds are winged, and so blown
about or enclosed in nuts which are relished by squirrels
and birds, and thus carried to new places. That a
grove of beeches will almost always be succeeded
by maples is an old saying. — Southern Planter.

TouACco IN Devon. — It may be of interest to our
readers, especially those residing in or near the coun-
ty of Devon, to learn that Mr. Samuel Eliott
(Lucombe, Pince & Co.) has been granted permission
by the Board of Inland Revenue to make experi-
ments in the growth and curing of Tobacco in that
county. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

Value of the Olive Tree. — A gentleman, says the
Saw, Francisco Herald, has recently collected 12,000
cuttings of the olive tree for planting. The olive is
most successfully grown from cuttings, and the 12,000
will make a fine grove. When set in an orchard in the
usual form, they will cover 100 acres. An olive tree
when ten years old is estimated to be worth ten dollars,
and a grove of 100 acres, or 12,000 trees, will aggreg-
ate a value of 120,000 dollars. These are estimates
made upon the value and profits made upon Mr.
Cooper's olive trees, in Santa Barbara, and single trees
elsewhere. The olive grows well throughout this region,
and the demand for its fruit and oil is good and in-
creasing.— Buri/oyue's, >Sc., Monthly Export Price Current,
Waets on Horses. — These excrescences are often
very annoying to horses, and very unsightly, especially
when occurring about the eyes. Treatment-. — A wart
having a broad base should be thus treated. Take a
common suture needle and arm it with a double
ligature, each ligature to be composed of three threads
of saddler's twine, well waxed ; pass the needle right
through the centre of the wart close down to the base ;
tie each half separately with a surgeon's knot as tight
as possible, cut the ends off pretty close to the knot,
and in the course of a short time the whole will drop
off. A wart having a small circumscribed pedicle may
be removed by strangulation by tying a single ligature
round its base. If the exposed surfaces should not
heal readily moisten them occasionally with Friar's
balsam, and if they show a disposition to ulcerate,
sprinkle them with powdered charcoal and bloodroot,
equal parts mixed. — Ibid.

China-csrass (Boshmeria Nivea). — The frequent re-
currence or re-introduction of China-grass or Rhea
fibre to the notice of commercial men is a fact well
known, and each time the plant is brought to notice
some novel mode of preparing the fibre is announced,
or some new machinery is invented. The latest of
these is a patent of Messrs. Raabe, Zimmermann &
Houchct, which cleans the fibre in a purely mechan-
ical manner without any assistance whatever from chemi-
cals. A handful of the stems of the Rhea is put into the
machine at one time; they are carried rapidly through
and delivered on the other side, when it is seen that
the whole of the woody portion of the stems is
broken and loosened, so that it is easily shaken out
by again passing the partially cleaned fibre through
a similar machine a second and third time ; the fibre
comes out quite cleaned of woody particles, and after
it has been hackled it is as fine as flax, and, like
tiax, is of a greenish colour; the fibre, however, is
iu a perfectly natural state, beinjj simply removed
from its position in the stem, and after being woven
it can of course bo bleached like an ordinary fla.x
fabric, or dyed if rc(juired. The inventors of this
machine claim for its advantages over other machines
for cleaning Rhea fibre because of its simplicity in
preparing the fibre for spinning purposes by simply
removing it from its position in the stem without
weakening it by the action chemicals or bleaching
compounds, besides which the fibre is removed from
the stem in its entire lenght, which is, of course,
great advantage in s\)ixm\ng.— Gardeners' Chronicle.

JULV i, 1886.J

THE TROPICAL AORICyLTURiST-

0Ti

71

^^- mill

The Tropical Agriculturist, Vol. V. — Sub-
scribers to our monthly periodical have now, we
trust, received their June number, the twelfth
and last of the fifth volume, with the title, pre-
face and index. The compilation and printing of
the latter necessarily delayed this month's issue,
the delivery of which commenced last week.
However, the first or .July number of the sixth
volume, will, we are glad to say, be published on
its due date, and we think we may take credit —
considering the drawbacks in a busy daily news-
paper office — for the punctuality with which the
ordinary issues of the " T. A." are supplied month
by month. We can also testify to the continued
appreciation of our labours both among European
planters and native agriculturists : all speak of
the usefulness of the " T. A." for its information
and the ready reference it affords to any question
arising in connection with their daily work, with
the sales of produce (now stitched in separate
sheets), &c. Nevertheless, our expectation that
the " T. A." would come to be regarded as
an indispensable part of the office furnishing on
each plantation of any consequence, has scarcely
yet been fully realized. The loss must be that of the
estate or proprietor, more than of the printers,
and in order to call the attention of agents and
proprietors to the subject, we have prepared a
• circular ' to be addressed to them which we re-
produce here, as follows : —

We venture to call your attention to our monthly
publication, the Tropical Agricultnrist, now beginning
its sixth year, and acknowledged on all sides to be the
most useful and complete repertory of information for
the tropical planter in the world.

It has been our aim from the beginning to put into
its pages everything bearing on the practical work of
the cultivators of Tea, Cinchona. Cacao, Coffee, Rubber,
Palms, Fruits, Fibres, or any other of the many new
and old products planted within the tropics, not only
quoting discuseious in our own and other Ceylon and
Indian papers, but from our agricultnral, scientific and
general exchanges from all quarters ; and by supplying
a very carefully prepared index with each annual
volume, to enable the planter to lay his finger on inform-
ation bearing upon any plant or fruit tree, under his
notice at the time.

We exi^ected in commencing this undertaking that
on every plantation of any importance, at least in
Ceylon and Southern India, a copy would be filed for the
use of the ^Manager, by order of the Proprietor or
Agents. But although that has been done in a good
m.iny cases, there are a great many blanks, and
now that through Tea, Bark, and other products
some degree of prosperity is returning, we think it
well to call the attention of proprietors to the great
advantageof their Superintendents having the periodi-
cal filed and bound up in volumes on their estates.
We may say that we pass over nothing we see bear-
ing on tea planting or preparation, 011 improved means
of deahng with Cinchona, Cacao. Rubber, kc, without
placing it in the Tropical Agricallnrlst, and several
experienced planters, both in India and Ceylon, have
said no estate worthy of the name should be without
this work of reference and information,

Mr. Thiselton Dyer (c.m.o.) of Kew, Dr. Trimen of
our Ceylon Gardens, Dr. King of Calcutta, Dr. Bidie
of Madras, Mr. D. Morris of Jamaica, and other
similar authorities have spoken in the highest terms
of its value to all cultivators : the first named stating : —

" Sir Joseph Hooker and myself always look out for
the succes.sive numbers of the 1\ A. with eagerness,
and I keep a file in my office for reference. It is im-
posnible to speak too highly of the utility of such a
publication and of the way it is managed."

" It is an astonishing repertory of everything re-
lating to the economic botany of the East."

Market reports of the sales of all produce are in-
cluded in the local issues, so that tea-makers, carda-
mom and cacao planters and others can see what
their own and their neighbours' produce has realized

from month to month and year to year, as a guide
and means of comparison.

We trust therefore that you will see your way to
giving us an order for the Tropical Affricnlturist to
be sent and filed on each of the plantations in which
you are interested, and it will be our endeavour to
increase the usefulness of this Planter's Vade Mecum
by every means in our power.
With our issue today, the Title, Preface and Index
to Vol. V. of the Tropical Agriculturist is issued
as a Supplement.

Tea. IX Amoy, 22nd May. — Our tea manufactory has,
with the commencement of the warm weather, started
its operations afresh, and the former charge of 5 centa
per lb. has been reduced to 3| cents. Tea from Tamsui
arrives freely, the steamers " Fokien " and "Formosa"
bringing full cargoes. — Daily Fress. [3i cents of silver
dollar equal to 7 cents of rupee ? — Ed. C. O.]

Trinid.u). — The cultivation of tea, ground nuts
and onions is spoken of by the Trindad New Era
among the future minor industries of that island,
That white elephant of the Trinidadians, the
Government railway, is likely to be taken off the
hands of the unfortunate taxpayers by a private
company. This on the authority of the New Era,
which also chronicles an accident on the line by
which a guard lost his life. — Bominica Dial.

Natai. Tea. — I have had an opportunity of exam-
ining the samples of Natal tea that were sold this
week, and give y"u the result of the broker's report
on the parcel : — There is evidently the making of a
fairly good marketable tea in the leaf, but, probably
from inexperience of the maker, there was evidently
a defect in the withering, and imperfect fermentation.
In liquor, it came out fairly dark, but the leaf shewed
up mixed brown and brown-green with but little of
the fine bright coppery color of well-made tea. I
hear that a Natal Tea Company is about to be floated,
a small affair, but shewing how public attention and
public capital is being directed towards this leaf.
Next week's sales are not likely to be much above
the average, though later in time there will be a fair
quantity on the market. — Local "Times"

Silk.— Mr. T. Wardle, of Leek, has just returned
to England from India after examining the cultiv-
ation of the silkworm and the methods in use of-
reeling the silk. He is satisfied that the fibre of
the Indian silk was quite equal to that of Italian,
and that improvement in the machinery and
method of reeling was all that was required. The
Indian worm, however, only spins 150 metres of
silk, on one cocoon, while the more highly-tended
and selected Italian worm produces 650 metres. He
suggests that the Government should rear a limited
quantity of cocoons, from which a careful selection
of " seed" only shall be made. — M. Mail.

The Devastating and Prolific Spakroav.-— That
sentiment is not always to be trusted is seen in the
ravages which rabbits have created among the crops
in Australia. It was sentiment that induced their
introduction, and it was sentiment that led an old
Highlander to introduce the thistle, which it has cost
more than one Colony thousands of pounds to extirpate,
since it grew so rapidly and injured the wool with its
burrs to such an extent that it had to be stamped out
at any cost. Similarly, Australians complain of the
humble and insignificant sparrow as a "nuisance." It
was introduced in an evil hour to accentuate home
influences, but lias increased to such an extent that the
Colonists have long been offering a reward for its head,
Complaints are heard every now aud then of he im-
possibility of keeping this pest down, and lately one
man has told how in tou days they cleared his vineyard
of a tou and a half of grapes, and stripped live fig-
trees which had been loaded with fruit. Another has
lost 30/. worth of fruit from a comparatively small
garden. A third has liad 15 acres ol luceru grass de-
stroyed, while a fourth says he had to sow his peas
three times, and each time the spai-rows devoured them.
— Colonies and India. [Beyond all else the cherry crops
suffer from the depredations of sparrows,— Ep. C. 0,]

72

^HE TROPICAL A^f?re0tfU8Igt,

[JULY I, 1B86.

MARKET RATES FOR • OLD AND NEW PRODUCTS.

(From Lewis d: Peat's London Price f\rrent, June 3>d, 18S6.J

FROM JIALABAR

COAST, COCHIX,

CEYLON, MADRAS, &c.

QrALITY.

QUOTATIONS,

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

QUALITY

QUOTATIONS

BEES' WAX, White

Y'ellow
CINCHONA BARK— Crown

Re.!

CARDAMOMS Malabar

and Ceylon

j Slig)itly sofUsh to good

CINNAMON

COCOA,

\ hard bright ...ijCC 10s a £7103

Do. drossy & dark ditto.. .If 5 a £6

Renewed jls a 3s

(Medium to fine Quill ...ils Id a 2s 6d

'Spoke shavings 9d a Is 6d

Braufh !2d a Sd

iRene-wfcd 'Sd a 2s 6d

Medium to good (^nill ... (id a 2s Hrl

Spoke shavings iod a lOii

Branch 2d a lid

Twig jld

.Clipped, bold, bright, fine!2s gj a .'is
'Middling, stalky & leaiij3d a 2s nd
Aleppee iFair to fiuoplnmpelipped Is ."Jd a 2s .3d
TellioherryiGood to fine ...ts Cd a 2s 4d

^Brownish ...'Ch\ a Is :W

Mangalore .Good & fine, washed, l)gt.j Is fid a .".s :;d

Long Ceylou Middling to good \S,\ a Is id

Ists Ord. to fine pale quill ... 8>1 a Nnd
2nds ,, ,, ,, ,, ...]7id a Is (3d
Srds „ „ ,, „ ...!(3d a Is 2d

IthsWoody and hard [od a lid

Chip.s ...(Fair to fine plant l|d a 7d

Ceylon ...Bold to good bold ...,80.? a 90i

... Medium .. i72s a TSs

Triage to ordinary ,..'.>5s a GSs

COFFEECeylon Plantation Bold to fine boldcolory...iS2s a injs

,, Native
Libeiian
Easl Indian

Native

Middling to fine mid.

iLow middling ...

ISmalls

lOood ordinary ...
.'Small to bold
.Bold to fine bold...

Medium to fine ...

.Small

Good to fine ordinary

Jfilsa. 78s
..loos a 60s
..;48s a &7s M
..'42s a lis
..j.35s a 52s Gd
..ISOs a IIO9
..60s a 80s
..loOsaSCs
lis

COIRROPE.CeyVon&Cochiu, Mid. coarse to fiuestraight|£7 a £17 lOs

FIBRE, BriLsh

Stuffing
YARN, Ceylon

Cochin
Do
COLOMBO ROOT, sifted
CROTON SEEDS, .sifted
GINGER, Cochin, Cut

Rough

'Ord. to fine long straight'£12 a £32

.Coarse to fine |£7 a £19

.'Ordinary to superior ... £11 a £-30

.[Ordinary to fine £10 a £3-3

. Roping fair to good ...|£S a £12
.Middling wormy to fine...|16s a 3js

.Fair to fine fresh SOs a 55.s

Good to fine bold !7js a 10(5s

Small and medimn .,.lo3s a 72s

Fair to good bold '.36s a oOa

.Small j2vi3a35s

.jFair to fine bold fresh ... 8s a 123
|Small ordiuaryaud fair... -ds a 7s
.Good to fine picked ...ItisaSs
iCommon to middling ... .5s a 63 6d

Fair Coast tis a 6d 6s

Pickings Burnt and defective ... Is a oi
.CINNAMON ...[Good to fine heavy ...|]sa3s

CITRONELLE ... Bright & good flavour ...:H a 1 l-16d

LEMON GRASS ...j ,, „ l^d a Ifd

ORCHELLA WEED ... Mid. to fine, not woody... 40s a boa
PEPPER.JIalabarblk.sifted'Fair to bold heavy

NUX AOMICA

MYBABOLANES, pale

OIL,

Alleppee & Cochin
Tellicherry, White
PLUMBAGO, Lump

Chips
T)u.st

RED WOOD

SAPAN WOOD

SANDAL WOOD, logs
Do. chips

SENNA, Tinnevelli

good

»i »f »» ...

- Fair to tine bright bold...
iMiddling to good small...
Slight foul to fine bright
Ordinary to fine bright ...
Fair and fine bold

|7id a 7jd

ilOd a 2s 6d
12s a 153
8s a lis
"s a lis
3s a 103
£i 15s a £5

Middling coated to good £6 a £7
Fair to good flavor ... £20 a £44

£10 a £16

'Good to fine bold green... 9d a Is 5d

iFair middling bold ...-l^daSd

Common dark and small Ijd a 3i}d

Finger fair to fine bold 14s tjd a 1.58 6d

Mixed middling [bright 12s a 14s

Bulbs whole 12s a 13s

I Do split SsSdaPs

TURMERIC, Madras
Do.
Do.
Cochin
VANILLOES, Mauritius &

Bourbon, Ists Fine cryslalised 6 a 9iuch 14s a 243
2nds Foxy & reddish 5 a 8 „ IDs a 123

Srds i ■/ ^^'"^'^ ^ ''""y '" iiiiddlingi

\ under 6 inches ... 5
4th Low, foxy, inferior and '

[pickings Is 6d a 43

, OS a 93

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

ALOES, Soccotrine and

Hepatic.
CHILLIES, Zanzibar

CLOV£S, Zaiuibar
ftad Fembft

Good and fine dry ... £7 a £10

Common and good ... £4 a, £S
Good to fine bright .,, 36s a 3Ss
Ordinary and middling.., 32s a 35s
1 IQoodand fine bright .„'8Jd a 84'd
/Ordinary dull to fair ...iia^H

CLOVES. Mother

,, Stems..

COCULUS INDICUS
GALLS, Bus.sorah \,,

& Turkey /^I'^e

GUM AMMONIACUM—

drop ..
ANIMI, washed ..

scraped.
ARABIC, E.I. & Aden
Uhatli ...
Amrad cba

I ASSAF(ETIDA

KINO

:MYBRH, picked ...
Aden sorts
OLIBANLTM, drop

If
pickings...
I siftings ...

' INDIARUBBER Jlozambi

Fair, usual dry

,, fresh
Fair

Fair to fine dark

...I None
...Hid a lid
...,83 6d a 93

...52s a 626

Good white and green... '47s a 558
Biocky to fine clean ...,30s a COij
Picked fine pale in sorts, '£14 a £17
part yellow and mixed £11 a £13

SAFFLOWER, Persian ...

' FROM CALCUTTA AND
i CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

Bean & Pea size ditto

amber and diirk bold

Medium & bold sorts

Sorts

Fair to good p;ile
Good and fine pale

j Reddish clean

Iciean fair to tine

[Slightly stony and foul
Fair to fine briglit
Fair to tine jiale
Middling to good

'Fair to line white
Reddish to middling

[Middling to good pale
Slightly foul to hue

que,fair to fine sausage )
„ Bali;

unripe root

liver

Ordinary to good

£5 10s a £8

..(£8 a £12

.. £5 a £8

.. 6.-,sa 1003

..32s a 65s

,. 70s a lOOs

.. 32s a 5os

..[3.5s a 403
28s a 32s
383 a 40s
£6 a £7 103
SOs a 100s
45s a 5.5s

..1323 a 44s

..9s a lis

..|llsa 133 Gd

2s a 2s 3d^-

9d a Is

Is 6d a Is lOd

5s a las

CASTOR OIL, Ists
2ud3
3rds

INDIARUBBER Assam

SAFFLOWER

TAMARINDS

Nearly water white ... 34d a 4^d
Fairand good pale ... 3 15-I(id a 3d
Bruvm and brownish ... 2|d a 2J4
Good to fine ...jls 9d a 2s .3d

jCommon foul and mixed 6d a Is 8d
Rangoon ...Fair to good clean ...'is lOd a 2s 3d

Madagascar Good to fine pinky &white 2s Id a 2s 4d
Fair to good black ...ils 8d a Is lOd
Good to fine pinky ...[£4 10s a £5 lOs

Middling to fair ... £3 5sa £4 28 6d

Inferior and pickings ...l£l a £1 IDs
Mid.tofineJ?acfcuot stony [ IDs a 14s
Stony and inferior ... 33 a Cs

FR03I
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

ALOES, Cape

Natal
ARR0\AT100T Natal

Fair dry to fine bright ...
Ccmmon & middling sofi
Fair to fine

Middling to fine

30s a 343
20s a 293
!5s a 403

.. 3Jd a 6d

FROM CHINA, JAPAN &
THE EASTERN ISLANDS.

CAMPHOR, China
Japan
GAMBIER. Cube3

:}«

(30s a (353

..Good, pure, & dry white \
..[ .. ,. pinki

.'Ordinary to tine free ...283 a 29s
[Pressed ... 23s a 248

Block ...Good ... 21s6d

GUTTA PERCHA, genuine|Fine clean Banj&Macas-|2s 4d a 3s 3d
Sumatra. ..(Barky to fair [sar 6d a 28 3d

'"ommon to fine clean ...ldals4d

Reboiled.
White Borneo

NUTMEGS, large

Medium
Small

MACE

RHUBARB, Sun dried ,

High dried ,,

SAGO, Pearl, large

medium ,,
small
Flour
TAPIOCA, Penaug Flake..
Singapore
Flour .1,

Pearl

.Good to fine clean ...IlldalsSd

[inferior and barky ...lda8d
.I61"s a 80's, garbled ... 2s 2d a 3s .^d
.i83'sa95'3 ... Is lOd a 2s Id

.[ lOO's a 160's ... Is 3d a Is 9d

.Pale reddish to pale ... Is 6d a 2s 6d
iOrdinary to red ... Is 4d a Is .5d

Chips ... Is a Is 2d

.Good to fine .sound ... Is 9d a 23 9d
iDarkordinarv&middlins 8d a Is (id
.Good to fine ' ..". Is 2d a Is 5d

jDark, rough & middling 7d a Is

Fair to fine

Good pinky to w liite
Fair to fine

...'Bullets
] Medium
/Seed

12s 6d a 1 ."s
... l2sal.3srHl
... :is,3dalls6d
... Ss 6d a lOs
... lJda2id
„..lHa2i'd
,.,U4dalid
.„ll3s a 148
...'I3sal6s6d

Aug.

1886.J

fHE THOPiCAL AGRICULTURIST.

ii

A CEYLON TEA SYNDICATE : TO PRO-
MOTE THE SALE IN NEW FIELDS.
We have much pleasure in calling attention to
Mr. Kuthcrford's letter and draft proposal : there
is nothing like " striking while the iron is hot "
in order to get those* interested to subscribe, and
we certainly agree with the promoter that it is
not a day too soon to prepare for " the '20 to 'AO
millions " lb. of exports which Ceylon is to show
in a very few years hence. As for India, the es-
timate for the current season is 7(5 millions lb.,
of which at least 70 millions will be sent to Britain.
Whc)i sufMcient support is secured a careful revision
of the draft proposal will no doubt take place and
a connuittee and Office bearers be appointed : —
Heatherton, Ambegamuwa, Ceylon, -i'.Jth May, 1886.
The Secretary, Ceylon Planters' Association, Kandy.
Dear Sik, — To bring the suggestions which have
been made in the local papers, as to the advis-
ability of extending our markets for the sale of
Ceylon teas to a practical issue, I have the pleasure
to forward you the draft of a proposal I have
drawn up for forming a Syndicate, under the
auspices of the Association.

It has been urged by some that such a scheme is
premature, as Great Britain can easily take and
consume the few million pounds we send into the
London market. This is undoubtedly true at the
present moment, but, as this island in a few years
will produce five or six times its present outturn,
and there will be an increased export from India
from the large areas put under tea in 1882-83, I
consider that we cannot begin too soon to make the
American and Canadian peoples acquainted with
our teas.

If the scheme proves successful in creating a de-
mand for our teas, and that demand be carefully
fostered, a trade may spring up which will relieve
us of a large proportion of our outturn, and con-
sequently assist in maintaining a steadier price for
our teas in the London market. This trade will
take a few years to develop, but, should a develope-
ment take plnce, the demand for the tea will come
to us when we shall most require it, viz., when our
shipments are too heavy to be worked oti' in the
Home market.

I place my views on the subject before you, so
that you may put them in the hands of members
of Committee in order that they may consider the
subject before our next meeting.

To initiate the scheme a few estate names have
been put down in a list herewith sent you, and
these estates are prepared to give it support. I
may add that the list has not been circulated in
any district.— Yours truly, H, K, XIuthemohi;.

('i;VLON Tea Svndicatk.

Vioposal as drafted by Mr. Rutherford.
1 That a Ceylon Tea Planters' Syndicate be formed
under the auspices of the Planter,' As.sociation for
the purpose of pushing the sale of cur teas in markets
other than that of Great Britain.

2. That, as it is to the interest of growers (however
small their out-turn may be) to extend the fieKl for
the sales of Ceylon teas, it is hoped that every grower
of the product wmU joiu this Syndicate.

3. That members supplj' the Syndicate with sucli
quantities of tea as thej' deem fit to foster the scbeiue
of introduction into other countries,

4. That the Secretary of the Planters' Association
be asked to become the Secretary of the Symlicati;
aud for which work be bu paid 1? ceut per Ib.of lei,

lu

which sum must cover shipping charges exclusive of
Freight and Insurance. This method is suggested, so
that the burden of the co.'<t of the scheme may bo
evenly distributed among members.

5. That Agents be appointed in New York, Mont-
real, Quebec, Melbourne, Sydney and Dunedin, who
have no interest in the sale of .jHpau or China teas.
These Chief Agents to appoint Sub-Agents in th*;
principal towns of America, Canada, Australia and
New Zealand, whose business it will be to distribute
the teas iu small parcels and lots to grocers ami
private individuals.

Agents to be paid by commission on sales.

6. Teas supplied by the Syndicate to be consigned
to the Chief Agents aud when proceeds have been
realized they are to be remitted to the Secretary who
shall remit to members of Syndicate.

7. The names of likely persons or firms iu America
or the Colonies known to j)lanters or Colombo mer-
chants, who would be likely to take an interest in
the sale of these teas, are requested.

8. Private parcels of tea to American cr Colonial
relations or friends to he sent through the Syndicate.

9. Great care should be taken by all members of the
Syndicate to ship nothing but really good teas.

10. That before any shipments are made, full par-
ticulars be received from the appointed Agents of the
Syndicate giving full iustructious as to the class of tea
required and size of packages most suitable, the quan-
tity required to open up connections, the likelihmd
of success and all information which may be useful to
the Syndicate.

11. Each member in forwarding tea to state to
which country he wishes his teas consigned.

12. All teas before shipment to be examined, tasted,
and reported on by an expert whose fees will be paid
by the member shipping the tea.

T,ist of Estates prepared to join in a Syndicate under
the auspices of the I'lanters' Association for th" in-
troduction of Ceylon teas into America and the Col-
onies, should a .scheme for such be sanctioned b^' the
Planters' Association on the lines roughly sketched out
by JNIr. Rutherford in annexed Draft proposal ; —

[Signatures to this list do not bind any one to be-
come a member of the Syndicate should the scheme
afterwards be altered aud not then meet with their
approval.]

lb.

Dunedin...

Avisawella...

.5,000

Maria-

watte ...

Gampola . . .

5,000

Semba-

Nawala-

watte ...

pitiya

5,000

Devvala-

kaude ...

Avisawella...

5,000

Tor wood...

Kalutara ...

1,000

Tillyiia ...

Bogawan-

talawa ..

1,000

Scrubs ...

Nuwara

Eliya

1 ,000

Wallaha ..

Lindula

1,000

Rogart .:.

Kalutara ..

1,000

Remarks.

Will supply in

}-t w o instalments

from each e.'tate.

J

Approved for the Ceylon Company's Estates, though
I nm not at present in a position to promise definite
quantities.— (Signed) John U. Stakev.

I ajiprove of the scheme, but at present cannot say
more than Mr. Starey.— (Signed) Jas. Hit.i,, Mes-srs.
Carson & Co.

THE COCONUT PALM AND LIGHTNING.
Sir Emerson Tennent, when noticing the various
uses of the coconut palm, as enumerated by the
natives, stated:— "One pre-eminent use of the
coconut palm is omitted in all these popular enu-
merations; it acts as a conductor in jirotrctinn
their houxes from liijhtnin;!. As many as oOO of
these trees were struck in a single inittco near
Putlalam during a succession of thunderstorm?

74

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug.

1 886.

in April IS')9. — Columho Obscrrery

Those connected with coconut estates ai*e aware that
besides the destruction of young trees by the grubs
or beetles, they must lay their account to a varying
but appreciable percentage of loss of trees at all
stages of growth from the effects of lightning.
For, these natural lightning conductors, with their
tall stems covered with a generally smooth coating
of siliceous matter (to the prevalence of which
near human abodes, there can be little doubt, the
inhabitants of Ceylon owe much of their immunity
from lightning strokes), are themselves no more
exempt from occasional destruction by "the electric
fluid" than are artificial conductors formed of copper
or other metal. Electricity seems sometimes to
be generated and to be present in such abundance
and such form, as not to allow of its being
carried off insensibly, even by such a series of
conductors as a grove of coconut palms ; and then
the palms, sometimes in large groups, are struck
witli fatal effect. On one occasion when a crash
gave rise to the impression that "the sky had
fallen," we felt certain that something had been
Btruck and on going to the seashore we found
seven coconut trees affected, some killed outright
and others with only the edges of their branches
singed. But ultimately every tree, however faintly
affected, died. During the late monsoon storms,
twelve tine palms, a little south of the Kollupitiya
station, were struck. Five of tliese were practic-
hlly decapitated and others were badly burnt. But
6ome were only affected so that a slight browu
colour showed on a few of the branches. Amongst
these latter is a tree with a nuignificent head of
fruit, and this morning we expressed our fears,
based on our experience, to a good native authority
that this valuable tree was as much doomed as
those whose vitality had been at once destroyed.
He fully confirmed our opinion: the tree »i»s( die.
Electricity is essentially mysterious in its origin,
substance and action, but perha,ps some reader
who has studied the subject can help us to the
philosophy of the curious fact wc have noted.
Human beings have been "struck" by lightning
and suffered more or less severe injury, but have
yurvived. Why should coconut palms, which have
merely had their external parts, their foliage,
almost imperceptibly singed, be as much doomo;! to
death as those whose vital parts the tlaid has
permeated, the fatal result being only protracted in
the one case, while it is instantaneous in the other ?

PLANTING IN NETHEBLAXDS INDIA,

{Translated for tlte "Straits Time?.")
In Banda, the freight charges to Holland weigh-
ing upon nutmeg planters shipping that spice
thither have so made away with the profit, that
the cultivation of that article no longer pays.
Growen; lose lieart and from want of labour the fruit
Often rots on the trees,

At Surabay,", so naya \Ue local ('ourani,
fJhinose iraders were by last aflvilccs failing con-
tlnU'illy, and business wari nlacl*. On the su^ar
estates rvusliing had begun, notwithstanding rainy
weatlier. fioni further delay being costly and hazard-
ous, The canes were looking well, and even un-
usually so in some localities. The price of sugar showed
aoeneourngiiig sign of improvement in face of the in-
creased ipiantity of beet raised in Europe.

Private advices from the Ncllierlands in the -/^(a'a
liodc state that tlie cinchona market was in a
depresaed condition. Business in (Quinine was slack
ft3 was the case also with so many other produce
articles, that it is hard to say what product can
be looked upon as yieldmg handsome profits ^\■ith
one exception. The lucky holders of shares in
(obcvcco companies there get all the sunshines avail-

al)le to colonial planters. The same journal says
that in these days of shaken confidence in business
circles, there is one Java cinchona planter who in
spite of the hard times, is able to re^tort favour-
ably on the outlook before him, though capitalists
have been kept from embarking money in this
line of enterprize by the recent rapid fall in the
price of bark. Quinine, hoVever, may fall lower
still in value without impairing the paying
cliaracter of estates with superior kinds of cin-
chona trees. A temporary fall in value, would
indeed benefit Java growers by making the in-
ferior Ceylon barks almost worthless. When there-
by that island, now the greatest producer in
the market, is driven from the field, a rise in price
may reasonably be looked out for, or at least a
steadiness of the market sufficient to ensure Java
planters adequate profit keeping pace with continu-
ous improvements in cultivation.

DELI NEWS.
Heavy rains have fallen throughout Deli swelling
the rivers large and small, thereby bringing about
more or less destructive floods, which also prevented
the Eaces from being held at Medan on the 23rd
and 24th May. The managing committee has deter-
mined upon putting them oft' still July, when there
is greater likelihood of dry weather, Sunday the
11th July being the date provisionally fixed upon
for holding them.

NEW MARKETS FOR TEA.

The question of opening up new markets for the ex-
tra outturn that in a few short j ears may be expected
from the large area i)ut out under tea is likely to be-
come of sufRcieut importance to warrant ileliberatiou
and action on the Indian Tea Association. Hitherto the
efforts made in this direction have resulted in very little
that is practicable. A large ((uautity of tea was poured
into Australia and forced on to the market by the ex-
tremely cheap rates at which it was sold. In couse-
(jucnce of this we are now getting three or four millions
placed annually there,* but this represents but a frac-
tion of the actual consumption of tea in the colonies,
probably about one-seventh and yet we are content
to court the market's favours, not by regular shipments,
but by spasmodic consignments, when Calcutta prices
are a little dull. Every garden now in existence should
shi]) a small (]uantity regularly. It would not really
matter if it showed a loss, as the quantity even if
thrown away, would make no material difference in
tbi' dividend. A taste for In>lian tcasmu';t be cultiv-
ated, for there is no doubt that Indian tea is notap-
priciated in the colonics to any great extent. Unless
new markets are opened and that in a year, or two, a
heavy fall in prices is like to follow and it may be-
come a panic, such as wc had a few years ago, Should
this take jilacc, offens of tea to force new markets will
nor only be nunicrou-, but generous in the extrctiie.
This, however, wilt not be so effective as a little
liberality now would be. In addition to what could
be done by regular .•^liipments to Australia, the ques-
tion of opening up the niarketN of America is one of
great importance. Tiie effort previously made to put
Indian teas on tlice markets wap but a feeble one.
Last year the anuUal subscription to the Association
was reduced from one to lialf-an*anna, because therfe
was no apparent use for a large cash balance. The
amount was so equally distributed over all, tli:it there
was no hardship experienced ; it might have been
much better bad the one auna contribution been con-
tinued, and the money employed to advertise Indian
teas in America. A great deal of the success which

* Not quite two millions in 18S.5, so that if three
millions are sent and sold in 18S(J, it will be well and
the progress made since the fierce battle of I880-S1,
may be reckoned good iti the face of the powerful vested
interest conuecteJ with the chcip and nasty but large
profit yielding stuff from Foochow.— Ed,

Aug. 2, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

75

Oeylou tea is achieving ia due to the way tlieir pro-
duce is brought to the notice of tlie public. Tlic Uey-
lou people have, for instance, sent home a Conuuis-
sioner to see that their teas receive their full share
of attention at the coming Exhibiton.

In addition to the Colonial and American markets
an endeavour should be made to push Indian teas in
other directions, and none is more likely to carry oft" our
low class teas than the native bazaars. This is a mar-
ket tluxt has never yet been practically tapped. Were
tlie Indian Government, too, to do away with the
amount of Red Tapeisni with regard to Commissariat
teas, they would nod only receive many more tenders,
but also a better article at half the money, or. at any
rate, rather more than half.

It is practicallyimpossible on a tea garden to get boxes
exactly the same size and same vveight,and this is required
by « 'ommissariat contracts. Why shoulil the Govern-
ment not accept the same amount otdctmi/ tea packed
in any shaped case ? instead of laying down a re-
gulation as to the size, shape and form of the box. —
Indian I'laiiters' (Utzette.

COFFEE, CINCHONA AND TEA IN JAMAICA.

We have been iierniitted to take the following
very interesting extracts from the letter of an ox-
Ceylon i^lanter now in Jamaica, addressed to a
friend in Ceylon. We hope to have the same
privilege again or to hear direct, for it would he
very interesting to learn how the "tea clearing" comes
on and bears, as well as thews perience of coll'ee
and bark. We quote as folloma: —

Jalica, lilth April.

I think at the time I wrote ast, I had not long

been living on . Frevious to that I had been

living part of each week at an old coffee property.
The walking and riding backwards and forwards
and the moving of bedding, &c., was too much
trouble and expense, and so I prepared to live a
life in the bush entirely. Fortunately, I was never
without an assistant and so could not be very
lonely. At one time I had — , an Oxford man,
but he returned to England very soon. Then I

had , a cousin of the two that used to be in

Ceylon and at the same time . After the

latter, , who is now planting tea in Ceylon.

In fact, all my assistants have left Jamaica. Two
hadn't enough capital to invest comfortably and
the other two disbelieved in the stability of cin

chona. As soon as left, I took sole charge

of a cinchona clearing which gives me i^GO a year.

In July last ■ came out and lived with me

for three months. He was delighted with the
climate of the hills and appeared sorry to have
to return. As our Company were not advancing
money for extension in cinchona or coffee, I ap-
plied for charge of another cinchona clearing. This
place was to give me £5 per month, six months in
the year. The other six months it was to be
managed by one of the shareholders. As the Com-
pany had a large furnished house, in every way
superior to our own, I decided to go and live there

for a time, taking with me. So for some time

my hands were full with plenty of work in super
vising the three properties. This was in October

and then said that sugar prospects being so

bad and unsettled he thought if he could lease a
coffee property with a good house, he ouglit to
bring wife and children out. We had a try for Farm

Hill but the proprietor would only sell and • was

not prepared to lay out any large sum. After a
bit I thought of this place. I knew it had a fine
house and a healthy climate and had just been put
up to auction and withdrawn for want of a decent
bid. We came and looked over the place and de-
cided to make an off'er to rent the house, works
and eolTee for iJ'yQ a year with (at first) the option
of ))nrehase at t^l.OOO, Thi>5 «onnd'^ ridiculously

small (does it not ?) but then the coffee barely re-
pays our outlay on it, of the most ecionomical kind
at present. The houseworks and barbacues must
have cost i;7,000 even in slavery times and they
could not be erected for that now. The garden,
house and barbacues cover three acres, the barbacues
alone nearly an acre. The estate consists of 1,171
acres from '2,K00 ft. to 5,000 ft. elevation. It has
about 400 acres fine forest,, 150 acres ruinate, 550
grass, scrub, Ac, and 5(] acres coffee, and even in
this 50 odd acres are so scattered and thin that
the average bearing is only 1| cwt. Our total crop
in bushels of cherry will be under 400. I can't
help smiling when I think of this /i)/ « nop, when
I have picked more in a day in Ceylon. But thia
estate nevertheless has been a very fine one in days
gone by ; and I have been to4d on good authority
that it has given its f7,000 clear profit in a year.
This property was settled in the middle of last
century. First as an indigo plantation and then an
a coffee estate. There are trees still growing in the
place neaily a hundred years old.

Want of regularly pruning and handling, coni^tant
heavy hoe weeding and general mismanagement
have done their wojk and reduced these places
to what they ai'e now. As far as I can see from
old trees growing on different plantations, the lirst
planting resulted in as ffne coffee fields as one
could wish, quite as fine as the brut llaputalc coffee.
But the most extraordinary thing is that this want
of good cultivation does not appear to affect prices
in the slightest. Last year, for instance, 138s per
cwt. was touched in the Liverpool market by this
property. So you see it is only quantity we want
to make coffee planting in Jamaica an unqualified
success and not quiility. As I have shown, we
have any (|uantity of land for coffee or indeed
anytjiing else but we want money. I confidently

believe that if could afford to put a few

hundreds into this i^lace I could turn the money
so invested to good account very soon. He is willing
to do so and no doubt, will, if he can make any-
thing out of his sugar crop. No doubt, you all work
very economically now in Ceylon in these hard
times, but I fancy even now, we in Jamaica,
could give you a lesson or two in taking care of
the pence, lI-c. Take this place for instance, the
gross value of the crop will not exceed £335. Out
of this we have to work the estate and pay every
expense, you can think of, including broker's charges.
Of course, salary I draw none, but work for my
own interest. A Jamaica planter is contented with
very small proffts and how he lives, and lives com-
fortably too, is a wonder. I believe that tea would
grow well here. We have good land with hundreds
of acres of forest well situated for firewood, ex-
tensive buildings and a plentiful supply of water.
The only difficult ijuestion is the labour. We have
lots of people living all round us, but the men are
accustomed to get Is a day, the women ',)d and the
children from 4^d to 7d. Then again, we arc only
20 miles from a shipping port and that as you
know is not far from London. \Ve are only five or
SIX days from New York, three from i'anaina and
five from Honduras. I intend planting five acres
of tea for island consum2:)tion . We arc protected
by a very high duty Is per lb., and no good tea
can be bought here under 4s a lb. At the Gov-
ernment Cinchona plantation where there are some
1,000 trees or so a very good sainijlc has been
made by hand. It grieves mc to learn that so many
of my old Ceylon ' friends have been so completely
ruined. The most of them I suppose ruined
beyond all chance of making another start in
iiie. The Observer containing that most interest-
ing story the "Fifties and Sixties" I enjoyed

16

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug, 2, 1886.

reading immensely ; knowing as I did nearly all
the movers in it — I often think of poor Mr.
Wood and try to find out what estates he was
in cliarge of. But even the oldest residents cannot

remember. Our cinchona on is doing well.

It is now two years and four months old. I
barked one of the hybrids the other day and got
10 ounces of wet "stem" alone. But the soil
in most places is very porous and soft. We had
some 'AO inches of rain in less tlian a month,
20 of it in two days and this caused slips of
gigantic proportions. I measured over 50 inches
of rain for the last three weeks in December 1885
at the station on the summit of the Blue Mountain
I'eak ! Jamaica has sufi'ercd from a dry cycle for
the past six j'ears and we are now supijosed to
be entering the wet one. I wish the prophets
may be correct, for flien we shall do well with
our coffee here. I have just had the pleasure
of entertaining the manager of the Jamaica Rail-
way for three days. He was very, much struck
with this place — think we have got it for little
or nothing, and says we ought to stock it with
cattle and sheep for breeding. He seems to think
it would make a tine hotel for the Americans in
the summer.

THE COMING PRODUCT.

King Coffee 's dead ! We grieve for him
And mourn his short-lived reign,

For never shall we hope on earth
To see liis like again.

C'l.nclmriu too once raised our hopes ;

We thought we really had
A fortune, but to tell the tale

Is very, very sad,

Of how our hopes were daslied to earth.

Vox people will not drink
Quinine all day to make us rich,

Unreasonably we think.

And Cardamoms 'neath friendly shade

We tried, but oh I the price
lias fallen sadly, and we wish

Wo 'd never grown that spice.

And now, Queen Tra, our eyes are turned

With hopeful gaze to thee :
We look to thee to bring once more

Our lost prosperity.

Grow, sturdy plant I Thou rarest not

For cold or cruel heat ;
Soon Kaltura and Pedro's height

Will how beneath thy feet.

(trow, sturdy plant ! Our coffers fill,

Which long have empty been ;
Grow on, and we will gladly own

Tbee, gentle, Gracious (.^ueen.

Grow, sturdy plant I If thou shouldst fail

To bring us timely aid,
Tlien must we leave fair Lanka's isle

Or droop and pine and fade.

Zulu.

" BETELNT'T AS AN OBJECT OF TAXATION,"

Has been the subject of a discussion in the
Bombay Gazette as the following letter will show : —

TO THE KDITOR OF THE " BOMBAY GAZETTE."

Sir, — It has for several years appeared to me to
be extraordinary that during times when the finan-
cial prospects of the Empire are constantly iu a
state of crisis, it has not occurred to any of our
budget-makers, financial advisers or others, to till
depleted treasuries with the produce of a just and
legitimate tax on betel-nut.

_ It is possible that there are insuperable objec-
tions in the way of tin effective working of such

a tax ; but I believe that these objections, if tliey
exist, do not lie upon the surface ; and I should be
glad to hear them pategorically stated with a view
to examining iheir validity.

Snpcrlicially betel-nut is a legitimate object of tax-
ation. It is a pure luxury, much more so at any
rate than salt, and I consider more so than opium.

The income to be derived from a judiciously im-
posed tax on this article would certainly be large ;
and any diiiicultics that may be in the way of col-
lection cannot properly be appreciated till we have
heard what they are. Prima facie it is not easy
to understand why collection should be proportion-
ately more difficult in respect to this tax than it
is found to be in other and far less remunerative
departments of our scheme of Indian revenue.

As to the sentimental side of the question, the
interested outcry of our native fellow-subjects
would probably be as loud as it certainly would
be unjust. The European official is already taxed
precisely, or very nearly to the extent of the de-
preciation in the rupee. Since we are compelled
to purchase four-hfths of the commodities and
all the luxuries of our life from the English
market out of a salary which bears no proportion
in reality to its nominal value, nor to the value it
was intended to have when salaries were fixed and
covenants formed on the basis of promises having
these salaries for their consideration. In addition
to this we pay an income-tax which, while it pro-
duces, as far as Government servants are concerned
an infinitesimal revenue, excites a wholly dispro-
portionate feeling of hardship and discontent. As
a matter of fact, I apprehend there can be no
argument against the assertion that a rich native
does not contribute any thing like a proportionate
amount of his means in taxation to that contri-
buted by his British fellow subject.

Touching objections theoretical or practical that
may arise from the financial j)oint of view,
nothing can be said until we are in possession of
more definite information. It may be that the
scheme can be demonstrated on closer examination
to be altogether chimerical ; but it is one of such
fair promise that I should at any rate be glad to
see it fairly discussed. — Yours Ac, C. S.

The tax would be difficult and costly to collect
and would excite discontent and evasion. Betel ia
used by the poor to allay the cravings of appetite,
and to say that it is more of a luxury than opium
is sheer nonsense.

CHINA TEA AND THE CHINESE DUTIES
THEREON— PRO ET CON.

It is of interest to watch the controversy in the
Nortli Ciiiiia D'uli/ Neim, on this subject " K. C. Y. "
writes : —

It IB not only the taxes levied by the Chinese in
the interior, but the whole of the, taxes (export duty,
lekin, barrier sijueezes, etc., etc) which I maintain
will eventually cause the ruin of the China tea trade.
The tirst principle in any trade before it can be said
to be in a healthy condition is that the grower of
the raw material shall get a fair remuneration for
his labour. This was the motive power that caused
the tea trade to assume the proportions it has already
attained, and that has brought competitors into the
field to share in the benefits which a generation ago
were the monopoly of the Chinese. Through the short-
sighted policy of China iu maintainmg a very high
tariff, these oompetitors have now gained such a
stronghold on many of the consuming markets that
the question is at last forcing itself on the unwill-
ing notice of the rulers of this Empire. The deterior-
ation iu avorago (quality has not been nearly so
great as the reduction in average price. The reduc-
tion iu price comes out of the growers' pockets alone.

Aug* 2, 1886.]

THE TROI'ICAL AGRICULTURIST.

11

and tlicre Is conaeqivently less and less inducement
for them to t^ive the same care and attention to the
plants which'^they did in former years. The ponit
has already been reached in many districts when it
does not pay to plant more gardens, and it some re-
lief docs not come speedily we shall shortly hear ot
the tea gardens running wild, or of other crops be-
in^' substituted for tea. The greater part of the money
now paid as taxes would go to the grower for some
time to come, and would improve his position materi-
ally. It is for this that I crave the earnest atten-
tion of all who are interested in the trade, and not
with any idea that foreign buyers would reap any
innnediate benefit from the freedom of tea from ail
taxes. I want to see " a great deal more of the land
and labour of (.'hina employed in growing a great
deal more tea," and not that the trade should be
straagled by the hands that should be the hrst to
encourage it. In a very few years (four or five as
the outside) India will be exporting its ninety or a
hundred million pound, and Ceylon its fatty or sixty
millions annually. With such competition we can
only look for further decline in average prices, and
China will not be able to adhere to the present pro-
hibitive taxes if she wishes to hold her own in the
trade. Without taxation she can produce tea quite
cheap enough to meet any emergencies. One word
as to possible improvement in manufacture. One ot
the best of the rolling machines used in Ceylon has
been on exhibition for some months in Hankow, and
as it meets with the approval of all who see it, we
shall probably hear of others being ordered as soon
as this one has been tried in one of the tea districts.
Mr. Henry Hertz ot Shanghai replies:—
The theoietical view is that while the production is
iucreasing rapidly in other countries, this is not the
ca.se in China owing to excessive duties ; though I do
not find it attempted to be shown even by the use of
those complaisant instruments "statistics," that the
trade is actually going behind. Against this I main-
tain, as the practical side of the matter, that we have
more than a sutftciency of China tea to deal with, which
I consider to be conclusively shown by the fact that
it is impop.'^ible for anyone dealing largely in the article,
without having resort to the ruthless process of sell-
ing by auction '• without reserve," to be entirely quit
of old stocks before the arrival of the new. When
the day arrives that this is no longer the case, it will
be time enough to think of opening the floodgates of
supply by the removal of duties. In my opinion theu,
these act at present to some extent as a protection
to the merchant, while their afore.said removal would
in a measure supply the place of a system of boun-
ties to the producer. Not holding any brief on behalf
of the latter, I prefer to advocate xvliat I cou.sider most
beneficial to the interests of foreigners, and it was in
this sense that I endeavoured to express myself at the
recent meeting of the Chamber of Commerce. I was
very pleased to find that my remarks on that occasion
received substantial support from others well qualified
to speak from experience.
" K. C. Y." in replication : —

It is unt the inland taxation alone which I maintain
is strangling the trade, but the whole of the taxes
on tea, Export Duty, Inland Taxation, Barrier Dues,
etc. It will be necressary to make tea absolutely duty
free before it can be on a sound basis, and any reduc-
tion of taxation will be only a temporary rehef . You
state* " there is more or less loss on every pound of
tea sold in London for less than nine pence." Nine
pence is the equivalent of sixteen to seventeen taels
duties paid, according as the estimate is made with
commissions or without commissions, but everyone who
has any practical knowledge of buyiug tea will tell
you that supplies of sound common Congou continue
to come forward when the price is Taels 9A to 10,
duties paid, and that they cease altogether when the
price falls below Taels 9 duties paid. I therefore
infer that thf cost of this class of tea is between Taels
9 and 9^ duties paid. If Tea can be brought to the
Shanghai market to sell at Taels 9 at 9^, fully half of

""* AVe did not make any such statement.— Ed. N. C.

which price goes in Duties and Inland Taxation, how
very much better quality tea could be brought to market
to sell at the same price, if free from all Taxation. Mr.
Hertz and Mr. Young appear to be afraid that if tax-
ation was removed Ciiina would swamp the consuming
markets altogether, but my strong conviction is that
instead of overloading tlie home markets witli a low
quality article we should be able to ship good
quality tea at such a low ])rice that it would at once
command the attention of buyers and compete success-
fully with the produce of other countries. The export
would right itself in a very short time. I should be
glad if you can publish any information as to the
relative cost of laud in the interior of OLina and in
India, and also give us the cost of labour in the two
countries. As to comparing the consumption of
250,000,000 Chinamen with 150,000,000 Western men.
I confess it is beyond my powers, but I would not
mind hazarding a statement that the Western men use
four or five times more Tea than the Chinamen do to
make a cup and the Chinamen continue pouring hot
water od the same leaves time after time whilst the
Western men consider them exhausted after the first
brew. Last season was a very exceptional one. The
very low prices realized for first crop Teas the previous
season and the unsettled state of affairs between England
and Russia made Chinese middlemen very cautious.
They anticipated that Russian buyers might possibly
be out of the market for the season and that Englisli
houses would buy only ou very low terms, but just as
the season opened more peaceful news arrived and
the middlemen reaped the benefit. The growers, how-
ever, suffered terribly and the first crop was some
70,000 ^-chests short of the previous season. This com-
ing season there are unusually large preparations for
making first crops, but it is yet too early to form any
idea of total yield for the reason. Like Mr. Hertz I
do not hold any brief ou behalf of the producer, but I am
desirous of seeing a fine trade put on a firm basis.

INDIAN TEA TRADE.

It is possible that you may have had sent to you
the Report of the Collector of Customs at Calcutta
on the River-borne trattic of Bengal &c. That
report contains, however, remarks bearing so forcibly
on the future of tea-cultivation in Ceylon, that it
will scarcely be deemed to be superfluous if I
give you an extract from it here. The officer
named thus wrote : —

" The exports of tea have advanced, in comparison
with 1S83-4, by 7 i^ercent., with a decline in the average
declared value to the lowest point yet reached, for
with an increase in shipments of over four milhous of
pounds there is a decline in the total declared value of
over four lakhs of ruoef s. Tliere has been a steady
extension in the production of tea, owing principally, as
I mentioned in last j'ear's report, to the opening out
of new areiis iu Sylhet and the Dooars. These new
gardens having been started as economically as possible,
can produce at less cost tlian the older ones and make
profits while the latter are losing. Trices fell heavily
last year, and many of the older gardens were far from
remunerative. It appears likely that proprietors will
have to be satisfied in the future with lower prices than
they obtained in past years, for with a large increase
in production, unless the markets for it can be propor-
tionately extended, the value of tea in the ordinary
course must fall. I referred in last year's report to the
growing importance of the tea industry in Ceylon, and
to the competition that will ultimately be the result
of the lar»;e extension of tea-growing in that island.
The amount even now is iusiguiticant compared witli
the exports of Indian tea, but it will increase year by
year and the extension in cultivat ion already is said to
have been from between 2U0 and 800 acres in 187i!, to
•18,000 acres in 188 1. This is an ennormous advance,
andthu production wlicu tiio large available acreage,
said to be from 150,000 to l(iO,000 acres, has been opened
out and comes into full bearing will have a very sensible
ei¥ect on the tea market. It has been estimated that
about 7ft million pouudsjyearly may eventually be the

78

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug. 2, 1886.

outturn of Oeylou. Tea there has several advantages.
First is the excellent quality of the tea produced, said to
be equal to the very best Indian teas. Then an acre
in Ceylon will produce half as much tea again as it
will in India. The climate, too, is more to be depended
on for tea growinc: ; there is a good supply of labour,
and the tea can be more clieaply shipped. Tiai^lly,
Ceylon is growing tea on our experieuci's and will i>vc-
sumably avoid our past mistakes. With all these ad-
vantages it is clear that the prospects of Ceylon tea are in
the ascendent and that the expansion of tea-growing
there will continue to be rapid." — Lomlon Cor.

ASSAM TEA COMPANY.

Capital paid np i'187,160 in 9,358 shares of i'20
each. Area under cultivation 7,608 acres. Directors
Messrs. W. Prideaux, Chairman, Geo. TurnbuU, A.
B. Fisher, J. Graham, g.c, Geo. Paton, m.d., A.
Robinson, and Major-General Beadle.

The following is the directors' report to be pre-
sented to the shareholders at the annual general
meeting to be held on the 7th prox., from which we
gather that the cost of manufacture and bringing
the tea to market in 1885 has been reduced to it 4-5d.
per lo. as compared with 10 l-.')d. per lb. in 1884 — a
rate that still leaves room we think for further
economy — while the gross sale price of the crop has
increased, the average realised in 1885 having been
Is. 05d. per lb. as compared with ll^d. per lb. in
1884. The crop gathered in 1885 was 32,35i) maunds
or 4,030 maunds less than the Superintendents estim-
ate, and 1,836 maunds below the outturn of 1884.
The yield per acre was 340 lb —and the profit shown
per acre just over f5 — which as the capitalised
value of the estates is but f25 per acre enables the
board to declare the handsome dividend of 20 per
cent. Last year's dividend was 14 per cent. It is
interesting to note that 7 years ago (in 1878) the
crop cost 16d per lb. and realised 21d. per lb., so
that while cost has been reduced 6d. per lb. the
value of crop has fallen 8d. per lb. : — To the Share-
holders of the Assam Company. Gentlemen, — Your
directors present to you their report of the operations
of the company for the year which ended December
31st, 1885. The whole of the crop of 1885 having
been sold, your directors have considered it expedient
to let you know the result of the working of that
vear without delay, hence the earlier date at which
this meeting is called. The average price obtained
for the crop of 1885 is Is. OSd. per lb., being IJd.
per lb. more than was obtained for the crop of 1884.
The quantity of tea packed and dispatched from
the gardens" during the past season amounted to
2,588,775 lb. which is 322,425 lb. less than the Super-
intendent's estimate, and 146,907 less than was packed
in the previous year. This short quantity was en-
tirely caused by very unfavourable weather during
the months of August and September which it is
believed produced the same result in nearly all the
tea plantations of Assam. The expenditure in India
during the year was t'99,697 12s., taking the rupee at
par or £'83,*268 19s. lid. after deducting the difference
in the rate of exchange, being fll.8U3 17s. 7d. less
than the expenditure of last year, and t'2,119 83. Od.
less than the Superintendent's esLiiiiate. The result
for the year stands thus:~-
Tea sales, gross proceeds . . . . iJl38,650 IG 5

Tea seed sold in India 3,480 13 10

Sundry receipts in India . . . . 1,949 3 7

Interest and Sundries 258 6 4

Expenditure in India

in rupees at par . . £99,697 12 0
Less exchange. . .. 16,428 12 1

fl44,.S.n9 0 2

i-.s3,268 19 11
Expenditure in Eng-
land 22,940 i) 11

Total Expenditure
Net profit . .

106,209 9 10

.. X 38.129 10 t

The profit of the year therefore amounts to t'3H,129
10s. 4d., to which is to be added the balance carried
from 1884 of 1'1,376 19s. 9d., making a total of
f39,50() 10s. Id., out of which we propose to pay a
dividend at the rate of 2() per cent, and to carry
forward f2,074 10s. Id. In .January last we paid an
interim dividend at the rate of 5 per cent, and the
balance of 15 per cent, or f3 per share will be pay-
able on .July 1st. Mr. Phillips, our superintendent,
returned to his duties in November last. He estim-
ates the crop of manufactured tea for the current
season at 2,890,200 lb., and the expeiulitiire in India
at R1,082.1S9. During the absence of :\rr. Phillips,
the superintendence of our affairs in Assam was en-
trusted to Mr. Newington, and Mr. Phillips has
reported to us that on his return he found that Mr.
Newington had performed his duties as acting super-
intendent to his entire satisfaction. — Jf. <C- C. Mail.

TEOPICAL FRinTS FOR THE ENGLISH

MARKET :

The West Indies .\t CovEKT-fiAEDEX.

In that very useful volume entitled " Her Majesty's
Colonies," issued under the authority of the Royal
Commission for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition,
we are told that the colony of British Guiana is
suffering from the depreciation in the price of its
staple product — sugar. That is only too true ; but
while the attention of manufacturers and other con-
sumers in the United Kingdom is directed to its
timbers, ils fibres, its oils, and its gums, an
enterprising shipping tirin in the City has been
planning and experimenting, and laying the found-
ation of a new export lor the West Indian colonies,
as well as a new trade for themselves, the de-
velopment of which may, for all we know to the
contrary, he the discovery of that Eldorado which
the ill-fated Raleigh sought but failed to hnd
there. In the book quoted from above, mention
is made of many valuable products of the
colony of British Guiana, industries which if
called into existence and encouraged will largely
contribute to her wealth ; but no mention is
made of the fruits, because when the book was
written it was not considered possible to export the
many fruits which flourish upon the rich alluvial de-
posit which forms the coast and river banks of
Guiana, to the English markets, and export them,
moreover, in a ripe and yet perfectly fresh condition.
But steam and science have conquered the old limit-
ations of time and space ; and an old West Indian
firm, Scrutton, Sons & Co., of U, Graceehurch-
street, in the City, have been the first to apply these
to the development of what promises to be an im-
portant minor industry for our West Indian colories.
The competition in the sugar trade, caused by the
foreign bounty system, is now running these colonies
hard, and Messrs. Scrutton, Sons i'(- Co., likewise
men, have been casting about for a new trade to work
with the sugar, and it is to the fruits of the colony
that their attention has been directed. One of their
ships was recently fitted with special chambers for the
storage of the fruits, special machinery was designed
and fitted up for producing the necessary
temperature to preserve the cargo, and all was
ready for the experiments. The " Nonpareil" •' went
sailing away to the West ; " the " Nonpareil " has
come home again, and the experiment has been
successful beyond the expectations of the firm,
wliile fruit experts who visited the steamer on its
arrival expressed themselves highly pleased witli the
condition in which the fruit was landed. Mr. F.
Scrutton came down to the Fall Jfall (J(i:etti> oftice
withovit delay, bringing with him some beautiful
bananas, in fine mellow condition, and asked that
a representative of the paper should be sent down
to flip docks to report upon the result of tlie e\-

Aug. 2, i886,J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

79

periment. Next morning found a reporter going
over the side of the " Noni^areil " as she lay along-
side the wharf in the West India Docks at Black-
wall. The steamer was discharging a cargo of
sugar — the finest Demerara crystals ; but it was
not sugar that he had gone out into the wilder-
ness of ships and merchandize for to see. In the
captain's snug cabin, however, was Mr. Scrutton
ready for an interview.

" Yes," he said, spreading out a large chart of
the West Indies on the captain's locker, " I think
this ought to turn out a very good thing for the
colony, and a very good thing for ourselves. At
any rate, our first experiment promises well, and
I see no reason why we shouldn't educate English
people up to a taste for bananas such as the
Americans have. It 'is quite true, as you say,
that they don't care much about them now, but
that isn 't their fault. They have n't had the
chance of tasting real bananas yet."

" I suppose, Mr. Scrutton, thej banana, like the
tomato, is an acquired taste?" "Yes, that is
exactly the case. Our people here have never had
tliem long enough to get used to them. They are
too poor in quality and too dear. Give them
bananas both good and cheap and they will buy
again, and will soon get to like them very much.
Hitherto the bananas bought in England have been
picked very green ; they partly ripen on tiie voyage
hitherto, but the ripening process is finished off in
Covent-garden, where they arc warmed up artificially
in ihc merchants' own rooms. All this spoils the
real flavour of the fruit ; and what wonder, then,
that the banana is not thought much of ? Now the
West Indian banana trade with America is assuming
very large proportions. Some fifteen or twenty
steamers are constantly running to the States with
the fruit, and as the passage can be accomplished
in six or seven days there is no need for artificial
machinery. With us it is different because, with a
passage of seventeen or eighteen days, tiie fruit,
if picked when anywhere near perfection, would
ripen too fast, and be useless when it arrived. The
problem therefore was to devise some means of stor-
ing tlie fruit in a cool chamber, where all dampness
in the atmosphere should be extracted, and where the
ripening of the fruits should be retarded just so much
as would leave it in perfect condition on arrival in
the market. Our ships running to Demerara touch
at Madeira on the way out, and our idea is to
work a trade in vegetables — all the common greens
which will not grow in the tropics — from that
island to the West Indies, and then work the
West Indian fruits homeward. We shall import
the banana chiefly, and endeavour to popularize it,
so to speak, but we hope to introduce many more
of the fruits which flourish in the West Indies,
but which are absolutely unknown to the untra-
velled Englishman. We have not brought home
any large cargo of these other fruits this time ;
only ' sampled ' them, as the Yankees say ; but
you shall aee and taste them presently when we
go beloWi

" There is no difficulty in getting large quanti-
ties of bananas. It is simply a (juestion of demand,
not of supply. Whereas, as in Madeira, the banana
is but a season trade, in Demerara, oi ' the land
of mud,' as they call it, the fruit grows in profu-
sion alongside of the sugar in the rich black mud
on the coast and river banks. So if the English
people want then they can have them all the year
round, now that the problem of bringing them
over is solved. The idea of working this trade
originated, I ought to say, with our good Captain
Boniface who has worked the experiment uncom-
monly well ; but here comes the captain himself."

With this the captain walked in and joined in
the conversation. A right good hearty fellow
he was, a typical sea dog, with seventeen stone
of geniality and salt yarns in equal propor-
tion. Captain Boniface soon informed us that
his good ship, the " Nonpareil" named, sailed out
of this port about two months ago, and anchored
at Maderia on the 8th of April. There the cool
chambers were loaded with vegetables, cabbages,
French beans, peas, artichokes, asparagus, carrots,
turnips, celery, spinach, everything in the com-
mon green stuff way that you can mention, and
all which fetch good prices in Demerara. Only
those x^eople who have lived for long in the tropics
know what it is to hunger for a good fresh
cabbage or any other green food. About ten days
were spent in Demerara, and while the sugar was
being taken on board our friend the captain was being
towed up the creeks in a canoe by donkeys, his object
being to explore the native plantations further inland.
Here he selected a modest cargo of 400 banana
bunches for his experiment, as nearly ripe as he
thought prudent, and having selected the samples
of other fruits, soiled away on April .SOth, arriving
in dock on Saturday last (May 2!Hh).

" Now come below," said Mr. Scrutton, and,
together with the jovial captain, we descended the
hatchway into the fruit chamber. It was delight-
fully cool, the thermometer standing at 41 degrees.
All round the chamber were racks, very much like
an apple room in a country fai'mhouse, the greater
part of the space being occupied by the bananas.
A bunch of bananas in the green state in which they
used to arrive was placed on the floor by the side of
one of the bunches, all yellow and mellow, as they are
to be imported for the future, and there could be no
mistake about the improvement. In the adjoining
chamber the special freezing macliine fitted up
by Mr. Haslam, of Derby, was at work, and here
it should be stated how the temperature is managed.
To put the fruit in a chamber of frozen air would
quite spoil it, so the refrigerating machine is com-
bined with a " blower," which simply drives a
quantity of the outside atmosphere into a mixing
chamber , tempering the frozen air to the requisite
degree of coolness ; then it is driven through air-
holes into the fruit chamber. But inasmuch as
the fruit must necessarily throw off a certain amount
of moisture the air which is pumped in at one
side is constantly being sucked out and re-dried
at the other end, and so a continuity of coolness
and dryness is preserved, and the ripening of the
fruit is retarded. The captain watched the tem-
perature very keenly every day, and regulated it
according to the ripening of the fruit, and as
this is the first experiment it is probable that the
next supply will be if possible, in a still more
perfect condition. Of the other fruits which Mr,
Scrutton produced from the racks in this chamber
there were several which may before long be welt
known in our markets, since they were all beauti-
fully fresh and full-flavoured. There were the sapo-
dilla, which looks like either a potato or a russet
apple, and which tastes very much like A
pear ; the bcl-apple, a nice-lookiug yellow pod
very much like the seed of the passioi!
Howei , only larger, the pulpy seeds cf
which are llio sweet part that is eaten ; and a
smaller fruit about the size of large plums, called
the loquat. This fruit is very juicy and refresh-
ing, and if imported in any quantity will certainly
be in great demand. Then there were limes and
pines, tV:c., while some strawberries were turned
out fresh and cool from IVIadeira. Specimens of
tlie vegetables which are taken from Madeira to the
West Indies were there too, splendid cabbages of enor-
mous weight, and tomatoes and other things. All ^ver^

S'^

ME TROPICAL AGI^ICULTORISI?.

[Aug. 2, iSbO.

in the best possible condition, and live minutes
after we left the ship a Covent-garden merchant
had purchased the whole of the contents of the
chamberl Messrs, tScrutton & Co., now that they
can bring the fruit over fresh, intend to draw the
early fruits from Madeira as well, anticipating our
hothouse strawberries by six weeks. Next trip
they will bring 1,000 bunches of the banana, and
when they have cultivated it scientitically there is
reason to believe that some very fine fruit will be
the result. At present, a native puts in a plant and
it grows. That sums up the history of its present
cultivation.

While the Messrs. Scrutton have been elabor-
ating this idea, the Orient Company have been
doing much the same thing- in the way of import-
ing fruits from Australia— there, however, they only
cultivate English fruits— and so there is good
reason to hope that we shall have the number of
fruits in our markets largely increased and cheapened
while our colonies will find a new and valuable
addition to their export trade.

Indian Patents. — One of these is thus describ-
ed:— Mr. George Greig, Engineer, of Harveston,
in the County of Kincardine, North Britain — " A
method ofi desiccating air for drying purposes."—
Indian Engineer,

Tea.— There are said to be 64 tea plantations in
the Madras Presidency, covering au area of 7,553 acres,
of which little more than half is under cultivation.
Last year the outturn was 398,945 lb. The above are
ofKcial statistics but are of doubtful accuracy.— iV'ityf'rt
Expi'tss.

TuE Oli> PUSSELL.4.WA district is coming won-
derfully to the front under tea: an experienced
" V. A." in tea said not long ago that he had not
seen in the island better teaj of its age than a 100
acres field of about two years old on Peacock estate.

Trout in Nuwaka Eliya.— We are glad to
learn that the Assistant Agent of Nuwara Eliya
proposes to try the experiment of introducing trout
into the Nuwara Eliya lake and neighbouring
streams, and subscriptions are invited to defray
the expenses connected with it. The operations of
reserving the young fry &c. will be conducted
under the personal supervision of Mr. LeMesurier,
and we are glad to learn that about E.500 have
already been subscribed for this purpose.

A Eaok Hailway, designed especially for
tourist traffic, has-been constructed up the sides
of the granite cone of Corcovado, in the immediate
vicinity of Bio de Janeiro. The mountain is 2,330
feet high ; and, as it stands alone, a superb view
of the grand harbour is to be had from its summit.
The line starts in one of the suburbs of the city,
121 feet above sea level, and rises to the foot of
the actual peak, an elevation of 2,198 feet. The
total length is 4,144 yards, the width gauge 1
metre, the least gradient 1 in 25, maximum gradient
1 in 33, and maximum radius G chains. The steel
rails arc of the Vignoles pattern, 21) feet 0 inches
long, and weighing 40'3 lb. per yard. The rack rail
is similar to that of the liigi Bailway, and weiglis
112-9 lb. per yard. The sleepers are 5-9 feet by
(5-3 inches by 5-9 inches, and are of native wood.
The chief works on the line are numerous retaining
walls, a wooden viaduct, two plate girder bridges
over deep clefts, and a wrought-iron viaduct of
three spans, 42(3 feet long. The rolUng-stock con-
sists of two locomotives with inclined boilers, two
carriages to hold 50 passengers, and two goods vans.
The Tasmanian Government would do wall to con-
struct a railway of this kind to the top of Mount
Wellington.— .S7/(/»c// Mail. J.t the How of tourists
continues, we "in Ceylon may see similar lines to
the summits of riduiutallagalla and Adam's Peak.
—El'. C. O.j

TiiK Value of tuk " T. A.' xo Cevi.on
Estate Owneks. — A planting correspondent wrote
not long ago : — " I think proprietors should sup|)ly
every tea estate with the '/'. A. The information
in it with regard to everything in connection with
tea &c. is invaluable : it would pay its value over
and over again. Owners of estates should not
leave it to hard-up superintendents to take it in."

A Hint to Planters. — Messrs. Carson & Co.
are good enough to send us tw'o samples of colitce
beans packed in tin foil bags, rolled up and
sealed with wax, which have been sent to tlieni
through the post from Gonamotava estate, Hapu-
tale, and they write as follows; — "The tin foil
bags are very suitable for samples of coffee, etc,
sent through the jDost ; see two herewith ; not the
least torn. Though not so strong as parchment
they are far less costly and apparently quite as
safe."

Seiu) Oysteks are being exported from Bridge-
port, Conn., to England at the rate of from 150
to 200 barrels a day. The firm engaged in the
business has two dredging steamers at work con-
stantly on the beds off Southport. The seed are
freed from all extraneous substances, tightly packed
in barrels, and shipped via New York. By tlie
Englishmen they are planted in the river Umber,
in Brightlingsea, south of London, and at Carling-
ford in Ireland. The project is to cultivate the
American oyster in British beds, and thus greatly
increase the supply in the English markets. —
American Grocer.

Bbazil : Coffee .\.nd "Coca:" Cojiplijient to
Ceylon Tea. — We are permitted to quote as follows
from a private letter of Mr. Scott-Blacklaw : —
"I shall one of these days try to continue my letters
on Mandioca cultivation. I have tried all I can to
find some seeds of the Coca-Erythroxylon, but
cannot find it in Brazil, and I know no one in
Peru or Bolivia, who could send it. I shall make
another effort first time I go to Rio. I have been
written to from Ceylon and from India for seed.
It is a pity you could not find some as it will
take the place of tea and coffee, particularly of
the former as a renovator of the physical energies.
The leaf is shipped at Para but my friends there
cannot procure me seed. It comes down the
Amazon from Peru and Bolivia. I hope you are
succeeding with tea. Coffee will never grow again
in Ceylon. It has left it, the same as it has left
the old Brazilian coffee districts. In these latter a
little grows still in the shade and there are a
few exceptional cases where the plantations have
held out. But in the far interior where the rail-
ways have within the last few years been opened
the produce is enormous and increasing in spite of
shortness of labour. All our calculations as re-
gards Brazil have come to nothing. Slaves get
fewer everyday and coffee exports increase every
year. Coffee has had to be abandoned in districts
which combined \\ould take in three times the area
of Ceylon. It is very scUish of me to write you
only when my tea is finished, Ihe same as I accuse
my boys of writing only when they want some-
thing. But really the tea was so nice. 1 take
ill without it, now that it is done. I have kept
one bottle of it in case of sickness ! If the British
India steamers call at Lisbon a box sent through
them to be transferred to one of the Brazilian
steamers would not cost so much as sending to
England. I think they will book it through to
Eio." What is stated about " coca " is of import ance :
Mr. Gordon Grinlinton at Portswood, Nuwara Eliya.
has been interesting himself in this new product ;
we do not know if any other planters have done
so?

AvG. 2, 2 886. J

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

8i

— — ♦- -

To the Editor of the " Cenlon Observer."
FIBRES AND THE FIBRE TRADE.

Paris, 1-lth May 1886.

Dear Sirs, — As you are so well connected with
tropical agriculture, would you be in a position
to get me the so-called Chinese Mulberry Bark
(like post sample, I send you herewith) in large
monthly quantity at fair merchantable value. If so,
kindly place me into communication with some
of your friends, or, if the trouble is not too great,
shall be thankful to receive your personal commun-
ication on this subject. My sons, Messrs. Edgar
and Gaston Heymans, established " General Merch-
ants " at Hai-Phong (Tonkin) have not been able
to procure me any from their locality. If you
could find some other textile plants equally fibrous
your samples and particulars shall have my very best
attention and may lead to a large trade. — Yours
obediently, EDWARD HEYMANS.

[Planters and others interested can see the
sample sent to us at our office. The Mulberry
Bark of China is of the White Mulberry {Moms
alba), which was early introduced into Europe,
and has now almost superseded M. nigra for the
feeding of silkworms. Neither Ceylon nor India has
any for export we suspect. — Ed.]

immediate rise in the value of their better barks,
a consummation which, we venture to think, would
be very acceptable in these times of low prices.—
Wc are, dear sir, yours truly,

ARMITAGE, fry & Co.

MR. JACKSON'S TEA MACHINERY.

London, 1st June 1886.

Dear Sir, — In Vol. V., page 81.5, a letter
appears by Mr. James Irvine in which the following
somewhat sweeping statement appears : —

" All our Tea Dryers in use rapidly wear
and are not only costly to repair, but, as in the
T Sirocco, the whole of the machine has to be
taken to pieces to replace the burned plates." Will
you kindly allow me to point out to your readers
that there arc no plates in our Victoria and Vene-
tian Tea Dryers which come in contact with the
flame, the heating surface being multitubular, and
it is a well-kuowu fact that cast-iron tubes liavc
stood ni'iht (iiid dnij work for five years in England,
heating air to 1,000 deg. for blast furnace purposes.

Our Victoria Dryers have been at work for
three years in Assam, and not a tube has burned
through yet, and when last examined there was
nothing to indicate the near approach of such a
mishap.

Certainly none of our stoves in Ceylon or Assam
have had to be replaced in any way. Our Tea
Rollers in Assam are some of them sixteen
years old and doing good work yet, and I trust I
shall yet have the pleasure of saying the same of
our dryers.

I should be pleased therefore if your correspon-
dent will allow them a fair trial prior to passing
judgment. — I am, dear sir, yours truly,

WILLIAM JACKSON.

THE CINCHONA BARK MARKET.

3, Crosby Square, London, E.G., 4th June 1886.

Dear Sir, — In calling your attention to the en-
closed extract from the Planter:;^ Gizctte we would
remark that if planters could be induced, for a
time, to cease producing Branch Bark, which can
leave little (if any) profit to them at present rates,
and is to the advantage only of those who pack,
carry and soil it for them, the resJuU would be an
11

The Market for Cinchona Bark and Quinine.

So far the hopes entertained that the present year
would see an improvement in the value of quinine and
cinchona bark bave not been verified. Indeed tbe re-
sults of the last auction bave revealed a level of prices
previously unknown. The official quotation for bark
amounts to no more than 3id to 4id per unit. We
must go back to August and "September of 1883, to find
the parallel ajiproaching such a quotation. Then how-
ever, the price of quinine was quoted at 8s to 8s (Jd
per oz. against 2s Od for GermaH tin and 3s for Ho-
ward's in oz. bottles at the present time. lu both in-
stances the primary cause can be traced to excessive
supplies of bark frcn Ceylon, although the crisis of
1883 was intensified by the celebrated ring of quinine
manufacturers, who had bound themselves under a
heavy penalty not to sell the manufactured article under
a cert:au price. The breaking up of that rhig aud the
consequent improvement in the trade in the early
part of 1884 are matters of history well known to those
interested in this important branch of trade. In tho
present instance the low price of quinine is due to
an entire absence of speculative demand in Eui-ope
and especially in America. The American demand so
long looked for, showed signs of springing up in the
early part of last month, but died away again im-
mediately, some say owing to the unsettled state of
the country consequent on the strikes, capitalists not
caring to engage in outside speculations with an un-
certain political future. In this country the iniquitous
prices asked for quinine by the retail traders have
quite prevented any general dissemination of the
article, which people natui-ally supposed would be the
result when a low range of prices was fully established.

Medical men can scarcely be aware of the extremely
low rates ruling for quinine in the wholesale market,
or they would not refrain from prescribing it on eco-
nomical grounds, as too often happens. At present,
as is the case with meat and bread, no one except the
middle 'men arc deriving any benefit from the un-
precedented cheapness of the article. Until this matter
is more fully gone into, and requisite retail conij^cti-
tion secured, or else the prPi)osterous charges now
ruling fully exposed throughout this country, many of
those in dire need of its beneficial effects are destined
to be deprived of what is theirs by every right of min,
through the self-seeking monopolists, who are not
content with a profit of less than 150 per cent on the
retail of this article alone.

The statistical position of the rav/ article is by no
means unfavorable comparatively. January, 1880,
opened with a stock of 62,2 17 packages of all barks,
against 80,874 packages at the corresponding period of
the previous year, and although the export from Ceylon
shows an increase at the end of April of some three
million lb. over that of the previous year at the .'ame
dati^ the stocks in London at that date were 03,951
packages against 78,!I25 in 1885, and 99,010 packages
in 1884. The deliveries for the first four months of
the present year amount to 21.100 packages against
18,634 packages in 1885, and 20,094 paekagts in 1S84 ;
the total lau'iings for these months being ■2l',S04 pack-
ages. It is unlikely that the present depression in
quinine and bark will be of long duration. It ban its
origin from one or two causes, as specified above, the
result of which will so re-act on both raw and
manufactured articles as to curtail the supply, and so
with the increased demand which time is sure to show,
we may look for steady and progrefsive maikefs later
on in tiie year. At the same time shippers should be
warned of the necessity of checking their supplies ai^
much as possible until the market has time to right
itself.

M

Tm fnopiCAL AGmcuLTVRm\

[Auo, -^t 1886.

INSECTS ON THE MANGO TKEE.

Tattovancotty, Tallai, 11th June 1SS(;_

Deak Sii;, — I enclose in a nuiteh-box sonic leaves
from a young luungo-lree willi whal I believe to Jbc
the nest of Bome insects. I shall be obliged by
yonr kindly ascertaining for me the cause ; and,
if injurious, what remedy should be used.

In a back number of the T. A., a correspondent
mentioned that the leaves of the kokuna, if put
in a barrel and placed about a coconut plant-
ation, \vould attract and kill beetles. What is the
Tamil name for this plant.*— Yours faithfully,

FEEDK. MORTIMEU.

[Our entomological friend tells us : — " The excres-
cences are galls produced by the punctures made
by some minute hymenopterous insect with its
ovipositor in laying its eggs. The larva hatched
Irom the eggs, icsidc in and feed on the galls,
which increase in siae with the growth of the
larva — when the latter have arrived at the perfect
state, they bite small circular holes through
the substance of the gall, and make their escape.
They do little or no harm." — Ed.]

THE "TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST" AND
PLANTING IN SOUTHERN INDIA.
Naduvatum, Neilgherries, 15th June 1886.
To till Editor of the " Tropical Agriculturist."

Sir, — May I take the liberty to suggest that your
Valuable periodical would be still more useful to all
Indian tea planters if you could see your way to
add a couple of pages devoted to the account sales
of Indian tea in London. I am sure the Indian
subscribers, at least, would gladly pay an enhanced
subscription for this extra. For the sake of
obtaining this information I had intended sub-
scribing to the Indian Tea Gazette but when I
summed up the amount of information contained
in a si^ecimen copy, it seemed to me that I would
be fain to comfort myself somewhat after the fashion
Mr. Spurgeon recommends with regard to poor
sermons when he remarked : '• Though there is not
much in the sermon you always have the text."
(For '• text " read " statistics "). However I thought
better of that investment !

Perhaps you may be interested to hear of the
outturn from a coffee estate in these parts which
in spite of drought, leaf-disease i^'c, S:c., gives its
20 cwt. per acre ! The secret lies chiefly injudicious
irrigation about blossom time. The cattle-manure,
when applied, is not left to rot on the roots of the
coffee bushes and thereby bring on a heavy dose of
leaf-disease, but the " tap " is immediately turned
on and very soon the manui'e is transmuted into a
rich, but harmless, :aould. The coffee bushes on
this estate are never pruned, so that the bushes
(or rather trees) have never been abnormally forced.

I trust to forward you copies of a rather volumin-
ous correspondence with the Director of Agriculture
at Madras, as aoon as I can find the leisure. — Yours
faithfully, _ NOVICE.

P. S. — A tremendous gale of wind here for the
last forty-eight hours. Rainfall yesterday -5 inches.

June ioth. - The future lies with those planters
who have had sufficient foresight to reserve a large
Bfea for grazing purposes. In many districts
planters are obliged to resort to stall-feeding. On
the western slopes of these hills the pasturage is
tmcilaalled in quality in the whole of India and
the "area is ample. A correspondent writes of
miserable crops of coffee this season in Wynaad
and is of opinion that cinchona will eventually

* "Caiarium Z?yhiiiicim" is the botanical name
but we on find uo Tamil name. The Tatuil uaujo of
C. strclutu is Kowjiluiii, wu/-«//{.— Ed,

be barked only once in two years in the Wynaad

district.

L Would it meet our correspondent's views if we
gave the tea sales for Southern India, that is the
Neilgherries estates, in the T, A. ? Our South of India
subscribers are numerous enough to claim this
attention, but those in the North arc, so far, a
limited constituency. — Ed.]

ENEMIES OF THE COCONUT PALM:— No. I.

Pallai, 17th June 188().

Dkak Sin, — In the accompanying match-box I
send you a beetle which has lately been com-
mitting a considerable amount of havoc amongst my
young coconut plants, just two-and-a-half years old.
Its mode of attack is to bore through the outer
covering of mature leaves just below the surface
of the soil, and to regale itself on the tender,
undeveloped leaflets inside. The specimen sent you
was extracted from a plant this morning, by means
of a penknife, while it was busily engaged in its
work of destruction.

Can you let me know whether it is the genuine
" black-beetle " the huruminiya (small specimen) of
the Sinhalese or an entirely new enemy of the coco-
nut plant ? I have hitherto been under the im-
pression that the kurnminiija was a much larger
beetle than the one under review, and that, more-
over, it was provided with a pair of formidable
forceps to enable it to penetrate the tough outer
coating which envelopes the heart of the coconut.
The only weapon of destruction which the accom-
panying "varmint" appears to jjossess is the horn
on the top of its head, which gains for him the
familiar name (and the only one by which I have
known him) of the " rhinoceros beetle."

If he really is the kuruminiya, could you or any
of your readers kindly suggest a ready and effect-
ual lueans of combating his attacks ? I have been
thinking of trying kerosene oil, but I see a writer
in your compilation — "All about Coconuts," declares
it to be quite useless in preventing the ravages of
the " black-beetle." Y'ours faithfully,

COCONUT PLANTER.

No. II.

Pallai, 21st June 1880.

Dear Sir, — Will your entomological referee kindly
oblige me with the names of the grub and beetle
contained in the accompanying parcel, and also
tell me whether they belong to the same, or to
two distinct species ? In other words ; docs the
grub develop into the beetle ? One would suppose
so, as they are generally found together, nearly
every decayed coconut stem containing from fifty
to a hundred of the former, and one or two of
the latter.

The beetle is of the same kind as the one sent
you by me the other day, and which I mentioned
as being so destructive to my young coconut plants.
If they are allied to the grubs which are found in
such large numbers, it is high time a war of
extermination were carried out against the latter
pest. Trusting the parcel will reach you safely, I
am, yours faith'ully,

COCONUT PLANTER.

'Our entomological authority states

The two

beetles referred to in " Coconut Planter's" letters of the
17th and 21st instant are rhinoceros beetles, belong-
ing to the family Dynastidn', and the large white
grub is the insect in its larva state. This beetle
is the Kuruminiya of the Sinhalese. It docs immense
damage to coconut plants and trees. The natives
extract them Irom the trees by pushing down a
long wire rod barbed or hooked at the end, which
translises the insect and aduiitt; of ita being drawn
out of its hole."— lii^.j

Aug. 2, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

'^5

FIBEES AND THE FIBRE TRADE: THE SO-
CALLED CHINESE MULBERRY BARK.

Colombo, 19th June 1886.
Deah Sir, - With reference to your note to Mr.
Edward Heyman's letter yesterday, I believe that
the bark referred to is not that of a real mul-
berry but that which is called the paper mul-
berry, the Hroussonetia papiirifera, so commonly
used for paper and cloth in China, Japan and
the South Sea Islands. I cannot see any refer-
ence to the bark of the white mulberry having been
used as a useful fibre with the exception of the one
which I now send you.

Your readers will find useful articles on the

paper mulberry tree in the Tropical Aqvicuhurlst

for 1880-1 pp. 302 and 448, and I think it is to

the bark of this plant only your correspondent

refers. If it is now growing in Ceylon it must be as

a rare plant. — Y^ours, W. F.

{From J)alfour''s Ci/clopadia.)

" It is probable that most of the species of the genus

Morus have bark of a sufficiently fibrous nature. But

few, if any, seem to be turned to this useful account.

Y'et the bark of the White Mulberry seems from very

early times to have been made into paper in Cbina ;

for Marco Polo informs us that "the Grand Khan

causes the bark to be stripped from those Mulberry trees,

the leaves of which are used for feeding silk-worms,

and takes from it that tliiu rind which lies between

the coarse bark and the wood of the tree. This being

steeped, and afterwards pounded in a mortar until

reduced to a pulp, is made into paper, resembling that

which is made from cotton."

"^ NE W MARKET FOR CEYLON~TEA r^HE^
MANUFACTURE OF OREEN TEA
SUGGESTED.
Yatiyantota, lUth June 18S(').
Df.ar Sir, — I am glad to see that the Ceylon
planters have at last decided to take joint action
in the endeavour to find fresh outlets for our teas,
but I think the most im^Jortant point is to try
and stop the (now rather freipient) complaints of
deterioration and falling-off in quality of our tea,
as we should have little to fear from an over-
stocked market if we could always jjlace teas of

• uniform good quality in. the hands of our London
brokers and thus secure a first place and the full
conlidence of the public ; and the best way to effect
this is to make all our new leaf (from recently-
pruned bushes) cuul all leaf that cannot ht> propcrlif
withered) into (jreen tea. The first flush from
pruned bushes which is so useless for black tea
makes the best green tea, usually valued at from
one to two annas per lb. higher than that made
from subsequent flushes, and as leaf intended for
green tea is put into heated pans immediately it
comes from the fields and withered in five minutes,
the only two legitimate excuses a superintendent
has to offer for making inferior teas are entirely
done away with. But so long as we are compelled
to manufacture all our leaf into black tea, we can-
not hope to gain the confidence of our customers
as to entirely stop the complaint. Fully one-thud
of our shipments are spoiled by new leaf, and who
has not at times found it impossible to wither
leaf well, either from the weather being too wet
and cold or too hot and dry, want of sufficient

.space during a rush or" other unavoidable causes?
It would be taking up too much of your valuable
time and space were I to attempt here to prove
all the arguments in favour of converting a portion
of our crop into green tea, so I will content
myself by merely mentioning a few of the principal
points in its favour which I am prepared to discuss
(either through your columns or at the meetings
of the P. A.) if asked to do so, and I believe I
could prove these to the entire satisfaction of all

interested parties ; —

1st. -That the first cost to individual proprietors
in purchasing and setting up the necessary apparatus
for manufacturing green teas would not exceed
RoO each.

'2nd. — Even should it be found necessary to abandon
the enterprise through inability to find a market for
green tea, the said R;jO spent on the api^aratus
would not be entirely thrown away.

3rd. — An intelligent hlaeh tea maker could learn
the work by two or three lessons in as many days.

4th. — The chances of finding a renunierative
market for all the gret^n tea we might have to
make (in order to improve and maintain a uniform
quality in our black tea, saj', i our total outturn)
are by no means small, and at least as good as
we have of finding fresh outlets for black teas. All
information on the above points will be supplied
if asked for. — Y'ours truly,

OLD PLANTER.

P.S. — As another means of impi'oving our tea
(and perhaps lengthening the life of our bushes), I
would strongly recommend a heavy pinning only
once in 18 months instead of yearly ; but more of
this anon. — Y'ours, etc., O. P.

[America still consumes some green tea, but the
great market on which the Indian planters counted
in Central Asia seems now to be very limited.
Pity it is that the practice of adulteration should
have excited a prejudice against all green teas. — •
^^

Java ano Fiji as Sugar Proiutcers. — Mr.
Mason of Fiji in arguing for confederation and
protection to colonial produce, instituted an astound-
ing contract, thus : — " I may tell you that at the
present time labour in Fiji costs Is (id a dcxy for
every man, and in Java (id. That is one of the
reasons why you in London can buy sugar at the
grocers cheaper than you can buy the article at
the mill in Fiji."

Mr. Jacksox's Tea Mvciiikery. — The letter
in another colunm from Mr. William .Tack^on the
well known and vei'y successful tea machinist, is
worthy of and will doubtless receive the liest atten-
tion of our planter readers. It is called forth by some
remarks from Mr. Jaiaes Irvnie in which that gen-
tleman failed to do justice to the solid and lasting
cliaractor of Mr. Jackson's machinery, while he did
not discriminate, as Mr. .Jackson points out he ought
to have done, between Siroccos, the plates of which
are heated by the direct action of flame, and the
plates of the ^"ictoria and Venetian Driers which re-
ceive their heat from a multitubular arrangement of
stout iron. Of course no material exposed to heat
or friction can last forever, but JMr. Jackson is justified
in dwelling on the facts that none of his stoves have
as yet shown any signs of the destructive action of
fire V(liile some of his rollers are still working in
Assam after a lapse of sixteen years. We are but
expressing the opinion of all who have seen the Vene-
tian Drier, when we say that it comes as near per-
fection, for the purposes for which it is intended, as
any handiwork of man can reach. From the moment
the withered, rolled and fermented leaf is put
in at the top, it is not, necessarily, again touched
by the human hand until it emerges below as fully
roasted tea, after having fallen from one series of plates
to another as the action of a handle is applied. The
Victoria is a still more advanced machine and cal-
culated to do more work in a given time, but is con-
siderably more expensive, and a shrewd planter speak-
ing to us on the matter of tea roasters recently, said
he would rather have two Venetians than one Victoria
machine ; because if the one Vict iria went out of
order the work would come to a standstill, while
even if one of the Venetians were disabled the other
would he available. — We have not yet Mcen Mr .fohn
Brown's Toa-Drycr, which is also self-acting and
highly spoken of-

H

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[AuGi 2, 1886.

" My PorLTKY AND How I Manage Them by
an Indian Henwife," * is a lirst-rate book of practical
hints on the rearing of poultry, and being written for
Indians is of more value to us in Ceylon, than Enghsh
manuals on the subject. This little pamphlet of
40 pages contains eight chapters, of which subjects
are : I. Houses, Sheds, t&c. ; II. Breeds to Keep ;
III. Crosses; IV. Management, Food, Cost; V. Sitting
Hens, Nests ; VI Hatching and Rearing of Chickens

VII. Slight Ailments and some Diseases of Fowls ;

VIII. General Piemarks and Hints. — Reading the
book ^over carefully and weighing the directions,
we note so many points of importance not
generally known or understood that we feel inclined
to quote largely, or better still to advise tha reader
to invest in a copy. In the chapter on manage-
ment, the writer insists on the importance of re-
gularity and cleanUness. We will now give a sample
of the hints : —

According to season and weather the birds
ought to be let out of their houses as early
as possible, either into their yards or their
shed ; they enjoy the cool fresh morning air and
almost invariably run off to drink water ; therefore
their trough, or tin-plate, or earthenware vessel which
holds the water, having been emptied and cleaned
the night before, must be tilled at once with clean
fresh water ; do not let the fowls wait too long for
their morning feed, which ought, if possible, to con-
sist of soft food. The house or box ought then to
be cleaned and scraped, perches occasionally wiped
over with a rag damped with kerosine oil, grass
in nests shaken up or renewed, stray feathers picked
up either in yard or house, as the birds might be
tempted to swallow them. If the fowls have a grass-
run, so much the better ; if not, grass or vegetables
cut up must be freely given once a day ; and, per-
haps, a scanty feed of corn of some sort in the
middle of the day ; at that time also the water
ought to be renewed, except in short cold winter days,
when it might not be necessary. fShortly before the
birds go to roost ia tlie evening a good feed of sound
grain ought to be given, for a long night is before
these always hungry creatures. All Axy grain is
best given to fowls by being thrown far and wide
over the ground.

Great care should be taken not to make the food
too moist, only enough milk or water must be added
to make it crumble : season with a little salt, and
when cold or very damp with a little cayemie pepper.
Potatoes or the p«el only boiled soft, cabbage,
turnips or any other vegetable cut up and boiled
and mixed with bran, barley-meal or ground Indian-
corn is excellent food ; onions, chives, garlic, raw
and cut up fiue, then added to the above mess is
most wholesome.

Where only a few fowls are kept, sufi&cient scraps
of meat will be had from the table to supply their
want for animal food ; when at liberty, they "forage
for themselves, but in continement it must be given,
or they will fall off in condition and laying, and by-
and-bye they begin the vice of feather-eating.

In summer a piece of sulphur should be put into
the drinking-water ; during the rains or cold weather
a few drops of a solution of sulphate of iron every other
day in the drinking-water is bracing and useful.
Speaking of the quantity of food required by each
fowl, they say :

Four ounces, or two chittacks, of grain per diem
for each grown-up bird is about a fair average of
what will keep a fowl in good condition and laying
order, provided animal food and green food is added
on to it.

In answer to the all-important question : " can
you make it pay to keep fowls " ? The author gives
the following calculation : —

Supposing a hen of your own rearing stands you
at six months old El-4 ; she begins to lay at that
time, and being a fair average layer, lays lu a
year's time lOJ eggs, value R.") ; you kill her and value

* Published by C. J. A. Pritchard, 10, Lai Bazar
Street, Calcutta, 1886.

her at the lowest at As. 8 as a table-fowl ; mean-
w'nle she has cost you a year's feeding at 1 anna
per week=R3-l-i-Rl-4 as by above = R4-S against
R.5-8; you have enjoyed your eggs and the fowl on
your table and you made the profit of III in 18
months on an outlay of lvl-8, not taking house and
attendance into consideration ; nor, on the other hand
the pleasure you derived from the bird.
But we must leave the poultry-keeper to study the
book itself it he would fully understand the busi-
ness of managing his birds.

TuE Ceylon Tea Houses at the E.xuiBrriON
are thus noticed in the London letter of the
Indian P/ante/s' Gazette: —

I was very pleased to see at the Exhibition that the
exLibits of Indian teas stand solely upon their own in-
dividual merits, and that the name of the agents ap-
pointed by the Indian Tea Districts Association to re-
present the Association and take charge of the Indian
tea exhibits nowhere appears in connection with the
display of the simples. This is in itself noteworthy,
and fair-play requires that it should be known that no
advantage whatever has been taken for advertizing
purposes of the opportunity afforded. Whether this is
due to the right feeiing of the firm or to stipulations
made by the Association iu the contract, I know not, the
fact remains, and that, so far as the industry is con-
cerned, is the ctiief poiut. I did not enter the tea-room
where Indian tea is sold in the cup, and I must there-
fore withhold any remarks upon tliat section. I did,
however, avail myself of two of the Ceylon tea-houses,
and this from the accident of their positions being
favourable for sight-seeing, an accident which I am
thereby induced to think will count for much in the
patronage bestowed by the public, which will, from this
happy circumstance, flow more read-ly towards Ceylon
than towards India. This accident of situation, coupled
with the exceMent quality of the tea sold in the Ceylon
tea-houses, is a decided advantage not to be estimated
too lightly iu the race for favour at the Exhibition.
Ceylon has certainly luck as well as enterprise on her
side. Thus, the chief attraction, so far as exhibits are
concerned is decidedly the "Durbar Hall and its native
artisans in the court-)'ard thereof." " Old London " is
perhaps the next most popular detail. These two are
vis-d-i-is and at their very doors Cejdon has an attrac-
tive tea-bungalow, with tile-pictures of tea gardens set
in the tile wall. Here the tea is excellent and served
by Sinhalese "boj-s" in their naHve costume. An old
ruddy PalstafEan John Bull hailing from northern
latitudes, sitting at a neighbouring table, felt sorely
taken in, when, having been supplied with his tea-pot
and regulation three biscuits, light as snow-flakes, he
found that " bread and butter," " buns," &e., were not
to be had on any terms, biscuits being the only edible
provided at these tea-houses. At these biscu.ts he
looked askance: his massive lists had no grip sufficiently
delicate to raise such trifles without pulverizing them
ere raising them from the plate, and he knew it, and
refrained from the attempt, looking at them from time
to time between the sips and cooling puffs blown from
bis porcine cheeks, as though he should like to take
"them things what they give him for his 'tea' and
naught else " home to his family hearth and frame
them as mementoes of " the ceremony at which he
saw the Queen and all the Royal family, and them
things too is all them there Londoners' appetites is fit
for at tea-time!" Doubtless, like the rest of us, he
sometimes judges by solitary experiences. He had been
there a quarter of an hour when I left but he had not
in that time m:ide up his miud as to iiow he could get
them into bis hat without crushing thom into dust, but
he did want to take them away badly, even the ele»
phants on Scindiah's gate-way saw that. Again, out-
side in the grounds, on ttie most frequented walk and
offering the best view of the illuminated fountains,
Ceylon has a to\^ of tea-houses as last year. The Indian
tea-house, though vis-d-vh on the opposite side of the
grounds and offering perhaps almost as good a view, is
not stumbled upon in the ordinary course of a visitor's
walk and ha^ to be almost searched for to be found.
More Indian tea-houses are required, and perhaps may
be in preparatiou, though not yet opened.

Aug. 2, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

^5

Coffee Crops in Coorg. — Mercara, '21st June — The
prospects in Coorg for next coffee croii are jDoor
and I doubt if it will be much over half the last.
Bain in South Coorg fell early but the result have
not been satisfactory. In North Coorg it fell late
but after the blossom came out showers damaged
it. So altogether planters have made up their minds
to make the best of it by practising economy as
far as consistent with fair cultivation.

The Market Value of Tea Property in
India. —In the Report of the Dooars Tea Company
the astonishing fact is mentioned that an estate con-
sisting ot 2,200 acres of excellent tea land, 400 acres
of which were under tea of the best quality, had
been offered to the Company for £(5,000, or little
more than £2 10s per acre ! As mere forest land,
the place would be cheap at this rate. The place
must surely be unhealthy and the labour supply
difficult to keep up.

Quinine Production. — We learn from a home
contemporary that " there are now seventeen quinine
factories in the world — six in Germany, four in
America, three in France, two in Italy, and two
in England. The annual production amounts
to about 2,250,000 ounces." We believe this must
be under the mark. As regards " Dutch Quinine,"
the Chemist and Dntfiglst states : —

'• The shareholders of the Amsterdam Quinine Works
met on Ajiril 30th last to consider the position of the
company, and to hear the annual statenieatreferrring
to the course of the business in 1885. The accounts
show an absolute loss of over 40 per cent of the paid-
up capital ; and under these circumstances the share-
holders were asked to decide as to the coutinuatiou
or winding-up of the concern. No decision was arrived
at, and the meeting adjourned pending the result
of certain negotiations now being carried on by the
board of directors.''
From the Britislt 'Trade Journal we quote : —

"Several Amsterdam firms have petitioned the Dutch
Minister for the Colonies in favour of increasing the
number of Government auctions of cinchona bark from
two to eight per annum, in order that Amsterdam may
be better able to compete with foreign markets where
regular sales are held."

A Ceylonese Student at Cirencester. — It is
interesting to learn of the progress of Mr. Drieberg,
junior, of Colombo, at the Royal College, Ciren-
cester. He entered there in September last, after
taking his B. A. degree at Calcutta, where he was
a student both at the General Assembly, and Pre-
sidencye College. Mr. Drieberg intends taking the
full coursd at Cirencester of 2J years, and also
the diploma of the Royal Agricultural College,
London. From the " Class and Prize list and
Diplomas for the Spring Session 188() " (at Ciren-
cester) we learn : —

The following deserve - Honourable Mention :
—(Qualifying marks 2,250), Drieberg, 2,279; Agri-
culture. —600 Marks, Class 1 B., 7 Drieberg, 498 ;
Farm Journal, Class 1 B., Drieberg, Highly Com-
mended; Class 1 B.— Mineral, 6 Drieberg 4.59 ; Chemical
Manipulation, Drieberg, Very Highly Commended ;
Book-keeping 300 marks. Class 1 B., 4 Drieberg, 282 ;
Class 1 B.— Pneumatics, 1 Drieberg, (Hon. Cert.),
291 ; Class 1 B., 8 Drieberg, * 237 ; Class 1 B.—
Mensuration, 9 Drieberg, 222. Veterinary Medicine
and Surgery. — 300 Marks, Class 1 B., 8 Drieberg, 217 ;
Practical work at the Veterinary Ho.spital and
Hospital Journal. Class 1 B., Drieberg, Commended.
The following have passed the Preliminary Examin-
ations for the Diploma of Membership in their re-
spective Classes in order of Merit : — Class 1, Drieberg.

Mr. Drieberg ought certainly to come out well-
bualified for practical work in Ceylon or any other
colony.

* Has still to pass in identification of Fossils.

Good for Coconut Oil.— Some comparative experi-
ments, conducted under the superintendence of the
Hydrographic department of the United States Navy,
as to the efficacy of oil in calming heavy seas, are
reported to have demonstrated that the use of
mineral oil for the purpose is not to be recommended,
but that the importance ot carrying a supply of
vegetable or auimal oil, to be used in emergencies,
cannot be over-estimeited.— Pharmaceutical Journal. '

Esparto feom Almeuia.— In consequence of the
increased use of wood-pulp in the manufacture of
paper, the export of Esparto from Almeria to Great
Britain has decreased, the amount shipped last year
being 12,000 tons and the average price £5 5s. per
ton free on board. From Oran and other African
ports large shipments of Esparto were, however, made.
— Gardeners^ Chronicle.

Indian Labourers in Mjlvritius.— Commercial
Gazette discussing a question of thehvages, writes:—
By all means let men be paid the full current
value for their labour— but no more ; and, in the
purchase of that labour, the Director of the Botani-
cal Gardens, who is the best judge of its value,
should be left to decide what it is worth. We are
pleased to see that His Excellency the Governor
pledged the government to adopt the course here
pointed out. We cannot, however, agree with His
Excellency that a coolie drawing R240, or even
Rll)2 a year, can be correctly called a poor labourer.
Compared with an English, Scotch, or Irish la-
bourer we should call him a rich man. By prefer-
ence he elects to live upon a handful of rice ;
whilst his clothing consists of a pocket handker-
chief and a gunny bag. Shoes and stockings
he wears none, and his laundry expenses do not
amount to much. He has, or might have a res-
pectable deposit in the Savings Bank, or, if he
has not, he has most likely a respectable sum
buried under the mud floor of his hut. Our envy
was excited only the other day by the sight of
thirty good sovereigns worn as a neeklace by an
Indian lady whose clothes would have borne-
washing ! By all means let these people be paid
the full value of their labour whether that value
be high or low. But let us not talk of them as
"poor" people when their earnings are, relatively
speaking about three times the amount which
Europeans receive both for manual and brain work

Kapok.— A short notice regarding the cotton,
known as "Kapok" in Java, appeared in the pro-
ceedings of the Horticultural Society of India for Nov.
last, since when Dr. Baumgarten of that place was
addressed on the subject as there seemed some
obscurity as to the name of the tree yielding it •
he writes as follows—" Enclosed, I send you seeds of
the Kapok tree, and some of the Kapok itself, though
the plant grows everywhere in India, especially in
Bengal. The quality of the cotton is much superior
here, though, and I attribute this to the greater
heat of our dry season. The Latin synonyms are
Gossampinus alba, Humboldt ; Bombax petandrum,
Limuvus- Eriodendrum anfractusum, iJecandoUe'.
The Kapok in only used to fill up mattresses, chicks,'
etc. So far as I am aware there is in the whole
of Java no Kapok plantation. In each village there
are some trees, the fruit of which is sold by the
natives for one rupee per thousand. When cleaned
the price is R30 to 50 per picul (i.e., 1.30 English
pounds) the price is now very high, but I don't
doubt it will rise more when the use is more known.
Several people here tried to make from the Kapok
tree a culture, but all attempts failed, the cause of
which must be sought in the enormous salaries."
[We learn that the Ceylon trade which had grown
to be of some importance to natives and others in
the Colombo and adjacent districts is in danger of
being superseded by the cheaper supplies which can b«
got from Madras, Bombay and Calcutta.— Ed.]

B6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug. 2, 1886.

THE COLONIAL EXHIBITION.

British ItHiaxa, — The coUectiou from this colony
is closely contiguous to that from the West Indies.
The entrance to the court is flanked on either
side by magnificient squared trunks of green-heart
(Nectaiidra Eodirei) and INIora (Diniorphandra Mora,
better known as Mora excelsa). The first of these
is one of the tallest of the forest trees of the Guiana
forests, growing in clay soil near the rivers and creeks.
liOgs, it is said, can be obtained from Is — 34 inches
square and 70 feet long- (rrecnheart is one of the
most durable woods known, and it is one of the eight
first-rlass woods at l^loyds. It is used for ship's keels,
and other timbers for lioiise framing, mill timbers,
wharves, and, indeed, for ahnost every purpose where
great strength and durability are necessary. The bark
is well known in medicine under the name of Bee-
beru bark, and is the source of the alkaloid Beeberine,
which is used as a tonic and ferbrifuge in jjlace of
quinine. The seeds are also used medicinally by the
natives in cases of diarrhioa, and when ground mixed
with other meal are used as food in times of scarcitj'.
The Mora is an extremely strong and durable wood,
and is not only used extensively for outdoor work
and ship-building, but also makes good durable furni-
ture, though somewhat too heavy for ordinary kinds.
Several varieties of the trees are known in different
localities, each having a distinct name. The tree grows
to a height of 200 feet, and logs can be squared 24
inches. The bark is used medicinally in dysentery
and also for tanning, and the large seeds are ground
to a meal, ond mixed with Cassava as an article of
food.

Besides the two woods here mentioned, 'which are
the principal timbers of the British Guiana forests,
there are many others of very great value, the bota-
nical source of a large number of which is unfor-
tunately still unknown. An excellent collection of
some seventy-eight samples of the woods of the colony
are exhibited by jNIessrs. Park cfc Cunningham, of George-
town, whose aim is to bring them to the notice of
English cabinet-makers with a view of introducing
them to the English commerce. By far the most
beautiful wood for cabinet-work, however, is the Letter-
wood (Brosimum Aubletii), which has a reddish-brown
ground iind black wavy markings representing letters,
or i-ather the marking of a leopard skin. This wood
is valuable for inlaying and for making choice walk-
ing-sticks ; it is hard, and takes a splendid polish.
The tree is not abundant, and in the largest trees
the heartwood, which is the figured part, is but small

a tree of 2(1 inches diameter, having only 7 inches

of heart. Two telegraph poles of "Wallaba (Eperua
fdlcata), as prepared for use in Georgetown, are ex-
hibiteil. These posts, it is stated, do not require treat-
ment with tar or other preservative, and last from
fifteen to twenty years, even when placed in marshy
situations where they are surrounded with water for
weeks together. The trees are very plentiful, and
grow to an average height of SO feet.

Besides woods themselves, wood products are also
largelj' shown, notably the "Woodskin canoes which
the Indians make from a single piece of bark stripped
from the trunks of Hymen:ei courbaril, or the Locust
Tree, and from the Purple Heart (Copaifera pubiflora),
and C. bracteata. These canoes are sometimes made
large enoagh to accommodate fifteen or sixteen
persons.

Amongst food products of the colony, those of the
bitter Cassava plant (Manihot utilissinia) deserve a
notice. Oas'java meal, Cassava bieid, and Oassareep
are all fully illustrated. They are described as " very
important articles in the cookery of the Indians,
the former being the 'staff of life,' and the latter its
sauce. Oassareep is the principd ingredient in th*^
famous 'pepper pots,' and may le used as a sauce in
European cooliery." Cassareep does indeed come to
this country, usually in ordinary black wine bottles,
and forms an excellent adjunct to ttews and hashes.
Heme remarkably fine .samples of B.)lata are ex-
hibited. This substance, it will be remembered, has
been recently treated of in an elaborate and exhaiistive

report by Mr. Jenman, the Government Botanist of
British Guiana. It is intermediate in character
between gutta-percha and 'ndia-iubber. It has very
great strength, and as it does not stretch under ten-
sion it is unequalled for machine-bands and similar
purposes. On the whole, the British Guiana collec-
tion is one of much interest.

Hong Kong.
This collection does not contain anything very
striking from a botanical point of view. There is
a good collection of eighty-six specimens of Chinese
woods, which were collected and named by Mr.
Charles Ford, of the Ijotanical Garden, Hong Kong.
There is also a fine collection of the now well-known
China matting, which Dr. Haast has shown is
made of the culms of Cyperus tegetifoimis, the
varieties of designs and patterns of which are, for
the most pait, extremelj' good. The nnmerous
applications of rattans and bamboos for a variety
of articles of domestic use are also of considerable
interest ; besides which there is an extensive collec-
tion of Chinese drugs, a large number of n'hich are
of vegetable origin ; they are, however, not in a very
satisfactory condition, either with regard to the
specimens themselves or their labels. — Ganhmrn'
Chronicle.

ESPARTO AND DATE PALM IN
TUNIS.

Consul-General Playfair has recently furnished to
the Foreign Office a very interesting report of a
consular tour along the coast of Tunis in October and
November last, from which we abstract the following
notes. Writing of Susa, Mr. Playfair says the prin-
cipal articles of export are olive oil and Alfa or Es-
parto-grass. The trade in this latter, it is said, ought
to be the most important on the coast, but it is being
rapidly annihilated, owing to the unwise restrictions
placed upon it by the Tunisian government. This
valuable fibre is found in Algeria, Tunis, and Tiipoli.
It was first brought into use by Mr. Lloyd, owner of
the J)ai!j/ Chronicle, who had an establishment at ( )ran,
and up to the present time the trade has remained
almost entirely in the hands of the English. In Algeria
it is encouraged in everj' way. Two lines of railwaj'
have been constructed to convey it to the coast.
Nearly 100,000 tons a year are exported, and there is
no duty whatever on it. In Tripoli also, which ex-
ports 00,01)0 tons per annum, it is free. In Tunis,
on the other hand, the duty is most onerous, and,
strange to say, not uniform at all the ports The
most highly taxed is that shipped at Rusa, as the
fibre there is erroneously assumed to be of better
qua'ity than that of Sfax.

Keferring to the Lotus of the ancients, Consul
Playfair says: — "Much controversy has arisen regard-
ing the plants which so enchanted strangers as to
tempt them to desert their companions and their father-
land. The passage in the Odt/ssey (ix. 90) is as
follows: — 'On the tenth day we set foot on the land
of the Lotus eaters. . . . Now when we had tasted
meat and drink, I sent forth certain of my company
to -go and make search what manner of men they
were who live here upon the earth by bread, and I
chose out two of my fellows and sent a third with
them as a herald. Then straightway tliey went and
mingled with the men of the Lotus eaters, and so it
was that the Lotus eaters devised not death for our
fellows, but gave them of the Lotus to taste. Now
whosoever of them did eat the honej'-sweet fruit of
the Lotus had no more wish to bring tidings nor to
come back, but there he chose to abide with the
Lotus-eating men, ever feeding on the Lotus and
forgetful of his homeward way.'

" JNIost writers have been content to follow Shaw,
generally the most accurate of observers, who iden-
tifies the Lotus with the aeedra of the Arabs, the
jvjuhe or fruit of the Zizyphus. The wilil variety is
the common scrub of the country near Algiers, where
Shaw resided ; it becomes less common as we approach
the south, and I neither saw nor could I hear of

A\Jii. i, i3iib:j tm TROPICAL AaRICULTtJHIST,

87

the existence of a single plant in Djerba, which
island Shaw never visited. No human being who had
ever tasted its fruit once would caie to do so again ;
it is not, in fact, possible for either man or animals
to exist upon it. There is a cultivated variety some-
what more palatable, but still it is bj' no means a
luscious fruit, or worthy of immortalitj'. It seems to
me unnecessary to go out of the way to search for
the Homeric food ; the island is covered with it at
the present time ; no greater blessing than it was
ever bestowed by Providence on man, and no other
fruit is so all-sufficient for human sustenance as the
♦ honey-sweet Lotus ' of the ancients — the Date of the
modern Arab.

"The Date of Djerba is excellent, though inferior
to that of the Djerid, which is certainly the finest in
the world. This latter, however, is always found
abundantly in the Djerba market. As this is the first
place where the Date forms the daily food of the
inhabitants, at which coasting vessels from the cast
would touch, the fruit woidd naturally produce a deep
impression on travellers. The wiue made from the
sap of the tree is as familiar as the fruit itself, and
may have contributed to render the sailors oblivious
of "their homeward way.'" — Gardeners^ Chronicle.

THE HIMALAYAN LARCH.

The Himalayan Larch (Larix Griffithii), was dis-
covered in the Bhotan Himalaya by the celebrated
botanist and traveller. Dr. W. Griffith, whose ener-
mous collections of plants lay, for many years after
his death, buried in the cellars of the old East India
House in Leadenhall .Street; nor was the tree known
to botanists till it was re-discovered by myself in the
East Nepaul and Sikkim Himalaya in 1)S4S. It is the
only Indian species of the genus, and it is a remark-
able fact that Larix is the only genus of Conifers
which is common to Europe and India, and which
is not found in the ^Vestern Himalaya. The genera are
Finns, Abies, Picea, Tsuga, Cedrus, Cupressus*, Juni-
perus, Taxus, of which all but Tsuga, Cedrus, and
(Jupressus occur throughout the length of that vast
range, the exceptions being that the first of these is
confined to the Central and Eastern Himalaya, and
the two others to the "Western half, as Larix is to
the eastern. Turning now to the distribution of the
other Old AV'orld Larches, L. Europ;ca occupies a very
narrow area, along the great mountain ranges of
Central Europe, from Dauphiny to 8tyria, and is
found nowhere to the north or south of these limits.
The Siberian Larch, L. Ledebourii, has its western
limit in North Russia and the Ural, reappearing east-
ward at intervals throughout Northern and Central
Siberia, and southwards in the Altai Mountains. L.
dahurica begins in the country from which it takes its
name, and advances thence eastwards, and no doubt
these or other species occur in the mountains of
Western China. Thus there appears to be a great gap
in the distribution of Larix, extending from Styria to
the Eastern Himalaya, for no Larch has been found
in Greece, Turkey, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, Syria,
Persia or Afghanistan, but curiously enough, this
interval is to a great extent occupied by Cedrus,
which, commencing in the AYesteru Himalaya, is con-
tinued on thence to Afghanistan, and reappears in
Syria, Asia Minor and North Africa. "\Yhen we be-
come acquainted with the geological ages at which
these genera first appeared on the globe this fact in
their distribution will, no doubt, prove to be of great
significance.

The Himalayan Larch (Larix Griffithii, Hooker fil.
and Thompson) is a small tree, not exceeding 40 feet
in height, with precisely the habit of L. Europrea, var.
pendula, which it so closely resi^mbles as to have
deceived myself and other.'^. It differs from that plant
In the very large cones with very long points to the
exsertcd bracts. It is called Sah or Saar by the Lep-

* Oupressus fuuobris, though found only in the
Eisteru Himalaya, is undoubtedly planted there, nor
did I sec it ^uywhere but close to tuunjles or

chas of Sikkim, and Boarga sella by the Nepalese,
who informed me that it was found as far west as
the heads of the Cosi river in Eistern Nepaul. It occurs
only towards the heads of the valleys near the snows,
many miles from the plains of India, at elevations
of 10,000 to ll'.OOO feet, and where I first saw it it
clothed old morianes; and though subsequently met
with on grassy or bushy slopes, it was only when there
was much rock and free drainage. The wood is regarded
as the most durable of all the Sikkim Conifers,
and is easily split into planks, but all of those that
I met with were smalt, soft, white; I never saw any
hard, close-grained red wood, like that of the Larch
in Switzerland, which may be accounted for by the
extreme witness of the Sikkim climate.

The cultivation of the Himalayan Larch in Europe
has hitherto proved a total failure, at least as far as
I have ascertained. I sent ([uantities of the seed to
Kew in 1818, which germinated freely, and hundreds
of plants were raised and widely distributed but in
every case these succumbed, in a few years, to viru-
lent attacks of Coccus Laricis. liepeated importations
of the seed into Kew and elsewhere have met no
better fate. I have often been shown L. Europwa for
L. Griffithii, sometimes with the most positive assur-
ance that the tree was received as such from Kew,
but in no instance have these borne the unmistake-
able cone of the Himalayan Larch.— F. D. Hookeh, —
Garde ners' Chronicle.

FORESTRY.

CoXslDEliATIONS PeEI.IMINARY TO PLANTING.

Draining should be well* attended to, and every
foot of wet surface rendered sufficiently dry for the
growth of trees. This does not, as is erroneously
believed, necessitate the drains being deep — 18 — 20
inches in depth, and 2— 2| feet in width at the top,
being usually sufficient for clay, and 24 inches to 3
feet often required for moss. Deep drains are very
objectionable in plantations, and where choice cjm be
made, rather keep closer together, and make more
of them for the same outlay.

The ground should be very closely examined, sur-
veyed, and laid otf, so as to enable the planting to
be done in groups — such as soft moss for Norway
Spruce, clay for Oak or Beech, gravel for Scotch Fir,
loam for Larch, Poijlars ;ind hard woods.

All rauk herbage should be thoroughly subdued
according to its kind. AV'hins, Broom, Brambles, and
such-like may be kept down by close cutting, while
Heather and rauk grasses are most properly subdued
by burning; and where Heath is the principal growth
it is to the advantage of the young trees that the
Heath be burnt at least three years previous to plant-
ing. Next to destruction by rabbits I believe more
injury is done to young trees by planting them amongst
rank Heather and other herbage than any, if not all
others put together. I have repeatedly witnessed
plantations linger for years between life and death
amongst rank Heather, and could only satisfy myself
as t(» the cause of such unaccountably retarded growth
by taking up some of the trees and examining their
roots, when I found them so badly rooted that a tree
3—4 feet high would almost have gone into a 4-inch
flower-pot without confining the roots, for the simple
reason that there were scarcely any to confine. It is
sometimes the wisest and best thing to do with a
j'oung plantation in that condition to set fire to it and
burn off every vestige and to plant it anew with small
plants suited to the soil and exposure, &c.

Some years ago a landed proprietor in Aberdeen-
shire sought advice about a young Larch plantation
which he observed was not thriving. The trees were
all growing amongst luxuriant herbage, and not a
few amongst ferns, or rather Brackens. We suspected
at once what was the matter, and dug up a tree
here and there to show what was the cause of the
slow growth and stunted condition of the trees. It
is from the lower branches that a yoiuig tree dcrive.s
its principle nourishment, and if these are deprived
of their vitality from any cause it follows as a natural
aud certain result that fUe wbol^ ccuuoiuy of the tree'e

m

i^HE TROPJCAL AGRlC0LtURlSf, [Aug. 2, 18&6,

growth is interrupted, and in many cases the plant is
thrown into a state of ill-health or chronic disease.
If trees were only grown in accordance wth the laws
of Nature there would be little or no room for com-
everything else, have their natural enemies, but a
plaints about insects destroying them. Trees like
great many insects found on trees, especiallj' of the
beetle tribe, are there, not as enemies at all, but
from beneficent motives, or at least to do benevolent
rather than malevolent work, by putting out of exist-
ence trees already diseased, dying or dead. Paring
of the turf is also a plan often adopted and highly
commendable, and when burning the surface is im-
practicable tltis is the best alternative system to adopt.

Boring the ground by means of the forester's foot-
pick may or may not be considered a preparatory
work, but rather an actual part of the planting itself.
Be this as it may, it is generally done before the
plants are put into the ground, although it can be
done afterwards, as it sometimes is, and with very
satisfactory results.

Another, and by no means unimportant consider-
ation, preliminary to planting has reference to orna-
mental effect in the fiat, tame landscape. Mountain-
ous and hilly ground so very naturally indicates how
and what to plant, that less consideration is there
required than when the surface is uniform and level.
The plain, however, usually consists of more fertile
and valuable land than the mountam. and there-
fore the area that can be afforded for planting is
corre.spondingly less. There is, however, in the plain
a compensation for this of no small magnitude, namely,
every single tree so situated imparts to the landscape,
an effect equal, and often mnch superior to, a large
area on the hill. From this it is not to be inferred
that the plantation on high ground is not a prom-
inent and commanding object, and usually seen from
a greater distance than a tree on the plain ; but what
is here meant is, that a row of trees stretching across
a plain district of country, or even a small gioup or
a single tree, adds much more to the clothed ap-
pearance of the landscape viewed from nearly the
same level, than an infinitely greater extent of jilant-
ation would do in an undulating district ; it should
therefore be kept in mind in preparing for planting
what the real and true effect will be on level ground
when the trees are grown up, in comparison with what
is produced in a mountainous district, and that an
acre, or even a single tree on the plain, is equal to
many on the mountain side.— C. Y, MiCHiE, Cullen
House, — Gardciurs Chrvnicfe.

NOTK ON QUIMNK SULPHATE, BV Dk. O. HesSE. —

This is part of a highly technical controversy and
we content ourselves with quoting the conclusion of
the paper in the Pharmaceutical Journal, thus: —
" Commercial quinine sulphate contains a sensible per-
centage amount of of hydrocjuinine, and that for
every unit of hydroquinine sulphate a result would
be obtained the same as if 042 per cent of ciucho-
nidine sulphate were present. It is for this reason
that the amount of cinohonidine sulphate is generally
indicated too high by several units per cent by the
optical method. Instances have indeed been met with
in which the optical method has given data indicating
the presence of some two per cent of cinchonidiue
sulphate in material that did not contain a trace of
it. This elucidation of the subject may at least
suffice to show what value is to be attached to the
Btatcments of Dr. de Yrij as to the amount of cin-
chonidiue sulphate in quinine sulphate, so far as
they are based upon the application of the optical
method of examination."

Cauk oi" THE Hands. — The Hcientijic American
says, "There are not nearly as many secrets in hand
treatment as people imagine. A little ammonia or
borax in the water you wash your hands with, and
that water just lukewarm, will keep the skin clean
and soft. A Uttle oatmeal mixed with the water
will whiten the hands. Many people use glycerine
on their hands when they go to bed, wearing glove
to keep the bedding clean; but glycerine does not
agreo witli every uuv. It nuktis euue ekius Larsli

.1 I JH-'

and red. These people should rub their hands with
dry oatmeal and wear gloves in bed. The best pre-
paration for the hands at night is white of egg with
a grain of alum dissolved in it. (^tuacks have a fancy
name for it ; but all can make it and spread it over
their hands, and the job is done. They also make
the Eomau toilet paste. It is merely white of egg,
barley flour and honey. They say it was used by
the Homans in olden time. Any way, it is a first-
rate thing ; but it is a sticky sort of stuff to use, and
does not do the work any better than oatmeal. The
roughest and hardest hands can be made soft and
white in a month's time by doctoring them a little
at bed time, and all the tools you need are a nail brush,
a bottle of ammonia, a box of powdered borax, and
a little fine white sand to rub the stains off, or a
cut of lemon, which will do even better."

Olive Oil in Tuscany.— In a report on the trade
and commerce of Leghorn it is stated that the Olive
crop during the season 1885-86 throughout Tuscany
was very short. The yield of Olive oil is consequently
estimated at barely one-tenth of a full crop. The
fruit while still on the trees was considerably damaged
by severe frosts, hence much of the oil made was
of very inferior quality. Nevertheless, in a few
sheltered localities the Olives escaped injury, and
yielded oil of perfect quality, but the productioH
of such oil has been on a very limited scale. Under
these circumstances the prices of the finest qualities
of Tuscan oil, which are generally considered much
superior to the best growth of other soil-producing
districts of Italy and of France, might have been
expected to rule very high, particularly as in Tus-
cany stocks of Olive oil of the previous season's
crop were quite exhausted. But, owing partly to
good Olive oil crops in the districts of Nice, the
Italian Kiviera and Bari, and partly to the general
trade depression and fall in values of almost every
commodity, new Tuscan Olive oils have fetched com-
paratively low prices. The Olive trees are generally
in fine condition, and promise well for next seasOH. —
Gardenem' Chronicle.

Cultivation or Cinchona in Europe. — In a recent
issue the Atlienaiun quotes from M. Yogel {Bieder-
mann^i Central Blatt) that is a •' very remarkable fact
in relation to the chemical action of the solar rays, that
cinchona trees growing in hothouses in Europe develop
no quinine in their bark." This is contrary to the
experience of the late Mr. J. E. Howard, who took
a warm interest in the propagation of cinchona, in his
own hothouses. On one of these he rote as follows
in a paper contributed to the BritishwPharmaceutical
Conference, 1880 : — " I found that canker had invaded
the plant to a serious extent ; and, after trying in vaiu
some heroic remedies, I determined to root up the
calisaya, and if possible gain some useful information
as to the cause of its death. The age of this tree Mas
eight years, the height between 7 and 8 feet, but would
have been much more had I not been compelled to cut
olf the top some years before in accordance with the
requirements of my conservatory. Before doing this I
succeeded in taking a strip along this upper portion
and renewing the bark under moss, as practised in
India. The girth of the stem at the base wa? 9|
inches, and about (i;} inches at the summit (where cut
otf }. The result of the analysis of the bark of my tree
was as follows : — CaHsii/a Angelica quill : l^b sulpliate
of (juinine, 070 cinchonine, Olo (juiuidine. CaViMya
Am/clica stem hark : 3 20 sulphate of quinine, 1'50 cin-
chonine, 0 32 quinidiue. Calisat/a AiKjelica root hark :
3'95 sulphate of quinine, 1 00 cinchonidiue, 400 cin-
chonine, 0 27 quinidine. Thi4 must be considered
satisfactory for a tree grown under glass in England."
This is a direct contradiction to Mr. "N'ogel's state-
ment. AVe take it tbat what is meant is that the solar
rays have the effect of decreasing the percentage of
alkaloids, and not only so, but have the power of causing
degeneration of the quinine. This is not a new fact.
It was first observed by Mr. Maclvor, and no further
back than last year Mr. David Hooper, Government
quinologist of IMadras, referred to the point in his paper
communicated to the Aberdeen couforeucc— OVte/zaii
did Ifruc/tjiit.

AtJCI. !?, 7SB6,]

THE TROPICAL AGRrCtJttURlST.

8c;

ORANGES.

Practical information for busy, practical men is the
demand of the times. We have been constantly in
receipt of letters asking fcv information relative to
tropical fruits, especially regarding the diferent vari-
ties of oranges familiar to this market. Mr. J. H.
Wright, the well-known fruit dealer, who has already
contributed through our columns the best articles
extent relative to bananas and coconuts, has kindly
given us a third article of exceptional value relating
to oranges. The original paper was read on April
16 before, the Bayoniie (N. J.) Scientific Club, and
illustrated by an exhibition of twenty-five different
varieties of oranges ; the orange tree in full bloom,
leaves and blossoms from the Government gardens,
contributed by Mr. Wm. Saunders, Superintendent;
microscopical exliibit of the orange blossoms and the
living mites which live beneath the scales, so fre-
quently seen on the outside of the orange, and various
products made from oranges. INIr. Wright has since
revised his paper and added thereto, and now places
every reader under obligations to him for specific
trade information, the result of the life study of one
possessed of exceptional power of observation and the
faculty of gathering information and making it tell
for the benefit of others.

The orange, one of the most popular members of
the citrus family (or as it was called by the r.ncients,
the "Clolden apple,") is probably the oldest known
fruit in existence. Zealous enthusiasts trace it back
even to the garden of Eden, and insist that the
grape cr forbidden fruit was the original golden apple
which Eve plucked from the forbidden tree and gave
to Adam; hence the name "forbidden" or "grape"
fruit by which this species of the orange is known
to commerce. Some ignorant and superstitious people
still claim that tiie dark spots usually found on the
stem end of " grape " fruit are the imprints of Eve's
fingers which have appeared upon this species of the
orange ever since the fall of Adam. And from this
species of the citrus family it is claimed by some,
sprang what is now known to us, as the orange.
This fruit is now imported under the name of •' grape"
or "forbidden" fruit, deriving that name from its
growing in clusters similar to grapes, and the dark
bpots, alluded to as the imprint of sin, lieing occasioned
by one fruit pressing tightly against the other. The
orange now ll')urishing so extensively from the tropics
to the 43ad p.uallel of north latitude would lead many
to suppose that it was indigenous to th<^)se parts wh'ire
now found growing ; but ancient historians and ponio-
logists tell us that the true and original homo of the
bitter orange was India, and Ohina ot the sweet orange.
Galessio, wlu was the first to trace the history of
the orange, asserts that the Arabs penetrating farther
into the interior of India than any other foreign nation
had done before, discovered the orange nourishing
there and held in high esteem by the natives. So,
from the jungles of India the Arabs conveyed the
8weet orange into Persia and Syria, and the bitter
orange (now called the Seville) found its way into
Arabia and Spain. And although the orange made
its appearance in Europe in the fourth century, it
WHS not until the fourteenth century that it became
widely diffused, and spread through Portugal, Sicily,
St. Michel, and the islands of the Mediterratieanaml
West Indies, and not until the Spanish and Portugue.'se
lauded and penetrated into this country did the or-
ange find a home in the semitropical portion of
America. And while the orange was so highly esteemed
by the ancients for its medicinal qualities, it is sur-
prising how little attention the present generation
gives to the many virtues enclosed in this little
ffolden ball of fruit. A prominent physician once
remarked that were his patients to eat an orange
or two every morning they would require but little
medical atteiition ; for throughout the entire range
of fruits that have attracted the attention of the
medical profession as a me:ins of alleviating many of
the ills of mankind, there has been found none that
has so many diversifiel uses as the luscious orange,
particularly in cases of l"w fyvers ftnd malarial
12

complaints, and it should more largely take the place
of the unpleasant drugs so extensively used, to
the great disgust of the patient. No fruit compares
in cheapness with the beautiful and luscious orange,
and paiticularly so now that our own country is
raising the finest oranges in the world, the fruit selling
at a price within the reach of the most moderate purse.
At this season of the year (April) most of the oranges
received in New York come from the islands in the
Mediterranean, while a liberal supply is received from
Jamaica, and a few from Cuba and Porto-Rico and
some from Florida and California.

MEDITERRANEAN SUPPLY AND TRADE CTSTOMS,

A few words in relation to the manner in which
the orange traffic is conducted in each of the above-
named places may not be amiss at this time. Prior
to 1830, the importation of oranges was quite limited ;
sailing vessels were exclusively employed in transport-
ing the fruit to this country until 1860, when the
experiment was made of substituting steamers in place
of the sailing vessels. Three cargoes of about 7,000 boxes
each were received direct from Sicily, but the experi-
ment proved a failure, the importers losing heavily
by the operation, the steamers not being adapted to
the carrying of fruit, and the cost of transporation
being too great. Sailing vessels continued to do the
orange traffic until 1870, when a regular line of
steamers with improved ventilation, was success-
fully established between New York and Palermo.
With the steady increase in demand for the orange,
new lines have been formed ; until now there is
scarcely a week during the spring months that New
York does nob receive from one to three cargoes of
oranges and lemons from the island of Sicily and other
parts of the Mediterranean, the total shipments to
the rnited States last season (1884-85) being 97,000
cases and 1,308,000 boxes. The little island of Sicily
with an area of about 11,000 square miles, has a
population of over three millions, or an average of
250 souls to the square mile, a large portion of whom
are engaged in orange culture. Lands from the
lowest valleys to the highest mountain, even to within
a few miles of the crater of Mount Etna, are covered
with orange trees, bearing annually their thousands
of golden balls. The average yield of an orange tree
varies as to its age and location, coming into bearing
when rai.'-ed from seed at about the eighth year,
or from graft or bud in 3 years. The first year's
yield is small, varying from 2.5 to 200 oranges, which
are apt to be coarse and large, having a heavy, rough
skin, with a dry and tasteless pulp. As the trie
matures, the fruit increases in quantity and improves
in quality, until it becomes of a desirable medium
size, with silky skin and full of juice. A tree well
advanced, yields from 500 to 2,000 oranges, but there
are trees, even in our own country, that have yielded
10,000 oranges annually.

While in our imagination we are visiting this
wonderfully productive island of Sicily, let us follow
the orange from the grove, through the packing house
on board the steamer, thence to America. The
gathering of the orange is done by men and boys,
who are provided with light ladders, the fruit being
placed in baskets lined with cloth, and held by a strap
attached to and passed about their shoulders. The
fruit being picked from the trees, is left with the
st<>m on the orange, which is afterwards cut quite
short with a sharp knife or shears, hence the name,
" stem cut." The object in leaving a small portion
of the stem on the orange is to prevent the air from
reaching the nine to ten compartments that all centre
at a point immediately under the stem, which forms
nature's seal, excluding the air, which would cause
rapid decay. From the groves the oranges are earned to

THE PACKING HOrSE OR MAGAZINE,

where they are placed in trays to cure or sweat out
(as it is called) for a, few days. This is found necess-
ary to insure transportation, as an orange when re-
moved from the tree will soon become moist, small
'' drops of water appearing on the skin, and if wrnpped
in )iaprr at once would soon decay, hut if nllowed

go

TfJE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug. -2, ihS6.

to dry off thoroughly will keep for months. The
assorting and wrapping is doue mostly by young girls
and women, who get on an average a salary of from
nine to sixteen cents per day, and on that pittance
live and enjoy life better than some of our million-
aires do in this country. A^ the packing-houses or
magazines, the fruit is assorted with the greatest care
by experienced Italian girls who will take two or
three oranges in their left hand from a box or tray,
make a rapid movement with their fingers, that will
revolve the oranges in their hands with almost light-
ning rapidity, examining them on all sides. One or
two may be thrown into the basket of a neighbour
to the right, and one into the basket of one opposite.
"Were you to take an orange from each of those
baskets, you would probably observe no ditference in
them, and wonder why the st^paratioii was made, but
if you were to ask the bright-eyed Italian girl, she
would show you a small spot on one, or the absence
of a stem on another, sufficient to warrant the fruit
being rejected or packed as a second grade, the im-
perfection in both cases causing rapid decay. The
oranges are then sized, wrapped and packed in boxes
to suio size of fruit. The smallest size being desig-
nated "00," meaning the smallest, usually numbering
yoO or 'S60 to the box. The next grade being a little
larger are called "(>," and pack about I'OO to the same
size box, while the largest size is termed " imperials,"
and packed 100 to the box. The usual way to de-
termine the number of oranges iu a box without
counting them all, is, if they are packed straight,
couut one layer of one end of the box; if it is packed
in rows of 5 and 5 it would make 25 to a layer, and
as there are 4 layers to a side, you multiply the 8
layers by 25. and you have 200 the number in the
box, or if it be a box ot large Imperials you will find
it to count 4 and 5 makir.g 20 to the layer, and 8
layers gives you ICO oranges to a box. This rule is
a safe one to apply to all fruit i)acked in Palermo
or Sicily ; but iu Catania, where little regard is paid
to the sizing of the fruit, it may have the appear-
ance of being Imperial size on top but "00,'' below.
After years of experience, the buyer becomes familiar
with the brand on the boxes of reliable packers and
can feel confident of what he has in the boxes with-
out exmination. Let us return to the magazine, where
the boxes are strapped, stenciled and put on board
the steamer, perhaps 20,000 boxes or more ready to
start for America. As soon as the vessel is loaded,
a manifest is made out of the lots, their marks, and
to whom consigned in New York. This manifest is
at once sent by the fastest mail to New York where
a catalogue is prepared by Messrs. Brown & Heccomb,
fruit auctioneers, who sell at auction all the Medi-
terranean green fruit upon arrival. The steamer when
loaded, starts for New York, and as it passes out
of the Mediterranean through the strait of Gibraltar
the signal station agent at the Kock notifies by cable
the Maritime Exchange in New York that a fruiter
hys just passed, giving her name and destination.
Eighteen to twenty days is the usual run for a fruit
steamer from Gibralter to New York. Upon her arrival
at New York IMessrs. Brown k Seccomb advertise
when the steamer's fruit will be sold and at what pier
it may be examiued, Ilepairing to the dock, the fruit
merohmit is prcinted with a catalogue of the cargo,
-howiug the number of boxes iu each line or lot; and
Ji woodcut of the, mark on the bo.Nes of that Hue,
'juc or two boxes each line being opened and placed
on Ihe pile that surli sample is to represent. The
merchant after examining the fruit as to size, quality,
and soundness, puts some hieroglyphics opposite each
lot f !i his catalogue to indicate its eouditiou and
^aliie to him, the better to guide him iu buying when the
fruit is offered fur sale at the .luction-room. Oranges
oomir.'g from Havana, Porto Eico, and Jamaica or
usually disposed of by the importer or commission
merchant to whom consigned. Until recently it was
a rare thing to wee any barrel oranges offered for
f^ale at the fruit auction room. Each country
has its peculiar style of package for shipping its fruit.
From the island of Sicily we rccei\e the oranges in
^>oxvs, made in two si^es. Tor tUe largwt size oranges,

called Imperials the box is of the following dimen-
sions ; 11 X 14 X 20 inches, and for the regular or ordinary
size, 10 X 14x27 inches. From.Toppa (in the Holy Land),
we receive oranges iu what are called flats or half-
boxes, measuring 5 x 14 x 27 inches. From Naples and
Sorrento the same box is used as in Sicily. It may
be of interest to know that since 1850 nearly all of
the orange boxes used for the Mediterranean trade,
have been made in the State of Maine, five or six
cargoes of boxes in shucks being annually shipped from
Bangor, and put together by the natives. J'revious
to 1850 the boxes came from Trieste in Austria, but
their yearly advance iu price drove the orange ex-
porter to look to other fields for supplies. The Yan-
kee box makers of Maine took advantage of the situ-
ation, and have held the bulk of the trade ever since
Valencia in Spain, uses cases instead of boxes to
send oranges to America ; unlike the boxes the cases
have three compartments. There are four sizes of
cases used, medium large, extra large, and mammoth
or coffin cases ; the dimensions of the largest are
15 X 18 X 4(3, and medium, 12 x 16 x 40. As these packages
are so much heavier than the Sicily boxes, it is necess-
ary for them to be roped or corded, and for that
purpose is used a rope made from the Espatto grass
which resembles the cat tails grown in our salt mead-
ows. This cord is largely made by the convicts iu
the prison ; is very strong, and costs far less than
machine-made manilla rope. The Valencia orange
differs but little from those grown in Sicily as to
sweetness and flavor, neither being a perfectly sweet
orange, but what is termed by the trade a pleasant
tart ; those grown in Naples and Sorrento are of a
pale color, and considered the sourest orange imported,
which is accounted for b^' its coming from the most
northern portion of the country where oranges grow.
It is a noticable fact that the nearer the Equator
the oranges are grown the sweeter the fruit, and the
further north the sourer. Even the seed from the
sour orange of the Mediterranean when planted further
south i^roduces a sweet orange.

AVEST INDIA SUPPLY.

Leaving the Mediterranean and drifting south, the
first orange district we encounter of any magnitude
is Cuba, where but little attention is given to the
cultivation, assorting or packing of oranges. Not the
slightest care is given to the sizing of the fruit, or
the selection of the package used for transportation,
barrels being used exclusively, without regard to what
thej' may have previously contained, whether potatoes,
flour or cement. This orange (the Havana) is with-
out doubt the sweetest orange grown in the world ;
in fact, when fully ripe, is so sweet as to be almost
insipid. "While it is a general favorite in its season,
it is always highly prized in the sick room.

Next iu order comes Porto Rico, situated two degrees
south of Cuba, in latitude IS degrees, which island
produces an orange lighter in color than the Havana
and about as short-lived. Their favorite and only
mode of shipment is to send them to New York iu
bulk, as it is called; that is, to rig the hold and deck
of a schooner into bins about three feet deep and
fill each of these with loose oranges, thrown in with-
out being wrapped or sized , As there arc but few cargoes
come from Porto Rico and they arrive duiiug the
months of February and March, when we have plenty
of oranges from other ports, they are not looked
upon as one ot the standard oranges of commerce.

Next in order comes the wonderfully productive
island of Jamaica. Like Porto Jvico, it is situated iu
latitude 18 degrees, its shores washed by the warm
waters of the Caribbean Sea. From this island. lUO
miles south of Cuba and 1.450 miles from New York,
comes a most excellent orange, and one that is daily
increasing in public favour. The best varieties are
grown ou the Maudevillo mountains iu the IManchester,
Clarendon, St. Catherine and St. Anus parishes, and
are fit for a king, In fact, I have paid <V2 per
barrel for a certaiu mark of this fruit known as the

1^ brand— the highest price ever paid in New York
for a line of barreled orauges~in its original packngc,

Aug. 2, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

9'

as it was landed from the vessel, and I found ready
sale for the same at S15 per barrel.

The shipper of this celebrated brand (Mr. S.
Kennedy of Jamaica), not content with the extrav-
agant price his oranges brought, allowed himself to
be inveigled into a contiact with a certain New
York firm that proved disastrous to shipper and con-
tractor alike, for instead of keeping up the standard
quality, as of previous shipuieuts, he allowed the
mark to deteriorate, thus losing its prestige, and
from that day to this I have never bought a single
barrel of the once celebrated ^ brand, now no better

than any other brand.

I simply cite the above to show how even a brand
of oranges can reach the pinnacle of popularitj-,
and like frail humanity, by some misdeed, sink
into utter oblivion. Other shippers have taken lessons
from this and maintain their standard of excellence
in quality and packing, so that such marks as the

S M ^^^ others have gained a most enviable reput-
ation, not only for the shipper in Jamaica but for
the receivers in New York, JMessrs. Goodwin &
Hturridge, whose reputation as reliable trustworthy
dealers is certainly worthy of emulation.

The fruit just spoken of, cominy! 3,s I said, from
the Mandeville district, on the south side of the
island, rivals all other oranges grown in Jamaica,
although some very good fruit comes from the north
side. It has not the keeping or eating qualities of
the oranges grown on the soth side, for this part
seems to be expecially adapted to orange culture,
both in soil and climate, the fruit actually growing
wild in many places, without the slightest cultivation,
and where the mere keeping down of the brush
would convert the trees into beautiful orange groves.

Like Havana, Jamaica ships most of the oranges
in barrels, but, unlike Havana, Jamaica, is more
careful in the selection of the package, using as far
as possible a new sixteen inch head barrel, with the
staves broad and full ot holes for ventilation. A\'hlle
Havana sends the fruit to New York unwrapped
and unsized, Jamaica pays great attention to the
grading of the oranges, carefullj' wrapping them in
brown straw paper. Great care is bestowed in packing
choice brands in regular layers from the top to
bottom of the barrel, the average count being about 350
to the barrel.

Jamaica has made svich rapid strides in orange
culture during the last quarter of a century that
had not Florida come to our relief the Jamaica
orange would now be enjoying almost a monopoly
in New York markets as the only genuine sweet
orange to be relied upon for late winter and spring
trade. The orange tree is so pliable under conditions
imposed by art, that in Jamaica it can be made
to produce a crop at any desired time of the year.
Its blossoming may be hastened by cultivation and
irrigation, and it may also be retarded by suppress-
ing the blossoms. This retarding process, I am in-
formed, is extensively resorted to by the Spanish
colonists in Nicaragua and Honduras.

HOME PRODUCTION.

Having thus carried you through the orange fields
of nearly every foreign laud that sends its fruit to
the United States, let us now take a look at the
orange belt of our own favored country lying princi-
pally in Florida, Louisiana and Southern California.
To the Spanish Catholic missionaries it is generally
supposed that Florida is indebted for the introduc-
tion of the orange, they having brought the seed of
the sour or Seville orange from Spain, and as the
fruit multiplied the seeds were scattered by the
Indians throughout the State, which probably accounts
for the numerous wild orange groves found near
the banks of the rivers and lakes, formerly the
favorite camping grounds of the Seminole Indians.
Later the sweet orange was introduced from Europe
and planted in St. Augustine (the oldest city in the
United States).

At the close of the civil war small plantations
of sweet oranges were found throughout the State,

consisting usually of a few trees growing around
dwellings. At the close of the war many of the old
trees were bearing liberal crops of such luscious fruit
as travellers from all parts of the world had never
before eaten. The excellence of the American orange
set enterprising Northerners to thinking there was
money in orange culture, and the general climate of
the State made the enterprise doubly attractive,
Capitalist.« seeking health in that warm climate soon
invested in lands and started groves from seeds ; as
shipments of fruit were made North and large prices
realized. Others purchased wild groves of the sour
orange and grafted or budded the sour stock with
the sweet, the last process securing a more vigorous
tree and one that will last for centuries. The orange
fever spread among the natives, who began to real-
ize that within their very door-yards lay a fortune
they had never dreamed of. So they went to work
with commendable energy, until Florida is becoming
a vast forest of orange groves, having at present
hundreds of thousands of trees, producing last season
about eighty millions of oranges, and giving rise to
the question. "Will not the business be overdone ?
To which we readily answer, No. With the small
area within the L^nited States capable of producing
oranges this will be impossible.

AVith its present liberal supply Florida furnishes
but about one-tenth of the oranges consumed in the
United States. New York City alone is said to con-
sume more fruit than any other city in the world,
not excepting London or Paris, The area of the
States with climate suitable for orange growing in-
cludes portions of California, a very small part of
Louisiana and the whole of Florida. A trifling area
as compared to the vast sections of the United
States which will be well filled with inhabitants long
before the orange-growing section can be brought
into bearing. The present yield of fruit grown in
the ITnited States furnishes hardly an orange a year to
f ach inhabitant. Taking our population at 60,000,000,
judging from the past, it will probably in the next
thirty years double ; to furnish such a popul-
ation with one orange a day will require no less than
4;},800,0OO,0()O, so there is but little danger of
the production ever meeting the demand of our
country.

Of the average age of the orange tree nothing defin-
ite can be said, but it is generally supposed that
with all conditions favorable, such as soil, climate and
proper attention, the orange trees are good for a
century or over. In fact, at Cordova, that far-famed
seat of INIoorish splendour, there are still remaining a
number of monster orange trees known to be .seven
hundred years old. Their trunks are partly hollow,
their bark cracked and rough, yet each year, those
dingy old giants yield their seven and ten thousand
of luscious oranges as if yet in the hey-day of their
youth. Even in England, at Hampton Court where
the tree is raised only as a curiosity and is carefully
sheltered by glass, there are several trees that are known
to be over three hundred years old. There is also
an orange tree in the Convent of St Sabine, at Rome,
which is known to be over 680 years old. So it is
no rash assertion to make that no orange grower in
this country will live to see his trees cease to yield
him an income.

OTHER FOREIGN SORTS.

While we recognize but two varieties of oranges,
the sweet and the sour, there are as many distinct
varieties as there are of apples. I will speak of a
few varieties that are never, and others that are hardly
ever seen in this country. The Chinese have by
careful study and long cultivation succeeded in dwarf-
ing the orange-trees until they have them growing
in flower-pots, bearing fruit regularly, but in size no
larger than a cherry or plum. Another variety grown
in China and never seen in this country is the
"coolie orange." It resembles in size and appearance our
tomato; this variety has a thick rind, is quite juicy,
and the tree a great bearer. There is also the
" sucking orange,'' .so called because the skin is so
thin and adheres so closely to the flesh that it

92

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug. 2, i8S6.

cxnilob Ija peeled, in Hivor ifc resembles the man-
darin orang<}. At Singapore is growa an orimge that
is of a deep green color, about the size of an ajiplc,
with thin skin, and peeling ofi' readily. It is juic3- but
very sour (said to be very bad for the teeth ; the rind
when broken emits a strong odor, partly orange and
partly oitronella. I am informed there is an orange
grown in Siam that is called the King orange, so named
from receiving such royal recognition, that anj' subject
fiiuling this tree growing without the walls of the royal
garden, must give immediate notice to an oflSicerof the
(Joverument, or be decapitated. The tree is then
destroj-ed.as none but members of the royal family are
allowed to eat of that fruit. It is described as having a
transparent green skin when ripe, and a pink pulp, that
can be seen through the skin, and is of a most delicate
flavor. In Europe, when oranges were first introduced
they were looked upon as only food for kings, and were
offered as rare gifts to the crowned heads.

Of the many species of oranges that find their way
to this country, I liave been able to gather in a few
daj's over twenty different varieties, including the
Florida, CaUfornia, Havana, Porto Kico, .Jamaica, Valen-
cia, Messina, Palermo, Catania, Joppa (or Holy Land
orange) Naples, Sorrento, Seville (or bitter), the tanger-
ine, mandarin, blood, oval, navel, grape, or " forbidden
fruit," Pumallos, and Shaddock and Chinese. Of
these we will speak in turn as they make their

APPKARANCE IN THE NEW YORK MARKET.

First, in the fall, comes the Havana, which is now
about done for this season. Next comes Jamaica and
Porto Rico ; then Florida and California ; then from the
Mediterranean we receive the Valencia, I\lessina,
Palermo, Catania, Joppa and Naples; these IMediterra-
nean varieties lasting through the spring and summer
months, while the trees in Florida and the "West Indies
are recuperating and getting ready for next fall's
supply.

DISTINGUISHING FEATUBES.

A question is often asked, " Wh}' should not all the
oranges grown on so small an island as Sicily be called
Sicily oranges instead of Palermo, Me.ssma and Catania,
and in whnt way do they differ i"'

If you will refer to a map of the Mediterranean Sea,
and look at the island of Sicily, you will see on the
eastern shore the location of Catania. About forty
miles further north is Messina, and about one hundred
miles west of Messina is Palermo.

From these three ports come the best of the Mediter-
ranean oranges and lemons, the choicest varieties com-
ing from Catania and Messina. It would be hardl3' fair
to award the '* palm " for the finest fruit to either,^as
both of these districts raise some of the finest oranges
grown in the world, Catania is situated near the foot
of Mount Etna, in the eastern portion of Sicily. Hun-
dreds of orange groves extend far up the sides of that
famous and once turbulent mountain, receiving a most
bountiful supply of sunlight. Its southern exposure
makes it a favorable .situation for producing excellent
fruit. In that section are a large number of trees that
bear the much-sought for and attractive looking oval
or egg-shaped orange, and this has given to Catania
oranges a prominent place among the choicest varieties
coming from Sicily. Prior to l!^52 the American market
knew nothing of the Catania orange, at least by that
name, as all the fruit grown there was taken in small
sailing crafts to Messina, and there sold to be graded
and packed in Jlessina boxes, and shipped to this
country as ISIessiua fruit. In 1S51 an enterprising
English fiirm built at Catania a packing house (or
fruit magazine as they are called there), for the purpose
ofpackaigand shipping Catania oranges and lemons to
all points. The first cargo of 5,000 boxes coming to
America from Catania arrived here in the year 1852,
consigned to and contracted for b}- our late highly
esteemed and veteran merchant, d. H. Rcnaud, then
a member of the importing firm of D. Gillmartin & Co.,
of New York.

While the l)etter grades of Catania oranges usually

command a high price, more value would be attached

to them if greater care was given to sizing the fruit

properly, as is done by rtdiable packers in Messina and

Palermo. While the Catania orange and lemon are
pleasing to the eye, they will not keep as well as the
Messina and Palermo fruit, and for that reason are
seldom stored or pul away for summer use, as is the
case with the Messin.i oranges and lemons, which seem
to have better keeping quahties, as do all fruits grown
further north. (The same is true of American fruit,
apples in particular.) There is so little dilference
between the Palermo and Messina fruit that we will not
attempt, at this time, discuss their merits or demerits,
other than to say that both the last named ports are
entitled to much credit for .some very choice fruit.
The '• Sorrento " fruit comes from the port bearing that
name, which is about 150 miles north of Me.ssina,
near Naples, on the main land. This fruit is apt to
have a thick skin and is of a pale color. The orange is
not so sweet as those grown on the island of Sicily.

Very few of the Mediterranean oranges keep as well
of late as in former years, when less attention was paid
to irrigation than at present. The very wet condition
in which the orange groves are constantly kept has a
tendency to force and soften the unit. As regards
quality, I should place the varieties in the following
order: Messina, Catania, Palermo, and Naples or
Sorrento.

The Orange coming to us from the greatest distance
is the Joppa, or Holy Land orange, but as it has no
especial attraction beyond that of comiug from the
Holy Land, few shipments are made to this country,
owing to the great cost of transportation, the fruit
having to be sent to Liverpool, then re-shipped to New
York. The fruit is mostly oval, or egg-shaped, and
ranks with the Sicily orange as to flavor. It finds a
ready market throughout Turkey. Russia having
established a regular line of steamers between that
Empire and Syria, the Joppa orange is being largely in-
troduced into Russia. The orange groves throughout
Sjria are very near the sea-coast, very few groves being
found successfully growing more than four miles from
the sea. As there is but little or no rain in Syria from
the Ist of May until October, irrigation is the only
means of keeping the trees alive, each one bein^ sur-
rounded by a little bank of earth to keep the water
about it. The trees are left without irrigation until the
last of June, when the leaves begin to curl a little ; then
they are watered by streams coming down from the
mountains of Lebanon. From Napks and Sorrento,
near Mt. Vesuvius, we receive an orange similar to that
grown further south in Sicily, but it is pale in color and
very sour. These conditions are accounted for by the
fact that Naples pccupies a position so far north — in
the 42ud degree of latitude, the same as the New York.

Surprise is sometimes expressed that oranges can be
successfully raised at Naples and Rodi. Many theories
are advanced, some claiming that the icebergs and cold
currents from the Arctic Ocean hug our .shores closely
and lower the temperature many degrees below that of
Italy, which is constantly fanned bj' the warm winds
coming across the Mediterranean from the great deserts
of Africa. Among the smallest varieties of oranges
that we receive are the tangerine and the mandarin,
sometimes called the " kid glove " orange, from the
readiness with which the skin is removed without soiling
the hands or even the gloves. The tangerine and
mandarin are often associated as one and the same fruit,
but such is not the case. While of the same family
and closely allied, they are not identical and should not
be confounded. The tangerine is in color a deep dark
red when fully ripe ; in shape it resembles a small flat
tomato. The tangerine is a thorny tree, and is supposed
to be of Chinese origin, but has been largely distributed
from Tangier, a spot in Western Africa, where it has
flourished for fullj' 200 years. From Tangier the Portu-
guese carried it to Brazil, and from there it made its way
into Florida. The mandarin resembles the tangerine in
general appearance, except in color, the mandarin
beine a golden yellow. The tree, unlike the tangerine,
is thoriiless, and is supposed to have come from China,
deriviugits name from the mandarin, a high officialin
China.

The mandarin and tangerine are becoming popular
oranges in Florida and when sent to the northern mar-

Aug, 2, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

93

kets about the holidays command a very high price.
As the Florida mandarin and tangerine begin to disap-
pear about the middle of March, their place is taken by
the same variety from Sicily, lasting until the summer
months. Jamaica also raises the tangerine to some ex-
tent, the fruit being larger than that grown in Florida
or Sicily. In the early season they lack the rich, spicy
flavor of those grown in Florida. Within the last few
years a new variety of orange has made its appearance
in our market ; it is called the navel orange, deriving
that name from the curious formation on the bloesom
end of the fruit. For many years this orange has been
a great favorite in the Bahia district of Brazil, where,
it is claimed, by long and careful cultivation it has
become entirely seedless, thus preventing its propag-
ation only by grafts and buds. AVhen grown in Florida,
where it was introduced from Brazil a few years ago, a
few seeds .sometimes appear. The orange is unusually
heavy, sweet and juicy. .On the Pacific slope in Southern
California, the navel orange is e.xtensively cultivated,
but as the stock buds or grafts were introduced from
Australia, the orange differs somewhat from the Brazil
navel, as the blossom end is not so broken and the orange
is more of the oval or egg shape. The other variety
grown in Colifornia is the plain seedling. The best
varieties are known as the Riverside. California is fast
coming into prominence as a competitor for the orange
trade, it supplying all the markets west of the Kocky
Mountains. It bids fair to demand a good share of the
trade east of the Rockies even as far as Buffalo, thus
interfering quite materially with the Mediteiranean
orange trade, as the supply from both points appear in
our market at about the same time.

THE BLOOD ORANGE.

Another very curious and popular orange is the
blood. The general appearance of the tree, leaf and
flower differs only from other orange trees in its
absence from thorns. Its fruit is distinguished by a
color of blood which develops itself gradually as the
fruit begins to ripen, little by little the blood-colored
spots appearing in its pulp as it advances to maturity
these enlarge, becoming a deeper blood color, finally
embracing all the pulp and spreading to the skin,
which becomes a brighter blood color, the longer it
is allowed to hang on the tree. This variety of orange
has provoked much discussion, and many theories have
been advanced as to its origin, some claiming it
was produced by grafting the orange into the
pomegranate tree; others that it was simply a
freak of nature. From conversation with Mr. Rose,
manager of the New York Fruit Exchange, who spent
twelve years in orange culture on the island of Sicily,
and from Mr. G. Amoroso, one of the most experi-
enced grocers in Sicily, and other orange importers
and growers, I am positively assured that the blood
orange is as distinct a variety as is the Baldwin
apple from the Greening, and as a graft from a Baldwin
apple tree upon a Greening tree, will produce a red
Baldwin apple, so the product of a bud or graft from
the blood-orauge tree, when grafted or budded into
any other variety will surely be a blood orange, thus
proving beyond a doubt that the blood orange is not
a freak of nature, but a distinct and separate variety,
produced hybridizing the orange with the pomegran-
ate. In the start the blood-orange is grafted from
the orange to the pomegranate tree, and in two years
time is again grafted from the pomegranate to the
orange, so as to secure a regular supply of bloods,
which otherwise would soon die out, the pomegran-
ate being short-lived. I have given this species
special attention owing to the various opinions —
purely guesswork or theory — expressed both upon the
street, among the fruit trade, and in the newspaper
columns ; for that reason I have interviewed the
above-named gentleman, whose opinions I accept and
present by permission as indisputable authority. An-
other variety of curious formation is the oval or egg-
shaped orange, coming mostly from Sicily. In flavor
it is no better than the round orange, but from its
odd formation is eagerly sought for by the fancy
fruit dealers of our large cities and commands a high
price,

"While we are considering the smaller varieties most
familiar to us we should not omit a passing glance
at the largest species of orange grown in the world.
There are two varieties, the " Shaddock " and " Pum-
alos," which differ only in outward formation, the
Shaddock being round and the Pumalos pear-shaped.
Both have a skin of a golden colour, while the pulp of
both is pink. They are used only for attraction or made
into marmalades. The pulp is eaten by some and is
said to be palatable, but care must be used in .separating
the flesh from the skin that separates the compartments
of the Shaddock, the Pumalos and the grape, or forbidden
fruit, as it is very bitter. This fruit is of Chinese origin,
but was brought from Asia by a Captain Shaddock',
whence its name.

.SUMMER ORANGES.

The question has been frequently asked: "Why are
Rodi oranges called summer oranges?" If the reader
will refer to a map of Italy he will find that Rodi is
situated on the Eastern shore, in the province of Foggia,
about 160 miles southeast of Rome. It lies at the mouth
of Gargano Bay, between the 42nd and 4.3rd degree of
north latitude. That is a point so far north as to prevent
the orange from ripening before March and April. It
reaches our market in June, or the early summer months,
hence the name " summer oranges."

In variety they are the same as those grown at Messina
and Palermo. Owing to the heavy foliage of the trees
the fruit is lighter in color than that grown in Sicily.
Rod! is frequently visited with cold wind and hailstorm.
At the season when the orange is reaching maturity the
result being the injury of the fruit to such an extent
as to cause large black scars to appear on the skin of the
orange when ripe, thus greatly depreciating its commer-
cial value. Coming into this market, however, when
most other varieties have disappeared, they usually
command a high price.

Much might be profitably said about the different
diseases that affect the oranges and tree as well as
facts relating to articles manufactured from the orange,
such as the oil that is made from the skin for flavoring
purposes, which sells for about two dollars a pound, and
the oil that is distilled from the orange blossom, which
sells for fifty dollars a pound and is used for makin"
perfumery. In foreign countries the skin of the orange
is used quite extensively, being dried for fuel, as the oil
it contains causes it to burn fiercely, making a very hot
fire.

You have already followed me, in imagination, over
25,000 miles, through the principal orange districts of
the world, and 1 land you safely in our own happy land,
where a kind Providence has favored a portion of our
country with a climate suitable for growing this golden
fruit. To the orange grower in that favored portion we
say : " Go on with your good work. Blultiply your
groves and scatter your health-giving fruit over our
land until the orange shall be a familiar fruit in every
home from the lakes to the gulf, and from the Atlantic
to the Pacific." — American Grocer.

CocoNTT PcDDiNG. — One large cup bread-crumbs ;
one coconut, pared and grated; one tablespoonful
corn-starch, wet with cold water ; half cup of butters
one cup of sugar ; two cups of milk ; five ec»s •
nutmeg and rose-water to taste. Soak the crumb
in the milk, cream, butter and sugar, and beat in
the yolks, then add to the soaked crumbs. Stir
in corn-starch, beaten whites and flavoring — at last,
coconut. Beat hard and bake forty-five minutes in
a buttered pudding-dish. Eat cold. — American Grocer.

The Austealian Feksh Fi'.rix is now regularly on
the market here, and, I am pleased to add, is very
appreciated. Tasmanian apples at 4d a pound arc
naturally acceptable at a time when the market is all
but denuded of home prooduce. The Ceylon tea, too,
meets with much approval, and sells at the Exhibitiofi
at iid a cup. This should be a hint to some of our
Queensland planters, for I have always myself been of
the opinion that tea may be profitably and exten-
sively cultivated in that Colony.— Atujlo-Australian
in European Mail,

94

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[Aug. 2, 1886.

TEA, CINCHONA BARK AND COFFEE IN
THE UNITED STATES OF AMElllCA.
London, 4th June 1S80.

Enclosed are extracts from the annual reports
of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New
York for the year IS.'^S-SC) which can hardly fail
to be of interest to the growers of tea, bark and
coffee in Ceylon. While these papers were being
transcribed, your Wecllij paper of 11th ult. came
to hand with the report of the special general
meeting of the Colombo Chamber of Commerce
Riimmoned to consider a letter from Mr. Thomas
Dickson on Coffee Adulteration.

In view of the present position of the coffee
enterprize in Ceylon, it is not surprising that the
Chamber should be lukewarm in this matter. The
chairman apparently felt that some apology was
due for this, saying that the ground taken up, viz.,
that the question does not now materially affect
Ceylon, is not a very high one. To one reading
the enclosed extracts and comparing the relative
positions of tea and coffee in the United States
and the United Kingdom, it would seem that if
the Chamber is to consider the material interests
alone of Cej-lon (and what other interests fall
rightly within its province ?), it would be suicidal
to raise a finger to help the great rival of tea to
supplant the latter in the United Kingdom also.

The story of the consumption of tea " this once
overshadowing industry," as it conies from the
United States, has indeed " a melancholy tinge."
If cheap and pure coffee has carried all before it
on the other side of the Atlantic, why not on this
side also ?

In the interests of temperance, by all means let
all of us take the side of tea and coffee against
alcoholic drinks. But the fact must be recognized
that there is, beside the great temperance struggle,
domestic strife in the temperance household. Tea
and coffee are open rivals for the affections of
drinking humanity. In this rivalry, the interests of
Ceylon and those of the Colombo Chamber have
passed since 1880 from coffee to tea, and there
need be no coyness in avowing the fact. W. M. L.

{Extracts referred to )
The Coffee Trade.— "With very low prices for sugar,
a large consumption of coffee may always be looked
for. With low prices for both, its cheapness as a
good staple increases the favom- in which it is re-
garded by the laboiiring man. It has already taken
the place" of tea, the "poor man's diet." The im-
proved methods of roasting have greatly contributed
to this result. The per capita consumption of the
United States is now estimated at 9-31 pounds, against
7-Gl in 1879, an increase of -I'l per cent. The aver-
age price of Brazil cargoes for 1S79 was 11-85 cents ;
that for last year 9-01, a decrease of nearly 10 per
cent ; the price of last year was the lowest since
18.')2, and the consumption greater than ever before re-
corded. The variations in the market have been slight.
The highest point, lOi cents, was in January; the
lowest, Hi in December; the average 9-Ul for
fair '*io, the standard ■ for comparative quotation.
Experience has shown that the Exchange wliicli
opened two or three years since with great flourish
of speculation, has proved, as open markets always
have and always will prove, an equalizer of prices.
The electric system of communication and the cheap-
ness of transportation are now such that the mar-
gins for profit between cost of production and price
to the consumer are extremely small. The tendency
is, therefore, to the concentration of the trade
into few and strong hands. The total re-
ceipts ef coffee at all tlie ports of the

United States was two hundred and forty-seven
thousand tons in 1885, against two hundred and thirty
thousand tons in 1881 ; an increase of seventeen
thousand tons. The total deliveries for consumption
were two hundred and thirty-five thousand tons in
1885, against two hundred and twenty-four thousand
tons in 1884 ; an increase of eleven thousand tons,
or 5'3 per cent. The increase over the consump-
tion of 1879 has been more than fifty thousand tons,
or about 25 per cent.

The Tea Trade. — The reports of this once over-
shadowing industry have still a melancholy tinge.
The causes of the continued depression are plainly
stated to be that our supplies have far outrun our
consumptive requirements. Unfortunately tins staple
does not grow in value with age, like its great rival
coffee. Stocks must be marketed. To this, rather
than the general stagnation in commerce, is the
distrust of the future to be attributed. The Im-
porters' and Grocers' Exchange has not as yet proved
to be more than a convenient place for the acquis-
ition and distribution of statistics, but sooner or
later will play an important part in the trade.
The exclusiveness which governed the China trade
is already of the past.

Annual Review of the Coffee Trade of the United
States. — The more prominent featjires of the coffee
trade of the United States during 1885 have been, first,
a further increase in consumption as compared with
previous years ; second, an extremely low range of
values throughout the year ; and third, the change that
has become established in the methods of conduct-
ing business, more particularly with respect to the
product of Brazil, which constitutes the bulk of our
supply. Increased consumption has been due partly
to the growth of population, but unquestionably the
most important element has been the increasing
popularity of coffeee as a beverage among all
classes, while its relative cheapness to consumers
as a food staple has not been without its influence.
The extent to which roasted coffee is now prepared
and distributed bas had much to do with its in-
creased popularity. So long as this preliminary pre-
paration had to be accomplished in the kitchen,
the loss and labour that was entailed deterred many
from its use. A lack of care or experience in this
important process was apt to cause waste, in addi-
tion to the uniform and imperfect results ob-
tained, but this has been entiiely obviated by the
erection of large roasting establishments through-
out the country, where, with the aid of improved
machinery and by the utilization of many ingenious
inventions, this labour is all performed perfectly and
satisfactorily, and consumers are enabled to obtain
from retailers an article that is thoroughly pre-
pared for cooking. This fact together with the
relatively low prices that have been established
during the past two years, has made coffee pecu-
liarly the poor man's diet, and greatly popularized
and extended its use with all classes. The extent
to which low prices have influenced consumption
may be readily appreciated from the fact that the
axerage price of fair Rio during the year under
review is the lowest since 185'2. The changed
methods of doing business relate to the manner of
importation and sale. Jobbers and roasters now
supply their wants chiefly by purchases made direct
in Kio ; that is instead of coff'ee being imported
here for sale, its sale has been accomplished in
most iustances before it is shipped, and the sea-
coast ports have become clearing-houses and distrib-
uting centres rather than marts where actual
merchandise is bought and sold. The net results
of low prices and new methods of business have
been narrow profits to importers and dealers, and
a year of trade that, wliile in no sense disastrous,
has not proved one of singular prosperity to those
engaged therein. These features have not been con-
fined, however, to the coffee trade alone, but have
characterized, to a greater or less extent, the
operations of the year in almost every de-
partment of commercial activity, and may be
readily traced to the natural development of the
tendencies of the times, after experiencing a long
period of trade depression and the practice of close

Aug. 2, 1886J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

95

economy. The existing condition of affairs has re-
sulted from keen competition, a radical improvement
in the methods of transportation by water, as well as
on land, increased facilities for rs.pid communication
with all parts of the world, the abundance and cheap-
ness of money, the closer relations existing between
. buyer and seller, and a consequent disposition to
trade upon a narrower margin of profit. The fact
that the yearly average price for fair to prime Rio
is the lowest since 1852 is the best proof of its relative
cheapness during the year, but the very narrow
fluctuations of the market have been of still greater
importance in restricting the opportunities for obtain-
ing more than a living profit. During ten months
of the year values drifted slowly backward and for-
ward within the limited range of 1 per cent, or -be-
tween 8J and OJ cents for fair Rio, the highest prices
having been made during January and February.
A moderate crop has been followed by a still larger
one, and the prospects for the future now point to a
crop of enormous proportions, and the largest ever
known. Furthermore, there has been no distinct
speculative movement, and buying and selling has
been of the hand-to-mouth character, that has de-
prived trade of its most elastic qualities. During
the first three months of the year the impression
prevailed that the yield of the crop would fall short
of the estimates, and, accordingly, that before the
close of the crop year, higher prices would prevail,
which, in connection with the facilities afforded small
traders throughout the country for purchasing direct
from Rio, stimulated buying and led to a liberal
stocking up. The warehouse deliveries from the sea-
coast ports for January, February and March, show-
ing a heavy increase, being 266,815 bags in excess of
the corresponding period in 1884, which is about
equal to the increased consumption shown for the
whole year ; but, instead of advancing, values con-
tinued to decline, and purchases made on the basis of
January and February prices must have been disposed
of at a considerable loss. The load so easily taken
on certainly acted as a dead weight upon the market
during the first six months of the year, and its in-
fluence was not wholly eradicated during the re-
maining half. At no time since then did a sharp
demand prevail, and almost constantly the country was
being urged to buy rather against general inclination,
which necessarily dulled the edge of spirited trade
and resulted in a sluggish unmteresting market.
According to the tabulated statement printed on a
previous page it will be observed that consumption
east of the Rocky Mountains has increased in com-
parison with 1884, 11,855 tons, or 5'3per cent, which,
although not as great an increase as shown the
year previous, nevertheless means about one-half
pound more for every man, woman and child of
our population, which is a very considerable expan-
sion, considering the relative proportion of this
population that are not coffee-drinkers. This brings
the per capita consumption of the comitry up to about
9'Sl poimds, against 7-61 pounds in 187i). While the
United States as a whole is one of the largest con-
sumers of coffee in the world, its population is not
so universally addicted to its use as in Holland,
where the per capita consumption is about '21 pounds,
or in Denmark and Belgium, where it amounts to
about 13* pounds, but with these exceptions we are
the largest individual consumers of the beverage. In
this comiection it is worthy of remark that Great
Britain shows a steady decrease within the past few
years, the quantity imported last year, which amounted
to 11.000 tons, being less than one-half what it was
four years previously.

Cinchona Bakk Trade.— The one great feature of
the past year has been low prices. The extreme
fluctuations ranged from Id to 7Jd, or say 8c to 15c.
per lb. per unit. The supply, however, of one descrip-
tion or another, has been, in the London market,
ample. Our American market has lost nearly all its im-
portance, and we have to rely almost entirely on Lon-
ilon. youth American Bark is imported in very small
proportion, while, on the other hand, we notice an
increase of Calisaya Bark, and we expect still larger
arrivals of this kind in future of the cultivated qual-
itise, but we expect from Colombia only shipmeuts

of the quantities which are stored there, waiting bet-
ter niarket prices. The cultivated Calisaya Bark
wliich has appeared in market is very rich.
It should be remarked that the shipments of Cey-
lon Bark were, for the first half of the season of
last year, very heavy, and prices for Bark were very
much depressed, and shippers lost money; consequently
the Bark shipped for the second half of the season
was less in quantity than anticipated, and the total
for tlie year that reached market only corresponded
with that of the previous season. The stock remain-
ing in Colombo at the close of the season, on the
first of October, was about 4,000,000 lb., and this
quantity being shipped during the last three months
of the past year, from October 1885, to January
1886, overflowed the market and caused another de-
pression in prices which decreased shipments.
All reports from Ceylon say, that the harvest of
Cinchona Bark will be smaller this year than here-
tofore, but low prices arc anticipated. The an-ivals
of Bark may be limited, but should much higher
prices set in, shipments will increase. The im-
ports of Java Bark in Europe have not in-
creased in proportion as expected. Attempts
have been made to import Ceylon Cinchona
Bark directly to New York. Wc have always
thought that tliis business should afford an advan-
tage to both the exporter and the importer and for
our home manufacturers. This is a matter of the
first importance, so as to be no longer obliged to rely
on London ; and certainly every encouragement should
be given to such an enterprise, by paying as high
prices as possible, so that the net result would
be improved by direct imports to New York.
The fluctuations in (Quinine for the past year were
30 cents per ounce, and during the last year rates
were very low, falling to a point never before reached.
It was noticed as a remarkable fact in reference
to 1884 that foreign Quinine was sold in Europe as
lo^y as 3s 6d per ounce, with Bark ruling at 4*d per
unit. In 1885 foreign Quinine was actually sold at
2s 6d per ounce, with bark at very nearly the same
value per unit as in 1884.

The following table, from 80th June 1881, to 80th
June 1885, has been compiled from statistics kindly
furnished by the Hon. William F. Switzler, Chief
of the Bureau of Statistics, and will repay a care-
ful perusal : —

Imports of cinchona bark during the past five years.

Value Average

Years. lb. in dollars. value per lb.

1881 4,219,408 1,846,280 43-8

1882 5,010,547 1,846,375 36-8

1883 3,689,315 1,205,606 33'1

1884 2,588,307 718,085 27-2

1885 3,5.59,691 918,189 25-7

THE "TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST."

A gentleman resident in the Central Province who
has as good opportunities of knowing what is of
benefit to planters as any one we know, yends ua
the following explicit testimony to the value of
the " T A. :—

*' Since its comniencement, 1 have regularly seen,
and perused the Tropical A'jyicultnrigf. There can
be but one opinion that its scope and object
are highly important, and that it suppHes a
distinct desideratum, which it is to the interest
of every estate proi^rietor to have available in
the bungalow for the use of his locum tenens,
or superintendent. As a magazine it provides in-
teresting and instructive fresh literature at in-
tervals, deprived, as most in Ceylon are, from
easy access to libraries, and as years go by it
will growingly become " The Ceylon Encyclopedia"
with reference to agricultural operations. Viewing
estate property, as practically a permanent in-
vestment to some one the trilling charge of
E12 per annum— a rupee a month— is, certainly of
no account, provided the separate numbers are kept,
and bound together yearly an a book of refeience,-^

g6

THE TROPICAL AORICtTLTURIST,

[Aug, 2, 3866,

for the benefit of the manager, and his sueeesssors.
In that light, as the property of an estate to be
handed over just as much as its office furniture
few proprietors would jorobably refuse to authorise
its being taken and tiled regularly (if the periodical
was brought under their notice) more especially
as on looking over the most recent volume one can-
not fail to see how much valuable information on
' Tea '* has been collated. In the belief that
•Tea' will restore prosperity to Ceylon, and that
plantation property is a good investment for capital-
ists, such should not omit the office and connected
equipment so advisable on all ' pucka' estates, a
part of which would be 'the Troincal Agriculturist.'
I find I have gone on writing, but as I ara
getting the numbers, for the past year ready to be
bound, the volume is before me."

LETTERS FEOM JAMAICA :— NO. XI.

WEATHER AND CHOPS — JAMAICA FRUIT TRA1>E — A SHOCK
OK EARTHQUAKE — JAMAICA COURT AT THE EXIIIIi-
ITION,

Blue Mountain District, Jamaica, May 188G.

This year seems so far to be making up for
those that have passed since 1879 when there
was a heavy flood followed on 18th August
1880 by a severe hurricane. The May "seasons"
appear to have set in, in the style one hears of
from old inhabitants : indeed since the beginning
•f the year there has been a prevalence of showery,
yet not unpleasant weather, but very few days
suitable for curing coffee for market as it is here
styled. Crop in the Blue Mountains is now well
advanced, most properties have already secured
more than half their estimates, and in some cases
it is hoped they will be exceeded. The quality this
year is excellent, the beans specially fine and
heavy, so that our planters are hoping for our
customary high prices, for very little of such tine
colory goes nowadays into the home markets.
The weather has been most favorable for the black
'Creole" settlers, whose (jroinuh have so long
been suffering from drought, this will supply them
plentifully with provisions and make them all the
more disinclined to work. However, I will do them
the justice to say that the women will turn out
to pick coffee ; one estate near this j)icked 9 tierces
in one week, say 6B cwt., which is remarkably
good for a Jamaica estate, as none of the:»i exceed
200 acres of coffee, but are considerably less in
extent, though spread over a large area in de-
tached fields; this separation by bush, and grow-
ing forest, makes Jamaica less likely to suffer
such a disaster as Ceylon has undergone from
over cultivation of one product, massed together in
its thousands of acres, utterly obliterating the
indigenous jungle.-

The Jamaica Fruit Trade . seems to be Sourish-
iug,j the winter is doubtless the best season, before
the oranges and bananas, from the more northern
producing countries can reach the American mar-
kets. We had a man up here a few weeks ago,
coming from Morant Bay some 23 miles offering
Is Od a bunch for bananas which price would pay
handsomely. A great many coconuts are also sent
to America, but in the husk ; there are no mills
evidently on the north side, for turning the
kernel into coconut oil and poonac. The pro-
duction of fibre is being urged by the local
Gleaner on all lowcountry planters and set-
tlers, but there seems to be a sad lack of enter-

* " Tea " is the subject of 143 references to papers
and articles iti the volume for 1885-6 ; '• Coffee" of 52
refereuces.— Ed.

prise in Jamaica, or disinclination to turn off long-
trodden i^aths ; or there is a lack of capital,
which the doing away of the consignee's loan as a
l)riiuarij claim on a property, should now do away
with, as in future ail claims on an estate will
have priority in accordance with tlie dates of the
loans made upon them, and registered in the
Eegistrar-General's Books.

W. S.

Ho\y TO MAKE Good Coffee.— The Atlanta
C'vvatltution has published a Georgia woman's recipe
for making coffee. It's nonsense. Her coffee
is " allowed to boil a while." Thus she gets rid of
the fine aroma and extracts the tannin, which is not
healthful. Now, let any woman who has not a re-

Eutation for fine coffee try this recipe. Buy the
est coffee and grind it to the consistency of ordinary
cornmeal. Into a French teapot put an ounce of
coffee for every person. One pound of coffee will
make sixteen cups, and no more. Have everything
clean, and as soon as the water in the teakettle be-
gins to boil moisten the coffee gently, and leave it
to soak and swell for three minutes ; then add a
little more water ; dont be in a hurry ; continue to
add water until you have obtained not more than
a large coffee cupful of the extract. If carefully
done the entire virtue of the coffee will be in the
cupful of liquor at the end of five minutes. For
four persons use a quart of pure milk and have it
piping hot ; heat the large cups by pouring into
them hot water ; now divide the coffee into the four
cups, each of which will be one quarter full ; fill
with the boiling milk. This is pure breakfast coffee,
the coffee of the gods, of which no man after drink-
ing would be so base as to call for a second cup.
Such coffee connot be had at any restaurant in
New York. He that drinketh in this morning will
be unhappy if he fails to get it tomorrow morning
but these instructions must be followed to the letter

Coca Cultivation in Java. — The following short
notice appears in the Medical Journal, No. o (het
Tijdschrift voor geneeskunde) contributed. In the
pamphlet of Dr. Nivinny, entitled " Pas Coca-
blatt," among other assertions it is stated that
Erythroxylon coca was successfully introduced into
Java by Dr. J. K. Hasskarl in 1854, but that he
was prohibited from extending the cultivation by
express orders from the chief of the Medical Service
in Netherlands India, who looked on any extension
of such cultivation as dangerous to the colony.
Can nothing be brought forward by any official
scientific society— for instance by the Society for
the Advancement of Medical knowledge in — favor of
the coca cultivation in Java ? or can it be that the
chance of adding perhaps 3 per cent of mentally
and physically demoralized " co-queros " (coca
abusers) to the adult male population of Insul-India,
which already numbers 5 per cent of intemperate
opium smokers, outweighs the great benefits to be
derived from the bringing of cocaine within the
reach of the million ; which benefits will be vastly
increased whenever the experiments now being made
of the internal use of an infusion or decoction of
coca shall be found to produce favorable results
— for instance in the case of parturientes— leaving
out of present consideration the great financial
advantages which coca cultivation promises. — Trans-
lated for the Observer from the Indische Ojincmer
of the 20th May. [From the spelling it is evid-
ent that Dr. Nivenny's pamphlet is a German
publication. It seems strange that the Opnaner
neither contradicts nor admits the statement re-
garding the intervention of the authorities in stop-
ping the cultivation in question. From other notices
of coca in tho Netherlands India papers it doea
not appear probable that such action has been taken.
—NoU by tranvlator-'}

Aui

1886,]

THE 'TROPICAL AGRj(C0Lt0RISf;,

9;

THE CHEMISTRY OF TEA.

Although we agree with Mr. Barber that Dr. Watt
was mistaken in supposing that damage to tea-lead
■ was due to badly prepared tea, the real cause being
almost invariably badly seasoned wood acting
chemically on the lead, we yet feel that the
researches of the professional chemist may largely
aid the operations of the professional tea-maker.
For instance, in regard to the process which is
generally known as " fermentation," a term for
which " oxygenation " has been latterly substituted,
an authority we have consulted refuses to recognize
as true fermentation any process promoted by the
oxygen of the air. The question, therefore, arises,
is the change which rolled lea-leaves undergo, in
the process of which they are as much as possible
fiuardcd from direct contact tcitJi the outer air, true
fermentation, or merely oxygenation, whatever the
latter nray involve? Tea-leaves contain a normal
proportion of sugar and starch, which are not in
themselves ferments, but they are, of course, liable
to the action of ferments and fermenting agents,
whether associated with them in the crushed leaves
or extraneous. But, if the generally-received doctrine
be true, that fermentation depends on the presence
of the spore of an organism which feeds on and
so ferments the sugar, then the professional chemist,
who must be a good microscopist, ought to be
able to tell us, what specific organism the spore
represents, — whether the yeast plant, Torula cerevi»<.r,
or some other. That question decided, the chemist
might be able to observe and instruct the tea-maker
to observe and decide, by a careful use of the
microscope, the thermometer and other appliances
and tests, the signs in the life-history of the spore,
temperature raised by fermentation and other
indications, the period when fermentations may
best be arrested by the leaf being subjected to the
action of lire. Oxygenation seems a more pleasant
term to use than fermentation, but, as even those
planters who prefer the former term admit tliat
oxygenation, if allowed to proceed too far, will end
in putrefaction, we feel inclined to believe that
the saccharine matter in tea-leaves is acted on by
some vegetable germ derived from the atmosphere
in the same way that thu yeast spore acts on the
sugar in malt used for transformation into beer.
It is highly probable that the spore is that of a
different organism, however, the action of wliich
as a fermenting agent may be slower and less
violent as a heat-producer ? Such are some of the
points on which tea-makers might benefit by the
examination and advice of professional chemists.
But, as we have said, every tea maker is really
a chemist in degree, and what seems wanted is
that chemical knowledge in the case of the tea
maker should in certain directions be amplified
and extended. A peripatetic chemist, therefore
going the rounds of the various tea factories, pursuing
researches into the chemistry of tea with the aid
of practical men, and giving those practical men
the benefit of theory founded on science, shewing
them the reasons for processes wliich by rule of
thumb they have perhaps long practised, and
recommending improved methods as the result of
research, might confer great benefit on the tea
enterprise as well as on himself, for in this, as
in other cases, the labourer would be deemed worthy
of his hire. We. may probably be revealing un-
justifiable ignorance, wlien Ave ash, has the develop-
ment of any spores of minute organisms ever been
observed in tea leaves undergoing the process of
fermentation? Messrs. Gow, Stanton & Co. do not
seem to recogni?;e fermentation due to the presence
of vegetable spores. Their lar'juage indicates a
b«lief in chemical thauges effected by tiie air^
13

irrespective of flie germs which inhabited it. We
quote from one of their circulars, as follows: —

" 'Without further considering the intermediate pro-
cesses of rolling, &c., we come to the firing. About
this operation there appears to be mistaken views.
Tea mu.st not be calcined. This is the whole secret.
The leaf, when in its withered state (properly withered
that is), contains most delicate chemical products, to
be dealt with very differently from what on many
estates it now is. The process too prevalent is, to " fire
off " quickly, and such a process at the high temper-
atures now used really burns out its active principle.
Analytical experts declare that when the leaf is pro-
perly dried, the tannin or astringent principle remains
undisturbed. The aroma of the leaf is dependent on
the careful application of heat at a certain main-
tained degree of temperature. Then, too, with a very
high temperature the process of firing destroys the
gum and the theiue, leaving the .tlmost charred woody
product behind, which, when infused, gives such un-
satisfactory results, and leads to so many complaints
of quality. From our own personal knowledge of tea-
planting we venture to ask planters, when dealing with
'green' leaf, to keep the following facts before them,
viz: — Starch is universally diffused throughout the
vegetable economy, esjjeciiilly in leaves, that the ab-
sorption of oxygen from the air converts starch into
sugar, and that the green resinous principle of the leaf
diminishes in quantity while oxygen is absorbed. The
excellence of black tea depends upon the management
of the leaves in such a way that the above noted
chemical changes may take place."
But the question we should wish to see authorit-
atively decided by a well qualified chemist, is, —
Can the mere oxygen of the air absorbed by starch,
converting tliat starch into sugar and diminishing
the proportion of green resinous principle, in the
tea leaf, account for the changes which take place
in rolled leaf during the process in which the
colour i^asses from vivid green to bright copper?
Do or do not some of the teeming life germs with
which the atmosphere seems to be loaded, have
as much or even more to do with the chemical
change, than even the absorption of oxygen ? Can
oxygen indeed be absorbed by the moist, bruised
mass, perfectly pure and unaccom.panied by spores
which when they come in contact with sugar produce
"fermentation?" Will some expert kindly reply?

MR. SHAND'S LECTURE ON TEA.

Dr. Watt of India and BIr. Barber of Ceylon on
the Chemistry of Tea. Mr. Barber has sent us a very
interesting letter from which we quote as follows: —

On Wednesday Mr. Shand read a paper on British-
grown teas and treated the subject in its many
aspects, domestic, sentimental and political. After
this Dr. Watt, one of the Commissioners for India,
spoke of his experiences in India and on tea matters
generally. At the end he wound up by referring to
bad packing and faulty manufacture, rapid drying
and wrong fermentation and sucli other " rot" that
he knew nothing of, but deemed fit to speak about,
in order to say that he thought chemistry and
science could help the tea planter to avoid certain
consequences and in order that he might iu short
teach his grandmother to suck eggs. Excuse this
vulgarism. I can find no better words to express
my disgust at treating a Lone m audience to faults
manifold and pernicious in their results, just
altera paper treating on the excyllence of Bi.tish'
grown teas as against foreign teas.* He said 1st,
that we tired off too fast, that in preparing bota-
nical specimens they dried slowly with blotting

* Dr. Watt has uone good service in classifying and
describing the vegetable products of India, but his
contentior. that badly fermented tea cnrrodos the
lead of tea cbes's, exposed hiin to deserved ridicnlo.

g8

.THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug. 2, 1886.

paper, cVc, forgetting that they remain in the in-
fancy of the art just where they were before,
while we advanced from suu-dryiug to "choolas,"
and thence to siroccos and Victoria driers. Besides,
there is no analogy between drying a single leaf and
treating 8 or 9 thousand ft) daily rolled and
smashed to a pulp. The one needing a drying to
preserve the specimen ; the other to produce a distinct
aroma, the result of brisk tiring. The man had no
authority to speak as he did on a subject foreign to
him. He next thought that some tea that had been
found damaged suffered in conseixuence of faulty
fermentation and warned tea planters and again
thought that science (chemistry) would soon help
us out. He was wrong again, for green teas that
ere not fermented at all from Japan and China are
found to keep well, as the most fermented teas of the
early season from Ceylon. Fermentation cannot affect
the question in the least ; moreover, chemistry is
not of the leasl practical use. If merchants and
brokers in London thought so, they would not
go to the expense of keei^ing tea-tasters at high
salaries.* A few bottles of chemicals would be
sufficient to solve all difficulties. Now I may men-
tion to you that I read several books down to
Pasteur on fermentation and had a miscroscope in
use for days at Blackstone in the hope of applying
chemical aid to ascertain the right fermentation,
but to no purpose. It is not of practical utility.
As the tea-taster's palate fixes the value, the tea-
maker's eye and sense of smell should fix feiment-
ation — and we should rise superior to the delicate
tests of chemistry and the troubles of a laboratory,
as we really have. Well, now, having given you
an idea of the ground on which I stood you will
understand that 1 could not allow these statements
to go unchallenged. I therefore made a statement
to disabuse the minds of the audience. I saw
Young and the pilgrim T. Gray among the number
who approved heartily of all I said and cheered
lustily. I cannot produce now all that was said but
I daresay Mr. D. W. Ferguson will tell you all — or
the substance. However I give you. the circum-
stances that will show how false an impression
the audience would have carried away home had
there not been some contradiction. Hughes, the
chemist and another were present. The former
came to me and had a talk with me and said he
disagreed with me. I said he was not expected to
agree. I had already said, however, that I was
prepared to correspond with any chemist on the
subject, or to discuss the matter, and I was not
prej)ared to grant that fermentation was answer-
able for damaged condition on arrival. I daresay,
you will have the substance of the speech. Several
cresent obtained my address and you may be sure
I shall sijare no pains to let them know what
Ceylon tea is. Shand is very busy. His room or
office by the Ceylon Court is always full, and he
is doing great service. The Ceylon Court is the
best fre'juented, and Ceylon tea is the most in
demand. There are appus serving. It was a good
idea altogether. I liave not the time to write more
this mail. The first batch of rollers are being
shipped and shipping will go on once a week now.
They came from a splendid factory, where I saw
about 1,-100 British workmen at work.

Tka PROsrECTsi. — The weather reports from the tea
districts are generally favourable. At Chittagong,
however, the late very heavy rain has done some
damage, and in Kangra and Kuniaon several gardens
have suffered severely from hailstorms. — rioncer.

* But tea-tasters and tea-makers are really chem-
ists,—Ep.

CEYLON UPCOUNTIIY PLANTING REPORT.

THE PANIC FOll COOLIES — PUBLIC TEA S.U,ES — THE
ECONOMICAL MAN ONCE MOKE — FOWLS CLEARING TEA
LAND OE OIUSSHOPPEKS— CJCiVLITY OF TEAS.

5th July, 1886.

T!ie panic there was some time ago regarding
coolies has pretty much subsided, not, however,
without having left some evil results in the af-
fec'.,cd localities, in the shape of heavy advances
nnd an unstable working force drenched in debt.
The men who were wrought on by the idea that
there would be a scramble for labour, did their
very best to bring this undesirable state about,
by recklessly bidding higher than their neighbours,
and giving a cooly such a value in his own eyes,
that it must have tickled Ramasami when in a
thoughtful mood he cast up his honest deserv-
ings, and totalled his " modest work." Looking
as he always does to his master for leading,
it is but natural that he should appreciate
himself at the extravagant though factitious value
which his timid employers are too apt to set on
him while in a state of panic ; and when the
planter goes in for a large labour force at any cost,
recruited from he knows not where, Ramasami is
not the one to neglect such an opportunity of
dijiping deep into the planter's purse, and getting
himself into that state of indebtedness, which to
the Tamil mind means honourable respectability,
but to ours has a decided flavour of the very reverse.
The amounts which have lately been given for
some gangs of coolies, if my information be
correct, are startling enough. But coolies from
the Coast are not hard to get, neither are they
unwilling to come. Besides this if the thing is
gone about in the right way — on such sensible
lines as Mr. William Smith indicated — ten rupees
expended on the raw article, recruited on " the village
green," will give a much more satisfactory result
than twice or three times that money when it
goes to buy up those wandering reprobates, who,
ever dissatisfied are always on the move, and
whose acquaintance with Chetties, Afghans, and
other money-lending harpies, are about as co-ex-
tensive as their knowledge of the present race of
durais, and the geography of the planting districts.
Even good coolies get unsettled when there are
kanganies going about offering RIO and more a
head, with a background of indefinite promises,
but it is the wanderers who first respond.
That we svill want a large increase of our Tamil
labourers goes without saying, but if that were
the only difficulty we had ahead of us in regard
to our new enterprise, we might account ourselves
happy and dismiss it from our minds.

The collapse the other day of the public Tea Sales,
does not give one a very exalted opinion of the
enterprise of our present race of buyers. I suppose
that there were reasons for the extreme caution
displayed; yet being in telegraphic communication
with the London market one would have thought
that a less timorous jjolicy might have been the
result. The public sales don't always do the best

r the seller, as witness a lot I heard of the other
day which was thrown back on the broker's hands,
the buyer maintaining that he had bid one cent
less than that entered in the broker's contract.
This same lot was shortly afterwards sold privately
at an advance of 1 cents a pound on the auction
price !

I have been told that there is one, evidently the
economical man once more, who is trying to cover his
bungalow supply of rice out of the samples he gets
from Colombo. He complains sadly, however, that the
samples are very small, not enough even for one dish;

AVG. 2, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST-

00

nevertheless he has hit upon a plan which he
hopes will do well for him in every way. With
a zeal for fair dealing, he has rei^iuested that a
sample from each bag should be sent so as to put
a check on anything like mixing, and if can carry
that point, he will have all his anxiety altogether
removed regarding his bungalow rice supply !

The ravages of the grass-hopper on tea planted
at stake is often so worrying, as to make the planter
almost regret at times, having gone in for tea. How
to prevent the insect from carrying on its de-
structive work is however the difficulty, and yet
when you see the tender shoot laid over, you feel
savage enough and would gladly try something to
save others from similar misfortune. I understand
that this hard problem how to checkmate the
hopper, has been solved by the simple plan of
getting together a lot of village fowls and herding
them over the field, in which the tea seed has
been planted. The fowls take kindly to the grass-
hopper, and very soon reduce their numbers.

In America it is a common enough thing for
a man to go in for " a hen ranch." I knew a
a Ceylon planter who tried it, and did not make
a fortune by it ; but then he depended on his
fowls alone. A hen ranch on a tea garden would
be altogether different, for besides their use in
clearing the land of grass-hoppers, the birds might
be supposed to f atte n for the table, and thus more
than cover the outlay connected with their upkeep.

In these days when the tea planter is being
preached to on all hands regarding the necessity
of keeping up the quality of his teas, I fancy
that we will have to recognize the fact that soil,
elevation, and plants are factors which the skilled
manipulator has to take into account. Cite
of the most successful tea-makers in the island,
when visiting a friend lately, offered to take charge
of the three days' :- viking, .md promised to turn
out a sample of tea which would equal his own.
He did his best to bring about this result, but
failed. Although he somewhat improved the quality,
still it was a long way from that which ha>
raised his name and that of his estate into the
first rank. How was this '? Had the soil, elevation,
or kind of plant anything to do with it ? What-
ever was the reason, there was the hard fact that
a man who can regularly turn out teas of the
first grade while on his own estate, yet failed to
do it with leaf grown at a different elevation and
on different soil. Pkppercorn,

OVEEPEODUCTION OF TEA.

The June number of the Revue Coloniale Inter-
nationale contains articles of interest in French,
German and English. Amongst the latter we find
an article entitled " Overproduction and Tea Culture"
by E. A. K., translated from De Indische Mer-
ciiur. It commences as follows : —

Ask whom you will ; ask the whole world round,
where, at present, is there any prospect of earniug
something H "Where does business flourish ? What
persons, what trading-houses can candidly declare that
they are progressing in prosperity ? — There are but very
few and those solitary cases, that can be pointed at who
can say so. If there are — as regards Netherlands and
the Netherlanders — a few banks and money establish-
ments, at Deli and Eilliton, a couple of railway com-
panies and newspaper undertakings, almost all is said.

The history of former ages shows periods of general
depression and of dearth and famine ; but if you in-
vestigate the causes, these will be found to be war, per-
secution for the faith, plague, floods or similar calam-
ities interfering with the regular production, and thus
putting a stop to all trade for want of available com-
mercial wares, or el.se for lack of sufficient security to
persons and goods. Whereas non' that depression pre-

vails everywhere, and though there is no questiiu of a
general famine as used to rage in times of yore, yet
when a number of individuals and families are really
starving, noa^ the case is just the reverse: not the
stoppage of productiveness, but over-production ; not a
lack of available commercial wares, but accumulation
of stock and excess of supply; not the absence of se-
curity for persons and goods, but (save very local and
transient exceptions) order and peace everywhere, ac-
celerated expedition of merchandise, and rapid and con-
venient locomotioH for the traveller.

Where then lies the fault i* Have fields, gardens,
pastures aud woods become less productive ? Does
the miner dig less treasure from the ground H Do
the fishermen's nets and hooks capture less prey y
Have the means of communication bj' land or water
become more imperfect or expensive ? Is there any
lack of intelligence to render the work efficient
and economical, in short, to make it productive ?
Is there a paucity of labouring bauds r* By no meaus.
Science has extended her benign power over all
human transactions. Botany, Zoology, Chemistry and
Mechanics have exerted their beneficial influence on
agriculture and cattle-breeding ; gardening and for-
estry are attended to with greater care and consider-
ation than formerly ; mineralogy aud metallurgy in-
struct the miner ; chemistry, electro-magnetism and all
kinds of scientifically improved instruments and ap-
pliances everywhere facifitate the labours of the manu-
facturer, the mariner, the fisherman, the architect ;
and now, where force falls short — where the human
hand, the ox and the horse, the windmill and the water-
wheel, which formerly were all in all, prove insufficient,
steam steps forth in a thousand ways, and furnishes
force to any amount.

Then to what or to whom is the fault to be at-
tributed ? Man alone is in fault himself. His extra'^agant
desires aud his want of sense are the fault of all this.
We are — and with cause — proud of the scientific at-
tainments of the 19th centurj', but, alas ! we overlook
the fact, that commonsense is often lamentably in
the rear. Merchants, ship-owners, railway-kings and
statesmen, who have mayhap often chuckled at the
story of the six gates of Abdera as a skit on the .silly
application of the rule of three, apply that very rule
to enterprises, to which the six gates of Abdera might
))0 rightly termed mere child's play. The greatest, and
in its consequences the most ruinous, afi'air of this
kind, of which recent times have offered us the painful
and striking spectacle, were the railway speculations
in America.

Details of railway speculation in the United Sates
are then given. The conglusion is : —

The cupidity of the would-be millionaires has levelled
a severe blow to the prosperity both of America and
Europe ; and nobody is able for the present to com-
pute how much time it will take ere commerce, agri -
culture and trade ■will emerge from this pool of over-
production, in which they are all in danger of being
submerged. This one e.xample of Ah Jeritism will suffice
for my present purpose, though innumerable instances
might be produced in other departments.

And then the writer goes on to deal with our
Ceylon tea enterprise, thus :—

Let us hope that good sense has been purchased in
proportion to the enormous penalty V It is not only a sad,
but also a grievous spectacle, surrouuded as we are by so
many examples of misery resulting from over-pro-
duction, still to see persons, who not only refrain
from warning against it, but who do all their b' sfc
to increase the evil with all their power ; who summon
up " all hands " to give even a greater expansion to
this existing over-production. What precedes re-
flects near about the course of my ideas while read-
mg a pamphlet published the other day. entitled :
The Cei/loii I'cn L/dustr;/, an opcnhuj for men of moder-
ate Oaintal. By John Hamilton (late of Ceylon).
To those who take an interest in Colonial agri-
culture, the vicissitudes of culture in Ceylon
are generally known, and so I need not here en-
large upon the incidents in that Island with respect
to coffee aud cinchona. With truly admirable energy
did the capitalists and plauterfi of Ceylon, when coffee

too

THE TROPICAL ACJRICULTURIST. (Aug. 2, 1886.

^^^^^^^?«

and cinclioim threatened to collapse, seize upon a new
culture — that of tea ; and however alarming this new
rivalry may be for existing concerns of a similar nature
yet no tea-planter, whether he may have established
gardens in Assam, Darjeeling, the Nilghiris, in Cachar,
Bagclen, the Preanger-Kegencies, in China or Japan,
can take it amiss if his " fellow-planter," end-
eavours with courage, energy, and perseverance to
keep himself standing by tea-culture, when coffee
and cnichona leave hina in tlie lurch. If, how-
ever, the new culture in Ceylon really proves such
a boon to the embarrassed planter, we must ques-
tion whether the clatter with which the novel in-
dustry is trumpeted forth be not a great folly.

Not only ni special papers, but in almost all other news-
papers and periodicals, we lind articles and comput-
ations to prove that the Ceylon tea possesses qualities
superior to all other existing teas : that the rapidity
with which the produce extends is amazing ; and that
in a few years, it will amount to forty millions pounds
English. The Englishman, otherwise so practical,
seems for the moment to be blind to the impending
danger of over-production : — " The more tea Ceylon
produces, the sooner we shall have sufticient to displace
the China-crop," I read lately in the Indian Planter's
Gazette. I hope they may ; but I am not so very
sanguine about it, after the ample experience of the
consequences of over-production, which the tea-
planters, too, have so amply experienced these ten
years. The present crop of tea out of China is re-
ally more than sufficient to render the competition
with that mighty tea-growing country very keen ; and
it is at any rate extremely dangerous to expedite the
natural course of production of any article whatever by
artificial stimulants.

If Mr. Hamilton is seriously concerned for the wel-
fare of the tea-planters in Ceylon, and the prosperity
of their industry, he could pursue no more unad-
vised course than thus enticingly summoni ig all "men
of moderate capital " to repair to Ceylon and thus
increase the already great number of tea-planters.

Indeed, the price of tea has declined so considerably
from the rates at which it stood some 10 or 12 years
ago, that, for planters who have not happened to
work under exceptionally favourable circumstances,
it has already become a question of "to be or not
to be "; and that they have only succeeded in hold-
ing their own by great exertion, judgment and parsi-
mony, or, as the saying is togetona little by hook or by
crook. If affairs flourish in Ceylon, . . . we cannot but
congratulate the good pLviiters on their success ; but
in their own special interest as well as that of other
tea-planters, we would hope they will have the good
sense of working on quietly, without any clamour, and
that they may thus be left at leisure to lay by something
against a rainy day, before the tea-business becomes,
like so many other businesses, a wild contention of
oii'ers at lower and still lower prices ; and ere not
only the present planters, but moreover the " men
of moderate capital," called upon by Mr. Hamilton,
pull each uthor to pieces, as we say, while the tea-
market itself is overwhelmed with tea.

Tills boasting about Ceylon's tea-production, has
someti^ies led me to suspect whether there is
not a little mystification in the case. I must
candidly confess that the perusiil of the above-
mentioned pamplilet, " endeavouring to give a
short account of the rising tea-industry in Ceylon,
possibly destined, erelong, to make this island the
Tea-gardoii of the World " as the esteemed author
concludes his treatise, has not cured ine of my
doubt. What must a tea-planter think of a com-
munication, for instance, as that about the Maria-
wattie-estate, occurring in the work, which plant-
ation is said to have produced in the last two years
successively, upwards of 1,100 lb. of tea per acre; on
which he very justly observes, that it is " a feat
unequalled by any estate in the world ?"

This produce would be equal to :

1,703 half kilos per Balioe
or 2,400 „ „ per Hectare.

Another article, viz, one in the Indian Planters'
Gazette of the lltth of .January 188(;, I found also
highly remarkable. It is entitled " Notes of a Visi t

an Asr>am

to the Planting Districts of Oeylon ; by
Planter " (signed) .T. O. Logan. From this
appears first of all, that the writer is an English-
man, then that ho is a tea planter and must there-
fore be considered as a competent judge ; the article
gives also the impression of being written without
any partiality. The writer relates, that he and
another tea-planter visited several tea-districts in
Ceylon ; and that each having done this by himself,
they finally compared notes. The opinion of the two
experts agreed in regarding the climate and rainfall
as very favourable to the tea-culture ; not so uncondi-
tionally favourable was their opinion of the soil ; at
least the conclusion is, that tea may succeed very
well in Ceylon, if the plant be judiciously cultivated
and carefully treated ata/l c rent s v hen manitre can he
njijjlied; "but, alasl" adds the writer, "at present
neither of these conditions are being fulfilled ; tea
is planted aw/where and ercrywJiere ; almost any land
is thought good enough to grow tea on, etc."

The system of plucking and pruning as practised in
Ceylon is decidedly condemned by the planter from
Assam. The average wages of coolies throughout
Ceylon stated as being ,5 l-3rd amias ~ 33 Rupee
cents per day, or 'J Rupees per month. Women 25
Rupee cents or 4 annas per day. It is difficult to
deduce hence any comparison with our wages in the
Dutch Indies, on account of the uncertainty of the
comparative value of the Rupee to the Dutch cur-
rency, and the wages not being invariably the same
in our colonies. The 33 R. cents would make about
39 cents Dutch Currency. " A remarkable tone of
sanguine boastfulness runs through all the liter-
ature," observes our Englishman, " and much
of the conversation about tea in Ceylon." " There
is another aspect of the enterprise " he con-
tinues, " that struck me forcibly. Everyone seems
to be planting tea, with the intention of selling to
some one else, and clearing out of the island as
quickly as possible. This is speculation, not invest-
ment ; and is wanting in the elements of stability."
How far this may be true, the writer of the pre-
sent lines dare not decide ; but he believes that it
would be acting more in the veritable interests of
the Ceylon tea-planters and of all their " fellow-
planters " to warn them of the dark, ominous cloud,
gathering over their heads, than to write such
pamphlets as the one we have just discussed, by
which one may become an accomplice in the ruin
of others.

The principle on which the writer would aver
us act is truly Dutch : if you have a good thing
keep it dark so as to secure a monopoly of its
benefits. About Ceylon and its tea, as about other
countries and tliei" products what is wanted is
the truth and what Mr. Hamilton quoted about
Mariawatte and its yield, is true. On the other
hand we have the statements of the Indian
planters. We in Ceylon do not overlook the danger
of over-production, but we have good reason to
believe that the quality of our produce will as-
sert itself in the sharpest competition.

TEA PEOSPECTS.

The fact that tea is now, as it has always been,
the most important article of a grocer's trade, is
sufHcient reason why those whose interests are so
materially affected by it should make it their constant
study, and seek to understand every aspect the sub-
ject may present. Of such vital cou.sequence is the
working up of a good tea trade to jjrocera that, if
they desire to succeed in their calling, too much atten-
tion cannot be bestowed by them on this department.
With regard to the prospects of the new tea season
1885-86, although things are still slow, there are signs
of rather more trade throughout the countrj", and it
will not be denied that tlie season has opened under
more hopeful auspices than did tlie last. Stocks are
down one-hulf, while consuQiption is on the increase,
and probably the only cause that militates against an
immediate rise iu prices is the uncertainty as to future
supplies. Another reason for tea remaining at present

Aug. 2, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

toi

low rates is the eagerness of the public for anything
and everything that is called cheap. This rage for
cheapness has been fostered by dealers and worked
upon by present giving shops and the like, until at
last the retail prices of tea have been forced down
to a point at which it is impossible to provide a
really good article. In all probablity a reaction will
sooner or later set in, and the demand will be for
quality ; then will be the grocer's opportunity to prove
to consumers that long study and experience of the
trade enables him to supply the want, as no mere
novice or dabbler in the trade can. Of good tea there
will be no lack if only the demand is alike good and
the public are able to appreciate it and willing to
pay a fair price. It is unnecessary to remind our
readers that the quantity of tea exported from China
to all countries is only a tithe of what is actually
produced in that vast country ; nor that the Chinese
have for centuries made the growth and preparation
of tea one of their staple industries, and have suc-
ceeded in bringing it to the highest state of perfec-
tion. But, besides China, the capacities of other tea-
growing countries are practically unlimited, and in this
way the annexation of Upper Burma may be reason-
ably expected to yield great results to Anglo-Indian
enterprise. Advices from Calcutta state the probable
export of Indian tea to this country for the coming
season as about 64,000,0001b. which, if correct, is only
a little ahead of last year, but it is acknowledged that
the supply might be immensely augmented in the
future, and in all probability it will bo. In consider-
ing tea prospects the rapidly growing importance of
Ceylon as a tea -growing country must not be over-
looked. Already it occupies no mean position, since
the crop of the current season is expected to reach
6,000,000 lb., or fully 10 per cent of the whole pro-
duction of Indian tea ; this quantity, however, the
planters predict they will be easily able to double
next year, and three years hence they hope to have
their export up to 20,000,000 lb. Nor is it only from
Ceylon that large imports of tea may be expected,
but Java, Brazil, Florida, and even Natal, are all com-
ing competitors to be taken into account ; still in
spite of all this promised abundance, we are prepared
to maintain our conviction that tea, bearing its present
duty, i3 destined to rise. In India we are told, with
the best known appliances and the most careful man-
agement, Tea can he grown at a minimum of lOd per
lb. In such a season as 1884-85 that would yield very
little profit on medium crops, while on inferior sorts
it might mean actual loss ; and it is in the order of
things for skilled labour to increase in value. There
is also a homely saying about a bird in the bush, and the
fact that stocks of tea in this country are now so low,
is certainly some temptation to bold operators to hold
lay of the market and try to twist it up. Such an
incident may develop any day, while the unsettled
state of political affairs and the consequent uneasiness
felt in commercial quarters lead to the fear least
advantage should thereby be taken to enrich the few
at the expense of the many. The great desideratum
for the country at this juncture is confidence at
home, with the opening up of new markets for Hritish
trade. While little can be expected from onr Oou-
tinental neighbours, and perhaps even less from
America, there is much to be done in India, and it
is in that country and China with Burma, that the
great field of future commerce must be looked for ; and
hence we judge that a great extension of the Tea trade
is one of the things that may be confidently reckoned
upon and should be prepared for.— Grocers' Journal,
^

PLANTING IN NETHEELANDS INDIA.

(Translated for the Straits Times.)

COFFEE .4.ND SUG.iB. — PLANTIN* DEPRESSION.

The Java Bode of the 18th June asserts that
hard times indeed are in store for the planting and
mercantile community in that island. The low
rates for sugar ruling in East Java where no more
than 8 guilders per picul has beei: offered will only

allow growers just to pay expenses under favour-
able circumstances. The only too probable result
will be the closing of most of the sugar mills and
the bringing down of many mercantile houses in
Java. When closing is once proceeded with there
is every reason for fearing that more than nine-
tenths of the mills which now further so much
wellbeing among the people around, will shut up,
and the natives in the neighbourhood will find them-
selves without inoney to pay up the heavy taxes now
bearing them down and also without sufficient food.
The outcome will most likely he a storm which'
unless curbed in time, will become only too wide-
spread. Another portion of the population, namely
pretty nearly one-third of the European element,
will be involved in the almost unavoidable ruin of
the sugar growing industry. It is a moot point
whether they will quietly hear with their becoming
paupers. The times even now are distressing enough.
Misery is rife among the lower classes of European
society in Java who, in default of honester means
of earning a livelihood, have been driven to begging,
robbery, smuggling, and even worse callings. Should
this disorganization bring on disturbances when
even these means fail, putting them down will be
hampered by the insufficient number of troops avail-
able for service. The widely prevalent depression
of trade and industry in Java has made itself ap-
parent in the yield of taxation, a marked falling
off being only too evideat. The outturn of every
tax has fallen below tbe estimate, sometimes as
much as one-half. The coffee yield has diminished
alarming, and the land-tax does not come up at all
to the mark of the assessment. Yet the expendit-
ure shows steady growth for all that. What with
failing revenue, crippled planting enterprise, a weak
army and navy, and beri-beri stalking over Acheen,
the outlook for Netherlands India is far from be-
ing cheerful and encouraging. There is no hope
for the better from changes in the machinery of
the Home Government. The Parliamentary elec-
tions in Holland has resulted in a majority for the
Liberals who, when they do come to power will as-
suredly go on with the present colonial policy of
laying on more and more taxes regardless of the
consideration whether they prove burdensome to the
people or not.

Ravages bv Locusts in the Philippines.— On
Sunday, the 23rd May, there passed over the bay at
Iloilo a cloud of locusts so thick, says the Porvenir
de Biiisai/as, that at times it was impossible to see
the neighbouring hills of Guimaras. A part of the
cloud settled on one of the vessels in the bay, com-
pletely covering it, and the crew killed an immense
number of the insects in driving them off. The insects
were moving in the direction of Negros Island, which
we learn from a subsequent issue of the I'ori'eiiir,
was suffering severely from their ravages, all the
fields being invaded by them. The authorities had
issued notifications regarding the means to be taken
for their extermination, and the Governor was going
out in person to see that the measures laid down were
properly carried out. — Dailij Fresf<.

Shea Butter Tree.— M.' Heckel whose researches
on the alkaloids of the kola nut are so well known
has recently called the attention of the Academy
of Sciences of Paris to the importance of the
Shea butter tree {Butyrosperinum Parkii) as a source
of gutta-percha. The milky juice of the trunk
when solidified has, he states, all the appearance
and properties of gutta-percha. The tree can be
tapped when four years old, grows readily in argillaceo-
siliceous and ferruginous soils, and is found over
a large area. M. Heckel also suggests that the
Bnssia trees of India should he examined with
respect to the character of the milky juice they
contain. — Mndraa 3TaU,

102

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug. 2, 18864

^(xYvespj^Tidmoe.

To the Editor of the " Ceylon Observer."

THE CEYLON FISH-CURING ENTERPRISE.

New Peacock, Gampola, '28tli June 1886.
Dear Sir,— An important industry has lately
been inaugurated, in tlie island, viz., Fish-curing.
Having had several cwt. of said Hambantota fish,
from Messrs. J. Auwardt & Co., Colombo, in behalf
of my coolies, I am very favourably impressed
with their quality. I found them a wholesome,
good food, when compared with the rarau-addij,
our poor coolies usually have to • put up with
(simply sun-dried without salt and in a high state
of fetor before reaching Ceylon from India). With
yoiir permission I would make a few remarks on
this industry. I weuld first like to offer a few
hints to the promoters of this industry which, if
attended to, would improve the quality of the fish :
Fimtlii. — Thoroughly wash the fish and free them
from all blood (sea water is sufficient for this
purpose.)

SfconcVy. -Take the head off, and two thirds of
the backbone.

Thirdhj. — The mltiiui of the fish, should be
carried out as follows : -When the head and
backbone have been removed, and the fish
thoroughly washed, then carefully begin in laying
the fish singly, head and tail, into neat two or three
feet squares, giving each layer an abundant supply
of salt, carefully sprinkled over every part ; over
each three feet square heap, place a layer of boards,
and on the top of the boards, put over each
heap, five to six cwt. of stone ; the pressure pro-
duced, has the effect of causing the salt to per-
meate throughout the fish and at same time the
fish gives off the fatty or oily matter more or less
in all fish, which is found to be impreservable,
even hi/ salt. All the fish I had contained the rancid
oil in "them, because no pressure was applied, or, if
applied, the head and backbone being left on them
prevented an even pressure on the substance of
the fish, and consequently the non-expression of
the oil or fatty matter. The pressure should last
for five or six hours. Then turn the squares (and
re-salt) for other three or four hours. Nothing
more is wanted, but three or four days of Ham-
bantota sun, to make a perfectly wholesome food,
cheap wooden presses on the lever or screic princi-
ple would be better than heaps of stone, if to be had.

I presume the retention of the head and backbone
(although unfit for food, and most detrimental to
speedy and safe curing of fish in a tropical country)
is on the score of economy, not to loose weight.
Does it not strike the promoters of Fish-curing, were
they to well salt heads, backbones and offal
and allow the sun to dry the last particle of
moisture from them, that they would prove a
valuable fertilizer if sent to Colombo and placed
under our now silent coffee peelers for trituration.
I beUeve they would soon be in demand, at R50
to R70 per ton, when the value of such a promoter
of tea leaf became known.

I most candidly believe the Fish-curing
industry, if fostered and promoted all around our
seaboard, would be of far greater value to the
natives of the country than tanks and roads in
districts where there are no population, and where
sickness in the form of fever render's life a misery,
while the whole seaborde ©f Ceylon is healthy for
natives, as seen by their robust health, while 20 miles
inland you come to the poor wretched fever-stricken
villager, i)Qt-helUed by enlnrpcd splrm, emaciated
and spmi\e-i{]ianked from the want of nourishment.

Would it not show wisdom and humanity in our
rulers, if some of the large sums of money annually

squandered on irrigation works (which never have
nor ever will pay), were used to promote Fish-
curing. We never can rob the " vasty deep of its
wealth, while every RIO taken out from it is real
wealth without the slightest drain on the national
store. I have known a small seaport town on the
east coast of Scotland draw a quarter of a million of
money from the sea in six weeks' time, which
when divided among the 7,000 inhabitants showed
itself in their wellbeing and social condition. That
there are splendid fisheries all around the seaborde
of Ceylon with an abundant supply of naturally formed
salt for the preservation of fish, it has long been a
wonder some of our wise rulers never thought of
devoting the planter-earned sums to such a purpose.

Let the Powers-that-be think of the poor
planter and cooly, who will soon again be export-
ing their 60,000,000 to 100,000,000 lb. of tea, and
giving the C. C. S. another chance of raising their
pay all round, off their hard earnings, the coolies'
and planters' jDay being an uncertain quantity, vary-
ing with the times, but the C. C. S. once increased
(let the times be ever so hard) never alters.

Dear Editor, I could give you many more hints,
how the poor native could be benefited, were the
wild irrigation mania, once cured. .lust think of
Kandoila and Rugam, &e., and now Ellahara to be.
—Yours truly, W. SMITH.

TEA MACHINERY.

Lunugala, 29th .June 1886.

Dear Sik, — In your Saturday's issue I note Mr.
•Jackson's letter dated London, 1st .Tune 1886, also
"Notes and Comments" on same. Mr. Jackson quotes
from an article of mine written for the " Ceylon
Advertiser," on fuel for tea estates, in which I wished
particularly in the first place to show how real was
the difficulty which planters would have to contend
with in obtaining fuel on many estates, and in the
second place recommending the uses of petroleum
as the cheapest fuel, easiest of transport, and the
least liable to burn out fire-bars and plates or any
other iron, especially cast-iron, brought into im-
mediate contact with a dead white heat such as is
produced by coke or anthracite coal. I have in no
way criticised Mr. Jackson's machinery, but if Mr.
Jackson has succeeded in getting cast-iron tubes which
will for any lengthened time stand the direct action
of a fire at white-heat in contact with the iron,
he has achieved a great success. I have had heavy
iron tubes or pipes in a Clerihew house burned
through very quickly, and I have had the heavy
fire-bars of an engine burned in one day by bad
stoking. Of course there is a great deal in stoking
as everyone knows.

I have not in any way criticised Mr. Jackson's
machinery, but it is by no means perfect yet : in
fact the last roller which I have not had an op-
jDortunity of seeing, I am told, is a departure al-
together from the double action of two planes
working at right angles, and the box or chamber
for the tea in the new machine is rotai'y whilst
the table is stationary. As I told Mr. Jackson the
last time I had the pleasure of seeing him and
talking with him on these matters, my objections
to his machines were first the excessive cost which
placed them beyond reach of the great body of
tea planters, and second the power required to drive
them. JAMES IRVINE.

THE PROPOSED CEYLON TEA SYNDICATE.

Louisa, HOth -June 1886.
Sir, — I presume it is generally understood by the
Committee who have the above scheme under con-
sideration that, to introduce Ceylon teas into foreign
countries, each agent must have recourse to his
own method of action.

Aug. 2, 188&J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

103

In this connection I am very much interested
to know how the American general agent, stationed,
say, in New York City, is to push a tea of which
he has, say, one hundred samples, and but a meagre
supply of any one of them. "Why, he must ad-
vertize!" says one.

Now, I wish to know how he intends advertizing?
Through the medium of newspapers and printed
circulars I presume. Such a plan of advertisemet
would, no doubt, suit a nice homely little town
like Adelaide ; it mitjht do for a city like Mel-
bourne ; but in New York city this method of ad-
vertizing is not likely to attract much custom.
The most successful system of advertizing in
America that 1 know of is that of free distribution
of samples among the better classes of citizens, each
sample being left at the house, and with it a blank
order already addressed to the appointed agents
who must, of course, be in a position to supply
according to sample sent.

I may mention that the matter of delivery of
goods is much simplified in America by the estab-
lishment of the National Express Co. _ Suppose A. B.
receives a sample of tea, and with it a short ac-
count of the scheme in question, as also some
interesting matter regarding the " far-off island of
Ceylon" so well-known as the place where "every
prospect pleases," Arc. He either tries the tea (prob-
ably will) or he gives it to his servants to try, which,
after all, is perhaps the best way to find out the
intrinsic value of the article. He also finds an
envelope addressed to the agent of the " Ceylon
Tea Syndicate" enclosing a blank C. 0. D. order,
which he tills out and mails. The agent, on
receipt of order, sends the parcel required with in-
voice to the nearest Express Co.'s Office, who pay
the amount due at once to the said agent, and
deliver the goods "straight away" to the con-
signee, who is charged a small commission over
and above the cost of tea as per invoice, to pay
the Express Co. for their trouble.

This system known as C. 0. D. (collect on deli-
very) is perfect in so far as it makes bad debts
impossible and insures speedy delivery. The one
thing necessary in carrying out this line of busi-
ness is power to siqyphj any demand made upon
any article so introduced, and to be able to supply
it according to sample.

To give an agent this power, he must be allowed
to bulk all teas of a J;iiid together, or what is better
have them bulked for him, before dispatch, in
Ceylon. To avoid any question as to the unfair-
ness of bulking " my good tea with thine which is
(of course) inferior" an expert would have to be
appointed, having full powers to judge and if
necessary condemn any tea which he considered
not up to a certain standard, which of course
would have to be fixed and clearly stated by mem-
bers of the Syndicate.

This standard (which must be high) might be
fixed by defining clearly what sieves are to be used
by all members sending in their teas throuf^h the
Syndicate to the several countries, each res23ective
agent having it in his power to suggest any
change which he deemed advisable in advancing
our interests in his own special market. I am
told Ceylon teas " won't mi.r." This may be so
although I have never seen it tried to any great
extent, that is, Ceylon tea with Ceylon tea.

That Ceylon teas cannot compete with Indian teas,
so far as mixing with China teas is concerned, we
all know, but would the bulking of say 50 Cey-
lon teas from different estates turn out a bad sam-
ple, provided that these teas are well cured, equally
sized, and individually tasted and passed by an ex-
pert?

Then as to an equal distribution of all necessary
costs, which would of course be heavier at first than
afterwards. I would suggest that individual con-
signments be sent to the bulking centre (wherever
it may be) in lots of 1,000 lb., each lot to con-
stitute one share, each shareholder to be respon-
sible for his own interests according to the num
ber of shares he holds.

I consider my suggestion wise for the following rea-
sons:— First it will insure quantity and equality in
what is put before the American public as "Ceylon
tea." Secondly, every member will have his fair share
of the proceeds, inasmuch as all teas will have
to be passed by an expert before bulSing.

On the other hand, all will share alike in the
first expenses of advertizing and all other necessary
expenses in connection with the furtherance of the
scheme.

In conclusion let me add that I put this letter
before the public as a suggestion and nothing more.
If it can do no good, I sincerely trust it will do
no harm to a scheme which must in one way or
another be carried out if our Tea Enterprise is to
end in success. That jforcign markets must he
opened for our tea is the unanimous opinion of
those interested, and our thanks are due to Mr.
Kutherford for taking the initiative in the matter.—
Yours faithfully, J. McCOMBIE MUERAY.

LOSS IN WEIGHT ON TEAS.

1st July 1880.

Dkae Sir,— Can you or any of your readers in-
form me «•//// it is that an allowance is made to
purchasers of Indian and Ceylon teas of 1 lb. in
every package weighing over 28 lb. gross ? Thus the
unfortunate planter who lives so far from the cart-
road as to render packing in chests out of the
question is mulcted in close on 2 per cent in
London, while his more fortunate neighbour who
being close to a cart-road ships in chests loses only
1 per cent or under. Should a planter ship in boxes
and the gross weight be over 28 lb. his loss in
weight would be 4 per cent— of course this all in
addition to any actual loss of tea there may be in
bulking itc. in London. I am not yet quite sure
whether the Purchaser or the Broker ot: Merchant
benefit by the 1 lb. allowance. I only know that
someone gets the allowance — and presumably the
Purchaser, 01 failing him the Broker— for samples ?

I never could understand how the loss in weight
of from l-i)0 to 8A per cent arose until I huited^at
theft in the docks as the cause, remarking that
I had put half lb. extra into last shipment of half-
chests and half lb. extra into previous shipment of
full chests, each shipment containing close on the
same amount of tea. To my astonishment the loss
in weight on the half-chest shipment was nearly
double that on the full-chest one and my enquiries
elicited from my Broker the custom of allowances as
mentioned above- -presumably to the purchaser.
This no doubt may suit Indian Tea Companies who
possibly may get a sort of return commission out
of it, but in the interest of individuals an eii'ort
should be made to stop the custom while our
industry is in its infancy. — Yours truly, dear sir,

ECONOMY.

1'. S. — Is this return of from 1 to 4 per cent given
to purchasers of China teas as well as to those of
Indians and Ceylons ?

[We are assured that the custom of allowing
1 lb. on every package at home applies to all
teas and that it is for slirinkage (in the timber of
the chests) tor leakage, &c. But the several
questions raised by our correspondent well deserve
to be enquired into by the Planters' Association,

i 04

THE TROPICAL AGUicvtramsr.

[AvG. 2, i8i^

MANURES FOR COCONUTS*

1st July 188C.

giK,_-Can any of your readers tell rne how to
apply' burnt coral (unslaked) to coconut plants 2
to 5 years old: how much might safely be put
to a plant, how applied, and how far from the
trunk of a tree might it safely be spread, rather
how near it ? 1 am not asking for suggestions
from any theorist, but a practical coconut planter
who has either used lime, or has seen it used
for coconut plants, and can therefore at least
speak from practical observation. The information
now asked fbr will be thankfully received by several
coconut estate proprietors and especially by, yours
faithfully, AGRICULTURIST.

p. S._Salt too is, I believe, used by many as a
stimulant : the same information regarding it will
be welcome.

[We have no doubt that our Ilapitigam Korale
correspondent will be able to answer these queries.
— Er..]

Tea. The report of the directors of the Kangra

Valley Tea Company shows that the outtnrn was
88 102 lb. which is considerably in excess of the three
previous years. The average price obtained was annas
lO-Oi. The expenditure averaged annas 9-0| per lb.
The Retail Dep6t at Prince's Hall, Piccadilly, has
paid expenses, and the quantity of tea sold there
considerably increased. The estimate for 1886 provides
for an outturn of 85,000 lb. fine tea at an expendi-
ture of E33.067. The gross receipts for the year were
R55,485, and the expenditure R49,842, leaving a profit
of R5,()43 which has been carried forward.— P^o/^eer.

Tea Factokies.— Mr. J. Capper in a few re-
marks made after the readmg of Mr. Shand's
paper estimated that during the next six years,
for Tea Factories in India and Ceylon, as much
as one million sterling of home manufactures (iron,
glass, machinery, &c.,) would be required. This
is certainly a moderate estimate ; for in Ceylon
alone before six years are over, there will prob-
ably be 1,000 Tea Factories, big and little, and
considering that some of the Factories already
completed have run away with two or three thousand
pounds and mainly for imported material, the
million sterling, if prosperity favours the tea enter-
prise, will be a good deal exceeded, if India is
counted as well.

Centigrade and Fahrenheit.— The Centigrade
thermometrical scale is now becoming so frequently
Used in English books that a short method of
turning incomprehensible Centigrade into intellig-
ible Fahrenheit will be a desideratum. The rule
is simple, and the operation, after a little practice,
may be performed mentally. All one has to do is
to double the Centigrade number, take a tenth
away from it, and add 32 to the number obtained.
Let us take 60 deg. Centigrade. Twice 00 is 120,
take one-tenth away, /. e. 12, and 108 remains,
which, added to 32, makes 140, which is the
answer. Taking a more difficult number, 32 Centi-
orade, we double and obtain 64, from which we
take 6-4, leaving 57-6, to which we add 32, the
total being 8d-(y.— Indian Gardener.

IsL,vND Industries.— I stated in my tirst article
that for the present I should defer alluding to the
pearl shell and beche-de-mer industries beyond the
remark that they are a well-established, proritable
business. If, however, they are to continue so
permanently, some legislative enactments will be
necessary ; some precautions will have to be taken
to prevent these valuable marine productions of
Queensland from being utterly swept oil' the coast.
At present everyone appears to take everything be

can get for fear of leaving it for somebody else,
and however prolific these marine creatures may
be, such inroads must bring them to an end at
last. The pearl shell oyster must at any rate be
amenable to scientific cultivation, and undoubtedly
some measures should be taken to assist them in
the propagation of their species, and to protect them
from the ravages of both their natural and un-
natural enemies. — TownsviUe (Queendmid) Herald.

Tea Djrying. — Mr. Gibbs sums up the philosophy of
tea drying ill these three Sentences: —

1. That the tea should be kept in gentle but effect-
ual movement, so as to separate every leaf from
every other leaf, and allow the dry air to get at both
sides.

2. The application of as much air as can be in-
troduced without blowing the charge out of the
machine.

3. The skilful adjustment of the temperature of tliat
air so as to obtain the highest drying power without
injure to the product. — SUgiri Express.

The Yield and Condition of Mabiawatte. — The
following facts concerning this well-known estate,
which have been forwarded us, are well worth repro-
duction : — The original 100 acres of the estate has given
42Ulb. for the half-year just ended, 30 acres having
been pruned last October, and 70 acres in April-May
of this year. It is estimated that the estate will re-
peat its previous record, if not exceed it, which cer-
tainly shows that it has in no way suffered by reason
of the heavy and abundant yields of former years.
The 70 acres pruned this year were plucked continuously
for 18 months, and the April-May pruning has so far
proved successful, as the bushes are full of vigor, and
look fit for big flushes. Mariawatte, much lnuded as
it has undoubtedly been, is probably acre for acre the
most valuable and prolific estate of any in the world.
—Local "Times."

Cou.ub Leaf. — Among the curiosities now shown
at the Colonial Exhibition is one specially inter-
esting to ladies in search of novelties. This
is the coral leaf which has been recom-
mended to attention by the English Consul at
the Bahamas as a valuable discovery for mil-
linery purposes. It is lighter than jet in weight
— a great desideratum in head-gear — it can be dyed
any shade or bleached the purest white, and, being
of a very pliable nature, is said to twist into the
most perfect and artistic specimens of hats and bon-
nets. Ingenuity has been sorely taxed to provide
a headdress that shall not outrage artistic feelings,
and at last there seems a hope that in the coral
leaf has been found a hygienic and tasteful solution
of this difficult problem. — Home Neius.

Trade in Dried Fruits and Vegetaules in
Austria. — The immense importance of the trade
done in the above useful articles of food by the
Americans especially, and in a less degree by the
Germans, French and Swedes, has at last appealed
to the minds of the more apathetic Austrians. An
experimental station fer research into the best methods
of producing first-class marketable commodities has
been established by Graf H. Attem's at St. Peter's
near Gratz, and the results obtained arc so encouraging
that it may soon be looked upon as a certainty that
the home-manufactured articles will take the place of
the imported ones, and that considerable impetus will
be given in that country to the cultivation of the
various vegetables and fruits that can be dried with
the best results. The A'. A'. Oederreichischen Pomo'
logen I'erein has sent out a pamphlet recently, in
which the variou.s important uses to which the dried
goods can be put are succinctly pointed out, especial
emphasis being laid, owing to their extreme portability,
on their use by the army and navy, hotel keepers,
and dwellers in towns, who, by being far removed from
sources of supply, or by reason of their compar-
ative dearness, are debarred from the enjoyment of
these health-giving articles of consumption. — Gardeners'
Chronicle.

Aug, 2, me.] THE i'ROPiCAL AGRlCUtTUHISlt

105

NATAL TEA.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE "COLONIES AND INDIA.''

Sir, — You have from time to time kindlj- published
my commuuications relative to tea culture in Natal,
in order that people in this country interested in one
of the burning questions of the day (i.e., what to do
with our boys) might be informed of the opening
for capital and labour existing in the Colony to which
I belong.

In the issue of your journal last week you furnished
particulars of the public sale of a small consignment
of tea from Natal, averaging l.":. 7d. per lb. in bond,
and this price was realized in the teeth of the broker's
report that the tea was over-fired or burnt, aud|irregularly
fermented, being details of faulty manufacture which
experience will remedy.

The tea itself contains the elements of good ([uality,
only needing the guidance of an expert or experience
in the manipulation to do it full justice.

From Messrs. Gow. Wilson & Stanton's Indian
and Java tea report of the Hth inst, I quote the
following as an idea of the current price of Indian
teas in London: — Fanning, red to brown, strong i-oiigh
liquor, 7^d.; Broken Tea, fair brownish to blackish,
strong liquor, SgJ..; Pekoe Souchong, fair blackish greyish,
useful licjuor, lOjcJ.; Pekoe, fair greyish to blackish,
some tip, useful liquor, ll^d-

It is evident from the foregoing that Natal planters
have a cheering prospect to stimulate them to use every
exertion to produce quality rather than quantity, for
the deduction is that good tea will return a good
price, as the great bulk of the tea which reaches this
market is of very inferior quality or strength.

There was opened yesterday at the Colonial and
Indian Exhibition a new tea pavilion for the sale of
Natal tea by the cup, which was largely patronised,
and the quality of tea supi>lied afforded great satisfac-
tion, freely expressed by the public.

In the Natal Court tea from various estates is shown
(a parcel of a ton from one) ; photographs of plantations
are on view, and every information can be afforded, —
I am, &c., Morton Crreeu, Brixton Hill, June 15. 1886.

HYDROQUININE.

Some years since {Pliarm. Joiini.., [oj, xii., 005j
in a paper describing several alkaloids found in
the mother-liquors obtained in the manufacture
of quinine. Dr. Hesse gave some account of one
containing two atoms of hydrogen more than
<iuinine, to which he gave the name " hydroquinine."
In many respects it resembles quinine, dissolving
readily in alcohol and ether and forming a crystal-
line hydrate when precipitated from the solution of
its salts by ammonia. Its rotatory power is less than
that of quinine. The solution in excess of sulphuric
acid has a blue fluorescence, and with chlorine and
ammonia the alkaloid gives the same reaction as
quinine. The therapeutic action of this alkaloid has
recently been studied by Seifert, who finds that it
is an antipyretic superior to salicylic acid and kairine,
reducing the pulse and the temperature with abund-
ant transpiration. The dose is about the same as
that of quinine and its continued use is not attended
with disagreeable effects. There is reason to believe
that the presence of this alkaloid in commercial
quinine sulphate may have been the cause of the
exaggerated estimates of the amount of cinchonidine
in that article, as will appear from a paper on this
subject by Dr. O. Hesse that will be published in
this Journal next week. ISIeanwhile it may be men-
tioned that M. .\rmet de Lisle has addressed to the
Academic de Medicine a formal protest against the
statement made by Dr. de Vrij that the quinine
sulphate of his manufacture contains 12'448 per cent.
of cinchonidine sulphate. Another circumstance which
appears to throw considerable doubt on Dr. de Yrij's
results is the amount of water of crystallization which
he gives for quinine sulphate of Knglish manufactures
viz., 10-85 and 5'72 pcjr cent. Jn any case it seems
very remarkable that he should regard such a small
amount of water of crystallizatiou rs beiug the reasou
U

why a particular make of quinine sulphate commands
a higher price than others. The Pharmaceutische
Zeitunrf also calls attention to the fact that according
to Dr. de Vrij's statements the quinine sulphate inade
in Germany would not hold the first rank as to
quality, and it is suggested that German manufacturer
of this article should take steps to furnish such an
explanation as is desirable in regard to this subject.
— Pharmaceutical Journal.

THE CINCHONA MARKET AND PEODUCTION

IN CEYLON.

Our readers will without doubt have taken due
note of the last local sale, on Thursday, of 72,829
lbs. of cinchona bark with the analysis and the
prices realized. We cannot but regard the con-
tinued fall in bark, both locally and in the
London market, as eminently unsatisfactory, not
only so at the moment as it affects producers
who are forced to realize their crops, but more
particularly as being entirely without the slightest
gleam of hope for a better condition of the market
in the immediate future. Some of the bark at the
sale to which we refer, analyzing 2 per cent of (juinine,
appears to have realized about 21 cents per unit, a
figure to which we" think we are justified in apply-
ing the word miserable. Shortly after the great rush
for cinchona planting had fairly begun, there were
many who were unable to see where a market could
be found for the enormous production of quinine
which seemed to be quite possible in the future, and
who confidently foretold the consequences which would
follow in its train. But the opinions of many eminent
specialists were put forward in contradistinction to
this, ;i,nd planters were told that quinine could be
used for brewing beer, for fixing dyes, for tanning;
and for a variety of purposes from which at that
time its excessive cost debarred its general use. It
was boldly asserted that a reduction in price by 50
per cent would leave an ample margin for immense
jirofits to growers, and that such a reduction would
induce the use of quinine as a medicine to an extent
far beyond the imagination of the men of that daj-.
The Chinese, for instance, were to cease the use of
opium, and exist on quinine as a preventive to the
ague-fevers so common along the principal rivers of
(!hina, and which had mainly induced the habit of
opium-smoking. "We were told on one occasion by an
eminent medical authority that, as there was only a
certian portion of the world's surface that would grow
cinchona, were every acre of that portion planted up
with trees, it would not supply all the quinine for
which a market could be found when the drug fell in
price, something to about half the extent it has
done since. How far such dreams have been realized
it is not necessary for us to point out. The hope
and fears of many years' experience of the cultivation,
the loss of millions of trees by canker and wet, the
devastation of plantations consequent on the necessi-
ties of impecunious producers, and the thousand and
one causes which have resulted in the paraly.sis of
the cinchona industry — overweighted as it has been
by super-abundant supplies — the old fields of supply
in Mouth America being all but abandoned, in conse-
quence of the reduction in value of bark causing
collection to be unremuuerative — in spite of all these
things, the prospects of cinchona growers in Ceylon and
the East Indies exhibit no sign of being bettered. It
i? at any moment sufficient to overwhelm the existing
markets of Europe and America. Over and over again
have we been told that the supply from Ceylon must
shortly be reduced; it was impossible that any year
in the future could show such an output of birk as
we had seen in the past. It has been asserted that
a variety of causes had reduced the acreage of trees
in Ceylou so seriously that a very important reduction
must of necessity be shown in the export of the
l)resent season, and as a consequence we might look
with certainty for a rise in the value, which would
altogether alter the appearance of the market. With
gucb prosijects as these the hopes of producers have

iv6

THE TUOPlCAt AomcvhTvns%

[Avo, 2, 1886,

beeu buoj'ed up for months, nay for years, past. Even
local experts, as well as such authorities as Mr. Moens,
seemed really to imagine a radical change was immi-
nent, and that it was quite impossible Ceylon could
this year export anything approaching to the total
during the year ending 31st October 1885. And, what
so far as we have gone, is the actually reality? The
export to date, is no less than lb. 11,608,621 against
a total for the same period of last year of lb.
8,020,117. Turning to the railway returns, we find
that for the week ending 23rd May, cinchona bark
was carried at the rate of 158 tons, against 98 tons
in the corresponding week of last year, and again on
the 31st May, 128 tons against 113 last year. It
must not be forgotten that though the cinchona
harvest may be well considered as closed for the season
in the districts which are affected bj' the South-west
monsoon, the bark from Uva and T'dapussellawa will
only now begin to be taken in. The coffee crops of
the spring season having been secured, attention will
be paid to cinchona harvesting, which will be none
the less on account of a falling off in the produce of
coffee as regards the estimated outturns. The rail-
way return does not of course include all the bark
that comes down from Haputale and other districts
which are served by the Ilatnapura road. As far as
we can learn at present our estimate for the current
season made at the end of last year will have to be
raised in accordance with facts, to no less than
15.000,000 lb. This enormous mass of cinchona bark
cannot fail to disorganize to a large extent the markets
of Europe and America, and it is impossible to fore-
tell to what extent prices may eventually fall in the
immediate future. It is e<iually impossible to say
when any improvement may be looked for in this
re.spcct, as the necessities of producers may compel
them to harvest their crops as heretofore. It may
be well to allow our imagination to pourtray what
might have been the present state of the market had
the efforts of cinchona planters been crowned with
the succe.«s that they had anticipated. Let us suppose
for a moment that the millions and millions of plants
which were put out had arrived at maturity, and that
the older coffee districts were a forest of huge cin-
cliona trees, stretching for miles along the slopes of
the hills in every direction. It may bring but little
consolation to think of it, but, had this been reality,
the bark of the cinchona tree would not command
sufficient value to pay for its harvesting, and the
planter, with apparently countless wealth at his very
door, would have been as completely a ruined man
as if his colfee had beeu abandoned and nothing
planted as a substitute. The product which is now
renovating his fortunes would have found no place
under the shade of the branching ciuchoua trees, and
Ceylon would have been the scene of disasters even
more complete than those that have already befallen
her.— Local "Times."

■ ♦

JAVA: TRADE AND COMMERCE FOR I8S0.

l?eport of Consul McNeill on the trade, commerce,
and general matters relating to the Island of Java for
the year 1885; — The year 1885 has been an unfavour-
flblo one for the trade in Java, and though no actual
fiuanciii' crisis occurred as in the year previous, a general
feelini^ of depre.ssion has been felt throughout the year.

HuGAH, — The crop has again been a good one, though
Hot so abundant as in 1881, the outturn being about 15
per cent, less, say a little over 5,000,000 piculs, or about
300,000 tons, Prices varied considerably in sympathy
with European advices, the market opening at ti.9 c.50
to fl.9 C.75, and rising steadily from fl.l2 to fl.l2 c.50 per
picul. but declining at the close of the season from tl.ll
to fl. 10 c.50 per picul. Had rates remained at the level
ftt which first sales were made, the result would have
been, as a rule, very unsatisfactory to planters; and it is
a matter of congratulation that the markets in the
consuming quarters advanced in the manner they did.
A large proportion of the crop was again shipped to
Europe on jilanters' account. An area under cultivation
Is reported to be well up to last year's and a good
crop— uaj'oreseen circuiustauces excepted— may ha looked

for in 1886. The disease in the canes, alluded to in my
last two reports, has increased in some districts, but
diminished in others. The damage done by it has not,
on the whole, been great ; and it is generally considered
that by careful planting and manuring it can be easily
grappled with.

OOFKEE. — The crop has been an exceedingly poor one,
the production of the Government gardens having
declined to 499,909 piculs, against 1,011,787 piculs in 1884
and 1,072,492 piculs in 1883. They yield from private
plantations has also proved much under the average out-
turn, though the decrease is not so marked as in the
case of the Government coffee. The quality of the crop
has been poorer, also, owing to long-continued drought,
and the presence of the leaf-disease in many gardens.
Prospects for the coming crop are, however, fortunately
brighter, leaf-disease not having yet shown itself to any
great extent.

EicE. — The crop has been an enormous one, and con-
sequently prices have fallen to an unprecedentedly low
level. The quantity exported was more than double
that of the previous year, viz., 27,939 tons, against
10,360 tons.

Tea. — The number of plantations under cultivation
have remained almost stationary, but owing to unfavour-
able weather the yield of 1885 .shows a slight decrease,
the exports having been 2,568,675 kilos., against 2,904,567
kilos., in 1884. Exports to London amounted to 1,705,850
kilos., and to Holland 750,446 kilos. The preparation
has been paid more attention to with favourable results.
A considerable (}uantity of seeds from Assam has been
imported.

Impoh Ts. — Our markets have been in a more depressed
and unsatisfactory condition than has been experienced
for manj' j'ears past, owing principally to the decreased
buying power of the native population, and the more
than adequate supplies which have continued to come
forward during the year. The market was already
overstocked with goods of all descriptions at the end of
1884, and the heavy arrivals thrown during the twelve-
month on a falling market served to depress prices still,
further. During the last three months of the year
business almost came to a standstill, as dealers at last
lost confidence, owing to the progressive decrease in
prices, and were frightened to operate with the possi-
bility of having their purchases left on their hands in
consequence of a further decline. The poverty of the
natives is attributed to the very considerable depreciation
which has occured in the value of rice, combined with
the increased pressure used by Government in the
collection of the land tax.

Caitle Disease. — In the beginning of the year cattle
pl'ague broke out in the eastern part of the island, in
the Passaroean Pesidency, and as there had been no
transit ot cattle from or to this district, which had
remained free from the disease up to this period, the
origin of the outbreak appears to have been spontaneous.
In May the plague appeared in the western part of the
island, in the Bekassi district, near Batavia, where it
prevailed with considerable severity, but owing to the
strenuous exertions taken by the Government, it dis-
appeared almost entirely .nftei the lapse of two or three
months. In August: there were some few cases of cattlle
plague and foot-auJ-mouth <lisease in the neighbourhood
of Batavia, but in the following month the disease was
ofScially reported to have disappeared. In December
there were a few cases of cattle plague among the
buffaloes in the Krawang Residency. The staff of
veterinary surgeons, appointed bj' the Government for
the inspection of cattle and suppression of diseases
numbered at the cud of 1884 seven Europeans, assisted
by 13 certificated natives, while several Javanese were
also in receipt of medical instruction to qualify them
for future service.

Cttstoms Keceipts. — The following have beeu the
customs receipts in .Java and IMadura during the years
1884 and 1885 :— 1884, fi8,968,M25 c67; 1885, tl8,251,l93
c33. The returns therefore of last year show a decrease
on that of the preceding year of fl717,632 c34.

GovEnNJiKNT Railways. — No new lines have beeu
completed during the past year. Progress has, however,
been made with the lines between Djokjakarta and
Tjilatjap, and with tbt: eiuall liuc coouectijif Souraluiya

Aug. 2, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST-

t<yf

with the mouth of the Kaliemaas River, whilst the
survey and the provisional plan of the liue between
Tjilatjap and Tjitjalengka, and the surveys of the lines
from Djokjakarta to Willem I. via Magelaug, and from
Mat'elang to Poerworedjo, have all been finished.

Private Railways. — The line between Batavia and
Bekassie, mentioned in my last repoi-t as having been
commenced, has been steadily progressing during the
past year, although considerable dilticulty has been
e.vperienced iu purchasing the land through which the
line passes. A line connecting Tagal and Ealapoelang
via Bandjaran, with a branch liue from the latter place
to Pangka, has also been commenced.

A couces.sion has been granted bj' Government for a
line from Cheribon to Saniarang via Tagal and Pekalon-
gan, whilst another has been a.sked for a line starting
from one of the stations on the Djokjakarta-Tjilatjap
Railway to Bandjaruegara via Poerwokerto, Soekaradja,
and Poerworedjo.

A steam tramway has been opened during the year,
couuecting Poerwodadi and Goendih (Central Java).

Several concessions have been asked and granted for
tramways throughout the island, but none of them have
up to the present been commenced.
Population.

1882. 1883. 1884.

Europeans* A 35,53.5 36,7«4 37,608

B 8,222 8,664 9,157

A 19,994,999 20,367,944 20,665,510
B 6,334,330 6,295,544 6.199,946
211,775 214,470
139,152 149,558
10,987 11,229
5,067 4,965

2,632 2,755

20,676 21,659

»

Natives

Chine.se

Arabs

A 211,207

B 140,571

A 10,817

„ B 5,108

Otherforeign Orientals A 2,603

„ „ B 20,760

Total .

26,764,152 27,099,205 27,316,867

The above is exclusive of the army and navy, the
former of which consisted of 14,982 Europeans and
15,254 natives, and the latter of 2,762 Europeans and
1,021 natives on December 31, 1884.t

The number of British subjects resident in Batavia,
Samarang, and Sourabaj'a, the three principal ports of
Java, at the end of I880 were respectively 6k, 21 and 56.

Steam Communication. — The British India Steam
Navigatiou Company, Limited, commenced in October
last a monthly service between Calcutta and Adelaide
and back via Singapore, this port, Brisbane, Sydney, and
RLelbourne, and the steamers of the Eastern and
Australian Steamship Company, which run between
China and Australian ports, have again commenced,
touching here at irregular intervals. A s regards communic-
ation with Europe and Netherlands-India no alteration
has taken place. The competition between the various
lines of steamers, both Dutch and English, running
between this island and European ports, is becoming
very keen, and the supply of steam tonnage, except at
the height of the shipping season, has been in excess of
requirements. The contract with the Netherlands-India
Company for the conveyance of Government goods and
passengers will expire at the close of 1890, and next
year tenders will be invited by Government for a new
contract.

Batavia Harboub Wokks. — The buildings in connec-
tion with the harbour are being steadily carried on. The
Custom-house, railway station, telegraph olHce, harbour-
master's office, kc, mentioned in my last report as being
in course of erection, have now been completed. The
service of trains between Tandjong-Priok, where the
harbour is situated, and Batavia, a distance of about six
miles, has lately been greatly improved, there being
now sixteen trains each way daily, with the exception of
Sundays, on which day there are only five trains each
way. There is and assistant harbour-master in attend-
ance at Tandjong-Priok every daj', so that ships can
now be cleared in and out there a change of considerable
importance to shipmasters.

* A. Java and Madura ; B. other possessions iu
Netherlands India.

t The total European population of Netherlands India
n 1834. therefore was 64,509.— Ed,

Native Labour. — Native labour is in request here for
the tobacco estates of Sumatra, and a large number of
natives havejbeeu engaged to work there under two year
contracts, whilst a trial lot of about 100 have been
drafted during the past year to work on sugar estates in
Queensland.

Eruption of the Volcano Smeroe. — On the night of
April 18 an eruption of the volcano Smeroe, situated in
the eastern part of the Island, occurred, and immense
volumes of lava poured forth from it, which almost
entirely devastated the neighbouring coffee estate of
Kalibeniug. The manager, some overseers, and natives
belonging to the estate lost their lives during the
eruption.

Import and Export Duties. — A strong movement has
of late been made by the commercial and planting
communities to have the export duties on sugar, coffee,
and tea abolished, and it is exj)ected that they will be,
or at least reduced, during the coming season, increased
duties being levied on some articles of import to
compensate for the loss of revenue.

Hypothecation of StandinCt Crops. — In order to
assist planters who have lately had to contend against
low prices for almost all kind of produce, the Governor-
General, at the close of 1884, made certain provisional
regulations, .sanctioning the hypothecation of standing
crops. These regulations were only valid for twelve
months, but in January of this year (1886) they have
been rendered permanent by the granting of the Royal
sanction. — London and China Express.

YERBA:— ILEX PARAGUAYENSIS.

BY HENRY DAUBEE, JUNIOR.

In Paraguay the Ilex Paraguay crisis grows uncultured
in very extensive forests called " Yerbales." It i.t
al.so common to some provinces in Brazil, to the terri-
tory of Misiones, and to Corrientes, one of the
northern provinces of the Argentine Republic. This
plant, which belongs to the order AquifoHticcw, is
often called also Brazilian holly, on account of its re-
semblance to the holly shrub and its being an ever-
green ; it seldom attains a height exceeding ten feet.
The leaves, which when dried almost exclusively con-
stitute the yerba, or tea — sometimes known in com-
merce as " Yerba-Mate " — vary from two to five inches
in length, and from three-quarters of an inch to one
inch and three-quarters in breadth. They are simple,
shiny, very short stalked and of a dark green colour,
which assumes a lighter hue beneath. The fruit is
red and somewhat smaller than a wild-berry, con-
taining four seeds, all of which are seldom in full
development. Y'erba has been known to the Guarani
Indians (once a large and powerful tribe, but now
almost exterminated) from time immemorial ; to trace
back the period when the leaves of the Ilex were
first used for infusion is impracticable.

The Ilex Paraguayensis has been exported, and
planted in two or three countries in the South of
Europe, where it appears to have acclimatized itself,
naturally not developing as perfectly as in its own
natural regions. If cultivated (as it was to some ex-
tent some years ago, before the expulsion of the
Jesuits from Paraguay), its leaves yield a far more
agreeable beverage than if uncultivated.

On receipt of a substantial sum of money the Para-
guayan Government grants concessions to companies
to gather the leaves during the season, February to
July. These companies fit out expeditions, con-
sisting of natives with their families. A suitable spot
is selected in the midst of the yerbales, and here
the expedition camps. The first operation is to con-
struct a number of ranches, roofed with palm leaves
or thatched with straw ; these being the abode of the
men and their families as long as the leaf-gathering
period lasts. Next a space of ground is cleared from
all incumbrance and rendered as smooth as its physi-
cal condition will permit, being then beaten hard with
wooden mallets. The leaves of the ilex are gathered
but very often branches, or perhaps almost whole trees
are chopped down, placed on the space of ground
previously alluded to and left there a few days, the

roS

THfi TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST^ [Aua 2, 1886.

sun partially drying them. An arch called an " em-
ramada,'" by some "barbagua," is then made, upon
which the sun-dried branches with the leaves attached
to them are placed. A fire is lit under this arch and
is constantly kept brisk till the leaves are completely
dried. Orent precaution is always taken to prevent
the leaves from roasting or igniting. This operation
terminated, the branches with the leaves still adhering
are placed on the mallet-beaten space of ground and
beaten with stick.s, the leaves of course falling off
partly in powder. Portions of the stalks get detached
also, this being the reason that they generally consti-
tute a ])ortion of the yerba. (';ire must be taken
not to deprive the young trees entirely of their leaves,
as otherwise they will not grow, but remain mere
bushes. Other more advanced methods for the pre-
paration of yerba have lately been in use in some
parts of South America; in one locality largo ovens
are used to dry the leaves, which are afterwards
reduced to power by stone mills. Large iron di.shes
are also employed occasionally for the purpose of
drying the leaves. These advanced processes yield a
yerba that unquestionably is contaminated with less
mineral matter than the yerba prepared by the pri-
mitive process.

The final operation is the packing. The mode
almost e.\clusively in use is : bullock hides are steeped
in water and sewn at the sides and bottom, the upper
part remaining open for the introduction of the yerba.
This package, which resembles a bag, is called a
"tercio" or "seron," the latter being the name used
by the Spanish. Yerba is rammed into one of these
packages ; when full the aperture is sewn up. The
" tercio " is then pounded with mallets till it acquires
an oval shape, and left to dry in the sun, becoming
in a few hours as bard as stone. In this quaint en-
closure, in which it is very well preserved, yerba is
exported to the different South American markets.
From Brazil, and occasionally from Paraguay, it is
packed in barrels. A " tercio " full of yerba generally
weighs 200 to 300 pounds.

The expeditions are fatal to many. The heat in
the " yerbales " is extremely excessive, cau.sing death
from sun-stroke very frequently.

Three sorts of yerba are prepared, namely, caa-cuy,
caa-mirim and caa-guaza ; the prefix " caa " denoting
leaf in the Guarani language. Caa-cuy. — The new leaves
from the small branches, dried in the sun. It is
consumed on a very small scale, is of a yellowish-
green colour, and is rarely exported, as it invariably
loses its aroma very rapidly, consequently being of
little value on reaching its destination. This variety
contains no stalks. Caa-mirim. — The leaf carefully
separated from the stalks and dried. It preserves its
aromatic properties longer than caa-cuy, but the de-
naand for it is as limited in one case as in the other.
Oaa-guaza, or "Yerba de Palos " (yerba of stalks,
Spanish;, is the third and last sort, and is composed
of leaves and stalks, which have passed through the
drying processes. Is the variety known all over South
America on account of preserving its aroma for a
considerable length of time.

In Brazil a tea resembling yerba, called congonha,
is prepared from the Ilex conyunha in a similar manner
to yerba ; but its use has not become very general
yet. Other teas from different species of Ilex are
prepared in South America, but their use is limited
to the inhabitants of the localities in which they are
prepared.

Paraguay tea is often called " mate." This, however,
is not correct. Yerba, the Spanish word for herb, is
the only name the tea has, whilst mate is the name
of the vessel in which the infusion is made ; this
probably accounting for the tea being erroneously
called mate. This receptacle is like a pumpkin, though
smaller, and is the fruit of a creeper common to
Brazil, Uruguay, Argentine Republic and several other
countries in South America. A hole is bored on top
of the mate, which has been dried in the sun, and
the seeds extracted. It is used as a cup for the tea.
The infusion is called mate, deriving its name froni
the cup. Porcelain mates, wooden mates inlaid with

silver, and polished coconut shells are also used as re-
ceptacles for the tea, in several cities.

Mode of Infudon. — Three or four tea-spoonfuls of
yerba are put into the mate, and boiling water poured
up to the brim of the cup. A tube, made of silver or
electroplate, having one end widened out and perfor-
ated with small holes, is placed in the mate. Through
this tube, called " bombilla," the infusion is taken, or
rather imbibed as hot as possible. Most So\ith Ameri-
cans use no sugar, perferring the characteristic bitter
taste; some, on the contrary, like it sweetened, while
a third lot make the infusion with boiling milk, sugar
being used in this instance.

Yerba has a very sustaining effect on persons who
constantly drink its infusion. Conflicting opinions how-
ever, respecting its effects on the constitution are held
by eminent men. M. Sellieu recommends Paraguay
tea as being pleasanter to the taste and le.ss injurious
to health than China tea, whilst Professor Bentley
affirms it to be more exciting, and when taken to ex-
cess to produce a kind of intoxication. It may never-
theless be said, that the sober portion of the inhabit-
ants of South American Republics cherishes yerba as
the great natural beverage, deriving nutriment and
the greatest comfort from its use. It has been at-
tempted to introduce yerba into this country, but,
probably owing to the want of knowledged as to its
preparation, the attempt has, so far, not been success-
ful. I think it can be safely predicted, that were it
brought systematically before the British public, it
would soon become a favourite beverage, and prove a
valuable rival to other imported teas.

I will now endeavour to give an approximate idea
of the quantity of yerba which is annually consumed
in some South American countries, with which I am
more or less intimately acquainted. The figures I give
are gathered from ofKcial sources, and therefore, should
be considered reliable. The total imports of yerba to
the Argentine Republic in 1880 (notwithstanding its
own production) were about 14,000,000 kilos. Towards
this Brazil contributed 9,000,000 and Paraguay 5,000,000.
One thousand kilos, within a small fraction being equal
to an English ton, the preceding figures represent as
near as possible 14,(M)0 tons. If now we consider that
only 280,000 kilos of China and Indian tea were im-
ported during the same period, it will be evident that
for every pound of tea fifty pounds of yerba are con-
sumed in the Argentine Republic. The consumption
of yerba is larger in the country than in the towns.
European habits of different sorts, owing to the mixed
population of the large towns, have gradually made
even the natives acquainted with not very wholesome
beverages, at any rate far less so than yerba.

The Argentine Republic produces yerba only in its
most northern latitude, comprising the province of
Corrientes and the territory of Misiones ; the former
province even importing 500 tons annually from Para-
guay. Entre Rios, not self-producing, imports nearly
1,000 tons per annum from Paraguay. Santa Fe, the
great agricultural centre of the Republic, consumes
over 4,000 tons yearly. The provinces towards the west,
separated from the Republic of Chili by the Andes
chain of mountains, are the smallest consumers of
yerba, owing especially to their distance from the
producing districts. The Republic of Uruguay, with
a population of about six hundred thousand, imports
annually an average of 6,000 tons, against only 80 to
100 tons of China and Indian tea ; ergo, for every
pound of tea over sixty pounds of yerba are consumed.
This shows that the average annual consumption is 23
pounds per head, most of which is of Brazilian
growth ; 5 to I as compared with Paraguay yerba.

Although the consumption of yerba in the Argentine
Republic (population three million) is apparently less
than in the Republic of Uruguay, it should be borne
in mind I have not taken into consideration its own
production, which though inferior in quality to the
Paraguayan or Brazilian, is largely used by the inhabit-
ants of the northern provinces.

Like tea in England, yerba is almost exclusiuely the
hot beverage at a family table in the countries men-
tioned ; only it is taken in larger quantities, A visitor

Aug. 2t 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

105

to Montevideo or Buenos Ayres would not get the
infusion at the cafes (as I have said, European habits
prevail in the large towns), but he would hardly get
anything else in the country. The camp people often
remain without anything but yerba for considerable
intervals. Wherever visitors put in an appearance
they are certain to obtain yerba, and though it may
seem strange to European notions they are not re-
((uired to pay for it. In short, throughout the country
both friends and strangers find yerba to be an im-
portant element in social intercourse.

Below I produce an analysis which I have conducted
upon a bulk sample of the caa-guaza species from
Pai-aguay.

Mechanical Analysis

Leaves 64

Stalks 30

100

Freliminarii Analysis.

>

Per cent.

Moisture (at 100° 0.) ...

••• •••

... 9-407

Matters extracted by ether

• •■ . . •

... 8-920

Soluble vegetable matter

• •• •■•

... 51-6fi7

Woody fibre (cellulose)

••• ...

... 18-406

Ash (mineral matter) ...

... ..•

... 11-600

100-000

Oi-ffanic A

nalt/sis.

Moisture

... 9-407

Yerbeine*

•*• •••

... 3-355

Tannic acid

• * • • * *

... 5-220

Oil (volatile

* •• .*>

... 0-064

Fat

••• • . •

... 1711

Chlorophyll

... •..

... 2-064

Wax

...

... 0-420

Resin

... 3-800

Sugar

... ...

... 4031

Dextrin

• •• ■ • •

... 1-160

Albumen

t • » ■■ •

... 4-510

Carbohydrates (soluble)

... ■• ■

... 34-252

Woody fibre (cellulose)

...

... 18-406

Ashf (mineral matter)

••* * * ■

... 11-600

100-000

Calculated upon 100 parts of ash :—

Carbonic oxide

... 11-724

Sand (insoluble in HCl)

... 1-224

Silica

... 10-413

Phosphoric oxide, P0O5

... 10-421

Sulphuric oxide, SO3 ...

... 1-413

Ferrous oxide

... 0-250

Alumina

... 1-310

Lime

... 28-163

Magnesia

... 12-304

Potassa

... 8-672

Soda

... 12122

Chlorine

... 1-984

100-000

* This is the active principal or alkaloid of yerba
hitherto called by others caffeine (the active principle
of coffee). Dr. Peckolt found in air-dried leaves from
Parana 16 per cent, and Professor Hoffman 03
per cent.

■\ Inorganic {mineral) Analysis. — In 100 parts of
yerba : —

Carbonic oxide, CO 2

Sand (insoluble in HCl)

Silica

Phosphoric oxide, PoO^

Sulphuric oxide, SO 3

Ferrous oxide ... "

Alumina

Lime
Magnesia
Potassa ..
Soda
Chlorine ..

1-360
1-142
1-208
1-209
0164
0029
0-152
3-267
1-4-27
1-006
1-406
0-230

11-600

After infusion yerba has the following composition,
the moisture being taken at 9 '40 per cent. —

Per cent.

Moisture 9-^100

Vegetable matter 87-060

Ash 3-540

100-000

Yerba yields 28 per cent, soluble matter in boiling
water, of which about 8 per cent, is of the ash con-
stituents.

The lare quantity of albumen contained proves yerba
to be a nutritious diet.

The volatile oil, belonging to the phenol group, I
obtained by distillation from the matters extracted
by ether.

The estimation of tannic acid I conducted throughout
according to Mr. Procter's method, which gives very
satisfactory results.

I have lately seen an analysis of yerba, showing
no ash whatever; this to me is totally inexplicable.
Compared with Chinese teas, the ash in yerba is
greater. It has been observed by different chemists
that the more costly teas contain less ash than cheaper
qualities. In all the samples of Chinese teas, analysed
by a Russian chemist, the quantity of ash was found
to be in inverse relation to the quality, as indicated
by the price ; the ash being especially high in teas
adulterated by admixture with other leaves. In case
of Japanese teas analyses do not all agree with this.

Dr. Peckolt is reported to have found in yerba
gathered in Neufreiburg: —

Per cent.

Oxide of manganese 8958

Sodium 10062

Potassium 14615

As will be noticed the percentage of soda and
potassa, which I find in the ash, bears no sort of
comparison to the amount Dr. Peckolt found contained
in the leaves. But even supposing that his results,
in potassium were obtained from 100 parts of ash,
this would amount practically to double the percent-
age found by myself, and would represent an
extraordinary richness of that element. Further, I
fail to discover the minutest trace of oxide of manganese
in the sample I possess. — Pharmacevtical Journal,

Chena Cultivation. — In a brief editorial on the
Province of Uva, the " Dinakaraprakasa " suggests
that for the encouragement and assistance of the
poor cultivators that they may be allowed by Govern-
ment to cultivate chenas (burn forests), and grow such
vegetables, as cucumbers, potatoes, &c. They should be
supplied with a good kind of cotton seeds. A small
amount of the proceeds sale of these vegetables, &c.
should go towards the rent of the lands thus cultivated.

Darteelinc. Tea Prospects. — The Darieeling cor-
respondent of the Kmilishinan says: — "The weather
in this district during the last fortnight has been
all that could be desired for tea manufacture. A hot
sun with an occasional heavy shower brought the
leaf out in abundance, and many factories have been
obliged to work night and day to keep pace with it.
A change in the weather has just now taken place,
amounting almost to a disastrous storm. In some
parts of the district the wind blew a terrific gale,
and the cold rain has sent the temperature down
considerably. This will somewhat stop the growth,
and give the planter time for packing and despatch-
ing. Most gardens are well ahead of last year, and
although very poor prices were realized at the first
Calcutta sales, the teas manufactured to date are
qviite equal to those of previous seasons for quality,
if anything better, and it is expected that when this
fact is established on the London market the prices
will become better, both here and at home, for Dar-
jeeling teas. It has been an excellent season for
leaf so far. Red spider has increased rapidly with
the late favourable tea weather, but this heavy rain
will prevent any further .spread, besides washing off
a great deal of that already in existence."— fwMcer,

no

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[AVG. 2, 1886.

THE OUTLOOK FOR CINCHONA

GROWERS.

The present critical state of the cinchona bark
market is a serious matter for cuitivators who
contemplate harvesting this year. Last September
we said that prospects were hopeful for planters,
as a syndicate had been formed in the United
States, to shut out English and German made
quinine, its members having determined to manu-
facture enormously, and even to sell at a loss for
a time if they could effect their purpose thereby.
As a matter of fact, prices did rise much higher
in October than they had done for a long time,
but this was followed by a sudden fall, from which
there has as yet been no recovery. In an inter-
esting review of this branch of trade Mr. Moens,
the ex-director of Government Plantations in .Java,
explains how this depression came about. When
the increased demand for bark last autumn began
to be felt on the Continent and in London, stocks
being at the time rather low, brokers, thinking
that consumption had overtaken production and
that the "unit" would soon be at lOd. advised
those who wished to be before the rush of South
American bark which such a rise would let in, to
hurry home their produce. The rush arrived as
was expected, but it was from a dili'erent quarter.
Ceylon had not been exporting as largely as usual,
and it was supposed that so much cinchona had
been harvested to pay for tea extensions that very
little remained. But encouraged by the brilliant
prospect held out to them, the Ceylon planters
managed to bring their total exports for 1885 to
the enormous total of 12 million lb.; and the
news of these shipments, which, it was feared,
would swamp the market, had by the end of
December driven the " unit " down to kl. Mr.
Moens thought when he wrote that this last eli'ort,
must have exhausted supplies. "I am of opinion"
he says, and am confirmed in it by statements of
very reliable authorities in Ceylon, that the ex-
ports from Colombo will not in 188(5 attain the
high figure of the preceding year, but will gra-
dually fall off." He has probably changed his
mind by this time for, notwithstanding the falling
market, over 10 million lb. have by last accounts
been already sent from Colombo this year, as
against 6 millions for the corresponding period in

1885. A great deal of this is rubbish that will
probably be sold in London for a farthing a
pound, and will hardly pay for carriage to the
coast, much less for freight and charges, but the
uncomfortable fact remains that the total con-
sumption of good and bad bark last year was
about 20 million lb., and that if Ceylon goes
on at this rate for the remaining six months of

1886, it will supply the whole quantity required
itself.

But this after all, is very improbable. In the
first place the months of March and April in
Ceylon are considered the best to coppice in, and
a great proportion of the bark nmst be from trees
which have been thus cut down. In the second
place, the south-west monsoon, which is now on,
will for some time render any further harvesting
almost impossible. Nor need the fact of this large
export necessarily be discouraging to Indian planters.
As far as can be learned, little or no cinchona has
been planted in Ceylon during the last two or
three years, since the planters there became con-
vinced of the success of the tea enterprise, and to
a considerable extent the above large output is got
by working trees at an absurdly early age. It may
become an unpleasant necessity to shave mcciriibrax
3 feet high, but it can hardly be expected to con-
duce to the lougevity of a plantation. It would

saem almost certain then tliat future years will
show very considerably smaller bark exports from
Colombo. This is admitted by every one in the
island who is acquainted with the planting districts,
and, indeed, the continued large yield seems to
have surprised the planters themselves. But while
we anticipate a large decrease we are not amongst
those who imagine that the fall will be to zero. A
large acreage of cinchona is still carefully cultivated
in Ceylon, and even should tea continue to be
a success there, it is unlikely that for as many
years as we need calculate about, it will entirely
supersede the earlier enterprise. Those who speak
of the probable rapid extinction of the Colombo
bark export perhaps hardly realise what such an
event would mean. Of the total of the 20 million
lb. used in manufacture last year, Asia contributed
the following proportions :— Ceylon 12,000,000 lb.,
Java 1,300,000 lb. and India 600,000 lb. of which
last no less than 100,000 lb. was from Government
plantations. It is in fact hardly recognised that,
largely as it is extending cinchona cultivation in
India is very much a thing of the future as far
as making its influence felt in the European
markets is concerned. The large export from Java,
was, as we pointed out some time ago, the result
of the extensive coppicing and uprooting which
took place last year, on its being determined to
replace the inferrior varieties with ledger ; this is
an encouraging fact for Indian planters, for it
will check production for some time to come. Nor
can too great stress be laid on the huge increase
in consumption of quinine which has followed its
drop in price. Mr. Moens states, for instance, that
the total imports of bark in the five years 1865-69
were a million lb. or less than Ceylon alone sent
to Europe in 1885 ; yet at the end of last
year stocks were 19,000 packages less than in
the year before, and, moreover, a great deal of
what did remain unsold consisted of the compar-
atively worthless ciipvea bark, which is always
avoided as long as possible by buyers, thus show-
ing that manufacturers were able to absorb nearly
all that came into the market. Tlie value of the
cinchona alkaloids is becoming more generally
known all over the world, and in India especially,
where the lower grades: are largely sold in the
bazaars ; the opening out of Africa is also causing
a constantly increasing demand ; as is the em-
ployment of the bark in manufacturers not con-
nected with medicine, especially in brewing.

To summarise the prospects of Indian growers,
we think that an improvement in jjrice may be
expected at the end of the year, or early in 1887,
when most of them will be offering their bark in
London. For the next few months a rise cannot
be expected, for even should the Ceylon export
fall off, buyers will not be inclined to ^lay highly
for a product that they cannot be sure the market
will not be glutted with at the first return of
prosperity. As for those whose plantations are
not coming into yield for a year or two, the out-
look is very hoi)eful, for there is very little plant-
ing going on except in India and in Java, and
should Ceylon send away even a quarter less than
she does at present — and this is a smaller decrease
than most people acquainted with the subject
anticipate — a glance at the figures given above will
show what room would be left for Indian bark.
The only competition planters in this country
would have to fear for the present would then be
South America, and as the bark from that country
cannot be made to pay at present prices, a large
rise in value must take place. Mr. Moens alludes,
in passing, to the competition of the Madras and
Bengal Governments with private enterprise. As
a former head of a cultivating department in

AvQ, ^, iSS6,]

iJHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

lit

Netherlands India, he cannot be expected to be
violently opposed to the system, but he condemns
the practice of local sales, and the wasteful manu-
facture of the Government febrifuge, "by which
40 per cent of the alkaloid is destroyed." He does
not notice the liquid febrifuge with which experi-
ments are still, we believe, being carried on. The
question is one which must, sooner or later, be
decided by the Government handing over their
plantations to be worked as commercial undertakings
by private owners ; and the subject has been taken
up with this view by at least two Associations in
this Presidency. — Madras Mail.

CEYLON AT "THE COLINDIES."

The following is taken from the " Exhibition
Supplement to the Colonies and India ": —

The effect of the Ceylon Court as we look on the
arches of the roof coloured in yellow, the sacred
colour of the Buddhists, and red, and the many pict-
ures—Sinhalese paintings ruiming all roimd the Court
in a frieze, telling the Birth Stories of Buddah —
with the porch at the entrance from the Private Ex-
hibition Gallery, resembling a giant "lych gate,"
is exceedingly quaint, bright, and pretty. The first
impression is favourable, and this is more than con-
firmed on closer acquaintance. The gateway through
which we enter has a solid, rich, massy air, constructed
a8 it is of ebony, with tamarind pillars, the beautiful
longitudinal grain of the coconut palm, and the high
relief of the frieze and panels carved in Calamander
wood. This gateway is a fac-smile of one carved
in stone at the ancient Royal City of Yapahu. _ Above
in very high relief, seemingly of stone, is the figure of
Gautama Buddha, wrapped in contemplation, some
ten feet high. Flanking on either side of the figures
are two elephants carved in ebony, with ivory tusks.;
Starting with Buddha Gautama, Prince Siddartha,
son of Suddhudana, King of Kapilavastu, on the borders
of Nepal, born 600 years b. c, we shall not lose sight
of the Great Teacher who early taught "what light
shines beyond our broken lamps," or of the elephants
until wc quit the Court of Ceylon.

Ou each side of the entrance arch two tall palmyra
palms — one polished, one an natnrel — stand as sentries ,
there are high dadoes of the many-grained, beauti-
ful woods, and in each corner is raised a pyramid of
woods, the effort being very happy. In the smaller
trophies some 250 kinds are shown, and in the larger
planks are Calamander (or Coromandel), flowered
satinwood, ebony, tamarind, coconut and other ex-
quisite specimens, the strange names of which
would express no meaning to the casual visitor.
Here it may be as well to call atention to the
decorations on the walls — large palm flappers, arms,
spears, shields and implements, both of the aborigi-
nal inhabitants, the Veddas, and of the Sinhalese ;
painted masks used by the Devil Dancers and in
Sinhalese comedy ; skins of leopard, sambur, axis
(or spotted deer), buffalo, wild boar, bear, and tiger ;
peacocks' tails ; antlers, tusks, and tushes, and repre-
sentations of mythological animals taken from sculp-
tures on ruined monuments in Ceylon — the goose,
horse, bull, lion, and, naturally, the elephant.

Facing us are cases of a series of " C's " — cinchona
cinammon, cloves, coconut, cacao, cardamoms, and
coffee, all well worthy of examination. The cinna-
mon in large bales — two and a half millions of pounds'
weight are exported annually ; the cinchona in an
artistic trophy and in cases— Jesuits' bark in c.ccchis.
and yet our troops in the Soudan were without
quinine ; the coconut in all its products — coir and
copra, oil and fibre, ropes and nets, walking sticks
and artistically-carved nuts, and arrack made from
the sap, in samples of fifty-year-old spirit — a fine
liqueur — and some distilled but the other day — not
only " a torchlight procession going down one's throat,"
but an entire display of fireworks, including Catherine
wheels and fiery serpents. A model of a still is shown
and also of a " pot " still, to avoid what they term in
Ireland and Scotland " the pauger." Mr. David
Smith, M'F. iox Briglit(>u,froiu his estates at Kadirauc,

Negombo, Dimbula, and Badulla — winner of many
medals, from our 1862, to Paris, 1878— and Messrs.
Leechman, of Colombo, contribute two exhaustive
collections. In cases here are spices and flavourings,
nutmegs, both unpeeled and peeled, and mace, vanilla,
and pepper. On the right hand side, against the
wall, all the varieties of rice are shown, including
the grain unhusked, or paddy, and the rice of com-
merce, as we know it. Tea, shown on the left of
the Court, in singularly handsome cases, is an assort-
ment from twenty-one districts, varying in elevation
from the sea level to an altitude of 6, .500 feet.
In photographs, the entire story of tea-growing is given.
Planting a new clearing, pruning, plucking, and
weighing, withering on trays, rolling, fermenting, firing,
sorting, packing, and shipping, together with views
of tea fields and stores. Sugar, arrow-root, and cas-
sava flour, are exhibited ; and tobacco, both in leaf
from Jaffna and Batticuloa, and in the Dumbera
cigars of Mr. J. K. Ingleton. On an exquisite table
of Calamander wood in the centre of the Court, is
a large ivory tusk, carved into the semblance of a
coconut flower resembling a number of ears of
"Champion" wheat. This is a veritable Curio, And in an
interesting display on the left, Messrs. A. M. —
c.M.G. — & J. Ferguson, of the Cei/lon. Obsercet; Co-
lombo, present a series of their publications, and
their well-known " Handbook." Now, in the centre
is a "Hackery" — a light cart, resembling a buggy, for
trotting bulls. This should prove a new sensation for
the Paris Hiopodrome or our William Holland. In
case to left, on the lower shelf, a collection of Ceylon
shells ; above, boxes and book-shelves and other
articles in porcupine-quill work, carved ebony boxes,
plaited boxes from Matara, moonstone jewellery,
musical instruments, coconut-shell carving and a
wonderful gathering of tortoise-shell work, turned to
every purpose, from chairs to cigar-cases, combs to
paper-knives — a pretty show of a characteristic art
of Ceylon. This tortoise work is an important in-
dustry on the southern coast at Point de Galle and
Colombo. On the right, Mr. C. W. Kosset, in two
cases, presents his ethnological collection fromMaldivo
Islands, an exhaustive gathering needing a catalogue
to itself. Photographs of the natives of the Maldives
the Vedda Country, the ruins of Anuradhapura and
Ceylon scenery, are to be seen on adjacent screens.
In the centre, a finely-inlaid table of various woods
in curves, on which lies a large block of water sap-
phire. Now, on the left, wc can pass under a giant
samboo arch to h Ceylon Tea House, the four
Ceylon carriages built in Colombo, and Old London,
and] on the right to to the Imperial Gallery. Now
a case of ivories, large tusks, tushes and teeth, with
carvings, pnlni trees, a coconut flower, elephants, the
stands of cut teeth, teeth cut into boxes, showing a
charming wavy grain, lacquer and painted ware in
boxes large aud small, betel boxes, vases, cups, and
" ringer " jugf. And in the corner the curious pain-
ted wood furniture, the decoration in rings of di-
verse colours, from Tanga,lle. Ou the left, Kandyan
silver work from Ratnapura, Kegalle, and the Kandy
Art Association ; and in loan exhibits. Low Country
silver work, brass work from Colombo, Jaffna, Ne-
gombo, and Batticaloa, and some charming speci-
mens of bowls of copper, brass and silver — the effect
of the raised decoration being delicious. Sacred
books of Buddha written in Pali characters on palm
leaves, robes of Buddhist priests, fans, and alma
bowls — these mostly lent by the High Priest of
Adam's Peak, to which the " grand old gardener "
is supposed to have climbed, leaving Mrs. Eve-Adam
to await his return — are here. These books lie flat
and have a cover top and bottom, on the latter being
two pegs, on which through holes the leaves pass.
These, with arms, figures of Buddha sleeping will
repay patient inspection. Behind, a series of water-
colour views of the beautiful scenery, by Miss Gordon
Cumming ; of the island is a marvellous map by D. C.
Gabriel Perera, S. Benedict's Institute, Colombo.
The Benedictines of old had their Scriptonun, in
which they produced the illuminated MSS. and
" Books of Hours " so highly prized, and this would
not be considered unworthy of the old skill. With
a peu Mc. Vcx^xB, uot ouly givey a map of Ceylon,

ill

THE TROPICAL AGRICOLTORIST;.

[Aug; 2, M64

.BK£»

fine as if engraved, showing the j)rovinces, towns,
roads, railways, heights of mountains, mean temper-
ature, area, population, average rahifall per annum,
but also, in a border most artistically designed and
drawn, has placed sixty medallions of the animals
and birds of Ceylon. The best of our Sixth Stand-
ard Board Schoolers, after this, may take the
rearmost of back seats. In centre, model of Double
Canoe, with palm-lea icovered deck house. Other
models shown on ca,ses and elsewhere are the canoes
with outriggers, safe and swift, carts, bullock carts,
a padda boat for cargo, and a pearl-fishing ballam
(or yawl), with crews, divers, and all equipments.
The two principal exhibits come next. On the one
side, ebony furniture— admirably carved sofas, chairs,
cabinets, and tables, with large tusks mounted on
stands as sentinels, and a screen of ebony wood with
exquisite embroideries of flowers on black cloth.
On the other to the left, about the prettiest and
most effective furniture in the Colinderies — a book
case, five cabinets — three large and two small — chairs
in Calamander-wood, the grain a picture in itself.
These flanked by sentinel tusks. These have been
lent by Mr. C. H. dc Soysa. J. P., to whom the
Court IS much indebted for contributions, from ar-
rack to gems, and hunting trophies to jewellery.
Indeed, tusks are in evidence on every side. The
method of capturing; wild elephants is shown in two
models of kraals, with the hunters, the tame or decoy
elephants, the wild ones, the palm trees, all carved
in ebony. In one is also given a Kandyan chief
entertainng a party; whilst a Sinhalese Strauss and
his band, discourse music, mostly on tom-toms.

An extensive display of lace from Galle, riotta,
and Negombo, including the loan collection of Miss
A. E. Ferguson, is set in large cases on each side
of the Court. There are cases of arms— jewelled,
gold, silver, and bronze— Sinhalese swords and dag-
gers, daggers mounted in silver and gold, with uncut
rubies and other precious stones, gold filagree work
from Jaffna, gold plate set lent by Mr. C. H. de
Soysa, elephant-teetn boxes set in gold, and in ebony
coconut writing desk with a tree in silver, and
other nnmeroMS ohiects oibrick-a-biac( lie. Then four
Dagobas, two silver, one gilt, and a large one of
brass, models of those standing, aad now the only
remains, save the ruins, of a Buddhist Temple (where
was the collar bone of Buddha in a dish), and the
Sacred Bu tree of the chosen capital of King Panduk-
abhaya, the capital for twelve centuries, Anuradha-
pura, founded 437 b.c, and said to have been 2r30
square miles within the walls. The group of two
leopards, representing the death of Kanger, a hound
—the assassin having been killed by mere pluck,
with a knife, by Mr. Beauchamp Downall— sur-
rounded and set out by Elephant Trophies, big
bones, skulls, tusks, tushes, pads, tails and saw-fish
swords, lent by many, including Mr. A. N. Birch,
C.SI.C+., Messrs. C. H. de Soysa, Fanshawe and
Swyney, will attract attention, artistically grouped
by Mr. Rowland Ward. The case of shells of the
Tamblegam Lake oyster Placuna Placenta, from
Trincomalee, showing the almost transparent semi-
lucid shell with prismatic colours like a bubble,
and the pearl oyster in its various stages, from the
baby of three, six, and nine months of age to the
adult of five and a half years, and the chank shells,
not unlike our whelks, used for cutting into rings,
with the fine gauges for size, are both interesting.
The fishing canoe has a quaint stone anchor vvith
hole bored through it, shaped like an old-fashioned
weight used by divers to lower themselves quickly.
Facing this is a case of jewellery, which should
prove, and is, one of the magnets of the show.
Here is a moonstone belt, a girdle of light, the ./Wo-
eimi'le of the silver casket which holds the sacred
tooth of Buddha at Kandy. The view of the Temple
is on the walls of the Entrance Hall, and the
porch of teak, with its carved pillars and plafond
in nine panels, the stone balustrade or low wall,
both within and by the Ceylon Tea House, are all
faithful representations of divers portions of the
Dalada Maligawa, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth.
lu this case, beside tL<^ mooustouc belt arc the

gold collar, with its lion (not elephant) emblems,
and gold belt with jewelled medal of office of Diwa
Nilame, who may be seen outside the Court in
the warriest of war paint and the most gorgeous
of hats, in company with a gentleman that looks,
with his blue gold-laced tunic and gold shoulder-
belt and rather incongruous silk Juron, like an ad-
miral in petticoats. An " ola " box of carced silver
for the sacred writings in "Pali" on palm leaves
a silver box to hold a book, rude coral necklaces
with gold beads, contrasting strangely with necklaces
of pearls, fitted for an Empress, a Tsarina, or our
loved Princess, the Hose of Denmark. The three
cases of gold and silver ware and jewellery will
well repay an hour's detail. The elephant's foot
pads, used as flower vases, with Latania Borbonicas,
look well : but the cases of precious stones, though
they will welcome the coming, will not speed the
parting guest. Here will be found the marriage
stone — ruby and sapphire, blue and yellow sapphire,
combined in one stone ; white sapphires, tourmalines,
chrysoberyl, chalcedony, jargoons, spinels (these latter
very effective and cheap), amethysts, cat's eyes,
moonstones, star stones, topaz, hyacynths, aqua-
marines, rubies, zircons, dalam, a sand blended of
chrysoberyls, sapphires, and rubies, alexandrite (green
by day and red by night), ruby crystals and sapphire
matrixes, and crystals of corundum or sapphire, are
an Aladdin's Cave of jewels. But with a glance at
Miss North's paintings, the model of the Break-
water at Colombo, the plumbago carvings and the
use made of plumbago by Morgan Brothers in their
famous crucibles, the skin of the scaly anteater, we
leave, and so, as Buddha himself greeted us at the
entrance, a yellow-garbed Buddhist priest bows us
out of the Ceylon Court — by the Sal tree beneath
which Buddha, prince, priest, and prophet, breathed
his last — which owes so much to the taste and liber-
ality of its Commissioner, Mr. A. N. Birch, c.Ji.o.

Te.a. at 4|d per lb. — What wiseacre was that who
spoke of throwing away tea which sold at this
rate in public sale? Why throw away "4Jd"
or bury it in the earth? Times are too hard for
that ; as the tea had to be made, the 4^d per lb.
is so much to the good. Fine plucking— in some
places very fine — and sifting, can give us
Is 3d, Is 6d, Is 9d and even 2s for select parcels ;
but it is quite possible that the estate getting
4^d for its worst may pay its proprietor better
taking quantity and prices all round. — Com. ■

Tea Cultuee in Ceylon.— The London Fidd of June
5th has the following notice of Mr. Hamilton's pam-
phlet— ainotice which cannot fail to do good by attrach-
ing increased attention to our new and great industry: —
" The Ceylon Tea Industry, an Opening for Men of
Moderate Capital, by John Hamilton (late of Cey-
lon), London, Skipper and East. This little pam-
phlet, contains in a condensed form, a great deal
of useful information with respect to an industry
that is at the present time being successfully car-
ried on in Ceylon, and which bids fair to restore
the island to the prosperity that existed previous to
the failure of coflee through disease, and the con-
sequent depression, which culminated in the crash
of the Oriental Bank. The author, in turn, deals
with the most material facts connected with tea
cultivation in Ceylon— such as the tenure of pro-
perty, means of communication, labour supply and
the suitability of the soil. He argues that the dis-
ease which has proved so destructive to the colfee-
plant is never likely to injure the tea leaf, which,
from the difference in its structure would be able
to resist its attacks. After giving the prices per
acre at which lands can be purchased at the present
time, he recommends Ceylon as affording a good
opening for younger sons possessed with a small
capital, and concludes with some very sensible
remarks on tbc future market for Ceylon tea."

iiw«

•;

i656.j

THE TROPICAL AGElCUttORIST.

sil

beitish-CtEown teas.

We lake the following account of the meetmg
^'here Mr. J. L. Sliand read his paper, from tlie
Home and Colonial Mail : —

In the Oonfereuce Room of the Oolonial and Indian
Exhibition, Mr, .J. L. Shand, of the Ceylon Court, on
Wednesday, June 9th, read a paper upon " British-
grown Teas," The meeting was presided over by
Mr. A N. Birch, c.M.G., Executive Commissioner for
Ceylon.

The Chairman, in a brief speech, introduced Mr.
Shand, whom he said would give thoroughly good and
reliable information.

Mr. .Shand opened his paper with a reference to the
(piestion whether the tea-plant was indigenous in
China or was introduced from India, and said it had
fiLaily been decided that it was introduced at a very
remote period from India. It was not known when
tea first became iin article of diet, but its properties
quickly received recognition in China, and a thousand
j'ears ago it had become the national beverage tliere.
Early in the seventeenth century, tea was introduced
into Europe by a Dutch company. It gradually gained
ground, and in the domestic history of England there
was nothing more remarkable than the hold which tea
had taken of the people. A hundred years ago
18,000,000 lbs. of tea came to Europe, of which two-
thirds was taken by Great Britain. Every reduction
of duty in this country was accompanied by a propor-
tionate increase in the consumption, so that in 184,"),
when a further reduction of duty was contemplated.
Parliament was informed on high official authority
that, the imports of tea liaving reached 40,000,000
lb., it was probable that the limit of consumption
had been touched, and that a fresh reduction could
only be followed by a loss of revenue. That was
in 1845, and, though there was now a tax of (Jd per
lb. on tea, equal to an ad r.alorciii, duty of more
than 50 per cent., the consumption in 1885 was
180,000,000 lb., or within a jfraction of 5 lb. per
head of population. What but a few years ago was
used as a luxury by a few, had become an article of
daily consump'ion in almost every household ia the
kingdom. (Hear hear.) To show the importance
of the suljject, he might mention that the tea duty
last year brought into the Exchequer ,-64,79.5,000 —
nearly four times as large a sum as the duty on wine
produced — and that the tea industry was the agencj'
by which countless thousands in the IMother Country
and in the Colonies earned their livelihood. Enterjwise
had developc il in India and elsewhere, food supplies
hitherto undreamt of, and, as visitors to the Jjlxhibi-
tiou had an opportunity of learning, England had at-
tained a position never touched by any nation before,
for in her dominions she had the power to produce
every requirement and every lusui-y of life, and, if it
were necessary, could be independent of the markets
of the world. (Applause.) The discovery that the tea
plant was indigenous in the Indian forests was made
sixty-five years back, and a committee was soon aftcr-
■ wards appointed to consider the best methods of cnl-
t'vating the plant in India. Great difficulties v/ere
encountered, many of them being placed in the way
by the Chinese; hut gardens were formed, the en-
terprise grew, and British-grown teas, which in 18(35
formed but 3 por cent, of the total quantity consumed
in the United Kingdom, amounted to 16. per cent.
in 1875, and to 33 per cent, in 1885. India had
250,000 acres under tea cultivation, and produced
70,000,000 lb. of tea; the capital invested in the
industry was £16,000,000 ; and a quarter of a million
of her Majesty's subjects who iudu-ectly contributed
to the income-tax of Great Britain, were engaged in
it. (Hear, hear.) The tea plant was introduced to
Ceylon from China about the year 1842, but it was
not till coffee was stricken by disease that attention
was generally directed to the cultivation of tea in
Ceylon. In 1873 a small parcel of •231b. of tea
was exported from ^Ceylon. This year O^0i)O,(W) lb.
would ne exported, and, estimating from tlie acre-
age now planted with tea, the export iu ISDO would
1(5

he 40,000,000 lb. There were 120,000 acres planted
with tea, which gave employment to a considerable
number of Britons and 150,000 Briti.sh .subjects, and
the area was being rapidly increased, In the Exhib'
ition there was also tea from the Fiji Islands, Natal,
and the Straits SottleSients, The cultivation of tea
had been successful in Natal, and a large quantity of
land was being taken up for that purpose. The teas
of Natal, as well as those of Fiji, would eventually
find a market in Australia, but it was to India and
Ceylon that the people of England must look for a
pure tea produced by their own fellow-subjects.
Mr. Shand then gave some particulars about tlie
growth and preparation of tea in India and Ceylon,
and went on to say that the people of Australian
colonies were the greatest consumers of tea in pro-
portion to the population. The consumption per
head of the population was as under : — Australian
colonies, 706 lb.; New Zealand, 7'23 lb.; (iireat Britain,
4-90 lb.; Newfoundland, Canada, and Tasmania, fol-
lowed closely ; various British possessions, 1-66 lb. ; the
United States, 130 ib.; Holland, the largest European
consumer next to Great Britain. 1'05 lb. In Spain
which was the lowest on the list, the consumption
was only '01 lb,; in other words, the Englishman
drank 490 cups of tea for every cup taken by the
Spaniard. Tea was said to be a source of nervous dis-
ease aiul no doubt it contained properties which, if
misused, might become injurious ; but the table he
had quoted from showed that the English people at
home and abroad were by far the largest consumers
of tea in the world, and probably they were the least
nervous race : It was unfair that there s hould bo
such a high duty on tea. The duty on sugar had
been removed, but that on tea remained, because the
tea interest had not such a preponderating Parlia-
mentary influence as the sugar interest. Tea and sugar
might be said to be equally necessaries of life and
yet, while the former yielded '2s Gd per head of the
population, the latter was vmtaxed. Tea was year ily
year being more largely produced by our.selves, wlibc
sugar was being more and more poured into our
markets from other countries. In such light
esteem was sugar held by the trade, that frequently
the purchaser of a pound of tea was presented with
a pound of sugar. Suppose the duty on tea wcro
reduced to 3d per lb., and a duty of :i^d per lb. were
IDlaced on sugar, there would be a considerable margin
left in favour of tlie Exchequer. The British sugar-
grower and reiiuer would benefit, because the
cheap Continental sugars would feel the tax most ;
the average consumer would suffer only in au im-
perceptible degree, and a groat stimulus would be
given to the consumption of tea. Proceeding to con-
sider why British people should drink British-grown
teas, Mr. Shand said that those teas came into the
London market pure. There was no recorded evid-
ence of adulteration having ever been discovered.
The adulteration of China tea, on the other hand,
had been the subject of several volumes, and of
special legislation. Tlie purity of Indian and Ceylon
teas made them more sensitive than the ordinary
China mixtures. It was not necessary to put such
large quantities into the teapot, but it was all the-
uiorc necessary that the water should be boiling,
and that the tea should not be allowed to stand
too long. Disappointment should not be felt be.
cause the liquor was not black; that was in conse
quence of the tea being quite pure and unmixed
with black-lead or indigo. If Indian and Ceylon tea
were fairly tried and carefully treated, they would
be found more economical than China teas; they
placed withiu the reach of all a beverage economical-
pleasing, aud nourishing. Though the grower sent his
teas to Loudon pure, they generally had to pass through
the hands of the retail dealer before they reached the
public, and the temptation to use up cheap China teas
by mixing them with the pure Indian and Ceylon pro-
ducts was so great that it had become the custom of
the trade to make the mixture, and much tea was be-
ing .sold labelled Induin and Ceylon which contained
but a very small proportion of those teas. Another
reason why British-grown teas should be consumed by

i i-4

TUB TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aue. s, i88e.

British peop'e was that they were produced by our
fellow-suhjects, and that the industry furnished an out-
let for the congested population of these isands. lu
conclus'oii, Rlr. Shand expressed his readiuss to give
further information about Ceylon tea to anybody who
might ask for it, (Applause.)

Dr. Watt, in charge of the Indian exhibits, said it
was not generally known that tea was really a
forest tree, and not a bush. In their natural state
in the Indian forests, some of the tea trees were
fity feet high. He had been unable to find in the
fild plant nny trace of the disease from which the
wultivated plant suffered. With regard to the con-
croversy as to whether tea was damaged by tbe lead
fn the boxes, his own opinion was that the fault was
ito be found in an imperfect knowledge of the fer-
mentation of tea befor packing. He had seen tea
which was tainted though the lead was not perfor-
ated ; and he had analysed tea in one instance in
which the lead was perforated, and had not found
any trace of leail iu the tea. He was not aware of
any chemist having discovered tea actually poisoned by
lead, and he thought that the tea-planting industry
ought to bring science to its aid in the matter of
fermentation. He thought, too, that the tea industry
suffered from too much selection, and he could not
see why the planters should not mix their own teas,
instead of leaving the retailers to doit, and get brands
which should be kuown as theirs. If a garden sent
one quality of tea, and one only, he was sure the
Industry would benefit. (Hear, hear.)

Dr. Kobert Pringle, of H. M. Bengal Army, said
he looked upon the tea trade ot India as one of the
greatest undeveloped industries that that country
possessed. Tea was a very good saddle-horse to
put indigestion on, when one liked to shift the
ft;si)onsibility from irregularities in diet; but he would
like to treat those people who talked about tea being
indigestible, not with his medicine chest, but with a
muzzle. (Laughter.) After speaking of the import-
ance of doing all we could for the natives of India,
Dr. Pringle condemned the tax of Gd. per lb. re-
maining on tea, and with regard to fermentation, said
that the Government ought to consider it their
duty to settle that point. It was far more import-
ant morally to do that than it was to have a first-
class analyst to see that the opium went out in
good condition. (Hear, hear.) In reference to the
disease, it was his opinion that it was brought
about by over-cultivation, just as the disease of
coffee was. Where there was not over-cultivation
there was no disease.

Mr. T. J. White, who lived for many years in Cey-
lon, confirmed Mr. Shaud's figures relating to that
colony, and said he knew of no part of the world
in which the climate was more healthy or more
favourable to long life than the hilly country there.
Some years ago a police magistrate in Calcutta told
hnn that tea from the North-Western Provinces
of India injured his nervous system and that he
had since druuk Assam tea without feeling any ill
effects.

Mr. F. R. Saunder.s, wlio had long- beeu a resideni
\>A Ceylon, said the cousuraption of B.iti.'^h-growu tea>
ougiit to be encouraged becsuae tlic industry provided
employment for people of those countrie.s of which w«
had taken possession, and of whose intere.-its, therefore
tie ought to take peculiar care.

Mr. Moreton Ureen spoke of the growth of tea in
^[atal, and said there was in the Exhibition more than
a ton of Natal tea, which v>'ould be on sale in the
course of a week.

Mr. Capper remarked that British tea-growing pro-
mised to be very useful to our home industries, for
every tea estate in Ceylon was being provided with
British-made machinery, and he had no doubt it was
the same in India. Not less than half-a-million of
money would lie spent by Ceylon in the next few
years on machinery.

Mr. I5arber, as a tea planter of Oeyion, denied
th.-it tea-drying was a process whicli was hurried ovc
(Hear, heart— since the tea was kept for a month
p/navi tb« i)iv€t6(»e0 of drj'iug and psokiug, (H

liear.) Tea manufacture had been rai.sed to the dig-
nity of a fine art, and he did not believe it could be
helped by chemistry. Any deterioration in the tea was
due not to bad fermentation, but to bad wood or bad
packing.

A gentleman in the room mentioned that several
Indian planters had told him that they hoped for as-
sistance from chemistry. (Hear, hear.)

Dr. Pringle, replying to a statement made by Mr.
White, said that our soldiers in the Afghan war used
tea from the North- West Provinces, and he believed
they did not prove themselves to be particularly nerv-
ous. (Applause and laughter.)

The proceedings closed with votes of thanks to the
Chairman and Mr. Shand

THE OUTLOOK FOR TEA.

Apart from the consensus of opinion in Mincing
Lane, that, from circumstances of weather, pruning
and plucking, and also perhaps, as is charged,
some want of care in preparation, the Ceylon teas
recently sent to market have not been up to the
previously high standard of quality, there can be
little doubt that the low prices and semi-panic in
the London market which reacted so adversely on
local sales and planters' interests, were due mainly to
the overloading of the market not only with good tea
but with absolute rubbish from China. In the in-
teresting report by Mr. Consul Sinclair of Foochow,
which we tliis day quote in our planting columns,
it will be seen that he actually mentions tea being
made of leaves which had been five years on the
trees! It seems doubtful if leaves can cling to
even an ever-green shrub (we mean, of course,
the same leaves) for five years, and perhaps what
is meant is that old and neglected and inferior
buslics, which had not been touched for five years,
had latterly been plucked for tea-making purposes,
under the influence of speculative demand, follow-
ing the cessation of war and the opening of
markets wholly or partially closed during the war.
The remedy suggested by the worthy Consul of
uprooting the old trees and planting afresh is
certainly heroic, but it is questionable if he real-
ized what the costliness of such a process would
be, even where labour is so exceptionally cheap as
it is in the tea districts of China. Besides which
there would be an interval of non-productive
ness in the comparatively cold climate of
the tea regions of China, of from four to Ave
years. We suj^pose those familiar with tea
culture would rather advise that the old bushes
should be so pruned as to compel them to yield
good flushes, while young plants to replace those
of them which showed signs of decay were grow-
ing. What seems evident is that China, if money
is offered, can produce large quantities of tea, the
bulk of it inferio!. -\lr. Giles is very sanguine
about Formosa as a producer of fine ((uality teas,
but, until " the savages" are .exterminated or
civilized and that beautiful island is fully peopled
with Chinese, it is not likely to prove a very
formidable factor in the question of tea pro-
duction. We are taken by surprise by M'liat is
said about brick-tea made from good tea-dust for
the llussian market, because all iJrevious accounts
led to the impression that brick-tea was composed
of old, coarse leaf and stems. If a good market
offered for bricks made of tea-dust, we see no
reason why India and Ceylon should not successfully
compete with China in that direction. But we
suspect the Indian and Ceylon dust and broken
teas arc superior to the China brick-tea, notwith-
standing the Consular opinion as to supplying the
army. It is quite evident that a crisis produced
not only by over-supplies from China, but, as Mr.
J. h, isiidud pointo out, from dibtuibauctJU ^iu the

AVG. 2, 1886,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST*

ITi'

home political world, will pass away and better
prices return. What Ceylon planters have to con-
tinue to do is to produce as cheaply as they can,
but always to keep in view quality which will
enable them to hold their own in competition
with teas which are now being grown " from China
to Peru."

In this connection it is interesting to learn that
Mr. Gow has consented to read a paper before the
Dimbula Planters' Association for the benefit of
Ceylon tea planters. Added to his prolonged ex-
perience as a planter in Assam, and his acquaint-
ance with the London tea market as the head of
a well-known broking firm, Mr. Gow has now
acquired a very fair idea of the Ceylon planting
districts ; their capabilities and advantages as well
as drawbacks. We are glad to learn from Mr. Gow
that on the whole he is well satisfied with Ceylon.
He has had occasion already to report favourably
on the prospects of tea here from a business
point of view to London firms, and Mr. Gow's
report on the Degalessa lands for the Kelani Tea
Company, shows that he thinks highly of Ceylon
as a tea-growing country. Lut, as might be ex-
pected from an old Indian planter, tea-maker and
tea-seller, Mr. Gow sees many things capable of
improvement as he goes about the districts, more
particularly in connection with " plucking " and
manufacture. He has already given evidence of his
ability to improve the local system of tea prepar-
ation by the admission of several planters
who have had the benefit of his advice and
instruction ; and while we can scarcely expect Mr.
Gow before the Dimbula Association to tell us
all he knows about our tea and the proper system
of preparation, still the presentation of his opin-
ions and ideas, even after a general fashion, cannot
fail to be interesting and instructive. Mr. Gow is
particularly strong as to the proper modes of " pluck-
ing," " withering " and " fermentation " of the leaf
so as to do justice to its chemical properties, and
the appearance and trial in Colombo, shortly, of his
own " witherer " (for which at length the local patent
has been granted) will add to the interest felt in what
our correspondent describes as " Mr. Gow's new
system of tea manufacture."

PLANTING NOTES FROM UVA.

KAINFALL AND GOOD CBOPS — COFFEE IN NATIVE GAUDENS
— THE U.ULWAY WANTED— CATTLE MUUEAIN — CHIMES —
PADDY CROPS— BAD ROADS.

Haputale, loth July.

There has been more wind and rain up here during
the last two months than usual at this time of
tlie year. During May and June we had very
strong gusts of wind at times, and the rain was
accompanied by thunder and lightning and hail
stones on one occasion. You will see by the follow-
ing what the rainfall for six months has been on
the Haputale Pass compared with the rainfall for
the same period in 1885 : —

1886. No. 188.5. No.

Rainfall, of days. Ilainfall. of days.

January .. !»-53 21 .. I'll 11

February.. 0-84 (i .. O'T'i 5

March .. 1-29 8 .. 172 10

April .. 11-84 1.5 .. .^-O'.t It;

Mav ,. 9-4.^ 20 .. 12-21 -id

June .. 2-40 JO .. 4-01 17

82

:w-;53 80 2K-79

Nearly 10 inches more rain in almost the same
number of rainy days both years. The month
of July connnenced very wet and monsoonish, and
from 1st to 7th there were six wet days and a
rainfall of 2-,45 inches recorded, and for a time
plaurcis of the higher estates who depend chiefly

on spring crop, an 1 Airguft hhssoms, were ge ting
very anxious abjut the weuther chang-iug to fiLe and
dry, which, I am happy to say, it looks jik; ru ing
the last day or two. Ou all the hither esf.alts, t) er ■ is
abimdauce of wood in fit condition for a gr<ird tilossim
and bumper crops, if the weather will only keep fine
for the next mouth or six weeks. The autumn crop
now ou the trees, especially on some estates below the
Pass, are exceptionally fine, and the Laird of Kelburne
particularly will reach the island in time to see one of
the biggest crops picked not only from Lis own pro-
perty but from many other e.states in Haputale. The
native c/ardcits, also show abundance of crop wherever
the coffee is iu condition and not neglected. All over
Uva leaf-disease is gradually disappearing, and coffee
regaining vigour every month. A year ago I thought,
and many other experienced planters as well, that
many places on the Haputale Pass would never
recover and were doomed to extinction, as far as
coffee was concerned ; but after a visit to
Haldummulla a few weeks ago I was most
agreeably surprised to find the coffee everywhere — on
estates and native gardens alike — lookiug moat luxuri^
ant, very free from leaf-disease and bearing very fine
crops. Now would be the time for any sceptic and
disbeliever in the future of coffee (at least ou this
side of the country) to come and see our estates. For
my part 1 would just as soon plant coffee as tea on
new laud and virgin soil in Uva. If the crop of
1884-8.5 was a short one, that of 1885-86 promises so
far to be one of the largest dispatched from Uva for
many years back.

Cottle Marrain or hoof-and-mouth-disease has beea
prevailing for some weeks past amongst cart bullocks ou
the Eatnapura road and village cattle. Why the Govern^
ment do not adopt or even attempt some remedy to try
and stamp out this dreadful animal epidemic, to is a
mystery, and one which "no fellah can understand."^ Year
after year tens of thousands of cattle of all kins are
carried off or die of this disease, and the wonder id that
any are left in the island of the old stock ofs iudi-
genous cattlfl. Why not legislate on the subject an have
a Mt'dwal (irdinaiice for the villagers and thedr sick
cattle? The Medical School or College in Colombo
annually turns out a number of cheap doctors
to practise oa the public and delight the coffee
planters, and the country is getting overstocked with
them. Out of their superab uulance a few licensed
cattle or bullock doctors might be manufactured to
try their skill on the quadrupeds. Besides sick cattle,
in this sporting age, there are any number of mangy-
hounds iu towns and countrj' that owners would
gladly pay handsomely to see cured. Why not have
a veterinarmn class attached to this so-called college
and make the subject of endemic cattle diseases,
murrain, hoof-and-mouth-disease, a special study. W aa
it not by legislative act and severe penalties attached
that rinderpest, was stamped out in Europe and o tber
countries? A great deal more might be written on this
subject but I am afraid it would be labour in vain. Our
paternal Government might reply it was interfering
with the po .r natives and distressing to impose upon
them the burden of looking after their sick cattle.
It is only the planters who require looking- after, and
Ordinances for Cattle Trespass, Cattle Stealing, Medical
Aid Wants, Cooly Ordinances, Register Keeping, Im-
migration Returns, Birth aud Death Reports &i-. The
poor native must be left to live just as he pleases, rob,
murder, ravish, commit arson, and live at his European
neighbour's expense. .1. A.

GEMMING.

An enterprise (writes a correspondent) in which
the general public seems entirely left out in the
cold is that of gemming. The most casual glance
at the Ceylon Court of the Indian and Colonial
Exhibition cannot fail to strike any one with the
innuense value of stones yet unfound even in this
one productive island. A good deal of business
also is carried on in this court, sapphires aud
rubies being bought and ordered by many ladies

u6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug. 2. 1886*

attracted by lower prices than arc usually asked
by jewellers. Why a company has never been
formed for the purchase and working of gemming
land in Ceylon and India strikes me as strange.
If a few ounces of gold were to be found in any
new region the noise of it would be blown abroad,
and the wildest hopes entertained — especially by
some well-knov>-n company promoters — of fortunes
to be speedily unearthed. And yet the value of
the gems other than diamonds sold yearly in this
country alone must be considerable. From whom
do the jewellers procure these gems ? We presume
they have agents in the different countries who
barter direct with the native dealers, or else are
supplied by " middle-men " in the form of gem
mercliants. The native dealers again — we can
answer for those in Colombo and (ialle — never
own any pit or plot themselves, but again deal through
agents, whose time is sjient purchasing stones from
villagers up in the gem-producing districts. Every
intermediate profit made is immense. In the districts
of Salfragam and Katnai^ura the wretched Sinlia-
lese, who own .small pieces of land beside the
streams, where they work like slaves, often up to
their waists in water, derive but a precarious in-
come from their really valuable labours. The
travelling raoormen who command a little ready
money frequently purchase sapphires, rubies, and
cat's-eyes upon which a profit of a thousand per
cent, is deemed to be erring on the side of mod-
eration. Heady money could purchase tracts of
gemming land in the most favourable localities,
and a systematic plan of jewel-digging be entered
on under European supervision. Many of the best
rubies never reach this country, but are bartered
to native chiefs in a clumsily cut state, often to
be buried, lost, or hoarded away by some dying
miser. Many a fine stone, worth some hundreds
in London as a brilliant, has been cut into thin
plates resembling glass, changing its value to al-
most nil.

No European mineralogist has devoted himself
to finding out from where these stones spring
which are washed down the streams and deposited
in layers of gravol under the river bed. We cannot
help indulging in fascinating dreams of some huge
matrix of jewels liigh up among the mountains whose
splendour one charge of dynamite might expose.
All the gem pits arc in low ground. The gems be-
come more and more triturated during their descent
down stream, until they arc termed " tusi," or
dust. This ruby dust can only be used for cutting
and polishing. The fact that the supply of these
gems is not yearly decreasing points most plainly
to the conclusion that somewhere a matrix exists.
Leaving, however, these Utopian ideas alone, the
ordinary process of gemming in tlie low ground is
one which should commend itself from its prospect
of really handsome prolits. If all these dealers,
agents, and merchants, both native and European,
can manage to make a living from the enterprise
in addition to the heavy prolits made by London
jewellers on coloured stones, then it would seem
rational to suppose that shareholders of a well-
managed company miglit find they had not cm-
barked in an unremunerative venture.

I expect at no distant date to find the chief
gem enterprises worked by English companies in
the East Indies, just as has been effected with the
gold mines, but with perhaps more profitable re-
sults. A geologist who can discover the real
matrix of the ruby and the sapphire will no longer
ncal to write pamphlets or read lectures in order
to gain an income, but will soon be heard of
in linancial circles as the " Jewel King". — Pall
Mall Biuhfpt.

CEYLON TEA AT BOUTH KENSINGTON. ,

To the Kdllor ofjht ''Home and Colonial Mail." '
Sir, — Your contributor " Assam" intends to convey
the impression that Mr. Shand's able paper ou
British grown tea was meant as an advcrtise]nent of
Ceylon teas generally. This is nonsense, if he will
pardon my saymg so. The paper deals exhaust-
ively with tlie subject, and reference was made to
Fiji, the Straits Settlement, Natal and other tea
growing countries. "Assam" seems to forget that
as Mr. Shand pointed out, tea was introduced
into Ceylon from China about 1812. so that "As-
sam's" sneers about tlie speaker's reference to
"that island as it it were the home of the mdustry "
falls rather flat. If Ceylon planters have managed
to advocate their tea successfully at home so much
the better for them. Indian planters have had the
same chance. There need be no jealousy or un-
pleasant rivalry between Ceylon and Indian tea
planters. Let the l)cst and cheapest tea, I mean that
which ifs laid dov\n upon the best terms, command
the best market. There is plenty of room for all of
us. Wo planters have yet nnich'to learn and com-
petition will keep us awake. Our planters are awake
I can assure yon, and the shipments of tea from
Ceylon are merely a titlie of what may be expected
when confidence is quite restored, and capital more
easily obtainable. — Yours, &c.,

A Ceyi.on Planteh.

♦

INDIAN AND CEYLON TEA.

To the Editor of the " Home ami Colonial Mail."
Sin, — Your correspondent 'Assam' touches lightlj'
on a subject which some of us shareholders iu Indian
tea companies would like to see harped upon with a
heavier hand. Since the coffee and cinchona planters
of Ceylon turned their attention to tea tliey liave
had a wonderful run of luck, not only with their
crops and prices, but in the manner in which their
tea has been advertised at home, For many years
China was the only tea producing country recog-
nised by the British matron aud her daughters.
India was only known to her as the land of rupees
and indigo, from whence shrivelled relatives, who
had disappeared as cadets, returned as wealthy but
delicate old men to finish their days at Ohellon-
ham or Bath. The Indian tea industry, which lias
been steadily developing for years was scarcely known
until recently outside the immediate circle of the few
interested in large concerns like the Assam Company.
It is only in recent times that ludii-.u tea has been heard
of by the tea consumer, for until lately it lost its identity
iu a judicious bit nd, aud its value was too important as
the com]ionent part of a mixture to be worth selling
alone. Perliaps those who produced it were too con-
tent with the high ijrices then received to troul:le
themselves about this, and supineness was the result.
Anyhow, tht dealer and grocer ruled the roast and
nothing was said by anyone. With the fall iu prices
came a change, then the planter became anxious
to be brought into closer contact with the con-
sumer. A 'J'ea Districts' Assoc-iatioii was formed
iu London, and there was som'thing like a stir.
But after all it did not amount to much. There w.is
much cry aud little wool. That which the Indian
tea producer has taken j'cars to attempt is ac-
complishod by the Ceylon plintor in a very short
time. Ceylon tea, 1 venture to affirm, is better
known to the public at liome than ludian, nnd this is
mainly because the interests of Ceylon have been
well pushed, no opportunity having, on her behalf,
been neglected, and her represent;! fives and friends
hav(! been far more lively than their neighbours in
Intlia. I'o.'isibly J am utterly wrong hvit I have less
faith in the ultimate success of tea cultivation in (Jcylon
tluiu ni:niy. The estates iu the i-iland are heavily
mortgaged as a rule, the hmd is consequently forct-di,
and crops are gathered to the full extent of the jield.
This will cause a day of reckoning, but apart from the
question of how long it will last, I cannot help ad-
miring the pluck of the planters iu the islam), and I
am positively envious of their good fortune in having
aorae clever heads amongst them who liave pulled the

Aug. 2, i-886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

117

wire to some tune and raised the drooping fortunes
of the planters there. If Oeylou continues increasing
her outturn of tea at tl»e present rate we shall see
ii tremendous gkit in the market before long, and
then let those engaged in the China tea trade look
out. According to ray view China will not he able
to hold her own, and the result will be disaster. If
planters in India and Ceylon can place their teas
in the Loudon market at low prices the game will
be theirs, but it is quite certain some gardens will
go to the bad. I advise all shareholders in tea to
make careful selection before the evil day comes, and
I also urge upon investors in this class of security
to see that the companies they invest in are strong
ill the "Reserve" department, and also take a great
interest in details, even to the nature of the machinery
used. Trusting you and your readers will pardon
this rambling letter from an old man.— Yours, &c.,

An Old Inpian Fogey.

COFFEE, &c., PLANTING IN NETHEELANDS
INDIA.

{Translated for the Siraitfi Times.)

By last advices from Sonrabaya the commercial
outlook was gloomy indeed from the rapidly in-
creasing number of Chinese insolvencies without
any prospect of improvement in the near future.
Some idea of the reach of the evil may be formed
from statistics bearing upon the subject drawn up
by the Agent of the Java Bank there, to show the
extent of the losses suffered by the mercantile com-
nmnity in that quarter from failures and liquid-
ations among Chinese so far as known. Many
other merchants during that period had been
obliged to make arrangements with credit-
ors to which naturally as little publicity
as possible was given. The statistics given,
incomplete as they are, extend from tlie 1st
April, 1885 to the corresponding date this
yeai", and show figures of such significance tliat
one wonders how it is possible, under these
circumstances, for any mercantile firm to have
courage to continue carrying on business there.
The number of oflicially sanctioned bankruptcies
in Java during 188') amounted to Oil, the lion's
share, ;i8, falling to Sourabaya. In the statistics
of the Java Bank, there are enumerated .50 failures
and 2"2 liquidations at that city from April
1885 to April 1886 with liabilities coming to
2,159, 581 guilders and assets estimated at 8:^8,520
guilders. Bad as the present situation of affairs
is, there is every likelihood of its becoming even
worse.

The Java lioth has been informed on re-
liable authority that tea planters in Java
will probably do good business there partly
in consequence of the high prices which
I'juropean dealers now give for that article, from
its having so vastly improved in quality owing to
better preparation for the market than formerly.
Another reason for this anticipation is the greater
yield available which in its turn resulted from the
drought prevalent in 1885 and from the fewness
at that destrnetive insect, the Ih'Inpcltix Aiitonii,
after the rainy season had once fairly set in. This
small winged insect has wrought havoc on the estates
of tea and cinchona planters estimated at thousands
of pounds of crop from its influencing indirectly
the (pmntity of the outturn by destroying tlie
young leaves on plants and trees. \\'ith regard
to tea the evil consequences become imme-
diately manifest but, as to cinchona, tliey
are betolconed by retarded growth and the
consequent slight increase of the bark in-
weight. Hitherto no better means of checking
this pest has been known than that of setting
women and children early in the morning and at

nightfall to catch them, owing to these insects not
flying out in the day time. On cinchona estates
the leaves attacked by these insects and in whicli
they have laid their eggs are gathered together and
burned.

TEA IN INDIA:— THE OPENING SEASON.

Owing to the late opening of the rains in many of
the principal districts in Assam, the season will not
be an early one, and, perhaps, consiileriug that stocks
are so high, it is well that it should be so. Al
round the question is being asked, what sort of prices
are to rule this season ? When such good judges as
some of our best brokers were so much out last
year in their forecast, it is problematical to say how
prices will go. Another question which is agitating
the minds of planters just now is, what class of tea
to make ? It makes little difference into how many
classes a tea is divided, provided the manufacture has
been sound from the beginning and a sufhciently large
number of chests put into each break. Abuot 14 or
15 years ago in Calcutta, a poojaJi sale of 3,000 to
4,000 chests was looked upou as huge, and now-a-days,
several brokers sell more weekly, so that some idea
may be formed of the work they have to get through,
to meet the requirements of the trade. Besides a
very large quantity of the tea so dealt with is not
bulked, and so the labour is more than doubled.

It is a difficult matter to keep even the best tea-
house entirely free from damp ; but a small tea hulk-
ing-house could be made not only impervious to damp,
but almost air-tight. As soou as the tea was made
without any assortment whatever, it might be passed
into this house, and there assorted into kinds and
packed into boxes. The temperature of the bulkiug-
house could easily be regulated by pouring the heated
air from the sirocco, or other dryer used, into the
house, if need should arise, or else conducting it
outside the building 111 a tube made with a closing
valve. In the case of using the sirocco, we mean the
new T sliape, the top trays would require to be
enclosed, this it seems to us, should prove no detri-
ment. In the first instance, when assorting the teas
into classes, there is no necessity to keep them long
exjjosed and lose aroma, lor they can easily be put
back into original boxes leaded and merely tacked
down here and there with a little solder. As soon
as sufficient is a.ssorted for an invoice, these solder
tips may bt; opened, and tlui whole tea thoroughly
mixed, finally fired, and packed ready for shipment.
It may bo objected that there is a great waste of
• te-i lead, and also that large bins capable of con-
taining 15 to 2U ehests art^ far more economical, but
it is contended, that they do not give the same re-
sults in retention of llavoiu- and now every day this is
becoming more essential, as tasting can scarcidy keep
pace with the reciuirementa of the trade. We have
it on fairly good authority, that many teas are bought
entirely by the smell, and in America this is a very
coninioul way. I'etentiou of aroma is thus a most
important consideration and deserving of careful at-
tention. In order to maintain the char.aoter of Indian
tea every care must be taken with manufacture,
else prices are sure to go down, and many concerns
are ([uite unable to stand a drop in prices. — hidiiDi
Flif/dir.f' Gazelle.

HUMUS AS A CROP NUTRITIVE,

The vindication of the character of hunms a.'? an
important source of crop nutrition — disparaged by
Liebig, with his mineral theory — may be said to
have resulted from the researches of M.M. Schlres-
ing and Muiit/., continued by Mr. Warrington, of
Rothanistf'd. TJiese chemists have fully demons-
trated the important action known as nitrific-
ation, carried on by bacteria to which the name
iiiierococcii^ nitriUcans has been given, the result
being the production of nitrates in soils rioh in

ii8

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug. 2, r886j

organic matter, or humus. In order to test the
importance of this process of soil fertilisation, or,
rather, of conversion of elements of fertility from
an inert state to one suitable for the nourisliraent
of plants, Prof'^ssor Laurent, of the School of
Hortculture, Vilvorile, Belgium, last year carried
out some careful experiments, a record of which has
been sent to us. Buckwheat was grown in pots
under four different conditions, namely ; — 1. In
natural soil ; '2. In earth first sterilised, but after-
wards inoculated with bacteria of the soil ; 8.
In sterilised soil ; 4. In sterilised soil with the
addition of chemical manures. The conditions of
the experiment were such as to exclude the inocul-
ation of the sterilised soils in the third and fourth
series. On the occasion of the first observation
recorded the plants of the first series were the most
robust ; those of the second were healthy, but not
as forward as the first ; while the plants in the
soil free from bacteria were comparatively puny ;
though those of the fourth set, having the aid of
artificial manures, were superior to tliose of the
third. The results were summarised in the following
table, averages being given : —

No. of
Seeds,
Sept. 29
94-07
90
23-5
00-75

Thus, it will be seen, says a writer to the Suv^dnnl,
the action of bacteria in nitrifying the organic
constituents of the soil had a greater fertilising
effect than chemical manures consisting of nitrate
of potash, undissolved phosphate, sulphate of lime,
sulphate of magnesia, and sulphate of iron. —
Eiiropedii Mail.

No. of

No. of

No. of

3ries

Leaves,

Leaves,

Flowers,

Aug. 28

Sept. 11

Sept. 13

1

9

15

120-33

2

6

13-17

128

3

3-62

0-02

58

4

4-0

10

88-4

Peaches and Plums, — "New Galway" has long
been famous among Ceylon planting districts for
its fruit-trees, and '-Warwick" estate in tliat district
stands out very prominently. We have lately liad
the opportunity of appreciating delicious plums and
peaches from Mr. W. I. Cotton's orchard on this
property. When the railway gets to Ambewela, Mr.
Cotton ought to lay himself out to find a market
in Colombo for his fruit.

Tea at Hankow, — A correspondent writes from
Hankow to a Shanghai paper dating his letter the
Slst May, as follows : — " Some ten days ago I wrote
you concerning the sad state of the tea market and
on the possibility of the bankruptcy of many of
the native tea merchants, consequent on tlie high prices
paid in the interior. Little did I think then that the
losses would be of so disastrou.s a nature as to affect
the minds of those most deeply interested, but I have
now to record the deaths by suicide of two men
by opium poisoning at Hankow, and of one by drown-
ing at Hankow. Ratlier than lose face by their
liabilities, these three men have destroyed themselves,
and as this is only the commencement of the season,
what we may expect later on is sad tocomtemplate."
— Dallij Press.

Tea in Japan is thus reported on in the Jujmu
Weehly Mail of June 5th.- -The Tea trade has been
large, nearly 20,000 piculs of leaf having changed
hands, but prices have been somewhat i)'regnl:ir,
tlnctuating a dollar on most dcsci iptions. 'I lu re
appear to be ample supplies tonu;eta large demand.
Again the Jupaii U'ci'hhi Mai! of June 12th reports: —
The Tea trade which closed last week with a
downward tendency in prices, lias again been
extensive, though heavy stocks of leaf and free
arrivals have induced a fall of a dollar per picul
on all grades. The second crop has commenced to
come in, and the supply appears to be ocpial to
the demand, and likely to continue so.

Advices from Assam (20th June) say that
the coming tea crop will be very short and below
the estimates. Cholera is raging on some gardens,
and the coolies bolting into the jungle to die.
The tea-seed crop is good, but being plucked off
and thrown away, in order to increase tlie yield
of leaf — last year's shipments of seed to Ceylon
having been unsatisfactory, both to seller and
buyer (consignments mid to have left Calcutta in
good order, proving to be rotten on arrival in
Colombo), have not been encouraging. — Cor.

Drouoht and Heat in South Australia.
— Dr. Schomburgk in his report for 1885 on the
Adelaide Botanic Gardens, from which we shall
extract copiously in the Tropical Agriculturist,
states that the rainfall of last year was only
15-887 inches, or 5-272 below the average for 40
years. In five mouths, September-January, only
3 inches of rain fell. The heat was terrible :
maxima being attained, of 182 in the sun and 115
in the shade ! No wonder, if crops failed and
general depression existed. After the heat came
a temperature of 29" and 30° in May and June,
with frost. Not an equable climate certainly.

Petroleum as Fuel for Tea Furnaces. —
In the Western and Eastern Hemispheres petroleum,
in more or less degrees of purity, is found super-
abundantly in North America and on the shores
of the Caspian and in more moderate quantities in
Burma and in portions of north-western India. It
seems probable therefore that, as far as price is
concerned, the substance, probably in its imjjure
state and perhaps mixed with coal dust or other
substances, can be supplied at a price which would
render its use economical in tea preparation, where
supplies of timber fuel have been exhausted and
cannot be supplied cheajjly. But the question re-
mains can the strong and penetrating odour of
naptha be so expelled that there may be no danger
of its injuriously affecting the flavour of so delicate
and sensitive an article as tea '? We suppose modern
science will prove equal to the solution of this
problem. — We have since learned of a patent
" hydro-carbon fuel " (petroleum and water, mingled
in a fine jet), so free of smell that a chop can
be cooked over the flame. We are going to make
enquiries about it.

Tea in Japan. — The Japan Gazette thus
refers to the opening of the tea season : — Our tea
season 1880-87, is bidding well to be quite as
•sensational as that of 1882-83, and results will
probably be the same in heavy and disastrous
losses. Early this week circulars announcing im-
portant reductions in overland freight both by
regular mail steamer as well as per sailer and
rail were sent round and concurrently exchange
rates declined, which seemed to embolden buyers,
and in consequence an excited and somewhat in-
discriminate demand was established. Grades mostly
in favour were teas for price, and rates paid
preposterously high considering quality obtained.
Settlements tor the first six days of closing week
amount to the large total of 17,090 pels, against
arrivals as reported 19,080 piculs, so stocks in
hand are only but very moderate and native dealeis
appreciating tlie circumstances, are more than firm
in their demands. To criticise prices would be a
work of pure supererogation, the same old madness
seems still to afllict the buyer in Eastern Chaazse ;
a sort of hete noir seems to bestride him as
pertinently ami tenaciously as ever the Old Man
of the Sea harrassed Sindbad, and until buyers
can convince themselves that it is more or less
a barren honour, that of being largely represented
on the home markets with fh'st and early ship-
ments, so long will strained and extravagant prices
prevail in the East. — Daily Pren^.

i*t*

Aug. d, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGJ^ICULTURiSt

ttij

'iM. 'Wi

Tea at Foociloow. — The following was issued in the
form of an express at Fochow on the SlstMay; —
" la consequence of the unnecessary quantity of dust
having been packed in the 600 half chests of Oongou
purchased a few days ago by a certain foreign firm
the purchaser has the right to refuse to take delivery
of such, and on being informed of the fact, the
Chinese seller indignantly resorted to the tea guild
where a meeting took place yesterday at 7 o'clock p.m.,
and it is reported that a resolution has passed to stop
transactions with this very firm, and in consequence
of which every foreign merchant, who is a member,
has a right to ask the Chamber of Commerce to put
a stop to such unjust proceedings of the native sellers,
and that the foreign merchants must be unanimous in
body and mind to boycot one or two Chineese tea hongs
for every act of unworthy transaction so that their
haughtiness may be repressed." The signature " Disin-
terested " was appended. — Dally Press.

The Hankow Tk.\ Trade. — From a letter in the
Hongliong Free Press we quote as follows : —

The hurly burly's done.
The battle's lost and won,

and the damage has been done so far as the tea
season of 188() is concerned ; for the present passi-
vity, standing as it does in the strongest contrast
with the excitement and action of the last week
in May, is the sure and certain sign that " the
war is o'er." Buying has proceeded since the
opening of the season as if the crop were neither
large nor early. Now, as regards the size of the
crop. There is already a visible excess of between
five and six million pounds in the first crop, made
up by an increase of 80,000 half-chests Hankow,
and 30,000 half-chests Kiukiang teas. Is this over-
production or not ? Is this the disease which a
sagacious merchant at a recent meeting of the
Chamber of Commerce complained that the trade
was suffering from ? If tea should pay after all,
the retrogressive cry of over-production should be
stifled for ever. In respect of the quality of the
crop, it is universally admitted here that it is
superior in "cup" to that of the last few sea-
sons. In "make" it may be relegated to the " Can
pass" class. The Chinese have made the success-
ful attempt this season to place practically the
uholc of the first erop in front of buyers before the
end of the month, but this has been done at the
expense of the 2nd and 3rd " packs" whose " un-
couth " appearance, despite a redeeming set-otf in
cup, affords sure evidence of a too hasty toilet.
A judge of great experience says : — " The leaf (of
2nd and 3rd packs, of course) has come to market
much in the same state as when it fell, or was
picked off the trees. The result of all this is that
there is a large supply of good and fine tea at a
much lower cost than usual, whilst the medium and
lower grades are mostly so unsightly tliat any cup
quality they may possess, must be very heavily
handicapped." The tendency of prices all along has
been downward ; partly from the intense anxiety
of teamen to clear out ; partly from the grue some
nature of the telegrams from London. It may be
desirable here to attempt to remove the impression
which has obtained amongst the uninitiated that
the early purchases of fine and finest leas were
made at excessive rates, some 10 to 15 per cent
higher than usual. This impression is altogether
a wrong one ; for the unexceptional practice has
been so to shorten prices that the laying down
cost has really been moderate in the extreme. The
" original contract" and the " final ship off " prices
have borne no relation whatever to one another.
And when it is remembered that cuts have been in-
liictfd varying from Tls. 3 to Tls. 15 a picul, it
is not difficult to understand that the high cost
Was more imagiuary than real. Never, peibapo, liaa

there been a season when such cruel cutting has been
in vogue, and the sooner this unsatisfactory statb
of things comes to an end, the better for everyone
all round. A continuation will lead to unutterable
grief somewhere. [From the above it will be seen
that the making of tea horn fallen leavef iS deemed
possible ! Such tea must be vile rubbish.— Ed.]

Wire Fence should not be stretched too tightly. The
contraction of the iron in cold weather breaks many
wires.— ^VfV.^M'i Ea-press.

Tea Prosi'ects. — A jilanter writes : — " Who is the
man who sounds the note of alarm from Uda-
pusselawa by asking the question, ' Will 200 lb.
an acre pay ? ' Surely a much better return than
this can be confidently looked-for from so fine a
district. Surely too the cultivation is not yet in
a sufficiently advanced stage for any one to limit
its yield to such mean figures. Methinks he serves
his district but scurvily, and I hope someone will
come forward with a brighter prospect for the dis-
trict which has done such wonders in coffee pro-
duction.— Cor. [The Udapusselawa man is mild
compared with other critics : one of the latter, an
experienced planter, the other day ventured to
say that " half the area planted with tea in Ceylon
would give 200 lb. per acre, and half would not " !
—Ed.]

Bulking Teas on Estates. — A Ceylon proprietor

writes : — " Mr. (a well-known London broker)

advises me most strongly not to bulk my teas.
He says, as a director of large Indian Tea Com-
pany he has found it a mistake. I myself bulked
all my invoices for seven months; the eighth month
I sent a break unbulked, and to my surprise the
dock charges were the same as before in account
■iales. I wrote for full particulars of dock charges
for that and previous seven breaks and found in
every case my bulked tea had been rebulked in
London though I liad never had a complaint and
was under the impression that I was saving money
by bulking teas. I venture to say that many
planters who are under the impression that they
are saving by bulking on estate would find their
mistake , as I did, if they insisted on getting the
items of the heading ' dock charges ' appearing
in their account sale."

Petroleum as Fuel in Russia. — Crude petro-
leum and residuum as is wellknown are largely
used for fuel on the steamboats running on the
Caspian and the Black seas, and on the Volga
river, and also in many Russian oil refineries. Re-
cently Mr. Koribut-Dashkevitch patented in Russia
an api^aratus for heating stationery engine and
locomotive boilers with petroleum. This consists
of an iron cylinder, divided into two horizontal
chambers, the upper for petroleum and the other
for steam. At the ends of both chambers fine
tubes arc arranged in semi-circles, the tubes for
steam extending at an angle of 15' to those of
petroleum. The boiler is first heated by means of
wood or coal in order to obtain steam enough to
atomize the petroleum, which drips from the tubes*
Then the petroleum is ignited, thus Jicating the
boiler with liquid fuel. The chambers are con-
nected respectively with an oil reservoir and the
steam tubes of the boiler. Through the holes made
in the sides of an oven conies a free current of
air in quantity sulHcient to make combustion com-
plete. It is claimed in Russia that Dashkevitch's
apparatus makes petroleum an easy, efficient and
economic fuel. — Bradstreet's. [The above is interest-
ing with reference to the possibility of crude
petroleum or some preparation of the substance
being u;^ed as fuel for tea curing. I}i such an
event it seems obvious that special fnrnacn arrange-
ments will have to be made, or the hydro-carboii
patent i^rucebo inixvAwed.^Bv,

iio

THE TndPlQAL AORieULTURiSf,

[Aug. 'i, i8a6.

TROPICAL GARDENING.

Humuu uature, as a rule, exhibits a craving for
things hard to be obtaineil. Setting the fashion of
the period on one side, nothing shows this more
plainly than the popular taste or longing for plants
which are natives of a different clime to the one in
which we reside. In a temperate clime tropical plants
are considered essential, while if we are residing in a
tropical one, then how beautiful to our ideas is the
vegetation of the temperate region, llesideuts in
Jamaica are no exception to the general rule. The
native trees, the almost endless list of herbs and
flowers, beautiful in their formation, their variation,
their numerous hues and colours, are by tlie majority
of residents totally disregarded, and satisfaction is
(bought in the introduction of the lloraof other countries
often no better, seldom as good, as those of native
growth were their beauties fully appreciated. The
attempt to cultivate these introductions often results —
as might be expected — in complete failure, seeing that
njost of them are natives of temperate climes. The
question is often asked here, " Why is it I cannot get
such a plant to grow ? — why do my Dahlias and Gladiolus
.so rapidly degenerate:^" which, though apparently a
very simple question in itself, involves a description
of the principles of vegetable physiology, which is
generally for the most part quite unintelligible jargon
to the queri.st, and therefore if given falls Hat, with
the result of leaving the hearer still unconvinced, and
with the determination in his mind to " have another
try." Flower gardeniug in Jamaica, especially among
the European residents, consists in the main of a
series of attempts at the cultivation of that class of
plants usually to be found in the well-kept gardens
of residents in a temperate clime. In the mountains
at high altitudes, where the climate is favourable,
these trials are attended with a fair proportion of
success, but on the i)lains the same exertions result,
as a rule, in disappointment. 8ome may say, "But
tropical plants flourish in a temperate climate." So
they do, but then the means taken to enable them
to do so are adequate to their requirements. There,
every protection is alforded them ; houses are built,
a costly system of providing them with the proper
temperature is followed ; soil is brought (sometimes
for hundreds of miles) suitable to their reciuiremeuts,
and the knowledge and experience brought to bear
upon the cultivation of plants render is a much easier
task to the cultivator there than to the cultiv>itor
in Jamaica, where the means of instruction in these
matters are not so easily obtained. AVho would
think of building a house, to be permanently kept at
a much lower temperature thau the open air, in the
Liguauea plains or other similarly situated place?
Yet this is no more absurd than to apply heat for
raising the temperature, for it would be done with
the same object — viz., that of maintaining a suitable
temperature. It is a well-known fact that many plants
belonging to the warmer European and Asiatic countries
grow well in Jamaica with a little care, ond give a
fair return for the labour expended upon them ; but
in nearly all of these the close observer will detect a
degeneracy, a falling off from the original type, .so
gradual, yet so complete, that in course of time they
become changed in such a manHcr as to be scarcely
recognisable. An incident iu the life of the great
botanist, LiuD;eus, plainly indicates that temperature
is one of the first points to be studied iu connection
with the cultivation of plants. A person had a
favourite plant ; he supplied it with heat and moisture,
and, indeed, with every-thiug he considered it to
reciuire; the result beiiig that it grew "small by degrees,
and beautifully less." Liuu;eus, then a young man,
but a student, requested that he might le intru.^ted
With its treatment. After attentively studying the
plant, he withdrew it from its previous situation and
pampered treatment, and placed it in a corner vyhere
the cold, the wind, the rain, and the frosts of winter,
could exert thair influence with impunity. He had
placed it in its element, in its proper temperature,
ttUt.1 uudtsr ualural cvuditioue, aud was rewarded by

seeing it grow and flourish. Such arc the lessons to
be learueil by those who are fond of cultivation ;
nothing but a watchful eye on every requirement can
conduce to success. If we see a plant flourishing, find
out its family, and then subject its congeners to the
same treatment, and iu many cases success will ensue.
In Jamaica there exists an enormous amount of
material for experiment aiul imi)roveraeut ; i)retty way-
side flowers, which if develojjed with half the amount
of skill expended upon .similar things in Europe,
would repay the labourer a hundredfold. It should be
remembered, however, that it is no use to attempt to
control Nature ; that is beyond the art of man ; but
by a careful study of the various forms she assumes
to attain her euds, he may assist her in all her efforts,
and thus add much to the beauties of the vegetable
kingdom. It is not to be thought for a moment that
the writer deprecates the enjoyment by those who
wish to do so of their taste for the growth of plants
not indigenous to the countrj', but he wishes to indicate
to them that they cannot reasonably exjject " great
things " from guch cultivation. The writer's ideal of
a tropical garden is that it should consist of a collection
of the many haiulsome native tree.«, shrubs, ferns,
anel palms, and such other things as are indigenou s
to the climate, or can be obtaineil from countries
enjoying a similar one. By grouping the most striking
species in prominent localities, noting their time of
flowering, aud also the time when their foliage is in
its fullest glory, for the sake of giving them proper
arrangement; by filling secluded nooks protected from
the sun's rays, and where the wind cannot rutfle their
delicate textures, with the finer species of Ferns, of
which no countrj', for its size, in the world possesses
a greater variety than Jamaica, we should have
something upon which the eye could rest with enjoy-
ment at every season, and the garden would never
be without some feature of interest to the true lover
of uature. Have you a dry spot where nothing
appears willing to grow ? Then assemble together
the different species of the Cactus tribe. The
succulent Euphorbias, and other allied genera, and
what was formerly nothing but "Macca"* will, by
its various and curious habit of growth, "'become of
interest to its possessor, and will enlighten the visitor
as to the many strange forms of vegetable life to be
found iu the island. Old trees which cannot be con-
veniently removed can, bj' putting iu a plant of
Bougainvillea or other climber at their base, be fo^-med
in a year or two into an magnificent spectacle.
Growingfences should be planted around the boundaries ;
bushy trees for wind-breaks, and small flowering
plants and shrubs for foregrounds, suitable plants for
which can easily be obtained at the local gardens
supported by the Government. An avenue of Palms,
a woody retreat surrounded by groves of the Orange,
the Citron, or the Jasmine, a corner in which bulbous
and other plants of low stature find congenial home,
borders well protected for plants noted for their
beautiful leaves, and others for their llowers, are
things which should be sought for, found, aud admired
iu every tropical garden. — J. H, Hart, Jamaica in
" Gardeners Chronicle."

yiLVER-LEAF Disease.— There is a condition of tilings
in stone-fruit trees, such as Plums, Peaches, Aimonds,
Apricots, and also in Portugal Lnurels, which, for
want of a better name, we have called silver-leaf.
We have repeatedly examined such leaves, but never
found any further injury than a separation of the
upper skiu from the substances of the leaf — whence
the peculiar colour. It appears that in France tbc
affection is called " plomb " (lead), and it has recently-
been studied by M. Prillieux, who, however, does
not seem to have been more successful than his
predecessors iu ascertaining the causes of this mala.ly.
The disease is a serious matter in Plum orchard^-, as
it generally causes the death of the tree.— Garde.irr^'
Clirfndcle.

*yVest Indian tcrme for any thorny plant.

Ave. ^, i^S6A

THE f^O^lCAL AG^iCULtURlSf,

iai

KILLING SCALE BUGS IN FLOllIDA.

The method adopted by one Florida oraugc grower
to rid his trees of scale bugs will undoubtedly in-
terest some of our own people, and we suggest that
the jilau looks reasonable and might be profitably
tried in sections where black scale exist. A writer
in the Florida Ayricv.lturist describes the process as
follows : —

"A successful farmer and orchardist from M'isoonsin,
has A thousand young orange trees in Florida, not
yet in bearing, which for years bad been the scaliest
trees I have ever seen. He was much perplexed,
but not the man to give up the fight discouraged.
He remembered that in early life he had fought
insects successfully by throwing dry ashes over his
fruit trees early in the morning when the dew was
on, Ic occurred to him that soap might do good.
He bought a box of common bar-soap, and cut it
into oblong pieces the size of one's thumb, but not
quite so thick, and stuck four or five on thorns, well
up in each tree.

'•"When he returned in tlie fall, he found every
tree clean and thrifty, except ;i very few from which
the soap had been taken or got off. These latter was
as scaly and scrawny as before. On most of the
trees there were small remains of the .soap still on
the thorns, and on all the white coating that had
been dissolved and washed down over the bark. Each
spring since, before going north, he has applied the
soap, always with the same happy results.

•' I will add that his trees came out of the January
freeze better than the average. Nothing lowers the
vitality of an oiange tree like scale in any and all
of its half dozen forms. Nothing is ea.sier killed in
its earlier life, but most difficult when fixed on the
bark, encased in its coat of mail of gum, which nothing
seems able to dissolve or penetrate. Perhaps alco-
hol or naphtha might do it.

" The young scale (long scale for e.xample) just
hatched walks over the bark about four days, a tiny
insect, so small and delicate as to be visible only to
the keenest naked eyes. In this period of activity
she mates, and is then ready to settle down for the
balance of her brief life. She then inserts the beak
of her head into the bark, and nestles down snugly.
Her legs being of no further use soon fall off ; gum
exudes and enclos's her completely, except a pair of
breathing holes in her sides. Tfeus secure, she lives
on the juices of the tree, and completes her life
work of producing some 30 eggs for the continuance
and maltiplicatiou of her species.

"A probable explanation of this soap remedy is
that it is operatin.; during the whole scale season.
The dews and r.iins slowly dissolve and carry down
the soap over the branches and trunk, and the in-
sect thus finds its bane and perishes before it can
settle down to its destructive work." — Rural Californian.

THE PUSHING OF INDIAN TEA.

The pusbing of Indian tea is one of such para-
mount importance-, that this must form the excuse
for so soon again referriiig to it. Intrinsic merit
sooner or later brings anything to the front, whether
it is merchandise or brains. InrJian tea up to date
has achieved nil its success through its intrinsic
merit ; it has been very little helped by advertising
or puffing. Had Indian tea not been intrinsically
good, it would h;ive disappeared from public view.
Annually there is a marked increase in the quantity
consumed by the public, principally in Great Britain
and Ireland. Had Indian tea been pushed in the
same way as Ceyons have been, instead of an annual
consumption of 6'i millions, we should have had no
stocks left at all now, and Indian tea would have
been in a better ,'tatistical position than it now is.
As it is with exchange so uncertain Banks are un-
willing to do business except at ruinous rates, so
that some means should be taken to avert calamity.
It is significant that in the vicinity of great centres
of popuUtiou iu Britair), for iustaacc All round Loudoo;
Ji3

almost no pure Indian tea is to be met with, whilst
Ceylon and occasionally Darjeeling teas (pure), can
readily be bought. "Wherever one goes Ceylon teas
stare one in the face, done up in neat little packets
of ^Ib. and lib. At first the natural conclusion that
one comes to is that the Ceylon planter has sprung
a mine upon his Indian brother, is sending home the
tea done up thu.*; but upon enquiry it turns out
that the manipulation is effected in London, by the
agents prior to delivery to the country dealer, show-
ing how extremely careful the Ceylon agency houses
are to place their wares before the public in a taking
way. Nice little lead packages neatly done up with
a taking label are infinitely more likely to attract
attention than a great huge unwieldly chest roughly
made. China teas are also got up in neat little pack-
ages, quite ornamental, and the tea dealer is proud
to put them in his window, but when one does come
across, or, rather ask to see the original case of any
Indian tea, he finds it con.signed to the background
altogether, simply on account of its appearance. Of
course put up in an attractive form tea thus must
cost a little more, but looking at the enhanced values
that Ceylons obtain, we doubt if it does not do far
more than pay. With many gardens it is not a ques-
tion of paying but of existence, and we consider that
it is worth the while of some estates to do up their
teas in this fasliiou so as to make them more attrac-
tive. Doing the teas up even in, say, five-pound
packages with the " Tanbcrry " patent cloth on paper
would be a step in the right direction. We under-
stand that the cost is very much less than tea-lead,
and the weight for carriage is also much less. In
addition the facilities for putting on a nice label are
very much greater, and the paper would show off
a label much bette.-. The " heathen Chinee " takes
care to cover his box with all sorts of heiroglyphics,
which although perfectly unintelligible to the outside
public, form an attraction, and no doubt even now
assist to carry off the wares. The British public in
this age of rapid progression are not easily satisfied,
and competition is so great th;it Indian planters and
agents must put Indian Tea before the public in a
more presentable form. .V few years ago it was
supposed that the merit of the liquor of Indian tea
had to a great extent done away with the neces.sity
for paying so much attention to the appearance of
the leaf. It is questionable if this so now. A large
quantity of Indians is now bought from appearance,
owing no doubt to the extraordinarily large amount
of sampling, which falls to be done from the very
large increase in imports. The genernlity of Indians
are too leafy and large, and the dealers complain
that the teas are too large in leaf to sell by them-
selves and that it necessitates a blend with China
in order to make them a good marketable com-
modity. Another thing that strikes one with regard
to Indian tea is the general complaint that it is not
to be bought. What is called Indian is only a blsnd.
In the case of Ceylon tea each little ^b. package
is labelled and guaranteed. — Imliau rinntei':^'' Ga:.ette.

THE INDIAN AND COLONIAL EXHIBITION
AT SOUTH KENSINGTON.

Next in order to the Jfauritius Court in the Eastern
Arcade may be noticed the exhibits of the straits
■'Settle menU.

An article which deserves a brief notice is cofter-
tea. It appears that the IMalays do not use the
coflree berry, but prefer the leaves, giving as a reason
that they "contain a larger ((uantity of the bitter
principle and are more nutritious. The mod^ in which
they prepare the leaves for use is as follows: — A
number of young leafy twigs are gathered and broken
into lengths of about" 12 or 18 inches. These are
obtained largely from the suckers, which are allowed
to grow for that purpose. The twigs are arranged
between two strips of bamboo tied at the ends, so
as to form a dense disc of green leaves about IS m'
30 inches in diameter, the free ends of the bamboo
being used as a handle by wbitli to move the Icave.s

I^S

THE TROPICAL AmiCULWmST. [Avg. ^, im.

to and fro over the fire, so as to prevent them from
burning. The leaves are arranged all on one side and
the stems on the other, in order, that the whole of
the leaves may be equally exposed to the heat with-
out nterfering with the drying of the stem. The
process is completed when the leaves have turned to
a rich brownish-green colour and have become crisp
aud brittle. The flavor and quahty of the leaves
depend on the care bestowed on this operation ; if
carefully performed the raw vegetable taste is en-
tirely dissipated, which is not the case if sufficiently
done. "When singed, or overdone, the aroma is lost.
It is also very necessary to have a clear smokeless
fire, the creasote and other empyreumatic bodies con-
tained in smoke spoiling the flavour of the leaves.
This object is attained by using dried bamboo sticks
as fuel. Previous to being used for making tea the
dried leaves, which are very brittle, are rubbed to
powder between the hands. The powder is then in-
fused in boiling water exactly as in making tea, except
that it is used in much larger quantities. It produces
a dark brown liquid, looking like coffee, smelling like
green tea and tasting Hke mixture of the two.* Mr.
N. M. Ward, who had been for many years accus-
tomed to the use of this coffee tea in Sumatra says
of it:-

" While I hud the use of the berry for a few days
invariably to produce on me, :fe on many others, the
effects of nervousness and bilious obstruction, I drink
a strong infusion of the leaf daily with evident bene-
fit to my health and strength. As a restorative on
exhaustion from the severeties of labour or of the
weather, from heat or cold, or long exposure to rain,
I know nothing superior to it. . . . Of its nutritive
power no proof can be stronger than that it suspends
hunger and enables the labouring man to pursue his
work for hours after he would otherwise be unable. . . .
With a little boiled rice and infusion of the coffee
leaf a man will support the labours of the field in
rice planting for days and weeks sucessively, up to
the knees in Tnud, under a burning sun or drenching
rains, which we could not by the use of simple water
or by the aid of spirituous or fermented liquors. I
have had the opportunity of observing for twenty
years the comparative use of the coffee leaf in one
class of natives and of spirituous liquors in another,
the natives of Sumatra using the former, and the
natives of British India, settled here, the latter, and
I find that while the former expose themselves with
immunity for any period to every degree of heat,
cold or wet, the latter can neither endure wet, nor
cold for even a short period without danger to their
health." f

Specimens of the coffee leaf tea were exhibited in
Loudon at the International Exhibition in 1851, to-
gether with caffeine prepared from them. Dr. John
Gardiner, the exhibitor, subsequently took out a
patent for preparing the leaves. According to a fur-
ther statement made by Mr. N. M. Ward to the
late Mr. D. HauburyJ the leaves could be prepared
and packed Sumatra at a cost of 2d. per lb., and
would even then afford sufficient profit to the planted
especially if grown on low lands where berries are not
fret'ly produced. The leaves were analysed by Dr.
Stenhouse, who found them to contain more caffeine,
than coffee berries and as much as mate or Paraguay
tca.§ F>i iug thus rich in caffeine, if a little scientific
skill were devoted to producing and retaining the
aroma, thore seems to be no ostensible reason why
roasted coffee leaves in powder should not replace
much of the chicory and other substances now used
to cheai:)en coffee.

The seeds of Baa^ia Latifotia and the oil expressed
from them, which in the Mauritius Court were labelled
"illipc seeds and oil," are exhibited in the Perak
rollection under the name of " suring seeds and oil,"
while the name of " illipe nuts " is applied to the seeds
of a Dipterocarpous tree, probably Hopea macrojihylla,

* Ilooker, Jov.m. of Botany , 1855, p. 41.
f rharm. Jov.m. y [1], vol. xii., p. 443.
— • xiii., p. 207.

Pharm
i Pharm. Journ.

Journ., [1], vol.

•n., [11

r»,, tl

or an allied species,* which yield the fat known in
Borneo as " minjak tangkawang," specimens of which
are in North Borneo Court.

Several resins also derived from the same natural
order, and marked " JJipteroearpvn 'Sp.," are exhi-
bited under the various names of "damar sesa,"
" damar " and " mata kuching," or cat's eye damar,
and "damar renkong; " most of these come from
Larut, Perak. They do not present a very bright
appearance, but may be more . valuable than their
appearance indicates. The damar mata kuching is
indentified by Professor Van Eeden as the product
of Hopea Mengarawan, Miq.

The lesser cardamom {Arnomnm CardamoiiiU)7i), shown
at the same stand, was formerly official in this country,
and is easily recognizable from its globular shape and
smooth surface. The seeds closely resemble those of
the official cardamom in flavour. They are used in
medicine by the natives as a carminative. Another
cardamom, unnamed, from Gapis, Perak, is labelled
" wild cardamom.'' — Pharmcevtical Journal,

REPORT OF THE ADELAIDE BOTANIC
GARDENS.

BY DK. i;. SCHOMBUKGK.

Botanic Gardens, March, 1886.

I have the honor to submit to you my report upon
the progress and condition of the Botanic Garden and
Park, and of the Museum of Economic Botany, for the
year 1885. That year, I regret to say, was one of the
driest and most ungenial that I have ever had to contend
with, the rainfall having been no more than 15*887
inches. This is 2-851 inches less than the fall of 1884,
and 5272 inches below the average rainfall during the
previous forty years. The minimum rainfall during
that time was 14 inches. The spring and summer were
very dry; during September, October, November,
December and January no more than 3 inches of rain
fell. The heat during these months was abnormally
great, the maximum in the sun being 173° and 113° in
the shade. The highest temperature in the sun was
182 ° in January, 1882, and 115" in the shade.

Such a temperature after a drought of nearly three
months' duration could not fail to be most injurious to
all vegetation, but especially to those trees and shrubs
which are natives of cooler climates. It will be grati-
fying to all those who take an interest in this establish-
ment to learn that the damage done to the plants, and
the losses sustained, have not been so great or so
extensive as might have been expected. It is a matter
of sincere congratulation to know that the supply of
water at high pressure is sufficient for the community,
and that the Government has allowed me an unlimited
quantity for watering purposes ; but for this the
unfavourable season would have proved most destructive
to the vegetation in the gardens, and many very
serious losses would have occurred. Most of the men
employed in the garden have been engaged during the
last three mouths in watering only, aud I must continue
to employ fhem in this manner throughout the season if
the drought does not break up. Such a season could
not fail to be disastrous to the farming interest— and
we have had one of the worst crops of wheat hitherto
recorded. In some parts of the colony the crop has
been a total failure. The average yield is about three
bushels to tlie acre, which is the smallest yet known.
The fruit crops are about up to the average ; but some
fruits, especially those of the apples, have not attained
their usual flavor and perfection. Dunng May aud
June we had to suffer from severe frosts. The temper-
ature on several nights was as lowas29"'"aud 30°. As might
have been expected, such weather had a very injurious
effect upon the garden, aud the tropical and sub-tropical
plants and shrubs suffered greatly. In the spring, the
cold aud <lry weather consideriibly retarded the growth
and development of the florists' flowers. This was
especially noticeable amongst the annuals, especially
phloxes, stocks, iS:c. The commencement of the rose
season was verj- promising. The first flowers reached

*Seo Pkarm. Journ., [3], xjv.. p. i82.

AVG. 2, 1886,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

123

a size and perfection not often noticed, but several hot
days were experienced, and the whole of the blossoms,
as well as the small buds, were destroyed.

With reference to my attempt to acclimatise the
four new plants introduced last year, viz. : — the Cheese-
maker, the Kuiuara, Eland's Boontjes, and the Tree
Tomato, I have to state that, with the exception of the
Tree Tomato, the plants, considering the very mipro-
pitious season with which we were visited, afford hopes
that they can be acclimatised in South Australia. It is
perhaps premature to say positively that this can be
done without at least another year's trial. The Oheese-
maker (JVithania Coac/ulam, Dunn.) has found a
congenial climate in south Australia. The shrub has
grown vigorously, and has stood the drought and hot
wdather uncommonly well, for its growth was not even
checked. I am convinced that this plant will thrive
with us. The "Eland's Boontjes" {Elephantorrlum
Burchellii, Benth.), which, as I mentioned in my last
year's report, I had received from Mr. Wood, Director
of the Botanic Garden, Natal, were planted in pots, and
kept in the houses during the rainy season. During
this period the plants died down. In the spring
(September) they were planted in the experimental
ground. They had already formed tubers of the size of
small radishes. They soon began to .sprout. Although
their growth had been slow— perhaps owing to the dry
season— the plants are healthy and strong. I kept
several plants in pots ; those kept in the shade-house
show a more luxurious growth than the others. I
entertain hopes that this plant will become accHm-
atised in this colony although it would be premature
to hazard a positive opinion as yet. The experience
of another season is necessary to determine that point,
last season being very unfavorable for all outdoor
plants. Of the Kumara (Ipomoea chrysorvhiza, Forst.)
I am abje to report favorably.

The Kumara has recently been introduced into the
East Indies. It has produced first-class crops, and is
highly spoken of. Dr. Duthie, the Director of the
Botanic Gardens at Saharanpur, in his last report,
say8,_ " I consider the Kumara to be a very valuable
addition to our varieties of vegetables."

The Tree Tomato C//phnmanJra hetacea, Hook). — I
regret to say that this plant has proved itself to be
quite unable to resist this climate in the open air.
Our summer is altogether too dry, and om- winter
too cold. In the stove-house the plant grows vigorously.

I have sustained another failure in growing the
Nielgherry nettle (Gira,dmia Leschemultii, Gaud.),
belonging to the natural order of Urticeae. It possesses
in a strong degree the stinging properties of the
common nettle, and it grows on the higher ranges of
the Nielgherry hills. The plant yields a valuable fibre,
which the natives obtain by first boiling the plants,
in order to destroy its stinging energy. The fibre is
of considerable value. It is of great fineness, and
is worth, in England, £200 per ton. [R200, much more
likely. — Ed.]

I received the seeds from India. The young plants
grew well in the spring, but they failed under the
trying hoot weather in the summer.

Insect Powder Plant.— I am glad to say that at
last I have succeeded in introducing those valuable
plants Pt/rethrum carmum (Bbrst.) and Pyrethriim
roseum (Bbrst). They are natives of the Caucasus,
and perennial herbs of the order Composltae. A
powder made from the dried flowers has been long
in use in Persia and in Russia for the destruction of
fleas and other insects. According to "Smith's
Dictionary of Plants of Domestic and General Economy,"
the plant from which the powder was prepared was
for a long time kept secret. It was eventually dis-
covered by an Armenian merchant, who communicated
his discovery to his son, who, in 1828, manufactured
the powder for sale. It is estimated that the quantity
of this powder consumed m Russia alone is nearly
one million pounds a year, and is now in popular use
everywhere. I understand that the Agricultural
Department of Victoria has lately imported and distri-
buted the seed of the Pyrsthrum, in order to promote
its cultivation and the production of the well-known
powder in Victoria. I raised about a dozen plants

from imported seeds. They were planted in various
localities in the garden, and I am very glad to say
that, in despite of the very unfavorable season, they
have grown uncommonly well, and have flowered freely,
I have not the slightest doubt but that these plants
can be easily acchmatised in South Australia.

Ehopala (Spec). — Mr Thiselton Dyer, the Director
of the Botanic Garden at Kew, has favored me with
a parcel of the seeds of a remarkable tree, a species
of Ehopala, belonging to the natural order of Proteaceae.
It is a native of Columbia, and possesses the property
of being indestructible by fire. Mr. Dyer remarks upon
this tree as follows : — " The Bhopala is a small contorted
tree, growing to about twenty feet in height. It is
remarkable for being absolutely indestructible by fire,
in large districts where the dry pastures and bush are
burnt twice a year. Its resistance to fire enables it
to exist to the exclusion of all other trees and bushes,
as a perfect natural plantation. The periodical burning
destroys everything except this tree. The resemblance
to a plantation is moreover enhanced by the circum-
stance that the trees never form thickets, and they
are thickly and almost systematically dispersed over
the land. The tree delights in the most sterile soils,
but always of a stony or shingly character. Some-
times it grows in places so barren that even grass
cannot exist. This suggests the idea that it may be
turned to account in sterile districts within the tropics."
[This tree ought to be tried on the Ceylon patanas.-Eo,]

Ferns. — The collection of ferns has been enriched
by the addition of thirty-six interesting species, which
now numbers 407 species. We have added five species
to the Lycopodiaceje, bringing the number up to thirty-
four. All the Ferns in the Fernhouses and those
distributed through the stove and other houses show
a most luxuriant growth, the result of careful attention.

One of the most interesting events which occurred
in the garden last year was the flowering of a large
specimen of the Yucca filamentosa. The plant is about
twenty-five years old. It has reached the height of
18ft., the circumference of the stem one foot above
ground is 7ft. 4in. The bare stem is 14ft. high, It
produced its first upright flower-stalk in 1873. After
this had peen cut off, a number of young shoots sprunng
up around the crown, which formed a globular head.
Last year it flowered again ; and this time, instead
of producing upright flower-stalks, it threw out eight
I)endulous flower-stalks, each about three feet long,
and containing about 300 flowers. The sight was
magnificent, so much so, that I append a drawing of
the plant in flower to this report.

The number of new plants of economic value and
of those available for ornamental purposes, not
including Florist's flowers, amounted to 353 species.
The collection ot plants has thus been augmented
from 12,160 to 12,513 species.

I find that it will be necessary to remove a number
of the old gum trees which have died or are dying
out, and I regret to think that in the course of a
few years very few of these will be left in the park.
The great difliculty will be to remove these giants
without injuring the young trees which have been
planted in their neighbourhood. They will have to be
taken down piecemeal.

Retrospect. — In closing this report I have thought
that it would be of some interest if I were to give
a short retrospect of the progress of the Botanic Garden
since the year 1879. It must not be supposed that
the value of the garden is confined to the pleasure
and amusements it affords to the inhabitants of
Adelaide and its suburbs, or to visitors from the
country, as well as those from other colonies and
foreign parts. It has the high function imposed
upon it of spreading a scientific as well as an economic
knowledge of the flora of this colony to other parts
of the world. By this means an acquaintance with
one portion of the resources of the Province is placed
within the reach of the scientific world through the
agency of institutions sinular to that over which I
have the honor to be Director. The continual inter-
change of specimens of plants enables the recipient
to acclimatise large numbers of trees and shrubs.
After experience of their habits, and their adaptabiUty

124

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[Aug- 2, i8S6r

to dilFerent climates has been establisbed in this way,
their distribution amongst those who are engaged in
the practical business of agriculture and horticulture
i'ollowj--. In like manner the benefits of the inter-
change of plants and seeds with other countries
cannot tail to become of the highest value to the
culti\iitors of our own soil by extending their resources
in new dircctionSj and consequently increasing the value
of their possessions. To this end the distribution of
rare and useful plants amongst farmers and others
has been continuous — indeed almost contemporaneous
with the establishment of the garden. By the intro-
duction of ])lants, trees, &c , a wide field of experi-
mental as well as economical cultivation can be opened
out. Its tendency is to enable the agricultural industry
to broach out into new and useful euterpri.sos, and to
render it less dependent upon the cultivation of cereals
alone, which e.^perience, especially the last few years,
has shown to be most precarious. As yet no very
great rtmlts have sprung from this, but signs arc
not wautinjr that the use of new plants is i^aiuing
ground. A few years will, I trust, prove that the
time and trouble which have been expended in this
way, and the energy that has been applied to the
dissemination of the knowledge necessary to the
successful cultivation of foreign plants, grasses, seeds,
and roots have not been exerted in vain. [Then follow
details of improvements and additions made. — Eo.]

THE COLONIAL EXHIBITION.

Straits Settlements.— This collection is a very
large and varied one, and occupies a cosiderable
space in the east arcade, near the Hong Kong court.
The exhibits are largely drawn from the vegetable
kingdom, articles in native woods and bamboo
largely prevailing. The following are a few of the
most remarkable exhibits from the point of view in
which wo are specially interested. Several varieties
of Gum Damar are shown, which, though called
gums, are really resii»s exuded mostly by Dipterocar-
peous trees. These resins are sometimes used for varn-
ish making, but they appear to be used by the
niitives also for giving light, for here are exhibited
implements called Damar-holders, which are described
as being used as candlesticks, indicating that the
Damar is burnt as an illumiiiaut; the smoke given
ulf must, however, be abundant and stifling.

The fibrous husk of the betel-nut (Areca catechu)
is shown as a paper material, and as a waste product
is said to be produced in almost unlimited quantities.
Considering the very general practice of betel chewing
by the natives of the East, and the abundance of
fruits produced, as well as the thickness of the
fibrous husk, the adaptation of this hitherto useless
material would seem to be a very probable benefit
for the countries where the betel-nut palm is common.
The fruits of Coix lachryma, better known, per-
haps, as .Tob's Tears, are, as is well known, frequently
used for necklaces, bracelets, and similar articles of
personal adornment, but specimens are shown here of a
»lark-co!oured elongated form, which are stated to
be grown in small quantities by the Malays, and
eaten in the same way as rice, or made into a
sort of bread. Another food-prod\ict of very much
more importance is sago, from the trunk of l\Iet-
roxylon sagu, which is cultivated extensively about
Singapore for commercial purposes. Tearl sago is
known in trade in ditferent sizes, classified as small,
medium and large, but samples are here shown the
"pearls" of which are as large as marbles.

The young leaves of Nipa fruticans are, it seems,
used in the Straits for making cigarette papers, not
that paper is made from the leaves, but that strips,
of the loMVcs themselves are used for holding the
tobacco. Kegarding tobacco itself there are many
samples of very creditable appearance, and some
cigars of very curious shape, being short and pointed
»t the (^iids. and tliick and flattened in the middle.
They arc (■xliil)itod by the Deli Langkat Cigar and
Oigarettf; Oomp^ny. and are called by the eupho-
nious nanii; ol "Little Devils," the trade mark of
which is :i bl;tck devil rampant.

BaiTiSH North Bohneo. — In this collection tobacco
al.so forms an important exhibit; there are some fine
brands, but the tobacco is mostly of a dark colo\ir ; the
cut tobaccos are in long thin threr.ds so common to
Siamese and other Eastern sorts. A report on this to-
bacco from experts in Amsterdam, dated so recently as
April last, says, " The quality is beautiful, soft, and
strong, and has that elasticity which is so liked for cigar
purposes. The burning is sufficient, although the
ash is not (juite white, but our brokers say that
this will improve by further fermentation. In general
the opinion is in every respect favourable, and valu-
ation above the average of Sumatra tobacco. . . . We
further have to observe that we did not mention to
our brokers where it came from, and they therefore
thought it was Sumatra tobacco."

Special attention is also drawn in this Court to
the woods of the country, many of which are described
as being both useful and ornamental. Unfortunately,
however, the forest trees of Borneo are but little
known botanically, and two or three only have other
than native names. The whole of them, however,
are good specimens of large size, well seasoned, and
carefully smoothed or polished. In some notes on
these timbers and their uses it is stated that some
of them are valuabe for world-wide uses, and exist
in such quantities as render the use of them available
in those countries where wood is scarce. In conse-
quence of the figure and colour of some of these
woods resembling certain well-known commercial
kinds they have been named in trade Borneo Mahogany,
Walnut, Cedar, Ironwood, and so on. Under the
Malay name of Mirabou, the wood of Afzelia
palembanica is shown. It is described as being
plentiful in some parts of Borneo, and valuable for
furniture, as it does not warp; is very durable, has
a fine figure, and takes a good polish. It is proof
against the attacks of ants, and can be obtained in
logs 30 feet long and 2| feet in diameter. Three
different woods, known respectively as Rassak lianaar,
Bassak Diaim, and Kassak Buugah, and said to be the
species of Vatica, are highly valued for their hard-
ness and durability for house building, planks, piles,
kc, all of them being proof againt the attacks of insects.
A wood called in Malay Salangau,. Seriah, or Majon,
and in English Borneo Cedar, appears to be on(^. of
the very valuable woods of the country. It is des-
cribed as a tall handsome tree, probably belonging
to the order Diptorocarpe.T. and found formerly in
abundance in the .Malay Archipelago, and still obtain-
able in large quantities in British North Borneo.
Several varieties of this wood are known, all of a
more or less reddish colour, and all suitable for fur-
niture. Although easily worked it is strong and
tough, and takes a good polish. It can be supplied
in any quantity in logs -10 feet long by 5 feet diameter.
Perhaps one of the most striking woods shown in
the collection is that of the Kayn Kapor (Dryobalanops
aromatica) ; it i.i the source of the well-known
Sumatra camphor, which is foun<l cry.stallised in in-
terstices in the wood, sometimes in Large masses.
It is not so volatile as ordinary camphor, and is
harder and more brittle ; it is bought in quantities
by the Chinese, who value it for its many supposed
properties. The tree also yields by incision a fragrant
aromatic oil. The wood, it seems, is very durable,
easily worked, and is much used for house building,
planks, kc. A very fine plink of this wood is sbo\vn.
Some iuteresiing samples of " Tankawang " fat or
vegetable tallow are shown in this collection; the
fat is poured into the hollows of l>ig bamboo stems
some 2 feet or more long, and labelled as of two
(lualitios, one being made from large berries, and one
from small. The fat is used for frying fish, making
cakes, and lubricating machinery. The source of the
vegetable tallow is not accurately known, but it has
been attril)utcd on the one hand to a Dipterocarpeons
tree, and probably a species of Hopea, and on the
other to a Sapotaceous tree, and perhaps to a Bassia.
See Pharmaceutical Jom-nal, Nov. 24, 1888, p. '101 ;
December 1.5, 1883, p. 462; and December 22, 1833,
p. 481.— John R. ;.Taokson, Mwaenm, Kew.^Gardfners'
Chronicle.

Atrc. 2, 1886,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

125

FACILITIES FOR BOTANICAL RESEARCH.

Undpr this heading Professor Bower, who recently
visitud Ceylon, writes the following interesting arti-
cle in Nature. Colombo, it will be seen, is recognized
as the CUapham Junction of the East: —

In an article under the above heading, published
in nature, vol. xsxi. p. 460, I endeavoured to draw
the attention of our younger botiinists to the im-
portance of extending their studies over a wider
field than is at present usual, and mentioned some
easily accessible stations at which students might
observe tropical vegetation. Since that article was
written, I have had the opportunity of actiug on
my own suggestion, and of visiting Ceylon ; I am
therefore now in a position to enlarge upon my
previous suggestions, and to fill in from personal
experince many details which, though often trivial
in themselves, may yet briug the possibility of
Eastern travel home to the mind of some in such
a way as may lead to future action. But while
giving some account of the facilities for botanical
work in the East, care must be taken no( to over-
colour the picture ; it happens too often that writers
of an enthusiastic bent raise expectations in the
minds of their readers, which actual experience can
only disappoint: in the following paragraphs I shall
endeavour to mako a purely matter-of-fact statement,
and leave the colouriug to he filled in at the will
or opportunity of the reader. Taking first I'eradeniya,
we may consider what aro its attractions as a station
for botanical work, and then pass on to discuss the
relative merits of other stations.

In the first place, hardly any port in the east is
more accessible than f 'olombo ; it has been aptly called
the " Clapham Junction " of the East : the steamers
of all nations m<'et there, and the competition bet-
ween them produces a moderate scale of fares. Once,
there, a direct train scirvice lands the traveller in
about three hours almost at the gate of the Royal
Gardens ; the mechanical discomforts of many a journey
to remote districts in the United Kingdom are greater
than this. The cost of the journey will vary accor-
ding to the line of steamers selected ; by the Penin-
sular and Oriental line a return ticket can be had
from London to Colombo for 907., 100.'., or 110/.
according as the return journey is completed in three,
six, or twelve months. The charges on the Message-
ries Maritimes are about the same. The Star. Clan,
and British India lines make more moderate charges,
but the pace is correspondingly slower. It is little
use making a journey of more than 5000 miles for
a brief visit; and it may be presumed that, except
where the circumstances are extraordinary, students
would find it convenient to stay in Ceylon for three
or four months, or more. Little is to be gained by
scamping an expedition such as this, in which it may
often happen that a man may gain his first and
last experience of tropical nature ; further, the
surroundings are so new that it is some little time
before one with even a good knowledge of our
temperate flora can accommodate himself suflficiently
to them to carry on successful work. We may
then regard the cost of the journey as 100/., and
the time required to make it a success about six
months. The choice of season is an important point ;
in a country of alternating wet and dry periods it
is well to experience both, and for the botanical
collector it is important that collections should be
finally made up in dry whether ; it would be found
that leaving England in November, and landing at
the beginning of Decembor, the weather would still
be wet and vegetation luxuriant, but prcservaticm of
dry species would be dfficuli ; a gradual change would
be experienced, till in F(>.bruary and March the dry
and hot season would have come in, vegetation would
bo more or less checked, n,iid the preservation of
dry spL'cimens would be ea.sy. Beturning towards the
end of March the English winter would lie past, and,
if he be a teacher, the travelhn- would bo in time
for the summer session in our TTniversities or medical
schonls.

Once on the spot the first question is one of
accommodation. At Peradeniya there are neither
hotels nor lodgings; ^ house must be taken and
temporarily furnished, and it is surprising hpw cheaply
this can be done. I took a small bungalow, the
rent, of which was 1\40 per month ; friends lent
me some articles of furniture, and an expenditure
of K150 supplied all else that was required for
temporary housekeeping. The cost of keeping house,
including the wages of two native servants, rent, &c.,
with a margin for incidental expenses, may be set
down at about B250 per month ; allowing further
some 11200 for travelling expenses, it will be found
that 111,500 will represent the total necessary ex-
penses of residence in the island for four months.
But in its present depreciated state, the rupee is
worth only about l.s. M. : it will therefore be sufficient
to lodge about 11.5?. at a bank in Ceylon to cover
ail necessary expenses for four months' residence.
I would not advise, however, that that exact sum only
should be transferred ; it would be more prudent
to allow a margin for possible contingencies. The
total expenses of a six months' trip to Peradeniya
may thus be set down as 250/. But there are
various ways in which strict economy might reduce
the cost, while if two friends were to club together,
their individual expenses for housekeeping would be
considerably below the sum above stated for one.
'J'hus it will be seen that neither in difficulty of
transit nor in point of expense are there suflicient
obstacles to prevent a visit to Peradeniya, or some
similar station, finding a place in the pn»giiamme of
the career of an average botanist. One of the chief
obstacles will he felt by many to be the loss of
possible opportunities while absent, or the break in
continuity of teaching, or other work in which a
man may he already enga.ged. I venture to think
that these are much overrated objections ; and ag.ainst
them may be set the very great advantages which
a tropical visit carries with it. A further <iuestion
is, at what period in a man's career will a visit of
this sort best repay him ? Some will say immediately
after taking his degree, but I am inclined to think
that even a first-class man is at that time hardly
prepared to make the best of the opportunity should
it offer. The experience gained by a few years of
teaching and of original work at home will indicate
what is to be expected and what is to be looked for,
and will fit a man in many ways for striking out new
lines for himself, even if it have not already defined
for him a clear line of research. On the other hand,
it is important that traveUing should be undertaken
before a man settles in life, so that his mind may
be as free as possible from distractions and anxieties.
We may now pass on to consider what are the
specific advantages presented by Peradeniya as a station
for botanical work. It is, as I have said, easily acces-
sible ; being more than 1,500 feet above the sea, the
excessive heat of the low country is avoided, audit
may be regarded as a decidedly healthy place. Secondly,
it is situated in a central position, both as re-
gards the whole island, and as regards the chief
lines of communication by rail and road. Thus it is
easy to gain excess to the low country by train to
Colombo, whence roads, traversed often by horse
coaches, will lead alone the coast, or inland in vari-
ous directions; or, taking the upcountry line, Nuwara
Eliya may be visited, which lies about 0,000 feet
above the sea, and would serve as a good centre for
working the higher levels ; or agam, a journey north-
wards by train and coach to Anuradliapura would
give an insight into the low-level vegetation of the
drier northern districts. From the above notes it
will be readily seen how varied is the character of
the country within easy roach from Peradeniya, pre-
senting within a comparatively small area districts
varying fro^n the sea-level to 8,000 feet, and
including both damp and relativ(4y dry areas at low
levels. This in it-^elf would lea<l one to expect a
rich and varied flora; and in fact tlie list of native
plants now numbers some 3,000 species, a very con-
siderable propoition of which are peculiar to the
island. These and other natural advantages are,

126

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[AU(5. 2, 1886'

however, eclipsed by the importance of the Royal
Gardens themselves as providing a field for those
hitherto unfamiliar with tropical nature. Here, there
are collected iu a small area a great variety of
species, both native and imported ; truly no botanist who
has resided at Peradeniya can any longer complain
of want of scope; if he does not find ample material
for future work, he can only lay the blame on his
own want of imagination. In the excellent herbarium
and library, as well as in the fine series of coloured
figures of native plants which are lodged in the
Garden, he would find the greatest assistance in
recognising and naming plants collected ; while lastly,
in the presence of the Director, who is the best
living authoritj' on the flora of Oeylon, are found
those social and scientific elements which go far to
enhance the pleasure of a visit to C'eylon.

In my former article mention was made of Java,
where the Gardens of Buiteuzorg, presided over by
Dr. Treub, present great attractions for botanists.
In my case, shortness of the time at my disposal
prevented a vi*it to this famous Garden, and pro-
bably the same difficulty will present itself to others.
There is, however, one conspicuous advantage which
it possesses over Peradeniya as a station for botani-
cal research, viz, a well appointed laboratory.* If,
as seems not improbable, a Journey to the tropics
and a period of steady work among tropical plants
become a usual prelude to a career of active teaching
in botany, ought not the English to piovide them-
selves with some suitable station for such work ? Is
every man, whether well-to-do or impecunious, to
depend upon his own resources alone for laboratory
accommodation, re-ageits, glass, and all other accessories
necessary for his work 'f or are we to be content
to send our botanists to suck what advantage they
can from the hospitable Dutch, just as we send
our forestry students to study with the French ?
Surely it would be a most legitimate way of ex-
tending the usefulness of the Garden at Peradeniya,
and, in a small way it is true, of guarding the
credit of England as a tropical Power, to establish
a laboratory for the use of travellers. It need not
be a large or conspicuous building. Dr. Trimen
tells me that suitable accommodation for the present
could be found in the buildings already standing
in the Gardens, and probably lOd/. would cover the
initial cost of suppljing the bare necessaries of life
in the laboratory. The knowledge that such accommo-
dation would be found at the other end would cer-
tainly encourage those who are doubtful to undertake
a Journey to Ceylon.

It may be noted that no mention has been made
of the Western tropics as a field for research ;
there can be no doubt as to the richness of the
field, but I am not aware that there are any stations
iu the West which can compare with Peradeniya
or Buitenzorg in convenience, accessibility, and general
adaptation to the requirements of those who con-
template only a comparatively short visit.

Lastly, the cost of the journey will be found to
be the most frequent deterrent from undertaking
it; 2oOL is a large sum to spend upon six months'
work which can bring no direct financial return,
however great may be the ultimate advantage gained
from it ; travelling Fellowships are few ; but still
there are other sources from which grants may
well be made to assist really promising stmleiits in
attaining so desirable an end ; and it is to be hoped
that it may be regarded as a legit mate and not

* The laboratory, herbarium and a splendid library
are located in a splendid hall, which the gardens
at Buitenzorg and the cause of science owe to
Governor-General Charles Pahud, whose name is
unfortunately associated with an inferior species of
cinchona. The Buitenzorg gardens are of great ex-
tent and species are carefully arranged in groups.
The numerous varieties of palms and paudanus are
specially reraakable. There is one particular palm
with a scarlet stem which is a veritable thing of
beauty. —Ed,

unfrequent outlet for public or private grants, to
enable young men, who will ultimately engage in
teaching, towards the attainment of experience which
must always be of value to them in the exercise
of their profession. — F. O. Bower.

THE COLONIAL EXHIBITION.

TuE Co(ONLr Pai.m i.\THE LxDiAN OouuT.—As Supple-
mentary to the description of the manufacture of coir
matting, given by Mr. .Jackson in a recent number,
it may be interesting to furnish a few details as to the
importance of the trade in coir .and coconut-oil, and
to draw prominent attention to one of the most
complete and varied collections of the products of this
palm ever perhaps shown, and which is now on view
in the economic and commercial Indian Court of the
Exhibition at South Kensington, prepared by Mr. M. 0.
Pereira of Bombay. The value of the coconut-oil,
nuts, and fibre which we receive annually, exceeds
half a million sterling. The oil and coir are chiefly
received from Madras and Ceylon, the nuts from
Brazil and the West Indies.

The collection of Mr. Pereira will be found near the
bamboo trophy, and his descriptive enumeration of the
exhibits (eighty-three in number) deserves a more ex-
tensive publicity. First is shown coir, the fibre obtained
from the husk of the coconut, which in this state is
used for stufiing cushions, beds, pillows, making rope
mats, cordage, &c. Spoon made of the shell, used in
the cook-rooms of Europeans, and by the natives for
drinking gruel (rice conjee); it has the advantage
over the metallic one of not corroding. A drainer
used for draining food that has been fried in ffhee
(clarified butter) or oil ; a large ladle, used for water ; a
smaller one, used by the natives for taking out oil
for daily use from an earthen vessel containing the
yearly or quarterly stock ; it is not corroded by the
oil. Hubble-bubble ; or hookah of the poorer classes,
beads, made of the shell. Vinegar, made of the juice
or sap of the palm. Pickle made of the pith of the
top of the fresh tree, with vinegar of the juice
(toddy) of the same palm. The spathe of the blossom,
the rib of the leaf. A broom made of the leaf-ribs :
these are much used for sweeping purposes. A strainer
made from the bracts of the tree, by which the
leaves are held firm to the tree. It is used for
straining (toddy) coconut-juice and coconut-milk,
and for general straining iu the cook-room, Wooly
tloss, much used as a styptic for cuts by the toddy
drawers and cultivators. The blossom in the state
when it is tapped for drawing juice (toddy). Chain
used round the waist to retain the loin-cloth : the
size is for a child — set in metal it may be used as a
watch-guard. Drum made of a piece of the trunk
of the tree. Wood, pieces of rafter made of the
lower part of the tree, 10, 20, and 25 feet in length.
Oil, as expressed in the native mills for commerce.
Oil extracted from fresh coconuts by rasping
fine, drying and pressing between coir, and twisting
with the hands, or by extracting the milk and sep-
erating the oil by heat. It is u.sed internally in lieu
of cod liver oil, and externally tor ulcers with good
results. Coconut hair-oil, arrack, a spirituous liquor,
60^ u. p., distilled from cocoimt juice (toddy) and
drukhot. Punch made from the juice of the coco-
nut palm, with spices and sugar, from the recipe of
the Portuguese. One or two cupfuls are drunk hot
for a cold. Liquor made of toddy by re-distillation,
20° u.p., formerly much used for making nislicinal
tinctures and country brandy; a coconut (the fruit
takes a year to ripen). A sweetmeat prepared from
the kernel of the nut ; another kind is flavoured with
saffron. Splints made of spathe of the blossom used
for this purpose by the toddy drawers and natives
of Goa, kc. Door mats made of the fibre, of many
shapes and sizes by natives, and iu the gaols. Buggy
mats and carriage mats are also shown. Floor mats
are also made in Malabar, and iu the Bombay gaols
of different sorts and colours. A bird-cage made of
the rib of the leaf. Horns, large and small, made
of the leaf of the palm (rive a loud .sound when fresh.
Toy-parrots iu cage, made by children, of the leaf

AVG, 2, 1S864

THE TROPIC At AORfCULTUSIS*,

i 2^7

of the palm. Oadjaii or woven leaf of the
tree, used for thatching houses; has the ativantago
over tiles of keeping the house cool. The astriugeut
root is used medicinally, and as a gargle for sore
mouth. Coir ropes of various sizes are extensively
used for different purposes. An oil bottle hung be-
neath tbe labour cart with castor-oil and brusli in
it for lubricating axles. Immature nut, used medicin-
ally as an astringent; children are fond of it.

Trough made of coconut tree used for catching
water drawn from a well with a Persian wheel for
irrigation purposes, of which a model is shown. A
conduit as put under the trough for conveying the
water. Piece of the adapter used for connecting the
native still to the condenser. Tuntuua, a native musi-
cal instrument used by the poorer classes. Piece of
beam of the shape used for houses. It is also used
for fishing-stakes in the sea ; generally two coco-
nut trees make a stake 60 to 70 feet long. A rosary-
box made of immature coconuts.

Charcoal powder, the burnt shell, used for prepar-
ing black and lead coloured washes for houses. Broom
made of the ribs of the leaf, used by the Bombay
and other municipalities for sweeping roads, streets,
yards, &c. Brooms made of the stems of the blossoms
and nuts are used by the cultivators for collecting
dry leaves for burning on the fields. Crab traps are
made of the stems of the leaf, and fish traps of the
ribs.

String of Pots — This is made of the fibre of 60 or
70 feet in length, and about fity or sixty earthen
pots fixed to it and put on the Persian wheel, which
in rotating brings up the pots filled with water and
takes down the empty one.

Vio in used by the lower classes of natives, particu*
larly the Gosavies, a class of professional beggars.
A sling, used for keeping sundry articles of food out
of the reach of cats, rats, and ants, by hanging it on
a hook to the ceiling. Tied to the ends of a bamboo
it serves for carrying water-pots, baskets, &c. A
small one is used by milkmen for carrying milk for sale.

Flesh-glove, used for washing and rubbing cattle
and horses. Tar with acetic acid, made by burning
the shells in a pot with a small hole in the bottom,
placed on another, heated by fire on all sides. It is
used by the natives for ringworm and skin diseases.
A brush made of the husk of the nut for cleaning
sieves, washing baskets, and rice-strainers. Sugar
and molasses made of the toddy or juice in Goa.

A band peeled from the outer part of the stem of
the leaf, which is used as a cord by the toddy drawers.
A gilded coconut, offered bj' the higher classes of
Hindoos to appease the sea on the coconut fair
day. At weddings the bridegroom and bride carry
it in their hands. Coconut husk, used as fuel,
especially for baking purposes and for making fibre ;
scoops made of the shell — the round and deep ones
are used as drinking cups. Neck-belts, used for
yoking bullocks and buffaloes to carts, ploughs, oil-
mills, &c. Sack, used for sending out articles in;, a
somewhat similar one is attached to the cart for
carrying straw or grass. The pedicles of the blossom
are used for tooth brushes, and the peduncles are
used as brushes for whitewashing houses, kc. A blind,
used for blinding bullocks and buffalo while yoked to
the Persian wheel, oil-mills, &c. Nest, made by birds
out of the fibre of the leaf. Soap, made with coco-
nut oil, which holds a larger percentage of water
than any other soap. Rings, whips, neckties, rattles,
crosses, puzzles, and toys are made of it, also cricket-
pads of the wood. Poonac or oil-cake from the native
mill, used for manure and feeding poultry. A paten-
8ur or ship and fishing boat, made by boys of the
fisherman class.

Copra or kobral, the dried albuminous kernel of
the nut — the stem u.sed as a broom. Model of a
charpai or cot used by the natives. Crude potash
from the stem of the leaves ; they produce 20 per
cent, of ash. Abortive coconuts used as floats for
beginners in swimming. The spadis, prepared for
drawing juice or toddy. A thin slice iti cut from the
palm stem three times a day. The juice flows from
tiiie aad dri^s doww juto an eartheo pot susp&uded

on purpose. A small piece of the leaf is fixed above
to prevent the bottom of the pot from touching the
point, the sheath of the leaf covering the mouth of
the pot to keep out flies.

Cultivation. — This useful palm refjuires consider-
able care and cost to bring it to the state of bear-
ing fruit. The ripe good-sized nuts from an old tree
are kept in a well of water for three months, until
they germinate; they are then put into the groum'
in beds of fifty or a hundred, and watered every
day. In three months more they begin to grow up,
and after three years or more they may be transplanted
in regular spaces of from 1-5 to 20 feet, watered regularly
every other day, and manured occasionally. In about
twelve or fifteen years they come to bearing, but
the yield is in proportion to the care taken to water
and manure; at this stage the value of the tree is
from £2 10s. to £3 each.

Ceylon.

From Ceylon it is officially stated that the cultiv-
ation of the coconut palm, with its multifarious
uses, is the most important in the life of the low-
country Sinhalese. The spirit he drinks is distilled
from the snp, the kernel of the nut is a necessary
element in his daily curry, the "milk" of the imt
is the beverage oft'ered to every visitor ; his oijy lamp
is fed from the oil ; the nets for fishing are manufactureil
from the fibre, as is also the rope which keeps his
goat or cow from straying ; while the rafters of his
house, the thatch of the roof, and the window-blinds,
are made from its leaf and wood. The extent and
value of the cultivation of this palm may be gathered
from the fact, that while, as already stated, its many
products are a universal necessity in the daily lite of
the island population of 3,000,000, the export of oil,
copra, and fibre, exceeds in amount £700,000 annu-
ally, and the revenue derived from the excise duty
levied on the spirit (arrack) distilled from the sap
exceeds £170,000.

The shipments of coconut oil from Oeylou iu
18S4 were 383,955 cwt., valued at £447,948; and of
arrack, 140,742 gallons, value £24,290; exclusive of
the coir-fibre, £77,454, and nuts, £6,900. Under the
name of poonac, 150,000 to 200,000 cwt. of coco-
nut oil-cake is also imported annually for manure
from the Malabar coast, to the value of £(30,000 to
£70,000.

Besides India, coconut products are shown iu the
Ceylon, Fiji, the West Indian Courts, and Honduras.
The value of the exports from Fiji in 1884 were: —

Coconuts £2,219

Copra 59,241

Coir-fibre 1,301

£62,7(31
Trinidad has 3,000 acres planted with coconut
palms, i^bout 5,500,000 coconuts were shipped from
Jamaica in 1884, which realised nearly £21,000. —
P. L. SiMMONDS. — Gardeners^ Chronicle.

The Baek of the Sapu Tkee as a febbiitgb
is thus noticed in an account of the Mauritius Court
iuthe Pharmaceutical Journal: — "The bark of J/khelia
i hai)ij>aca is stated by Bouton to act very effectually
as an antiperiodic, and to clean the tongue iu fever
and subdue nervous symptoms."

Petroleum Fuel. — At the conclusion of a paper
on petroleum by A. H. Samuels, F. C. S., he stated: —
I must not omit to mention the use of the special
product of petrol distillation for fuel. The Rus.siau.9
call it astatki, and Messrs. Nobel's fleet of petroleum
vessels on the Caspian Sea are all worked entirely with
this astatki. It is burnt by being passed along a
narrow tube, and as it drips from the tube a current
of steam is blown through it and scatters it in a
fine spray, which keeps in a continual blaze. Various
patents have been taken out for burning petroleum
for fuel, and is likely to supersede coal at sea owing
to its great cheapness and economy ae regards bulk. —
Fh<frii'MC(iUtical Journal.

i

12

'X

'tnE TROPiCAL Ai^mcvL'rtjmst,

[Aug. 2, i'5o6.

EooT-wOKJis IN THE SuRARCANE.— M. Treub, the
excellent Director of the Buitonzorg Botanic Garden,
has published an account of a third species, Heter-
odera javanica, which affects the roots of Sugarcane
in the same manner as the two other species, II.
Schachtii (found on numerous plants, esiDecially in
■Beetroot), and H. radicola, also found in numerous
plants. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

MARACAiiiO Coffee. — Cou.sul Plumacher, in his an-
nual report just submitted to the State Department
on the commerce of the consular district of Maracaibo,
says that coffee continues the principal product of
that region, and New York its most advantageous
TMarket. The export of colfee to the United States,
which was thirty million pounds during 1884, was
less than twenty-eight million pounds during 1885.
The production of cotfee was nob less than heretofore,
but low prices led inland producers to store and hold
their coffee to await better prices. Kecent revolutions
and low water in the rivers havo also interfered
with the shipment of coffee from the interior to
ports of export. The exports have been mainly in
American bottoms. The new crop i^romises to be
plentiful and good. The export of cacao is steadily
increasing, and will probably be doubled by the com-
pletion of railroads now in course of construction.
The demand and ijxices for hides and skins were
uniformly good. Commerce at Maracaibo suft"ers from
a monetary crisis, revolution, monopolies, political
uneasiness, postal irregularities, and prevailing low
prices of prmcipal articles of export. The total ex-
pots of the year to the United States were estimated
at s2,8t'7,682.— iV. Y. Cummcrcial Bidhiin.

The Tkade ix Jute. — Some curious facts in
connection with the trade in manufactured goods be-
tween Germany and England are brought to light in a
report by H. M. Charged' Affairs at Dresden ''on the
effects of the German Customs Tariff' Eeform of 1879,
and on the revision of 1S85." The points with which
we are more immediately interested are those treatt-d
of in chap. 4 under the head of " Jute Manufactures,"
in which Mr. Strachey says : — " Germany began to
spin and weave Junte fibre about a quarter of a
century ago. In 1S74 the spindles were estimated
at about 17,000 ; they are now nearly 150,000. These
may seem miserable figures by the side of the 18,000
Indian spindles, to say nothing of the Scotch, but they
show the vigour with which the youngest of the
textile manufactures has been pursued by the Germans.
All the coarse Jute tissues such as granary sacks,
baggings, hessiaus, and tarpaulins, arc now made in
8axouy, Prussia, Bremen, Gua Elsass, and elsewhere
iu the empire. "When spun in high numbers the
fibre lias a fine golden glance, and in its natural
shade, or dyed, may be woven into cloths and plushes
of great durability and beauty. Jute may also be
printed or interwoven with cotton, woollen, and silk,
making the cheap and effective furnitiu-e stuffs now
so largely used in hotels, railway stations, theatres,
&'c., and in Germany in private houses. It is hardly
a secret that the fibre of the Corchorus capsularis
is tb«; real component of most of the real Algerian
curtains positively imjjorted from Algiers, of the genuine
clothb of Smyrna, of the undoubted tapestries of
Teheran and Herat. Germany contributes her .share
to the productions of all these fabrics, whether sold
under their 2iroj)er names, or under the more attractive
foreign euphemisms. Chenmitz and Zittau in iSa.xony,
Klberfeld, and some other Prussian wool centres,
now compete with the analogous goods of Paris,
Amiens, of Tourcoing and Eoubaix, and with our own
made in Bradford and Huddersfield. " — Gardener/
Chronicle.

Thk Colonial Exhibition. — One of the most inter-
esting of the minor features consists in the illustra-
tions of the uses made of (lowers, gras.scs, &c., for
ornamental purposes. In the Cape Court, for instance,
a botanist of our acquaintance who has made the
llestiaceic a subject of special study for nearly a
quarter of a century, and has been twitted for his
devotion to so unattractive and so generally useless
a race of plants, was delighted to find his favourites
tliuugbi cruameutal euougb by the Cape ladies to b«;

used as decorations for their hats, together with leaves
of the Silver tree (Lenoadondron), everlasting flowers,
&c. In the "West Au.stralian Court are some orna-
ments constructed of what we take to be scales from
the involucre of a Protead. They are effective, but
we have not yet been able to examine them closely.
Popular names are, as usual, an intolerable nuisance;
some magnificient things are made in various Australian
Courts from " Cedar." but the Cedar of one court is
not the Cedar of another; and whatever be the
true name neither of them is entitled to be called
Cedar ; the collections of timber, economic plants
and their products by Baron Von Mueller, Dr.
Schomburgk, Mr. Brown (South Australia), Mr. Bailey,
the colonial botanist of (.Queensland, the officers at
the Cape and Natal, Briti.sh <!uiana, Canada and
India are full of interest to the botanist and culti-
vator. Baron Yon Mueller sends his wood samples
in the form of little books, which admit of the various.
sections, transverse, vertical, or radial, being seen,
while it allows the specimens to bo packed book-
fashion in small compass. Each "book" has for title
the name of the plant from which it is produced.
Mr. Brown mounts small sections of wood bark, .tc,
with the dried ilowers on grey board— the whole very
neat, compact, and effective. I'he Queensland woods
are iu the form of small slabs let into card board
mounts like photographs. The photographs of the
Melbourne and Sydney Botanic Gardens, as well as
those of Ceylon and Calcutta are excellent. Our
readers will be familiar with some of these from the
illustrations that we have from time to time published.
The Botanic Gardens, Ballarat, is, however, new to
us. The models of fruit from Australia are iiitiTest-
ing, but their interest is;iesseued by the considerable im-
portations, in excellentcoudition,of fresh samples. — Ibid.
Coco-De-Mek, or Double Coconut. — Frederick
Stearns has on exhibition, at his oflice in the labor-
atory, two specimens of the Coco-de-mer, or Double
Coconut, a remarkable fruit of one of the largest and
most wonderful palm-trees. They were sent him by
the Hon. E. V. Mussey, United States Consul at the
Seychelles, a small group of islands in the Indian
Ocean, north of INIadagascar. This palm-tree, it is
stated attains a height of 100 feet, its stem being
nearly two feet in diameter, bearing on its summit
a crown of fan-.^haped leaves. It is remarkable for
growing in a socket of a hard, woody texture, per-
forated with holes made by the roots. This curious
appendage derives its origin from the Coteyledon,
which in the palm attains the extraordinary length
of 2 feet, growing downwards like a root, having the
germ seated in its thickned end. "When perfect, the
thick end opens on one side, like a sheath. In time,
the nutriment of the nut becomes exhausted, and the
part of the cotyledon between it and the young plant
withers. The latter, however, maiutains its placental
vital connections with the sheath end of the cotyle-
don, which is henceforth nourished by the plant, aad
increases in size with its growth, which thus cou-
tinues seated in the cradle of its birth through life.
This formation appears, however, to be common to
the palms, but very much more largely developed in
this variety. The fruit is a large oblong nut, cov-
ered with a thin rind. After the removal of the outer
rind it has the appearance of two oblong nuts firmly
united together, often weighing 30 to 40 pounds.
They are borne in bunches, each consisting of nine or
ten nuts, so that a whole bunch will often weigh 400
pounds. It takes 10 years to ripen its fruit, the
albumen of which is similar to that of the conunou
coconut, but it is too hard aiid horny to serve as
food. 'L'he shell is converted into many useful ar-
ticles by the natives. The lea^'es are made into hats,
baskets, and the like. The demand of late years has
become so great that in order to obtain the leaves the
trees are cut down, and, as no care is taken to form
new plantations, it was at one time feared this palm
would eventually become extiuct. In 1804 the lead-
ing botanists in England petitioned the (Government
for its protection. By more recent information,
however, it apjjcars that in one island alone there are
raauy thousaude of these valm-tteos.— Detroit free Prea.

Aug. 2, 1886,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

1.20

ADULTERATION OF COFFEE.

Planters' Association of Ceylon, Kandy,
IHth July 1HS(;.
The Editors, thr Ci'ijlou Ohsei-vfr, Colombo.

Sirs,— With reference to your editorial note in
regard to the leaflet on the subject of the adulter-
ation of coffee mentioned in Mr. Shand's letter
published in your issue of yesterday, 1 now beg to
enclose a copy of it.

The Planters' Association and Chamber of Com-
merce were recently invited by Mr. Thomas Dickson,
Managing Director of the Scottish Trust and Tjoan
Company of Ceylon, Limited, to again move in the
matter, when it was decided that the subject be
brought before the Associated Chambers of Com-
merce of the British Empire by Mr. F. W. Rois, the
delegate of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, but
I think Mr. Shand's statement that the Planters'
Association of Ceylon was not asked to join in the
particular movement under remark is correct. — I am,
sirs, yours faithfully, A PHILIP, Si'crPtanj.

{Printed viidcr the Aufhorifi/ of the hidiaii Coffee

I'!(in/eis' Committee.)

COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION

(LONDON, 1886).

INDIAN COFFEE, ITS USE AND ADXILTEHATION.

Samples of Indian Coffee, 230 in number, have been
arranged at the Exhibition, by the Indian Coffee
Planters' Committee, under the sanction of the Royal
Commissioners. These samples represent (1) the
" cherry " (that is, the coffee fruit as plucked from
the tree) ; (2) the " parchment " bean (that is, the
berry when pulped but enveloped in an outer skin
or husk, resembling parchment) ; and (3) the berries
stripped of this covering, and sized and sorted as
they come into the English market, before roast-
ing. The coffee thus exhibited is from the crop of
1885-6, produced by British planters in the foUow-
iug districts : — Mysore, Coorg, the Wynaad, the
Neilgherries and Travancore. Upon coffee estates
in these districts the investment of British capital
is annually increasing, and the linest coffee which
comes into the English market, fetching higher prices
in many cases than even Mocha coffee itself, is
grown in the districts above mentioned.

Visitors are invited to test the quality of the coffee
by purchasing, in the coffee stalls of the Royal Com-
mission, cups of Indian coffee, or they uuiy buy at the
same stalls packcts^of roasted coffee, ground or ungrouud
which may, if they wish, be forwarded to any address
through the Parcels Post. If desired, unroawtcd coffee
will be supplied.

Coffee, when carefully made, with asufticieut (|uant-
ity (say from an ounce and a half to two ounces to
a pint of water), is, perhaps, the most delicious and
refreshing of all non-alcoholic beverages. It produces
a buoyancy and exhilaration which arc not followed
by reaction or subsoqirent depression ; it acts as a
stimulus to the mental powers, lightens fatigue, sus-
tains the strength, whether under mental or phys-
ical exertion, and contains medicinal and restorative
properties long recognized as of the highest value.
No other beverage so amply repays, by its aroma
and fragrance, a little care and attention in prepar-
ing it. In every other civilized country, excepting
the United Kingdom and Russia, it is among non-
alcoholic beverages that which is most largely con-
sumed.

In the United Kingdom its consumption, unfortun-
ately, has been hindered to a great extent by many
and shiinieful adulterations carried to such lengths
that large classes of the population hardly know
the flavour of genuine coffee. Chicory is the chief in-
gredient in the cheap mixtures, because it soon makes
hot water black, thick and bitter, and so little
It

gives apparent strength to what may contain liLtlo
of the coffee berry. Among numerous other substances
used to adulterate coffee are burnt sugar, roasted and
ground roots of dandelion, carrot and parsnip, together
with beans, lupins and other seeds. Notwithstanding the
provisions of the Adulteration Act, and, indeed, under
cover of these provisions, the adulterants above-
mentioned are made up with coffee in different pro-
portions, andareeverydaysold,especially among the poor,
labelled as coffee mixtures. They are also sold under
various high-sounding names to consumers among the
middle and upper classes.

An aoalysis of forty-three samples of coffee and coffee
mixtures purchased in London during March and April
1886, shows an average proportion of coffee in these
.samples of just fifty per cent, added to fifny per cent
of burnt sugar and various vegetable substances. 'J'wenty-
two of the samples bear a label very cominonly used ;
and nine of those contain from sixty-two to ninety-
three per cent of chicory, ka., averaging seventy per
cent of other substances than coffee. These mixtures
are sold at prices ranging from lOd up to Is 4d per
pound. The price of the pure Indian coffee sold in
packets at the Royal Commission's stalls is Is 4d pel'
pound. Upon a moderate calculation the vendors of
many of the wretched compounds just mentioned must
be realizing profits of something like a lumdied per
cent, and the worse the mixture the greater the profit.
On this subject the Connnittee may cite the follow-
ing extract from the Annual Report of the local
Government Board for 1884-5 (pp. cvi, cvii : —
'' Coffee continues to be one of the chief
subjects of adulteration, and about one-fifth of the
samples examined were reported against. The peculi-
arity in one case was that the berries were actually
shown to the Inspector, and were ground in his pre-
sence, so that there ^.seemed to be no likelihood of
adulteration. Chicory, however, was found on analysis
to be present, and the vendor was fined. It is poss-
ible that this fraud was due to the revival of an old
practice of compressing chicory by machinery into the
size and shape of coffee-berries. These sham berries
are mixed with real ones, and the purchaser, who sees
what he believes to be coffee being ground before his
eyes, is hopelessly deceived. As chicory only costs
threepence or fourpeace per pound, the fraud is very
profitable. It is no rare thing for so-called ' coft'ee'
to be sold which proves on analysis to be composed of
one-fourth part of coft'ee added to three-fourths of
chicory."

From an abstract of reports made by the public
analysts contained in the same official document (p. 298)
it appears that, out of 357 samples examined in thu
Metropolis during the year 1884, fifty-three, or abnu
fifteen per cent, were adulterated. In various countieK
of England and Wales adulteration was still more gen-
eral, for out of 981 samples examined 210 were adult-
ered, or about twenty-two per cent. And these were
not the coffee " mixtures," w'lich may be sold as such
if so labelled (see section 8 of Sale of ]''ood and Drugs
Act, 1875), but samples sold as pure coffee.

Thus it appears that from the .sale of coffee
mixture enormous profits are realized by vendors
while the pubhc palate is depraved and genuine
coffee discredited. In the interest of consumers, as
well as of British producers and importers, the Indian
Coft'ee Planters' Committee wi.sli to point out that
pure and wholesome colfec may be bought at reason-
able prices, varying, of course, according to (juality,
but often little if at all exceeding the i)rices charged
for spurious fabrications. This Kxhihition, with its
samples of genuine products from the Colonies and
India, appears to offer a legitimate, opportunity for
pointing out the wholesale manufacture and retailing
of spurious compounds in the United Kingdom,
practices most prejudicially affecting consumers, and
also seriously discouraging British enterprise in the
growth and importation of coftee. Visitors are re-
.spectfully invited to note these facts, and not allow
themselves to be deluded into the belief that coffee
mixtures are aught but a miserable snbstit\it<! for
genuine coffee.

130

THE TROPl-CAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Ave, 2, 1886.

A Few Practical Hints to coffee-driukers : — *

1. Raw coffee (the unroasted berry) if kept in a
dry place improves with age.

2. Those who wish to enjoy coffee in perfection
should have it fresh roasted.

o. If the usual rotating cylinders are not avail-
able, it is easy to roast coffee over a clear fire in an
earthenware pipkin, or a small frying-pan : it must
be kept constantly stirred to prevent burning ; the
time required is from 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Roasted coft'ee should be kept in nn air-tight
vessel; the "S'ienuese prefer a glass bottle to a canister.
Coffee is very absorbent, and according to good au-
thorities, shcidd at no time come into contact with
metal.

5. A mill, though convenient, is not esaential. The
Turks do not grind their coft'ee, but pound it in a
mortar with wooden pestles. Brillat Savarin, the
great French epicure, who tried both pounded and
ground coffee, preferred the former.

6. One ounce of coffee to a pint of water makes
poor coffee ; an ounce and a half to a pint makes
fairly good coffee ; two ounces to a pint make ex-
cellent coffee.

7. Such cort'ee niixed^with half, or even three parts,
its bulk of boiling milk, forms an ideal breakfast-food
for l>ody workers and brain workers. A very small
quantity without milk, taken after a full meal, stimul-
ates the stomach to the necessary effort of digestion,
and wards oft' the drowsiness which often follows

saliefj'.

8. This neat infusion is generally known as "black"
coffee. But genuine coft'ee, when infused is not very
black. An excessive black colour is given by means
of burnt .sugar, and is no sure indication of strength.

9. It is a mistake to suppose that costly and cum-
bersome machines are necessary for making coffee. The
Brazilians insist that coffee-pots should be made of
porcelain or earthenware, not metal. Excellent coffee
may be made in a common jug provided with a
strainer.

10. Warm the jug, put in the coffee, pour boiling-
water on it, and the thing is done.

11. Coffee must not be boiled ; let it gently simmer ;
violent ebullition di.ssipates the aroma.

12. If a quantity be wanted, good coffee can be
made .^ome hours beforehand, even overnight if necess-
ary. For this purpose use any large earthenware vessel;
heat it to receive the coffee ; fill up with boiling-water;
protect the contents from the air by a wet cloth over
the lid or other covering. When required, pour gently
off the clear infusion and heat it to the simmering
point.

13. Complicated filters are unnecessary if your coffee
be pure ; if mixed with chicory, dandelion root, roasted
acorns, roasted cabbage stumps, or other forms of veget-
able offal, which on boiling disintegrate and yield a
thick, starchy, albuminous, sugary soup, you will then
want an ingenious filter.

14. According to recent German analyses,the dietetic
value of a cup of coffee is more than twice that of a
cup of tea ; as a stimulant a cup of coft'ee has more
than three times the value of a cup of tea.

MR. RUTHERFORD ON THE DETERIORATION

OF CE"rLON TEA.

10th July.

Sib, — The following have been given me by various
tea planters as the causes which they consider have
brought about such a great fall in the price of Ceylon
teas this season : —

No. 1 considers that the poor quality is because there
have been those conditions of heat and moisture to pro-
duce leaf flush, without the plant drawing upon the
minerals of the soil, and that on this account there is
a iioverty of cellular tissue^

* Most of these " hints " are condensed from " Coffee
and Tea," a lecture given by Dr. G. V. Poore, at the
J'arkes Museum, 74 (a) Margaret t^treet W., where
persons desiring to pursue the subject further may
obtain copies of this Uicture (price Id) or by writing to
th(* Secrttary.

No. 2 does not believe in the deterioration of quality,
and attributes the low prices entirely to larger supplies
and a ilepressed trail e.

No. 3 considers that, as a rule Ceylon estates are
plucking coarser leaf than they did in the days when
Mr. Cameron was among us.

No. 4 considers that much better tea vpould have been
made had there not been such a lack of electricity in
the air this season — a fact which, he says, he has par-
ticularly noted.

No. 5 considers we have been working our bushes too
hard, and that they are on many estates becoming
exhausted ; and if good quality is to be maintained
we /Hmt manure.

No. 6 considers that low prices might to a certain
extent be averted if London brokers would not so
invariably sell icithoat reserve.

None admit that tea-makers have become careless
in the manufacture of their teas, and none attribute a
deterioration from using any particular roller or
dryer.

Tbe above expressions of opinion are from those who
have given some attention to tho subject ; and,
although none of them may have hit upon the
true reason for the great fall in price and alleged de-
terioration, their opinions may assist others in solving
tlie mystery. H. K RUTHERFORD.

liocal " Times."

CEYLON EEVOLUTIONIZING THE MARKETS
OF THE WOELD.

IN EEKPKCT OV CINCIIONV E.\RK ANP C\BI>a:\[0-MS.

IN FIVIO YEARS, MAY NOT THIS AliSO JilC THF. CASH

WITH TEA ?

The time was — not so long ago — when " New
Products " were the subject of contempt on the part
of a great many people in Ceylon. The old coffee
planter wedded to his staple andjustlyproud oi'aplant
that had so long been the mainstay of the colony,
for years poohpoohed the cry over " new pro-
ducts." Absent proprietors, as in the case of
Mr. Wm. Smith's partners in Craigie Lea, some
dozen years ago, would have nothing to say to
cinchona on their plantations. Who would devote
time andmoney to a "medicine plant ?" " Intelligent
natives " for a long time, thought ii a poor look-out
when they saw their European neighbours and
superiors given over to experimental nurseries
and gardens with a variety of new-tangled
notions about bark, rubber-juice, cacao-pods and
even the despised native cardamoms. Officials,
with one notable exception, generally looked upon
the "New Products" era as the beginning of the
end, and many of them rather chuckled over the
thought that Ceylon was in a fair way to re-
lapse into the paradise described by Mr. Wm.
Charles Gibson when there was no coffee planter
in the island to worry and disturb Her Majesty's
Civil Service. We have spoken of one notable ex-
ception. We refer to Governor Sir Wjt. Gregory
who was so far ahead of the Service and of the
generality of planters, as to devote special headings
and paragraphs in his Opening Speeches year by
year to Cinchona, Cacao, Tea, Rubber, &c., long
before those industries had been practically ap-
preciated on our plantations.

But the day of small and despised things is
at end, and lo ! the little one has become a thousand.
Who would have believed in 18()1 (the year that
Clements Markham brought the lirst cinchona
plants to the East), or in 1871 when our
total export of bark was 80 pacakages valued at
R;5l3, or even in 1881 when it had reached
1,100,000 lb., that in 1884-5-0 it would be found
that Ceylon had completely revolutionized the an-
cient South American trade in cinchona bark and ac-
t|uired the complete control of the European market ?

Aug. 2, 1886.]

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

13^

Sending from 11 to 15 million lb. of bark of all
grades into the European market in a single year,
the produce of Ceylon may now be said to equal, if
not exceed, that of all the rest of the -world put
together ! And yet less than seventeen years
ago, the Director of our Botanic Gardens (the
late Dr. Thwaites), had to beg, and beg in vain,
to have a trial given by our planters to his
cinchona p)lants. otfering them as a free gift!
The cinchona planting industry has indeed become
a veritable giant in Ceylon ; the shipment of a
couple millions lb. of bark in a single month from
Colombo is not now deemed extraordinary and
as a correspondent well says elsewhere, it depends
entirely on Ceylon producers whether the price of
this product should rise again, or fall to a mere
fraction of what it was a few years ago. There
is certainly reason therefore for a Cinchona Planters'
Syndicate in this island.

But it is not simj^ly in respect of cinchona bark
that the markets of Europe have been revolution-
ised. There is another "new product"' despised
and comparatively little known, and yet it has
put many useful rupees into the pockets of numerous
Ceylon planters during the last five years, until
now the cry comes from the brokers and merchants of
London that in respect of Cakdamojis too, Ceylon
has revolutionised the trade of the world as cen-
tred in the great distributing metropolis. How
strange this result ! Ceylon began by shipping only
5,000 lb. of this product so recently as 187*>, and
now we are up to 205,000 lb. for 9\ months with
the probability of touching 250,000 lb, for the twelve
months ending ;-!Oth September next

It is surely then no small compliment to the energy
of our planters and the world-wide importance of
their industry in this island, to learn that in re-
spect of two of our new products — Cinchona and
Cardamoms— the whole trade of the world has been
revolutionised through the influence of Ceylon.
Who daresay that it may not be possible in
live or seven years hence, to say the same thing
in respect of " Tea " ? We ought to have taken
special notice before now of the fact that m April
last Ceylon had made another great stride forward,
in shipping over one million lb. of tea in the one
month. The day is not far distant, we believe,
when the same quantity will be shipped in a
week from Colombo. There can be no question
that we are, as a colony, in for "a big thing"
as the Americans would say, in respect of
" tea." The sooner our neighbours in India, Java
and China realize the fact, that this little island
is bound to go on exporting 12, 20, 30 and 40
millions of lb. in successive seasons until, perhaps,
the 50 or CO millions are reached, the better for
their own peace of mind and business arrange-
ments. It is impossible to arrest the great enter-
prise in which x^ractically the entire planting com-
munity of Ceylon are now engaged. Caedamoms has
done great things ; Cinchona can shew marvellous
results (and Cacao or Cocoa should not be for-
gotten) ; but among all the New Products of
Cevlon, none are so full of promise, potency and
revolution as regards the markets of the West,
and the prosperity of this little island, as Tea.

EXHIBITION CONFEEENCE ON ElBRES,
DEUGS, &c.
(From a London Correqyondent.)

20th June 188G.
A notice was issued from the Colonial Exhib-
ition dated 15th June, signed E. C. Buck, inviting
gentlemen to meet at a Conference at the Econoniic
Court in the Indian Department on tibres, silk,
di'uge, gumi; aad vQaiaa, miwx&h, gik, oil ■^eBd^,

timbers, tanning materials and food stuff. The first
meeting was on the IGth instant, when Dr. Forbes
Watson, Messrs. Christy, Routledge, Collier, Cross
and Johnston attended. Dr. Watt had the differ-
ent fibres laid out in bundles, but owing to the
want of commercial information no practical results
were arrived at. One gentleman asked the names
of the tibres referred to in TJie TimeK 31st May.
Dr. Watt replied that the names of the fibres
could not be given as some visitors at the Ex-
hibition who had their attention called to these
fibres had undertaken to patent the employment
of two for certain purposes. This created con-
siderable surprise to the gentlemen who were asked
to attend this conference. Mr. Cross working with
Mr. Bevan and Mr, Johnston asked if the Indian
Government would pay for a chemical report upon
the tibres from India if he examined them chemic-
ally and microscopically. Mr. Buck said that he
was confident that the Indian Government would
not pay any expenses as they were most
anxious that this expense should devolve upon
merchants in England, and this was one of the
reasons why they hoped to form a Colonial and
Indian Museum. Mr. Ckoss then asked, supposing
he did the whole of this work, would Mr. Buck
undertake to have the whole published at the ex-
pense of the Government. He replied that if the
future recipients of the Indian collection would not
support the expense, he undertook to say that the
Crovernment would do so. It is rather a singular
coincidence that on the same day as this first
conference was held that a letter should appear
from Mr. T. Christy, F.L.b., in the CHij Prea:; upon
the subject of Colonial Museums.

THE PEICE OF QUININE.

Quinine, the alkaloid of cinchona that is most
largely used in medicine, is now lower in price
than it has ever before been in the history of its
manufacture. When Congress removed the import
duty on the various salts of quinine in July 1879,
the price of sulphate of quinine of American
manufacture, was 1i>3.35 per ounce in bulk, but
since that date the price, with the exception of
a few slight fluctuations, has steadily tended down-
ward, until at the present time tlie American
drug is quoted at 68 cents per ounce in bulk,
while the foreign article is (juoted at about four
cents per ounce less.

The question naturally arises as to what extent
did the removal of the duty affected the price of
the drug. Immediately after the removal of the
duty there was a decided fall in the price, occasioned
by large quantities of foreign sulphate of quinine
being sent to this country, but it was not long be-
fore prices advanced, not to the same point, how-
ever, as prevailed at the time of the removal of
the duty. The cheapness of the salts of quinine
is almost entirely due to the low price at which
the cinchona bark, from which they are obtained,
is now being sold, and ihe bark is cheap be-
cause it is in plentiful supply. For many years
quinine manufacturers in this country and abroad
relied principally upon South America for the
supply of cinchona bark, and, as the amount
furnished was insufficient, the price was high ;
but during recent years the efforts made by the
English and Dutch Governments more than twenty
years ago to grow the cinchona tree in other
places have begun to bring forth good results,
so that the bark, instead of coming almost ex-
clusively from South America, is now supplied
from tiie East Indies, Ceylon, Java, etc. The first
shipments from Ceylon, wliich is now one of ilie
largest tjrowcrs oi the cinchona ticc, were juade

s^

l^HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug. 2, 1886.

in 181)9, and (lid not excpfdafew pounds, but now
the exports of bark from tliis island annually amount
to over 15,000,000 pounds.

With the cheapness of sulphate of quinine there
voUowed an increase in the consumption, for the
world's production is now greater than ever before.
Not only is this increased output sliown by foreign
manufacturers, but American producers have largely
increased their production ot sulphate of quinine
during the past few years. The American industry
is carried on by a few large manufacturers in
New York and Philadelphia. We are unable to
yhow the increase in production in thi^ country,
as it is impossible to obtain statistics from the
manufacturers of their output : but, as all the
bark used in this country is imported, an examin-
ation of the Customs returns Will give the imports
of bark, which will fairly show the increase that
has taken place in the production of sulphate of
quinine. The imports of cinchona bark in the
iiscal years ended June 30th, 1881, 1885 and 1886
were as follows : For 188(5 the statistics for nine
months -of the year only were at hand, so that
a careful estimate for the balance of the year has
been made and added to the imports for the nine
months.

Pounds. Values.

1881 2,580,052 |717,(1U

1885 3,513,3'.ll Ull,508

i«8l) 1,100,000 880,000

It will be seen that the increase in the imports
i^ince 1881 has been nearly GO per cent. While the
imports increased the average import value per
l)0und decreased, being 28 ^cents in 1S81, a little
over 26 cents in 1885, and only 21 .cents ^in
iS8ti.

Although American manufacturers are produc-
ing large (juantities of quinine, a considerable
imount of the foreign drug is being imported, but
ihe quantity is now much less than it has been.
Tn the nine months ended March Hist last, the
imports into this country of the salts of quinine
amounted to 1,1011,1)01 ounces, valued at ^75y,<j(;i)
against 1,716,897 ounces, valued at 5*1,105,957,
imported in the corresponding period of last year,
'i'hc American sulphate of (]uinine, although some-
what higher in price than the foreign article, is
yreterred by most consumers because of its known
purity. Foreign quinine is brought here in bulk
and in some cases is adulterated, but if the con-
sumer takes proper precautions in purchasing, the
quinine he obtains is considered in every respect equal
Lo the American product. — Bnult^trcet,

THE AGKICULTUKAL AND HOETIGULTUEAL
SOCIETY OF INDIA,
Besides a mass of other interesting matter, the
latest issued volume of tlio transactions contains
a hir^tory of tlie inslitutiun. rise and progre.ss of
the (Society, by ^^r. A. 11. IJlcchynden, the yecretary.
From this valualde paper wc learn that this Ho-
ciety which has done so much to promote tlie
material progress of India, was founded in 1820
at the suggestion of that wonderful cobbler, William
Carey, the Baptist missionary, " who combined
rdth his attainments as an oriental scholar and
author, a knowledge of botany, agriculture and
borticultuve." A marble bust of this great and
ivietul man occupies a conspicuous place in the
h'Ociety's meeting-room in the Metcalfe Hall. As
jSecretary and then President, Dr. Carey, saw great
mprovement ao the retiuU oi tlic Society's eifortb

but we can imagine his surprise if he could see the
India of today with its enormous production and
export, not only of rice and cotton but of wheat,
linseed, jute, tea, itc. There are two significant
notes to the following effect : —

Scarcely 10 years have elapsed since the first ship-
ments of jntc on a large scale were made from Cal-
cutta, and now, independently of local consumption,
which is ainmally increasing, the exports exceed
,%0,(XK) tons. Fifty years ago, not an ounce of lin-
seed was exported from India. During the current
year (18H')j, about 448,000,000 pomids have been im-
ported into Great Britain to the exclusion of Rus-
sian produce !

If only a cheap metliod of cleaning Ehea fibre
could be establislied, the probability is that India
would outstrip China in the production of this
tine fibre. The exports of Sugar and Silk from
India have declined, but in the case of sugar the
satisfactory reason is that the local consumption
has so largely increased as to leave little surplus.
From first to last the Society has laboured to
encourage the production of all valuable vegetable
products, whether indigenous or introduced. To
this end they established gardens, in which gardeners
were trained and whence plants and seeds were
distributed. They sought and disseminated in-
formation, and offered prizes for special papers
and essays. How they helped forward the enter-
prise in tea, a plant which was not generally
known or believed to be indigenous for fully ten
years after the founding of the Society, is thus
recorded : —

Tka Cui/riv.VTioN IN India. — This important subject
has naturally received much attention at the iiands
of the Society from the time when public enquiry
was first called thereto to the present. The valuable
reports of Drs. Griftitli and McClelland oa the tea
plant of Upper Assam, and on its physical condition
with reference to geological structure, soils and cli-
mate, will be found in the transactions of the Society.
The result is a matter of history. The Government
of India acted as pioneers, and then, when the cul-
ture was fairly established, transferred their experi-
mental plantation to the now well known "Assam
Company." Several other gardens were subsequently
formed in Assam and also m Cachar, where the
plant was likewise discovered in 1855 to be indigen-
ous by Captain Verncr, the Superintendent of that
district, who communicated the fact to the Society
in an interesting paper printed in Vol. i) of the
Journal. It was found, iu a coniparati\ely short space
of time, that this most valuable plant could be suc-
cessfully grown in several other parts of ludia, in
Darjeeling, and certain other Himalayan localities,
in the I'uujab, Ilazareebagh and Chittagong.* So
numerous were the specimens submitted to the Society
during several years on the earlier stage of this in-
dustry, that a Special Committee was appointed to
examine them, and many reports will be found in
the pages of the Transactions and subsequently of
tlie Journal. Before leaving this section, it nipy not
be out of place to put on record the fact that the
I^fuseuui contains a specimen of the first production
of Tea from the Assam Gardens, wJiich was for-
warded by the Indian Government for sale iu the
London market in ISoD or ISIO. In less than half a
century the produce of British India has increased
from a few hundred pounds (!t0 cliestsj, of which this
first consignment consisted, to upwards of sixty five
millions! Is it unreasonable to suppose that before
this century closes it will reach a figure of not less
than one hundred millions, or two-thirds of what is
now supplied to the English markets by China £(nd
Japan? Upwards of 300,000 acres of laud are liow
mider tea cultivation in India.

* Its culture has recently been most successfully
attempted on the abandoned coffee gardens of Ceyl,on;
The quality of the produce is second to none other
in the East. About five million pounds have already
been exported in 1885. The tea plant has also be'.eii
cticeully iutioduvtid iutu Natal iu boutU Afxivu.

Aug. 2, 1886.]

t*HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

135

It is a curious fact, however, that the true
nature of the indigenous tea of Assam, was
not for some years recognized, in conscciuence
of Dr. Wallich, an eminent botanist, an'd at one
time Secretary of the Society, insisting that it
was a camellia ! Tea is allied to the camellias,
but the difference in foliage and flower is great.
Our experience is that in reverse proportion as a
tea-plant simulates the foliage of camellias, is its
flush -yielding quality.

As our readers are aware the production of tea
in India in 1886 is estimated at considerably
over seventy millions of pounds, the contingent
from Ceylon going far to round oft' the figure of
80,000,000 lb.

Amongst the other important articles to
which attention was devoted were : sugar,
cotton, silk, tobacco, coft'ee, flbre-yielding plants,
maize, paddy and cereals. In 1843, attempts
were made to get Indian wheat admitted into
England at the same rate of duty as wheat
from Canada. It seems to us now monstrous that
grain should be the subject of discriminating or of
any duties in Britain. The influence on India of the
abolition of the corn laws has been great. Greater
still has been the eSect of the opening of the
Suez Canal and the construction in India of rail-
ways, so that Indian wheat has taken a foremost
place in the food markets of the world. Forage
plants and tanning and dyeing substances received
much attention, as also plants yielding oils, fats,
&c. The Society helped to bring Gutta-percha into
notice, and they did not lose sight of Vanilla or
the great and successful experiment of intro-
ducing the Cinchonas into India. Wool and cattle
received a good deal of attention. We quote an-
other paragraph : —

f.ihraiii and Muscviii. — A portion of the abovemen-
tioued space is appropriated for the library, whicli
now comprises several thousand standard works and
Transactions and Journals of Societies, treating prin-
cipally on Agricultural, Horticultural and Botanical
subjects. It also contains a small museum and models
of implements. A room is set apart for the reception
of seeds which are annually imported from foreign
countries for distribution to members.
Again : —

The publications of the Society have been steadily
continued. The "Transactions" (8 volumes) were
superseded by the " .Journal," of which 21 volumes
have been issued, uamely, 1-1 of the old and 7 of the
Hcif sericii. Some of the earlier volumes of the
Transactions have been translated into Bengali, and
a volume in the same language entitled Krislii I'allm
(Agricultural Gleanings) has been issued. A mass of
useful information connected with the introduction
into India of plants of commercial value has like-
wise been published in a separate form, irrespective
of the Journal. lu addition to these the " Proceed-
ings" of each monthly meeting have bceu regularly
printed for the last 50 years, as soon after the occur-
rence of each discussion as possible, for the purpose
of furnishing distant members with an account of
the doings of the Society, and also to put into the
hands of congenial institutions the nature of the in-
formation brought forward for discussion. To eiui-
nierate even a little of the mass of valuable practical
information and useful reading, embodied in the
abovementioned publications, would far exceed the
limits of the paper ; suffice it to say, that they refer,
amoug other subjects, to cotton, sugar, indigo, tea,
coffee, tobacco, rice, silk, wool, vegetable tibres,
cochineal, caoutchouc, lac-dve, Indian fruits, manures,
timber trees, topographical account of various dis-
tricts, many of which are treated very extensively
and satisfactorily.

Much of the work of the Society has been accom-
plished or has been taken up by other agencies,
as Mr. Cogswell showed in his presidential address
JO 1882 :—

"In former days the Society stood alone as the
depository for all matters connected with agri-horti-
culture, aud the Government of the day recognized
it as a very useful medium of communication with
the public. Now, however, tinips are greatly changed.
The Government of India have inaugurated a depart-
ment of their own, whilst the Government of Bengal
have established an Economic Museum, to which are
naturally referred specimens of produce which were
formerly submitted to tliis Society. Again, certain
industries have their own publications, such as the
[iidlan Tea (nr^cttc, the Indian Forester, and for general
subjects the Indian Aiiriculturist, consequently the
Society's Journal has become an annual instead of a
quarterly publication. If, however, we refer to the
monthly proceedings during the past few years, wo
shall tiiid that they contain many subjects of great
interest."

Amongst the articles in this volume is an elaborate
imper on Ilhea, which we mean to transfer to the
Tropical /Uirivulturist. Amongst the selections is
a translation from the French of a detailed paper
on the Vegetable Products of Japan, containing
much interesting matter, as the following extract
will show : —

It may be stated, briefly, that the uses of the bam-
boo in Japan, comprise nearly all the requirements
of the .Japanese. The large kinds, such as the Matahe.
and tlie Maso, are used for making tlie timber work
of houses, of coach-houses, clothes-horses, silk-tilatures,
rooting, spouts, toll-bars, bridges, foot bridges, palli-
sades, ladders and all purposes for which thick and
strong stems are required. When the Japanese wish
to utilize the bamboo, they commence by rendering
it more supple and less hard by soaking it 111 boil-
ing water, or by exposing it to the action of steam.
These same kinds are also used for water pipes. The
Japanese remove the divisions which are in the stems,
when these are opened, they rub them over with oil
both inside and outside, and then blacken them with
fire ; they thereby become more resistent, imperme-
able, unassailable throughout, and can remain a long
time underground without rotting. The same process,
is employed in Ohma. The Matal-e and the JioAo are also
utilized for kitchen utensils, such as buckets for draw-
ing water, and measures of capacity. They are also
employed for rafts, and for mats for boats. The reefs of
sails are made with the //<f^(/.■e bamboo and the sails
themselves are frequently made of mats twisted in plaits
of the same. Cordage, ropes, the straps which are
used to fasten bales of merchandize, are of bamboo,
nearly all kinds are utilized for this purpose. These
bands arc not perhaps so durable, as those made
of hemp ; but they are prepared at a much more
moderate price. Baskets for fruits and fish, for clean-
ing and holding rice, for silkworms eggs, and sieves,
are made of plaited bamboo. The bamboos Metalic
and Ciduo-lakr, the Bamhtisa anrea, Quiliol riohfscrnn
and niijra are employed for the handles of musical
instruments, also for lances aud arrows, canes and
rods for fishing, and for games. With the stems of
thinner bamboos: Metale, Ifatchilu, and C/nnu-fcdxe,
B. anrea, Quilioi nirjra, they make beds, chairs, foot-
stools, couches, furniture of all kinds, aud the stairs
which the Japanese often cover with the lacquer var-
nish. Musical instruments, especially most kinds of
flutes, are made with thinner kinds. The ./)'. j(/;//<i
and the >Snd:.ii-fa/,e are used for the outer-casing of
pipes. The trade of such in bamboo is considerable
aud necessitates the employment of a great number
of boats which are specially used for that purpose.
And so with opium pipes which are often made with
the Metale. They are the object of a special trade,
Among the most important of industries with the
bamboo, that of hats may be alluded to, which are
principally made in the department of Kauagawa
(province of Musai). Screens aud fans are also made
of bamboo, trimmed with paper with well executed
designs. According to Rlons. Verdier-Latour, the trade
with fans to Europe and America is very important.
The town of Osaka has furnished, by itself, anmially
four millions of fans of the value of 4^0,000 francs.
Their price varies from -1 francs 50 cents to 20 francs.

2 34

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug. 2, 1886,

the huiidreci. This will j,dvc one au idea, with the
number of fans «scd iu the interior of Japan, of the
real importance of the industry witli fans and screens.
The handles and frames of umbrellas are made of
bamboo, the latter covered with paper oiled with the
Cnt-i/ic. There is a large trade in these, as also of
lanterns, mats and window-blinds made with plaited
bamboo. Another well executed industrj- is that of
cups and saucers in porcelain, covered outside with
finely woven bamboo ; these porcelains are principally
met with in the Province of Suruga. Ornamental
furniture is also covered with fine woven bamboo.
It is in that provmce (Suraga) w^e find the best
executed works iu bauiboo.

Many other uses are mentioned. We can only
repeal our conviction that India, and we may add
Ceylon, owe much to the Society whose career
and operations we have glanced at.

CEYLON TEA IN ENGLAND.

It is impossible to read without some feeling
of alarm, the remarks made by our London Cor-
res^jondent iu his last letter relative to the quality
of the island tea now being vended in London.
It has been repeatedly pointed out how essential
it is that our planters should endeavour to secure
quality and not quantity alone in the outturn of
their estates. We believe that that caution has
been taken well to heart, and whatever may be said
of the complaints from Mincing Lane, the faults
referred to in our London Letter are referrable,
not to any shortcomings on this side, but to the
conditions which prevail on the other side of the
water. But it is of comparatively slight importance
with whom the blame rests that so-called "Ceylon"
teas of such markedly inferior quality are supplied to
the English consumers. The fact remains, and
it is one which, if not grappled with, must largely
and seriously affect the prosperity of our growing
industry.

We were well prepared to hear that ordinary
retailers in London and other English cities and
towns resorted to discreditable means for lowering
the standard of Ceylon teas sold by them in ac-
cordance with their practice with so many other
articles of consumption ; but we were, until re-
cently, quite unprepared to hear of charges of a
similar character brought against firms of known
reputation who have made the supply of such
teas their speciality, and have boasted of the
good they were doing to our planters and
our young but promising staple planting in-
dustry. It is dangerous, indeed, to find our
enemies among those of "our own household."
If we cannot rely upon such men to deal honour-
ably, how little can we feel reliance or expect
higher dealing, among the class of retailers to whom
we have just referred? We shall have to consider
in such a case how we may best be assured against
a course, the result of which can only be to arrest and
destroy that appreciation of our island teas which
has so grown within the last few years in Eng-
land. We thought the question " Where can we
be sure of obtaining pure Ceylon tea?" had been
fully and satisfactorily answered, and it is most
regrettable to find that our English friends con-
stantly discover that their reliance has been
misplaced. It will be of no avail to go on largely
increasing the area of the cultivation of tea in
this island if its reputation is ultimately to sink
in the consuming countries to the level of that
of those inferior growths so largely of late years
imported from China. We have all seen the results
of such exports from the last-named country.
We have seen the China tea exports fall off
in quantity year by year until there seem to be
attoixii bi^'Ub that the great tea trade ol the

celestial Empire is permanently on the wane. There
is no room to doubt but that this has been due
to the competition of the superior qualities hitherto
furnished from the tea producing districts of India
In that competition Ceylon is now sharing, and
so successfully that even India herself is feeling
the pinch of it. Are we to go back from that
position ? Manifestly we must do so, if complaint'!
such as are now made to us from consumers at
home are allowed to continue. It is vital to the
best interests of this colony to prevent there being
any good reason for these complaints ; and means
should at once be considered and adopted for checking
the dishonesty or carelessness of those by whom
our teas are distributed in England. Ilow this
may best be done is therefore the question to
which we desire to call the urgent attention of
those interested. Its solution is of juiblic import-
ance, and we greatly doubt if it can be arrived at with
out public action.

It is suggested to us from ho)ne that there
should be established in London a confederation
of our leading tea growers and exporters which
shall, by advertisements, make itself widely known
throughout the United Kingdom and other consuming
countries, and which shall adopt such a system
of guarantee for all teas imported under its auspices
that their quality may at all times be relied upon.
The gentleman who makes this suggestion, adds :
^" I fear you may be unwilling, indeed be most
averse, to any course which may seem to tend
to set public action against individual enter-
prize. Buc the matter is too grave in its ultimate
bearing upon the revival of prosperity in your
island to permit of our setting such considerations
too prominently forward. If you feel you cannot
rely upon such individual enterprize, 3'our planters
must plan some method to save themselves, and
so some course akin to the suggestion I make,
must necessarily be adopted."

Our friend was. of course, not aware when he
wrote, of the proposal on this side for a " Ceylon
Tea Syndicate," nor of how fully the very subject
he dwells on, had been discussed and action matured
with reference both to the United .Kingdom and
other tea-consuming countries. We are still of
opinion that America (the United Slates and Canada)
present the most promising field for an extension
of the consum2Jtion of our own and Indian teas ;
but certainly a most important part of the work
of the Syndicate, must now be the establishment
of an agency or agencies in the Mother Country
where consumers of Ceylon teas can be quite cer-
tain of always obtaining the genuine article.

That the result must prove inimical to the
success of those who have hitherto been endeavouring
to establish a special business in England in
Ceylon teas must of course follow. But how can
the Ceylon planters help this when so many persons
have continued to act so as to justify charges
such as those to which our London Correspondent
has given iniblicity ? It would never do for the
producers to sit quietly looking on. while all their
best efforts are negatived by the want of proper
care — to use the mildest phrase — of those in whom
they have hitherto trusted. The demand for Ceylon
tea at the India and Colonial Exhibition is a proof
of how it is appreciated by the English public
when and where its purity can be guaranteed. Are
we to see the prospect of such appreciation re-
ceiving fuller development, sacrificed to the interests
of a few individuals, or to that dishonesty of the
relating class, which has, unhappily, become prover-
bial? The answer to this question will no donbt
be afforded after a very practicablf fashion by the
CcyloQ Tea Syadioate,

Aug. 2, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

135

THE MADKAS CHAMBEB OF COMMEBCE AND
THE MADRAS (lOVEENAIENT ON THE GOV-

ERNMENT CINCHONA PLANTATIONS.

tlie

The Government of Madras has sent us
following important correspondence : —

Keau— tlie following letter from P. Maci^-abyex,
Esq., Chairman, Chamber of Commerce, Madras, to
the Cliief Secretary to Government, dated 4th Febru-
ary 1880 : —

I have the honour to inform you that the atten-
tion of the Chamber of Commerce has recently been
directed to the extension of the number of trees
in the Goveroment Cinchona Plantations near Oota-
camund. According to the Administration Report it
appears that that number advanced from 1,122,7(30
to 1,620,744, or by about 45 per cent in the year
ended 31st March 1885, and the Chamber has reason
to suppose that in the current year the work of
planting fresh trees over and above tho replacement
of those that die or are felled has not been iuter-
mitteJ. I am therefore desired to submit, on the
Chamber's behalf, that such extension seems opposed
to the spirit in which tlie jjiantations were .set on
foot as well as to spirit of the Government of India's
policy of encouraging private enterprise.

2. The Chamber has no reason to suppose that the
plantations were established as a commercial enter-
prise in view to the creation, for the exclusive bene-
fit of the treasury, of a lucrative industry hitherto
unknown in India. The scourge of fever had, from
time to time, brought very forcibly to the notice of
the Government the suffering and loss that were
due to the want in this country of a febrifuge that
could be brought within reacli "of all classes. The
experiment of obtaining the cinchona plant in its
native habitat, of transferring it to, and of acclim-
atising it in, India was one that entailed heavy ex-
penditure, which it was vain to expect private in-
dividuals to incur on philanthropic grounds. It came,
however, legitimately within the province of the State
to expend public money in giving a fair trial, under
competent scientific directions, to the experimental
cultivation ot a plant that offered a defence against
the most fertile of all the causes that contribute to
the mortuary returns. The Government, therefore,
took a broad view of its duty in this matter, and
it succeeded beyond its most sanguine expectations
in its benevolent scheme. It was po.ssible for the
State to pitieiitly wait for a return on the large ii-
vestment that it made in the cuUivacion of the exotic.
That return eventually came, and not only was the
surplus of revenue over expenditure from 1860-61 to
18S4-85 K5, 51,743, but the Government now possessed
in the plantations an estate that would realise a large
sum of money were it offered for sale tomorrow. Thus
the enterprise has not only been successful as proving
incoutestably the suitability of the climate of the
Nilgiris— as well as of other bill ranges in India — for
the growth of cinchona, but it has yielded the State a
hand.some pecuniary profit. But it is no more con-
sistent, or debirable for the Government to make money
by cultivatiug cinchona than by cultivating coffee, rice,
indigo or cotton. The Government has established the
fact that the cinchona tree flourishes in India, and
there ha.s been no reluctance on the part of private indivi-
duals to avail themselves of the offer ot seed at low
prices which was made by the Government. No longer,
therefore, is the Government the only grower of the
tree, but private plantations are assisting to cheappii
tho drug, or to achieve the object that the Government
had originally in view. But private enterprise cannot
compete on equal terms witli the Government, which
has the command of tlie public pur.se, and is free to
sell at a loss when it cares to do .so. Tho niison irfitre
of the Government PJantatious exists no longer, yet the
jtlantations are being extended with an assiduity worthy
of a very opulent Joint Stock Company ambitious of
paying handsome divi.leuds to shareholders. In 1877-78
the number of plants was 569,031, and the net profit for
the year wa.s 112,88,980. Now, as has been shown above,
the plants are tln-ee times as numerous. The Chamber
/■ails to comprehend the aim ofsncii extension, and I

am therefore to submit that in the Chamber's judg-
ment it is time for the Government to reassure
planters by announcing that the State, so far from
mereasing the severity of the competition that it
offers to private enterprise, will gr.adually retire from
the field, permit the usual operations of the laws of
supply and demand, and confine its own attention to
the introduction and acclimatisation of new varieties
of cinchona for the guidance and encouragement of
those who engage in the production of the plant.
Order of Government— dated l.Jth June 1880 :—
In the letter read above the Chairman of the Cham-
ber of Commerce states that the attention of the Cham-
ber has recently been directed to tho extension of
the number of trees in the Government Cin-
chona Plantations which advanced from 1,122,760

ioor-^'^ml^'^^i, "^ '^^ y^^^" ending 31st 'March
1885. Ihe Chairman then proceeds to notice that the
object with which these plantations were .set on foot
waste provide a febrifuge which could be brought
within the reach of all classes, but he urges that pri-
vate growers of cinchona are now assisting to achieve
this object, and that the raison d'etre oi the Govern-
ment plantations, therefore, no longer exists. The
Chairman states that he is accordingly directed to sub-
mit that as private enterprise cannot compete on equal
terms with the Government which has the command of
the public purse and is free to sell at a loss vrhen it cares
to do so, it is time for the Government to reassure
l)lanters by announcing that the State will gradually
retire from the field and permit the usual operations
of the law of supply and demand.

2. _ As regards the extension of the numbf^r of trees,
it will be sufficient to observe that the increase which
is caused almost entirely by renewals is apparent only;
for, with the exception of one or two pieces of laud of
inconsiderable area which were added to the plantations
for the purpose of rounding off the estates where
danger from fire was to be feared, no new land lias
been planted in recent years. The reason of the ostens-
ible increase is that when plants are first put down they
are placed at comparatively short distances apart for
the purpose of affording mutual shelter, but as soon as
they have become firmly established, they are thinned
to a very considerable extent. For example, on the
Government plantations the plants are first planted out
usually at intervals of .3 feet, but are afterwards thinned
out until the space between each tree is f) feet, /. ,»., out
of every nine trees planted only one is left to attain
maturity.

3. Turning now to the question of the .suggested re-
tirement of the Government from the cinchona enter-
prise. His Excellency the Governor in Council cannot
admit the rr/ison d\'tre of the.se plantations no longer
exists. It is true that the price of sulphate of quinine
has, of late years, fallen considerably, but it is still so
high as to be prohibitive to a very large majority of
the natives of this presidency. The de-ired febrifuge
must be sought, therefore, in some cheaper preparation
of cinchona bark than sulphate of quinine, and although
tlie extract recently prepared by Mr. Hooper has met
with some measure of success, this problem must be
regarded as one that has not yet been fully solved.

4. Nor can it be admitted that the plantations have
yet completely served the second of the purposes for
which they were established, viz., the conduct
of experiments and investigations in connection
with the culture of cinchona. Many most valuable
results have already been obtained, but in a report
ujade to this Government in 188:!, Dr. Trimen, one of
the greatest living authorities on the subject, pointed
out that there are many questions of the greatest im-
portance to cultivators of cinchona still pre.ssing for
solution. As examples of the.se, he mentioned the
causes of the difference in proportion and quantities
of the alkaloids in barks from trees of identical bot-
anical typi\ the testing of the results which Mr.
P.ronghton obtained from experimental manuring, tho
cause of tlie increase of alkaloids in renewed bark, and,
lastly, the intlnence of age on the alkaloids. These
investigations. Dr. Trimen considers, can only be carried
on in a Government establishmnpt, as the work must

136

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug. 2, 1886.

be performed by a resilient analyst and must, of neces-
sity, be spread over many years.

5. Lastly, His Excellency the Governor in Council
cannot admit tli<^ correctness of the argument, implied
rather than expressed, that the connection of the (lov-
ernmeut with cinchona planting has interfered with the
usual operation of the law of supply and deniand. It
might be suflicient to reply to this that the outturn
of the Government plantations is so trilling when com-
pared with the total quantity of cinchona bark placed
on the market, that prices would not be perceptibly
influenced even if the Guvernment bark was sold at u
loss. As a matter of fact, however, it was always been
sold by public auction, and the pricts realised have
been those ruling in ttie market at the time of sale.

INDIAN AND CEYLON TEA.

Intrinsic merit sooner or later brings anything to
the front, whether it is merchandise or brains. In-
dian tea up to date has achieved all its success through
its intrinsic merit ; it has been very little helped by
advertising or puffing. Had Indian tea not been in-
trinsically good, it would have disappeared from pub-
lic view. Annually there is a marked increase in
the quantity consumed by the public, principally in
Great Britain and Ireland. Had Indian tea been
pushed in the same way as Ceylou has been, instead of
an annual consumption of 60 millions pounds, we
should have had no stocks left at all now, and Indian
tea would have been in a better statistical position than
it now is. As it is with exchange so uncertain Banks
are unwilling to do business except at ruinous rates,
so that some means should be taken to avert calamity.
It is significant that in the vicinity of great centres
. of population in Britain, for instance all round
ijondon, almost no pure Indian tea is to be met with,
whilst Ceylon and occasionally Darjeeling teas (pure),
can readily be bought. Wherever one goes Ceylon
teas stare one in the face done up in neat little
packets of A lb. and 1 lb. At tirst the natural con-
clusion that one conies to is that the Ceylon planter
has sprung a mine upon his Indian brother, is sending
home the tea done up thus ; but upon enquiry it turns
out that the manipulation is effected in London,
by the agents prior to delivery to the country
dealer, showing how extremely careful the Ceylon
agency houses are to place their wares before
the public in a taking way. Nice little lead packages
neatly done up with a taking label are inliuiiely more
likely to attract attention than a great huge unwieldy
chest roughly made. China teas are also got up in neat
little packages, quite ornamental, ami the tea dealer is
proud to put theui in his window, but when one does
come across, or rather ask to see the original case of
any Indian tea, he finds it consigned to the back
ground altogether, simply on account of its appearance.
Of course put up in an attractive form tea tiuis must
cost a little more, but looking at the enhanced values
that Ceylous obtain, we doubt if it does not do far more
than pay. With many gardens it is not a ((uestion of
paying but of existence, and we consider that it is worth
the while of some estates to do up their teas in this
fashion so as to make thorn more attractive. Doing the
teas up even in, say, five-pound packages with tVie
" Linberry " patent cloth on paper would bi; a step
in the right direction. We understand that the co>t
is very much less than tea lead and the weight for
carriage is also much less. In atldition the facilities
for putting on a nice label are very much greater,
and the paper would show off a label to advmtaije. The
" heathen tUiiuee " takes care to cover his bjx with all
sorts ofhieroglyphics, which although pcrfecHy unintel-
ligible to the outside public, form an attractiiui. and no
doubt even now assist to carry ott the wares. Tin- Jliitish
public in this age of rapid progresson are not easily
satisfied, and compeiion is so great that Indian plant-
ers and agents must [lut Indian tea before the pulilic in
a more presentable form. A few years ago it was sup-
posed that the merit of the liquor of lu'iian tea had to
a great extent done away with th'? necessity for pay-
ing so much attention to the appearance of the leaf.
It is questionable if this js so now. A large quantity

of Indiana is now bought from appearance, owing no
doubt to the extraonlinarily large amount of sampling,
which falls to be done from the very large increase in
imports. The generality of ludians are too leafy and
Inrge, and the dealers complain that the teas are too
large in leaf to sell by themselves and that it neces-
sitates a blend with China in order to make them a
good marketable commodity. Another thing that
strikes one with regard to Indian tea is the general
complaint that it is not to be bought. What is called
Indian is only a blond. In the ca.se of Ceylon tea each
little § lb. package is labelled and guaranteed. —
Nili/tri /■'.rpri'.is.

Tea Eollers. — Three new patent Tea Rollers are
likely erelong to be dividing attention with those
now in use : they are Gilruth's (to be manufactured
in Calcutta); Michie's, and Hutsen'F. The last is
described as being very compact, handy and
likely to be successful machine.

The CiiociDOLiTE. — If our readers have before
heard of this semi-precious stone they have the
advantage of us. It is thus noticed in the Exhi-
bition Supplement to the Colon iex and India: —
The crocidolite, of which there is a great abund-
ance found in Griqualand West, is a stone con-
taining a large amount of asbestos in different
stages of formation or disintegration. It takes a
beautiful polish, and many fancy articles are now
made from it. The crocidolite working and polish-
ing is another industry lately added to the several
specialities peculiar to the Cape. We have been
told by a dealer in precious stones that about live
years ago tney purchased crocidolite in England
by the carat, giving 2r)s per carat for it.

" CEOt'iDOLiTE." — In the " Manual of Mineralogy"
by Professor Dana (Triibner, London), I find ipage
•2IG, chap, xiv " Iron ores — Crocidolite has a fibrous
structure much resembling asbestos and has been
called hhtc (t.sbextos ; color lavender-blue orleekgreen.
Hardnessr.-!. Gravity:^;V2 to H-B. From South
Africa. — Cor.

TiiK Indian Cokfee Planteks' Comjiittee
(says Colonies and India) have issued a little pam-
phlet which, besides affording some interesting par-
ticulars of the samples of Indian coffee now ex-
hibiting at South Kensington, also gives some use-
ful hints about the properties of coffee and the
best way ;of preparing the "fragrant berry" for
the table. Good coffee is not always to be had,
and when it is forthcoming it is too often spoiled
in the " making." A study of the samples of
Indian coffee displayed at the Exhibition, combined
with practice of the rules set forth in the leaflet
referred to, should enable everybody to avoid the
adulterated article, and to drink the real product
in perfection. The samples, '2;W in number, which
have been arranged by the Indian Coffee Planters'
Committee, under the sanction of the Koyal Com-
missioners, rei)iescnt (1) the " cherry " (that is, the
coffee fruit as plucked from the tree) ; (2) the
" parchment " bean (that is, the berry when pulped
hut enveloped in an outer skin or husk, resem-
bling parchment) ; and (H) the berries stripped of
this covering, and sized and sorted as they come
into the English market, before roasting. The coffee
thus exhibited is from the crop of IHSo-HC), pro-
duced by Britisli planters in the following districts:
—Mysore, Coorg, the Wynaad, the Neilgherries, and
Travancore. Tiie finest coft'ee which comes into the
English market, fetching higher prices irt many
cases than even Mocha itself, is grown in_ these
districts, and upon coffee estates there the invest-
mmit of British capital is annually increasing.

Aug. 2, 1886.]

rUU tROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

n^

■iiMiiiiifiiiKmT

To the Editor of the " Ceylon Observer."

TEA MAKING AND THE FUTURE FUEL
SUPPLY IN DIMBULA, &c.

Dimbula Planters' Association, 7th July 1886.
Deak Sib, — I am requested to forward to you for
publication the enclosed interesting letter.- — I am,
yours faithfully, GEO. BECK, Hony. Secy.

Lippakelle, Dimbula, Ceylon, 29th June 1886.

George Beck, Esq., Hony. Secretary, Dimbula !
Planters' Aasociatiou. I

Dear Sir, — Seeing that many of the estates in the I
Dimbula district (and this applies equally to some |
other planting districts) are without reserves of timber |
and erelong will be forced to import fuel of some i
kind, not only for tea-making purposes, but some |
day even for their coolies, it oecomes a serious 1
question, and one which it behoves planters to take
in hand at once, how the cheapest fuel is to be '
had. I need hardly point out at 'this moment, how I
necessary it is becoming to keep down at the lowest
point, everything that goes to make up the cost of [
the production of tea, and it appears to me that
this matter of the fuel supply of the near future
is so vital, that it calls for the immediate consider-
ation of the Planters' Association of the island.

The choice at present seems to be between coals,
patent fuel and petroleum, and it is more especially
to the last that I now wish to direct attention, not
only as now becoming procurable in any quantity, but I
as being less bulky, and, as I understand, in every 1
respect, a cheaper and, for our purposes, likely to be ,
the most serviceable description of fuel. Placed as 1
Ceylon is between the Black Sea and Suez on the one |
band and Burma on the other, we ought to be most |
favourably situated as regards cost of carriage from j
all three. From the first the supply would appear to I
be practically unlimited ; the Red Sea promises great I
things ; and Burma, I know, from some experience of
that country, cJin now export a large quantity at low '
cost. It is to the last named, which lies nearest our
doors, that I would particularly call attention. The {
oil wells are situated in Upper Burma, now part of .
the British Empire and within a mile or so of the i
river Irrawaddy and the produce is brought
down by boat (in bulk principally) to Ran-
goon, the voyage from which to Colombo is a '
very short one. Hitherto this petroleum has been a \
royal monopoly, but as the British Government cannot
recognize monopolies, the result will be, this industry '
will shortly be thrown open to British traders, and
the production of the wells, which have so far been 1
worked in the most primitive native fashion, will in-
crease tenfold. I may add here the oil is very fine

I regret that I am unable to furnish any statistics
of supply or cost from any of the above sources. My
object in writing is rather to urge the importance
of getting all necessary information without delay,
as to how far it is practicable to have our wants !
supplied, which, I would submit, falls within the I

Erovince of a Planters' Association. I think it would
e well to apply to the Chief Commissioner of Burma,
Rangoon, who can, no doubt, give much valuable inform- I
ation as to the supply, and also to communicate with the
Rangoon Chamber of Commerce whom it would be well
to inform of the probabiiify of a large demand springing |
up in Ceylon for petroleum. This will serve to call ,
tbeattention oftbe mercantile community to a new open-
ing for trade, of which it is natural they should avail
themselves. I

J portance of the Suez find of petroleum (fortunately at
this qvkX oftbe Suez Canal) the representative of the

I British Government in Egypt ought to be able to

I testify to.

It occurs to me that perhaps the most practical
commencement in this matter of fuel would be, for
the different Planters' Associations to call for returns

; from all tea estates of their probable fuel requirements.
There would then be sometbin? more or less definite
in the extent of demand to hold out to induce supplies.
The only other suggestion I have to make is, that
it would be well to consult makers of tea-driers like
Messrs. Jackson and Davidson how far it would be
practicable to burn petroleum without injuring the
tea, and how far, and at what cost, their furnaces could
be adopted to this purpose. — Yours faithfully
K. C. MAOIVER.

COST OF TEA PREPARATION, &c.

Balmoral, 9th July 1886.

pE.\R Sm,— In your Tropical Aoriculturist of
this month I have carefully read the answers of
the Sub-Committee of the Maskeliya Planters' Associ-
ation on tea manufacture, and in the 34th answer
I find it stated that the "cost of manufacture
per lb. made tea including superintendence 5 cents,
plucking 12 cents, manufacture 3 cents, packing 3 cents,
transport 1 cent." Will you kindly explain why
manufacture is twice entered, first at .5 cents and
secondly at 3 cents per lb.? Will you also inform
me if in the charges abovementioned, the following
items are included, viz., chest, lead, hoop-iron,
nails and solder? An early reply will much oblige,
yurs faithfully, R. B. L.

[We have referred to a good authority who
states : — Perhaps if the word ' including ' were
omitted the sentence would be more intelligible.
I believe it means: — Cost of manufacture per lb.
made tea — superintendence 5 cents ; plucking 12
cents; manufacture 3 cents; packing (including
chests, lead, Ac.) 3 cents ; transport 1 cent : total
21 cents." Thus, if superintendence, or more plainly
superintendents' salaries, be deducted, the actual
cost of plucking the tea. leaf making it into tea,
packing and sending it down to Colombo is cents
nineteen per lb. of made tea : these rates are con-
sidered low. — Ei>.j

I would also sviggest that the British Consul, say
at Odessa, be written to for information regarding the \
supply and cost of the Russian article which is now 1
largely consiraed in Russian steamers and mauu- 1
factories, the result of whose actual experience it would
be valuable to know, What may be the real im- I
U

TEA-MAKING AND BURMA PETROLEUM
AS FUEL.

Colombo, 10th July 1880.

Dear Sir, — Referring to Mr. K. C. Maciver'g
letter, addressed to the Honorary Secretary of the
Dimbula Planters' Association, which appears in
your last night's issue, it may be of service to
those who take an interest in the matter discussed
by Mr. Maciver to know that our senior is pro-
prietor of the Rangoon Oil Company, at whose
works in Rangoon the crude oil from Upper
Burma is manipulated and made into the differ-
ent kinds of mercantile oils, such as Burning
Oil, Lubricating Oil, Ordnance Oil, itc, &c. If
those who widh information respecting supply,
prices, ttc. will be good enough to formulate their
enquiries and send them to us, we will be happy
to forward them on to the agents of the Com-
pany in Rangoon, who will be able to answer
them satisfactorily. The Company's Oils are not
unknown in the island. — ^Yours faithfully,

CARGILL ct Co.

CEYLON TEAS FOR THE UNITED STATES.

Louisa, Talawakele, 13th July 1880.

De.vk Sin, — I have to thank you for the kind

notice you inserted in the Ohxerver at the 12th.

We have almost decided to leave by the " Clan

MacArthuv " on the 3rd September and I hope

1'We ^l^bPidAL AGRICULTURIST*

[AOG. 2, 1886/

to come to some agreement with the members
of the Syndicate, or their representatives before
that date. I am in correspondence with American
connections, late of Ceylon, with regard to co-oper-
ation in driving the Ceylon tea trade in the iStates. I
consider co-operation neccs-^ar!/ to success when
the immense lield represented by the United States
of America, is taken into account, and, should my
correspondent fall in with my views, I think good
business may be anticipated so long as the pro-
prietors of Ceylon unite in tlie one connnon cause
and endeavour to enlarge the market for their
produce.

It is better for the owner of an engine-boiler
to provide the boiler with a safety value previonn
to explosion. The unanimity of the Ceylon planters
with regard to the Hyndicate scheme seems to me
to be a proiif that they are luianivioits in the
opinion that their present field is too limited, and
that to save themselves, they must bestir them-
selves ; in short find a safety value in the markets
of other countries. 1 note in Mr. Shelton Agar's
letter dated 8th inst., that he considers "the
mixing of two, three or four different ' brands '
is admitted to be the best plan for getting at a
really ijood beverage." From this I understand
that Ceylon Teas do mix, that is, one with another.
I have never ventured an opinion of my own as
yet ; but from what I hear from authorities on
ithe subject I gather that a mixture of low-grown
with high-grown teas turns out a perfect liquor,
inasmuch as the low-grown teas give pungency, and
the hi(ih-(jroicn flavour.

Should' the foregoing statement be correct, there
can be little doubt as to the advisability of bulk-
ing Ceylon teas sent by the Syndicate to the world.
That di^ifirnlties with regard to bulking the several
teas sent by different estates through the Syndi-
cate, will liace to be met and dealt with, is a
matter of certainty; and to be overcome, a correspond-
ing ability on the part to the expert employed
must be looked for in order to meet these diffic-
ulties. Given then that the idea of general bulk-
ing is good, where should the expert be located ?
Surely, where he has the easiest means of com-
munication with those with whom he has to deal,
that is in the venj neighbourhood of the planters
(certainly not in America or Australia or any other
country where it is not at all improbable agents
would take the matter into their own hands and
bulk for themselves). One advantage of general
bulking would be the interest of noting the differ-
ence in prices obtained in the several countries
I'or the same tea.

Naturally the more extensive the field the greater
the expenses incurred at ^tir^t, but nothing could
point out the path of profit to the proprietor better
than the Syndicate bulked tea, exposed to public
ii'ial in the several countries suggested in draft
jn-oposai now being circulated — I am, your very
sincere^, J- McCOMBIE MUKKAY.

MK PRESENT POSITION OF THE CINCHONA

MARKET ; A CEYLON CINCHONA

PLANTERS' SYNDICATE WANTED.

14th July 188(3,
8jK( - The pi'esent position of the cinchona
market k worth the attention of all interested in
its cultivation. The large quantity of bark which
lias been sent into Europe during the last three
years has brought the price down to a level which
has virtually destroyed the Columbian trade. Many
nf those connected with it have been ruined, and
thousand;^ of men employed in it left the country.
U is generally admitted that a rise in the value
of baric to 'M a unit would be leqqired to admit

Ceylon is now supplying nearly J of the bark
manufactured in the world. The increase in the
consumption and manufacture of quinine has been
so considerable that the latter has fully kept pac«
with the production, and the stocks of bark in
Europe are by no means large: indeed, at the end
of 188?5 Mr. Moens gives them as 19,000 packages
less than they were two years ago.

It is only the immense supplies which Ceylon con-
tinues to send into the market which keeps the
value at its present low point. Any important de-
crease in the shipments from this, would imme-
diately produce a rise in the price. It is thus
no exaggeration to say that the market is at the
present moment entirely under the command of
Ceylon cinchona growers.

If all who possess cinchona will cease harvest-
ing /;;•« «(•//, bark, and agree to send away in all
cases just h(dfthc u-eiyht of good bark which they
have dispatched during this season, they are likely
to obtain as much money for the reduced quantity
as they have this year for the larger amount.
The operation is surely simple enough ; the result
can hardly be doubtful. If Colombo merchants
will only combine with growers to restrict the
supply for the next year or two, the value of our
export would probably be increased by several
hundred thousand pounds whilst the present whole-
sale and in many instances premature destruction
of a produce which is of immense value to the
world would be prevented. — I am, sir, your obedient
servant, A PLANTER.

XlBERIAN COFFEE' FROM JAVA.

Sir, — I received from Sourabaya this week a
sample of Liberian coffee with a request that I
would get it valued and tried. It had been grown
on land in the middle of Java. The fermeatation
and treatment it had received had entirely cleared
off all the skin and it left a beautifully bright
berry. The valuation ranges from 553 to 68s and
perhaps more as it was the finest sample that had ever
been seen here. Some was roasted and tasted by
experienced coffee buyers without knowing anything
about it and they pronounced it very good and
equal to tine old East India or Java coffee : it had,
they say, the clean yellow look about it. There is
a great difference over the price of ordinary Liberian
coffee coming from Ceylon which I maintain re-
(|uires more careful fermentation and cleaning.—
Yours truly, THOB. CHRISTY.

London, June 21th.

CEYLON TEAT^VND^COCOAr AT ' THE EXHIB.
ITION : A RELIABLE OPINION.

Kandy, 15th July 1886.
The Editors, the Ceijlon Observer, Colombo.

SiBH,— Kcterence having been made to the quality
of the Ceylon Tea sold in the cup at the Colonial
and Indian Exhibition, it may not be ou>t of
place if I (juote the following extract from the
letter of a correspondent received yesterday. He
has, I need hardly say, no interest whatever
one way or other, and the remarks are
quite spontaneously made in a private letter.
He writes ; — •' It (the Colonial and Indian Ex-
hibition) seems to me simply admirable at every
point, and is being enormously successful. We
had pure and most delicious Ceylon Tea in the
verandah, and bought some at 2s (>d per lb. ; also
some chocolate (purity guaranteed by your Associ-
ation). It was of tine flavour, but a little sticky
and not quite equal in manufactnre to French, I
thought. I assure you, we scrutinised everything
most closely and wore thoroughly delighted. The
photos illustrating your Tea industry were un«
commonly good."— I am, siri;, yours faithfully,

A. vnvuis,

Aug. 2, 1886.']

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

139

LABOUR SUPPLY FOR TEA CULTURE.

Rattota, l.Sth July 1886.
Dear Sir, — I am afraid considerably exaggerated
notions as to the extent of our future labour
requirements have been prevailing lately, and have
given rise to a good deal of unnecessary alarm.
People have been speaking and writing about one
cooly and a half per acre being required for tea,
whereas as I hope presently to show you an
average of half that will probably be more than
tea can afford.

In the days when coffee gave crops and working
short time was not the rule, it used to be calcul-
ated that every cooly working on an estate cost
RIO'") per annum, and I presume the same figures
would still hold good. Let us try an estimate on this
basis and see how it will work out. For the purpose
of argument we will suppose the island to be
yielding an average of 400 lb. per acre, that it is
put f.o.b. at 35 cents per lb., — both pretty liberal
figures you must admit. So you have on one side
400 1b. tea at 35 cents.. R140-00

and on the other

Superintendence on 400 lb. at 5 cts.
per lb... .. ..R20-00

Packing and transport at 4 cts. per lb. 10-00
Colombo charges ,, 1 ,, ,, 4-00 40"00

Leaving you the cost of one cooly for

a year.. .. .. .. RlOO-00

out of which you have to pay for manure, tools,
repairs to machinery and buidings, medical charges,
money charges, and all the other etceteras, which
go to make up a monthly report. A smaller yield
or a lessened cost of production would obviously
reduce the amount available for labour propor-
tionately.

From the above it seems pretty clear that ^
much smaller labour force than is commonly sup-
posed will meet our wants unless we have grievously
overestimated the profits to be derived from tea
cultivation. — Yours truly,

GEO. W.\UGH BURNET.

[We can scarcely follow Mr. Burnett in all his
conclusions. That tea culture, continued practically
over the whole year, will require more labour than
coiTee did is certain, but of course the expendi-
ture on labour as on every other detail must be
reduced, in sympathy with reduced yield and low
prices. But if economy in labour is carried below
a certain point, it is clear, estates cannot be kept
in proper order. — Ed.]

" CROCIDOLITE."

Customs, 19th July 188(3.

Sir, — The enclosed is a specimen of " Crocidolite "
but the head of the stick which I send by bearer
is a much better specimen. If you care to cut
up and examine the smaller piece you are welcome
to keep it, but please return the stick when you
have done with it. There is a curious poi^ular
error in the pronunciation of the word, most
people call it " Cruck-o-dile-ite " as if connected
with the Saurian which frequents our waters. The
proper pronunciation is " Cro-sid-o lite " with accent
on the second syllable. — Yours faithfully,

C. E. DUNLOP.

[We are much obliged to Mr. Dun lop for a
sight of his handsome stick surmounted by a
round head of crocidolite with moving rays as
striking as if it were a gigantic cats's-eye. The
smaller piece we have kept to experiment with, as
he 1ms kindly suggested, — Ed.]

TEA LAND IN THE LOWCOUNTRY, &c.

Dear Sir, — In days gone by when a 'cute man
selected and planted up a coffee estate in some un-
known locality, if the venture turned out a succes-s, •
there was then a rush for all the land near or ad-
joiniug the place without regard to the condition of the
soil and its suitability for tlie product to be planted.
It seems as if this practice obtains now for a great
many places have been planted when much superior
though isolated blocks could be got farther off. The so-
called Kelani Valley district is certainly a good one
for tea, chiefly as regards rainfall, but there are many
blocks lying out and near it certainly superior in many
other respects. This Kelani Valley district is made
up of patches of other districts and extends from the
foot of the Dolosbageand Kadugannawa hills, right down
to Labugama. The planting commenced midway, but the
tendency is to buy and open southward and westward
to Labugama, and again near the hills of the Central
Province where the soil is richer and the rainfall the
same as on the hills. Much of the laud in Kegalla as
in Yatiyantota will soon be under tea. In the early
days of coffee planting there were several estates in
this district opened on fine heavy forest lands, selected
owing to the soil being equal to those found in the
Central Province ; unfortunately the climate was too
warm and only the shaded native coffee lasted till leaf-
disease swept that little off. There is of course an im-
mense tract ot land lying south of the Kelani Valley
district down to Morawaka suited for tea, but the
planting of this will be a matter of time. No one is
so mad as to select a block in such localities where
fever will drive away superintendents and labourers
and where it is not easily accessible owing to the want
of roads. There are many blocks of abandoned estates
in Kegalla and Yatiyantota owned bj' parties in Europe
and chetties on the Coast, places " sold up " and pur-
chased at Fiscal's sales for debts. These are of course
now much sought after, as they are in healthy local-
ities, with good roads to them opened years ago. It
is preferable to pay K20 to 1125 an acre for such, than
to wait orcv 12 uionths and pay about 1U3 for Crown
land in almost unapproachable localities however tempt-
ing the soil &c. may seem. It is not easy to secure
in the Kegalla and Yatiyantota districts Government
land averaging 250 acres. The blocks surveyed are small
and not adjoining, fields and native chenas intervening.
The original purchiieers of Government land so far back
as 1816 obtained tracts of 400 to 2,500 I acres, and
these were subsequently cut up by the owners and sold
to many who sank their money in coffee. All that these
estates then shewed was leaf in such profusion, as to
tempt others to buy and try to make the places pay.
The old Kandy road promises once more to make itself"
useful, for much of the land in and about Kegalla and
Ambepussa will be planted with tea and those who do not
mind an extra day's or two days' delay will be able to
place their tea in Colombo by the i-oad much cheaper
than by sending it to a branch station and thence by rail !
The lowcountr5' estates seem to have an advantage
over those in the Kaudyan districts in the matter of
labor, for the women and children leave their homes
even if 4 miles away and pick very satisfactorily, beating
the Tamils, and I am certain that with this new in-
dustry a good many rupees won't find their way to the
Coast. One gentleman gave a small field to a Sinha-
lese woman to weed on contract and she gave satis-
faction and she profited too, for she asked for a con-
tract for three years to weed the whole estate! (")f
course the removal of Sinhalese laborers fyoiii tJicir
homes to places over a dat/'s joiiraet/ never did and never
will succeed, but otherwiso the employment of them
as laborers for most kinds ol work, is not a loss or
disadvantage. When the Tamils leave their homes they
are prepared to do so as temporary exiles. In the coffee
di.itricts in Southern India, they are as unreliable as the
Sinhalese, so long as the estates are not a few mile-'
from their homes. That the Sinhalese will rat emi-
grate is a nonsensical idea. All won't, but a good por- '
tion of genuine rustics are quite prepared for tempor-
ary exile especially after hearing of the benefits the
mall party of them in Queensland are deriving, so much
^o that fiopie rpean to stay away altogether •

^46

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug. 2, 1 886*

Cannot some measures be adopted to induce the petty
laud-owners to grow cacao in the Yatiyantota, Kegalla
and Ambepussa districts '^ In small plots betwi-en 30,000
to 40,000 acres can thus be made to yield this more
stable product. If they planted tea our labour supply in
the lowcountry will be lessened, while the benefit to
the Sinhalese will not be much with such a proiluct.

B. T. J.

TEA CULTIVATION IN SOUTHEEN INDIA
AND CEYLON.

(The Editor of the T. A.)

Sir, — In a late number of the T. A. a corres-
pondent writes about the Tea Estate Superintend-
ent who orders his men to cut 300 holes a day
and ether nonsense of the same kind not worth
repeating. To beginners like myself, it would by
more to the purpose if he told us the number of
holes a cooly might fairly be asked to cut as a
day's work. I myself get 00 holes (1 x 1^ ft.) a
day out of my men. I find a man can till from
300 to -100 holes a day and one man can plant
carefully 800 plants per day. As regards plants
I prefer 18 months' old plants as I can then stump
both the tops and the roots of them and plant out
iu ordinary damp weather. Plants of that age
and so treated begin to grow almost at once.

As regards the alleged deterioration of Ceylon
teas, can close planting have anything to do with
it ? I myself plant indigenous .5 « 4 and good hy-
brid i^xi but do not know that I am right. M.

Southern India, July 12th.

[Our correspondent will very soon have authentic
information as to the practice in Ceylon in
the " Tea Planter's Manual."— Ed.]

Tea IK Assam. — We call special attention to the
Report on Tea Cultivation in Assam printed
elsewhere. In round numbers the increase in the
six years 1880-85 has been in clutivated land: —

Mature plants ... 40,000 acres

Immature,, ... 4,500 ,,

Total... 44,500 acres,

While the increase in total area is enormous, no

less than 455,500 acres; the area held has, in
truth, nearly doubled.

China Teas. — Of the new season's China tea
the Grocer says : — " China has already been warned
that, if she does not make teas better suited to
the British palate than those forwarded of late
years, she will lose her hold of the London market,
and we think that the threatened loss of us as a
nation of customers has not been made in vain,
for the teas now arriving from that quarter are,
if a correct opinion can be formed from the first
shipments, superior to those sent here in 1885.
Samples from the filenogle were to be seen in
Mincing Lane by G o'clock on Monday evening last,
and were pronounced as being decidedly above the
average of recent years. Further inspectiens have
confirmed this impression, and most of the dealers
are quite pleased with the new teas, as they
possess rare good keeping qualities. There are some
judges, however, who complain of the teas being
thin and light in the cup; but this may not be
the fault of the teas, but only because the 'lire"
on them has not had time to go off before they
were landed ; and the best Chma authorities say
that, give the new teas time to develop, and they
will in the couise of another week or so turn out
to be thicker, better, and stronger than they are now."

Ohbstnut Wat£B, also called Water Caltrops {Th'apa,
nata)is), an acquatic plant belonging to the family
Onagrariacefe. It is a native of Southern Europe
and has creeping, floating stems, producing hair-like
roots, from which rises a cluster of triangular, toothed
fluatiug leaves with swollen foot-stalks which buoy
them up. The flowers are small. The lobes of the
calyx two or four, increasing in size, and with its tube
involving the ovary, which becomes a hard, horned
fruit about the size of a chestnut. They contain much
farinaceous matter, and form a considerable article
of food. In Italy they are known by the name of
Jesuit Chestnuts, and in France as Water Chestnuts.
In Cashmere the seeds of 2'. bispinosa form an im
portant article of food to a large population. I', hiforiiis
is also extensively used for food in China under the
name of Ling. The stiff, horn-like projections of these
fruits convey to the mind the idea of Caltrops.

The New Geeen Bug has, we regret to hear,
worked its way up from the Northern districts
through Pussellawa and Pundaluoya to the coffee in
the adjacent corner of Dimbula, and it is merely
a question of time until it crosses the river to the
poposite division of the district. Mr. Bosanquet of
Yoxford considers the pest much worse than the
old black bug, and he is not sure of its identific-
ation in Nietner. The leaves with the insect require
to be examined. But it is a matter for congratul-
ation that tea should have been so generally planted
in Dimbula before this pest appeared. From a
careful observant planter, since writing the
above we have received the following: — •' I
send you herewith some specimens of what
I call the new bug as well as a few of the brown
and white. The new bug is easily distinguishable
by its being on the upper sides of the leaves and
on the berrie.'5, which was never seen with the old
bug. I could not get any good specimens of the
old brown bug as the rains have washed it away
from most of the estates ; a few weeks ago I had any
quantity of it. The new one seems indifferent to
weather. My idea is that the new bug is a descend-
ant of the old one on the theory of evolution. I
do not think it agrees with the one described by
Nietner as it is green to the end of its existence.
The old bug never killed out coffee as this one does,
nor did it march steadily on from district to district
as this one does, and it gave way to several remedies,
whereas I have found nothing which will keep this
one in check. I shall be interested to hear what
your entomological referee says of it, though he has
probably had it under observation before this. Its
disappearance as far as my experience of it goes
is only coincident with the death of the coffee over
the greater proportion of the estate, a patch here
and there may unaccountably recover from an attack.
I believe there are some who think this nothing
more than the old bug ; but they can have had no
experience of the districts north of Kandy. I send a
spray of tea also on which bug is present which
looks like a cross between the brown and the green.
I hope the specimens will arrive fresh ; should they not
do so, I will find other means of keeping the branches
alive." — We sent the specimens on to our entomo-
logical authority, who, after examination and con-
sideration, wrote :— " I return Mr. 's letter. The

scale bug that has attacked his coffee is undoubtedly
the pale green bug that is destroying the coffee in
some other districts. It is not described by Nietner,
and cannot have come under his observation, but still
it may have been in existence somewhere in his time.

Mr. remarks that 'the old bug never killed

out coffee.' It is possible, however, that a bad
attack of the ' old bug ' might prove fatal in the
present weak condition of the tree. Nietner's
Lecaniutn coffeir (brown or scaly bug) may be found
in small numbers, on the brinjal plant in Colombo.
It is of a pale brown colour."

Aug, 2, 1886J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

141

The Cultivation of Rice will Boon become one
of the leading occupations of the Northern set-
lers in Australia. Rice grows there so easily,
says the Queeiislander, and yields such heavy
crops of good quality, that it wants no prophet
to say that the farmers will soon turn to it as
a substitute for maize. — M. Mail..

FuENiTURE Polish. —

Yellow wax . . , . . . 1 J oz.

Common soap . . . . . , 6 „

Carbonate of potash . . . . - »

Water .. .. .. .. 10 „

Heat and stir all together until a milky mixture is
formed, then tiansfer to a stoue bottle and add

Turpentine . . . . . , 1.5 oz.

by small portions, shaking well all the time. Continue
to shake occasionally until cold, then add 1 oz. of
solution of ammonia. — Choitist und Druggist.

"Pink Ivory." — Amongst the specimens of woods
in the Natal Court, one is thus described: —
The specimens of native woods are very in-
teresting, many of them taking a fine polish and
showing a beautiful grain. One used by the natives
in making ornamental assegais and sticks, and
called by them wn<i>noi, is exceedingly pretty, and
the most unique as regards colour. It is as pink
as the old-fashioned cabbage rose, is very close
grained, and, when polished, looks like what the
Natal colonists call it, "pink ivory." A piece of
it can be seen in the lid of a box made of several
native woods. This box contains sixty different
native medicines, and is in itself a great curiosity.
— Exhihition Supplement to the Coloniei and India.

The Export of Copra from Fiji is thus given
by the Fiji Tinits : —

The proper figures of actual local export as given
by the Receiver- General are a« follows :-~

I87r, .. 2,.397 tons

70 .. i,6o;{

77 .. 4,404

78 .. r,,.H72 „

79 .. '2,772

80 .. 5,242 „

81 .. 4,779

82 . . -''),480
83' . . 4,892

84 . . 4,978

85 .. 4,888

The Receiver- General gives all the above figures, as
those of the export of copra raised in Fiji, except the
last. This can be checked by taking the nut export,
reckoning 90 nuts in a bag, according to the new
practice adopted since '83, and calculating 6,500 nuts
iis equivalent to one ton of copra. It will be found
that the result adds on 175 tons, which is purely
European produce, as natives do not export nuts.

Pearl Shells andPearls m the Western Australia
Court are thus described in the Exhibition
Supplement to the Colonies and India :— We
see the crown and glory of the West Austra-
lian section, the trophy of giant mother-o'-
pearl shells, a S. Simeon Stylites of nacre, glisten-
ing and glinting in silvery sheen, no less than one
thousand shells being used in its construction.
Would you see them separately, here they are
ranged against the wall, the contribution of Messrs.
McRae & Harper, twenty-three shells weighing 2
cwt. These are the bodyguard of the treasure of
the show, the " Southern Cross Pearl," a perfect
cross formed of nine pearls together into one solid
mass — no freak, rather a faierie fancy, of nature.
This was found at Roebourne, W. A., in 1884, by
Shiner Kelly, of the schooner " Ethel," and opened
by a lad named Clarke, in the presence of his
father. This hums natiiin', which has been inspected
by Her Majesty, the Prince and Princess, and all
the Royalties who have visited the Colinderies, is
valued at 10,000L — a present to give a wife or a
Bweetheart — " a lass and a lac," the toast of Clive's
chaplain. Half, and only half . of the story of the

pearl fishing industry is told in the cabinet repre-
senting the depths of the sea, with pearlshells
and curious formations of coral. The black fellows
need no diving dress, but go under water , as do
the sponge fishers in the Mediterranean when they
dive from their speronares. The pearl industry
owes much to the enterprise of Mr. E. W. Streeter
whose son was the plucky diamonder of Kimberley
Cape Mines — ^the eminent jeweller, who has an
establishment at Cossack, and a fine display of
pearls has been set on view.

A Veterinary Class in connection with the
Medical College in Colombo is suggested by an
Uva correspondent with reference to the prevalence
of cattle murrain, and the suggestion is one deserv-
ing of the special attention of the Government.
There is nothing, next to seasonable weather and
water supply, of so much importance to the native
agricultural class in Ceylon— and this virtually means
the mass of the people, both Sinhalese and Tamil — as
the preservation of the health of their cattle. And
we cannot conceive of anything more practically
important than the spread of a sound knowledge
of the proper treatment of cattle among the headmen
and intelligent leaders of the people. If the sons
of village headmen, after the completion of their
ordinary education, were induced to pass a year
or two in attendance on a Veterinary Class under
proper guidance, a great deal would soon be done
for th(' inculcation of proper treatment of cattle
throughout the villages and rural districts. The
Government by some little mark of distinction to
such as secure a certificate of attendance and attain-
ment of a certain amount of knowledge, would very
speedily secure ample attendance, and still more if
it were understood that in the selection of minor
headmen, such certificate-bearers, other things being
equal, would have preference. But the first point
is to get the special Veterinary Class established,
and this Sir Arthur Gordon in conjunction with hia
Principal Medical Officer can easily manage if he
sets about it in earnest. It might be possible, too,
for the Director of Public Instruction to allow
some of his rural teachers to attend the class, so
as to enable them to help the poor people with
advice during a season of murrain or other trouble
with their cattle.

Large and Moderate breaks of tea are thus
noticed by The Produce Markets' Review : — As the Tea
trade increased, and with it the necessity for dispos-
ing of a large portion of the imports by public sale,
it was found a few years back that the system of
offering parcels in lots of six or nine packages made
the auctions insufferably long. It was therefore sug-
gested that the lots should be materially increased
in size — say to the extent of 36 or 50 packages in
each. Some of the leading importers and buyers were
desirous of trying an even more sweeping change,
and began to offer entire parcels in single lots. This
uo doubt, materially sliortened the sales, but it was
found in other respects very injurious, because it led
to greatly diminished competition. The smaller buyers
were often prevented from buying, first, by the size
of the lots, and next, by the fact that, in order to
purchase, they had to bid an advance of id. per lb.,
which often rendered the Tea too dear. The leading
China importers, therefore decided to try the plan of
offering their Teas in lots of 36 half-chests, and the re-
sult was quite satisfactory. Competition was much in-
creased, of course, in itself, tended to maintain price*
while buyers could often afford to give an extra farth-
ing for. 36 half.chpsts when they could not do so for
200 half-chrsts. There has been some discussion on
tliis subject, though arising out of another matter,
at the China sales this week, at which the system of
offering tea in lots of 36 half-chests was generally
approve'!, and it is understood that the example of
the leading importers is likely to be followed in this
matter in the China sales,

142

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Aug. 2, 1886.

Tea. — The intelligence from home by tele-
graph is rather more encouraging for our staple :
doubtless the tea dealers in the North of Ireland,
where much of our tine teas go, have more confidence
in their business, now that "Home Rule " h shelved if
not for ever laid in its extreme form. It is pointed
out to us that many of the London broking houses
are largely interested in Indian tea estates and teas,
and therefore their judgment on the young and
vigorous Ceylon rivalteas must be accepted cum uraiio.
Indian j-x. Ceyi.on Teas. — Of last week's sales
of Indian and Ceylon teas the Produce Jfarkets'
lici'iew says : — " The demand for Indian tea has
been less active, and owing to the poor quality of
most of the supplies, lower prices, with few excep-
tions, have been established. The better descriptions
of Indian teas are now in a much smaller com-
pass, and remain comparatively lirm. More espe-
cially has this been the [case with good Broken
Pekoes, for which there is brisk competion. The
market has been largely supplied with Ceylon teas,
and although they have met with a good enquiry,
prices generally have been favourable to buyers.
With a continuance of large supplies from Ceylon,
the values of fine Indian .teas, notwithstanding
their comparative scarcity at the moment, are not
likely to advance further, as the briskness, strength
and growing similarity in flavour of some of the
Ceylon sorts, make them generally excellent substi-
tutes for Indian teas.

Sugar ix British Guiana. — The weather since
saihng of last mail has been too dry for j^lanting
operations, but yesterday and today rain lias
fallen in abundance all over the countries gladden-
ing the hearts of our planter friends. The grow-
ing crop in this country are described as very
line and above an average. The same may be
said of Esseqnebo, but Berbice has suffered severely
from drought, and the rain have come too late
to admit of making up lee way. Nothing much
doing in way of sugar making lieyond a few
pieces to give plants and the juice is poor in
sacharine. Strange to say with complaints rife
of want of work on the part of transcient labourers,
we hear great complaints from planters of their
planting work being kept back for want of hands
at fair rates of wages. Some put tliis down to
the very liberal wages which are paid by those
prosecuting the minor industries. AYhere si^ dollars
lier acre is readily paid for cutting down an acre
of sage ready for fire stick and the fork and $10
per acre is paid for forking an acre of ground
all over ; (and this work can be done in a fort-
night by an able-bodied man, which means $8 per
week), the cane planters have indeed formidable
opponents to compete with.— Royal Gazette.

Coffee : — Brazil Crops axi< Incre.\sed Con.suaip-
TioN. — Say James Cook k Co. in their H'cehli/ Des-
patch, July 2nd: — The total *rxport for crop year (1st
July to 30th June') is telegraphed as follows: —
For Europe ' 1 051,0(10 bags Kio )

„ United States 2,440,000 ,, „ V3,614,000 Bags
„ Elsewhere 114,000 „ „ J

., Europe 1,175,000 ,, Santos j

„ Uiiited States 475,000 „ ,, \ 1,658,000 Bags
„ Cape, &c. 8,000 „ ,, J

The Brazilian crops for the three seasons ending 1883-4
average 5,.'i30,26!) bags, and ii estimates are correct,
tlie average for the three seusons ending lSbC-7 will be
somewhat above 6,000,000 bags. This appears, perhaps,
beyond current views, but friends adhere to there estim-
ate of Santos of about 2,800,000 bags, aud reckon the
quantity left in the interior of 1585-0 »t 200,000 bags.
The Jttio receipts are now mostly new coffee of smiiU
bean. Hantos niarkets very active, Kio strong and ad-
vancing. It will be interesting to note at the close of
188G what the deliveries have been. The returns of
tlie duty payments for 1882 led us to calculate upon

requirements of 360,000 tons for Europe. If we are
right in coufideriuji the present delivery from January
to May as actual consumption, we should be inclined
now to reckon upon 435 to 410.000 tons as necessary
this year for European wants, and America we should
assess at 22i'.000 tons, though, so far, the figures point
to no reduction. This would place the consumption
of coffee for the twelve months, say at 660,000 tons,
an increase since 1882 at the rate of 3;; per cent per
annum.

Tea Crops and Prospects. — Writing in June,
Messrs. Hulbert & Co. made the following remarks :
what is said about exhibition samples and labour
of tasting so many samples, deserves attention; —
Keports of the New Crop state that most gardens
ill Assam and Cachar are backward, but in Darjeeling
the weather has been more favoiu'able, and the quantity
manufactured to date compares well with last year.
Estimates for next season place the available sup-
ply of Indian for the United Kingdom at about 72
millions, against Imports of 67 millions for 1885-86, or
an increase of 7* per cent. If we assess the arrivals
of Ceylon for the same 12 months at 15 millions,
we have a total of 87 millions for the season, 188C-87,
aud allowing 3 millions for anticipated export to
Continent, etc., we shall require an average monthly
delivery of 7 millions to dispose of this supply, or
an increase of Ih millions per month, as compared
witli the past season. This we maintain can well be
effected by a slight decline in the price of common
Teas, by which means a large proportion of low China
Congou will be reduced to a point at which it will
not pay to import, and the market will be gradually
relieved of the over supply. The results of last
season were very bad to importers at the begimiing aud
the end, although from October to December fair of
profits were made ; no doubt our market was inflated
at that period, which led Calcutta buyers subsequently
to pay high prices, but the quantity of early and late
shipments was much overrated, and this we think is
responsible for much of ^the wide margins between
Calcutta and London prices. On the whole, Assam
showed the best quality, but tliis as usual was not
maintained when the quantity of leaf to be manufac-
tured became much larger. Cacharshave been, with few
exceptions, poor throughout ; also Darjeeliiigs, which
were lacking both in strength and flavour. Teas
from Kangara were generally without point, although
a few good parcels were sold in the early part of
the season. Dehra Doons occasionally showed im-
provement, and we think will be in better demand if
managers could make them a little more brisk with a
fresh smell to the dry leaf . Owing to the firmness of
the common grades during the past season we arejlikely
to get a large quantity of low class Teas this year, and
we would advise managers not to neglect quality, but to
devote their attention to manufacture and endeavour
to obtain the best result possible from an average
amount of Leaf. We think it most necessary that in-
creased facilities should be given to buyers on this
market to get through the enormous amount of tasting
by reducing the number of samples for public sale. Im-
porters would not suffer by bulking the lov.er grades of
different gardens when character is equal, as in Tea
for price, the garden mark is not of much import-
ance, and the Trade have no objection to dividing a
line of such Teas into lots of 24 or .SO chests, to
suit the smr.ller houses. With the increased supplies
fiwii India and Ceylon, unless something is done in
this direction it is not unlikely that we all arrived
at a deadlock before long. We have noticed the Indian
and Ceylon Tea samples at the Colonial and Indian
Exhibition, and while much struck with the beauty of
their appearr^nce, aud the care bestowed on manufac-
ture, we hardly consider that this is sufficient to bring
the article promineutly before the notice of the public.
Such choice specimens as v,'e have seen do not
■accurately represent the merchantable article, and
must only confuse the mind of the beholder ; we
should have thought that if a few standard qualities
selected from each district were prepared for tast-
ing at fixed periods, and the public invited to pro-
nounce thoir opinion, it would have assisted to a larger
degree in extending a knowledge of the article.

AtJG. 2, 2 886 J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST .

Hi

HOW LEMON, OKANGE AND BEEGAMOT
ESSENCE IS MADE.

Wallace S. Joues, U. S. Consul at Messiua, gives
the foUowiug iuteresting aceoant of the manufac-
ture of essential oil (essence) from the peel of the
lemon, sweet orange, sour orange and bergauiot, and
also of the extraction of the lemon and bergamot
juice, in the island of Sicily : —

Essence of Lemon, Orange and Eekgamot. — The
operative with three strokes of a sharp knife peels
the lemon lengthwise, then cuts it in two and throws
it into a basket; the peel falls into an earthen plat-
ter below the chopping block, liofore the essence ig
extracted the peels are soaked fifteen minutes iu water,
which causes them to swell and offer a greater re-
sistance when pressed against the sponge. In his
left hand the operative holds a sponge, through which,
that he maj' grasp it more firmly, runs a piece of
reed cane. The peel, piece by piece, is pressed
against the sponge two or three times in succession,
simple pressure being supplemented by rotary press-
ure. The rushing of the oil cells liberates the es-
sence therein contained. The sponge when full of
essence is squeezed in an earthen vessel that the oper-
ative holds in his lap. It is the outside of the
peel that is pressed against the spoon, as the oil
glands are in the epicarp. This can be ascertained
by holding the pressed peel to the flame of a caudle ;
if it neither crackles nor affects the flame the cells
are empty. This process yields along with the es-
sence a small quantity of the juice and feccia (dregs).
The feccia is composed of the membraneous residue
of the oil cells and the resinous substances transfused
throughout the epicarp of the lemou ajid orange.
It is of a mucilaginous consistency, and of a
pale colour. It has not been analyzed chemically up
to date, and is put to no use. The seperation of the
essence, juice and feccia takes place of its own accord ;
if the earthen vessels are not disturbed the oil floats
on the juice and the dregs fall to the bottom. These
three products of different density derived from the
peel have no afiinity with one another. As the es-
sence rises to the surface it is transferred to bottles
and left a few days to settle; it is then drawn off
with a glass siphon into copper cans, which are her-
metically sealed. After the essence has been expresed
the peels are pressed (to extract what little juice
they may contain), and are then thrown on the man-
ure pile and icell rotted — or they would make too
heating a fertilizer.

In a bergamot essence establishment at lleggio, on
the mainland, I recently saw iu operation a hand
machine for extracting essential oil. A thermopneu-
matic essence extractor worked by steam pow?r, has
also been invented, but the primitive method of
hand-work still generally prevails in Sicily.

The yield of essence is very variable. Immature
lemons contain the most oil. From November to
April in the Province of Messiua, 1,000 lemons yield
about fourteen ounces of essence and ten gallons of
juice. This industry is carried on during five months
of the year. An operative can express three baskets
of lemon peel (weighing 190 pounds) a day. He is
paid seventeen cents a basket. The essence is so
valuable that the operators are closely watched, as
they are most ingenious in secreting it.

During the year 1885 the essence exported from
Me.«siDa were valued at $1982,894, of which sum
8137,375 were shipp'od direct to the United States,

Lemon essence is (luoted hero to-day at $2.47 per
pound.

Bergamot essence S^-^o per pound.
Sweet orange essence $'2M0 per pound.
Sour orange essence l^l'DO per pound.

The copper cans weigh (on an average) four pounds,
and contain twenty pounds of essence e.ich.

Lemon peels, valued at §980, were exported to the
United States in 1884.

Six men work up 8,001) lemons a day, two cutting
off the peels while four cxtact the esscuce of juice,
»)id obtaiu :

Eighty-four gallons of juice.

Seven pounds of essence.

Which, after deducting the cost of labour, fruit, and
incidental expenses, leaves a net profit of ,iJG. Specu-
lators frequently adulterate the essence, but these
frauds are easily detected.

Lemons grow on clay soil yield more essence than
those grown on calcarious or rocky soil.

ExTR.\crioN OF LEMOiV Juice. — Closely connected
with the extraction of essence from the lemon and
bergamot is the extraction of lemou and bergamot
juice. When the juice has been concentrated by
boiling it is called ui/rocoitu. Lemons unfit for ex-
portation are used for this purpose.

The method iu use is as follows: — On the marble
bed of the press are superposed nine mats (made of
bulrushes) three feet in diameter; iu their centre is
a hole six inches iu diameter ; their outer edge turns
back a half-foot. These mats arc filled with peeled
lemons, and piled one on the other. A following
block is placed on toj) of these mats. These presses
have two wooden screws, firmly set in masonry, about
six feet apart. There is a tap for each screw ; the
taps are worked down by hand-lever. The juice flows
from the bed of the press into tubs. If the juice is
to be exported raw, sound lemons only are pressed ;
if the juice is to be boiled, which is generally the
case, 25 per cent, of spoilt lemous may be used.
Lemou juice does not keep well unless boiled. Sound
fruit when pressed yields a slightly perfumed yellow-
ish juice. The lemons remain in the press twelve
hours. Independently of the intrinsic quality of the
lemous, the ;iniount of juice and its degree of acidity
varies from month to month. The yield is greatest
in the spring, but of less acidity, owing to the winter
rains.

There is a machine for cutting up the lemons, but
the Sicilians are wedded to their old methods of
hand labour.

In 1885 the concentrated lemon juice exported
from Messina was valued •s298,707, of which s49,203
worth was shipped to the United States.

Taxes in Italy are very onerous. Manufacturers
fearing an increase of taxation, should the extent of
their business become known, are so reticent that it
is impossible to ascertain accuiately their profits from
the lemon juice industry. It may be safely said,
however, that their piofits are very handsome.

Concentrated lemon juice is quoted at §160 a pipe
(105 gallons).

Concentrated bergamot juice is (juoted at s.130.50 a
pipe (105 gallons). — Florida Disimtcli.

Useful Gr-Iss fob a Warm District.— A sample
of a rare and valuable grass named Euchlc-ena (Keeana)
luxurians, the teasinte of Central America, was ex-
hibited (writes the Leader) at the show of the Bel-
fast Horticultural Society. This splendid grass com-
parable in size with the pampas grass, is one of the
best and most productive forage plants known, the
leaves attaining a length of 3 feet. A large number
of stems, says Baron von Mueller, springs from the
Fame root, and attain a height of 11 feet or more.
The young shoots, when boiled, constitute a fair
culinary esculent. As to its prolificacy, it is said that
Dr. Schweinfurth harvested at CHiro from three seeds
a return of l-_',000 in one year. The plant particularly
in its young state, is remarkably saccharine. Vilmorin
estimated that one plant is sufScientfor two ead of catttle
during twentv-four hours. It is already grown iu Queens ■
land, where Mons. Thoset, at Kockhampton obtaiued
plants 12 feet in height and the same in width, in
dam|), alluvial soil, each with 32 main stalks bearing
nearly lOO flower bunches. It is rather slower iu
growth than n)ai;^e, but lasts longer for green fodder,
and not so hardy as sorghum. As a forage plant it
is without a rival in climes free from frost. It likes
humid soil best, but is able to resist extreme dry-
ness. It is therefore, certainly worthy of extensive
trial wherever frosts are light, for thougli a tender
plant it would not likely be killed by a light frost
after being tbuioughly establiglied,— :\Vw ZMhiid

J 44

fHE TROPICAt AOmcVLTXjmST.

[Aug. 2, iS86.

MARKET RATMS FOR OLD AND NE^W PRODUCTS.

(Prom Lewis <£• Peat's London Price Current, July 1st, 1886.)

FKOM MALABAR

COAST, COCHIN,
CEYLON, MADRAS, &c.

BEES' WAX, White

Yellow
CINCHONA BARK— Crown

Red

CARDAMOMS Malabar

QUALITY.

CINNAMON

f Sliglitly sof tish to good

\ hard bright

Do. drossy & dark ditto.

Renewed ...

Medium to fine Quill .

Spoke shavings ...

'Branch

IRenewed

1 Medium to good Qviill .,

ISpoke shavings

Branch

Twig

, , . IClipped, bold, bright, fine

and Coylon iMiddliu";, stalky & lean
Aleppee JFair to fine plumpclipped
Teliicherry,Good to fine
Brownish
Mangulore Good & fine, waslied.bgt.

Long Ceylon Middling to good

Ists Ord. to fine pale quill
2nds

3rd
4ths

J. Woody and hard ...

Chips ...Fair to fine plant...

COCOA, Ceylon ... Bold to good bold

...iMedinm

'Triage to ordinary
COi^FEE Ceylon Plantation Bold to fine bold colory.
Middling to fine mid. .

,, Native
Liberian
East Indian

Native

Low middling

Smalls

Good ordinary ..
:8mall to bold
Bold to fine bold..
Medium to fine .,

[Small

JGood to fine ordinary

COIRROPE,Ceylon&CochiniMid.coarse to finestraight

Ord. to fine long straight

iCoarse to fine '

'Ordinary to superior

Ordinary to fine

Roping fair to good
iMiddlingwomiy to fine..

Fair to fine fresh

Good to fine bold

Small and medium
Fair to good bold...

Small

Fair to fine bold fresh ..
Small ordinary and fair..
Good to fine picked
Common to middling ..

Fair Coast

Pickings Burnt and defective
OIL, CINNAMON ... Good to fine heavy

CITRONELLE ... JBright & good flavour ..

LEMON GRASS ...i „ „ „ „
ORCHELLA WEED ... Mid. to fine, not woody
PEPPER,Malabarblk .sifted iFair to bold heavy

FIBRE, Brush

Stuffing .,
YARN, Ceylon

Cochin
Do
COLOMBO ROOT, sifted ..
CROTON SEEDS, sifted .,
GINGER, Cochin, Cut
>f
Rough

NUX VOMICA !

MYRABOLANES, pale .

Alleppee & Cochin .
Tellicherry, White
PLUMBAGO, Lump

Chips
Dust

USD WOOD

SAP AN WOOD

SANDAL WOOD, logs
Do. chips

SENNA, Tinnevelli

good

. Fair to fine bright bold..
iMiddling to good small.,

QUOTATIONS.

J£6 10s a £7 10
£5 a £6
Is a 3»
Is 4d a 2s 6d
9d a Is 6d
2d a8d
8d a 2s 6d
6d a 2s 6(1
5d a lod I
ad a «d
Id

Is lOd a 2h 6d
8d a Is 9d
Is ,'Jd a 23 3il
Is 6d a 2s 2d
(id a Is 3d
) s Id a 3s
8d a Is 4d
8da Is lid
7|d a Is t5d
tid a Is 2d
od a Ud
l|d a 7d
808 a 8Ss 6
728 a 78s
558 a 683
78s a lOOs
Glsa 75s
55s a 60s
48s a 58s 6d
42s a 44s
33s a 488
783 a 12l8
60s a 753
50s a 583
44s

£7 a £17
€12 a £39
£7 a £18
£12 a £30
£11 a £35
£8 a £13
16s a 33s
30s a 553
65s a lOOs
45s a 65s
30s a 45a
25s a 30s
8s a 12»
5s a 7s
•is a 8s
5s a 6s 6d
6s a 6d 6s
4s a 58
Is a 3s
|la Id
Udalfd
403 a 553

7^d a 7i'd

lOd a 2s 6d
lis a 15s
7s a 10s

iSlight foul to fine bright 78 a lis
. Ordinary to fine bright ... Ss a IO3
. Fair and fine bold ... £5 58
. Middling coated to good £6 a £7
. Fair to good flavor ... £20 a £44

£10 a £16

jGood to fine bold green... 9d a Is 5d

|Fair middling bold . . . 4id a 8d

iCommon dark aud small l|d a S^d

jFinger fair to fine bold 12s a 133

iMiied middling [bright lis a 128

Bulbs whole Il3 6dal2s6d

Do split 7s6da8s6d

TURMERIC, Madras
Do.
Do.

Cochin
VANILLOES, Mauritius &

Bourbon, Ists iFine crystalised 6 a 9inch 14s a 243
2nds.Foxy & reddish 5 a 8 ,, jlOs a 12s
Srds I / I'6'ii ^ dO' '° middlingi

\ under 6 inches ....53 a 93
4th 'Low, foxy, inferior and J

[pickings l86d a 4s

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

CLOVES, Mother

,, Stems...

COCULUS INDICUS
GALLS, Bussorah 1 , ,

& Turkey /''^'^^

GUM AMMONIACUM—
drop ...
ANIMI, washed ...

.scraped...

ARABIC, E.l. & Aden..

Ghatti ...

Amrad clia

ASSAF(ETIDA

KINO

MYRKH, picked

Aden sorts
OLIBANUM, drop

»»

pickings...

sittings

INDIARUBBER Mozambi

SAFFLOWER, Persian ...

FROM CALCUTTA AND
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

CASTOR OIL, Ists

2nds

3rds
INDIARUBBER Assam

Rangoon
Madagascar

QUALITY

QUOTATIONS

Fair, usual dry

fresh
Eair

Fair to fine dark

Good white and green...
Blocky to fine clean
Picked fine pale in sorts,
part yellow aud mixed
Bean & Pea size ditto ..
amber and dark bold
Medium & bold sorts

Sorts

Fair to good pale
Good and fine i)ale
Reddish clean
Clean fair to fine
Slightly stony and foul ..
Fairto fine bright
Fair to fine pale
Middling to good
Fair to fine white
Reddish to middling ..
Middling to good pale ..
Slightly ifoul to fine
que.fairtofine sausage )
,. Bali;
unripe root
liver
Ordinary to good

None
2d a 2 l-16d

,8s 6d

52s a 678 6d

I42S 6da 528 6d
{30s a 60s
£14 a £17
£11 a £13
£4 10s a £8
£8 a £12
£5 a £8
65s a lOOs
;<2s u 65s
|708a lUOs
l32H a 55s
308 a 858
2(Js a 26s
38s a 40s
£6 a £7 10s
70.S a 100s
45s a 5.5s
;Ss a 443
93 a lis
Us a 133 6d

2s a 2s 4d

9d a Is

Is 6d a Is lOd

5s a ISs

SAFFLOWER

TAMARINDS

Nearly water white

Fair and good pale

Brown and brownish

Good to fine

Common foul and mixed

Fair to good clean

Good to fine pinky & white

Fair to good black
..'Good to fine pinky

[Middling to fair

Inferior and pickings ...
.. Mid. to fine&?nc/mot stony

iStony and inferior

SJd a4jd
2 15-16da3d
2|d a 2Jd
Is 9d a 28 4d
6d a Is 8d
'Isl0da2s3d
2s 2d a 28 5d
Is 9d a Is lid
£4 10s a £5 lOs
£3 OS a £4 2s 6d
£1 a £1 103
10s a 143
33 a 6s

FROM
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

ALOES, Cape

Natal
ARROWROOT Natal

.[Fair dry to fine bright ... 30s a 333
.iCommon & middling softi 20s a 299
.'Fairtofine ...|358a408

.JMiddling to.fine ...Sid a 6d

FROM CHINA, JAPAN &
THE EASTERN ISLANDS.

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

ALOES, Soccotrine and
Hepatic,
CHILLIES, Zanzibar

CLOVES. Zaneibar
oadFemtMi

Good and fine dry ... £7 a £10

Common and good ... £4 a £8
Good to fine bright ...328 a 34s
Ordinary laA middling... 29s a 3l8
1 iGoodand fine bright ... 9Jd a lOd

f.0rdiawr7daUtg{uir .„i)ii.i^i

CAMPHOR, China
Japan
OAMBIER, Cubes

Block
GUTTA PERCHA, genuine
Sumatra...
Reboiled
White Borneo

NUTMEGS, large

Medium

Small
MACE

RHUBARB, Sun dried .

High dried .

SAGO, Pearl, large

medium
small
Flour
TAPIOCA, Penang Flake.
Singapore
Flour
Pearl

Good, pure, & dry white
„ „ pink

Ordinary to fine free ...
Pressed
Good

Fine clean Banj&Macas-
Barky to fair [sar|8d a 2s 3d

Common to fine clean ..,!ldal»4d
Good to fine clean
Inferior and barky
61*8 a 80's, garbled
83's a 95*3
lOO's a 160's
Pale reddish to pale
Ordinary to red
Chips

Good to fine sound
Darkordinary&middling 8d a Is 6d
Good to fine ... Is Id a Is 3d

Dark, rough & middling 7d a Is

j-eSs a 68s

28s a 298

23s a 24s

22s

2s 4d a 3s 3d

|lldal8 3d

Id a 8d
'28 2id a 38 5d
Is lid a 2s Id
IsSilals lid
Is 6d a 2s 8d
Is 3d a Is 5d
Is a Is 2d
Is 9d a 2s 9d

Fair to fine

Good pinky to white
IFair to fine

.Ballets
; Medium

id«ed

12s 6d a 153
... 12s a 1.3s Od
... 9s.3dalls6d
... 8s Cd a 10s
... I^da2id
... Iida2id
...dldai-ld
,..{14saI5s
„. Ida a 178

^£1*1, 2, i886,J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

HS

iaB«*MaiB>^f8»ff

" THE TEOPICAL AGRICULTURIST."

(From a Plantiiuj Correi^pondent.)
The new volume of the Tropical AgricuUiirist
reached me a few days ago, and I have revelled
in its contents for 3 or 4 hours after dinner every
night since. What a wonderful compendium of
information it is. I was not surprised with the
work, as after the Directory it would take a
great deal to excite such a feeling, but I made a
discover}' in connection with it which caused me
a good deal of annoyance. It was this, that all
the useful information which at great expense of
time and trouble, I had clipped from the columns
of the daily paper and pasted in a book kept for
the purpose, reappears here ready to my hand at
a moment's notice by reason of the index, saving
me all the trouble of searching through a volume of
indexless pages, and is besides augmented by a
vast amount of valuable information which I had no
other means of reaching. I found the book of im-
mediate i^ractical service to me too, on a question
of horse-power which I had to settle at once,
and upon which I would probably have had to
take and pay for an engineer's opinion. I doubt
whether he would have accepted the price of the
T. A. as his fee. You may naturally ask why I have
not been a regular subscriber all these years. I
was under the delusion that I couldn't afford it.
New bocks, magazines, papers &c. cost me on an
average fully E200 a year. When the T. A. was
first published, I said " No, I cannot afford it.
I've reached my limit of expenditure on literature."
But I must in justice to myself explain that I
was under an entirely erroneous impression re-
garding its price. I cannot tell you how, but some
way or other I had got the notion into my head
that it cost K20 a year, and the impression was
only removed by the appearance of your recent
circular. You know how hard it is to remove such
Impressions. Having once made up your mind that
a thing is unattainable you cease to think of it,
so it was in my case, and it was only when I
sat down to address my propi'ietors on the subject
of its being subscribed for by the estate that I
discovered my error. That letter was never sent.
I want the 7'. A. all to myself from this date.
Why it 's little more than the cost of a dozen of
beer, and there are few men in Ceylon who regul-
ate their house expenses so carefully that a
single bottle of beer more or less per month would
be reckoned of importance.

COCONUT" CULTIVATION IN CEYLON:
THE APPLICATON OF LIME.
(Bi/ (HI old Coconut Phntter.)

The Tropical Agriculturist has not succeeded
in lighting up some of the dark places in the
land of its birth, witness the enquiries of " Agri-
culturist" in Ceylon Observer of 8th July. As, how-
ever, I have never been appealed to in vain for
any informati m that my reading or experience
can supply, the following are my views regarding
the use of lime in coconut cultivation : —

The amount of lim.e directly required by the
coconut plant, ia so small that two bushels per
acre would be an ample supply for ten years,
supposing the soil originally deficient in that
element.

Lime is not used in agriculture as a direct
manure, but for its chemical and mechanical action
on the soil. Quicklime warms a cold soil, opens
and loosens a stifi' sjil, and quickens into active
fertility an inert soil. The application of lime
is always beneficial on heavy compact loams, and
ia combnatiou mih ctraining on iiata where the
19

rain-water is neither readily absorbed nor flows
freely off, such soils contain much organic matter
in an inert state, which the contact of quicklime,
reduces to the state of available plant food. On
what are called hungry soils, that is, poor loose
sands and gravels, the application of lime can do
nothing but injury, except in minute quantities.
On such soils as lime will do good to, not lesa
than 20 busliels to the acre should be given (50
bushels is better), and in this climate it should
be dug or ploughed in to save it from being
washed off in heavy rains. It should be spread
as equally as practicable over the whole surface.

THE ASSAM TEA EEPOET.

The Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Assam
has just issued the usual Report on Tea Culture.
During tho course of the year 21 new gardens were
opened and 10 closed. The tendency is still appa-
rent, and probably will be for a considerable period,
of amalgamating smaller gardens with larger. The
total number of gardens in existence at the end of
1885 was 041.

The followuig figures exhibit very clearly the steady
growth of the industry : —

Under Under Total area of

mature immature land held by

l''ears. plants. plants. tea-planters.

Acres. Acres. Acres.

1880 .. 120,512 33,145 566,277

1881 .. 133,293 25,1.34 706,648

1882 .. 156,707 22,144 783,362

1883 .. 161,707 27,746 1)23,664

1884 ,. 1.58,158 31,691 913,476

1885 . . _ 1.59,876 37,634 921,891
From this table it appears that there has been a

decided increase giuce last year, both iu tho area
under cultivation and in the total area held by tea-
planters ; and it is satisfactory to note that the tea
indu-try continues to expand in Assam. The Deputy
Conmiissioner of Nowgong says : —

" To make tea cheaply the area, wherever practicable,
must be increased. The same establishment and tho
same buildings do for, say, 150 acres as for 100, while
the cost per pound is materially reduced."

The Deputy Commissioner cf Sibsaugor writes : —

" The theory of extension is that more work can bo
got out of existing establishments, * * * and ex-
perience seems to show that much larger areas can be
worked under the same supervision than was formerly
thought possible."

The Deputy Commissioner of Cachar also takes the
same view, and quotes the opinions of some ^of the lead-
ing planters in his district to support it.

The total area returned asunder cultivation is 197,510
acres, as against 189,852 showu at the close of 1884.
The details accordiug to the various districts are given
below : —

District.

and immature

plants.

1
1884.

1885.

Cachar

52,333

53,205.

Sylhet

30,822

86,288

Khasi and Jaintia Hills

30

30

Goalpara

495

495

Kamroop

6,343

6,321

Durrung

16,670

18,125

NowgoDg

10,854

11,606

Sibaaugor

43,884

43,622

Lukhimpore . .

1

28,405

27,818

Total ., ., 189,852 107,510

The figures given by district officers for
the years under report give a total yield of
53,617,620 lb., or an increase of 2,490,82 1b., when com-
pared with 1884.

The estimate of the Tea Association was 51 ,226, 05 lb.
that is, something less by 2,392,015 lb. than the figures
of the district officers. This difference is explained by
the fact that maDy utitive aud private European coa*

i^O

"THE TROPJCAL ACHICULTURISf.

[Sept. i, 1886.

cenis have no Calcutta agents, and they, of course,
give no returns to the Tea Association.

The following table shows the yield per acre for the
Brahmapootra Valley, the Surma Valley, and the whole
Province respectively, according to the returns : —

Yield per acre.

T884. 1885.

Ih. lb.

Brahmapootra Valley 354 359

Surma „ 279 305

For the whole Province 323 335

Here, agaiu, the figures of the Indian Tea Asso-
ciation are less than those of the district officers for
the reason noted above. Lnkhimpore stands first in
order of productiveness. The Deputy Commissioner
writes : —

" I take the three largest concerns in the district.
I can vouch for the absolute correctne-s of the
returns from these gardens ; they are Hilika and
Hookunguri, representing an area of 1,560 acres of
mature plant in one unbioken expanse, Talap with
1,020 acres, and the gardens of the Doom Dooma
Company with 1,555 acres. The yield is as follows: —
Hilika and Hookunguri, 1,399,040 lb. Talap, 782,260 lb.
Doom Dooma, 1,0SL",287 lb. The average yield per
acre is 790 lb."

The Commissioner of the Assam Valley district re-
marks that the printed reports made by Directors to
shareholders corroborate these figures. The Deputy
Commissioner gives the yield of three more gardens
in Lukhimpore as follows: —

Average
lb. per acre.

Khobong 282,720 589

Panitollah 436,320 595

Sookerating 224,800 702

The average outturn of the whole district is 479 lb.
This outturn is, indeed, remarkable, if compared with
that of some otlier districts. In Kamroop, for instance,
the gardens managed by Europeans exhibit an average
yield of 189 lb., and the native gardens still less.

The estimates as to cost of production are not alto-
gether trustworthy and vary considerably.
The following are some of the district figures :—

Cost of Cost of

cultivation manufacture

per acre. per lb.

Es.As. P. As. P.

Cachar 67 0 0 5 0

Sylhet 49 7 3 8 5

DuiTung 25 0 0 3 0

Nowgong ... ... 70 0 0 6 0

Sibsaugor ... ... 95 0 0 5 9

The Deputy Commissioner of Kemroop says the
cost of cultivation varies from E22 to R140, and of
manufacture from 5 to 9 annas. The Deputy Com-
missioner of Lukhimpore says the returns vary so
much thit it is impossible to say what the costs are.
There can be no doubt that the chief reason
why the figures under these heads are always so
unsatisfactory is because of the number of dif-
ferent interpretations put on the words " cultivation'
and "manufacture." Another re.ison is that no returns
Hr<' sent in or sejiarate accounts kept by managers show-
ing thf different expenditure incurred in each i)ha.se of
the production. In future, planters and agents will be
asked to give the average cost of tea laid down in the
sale room in Calcutta or London. This is in accordance
with the opinion of the Londoti Tea Association, who
consider that it is the only possible way of arriving at a
fair estimate of the cost.

The prices obtained by gardens throughout
the Brahmapootra Valley were generally better
than in 1854, and seem to have compensated
for a bad outtuni. Those obtained by gardens in
Cachar, on the contrary, continue to range low. The
Deputy Commissioner of Sibsaugor writes as follows :—

'• Prices were better than last vear to the extent of
about an anna-and-a-half per lb. Especially good
prices were obtained at the beginning of the season.
This was attributed by the London brokers to the
goofl quality of the tea. Later in the season the un-

toward weather* produced its effect on the quality as
well as the quantity of the outturn, and prices waned
accordingly. The prevalent fears of over-production
were not, apparently, justified by the event. In spite
of the large supply throwTi on the London market
by Ceylon, the stock on the merchants' hands in
December was less than at the end of 1884. Al-
together firmer prices did much to compensate for
one of the worst season's production known for
many years past."

The Deputy Commissioners of Dm-rung, Now
gong, and Lukhimpore all write in the same
strain, bearing witness that i^rices ranged higher than
in 18S4. Mr. Aitchison, of Dalu, Cachar, writes: —

" Though the yield of Oachar gardens was generally
good and heavier than previous years, great complaints
have been made, both by the Calcutta and London tea
brokers of the quality of the teas, until towards the
end of the season, when some slight improvement
showed itself. Prices have, therefore, ruled lower than
in 1884, especially in Lon Ion market. The difference
in the prices between 1884 and 1885 in the Calcutta
market is hardly apparent from the figures given, but
the actual fall for the average of Oachar teas, I
should think, would represent about half-an-anna
per lb. The Calcutta market began strong for all
teas, and high prices were realised even for Cachar
teas for the first two or three sales, it then fell to
almost the lowest ebb it has ever been at for Cachar
teas. About the end of September it suddenly took
a spring, owing partly to some improvement in the
quality and lower exchange, as well as to a slight
hardening of the London market." — Indian Planters'
Ga:.ette.

CEYLON UPCOUNTEY PLANTING REPORT.

LOW I'EICES OF TEA .\ND MODEST TEA EACXOKIES —

" GKEEK MEETIXC. OEEEK " FUEL .SUPPLIES AND

TIJIBEE KESOUECES — CENXEAL r.\CTOEIES — CACAO — AD-
VANCES .\ND KANG.VNIES.

20th July 1886.

The rapid and serious fall in the Peice of Tea
which we all deplore, and which, although anticip-
ated by some wiseacres, has found us more or less
unprepared for, is having one good effect in putting
a stop to the absurd competition that was spring-
ing up in regard to Tea Factoeies.

The Ceylon planter is all the better of a curb ;
for his nature is such that he puts into his work
all the heart and soul he has, and cannot rest
until he has gained for himself a place in the first
rank. When he takes up a new industry he
generally manages to knock his rivals into " a
cocked-hat " with the, alas I sorrowful sequel of
too often coming out of the struggle pretty much
in the same condition himself. When this sort
of thing happens with the outside world, it is not
hard to conjecture the nature of the friendly com-
petition which is engaged in when Ceylon planter
strives with Ceylon planter. Then it is " Greek
meeting Greek," and tlie heights and lengths to
which they will go in the " tug of war," are
measured very often by the fullness of the purse
or the extent of the credit. One man builds a
finely lighted and spacious factory, stocks it with
the best machinery procurable, oversteps his
estimate in a princely way, and to the planting
world for a little while, the building marks as it
were the highv.ater limit as to factories.

Bye-and-bye, however, you hear of a bigger and
better than this, and the factory which a little
while before was regarded as a model, and to which
streams of visitors kept flowing, is looked upon aa
a matter-of-course, and the tide rolls elsewhere.
Now, however, that the fancy prices have dis-
appeared, and the necessity arises of girding for
the struggle which seems inevitable, this race for

* N.B.— The effect of weather on the quaUty of tea,
—Ed,

\

Sept. i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

H7

fine factories will have to be given up. From
humbler buildings it will be tjuite possible to send
out as fine teas as ever.

Already I hear of amended i^lans, and overhauling
of estimates in regard to factories ; and small
gardens are less anxious to see their names figuring
ill the broker's circulars, giving up, when practic-
able, the fondly hoped-for tea-house, contented to
sell their leaf, and sink the estate's individuality
i|^ some well-known mark.

That there is wisdom in this course, is undoubted ;
and although we all believe that there is in each
of us, potentialities as to tea-making which, if
awarded a suitable sphere, would astonish our Indian
brethren and drive "the heathen Chinee" to de-
srair still the necessity may be laid upon us to
postpone the manifestation of these high qualities,
and direct our energies into a humbler channel.

As to our future Fuel Supplies on estates without
TmBER RKSEKVES, there does not seem to be any kind
of definite idea where they are to come from. The
old coffee stumps are meanwhile standing us in good
stead, but this, the last service of an old friend, is
within bailable distance of the end, and then what ?
" We will be sure to get something," is the com-
forting assurance of those who have not yet had to
grapple with the difficulty ; but what tliat something
is, is like the unexpressed emotions of the man who
" never told his lord." Oil, coal, coke and other
things have been suggested and if the margin of
profit in tea manufacture was to remain even as it
is today, there might be found in some such sub-
stances a suitable substitute for wood.

But besides these, there is the idea of a Central
Factory to which neighbouring places might send
their leaf, provided that it could be so arranged
that every contributing estate had a share in it,
so that vi^hat might be earned there might not
pass into alien hands, but flow back again to the
planter in the form of dividends. The providing
fuel for such a district tea-house could be managed
so as to reduce its price to the lowest, while the
cost of manufacturing might be less than could
possibly be done in the smaller but private tea
factory, and in all probability better too.

The fine showery weather which we are having
at present, and which is so good for the
young tea-plants, has also been clothing the
Cacao with new verdure, and covering stem and
branch with clustering blossoms. As a promise for
next half-year, it is indeed a glad sight, while it
shows us how much depends on seasons in the
cultivation of this tea. The welcome shade is
everywhere springing up, and when it has grown
high enough it is to be hoped that the bad effects
of dry seasons will be considerably mitigated
if indeed not altogether disappear.

In these days of increasing Advaxcer and Cooly
crimping, the wily Kangani manages " to score,"
having been kept so close up for some years back ;
now that the sun of his prosperity is beginning to
shine, he shows an alacrity to enjoy its cheering
beams to the full, that speaks volumes for the un-
changeableness of his nature. What is a kangani
without an advance ? In his own eyes and that of
his gang a mere nobody, and, alas ! he knows it.
A planter the other day paying oil' a lot of coolies
was asked for the usual letter, which absolves a
neighbour from unneighbourliness if he chooses to
employ the gang, and opens the labour market
wherever it is produced. But it was not the
common " tundu" that was going to please. The
kangani wanted his advances to be stated with
RlOO added ! This Httle addition which his " durai"
was coolly requested to certify, was an ingenious
dodge for raising the wind. He said he liad other
debts besides the estate advance, and hit upon

this charming plan of liquidating them.
When the i^lanter refused to state aught else
than the truth, the man went oft' to his head
kangani, got from Iilm a Tamil " tundu," with the
advances increased by ElOO, sought for work, and
obtained it, on the terms as stated in the Tamil
letter. Somebody was let in, for the money was
all paid, and the kangani for the time being was
satisfied. Moral : Beware of head kanganies'
"tundus." Peppercorn.

CINCHONA CULTIVATION IN SOUTHERN
INDIA: GREAT RESULTS.

Addressing a Special meeting of the Went-
wortli Gold Mining and Indian Estates Company
Limited, Mr. Kyau said : * * * j pass

onto the question, which will naturally occur to each
shareholder, "What have I got for my money in Went-
worth y I will not answer it from facts of my own ;
but so lately as the 7th of May last a valuation was
put upon tbe Government plantations which run on all-
lours with ours, and which I am bound to say cannot
compare with ours. If I take those figures as my basis
our estates are worth at this moment £188,000. I go
further. The other day a leading Coast firm was asked
to value the property of one of our neighbour.-s, and, if
I take tlieir figures, our estates are worth £194,000.
This is external evidence. (Cheers.) Now let us see
what the trees have done. The returns from your
bark have maintained this vast area, and have more
than paid for every expenditure. They have brought the
younger fields to maturity. Not a call has.beon made for
that. The last two calls were entirely for extensions.
The estate has been self-supporting. You had a right
to expect up to this date 145,000 lb. of bark of the
value of £10,000, and you have actually received 141,000
lb., of the value of £8,200. You were led to expect
£10,000, and at the values upon which that estimate
was framed (3s for renewed bark and Is 6d for natural
bark), I should have been able to give you £4,000
more than you bad any reason to expect, but at that
time quinine was 12s, and now it is 2s 4d. I know
some are disquieted about what they suppose to be
the enlarged area brought under cultivation,
aiad the great drop in the price of quinine, but
I do not share their fears. (Hear, hear.) I have
been at considerable pains to gather the statistics of
the world. I find that therc^ are, or will be in the
very near future, something like only 31,000 acres un-
der cultivation — that is, where cinchona is cultivated
and that the requirements of the world will be something
like 35,000,000 lb. of bark, whilst the production will fall
short of that considerably. I think that that ought
to point to us the advisibifity of being ready to sup-
ply any deficiency. And then I think we lose sight of
the larger consumption of quinine. In the Madras
Presidency Official statistics, compiled by Dr. Bidie,
the head of the Sanitary Department, show that
there are over 200,000 preventible deaths a year in
the Madras Presidency if quinine could be brought
cheaply to the doors of the population. Multiply that
200,000 by 100 to represent those who recover, and you
will find what a blessing quinine will be to this enor-
mous mass of people, and what a favourable oppor-
tunity it offers to us as growers of the bark. Only
lately I was reading a most interesting article upon
a new use for quinine. They have extracted a most
beautiful blue dye, and they only want a mordant to
give it commercial value. There is no end to
the use to which quinine may be put, I am sure the
day is far distant when I shall not be able to sentl
home bark that will pay a ])rofit. — Nihjiii Express.

USEFUL DOMESTIC HINTS.

" Y." — Grease spots may generally be removed from
the most delicate materials by the euiployment of ben-
zine or oil of tui'peutine, care being taken that suflacient
bo employed to remove all line of demarcation. Ox-
gall is particularly useful in extracting grease stains
from woollen goods. If the stain be very thickly crusted
nd old, It may be sometimes advantageous to soften

148

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept. i, 1886.

the grease previous to the application of benzine by
means of a warm iron laid ou a piece of thick blotting
paper which has been placed over the spot. To remove
f'rease or oil from white linen or cotton goods use
soap or weak lye. From coloured goods warm soa|)-
■suds. From woollens soapsuds or ammonia. From silks
benaine, ether, ammonia, magnesia, chalk, yolk of og'>',
with water. From a carpet, upon the grease stain lay
a little damp Fullers earth, and after standing for
some time, rub it gently into the carpet, and then wash
off by using a little carbonate of ammonia, and the
colour will be restored. For all kinds of fabrics chloro-
form is best, but must be carefully used. Stains of
paint or varnish, after being softened with olive oil,
may generally be removed by the same means as or-
dinary grease. Saturate the spots with a solution of
equal parts of turpentine and spirits of ammonia ; wash
out with strong soapsuds.

" Marian."— To Clean Kid Boots.— In the first place
the boots should be thoroughly cleansed from dust and
dirt, and this is best done with a sponge and railk,
than rubbing with a clean cloth. As long as the boots
are tolerably new, this is all that is required. After-
wards mix a little oil and ink, and keep this well
rubbed in when necessary. They should be done long
before they are wanted to be worn, ami they should
be carefully kept from the dust. It is far better to
do them yourself ; they will last twice as long.

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Oil of lavender will drive away flies.

Grained wood should be washed witli cold tea.

Copperas mixed with the whitewash put upon the
cellar walls will keep vermin away.

Ceilings that have been smoked by a kerosene lamp
should be washed off with soda water.

Drain pipes and all places that are sour or impure
may be cleansed with lime water or carbolic acid.

Strong brine may be used to advantage in washing
bedsteads. Hot alum water is also good for this
purpose.

The warmth of floors is greatly increased by hav-
ing carpet lining or layers of paper under the carpet.

Cayeime pepper blown into the cracks where ants
congregate will drive them away. The same remedy
is also good for mice.

If gilt frames, when new, are covered with a coat
of white varnish, all specks can then be washed off
with water without harm.

If a little salad oil is mixed with mustard for the
table, it is greatly improved.

Moth-infested articles should be saturated in naphtha
or benzine. It injures nothing and kills the des-
troyer.

It soothes a feverish patient to bathe him with
warm water, in which a little saleratus has been
dissolved. — Australasian,

-♦-

DE. TEIMEN'S LECTUEE ON THE VEGET-
ATION OF CEYLON.

LoxDON, 2nd July 1880.
After all, I was i^resent fit the delivery, last
Saturday, of Dr. Trimen's lecture ou the veget-
ation of Ceylon in the conference hall at the Col-
indian Exhibition. The attendance was not large,
and unfortunately, owing to the defective acoustic
properties of the room and the voice of the lecturer
being pitched too low, a great part of the interest-
ing paper was lost to the audience. However, Dr.
Trimen has kindly sent me the paper to look over,
so I am able to summarize its contents. Before
proceeding to do so, however, I may mention that
the chair was occupied by our former Governor
Sir Wm. Gregory, who was supported on the plat-
form by Mr. Geo. Vane, c. m. a. (whom I was glad to
see looking as young and active as ever) and Mr. J. T.
White, Among those present were Mr. George
Wall (whose eyesight has happily not totally been
lost to him), Mr. and Mrs. D, Morris, and Mr. .3,

H. Barber, Your lady correspondent " Penelope "
was also there, and will no doubt refer to the
lecture in her letter by next mail. The chairman
in introducing the lecturer dwelt for some little time
on the natural beauties of Ceylon, apologizing for the
length of his remarks by stating that his heart
was full of Ceylon, and " out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaketh." Dr, Trimen's
paper opened with an apology for introducing into the
series of lectures one of a scientific character but
went on to show that after all no apology jyas 0-
quired, " for Ceylon owes everything to its plants and
its agriculture and the climate which fosters them. Its
ancient renown, and its prosperity under Europ-
ean rule, have alike depended upon its veget-
able productions so freely and abundantly given,
hnd if a disregard ofj nature's unvarying rules
aave brought about in several cases the inevit-
able penalty one cannot but recognize with grat-
itude and admiration the wonderfully recuper-
ative powers of the land, which indeed seem able
to prevail over almost every natural drawback
and artificial obstacle." The lecturer then went
on to call attention to certain characteristics of
the physiography of Ceylon which are generally
overlooked, there being in fact two distinct regions
in our island the wet and the dry. A large map
hung on the wall, showing the rainfall in the
different parts of the island, was freely used by the
lecturer in illu'^trating his remarks. Dr. Trimen
then went on to show that there were greai dif-
ferences in the vegetable productions of tliese
strongly marked climatic districts, and the
more prominent of these were referred to ; and
the remarkable fact was mentioned, that by far
the greater part of the trees and shrubs which
joroduce the splendour which strikes the eye of
the visitor are not natives of Ceylon at all but
foreigners. It is chiefly in the low moist district
of the island, that these are so frequent, the
original forests having been destroyed by chenaing
and part of the laud being now under cultivation
with i)addy, jak and breadfruit trees, etc., while
the rest was almost worthless, being cov-
ered with lantana and the small bamboo.
The Sinharaja forest between Galle and Eatna-
pura is the most extensive remnant of the original
forest, and the characteristics of this were de-
scribed, the most valuable of the timber trees be-
ing the calaraander and the nedun. On the sum-
mits of isolated rocks also, such as the Haycock
and the Millowe hills, which the chena cultivation
has not been able to reach, a number of remark-
able species mostly peculiar to Ceylon, are found
crowded together. Dr. Trimen then referred to the
remarkable fact that about 800 species (.SO per cent)
of the whole number of plants found in Ceylon
are peculiar to the island, and that they arc
related far more closely to the floras of the
Malay Islands and Peninsula than to those of
Southern India. The lecturer then referred to the
belt on the hills about Adam's Peak up to 3,000
feet which has since the British occupation been
brought under coffee, cinchona and tea cultivation
and where foreign weeds have taken the place of
native ones. The true hill region (above .5,000
feet) was then examined, that height been chosen
because it was the limit fixed by Government,
above which no forest land was sold. The trees
of this region were described, and it was stated
that the flora here resembled more that of
Southern India than that of the Malayan pen-
insula. The patanas were then described, and it was
said that the cause of the marked separation
between these and the forest was due to an
equilibrium having been arrived at by the veget-
ation, so that one was unable to encroach on

Sept, 1, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

149

the other. The diy regions of the island were
then touched upon, and the lecturer expressed the
opinion that there must be a certain amount of
truth in the native traditions, that these parts,
where the stupendous ruins are now found, were
once " the granary of India." On this subject
Dr. Trimen remarked : —

Modern experience shows us that, given only water
continuously, the soil is capable of great things ; it
is I think in many parts more productive than in the
parts of the island more favored by rainfall. If then
the great tanks, sluices and anicuts, whose mag-
nitude and skilful construction still fill us with wonder,
were ever in good working order an immense amount
of land may have been under cultivation and very fer-
tile. But beyoud the rums of these vast works we
cannot now trace any evidence of a large popul-
ation ; unbtoken forest covers everything. The ques-
tion is of great interest, for if the country were really
occupied by a large and industrious people engaged in
paddy cultivation, we have to believe that the com-
paratively short space of 1,000 or 1,200 years has
been sufficient to completely restore an aboriginal forest
vegetation over a large tract of country. But the ex-
planation maj^ perhaps he found in the consideration
that probably no great extent was cleared and cultiv-
ated at any one time or for any long period. It is
well known from the native records of the island
that the population was constantly being driven
from one district to another by the frequent m-
vasions from India, and thus their fields would be
abandoned after comparatively short periods of culture.
At that time too, it must be remembered, as helping
to account for a more rap'd return of natural forest
vegetation, that there had been no importation of
the exotic tropical weeds which now so rapidly
occupy open ground and give no chance to the natives
to resume their position.

The vegetation of the region was described as
very monotonous, and the chief species of trees
were enumerated. The plants of this dry region
were shown to be essentially those of the Caniatic
and Coromandel coast, and so far as the flora is
concerned one would judge the separation of Ceylon
from India to be recent. The lecturer concluded as
follows : —

I might continue this sketch of Ceylon botany
further to give some account of the flora of
of the river— banks and the great ruined tanks of the
seashore, the coconut groves, and the mangrove
swamps, but I have already been led into too much
technical detail. Besides, there is little of special
significance in these aspects of vegetation concerning
Ceylon. The floras of tropical seashores areremark-
pbly similar everywhere ; doubtless mauj^ seeds are im-
aorted directly by ihe waves and currents, and poss-
ibly this may have been the case in Ceylon with
the cocoimt itself, the original home of which noble
palm still remains one of the unsolved problems of
geographical botany. J will therefore not enter into
this orother of the special points of interest which
suggest themselves. I have endeavoured in this address
rather to awake yom- interest by briefly calling atten-
tion to some of the larger questions which arise when
one attempts to understand the present distribution
of plants, in even one small island ; and if I have
succeeded in doing so, I shall feel that this rather
technical lecture is justified.

On the conclusion of the lecture the chairman
called upon Dr. Cleghorn to speak, which that
gentleman did briefly being followed by Mr. D.
Morris, who at some length dwelt upon the more
remarkable features of the vegetation of Ceylon,
and stated that tlie two sights which made most
impression on himself were the talipot trees
in blossom along the Kandy railway line and
the gigantic rhododendrons in blossom on the
Nuwara Eliya patauas. He passed a eulogium
on the work which Dr. Thwaites and Messrs.
Geo. Wall and Wm. Ferguson had done in con-
nection with the botany of Ceylon, and spoke in

the highest terms of praise of the energy which
the Ceylon planters had displayed in introducing
new products when old ones failed. Dr. Carruthers,
President of the Linnean Society, then spoke,
and expressed the hope that in the dry regions
of Ceylon, irrigation might effect such a change as
had taken place at Salt Lake City, which from
being a barren region had become a most pre-
ductive one. Mr. J. H. Barber then spoke briefly
as representing the planters of Cejdon, and a vote
of thanks to the lecturer proposed by the Chair-
man and another to Sir William for presiding,
proposed by Mr. Geo. Wall and seconded by Mr.
Barber, brought the meeting to a close.

THE EXTENT OF CINCHONA CULTUEE
IN JAVA.

The Dimbula Planters' Association took a sensible
course in asking the Colonial Government to ob-
tain from the British Consul in Batavia, reliable
statistics of the cultivation of cinchonas in Java,
but perhaps the reason why no acknowledgement
»f the letter addressed by Mr. Beck to the Colonial
Secretary has been received, is due to the fact
that the letter was not sent, as it ought to have
been, through the Central (Kandy) Association. Due
courtesy to that Association was not shown in the course
pursued, and how the interests of the general
body of planters was consulted by Mr. Beck first
and the Association afterwards, in keeping to them-
selves information so important, //' true, as that
communicated by Mr. Mundt, perhaps they will
explain.

We have no hesitation in saying, that, if what
Mr. Mundt stated to Mr. Beck has been correctly
repeated by the latter, to the effect that there are
175,000 acres of five years old cinchonas in Java
the whole or the greater part Ledgerianas, then
the Dutch Colonist most grossly exaggerated, —
from want of careful collection and weighing of
facts, we presume, for, be it observed, he said he never
saw the vast area of cinchonas the existence of
which he so confidently asserted ! The senior editor
of this paper was in Java in the closing period
of 1881, that is less than five years ago, with
the advantage of the guidance through the cin-
chona region of the Preanger Begency of Mr. J. B.
Moens, the Director of the Government plantations,
who most readily supplied all available information
regarding the character and extent of the cultiv-
ation. The distinct impression left on our mind
was that in Western Java, where the cultivation
was originated and to which it was mainly con-
fined, the number of estates, apart from the Govern-
ment plantations, could then be counted on a man's
fingers, some being merely in the course of form-
ation. The Government Gardens themselves, though
carefully cultivated, were really of limited extent,
while the valuable Ledgers like many other rare
and valuable plants, were chary in yielding seed :
some seasons scarcely any was gathered; and even
when good seasons occurred, the seed liarvested
was sold at high upset prices. Subsequently to the
period of which we have spoken, Mr. Moens visited
the eastern part of Java and stated that he had
found Cinchona officinalii^ flourishing on some estates
there, after a different fashion to the spindly plants
of that species which he showed us in the moun-
tains around Bandong. But although the plants
were represented as good, there was no indication
that the extent under them was other than limited.
Mr. Moens since then has, from his residence,

150

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept. r, 1886.

while on leave, in Holland, issued several papers
on the cinchona enterprise, its position and pro-
spects. We may rely on it that he kept himself well
informed of the progress of private culture of the
fever trees in .Tava, and he has never represented
the extent of this private culture as a specially
important factor in estimates of the total production
of the world. It was not until 1882 and 1883, in
reality, tliat Ledger seed was available and disposed
of in any quantity by the Batavian (rovernment.
Then, no doubt, considerable areas of nursery
ground were prepared and sown, but we have no
hesitation in saying that the requisite labour for
planting IT^.OOO acres, or half, or quarter that
area, was not and is not now forthcoming. If
there are at this moment 20,000 acres of cinchonas
in all stages of growth, in Java, that we confidently
believe is the very maximum. A reference by our
Government to the British Consul in Batavia, will
no doubt result in approximate figures being pro-
duced ; but, if Mr. Macneil, the present Consul
indicates that Mr. Mundt's figures are other than
the wildest exaggerations, we shall be much
astonished. For neither in Mr. Macneil's latest
report nor in those by his predecessor Mr. Cameron,
any more than in Mr. Moens' well-considered
papers, have we ever seen the slightest hint given
that the private culture of cinchonas had pro-
gressed in Java at the utterly incredible rate stated by
Mr. Mundt.

The silence of both authorities is only negative
evidence, to be sure, but under the circums-
tances such evidence is very significant. Those
who have not visited Java, and carefully invest-
igated its systems of tenures, culture and compul-
sory service, canhave little idea of the " labour diffi-
culty " in that magnificent island of twenty millions
of a population. There are plenty of people, but very
few wilhng toworkjOr at liberty to work away from the
rice fields and other lands which they hold on condition
of rendering service to Government, or to estate-
owners, who are also the feudal lords of villages
connected with their estates. The reason why sugar
cultivation made such enormous progress in Java,
was, that a parentally despotic and benevolent Gov-
ernment supplied European or other planters, whom
they favoured with land, the labour attached to the
land and actually, through the co-operation of the
Java Trading Company, with capital ! The system
has been materially altered of late years, the
proportion of labour exacted by Government itself
having been lessened, and no such interference (now
being gradually withdrawn,) as took place in favour
of sugar planters, has been repeated or will be repeated
in favour of private cultivators of coffee, tea or cin-
chona. Some years ago Mr. Pretorious, a member of
the Java Civil Service and Private Secretary to the then
Governor-General, was deputed to Ceylon specially to
Inquire into our system of road construction and
upkeep by means of the Thoroughfares Ordinance.
He fully discussed the question with us and when
we stated, as we correctly did at that period, that
practically all the inhabitants of this island liable
under the Ordinance, paid a money commutation
for the six days per annum of labour required
from them, the real work on the roads being per-
formed by a class of immigrant labourers, who worked
for wages, the Dutch Civilian's countenance fell, and
he said " such a system would be impossible in Java,
where service is already exacted from the people
and where theie is no immigrant class to fall back
upon." There is, as a matter of fact, no class of
absolutely free labourers in Java, except it be the
Chinese, "and beyond the precincts of the great towns
we never saw "John Chinaman" at work, unless as
an arti7.an or labourer on railway construction,
or as a contractor to supply manure to estates.

The Javanese agriculturists are not strictly slaves,
but they hold their lands not " in free and
common soccage " as the highly favoured Sin-
halese and Tamil yeomen do hero ; but on con-
dition of yielding certain service to the lord of
the soil, whether Government or proprietors to
whom Government has sold or leased its rights.
No doubt of many the cultivators of the rich rice-
lands of Java have time at their disposal, over
and above that exacted by the tenures on which
they hold their lands and the exigencies of their own
cultivation and harvesting, but the Malays have as
little liking for steady work as the Sinhalese have,
and it was quite an exception for Mr. Moens to
issue a Keport in which complaint was not made
of the paucity of labour on the Government cin-
chona plantations. If, then, Government experienced
this difficulty when dealing with forest lands out-
side the boundaries of settled population, we
leave our readers to judge how much greater
the difficulties of the private planter must be
under similar circumstances. It was equally a
rarity for Mr. Moens to issue a Report in which
the ravages of HeJopehis were not recorded;
and if canker is not quite so great an evil in
Java as it has proved to be in Ceylon, we suspect
there is ample compensation of disadvantages in the
damage done to the bark as well as the leaves
by the insidious sucking insect. For all the rea-
sons stated, we entirely distrust, as wild and un-
reliable, the statement made by Mr. Mundt to Mr.
Beck of 175,000 acres of 5-year old cinchonaa in Java,
which will be fit for shaving two years hence, the
bark so gathered in quantity and quality casting
Ceylon into the shade. There can be no question
that Java with its rich volcanic soil and its suit-
ability for the culture of the rich Ledgeriana* is
destined ultimately, to be a formidable competitor with
Ceylon in the cinchona markets of the world, and a
debade hence it may really supply the world from
something like 100,000 acres of mature trees. But
up to the end of 1890, at least, we suspect the most
formidable competitors with Ceylon cinchona planters
will be their fellow-planters.

Since writing the above we have referred to
what Mr. Mundt said to our reporter in March.
He did not specify any acreage in cinchona :
merely asserted vaguely and generally that a
very large extent of ground was planted with re-
ally good cinchona yielding 10 to 11 per cent
sulphate of quinine. Mr. ]Mundt also regretted the
absence of roads and railways in Java " which
prevented miUiom of acres of good tea and cin-
chona land bemg j)lanted up." Now, in the first
place large as Java is, it is densely peopled and
the best lands are either under culture, or, after
exhaustion abandoned to the everywhere prevaelnt
alang aUinu (illook) and lantmia. In the Preauger
Regency we saw valleys of ten square miles in extent
occpuied by alung alang and laiitana. A large portion
of the untouched forest, again, is on the tops and
sides of volcanic mountains, elevated and stee^j, and
thei'efore not available. There are not miUions of
acres in Java suitable for cinchona and tea, and
if there were and railways were running througli
them, the labour difficulty on which we have
dwelt, would render the clearing and planting of
such land a slow process, not to speak of the
deterring infiuence of markets which would be
utterly swamped by the produce of half or even a

* Mr. Muudt's 10 to 12 per cent quinine iu the
b.irk, is as wild as his other statements regarding
175^000 acres iu the south of Java, which he had never
seen. Bark with 5 to 8 per cent will be verj' good
for an aver.age. A return of 12 per cent is extreme
and such a.s Mr. Moens got only from a few specially
choice old trees.

SiiPT. i, 2 886,]

THE) TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

iSi

quarter of a niillion acres of each. — We may men-
tion that before Mr. Beck's letter appeared, we had
taken steps to procure information from reliable
correspondents in Java on the subject of Cinchona
Cultivation. In our last Hsmdbook, after carefully
considering the Eeports from Messrs. Moens and de
Bomunde and different Consuls, we put down 11,000
acres and 15,000,000 trees for Java. This may
be below the mark, but we shall want good evidence
before we credit anything over 20,000 acres to our
South-eastern rival.

TEAS AND THE TEA MAKKET.

That China teas can be turned out of the fines

quality both for flavour and make, we had prac"

tical demonstration some two years ago in the

coast ports of the Far East. A Canton merchant
in showing us over his store, brought out from his
bins, samples of some of the finest teas exported
from China — teas which realized fancy prices and
the supply of which he intimated could easily be
increased, if only there were sufficient encourage-
ment in demand at a remunerative price. There
can be little doubt that under the stimulus of Sir
Bobert Hart's remonstrances with the mandarins,
"John Chinaman" in his tea districts generally
this past season, set himself to pluck tine and manu-
facture more carefully than usual. Here is what
Messrs. Bucker and Bencraft in their circular of
the 1st instant say on the subject of the new
season's China Teas : —

"The ojjinion we formed of the quality of the Crop
has been confirmed, and it cannot be found fault with
except for a certain lightness in liquor. The leaf is
of remarkably flue quality, and we do not think has
been equalled since 1865. AVe learn that results have
been disappointing to the Chinamen who have been
urged to manufacture Tea of higher quality, and who
were encouraged by last year's prices to expect bet-
ter results this season. Seldom has a fine First Crop
come to a more apathetic market on this side, and
we doubt whether the Elections can stand as much
of the blame as last time."

The question of profit therefore will not encourage
the Chinese to continue a large supply of fine teas.

As regards Ceylon teas, before the ' new Season's
China' came into competition, there seemed to be
an inclination to bear hardly on our shipments and
as some believed, to endeavour to get ' Ceylon ' graded
permanently as inferior to ' India ' and very little
above 'Java' kinds. We have received information
from several responsible Ceylon planters which points
to deternrinedly prejudiced, raiher than equitable
criticism, and we are promised a selection from
the reports of London brokers and buyers ex-
tending over some time past, to show the in-
consistency and unreliablity of much of the testimony
against our teas which finds its way from " the
city" eastwards. Here is an extract placed at
our service from the private letter of a gentle
man who knows what good tea is and who has
followed the development of our Ceylon industry.
He writes from London under date 1st July to
a friend in Ceylon as follows : —

" It is not the truth that the Ceylon teas have
gone off in quality. Every planter could not have
begun manufacturmg bad teas. The fact is, our
buyers see and know that a large lot of tea will
be produced in Ceylon, and they are determined
to lower the price. These buyers are banded to-
gether in a way and are, I fear, seconded by
others — men who buy in teas for grocers. The
question is : why do some of our selling brokers
value the Ceylon teas so low, and some selling
brokers write in their reports that the Ceylon teas
have deteriorated '? It seems to me as if some of
them were playing into the hands of the buyerg,

I heard that at one sale the brokers who had
described the Ceylon teas as ' deteriorated ' were
cheered in a way. Other markets will be found
for Ceylon teas, and everyone who can must be
his own selling merchant. The merchant who sells
the tea to the grocer does not let the latter have
the tea any cheaper, although he pays so much
less for it now."

Leaving the question of alleged deterioration of
Ceylon teas on one side, there can be no doubt
that the "budget scare" of April 1885, is a
good deal to answer for the disorganisation of the
tea market during the present year. The "Produce
Markets Eeview " discusses this subject fully and
shows that the fact of the stocks in the public
warehouses of the United Kingdom at the end of
June being 21,000,000 lb. greater than in 1885 is
due to the disturbance in the regular course of
deliveries last year by the fear of an increase of duty.
The same authority anticipates a steady improvement
now, because not only are prices unprecedentedly
low, but the stocks in the hands of the grocers "are
undoubtedly s)iialler than they have ever been
in proportion to the weight consumed." This is
cheering news to our planters, apart from the evi-
dence afforded that there has been a tendency to
persistently unfair criticism in reference to our Ceylon
teas and their alleged deterioration.

One matter however must be specially guarded
against or Ceylon teas and planters must
continue to fall in the estimation of buyers. We
have before us documentary evidence to prove that
in a purchase of a parcel of teas through Messrs.
Wilson & Co., brokers, of Colombo in April last,
the whole aggregating some 150 lb., there has
been close on 20 per cent loss through «/((;/•« lueujht,
after making all the usual allowances. These teas
bore a recognised estate mark, and the buyers say
that in Calcutta, their claim for the value of 76 lb.
short weight would be at once recognised ; but in
Colombo, the Brokers find such claim is ignored. This
is a matter which ought to be looked into at once
by all the Brokers and the Chamber of Commerce ;
for the evidence that " short weight " is an ex-
perience attaching to teas bought in Colombo far
more than to teas bought in Calcutta, is over-
whelming. Planters must see to the fault being
rectified, or exposure of the careless, will have
to follow in the interests of the community.

LIFE ON A TEA PLANTATION.

The following interesting letter we have received
from Mr. D. Slimmou who is engaged on a large tea
plantation at Ciuuamara, Jorebaut. Our correspond-
ent was for some time before his present appoiutment
in the sale rooms of Messrs, Gow, Wilson and Co., of
Kood-lane, E O., tea merchants and planters. The
writer says: — The Assamese about om- district and
northern Assam are of a white sun-burnt complexion,
with a decided resemblance to the Mongols in their
features ; some may be seen almost as white as Europe-
ans. In habits, they are a very lazy, easy going people,
displaying very little intellectual power, and however
anxious the Government may be to emjjloy them in
public offices, the majority of the best posts arc filled
by Bengalese. In the working of our estates, very
little local labour can be obtained, and oven the little
we have is very uncertain : five to six hours is a good
day's work for an Assamee, and then you don't get
him every day. The only work they care for is
pruning, basket making, or other light work ;
hoeing and such other manual labour is out of
the question. As a rule they live iu villages, scat*
tered all over the country, each jat, or caste, having
separate townships ; for seldom do people of different
jilts live in the same village. A zigzag path (Eas' In-
dians could not make a straight one), a clump of bam^
boos, and a grove of Pun Tamel trees is a sure sign of
A village op what was pace the site of a "Gaoo." These

25^

^Hfi TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[Sept, i, 18B6,

deserted Gdi'ms are very numerous in Assam, partly
caused by tbc ravages of tl)L" Burmese, when they con-
quered the couufry, killhig or carrying away the in-
habitants as slaves, and partly from the superstitious
ideas of the people. For iustance. if fever, smallpox,
cholera or some other deadly disease attacks the vil-
lage, the inhabitants immediately say that the place is
haunted, and in many cases they leave it e/i mnsse, and
settle elsewhere. The Assaniee at home rents a par-
cel of land from Government,, at a small yearly sum.
In April he plants his dhan (rice), and quite contentedly
waits until it grows, reaping it about October. Low-
lying land adjoining a jau (shallow wide river) as a rule
grows the bust dhan, the reason being that the dhan
requires a great deal of moisture. The only agricultural
implements used are a rude wooden plough, consisting
of one upright pole, and a wooden socket projecting
from the bottom ; this is drawn by a couple of bul-
locks or a buffalo ; for harrows, a bunch of prickly
bushes tied together is used ; for reaping, the usual
implement is a billhooked knife, about nine incheslong;
for threshing, the old plan is adopted of treading out the
corn by bullocks ; for winnowing the dhan they use is a
sort of plated tray, and they shake it up and down some-
thing like what was done in England long ago. When
all is gathered in, the native sells part of his grain to
the Bengalee coolie for about three rupees per maund
(80 lb.), the remainder he keeps for himself and family,
and as their food almost wholly consists of curried bhar,
pigeons, fish, goat's flesh, kc, they live quite happily
and contented. Such food as beef, mutton, fowls, and
the much hated G;i hori (pig) are forbidden by all their
religions save in a few cases where the jat is of the low-
est description. The native houses are built of bamboos,
plastered over with a mixture of clay, kc, and the long
jungle gra.-^s serves as an excellent roof. There are no
windows, chimney, or wooden floor ; the earth rubbed
over with water soon hardens and assumes a glossy
appearance, and as there are no nails in any of the
innaates' boots it never gets loose. In religion the
natives iire very mixed, but the greater portion are
Hindoos and Brahmins. They have two great feasts
yearly, one in April called Bor Behu, and another in
Decemoer named Soot Behu. The principal parts
consist of killing a few goats as sacrifices, feasting,
music (such as it is), and dancing for several days,
Intoxicating liquors are prohibited by their religions,
but the natives are fond of smoking hookahs and
chewing cuu tamel, a kind of hard berry about the
size of a marble, and growing on a kind of palm tree.*
Chewing c;ln tamel seems worse than the obnoxious
habit of chewing tobacco, it makes both the lips and
teeth quite red. The Assamese, like other Orientals,
marry very young. First of all a bargain is made
between tbe father of the young man and the father
of the girl. The matter being talked over the
young man'.-, father agrees to pay the girl's father
a certain sum. This is called the betrothal, and
to confirm the contract a feast is given to the friends
of the girl by the father of the young man. AVhen the
boy reaches the age of 14 or 15 the marriage takes
place; friends of both parties are invited, and a great
feast is given, lasting several days, at the close of
which the bride and bridegroom are carried to their
house shoulder high. In clothing, the Assamese diflier
very little from Bengalese as far as style is concerned,
but thek tastes just lie in opposite directions, the
Bengalese liking showy dress, such as red, yellow and
green, while the Assamese wear .spotless white, very
often native silk. In Lower Assam the natives are
called Kacharese, being a much finer class of men then
those met with in Upper Assam. They travel about
a good deal, and play much the same part as Irishmen
do at harvest time ui England and Scotland, coming up
here to work on the estates while their dhan is growing,
getting together a few rupees and then returning to their
homes. They are fair workers with the hoe, but are
often very troublesome customers to deal with ; a
manager who will employ more than 100 of them at
once is thought a bold man. Besides Kacharese,
we have similar jvisitors from the hills called Kia as.

* TUc ivrckanut it;, of toiube, rufwxwd ty.— Ei>.

These people can handle au a.ve or a knife with
much ade))tness, and they arc generally employed
cutting jungle. While at work they keep time to
every stroke with their war cry, which sounds some-
thing like hae hoe, and when walking along the
road in single file you will often hear the same
hae hoc to every step. They are a very dirty lot
of people. Nothing makes a better feast for them,
than a roast dog stuffed with rice, or au old Gharry
bullock. They seldom even wash tlieir faces. They
are very warlike people, some tribes are quite in-
dependent, and many arc the feuds between the
different tribes ; sometimes 100 will be killed at
once. The real labouring classes of Assam, ao to
speak, are the imported Bengalese. These coolies
are imported by owners of estates, all their e.\-
peuses are paid in coiasideratiou of their giving an
agreement tor a period of years, at a certain wage
per month, at the expiration of which agreement
they are free to go where they please. In most
cases they remain there all their life or at least
10 or 15 years ; when they reach a certain age,
they are called dependents and receive a pension, so
that they are better off than some people think.
Those who leave after serving a number of years
generally take up a piece of laud, build a houBe
and setttle down, having saved enough money to
keep them the remainder of their lives. In this way
Assam is being rapidly colonized by Bengalese and
the Assamese in their turn are dying out. Their
houses are built much in the same style as those
of the Assamese, but all are together ; the village,
so to speak, is generally known as the lines. In
religion there are all sorts. Two general festivals
are held annually, one in March called the Fugwa,
and the other in September called the Doorga Pooja.
The Fugwa consists of a great feast at which every-
body puts on his showiest clothes. Music and
dancing and painting each other's faces with a kind
of red powder called " Fakwoogooie " are among
the things indulged in, and at th? end of it all
drink is used to excess. The Doorga Pooja is the
greatest festival of the year. The ceremonies differ
according to the particular part of the country.
The chief ojifice consists in sacrificing goats, pigeons,
d'c, to the god Kali. If the first stroke of the
axe kills the goat that signifies that it is accepted,
but if it should require two strokes, it is counted as a
bad omen. After the animal is killed the blood is
daubed on a long bamboo with the t'ps of the four right
hand fingers. A piece of cloth to serve as a flag is
afterwards fastened on the end of the bamboo and placed
upright in the ground to commemorate the event. An-
other part of the business consists of an image of Kali
being thrown into the river, and if it sinks that is taken
as signifying a good season, but should it float, it is
regarded as the omen of a bad season. There are many
other ceremonies some performed by elephants, &c.,
the conclusion being much hke the Fugwa, and Ting
Ting heads are rather fashionable when work is re-
sumed. Tlie favourite Bengalee liquor is lau pani, a
kind of intoxicant made from fermented rice — I mean
favourite because they cannot afford to j»ay for Euro-
pean liquors, though whisky or beer seems to bo liked
uncommonly well wiicn the Sahib gives them any. In
clothing nothing is " too loud for the natives,
They are also very fond of jewellery, BraceletB
are worn on the arms and ankles : rings in their
ears, noses, toes and fingers. A little casket is hung
round their necks from infancy to keep away the evil
spirits. In regard to te.i planting a few particulars
may be of interest. The seed for the tea resembles
black marbles. We plant about January in a piece
of good land, about four inches apart. These plants
boon ajjpear above ground, and in about nine months'
time they are about two feet high. In Deo mber they
are removed into the new clearance prepared for them,
and planted at intervals of G feet by 5 feet. It takes
two years more before they yield any leaf, and then
for the two succeeding years they yield but very sparing
quantities. Plucking generally commences about the
end of March, and is carried on all through the year
until December, The loaves after being plucked are
t^i'rtjiid cu tiayb tg witliur them ; this opcratiou iu im

Sept. i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

153

weather takes about twelve hours. Afterwards the
leaves are rolled and fired by machinery: then they
arc picked, sifted and finally fired before being packed.
From December to March the bushes are pruned, clear-
ances made, building and sundry other operations
are carried on. Hoeing and cultivation, of course, is
done all the year round. This is absolutely necessary,
owing to the rapid growth of jungle. The principal
beasts of burdeu are the elephant, buffalo, and bul-
lock. Horses are foreign to the Assamese, and are
only used by S.thib? for ridiug aud driving purposes.
The climate for about four months of tlie year re-
sembles July iu Englanl, only there i.s little or no rain.
The remaining eight months are not (juite so nice,
heavy rains and a hot sun causing a moist heat.
English people here as in other foreign countries,
are very sociable with each other, and minj- are the
pleasant days aud evenings spent at tennis, polo, and
cricket. English flowers and vegetables grow splend-
idly out here ; nearly every resident has a garden worth
looking at. Orchids and geraniums are to be found
as common as any other kind of jungle; any tree with
good sh^.de is almost mre to have an orchis somewhere
about it. There is plenty of shooting to be had from
the tiger down to the tnipe. .Tackal hunting is greatly
resorted to now, aud many fine runs .'ire made over
the "Pilars." — Grocers' Chronicle.

TEA PEEPAEATION IN JAPAN.

(From the Indian Tea Gazette.)
Like everj'tb lag else with this piinstaking people
the greatest attention is paid todetiil. Commencing
with the growth of the plant, and its incessant manur-
ing, the u' most care is bestowed in proteciing the bush-
es alike from frost in winter or from uadne sun in
summer. This is done, where necessary, by the use of
mat covers r ised on poles about 8" feet high; and
when riding across the Tea lands in June the time when
the young leaves are fully developed the w hole cultiv-
ation is seen under matting. The tea plant, as with us,
is raised fiora seed, although the Chinese propagate ex-
tensively by cuttings. The first p'ucking commences in
the fourth year, at the commencement of the summer.
Only the youngest leaves are then taken. A month
later a second gathering takes place, aud sometimes, at
a like interval, a third light plucking follows. It will
thus be seen that succulent leaf is alwa)s ensured.
Prior to 1,570, we learn, it was the custom to immerse
the leaf in boiling water immediately after plucking,
and, after drying in the sun, to make the leaf into
powder; but in the year 1700 the system of " panning"
was introduced. Strange to say, powdered tea, both
then as now, is the most esteemed by the .Japanese for
their own drinking, but, owing to its more laborious pre-
paration, it is an expensive luxury, aud its use is eon-
fined to the wealthier classes, none being exported.
The infusion is drunk without milk or sugar, and is
best esteemed when of the colour of pale sherry. Dur-
ing manufacture an incessant "tasting" goes on, and
any errors in preparation are thus quickly detected and
remedied, with the result that Japan teas are noted for
their uniformity in cup. In fact the preparation of
good tea is considered by the Japanese almost an art,
and none but tried and skilled workmen are employed.
The leaves, immediately after being gathered, are
taken to the factory. Here the stipules are separated
by means of a Bamboo sieve, and ail impurities
removed. Then follows a process of artificial wither-
ing, which is effected by " steaming " the leaf, over
water heated to 200' F, in a covered pan. After
this, the leaf is uncovered and turned aud aired by
means of fans made of a frame of split bamboo
covered with paper. When perfectly cooled, the leaf
is taken to the dessicating box, underneath which
IS placed the fuel. When the fire is quite bright
a sufficient quantity of straw is burnt to obtain a
layer of ashes in order to prevent the too direct
action of the radiating heat. During the process
of firing, the leaves are continually rolled between
the hands until tliey commence shrivelling and are
nearly dry, when they are transferred to another firing
box foM complete dessicatiou :.when this has been '

effected, the leaf, assorted into three qualities or
sizes, is placed in sieves of copper wire, and gently
rubbed between the palms of the hands to further
equalize the make. Sifting then takes place through
bamboo sieves of six different degrees of fineness,
and this sifting, for the higher qualities of tea, is
repeated several times, — the powdered tea even as
often as ten times, which expenditure of time and
labour renders this kind of tea extremely dear. The
temperature of the room in which the firing-box
is placed is very high, and doors aud windows are
kept closed. After final sifting into varieties, all
faulty leaf is carefully picked out by pincers.
Before packing, the Tea is again heated, and
trodden down into the chest by coolies with bare feet.

Adulteration is almost unknown in Japan, and Gov-
ernment inspectors have to pass all Tea before ship-
ment. From the first stage of growth with the care-
ful manuring of the plant, to the final manufacture
and packing, the most minute attention to detail is
given. The chests themselves are models of strength
and neatness, and the marking is very carefully at-
tended to. Owing, aho, to the uniformiry of the wood
used, the weiglit of the contents of each package is
also uniform, aud is accepted as per invoice, invari-
ably, iu America. We might do worse than follow
more closely the painstaking system of th^- .Japanese.

rit is not likely that Ceylon will take to withering
their leaf by hot steam any more than in this warm
climate to protecting the bushes by mats. But there
seems to be some philosophy in the expedient of modi-
fying strong heat by moans of ashes, and the idea
is worthy the attentiou of those who use "chulas". —
Ed.]

JAPANESE TEA BOXES (AND ADULTERATION

OF TEA IN JAPAN.)

Kintyre Estate, Ceylon, 8th June 1886,
Sir, — I was somewhat astonished when reading your
article on " Tea preparation in Japan " (which appeared
in your issue of 1st Mayj, to read that " Tea adulter-
ation is almost unknown in Japan ;" together with
general advice to Indian Tea Planters to follow the
painstaking system of the Japanese. Last year I had
the pleasure of visiting Japan, and during a stay of
some 7 to 8 weeks I saw a great deal of the Japan-
ese Tea Industry, and the conclusion I arrived at was
that at least three-fourths of the tea that leaves
Japan is beyond doubt adulterated; and in four large
godowns — two of which were at Kobe and two at
Yokohama — -I had the opportunity of seeing tho
adulterating process carried out openly with no effort
at concealment. The Tea, as prepared by the Japanese,
is certainly pure, and your description, iu your article
which I am now referring to, is a fair one, though
perhaps it would lead readers to conclude that it waa
carried out in large factories similar to the "Indian "
ones. Asa general rule, however, the tea belongs to
peasants, who prepare their few pounds a day over a
single pan in their dwelling-houses and then sell
tho prepared leaf to dealers who then mix their
various purchases together, sort them and send them
to the Treaty Ports for sale. It is there bought by
Europeans, and then commences the clever and system-
atic adulteration and final preparation for shipment.
The Tea, when it enters the European godowns, is of
good quality, looks more like quills than Tea the ap-
pearance, however, of course varies according to quality;
in colour it resembles dead twigs, being a green-
brown colour, more brown than green. In this state
it is put into iron pans measuring 21 inches by lo
inches deep, of which in most factories there are
some hundreds built into brickwork chulas with char-
coal fires underneath. As tho pans get hot the Tea,
which before this operation was only three parts
fired, begins to get soft ; at a given signal by the head
manager, generally a Chinaman, a spoonful of a
mixture of gypsum, soap stone, and Prussian blue is
poured into the pan (which bye-the-bye contains 5 lb.
Tea), and this mixture is rolled and rubbed by hand
into the Tea. As the heat increases the moisture all
evaporates and the Tea takes its twi.st again and comes

154

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept. i, 1886,

out of the pan hard and crisp, of the pale bluey-
green colour common to all green Teas. So thorough
is the mixing of the colour that, unless an expert,
one would be unable to tell by the infusion, or by
looking at the infused leaves, which was the
" faced" and which tlie unfaced Tea. The reason
given me for this adulteration was, that, owing to
the Tea being made in small quantities here and there,
and at uncertain times, nnd only three x^arts fired by
the natives, it was found that as a rule, if merely re-
firing was resorted to, the Tea turned a dirty brown
colour and lost its appearance, and it was therefore
necessary to resort to artificial means. I noticed
myself that some of the worst class Teas after being
coloured looked much on a par in colour with the
first class Teas, and this no doubt has also some-
thing to do with the system. I maintain therefore
that until this practice of adulteration is put an end
to, which will not be before the country is thrown
open to foreigners, we have little to fear from com-
petition with the Japanese.

As regards their neat packing and packages to
which you refer, wc have no doubt something to
learn, and in Ceylon the business in importing mome
and cedar wood boxes from Japan is assuming large
proportions, as Ceylon planters find they get a
good box of even weight, light, free from injurious
smell and cheap. At present these have been kept
from the Indian planter owmg probably to vested
interests and proposed commissions of the Calcutta
merchants not being considered good enough. As my
sole aim has heen to keep down prices and give a
really good box (and as you know, Mr. Editor, I
have iw pecuniary interest in the concern) Messrs.
J. IMurray Kobertson & Co. of Colombo at present
can give full information and price lists, and they
are about to arrange, if possible, for a large agency at
Calcutta. They fully recognise the fact that small
profits and ^^uick returns are what is wanted to
ensure success, and they now undersell, slightly, all
local made boxea — while to suit Ceylon and Indian
planters th 'y have pursuaded their Japanese friends
to add new dove-tailing machinery to th^^ir plant,
and all boxes now made for these markets have
one inch dove-taile. The mome wood boxes have no
sort of smell, and are about perfection. In this
respect, therefore, I would point out to brother
planters independent of agents, that they have a
chance of learning something from the Japanese ;
and these packages once used will probably never be
discontinued. — Yours truly, df-ar Sir,

H. Deummond Deane.
— Indian Tea Gazette,

^ .

Crtptomekia Japonica Bark Shingles. — In notes
on the International Forestry Exhibition, ^we find
it stated : —

There were specimens of the bark of Cjyptomeria
Ja2ionica used for roof .sliingles ; these shingles are
usually employed under some other roofing substance,
when they are said to last 40 to 50 years ; if used
alone, they last half that period only.
This is the tree from which the tea boxes we
receive from Japan are chiefly manufactured. The
tree is likely to do well at and near Nnwara Eliya.

Ceylon Teas .and the Future of Markets. —
There is much in the letter of Mr. H. L. Forbes
deserving the careful consideration of all interested in
our tea industry — and who is not locally ? Follow-
ing on our remarks of yesterday on the alleged
deterioration of Ceylon teas, we may say that if
such a scheme a* Mr. Forbes proposes is seriously
taken up, Mr. J. L. Shand would be just the man
to further it on the British side. If our teas have
at all deteriorated, the only cause, we suspect is at-
mospheric, a cause operating in India also, for Indian
teas are proportionately down. Political troubles
have, no doubt, depressed the market, and the
enormously increased exports in the early part of the
season from China, must have influenced prices
seriously. As happened with Ceylon coffee, so will it
be with Ceylon tea. It was after a commercial

crisis and low prices, admitting of very general and
increased consumption that Ceylon coffee took first
place in the markets. So, we believe, it will be
with Ceylon tea : —

" Though we fell, we aye got up again,
j\jid sae will we yet."

Chicago as a Tea Market.— The fol'owing
from Bradxtreet'f: is commended to the attention
of the future Ceylon Tea Syndidate :— A new de-
parture was made in the tea business last week in
Chicago which it is confidently claimed will cause
considerable changes in the marketing of teas in
this country. The id'^a carried into execution was
that of auctioning off teas at lower prices than
can now be made at the eastern seaboard. The
teas,* owing to the eomi^letion of the Northern
Pacific Eailroad, can now be brought direct to
Chicago from the Pacific coast, and it is claimed
at fully |c. less per pound for freight alone than
it would cost to bring it via the Suez canal and
New York. The first sale was well attended, and
buyers were present from as far east as Rochester,
N. Y. The prices obtained were lower than were
anticipated, but the company managing the scheme
is reported to be amply satisfied with the first
experiment.

The Tallest Accurately Measured Sequoia (Wel-
LiNGTONiA) standing in the Calaveras Grove, California,
measures 325 feet, and there is no positive evidence
that any trees of this genus * ver exceeded that height.
Of late years, explorations in Gippsland, "Mctoria, have
brought to light some marvellous specimens of Eucalyp-
tus, and the State Surveyor of Forests measured a
fallen tree on the banks of the "Watts River, and found
it to be 435 ft. from the roots to the top of the trunk.
The crest of this tree was broken oif , but the trunk at
the fracture was 9 ft. in circumference, and the height
of the tree when growing was estimated to have been
more than oOO ft. The tree, however, was dead, though
there is no doubt that it was far loftier than the tallest
Sequoia. Near Fernshaw, in the Dandenong district,
Victoria, there has recently been discovered a speci-
men of the Almond Leaf Gum (Eucalyptus amygda-
lina) measuring 380 ft. from the ground to the" first
branch, and 450 feet to the topmost twig. This tree
would over-top the tallest living Sequoia by 125 ft. Its
girth is bO ft., which is less than that of many Sequoias,
but, as far as height is concerned, it must be consi<lered
the tallest living tree in the world. — Scientijic American.

The Coffee and Cardajiom Crops of Coorg
FOR 1884-85 are thus noticed in the Administration
Eeport : —

The coffee crop of the past year is returned at about
4,007 tons, and though it fell short of previous expect-
ations, the outturn can hardly be deemed an un-
favourable one, being less by a little over 1,000 tons
than that of the preceding year, but exceeding the
crop of 1881-82 by nearly the same quantity. Of the
whole quantity about 75 per cent was sent to the
^yt stern coast for shipment. These figures as to out-
turn and export are, it may be stated, approximate
only. They were obtained from the returns of the
Toll-gates which are placed on all the roads leading out
of Coorg. Allusion was made in last year's report to
the rapid fall in tlic price of coft"ee after the year's
crop had been exported, owing to the over stocked con-
dition of the Home JMarket. The local price, (which
is affected by the Home Market rates) had fallen to
K31 per cwt. in 1883-84, and dropped further to K26i
per cwt. during the past year. The effect has been to a
very general extent, a disastrous one upon coffee in-
dustry, and the evidence of it is seen in the large out-
standings of coffee assessment remaining uncollected
this year. The Commercial and Agricultural depression
has also seriously affected the market for cardamoms.
The price of cardamoms fell from R300 per cwt. in
1833-84 to R141— 8— 0, and so, although the crop has
been a large one, the growers have not profited by it
to the extent anticipated.

*That is Jnpau and 4I!hiDa teas.

Sept. h i88(3.J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

I5S

-♦-

To the Editor of the " Ceijlon Observer."

MK. AGAR ON THE ALLEGED DETERIOR-
ATION OF CEYLON TEA: REMEDIES

SUGGESTED.
SiK, — There is a great deal in what " Experiontia
Docet " says in his letter to the local " Times " as to
" deterioration " of our teas, and no doubt one of
the principal causes for want of strength in liquor
is want of strength in our tea bushes. Some may
remember the cry out there was made years ago
about cinchona bark when the drop took place.
The Colombo merchants took the planters to task
for sending down stuff taken from 18 months
old trees !

What are we doing now ? .Just 'the very same,
only harvesting tea leaves instead of cinchona
bark ! Maturity is every thin;), coupled witlr a
judicimis selection of the seasons, for pruniny and
pluckiny.

While on the subject of deterioration, and the
very poor prices realised lately in the local market
for our teas, I would suggest some alterations :

1st. — Allow " breaks " to be put up at auction
as a whole, or in grades, to suit the seller as well
as the buyer.

2nd. — Fix a day once in the month for tea sales.
My argument for the former is, that the owner
of a " break " object? to its being pulled to pieces
and peradventure, the " tit-bits " taken out. This
lands him with a " ragged lot," which is not by
any means desirable. For the latter I maintain
that weekly sales contribute but small parcels,
which have no attraction for Calcutta, or outside
buyers, who might otherwise be represented.

If we could catalogue something like 300,000
to 500,000 lb. monthly, a " fillip." may be given
to the trade which it sadly needs at present. — I am,
sir, yours faithfully, SHELTON AGAR.

MR, BECK AND THE FUTURE OF THE
CINCHONA MARKET.

Sat, — A\"itb reference to a leading article in your
issue of tin; 18tli instant, and which treats of the
improbability of Java sending forward such quantitits
of bark as to materially affect prices, I (|uote from
a letter wLith was written by me ou May 30th, and
read at the last Committee meeting of the Dimbula
Planters' Association ou the 3rd instant: —

'' Mr. G. Mundt, President of the Java Planters'
Association, stated to me that, within two years
from now, Java will practically supply the demand
of the woi 1 1 with high-class " cinchona bark ; that
the area under cultivation is equal to 175,000 of
our acres, and is planted with ledgers averaging
from 10 per cent to 12 per cent ; that 1,500 trees are
planted to the acre, and that the age of the
youngest planting of this vast acreage is five years,
the oldest sis years ; that the weight of wliat Java can
supply has never yet been felt because these enor-
mous plantations have not been operated upon, as no
tree in Java is shaved until its seventh year, and cmker
is almost unknown ; that in his (Mr. Mundt's) opinion,
when Java sent in its vast contribution, say in two
years from now, our three per cent barks would u:>t
fetch much more than branch now fetches." Mr.
Mundt said that he had no interest in the Companies,
who are alniO.«t the sole proprietors of the acreages he
named, his interest in cinchona comprizing only 70
acr^s of higli class ledyer, and that he had never
personally visited these great cinchona fields, as they
lie remote from him on the Southern side of Java.
Since Mr. Mundt left Ceylon we have beard of canker
shewing in Java, but this, if true, cannot benefit us, I
a? it would serve only to precipits-te the harveating of |

bark, which under ordinary conditions, would not have
been exported for another two years.

I proposed to the Association that a subscription
should be immediately started to enable these inter-
ested in the future of cinchona to send one of our
number to visit Java with the same object in view
which doubtless brought Mr. Mundt here, but the As-
sociation did not think this desirable, and proposed that
the Colonial Secretary should he communicated with
and requested to obtain through the British Consul at
Batavia the required information. I append a copy of
thp letter I wrote to the Colonial Secretary on the
subject, and to which, up to date, I have had no reply.
GEO. BECK.

(True Copy.)
To His Honor, the Colonial Secretary.

Sir, — I have the houor to iuform you that, at a
Committee meeting of the Dimbula Planters' Asso-
ciation, held at Dimbula Hall on Saturday, the 3rd
instant, a letter was read by me in which I pointed
out the great desiral)ility of finiling out what acreago
of land in Java is planted with cinchona, its variety,
and the probable quantity of bark which will be ex-
Ijorted from .Tava during the next two years ; as this
quantity, if ascertained, would greatly influence op-
erations on cinchona in Ceylon. I bad received
certain communications from Mr. 6. Mundt, Pre-
sident of the .Java Planters' Association, which
led me to believe that within the time mentioned,
viz., two years, Java would export so enormously
that the enterprize in Ceylon would be rendered
almost unprofitable, as Java possesses trees yielding
bark of such superior value to any grown in Ceylon.
Mr. G. Mundt said that he had made no personal
inspection of the part of Java where the great fields
of cinchona exist, but he had every reason to believe
that the acreage under that cultivation is enormous.

A resolutijn was passed requesting me to com-
municate with you, and ask you to communicate
with the British Consul at Batavia, and through him
to obtain, if possible, thoroughly reliable inform-
ation on the subject, which is one of vital import-
ance to the generality of the planting community of
Ceylon I have, &c. Gho. Beck, Hony. Secy.

Henfold, Lindula, July 7th, 1886.— Local " Times.'

INDIAN COFFEE: ITS USE AND
ADULTERATION.

North Mysore Planters' Association,

Koppa, Kith July 18«(;.
Deak Sir, —The enclosed pamphlet drawn up by
the Indian Coffee Planters' Committee comprising re-
presentatives from Mysore, Wynaad, Coorg, Neil-
gherries and Travancore, is now being largely dis-
tributed at the Indian and Colonial Exhibition,
I should feel much obliged if you could hud space
for it in one of your valuable papers.— I am, dear
sir, yours faithfully, ROBERT BUCHANAN,

Hon. Secretary,
[We have already given the contents of the
very useful and timely ^-page pamphlet.— Ed.]

CARDAMOMS IN CEYLON AND SOUTHERN
INDIA.

Mysore, Hith July 188«.
Dear Sir,— As many Ceylon men greatly wished
to compare their prices with the two premier
brands of Southern India, I would draw their at-
tention to page 4 of " Ceylon Produce Sales List "
at the end of the July number of the T. A.,
where by an oversight certain sales of the celebrated
M. M. M. (Munjanpulla) and C. C. C. (Cadamoney)
have found a place among Ceylon sales.* I have
often wished to give you a fair comparison and
vne opportunity has just occurred. Two and six-
pence is equal to seven shillings a few years ago,
and this shows the drop, the irrecoverable fall that

has occurred in the cardainoni market.

U ©^eau to include India iu future.— 'Ep»

1^6

THE TROPICAL AGmCVLrVRlBf.

[Stpf. i, i^^

It may be good news to your readers to hear
that the fancy bleaching has, as I foretold, been
found out to be but a superficial excellence. It
caught the broker's fancy for many years in the
case of the brands above-mentioned as being unique
and apparently superior ; but it is one of the
tricks of trade — just as boiling pepper on the same
properties — which have but a limited existence.
Now, you ought to invent a dodge to add to the
aroma of your already highly-flavoured tea. I hope
to hear that salaries have reached more respect-
able figures, and that commissions on profits have
become general. " Muzzle not the ox that treadeth
out the corn."— Yours truly, ABERDONENSIS.

'Our correspondent promised to tell us some-
thing more particular, about cardamom preparation
in India.— Ed. C. 0.^

ENEMIES OF GROTON-OIL PLANTS.

Wattegama, 24th July 188G.

DtAK SiK, — By thi> post I send you some beetles
and caterpillars taken off Croton oil trees. I find
they eat flowers, leaves, tender branches, skin of the
fruit, and even tender fruit.

I may here mention that up to January last (some
9 years since 1 first planted croton) I never saw any
insect attack and injure the croton plant or tree.

I had a small patch ^V-acre attacked in January
which was soon checked by picking the beetle,
throwing ashes over, and then shaking the trees
when the caterpillars fell off. I purchased some
village fowls who soon picked them up and fattened
on them,

I quite agree with Mr. Westland that taken in
time tlie damage will not be much, as the trees
soon recover. I have another attack of this pest
now.— Yours faithfully, J. HOLLO WAY.

[Colombo, 28th July 18Sfi.— The caterpillars I do
not know. They are probably the larvn? of some
small moth. The other insects are not beetles but
bngs belonging to the family Scntellerid;t:. Length
half-an-inrh, breadth three-tenths of an inch
ground color metallic green, which in some positions
has a coppery tinge ; three oblong blue-black spots
in a line across thorax close to head : three large
ones beneath them, with two smaller ones on each
side of the row ; six large spots on Scutellum in
two longitudinal rows witli a black pear-| '.'?jjied
line between the four upper spots. The im /jj^'^'e
insect is of a more rounded form and tlAe />/'',
markings are rather differently arranged- j^j /
vary in size according to their age. The""' /ose^*^^^
appear to have a wide distribution andt^^ sa tne-

tunes common
-Ed.1

in Colombo. — Entowoloi;''

./

Jeree

DETERIORATION IN" THE QUALITY OF
CEYLON TEAS.

•iOtii July 18813.

hiuHi HiR; — Many opinions of late have been
given as the causes to which can be ascribed the
deterioration in the <jualities of our Ceylon teas.
Many of them are mere conjectures, and, if our
teas have actually fallen in rank, from the first
teas in the world to a mere average, too many
opinions cannot be obtained, if in the end, one
can be given and proved to be correct.

My own idea is, that far too much is made of
this supposed deterioration.

That it may exist to a small extent is perfectly
j)Ossible, and I think if it does, it is solely and
alone due to the vast quantity of leaf now manu-
factured from immature bushes. But, that it does
exist to the extent home dealers would wi^ih us
touuderitaud, I do oot for one uiomeut believe.

Dealers in tea are no more exempt from the
" customs of the trade," than dealers in other
products ; and my firm belief is, tea-tasters often,
and many of them invariably, suit their palates
to the " requirements of the trade."

I never did much believe in tea-tasting ; my
own little personal experience of London tea-tasters
being that on three opinions on one sample, I
had values ranging from lOd to Is 4d ; one report-
ing " poor thin liquor," and another " ricu, etc.,"
and "considerably above the usual run of Ceylon
teas," and all these from supposed competent men.

Tea-tasters' mouths, like other folk's, vary ac-
cording to state of liver !

To find the reasons for the deterioration of our
Ceylon teas, I think we have to look to home.
Till within the last twelve months our exports
were not much felt in the London market. Our
teas were reckoned as " fancy teas " of a high
quality and fetched, not fancy, but real values.
Why are not these real values obtained now ?
I think the reasons are obvious. I repudiate the
idea that there is any appreciable change in quality.
High-class manufacturers in the island are turn-
ing out their teas as before, many of them have
no leaf from young bushes to afl'ect them, they
manure as they did before, pluck in the same way,
and bar that their bushes may be a year older,
and their factories fitted up with more approved
machinery, no reason, atmospheric or otherwise,
can be ascribed to London reports on ijuality,
without going into the " secrets of the trade."
It is an extraordinary and signific?.nt fact,
that the observer of the various marks and
prices of our various estate teas cannot help
having of late remarked, that while sundry
marks have fallen from 2d to 3d per lb., others
have hardly altered at all ; if not, why not? I fear
we are being duped. As a rule, London dealers in
Ceylon teas, have been and are dealers in Indian
and China teas for years, have vast interests
directly and indirectly in the advancement, or at
any rate keeping together, of these latter countries
and their teas. They find Ceylon imports have
increased and are increasing to an alarming ex-
tent, and what is natural, they begin to think
which business will pay or does pay them best.
The advancement of the one must mean the keep-
ing back of the other, and in the equalising of
the value they keep the whole business together,
and they l^eep back Ceylon Tea^. They cannot serve
all masters, and so endeavour to make all equal.
I think Ceylon teas and India teas may now be
said to be very nearly about equal value in
Mincing Lane ; any way they are fast approaching
that end. Are they in reality ? Certainly not. Prices
for the same article for some time proved this.

Retail dealers have likewise damaged our charac-
ter ; they cannot afford to sell our teas pure and
simple ; profit on such would not be sufficient, and
the means lost of disposing of the cheaper and
more paying descriptions. So long therefore as the
above goes on I see no prospect of improvement.
As Ceylon exports increase we may see a rise in
prices, as then it may pay the dealers to give up
the one and take to the other, but as business is
being done at present our teas, I do not think, will
ever again rise to their real value. Political dis-
turbances in Great Britain may account for a
general depression in all trades but not to the
equalising of articles unequal in value.

My firm impression is gathered from facts, and
from some commercial experience in E. C. in years
gone by. There exists a ring to keep Ceylon teas
back, that the said deterioration in quality is a
mere humbug and excuse, and that by the few in
Ceylon who are io a positiou to do io. a liriu arsd

Strt. s, ib36>]

THE TROPICAL AQmcVLTVmSfe

^7

determined stand must and will be made to break
this monopoly, not only for their own benefit, but
for the general good of the planting and commercial
interests of Ceylon.

Toward the Tea Syndicate, when I am in a posi-
tion to do so, I shall certainly give my strongest
support. I heartily believe in its proposed schemes,
but of its success I am sceptical, simply that so
few, not will not, but cannot support it. I have
read several of the papers going the round for
signature, and these at once show up in vivid clear-
ness the sad jjosition seven-eighths of the Ceylon tea
estates are in. It is what was to be expected. The
tea industry has commenced where the coffee
ended, viz., in the one ^oyA — involved. How many
good and worthy men must have seen these i^apers
and inwardly thought " I wish I could sign it,"
— not only planters, but our Colombo merchants.
Therein I fear will be the failure of the Tea
Syndicate. "Willing to support to the utmost but
cannot," must be the reply of quite seven-eighths
of our tea estates. No one knows this better than
he who advances the necessary and in return
demands his necessity. Commissions must be got,
the middleman has always lived, and must live,
and the public must not be supplied with a pure
and unadulterated article to the detriment of an
adulterated one. The London merchant will
not support a Syndicate to take business out of
his own hands ; he cannot allow his Colombo agent
to support such, and therefore the Colombo agent
through no fault of his, cannot allow his constit-
uents to sign away his produce.

What therefore can the one-eighth left do to-
wards supporting a Syndicate which must, if success
be looked for, be on a large scale? A -sample
Syndicate will not do, it must be a stock Syndicate :
can these few, therefore, " Freemen" as I may call
them, support solely and alone this new enter
prize ? Will their entire produce be alone sufficient
to stock the proposed experimental new markets ?
And will they be willing for the good of them-
selves, and the Ceylon community at large, to
risk their all in a new venture ? I doubt it. I
sincerely trust I may be very much in error as
regards the signing of the Tea Syndicate paper
by many Colombo friends, and that many in the
Fort may be in a position to support so worthy
an undertaking. Many of us wait anxiously for
the result.

Of the various products shipped from Ceylon,
tea is the only one which can pass direct from
the producer's chest, packed on the estate to the
consumer's bag, across the counter. Could the
J few Freemen in Ceylon arrange to carry out so
worthy and honest a business, I fancy we should
hear no more of deterioration in quality of tea.
To . carry out business of this kind, the few must
be prepared for a desperate struggle against des-
perate odds, but the end must be victory. Various
institutions of the kind have been formed, and I
suppose their results have been as small and
various as their capital and the mixtures they sell.

The sales of pure Ceylon tea at the Exhibition must
flow come to an end and the more's the pity. If
no effort is made to keep up such a laudable trade,
results must be disastrous in the extreme. Vile mix-
tures again throughout Great Britain be sold to the
public, and if such were not marked "Ceylon
Tea " it would be allright. But they will be
labelled as such, and purchasers of Exhibition
Tea will come to the conclusion that after all
there is something in deterioration of Ceylon Tea.
What can be done ? I only see one way, the
result of a conversation I had with one of our
largest and I doubt not free-est Tea producers in the
island /—

' Endeavour to form a Company. Capital £20,000
to £30,000. Establish shops throughout the
United Kingdom (thank God it is still likely to
be united !) From these shops, dispose of only
one grade of Tea. Supply such Tea marts direct
from the Ceylon Agent or Manager, and supply
thefconsumer direct from the chestbulked in Ceylon.'

All Ceylon planters who can, will support with
their entire crops paying a concern. Their
Teas must be sent to Colombo, to be valued,
accepted or rejected, and bulked ihere. They can
draw on the Company's capital against their
invoices, and receive payment in proportion to
value put upon their Teas by the disinterested
manager and taster, in Colombo. The profits on
sales need only be half the profits made by the home
grocer, and with no sucking middleman. I fancy
to Is »jd would be a fair price to reckon for their
whole season's crop, and if they were also share-
holders, 15 per cent to 20 per cent would be a
safe estimate for their invested capital. Could such
a Company be floated under able management in
London to begin with, and then in the chief towns
of Great Britain and Ireland, and in Colombo, I doubt
not every share would be taken up by outsiders within
a couple of days of the Prospectus appearing before
the pubHc. The result would be, I doubt not,
similar to the various Co-operative Associations of
which so much was written against, when they
were first established. Purchases could also be made
on highly remunerative terms in the local market
if supporters' teas were insufficient to meet the
demand.

If you consider these ideas worthy of publication
I should be glad of their appearing also in your
Overland issue*, as through our worthy Planters'
Commissioner something might come of them. —
Yours truly, H. L. FOBBES.

Calcutta Bot.u^ic Gaki>e.ns, are among the finest
of the kind in the world, considerable success has
attended the growth of mahogany plants, of which
there are 20,uO0 seedlings. In the Madras Gardens
also these seedlings are pushing forward with im-
mence strides. The paper mulberry tree finds a
congenial soil in Bengal. It supplies the material
from which the ^'w^jpa cloth of Polynesia and the
bulk of the paper in China and Japan are manu-
factured ; and its bark is considered to be among
the best of paper fibres. The expenditure on the

Calcutta Gardens last year amounted to E69,870.

Madias Mail.

Coii KE.— The statistics of cotfee cultivation on the
Nilgiris usually furnished are stultified by tbe inclusion
in the figures of Waste land, not cultivated, but form-
ing part of every holding. Ou the NiJgiris, the Govern-
ment Assessment is charged on the entire area of the
estate, iucludmg forest and land retained exclusively for
purposes of grazing and this introduces the factor of
error in all the returns. We have been at some little
pains to eliminate the waste from the figures and to
give only the actual area covered with full grown coffee.
Immature coffee is not deserviug of consideration as
for some years, owing to adverse iufiueuces and low
prices, no exteiisious have taken place. The following
will be found as nearly correct as possible ; —

Acres.
Todanaad ... ... 1,720

rarunganad ... ... 5,'ii5

Mekanaad ... ... 2,965

Kundahs ... ... SQy

Total... 10,300
Ihis makes ample allowance for recent abandonnicntH
which may be reckoned at 2,000 acres if not rnore.—
Nilyirl Kcpyess.

'' Also iu Tiopkid Agriculturki —Ed.

THE fi^OPiCAL AGRICULtt/RlST,

[Sept. 2, 2886.

AGRICULTURE ON THE CONTINENT OF

EUROPE.

(Special Letter.)

Paeis, June 12th. —

Scour iu calves has been rather general of late in
France and Belgium. An agriculturist writes, that
he rears 30 calves yearly, and never yet lost one
from diarrhtoa ; nor has any one who adopted his
remedy^ viz., when the first symptoms of the disease
set in, he makes the calf drink one or two quarts
of cold water after it has suckled ; if very young,
one quart will suffice. Continue this during eight days
till the diarrhcua has stopped.

What is the value of the residue-roots and stubble,
left behind in the soil after the crop has been reaped ?
The materials taken from the air and the soil during
the development of the plant, are not all exported
with the harvest. There remain in the soil some
<iuantities, very variable in chemical richness and
amount, following the nature of the crop, and calculated
to enrich thi^ layer of arable earth. Phosphoric acid,
nitrogen, lime, magnesia and potash are the chief plant
-food ingredients left behind. Those crops whose
residue contains most mineral or nitrogenous subs-
tances, will proportionably be the most valuable. Tak-
ing some luzerne, red clover, sain-foin, rye, colza,
oats, wheat and barley, and carefully removing all
foreign substances from the roots and remnant stems,
an acre of luzerne, and red clover will leave of such
residue 4i tons ; rye and sainfoin, 2| tons ; wheat 26 cwt.,
oats, 28 'cwt., and barley, 18 cwt. In mineral rich-
ness, clover, rye, oats and luzerne respectively, are
the best, and barley the worst; while in point of
nitrogen, the order isr clover, luzerne, sainfoin, rye,
colza, oats, wheat and barley. In both cases, clover
is at the top and barley at the bottom of the com-
parisons. Further ; clover and barley leave behind in
the soil, the following proportions iu pounds per acre,
of — lime, 257 and 38 ; magnesia 48 and 3 ; potash, 81
and 10 ; phosphoric acid, 74 and 12.

Hence, the quantities of nitrogenous and mineral
matters thus left behind in the form of stubble and
roots, is not unimportant, and to be remembered when
manuring for succeeding crops. But it must not be
forgotten at the same time, these food ingredients
cannot be utilized, till the residue has been destroyed
and transformed, under the influence of the microbes
of the soil and chemical action.

The late M. Bouley, head veterinary inspector, laid
down, that the shoeing of horses, was intimately
connected with the prosperity of a realm. He classed
the " farriers," among the useful arts. It is diflacult
in any case to conceive, how the " noble animal "
could be utilized in civilised countries, on paved or
macadamized roads, without an iron-protected hoof.
Over natural roads, hard or rugged though they may
be, the ordinary growth of the horny shield of the
hoof, is ample protection. Should the wear and tear
be excessive, why, the animal must be allowed, as
•with the Boers, to lie by till the born grows. A
footsore horse soon becomes lame, unless in the
absence of a farrier, rice straw boots be resorted to.
which was the custom in old Japan, Even the Arabs,
though their horses have but sandy tracts to patter
over, esteem a shod horse, of greater value than
one left to nature. In modern horse-shoeing, France
has much leeway to make up, and so it is not sur-
prising that a society is to be formed for promoting
improvements in farriery. This ought not to be, as
the Gauls shod their horses before they were con-
quered by the Romans, just as do their descendants
in modern France today. And it was William the
Conqueror who introduced farriery into Englatul, The
shoe is the fulcrum, the motive power of the horse.
The horny part of the foot grows all the same, whether
shod or free; but if the former, it has to be per-
iodically pared to keep it in shape, in harmony with
its plate armour. Hence, for working horses especially,
the necessity of periodically changing the shoes.
The hoof would become disproportionately long, and
the grip, the motive power, or sustained balance of
the horse, would be derauged. If it be essential not

to wear away the hoof quicker than it grows, it is
also important to not permit it .so to develop, as to
waste the animal's power of draught. The hoof is
only the covering, the shell or case, over a very
sensitive organ. Too often the principle was to rasp
the hoof so as to make it fit the shoe. Nature was
compelled to be subservient to man's errors. All the
art of shoeing consists in m.aking it not a fetter, but
a buffer or shield, against extra wear, over artificial
surfaces. There are farriers who forget that the fore
foot, which is round, is of the same importance as
the hinder ones which are oval. French farriers ought
to pare less and trust more to the rasp-save for the
front .of the foot, than the knife, to secure equality
of level on both sides. Shoe.s ought not to be either
too heavy or too light ; neither too small nor too large.
There is also something to be effected in nails and
nailing on, and a greater readiness to try new models,
no matter whether they be shoes from America or
England.

♦ ■

THE COL-IND EXHIBITION.

Cyprus. — The exhibits from this i-ecent addition to
the British possessions are not numerous, but they
are nevertheless of very great interest, jmrticularly
from an antiquarian point of view. There are, how-
ever, comparatively few vegetable products, and these
include sections of the principle timber trees, and
collections of fruits and seeds, none of which call for
any remark except, perhaps, some fine pods of the
Carob bean, .St. John's Bread or Locust (Ceratonia
siliqua), and a sample of a coarse kind of molasses
or honey, extracted from them. These dark brown or
blackish beans are well known in most towns, and
are usually to be seen in small shops in poor neigh-
bourhoods, being sold to children who eat them for
the sake of the sugar they contain. About 30,000
tons of these beans are annually shipped from Cyprus,
the average price being about £'.i per ton. They are
principally used for making the patent cattle foods
now so much advertised. At one time Locust pods
had a reputation for clearing the voice, and were
used for that purpose by singers.

An object of especial attention from Cyprus is the
native cart, such as has been in use for over 2,000
years, and is still used iu the island. Its construction
is of the roughest character, the wood being simply
hewn with an axe, and the whole init together with-
out the use of a nail.

Queensland. — This court is contiguous to Canada,
and the first things that strike us on entering it
are two magnificent trunks of Australian Cediu- (Ced-
rela toona) ; one of these measures 20 feet 5 inches
in girth, and the other 18 feet 8 inches ; each trunk
is about 14 or 15 feet high, they are said to weigh
5 tons each and are the largest logs in the whole
exhibition; they are certainly most noble specimens.
A piece of each is cut out in front, and polished to
show the grain, which is even, of a beautiful deep
red colour, easily worked, and takes a good polish;
the wood is very generally used by cabinet-makers
in Queensland and New South Wales, as well as in
India and Burma, where the tree also grows. The
trunks iu question were grown on the Blackall Range
in the Moretou district. Woods are particularly well
shown in the Queensland court ; the collection is very
complete; they are all carefully selected and are well
cut, polished, and labelled, and amongst them are
some or more than usual interest, especially iiniongst
the Liliaceie, Palms, and Filices, such, for instance,
as Draciena anguslifolia, PtycLospermia Normanbyi
Tyicuala Muelleri, Dicksonia Youiigii, &c-. These, of
course, are more of scientific than commercial iuteie-t,
but there are a very largf number that should at-
tract the attention of the cabinet-maker. An excellent
descriptive catalogue ot these woods has been pre-
pared by Mr. F. N. Bailey, F. L. S. (Colonial Botanist),
which consists of eighty-six pages, and treats of 427
woods arranged under their natural orders and
genera.

New South Wales — Though the collection
from tliia colony is very exteueive, and thuro aro

Sept. f, 1886,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

159

some fine sections of timbor. the vegetable products
on the whole are not striking, nevertheless there are
Bome interesting exhibits, lor instance, a large quantity
of a wooly substance like fur is labelled "Pulse
from base of stalks of Macrozamia spiralis," a new
product, it would seem, from a Cycadeous plant, used
we suppose, for stuffing cushions. A curious and
interesing ethnological collection is shown from New
Guinea, amongst them several singular wooden drums
ornamented with festoons of the hard seed shells of
Pangium edule, which are probably used for the
rattling sound they would give when shaken, as well
as for their ornamentation. One case is filled with
the celeln-ated Cabbage tree hats made from the split
and plaited leaves of Livistona australis. They are
labelled as being made of " grass grown and plaited
l.y natives ; " the price of a single hat varies from
15s. to 20 guineas.

AVesteun Austkalia. — The most remarkable exhibits
in this court are the marvellously fine specimens and
blocks of Jarrah wood (Eucalyptus marginata). A
portion of one enormous trunk lies on its side, the
cross section of the base of which is highly polished,
showing to great advantage the beautiful deep red
colour of the wood. A magnificent specimen of curly
Jarrah, which has dark, wavy, transverse markings is
also shown. It is called a counter top — much too beauti-
ful, however, for such a use — and measures probably
14 or 15 feet long, by some 2 feet or 2 feet 9 inches
wide. The woods shown in this court, like those
from Queensland, are exceptionally well prepared and
polished. Jarrah wood is well known to be the most
desirable of all woods for moist or damp situations,
indeed it may be said for any situation, as it bears
not only changes of temperature without injury, but
it also resists the attacks of Teredo, white ant, or
any similar destructive agency. As proof of its dur-
ability a si^ecimen is shown that has been lying on the
beach at Bunbury for a period of thirty-six years,
where it has experienced the action of the waves, sun,
wind and sand without any apparent injury. Several
other interesting wood are to be seen in this court
and one notable object is a Black Boy trunk
(Xanthorrhma) 20 feet high — a remarkable specimen,
beside which is a fine specimen of Kingia australis
in flower.

Victoria. — Here, as in the other Australian courts,
the products of the genus Eucalyptus are very pro-
minent. Mr. Joseph Bosisto, the President of the
Victorian Commission, who has been so long and so
well known for his work in the development of the
oils and resins of the Eucalypti, is a prominent exhibitor
of these products, amongst which are essential oils
of Eucalyptus amygdalina, E. globulus, E. oleosa, E.
dumosa, E. citriodora, E. obliqua, &c. These oils have
antiseptic and disinfectant properties, and that of
E. globulus is tonic and stimulant. Here also are
cigarettes of the leaves of Eucal\ ptus globulus, recom -
mended for bronchial and asthmatic afliections ; Euca-
lyptus disinfectant pastiles, the fumes of which are
said to be of great service in diseases of the respiratory
organs, and to have the effect of driving mosquitos
out of the room. The resin of the Black Bi>y or
Grass-tree of Austral'a (Xauthorrha?a australis) is
also shown. It is soluble in spirit, producing a deep
amber colour, employed in staining wood to imitate
Cedar and Oak. It is stated that in Mr. Bosisto's
factory in Western Gippsland 12,000 lb. of Eucalyptus
oil are annually produced, and as many as six tons of
Eucalyptus leaves are manipulated daily. There is a
remarkably good collection of Victorian woods, each
specimen having a representation of the plant yielding
it painted upon it: a slab of PJucalyptus rostrata
measmes some 10 feet by 3 feet. An excellent
catalogue of Victorian exhibits is published by autho-
rity in which are many useful notes on the woods
and othsr vegetaiile products. — Gardenerft^ Chromde.

f'EMENT FOB Aquaria. — The Polytechnischeii N'otiz-
hlatt gives two recipes for a cement for joining
glass, wood and metal. The first consists of a mixture
of equil parts of shellac and powdered pumice-stono,
to bo used while warm; the second is obtained by

melting ordinary brimstone in a ladle, and adding an
equal proportion of powdered pumice-stone. The
pumice-stone in both cases must be thoroughly dried
before mixing, as it is apt to absorb moisture from
the air. — 0. W. Quin. — Indian Gardener.

Dews. — Mr. George Dines, who has made extensive
experiments and observations on the formation of
dew, finds th;it the depth of deposit in England in an
evening rarely exceeds a hundredth part of an inch,
and that the average annual depth of the dew depo.sited
upon the surface of the earth does not exceed an
inch-and-a-half. — Jbid.

The Wild Potato. — The last word has not been
said yet, and to all appearance it will take long in
the saying. We have before us a communication
from Mr- Alphonse de Candolle, in which he con-
tends for the specific identity of Solanum tuberosum
and S. Maglia. M. de OaudoUe finally admits— i.
Solanum Bridgesii, to which he refers Baker's S.
tuberosum (partly) ; and 2, S. tuberosum of Liunseus,
under which he includes as va.vieties, a, chiloen-ie, from
the island of Chiloe, and which he considers the
nearest to the cultivated potato ; b, eidtinn, the cul-
tivated variety (as a whole including numerous vari-
ations) ; c, Sahiiii, the tuberosum of Sabine in Trans.
Hort. Soc, the S. Maglia of Hook, fil., Bot. Marj., t.
6756; d, Murjlia of Baker and others, a Chilian
maritime plant. .3. S. Mandoni, a species from the
mountains of Bolivia. We shall revert to this inter-
esting communication on another occasion. — Gardeners^
Chronicle.

Red Bust on Rose Leaves. — Could you tell me the
cause of the rust attacking the Rose so early in the
season? I have known the rust very often to appear
in the month of August, but it is quite new to me
so early- Snme people say it is cow manure that
will breed it, and top-dressing will breed it — we have
it just the same, top dressing or not. I attribute
the cause of red rust to extreme climatic changes.
F. X. (J. [It is impossible for cow manure or top-
dressing to " breed " this or any other funi^us. All
funguses grow from spores just as flowering plants
grow from seeds. Over-manuring may in some instan-
ces predispose certain plants to fall before the attacks
of fungi, and top-dressing, if it contains dead Rose
leaves with the resting-spores (Phragmidium) of red
rust, may start the disease in spring. The botanical
name of red rust is Ooleot porium pingue ; it should
be looked for in its early state, and hand-picked and
burnt. The fungus is unusually common and early
this season. Fungi vary in their time of growth,
according to the season, just as flowering plants vary.
W. G. S.]—IJnd.

Floral Decorations. — The Indian Gardener, in an
article on this subject writes : — " Amongst our flowering
shrubs also we may find much variety ; take for in-
stance the many forms of Hibiscus, Ixora, Gardenia,
Barleria, Eranthemums, &c. Climbing plants also
furnish much useful material, amongst which may be
mentioned the Passifloras, Allamandas, Begonias,
Petrea, and Beaumontia grandiflora, one of the most
beautiful of all climbing plants, and last, but not
least, the Antigonons. Ascending yet a step higher
we possess a wealth of material in many of our gorgeous
flowering trees ; take for instance the Indian Laburnum
(Cassia fistvhi), Bauhinias, Lagerstiirmias and the
gorgeous Poiucianas. Poinciana regia has been so extens-
ively employed in street planting and in the decoration
of public and private gardens in Calcutta and many other
parts of India as to have caused many people to
become thoroughly prejudiced against it, and it must
be admitted that the dense sheet of vivid crimson
which a well flowered specimen presents duriug the
months of April and May, has anything but a soothing
effect, under the influence of a punkah and the many
other luxuries of indoor life this prejudice may be
laid aside, and we would strongly recommend those
who have never tried the experioient, to employ the
flowers from any well coloured specimen, judiciously
blended with Gardenia or any other choice white subject
using the leaves of the Poiueiana for garniture ; i'
judiciously arranged tbi« has a most pleasing effect.'*^

i6d

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept. i, 1886

Oetlon exhibits some fine specimens of cinchona
bark at the Ooloaial and Indian Exhibition. Although
the best days of this cultivation in ("eylon are now
past, it will long be renaembered that great energy
was given to it not long since, when thinr supplies
flooded the market and brought down prices. At
the present time cinchona cultivation by itself does
not pay, though it is an important auxiliary. The
Cejlon planter also gives much attention to card:inioms.
liurqoyne, t^c, Prices Cvrrcnt.

The Medicinal Uses of Lkmons and Oranges have
often been pointed out and dwelt upon. Some time
ago, writing to a leading horticultural London ioiiniii',
Dr. Bouavia referred to the remarkable uses of some
species of citrus in cases of iut'-rmittent or malarial
fever. For this disease the Italians use freshly-gathered
lemons ; and the good effects have been confirmed
by English doctors in Rome and elsewhere. Dr. Eonavia
had tried the lemon in North-west India, both on
a con.siderable scale and with beneficial results. He
had stated that for simple intermittent fever, without
any other conplication, a decoction of lemon was
equal to quinine in its effects. Speaking of the
depressed stnte of the lemon trode in Sicily, he had
suggested that in the place of allowing the fruit
to rot, chemists should endeavour to extract the
active principle, and turn it to account. All things
considered, its uses being so varied and beneficial,
the cultivation of the lemon should be carried on
wherever the fruit would grow. — 'Sew Zeo hind Paper.

Sncc'EssFCL Peach Growinc4. — I am pretty safe in
saying that fruit growing is carried on more extens-
ively in Earl P'ortescue's gardens at Oastle Hill than
at any other Devonshire garden, the Pine-apples,
Grapes, Peaches and Nectarines, and Figs command-
ing most attention there. One of the orchard-houses
is 325 feet in length. But it is of the earliest Peach-
house I wish to speak. This house is a lean-to
building, about 00 feet in length by l-"> feet in width,
and contains four trees, the back wall being clothed
with a Dr. Hogg and an Early Alfred Peach, and
the roof is almost covered with the growths of two
dwarf standards of that good old variety, Koyal
George, which represent the perfection of training

1 did not count the fruits on the back wall; suffice
it to .say there were abundance; but 1 had the
curiosity to record those under the roof, and tbey
numbered ju.st OOO, and fast ripening ; I enclose one
herein, together with some of the finest and healthiest
Peach leaves I have ever seen . — ^Y. Nappe R, Al phi ng-
ton Cross. [A very fine fruit. Ed.] — Gnrfdenen'' Clironicle.

A VERY SIMPLE MEANS of rendering all kinds of fabrics
which are starched uninflammable, is to add a little
sal ammoniac and plaster of Paris to the starch, or to
dissolve borax 12 parts, and Epsom salts 9 parts in SO
parts of warm water. The tissues to be prepared are
dipped in the solution until thoroughly saturated, then
starched in the ordinary way. They are then wrong
out, pressed, wrapped in a cloth and passed through
the mangle, after which the articles are ironed while
still damp, or the necessary quantity of starch can be
stirred into the saline solution. Vogt recommends
sublimed sal ammoniac, 2 parts ; sulphate of zinc, 1 part ;
water, 15 or 20 parts; and the starch to be mixed
with this solution. Siebrath says, good residts may be
obtained by steeping the dresses in a solution of 5 per
cent, alum, and 5 per cent, phosphate of ammonia.
Nicol advises a bath composed of alum, 0 parts ; borax,

2 parts; tungstate of soda, 1 part; dextrine, dissolved
in soap lye, 1 part. The following have appeared iti a
German journal: — Sulphate of ammon., 8 parts;
carbonate of ammon., 2^ parts; boric acid, 2 parls;
borax, 1| parts ; starch 2 parts; water, 100 parts. The
fabric to be passed through this mixture boiling hot.
Another recipe is : — Boric acid, 5 parts ; sal ammoniac,
l.'» parts; )>otash felspar, 5 parts; gelatine, l.V parts;
starch paste, .")0 parts ; water, 1,000 parts. This solution to
bo applied, with a l>rush. — Bvrguiine. tic, /'rici.< (lurri'iil.

"WuF.THEii Oows AKE IN Galf. — " Enquirer " on this
subject may try the following, given on the authority
of the Am'^riraii Dahyvtan: — "Let a drop of fresh
milk fall into a glass of pure water. If the milk
|iroraptly disseminates itself through the water, the

cow that yielded that milk is not with calf ; but if
it sinks to the bottom of the glass as it falls upon
the water, and does not produce but little of a milky
cloud, the cow is pregnant. The specific giavity and
viscidity of the albuminous milk being heavier than
water, thus retains the drop of milk and causes it
to sink." To find if a cow is in calf, the usual
method is to thrust the points of the fingers or thumb
against the right flank of the cow, when, if the calf
is about six mouths old, a hard lump will be felt
bounding against the abdomen ; but Youatt strongly
objects to the punches that are frequently given by
way of trying if a cow has a calf in her— punches
which, he had no doubt, were sometimes the cau.se
of difficult or fatal parturition. — New Zealand. Paper.

TcBEROsES. — The Colonies just now are iu the
ascendant, and we Britons are about as proud and self-
conscious as any old hen and her chicks — and we
have reison to be. In these days demonstration is
everything. It does not do to read of the battle
of Waterloo, that may have been true or not, but
we did not see it. Captain Cook may have discovered
that part of Australia known as Botany Bay, but
we were not there to see him do it. Nevertheless
the exhibits at South Kensington furnish proof .suffi-
cient even for an examiner, and so we trust the
illustration we now give of Tuberose growing in Natal
such may afford satisfactory evidence, even to
those who have ni)t been there, that there is
a colony as Natal, and that the Tuberose is grown
there pretty extensively, furnishing employment to
Europeans and to natives, and thus contributing not
only to the luxuries of the "classes'' at home, but
supplying also a potent factor in the spread of civiliz-
ation among the masses, black as well as white.
Messrs. Edwards & Bell, of Pietermaritzhurg — to
whom we are indebted for the photograph whence
our illustration was taken tell us that they have
under cultivation more than 12 acres of the "double
South African Tuberose,'" and which is grown chiefly
for the London and the Paris markets. Polianthes
tuherosa was first mentioned by L'Escluse (Clusius)
in 1594, and was probably originally introduced; from
Mexico. The name of Poliauthes is derived from
polios, white, and anthos, flower, and must not be
confounded with Polyanthus — from jwlus, many, and
anthos, flower — a term applied to umbellate Prim-
roses.— Gardeners^ Clironicle.

Illipe Oil from MAuiiiTirs, as shown at the Ex-
hiljition is thus noticedby the Pharma reuticulJoK rnal . —
"Specimens of a white solid fat prepared from the
seeds of Bassia laiifolia {Sapotacca) are exhibited by
M. C. Lienard under the name of illipe oil. This
is used iu the island as a substitute for lard for
cooking purposes. It would probably form a valuable
oil for soap manufacture, several of the Sapotaeeous
trees yielding, like the Shea butter tree, a fat
containing a small quantity of a substance resembl-
ing gutta-percha, the presence of which prevents the
rapid wasting away of soap made with it that is
characteristic of the soaps made with coconut oil.
In India it ha-* long been used in preparing common
country soap. It contains stearic and oleic acids, and
another acid said to have the formula Oj.H., j.O,.
According to Cooke's "Eeport on the Oils and Oil
Seeds of India," it was stated in 1843, by the
Director of Price's Patent Candle Company, that illipe
oil was worth £8 less per ton than St. Petersburg
tallow for the manufacture of caudles, but that large
quantities could be used iu this country if it could
be supplied at £35 per ton. The value of the oil in
Bombay is about 85. for the Surat maund of .37^ lbs.
The seeds yield about 33 per cent of oil, wliich
after saponification yields 40 per cent, of inodorous
translucent stearic acid. The oleine obtained bj' train-
ing, i. f., melting and cooling to a temperature which
.allows the stoarine to crystallize out, is very pure
and resembles olive oil in apji.arance and properties.''
There follows this statement : — " The curious statement
is made under cinnamon wood that the roots yield
an excellent yellow dye." Camphor candles as inade
from a substance obtained from cinnamon roots we
have beard, but the yellow dye is new to us-

Sept. i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

161

AGEICULTUR.IL CHEMLSTEY.

The following is the simple result of a comparison
of a large number of analyses of soils— good and
bad — and plants grown on different soils, to deter-
mine what was necessary for ordinary field crops.

All the fertile soils contain the following : —

First Silica, or sand.

Second — Alumina or clay.

Third— Oae oxide, either of iron or of magnesia.

Fourth — One alkaline earth, either lime or magnesia.

Fifth— Oua alkali, either pota«h or soda.

Sia-th — One mineral acid, either muriatic or sul-
phuric, or phosphoric.

/S'eufnf/;— Vegetable acid.j or decomposed [vegetable
matter.

And in all fertile soils, the fourth and fifth were
in such quantities as to neutralize the sixth and
seventh. The poor soils either wanted some of the
necessary ingredients, or had an excess of acid or
alkali. And in all such cases there was an excess
of acid, except in one soil there was anjexces3 of
soda. — Nilfjin Express.

♦

AGEICULTURAL NOTES IN THE CEYLON
LOWCOUNTEY.

You correctly interpreted my feelings when
announcing that the worthy Director of Public
Instruction had anticipated my suggestion that Agri-
cultural instruction be imparted to the villagers.
I was very glad at the announcement, and hereby
presume, on behalf of the poor goiija:!, to tender
to Mr._ Green my best thanks for the interest he
takes in a body of men in whom his brother
officials in the Revenue line interest themselves
only to exact taxes in good and bad years alike.
If all officials take as great an interest in the
natives of this country as Mr. Green, it will be a
happy day for Ceylon.

I would humbly suggest to him that his scheme
can be made more comprehensive without any extra
expenditure. An Agricultural Instructor will have his
time haug very heavy on his hands in directing the
cultivation of four acres of land in any one spot.
Besides, the efficient cultivation of four acres of land
by the senior boys of any school will be a task that
it will not be wise to attempt, for failure will have
a very pernicious effect on a people so conservative
as the (joipas admittedly are, and who cling so tena-
ciously to time-honoured customs. My suggestion is
that three schools be selected round each centre,
and within, say, a day's reach of it, and that to each
school be attached about one acre of land. An acre
of land will be within the resources of any one village
school to cultivate with its senior boys, while the
juH'or boys can be detailed to do the weeding — a
very npcessary operation in the successful cultivation
of paddy. The. Instructor can move about from school
to school with his Agricultural implpraeuts, and im-
part the neces-ary practical inst-uotion. It it be
not possible to cultivate all four plots in one sea-
son, two can be cultivated fov the Yalla and two
for the '^faha crop. By this system Mr. Green will
be able to impart the blessings of the proper cul-
tivation of thp soil more speedily through the island
than by seiectiug onlv six schools at a time. I hope
Mr. Green will see fit to consider this sugeestion.
Any information we may want as to the mechanical
improvement of our soils, or the use of suitable
manure to add to their fertility can be more cheaply
and readily purchased of an Agricultural Chemist.
Agriculture in Europe and Agriculture in this Island
are widely different. The main branch of Agriculture
there is the cultivation of cereals; here perennials.
In Europe all the available p'ant food in the soil
is taken up in turns by a rotation of crops; no
such thing is possible here. The rearing of stock
for breefHng and for the butcher, and for dairy
purposes is one of the principal sources of income
for the British farmer. There is no macket for it
here. The acquirement of all knowledge is en-
«1

nobliug and useful, but in this utilitarian age, when a
j money value is placed on it, one may fairly ask
whether any branch of knowledge that does not yield
adequate results is not de<vrly bought.— Local
" Examiner."

DEUGS AND DEUG SALES.
Whatever may be the results of the Colonial and
Indian Exhibition in developing the natural resources
of the British possessions, the fact of such resources
being brought under the very eyes of the English
public must result in some good. In scanning over
the trade reports of the London drug sales this is
brought forcibly to our mind, when we perchance read
that a certain drug is scarce in the market, and all the
time we know that the plant furnishing it is very
abundant in many of our colonies, and we cannot for
the life of us see why such and such a drug should
be scarce. Take, for instance, the article Cassia Fistula
which was reported in the middle of May to be of
" somewhat lean quality," and " very scarce," whea
only a few days previously we had seen quantities of
the finest, fattest pods imaginable in almost every
^Yest Indian Colony at the " Colinderies," and more-
over, there are few trees having a wider range of
distribution over the tropics, either naturally or by
cultivation than the Cassia Fistula, for on account of
its handsome appearance, and its freedom in flowering,
it is much grown as an ornamental plant. Bentley
and Trimen, in their " Medicinal Plants," say of this
tree that "it is truly indigenous as well as much
planted in many parts of Peninsular India, Ceylon,
.Tava, and the Philippines, growing especially on the
lower hills, and ascending to 4,000 feet. In tropical
and sub-tropicle Africa it is now found apparently
wild in many places, and is possibly indigenous, though
usually a planted tree; it is frequent under such
circumstances in Egypt. In the New World it has no
doubt been introduced, and the beauty and fragrance
of its flowers has caused it to be a favourite tree for
planting in the West Indian Islands, especially Jamaica,
in Central America, and Brazil. The showy flowers
appear in May and June, and the large pods are
ripe in the following February or March." Considering
all thi<!, and considering the ease with which the
pods can be shipped, there should be no scarcity of
such an article. Again, under Anatto we read that
there was at the same drug sales as that quoted above,
a fair supply of Ceylon seeds and paste, but that the
latter had an "odour anythinar but fresh, which would
not render its use in cheese and butter-making
advisable." There was, however, at the sale a quantity
of good bright West Indian seed of new import. Here
again the exhibits at South Kensington, especially in
the West Indian Court, a'-e for the most part remark-
ably fine and bright, and if it be possible to send such
samples for exhibition, it should not only be possible,
but planters should consider it a necessity for their
own reputation, as well as for that of commerce
generally, not forgetting consumers in this countr'-,
to cultivate the very best products, and to prepar-
and pack them with the utmost care. — Burgoyne, cj-c,
Prices Current.

[Ceylon could supply any quantity of Cassia fstvia
pods and anatto seeds, were there only a remunerative
market. Cassia fistula the Indip.n laburnum, now
becoming pretty common in Colombo flourishes on
the east side of our island and is particularly abundant
on the lower ranges of Haputale running down to the
Hambanto*^a terai and on the road from HaldamuUa
to Bilhool Oya. It is difficult to preserve this tree
and Alstonia scholuris, as the natives strip the bark
off both for medicine. — Ed.1

Liverpool imported 4,800 tons of Para rubber in
1885, against 4,610 tons in 1884. The total ex-
ports of Para in 1885 to all parts of the world
amounted to 12,500 tons. The produce of Manihot
Glaziovii impored into Liverpool was only 85 tons
of most satisfacttory qiiality. — Nilgiri Express.

l&Z

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept*, i, 1886.

PALMS AND THEIR USES.

From an article so headed, in the Indian Gardener,
we quote as follows : —

OocoNUT (Cocos nucifera).—Pi. palm, native of the
coasts of tropical Africa, India, Malay and Islands
of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is generally
cultivated throughout all tropical countries, but thrives
best near the sea, and requires no special care. The
tree varies in height from 50 to 100 feet, and has
long-winged leaves, the so-called nuts being produced
in bunches of 10 to 20 or more together. They
are of a triangular form, about a foot long, consisting
of a thick coat of fibre, enclosing a hard shell, which,
with its contents, is known as the coconut. It is
commonly said that the uses of the coconut are as
numerous as the days in a year, afltording food, drink,
domestic utensils and materials for building and
thatching. In some parts of India and other countries,
the white albumen of the nut forms nearly the entire
food of the natives, and the white fluid or milk
serves them for drink. It also yields wine and sugar.
Ooconut-oil is obtained by pressing the albumen. When
fresh it is transparent, and is then used in cookery.
Large quantities of it are imported into this country
under the name of copra ; the thicker portion, called
Stearine, being used for making caudles, while the
clear oil is used for burning in lamps. The well-
known substance Glycerine is obtained in the process
of purif ving coconut-oil. Formerly the fibre was used
for making coir ropes only, but within the last 30
years it has been manufactured into floor-matting,
brushes and brooms, and is used for stufiing cushions,
as well as for many other purposes. The hard shell is
made into cups and other domestic utensils. The
wood is known as porcupine wood.

Coconut Double {Lodoicea seychellarum.). — This
may be considered the largest and most remarkable
of "palms. It is a native of a small group of islands
in the Indian Ocean called the Seychelles. It is said
to attain a height of 100 feet, its stem being 1| to
S feet in diameter, bearing at the summit a crown
of fan-shaped leaves. It is remarkable for growing
in a socket of hard woody texture, perforated with
holes made by the roots. This curious appendage
derives its origin from the cotyledon, which in this
palm attains the extraordinary length of 2 feet, growing
downwards like a root, having the germ (plumule)
seated in its thickened end. When perfect, the thick
end opens on one side like a sheath, out of which
rise the first succeeding leaves of the plant, roots
also being produced, which make their exit by
piercing the end of the sheath. In time the nutri-
ment of the nut becomes exhausted, and the part
of the cotyledon between it and the young plant
withers. The latter, however, retains its placental
vital connection with the sheath end of the coty-
ledon, which is henceforth nourished by the plant,
and increases in size with its growth, which thus
continues seated in the cradle of its birth through
life. This formation appears, however, to be commmon
to the palms, but very much more largely developed
in the Lodoicea. The fruit is a large oblong nut,
covered with a thin rind. After the removal of the
outer envelope ar rind, the fruit has the appearance
of two oblong nuts, firmly united together, and often
weighs 80 to 40 lb. They are borne in bunches, each
consisting of nine or ten nuts, so that a whole
bunch win often weigh 400 lb. It takes ten years
to ripen its fruits, the albumen of which is similar
to that of the common coconut, but is too hard and
horny to serve as food. The shell is converted into
many useful articles by the natives, but the most im-
portant part is the leaves, which are made into hats,
baskets, aud the like. The demand has of late years
become' so great that in order to obtain the leaves
the trees are cut down, aud as no care is taken to
form new plantations, it was at one time feared
this palm would eventually become extinct. In 1864
the leading botanists in this country petitioned the
Government for its protection. By more recent in-
formation, however, it appears that in one island
alone there are many thousands of trees.

A FEW HINTS ON MANAGEMENT OF TEA

PLANTATIONS IN INDIA.

The following hhits were written several years ago

and as they contain matter which may be generally

useful, it is deemed advisable to reproduce them here : —

Treatment of Coolies.— There is a great deal in
this. I do not mean for a moment to say you can
always keep your temper with them, but in many
instances harsh tones are used M'hen absolutely un-
necessary and do ho good, but a lot of harm, as
you will find when you come to having to renew their
agreements. There is an art in the management
of coolies which few know, or knowing can put into
daily use. The following are a few general hints
which I do not say are infallible, but which, in my
experience, I have found very successful: — Don't bear
a grudge against any cooly. If they mis-behave punish
and be done with it and never allude to the offence
again. In some instances a glass of grog after
punishment is a very good thing, and ask the offender
when giving the grog why he, or she, was so foolish
as to make you angry, &c. Impudence and imperti-
nence check in the bud, command respect by your
actions, treat the sick kindly, obtain the confidence
of your people, never fail to fulfil your promise,
if possible, or explain the cause of failure, deal fairly
with your people, demand obedience, and at once
check the slightest disobedience of orders. Insist
on your system being carried out to the letter and
after a time things will work almost mechanically.
Kindness in the most of instances will be found
successful.

Jiruster of the coolies. — Insist on every cooly being
present who is able to attend and let the sick attend
the dispensary for medicine, &c., thereafter ; see that
you are at muster yourselves. In a few instances
I have noticed the sahib's absence.

Compounders. — In almost, in fact I may say, in
every instance, too much is left to these people,
they are inexferienced aud as the most of their
books are kept in English, I have to request that
the European in charge sign the sick list book daily,
the same as the Jcamjari and take more interest in
the sick, i.e., seeing them oftener, and seeing that
they have every comfort in a moderate degree at
any rate.

Lines. — The cleaning of these^is somewhat neglected.
I would like this done without fail every Sunday
the coolies have leave; if they were, there would
be little to do and the coolies would be healthier
themselves.

Wdghhifi of Leaf. — I particularly wish that in every
instance the coolies receive pice for extra leaf immedi-
ately the leaf is weighe-i. The system of after
payment I do not approve of, neither do the coolies,
for all extra work let ticca pice be paid the evening
the work is done. Cacharries only may be paid as
heretofore, and you will find your coolies more ready
to do extra work when required. This, as far as
practicable, of course, your personal at<^endance at
the weighing and disposing of the leaf I expect,
when inconvenient let a trustworthy man give the
pice.

Papers. — There is yet vast room for improvement
in the filing aud keeping of these. Some of you
are very careless, and will, I am sure, have to pay
for your negligence some day. It is very easily done,
if done when it should be, i.e. immediately on receipt
thereof.

Marriage amonif Coolifs.— Before marriage, or as
soon thereafter L* ever possible, the usual agreement
and marriage cont-ract be signed, and in no instance
is any one to allow one man to keep two women
without my special permission. Of course this does
not apply to I he past, but to the future. The two-
wife system is bad and in every instance leads to
squabbling and annoyance.

JVithennq and rivcking of Leaf.^l am now more
convinced than over that the two great secrets in
making fino strong teas are plucking every seven
days and withering the leaf well, followed up by
proper fermentation, depend the quality of the teas

Sept, x, i886,j

"THE TROPIGAl, AGRICULTURIST,

16$

mouufacturetl more than ou anything else, the fore-
noon's leat accordiug to the weather and leaf space
should be spread very thinly, and if possible not
touched again until removed to be rolled, the turned
abouo ami trampling the leaf while green bruises
the leaf, and causes redness, spread what evening's
leaf you can thin and the balance thick, short of
beating, but I think that medium system bad, the
thickly spread leaf would, of course, require to be
spread thinly next morning after the rolling com-
mences, or as soon as there is space for it. It is
impossible to over-wither leaf short of redness, and
you will kindly all remember that next cold weather
a quantity of those "hakes" for salonies will be
required, as many as you have space for, in fact
you can hardly have too many, and see they are
ready before they are required for next season, things
viust be ready for manufacturing in good time, let
anything else be behind rather than firing and wither-
ing arrangements. Seven days I do not think a bit
too soon for plucking, as the season draws to a
close it may be.

Live Stock. — A little more care might, with ad-
vantage, be bestowed on the bullocks by feeding
them at some place where you can see they are
getting what they are supposed to get, and by applying
regularly medicines to any sores they may have
from time to time.

MiDU'.re. — A great deal might be done to collect a
quantity of this by throwmg in old thatch, jungle,
&c., &c., to the cowhouse, this should be done im-
mediately where practicable, as too much time has
already been lost this season and there will always
be use for it in tbo cold weather for applying to
sickly plants, &c. More attention must be paid to
this in the future, as we all know, what good maimre
does to the tea-plant.

Xtirseries. — Land for this purpose should be selected
without delay, as I want the jungle ou the land
cut in Si'ptember next, and the sted put in all
nurseries before the end of the year if at all practic-
able. A good nursery should be put in yearly
whether necessary or not ; it will always prove use-
ful.

Rice Bags, — Hitherto these have not been looked
after as they should have been ; no bag of rico should
be given from the godown before tirst obtaining a
bag, those who have not a bag must buy one ; the
bags when euipty should be dispatched to the rice
supplier to be so filled, with the least possible delay,
carefully sewn up in bags or bouadles of 30 to 50
each, i.e., in sucli number as will make a convenient
parcel.

Packing and iVeighing of Tea. — See the tea weighed
your.-ielf personally and immediately enter in a scroll
book for the purpose the weights ; see the boxes
are properly soldered before the tea is put in and
the tops of i\:<: boxes before the lids are nailed on;
there is room for improvement in this too much
confidence in the mohories often.

Sorting of T,\i. — At no stage allow the tea to be
rubbed through the salonies ; if the tea be damp
put it over the dhools if necessary, or put it in
the sun till dry ; when the tea will not go through
the salonies freely collect in the hands and give
a sharp sqno^-zo and let go at once, repeating this
a.s often as necessary until all is passed through ;
when any class of tea is uneven you will find putting
it twice through the last sieve equahse it consider-
ably vjaste in the picking and sorting which might
be avoided by having sufficient cloth and more care-
in the spreading, those who have not enough of
cloth had bettt-r get enough at once, it is no loss
a few rupees spent for this purpose, it can be the
means of saving if properly used.

Recruiters. — I have not yet made up my mind
about them quite, but will not send them away
before the end of September or beginning of October,
and think that other arrangements than those hither-
to in force must be made in the way of their
remuneration, which may result in our not getting
the men to go we would like, but doubtless we will

bave pleuty to pick ivom, the more time-expired

men who go the better, I think, is we are certain
of the new and by no, means certain of the old,
I think a plan somewhat like the following would
suit : their expenses, of course, and R3 per head
commission for every working cooly they bring and
rtturn within 6 months, it not back within six months
no pay at all ; it is ridiculous their staying away
nine months and a year, &c.

Fermentation. — Where there are rolling machines
the rolled leaf should he put over the dhools im-
mediately the rolled leaf comes out of the machine,
and I think by the time the tea is made the fer-
mentation will be found sufficient. When rolling is
done by the hand the balls should ho the colour
of a new copper coin before being broken up and put
on the dhools.

Eire Account.-~See that this account is properly
kept you are responsible for this as much as for the
cash i ou get, any loss should be pointed out to me on
my visits to the garden, when I will give the necessary
orders about it.

Implements: — Great carelessness with regard to these
is displayed. I doubt if at any one garden there is
a proper account of these kept. I must now ask you
to send me an implement account monthly with your
accounts deducting any lost or useless monthly. I
feel sure that lots of these are stolen and lost and no
notice taken of them ; coolies or others losing imple-
ments must pay for them.

Casualties among Coolies, — These should be notified
at once as they occur, this will save no end of bother
in making up the cooly returns, &c.

Suggestions. — You would all greatly oblige by carrying
out mine when given and I would suggest a note book
for that and other purposes ; once I tell you a thing
I dismi.'-s the subject from my mind, but am often
disappointed* in fiuding things left undone which
ought to have been done. I do not think for a
moment that anything of the kind is done intentionally,
but simply from forgetfulness and you would all relieve
my somewhat heavy burden if yvu vould Just do
what you are told to do; you can hardly expect me
to remind you of every little thing all of you,
although 1 daresay you think that I am pretty
ready with my whi2)s !!!! Never mind, shoulder to
shoulder is the way to get on with our work and
you will all admit that the " whips " are often required
long before the question is put.

In conclusion, — Be careful of your health ; the most
of you when wet might change a little sooner and
when not feeling very well take medicine to prevent
illness — prevention is better than cure. AVishiug you
all well, nothing would please me better than to see
you all prosperous and with all the " whips " believe
that you have a friend in the undersigned, — The
Old Boss. — Indian Planters' Gazette.

THE TEA ENTEEPEIZE IN NATAL
is thus noticed in the London letter of the Indian
Planters' Gazette : —

This week I am in a position to add to my remarks
of last week upon Natal tea, the following inform-
ation obtained at the Natal Court of the Colonial
and Indian Exhibition, through the courtesy of the
gentlemen in charge of the exhibits of that Court,
Mr. jMorton Green, who took great pains in supplying
me with the necessary details. It appears tnat tea-
planting has made greater progress in Natal than
might be supposed from my last letter, though it is
still in a very tentative coiulition with the exception
of Mr. Hulett's venture. Koughly speaking, tea-seed
was fir.st obtained some ten years or so ago, by a
Mr. J. Brickhill, an old resident, much interested in
trying various experiments. This seed he planted in
his gardeu and for years confined himself to the
cultivation on merely a garden scale, making sufficient
produce to supply his own domestic requirements.
Having the reputation of being a theorist, his little
experiment attracted but little attention at the line.
Gradually, however, as his guests became assured that
the tea he drank and lifltered them was really of
bis own growing, tbfi i<le(\ dawned upon one or two

i64

ITBE TROPICAL AORtCVLTURlSt.

[ijiir/, J, 1886*

S^BBmlBSSiSE

other residents in search of the great desideratum
of Natal— a good export article — that this might after
all be found in tea, Mr. J. L. Hulett, m. l. c,, of
the Kearsuey Estate, Natal, was one of the first, is
not the tirst, to take the matter up seriously.
Mr. Green informed mc that Mr. ITulett is most
enthusiastic as to the future of the industry, also
that though M'-. Hulett is anxious not to allow it to
be inferred that he has any idea of parting with his
property, or even with un interest in his plantation,
he his ready and most willing to give every inform-
ation and reasonable assistance to auy one who may
feel disposed toj try tea-planting in the colony. It
apptvirs that there are no practical tea-planters
employed in Natal and therefore the reason for remarks
last week, re want of technical skill in sorting", as
evidenced by the samples on show, is not far to seek.
The estates are all apparently too small as yet to
pay for a skilled planter's supervision of the manu-
factiu-e, seeing that local science is fully equal to
the mere requirements of planting and cultivation.
So far as these are concerned, the numerous photo-
graphs on view at the Exhibition speak very favour-
ably, both as to the method adopted and the state
of cultivation. lu the manufacture, however, there
is much to learn. Need I say more on this point
than that a considerable number of samples were sent
over in brown paper packets — not by Mr; Hulett —
and as if this were not enough to make a planter's
blood run cold, without a particle of inner lead 01
foil lining I ! Tea has been tumbled into, and the
lessons of experience are all being acquired at first
hand. The marvel is that the estates should present
the remarkably neat and technically excellent appear-
ance they do. The Natal planters are decidedly men
of independent judgment and it is a trifle amusing
to note one or two evidences of this, as showing how
little beholden they are to Indian experience and
how completely they ignore trade prejudices. One
tea garden's proprietors, Messrs. Clayton and Ashwell,
of the Island Farm, Stanger, Natal, have a printed
circular for distribution at the Exhibition. I enclose
a copy for j'our own verification of the following
quotations. This circular is signed by the " London
Agent" of Messrs. Clayton and Ashwell, his name
being, "E. J. Clayton, Cobb's Court, Carter Lane,
London, E.C." This gentleman's name not being
familiar to me in the tea market here, nor his
address that of a Lane neighbourhood, I was puzzling
over the matter when my attention was attracted
to the imprint on the back of the circular, which
reads, " E. J. Clayton, Printer, Cobb's Court, Carter
Lane, London, E.C." Experience and trade prejudices
(may I assume from this) are deemed as of little
importance at the London as at the Natal end
of the string. My assumption will be justified in
planters' minds by the following quotation from this
interesting circular : —

" In order to secure an independent \status for
their teas with the home consumers, OUyton &
Ashwell have resolved to dispense with the process
of sifting, and to pack but one qualitj', which will thus
combine the delicate flavour sand aroma of the finest
Pekoes manufactured, with the stronger (sic I ') and
colouring qualities of the Souchongs "(! !) Can't one
picture an Assam Ckabinii/alviv-aahih mu^iug, Oh ! Happy
land ! from all percentage free ! The idea is not original,
and for small quantities may pay, but for large quan-
tities the trade requirements as well as prejudices
will render the plan impracticable. The scheme is
conceived in error and will tell in the long run against
Natal, if carried out for some time by outsiders, as
it will prevent the tea becoming known in the trade
and will deprive it of the trade interest. This result
is fatal, in the present state of competition, unless
Natal proprietors are prepared to spend huge fortunes
in advertising. The next illustration of the independ-
ence of judgment to which I have alluded, may be
taken from the selection of machinery made by
Wr. Hulett for tea-rolling and drying. Instead of
acting upon the results of Indian experience he has
preferred to start with machinery practically unknowa
to tea-plauteifi except ia the ca^e ol oue Sirocco, I

do not blame him for this, as his reasons may have
been good ones, and he appears pleased with hia
selection, according to my authority Tl/e NaUd Mercan-
tile Adxtrtiser of th^ 14th April. From an interview
published in that pap' r I cull the following items.
The Kearsney Estate, belonging to Mr. J. L. Hulett,
is 5 miles beyond Stanger. The massive block of gum
trees on the estate, situated on a prominent hill,
is a landmark for several miles, and is said to be
visible from Amatikula, Zululand. In the upper floor
of the tea-house which floor has a superficial area of
about 5,000 square feet, the withering is done,
assisted by a Greig's wthering and drying machine.
The tea is rolled in a Greig's roller. The other
machinery consists of a Sirocco and sieving machine
turning out four qualities. The engine is a horizontal
one of 12 H. P., the boiler being multitubular and
placed outside the building. The bushes appear to
reach an Assam growth. One tree measures 10 feet
across its flat top, others are close upon that size.
Mr. Hulett has about 130 acres planted out under
tea. About one-half of this area " has been plucked,"
but most of it has been " tipped." Off the estate
Mr. Hulett had made at the time of the interview
34,000 lb. and expected to get 41,000 lb., estimating
the area of trees over 2 years old at 65 acres, which
is the age at which they appear to commence regu-
lar plucking I This gives an allround average of
600 lb. per acre for young and old, and leaves
2,000 lb. for the tippings from the under 2-year-old
bushes, on 65 acres. Not bad, and if true will take
the conceit out of some of the best Assam gardens,
age for age. The interviewer, however, somewhat
qualifies these figures by adding the note, that they
may be corrected by Mr. Hulett, so as yet they
must not be accepted as authorised. Eound the
Kearsney Estate is a complete ring of tea plantations,
the proprietors of which own among them some 800
acres of land, not yet, however, all under tea. Mr.
Hulett by no means confines his enterf)rise to tea
cultivation and the following quotation from the in-
terview alluded to above, will go towards proving the
suitability of the climate for tea. Mr. Hulett grows
in orchards, orange trees, lemon, loquot, Brazilian
cherry, apple, guavas of ail varieties, nectarine, peach,
vine, jack-fruit, mangoes (several kinds), roseapple,
pineapple, &c., while in the lower orchard are limes,
quinces, &c. Oranges and mangoes are produced by
hundreds of thousands, pine apples and loquots by
tons, and so forth. The preserved fruit industry of
Natal is making great progress and snme of the guava
jelly I have lately tasted is better than any I have
tried in India. Chutneys (mango and other) are also
well prepared.

The following proprietors are also exhibiting samples
of Natal tea. Mr. J, Brickhill, Umbilo Estate; Mr.
S. E. Large, Mid-Illovo Estate; Messrs, Lyie and
Reynolds, Kirkley Vale ; &c., &c.,

I have been promised that three samples of tea
from Mr. Hullett's estate shall be packed and sold-
ered down, and banded me on my next visit to send
out to j'ou ; as I thought it might prove of inter-
est to your readers, were you to get three brokers to
taste and report upon these samples, in committee,
or independently, as you think best, with the object
or publishing their reports. For these samples, as
for much of my iufomatiou, I repeat, I have to
thank IMr. Green to whose energy and method the
chief credit of the excellent arrangement of the
Natul exhibits is also due. Natal Exhibitors have
certainly every reason to be satisfied with the hearty
and intelligent way in which he does all that
man can do with the utmost patience, to advance
their interest. He gave a glowing account of the
climate of Natal, which he described as not exces-
sively hot even in the districts suitable for tea, "and
then there are the highlands approachable by railway,
as far as Petermaritzburg, which is already at a
considerable elevation, and after that, the post-cart
will convey the traveller in search of a spell of
temperate climate to the hills themselves where wheat
is cultivated, and where frosts are not unknown."
Se further added that Mr. Uulett is of opinion tha

SfiFT. f, idm,]

THE TROPICAI. AGRICULTURIST,

365

a small capital will suffice to begin with in tea-
planting, as if the yonug man is wortli anything he
will soon live off the proLluce of his laud, farm and
orchard, whilst waitiug two years for his tea buslies
to come into remunerative bearing. Two years is,
Mr. Green assured me, the age at which tea in Natal
commences to be remunerative !

Since writing the above 1 have, with two brokers,
tasted a small envelope sample of the Broken
Orange Pekoe I brouglit with me from the bulk from
which I have asked that a sample should be prepared
for you. Alas ! though crisp and to all ai)pearance
sound, it is musty, so, as this involves a further
visit to the Exhibition and another trial, I am afraid
there will be some delay in sending you out your
samples.

Labour averages from 20 to 25 shillings per mensem
and the labourers are fed off the "mealies" (Indian-
corn) &c., pi'oduced on the estates. Some acquaintance
with the language and habits of the people has to be
acquired to start with, in order to arrange for the
constant changes which take place, and also to in-
gratiate oneself into their good opinion, which latter
once grtiued, is productive of faithful service. The
natives soon after the newcomer's arrival, bestow a
characteristic native name upon him, and this
name counts for much ; if it has any bearing upon
medicine, so much the better for his j)re.'itiye and
influence. The native women do not work at present. —
Peeipatetic Planter.

MUSHEOOM CULTUEE.

Is thus noticed in the proceedings of the Horti-
cultural Society of India : —

Some fine mushrooms, exhibited by Mr. H.W. Newton,
for which a special prize was given at the Society's
annual show, attracted so much attention and enquiry,
that Mr. Newton was asked to favour the Society
with a few notes as to the culture he adopted, which
he very kindly responded to as follows: —

" Directions taken from a short pamphlet on the
growth of mushrooms, published by an eminent English
Firm (whose mushroom spawn has been celebrated
for many years) modified to meet the requirements
of growth in lower Bengal.

My method of raising mushrooms is a simple one.
I grow them in the open, but a dark cellar is prefer-
able. I make a bed 16 or 18 inches deep, which I
fill up with short horse-dung after exposing it to the
sun for two or three days to allow the moisture to
evaporate. The bed should be well beaten down to
retain the heat, and when the temperature is down
to 85 or 86, it is fit to spawn. The spawn bricks
should be broken to pieces about an inch or an iuch-
and-a-half in size, and placed in the dung at intervals
of say 3 or 4 inches. The bed should then be covered
over with 2 inches of fine sifted garden mould and
well beaten or trodden down. Generally the mushrooms
appear in about 6 weeks to 2 mouths from time of
spawning the bed. If the bed should become very dry,
it may be watered, but water should always be sparingly
applied. It should never be given in great abundance
atone time; still mushrooms like a moist fixed temper-
ature, which may be produced by occassionally damping
the walls, floors, &c."

At the meeting, Babu Pratapa Chandra Ghosha
made some interesting remarks on the subject, which
he was requested to embody in a paper on the subject,
to be published with the Proceedings ; —

Notes on Mushrooms. — The delicate appeai-ance of
some of the edible fungi has from time immemorial
tempted man to. use them as articles of food. As it
is always difficult to distinguish the poisonous from
the edible varieties, the Sastras have enjoined a
wholesale prohibition of the use of these ephemeral
esculents. Nevertheless the use of Mushrooms as an
article of food is as old as Manu, the Lawgiver. It
is still used extensively in the dry regions of Bengal,
and also in the valley of Kashmir. The varieties
known in Bengal are the following : —

1. Phiidki-Uhhatu (the small and tho large); 2.
Puwal-Ohbatu J d. Kadau-Chhatu ; * 4, Durga-Cbhatu

5. Urji-Ohhatu; 6. Kud-Kudi-Chhatu; * 7. Kat-
Ohhatu; * 8. GovarChhatu; 9. Indu-Chhatu ; 10.
Pachan-Chhatu ; * 11. Kondka-Chhatu ; 13. Gundura-
Chhatu.

Of these, those which are marked with au asterisk,
i. e. No. 4, 7, 8 and 11, are considered unfit for food.
None of the above named 13 varieties of truffles and
mushrooms are cultivated in Bengal. Indeed, the
cultivation of these ephemeral vegetable growths is
unknown. Some, however, attempt to raise a few
poor specimens of the 2nd variety, Puwal-Ohhatu, by
allowing waste paddy straw to rot in a heap, and
depending on chance for the germination of these
fungi. It is not known to the cultivators of Lower
Bengal that these esculents may be reproduced by
their spawns.

Of all these varieties Urji-Chhatu, is considered as
the most delicate in flavour. They are found generally
under ant-hills or dhipis as they are called. In the
Bankura and Birbhum districts, these are collected by
the low-caste-dwellers of the forest known as Buno,
and sold to the villagers in exchange for rice, tobacco
or salt. A kind of Pclao is made with these fungi,
and I must acknowlege that they are not at all inferior
to Pelao made with meat. In the Kashmir Valley
the Guchha is much used. This fungus has the closest
resemblance to the truffles of Europe. It is sold in
the Kashmir shops in a dry state, and the older the
article the greater is its value. The Kashmirians
seem to be aware of the fact that the objectionable
properties of fungi are minimised by keeping. Fungi
growing on cow-dung, and those with dark stems
are considered as poisonous. The idea of raising
truffles and mushrooms on beds of horse-dung or any
dung whatever is most repugnant to the feelings of
the people of this country. But it is otherwise
elsewhere.

The " Dublin Gardner " for 1883 gives a latter of
Mr. Barter in which the advantages of mushroom
culture are fully set forth. A mu.shroom bed of less than
an acre in area is reported to have supported 4
families, vi::. the lessee of the ground and 3 familes
of workmen, each of whom received wages of £4 a
week. The rent for au acre of land being £12 per
year, the grower expecting upwards of 5 tons of the
esculent vegetable, which sells at the rate of 1
shilling per jpound. Reports are also given of the
result of sowing a bed 20 yards long by 2h feet wide
with mushroom spawn. In one gathering the yield
weighed 160 lb. Auother bed 35 yards long and 2^
feet broad yielded at the first gathering, goo3
marketable mushrooms, 76 lb. in weight. In the
second gathering the yield attained its maximum of
300 lb. and in the 3rd gathering which was at au
interval of a week, the yield was 80 lb. It will thus
bee seen that in 3 weeks this small bed yielded 360
pounds of mushroom, or vegetables of the value of £18
sterling. The beds were in all these cases formed of
stable refuse evenly spread in a covered place, the
temperature of which was preserved at au uniform
standard. It is needless for me to note that the
cultivation of the edible fungi has proved to be a
very profitable and easy business.

The prospects of gain as well as the utilising of
subterranean caves which are lost to the world except
for the entertainment of the curious, have induced
Mr. H. 0. Haney to draw the attention of the American
authorities to introduce the cultivation of mushrooms
in some of the galleries of the Mammoth cave. He
recommended for this purpose the avenue known as
" Auduleon's Avenue," which is nearly half-a-mile
long, and in which the temperature remains even,
almost throughout the j'ear ; this avenue, together with
that portion of the cave which was formerly resorted
to by consumptive patients but now abandoned, and
which is known us the great Bat-room, is pre-eminently
suited for the cultivation of mushrooms. The accumul-
ated guano of bats was considered to form a desirable
bed for the nourishment of the spawn.

Thsi proposal was brought to the notice of the public
in 1SS2, and ever since, portion of the cave mentioned
above, has been yielding mushrooms by tons, Oultivatiou
uf mushrooms iu subterraneous caverns is not coufiued

i66

f HE mopicAt, AontcVLrvRmt.

[Strr, %, me.

to America. The caves at Moutrouge have 6 or 7
miles run of mushroom beds, aud they give a daily
yield of 400 pounds of fuugi. The cave uear Frebilion
on favourable days has bten seen to yield so much
as 3,000 lb. of mushrooms to the Paris markets, and
the beds from which this enormous supply is raised,
measure nearly 16 miles in length. The cave at Mery
belonging to M. Kenaudot, in 1869 was reported to
have had 21 miles of beds under cultivation. The
produce gave occupation to several houses in the
neighbourhood, one of which was said to export 14,000
boxes of dried mushrooms to England.

The procedure usually followed in underground
cultivation of mushrooms about Paris is as follows : —
Long narrow beds of stable refuse (dung) are care-
fully spread, and all bits of horse-shoes, and broken
nails, are carefully picked out. In dry weather a small
quantity of water is sprinkled on the beds, and then
the spawns are squeezed on them. In a few hours the
beds are covered with this excellent vegetable. It has
also been observed that the presence of a small bit of
iron or old nail seriously interferes with the germin-
ation of the fungi. For further particulars on this
point the reader is referred to the article on Potato
and its Culture, which appeared in the Journal of
this Society for 1871, vol. 2, part II, pp. 304 and
305, and also to Mr. Broome's paper on Truffles in
the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society for 1886.

Mushroom cultivation is a simple aud profitable
business, and the mushrooms, if properly cooked, are
considered as one of the daintiest nitrogenous food.
But there is always some risk in the promiscuous use
of the article. In New Zealand large quantities of
mushrooms are grown under the shade of felled trees
for exportation. The books give the following as the
edible varieties of Mushrooms and Truffles; —

1. Agaricus campestris. This is the ordinary mushroom
which is grown in the subterranean beds of Paris. 2.
Tuber ^llstivum (Truffle); 3. Agaricus proceus; 4
Agaricus ostreatus; 5. Agaricus melleus; 6. Agaricus
orcella; 7. Agaricus primulus ; 8. Marchella esculenta ;
9. Hydnum repondum ; 10. Fistula hepatica; 11.
Oopriuus coneatus; 12. Maramunius or^-acles; 13.
Boletus edulis; 14. Lycoperda giganteum (Young).

But there are others which, to an ordinary observer,
appear so very like the above, that they are often
mistaken for them, and their use has been seen to
be follow-'d by most deplorable results. The last
number of the " Scientific American '' supplement,
January 9th, p. 8357, gives some of the characteristics
of this "King of Mushrooms," (Agaricus procerus) and
the best mode of preparing the same for the table ;
for a great deal depends on the kind of treatment
which a mushroom receives before it reaches the table.
For further details and original information on the point,
the reader had better refer to the illustrated article
mentioned above.

Some thing ought to be said about the poisonous
nature of the great many varieties of mushrooms.
M. T. A. Palmer, in the " Moniteur Scientifique " for
1879 says, that there are three ways in which the
poisoning takes effect —

1. a. It acts as an indigestible matter, which occurs
in the case of coriaceous species.

h. Some of the edible species when decomposing
emit sulphuretted hydrogen in such a sufficient
quantity in the stomach as to cause vomiting.
2- a. Gelatinous.

b. Acrid.
3, Those which contain a subtle alkaloid, known as
or similar to Amanitin. This poison has do anti-
dote. In its action it is at first slow, but in 8 to
15 hours it causes stupefaction, nausea, diarrhcea,
delirium and death.

It has been ascertained that mushrooms containing
Amanitin impart the poison to better varieties if they
are placed in the s.-vme vessel.

To cure suspected varieties, Professor Ponfick, of
Breslau, recommends repeated washing with cold water,
which he says removes, to some extent, the poisonous
alkaloid, but boilhig, he believes, removes all. The
water in which mushrooms have beeu washed or boiled

is poisonous, and should always be thrown away.
While on the mushrooms, it would not be out of
place to invite attention of members to the phos-
phorescence of some fungi. Tuls.ane, who hag written
a great deal on luminous fungi, describes the follow-
ing as the most common : —

1. The •' Foxfire " Agaricus olarious of South Europe.

2. Agaricus igneus of Amboyna.

3. Agaricus Gardeneri of the province of Gayaz, in
Brazil, which appears on dead leaves, and which is
known as Flor de coco amongst the people there.

4. Agaricus lampas of Australia.

Dr. Hooker describes this luminosity as common in
the Sikkim varieties, and the light emitted by some
is so strong, that Mr. J. Drummond, writing from
the Swan River, states that he was able to read a
few lines of a newspaper by placing on it a specimen
of the .same. Rev. M. J. Berkley, in Gardeners'
Chronicle describes an Andaman variety, the Agaricus
emerici as giving light at night. The Thelephora
phosphora and the Polyporus sufurus are the most
luminous amongst the American varieties.

Most Mushrojms while decaying have beeu seen to
emit light, but this is generally accompanied by some
chemical change Avhicli turns the mushroom blue
when its head or stem is broken aud exposed to the
air On this subject Schoenleen says that the resin-
ous principle of the mushroom does not seem to
possess the power of coloring itself, except so long as it is
in contact with the parenchyma of the j^lant. M.
Miintz in the •' Chemical News " for 1874, states that
fuugi placed in oxygen evolve or emit carbonic acid gas,
but if oxygen is excluded from them, they produce a
considerable quantity of hydrogen.

It would not be out of place to mention that the
force evolved by a growing mushroom is enormous.
The soft and esquilent bulbous vegetable has t^eeu
observed in its growth to evince such an amount of
vigor and energy, as to prenetrate and burst open
a flooring of asphalte, and gravel about a foot thick
in a few hours. The case is rec irded in the Scientijic
American for August 26th 1882, in which the floor
of a grain elevator in Buff aloe, N. Y., was burst open

by a stem of a mushroom two inches in length.

^

CiTHON Culture in Corsica. — The Citron seems
to be the most important article of trade in Corsica.
It is stated to have much improved of late, after
some years of stagnation. The 1885 crop was very
large. About one-fourth of the annual produce is
usually exported to England in brine, to be there
manufactured into candied citron. The remainder
formerly went to Leghorn, to be manufactured for
Holland and America, but two large preserving fact-
ories are now at work at Bastia, and the whole of
this important manufacture will probablv be carried
on in the island in future. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

CiNOHONA Culture in Java. — We call attention
to Mr. Christie's letter and reassuring information
on page 167. Mr. Beck has been telling us that he
thinks Mr. Mundt made a blunder in converting
his "buows" (If acres each) into acres; but he
says truly enough that even 20,000 acres fully
stocked with 6 and 7 years old trees yielding bark
with 5 to 8 per cent quinine, would tell heavily
on the cinchona market as the crops begin to
come in. There is a report of Java bark yielding
up to 10 per cent, having been sold lately by
private sale in England.

Utilisation of Sawdust. — It is at times difficult
to find any use for sawdust, but the following is a
way of deriving advantage from it : — Water is added,
up to a degree of plasticity ; the .mixture of one
to three parts of resinous sawdust and one part of
washed kaolin is ground and pressed by means of
a press. The lumps thus obtained are dried in the
air, then placed in a stove, and, lastljs vitrified in
the ovens under white-red temperature. These
blocks can be sawn, planed, and polished in the
shape of incombustible bricks, which are used in
America for building houses.

Sept. *, t886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

167

0

To the Editor of the " Gexjlon Obsei'ver."
CINCHONA IN JAVA :

Tire EXAGliEBATED STATKMENTS REGABDING THE EXTENT

OF CINCHONA CCLTDKE IN JAVA ATTRIBUTED TO

MR. MUNDT.

St. Andrew's, Maskeliya, 30th July 1886.
Dkar Sir, — That there has been some great
mistake in connegtion with Mr. Mnndt's statement
quoted by Mr. Beck, regarding the acreage of
cinchona in Java, the annexed extracts show.
They are taken from Van Gorkhorn's "Cinchona
Culture" published in 1883.— Yours faithfully,

THOS. NORTH CHEISTIE.

(Extracts referred to.)
" The produce of the plantations of the Dutch East
Indian Goveruiuent exceed as yet that from all the
private gro.vers together in Java. In the meantime
these last avo contmually extending and within a
few years the relation may be reversed, and we believe
the exports from Java will exert a certain influence
upon the cinchona trade even of the globe. The
private speculations are still quite young ; a few only,
Kramang, Buiteuzorg and the Preanger, on the
private est.ates of Pamanochan, Tjasem and Tjionias,
and the basehoid estate Maspada, possess important
exportable plantations. » * * Tlie culture in Java
as regards extent is not to be compared with that
of British India or Ceylon. Whilst in the former we
reckon plants by the hundred-thousands, in the latter
they already reckon them by millions. * * *
On the other hand the results of the Government
undertaking are attracting more and more the attention
of the landowners, and from various quarters there
constantly come requests for plants and seeds. In 1874
for the first time, a plot of waste land was requisitioned,
specially for cinchona culture. From day today this
occurs in the Preanger, already there are perhaps twenty
plots worked with that end in view, besides others
still whereon coffee or tea is cultivated as well as
cinchona. For five years past, direct encouragement
has not been required, rather it may be said that a
temporary exaggeration has prevailed, resulting in a
feverish hunt for lands. * * * According to the
Colonial return of 1879-80, 26 leaseholders ar^ busied
with cinchona culture in Java, 9 as the chief con-
cern, 17 as .subsidiary. We cannot consider these
returns as comnlete."

ENEMIES OF CEOTON-OIL PLANTS.

Watagama, 31st July 1886.
Dear Sib, — Since sending you the caterpillars
an4 beetles which attack the croton-oil plant,
eating the leaves, bark of tender branches, the
outside of the fruit pods and even the young fruit,
I have reason to alter my opinon in treating them
as a small enemy : the attack by this new pest
was this time over an entire field of eight acres in
different parts. 1 did all I could at first to destroy
them, but their numbers were millions, and I had
to let them have their own way ; at least I thought
it cheapest at this time as crop was about all gathered
and I intended to cut down a lot of the trees
(as my shade was too thick). After this crop was over
in a week's time the whole eight-acre field was under
bare poles, not aleaf lefton the trees andeventhe bark
eaten off from ali small branches. Yesterday I sent
j'ou the moth of tlve croton caterpillar of which
there are thousands now flying about, most difficult
to catch This is a sure sign the next attack will
be worse than the last ; so there is nothing for it,
but to cut down the trees and keeping them down
until next attack is over. The question is will the
caterpillar attack any other plants or die for want
of food ? They did not attack any other plants or
trees except keppettiya shrub and trees, which they

treated same as the croton-oil plant. From what I
can ascertain from the Sinhalese, it appears this
caterpillar is an old enemy of the keppettiya tree
(the leaves of which is much used to manure betel-
vines, and wood lor the charcoal used by the gold-
smith), and makes its appearance in great force
about once in ten years and then after twelve
months or so disappears again. It is to be hoped such
is really the case : there are other croton fields in
this district which have not been attacked as yet.
I now send you a moth found with its egga on a
tea leaf (?).— Yours truly, J. HOLLO WAY.

DETERIORATION OF CEYLON TEA,

Watagama, 1st Aug. 1886.
De.vr Sir, — The subject of the deterioration of
Ceylon teas has of late given rise to voluminous
correspondence, and it has been accounted for by
many ingenious theorists. I am amongst the num-
ber of those who are profoundly sceptical on the
subject, and, therefore, I take the liberty of ad-
dressing you. Of the fall in prices for all teas, Indian
and Ceylon, we are too well aware ; the question
is whether, owing to climatic influences, deterior-
ation of soil, or ignorance or carelessness on the
part of tea makers, the teas now being sent from
Ceylon are of inferior quality to those sent away
in previous years. I question this very much in-
deed, and without some satisfactory proof, the
onus of which lies with those who make the asser-
tion, there is reason on the side of those who de-
cline to join the present chorus. A very large
amount of tea is now being made from leaf picked
oft" young bushes, and on many old estates the leaf
from young land is now being mixed with that gathered
from the old fields. Such leaf, as we all know, a
large proportion of it frequently bangy, will not
make good tea. I have it on the authority
of one of our best known tea-makers, who sees a
great deal of the country, that by a strange coincid-
ence last year several of the best known estates
pruned late and pruned heavily, and as we all
know well, whilst the best teas are made before
a heavy pruning, the worst teas immediately
follow it. Now the chief complaint appears to be
of the irregular fermentation, the London corre-
spondent of the "Times" stating that "various
samples after liquoring showed the leaf of a deep
dirty brown instead of the bright copper hue which
well-made tea should invariably i^ossess." Now
this statement I cannot agree to, leaf from young
bushes recently topped, and the early pluckings from
heavily pruned tea will not ferment satisfactorily,
and no amount of skill or care can get a " copper-
coloured infusion " from it. That amongst the
numerous new marks appearing in the sale lists
everyday, there is much undesirable tea of faulty
manufacture I would not deny for one moment,
but I question if many experienced tea planters
can say that they find that icith the xame leaf they
cannot and are not making as good liquoring teas
this year as last. It is quite ijrobabie that in
many places, where firing machines have just
been erected, some of the earlier breaks, before
manager or coolies have mastered the working of
the machines, may show traces of overtiring. It
is probable also that this evil is aggravated by
an attempt on their part to get the machine to
work up to its advertised capacity. Coarse pluck-
ing also has in many cases been adopted Ijy those
who went into the market with fine teas to make
a name for the estate. A few cases of inexperience
and change of system apart, I challenge the asser-
tion that under similar conditions equally good
teas are not made this year as last. We have had
no ]}roof whatever to the contrary merely the

i68

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept. i, 1886,

ex cathedra statements of certain brokers who may
or may not be exaggerating the effects arising
from the causes isreviously indicated. At this
juncture, Mr. Gow, a gentleman of many years'
experience in Mincing Lane, and previousV in
Assam I believe, comes amongst us and condemns
the whole system of working tea in Ceylon from
the plucking to the packing it is said. Those who
put faith in such sweeping condemnation of the
island industry can hardly remember that up to
quite recently, with a few exceptions, the manu-
facture of Ceylon tea was pronounced i)erfect
or nearly so, whilst the present system of
pruning and plucking as generally practided are
the outcome of several years' experience of our
soil, climate and bushes. That we have all much
to learn no one will deny ; readiness to avail
himself of the knowledge and advice of others is
characteristic of the Ceylon planter, but on the
other hand we have learnt much and gained great
experience since tea was in its infancy, and a
stranger should be very diffident in his criticism
till he has learnt something of the peculiarities of
the object of it. I must apologise for the length
of this letter, and will close it with an expression
of belief that in a very short time, the tea from
mature gardens will be of as high a standard as
ever, without any radical change in our methods
of working, whilst young gardens will imi^rove as
bushes get more fully formed and experience is
gained.— Yours faithfully, T. C. OWEN.

11.

Rookwood, Hewaheta, 2nd August 1880.

Deae Sir, — I have been asked to make public
my opinions as to the cause of the falling-off in
our teas this season, which opinions I have often
expressed to friends. I gladly do so and trust they
may lead to discussion for the good of all con-
cerned.

I have always admitted there has been a slight
falling-off, but I will not admit there has been
a serious one, or that we have any cause to fear
for the future of our staple : —

1. The article sold has always its share of
blame in a falling market, therefore a low market
this season is partly to blame for the crying down
.of our liquor.

2. Some few marks in Ceylon have plucked above
their standard, thinking at the time not so much of
their nett profit per acre as of obtaining a higher price
in the market ihan their neighbour, and why not?
when they were only " playing at Tea." Now with
larger acreages and an estate entirely dependent on
Tea, the style of plucking which gives the best
results per acre in returns is studied, and not the
highest market average, if this is beyond their
legitimate standard. I years ago stated in the
various district.-- I visit, that as all soils and all
climates were not equal, even on estates with a
common boundary, so all Teas could not show equal
value, if the best was to be made of the estate,
and that it was our first duty to endeavor to dis-
cover our best paying standard yield with a certain
average price, and to stick to it allowing our neigh-
bour to get his Id or 2d more per lb. without
regret.

3. Manufacture has a little to answer for with
some new marks. A little knowledge is a dangerous
thing ; our novice tries to " get color " when
his leaf is not in a fit condition to give it ; re-
sult, over fermentation, giving a thick dull liquor
flavourless and sometimes verging on rottenness.

Ov,rfire'l teas, more especially witli choolah firing
over charcoal, or burnt teas.

Our novice generally tries to pack away his teas
into bins roasted to a degree, and this is how it hap-

pens, working his sirocco at too high a temperture
with too little roll on his trays, and not turning his
roll often enough. Or v/ith charcoal firing — and
this mode of tiring is the chief cause of burning
with the novice— over-firing his fine teas from not
sifting often enough, and lighting the fires in the
ehoolahs themselves, instead of putting in live
charcoal, from an outside furnace ; result of dead
charcoal in the ehoolahs, a smoky flavor, want of
briskness in the liquor, and with the greatest heat
in the choolah at the most critical time just as
the firing is being finished, burnt teas. The
ehoolahs should be charged with red-hot char-
coal, and kept at the same temperature through-
out the firing. The hand should never enter the
tray while it is over the tire or fine tea falls
through and smokes that in the tray; — another
hint for the novice.

4. Pluching — Cruel treatment of the bush early
in the season from over anxiety to get in large
pluckings when tea bush has not matured sufficiently
after pruning, to give the yield asked ; — first
pluckings after pruning result in poor thin liquor
as a matter of course — and by thus pushing the
bush prematurely we have unhealthy wood to work
on during the rest of the season, and defeat the
objects in view, getting neither quantity nor
quality. It is a f^inc qua non to get either one or
the other, we should have a healthy foundation
for our flush— a healthy new shoot — (because
allowed to develope) from our topping or pruning,
clothed up to a certain point with new leaf. The
following flushes also allowed to have a healthy
leaf or leaves, according to the style of plucking
one so often sees which I call " grazing" on the
bush. It is sometimes diflicult to make the anxious
proprietor or superintendent believe that by a few
careful rounds — working his bushes on certain fixed
rules — he will later in the season benefit by his
forbearance at the beginning of it, although for the
first three months his neighbour, acting differently,
is ahead of him. This is too deep a subject to enter
into more fully here, suffice it to say now, extremes
either way are bad, too gentle a treatment causing
a loss in yield without any advantage to counter-
balance it ; too harsh treatment causing a loss of
yield, and giving poor liquor for the current season,
and half the next.

5. Pruning. — A heavy pruning, necessary under
certain conditions, of the bush results in poor
liquor, at from three to six months fmm the first
round of plucking, according to elevation.

The temporary falling-off of the Rookwood liquor
so far this season is due to this cause. And
I think I am right in placing the temporary
falling-off of Loolcondura also, to the same c.iuse.
I have from the first pruned according to a
fixed rule, (after trying many expejiments on an
old plot of tea), and following this rule, I cut
too hard wood this season, well knowing what the
result would be, but al^o knowing this treatment
wao necessary, and I do not think there wih be
any complaint of poverty of the Rookwood liquor
from July for the n^xt 4 years, with the excep-
tion of two breaks in each season following the
topping. A particular style of pruning then ne-
cessary at stated intervals, means pro-tem thin
liquor.

Including para : 1, add one or other of the above
reasons and I think we can ' account for the de-
terioration, temporary only, of most of our teas.
Good liquor (provided we have good soil and good
j,1t at our Back) is to be made from good wood,
brought to a stage of development, without respect
to the age of our bush, at from 18 months old
upwards. — Yours truly,

C. SPEARMAN ARMSTRONG.

Sept. i, 1886.]

ME TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

fii

i6g

MULBEKRY BARK AND COCA SEED.

I

London, 15th Jn^y ISSO.

Deau Sir., — Paper Miilbernj Jiark. — I have this
here now havhig bought at auction and can get
hardly anything for it. I only paid a few Khillingf
for the whole lot. I knew it was valuable but fibre
is so plentiful no one cares to work at new things, I
so they go as "waste." ;

Coca Seed. — It is very difficult to grow ; if a seed [
is opened carefully, the green leaf may be seen in-
side and yet it won't grow. I have three parcels here !
now brought home by collectors of seeds and I was I
asked one shilling per seed ; as I desired proof of
the seed being alive, a sample was given me but
none germinated.— Yours faithfully, T. CHRISTY.

[We have been favored \\ith practical instruc-
tions for coca planters received from South America
which will appear shortly. — Ed.]

ME. IRVINE AGAIN WRITES ON UVA TEA.

Madulsima, 28th July 188(5.
Dkar Sin, — I have from time to time written a
good deal on Uva and its prospects as a tea-growing
di'^trict, and my statements have frequently been
called in f^uestion by my friends, sometimes as a
mere difference of opinion, and frequently on the
ground that the district was untried, and that I had
been many months absent from it, whilst tea was
being planted, also that from my long connection
with the district I was prejudiced in favor of it,
and that I wished by writing up tea, to advocate
the extension of the railway to ISadulla town.
I will admit that there may have been a small
modicum of truth in these statements, but I must
utterly deny ever having made a wilful misstatement
or stated anything which I did not implicitly believe
r.f.yself. My knowledge of tea in Uva dates months
farther back than most people suppose, for on
Kottagodde estate I cultivated for several years a small
piece of tea planted by Mr. Bcrtlin from the same
China seed introduced by Mr. Worms on Rothschild
estate. No tea was ever made, but the tea
was cultivated and regularly pruned and flushed
freely. On Pedro estate, which has both the Uva
climate and soil, Hybrid Assam tea introduced by
Capt. Bayley has been growing and flushing freely
for the last 12 years at an elevation of, say, (i,.500
feet ; besides these there were many isolated patches
of tea in I'va, all of which grew freely ; but my
statement that Uva would produce not only the
largest yield per acre but probably the finest tea
grown in the island, was a bold assertion to make
but 1 hoi)c soon to see il fulhllcd. This statement
was based on my knowledge of the soil and climate
of the various districts comprising the province of
Uva and on the condition and appearance of the
tea I had seen growing, as compared with tea in
other districts. There are few extremes of heat and
cold and the range of the thermometer at any
given elevation is less than in most hill districts ;
the climate is one of continual or a!ter;iatc sun- j
shine and showers, seldom any long-continued I
drought and rarely any long continuance i
of heavy monsoon rains or blustering winds. The \
tea plant has here found a home more congenial '
than its native habitat in Northern India and it
may be fairly assumed that tea grown under such
favourable condititns will produce the finest pro-
duct of the shrub. As for ray advocating railway
extension by writing up Uva tea, the (luestion is "a
tery simple one ; either my statements have been
altogether wrong and exaggerated, or it will take
ho great array of figures to show that more trans-
port accommodation will be recfuired up and down
to carry our tea than ever it did to carry our coil'ee.

I have been some weeks in this district and have
seen a large acreage of tea, though 1 have not been
in Haputale yet ; anu ):aving devoted the greater
portion of my time to the tea cultivation of the
district, and having also sampled the teas just
beginning to bo made, I consider myself in a pos-
ition to have formed not a fancied but a just and
real opinion as to the capabilities of Uva as a tea-
producing district. The oldest cultivated te.-i in
Madulsima is on Galoola. The field is a small one,
two and a half years old, planted at slope. I have
seen no liner tea in the island. Younger tea of
various ages is equally good. On Uva estate tea 18
months old and cut down to the quick has grown
and is Hushing splendidly even during what is our
dry season. The capability or rather the capacity of
Uva tea for Hushing has been a much debated
question, but anyone who has seen the flush now
coming on will have no further doubt on this i)oint.
Tea will Hush perfectly, and I would place the yield
of Galoola under proper treatHient at BOO lbs made
tea per acre. The Uva estate tea promises quite as
well as to the strength and quality of the samples
or experimental small lots of tea manufactured, they
have mostly proved satisfactory. In the course of a
few weeks the Galoola factory will be at work as
well as several smaller or temporary factories, and
before 188(1 has come to a close Uva tea, I fear
not, will have proved for itself the superiority I
have always claimed for it. I have now written
eiiough on what my friends are pleased to call my
latest hobby ; let someone else take up the pen.

JAMES IRVINE.
[We hope that Mr. Irvine's rather sanguine
expectations may prove correct and that the Uva
superintendents and planters will each and all do their
duty and prove themselves well forward in the
race among champion tea makers, for there is as much
in the manufacture as in soil or climtae. — Ed.]

DURIAN FRUITS GROWN IN CEYLON.

31st July 188().

Di:.ui Siii, — About twenty years ago I read an ac-
count in the Cci/Ioii Observer, from the pen of
" Josias Scadder," of some Durian trees which
produced fruit on an estate in Nilambe, and
shortly afterwards some one sent me a section of
the prickly rind of a fruit grown at Galle, where
there are a few trees which I believe bear fruits
regularly, and about August 1881 I pointed out to
Dr. Trimen the first fruits produced on the old
tree in the Royal Gardens, Peradeniya, in the fork
of the main drive and the road leading to the old
residence occupied by the late Dr. Thwaites.
Herephed : "Yes, but come and see a tree near the
entrance to the Gardens," and sure there it was so
loaded with prickly globular fruits about the size
of the small jak fruit, called Kuda Heraliya that
all the branches had to be supported with props
to prevoni, them fi'om breaking. It is a great pity
that Mr. Scowen did not take a photograph of this
tree at that time.

A week ago I received a prickly fruit from the
Government Agent, Gallc, which I put on a table
in the dining-room, and at once an odour some-
what different from " the spicy brcer.es which blow
soft o'er Ceylon's Isle " began to pervade the house,
and the Durian fruit which left no doubt of its
identity was ordered out to the bath-room 1 Next
day I broke up the fruit, and though it appeared
to have been pulled before it was ripe, the puip
surrounding the seeds agreed with the graphic de-
scription given of it by Wallace, but the odour
from it was so strong that it was again ordered
OLit to the bath-room and the door shut on it. 1
took a section of it into the Ob^-crvcr Office for

■i'jcj

*t>

I'HE TROPiCAL AGKlCULTOmSI^.

[Sept, (, im

the editor's inspection, and that -of visitors, but
when the inmates of that office "felt the smell"
of the Durian, it was ordered out, and the attenu-
ated odour of it was endured at a distance !

The name of the tree which produces this fruit
is Durio zibethinus, Lin. The generic name Durio
is derived from Duryon, the name of the fruit in
the Malay language, which comes from Dury, a
thorn, in the same language, in allusion to the
prickly fruit. The fruit is used as a bait to entrap
the civet-cat, which is very fond of it : hence
the sjiecific name.

The odour from the fruit is so sirong and dis-
agreeable that the Dutch ladies in Java decline
to see visitors when eating this fruit and the
message that they are eating Durians is suffici-
ent explanation for their non-appearance.

It belongs to the section Sterculacea', or Bom-
bacea' of the natural order Malvaceic, and in the
first volume of the Flora of British India, p. 3.51,
published in 1H75, other two species are given
besides this one, viz*, Durio sibethinus, D. C,
D. Malacceu-is, Planch (perhaps the wild form of
the Durian), and D. oxleyanus. Griff. A tall tree
of Ceylon and Malacca is so like the Durian in
many respects, that the late Dr. Gardner called it
Durio Zeylanicus ; but the late Dr. Wight had already
figured and described it as Cullenia excelsa
in honor of the late General CuUeu, resident
at the Court of Mysore ? This is the Katu-hodu
of the Sinhalese, and the Wild Durian of Ceylon.

Nearly every author from Eumphius and Dam-
pier, have given full and particular accounts of
this fruit, but the extracts.appended will suffice.

W. i\

{From the " Treasury of Botamj.")

The fruit varies iu shape, being either globular or
oval, aud measures as much as ten inches in length ;
it has a thick hard rind, entirely covered with very
strong sharp prickles, and is divided into five cells, each
of which contains from one to four seeds, larger than
pigeons' eggs, and completely enveloped in a firm
luscious- looking cream-coloured pulp, wfiich is the eat-
able portion of the fruit. This tree is very commonly
cultivated throughout the Malayan Peuirusula and
Islands, where its fruit, during the period it is in
season, forms the greatest part of the food of the nat-
ives. Considerable diversity of opinion exists among
epicures as to the relative merits of several well-known
tropica] fruits, including the Durian, the maugosteeu,
the cherimoyer, and the pineapple, any one of which is
made to occupy the foremost place, according to in-
dividual taste. The flavour of the Durian, however,
is said to be perfectly unique , and it is also quite cer-
tain that no other fruit, either of tropical or temperate
climes, combines m itself such a delicious riavour with
such an abominably offensive odour — an odour com-
monly compared either with putrid animnl matter, or
with rotten onions. It might be supposed that a fruit
possessing such an odour could never become a fa-
vourite ; but is is said that when once the repugnance
has bf'en overcome, the J)uiian is sure to find favour,
find that Europeans invariably become extremely fond
of it, Mt, a, Vt'aliace obsprve" that ' a rich custard
liighly flavoured with almonds gives the best general
idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavour that
call to miiid cream-cheese, onion-sauce, cherry wine,
and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich
glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else
possesses, but which adds to its dehcacy, It is neither
acid, nor sweet, nor juicy; yet it wants none of these
qualities for it is in itself perfect. It produces no
nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it
the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact, to eat Durians
is a new sensation worth a voyage to the East to ex-
p<^rience.' The unripe Dmians are cooked as a veget-
alle, and the pulp of the ripe fruit is salted and pre-
served iu jars ; while the eteds art) rossttid aud eati^u
ike cbestuutj, [A, 8.^

{From " Cameroii's Ilalfiyan\Peiiinsula'^)

Entitled, however, to some prominence as being fruits
which are indigenous, and in a great measure peculiar
to the island, are the mangosteen and durian. The
first is the seductive apple of the East, far more de-
licious and delicate iu flavour than its English proto-
type ; by many it is declared, par excellence, the finest
fruit in the east, if not in the world. The durian differs
essentially in nature as in appearance from the man-
gosteen ; it grows on a very tall, wide-spreading tree,
and does not ripen on the extremity of the branches,
but like the jack and some other fruits, drops bj' a short
stalk from the trunk, and the thickest of the hranches.
It is somewhat less than a man's head in size ; out-
side is a thick, prickly husk, in the inside chambers of
which lie the sections of the fruit, consisting of a
number of seeds of about the size of a walnut, sur-
rounded by a soft, pulpy substance, like custard in
appearance, which is the edible part. The taste
of the fruit it is impossible to describe, but the
smell of it, from which the flavour may be judged, is
such that no gentleman in England would care about
having one iu his bouse ; even iu the Straits it is never
set upon the table. Tlie Malays and natives generally
are passionately fond of it, and will go through any
amount of hardship to procure it. A former King of
Ava is said to have spent enormous sums to obtain
constant supplies ; and the present king keeps a steamer
in Kangoon awaiting the arrival of supplies there. The
fruit as soon as received is sent up the river as speedily
as possible, to the capital 500 miles distant. With
Europeans the liking for it is, I think, in all cases
acquired ; the first venture is generally made in bravado,
and so singular is the fascination it possesses, that if
the new arrival can overcome his repugnance sufficiently
to swj<llow the coating of one or two seeds, he will
in probability become strongly attached to it.

I do not think, however, that the most p«SRionate
lovers of durian are disposed to acknowledge tli^^ir
taste There is something decidedlj- unclean about
the fruit ; a tacit acknowledgment of this is, I think,
to be gathered from the fact that it never appears
on any gentleman's table, but is devoured in silence
and solitude in an out-of-the-way part of the house, and
a good bath indulged iu a^'terwards. I cannot forget
the exclamation of an old Scotch lady in Batavia, well-
known there, when she saw a newly-arrived country-
man of her own being sorely tempted to try the strength
of his stomach on a full-grown durian.

" Maister Thampsoii ! Mai.-ter Thompson ! ye ma'na
eat that; it'll no' agree \vi' ye ; and, besides, it's a
maist unchaste fruit." The old ladj was right aud
hit the proper expression.

{Appeiidir. )

Doorian — Durio zibethinus. — This fruit is well-known
from the descriptions of travellers. Those who have
overcome the prejudice excited by the disagreeable ftetid
odour of the external shell, reckon it delicious. From
experience, I can pronounce it the most luscious and
the most fascinating fruit in the unive se. The pulp
covcriiig the seeds, the only part eaten, excel* the finest
custards which could be prepared either by I*de or Kit-
chener. Bontius says it proves laxative, diuretic, and
carminative; but when eateu in too great quantiiie.*,
that it predisposes to inflaminatory complaints. The
natives consider it to posses.s aphrodisiac quahties, It
s certainly in some measure exciting.

, I , ,,,..1 I I-..I .1. . I r ■- I -.,... . . ,. - .. ■ .J

LNMUEY TO TEA FKOM IRON ;'

^nd August lyc»(],
De.vu Siijs,— Much writing and controversy has
for some time been going on in the local press
about an inferior quality of tea now and for
some months past being placed on the Colombo
and London markets, and various reasons given
as to its cause. An idea has struck nie as to
whether the much increased quantity of iron used
iu making machines sold recently by manufacturers
aud importers of rollers, driers, cVc, in which iron
comes iu direct contact with the greeo aud

Sept. r, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

171

moist leaf — whether this may not to a very great
extent account for this falling-ofi' in quality ?

Colonel Money in his Essay on Tea says there is
nothing more injurious to tea than iron coming
into contact with it iu its manufacture.

ENGINEEE.

HOW A COOLY IS TO GET IN AN AVEEAGE

CEOP OF TEA?

Ambagamuwa, 2nd Aug. 1886.
Sill, — In answer to your footnote to Mr. Burnett's
letter in Saturday's issue, let us take the re-
cognised task of a cooly and see how he is to
get in an average crop. Say the cooly works
20 days a month for \) months in the year at pluck-
ing=180 days. By " M. P. A." answer to this
questions, made-tea costs 12 cents per lb. ; green leaf
is 3 cents ; and the coolies' task is 12 lb. green leaf
average which gives him 30 cents' pay per diem.
So we have a cooly getting 31b. made-tea for
180 days=5J:0 lb. per acre, an average crop ? But
then average cost per lb. of made-tea per acre does
nat exceed 12 cents per lb. v/hcn the yield is only
200 lb. per acre. So surely with 510 lb. he would
pluck double the quantity of green leaf, say an
average of 24 lb. = 6 lb. made-tea (at 1 J cents and
G cents per lb.) and a yield of 1,080 lb. per acre an
average crop, Mr. Editor? and if with 510 lb per acre
he can pluck 21 lb. how much more, and so on.

INFINITUM AD ABSUEDUM.

ALLEGED DETEEIOEATION OF TEA.

Eookwood, Hewaheta, 3rd Aug. 188(3.

Dkar Sir, — To supplement mine of yesterday,
a friend lately out from home tells me he was
assured, by a City tea expert, that the cause of
the deterioration of Ceylon tea was due to the
exhaustion of our soil, and to prove it, produced
a sample of Eookwood, as one of the old marks^
manufacture perfect, yet showing a poorish thin
liquor. Now we know it has been stated by some
few of the Indian planters that our teas would be
but a flash in the pan. We had no soil to work on.
" Worn-out and washed-out coft'ee estates turned
into tea gardens, with no future before them,"
as remarked by the garden manager, then in
London, to his directors a few years ago in answer
to questions by them, the Lebong Tea Co., I
think, but I am open to correction. And again tea
existing on a thin covering of surface soil, formed of
decomposed vegetable matter, subject to rapid ex-
haustion, and entire loss from wash on our steep
land. Now with regard to the " actual proof "
from its liquor, of the exhaustion of the Eookwood
soil. How sudden this must have been ! Up to the
very last invoice before pruning we find its liquor
commended, and the usual average price obtained
as for that season. Invoice 1 of the new season —
/, (', after pruning, shows liquor proving exhaus-
tion of soil — how rapid I Poor Ceylon, truly we have
no future before us ; but how will our City man
account for the sudden resuscitation of soil (not
manured during the interval), six months after his
sage remark, for if with good manufacture, but
with persistently thin liquor, in invoice after in-
voice we have proof of exhaustion of soil, what
will sudden improvement in liquor with the same
style of plucking ana manufacture go to prove ?

Exhaustionof soil will take place without manure,
but with tea this is so gradual as to be almo t imper-
ceptible to our generation. I cannot discover it with
tea twenty-one years old, it is not apparent in
its luxuriance of growth, and its liquor is as good
now as it was ten years ago. Some of our Indian
friends ([jractieal Indian planters who have travelled
through our various districts know better) think

we are dependent on surface soil and worn-out
coli'ee estates. Any real planter knows tea thinks
but little of the surface soil, when it has ®nce got
hold of the ground ; and while admitting that a
very few of our worn-out coffee estates have been
planted with tea, I do not think the proprietor
himself, or the most sanguine of us expect them
to last at a paying rate with increased age, and
a lower market, whatever they may do at present;
but their loss in the future will not affect our
exports a decimal point. As for the rest, our coffee
estates, — carefully selected land, always well worked,
and with but little exhaustion from crops, and
that little from the surface that we do not
actually require for our tea, — will yet prove some
of our best gardens. The very peculiarity of tea
is our best safeguard, its taking its nourishment
from where coffee never reached : it is, in fact,
even in an old coffee estate growing, so far as it
is concerned, in virgin soil. Wash we had to
guard against with coffee, and if successful then,
how much more so can we be with tea, where we
can cut our drains closer, as we have not to be
so careful of our surface moisture as with coft'ee.
With ordinary care in selection of site, and with
ordinary cultivation to follow, I can see an ever-
lasting future before us, now as ever. Some of
us. I believe myself among the number, have been
accused of bombast, but I do not think we deserve
this ; a'l we wish for, I am sure, is, that the truth
should be known concerning us, and if, before
condemning our soil and prophesying our speedy
downfall, those doing so had honestly inspected
our various districts, and seen our tea growing,
they could not have made the sweeping assertions
they did, and publicly too. This letter may seem
to apply more directly to my own garden. I do
not mean it to do so in any way. It so happened,
my own garden was brought forward by an expert
in tea to prove exhaustion of our soil was the
cause of the falling-off in our teas. I have en-
deavored to show the folly of this statement, which
affects the whole island. I yesterday accounted
tor the temporary " falling off' " in my liquor ; add
the market to this, the near future will prove I
am right; and I would conchide by saying

1. Exhaustion of soil cannot be so sudden or
so general as it must have been in Ceylon this
year to be the cause of poorer liquor from young
and old gardens alike.

2. It would show itself in the general growth
of the bush and in yield as well as in liquor,

3. Without cultivation, i.e. manuring — and there
has been none worth noting — exhaustion would con-
tinue, showing worse results as the season works
on, and not better. — Yours faithfully,

C. SPEAEMAN AEMSTEONG.

COFFEE : SPEING CEOP PBOSPECTS IN
HAPUTALE.

4th August 1880.

Sir, — Your issue of last evening giving late re-
turns of rainfall in Ilaputale, signities another
disastrously short crop there, uiilens the weather
takes up at uiice. 30th July report is as follows: —

"We had a spell of 'fine' dry weather till the
28th when it rained at intervals nearly all day.
It has been dry since then, and I hope it will
continue so ; otherwise I fear we must expect
aaiother bad crop." Since then, the reports by
telegram (vide Post Office list) mention nothhuj
but rain, heavy rain ! !

The " Ultima Thule " correspondent (nil desijer-
andinn) who writes so confidently of coffee being
yet "King" again, as regards ^jro/i/^-, must try and
explain the change of seasons when he writes

172

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept. i, 1886.

again. How many favourable " dry " seasons have
been experienced in the last nine years in Uva.
Cort'ee must have sun in due season or crops
will always be disappointing, leaf-disease or no
leaf- disease. The seasons have changed and there
is no blinking our eyes to the fact : whenever
good crops are got in Uva nowadays, it is by a
sort of " tluke." As there can be now no de-
puiideace placed on our gotting favourable blossom-
ing seasons there, so no dependence can now be
placed on our getting paying coifee crops. No
matter how healthy and vigorous coffee may be,
it iniiat Jiiivv the »»h i)i due Aeasoii. As regards
prices, coUee looks grand now : this time next
year v,e may see 'good Ceylon middling' again at

FIVE rOT^NDS PEE CWT.

The Futlke of the NiLtams. — The SoiitJi of
India Obst^rver remarks: — "This district, we feel
sure, has a great future before it. Before long the
railway will be brought to Coonoor, if not to
Ootacamnnd, and thus the trade of the place will
be immensely increased. The coffee industry may
revive ; and it may play an important part in the
district, and fortunes may be made. Gold may yet
produce great results. The capabilities of the dis-
trict are only just beginning to be discovered," and,
finally, our contemporary thinks " the population
i-^ sure to be greatly increased when the railway
has been established."

Coal in Ixdia. — The result of Dr. Warth's
explorations in the Salt Range is, that he estimates
at least 1,000,000 tons of coal may be obtained
from the Duudote plateau, and at a recent confer-
ence it was decided to arrange for the practical
working of the scheme. The coal is not of the
best quality; but it is calculated that it can be
delivered on the I'unjab Northern section of the
North-Westcrn Railway at a cost of E6 per ton,
and that its economic value as fuel v.ill be Pvl4
per ton, which will represent a saving on that
sccti'in of the lino amuunting to 111,1"), 000 per
animni. The North-Wcstern ilailway administration
will work the colliery. — 31. Mail.

CiNcxioxA rLANiATioNS, after all, do not seem
to be very highly valued in Java to judge by the
following extract from the Slraitu Times (translated
from a Java paper) received by this mail : — " The
times at present arc so hard in Java that, daily,
estates, formerly valuable indeed, pass under the
Auctioneer's hammer at ridiculously low prices. An
allotment worth several thousands of guilders could
only be disposed of for one hundred. A plantation
stocked with superior varieties of Cinchona brought
only twelve thousand guilders. So it goes on day
after day. These properties mostly pass into the
hands of Chinese. The outlook is indeed so gloomy
that a general bankruptcy among the planting com-
munity is not at all improbable, unless prevented
by unforeseen circumstances."

Alumixcm WoiiKs Axi) CoKuxDUM. — The Work
of developing power on the creek and putting up
the mammoth building for the aluminum manu-
factory (or aluminium if you want it decidedly
English) is now far advanced. Hitherto the pro-
cess of obtaining aluminum has been very ex2:)en-
sive, through a combination of chemical agencies
and heat. At the works the corundum will tiist
be subjected to intense heat, then broken and
ground to powder, after which it will be fused in
hormetically sealed crucibles by the powerful elec-
trical current generated by the employment of the
largest dynamos th.at liave ever been coiistructid.

The product is the pure aluminum, of which the
yield from the corundum is about 50 per cent. No
doubt is entertained of the success of the electrical
process, which, although so recent a discovery as
not to be described scientifically in works, has been
thoroughly tested. Large quantities of the alloy
will also be manufactured at the works, requiring
it is estimated, from 10 to 20 tons of copper a day
when the works get to running to their full capacity.
As a very serviceable alloy may be made with only
five per cent of alummum, it is evident that a very
large amount of copper will be required.— Lockjwrt
Union. [As Ceylon is rich in corundum, we may
probably see the substance utilized some day for
the production of the light white metal. — Ed.]

The Neilguei!UY Company. — The London corre-
spondent of the Tillies of India gives the following . —
" The Neilgherry CoiT-pany, Limited, has been in-
corporated with a capital of £100,000 in fl shares,
of which 30,000 are reserved in part payment to the
vendor, and the balance has been offered for subscrip-
tion here this week at par. The Company has been
formed for the purpose of acquiring, carrying on,
and extending the business of the Neilgherry and
Southern India Lands Investment Company, Limited,
(which was established in 1878, for the purpose
of advancing money on the security of coffee and
other estates) and to acquire in addition, under a
separate agreement with the Agra Bank, Limited,
coffee cleaning works at Coinibatore and Beypore.
Also to carry on a general agency business in
Southern India, making advances on coifee, tea,
cinchona, rhea grass, and other produce, prepar-
ing, curing, shipping and forwarding, selling same
oil commission. The prospectus states that tlie coifee
cleaning works are fully suppHe.i with modern machin-
ery in complete working order. The Coiinbatore es-
tabli.shmeut is represented to l.e very advantageously
situated on the plains at the foot of the Neilgherry
hills, adjoiuing a station on the Madras Kailway, and
commanding not oulj' the coffee from the Neilgberries,
but also from the Kotagherries, Auanialai.s, Koondalis
and She'varoys. The works at Beypore are situated
at the mouth of the Beypore river, whence the pro-
duce at Coiinbatore and the Wynaad is shipped on
board the steamers for the Loudon market. By thus
combiuing the business of the Investment Company with
that of coffee cleaning, shipping, and selling on commis-
sion, the Directors are satisfied that a sate and profitable
business will result. The income of the Company
will be derived from the following sources, among
others : 1. — Interest on investments on mortgage (9 to
10 per cent is the current rate). 2. Interest on ad-
vances against hj-pothecations of crops, o. Commis-
sion for finaucing crops. 4. Cleaning, curing, and
transporting crops. ,">. Commission on sale of crops.
The Directors say that a careful consideration of the
figures laid before them justifies the expectation of
earning a dividend of at least 10 per cent, besides
providing for a substantial reserve fund. This was the
rate of dividend (free of income-tax), paid by the
old Company — whose business was limited by its me-
morandum and articles of association to advancing
money on mortgages of estates only for the years 1S8I,
18S2 and 18S3. The head-quarters of theCompany in India
will be at Coinibatore, and its affairs there will be under
the inauagemeiit of Mr. William Cottrell who has had
many j'ears' experience in the business contemplated,
and who is now on the spot. The directors are :— .Air.
D. F. Carmichael, late Senior Member of Council,
INIadras; Captain P. H. Hiwett; Mr. William IMaylor,
late of Messrs. Pierce, Leslie & Co., Malabar Coas*) and
London; and (after allotment) Jfr. G. E. Biiggs of
Messrs. Living.sfon, Briggs & Co., l^irectors of Neil-
giierry and Southern India J^ands Investment Ciunpany
liimitod. I should mention that among other assets to
be acquired are forty-nine mortgages upon jiropertiea
in Southern India repri^senting a total of £lS),(»:i.'), which
the Company is to get for .£ I0,17."> ; and the total price
to be paid is .^nOjOOO — exclusive, I road, of tlie price of
the coffee curing business of Stanes & Co. to be taken
over fioin the Agra Bank.'' — Sni'.th uf India ObM-irer.

Sept. i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

1/3

PEACTICAL HINTS ABOUT TEA.
{Bij an Old Hand.)

How TO GERJtiNATE Seed. — Choosc tlic suiiniest
slope you can, near water ; form beds 2\ or three
feet in width ; put a margin of boards round the
bed, level carefully the surface, making it firm ; on
this lay a layer of clean river sand two inches
deep, on this lay the seed two seeds deep ; over this
another laj'er of clean sand 1 to lA inches ; after-
wards cover with mana grass to the depth of an
inch, water well twice a day ; as soon as the seed
shows the direction of the root germ, then plant
into nursery beds, taking care the seed in no case
be put deeper in the soil than one inch ; then shade
with fern and keep well watered till fairly above
ground.

When and What Tea Plants Should be Planted.
— A plant of 12 or 14 months old, stumped in the
nursery before being removed for planting with
every root carefully preserved and put into a hole
sufficiently large to receive it without doubling any
of the roots, is in my opinion the perfection of a
plant. Then, again, a plant well-grown at (5 or 7
months old, when it can be removed with all its
roots entire stands a better chance than an older
plant, the roots of which will be injured more or
less, even with the greatest care, in removal from
the nursery. These are the plants which one sees
to stand still for six months after planting, many
of them losing their leaves owing to evaporation
from the i^lant being greater than its own powder
of absorption from the soil: in a word keep your
plants till they are ready for stumping, or plant
them out of a wellprepared bed entire when six to
even months old. AdiucoiA.

SUdAR IN -JAVA.

(Translated for the Straits Times.)

There is every prospect of the sugar yield in Java
proving a source of heavy loss to growers there
this year ; prices now for No. 14 have fallen to
even 8i guilders per picul. At this price sugar
growing will soen cease to pay, especially now that
the burden of taxation on the planting community
has been rendered still more grievous by heavier
auction dues and enhanced import duties reaching
10 per cent. The power of the people to bear the
additional taxation, so says the Sonrabaya Courant
has become so enfeebled that the taxes collected in
the first live months of this year show an alarming
lalling-off. The import duties alone compared
with the corresponding period of last year
show a decrease estimated at 234,000 guilders.
Statistics of piece goods imported show conclusively
that articles formerly in demand only find buyers
now when of inferior quality.

REVIEW OF THE AUSTRALIAN TEA SEASON
OP 1885-188G.

Ill view of the early opening of the new tea season
on this side (probably about the 10th .July), we take
our usual retrospective glance of the operations in
the tea market during the last twelve months end-
ing ?M\i .]uue 18SC>.

The total import into all the colonies and from
all quarters amounted during the following seasons
to, say : —

It).

ISH.'S.Hf) .. ,. .. 2.S,49S,HS2

l8«4-8.'-. .. .. .. 20,780,816

18S:'.-84 l(?,,Hr,0,289

.1882-8;-{ 22,.'-,G4,8.Sl

The imports for season 18S2-a.'5 proved excessive, and
were only adju.sted by the light imports during 1883-84 ;
and taking the result of the three years' imports

from 1882 to 1885, it appears evident that when im-
ports exceed 20,000,000 lb. weight the quantity is in
excess of the present colonial requirements, and loss
must result to importers, and this proved no excep-
tion during the season just closed.

Indian Teas.— Mr. J. Osland Moody reports :— The
exports from Calcutta to Australia and New Zealand.
for the last four years, from 1st May to :-JGth April
stand thus: —

1886
1885
1884
1883

lb.

1,729,517

1,525,982

340,613

2,723,268

showing a steady increase over the last two years,
though not equal in quantity to season 1883.

For the same period the following are the shipmentB
to Great Britain: —

, It).
1886 . , . . . . 65,858,071

1885 .. .. .. 61,570,719

1884 .. .. .. 58,067,180

showing a large and steady increase, whilst the ex-
port from Ceylon alone now reaches 4,500,000 lb., and
is advancing by rapid strides to the front as a large
producing country and of the highest class of teas.
^ Ceylon Teas continue to find their best market in
Great Britain, and lead the van in prices. Bo little
comes here they are not worth noticing.

Japan Teas continue to be imported to trifiiiig ex-
tent, but show no movement in price quality. — J/e?-
iihonic .ly/.', July 1st.

THE ALLIGATOR-APPLE, ANONA POLUSTRIS,
L. PRODUCING RIPE FRUIT IN COLOMBO.
Of the custard apple order (Auuaacece) we have in
Ceylon the large prickly sour sup, Auoua murioata, L.
The custard apple, or builoek's heart, A. reticulata, L,
which tastes like a custard mixed with some gritty
matter in it. The sweet sop, called in Ceylon, the cus-
tard apple, A. squamosa L., and 1 uuderstand the cheri-
moyer, A. Clienmolia, Duu., grows at Peradeuiya and
Hen..ratgoda, but 1 have not heard of their bearing
fruit in Ceylon. I now send you a npe fruit of the
alligator apple, Anona polus!ri.s, L.. grown in the
Circular near the Museum. This Iruit as you will
see is a good deal like the buliock'.s heart in shape,
but much smaller in size, and having a good deal of
the fragrance of a ripe apple. It is of a light yellow
color, and perfectly smooth like a mango. Ihe small
tree or large shrub from which this has been taken has
about two dozen more on it. From the " Official Guide
to the Museums of Ecomomic Botany, of the Eoyal
Gardens Kew " I take the following sJiort notice of
this plant and its fruit :— >• A small tree abundant on
marstiy shores in Jamaica; the fru't said to be narcotic
and even poisonous, is eaten by alligators as it drops ;
the wood known as corkwood, is used for stopping
bottles and lining boxess." Mr. Nock no doubt can
tell you if it is eaten in Jamaica. The cherimoyer is
spontaneous from Peru to Mexico, and has been natur-
alised in Jamaica, all the others mentioned here
are natives of Jamaica and some of the other islands
of the West Indies, but none are natives of Ceylon
or India. \v. p.

WHITE CASTOR CAKE AS A MANURE FOR
TEA AND COFFEE PLANTERS.

Mr. John Hughes, the wellknown Agricultural
Chemist, never omits an opportunity of supplying
useful information through the Tropical Agriculturist
to the planters of Ceylon and India. From the
following contribution it is evident that equally
for tea as for coffee, white castor cake, rich in
mitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid, is one of
the best manures which can be used :—

70, Mark Lane, London, E. C, 10th .July IBBH.

During my residence in Colombo in 1878 several
analyses of the abovenamed cake weiie made by

174

THE TROPICAL AGRICULtURlST.

[Sept. t, 18B6,

myself on behalf of the Planters' Association, and
tne results are to be found on page 15 of my
official report. These analyses, however, deal only
with the organic constituents, and give the pro-
portions of oil, albuminous compounds, mucilage,
fibre, Ac, and do not afford information respecting
tlie chemical composition of tne mineral portion
or ash of the cake. I have therefore obtained a
fair average sample direct from India and hope
the particulars of tiie analyses may be of interest
to the readers of the 2\ A.: —

In 100 parts of white castor cake : —
Waler 7-94

InOrgauic matter (containing Nitro-
gen 7'5o) 85-17

Jlineral matter* G-89

• 10000

It will be noticed from these results that while
castor cake is very rich in nitrogen, containing in-
deed twice as much of this valuable constituent
as ordinary bone dust, and five times as much as
would be found in 100 lb. of parchment coffee ; so
that the application of 100 lb. of this cake should
supply as much nitrogen as could be removed by
500 lb. of parchment coffee. Further, the mineral
portion (trSlI) is twice as much as I found in well-
prepared parchment coffee from the neighbourhood
of BaduUa (see page 110 of my report) which con-
tained 3'30 per cent of ash or mineral matter ; so
that as regards these constituents castor should
be well adapted to supply a very large portion of
the mineral constituents of coffee even supposing
the soil did not do so as is usually the case.

Thus, in every 100 parts of cake I find 2-G8 of
phosphoric acid as against -^G in 100 parts of the
coffee and 1'35 of potash, against 1'34 in coffee
(which is practically the same), soda -07 against
•0(5, and, lastlj', \>0 of lime against 'Hi in coff'ee.
Castor cake yields an ash specially rich in phos-
phates of potash, lime and soda, and these exist
moreover in a form readily available as plant food
as fast as the cake becomes decomposed in the soil.
For comparison with the leaves of the coff'ee tree,
I may mention that in every 100 parts of partially
dried healthy leaves I found by analysis : —
Water ... ... ... 975

Organic matter (coutaiuing Nitro-
gen 2-67) ... ... 82-65

Mineral matter f ... ... 7-60

100-00

* Consisting of: —

Phosphoric Acid

...

2-118

Potash

...

1-35

Soda

...

•07

Lime

...

•50

Magnesia

...

•28

Sulphuric Acid

. .

-12

Chlorine

...

•07

Oxides of Iron and Alu

rnina

■29

Quartz sand

•93

6-89

f Coneisting of :—

Potash ...

...

2-08

Lime

...

1-69

Magnesia...

...

•92

Soda ... _ ...

...

•48

Phosphoric Acid...

...

•35

Sulphuric Acid

...

•2()

Carbonic Acid

...

-.99

(Jhlorine ...

...

■08

Oxides of Iron and Alumina

■10

Quartz sand kc. ...

...

•05

7 09

From these results it will be seen that coffee leaves,
are really far more exhausting to the land than
the parchment coffee, and if the tree can produce
plenty of leaf naturally, no manure should be
necessary in order to produce the coff'ee bean or
seed which in this case is certainly not an ex-
hausting crop. Planters know from sad experience
tlie baneful effect of wind and wash which strips
off' the leaves and hurries them off down to the
nearest stream.

It is well however to remember that these leaves
if gathered green and made into composts with a
little lime, will furnish an excellent natural manure
as will readily be seen if the results of the above
analysis are compared with those of castor cake.
These leaves contained 2-67 of nitrogen or nearly
.^ of that in castor, while the lime 1-69 and potash
2-08 are both in considerable excess of that found
in the cake. In phosphoric acid however the leaves
are much poorer, there being only -35 against 2-08
in white castor which is certainly a most useful
cake for supplying phosphates as well as very
rich itt nitrogen.

In looking out for valuable manuring materials
planters should therefore look well to the chemical
comjjosition of the sevenil substitutes for the grand
and universal manure namely farmyard-dung
which has been the only one employed to any
extent in ages past and which, as
general character, may be taken as a
to the planter abroad as well as to
at home.

We must examine the composition
or mineral portion as well as the
nitrogen yielded by cakes and manures, for, as we
have seen in the case of white castor cake, every
100 lb. of the cake supplies 2-08 of phosphoric
acid which is equal to 5-85 lb. of phosphate of
lime or as much as would be found in 1,000 lb.
of parchment coffee. JOHN HUGHES, r.c.s.

regards its

safe guide

the farmer

of the ash
amount of

The T. a. — I have always looked upon the Tropical
Afiriculturist as a " standard work," and as such
it is a book of reference to be placed on the
planter's book-shelf.— P^/H/er.

Nitrification in Soils. — Dr. Taylor, Editor
of Science Gossij), in writing to the Melbourne Arf/iis
makes the following remarks on this important
subject : —

Among agriculturists possessed of genuine scien-
tific tastes, there are few subjects regarded
with more interest than tiie relation of free nitro-
gen to soils. The discovery that nitrifictation in
soils was due to organisms whose activity can be
arrested by chloroform, so that no nitrification takes
place when their vitality is thus suspended, has
made the inquiry more interesting than ever. The
French chemists have always distinguished them-
selves in researches relating to this subject, as
everybody knows who has studied Professor Ville's
work on artificial manures. Recently the attention
of the French Academy has been directed to it.
Messrs. Bertholet and Andre have been at work
upon it for many years past. Lat(^ly they have
been concerned in finding out some means of in-
dicating the proportion of nilrificatory organisms in
different soils, and they conclude that some idea of
their abundance may be formed by a quantitative
analysis of the carbon entering into the constitu-
tion ' of their tisi^ues. It is inferred generally that
the analysis of the ammonia present in the soils
should be made without any dessicatlon, and that
arable land (when watered) tends continually to
liberate the anrmonia of the annnoniacal salta con-
tained in it.

feLPT. 1, m6-]

THE rmpiQhh AQntQVLTt3nmt,

m

THE DETEEIOEATION OF TEA.

SiB. — The question of the causes of deterioration
of Ce3lon tea must always be a very important one
to planters, and one which cannot be investigated too
thoroughly. Evidence now appears to be forthcoming
to show that it is no mere cry of the London dealer
in the usual depreciatory manner of the buyer. I
have now been more or less a tea-maker for the past
four years, having had varied experience during that
time, and think I can account for the falling-off in
strength, this being the chief cause of complaint.

To those who have not fully investigated the
growth of plants it is usual to believe that the leaves
simply act the part of the lungs, and that their
various other economies are performed chieriy by
other organs, such as the brnnches, trunk, and roots.
Now. the life of a tree is first its leaves, and then its
roots. The terminations of the latter, called spongi-
oleSj have almost an equal importance, being rather
more to a plant than the mouth of an animal, as they
have some potent affinity for the nonrishment they
assimilate. The roots of some plants can penetrate
tolerably hard rocks — the olive ; for instance — and
anyone who has had much experience of manuring
with coarse bone-pieces will frequcnth' have observed
the facility with which even a coffee-root can pierce
through a hard, flat piece of bone.

The leaves are, however, of really more importance;
not onlj' do they inhale and exhale, but they elabor-
ate the sap. Thus, besides being lungs, they are the
chief digestive organs of the x^lant. It may be said
that whatever good comes out of the tea plant,
whether in shoots or seed, is the result of the elabor-
ation of the sap in the leaf cells, and this elabor-
ation progresses more or less perfectly according to
the health and vigour of the tree. In a throughly
heathy individual, the foliage will be moi-e or less
profuse, and, where it is scant or unhealthy, there
will also be a corresponding failm-e of the sap, which
naturally will fall off in either quantity, or quality,
or both. In this it will be very like a much vexed
matter of domestic economy — our milch cow. "We
* all know how difficult it is to get our quantum of
good milk, and the sooner we apprehend tlie position
that abundance of milk usually means an abun-
dance of good food, so much sooner do we beneQt
by c.irrying out the principle.

The first external indication we have of a tree
being unhealthy is its foUage, and immediately after-
wards there will always be a corresponding uuhealthi-
ness in the roots. Indeed, the injury is felt through-
out the whole organism. As with animals, some kind
of plants have a greater recuperative power than
others. We say of a cat that it has nine lives.
Our experience also shews us how difficult weeds
arc to kill; yet I fancy if we grew a weed as a
culivated plant, and continually deprived it of its
leaves and young shoots which have very much the
same function as the leaves, it will soon indicate all
the delicacy of a cultivated plant, and if we continued
our harsh treatment over a period of years it would
probably develop a disease injurious to all individuals
of its race, and in this manner might become a very
delicate plant to grow.

Tea is one of the most robubt plants in the vegetable
kingdom. It will not die out in scrub and v/eeds.
If cut dowH; it shoots up with great vigour ; its
recuperative powers are prodigious. If growing
amongst grass, the latter may be fired, and the tea
will all eboot out afre.sh.

It is, however, apparent to all that, after tea
bushes have been cut down, the first ohoots, when
manufactiured, produce a very thin infusion, ;!nd I
would ask whether this may not be owing to stantly
foliage. As I have said, the tea plant has a strong,
vitality, it bursts out into renewed life with all
apparent vigour, but does not this shew tliat it is
abnormal and that something is wanting i* Most
certainly there must be a great shock to the plant
throughout its entire system ; sometimes we notice
here and there a bush which does not recover.

There is much importance to be attached to what
Mr. Kutberford asserted iu bis letter; tbat where I

tea bore well, :::r.miring -would be necessary. Of
course, where soil i.s rich with manure applied, the
mean.s of rapid recovery are easier for the plant;
yet all considered, even allowing the most valuable
constituents of the soil to be present in almost any
quantity, the foliage of the plant must to an extent be
maintained. Leaf-disease shows how absolutely neces-
sary leaves are to cotfee ; so it is with tea.

I consider, whatever task you put upon a perennial
tree or plant, whether it be in yielding seed or leaf-
that there must be an adequate foliage to perform
the economies ueces.sary for the effectual production
of this leaf or .seed ; that, if the foliage be insufficient,
the produce will naturally be wanting, and 1 believe
this has more to do with the falUng off of the
strength of Ceylon tea than any other cause I know.
The Israelites found it hard to make bricks without
straw ; an animal would not survive being deprived
of the whole of its lungs and the greater portion
of its organs of digestion ; yet we expect a tea
plant to live, thrive, and yield us leaf shorn of both
of these. The only wonder to me is, why does not
strike, work altogether, collapse and die, or cease to
be productive, like our coffee. Unless we are more
lenient to it this may eventually result.

There is without doubt much in the manure theory,
but I believe far more in our treatment of the or-
ganism itself, the first consideration. As far as my
experience goes, I have never obtained good tea except
from good foliaged bushes, and I believe before long
we shall see much lighter pruning adopted through-
out the island, or, possibly two light instead of one
heavy pruning in the twelve months. — W. F. L. —
Local "Times."

No. II.

iSiH, — With regard to the alleged deterioration of
Ceylon teas, allow me, in the spirit that in the multi-
tude of counsellors there is wisdom, to make the
following remarks. To say the least of it, it is pecu-
liar tbat every new field's teas, on introduction, have
attracted considerable attention, and produced the
highest prices in their early start. Few, however,
have been able to retain this favourable position for
more than a season. Indian planters remember this
was the case with the Dooars gardens, for, when their
teas came in limited quantity, buyers seemed to de-
sire nothing else than the strongest liquors for which
they are so noted. Planters iu Darjeeling, the Terai,
Oachar, 8ylhct, and, lastly Assam, were furnished
with Dooars samples as guide.**. Every one setting
to work to produce the requisite article — some vain
enough to imagine they had succeeded — were sur-
prized to find that the success attained in the Dooars
only lasted a season, for the following year Darjee-
lings were required for flavor only. Most then
attempted to give their teas Darjeeling character.
Few arrived at this happy climax, when, in the next
season, Assams were iu demand, and their selling
price above all others.

The majority of Indian planters now recognize that
the market is always capricious, Some usually get
good prices, and all, especially at the commencement
of tho season, strive by the most careful plucking
and manufacture to force their mark into position.

Truly, there is every excuse for many Ceylon men
believing that this season's teas are so inferior simply
because fetching pence below last j'ear's average, and
doubtleas will attribute it to every cau-c but the
right — prices have gone down. What has been ap-
parent to all outside of the island for so long is a
fact, namely, quite fancy pvicen i"eve being paid Joy
Cei/lon parcelif.

When things settle down at home, probably these
teas will regain favor ; but that they will speedily
reach the enormous figures paid when the supply was
uncertain, the large acreage coming into bearing in
the near future should forbid the most sanguine to
expect.

In the meanwhile, the hints dropped by Mr. Gow
regarding the bushes having a browsed and broom-
like appearance, and being consequently incapable of
putting forth shoots (dushiug) suitable for raakiug^

17^

*H£ TROPiCAL AamCui^i OKiSiv

j_b£p'f. I, xsser.

superior tea, may or may not be affecting the quality
and should commend itself to serious notice.

When the late !Mr. Cameron cnme to this island to
find its resources at the lowest ebb, cotfie and
cinchonn almost dying out, with some land umler tea
doing little or nothing because not properly under-
stood, he started to show what tea wouM immediately
yield — to fhow that he could Jo aomciliiii;/ ii'ilh it, and
that 'jt'.ickii/. It was indeed a bold stroke and deserved
success which dicated such close (the closest possible)
picking, adi'.allfi taking the half of every leaf the tree
j>ut forth in Jii'.shiiu/ (iv]ie7-e he had not al read y taken
the I'-hole ont). The outturns procured were in many
instances as fabulous as the prices obtained.

Assuredly the end justified the means; the prices
would have compensated handsomely, and, what is
more, the gardens stood it wonderfully well. Mr.
Cameron knew rightly that places in India, with the
combined effects of droughts, hailstorms, excessive
heat alternating with bitter cold, not to mention blights,
could scarcely liave lived under such treatment.
Certainly, their outturns would never have been what
they are. He had here a better climate to work on,
but even this advantage may be abused by this kind
of treatment.

It becomes now a moot (luestion — how long it may
be carried on with impunity (comparatively) here ?

"When thus put before those interested, many un-
hesitatingly tell you that they do not cultivate the
bushes for appearance, nor yet for posterity; some
even go so tar as to inquire what posterity has
done for them ? Met with such reprovals, how difficult
Mr. (low will find it to advocate more gentle treat-
ment of the bushes, more especially when he will
be told that the soil here is waiitiug in depth and
quality, as found in other fields. Is not this, though,
the strongest possible plea in favor of the more
rational treatment of the plants

The system of picking, which by long teaching finds
most followers in India generally, is probably the
best, because, costing little, the bushes can, whilst
yielding both quality and quantity, do so with the
least possible injury to themselves.

Thus, after pruning, the bushes are allowed to run,
say, from five to seven leaves and a bud. Some
shoots mostly in the centre of the bush, at once out-
strip the rest. It becomes necessary to check them,
and those that have reached the desired number of
leaves may be ripped, taking one leaf and a bud as
nearly as possible at the union of stem and leaf ; in
a week or ten days (providing they are not side
ghoots) more are ready, and should be taken.

Coolies will not bring in large quantities at this
rate. They should not be expected to do so, for the
object is to form the bush: thus the most careful
picking is required at this stage; that is, when the
bush is making what will eventually be pruning wood,
upon which depends the season's, as well as the
following season's, crop. Any care expended upon it is
afterwards amply repaid. After these shoots are
more or less uniform in height — that is, each stem
having as nearly as possible the same number of leaves,
it will be found that, from the two upper leaves of the
ripped stems, the primary useful (so to speak tiush)
comes. These are allowed to run, say, to four or five
leaves and a bud. At this time the side shoots will,
stand in danger of being broken ; so they are taken, and
•Srith these two leaves and a bud from the four or five
leaves of the primary shoots, when at least two leaves
•whole (some count the eye as one) should be left.
These two leaves will in turn put forth other shoots
or flush. In short, for the first ten or twelve rounds
the pickers require special attention to prevent them
nibbling or picking young undeveloped shoots, which
is never overlooked. I^ater iu the season, however,
it ceases to be of such importance. Every cooly is paid
according to the (juantity (with due regard to quality)
of the leaf plucked, and then it does not signify so
long as one leaf is left.

And now, mark: the picking of half leaves is never
encouraged (it is doubtful whether it ever withers or
ferments well), there being always in the season a
aufficieucy of mature leaves ready for the weekly

plucking ; if not, the number of pluckers" is dimin-
ished. Should it occasionally happen I through drought
or blight) that there is little, or no leaf, there is no-
thing left but to wait for it. "What is put otf, or
has to l)e waited for, is nob lost. In the same way
little notice is taken of bangy bushes or shoots. By
leaving them they right themselves in time. If taken
off, the second leaf is nearly always hard; any way
it is impossilde to make good tippy t'r'a with bangy leaf.

The application with some modification (say less
whole leaves, but leaving entire leaves and not persis-
tently tearing every leaf in half) of the Indian system,
which is the outcome in many cases of dearly-bought
experience, is about the only way of preventing the
broAVsed apperance complained of, which must in
time materially decrease the outturn in Ceylon, or, it
may be, worse — bring some dreadful blight in its train,
and make the balance unworkable by killing out half
the plants.

The worst that can result from a fair trial of the
modified system is that tea thus treated may require
more frequent (it may be yearlj') light iiruning, and
possibly let us hope give partial exemption from
heavy pruning with a good, if not superior, all round
tea at some cents per lb. cheaper.

With a climate perhajis second to none in suitability
for tea, proximity and cheap carriage to port of ship-
ment, which give at once cents, per lb. advantage
in every lb. manufactured, the only danger in the
race for wealth appears to be that of killing or crip-
pling the goose from which all expect the golden
eggs.— ,J. E. L. H.— Local " Times."

July 22, 1886.

[The impression created by this letter is that iu
India now, half leaves are not plucked. Is that gener-
allj' the fact, and has the practice of taking only whole
leaves extended to Ceylon ? Is it beyond doubt that
half leaves do not ferment well? — Ed.]

1,200 Acres or Tea in one proprietor's hands is
a good deal, but this is the fortunate case of Mi.-.
Jas, Blackett of Dolosbage who, moreover, has the
satisfaction of knowing that his fine-looking fields are
all grown from a good jat of tea and all promise
luxuriant crops of good leaf.

Tea Eolling, — A planting correspondent writes:
— I have just heard that J. Mclnnes, Walker &
Greig's Manager in BaduUa, has finished a hand-
roller suitable for small tea estates. Ho expects
it to roll from 80 to 'JO Xb. of leaf an hour and
the probable cost of the machine will be about
liloO, so small is the roller that 2 coolies can
carry it.

The Vixe on ouk Moutain Plateaux. — We
understand that Mr, Gordon Cirinlinton has been
successful in growing grapes of a fair (juality at
Portswood near Nuwara Eliya. This is the lirst
time we have heard of the vine fruiting at so
high an elevation in Ceylon. Jaffna and Dumbara
are usually the situations associated with grapes,
although the climate and soil of Uva in many
parts ought to be admirably adapted for vine
culture,

Cas^sia Li'iNEA ANP THi; Chtts'amEn.— According to
the report of the Superintendent of the Afforestation
Department of Hong Kong for 1SS5, there is a great
difhculty in growing this tree, as the following extract
from the report will show: — "The plantations of Cassia
Ligaea that were made on the hills north of Aberdeen
would probably have been iu a thriving condition by
this time but for the persistence of the Chiucse iu
breaking off the leaves and branches of the plants.
They appear to attach some importance to the plant
as a medicine, and despite the vigilance of the forest
guards, they succeed iu keeping the plants in an almost
leafless condition. Even iu the Botanic Gardens, where
the plants are protected by iron tree-guards and wire
nettuig, they have killed several plants by pre>istcntly
defoliating them and wrenching off the branches."—
Gardeners' Chronicle,

Sni'T. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

177

MORE ABOUT INSECT POWDEB.

Stockton, Cal., June -1.

TO THE EDITOR OIL. PAINT AND DBCG REPOHTEK,

In your issue of l^Iay 26, you published an article
from the l)riu/</Ut's Circular under the caption of
•' The Truth About Insect Towder," which we have
r.ad witfi interest as it is a fair statement of the
(|aalities r.l' dillerent kinds of insivt powder now upon
the market.

The writer of the aforesaid article has however
failed to explain how that powder manufactured from
llowers similar in appearance and condition, may
materially vary in strength and power as an insecticide.

Having been engaged for several years in culti-
vating the plants and manufacturing the powder there-
from, we have ascertained that much depends upon
the conditions of the atmosphere during the time the
plant is maturing and while the flowers are being
dried after they are picked. The value of the powder
depends upon the quantity of essential oil contained
in the flowers of the plant. This oil is partially soluble
in water and when rains or heavy dews fall upon
the plant, while the flowers are maturing or wbile
they are being dried, the effect is particularly injurious
to the powder. Consequently the dryer the atmosphere
during the time the plant is in blossom and afterward
while the flowers are being dried for grinding, the
stronger and more effective will be the powder produced
therefrom. Powder made from flowers that have been
grown and cured under favorable conditions, may be
kept in cans hermetically sealed for years without
lo.siug its insect destroying properties, and consumers
of the powder will always find it cheaper and more
satisfactory to purchase in cans rather than in bulk,
and if but a limited quantity is used they had better
purchase in small cans, and there is no reason why
the smaller packages should not be kept by all dealers,
I?i!HACH I'RODrciNG AND ManiV; Co.

COIiLECTING THE ORANGE FLOWER CROP
IN FRANCE.*

BY I. CREUSE.

The usual time beginning the collection of the crop
on the IMediterranean shore is from April 25 to May 1,
and the gathering lasts about one month or five weeks.
The (juantity gathered, rather small at first, gradually
increases, and after May 10 reaches its full proportion.

The orange tree, indigenous in India, is thought to
have reached Arabia towards the end of the ninth cen-
tury, but made its appearance in southern France only
during thr sixteenth; at least, such is the period at
which it bf^gan to be mentioned. At any rate, the orange
groves of the vicininy of Hyeres were in l.joii reported to
have the appearance' of large forests, and the trees were
equally cultivated at St. Chamas, Fiejus, Cannes, Val-
lauris, Aix, and in ISIarseilles itself.

At present Vallauris, whose name ajiparently comes
from I'ctUviii airraniii, or its Piovencal equivalent, is the
headquarters of the orange flower industry, and has
lately aciiuired considerable importance. The climate of
the place, being a very temperate one, is quite favourable
to the cultivation of the orange trees. As no less than
fifteen distilleries for making orange flower water and
neroli are located in Vallauris, the town may justly
claim to be the centre of this sort of manufacture.

The picking of the flowers employs no less than two
thousand persons. As the crop usually averages one
million kilograms, that is, one thousand tons, its impor-
tance, notwithstanding the variations of prices, is easily
understood as a source of revenue for the localities where
the orange tree is grown for its flowers alone. The
variety cultivated is the hic/arndicr, or bitter oiange, pro-
ducing very fragrant blossoms but bitter fruits. From
1880 to 18f<2 orange flowers sold from thirty to sixty
francs a hundred kilos. In 1883, frost having destroyed
most of the crop, the prices rose to three hundred and
sixty francs; but last year it remained between seventy-
five ard one hundred francs. The coming crop promises

* From the Dn'gists' Circular, July.

to be fair. Some groves have suffered from frosts, but
the evil is not general, and there are good prospects of a
fine quality of flowers.

The yield of neroli greatly varies according to the
season when the flowers are collected. Those gatherj^d
at the beginning barely produce half a gram to the kilo
of blooms (one-half of one per thousand), while near the
end of May they afford one gram or more. Hence th**
average yearly yield of essential oil is seventy-fivo thon-
B.ind kilos, or about one himdred and sixty-five thousand
pounds. To this may be added from twelve to fifteen
hundred tons of orange tlowcr water which is produced
at the same time as the essential oil. — Pharmactuticai
Jouriial.

♦

CINCHONA BARK PROSPECTS.
As a general thing, operators in (juiniue are not
disposed to place much faith in bark statistics, but
they nevertheless have an influence in directing the
market for the alkaloid. The excessive stock of barks
in London is said to be a great bearish element, and
that the declining tendency of quinine is to be
attributed more to that fact than anything else, but
the trouble is that figures are accepted as represent-
ing the supply and demand without proper invest-
igation. A correspondent takes the Ceylon Observer
to task for not placing London bark statistics in
t their true light, and explains that a large proportion
of the stock is composed of old importations of Cupreaii
I bark for which there is no demand, presumably on
j account of poor quality. The large )iumber of pack-
I ages usually reported as the London stock gives out
! an erroneous impression when not accompanied bv an
j explanation. The correspondent in question reduces
1 the actual stock at least twelve million pounds by
1 giving the weights of the packages, many of which
j are serons weighing about one hundred and fifty
pounds each, and cases of druggists' quills which do
not average as a rule more than one hundred pounds
each, and bales of Java bark weighing from one
hundred to one hundred and fifty pounds each. The
weight of the packages being over-estimated hereto-
fore the stock was made to appear much larger
than it really was.

By advices received ' last Saturday, we Icaru that

operations in the Java field are exciting great interest

' in Ceylon, and planters in the "atter place are seeking

information from every channel possible to ascertain

j the future possibilities of competition. An anxious

I correspondent writes to the Straits Times for infor-

I mation on this point, and adds : —

' As the future of the .Tava field is being watched

': with interest by quinine manufacturers, as well as

I planters in Ceylon and elsewhere, we (?ive below an

extract from a Java paper called the feourabaya Currant,

which gives a gloomy report from that section.

Speaking of a disease attacking the roots of cinchona

trees, in "West Java, it says :

A letter from a Ceylon planter is published in the
Tropical A gricultu/rlit just to hand, in which he .says : —
" Having had occasion to travel in several districts
in search of a piece of land for cinchona, I was very
much struck at the small area in cinchona chiefly
in the olden districts— of course, I mean, compared
to what it used to be two years ago. Most certainly
Ceylon is not likely to export the quantity of bark
that has lately overflowed the market, and so on.
(!inchona planters in Java are not taking kindly
to the Amsterdam market, as they find it more to
their interest to ship bark to London, owing to quick
settlements, a more businesslike method, and higher
prices realized for .Tava bark in the English metropo-
lis. Amsterdam will not likely create a stir as a
competitive bark market, for the present at least.
We have attempted in the above remarks to throw
some light on a very dark subject, but the half has
not been told. A veil of secresy covers the whole cin-
chona and quinine industries, and it cannot be lifted ex-
cept by some one in the inner circle. Foreign
papers don't seem to realize the importance of thoroughly

17^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept. i, i8S6,

investigating the extent and prospects of cinchona
plantinjr, and are contn-t to publish the usual board
of trade statistics without <|uestiou. The work will
devolve upon an enterprising American paper. — Oil,

I'aiid mill Drvij Iltporii'i'.

THE QUININE MARKET.

P.y the time the Reporter is published, the present
anxiety over the probable outcome of the bark sale
on Tuesday will either be relieved or deepened. The
interest manifested in ti.<! developments on that day
is unusual, and in some ,quarters there is a faint hope
of a strengthened market, altliough every indJcntio>i
points directly against it in the shape of alleged
immense shipments of bark, loss of confidence and de-
moralized traders. The bark market especially is char-
acterized by an absence of confidence, which did not
emanate so much from the increased suppHes as from
the manner of conducting business at the sales.
Many operators in this market place little or no im-
portance in the wired intelligence from abroad as
to prices realized per unit for bark. They had their
confidence shaken by evidence of crookedness to
blind the unsuspecting public, and do not accept as
reliable the tests as announced at the sales. This
growing suspicion is confirmed by a correspondent
in the current issue of the Tropical AQricidturist
who calls attention to the wide difference in analysis
and value between a test made by a chemist employed
by the planter and the analysis and valuation made
in London. The difference was twenty-two cents
per pound 1 The first analysis showed a smaller
amount and to every appearance was honest, but
the second one was artificially increased with the
evident intention of swindling the buyer. This ex-
perience however is rare ; the alleged crookedness is
generally the other way, and instead of the planter
receiving the benefit, the buj^er and commission
agent are intrigued against him; for instance, we
are informed from London that a seller of barks on
commission received a handsome bribe to have his
barks analyzed a much lower percentage than actually
existed, and by this means they were sold for about
one-half or one-third of their real value to a bark
speculator.

Xruder these circumstances the quinine market would
be indirectly iulluenced, and when all confidence is
lost in the bark sale reports, their imi)ortance will
cease as a barometer for quinine values. Not only has
faith departed from the bark sales, but it is firmly
beheved that statistics are also doctored for effect ;
this belief lias become so well grounded in some
minds that very little reliance is placed in the periodi-
eal announcements of the position of barks. The
quinine market, it is thought, will have to stand on
its own merits independent of the crude material,
but this is hardly possible.

The present situation is not very encouraging foi-
business. Buyers of quinine could have loaded up
last week at fifty cents for either spot or July and
August shipment, but only a few availed themselves
of the opportunity. Outside parties were rather
anxious to release spot stocks at that price and cover
with deliveries during next two mouths at same
figure, but a halt was called on Saturday and hollers
were found to be firmer. This was caused by the
action of one large holder who prevented a serious
break in the market by withdrawing all supplies on
Saturday and declining bids of fifty cents, which
would have been gladly accepted on the day previous.
This had the effect of changing the whole tone of
of the market as the lowest figure quoted since then
by outside holders was fifty-two cents. A portion of
the .supplies changing hands at fifty cents last week
was ou account of American manufacturers. At pre-
sent writing, American brands are unchanged in
price, but a lower range is expected to prevail if
the declining tendency in barks is unchecked In
the meantime, three foreign brau'Js are favoring
buyers at lower figures than quoted this time last
week,

The rianters' Ga~ette of Oeylon* in a recent issue
warns barks shippers of the necessity of checking
their supplies as much as possible until the market
has time fo right itself and adds: — "It is unlikely
that the present depression in ((uinine and bark will
be of long duration. It has its origin from one or
two causes, the result of which will so react on
both raw and manufactured articles as to* curtail
the supply, and so with the increased demand which
time is sure to show, we may look for steady and
progressive markets later in the year.'' — Oil, Paint
(ind T)r>iq Re-porter.

^

THE COLONIAL EXHIBITION No. VI.

Fr.ii. — The products of these islands occupy a com-

])aratively small space, and though there is but litthj
of ab.solute novelty among them there are, neverthe-
less, some of considerable interest. The coconut and
its products, as might be supposed, is fully represented,
as well as Candle-nuts (Aleurites moluocanus), the oil
of which is used for illuminating purposes; antl Dilo-
nuts, the kernels of Calophyllum inophyllum, from
which an abundance of oil is obtained having a high
reputation for the cure of rheumatism. Tapa cloths
are also abundant, the entrances to the court being
hung with curtains of this matf>rial, which, as our
readers will know, is the beaten-nut bark of the Paper
Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera). Amongst the
many valuable woods that are found in the Fiji islands
the ""\'isa'' and the Sandal-wood will attract most
notice, for here is shown a canoe cut out of a solid
"Vcsi" trunk. The tree which furnishes is a legu-
minous one (Afzelia bijuga), and the wood is heavy,
close and even grained, and of an intensely dark brown
colour. The natives use it not only for canoes but
also for pillars for houses, bowls in which to serve kava,
war clubs, &c. The Sandal-wood (Santalum yazi) was,
it is said, " at one time plentiful in various parts of
Fiji ; but in the early stage of settlement its destruc-
. tion must have been most indiscriminate.''

T'^nder the name of Bandina Boxwood srme blocks
are shown of a remarkably hard wood, which api)eared
upon examination to be suitable for engraving pur-
poses. It is, however, of a dark browu colour,
which, it seems, unfits it for the better kind of work,
TTpon submitting a sample of this wood to an expert,
he reported that the wood has no special claim in
consequence of its dark colour. This, he says, con-
siderably reduces the value, as it could only compete
with inferior Box, which is at present supplied in
sufficient quantity. He explains this objection by
saying that " cutting upon wood is like drawing
upon paper; if it is tinted, there must be a limit to
the density of the tint, or your drawing will be
absorbed by the tint upon which it is drawn. An
engraver would have difficulty in observing his pro-
gress while doing his work." The plant producing
this Bandina Boxwood is at present unknown, but it
is stated that should it prove useful it could be had in
any quantity up to two feet in diameter from Fiji,
and the other outlying groups of islands in the
Pacific.

Some fine masses of Kava root (Piper methysticum)
are shown, also powdered Kava root. This, it will
be remembered, is the source from whence the Fijian
beverage called kava is made by masticating the root
and ejecting and fermenting the saliva. It is known
to have diuretic properties, and has latterly attracted
some notice for its medicinal value in this coimtry.
Quito recently, indeed within the, last few weeks, a
spirit prepared from Kava root ha.s appeared on
sale at the refreshment bars in the Exhibition. It is
a colourless liquid and is sold in squ«re whito glass,
capsuled bottles, with labels fully describing its virtues.
It is called Y.agona, the finest Kava Schnapps, or
.aromatic gin, and its value is set forth as follrws: —
" The active principle of this agreeable and
splendid beverage is prepared from the root of the
Piper nuthysticum, a species of Pepper. The root
is c;il1ed Yngoiia by the natives of Fiji, and from

'' iiopiral K'.jricu'tttrint, no doubt meant. — Ed,]

BBPt. i,

■^4

'fUii moPicAL AdKtetftTtJKrsT,

«79

nm mi aiu^^iL^mzM

it they niiike their national drink, which is tliuretic
rather than intoxicating. Yagona has been the Royal
drink of the Fijian and Samoan chiefs from time
immemorial, and it is to its constant use that chiefs
and people alike owe their robust health, in spite
of the depressing influence of their tropical climate.
This premitive and unsophisticated liquor regulates
the action of the internal organs ; it possesses re-
markable soothing properties ; it is a health stimulant,
an excellent brain-feeder, a wonderful restorer of
faded energies and of exhausted nerve-power. It is
a preventive to gout and rheumatism. To those
engaged in heavy intellectual labour it gives renewed
energy. It is a veritable Elixir of Life. As a diur-
etic it is unrivalled, and it imparts a purity to the
blood."

If the general use of the "Yagona" should bathe
only result of the Exhibition, it will finally have
fullered a great mission !

A little Handbook to Fiji and Cataloyxe of the
Exhibits has been issued under the authority of the
Executive Commissioner, the Hon. .Tames E. Mason,
M.I.O., and this contains some interesting facts on the
culture of the Coconut, Cinchona, Coffee, Cotton,
Sugar, Tea, Toba jco, &c. Of the latter we are told that
though it flourishes iu all the islands of Fiji, it is most
largely cultivated, and reaches its greatest perfection
in the ''Colo," or highland provinces of Viti Leon, the
largest island of the group. All sorts of Tobacco
seed have been grown, including Virginia and Latakia.
The natives smoke their tobacco rolled up into ''saluka"
or cigarettes, the wrapper used being the dry lc;i.f of
the Plantain. Connoisseurs are very particular in the
choice cf their wrappers, and will only use the leaves
of certain sorts of I'lautains. Tobacco is an important
iota of native life. Without it and kava no import-
discussion can be conducted. — Gardeners^ Chividcle.

SOME STATISTICS ON THE QUININE
INDUSTRY.
Memphis, Tenn., MaJ 26, 1886.

l\) THE KDITOR OIL PAINT AXD DRUG REPORTER.

We will esteem it quite a favor if you will answer
for us as promptly as possible, the following questions
bearing on the quinine trade:

1. What was the piice of quinine in ihe United
Stiites wh( n the dutj was removed, July 1st, 1879 ?

2. What was ((uiniue worth in London, Paris,
Germany and Italy, July 1st, 187^', or when the
duty was removed in the United States?

3. What was the product of cinchona bark in
Oeylon, South .Vmerica and Java, in 1869, 1879 and
1885 ?

4. What was the price of the bark in London
from January 1st, 1877, to January 1st, 1886?

5. Whan caused the great reduction in the price
of the bark ?

6. Do American manufacturers get supplies from
Oeylon, Java, or Soutli America, or all?

7. AVhat was the duty per ounce on quinine when
it was made free ?

8. What was the duty on the bark, or raw material ?

9. Was there a duty on the bark as well as the
quinine, when the duty on the latter was removed ?

10. How much quinine has been imported into the
United States since the duty was removed, say since
July 1st, Ibid?

11. How much has been exported since then?

12. Can you give the foreign product per annum
of quinine ?

13. Also the American, before and since the duty
was removed ?

14. What \i the taritf on imported castor oil ?
We no these are quite a long string of questions,

but we arc anxious for the information and will
certainly appreciate any assistance you can render
us iu the m itter. M.

[I. The highest price of ([uiuiue in 1S79 was
$3 60 and lowest, i?2 60. When Congress removed
theduty in July of that year the price of American
quicjus TTiis ^Xdo per ounce la bulk;

2. Complete information on this point is not tu
hand. The duty was no sooner removed in the
United States than Large quantities of foreign quinine
were shipp ' liere and with this increased movemeut,
prims advanced abroad. The lowest price in London
during 1879 was 9s n • 1 the highest 14s.

8. Ceylon is one of the main sources of supply
for bark, and it has only been during the past ten
ye.ars that the shipments from that plane reached
any appreciable amount. In 1861 the first seeds were
received in Ceylon and in 1869 the export of bark
was only '28 ounces, but in the season of 1882-3 the
exports were 0,925,595 lb. and in the season of 18S3-4
the exports were 11,500,000. For many years previously
South America supplied all the bark used by quinine
manufacturers of the world, but through the active
exertions and costly experiments of the British and
Dutch Governments, the cinchona plant was introduced
from South America into the East Indies, Java and
Cejlon, so that largo quantities of bark are now
obtained from these move recent sources of supply.
We are unable to give the actual figures of production.
The Java barks are growing in importance while
South American are not held in such high favor.

4. The price of bark iu London on January 1, 1885
was 8J per unit and same date this year 5d per unit.
We have no information as to the market in previous
years.

•">. While the removal of the duty has been au
important factor in the cheapening process of (juiuiue
and barks, it has by no means been the only cause.
Sui)ply and demand lia\e to a great extent led to
the reduction. t,>uinine is cheap today in England
and on the continent of Europe as well as iu the
U. S., partly because cinchona burk is cheap, aud
the bark is cheap because of overproduction.

6. Almost exclusively from Ceylon.

7. Twenty per cent ad valorem.

8. In 18(51 the duty on bark was ten per cent,
until August of that year, when it was increased to
15 per cent. In July of the following year it was
changed to 20 per cent and in 1870 cinchona bark
was placed on the free list. On June 22, 1874 a
discriminating duty was imposed on East Indian bark
which was repealed in 1882, the act taking effect
Jan. 1, 1883.

9. Answered in preceding paragraph.

10. The total imports of quinine into the United
States since 1866 have been has follows : —

1867
1868
1869
1S70
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1S84
18S5

Ounces.

40.675

U7,99(i

35,550

10,861

34,723

7,970

114.814

6S,007

12,279

22,74r,

75.804

17,549

228,348

41fi,998

408,851

795,495

1,055,764

1,263,732

1.390,126

11. The exportation of ([uiaine has been so light
that no record has been kept of the amount. Not
long since the stock here of a German brand was
shipped back to be recryst.ali/ed to give it the
appearance of other makes, but outside of this there
has been no exporting business if we may e.xc- pt
two lots of domestic sent to London last year &»■■'■■>
experiment.

12. As we stated in the Reporter U&t ISIirch,
some parlies interested in tlie quinine market have
undertaken the laborious aud unfruitful^ tisk of
figuring up the world's production of quinine, wliicli
ha'v bceu au enigma ever sipvc the indus-try was-

tBd

f Mi; fmpnAi Ai^mctjLftJni&f, iptpt. t, tm.

started. From a reliable Loudon source we get the
followiog estimate of production for 1885.

Pounds.

I'^uitcd States 70,000

Germany 70,000

England 50,000

France 40,000

Italy 30,000

India (febrifuge) 10,000

Total 270,000

These figures wore shown to some members of the
trade in this city and it is hardly necessary to state
that they were characterized a ridiculous. We were
volunteered another estimate as follows: —

TTnited (States
<\'ermany
iilngland
France
Italy ...
India

TOUNDS.

100,000
120,000
27,000
30,000
35,000
10,000

Total 322,000

In August 1884, the Be porter published an interview
with a gentleman who placed the total production
of the world at 4,.')00,000 ounces, forty per cent, of
which was consumed by the United States. The
production of the latter at that time was estimated
at 1,000,000 ounces, or 500,000 ounces less than
before the removal of the duty. From those state-
ments some one may be enabled to strike a happy
medium and arrive at a closer osLimate of the world's
production.

13. Answered in the preceding paragrai)h.
15. The duty on castor oil is 8U cents per gallon.
Ed.]

PARING AND BURNING LAND.

This method of clearing land is of very ancient
date, and is more generally resorted to by the agricul-
turist than the gardener, probably for this reason —
that in a well kept garden the soil is kept at such
a high state of eflBcieney by continuous manuring
end constant cleaning as rarely to require any such
radical treatment, for one of the principal advantages
•of paring and burning is, that in one operation it
not only cleans the land but also manures it. In the
formation of new gardens, however, and especially
where the ground is overrun with noxiou.s weeds and
the coarser kinds of grasses, such as Ooho (Imperata
cylindrica) and Mootho (Cyperus hexastachyus), this
is frequently not only the most etfectual but also
the cheapest and most expeditious means of clearing
the ground.

In carrying out the system of paring and burning,
we must first consider what soils are suitable for
the work, and our experience teaches us that light,
sandy soils are not adapted for it, nor is it so much
required for cleaning this kind of land, because these
soils work freely, and therefore the grass and weeds
are easily separated from the earth, and besides soils
of this description rarely become so foul as those of
a more tenacious nature. It is also difllcult in prac-
tice to burn these soils, because when turves or
bunches of grass grown upon these soils are cast on
the fires they settle down so closely that the air is
impeded in its circulation through the heap, conse-
quently the fire burns slowly or goes out entirely.
The soils best adapted for paring and burning, in
order to obtain the full advantage of the process,
arc those of a strong calcareous nature, and most
other clays, the object being to obtain manure as
well as the destruction of weeds. "Wo obtain import-
ant results by the residue or ashes of the stronger
ooils of any description, and especially those yielding
a large amount of potash and carbonate of lime, each
in varying proportions according to the composition
of the soil before burning. In the process of burn-
ing, valuable ashes are obtained from the coarse grasses
and otlu'.r weeds the soil may contain. Thet.e weeds
/ind g?a»s yvheu left in undisturbed nossessiop of the

soil, are the resort of various sorts of insects
inimical to almost every kiml of produce, and although
these insects may be greatly disturbed by the ordinary
process of culture, yet their entire destruction is only
obtained by the action of smoke and fire in the
case of paring and burning. The enemies to crops
are really so numerous that it would be simply im-
po.ssible to enumerate them all, but the chief of them
consist of wire-worms, grubs, slugs and snails ; all
these will be destroyed entirely by paring and burning
the land, especially if it is done by turfing and
burning with as little disturbance as possible to the
turves after being cut. We strongly advise the plan
of paring as compared with cultivating before burning
which is sometimes adopted, because the latter plan
during tillage would so disturb the insects in their
haunts and holes that many would escape and again
hide themselves in the loose earth before the clods
could be placed on the fires, but it is ortherwise
when the surface is cut over by paring say to a
depth of four to six inches, because in that case
they would be but little disturbed in their hiding
places before the turves where placed on the fires.
This is one of the strongest reasons why the old
style of paring and burning is still most advisable.
We must now refer to the record of experimental
investigations made on the subject by Dr. Voelcker,
one of our greatest authorities upon may points and
practices in agriculture and scientific farming. He
says: — "I am prepared to adduce reasons founded
upon analytical evidence and well-established agri-
cSitural experience, in support of my conviction, that
paring and burning on some kinds of soils is not
only a profitable operation, but that it is under
certain circumstances by far the most rational plan
of cultivation which can be adopted in our present
state of knowledge for raising ujion some kinds of
land the largest amount of produce with the least
expenditure of money. In connection with the pohcy
of paring and burning we must expect to meet
objections, and to encounter some opposition from
both practical men and theorists also, the former
through want of experience, and the latter through
mi.sapprehension of the teachings of science. Various
classes of objectors have arisen from time to time.
There have been three principal ones which we shall
refer to separately. The first objtctors condemn the
practice because they say it destroys the organic or
vegetable matters in the soil, and that it causes a
waste of a most important classes of fenilising
constituents. In reply we do not deny that vegetable
matters are soil constituents under all circumstances,
and prove more or less valuable as fertilisers ; in
fact well cultivated and productive soils invariably
contain much organic matter, which circumstance has
led many to suppose that the productiveness of the
soil depended upon their relative pioportions found
therein. Not many years past it was customary for
agricultural writers to estimate the relative state of
fertility of different soils by determining the amount
of huinus or decomposed vegetable matters in each.
This it must be understood is clearly contrary to
reason and well ascertained facts, for there are soils
which, like peaty lauds, contain a large percentage
of vegetable matter and yet are comparatively sterile.
On the other hand there a.re very many fertile clay
soils which contain hardly any humus and yet are
highly productive, and which for this reason may
with much advantage be subjected to the process of
burning. The last objection we have to notice is on
the ground of expense, and maintaining that it is
more profitable to lay out money in the purchase of
Guano, ^^iaperphosphates or other artificial manures
than to spend it in paring and burning. In reply we
may observe that the opinions of practical men on
this subject furnish most reliable evidence that paring
and burning, as practised by the best farmers in
England, proves, conclusively that it has been found
to be the most economical means of culture for
many descriptions of crops."

We quote from Dr. Voelcker's essay on the subject,
who observes : that " Numerous personal enquiries
lead me to coufirm the opinion expressed by Mr, Cwird,

Stw, 1, i8B6,]

tan fnoptCAL AGmcuLfvmsr*

l3t

who suys that the best farmers burn the most, and
he rests his opinion on the testimony of several
practical men. AmoDu'st others things he mentions a
fioki that hail l«fcen broken up from its natural state
just fifty years ago; it was then pared ajid burned
and so started for the first crop of turnips, which
supported the other crops of the course. The same
process has since been seven times repeated ; no
manure of any kind had ever been appUed, and yet
the crops in each succeeding rotation had shown no
signs of decreasing. The soil which lies on the lime-
stone foundation is very thin, but not more so than
when first broken up. ' "We have quoted this because
it is so much in accordance with our own practice
in paring and burning, for, alter spreading the ashes
resulting from burning, we have never had occasion
to apply manure of any kind for a number of years
when the soil burned has been of a strong loam or
clay nature. In again quoting Dr. Voelcker in respect
of the mode of burning, he says :— '• A certain degree
of heat is necessary to induce a proper chemical
action ; but, as demonstrated by my former experi-
ments, an excessive heat should be carefully avoided,
inasmuch as it has the effect of rendering burnt clay
again less soluble. It is no doubt for this rea.son
that practical men recommend stifle burning, * for
this pr^-veuts the heat of the heaps of burning soil
becoming too intense, consequently stifle-burnt clay is
always very porous, crumbles readily to powder, and is
moie easily soluble than clay burnt at a higher tem-
terature." In accounting for the advantages of paring
and burning, the changes in the organic matters of
the soil must not be overlooked. Soils which are
regularly pared and burned often contain much vege-
table an organic matter, and afford therein fuel for
burning a considerable quantity of the soil itself. It must
be understood that the destruction by fire of the
organic remains in heavy soils, far from doing any
harm, is the most available and economical way of
preventing their undue accumulation. The fire, we
would observe, also destroys insects, their eggs and
larvai, as well as the seeds of weeds, bits of under-
ground stems which, like those of many species of
grasses, are apt to grow again, and which theiefore
cannot be disposed of so effectually as by burning ;
in short, nothing cleans laud so cheaply and effectually
as paring and burning.f We must now observe that
the excess of undecomposed vegetable matters are
found to be injurious to vegetation. Peaty soils furnish
familier examples of this. In conclussion it must be
understood that the destruction of vegetable matter
in soils adapted for paring and burning is not attended
with any evil consequences. Inert vegetable matter
is changed by burning into highly effective mineral
food for crops. Burning improves materially the
mechanical condition of the strong soils by rendering
them more porous and more ea.sily cultivated. The
ashes produced by paring and burning are especially
useful to green crops, because they contain a large
portion of phosphates and also potash, constituents
which are known to promote in a high degree
luxuriant growth. — Indian GarJe/ier.

TROPICAL FRUITS.J

Amongst objects of productive industry receiving
attention at presant in our Colonial possessions,
tropical fruits are at once the newest and most
uiteresting of idl. Many of these fruita are practically
unknown in England in a fresh state, and hence
before tropical fruits are largely consumed here, it is
necessary to diffuse knowledge respecting them, and
to render tbem as familiar to English home people
as they are to their Colonial friends.

'^ Smouldering : pieces of wood, weeds and rubbish
slowly burning under a covering of clay. If the tire
is too brisk, there will be danger of the clay
hardening into the consistence of brick. — En

t Where fire cannot be applied, a dusting of quick
lime will be bi-ueficial. — JOn.

I Abstract of a I'aper read at a Conference held at

the Colonial and Indian Exhibition on Tuesday, July 26.

^r. W, T. Tbweltoa Pyer, IMl.S,, O.M.G.; iu t]je dbair.

At the present Exhibition, owing to the suggestion
of the Council of the Koyal Horticultural Society,
fresh fruits are shown from nearly every part of the
British Empir" Thanks to the Colonial Market
established in eouucction with the Exhibition, Oranges
Lemou';, and Grapes are shown from the Australian
Coloi;.! ; Oranges of several kinds from Natal, fresh
Coconuts from the West Coast of Africa, Pine-
apples from Antigua, Bananas from Jamaica, Nase-
berries (Achras supota.), Avocado Pears, Papaws,
Bread-fruit and limes from British Guiana ; Melons
from Barbados, Prickly Pears and Dates from British
India, and most luscious Pine apples from Singapore.
Although not exclusively a tropical fruit, the Orange
is found and fiourishes throughout the eastern and
western Tropics. Taking this fruit as an example, it
is remarkable what a large increase has t%ken place
in the consumption of this fruit in the United King-
dom during the last fifteen years. In 1870 the
number of Oranges imported into the United King-
dom was 80,000,000. In 1885 this number had in-
creased to 500,000,000, or at the rate of fourteen per
head of population. Dates are consumed to the
extent of 5000 tons per annum, while Coconuts
are imported by the shipload.

Being the nearest to England, as well as the most
productive in the way of tropical fruits, the West
Indian Islands naturally supply, and should supply,
the English market more readily than any other.
At the present day in the West Indian Islands the
value of the fruit exported is nearly £400,000 per
annum.

In Jamaica alone fruit is annually exported to the
value of over a quarter of a million sterling — consisting
chiefly of Bananas, Oranges, Pine-apples, and Coco-
nuts. The Bahamas export chiefly Pine-apples, both
fresh and canned, to the value of £50,000 per annum .
Trinidad grows and exports chiefly Coconuts. British
Honduras, connected by a mail route with New
Orleans, exports Bananas, Coconuts, and Plantains
to the value of £15,000 per annum. Montserrat is
chiefly interested in Limes, and exports Limes and
lime-juice to the annual value of £11,000. Dominiac
exports Limes, Tamarinds, concentrated lime juice to
the value of £40,000; while flat and sugary Antigua
exports only Pine-apples, but those, though small, of
very superior quality. From their geographical posi-
tion it is only natural to suppose that a large pro-
portion of the fruit of the West Indian islands
finds its way to the United States and Canada,
where there are nearly fifty millions of people, with
all of whom fruit enters largely into their daily food.
The Banana (Musa sapientum) is the cheap fruit
at present cultivated in the West Indies, and this
fruit is the one which in the future will be more
largely offered in the English market than any other.
There are numerous varieties of this fruit imder
cultivation, the Martinique Banana is found the most
profitable to grow for export, although a smaller
fruit, known as the Fig Banana, is more luscious and
more highly esteemetl locally as a dessert fruit.
Jamaica exports Bananas to the value of nearly
£200,000 per anum, and is capable of growing fully
three times the quantity now exported without any
diminution in the larger staples.

The Pine-apple (Ananas saliva) is no doubt indi-
genous in Jamaica, where an inferior kind, known
as the ''Cowboy macca," is still found wild. The
Pine-apple is incorporated in the arms of Jamaica,
and certainly nowhere, except perhaps at Pernambuco,
can Pine-apples of such size and delicacy be grown as
in some parts of this island. Antigua is noted for
its Pine-apples, the pitch-lake Pine of Trindad has at
least a local reputation, but the Bahamas export more
Pine-apples in the fresh and cured state than any
other part of the world. The chief supply of Pine-
apples for the English market at present comes from
Madeira, the Canary Islands and the Azores. Should
the interesting experiments now being carried on by
Messrs. Scutton & Sons, who have fitted up one of
their ships with a refrigerating chamber, be successful,
we shall before long have large supplies of Pine-apples

direct froiji tbu lYegt lodies; awiat^vexy mcderate eost^

J82

THE UROPtCAL ACrKlCUl-lURISt*

[Sept. r, t'6H6.

The We8t Indian Lime i Citrus rnedica, var. aei.la
is a fruit which is not much known in England. It
is possibly little grown anywhere else except in I he
AVest Indies, where a large industry is arising in con-
nection with the preparation of raw and concentrated)
lime-juice for the manufacture of citric acid.

The Mango (Mangifera indica") is the " Apple " of
the Tropica, and is a most nutritious and wholesome
food as well as a desert fruit. Originally an Ea'-t Indian
tree, the Mango has become thoroughly naturalised in
the "West Indies, and is forming large groves iu waste
places iu Jamaica, where negros, horses, pigs, and
fowls feed upon the fruits for nearly four months of
the year. The West lias given to the East the Auona
fruits, known as Sour-sop (A. muricata), the Custard-
apple (A. reticulata), Sweet-sop (X. squamosa), and
the Cherimoycr (A. cherinvdia), but practically only
the second and third appear to have become established
u their now home. Tne (.tuava fruits (Psidium
Guavava) are very common everywhere, and utilised
chiefly for making the well known Guava jelly, and
for flavouring cordials and syrups. The Litchi, rambu-
tan, and L' ngan of the Ea«t Indies are co-related by
the Genip (Genipa americaua; of the AVest Indies.
The fruit of the spine-armed Zizyphus jujuba, allied
to the "seductive sweet fruit"— the Lotus of the
ancient Lotophagi, has become cosmopolitan in its
distribution, and will soon finds its way to England
from the West as well as from the East. The
Passion-fruits are amongst the omost delicate and
refreshing of tropical fruits, and ome of them have
been successfully introduced to England. The most
common are the Granadilla (Passiflora quadrangulaiis)
the Pomme d'Or or Water Lemon (P. laurifolia),
the Sweet-cup (P. edulis), and the Calabash Sweet-
cup (P. maliformis).

Of tropical fruits known generally as nuts, we have
a long licit, some of which are seldom seen in Engla,ud.
The Coconut is> too well known to need description.
It is computed that over three million acres of land
are under cultivation in Coconuts m tropical coun-
tries, and the annual export value of nuts, oil, copra,
and coir is estimated at nearly two million and a
quarter founds sterling. The Brazil nut (Bertholetia
excelsa) is obtained entirely from wild trees which,
are of immense size ; and the same may be said of
the Sapucaya nut (Lecy this sapucajo), and the Souari
or butter-nut (Caryoca nuciferuru).

India is so badly off for fruit herself that she is
not likely to be able to export any to this country ;
but the wild Apricot of the Himalayas, of the Pur.jaub
and North-west Provinces, is produced in such im-
mense quantities, and so easily cured by simply drying
in the sun, that it might be imported at a very low
price. It is the Pruuus armeniaca of botanists, kuowu
in India as the Mish-mush or Moon of the Faithful.
This latter appellation it has obtained from the fact
that it is sometimes pressed out into sheets of " moons"
and kept in that state until required for use. The
delicious fruits of Singapore and the Malay peninsula,
amongst which the Mangosteen and the Durian arc
the best known, are not likely to come direct from
those countries. The former has, however, been
fruited both in Trinidad and Jamaica, and large trees
of the latter exist at these islands as well as at
Dominica, Grenada, and St. A'lncent. Hence AYest
Indian Mangosteens and Uurians are objects not im-
possible to be seen in England during the next decade
— D. MoRKis, Assistant Director, Royal Gardens, Kew,
July 21.— Gardeners' Chrmicle.
»

The Potato Disease.— We take the following from
the Jociiial oj the iliariuaccutical Sodety-.—^Dr. A.
B. Griffiths has lately made some interesting experi-
ments on the effect of sulphate of iron on the Potato
disease fungus {Chemical Seirs, May 28, p. 25G). He
found that an aqueous solution of 0. 1. gram of
ferrous sulphate in 100 grams of water causes per-
forations of the celkUose walls of the hyphte and
spores, while it does not attack the cellulose walls

apptars to be of a dirterent character, since it is
colourpd by reagents which do not afft- ct the cellulose
of fungi. He also su.gests that potash salts in manures,
while v.iluable for the potato, also stimulate the growth
of fungi, since Chevrt-ul has shown that fungi greatly
llourLsh when watered with a solution of potassium
nitrate. —Gardenern'' Chronicle.

Planting in Tkav.vncore.— Mr. Valentine of
Txavaucore has been on a short visit to pur
Ceylon Tea districts, to note and compare pro-
gress. Travancore promises to be a very fine
ea-growing district : indeed one report 'by a
Ceylou planter says he has seen as fine tea
growing there of its age as any in Ceylon. Very
little in Travancore however is of a plucking
age, and the extension of planting is not being
pressed, but is carefully and gradually being
attended to. There is no scarcity of labour, most
of the coolies coining from Tinnevelly. As an
outlying division of the Ceylon planting districts
which we have always regarded South Travancore
since the days of poor John Grant and his
band of pioneers, we are interested to hear
of progress such as Mr. Valentine reports.

A Hint to Ceylon Tanneks. — A new use for
Carbolic Acid has been discovered by an Australian
inventor, namely for tanning leather. We had thought
that Australia affords more than enough natural
tanning material without this invention. h\ the
process the skins, which have been limed in the
ordinary manner, also haired and prepared if for
the production of sole leather, are placed in a
bath consisting of a mixture of 10 gallons of
water, in which 200 pounds of soap are dissolved
and containing 1 gallon of carbolic acid, the skins
being left in the bath until tanning is complete.
The process may be considerably accelerated by
adding a j)int of fresh carbolic acid to the tanning
fluid from time to time. For a softer leather the
raw, limed, and haired skins are for one or two
days placed in a mixture of four parts carbon
bisulphide and one of carbolic acid, and then
washed. — t hemist and Dnujijist.

CoH'EE up to 70s is indeed, good news for '
long-suffering planters who may have coffee to sell :
and we may have the standard rate in the "eighties"
before the end of the year. Brazil is rapidly
getting into a bad way, witness the following new
phase of their labour troubles recorded in the
latest Bio paper ; —

There is one serious problem iu the social organiz-
ation of Brazil which ought to be studied and
solved — and that is : What is to be done with the
freedmau '.' Rare indeed is it that a planter is found
who thinks that his ex-slaves may be retained upon
his lauds as paid laborers, and still rarer is it to
find a legislator who contemplates the possibility
of retaining them as a laboring force. The one
great demand is for colonization or immigi-ation,
in which is to be found a substitute for slavery.
Now, what is to be done with the ex-slave'.' It is
thought by most men that the freedmen will all
flock to the cities ; but the cities are already over-
crowded with them and can neither employ nor sup-
port thein. Where, then, are they to go'.' They
cannot camp iu the highways, nor upon the landa
of others. They can not live without food, clothing
and shelter of some kind, nor can the charitable
begin to provide even a tithe of these things for
them. The cities, and even the country places, aro
already over-run with' mendicants of every kind and
description, and the number of idlers and vagabond
dependents is even now gi'ievously out of all pro-
portion to the actual laborers. Out of a population
of, say, twelve millions, there arc probably not a
quarter of a million of manual laborers outside of
the slaves. The number of idle men among the
poorer classes — men who actually do less than a

week's nork in tlie wliole year— ig eucplv iucredibte.

Sept. i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

r83

To the Edi/or of the " Ceylon Observer."

SYNTHETICAL MANUFACTURE OF QUININE.

5th August, 188(i.
Dear Sir, — The July number of your valuable
Tropical Agrivulturisi contained an article re
Synthetical Manufacture of Quinine, your cor-
respondent raentioning an advertisement in the
Lniicct according to which a " Syndicate for
the above purpose was being formed. " Have you
not read any more of this interesting scheme ?
Quirine and quinine alkaloids possess a strong
rotatory power, and as it has proved an imposs-
ibility as yet synthetically to prepare any substance
which has the above property, planters and others
concerned may take the medical men's Syndicate
easy. Indeed a synthetical manufacture of quinine
has to be looked upon as impossible for the
presen t.— I am, dear sir, you s faithfully, M P.

'We have heard no moie of the Jjavcet advertise-
ment.— Ed. '

ALT, ABOUT TEA AND

ITS PROSPECTS:

; " PLUCKIKG FINK "
QUALITIES FALLE;

THE ALLEGED " DETERIORATION ;
l\ MEDIUJI PLUCKINC. ; FINE
'MOST IN PRICE ; THE SYNDICATE TO APPLY THN
REMEDY; NO " SECRETS " ABOUT TEA-MAKING XOWE
THE " OBSERVER " 'S FOUR HE^UDS OF ADVIOE RE-
CAPITULATED ; THE NEED FOR THE DRAG ON THE
COACH ; "ECONOMY IN WORKING " REQUIRED ; SAFE
AVERAGE PROFITS R15 PER ACRE ; THE FUTURE OF
LABOUR SUPPLY ; A WARNING TO PROPRIETORS.

5th August ISSfi.
Dear Sir,— Some time ago you asked me to
give you my ideas about things in general and
especially Tea. I send you a rather hurried sketch
for you to do wliat you like with. — I remain, yours
truly.

The most serious question at present is : " Has
Ceylon tea reached its lowest price or must we look
for a further fall ? " At present the fall is arrested,
and we hope our produce will soon command better
prices. Unless other markets are found besides
Mincing Lane, later on, we shall probably see a
still more serious and a permanent fall. How we
are to meet this outlook is the point we have
to consider. The reply of the London Broker is,
" Pluck fine and send home superior teas." The
Planter's answer, to this is, plucking fine does
not pay me so well as medium plucking,
which also tries the young bushes less, besides I
find the teas specially affected by the late fall
are the teas of better quality. To prove that this
is correct we have only to refer to the weekly list
of tea sales in London. Broken Pekoes and Pekoes
formerly worth Is 9d to 2s, now sell at Is to Is 2d,
whereas Pekoe Soucliongs formerly worth Is Id
to is 2d still realize lOd to Is : dust and broken
teas have fallen very little in value. The com-
plaint that Ceylon tea has fallen off in quality
is not generally allowed by planters. One of them
discussing this question with me lately said, ' l\Iy
opinion is, an attempt is being made by London
Brokers who are interested in Indian and China
teas, to class Ceylon Tea as an inferior article,
and rank it with Java produce and he suggested
fiT'it, that for a short time all proprietors should
pluck fine and thus compel an acknowledgment
that Ceylon tea equally witli Ceylon coffee and
cinchona is second to none ; fn'cond, that a 1
proprietors should support the now Syndicate and
show London Brokers that we can find other out-

lets for our tea and thli? compel them to value
our produce fairly.' I would urge the Syndicate
not to forget to place Ceylon teas in London and
all large towns in the United Kingdom and the
United States, where, if proper agents are appointed
and good teas (guaranteed by the Syndicate) sold
large quantities of our produce will be absorbed
and we shall be rendered less dependent on Min-
cing Lane.

That planters are anxious to know all about
and to make as good tea as possible is shown by
the way in which information is freely given ia
lectures, &e., and by the general exchange of
opinions that is always going on. Mr. Gow's
'secrets " are the only ones that I know of in
Ceylon. I hope they will turn out valuable
ones and if he can without plucking finer, raise the
price of tea on the estates he visits, he will benefit
himself and the Island. I fear it is hardly likely
he will divulge them— that is if they are worth
having — in his paper to be road in Dimbula.

I believe Ceylon teas will improve as estates get
older, and that possibly climatic influences may
have caused a slight falling-off in quality, but
that every planter has been less careful in manu-
facture or that the stamina of the tree has been
affected I am unwilling to admit.

You have frequently warned planters not to be
too sanguine and given them advice. It can do
no harm to recapitulate some of your past advice,
as even now it may be of use, as land is still
being opened for tea, and coffee is being inter-
planted. It will also be interesting to see if you
were correct. Advice No. 1 was. Not to put tea
into worn out coffee estates or into land where
soil was bad ; 2nd. not to use seed from young
bushes or bushes of an inferior jat;_3rd. Not to
rush estates into tea but to do the planting gradually
and carefully ; 4th, To have belts of gums and other
trees to keep off wind and break the expanse
planted in one product, thereby probably lessen-
ing the spread of disease if hereafter it attacks tea.
Inferior land has, no doubt, been planted by men
unwilling to acknowledge that the estate they had
Funk their money in and which failed in coftee
and cinchona would not grow tea; and by speculators
with a view to selling out when the rush comes
(but the rush never has come and now prices are
down probably never will). That tea from land
of this description proves inferior is not surpris-
ing. Many have rushed tea into their places and
been careless about seed because agents and mort-
gagees compelled them to plant large acreages at
once and now in yield and quality their estates
cannot come up to those of their more fortunate
neighbours. It may be that advice No. 4, may yet
prove to be sound but many belts put in for cin-
chona have been eradicated of late years showing
that the advice is not generally believed in. I
cannot believe poor soil will continue to give large
crops of good tea without cultivation, cost of which
may render keeping up of poor estates unprofit-
able. It is certain that prices will eventually fall
to say, 40 to 50 cent for all round breaks and re-
main at that price. Only estates where the yield
is high and quality good will then pay. If inferior
land is abandoned when this occurs, those who
have good land will benefit. The produce will be
superior and prices loss affected as the annual
outturn will be less.

Economy in working must be the great aim
of the Ceylon planter : the man who gets the
highest average is not necessarily the best planter ;
but those who can combine cheap expenditure
and a fair average price for their teas will show
the best profits. When the , question among plan-
ters is what profit did your l&st break show?.

I $4

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept, i, 1886,

— instead of as at present what was your last aver-
age price ? — the position of proprietors and the
credit of the island will improve. The sooner the
desire to raise the average price is coupled with
the determination that it shall not be combined
with increased expenditure the better. If high
averages cannot be ol)tainod without fmo phiekiuf,.
wliicli means incroaspd expenditure and is tryiiif:
to our tea bushes it is far better to bo contonl
with our present rates. Without manuring, tea
will cost in most instances not less than cents ;]0
delivered in Colombo and taking an average price
of cents 15 and an average yield of 300 lb. an
acre we have a profit of lil5 per acre or on a
•200 acre estate 119,000 per annum. It certainly
cannot be safely calculated higher save in ex-
ceptional districts where soil and climate combine
to increase yield and give a superior quality of
tea. The above figures may be considered low
but they are safe. Many estates are giving
large returns, but will they continue to do
so. After years of working ?

Profits may be large now, but when the price of
labor goes up, as I believe it will do, when Coast
advances increase ; and last not least when Super-
intendents are wanted and their salaries rise, I
question whether my calculation of profits is too
low. To prevent the cost of labor increasing we
require, fimt, to have direct steamer transport for
coolies to Tuticorin ; i<econd, the Paumbeu Eaihvay ;
third, suitable Government amhalum^ for them at
the ports of embarkation and debarkation; /'o(//-Z/f,
a direct service, i.e., through tickets and European
agents at each end who will not leave the cooly
a prey to native peculation. Lastly, I much ques-
tion whether the present kangani system could not
advantageously be replaced by collecting agents.
All who can grow coffee, cinchona and
cacao successfully should put in tea only
where the other products cannot succeed : this
will pay them best in the end and others will
benefit by their not increasing the output of tea.

I am of opinion that a large acreage of tea is
pruned and plucked (probably in some cases owing
to necessity) when very young, damaging the
bushes and the future of the estate. It is neces-
sary to warn proprietors that by this course they
are not studying their own interests. The day lias
passed when agents and banks combined to help
speculators to buy and sell estates at unremuner-
ative prices. Propvietois must accept the fact that
they are no longer birds of pass.^f'e ; they cannot
.H"^; formerly plant up estates and sell. They niiist
consider the future of their properties, which, if
carefully tended from the first will yield them
small and steady incomes. They are unlikely to
effect a sale except to bona fide capitalists who will
be careful only to buy the estates at a price tluit
will be remunerative to themselve-, that is, unless
Limited Companies will help them out. They must
remember also that estates, like everything else.
after reaching maturity go back ; that in many cases
they are working on soil whei-e cinchona and coffee
have previously been grown : that disease may and
probably will, later on attack their trees (for wliere
a large expanse is in one product, disease is
generally found). All proprietors should therefore
lay aside at least half of their present profits and
look on half only as income; then, in later years
they will be able to enjoy a well-earned retirement
in a temperate climate.

FOURTEEN YEARS A i'LANTEli

TEA MACHINERY.
[We were invited by Messrs. John Walker & Co.
of Colombo Iron Works, the other day to inspect
some new tea machinery at tlieij works, but owing

to shortness of staff and a feeling that a practical
autiiority would be able to give a more correct opin-
ion we requested a well-known tea planter of large
experience to ins))ect tiie machinery for us and we
are indebted to him for the following. — Ek.J

Dkak Sih, — While in Colombo having had oc-
casion to vlrit Messrs.. .Tohn Walker X Co.'a factory,
I was enabled Ihrongh the courtery of Mr. Walker
to see the now .(ackson's Tea Sifting .Machine put
in motion and it seems to leave little if anything
to be desired as regards strength, simplicit}- and
general completeness. The uiachine, which is
strongly built and works noiselessly, is about '6 feet
by 12 feet. At the top end of the machine is a Cutter
which also acts as a feeding-box through which
the tea in bulk is passed ; it then falls on to a
(i, H or 10 mesh tray according to method of sift-
ing and all teas that do not pass through this
upper mesh go over the bottom end of the machine
int6 another Cutter equalizing itself and forming
pekoe souchong or souchong, according to mesh
used. What teas go through this upper mesh fall
on to a 12 or 14, the broken pekoe passing tiirough
these and the pekoe remaining above both dis-
charging themselves at the lower end of the machine
through separate hoppers, the different grades of
teas being carried through the machine and evenly
distributed on to the various meshes, by means of
" rippled " metal plates. The teas are easily seen
and got at, all the trays with meshes pulling in
and out like a chest of drawers. At present there
is no means of taking out the dust, but I suggested
to Mr. Walker a slight alteration which should easily
be made to effect this purpose.

The new " Economic Roller " is also worth a visit
and is by far the best-looking machine at the money
yet turned out in Ceylon, and I shall expect to find
exceed the capabilities expected of it by the manu-
fa cturers.

At Messrs. Maitland A- Co., I saw Mr. Gilruth's
Packer, a recently patented machine, of which the
public will hear more in the immediate future,
there being no doubt from both local and London
broker's reports on the trial shipment of teas
packe I by this machine that it will be the means
of enabling planters to avoid rebulking charges in
London. A few great improvements are being effected
in this machine, and it may be a month or two
before the public will be able to get delivery of
it, as Messrs. Maitland (t Co., as usual, want to
turn out a thornughlv perfect article. -Yours truly,

PLANTER. '

TFA MAKING AKD THK CEYLON
PLANTERS.

Sir,— I've beeu told hy experienced Ceylon tea maker.s
that they corieider Mr. liuvv's utteraiioes anent our
island manufacture "insultingly swceiiiug." No doubt
there is room for imjmirfimut in every walk through
life, and a friendly word of cor.nsel, from an avt/inriti/
should not be discounted too harshly ; at the same
time, an utter stranger (may I say) to the country
might have j>au.'ted before thundei-ing forth suco
'•fiat."

The first question wiiich arises to nij' miiu) on hear-
ing that Mr. (4ow iiad condeniued the Ceylon mode
of tea manipulation i>, what experience has he had in
this respect':' Uas IMr. Gow ever maili- a lb. of f oa in
his life before his advent to our isk of spice? Does
he conscientiously believe that our manufacture of
tea is entirely wrong? If so, what does he l)asc his
argument on ? The recent poor jtrices no doubt !
Supposing that the market went up with a "jump,"
as I hope it may ; would Mr. Gow kindly publish
his opinion as to the reason why?

The able and interesting letters which have lately
appeared in priut, — more particularly Mr. Spearman
Armstrong's— give us an insight as to the recent fall-
ing-off in quality of our teas. My only objection to

Sbpt, 1, 1886.) THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

185

his statements are, that he tells too much !— in fact
is too honest towards our traducers. The planters
of Oeylon are, as a rule, qvirJ: at Jrarning, be it coffee,
cinchona, cardamom or tea cultivation and manipul-
ation. Mr. Clow's task therefore should not be a
difficult one if he ;w2/y can teach us to improve
our teas, and enable Oeylon growers to double their
present prices in the London market.

I trust I am not too stringent in my remarks, and
that Mr. Gow will take them in the spirit in which
ihey are intended; namely, to ventilate a discussion
which day by day is growing in importauce, and
which some day not far off will, in my opinion, form
the very foundation upon which Oeylon as an a^ri-
cnltural colony may be known, honored, and respec-
ted.—I am, sir, yours faithfully, . „ . „

SHELTON AGAR.

ENEMY OP CACAO.

10th August 1886.

Dear Sir,— Enclosed I send you a small piece of
wood with chrysalides • attached. "Will you kmdly
tell me what they are ? I found them inserted longi-
tudinally in the bark of the trunk of a cacao tree,
and, as you will see, they had penetrated the cam-
bium. As they exist in great numbers, I p,m anxious
to know what they are ?— I am, sir, yours truly,

A PLANTER.

P. S. — I have often been mystified, on reading the
Monthly Market Kates given iu your Tropica}
Agriculturist as to how different products are sold.
I read this month, for instance: " Vanilla 14s to 24s"
Is this per lb. (U- per kilo ? Would you publish once
a table of how these different products are sold ?
f We shall endeavour in future to give the measure
opposite to each. Vanilla must be per lb. — Bn.j

A BIG TEA LEAF.

Hunugalla, Elkaduwa, ISth Aug. 1886.

Dk.vr Siii,— What think you of this tea leaf
from Elkaduwa? Its size when pulled was llj; by i\. —
Yours very truly, A. D. MOIR.

[The leaf is splendid, excelled only by a leaf of
indigenous, fully a foot in length, sent to us a couple
of years ago from Somerset, Dolosbage. — Ed.]

THE RECENT FALL IN PRICE OF

CEYLON TEA.

De.vr Sir, — Other eminent men have written about
the late fall in value of Ceylon tea. Why should
not I? I have planted tea, and I have made tea,
and I have sold tea. I am a tea planter. Some
say the cause is to be found in the fall of silver.
I don't agree with them. It requires silver to make
tea, but tea is not made of silver. Take a pound
of tea, say B.O.P. for sake of argument. It is worth
60 cents. But you are up to snuff and get one
rupee for it in Colombo. Next week the price of
silver falls. But your pound of tea is exactly the
same value if not exposed to rats and damp. Try to
buy it back for less. You can't do it. This proves I
am right. Some say it is faulty manipulation. Why
manipulate at all ? I don't manipulate. Pull your tea
about and yon get grey dust. Everyone knows that.
Sieve it gently through 8 and 12, and blow your
dust out. What more do you want? Some say it
is over-firing. That 's abaird. Surely we have noses
and can smell burnt tea? I can smell burnt tea
at 100 yards' distance on the flat. A cooly who
burns tea in my factory gets lifted out of it pretty
smart. Some men burn their tea. But that does

* Eggs, probably of a cricket or locust, or perhaps
those of a nug. 1'he ones cent have been injured

hv piossme.
51

Oiii cntonaological referee.

not prove that we all do it. I will give any man
one rupee per pound for all the burnt tea he can
lind in my factory, if he agrees to give me 10 cents
per lb. for all he linds not burnt. This will pay
for damage done by his pulling my tea about in
search of burnt stuff. I don't say I'll give liira
the tea for 10 cents. You bet I keep the tea!
Some say it .is young leaf. Ridiculous nonsense.
We have not all got young leaf. Some of mine is
very old, but it does not fetch higher prices than
the young. Some say it is exhausted soil. Bun-
kum ! Has all the tea soil in Ceylon suddenly be-
come exhausted? The man who started that theory
is in a bad way. He ought to consult Doctor
White. Some say it is bad lead and rotten tea chests.
Those men have lead and boxes for sale. Look
out. Don't buy them. Some say it is bad stowage
on board ship. Shipping with hides and other
fragrant conserves. Rubbish! Does tea taste of
everything it is shipped with? I hope not. Some
say it is a fall in the tea market. Exactly so! I
agree with them. An ordinary fall in the common
or garden tea market. Nothing else. — Yours sin-
cerely, WOOLY WAG.

MR. SHELTON AGAR AND MR. GOW.

D?;ar Sir, — I think that Mr. Shelton Agar's letter
attributing to Mr. Gow, opinions regarding the
manufacture of tea in Ceylon, which he never
expressed, is not only unfair but written in very
bad taste.

Mr. Agar acknowledges that he knows absolutely
nothing about Mr. Gow's qualifications or whether

i he ever made a pound of tea in his life, and as-

j suraes at once that Mr. Gow like himself has
expressed an opinion on a subject of which he is

' completely ignorant.

1 I know Mr. Gow has plenty of commonsense

j and I am sure that in anything he has said re-
garding the manufacture of tea here he has not
condemned the good with the bad.

Mr. Gow was an Assam planter for seventeen

■ years and manufactured from 150,000 to 200,000 lb.

i of tea per annum ; he was afterwards, for several
years, a tea taster and tea expert in London, and
after years of study has invented a tea withering

- machine.

I Surely if long practical experience in the cultiv-
ation and manufacture of tea, and thorough ac-
quaintance with it after it is made, qualities a
person for endeavouring to correct mistakes which
unexperienced planters may have fallen into, Mr.

! Gow is the man.

Mr. Agar says that his object, in his attack on
Mr. Gow, " is to ventilate a discussion which day

; by day is of growing importance." It is a curious

1 way of attaining his object by trying to shut Mr.

I Gow's mouth.— Yours truly, A TEA PLANTER.
[It is certainly strange that Mr. Agar should haVe
been unaware of Mr. Gow's experience as a planter,
but we fail to see the bad taste of his allusion to
Mr. Gow's uncomplimentary opinion of the capacity
of Ceylon planters to manufacture tea. If Mr.
Gow never said that our planters were wrong from
the first process to the last, he is truly unfortun-
ate in his connection with the local " Times" editor,
who has attributed such sentiments to him in the
most explicit manner, sentiments which Mr. Gow
has never personally repudiated. We beg to say
that it is not enough that he should do so second-
hand, through this correspondent. Wliile the belifl
remains that Mr. Gow made the st.atement attrib
nted to him, it is natural that reaentraant ahouUl
111' felt and expressed. — En,]

t.S6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept. i, 1886

RAINFALL AND TEA IN MASKELIYA.

Theberton, :i.;3keliya, IGth August 188(;.
Dear Siit, — As I expect weather reports will be
o£ interest this extremely wet month, so far, I
send you it, and also for August 1882, to the

heaviest previously for

. 1882.

OS

2-40
4-31
7-21

o-t;3
1-or,

4-42 J- c

same date as

that

is the

coiayarison.

Date,

1886.

1st

2-46

2nd

2-94

:5rd

O-H'-)

4th

0-8.J

5th

1-33

Gth

IvSO

7th

l;^ 42

8th

3-45

9th

1-12

10th

1-32

11th

1-29

12th

5-18

13th

3-32

14th

1-45

I5th

0-90 J

Total

••

40-18

1-G4

'cS

5-25

rn

2-83

^

0-12 Q

001

0-35

2-35 ^

38-13 for 15

days.

Total

I believe Theberton, has the reputation of being
the wettest estate in Maskeliya. I feel sure if the
rainfall was taken on old Laxapanagalla, it
would show an average of J to J more per annum,
particularly if taken close under the Laxapanagalla
cliffs.

I would mention that the average for August
for the whole month for 6 years is 37-47 ; so
this year, we are above the average in 15 days.

Tea, this month, you may say, is at a stand-
still, and no wonder, after such a fall of rain.
The temperature has been low in mean maximum
G6"' mean minimum 64^. We ought, before long,
to be in for a good spell of iine weather, as
noon as this burst has blown its self out. — Yours
truly, T. J. GRIGG.

AN EXEMPLARY AGRICULTURAL STUDENT.

Dear Sik, — You will be glad to learn that the
scientific education imparted at the Agricultural
School to intelligent boys is just beginning to bear
fruit. That Mr. John Gabriel Atapattu of Dehiwala
is making a proper use of his education and know-
ledge of botany is clear to anyone who takes the
trouble to vibit his vegetable garden in his own
property in Dehiwala. Only the other day an Eng-
lish gentleman in high position condescended to
visit Mr. Atapattu's garden, and, whilst he kindly
promised to supijly tomato and other seeds to Mr.
Atapattu, at thn same time expressed his pleasure
at the way iu which work is done there. Mr.
Atapattu feels the sugger.tioiis made by that gentle-
men valuable and of great encouragement to him.
It is to be hoped that other agricultural students
v,-ill follow in the wake of Mr. Atapattu and each
of them will endeavour to spread a knowledge of
im))rovcd scientific cultivation among his neigh-
bours.—Yours faithfully, AGRICULTURIST.

COCA CULTIVATION IN SOUTH AMERICA
SiK, — I should be glad if any of your corre-
spondents through the medium of your paper could
give me any information as to " Coca," what sort
of soil is the best and at what elevation ought it
to be grown because it would be worth trying as an
experiment.— Yours truly, INQUIRER.

To a German friend in Colombo, we are in-
debted for the folio vving extract from the letter of
a South American^authority on " Coca " ; — . :

" "With refertnce to the manner of raising, drying
and preparing coca on the spot, he writes as follows :
— Tvfo-tliirds of an aore is cleared about each cottage
and planted with coca and bananas. Durinar the first
two years the workmen are paid regular wages for
clearing the land and planting and caring for it, but
during the second year only one or two workmen are
needed. After the second year the gardens of the
workmen begin to yield and no more wages are paid
to them; they work three days i week for rent and have
the other four days to themselves. The price of 12 pesos
"(about ."Hs 4d each) per sesto (i* what weight) is
as low as coca can be raised with .'iny profit,
;md there is no proTsability that it will go
beyond this point and remain there for nny coa-
siderablc time. The grade of coca raised on this
land is very superior. With reference to handling
and drying coca leaves I will state that Mr. C'.'r
remark concerning it has been anticipated in previous
rape -ts. Coca must be dried in the shade ; it is
impossible in that climate, artificial heat i •. ruinous.
No process is superior to rapid sun-drying for. the
reason that it is perfect. Von will see from previous
correspondence that I obtained same assayed results
from a given quantity of fresh leaves, that I did from
the same quantity after proper sundrying. The
J lorest coca assayed, that is the poorest grade of
p-roperly dried leaves, yields 8-lOths per cent of
cocaine ; the best yielded IJ per cent."
Ed.]

Tea in Japan. — The Japan Weekly Mail
states : — Transactions in tea continue on a large scale,
and a further decline is reported on all kinds of leaf
on offer. Again the issue of June 26th, states : —
The tea trade has again been extensive, and though
prices were easy early in the week, a firmness has
characterised later dealings which indicates that
sellers have the best of the position at the close.
The grades principally dealt in have been medium
and below, and of these the shipments, both here
and at Kobe, have been heavy. There have been
but few complaints about the leaf sent in so far
and the season bids fair to be a good one for
growers.

Bltje-gdm Oil, — In Mr. Lawson's report on the
Nilgiri gardens we find the following paragaph :—
During the year 20 lb. of the oil of the leaves of the
Ev.cali/pius glohulus were sent to the Madras Medical
Department. The last consignment was .so'd at hte
rate of E3-3-0— 5 shillings per pound being the whole-
sale English quotation. The processes required for
the manufacture of the oil are very simple and inex-
pensive, and I think it is a pity that those who have
large plantations of these trees should not endeavour
to utilize them for this purpose as well as for fuel.
The way to extract the oil is as follows : — The young
shoots, having perfectly matured but not old leaves,
are passed through an ordinary chaff-cutter and cut
into chips not exceeding one inch in length ; the smaller
the chips the more readily is the oil extracted from
them. Tliese chips are then macerated in water over
night and put the next morning into a still, which
18 kept boiling, till the greater part of the fluid has
past over as vapor. This is then shaken up with a little
common salt to cause the complete separation of the
oil from the water; the oil is then decanted from the
wat«r and passed through a sheet of filtering paper,
when it is ready for sale. Instead of passing the leaves
through a chalf-cutter, it would be better to pass them
through some crushing michine, as the object is to
smash up the hard cells, which sum und the cavities
into which the oil is passed by the secreting cells. I
do not know of such a machine, but I should think
that some modification of the old-fashioned mangle
would prove effective. EucalyptuH ohliqua, E. sidir-
opMoia, E.piperita. and other s^veet- smelling varieties,
all rif whicn are said to yield valuable .-ils. giow freely
on the.ie Hills; they arc m eh more bf^«»utifui in their
general a,spfct and their timber is greatly superior to
thj.t oi the ]■'. glohubar. "' ■ '

SEfrf. 1, i886,J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

187

PLANTING ON CEYLON PULLS,

TUK ABNORMAL DISTRIBUTION OF RAINFALL THIS SEASON
HIXHEllXO AFFECTED TEA AND 'FLUSHING' UNrAVOEABLTi
— MINOR enemies: the great BANDICOOT rat — ON THE
WHOLE, TEA NEVER LOOKING SO WELL AS NOW — ALSO
CINCHONA OFFICINALIS.

Upper Liudula, 9th Aug. 1886.

As I telegraphed to you this morning this district
seems about to receive compensation for the defi-
cient raiufaU of the first half of 1886. It is not
so n.uch tlie absolute deficiency we have had to
complain of however, as the abnormal distribution
of the rain which did fall in the early months of
the year, and which affected so unfavourably tea
which had been pruned in the closing months of
1885 and flushing generally. The fearfully rainy
year 1882, when 30 inches beyond the average fell,
being excluded, the averages for the first four months
of the year at Abbotsford for the three years 1883
to 1885 compare thus with the figures for the
same months in this year ;—

1880,

•January
February
March
April

6 07 inches,
0-92

1-80

1)

12-06

Average,

2' 11 inches.
3-76
4-04 „

o'38 „

13-29

April, delayed
December and
to six weeks,
corrected the evil
long hung fire

so

Total ...

The actual amount of moisture precipitated is this
year deficient by not much more than an inch. The
defect was in the concentration of so much of the
fall in the first month of the year, while February
and March, the cold windy months of the year, had
scarcely more than three inches amongst them, April
also not getting much more than half its usual
allowance. Deficient rainfall and cold winds checked
tea flushing to a serious extent, but May and June to-
gether showed an average rainfall lO-^i'i;- 8-14— 18-46,
bringing the total for the half-year up to .SO-52
inches, or ,r46 below the averyge of the previous
three years. Tuly followed with 11-38 inches, less
than three inches below the average, while August
in its first eight days having shown 7-84 (the average
for the whole l)eing 11-99), promises fully to restore
the equilibrium. If only a genial temperature ac-
companies copious rainfall, there can be no question
that the collections of leaf in the latter portion
of the year will atone for the deficiency in the earlier.
In ordinarily favourable weather pruned tea ought
to have recovered itself and to be yielding well
in 2^ monlhs. fully in 3 months, after the ap-
plication of the knife. The abnormal drought
in February, March and
cess in the case of our
pruned tea, by a month
rains of May and June
now the bushes which

the pro-
January
but the
and

are

flushing luxuriantly. Our trouble at present, indeed,
what with rain and mist, is to overtake the
withering of the leaf which comes pouring in,
laden with a good deal of the moisture by which
it has bsen satui-ated. There is no sign of blossom
on the pruned fields now come into full flush,
but I suppose it is due to the abnormal season that
so much more than we could wish of the fields
pruned a year ago have gone off into flower and
fruit ; not merely China-hybrid, but many of the
highest Assam hybrid jat. Some of the best seed
is being gathered and after a few more leaf pick-
ings, of course the knife will correct the tendency
to produce blo^tjou aoid iruit iiiidlead of lealt Is

the case of a few bushes, so few as to be scarcely
worth mention, this tendency to free blossoming
and the aprrnrance of dark spot on the leaves,
have led to the shedding of the entire crop of
foliage. Buch trees, if pruned, will probably recover,
unless, indeed, their roots have touched the fatal
symplocoK with its poisonous fungi. Black, or rather
brown bug has been prevalent, in proportion, I
think to the abnormal drought of February- April,
but it is curious to notice how this blight aliects
certain fields and never appears on others. As far
as my experience and observation go, this is
the most serious affection to which tea in Ceylon .
is liable, for the moth, which comes and goes i
does little mischief. There have been occasional
scares of hilopdti>^ and " red spider,' but
neither of these pests has, as yet, done appreciable
harm in Ceylon. The forest rats, which at inter-
vals, made irruptions into our coffee fields and did
much apparently wanton damage, in cutting off
the primaries close to the stem, with a cut as clean
as that of a pruning knife, have not as yet I
believe, attacked our tea cultivation. But the
gigantic member of the rat family, the bandicoot,
has been giving us a little trouble here recently,
in the ravine, curiously enough, where the big
black imnderoo monkeys in former days devoured
the tops of our cinchona officinalis plants, stand-
ing on their hind hands and puUing down the tops
with their forehands. The bandicoots whose habitat
is a belt of jungle left near the bungalow, do
not seem to care for the fever plants or for the
leaves or branches of the tea bushes. But they
have discovered that the thick, succulent tap roots
of the best jat tea bushes are dehcacies and to
get at these they have dug up several of our very
best bushes. Traps having been set, a young
bandicoot was captured and I requested it might
be preserved for me to take to Colombo as I
know there are many Europeans in Ceylon who
have not seen this huge black rat. A carpenter
was accordingly asked to construct a box for the
safe keeping of the creature. He refused, saying
it was contrary to his religion, the religion which
teaches that there is no God, but that you must
not take the life of any creature, however dan-
gerous or noxious. In this case it was explained
to the man that the object was not to take away
life, but to preserve it. All in vain, and it is not
worth while taking the man to Court for refusing
to obey a lawful order. Tea, like every cultivated
product has its enemies, but none of ^those 1 have
named are formidable and on the whole I have
seldom seen the great " new product " looking so
well. The same may be said of the r-ubsidiary
cultivation of cinchonas (C, OftirimU!^, chielly)
amongst the tea. The cinchonas were put down
long enough after the tea, to secure the thorongli
opening up and drainage of the soil by the latter.
The result was an unprecedented success with the
cinchonas, and now the coppiced plants are even
more flourishing than wore the original stocks.
There is scarcely a coloured leaf to be f.ren, and
the only question is whether the cinchonas will
even pay enough for the elements of which they
must deprive the tea. It is surely the very irony
of fate that when bark is at its lowest, th^ trees
are here and elsewhere at their best.

August lOth,— Since the despatch of my t. ley ram
yesterday morning the weather has contiiUid wet
and stormy, the south-west monsoon having aa ;erted
itself at last. The soughing of the wind last night
\\as wild and the " blowing " continues, with mist
and rain. The fall in the 24 hours to 6 this morning
was -33 inch. The most was made of the third
of an inch, however, being well spread ovck tbo
•^i lioury<

iK8

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

'?»

[Sept. i, 1886,

A fIRAND SUKSKT AMIPST THE STORM — FIEE, FIREWOOD
AKD ARTIFiriAI. FTjEI, — MR. GEO. WALL V, SIR SAMUEL
RAKEK OX CETLON SOILS — TITE IMPERLU. DUTY ON
TEA — THE NATIVES AND LOCAL TAX.\TION AND GOVERN-
MENT RAINFALL DISTRIBUTION ON THE HILLS 0¥

CETLON.

Upper Lindula, Aug. 10.
I ought to have mentioned that the storm of
Saturday, which, in the shape of wind and drizzle,
still continues, was preceded on Friday evening by
one of the most glorious possible sunsets. Golden
beams of light coming over the summit of Rilla-
galla, striking on the flanks of Great Western and
illuminating the whole valley of Dimbula were set
off by a perfect rolling sea of clouds floating over
Dikoja and Maskeliya. First snow white and win-
try looking, the masses of cloud slowly darkened
and then as the sun was sinking, put on an in-
describably beautiful cobalt blue. The whole circle
of mountains by which we are here enclosed, from
Pidurulallagalla round by Totapale, Kirigalpota,
Elbf-dde, Talangkande, with the summit of the
Peak, overtopping it, to Great Western, stood clearly
revealed. We at first, naturally, anticipated a
clearing up of the weather, but there were signs of
anger on the horizon of the beautiful sky which
too truly predicted what came to pass, the approach
of a storm during which, for three days, (this is
the fourth,) we have known of the existence of the
central orb of our system, only by light struggling
through wind-driven drizzle an:I canopies of dense
mist. Better planting weather, barring the evapor-
ating w.nd, which chills the poor coolies, there could
not bo. Any one visiting this valley or Nuwara
Eliya in such weather would be very apt to go
away with a very erroneous impression of the
climate, which for & large portion of the year is
most enjoyable. Indeed even in such weather as
this, although the magnificent scenery may be
hidden, healthy exercise can be taken, if only
thick-soled boots, good great coats and umbrellas
are put in requisition. When once the weather is
faced, the discovery is made that both wind and
rain sound worse when we are indoorb than when
in the open air we give them battle. The great
point is, on return from a walk or ride in wet
weather to obey the Scotch injunction of " change
ye're feet," the change being carried further, but
the additional injunction of ''gang into the tire "
being obeyed with some qualification. What a com -
fort a bright warm fire is ; but how rapidly fire-
wood disappffifs, when the requisitions of "the
Factory" are added to those of the hundred-
peopled lines and the bungalow, I cannot doubt
that ere long artificial fuel will come to our aid in
the shape of petroleum and other substances in
wh'Ch the preatest possible amount of caloric
is compressed into the smallest possible space.
Our forest up in this region is sparse beyond what
any external and superficial view would indicate,
the redeeming feature as to quality of soil being
the dense and luxuriant undergrowth of /f(7///. We
have found this all prevalent shrub a true index
of fertility, but it is of little value for heating
t)Uiiioses. By the way what is to be said about
Mr. George Wall's assertion that our Ceylon mineral
soil is generally rich ? Most authorities, hitherto,
have recognized the paucity of phosphates as a
serious defect, Baker attributing lo this cause, the
disproportionately small antlers of our elk or rather
sambur deer, and the fact that, while in South
Africa all elephants, females as well as males,
bear tusks, in Ceylon only one in sixty of the
males and none of the females produce ivory.
Surely Mr. Hughes' analyses proved that our soils
icere somewhat deficient in phosphoric acid. Our
iffei but warm insular climate bas been supposed

hitherto to compensate for a soil, poor in compari-
son with the black free earths of India and the
decomposed volcanic muds and ashes of Java. Mr.
Wall's tendency has ever been to take sanguine
views of the capabilities of Ceylon and we know
how to the last he refused to believe in the decad-
ence of coffee, although predicted by his
friend " dear old Thwaites." Aided by our
moist . warm meteorological conditions, our soil
generally, is excellent for tea, but inevitably,
we must ultimately supply phosphoric acid, potash
and nitrates to our soil, when exhausted by in-
cessant harvesting of cropsi of leaves. It is true
that those leaves are three-fourths moisture, but
the remaining fourth — which leaves the land as
dried tea, at the rate of 200 lb. to 500 lb. per
acre per annum, — carries away a very appreciable
amount of mineral matter. The question is, whether
the consumers of tea will consent to pay the pro-
ducers a price sufficient to enable them to manure
their lands when manuring is, as the doctors say,
" indicated." The sixpence per pound duty is a
very serious consideration, in this light, and per-
haps that heaven-born Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Lord Randolph Churchill, may surprise and delight
us all by a reduction of the impost to one-half
its present incidence. As to Mr. Wall being a
special sympathizer with the natives, this sympathy
took the form of advocating the abolition of one
of the very few taxes they pay, that on native -
grown and imported grain, a bread-tax and, there-
fore, objectionable in theory ; but, as the Observer
ever contended and still holds, better a tax on
grain (fruit, vegetable and root cultivation, includ-
ing coconuts, being free), than no revenue where-
with to construct roads, irrigation works and all
other improvements, including the extension of
elementary education, on which the progress of a
country and people, the natives of Ceylon included,
depends. It is just as well to recall the fact that
Sir Wm. Gregory, who gave Mr. Wall such special
credit for sympathy with the natived, not only
embodied in his dit;patches views identical with
those held by the Observer, but that he did us
the honour to quote from our articles, the tendency
of which was, " Better a moderate tax on one
staple article, from all previous time a subject of
taxation, than an acreage tax which would include
every food substance from the sweet-potato and
the pumpkin to the coconut and jialmyra fruit."
The bobt friends of the natives and of the masses
everywhere are not those who tell them, "Base is the
rogue who pays" — taxes. Mr. Wall is an able man
who has done good work in his day, but we decline
to recognize his efforts to sweep away a large
portion of the revenue of the island, easily raised
and lightly felt, as a service to the natives ; while
cominonsense and expediency are simply outraged
when it is contended that a Crown Colony can
be governed on the principle that the Queen's
representative, who is personally responsible, ought
in all cases to allow perfect freedom of vote to
the servants of Government who are members of
the Legislative Council, even if his policy of
necessary revenue, public works, education, Ac. is
as a consequence overset. Questions of religion
and conscience being reserved, we hold that the
Governor of a Crown Colony like Ceylon can
demand from the servants of the Crown under his
rule, the same support which the Prime Minister
of the Sovereign has a right to demand from his
associates in Government.

But I have wandered far from my subject which
is the question of comparative Rainfall in various
localities and at difi'erent elevations. We had a
pretty heavy rainstorm here on Saturday last at
an elevation of 5,800 feet and at a distance of

Sept. i, 1 886.1

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTtJRiSf,

iSg*'

about a score of miles from the " cloud-com-
pelling " Peak and its " rain-capturing " ranges,
running down to 1,000 i'eet above sea level. You
have no doubt, ere now, heard from Maskeliya,
Dikoya and Ambagamuwa, that at places less than
half our elevation, but in the teeth of the south-
west monsoon, they have experienced rain deposits
surpassing ours by two, three, four times. The
rainiest station in the world, in the forefront of
the Himalayas, Cheerrapoonjee, is only 4,000 feet
above sea level, and the rainfall decreases as thence
the vast Himalayas are ascended until at 11,000
or so no rain at all falls. Not giving due weight to
this principle, I at one time calculated that if the
late Mr. Heelis got an average of 100 inches per
annum at 4,600 feet on Langdale, we might calculate
on 110 at an elevation 1,200 higher on Abbotsford.
I am now perfectly satisfied that the true average
rainfall here is better represented by 100 inches
(the figure also established for Nuwara Eliya by
16 years observations) than by our old estimate of
110. The truth is that if we commence with
Theberton in Maskeliya, there is a descending scale
of rainfall against an ascending scale of elevation,
until the Nuwara Eliya tableland is reached. My good
but thirsty friend Mr. Grigg, is not contented with
absorbing less than from 200 to 250 inches of rain
per annum. He Icindly allows some of the rain
clouds to pass on and so they get loO in i>ikoya,
140 in the Kotagaloya Valley, 120 about Talawakelle,
106 at Langdale, and 100 at 5,800 in the face of
the south-west on Abbotsford. Nuwara Eliya is
440 feet more elevated and a rampart of mountains
shelters it from much of the south-west wind and
rain. But it is midway between the two monsoons,
receiving an appreciable tribute from each, the
result being, with striking inequalities between
individual years, an average of 100 inches. This
average, both for Abbotsford and Nuwara Eliya.
requires the inclusion of the enormously exceptional
rainfall of 1882. But the record for that year at
Abbotsford being imperfect, (although we have good
reason to believe that the rainfall was at least 130
inches,) I have taken the figures for the three years
following, during which, of course, there was a
reaction from the excessive fall of 1882, while in the
case of Nuwara Eliya, so utterly exceptional a year
as 1884 gave only 76-42 inches. The averages for
the past three years of reaction from the abnormal
rainfall of 1882, are considerably below 100, but for
any period like 5 or 10 years that is the average,
or perhaps 99 for Nuwara Eliya and 102 for Ab-
botsford. The figures for the 3 years ending 1885,
were ; —

1883. 1884. 1885. Averages
inches, inches. indies, inches.
Nuwara Eliya.. 99-62 76-42 83-68 86-57
Abbotsford ....100-10 851o 89-70 91-64
In both places the rainfall is well-distributed over
ihe year, no month shewing a lower average than
2-11 for January in the case of Abbotsford and
2'46 for the same month at Nuwai-a Eliya. The
highest average figures are 15-15 for Jupe at
Abbotsford and 12-78 for July at Nuwara Eliya.
But t) shew the capriciousuess of seasons, which
must be calculated on, we need merely mention
that while June 1884 gave only 4-88 at Nuwara
Eliya and 9 at Abbot;<ford, the reaction in 1885
was to '23-43 at Nuwara Eliya and 28-54 at Abbots-
lord. Tliis year June went down at both places
to 12-49 at Nuwara Eliya and 814 at Abbotsford.
Allowing for the fact that the north-east monsoon,
as might be expected from the position of Nuwara
Eliya, gives that place, appreciably more rainfall
(3^ inches) in November and December than
Abbotsford gets, the bulk of the year's rainfall at
both places falls between ftlay and OptoVer ; about

65 out of 91-64 in the case of Abbotsford and
57-05 out of 86-57 at Nuwara Eliya. For the 3
years, 1883-1885, the Nuwara Eliya average was
5 inches below that of Abbotsford. It is curious to
notice how in the first 6 months of this year, an
attempt was apparently made to raise the rainfall
of Nuwara Eliya and lower that of Abbotsford, so
as to equalize the averages. The rainfall ®f Nuwara
Eliya for the first half of thia year was 39-09
inches or G-96 above the average of the past 3 years,
which was 32-13. The rainfall at Abbotsford, on
the ether hand, for the first six months of this
year was only .30-52 inches, being 5-46 below the
average for 3 years, viz : 35-98. It seems quite
probable, therefore, that by the end of 1886, the
average for both places will stand about 95 inches,
another (the fifth) year bringing the figure for average
up to the round 100. In February, March and April
this year, (north-east monsoon months), Nuwara
Eliya got 8-66 inches of rain, instead of the wretched
5 inches which fell at Abbotsford ; Feb. and March
getting little mote than three inclies between them, a
quantity not eq\ial to supply the evaporating
effects o£ the north-east winds of those months.
We have already noticed that the bulk of the rain-
fall both at Nuwara Eliya and Abbotsford falls
between May and October. If, on the other hand
wc divide the year into halves, by far the larger
portion falls in the second portion of the year. At
Nuwara Eliya 32-13 inches only fall on an average
between January and June, against 54-44 between
July and December. For Abbotsford the similar
figures are 35-98 in the first half of the year,
against 55-66 in the second half. Of all the years
on record, 1884 was probably that most distin-
guished by deficient rainfall at both stations. In
that year the Sanatorium received only 76-42 inches,
or very little more than three-fourths of its average
supply ; the proportion for the first half of the
year being actually two decimals below 18 inches,
so that the average for each month was only three
inches. Abbotsford was better served by 8-71 inches,
but the total 85-13 inches was fully two inches
below the average of Colombo, while for the first
half of the year the fall was only 23-59. The direct
distances between the rain gauges at Abbotsford and
Nuwara Eliya is less than three miles ; but while
Abbotsford faces the south-west, Nuwara Eliya is pro-
tected from that monsoon by the One Tree Hill
and Kikilimaaua ranges, is more exposed to the
influences of the north-east monsoon, so that while
Abbotsford receives somewhat more rain than Nu-
wara Eliya does in the south-west monsoon months,
Nuwara Eliya receives compensation in the nortli-
east monsoon months, which tends to equalize the
average figures. As regards mean temperature, that
of Nuwara Eliya is 58^, with minima going down
to frost, the cold on the plain being intensified by
evaporation of moisture and by radiation of heat
into space, in the clear weather of the north-east
monsoon. This refers to " thp: plain " proper, which
is undoubtedly the grass-covered bed of an ancient
lake. On forest land or land redeemed from forest,
on the hills around, the temperature is much warmer,
frost on such places being practically unknown.
The mean at Langdale, 4,600 feet above sea
level in the Dimbula Valley, being ijo'' against
58° at Nuwara Eliya, the difference is 7",
that being the fall of temperature for a rise
in altitude of 1,640 feet. Were the conditions
equal, this would mean a fall of 1" for every '235
feet elevation. At this rate the mean temperature at
5,800 on Abbotsford would be 60'. But as the
estate has been entirely opened in forest and is
surrounded by growing forest, the true figure is
probably about 62\ As the lower portion of the
estate is 4,600 feet altitmle and the higher reaches

190

t»E TROPiCAL AGRICULTURIST.

[SSPT* I, 1SB6,

6,000 feet, the mcau temperature ranges from 05"
below to 01^ above, the medium being 63'. It is
quite probable, too, that a rain-gauge down at 1,000
feet, in the valley of the Dimbuldauda river, would
show a lew inches more rainfall per annum than
occurs at 5,800 to 0,000. On the other hand, the
occurrence of mist is rare below 5,300 feet, while
there is a good deal at certain seasons of the year
above that elevation and will be until more of the
forest around is cleared for railway fuel and other
purposes. The amount of moisture over the whole
estate, therefore, is probably pretty equal for
the twelve months. Apologies are doubtless due
to the readers of the Observer for such large use
with a property in which I am
data are available and trust-
meteorological conditions I have
with very slight qualiticatiou to
this district ; to Calsay. for iu-

of data connected
interested. But ih;
worthy, while the
indicated apply
many properties m

stance, with scarcely any qualification at all. So
with Mahaeliya, while the figures have a close
bearing on Dessford, Clarendon, Edinburgh, Inverness
and the whole group down the side of the Great
Western, The publication of the figures I have
collated may lead to the production of others and
of valuable deductions drawn from them, establish-
ing the suitability of exceptionally high altitudes
m Ceylon for the culture of tea. Visitors to our
Sanatorium in December, January and February,
seeing the grassy plains whitened with hoar-frost,
might naturally doubt the possibility of tea growing
and yielding well at many hundreds of feet of
loftier altitudes around. But the temperature of
both air and soil on forest land is far warmer
than on the damp grassy plain. Then Ceylon is
an island and most of the tea estates are less than
7" from the equator. The comparative figures com-
mented on are appended for reference.

August 11th.
Yesterday the wind was stormy, and drizzle and
mist prevailed. This morning is calm, but the
drizzle and mist continue. The fall for the
24 hours has been ^ inch, so that the rainstorm
has evidently worn itself out, up here at least.
We have, of course, had a good many earthslips
on estates, but none of much consequence. The
paths show signs of "wash," but where the drain-
age is good, the amount of damage from this cause
is not great.

I

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p i~ ^3 nH 3c o 1-1 TC at CO TJi 00

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1830.

lUiiifiiU for 1st 6 mouths

-N'Eliya.

Abbotsford.

.laiiuury..

. G-70

0-07

February

1-ua

.92

Mar,;h .

. 2-b-J

•2-27

April

. l-4">

2-80

VI«y

. 11-21

10-32

Juue

.. 12- 19

s-ll

Averages for three years
for 1st ti mouths of year.
N'Eliya. Abbotsford •

2-16

an

2-8i

o"70

2 51

4-04

1 68

3-38

7-76

7-54

11-88

1.3-1.5

3'J-0'.t oU-j-Z .32-13 35-98

Niuvara Eliya. Abbotsford.

l-.t G 2nd 6 Ibt 6 2nd 6

mouths, months. Total, mouths, months. Xutal.
1883... 39 81 59-78 99-62 42-22 olsH IWlO

1884... 17-98 58-44 76-42 2359 61-54 85'ia

1S85 .. 33-58 45-10 83-68 42-14 47-56 89 70

1886... 39 09 30-52

The rainfall at Niuvara Jiliya for the 1st 6 mouths of IbS")
is 6-96 inohe> over the average for the previous 3 years.

The rainfall at Abbotsford for the 1st 6 months of 1886 is
5-16 inches under the average for the previous 3 years.

THE WEATHEli — TEA-ll.iKINU AND MR. GOW — NUWARA
ELIYA.

Upper Lindula, 12th Aug.
The compensatory process continues. The rain-
fall in July was 11-88, a total below the average
considerably, but well distributed over the month,
there having been only two days out of the 31 in
which no rain fell. On every one of the 11 days
of August concluded at 0 this morning, appreci-
able rain has fallen ; the lowest record on any
day being 16 cents. In the 0 days i)reviously to
the rainstorm of Saturday the 7th, the aggregate
was 2-30 inches. From the 7th onwards the record
has been : —

21 hours ended Aug. 8th 4-40 inches
9th 1-00 „

lOth 0-33 „

nth 0-50 „

12th 0-82 „

Total for the 5 days
Add for ^Irst 0 days

7-11 inches
2-36 ,,

Total for 11 days of Aug. t>-47 inches ;
or close up to the total for July. The rain con-
tinues with but slight intermission, <;o that August
promises to make up for the deticiency of June
and July, whicn aggregated only 19-52 inches against
an average of over 30. We should giadly hail a
break of sunshine, however, to put an end to the
present necessity of calling in the aid of artificial
heat to further the process of withering. This
species of heat is said to be systematically applied
to the Loolcondura teas, so that the question arises
whether Mr. Armstrong and the rest of us, who
have built large stores to provide space at the rate
of 0 feet for every pound of green leaf, to be withered
by natural atmospheric air, have or have not gone
to needless expense V The force of the question is
intensified by the terms of Mr. Gow's patent
machine for the combined withering and smashing
of the leaves under the influence of artificial heat.
No doubt the public here will soon have the op-
portunity of judging of the capabiUties of a machine
based avowedly on Chinese practice. Meantime
the patentee, whom I have regarded as a sensible
and courteous gentleman, is to be sympathized with
for being represented (misrepresented, doubtless)
by the journalist who specially lionizes him, as
guilty of the exaggerated and ofl'ensive self-conceit,
of denouncing the whole mass of tea planters and
manufacturers in Ceylon as ignorant of their enter-
prise, from its alpha to its omega ; as erring in
every process from the plucking of the flush to the
tiring of the rolled and fermented leaf ! The surprise
is that Mr. Gow should not have protested apainst
what must be to gross and injurious a repre-
sentation of his character. If he has made
auy protest it baa noi fallea uudev mj aotioe.

Sept. i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

191

— Under the influence of the chronic damp, doubt-
less, a pretty emerald green, aquatic or semi-aquatic
plant, of very minute foliage, has spread from
the streams over the cultivated- land to some extent
in this district, giving at a distance the idea of
moss, which is also beginning to show. The green
plant does not seem of any consequence as a weed,
but our staple weeds are, in this weather, giving
work to the contractors.

A trip to Nuwara Eliya, yesterday, was very
enjoyable, although a good deal of what the Scotch
call " coorse " weather alternated with glimpses of
comparative clear atmosphere. The forests were
brightened by the profuse blossoming of white-
fiowered trees, purple nillus and white balsams, and
Lake Gregory was a lively sight when the wind-
squalls lashed the water into waves and produced
the effect of a mimic sea. All round the plain,
the presence of masses of slag here and tliere gives
evidence of the former preparation on a rather
extensive scale of metal from the ironstone which
abounds. A piece of land near the bund having
been cleared, two furnaces were revealed, one of
them a well-built and very perfect furnace-pit,
with ventilating opening at its base, in which
doubtless a good deal of ironstone was formerly
roasted. This pit will be preserved and good speci-
mens of the iron stone and slag will be brought
to Colombo for the Museum, as representing a
native industry all but extinct, from imported iron
and steel being obtained at prices so moderate.

PLANTING IN CENTRAL AMERICA :
GUATEMALA.

A MODEL COFFEE ESTATE.

{Extract.^ from the Letter of an ex-Ceyhv Planter
in Guatemala.)
I will try to describe to you the estate of the
late President (General Rufino Barrios) which may
interest you. The estate is situated about 180 miles
from the City (of Guatemala) immediately, next
the Mexican boundary. There are about 1.5,000
acres altogether, situated at an elevation of from
1,000 to 6,000 feet. There are about 2,400 acres
planted up with coffee, the oldest being nearly
eight years, the rest all younger; so you see it
is quite a young estate.

A Uttle over 2,000 acres are laid down in grass
for the use of cattle, mules, horses, &e. There are
2, .500 acres of fine virgin jungle at about 4,000
feet elevation eminently suitable for coffee ; the rest
of the land is at high elevations, or the opposite,
hot and low. There are .80 barbecues for drying
the coffee on, 25 yards square, made of brick and
ceaiented over (750 square yards of drying Patios).
These barbecues are all very well arranged from
the receiving or parchment cisterns ; the parch-
ment can be conducted to anyone of the bar-
becues by water. Eight Gordon Pulpers for pulp-
ing the coflee and eight wet parchment cisterns
6 by 8 ft. and H by 10 feet. The coffee is washed
by machinery, two machines of the Guardiole
patent, and one of Mason's patent. There
is also a very large cistern for receiving
the cherry straight from the field. The bottom
of this cistern is a little above the level of
the tops of the to ters, so that the cherry is con-
ducted by water to he pulpers; then, by water, the
parchment is conveyed pulpthe washers after fer-
mentation, and from the washers direct to the
drying barbacues or patios, as they are called here.
So you see there is nothing lost to facilitate oper-
ations or save labour. After the p irchment is half
dried on the patios, it is i taken into the store and
thcronghly finished by artficial driers.

These driers are patented by one Guardiole, a
Spaniard, and very intelligent man. They are cap*

able of drying 75 to 100 quintals at a time (one
quintal — 100 lb). The drier is a round barrel -
shaped machine which revolves very slowly ; the
heat is generated from a charcoal fire, and the
heated air is forced into the machine by blowers of
great power. (How would this do for tea drying?)
El Porvenir (the name of the estate) has four of
these driers. The next i^rocess is peeling and
sizing the beans. There are five of these (one
Gordon peeler, three Sraoot's and one Mason's
peeler ?) also a complete set of the latest improved
Gordon's sizers.

There are 400 oxen and 65 carts ; and 37 mules
and 15 carts.

There is also a saw-mill, lathes, and all tools
and other implements connected therewith. The
power to drive all this consists of one water-
wheel 40 feet, one 24 feet, and one 12 feet in
diameter. The building which contains all this
machinery, also storage room for the cofl'ee, and
the peleetors of bad beans (the same as is done in
Colombo) is formed of two sides of a square, each
side being 200 feet by 40 feet. For the accommod-
ation of the extra labour force there are about
150 ranches of various sizes ; besides these there
are scattered throughout the cofl'ee 18 large open
houses 120 ft. by 24 ft. ; these houses are for the
accommodation of the extra labour required during
crop time. There is also a large house for the
managers and a teJeyrnph office. There are 12 miles
of good cartroadsO and two fine bridges to cross rivers
Last year 18,0t0 quintals of cofl'ee were picked,,
and from 8,000 or 10,000 quintals were estimated
to have been lost fgom want of labour to pick it ; say
25,000 quintals altotther. This year 30,000 quintals
were expected, but I suppose they will lose one-
half at least.

The President, had he lived, would have made
one of the finest fincas or estates in the world,
but he died shot in battle, and so the place is
almost lost for want of labour to pick the crops.
120,000 bushels of parchment is rather a big
thing from an estate, the oldest coffee of which is
not more than eight years of age. Can you match
this in Ceylon or Madras ? 1 guess not. I ought
to state that there are 100,000 cinchonas planted
along the roads and throughout the cofl'ee : 10,000
Liberian cofl'ee trees planted in the lower portion
of the estate ; also a small sugar mill and cane and
a number sf cacao trees, I don't know exactly
how many.

The oxen and mules I mentioned are employed
solely on the estate, carting cherry to the store and
coffee to the railway.

THE CULTIVATION OF IRONWOOD.

Seeds of " the famous Nahor trees of Assam "
having been lately advertised for sale, it may be well
to state that the na-hor of Assam is the na-yaha
of the Sinhalese, the true ironwood. Apart from
its value as a timber, especially as posts for
telegraphs and like purposes, the living ironwood tree
is in every respect so exquisitely beautiful, that we
are glad to see facilities afforded for its extended
cultivation. The ordinary foliage, a dense covering
of thin, green pointed leaves, covering the branches
and stems in a pyramidal fashion, is strikingly elegant,
while the scarlet hue of the young leaves and the
large, white, sweet-scented flowers, with rich orange-
coloured stamens, constitute truly " a thing of
beauty." Very fine isolated specimens of this tree
are to be seen near Buddhist wiharas in the
lowcountry and pretty high up in the mountain

192

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept. i, 1886,

ranges of Ceylon. On the road from Awisawella
to Ratnapura, and around Katnapuva itself, there
are small groves of the tree. From Mr. W.
Ferguson's notes on Mendis's list of timber trees
ol Ceylon, we quote as follows : —

Ka-Gaha, Measua ferrea, Lin. Fl. Brit. Ind. I. 277.
Under this name this work includes several supposed
species of this famous tree. Our Ceylon tree is re-
markable as an ornamental flower tree, grown invari-
ably in the vicinity of Buddhist temples, and for
having brilliant red leaves when young. The timber
of this tree is the Iron-wood par excellence, and must
not be confounded with that of Palu, No. 65. It is the
best wood in the Island for piles and for the con-
struction of bridges, and is very durable under water.
It is straight grained, bard and difficult to work.
A cubic foot of it when seasoned weighs about 7;')-7t>
lb. The result of trials with 9 pieces 1 inch in
diameter, and 12 inches in length gave the following:—
Lowest breaking weight 791 lb., highest 1,239 lb„
mean 1,049 lb., deflection -1^. Valuable for all pur-
poses requiring strength and durability. The timber
often breaks short and without warning.

Turning to Gamble's Manual of Indian Timber
trees, we find amongst the native names, Xahor,
Assamese ; Nannal and Malluy naiipal, Tamil ;
Naga-kesara, Telugu ; Na and deya-na, Sinhalese.
Gamble's discription is : —

A large evergreen tree ; bark J inch thick, reddish
brown, falling off in flat thin flakes, leaving a slightly
roughened surface. Heartvvood dark red, extremely
hard. Pores moderate-sized, often in groups, scanty,
often filled with yellow resin. Medullary rays ex-
tremely fine, uniform, equidistant, very numerous.
Numerous fine, wavy, concentric lines of light-coloured
tissue.

Eastern Bengal from the Monas eastward (though
traces of its having formerly been found west of that
river occur sometimes in the names of places, r.ij.,
Nageshwarbari, or Naksarbari, a town in tho bikkim
Terai on the Nepal frontier), Assam, South India,
Ceylon, Burma and the Andamans, often cultivated.

The weight and transverse strength have been deter-
mined lay the following experiments : —

Weight. Value of P.

A. Mendis Ceylon No. 59, with bare

2' >< 1" 1" X found 72 lb.

Burma No. 18, 1802 69 „

Andamans No. 4, 1872 70
( Assam (4 specimens), 1878 67-5, ,

■^ Kanarafl ., ), „ 62 „
(Burma (6 „ ), ., 70 „
Several of our specimens, however, reached 74 to
76 lb., per cubic foot in weight. It is very durable.
It has been found to answer for sleepers equally well
with Pynhado, but the cost of cutting the hard wood,
its weight, and the freight from the Teuasserim
forests to Calcutta prevent its being much used, as
the total cost is scarcely covered by the price (115}
per broad-gauge sleeper. It is used for building,
for bridges, guustocks and tool handles; but its more
general use is prevented by its groat hardness, weight
and the difficulty of working it. In Ceylon an oil
ia obtained from the nut, and the tree is often planted
for the sake of its handsome flowers.
Pyrikado, classed above with iron wood, is Afzelia
l»'jngn. The heart-wood is close grained, hut
the weight of the timber does not seem to be
more than half that of the true ironwood. It is
described as a vahiable wood, used in the Anda-
mans for bridge and house building. Mr. Gamble,
still talking of this tree as iron wood, has several
references to it and its value, in his recent report
on the Madras forests. We quote as follows regard-
ing another " iron-wood ": —

in this strip the principal tree is the ironwood
(Xijliit (lohthiifuniiiK), hitherto, so far as I can ascer-
tain, considered of no account. The ironwood tree,
better known perhaps under its Burmese name of
' Pynkado ' and its iSIalabar name of ' Irui,' is really
ft most valuable tree. It has a hard, dark-red, very
durable wood^ in capable of b.^ing naed for nipf-pors,

Brandis
Bennett

Smj'thies

994

1053

for buildmg, bridges, <Xrc., and is in some localities
much employed for telegraph posts. Where the sal
forests of the Circar Hills end, there the ironwood
begins — a most fortunate circumstance, though we
may regret that neither of the trees have hitherto
received sufficient attention in this Presidency. To
show that the ironwood supply may be utilized a«
a source of revenue, I would mention that from in-
formation afforded by the office of the Inspector-
General of Forests at Calcutta, 'Pynkado' or iron-
wood sleepers from Burma are now being sold in
Calcutta, r.i- steamer, at I'l 1-12-0 each for broad, and
111-15-0 for narrow, gauge. One of the most remark
able and valuable characteristics of the ironwood
forests of Rekapalle and Rumpa is the abundance
of reproduction; seedlings may be seen every where-
nndor dense shade and in the open, and there can
be little doubt that the forests can be treated in a
systematic manner more easily than almost any
other kind in India except perhaps sal.
Again :

''The Conservator desires to put on record his
experience of the wonderful powers of reproduction
of the Konda Tangedu (Xylia (iolahrifonnisj in the
forests of the I'pperGodavari and Rumpa. Whether
under shade or i>i the open, seedlings are everywhere
most abundant where the grazing is light, and he
thinks that except perhaps the sal, he knows of no
Indian tree whose new growth can be so easily
obtained as tliat of the ironwood. It would be a
thousand pities if the immense and valuable iron-
wood forests of the Rumpa country were to be care-
lessly destroyed unless it be for permanent cult-
ivation."

On turning to Xylia dolahriformis, in the Manual
we find that it is " the ironwood tree of Pegu
and Arakau." There ia no indication that it exists
in Ceylon, but certainly it would seem to be a
m-ost desirable acquisition from what is stated about it.
The Tamil name is Ind. It is described as follows : —

The wood is very durable — a property it doubtless
owes in great measure to the resinous substance
contained in it. This resin is more abundant in
Burmese ^^ood than in wood grown in South India.
No. B 1451, which was brought by Dr. Wallich
from Tavoy in 1828, is still so full of resin that it
is quite sticky on the outside, and tlie resin may be
scraped off with a knife. The substance is partially
soluble in hot water, to which it imparts a reddish
colour.

The wood is used for boat-building and for agri-
cultural implements in Burma; also for carts and
tool handles. In South India it is used for railway
sleepers, posts, boat-building and carts. In Burma
and Bengal it has been largely used for telegraph
posts, for which it has answered well The large
forests in Arracau, of which Dr. Schlich in his re-
port on the ironwood forests of Arracan, dated 1st
September 18(39, says that "a third of the forest
vegetation consists of Pynkado," produce large num-
bers of telegraph poles and railway sleepers. Major
Seaton in his report for 1876-77 said that 10,000
such sleepers from Arracan had then lataly been sold
at Calcutta at Ro each, and Mr. Ribbentrop's Report
states that Pynkado pieces and sleepers are brought
out from the forests in Pegii. It is likely, however,
to be found too hard, heavy and difficult to cut.
It is a useful wood for piles and beams of bridges.
It exudes a red resin, and the seeds give an oil.
The native name Pynkado is evidently applied to
the two trees.

Turning to our own ironwood, the Kn-yaha, we find
that Mr. Vincent, in his Report on the Forests of
Ceylon, gave figures showing that out of a value
for timber exported from Ceylon in 1881 of R342,000,
ironwood contributed R78.74.J, against R1.'),40.H
halmilla, R2fl,7y0 satinwood, and R1.3.'i,,"i09 ebony.
It is possib e, however, indeed pretty certain that
palu was included in and perhaps constituted the
bulk of the export. Recommending the extended
use of PaK' (palu) sleepers, Mr. Vincent said that
the enttinf^ of Xa trees for this purpose should be

Se?t, I, i8b6.j

THs TROPICAL A<kmcijt'rvnmf,

m

stopped. He wrote:—" The supply oi na sleepers
will, in any case, be small. With so much sap-
v.ood in ua trees it appears a wasteful way of
utilizing the timber, even if its durability is e3ta,b-
lishcd."' Pale sapwood, on the other hand, he said,
was as hard as' the heart. From Mr. Vincent's
report we quote as follows : —

Failure of' na sUcjiJciti ^^iqipliijil from the Xortheni
Provbice. — fii 1879 a considerable number of na*
sleepers were sent to Colombo from the Northern
Province. They v/erc cut in a small temple grove
in the MuUaittivu District, and having a good deal
of sapwood were quite unsuited to the purpose.
They were thought so bad that they were laid down
only on an unused siding in Colombo, and are now
nothing but touchwood. Na trees have always so
much sapwood, that it is extremely doubtful vvhether
they would ever give good sleepers; certainly not,
if grown in the forest of the dry zone, where they
are quite exotics.

Mr. S. E.Peal, of Assam, thus describes ihe Nahor
(identical with our Na-gaha) : —

JS\ihor, if well grown, is a fine wood ; at times it is
seen 10 to 12 feet in girth, and straight clean shfcft
for 45 and 50 feet. As a rule, in the Plains, the
straighter ones are young, and the o'd ones more or
leas crooked. The forest, if properly studit^d, often
yields information of a peculiar kiud : thus, the rvljove
gives a clue to the density of population compired to
what we see now. These l;irge old and crooked-
branching Nahors clearly indicate that, when young,
the country (now forest,) was then open. They are
often along the sides of old bunds, in dense forest,
and CTidently planted ; and from the seed, the sur-
rounding Nahor forest has sprung up, and it is gener-
ally as straight as the old trees are the reverse. As
a tree, the Nahor is very ornamental : the young
foliage, out in March, is a bright crimson, and the
tree, in the open, a cone of foliage ; and later in the
year, about May, the blossoms, out in profusion, are
like large white wild-roses, often in bunches, and
perfume the air all around. The immense bunch of
stamens in each flower are a deep golden colour, and
contrast beautifully with the large white petals. No
wonder the tree was a favourite in old times. It was
mainly on this account that it was planted about. As
a wood, Nahor is hard and cross ; it is also fairly heavy,
and the "heart" lasts well in the ground as posts,
going for 16 to 26 years or so. For indoor and lighter
work, Nahor is a very second-rate wood, on account of
being comparatively diflBcult to work: there are so
many much better. Its main use is for posts, in tea-
estates at least, or where strength is needed.
Our readers will thus see that the chief value cf
the beautiful ironwood tree is for yielding posts
to be lut into the ground and for similar pur-
poses. Au an ornamental tree it can scarcely be
surpassed. Palu or Pale, on the other hand is a
specially valuable timber tree.

The Palu is indicated by Mr. Vincent as Mim-
iisops Indica, and besides the large export of this
wood he shows that railway-sleepers of the timber
laid djAvn on tfce Matale railway were very largely
a sucess. In Mr. W. Ferguson's notes this iorm
of " Iron-wood" is botanically indicated as BJiiu-
iigoj)^ Hexaiidra. The description is as follows : —

This is tbe Pali of the Tamils, a common and
abund-int tree in the Eastern and Northern Provinces,
and the timber much used for piles in bridges, &c.
"Thii wood is very heavy, weighing 84 to 92 lb., per
cubi'- foot when unseasoned. Its specific gravity is
1-120. It is close and even-grained, hard, compact
and durable, of a purplish cokr when fresh turning
to reduish-brown, and susceptible of a very high
polis'). It is used by natives for oil presses, building

* Owing to a confusion of names these have been
called p blu, and the latter wood has been needlessly
condemn ^d. A Sinhalese carpenter calls any hard-
wood wh ch he cannot recomize, palu, and some na
Iog8 were recently sold in Colombo as palu.
'^5

and a variety of other purposes ; it is excellent for
rulers, handles of instruments, and all articles of
turnery, and for cabinet purposes." Beddome.
Economically, therefore, the beautiful-foliaged and
blossomed 7(rt tree, is far inferior to the pahi. The
)ia, howev •. is valuable as posts for telegraph
wires and like purposes.

*

DETERIOEATION OF CEYLON TEAS.
Oeylon tea is beginning to be placed in the Home
Market, and already complaints are heard that it is
of inlerior quality. A distinction is sought to be made
between the produce of old and of i>ew estates, and
in the case of the former, it is contended that no de-
terioration is noticeable, but on the contrary that the
average quality is maintained, and in instances ad-
vanced. The brokers' unfavourable remarks are ad-
mitted to apply to young estates and new marks, and
the inferiority of the teas is variously accounted for —
want of experience, inferior or inadequate machinery,
shortness of labor, or all combined. It must be borne
in mind that the tea industry of Ceylon is iu an in-
cipient stage ; the number of years since it grew to be a
factor iu the trade, can be counted on one's fingers; hence,
the planters have all their experience to gain aud all their
hardships to encounter and surmount. Au Indian
planter who has been engaged in tea for sometime
writes us : — "Tea cultivation and manufacture are not
thoroughly grasped in a short time. I have been at
it thirteen years, and every day almost, experience
teaches something new." The unsatisfactory outturn
in the Spicy island, is obviously the work of tyros, full
of hope, laboring in the wrong direction. Everything
was favorable up to the point of manufacture. Ceylon
possesses a happy climate, a sufficient rainfall and suit-
able elevation, a combination of advantages, which sent
up the hopes of the planters, and made them careless
about the one thing needful, that is, manipulation aud
manufacture. The planters of Ceylon are, as a whole,
mon of energy and application, quick to seize upon
points of vantage, indefatigable, and more than all,
inured to reverses, and capable of overcoming them.
"With antecedents so distinguished it will be a sur-
prise if the complaints so loud against the produce of
their gardens continue to be made. If the causes of
the inferiority of the Ceylon teas, now thrown into the
London maik'^t are correctly stated, thej are remedial,
and the enterprising body of men engaged in this
cultivation will not permit them to remain operative
much longer. But we fear the evil is in another
direction, and one not quite within the power of the
plauter to grapple with. The bulk of the large area
under tea is used-up coffee land, land in process of
abandonment as unprofitable, and about to be left to
the recuperative influences of nature. Many years of
constant cropping have deprived it of all tlie consti-
tuents of plant food, and it has consequently ceased
to be capable of remunerative cultivation. L'ponsoil
of this descriptinn tea has been almost universally
planted. The shelter which the standing coffee afforded
helped to establish the bush and impart a vigor
promi'iug great things. Appearances gave encourage-
ment, aud more desireable country was takeu up day
by day, until Oeylon can boast of a tea tract, twenty
times larger than Southern India, brought under cultiv-
a'ion in one-fourth the time. The planter 's knowledge
and experience have not kept pace with his physical
efforts. He has moreover not had time to ascertain
the effects of an uncougenial subsoil, into which the
roots of the young tea are onlj' now finding their way,
with the results we fear that have already be en noticed.
Tills same subsoil has done in Ceylon for ci nchona aud
cherry, what it is now perhaps doiag for tea. Indian
planters of experience who have lately vi.sit ed Ce3'lou,
are of opinion that much of the land put under tea
is quite unsuitable, and that progress i.^ too rapid.
Their adverse opiHions, it is obligingly sag ge.ftedare
the result of jealousy of rivalry ; we hardly think so.
The Indian tea plauter is flesh and blood of his Cey-
lon brother, and au Englishman is incapable of feel-
ing animosity against a competitor, Fair play is a jewel

194

"TliK TROPiCAL AQkiCVttVnmT. {Suh. i, md-

and the wonderful enterprise of Ceylon acta on him
rather as an incentive to exertion, than as food to the
green-eyed monster. He is justified in gauging the
force and resources of his adversary, and assessing them
at their true value. He does not believe he is to be
overwhelmed in the contest, and perhaps he is correct
in his estimate of the drawbacks of Oeylon as an
abiding and formidable rival. — Nilyiri Express.

[Most of the coffee land planted with tea was not
worn out but rather improved by tillage. Such tea
as was planted on worn out land has not yet had
time to make its influence felt. There is, in truth
nothing new in our experience. Effects of pruning, of
unseasonable weather and other circumstances have often
bajffled the best and most experienced tea-makers in
in India. — Ed.]

♦

CEYLON PLANTERS' ASSOCIATION TEA
SYNDICATE :— CIRCULAR.

[The following copy of circular has reached us, from
which it will be seen that the Syndicate movement
has already met with good support, and is likely
to be a success. Even at the risk of some small
temporary loss on sales, planters should join in
Bending supplies of tea to be sold in untried or
little tried markets. No doubt the Syndicate will
be glad of money subscriptions, but the great object
is to introduce Ceylon tea and promote a demand
for the article where it is not at present known.
— Ei>.]

It has been decided to establl; h, under the auspices
of the rianters' Association of Oeylon, a Tea Syndicate
for the purpose of introducing our teas to, and pushing
their sale in, markets other than that of Great Britain.
The very favourable opportunity which the Colonial and
Indian Exhibition affords the Syndicate of obtaining smj-
able agents in the Colonies will be availed of, Mr. J. L.
Shand, the Planters' Association's Commissioner, has
been instructed lo take the matter in hand at once, and,
with the aid of the various Colonial Commissioners, to
obtain introductions to suitable Colonial merchants will-
jiig to become Agents for the Syndicate. Agents will be
appointed on the Continent, in America, Canada, Aus-
tralia, New Zealand, and in such South African, West
Indian and other Colonies as may be found desirable.

Full information will be obtained as to the class of
tea and size of package most suitable, quantity of tea
required to open up connections, and the likelihood of
succesR in the various new markets.

It is so manifestly to the interest of growers (how-
ever small their outturn may be) to extend the field
for the P.iles of Ceylon teas, that it is hoped all grow-
ers will join this Syndicate.

It is hy sending considerable quantities (which can
only be obtained by every one contributing) that
our teas will become known and obtain a firm foot-
ing ; when that has been achieved, the Syndicate's
operations may cease and the further development be
left to individual enterprise and the usual course of
trade.

Th«' Siili-coiMfiiitto« of the I'lanteir*' Association
(jil'n.strd witii thii scheme pro]iof»es the following
MtU'S, but- tiie Still-committee will be glad to receive
any suggestion.-? calculated to proijnotc the operations
of the Syndicate:—

1. That inenibers supply the Syndicatt; with such
((iiautitifs of tea as they deem fit to foster the scheme
of introduftioa into other countries.

2. The Secretary of the Planters' Association will
beeonio the Secretary of the Syndicate, receive the
teas, arrange for their shipment and pay over pro-
cce<ls of sale, for which work a charge of Ig cents per
lb. of tea will Ix' made.

;?. Tlie Syndicate's Agents will (unless there is some
special .agreement) be paid by commission on sales.

4. Eiicli member in forwarding tea will state to
which country he wishes his teas consigned.

5. Great care should be taken by all members of the
Syndicate to ship nothing but really good teas, which,

before shipment will be examined, tasted, and reported
on by an expert whose fees will be paid by the member
shipping the tea.

6. If it be found desirable to bulk teas in Colombo
so as to obtain an even tea in quantity, this method
will be adopted.

7. The services of two Oeylon Planters, who are
leaving the Island, have been offered to the Syndicate.
Mr. McOombie Murray is prepared to work New York,
and Mr. Hugh Mackenzie would push teas in Australia.

The undernoted quantities of tea have already been
promised, and the Sub-committee requests that you
will be good enough to intimate on the annexed form
what quantity of tea you would be disposed to con-
tribute during the next twelve months : —

11).

Dunediu Avisawella 5000

Mariawatte Oampola 5000

Sembawatte Navvalapitiya 5000

Dewalakande Avisawella 5000

Torwood Bogawantalawa ... 1000

Tillyrie Do 1000

Scrubs Nuwara Eliya lOOU

Wallaha Lindula 1000

Rogart Kalutara 1000

St. Andrews Muskeliya 1000

Corfu Do 1000

Laxapana Do 1000

Woodstock Ambagamuwa 1000

Kauapediwattie . Pussellawa 500

Kandaloya Nawalapitiya TiOOO

Strathellie Do 5000

Orwell Gampola 1000

Degalla Avisawella 1000

Kotiagalla Bogawantalawa 1000

Kanaiigama Avisawella 1000

Gneiss Rock Nawalapitiya 1000

Coolbawn Do 1000

Penrhos Do 500

Relugas Kellebokka 500

Hatale Do 500

Gomera Knuckles 500

Mahacoodagalla. Maturata 500

Logan Avisawella 250

Hattenwella Laggala 250

Approved for' the Ceylon Company 's Estates, though
I am not at present in a position to promise definite
quantities. — (Signed) John H. Starey.

I approve of the scheme, but at present cannot say
more than Mr. Starey. — (Signed) Jas. Hill, Messrs.
Carson & Co.

I desire to join the Syndicate on behalf of Fa-ndale
estate. I would suggest that subscriptions should be
received from those estates that prefer. — (Signed) H.
W. Hornby. A, Philip, Secretary.

Kandy, August 1886.

^

Indian TE.is this season, are being as severely
criticised as those from Ceylon, to judge by the fol-
lowing report in the Produce Markets Review of
July 10th :—

" The new imports are very disappointing, and the
increased supplies show no improvements in quality.
The small quantity yet arrived may not truly repre-
sent the quality of coming shipments ; at the same
time the Teas so far placed on the market are de-
cidedly below the staudai-d of the first shipments of
some years past. Ceylon Teas have beeif freely offered,
and have sold at steady rates, but Java Teai are less firm."

Wkeils AN)' ^VoKMs. — A pretty common idea
that the existence of weeds on cultivated lands pre^
sents insect attacks on the cultivated plants, is thus
expressed in the Report on the Administration of
Coorg ; — •

The teak plantations at KootompoUe are doing very
well, they measure now 231 acres. An invasion of
caterpillars after last monsoon did much damage.
They appeared in crowds (8 or 10 different kinds) and
devoured not only all the leaves, but the lop shoots too
in some cases. 'This plague retarded the growth of the
trees somewhat. It is probably attributable to the sur-
face of the soil being too clean of weeds and jungle
vegetation, so that there was nothing else but the teak
for the caterpillars to eat. This theory is borne out by
the fact that the old plantations where the weeds are
allowed to grow did not suffer. The cost per acre of
teak plautatiou wa» H105,

Sept. i, 1886.]

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

io.<

AURIC ULTU RE ON THE CONTINENT OP
EUROPE,

(Special Letter.)

Paris. July 10th.
Poultry farming at best can never be conducted
profitably on an extensive scale. It is the natural
work for medium sized or small farm.s. By commou
fowl is meant that which is usually kept for rearing
and breeding and restricted to the genus Oallus —
whose origin dates from the jungle fowl. Such fowl
comprise several distinct races, but new varieties due to
crossings and selectious are constuntly foming into notice.
The fowls of La Bresse in Burgundy are famous
since nearlj- two centuries ; thej' are short-legged birds
having four toes. Their skin is fine, the flesh delicate
and savoury. On an average a hen annually lays
170 eggs, and may rear two broods of chickens. For
hatching many farmers prefer turkeys : they eat little,
become fat while sitting, are ready for the market
any day and cover double the number of eggs. There
are farmers who breed stock for fattening and colts
for rearing ; so there are poultry breeders who only
rear chickens to fatten off at two months old ; or at
five months if destined to be a capon or a poularde.
All fowl fatteners prefer to buy only those chickens
of a pure local breed. Crossings are estimated to
diminish their value one-fifth. The next object is
to know the rearer who does not hatch more than
he requires, keep.s young cocks and eschews egg-
farming. The fattening season extends from September
to March ; the birds selected must be from three
to five months old ; the fattening is generally effected
within four weeks. When chicken fattening — a special
branch of industry is the object, the chicks are sent
to market at two months old ; they weigh then about
2 lb. and fetch between 2 and 3 fr. each. A fat cap
on will sell from 10 to 15 fr., and a poularde, from
8 to 10 fr. The capon is emasculated with a scissors ;
the operation induces rapidity in fattening, and greater
fineness and delicacy of flesh. If the operation be
well performed the comb will augment in volume;
if otherwise it will continne to grow. A poularde is
a hen flayed. A fat capon weighs from 8 to 10 lb.
The La Fleche capons are today in as much favor as
they were in the fifteenth century ; they are exported
to London. Europe and even America, in cases like
champagne. The process of fattening is nearly uni-
form for all breeds. Like mushrooms the develop-
ment of flesh takes place best in the dark. About
L50 are put up at a time to fatten; each bird has its
own box sufficient to allow it to move in, but not to
circulate. No light is allowed to enter the house
where they are boxed, all chinks and crannies are
stopped to exclude light, cold and free circulation of
air. Some strew the bottom of the boxes with wood
ashes, others do nothing at all.

Before being placed in their cells the fowls during
eight days are accustomed to a moderately dark house.
The diet consists of a paste composed of one-half
wheat, one-third barley and one-sixth oat-meal, wetted
with fresh milk. The mixture is made into balls
about the .size of un olive, and the man in charge
takes three birds on his lap, ties their legs together,
and administers their ration of paste, rubbing tbeir
throat if necessary to make it descend more rapidly.
This process continues during four or five we-^ks. A
fowl is known to be fat, if on being handled at the
upper part of the back between the wings, or just
under the wings, and on either side of the tail, it
feels plump.

Before killing the bird is kept fasting for twelve
hours. It is then held carefully, the mouth open and
an incision made in the under side of the tongue
with a scissors or a pointed knife, up through the
palate into (lie brain. Or after removing the feathers
on the left side of the head an incision is made just
beneath the ear. The first spasms over, hang the bird
up to allow it to bleed freely, as it is on this as in
the case of veal, the whiteness of the flesh d^enda.
Next pluck anil wrap up in a piece of cloth kept
moist with thf^ milk. Tliu fowl is fi'd twice a day and
th cc)!) (iiiylit to be felt to see if it be empty before
ano'ur meal be allowed. Drink is given twice a day

either of water colored with meal or milk. A fowl
when plucked and trussed loses 18 to 21 per cent of itw
weight, and from 28 to 41 per cent more during roasting.

PRODUCTS AT THE COLONIAL EXHIBITION.

Fiji. — The products of these islands occupy a com-
paratively small space, and though there is but little
of absolute novelty among them there are neverthe-
less, some of considerable interest. The Ooco-nut and
its products, as might be supposed, is fully repre-
sented, as well as Oandle-nuts (Aleurites moluccanus),
the oil of which is used for illuminating purposes ;
and Dilo-nuts, the kernels of Oalophyllum inophyllum,
from which an abundance of oil is obtained having
a high reputation for the cure of rheumatism. Tapa
cloths are also abundant, the entrances to the court
being hung with curtains of this material, which, as
our readers will know, is the beaten-out bark of the
Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera). Amongst
the many valuable woods that are found in the Fiji
islands the " Visa " and the Sandal-wood will attract
most notice, for here is shown a canoe cut out of
a solid " Vesi" trunk. The tree which furnishes it
is a leguminous one (Afzelia bijuga), and the wood
is heavy, close and even grained, and of an intensely
dark brown colour. The natives use it not only for
canoes but also for pillars for houses, bowls in which
to serve kava, war clubs, kc. The Sandal-wood
(Santalum yazi) was, it is said, " at one time plentiful
in various parts of Fiji ; but in the early stage of
settlement its destruction must have been most
indiscriminate."

LTnder the name of Bandina Boxwood some blocks
are .shown of a remarkably hard wood, which appeared
upon examination to be suitable for engraving pur-
poses. It is however, of a dark brown colour, which ,
it seems, unfits it for the better kind of work.
Upon submitting a sample of this wood • to an expert,
he reported that the wood has no special claim in
consequence of its dark colour. This, he says, con-
siderably reduces the value, as it could only compete
with inferior Box, which is at present supplied in
sufficient quantity. He explains this objection by
saying that " cutting upon wood is like drawing upon
paper ; if it is tinted, there must be a limit to the
density of the tint, or your drawing will be absorbed
by the tint upon which it is drawn. An engraver
would have difficulty in observing his progress while
doing his work." The plant producing this Bandina
Boxwood is at present unknown, but it is stated that
should it prove useful it could be had in any quantity
up to two feet in diameter from Fiji, and the other
outlying groups of islands in the Pacific*

Some fine masses of Kava root (Piper methysticum)
are shown, also powdered Kava root. This, it will
be remembered, is the source from whence the Fijian
beverage called kava is made by masticating the root
and ejecting and fermenting the saliva. It is known
to have diuretic properties, and has latterly attracted
some notice for its medicinal value in this country.
Quite recently, indeed within the lagt few weeks, a
spirit prepared from K^va root has appeared oa
sale at the refrephment bars in the Exhibition. It is
a colourless liquid and is sold in square white glass,
capsuled bottles, with labels fully describing its virtues.
It is called Yagona, the finest Kava Schnapps, or
aromatic gin, and its value is set forth as follows : —
"The active principle of this agreeable and splendid
beverage is prepared from the root of the Piper
methysticum, a species of Pepper. The root is called
ifagona by the natives of Fiji, and from it they
make their national drink, which is diuretic rather
than intoxicating. Yagona has been the Royal drink
of the Fijian and Samoan chiefs from time immemorial,
and it is to its constant use that chiefs and people
alike owe their robust health, in spite of the depressing
influence of their tropical climate. This primitive and
unsophisticated liquor regulates the action of the
internal organs ; it possesses remarkable soothijig pro-

'* Surely the colou • could be dispelled by some cheaii-
oal substance which would leftve the texture of the wood
uninjured.— Ed.

fg6

tHfi TROt>ICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept. i, 1.8S6,

perties; it is a health Ktimultmt, au excellent brain-
feeder, a wonderful restorer of faded energies and of
exliausted nerve-power. It is a preventive to gout
rnd rheumatism. To those engaged in heavy intel-
lictual labour it gives renewpfl ruergy. It is a veritablf^
Elixir of Life. As a diuretic it is unrivalled, and it
imparts a purity to the blood.''

If the general" use of the "Vagona" should be the
only result of the T'^xhibition, it will finally have
fulfilled a great missio" !

A little HmuHiook to I'lji and C<iiolo(jve of the Exhihitf
has been issued under the authority of the Executive
Ocmraissioner, the Hon. James E. Mason, M.L.O.,
and this contains some interesting facts on the
culture of the Coconut, Cinchona, Coffee, ' otton,
Sut;ar, Tea, Tobacco, &c. Of the latter we are told
that though it flourishes in all the islands of Fiji,
it is most largely cultivated, and reaches its greatest
perfection in the "Colo," or highland provinces of
Viti Lerii, the largest island of the group. All
sorts of Tobacco seed have been grown, including
\'irginia and Latakia. The natives smoke their tobacco
rolled up into " saluka " or cigarettes, the wrapper
used being the dry leaf of the Plantain. Connoisseurs
are very particular in the choice of their wrappers,
and will only use the leaves of cer'ain sorts of
Plantains. Tobacco is an important iota of native
life. Without it and kava no important discussion
can be conducted. — Gardeners^ Chronicle.

DRUGS AT THE COLONIAL AND INDL\N
EXHIBITION.

N(rrth Borneo.

The collections of articles contributed by Briti.sh
North Borneo are to a certain extent similar to those
from the Straits Settlements. The chief products of
the colony consist of valuable timbers, gutta-percha,
india-rubber, Borueo camphor, edible birds' nests,
sago, pepper, gambier and tobacco.

One of the timbers, named " billian,' is remarkable,
besides its durability and great strength, for being
proof against the teredo or sea worm, a property that
suggests the desirability of a chemical examination
of the wood with a view to determine the nature of
the constituent which proves obnoxious to these
animals. It is perhaps still more valuable on account
of being proof against the ravages of the white ant.
Another timber called " kungas " is also not attacked
by these insects. A third, known as '-lakar^wood
is a dark-red marbled and extremely hard wood,
which gives off a fragrant odour when burned, and
when scraped or rasped is used as au ingredient iu
incense; it is also employed as an astringent in
medicine and for tanning fish nets. According to Pro-
fessor van Eaden this wood is the produce of iJalhcroia
ZoUingeriann, Miq. It is valued in Borueo at Gs. per
picul, and in Singapore at 4s. per picul. The bark
of the "Russack" tree {Vatica Ri'-isacl-). which is
added to toddy, to make it intoxicating, is one of the
few barks exhibited. It is remarkable that a species
of the same genua is used in Ceylon for a similar
purpose. Under the name of "cbindana," probably a
corruption of the Hindoo "chandana." a handsome,
yellowish, fragrant wood is shown, which might per-
haps afford a volatile oil. It does not appear to ha^e
been botanieally identified. A considerable quantitj-
of mangrove bark forms a conspicuous obiect of the
exhibit and perhaps deserves the ijromineuce given
to it, for according to an analysis of the bark made
by IMr. AV. W. Evans, of Bristol, since the Exhibition
has been opened, it affords 41-398 per cent, of tannin.

Some very fine specimens of " dammar mata
kuching" and of copal are shown, and several kinds
of gutta-percha and india-rubber, including " gutta
merah," "gutta hilang," or "elong," " gutta menoun,"
jtnd " gutta liceak '' (india-rubber).

Borneau gutta-percha and india-rubber, like those of
Perak, are mi.xed articles. Thus, Mr. Burbidge states* : —

"That from the Larvas district is formed of the
mixed sap of at least five species, the juice of licics

* ' The Gardens^oTthe Sun,' pp. 75-76,

and one or two species of Artocarpux being not un-
frequently used iu addition as adulterants. The Bor-
nean "gutta soosoo " or rubber, again, is mixed sap
of three species of H'iUoiu/hheia, and here also the
milk of two or three other plants is a Ided surrepti-
tiously to augment the quality collected."

Mr. Burbidge further remarks that although the
demand for caoutchouc from Borneo is a recent one,
yet in many districts the supply is practically ex-
hausted. He advLses that the fl'illoui/hbeJu, which
grows quickly and may be easily and rapidly in-
creased by vegitative as well as seminal modes of
propagation, should receive the attention of the
Government in India, where the plant might be
expected to thrive.

Very little appears to be known concerning the
trees which afford the gutta and caoutchouc of
North Borneo, and in the ' Kew Report ' for 1886
the Director exjiresses a hope that the North Borneo
Company will employ a competent botanist to in-
vestigate the sabject and to collect good specimens
in flower and fruit of every tree yielding a product
of commercial value, as it is to the interest of the
Company to ascertain definitely the extent of tlie
gutta-percha and india-rubber resources of th*; island,
and how existing supplies may be best developed
anil husbanded,* since the same wasteful method i>f
collecting gutta-perclia that obtains in Perak seems
to be followed also in Borneo.

In connection with these remarks it may be well
to call attention to a very valuable paper by Mr.
Leonard Wray on the great loss of gutta-percha
resulting from the wasteful mode of extraction at
present employed.f In some experiments made on
the bark of a tree of " getah taban simpor " {Payena
Maiiufoi/i) (see p. 5) from which gutta had been ex-
tracted, he found that the wet ba^k which is now
allowed to rot in the jungle contains fully 5' 7 per
cent, of gutta-percha, or 1I"4 per cent, when drj',
and that by simple pounding or rasping and boiling
the bark nearly all this gutia cau be extracted. He
calculates that, accepting the estimate of the export
of gutta from the Straits Settlem?nts and Peninsula
as 10,000,000 lb. weight in 1875 the amount of
gutta-percha lost to commerce, in the bark of
felled trees, must have amounted in that year to
no less than oOO,OUO,000 lb., putting the price at
2s. (jd. per lb. to not less than £37,500,000. In
otiier words, for every pound of gutta-percha col-
lected 30 lb. are wasted. The gutta trees are of
such slow growth that the tree planted in one
generation cannot be expected to yield good gutta
until the next, and according to Mr. "Wray one-
thirtieth of the number of trees that are at present
felled could be .«;aved.j

The miujuk (i.e., oil of) tangkawaug, a solid fat
with a low melting point and which does not readily
become rancid, is shown in sitn in the bamboos in
which it is moulded. There are 'two kinds of the.se
fats, one of which is nearly white and used for
culinary purposes, such as frying fish, making cakes,
etc., and the other is of a greenish tint and is used
for lubricating machinery and for purposes of illumin-
ation. The former is said to be derived from large
seeds, probably those of Hopea macrophylla, and is
known as tangkawang lingis. The green fat is pre-
pared from smaller seeds, probably those of another
species of Hopea and is distinguished as tangkawang
mahjor or miujak kerapoh. A fuller .account of these
fats was given in a former number of thi.s Journal. §

Two products, which also occur in the Straits
Settlements' collection, viz , Borneo camphor and
edible swallows' nests, can be more appropriately

* Kew Report, IS81, p. 44.

■\ .Journul of the Strtiits Branch of the Royal Asiatic
Society, 1884,' p. 219.

this
ery

\ An attempt wa.- made to carry out a project of t
k)nd,?onie twenty years ago, in British Guiana. A v
large outlay was made for the purpose, but the result was
total failure, the extract obtained consisting chiefly of
astringent materia) with very Httle gum.

^ See Phnrm. Jonm., [3], xiv., pp. 401, 481,

Sept. if

ISS6.}

THfi TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

197

noticed here, since they are represented more fully
in the North Borneo Court. Of the birds' nests
three varieties are shown. The first and best are
quite white and are said to be those which have
been collected after thsy have been finished by the
birds, but before the eggs are laid; the second quality
appears to consist of the nests which have been used
but in which young biras have not been raised ; and
the third contains adhering feathers. The two former
are known as white and the last as black birds'
nests. These appear to be made by different birds,
for, as pointed out by Mr. Lowder, the feathers do
not merely adhere but are imbedded in the salivary
layers of which the nests are formed ; portions of
dried seaweea or lichens are also incorporated. The
binis inhabit caverns near the sea or sometimes in-
land, as in I'pper Perak, and the limestone caverns
of Mount Gormanton, in Borneo, and the sandstone
ones at Sandakan head.* They are collected, at great
risk to life and Hmb, twice a year, in various parts of
the Eastern Archipelago. There appears to be some
doubt as to the exact species which build these
uesis. CoUocaiia Liiichi, Horsf. being given in the
Straits Settlements' Catalogue as the species. Mason,
however, states that this bird makes a brown nest of
moss glued together, while Collocalm eaculenta makes
its nest of repeated layers of glutinous salivary
matter alone. The latter bird is called the -'lawet"
in Java, while the name '• linchi " is applied to the
smaller species named Colloculia Lincki. Possibly
the white nests are the product of C escidenta and
the black ones of C Linchi. Two other species,
however, appear to produce edible nests and these
are known respectively as C. »pod<yx>y(jla Peale,t and
('. fuciph'.uja Horsf.,* which occur in the Amlaman
Islands, the latter also in Tenasserim.

The nests are often brown or discoloured at the
parts where they are attached to the rocks, and
have to bo cleaned for the Penaug market. The
white nests are used by the wealthy Chines as an
ingredient in soups, 120 grams being used for the
litre of soup. The dirty nests are said to be employed
to make a particular kind of glue. The first ijuality
is valued at 2,-500 dollars per picul, the second at
1,500 dollars, and the third at 1,000 dollars. It is cal-
culated that as much as 242,400 lb. of these nests are
annually exported to China from the Indian Archi-
pel.igo. In some parts of China as much as £9 has
been paid for a catty (about IJlb.) ot these nests.
At one time it was supposed that the substance of
which they are composed was seaweed collected by
the birds, and some discussion has taken place in
XaUire on this subject.^ It appears now to be de-
finitely settled that it consists of a salivary secre-
tion similar to that used by the swallows in this
country in binding together the clay of which their
nests are made. Like another article highly prized
by the Chinese, it appears to be considered a tonic
and invigorating remedy, and is also used as a restor-
ative by opium smokers; it is prescribed in consump-
tion, aiid for convalescents after protracted ilut.ss. A
detaded and interesting account of the commerce in
these nests may be found in .Simmond's ' Animal
Food llesoiu-ces,' p. 141.

Borneo camphor does not appear to have received
the attention it deserves in this country. So astute
a people as the Chinese have doubtless some good
reason for their preference of this camphor to that
which can be procured at one-twelfth of the price
in Formosa and .Japan. It does not appear to have
been noticed that although the odour of the Borneo
camphor is not altogether agreeable, the taste is
by no means so disagreeable as that of Foimosa
camphor. Its physiolog.cal properties also cannot be
sai I to have been fairly tested. For this purpose well
dtfioed crystals only should be used, since it is pro-
bable that the smaller crystals are frequently adult-
erated vv'ith crude Formosa camphor, because the

* Burbidge, ' Gardens of the Sun,' p. 237.

t Masou, ' Burinah,' i., p. 35S.

X Linn. 2Va7ts., xiii., p. 142.

§ Nature, May 27, p. 86, to June 3, p. 101.

large crystals do not appear to be volatile, while the
smaller ones frequently furnish a crystalline sublimate
at ordinary temperatures.

The high price of the drug is in part due to the
fact that a large number of trees have to be ex-
amined before the collector can find one C'lntaiuing
the camphor in a crystalline state. Many of the
trees yield oil, but very few contain camphor. The
presence of the latter is ascertained by making a
hole in the tree with a native axe at about 14 or
18 feet from the ground, till near the heart, where a
deeper incision with a smaller aperture is made ;
if the oil is present it gushes out and is received in
bamboos or other vessels. Some hundreds of trees
may be thus examined before camphor is seen. "When
a tree containing camphor is found it is felled and
cut into pieces about 6 feet long, or less, and these
are .>^plit open, when the camphor is found in the
heart wood occupying a space about the size of a
man's fore-arm. The produce of n medium-sized tree,
i.e.. about 2h feet in diameter, is about 11 pounds, and
of a very large one, say G feet in diameter, about
double that quantity. Camphor found iu this way
is distinguished as "seaaniong," and that met with
in holes of trees that have been previously cut is
known as "oogar," the scrapings of the wood being
known as "belly and foot."* Trees less than two
feet in diameter rarely produce camphor, oil being
found in the younger trees, but sometimes a pitchy
or resinous looking substance is found in the cavities
in the trunk.

Probably on account of the uncertainty of finding
camphor in the trees the natives and the Malays
have very superstitious ideas regarding its collection.
While searching for it they abstain from certain
kinds of food, eat a little earth, and use an artificial
language called the bussCi k^por, i.e., camphor lau-
guiige. It is beleived that if this language b*' not
used gnat difticulty will be experienced in finding
the trees, and when found the camphor will not
yield itseif.f There are some men who pretend to
a special intuition as to the trees whicti will yield
camphor. These are styled Toongoo Nyr Capoor.
FnlKr details concerning the commercial qualities
of this camphor may be found in a former number
of this Journal. I

Some fine specimens of the camphor wood are
shown in this Court. The tree is a very large one,
and the wood is extensively employed for making
boxes, furniture, etc. It is said to be abundant in
the island called Polo Bai, in Sandakan Bay, and
in Padas district.

Another exhibit worthy of a brief notice is a kind
of guano or manure, consisting of the excrements
of swallows and bats. This is found forming a deep
layer in caves, especially in East Borneo in the
neighbourhood of Gormanton ; it forms an important
but, as yet. almost untouched store of this valuable
material.

Hong' Kong.

The Hong Kong Exhibit comprises but few objects
of pharmaceutical interest, but these are well worthy
of notice. The first object that strikes the eye on
entering the Court from the upper end is a small
collection of native remedies shown by Messrs. A. S.
AS^atson and ('o., but which is not mentioned in the
General Catalogue. Several of the articles, such as
chaulmugra oil, will be familiar to pharmacists in
this country, but a few others, such as cypre.ss seed
and cypress oil, oil of coconut sh^-ll, bean oil (Soja
hispida), oil of Camellia odotijcra, wood oil (Jleurites
cordata), and oyster oil and oyster cake, left after
removal of the oil, strike one as articles hardly known
in Europe.

The properties of the Chinese " wood oil " — which
is very different from the oleoresin known in English
commerce as wood oil or Gurgun balsam — have been

* ' Asiatic Researches,' vol xii., p. 539.

t Joimi. S. I. Archipelago, 1847, p. 368.

I Pharm. Journ. [3], vol. xv., pp. 795, 796, 894.

tgS

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept. t, i986.

"3eecrIBed~ in a^ormer volume of this Journal,* and
to the others there will probably be occasion to refer
at a future time. Close to this exhibit may be seen
the curious wedge press used ia expressing oils fi'om
oruahed seeds, the principle of which is to exert a
gradual lateral pressure by the insertion of a series
of wedges between the cake and the end of the
press. In the immediate neighbourhood of this press
may be seen also a large granite pestle and mortar
for pounding rice, which is worked by the simple
expedient of a foot lever or treadle. Opium smoking
is illustrated by a series of the apparatus employed
iu preparing the extract, which, and not the crude
opium, ia used in flmokiug. The niude of pit[);ir-
ation has been well described by Mr. 11. McCuUum,
of Hong Kong {Fharm Journ, [3], vol. xi., p. 'J2'->).
The apparatus used by opium smokers is also illus-
trated by various specimens, including opium pipes,
spirit lamp, iron scrapers for clearing out the bowl
of the pipe, and needles for inserting the morsel of
opium in the orifice of the pipe, etc.f Specimens
of these articles already exist in the Museum of this
Society as well as at Kew Museum, and their use
is fully explained by Mr. T. Sampson, of Cnnton,
hi a previous number of this Journal ([31, vol. xv..
p. 22).

The next object to attract attention is an excellent
model of a Chinese vermilion manufactory at Hong
Kong, showing the complete process of preparation
of the pigment from the raw material to the cases
packed for export. This model was constructed under
the superintendence of Mr. H. McCullum and Mr.
H. B. Best, of the Colonial and Civil Service, and
was presented to the Commissioner bj' the guild of
vermilion merchants. From the descriptive account
attached to the model it appears that 1 part of sulphur
is rubbed with 5 parts of mercury, an operation which
usually occupies about ten minutes. The mixture is
then placed in an iron pan over a furnace, is covered
with pieces of broken porcelain or white potlen,%
over which an iron cover is luted on. After this
subliming pan has been subjected to heat for sixteen
hoars the furnace is allowed to cool, the iron cover
removed, and the vermilion scraped ott the porcelain.
It ia then powdered and elutriated with a solution
of alum and glue, the coarse particles separated by
th'8 process being again powdered and elutriiited.
The object of the glue and alum is not stated, but
the glue is probably to pi event the powder from
settling too rapidly, the alum to prevent the decom-
position of the glue. The details of the process have
already been described by Mr. H. McCullum in the
columns of this .Journal ([3], vol. xii., p. 497). Th<.-
first quality of Vermillion is estimated at 8 dols. per
pioul, end the second at 750 dols. per picul.

A collection of raw materials used by the Chinese
in the manufacture of the celebrated soy and other
sauces is shown also by Mr. M. SlcCuUum. Perhaps
the most interesting exhibit to pharmaceutical visitors
iQ this Court will be a very complete and truthful
model of a Chinese druggist's shop, which is said to
be faithful to real life in the mo.st minute details.
The roomy shop appears to be arranged in a most
orderly manner, and by no means presents a " beggarly
array of empty bottles," nor are there visible any of
the disgusting animal remedies that are used in Chinese
medicine. At the back of the shop and equally open
to view at the other side of the model is the" dwelling
house, the appointments of which seem eminently
comfortable, as might perhaps be imagined from the
care with which druggist looks after the money, for
in the shop he is represented as weighing the money
of a customer to see that it is not short weight.
This model is exhibited by Dr. Ho Kai, who has
also Srut a large collection of over four hundred
bottles of Chinese drugs, the names and uses of which
are wriiten on the bottles. These eonsit for the
most pai t of remi dies which have already been des-
criued by Haubury, Porter Smith and otJiers, hut

* Pharm. Jov.rn., [3], xv., p. 636.
t For figure of these see ' Encyelopnpdia Britannii^a,'
9th ed., Art. "Opium."

are evidently highly valued by Dr. Ho Kai, since they
have been heavily insured and are to he retv:rEed
to him.

The only other objects of (luasi-pharmaceutic in-
terest are the exhibits of boxes, trunks, etc., made
of the camphor wood tree, and a series of the woods
of Hong Kong, including a few, such as Liquidamhar
sinensh. Aquiiaria grandifora, Sti/rax subcH folium,
etc., concerning whose products some information
might have proved instructive. T'nfortunately, how-
ever, no special catalogue had been published at the
time of our Msit, and Mr. C. Ford, Superintendent
of the Palace Garden at Oaulou, who might probably
furnish valuable information concerning them, left
this country soon after the exhibition had opened.
The AquilaAa graiidijlora yields, according to Mr.
Ford, a kind of lignum aloes used in China as in-
cense. — Pharmaceutical Journal.

NOTES ON ECONOMIC PLANTS AT THE
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.

Appendix to Beport on the Singapore Botanic Garden<t,
for 1885.

Enquiry was continued during the year intfj the
source and extent of the vegetable supply of the
colony, and experiments have been made with various
seeds from Europe with a view to increasing and
improving the general supply, with results as follows : —

I. — Vegetables found in Cultivation. — Oed. Oru-
CIFERJE. — Lohak (Long Raddish), Eaphanus sativus
var. : — Native of China, largely cultivated throughout
the colony. Supply plentiful. Water Cress, Nastur-
tium oflBcinale: — Established in Singapore, but supply
as yet very limited in the bazaars.

Ord. Capparide.ij. — Mamvm, Gynandropsis penta
phylla :— Pods chiefly used. Common in a wild state-
not much cultivated. Mamum Kechll, Oleome viscosa :
— A common weed, used in the same manner as the
Preceeding, chiefly by Klings.

Ord. Moringe^.— .ffe?or (Horse Raddish tree),
Moringa pterygosperma : — Native of Madagascar
Pods, root and leaves used. Supply plentiful.

Ord. Portulace;e. — Dav.ii Gvlv.ng (Purslane), Por-
tulacca oleracea; — A commoa weed throughout the
colony. Cultivated in England as a vegetable. Used
in the Straits chiefly by the Malays and Klings, and
seldom if ever taken into the bazaars.

C»rd. Malvace.1:. — Kachang Bendie, Hibiscus escu-
lentus: — Cultivated all oA^jr the Tropics. Supply
plentiful.

Obd. Lkguminos.e. — Kachavg Kara Puteh, Lablab
cultriformis: — A good bean, but not plentiful. Kacliang
Boty, Dolichos tetragonolobus : — Moderately plentiful.
Kachang Prot Ayam, Dolichos sesquepidalis : — Largely
cultivated throughout the colony. Supply plentiful.

Kachang Prot At/aw Panjang, Dolichos sesquepidaHs
var.: — Plentiful. Canavalia virosa: — A good bean said
to be in cultivation, but I have onlj- seen one plant.

Kacho.iKj Parang, Canavalia gladiata: — A very large
bean. Pods occasionally as large as a carving knife,
hence the Malay name. Moderately plentiful.

Kachanq Kara (Lima bean), Phaseolus lunatus : —
One of the best beans in cultivation. Supply moder-
ately plentiful. Also sold in tins imported direct from
Brazil, its native coimtry.

French Bean, Phaseolus vulgaris : — Cultivated largely
throughout the colony, but brought to the bazaars
at an advanced age in order to measure better, but
only really good when very young and small.

Kachang Hijav, Phaseolus sp. :— Seed largely used
in a germinating state. Supply plentiful. Pods also
used after the manner of French beans.

Trong 3ferah, Agati grandiflora: — Leaves and flowers
used.

Trong Puteh, Agati grandiflora alba: — Leaves and
flowers used. Supply limited. Seldom reaches the
bazaars.

Meng Kawang, Pachyrrhizus angulatus: -The root
very much resembles a turnip, both in size and taste,
hence called turnips by Europeans in the Straits, but
it is in every way inferior to turnip The supply is
apparently plentiful.

SfcMf.l, 1B86.J

fBK TROPICAL AOmCVLTVmsf.

iyy

Kacham JJahl, Cajauus iiidicus :— Pods used. Not
much grown except by Klings.

Oeu. MyuTACE-i;. — Xatii jYcmi -. — The young leaves
of a species of Eugenia, used by the Malays in
Malacca as a vegetable in curries.

Ohd. rASiFLOEACE.i;. — GrenadUla, Passitlora quad«
rangularis : — Used chietly by Europeans ; the natives
look upon it as unwholesome and dangerous.

Ord. CucuHBFTACE.i;. — Twioiu Luffa petola : — Used
»s a cucumber, but good only when green. If used
in a ripe state is said to cause violent purging. Plenti-
ful in the bazaars everywhere.

Kelv.la Mams, Luffa acutangulus : — Largely used as
a vegetable and for other purposes. Supply plentiful.

Kaundon, Cucurbita pepo and vars. : — Plentiful in
the bazaars all over the Colony. Not much used by
the Malays, who say that it creates cramp in the
stomuch when eaten raw.

Water Melon, GitruUus vulgaris : — Not very plentiful.

Lobu Ayer, Cucumis sativus flavus : — Very plentiful,
and extensively used.

Prk Paddy (Bitter Gourd), ^ ^^^ extensively
Momordica charantise and vars.: — > u' -of a

Pria, Momordica balsamina ■-) cultivated.

Oucurbita sulcata; — Not very plentiful.

Ketnla Ular (Gourd), Lagenaria vulgaris, var.
striata: — Very extensively giown. Bazaai-s constantly
supplied.

Ketnla (Pumpkin), Oucurbita Moschata : — Several
kinds. Very plentiful.

Chocho, Secbium edule ;— Established on Penang Hill ;
in general excellence this cucumber far surpasses all
others grown in the Straits.

Oru. Umbeli.ifer.t.—
Sadriea (Celery),
x\pium graveoleus:
De. do., sp,

Do. do., sp,

Do. do. sp

Puvgga, Uydrocotyle

1
I

I Leaves only seen, (irown
- only for flftvouring pur-
poses. Supply plentiful.

asiatica:— A common weed,
used by the Malay and Kling inhabitants only.

(Dill.), Anethum graveolens; — Used in soups, sauces
&c. Supply very limited.

Ord. Verbhnace.t:. — Buas-liiaf, Premnacordifolia: —
Young leaves U"«ed in curries. Supply plentiful.

Obd. CojiPOSiTE-it. — Tmvj Ho, Senecio chincnsis: —
Leaves used as spinach. Supply plentiful,
•S'a«,, (Lettuce) Lactuca ^ Boiled and used as cabbage.

sativa var., > Extensively grown and

Sawi Hitam Do. J supplied.

Salad, Do. Used only as salad, and appar-

ently a very good lettuce, but cut and brought to
bazaar at a too great age in order to obtain as much
leaf as possible. I have examined this plant very
closely, and am of opinion that, if cut when young,
it would be little inferior to lettuce grown in Europe.
There is also a leaf commonly sold in the bazaar
which I think belongs to this order, but no clue to
its name has presented itself so far. It is said to
be a good vegetable.

Obd. SoLANEa:.— Trony (Egg Plant), Solanum melan-
gena^— Very extensively grown. Abundant supply in
all the bazaars.

Tronf/ Jfanis, Solanum coagulans : — Plentiful. Used
ill curries.

Love Apple or 2'o»ia/o, Lycopersicum euculentum : —
Grown by Europeans in very limited quantity, and
seldom if ever finds its way into the bazaars. The
plant, especially the small variety, grows freely, and
might be largely cultivated. Solanum nigrum, one of
this order, is largely used in Mauritius as a vegetable
with currie, but is not used in the Straits, although
the plant is by no means uncommon throughout the
colony. Its use requires some cart, however, being
pDisonous if eaten raw, and regarded in England as
highly dangerous. I have myself used it frequently as a
vegetable and can testify to its excellence as such. It
has a bitter appetitious taste and is a vegetable one
gets much attached to after a time, and the Mauritians
seem as fond of it as t:ie Malaysare of Durians.

Okd. PHvr(jt,.\ELE.*;. — Phytolacca decandra : — Is so
Ttf y scarce in the colony that it can hardly be said to be
in use. It is uevertheless au «rsceUeut vej^etable^

that
ated
Ohd.

)■

^'ery extensively grown
and largely in demand.
Plentiful supply.

I

when the young leaves only are used; the seed is
noxious. Largely used in the Mauritius as a vegetable.

Okd. BASELLE.E.— 2Vew, Basella alba :— Somewhat
extensively grown, but not nearly enough so. It is
an excellent substitute for spinach and grown in
England as such. It is better known among the
Klings than the IMalays. A small supply reaches the"
Singapore bazaars.

Okd. Euph rbiace t.— C/«fco;j Jfanis, Phyllauthus
reticulatus : — Largely used as a vegetable with currie
by Chinese, Kliugis and Malays ; not so much among
Europeans. Supply plentiful. Ubi Kayv., Jatropha
manihot: — Koot largely used as a vegetable by all
classes, but the leaves only by the Malays and
Klings, especially the former.

Ord. ZiNGiBEEACE.Ti. — Kunit (Turmeric), Curcuma
longa : — Root used in currie, and leaves as a vegetable,
by the Malays.

Oed. Mcsack,^. — Fisang (Banana) Musa, many
vars. : — Pith and young shoot used as a vegetable.
Ord. AuoiDEM. — Kladi "|

Klamomo, Oalocasia es- A small portion of the

culeuta : — I root used as a vegetable.

Kladi CkiiM, Oalocasia es- }■ Grown extensively for

culenta var. : — I leaves, which are boiled

Kladi Hitam, Oalocasia | and pigs fed with them.

esculenta var. ; — J

Calocasias sp. : — Grown only in Padang. Largely
used as a vegetable in Singapore. The Malays aflBrm
the plant will only grow in Padang. Not cultiv-
elsewhere.
Lir.iAcE.i.. — Bawang,~\

Allium ascolonicum : —
Bauang Kechil, Allium as-
colonicum var. : —
Bamuig Merah, Allium as-
colonicum var. : —

Allium cepa:— Not grown in the colony, but largely
imported from China in a green state,

Obd. Commelyne.,t,. — Tapak Ittk, Aneilema nudi'
florum : — L'sed by the Malays as a vegetable with currie.

Ord. BoROGiNACE.t.— Oordia olitoria. Blanco:— The
leaf of this plant is used as a vegetable by the
Malays, who eat it with boiled rice.

Ord. Scrophvlarine^e.— ^re»tjs, Limnophila punc-
tata : — Used as spinach. Supply very limited.
Ord. Amaranthacej:. — ")

Bayam Durie, Amaran-

thus spinosus : — )■

Bayata, Amaranthus gan- |

geticus ; — j

Bayam Fasir, Amaranthus "^

tristis : — (^Used only by the Malays

Kruiita, Alternanthera ses- ( and Klings.

silis : — J

Ord. Dioscore.ts. — Kledek Dioscorea batatas:—
Extensively grown. Bazaars largely supplied.

Dioscorea bulbifera (•') : — Grown more sparingly.

Ord. Convolvllace.t;. — Kangkong, Convolvulus re-
pens : — Extensively grown for the leaves, which are
used as a vegetable with rice and for feeding rabbits.
Supply plentiful.

Ord, ARTOCAHPEJt;.— 6t;A;«» (Bread-fruit), Artocarpu*
iucisa ;-~rruit used by the Malays as a \ egetable. The
tree, however seldom produces fruit in perfection in
the Straits, the greater number falling prematurely.
JVanoka Artocarpus integrifolius : — 1 ,t r -^ ■,
ClJipedal- Artocarpus polyphema ;_]^oung fruit used
as a vegetable by the Malays.

Ord. Papayacb-E. — Betek or Buah Papaya, Carica
papaya : — Extensively cultivated and used as a vege-
table. Plentiful in the bazaars.

Ord. FiLicEs. — Pakv, Euan, Ceratopteris thalic-
troides: — Common in ditches. Used chiefly by Klings
and Malays.

Anisogonium esculentum : — A fern not uncommon in
ditches. Is a very good vegetable, used by the
Malays, who also use the young shoots of the follow-
ing ferns : —

Baku Akar, Steuochlaena palustris . — "l All fairly plenti-
Fakii, Uban, Blechunu orientale;— [• ful in a wild
Samberi ThaBJUorteris uidus;-- " j #tat».

Extensively used as a subs-
titute for spinach. Largely
grown and largely in de-
mand.

500

TUE rnoptcAt AGmcvLTvmsf.

[SEinf* Ig lS%6,

Ord. Gbamine^. — Belong, Gynotochloa aspera ('/) : —
A bamboo the yoi'Dg shoots of which are exteusively
u>ed amoug the? Chinese as a ve^jetable aud tor pre-
serves.

Jaggong, (Maize): — Is grown to some extent and
usp'l greeu as a vegetable.

Ord. Paljie.i;. — I'iaang, Klapa, Areca and Oocos : —
Heart or growing point used as salad. Supply very
limited.

2. From the foregoing it will be seen that there
are about eighty kiuds of vegetables at present more
or Ipss iu cultivatiou in the colony. Of that number,
but few are exclusively Chinese, but a good deal of
the seed from which they are grown comes from
China. Tfle cultivation is, however, much at fault,
there being a tendency to produce qnanti'y instead
of quality, and some control over present system of
cultivation seems necessary.

o. The following 45 kinds of vegetables of species
cultivated iu England have been tried, in Penang, at
1,000 feet elevation, and in Singapore at about loO
feet, with results as follows : —

II.— Vegetablks Groav.m for Trial.
Giant As2iarayvs, in Penang grew freely, but not
to a large size.

■D A -nr- A -D ) Flowered iu Singapore and

Broad ^\mdsor Beans. } p^^^j,g,^^^tf^il^^|o»;^.t fruit.
Scarlet Runners, ... Failed quite everywhere.
Egyptian Turnip, rooted ) j^j^^ ^^,1 j^ p^^^^^g

JjCCtJj ••• ••• «•• )

Delt's Flower Garden ) Grew fairly well in Singapore,

Beet, J not tried in Penang,

B.occoli, ^

Brussels Sprouts, ... j Grew leaves only in the open
Cabbage, Large White | ground, makes better centre
Erfurt, }- when grown in Pots. Pen-

Cabbage, Early Blood | ang and Singapore experi-

Eed, I ments gave same results.

Cabbage, Savoy, ... J

Carrots-Early short ^ ^^^^ ^g^ ^^^^j^ j^ p^^^^g and

n ?T^ r 4.'"^ T > Singapore, but of inferior
Carrot Earhest French T ^ JV^ .^, gj^

forcmg, )

Cress, Curled, | All grew well in Penang and

Oress,American, ... > Singapore- Succeeded better

Cress, Indian. ... ... J in Penang.

Grew fairly well in Penang

Failed in Singapore.

Sundringham Celery, ) Grew fairly in Penang-

Cos defiant Celery, "1

Williams' Matchless

Telegraph Cucumber'

Celery,

Major Clark's Ked
Celery,

Dandelion

Musselburgh Leek, ...

Kole Rabi

Lettuce, Cabbage,

Lettuce, Tom Thumb,

Carter's Giant White
Cos, ,.

Carter's Giant Brown,

Melon,

Mustard,

Onion, ThR Queen, ..

The Student Parsnip,

Parsley,

Peas, Ring-leader, ..

Peas, Best of all,

Potatoes, Early Ash-
leaf,

Raddish,

Horse Raddish,

Rhubarb,

Sea Kale,

Turnip, Early French,

"Grew to leaves
gapore.

only

m

Sin-

Grew weli iu Peuaug aud
Singapore.

Grew well iu Penang.
Do Do. and Singapore.

L

.Succeeded perfectly iu Penang
f and fairly well in Singapore.

, Failed everywhere.
, Grew freely everywhere.
, Grew well in Penang.
Grew well in Peuaug,
. Everywhere a success.
. Grew fairly well iu Peuaug.
. Failed in Singapore.

}Grew to a fair size, but rather
watery in quality.
,. All kiuds grew well.
. Grew well.

1 Grew well for u time iu I'eu-
•• 5 ang. Failed in Singapore.
.. Failed everywhere.
) Grew well in Penang; not
( tried in Singapore,
Turnip, .\mericau Strap I Grew well in Singapore ; not

leaf, ) tried in Penang.

„, , 7 All kinds grew well, ebpecially

aonaatoes, , ^ tte amaJJ variety.

Jerusalem Artichoke, Failed in Singapore.

"1 Failed in Singapore, but pro-
Globe Do ... > duced a few flowers in Pen-

j ang.

vox HEBB.S.

Sage "1

Thyme, ... j^ ^j ^^.^^ ^^^.jj in Penang aud

'" )■ Siugupore. Sage and Thyme
" ', best in Penang.

Sweet Mar jorum
Spear Miut.
Pepper Miut, ...
Sweet Ba.sil, J

4. It will be admitted that these results carry
with them a large amount of success, and all
that seems required to keep up a supply is the
issuing of a standing order to a seedsman to send a
regular supply of seeds of such as have succeeded
and the appointment, for a year or two, of an intelligent
person well acquainted with vegetable cultivation to
superintend the distribution of seeds and regulate
bazaar supply.

He should keep a register of all growers for sale
aud submit, for the information of Government,
periodical reports on the progress of new vegetables,
and encourage cultivators by liberal assistance.

5. By this means private enterprise would be stim-
ulated and the object desireil obtained without
causing the iujm-y to cultivators which the estabUsh-
ment of a Government, vegetable garden for bazaar
supply woidd entail upon them.

III.— Other Economic Plants.

6. Coca-leaf. — The seed of coca was much iu
demand during the early part of the year, but the
value of the leaf has now fallen so low that it would
hardl y pay to cultivate it in the Straits.

7. Ct'M'l'-f. — There is at present but little cubeb
pepper in cultivation iu the Straits. Some plants
lately received from Dr. Treub have been placed in
the Experimental Nursery for trial. Samples of a
large consignment from India of prepared cubeb pepper
were received at the Garden from a Smgapore mer-
chant for botanical determination. The samples turned
out to be only one-third cubebs, the remaioder Pi-
per nigrum, or some allied specimens. Cubebs can
always be distinguished from Piper nigrum by the
berries having little stalks.

9. Blo.ck Pepper.— Tlhe rise in the price of black and
white pepper has stimulated the cultivation of the
plant both in the colony and elsewhere. Several
demands from other colonies have been made for the
Singapore variety, which is acknowledged to be of
superior quality-

10. I made a special visit to the Achiuese plantr
atious in Province Wellesley, where the plant is
wdtivated differently from the mode practised by the
Chinese, but the difference only proved to be be what
may be summed up in the word neglect, and bore
no comparison to the better and higher cultivation
as practised by the Chinese. The adoption of living
supports by the Achinese (Badup) is a point I would
recommend, however, as in everyway more natural
and economical than dead wood as used by the Chinese.

11. Tea.—'Iha cultivation of tea is likely to prove
a success in the Straits if handled with forethought
aud care. The chief drawback is the tendency the
soil has to rent aud fissure, even during a short
period of drought, but this could be remedied by
making special compost and planting in large holes.

12. Cardamoms. -Further experiments with Carda-
moms show that the atmosphere in Siug^ipore and
Penang is apparently too dry for the proper cultiv-
ation of the plant, but it would no doubt succeed
admirably iu some parts of the Native States.

13. 0/ow/)ier.— Observations have .shewn that the
gambier plant may be cultivated for forty or fifty
years on the same land without the land becoming
e.xhausted, if properly cultivated. This is the opposite
to the general opinion. I measured the stems of
some plants of the age mentioned and found them
about 18 inches in circumference clo-e to the ground
and still bearing large quautitips of leaves.

14. Croto?i Oil— The Crotow Oil plant produces
geed freely in Singapore, and could no doubt b»

BBpf, i, inne.]

fHB TROPlCAt AaKXCULTUKi^^i;

not

grown with advantage. I would strongly recommeud
it to planters for trial.

15. Cassia Auricidata. — This i.s an East Indian bark
which grows very freely in the Straits. The bark
contains a valuable tanning principle, which would
no doubt pay in cultivation.

16. Cocoa. — The new varieties of Oholocolate grow
well, and the plant is now established in the Straits,
but white ants, leaf insects, mildew, kc, play such
havoc as almost to prohibit its cultivation in some
districts.

li. 2Vi(tme(/s and Cloves. — The protracted drought in
Penang tried the Nutmegs and Cloves plantation
very much, many young plants died, but the drought
was of e.xceptional severity and has not discouraged
planting.

18. Hemp. — Some plants of Mauritius Hemp, plan-
ted for "experiment among rough lalang, have coped
suce sfully with that troublesome grass, and although
they have grown less rapidly, they have by means of
their wid ^-spreading leaves, prevented the grass from
co^•ering them over and cutting off their supply of
light.

19. Evbher and Gtitta Percha. — The Foreign Rubber
trees mentioned in previous reports continue to grow
well, but in a country where the best rubbers grow
wild, it is somewhat superfluous to refer to foreign
species, the ultimate success of which may be doubtful.
"NVliat is more required is the careful conservation and
cultivation of native kinds, the growth and produce of
which in our soil is not a matter of cjuestion. I believe
a purley Gutta Taban forest, worked as they do timber
forests in Germany, on say, a 30 years rotation would
yield a good return in profit, that is to say, a certain
area, however large, to be reaped (cut down if necessary)
annually, and a corresponding area planted with young
trees.

20. VainUc. — The cultivation of Vanilla is being tried
in the colony. There are some native varieties which
fruit freely, especially in Penang, but I doubt the
suitability of our climate for the cultivation of V.
planifolia, the kind most prized.

21. Jfaiif/Oit'f 7t and other Fndts- — Tho Maugosteen,
which ban hitherto been considered to fruit nowhere
out of Malaya, is now reported ahuost simultaneously
as bearing fruit in .Tamaica. Ceylon, and India, and
must be near bearing in the Mauritius and .Seychelles
Islands.

The cultivati'in of fruit pays well in the Straits, and
orchards might be gieatly extended with advantage.
. 22 NeiQ Economics. — Introductions during the year
include Mimusnps globosa, a famous West Indian
Kubber tree ; Chinese ginger ; Chinese rice-paper plant;
Yoroba Indigo, Canonball tree of "West Indies, and
West Indian fruits and medicinal plants the growth
and properties of which will be detailed in next
year's report. — N. Cantlet, Superintendent.

TEA WITHERING.

Our representative paid a visit to Gillwell Park
a few days since, and saw the new machine invented
by Mr. Gibb's for withering tea. Until the blocks
illustratiug the machine are ready, we purpose
holding our notice of the invention over. Suffice it
to say that JCr. Gibbs, with bis usual enterprise and
skill, has made a clever attempt to solve the problem
of withering tea in all weathers. The Tinted gives
the following account of the invention : —

" One of the most important of the various oper-
ations connected with the prepnration of tea for the
market is that of witliering. For this purpose the
freshly plucked leaves are placed on trays on tiers
in a building known as the withering house, where,
by the aid of the dry, warm temperature, they are
withered. This withering process has" for its object
the bringing dut of part of the moisture contained
in the leaf, si that every leyf is rmdered soft and
pliable, becoming to the touch like a thin piece of
glove kid. In this condition the leaf is readily
curled or twisted in the rolling mill, which is the
ne-xt operation it bag to nudergo, withering being

the necessary preparation for this treatment. It,
however, sometimes happens that a damp atmosphere
or a low temperature prevails, in which case the
withering cannot be properly effected, and a con-
siderable portion of the crop may be spoiled, thus
entailing .i heavy loss on the tea grower. Such
cases are uy no means of rare occurrence, as some
of our Indian tea growers to their sorrow can testify.
In these circumsta;.cv-> it is of course of the first
importance to have some means of remedying this
evil and of preventing this serious loss. Heat has
been employed to dry the air, but we believe with
indifferent success, for if the temperature cannot be
perfectly controlled and regulated the leaves will
become dried at tho edges and in other ways ren-
' dered unfit for the subsequent process of rolling.
i To overcome this difficulty Mr. William A. Gibbs,
of Gillwell Park, Chiugford, has devised a machine
j which, in the opinion of those who are qualified to
! express one, is capable of effecting all that is desired
whether the temperature be low or the atmosphere
I moist, or whether both conditions obtain simultaneously
I Mr. Gibbs' experience in desiccating machinery has
j enabled him to thovougldy grasp the difficulty and
I to provide the precise remedy, but this only after
I several months of careful study and practical investig-
I atioQ into the subject.

1 " The machine in question, which we were recently
j afforded an opportunity of examining in operation,
I is as simple in construction and operation as can
I well be conceived, thereby adapting itself to tho
I degree of intelligence possessd hy the class of oper-
i atives who will be intrusted with its working. It
I consists of one of Mr. Gibbs's fans fitted in an iron
casing mounted on a pair of wheels, and having a
small coke fire in a box in front of it. If wc add
I a hand wheel for driving the fan and a couple of
I handles for moving the machine about, barrow
i fashion, we shall practically have completed its
description. There is, of course au air inlet to
the rear of the fan, and there are two outlets in
front of the firebox. Into each of these latter is fixed
a light flexible hose, about 4 in. in diameter, for the
distribution of the air from the fan. The work of
turning the fan is very slight, and here Mr. Gibbs
has met the requirements of Eastern labour, for after
the fan has been once started, the slightest touch of
the handle at each revolution will keep it going, as
the frictiou is reduced to a miuimuni. The turning
of the handle draws the air into the fan, and it is
expelled on the other side; but on its way to Ihe
delivery outlet, it is made to pass through a chamber
which is placed over the fire, and by which means
the air is raised to the desired temperature. It will
thus be seen that two streams of warm dry air, one
on either side, can be delivered through the hose in
to the tea which is laid out for withering. AVith re-
gard to the range of temperature, we may observe
that on the occa.sion of our inspection the thermometer
stood at 63 degrees Fahr, at the inlet of the fan,
and at 87 degrees at the outlet, thus giving a range
of 24 degrees.

"So far, the question of temperature only has been
dealt with. We have now to show how the machiiie
acts in the caso of a h3'grometric atmosphere. To
meet this case there is a small cage fixed in the
front of the air inlet to the fan. In this cage are
placed roughly broken fragments of chloride of calcium,
and through this mass the air has to pa.ss on its
way to the fan. The chloride of calcium abstracts
the moisture from the air, which enters the fan
perfectly dry and is expelled from it in the
same condition, the fire not being used if the
temperature of the atmosphere be sufficiently high.
The machine is perfectly portable, weighing only
li cwt., and measuring only about 7ft. in length by
4Ft. in height and about 2ft. in width over all.

"The principle of this m.nchine has been applied,
or rather added, by Mr. Cibbs to the tea-drying
cylinder which he devised for drying the tea as it
comes from the rolling mill, and which was described
by u? toward.? the close of Ij^st year, This mnchinu

iiji

tM£

fmPtcAL Aomojittvm^T,

(Siipr, 2, iSU.

consists of a revolving cylinder through which the
tea is gradually passed: being exposed during its
passage to the desiccating influence of a stream of
heated air. In this case the air may have a tem-
perature of some 450 deg. on entering the cylinder,
and on leaving it will utill be suflScieutly warm to
be serviceable in witheiing t«a. The air, however,
leaves the cylinder laden with the moisture which it
has absorbed from the tea, and in this respect is
of course quite unsuited for withering. But by
placing a cage of chloride of calcium at the exit
end of the drying cylinder and a small fan beyond
it, the air is drawn through the chloride, in which
it leaves all its moisture, and is delivered by the
fan perfectly dry and of a temperature suitable
for withering, as was demonstrated on our visit.
Of course chloride of calcium, being a deliquescent
salt, becomes dissolved as it absorbs moisture. In
the case of the drier as well as in that of the
witherer, however, it is caught in a pan placed
beneath the cage, and is afterwards restored to its
normal condition by evaporation. It is thus used
over and over again, none being wasted, and, there-
fore involving no expense in this respect beyond the
first cost. This simple method of obtaining dry air
at moderate temperatures is applicable to many
products where heat alone would be injurious, and
Mr. Gibbs is now in treaty with a large inporter of
timber to construct a building and provide large
power-driven fans with calcium chambers for the rapid
seasoning of damp timber. He considers that this more
powerful arrangement will ultimately be adopted for
tea-withering houses when the planters hav^e satisfied
themselves as to the value of ilio process by the use of
the portable witherer we have described.

'• We thus have a further extension of Mr. Gibbs's
ingenious application of physical laws and mechanical
principles to the 8a%nQg of crops, an extension which ap-
pears destined to reflect on its inventor as much credit
as those by which it has been preceded, and on which
he has expended so much thought, time and money.
Before concluding, we may refer to an improved ap-
paratus, which we saw in model at Mr. Gibbs's, for
desiccating fibrous substances. In this instance Mr.
Gibbs has taken his hay-drying machine as the basis.
Here he nse.i a series of forks or tines fixed on two hor-
izontal bars to which motion is imparted by a crank
shaft. The material to be desiccated is fed into a per-
forated floor through which hot air is forced, and the
form and action of the times is such as to lift and
separate the material under treatment as well as to
gradually carry it forward over the floor from one end
to the other of the machine, at any desired rate of
speed. We thus have another useful appliance for the
treatment of such fibrous substances as require separat-
ing during the process of desiccation, and which is
specially applicable to certain new substances used in
paper making, for which purpose, in fact, Mr. Gibbs
has designed this model. A large machine, 35 ft. long
by 12 ft. wide, is now being constructed, the cost of
which as compared with the old-fashioned eudless hand
machine is less than one-haif, while its greater eflflci-
eucy in opening up the material is obvious to all
practical men."—//. ^' C. Mail.

CASalA LIONEA ANU THE CHINAMbN.— -Accordiug to
ths report of the Superintendent of the Afforestation
Department of Hong Kong for 18S5, there is a great
diffi'-ulty in growing 'his tree, as the following extract
from the i aj.ort will show : — " The plantations of
Cassia lignea tha!' were made on the hills north of
Aberdeen would probably have been in a thriving
condition by this time but for the persistence of the
Chinese in I reaking off the leaves and branches of
the plants. They appear to attach some importance
to the plant as a medicine, and despite the vigilance
of the forest guards, they succeed in keeping the
plants in an almost leafless condition. Even in the
Botanic Gardens, where the pi mts are protected by
iron tree-guards and wire netting, they have killed
several plants by persistently defoliating them and
wreDcbing off the brauches,"— Ga/-rf«««rs' Chronicle,

COFFEE PLANTING IN SOUTHERN INDIA

AND CEYLON. -No. I.
(Kevi£w of the " Wrinkles and Hints on Coi-fee-
pl.vntino" with diagbails and specimens of foems
by george wildes ; m.u)ras, .\ddision and

co., mount road.
Bi/ an Old Ceylon Planter. J
Had I been asked my opinion a little while ago, as to
whether the Coffee planters of India and Oeyl D,
needed another book of instructions, I should h:iTe
answered with a decided negative. Behold, thej have
Laborie, Sabouadiere, Hull, Brown and all the inform
ation collected by the Observer Editors in the Hand
books published by them ! I will not now however say
that Mr. Wildes' book is quite superfluous, or that
i t will not fulfil its promise of giving Wrinkles and
Hints to the most experienced planters, rather uarrtw

and local but pretty sound, and we cannot eXpcct
any one to deal with matters beyond their exp rience.

There are many things in the book worth ki owing
and not to be found in other works on the subject,
which is sufficient justification for writing and publish-
ing it, if the author and publishers saw their way
to make it pay.

In the article on Clearing, the author is intensely
local, and not very decided in his views. He was
evidently a rather dry climate to denl with, and he
goes no further. Top knots and belts are recom-
mended to be left, which are very unsatisfactory in
all cases : get a good fire, and they will be destroyed
by it running through them : if they escape this
danger, they become nests of weeds and harbours for
vermin; forest left on the tops of hills gives no
more shelter to the leeward side, than the bare hill
will yield. He advises the leaving of gorges where
wind rushes violently, but how is any one to -know
where wind will come ; even he himself admits that
wind wrings patches of coff'ee that to all appearance
should be free from it. We can have no object in
leaving a belt across a hill facing the prevailing wind,
knowing that the trees so left will break the wind to the
coffee above, exactly to their own height, but belts
are worse than useless wliere there is an inclination
of surface on both sides. The shade question has long
ceased to be a subject of controversy in Ceylon ; we
leave no shade trees when felling and we plant none
afterwards. Even Liberian Coffee expresses its abhor-
rence of shade in an average temperature of over 80
degrees Fahr. and a correspondingaun heat. To get a
good fire through fallen forest, is the planter's first
object and to this end the under-wood should be
arranged so as 'o carry the flaii.e along the surface;
and all branches of larger trees should be cut where
they stand above the >,eneral level.

The autbur has a very proper idea of the import-
ance of good LINING, and his method is as good as any
that can be found. Bad work I have always found
to be the result of trusting a measure to a native ;
not one of them that I have dealt with knows a
level from an incline or the difference between a
right angle and an acute one. My own method is
one hundred and twenty feet squares, all the sides
of which I measure and peg myself — the coolies lay
coir lines across the squares : a moving line is carried
over them from psg to peg and the pegs put in at
the crossings. There is generally at least one cooly
in a gang, who can lay a string straight, if he sees
one end from the other.

From thirty-five to forty yeara ago, a great con-
troversy wtnt on, among planters about the proper
size of iioi.Ks for coffee plants. Some of us brought;
our opinions with us from Scotland, where twenty
years earlier the subject of pits for forest tnes. ha i
been copiously discus.std by l;inded p opriet< rs and
practical men. Sir Walter Scott taking part a- au
ardent opponent o'' pits, an^ a firm supported of the
X '■ut. I do not know whether the one or the
otb^r method ultimately prevailed, but the dispute

Sept. i, iSS6.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

20J

was still uusettlcd when I left home in 1840. lu 184i-43
some estates in Cej'lon were planted in hoies 3x3x3
feet and others 1x1x1 and all possible sizes between
those extremes, bat at no time n,f cerwar is could ajy one
have told which was which. In process of time the
dispute settled down to 18 x 18 x 18 in. which is now
the general practice. In 1842 I tasked my coolies to
120 holes, 40 is now I believe the usual task. The
object with the coolies is to get them to hole in the
right spot, and make the regulation size. The super-
intendent must see to this on his owu method, or
may accept of Mr. Wildes, as siuts him. In Onylon
holes are usually filled by takiug thf surface "soil
from the upper side, but I have lately had to deal
with soil where no filling was needed, but to cut two
.small drains from the upper side of the hole, at
an angle of forty-five with the line, and a few showers
silts them full of the prime of the soil.

NUESERIE.S

The rearmg ol nursery plants in b.istr^ts should
supersede every other arrangement in the case of all
delicate plants, but Coffee Arabica can hardly be
classed as a delicate plant, where one hundred inches —
or upwards — of rain falls in the year, but it is sufii-
ciently perverse, where the temperature is nmch greater,
the rainfall very much lower, aud the droughts last
for mouths. Of course, ever3' one must study his own
ease, so far as climate is concerned- In .some parts of
Ceylon, no one thinks of making nurseries; they
have only to send a gang of coolies iuto the jungle,
to bring in whatever number of stumps may be re-
quired. In other parts, where rains are heavy and
frequent and the soil soft, the best nurseries are made
by clearing the uuderwood in a jiiece of forest, gather-
ing the fallen leaves and rotten twigs into heaps,
sowing broadcast, and then scattering the leaves. &c.
over the seed.

PL.\NTI.\G.

I have had occasion to remove many large aud
flourishing coffee trees in old fields in the course of
my planting operations, and I do not recollect one
of those with a single tap-root running straight down.
I have sei^n many turned by a stone, and going
horizontally along its surface, but the most common
appearance is a plurality of tap-roots, from two to
sis, none of which go to a great depth, few indeed
being a foot long, beyond the branching point. I have
therefore long looked on the fuss so m.any planters
make about tl>6 tap root, as mostly humbug. I do
not indeed hold that it is a beneficial operation, to
turn up the tap-root in transplanting, but I never
saw a Tamil cooly, put in a plant without pressing
it dovvn, aud however often checked he was always
found at the trick again. For this cause I have
always cut off tap-rooi at hard wood that is not
easily dmibled up. It i.s hardly possible to take up a
nursery plant with the tap-root complete, to its deepest
fibre, and if that is not done it will branch in the
new situation, however carefully treated otherwise,
aud why should it not branch and who has proved,
that a single deep tap-root belongs to a stronger aud
more fruitfid tree, than the tree that owns a divided
tap ? Else, if we must have perfect plants, put down
seed in baskets, and plant out in the field, before the
tap gets through the bottom.

The best way of planting is to fasten two pieces
of stick — long enough to cross the hole and rest on
the sides together at one end, place the plant
between the sticks so that it will hang with the
root straight down in the centre of the hole, over
the loose end of the sticks slip a loop of string so
that the plant may be held in position till the earth
has been filled in round it. By this plan there can
be no possible turning up of the tap-root, or twist-
ing of the lateral fibres.

CATTLE AXD MANURE.

I know nothing about the keep of cattle in India, but
i n Ceylon the manure made will barely pay the expense of
keep, when the planter has a tract of natural pasture suSi-
cient for his herd all the year rouud. The planter there-
fore who has no pasture laud, should limit his herd
of cattle to such work bullocks as he can employ ou
or off the estate with advantage and such cows as may

be necessary to supply his table with milk aud butter.
There is po.siiively nj market for .any kind of
Cattle but working bullocks. The small quantity of
beef required is in the hands of the butchers, who
purchase native cattle at from E6 to R 15, and worn out
cart bullocks for next to nothing, and any attempt by
outsiders, to introduce a better article by systematic
fatteuing, is resisted by their united might { tlie only
thing a planter can do with his surplus stock is to
shoot them and use the carcases as manure. I suspect
matters are not much better in India, and the HO'O
Mr. "Wildes recoauueuds to be expended on stock
keeping had better be directly employed in the
purchase and tiausport of nitrates, phosphates and
alkalies. Cattle manure is an excellent thing, but it
may be purchased too high.

EOADS AND DEA.INS.

The author has got the right view about the im-
portauce of roads, aud his plan of tracing and parti-
ally cutting them as early as possible is a very good
one. To make a drain as the first operation in making
a road is the only way to get proper work, for when
the Tamil cooly, gets a few shovel-fulls of loose
earth to deal with, he scratches it up and down, and
back aud lore, and rouud about, and never leaves it
till a kick or a curse overtakes him, and sends him
forward to stiff er work ; when h« is set to cut a drain
he has no loose earth to manipulate and must put
some pith into his strokes to make any impression.

I do not like a road to be even so steep as one
in 15, if it be possible to obtain a better gradient;
of course they may be steeper where no bandy road
can be made. I have before me as I write, a zig-zag,
going up a steep face, sprinkled with mighty boulders
and bouuded by chtfs. None of the few gentlemen
who had travelled it made any laudatory remarks on
my engineering, but I compensate mysfclf by looking
on the work with unqualified admiration. In some
recent road making I have involved myself in the
necessity of some heavy blasting but that can be
deferred till better times, aud no one coming after
me can improve on my traces, but I forgot I was
asked to review Mr. "Wildes' book and not to tell
my own tale. Well, I agree with all my author
says about roads, but I join issue with him about
drains. He says "as a rule, and for a permanency,
I do not approve of drains; I prefer renovating aud
and weeding pits, to stop the wash," I have no special
objection to supplement my system of drains by wash-
holes, but I Jl^e not rely on holes alone, for dealing
with the surface water resulting from exceptioually
heavy rain; and be it remembered that it is the ex-
ceptional, that has in this case to be provided for.
One twenty four hours in July 1878, Colombo was
visited with a ranfall of eleven inches. Here where
I sit twenty miles inland I have seen certainly not
less than five inches fall in two hours. Five inches
of rain gives upwards of 11 cubic feet of water, to
every twenty-five feet of surface. I incidentally learn
that Mr. SVildes' " renovation holes are 2 x 2 x li feet
or a capacity of 6 cubic feet, suppose the eatth to
absorb one cubic foot, which is certainly as much as
it is likely to do, the remaining 4 cubic feet must
go down the hill, at the nearest to the first natural
water-course. Then the surface is encumbered with
the loose earth dug out of the holes: this the descend-
ing flood searches, and carrying off all the loamy
portion in suspension, silts the holes up to the surface
with the sand ana smaller gravel while the water
is fjrced out of them to augment the stream. This
is tlie one serious objection to all systems adopted
with a view of retaining the whole rainfall ou inclined
surfaces. The terrace, the embankment, tlie water
hole may stand for years aud answer the purpose
satisfactorily, but the awful exoeptioual downpour
comes at last and sweeps all away.

On a gravel surface there h no noed of Drain.'*, or
of any other arrangement to save w.nsh, for there i.>
none. The same may be said of soaj)y clay, which
may possibly benefit by deep tile drains, but yield*
little or nothing to surface wash. The cause is very
different where there is a rich loose surface soil
several inches deep, from which eyevy shower carries'

^64

THE TI50PICAL AGRICULTURIST*.

[Sept. i, i8S6.

off a portion, for the advantage off the neighbouring
paddy fields. Such land I would drain from 400
to Suit yards per acre. The drains should be steep
cuo'.igh to keep themselves clear, rnuning di;i,goually
ucros.s the hills: they need not lie more than a few
inches deep. The drainage syslcin generally practised on
the tea estates is 140 yards per acre — 15 inches deep and
on the standard gradient of one in fifteen. It is
contended in favour of this system that the 1 in 15
exactly hits the point of I'reping the dniu free of silt
without wearing the bottoui and that drains 3;« feet
apart are sufficiently near to prevent surface ruts.
This may be true locally on many lovvcouutry estates,
but I have had to deal with soils where easier gradients
did not prevent bottom scouring nor more frequent
drains prevent surface ruts.

It is the very foundation of what Monclare calls
his system, that the more water sinks into the land
the better for the planter. I deny the proposition //(
fofo. There is a proper measure of moisture needful
to mantain the growth of plants and any excess is
injurious so long as it continues and is just as bad
as too little ; superfluous water very soon passes
beyond the region of roots if compelled to remain
till it sinks into the earth and therefore does little
harm, as the earth only retains moisture as much as
tills it, the same as a pint pot which if you keep on
pouring after it is full merely runs over, and if more
water than the earth can hold is forced on it, it
merely filters away below. I am not aware that those
who depend entirely on holes to get rid of super-
fluous water hold the notion that the laud is thereby
improved, but I maintain that properly arranged drains
is the quickest and the most economical way of getting
rid of it.

BUILDINGS.

Mr. Wildes is intensely local again in what he says
about buildings. We do not even know the terms
he uses, but it is little matter as he has nothing to
teach Oeylon planters about buildings. This is how-
ever a subject on which I am not an authority, and
will say nothing more.

WEEDING,

It appears that weeding is not so well uuderstood
or to carefully practised in the "Wynaad as in Ceylon.
The true rule is to keep the necessary labour to go
over the estate once a month constantly employed
and whatever else may fall behind, never take off the
weeding gang to any other work, nqteven in crof),
unless the precaution has taken to put on force
enough to go over it in a week just before the heav-
iest crop comes on. Once let seed into the soil, and
the cost of weeding cannot be estimated, and for my
own part, I would rather sacrifice a little crop than
allow my property to get into weeds. The "Wynaad
rates for weeding seem to be much higher than those
of Oeylon. A recent correspondent of the Observer,
states that he has weeded as low as ")8 cents per acre,
which extended to twelve weediugs, gives KG-^Iti per
annum, and I know that this may be done.

I cannot see the force of Mr. W's. objections, to bury-
ing the weeds as the work goes on. If the •' renov-
ation " holes, are of sufhcieiit capacity to contain all
the water and all the silt of even exceptionally heavy
rains, then indeed, there will only remain the danger
of the weeds thrown into them taking fresh root
and shedding seed before the next weeding. But I
have no faith in holes alone as a protectiou from
wash, for if they ever overflow, they are certain to
do more damage than would be done if neither hole
nor drain existed. I used, when in charge of the only
estate weeded monthly in Ceylon at that time, to
give each weeder a small basket to be carried in
the left hand for the weeds to be dropped into as
picked, which were emptied on the roads, and a
momattie went round and buried them in pits below
I was in one of the wettest spots in Oeylon but never
saw them washed out.

SUPERINTENDENCE.

All that Mr. Wildes writes on this subject, when
stripped of details, amounts to this. The superintend-
ent of a coffee estate should have brahis enough in
bis skull to organize and administer a system, in-

tegrity enough to act justly in all his dealings, and
firmness enougli to exact the right from all employed
under him. This is the man needed for all kinds
of business, but is not the man most likely to be
selected in this grasping and over-reaching age, the
abilities by all means but moral qualities he Mowed !
■\Ve have arrived at the point, of giving our sym-
pathy to every clever piece of roguery, at least till
the clever one, has run his head against the laws
of the land and come to grief. Smart men, as the
Yankies call them, Hke to deal with smart men ; as
an edifying exercise of their own wits, it is the honest
men who avoid them if they can, a piece of wisdom
the stupid men never learn. The old Scotch proverb
has it, "If he cheat me once foul fa' him; if he
cheat me twice foul fa' ine,"

Smart or not, the superintendent of an estate,
works under a disd vantage in dealing with his prop-
rietor's agent; he stands on a different level than
the man who can send him the sack any month in
the year, while he cannot choose whom he will serve
and may be left a long time without any service
whatever. An honest man will at once refuse to do
a dirty or dishonest act at whatever cost to himself,
but a prudent ma n will not scald his mouth with
other people's broth. If the system or no system
of my neighbour is not pleasing to me, it is no part
of my business to convey my views to his superiors.
I may be conscious that the agent under whom I
serve is working the oracle much more for his
own interests than those of his principal ; I am not
called on to push in my oar between them. It is
most probably a case of diamond cut diamond, and
the proprietor knows more of the affairs between himself
and his agent than I can tell him. Some proprietors
insist on corresponding with the superintendent over
the head of the agent: this no prudent man will
undertake; it is unbu.siness-like ; it causes annoyance
on all sides, and most probably leads to the dismissal
of the superintendent who submits to it. The superin-
tendent engaged by the local agent should have no
official knowledge of any interested party beyond his
immediate superior ; to him all communications on
the business of the estate should be addressed, and
if he manipulates them to suit the digestion of his
principal, it is no business of the superintendent. The
superintendent stands in the same relation to his
assistants that he himself bears to the agent, and
the same rule should be observed.

One of the heaviest trials of a superintendent is
when am agent who has never been a practical planter
insists on directing the details of internal manage
ment. It is true that in Oeylon the visiting agent
is supposed to be a practical jdanter, but we are
all aware that high professional attainments are not
the sole or even the chief factor in their selection,
and that their crotchets may be as troublesome in
some cases as those of the desk planters who never
set a pulper or pruned a coffee tree.

It appears to me that Mr. Wildes dwells much
longer on minute details than on broad principles. Any
youngster can master the details of working an estate
in a few months but while he continues a planter, he
is always learning something of the less obvious doings
of nature, and if he undertakes to become a teacher
of others it is not in minute directions about the
daily routinethat he can most benefit his fellows, but in
opening to them the deeper results of experience that
every observing man stores up duringyears of practice.

This book may be locally useful to new beginners but
the author has nothing to teach to old Oeylon coffee
planters.

PAY AXn ALLOWANCES.

Pay and allowances will regulate themselves by
the law of supply and demand ; the employer will
give as little as he can help and the servant will
secure as much as he can get. It is the business of
the employer to get the fittest man he can secure,
and the servant to be fit for the place he seeeks to fill.
A good character for etHciency and trust-worthiness
will be Certain tu pay well sooner or later, and for
the rest the parties will just act according to the
view they respectively take of their own interests, I

Sept. i, 1886.3

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST^

205

either knows how or where, he cau do better; the
negotation will assuredly tail. It is best for both
parties that there should be no unacknowledged per-
quisites.

Salary settled by mutual consent.

Cook house cooly — general custom.

Tappal cooly — general custom.

Hoise keep or equivalent travelling allowance when
it is a part of the superintendent's duty to travel on
estate's business — general custom.

Keep of a cow. — Special where the estate keeps no
cattle.

Cultivation of a vegetable garden — special.

The estate usually finds the heavier articles of
furniture, as chairs, tables, couches, beds, almirahs, cash-
box, &c, all other necessaries the superintendent finds
for himself.

I would never give any sort of work on contract
that I had labour enough to do myself. Contract
work to get it well done needs even more supervi-
sion than day labour and with a properly organized
establishment will in no case be cheaper. A contractor
means scamped work, if he can po.ssibly get it passed
and a constant pressure for advances beyond the value
of work performed.

ESTIMATES.

I have put no faith in estimates, since a time I
remember in Ceylon when one very simple one served
all intending planters the terms were. It will take
£10 to plant and bring a coffee estate into bearing
per contra. The average crops of a coffee estate
will be 10 cwt. When the test came no estate planted
during the Forties cost less than £30 per acre,— many
of them much more, — and only a few favoured localities,
ever yielded 10 cwt. per acre or over in rarely favour-
able seasons. So far as current expenditure is concerned
it is easy for.a planter who has the accounts of the estate
for a series of years to tell now much money he
needs for the next twelve months, but he who attempts
to estimate crops before they are on the trees is
certain to blunder ; indeed it is only an experienced
eye that can make a near approximation, with all
the crop of the season before it. True the expend-
iture required to open an estate may be readily enough
asccrtaint'd but practically, no man works on another
man's estimate, unless titd down by stringent orders
in which those who give the orders assumed the
responsibility as for a cut and dry estimate pre-
pared before the laud is selected, setting forth the
amount and value of the average crops it must range
in trustworthiness with a present estimate, of the
rainfiiU of 1885 in a given locality.

(7o be continved.)

TEA AND THE EASTERN EXCHANGES.

The somewhat bewildering effects of the state of the
exchanges with the East have a highly important bear-
ing upon the Tea market. The increasing scarcity, or
greater purchasing power, of gold, which tends of itself
to lower the price of siiver, and to lessen the quantify
of commodities that can be bought by the latter, has
been accompanied by a much gi-eater production of
silver. The result of these two causes has been that
the silver rupee, the par value of which used to be 2s,
as expressed in gold, has fallen below Is 5d for some
time, and has recently even been only Is 4gd or Is 4|d.
Without going into a tedious dissertation upon the
various ways in which this remarkable change has come
about, it is eufiicient to say that it means that a sover-
eign, the exchange value of which was formerly 20s in
India, is now worth 25 per cent more, or 25s. A price
of Is per lb. for Tea when paid in this country is worth
Is 3d to the producer in India, as compared with former
times. It follows that the gain by the exchange has
become a most important item, as a matter of ancount.
in calculating the profits of the various Tea Companies,
whose books are kept in ru)iee.'5, and not in pounds
sterling. Indeed, the Indian Tea Gazette says that there
is now more profit from this source, than the difi'er-
enee between the cost at the gardens and the Calcutta
sale price. In fact, with an average cost of something
ike lOd. per lb. for Indian Tea, as made by some of

the chief Companies and laid down in London, the present
exchange alone means a return of not far short oi 2S
pf-r cent. It is to be remembereit, however, that the
greater portion of the Indian Tea gardens have been
planted long since the rupee was at par, and probably
at a time when its value w.is about Is 9d or Is lOd.
Still J a fall to Is Jjd from those j^rioes represents a
great difference.

The first effect of such a remarkable state of things
is to cause unexpected prosperity among the i^rodu-
cers, at a period when they looked for bad times in
consequence of the greater general production of Tea.
The usual results, however, of a depreciated currency
may be expected to follow. If so, the growth of Tea
cultivation will continue till a point is reached, when
the benefit through the exchange will be neutralised,
partly by a fall in value here, and partly by a rise in
the cost of production in India ; for the greater de-
mand for land, appliances, labour tr.tnsit, &c., iu the
Tea gardens, will of c^iurse. be reflected there by some
rise in the amount of money which has to be spent iu
the manufacture of a given weight. It may atpiesent
be said that where there was formerly one rupee in
Ii dia, there is now (judged by the exchanges) material
in silver for a rupee and a quarter. In a country
where the supply of the circulating medium is ample,
such a state of thiug? would immediately be followed
by a corresponding rise iu money values on the spot.
When the Uniterl States issued a forced paper cur-
rency, it will be in the recollection of most readers how
immediately prices, as expressed in paper rose, and
how a similar change followed the fresh issues, and
also how the reverse took place as the Washington
Government paid off the greenbacks. Simil.ar results,
doubtless, are following in India in the veiled barter
by means of silver, in which trade there is carried on.
Indeisd, though food and wages have apparently not
recently riseu in the Tea districts, one of the common
subjects of talk among Anglo-Indians is the increased
dearness of living in India at present as compared
with twenty or thirty years back. In short, as the
relation of the supply of silver to other commodities
increases, money prices ultimately rise and wages follow.
Tiie effect of such events in a vast empire like India
is, however, immensely slower than iu an European
country. Suppose that in this kingdom all trading
transactions were carried out, not by cheques, bills,
bank-notes, or gold, but that they had to be trans-
acted by carrying about florins, the equivalent of the
rupee, in canvas bags; that the population was in-
creased to 3.50,000,000 ; that the area of the country
was increased twenty-fold ; that there were few rail-
roads, and, broadly speakmg, no proper roads ; that
over a hundred different distinct languages were spoken
within our borders, and that there were endless re-
strictions imposed by religion and by caste, on inter-
course between man and man ; and, above all, that our
natural slowness to change, were indefinitely multiplied
liy the ingrained conservatism of the unchanging East —
if all these causes were put together we should better
be able to realise the length of time required to bring
about a change iu values, expressed in money, in India,
as compared with the period requisite to bring about
similar results in England or in other European coun-
tries. Why, till quite a few years ago, if the Govern-
ment at Calcutta wished to p.ay a sum of money in the
north of India, the actual rupees were packed in _ bags
and sent in carts drawn by bullocks and guarded by
sepoys, who marched on foot in charge of the treasure
for some six months, before their goal was reached.
The Government for the same reason — the scarcity of
currency — even now only makes its own bank-notes
legal tender within a limited circle from each of the
issuing points. Further, the poverty of the people,
according to our ideas, renders alterations in the rel-
ations of currency to values even slower, for a rup^e al-
m.)st represents wealth to a nation, where a rioh man
spends 4d a dn y on his eating, and where in some of
the provinces the labourer gets 30s a v/cn;- as wages and
keeps himself. Where any currency at all is common,
copper of course plays a far more important part than
with us, and it is supplemented not only by the far-
things and mites, of which w« see so little in this

206

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept. i, 1886

country, but by a circulation of cowries — shells wortli
tweuty to the halfpenny, and used for small change.

Such a digression may seem to take us far from Tea,
and yet brings us back to the point that, comparatively
slow thosgh they may be in their operation in India,
yet the laws of supply and demand will, in the long
ruB, if silver remains so low, raise pricesin India till
the present benefit of the Planters, through the ex-
change, is lost. It behoves them, therefore, not to
forget economj' in the hour of their apparent prosperity
but to prepare for the worse time coming by cutting
down expenses aud by not letting fixed charges grow
as the weight produced increases. 8imilar causes arc
at work in Oeylon, in Java, and above all China. The
production of Tea is being immenseh' stimulated, and
is increasing beyond the rate of increase of the con-
sumption. This, of course, means constantly falling
prices on our side, at a time when the cost of production
in the East tends slowly to rise, aud when, in addition
to other causes, the increased scarcity of gold i*; tend-
ing to lower the prices of commodities it England
and in most parts of Europe While this is so, there
appears, on the other hand, no apparent limii to the
progressive decline in the value of silver. The actual
cost of the bullion iu the rupee is said to be about
Is at present, and it is probably a good deal con-
vention and habit tliat keep it so much above that
price. The planters will therefore continue to profit,
if the rupee falls further, but by very slow degrees
the cost of production would rise in proportion, while
selling prices are likely to continue to drop here,
through an opposite cause — the "appreciation," or
rise in value, of the other chief circu'ating medium.
The e.Kactly contrary effects of these two currents in
prices, are thus likely to deprive the tea planters of
their present gains by the exchanges, sooner than they
would have otherwise lost them.

Inevitable as they may be, these alterations in the
values of gold, silver and commodities, while they
.ire in progress, cause an enormous amount of incon-
venience, and a good deal of actual loss in some
branches of trade (tor though the tea planters happen
to gain, English exporters often suffer), especially as
the causes at work are so difficult to discern or
follow, that for a long time people are perplexed to
know the reason for what is going on. An iufiuential
section of the mercantile community is greatly con-
cerned at these fluctuations in opposite directions in
the relations of currencies and prices of gold, silver
aud other produce. It thinks that the various govern-
ments of the world ought to intervene, and to decree
that what is really worth Is 'id is not worth that, but
2s — in short, that humanity at large should accept
seventeen pence as being worth twenty- four. The task
appears a large one, and of the character of that un-
dertaken by Canute v^heii lin rebuked the sea for its
progress. After all, it will lie found that the main
difRculty of the Eastern exchanges arises from tlie con-
tinuous fall iu them, for once the rate is stable in
mercantile transactiuns, calculations are readily made,
and things equalise themselves. This instability in the
relatious between currencies and commodities no law
couid have altogether stepped. The part in favour of a
regulation of prices by the Uovernments of the world, is
greatly sw»;Iied by the Anglo-Iu'lian official fraternity
— a class that lose materially by the present statu of
the exchanges, because the (.iovernment has contracted
to pay thein so many rupees a month, and not so many
sovereigns. It would be well for Indian officials to
correct their ideas by asking any tea, iudigo, or silk
planters, or any exporters of corn, seeds, oils, or other
Indian produce, whom they may know, what would be
their opinion of the result of bringing exchanges to
par, if it could be done at a blow, bj' an arbitrary law.
The plantei'S aud exporters from lutiia would pro!)ab!y
point out that such a change would instantly ruin
theni. The views oven of the Simla authorities may
be coloured by the officials' sufleriugs through tlie loss
on home remittances and pay. For instance, a des-
patch has recently lieen uu-niioned iu the papers, in
which the Governor-Uenerars Council c,)mb.tt \hc as-
sertion, tluit the recent amazmg development in the
exterior trade of India is due to the state of the ex-
phanges, while, on the contrary, they put it down to

improved communications. New railroads and .so on
have no doubt iminen.sely facilitated this result of
increased Indi>in exports, but Tea iigaiu disproves the
assertion of the exchanges having no part in this
result. There has been no particular improvement iu
the modes of transit of Tea from Assam, ami yet the
produetiou increases rajjidly, and is remunerative at
prices in England that would formerly have destroyed
the industry in a soasuii. —J'rodi"; Maikrls' lli rien:.

THE DETERIORATION OF CEYLON TEAS

OR THE USE AND A151 SE OF THE
KNIFE IN CEYLON.
No. I.

(Bif tin Assrnii F/itiitcr.)

19th August 188().

Before discussing this all-important subject, let
us examine the different agricultural implements
provided by the manufacturer tor all sorts and con-
ditions of growths, endeavouring whilst doing so
to select that best suited to the requirements of
the island and the subjects requiring to be oper-
ated upon.

First let us look at the Assam churri. Is it
not a terrible-looking weapon, with its long, coarse
and sometimes horney handle, its heavy back and
crooked end? In truth it is as formidable as it looks.
Made of the best tried metal, there is nothing that
will turn its edge or break its point. When properly
handled and a drawing cut given, it will sever with
e(iual readiness a bambu stump or a* luihorc sapling.
Unfortunately it is a trifle dangerous, tlie makers
have neglected to provide it with a suitable sheath,
thus it is always open and ready for use. 8ome-
times coolies cannot resist the use of it in the
settlement of their disputes, so it may be found
advisable to collect them at muster.

Next we come to a modification of the
above. It will suit our purpose admirably, for in
the first place it is inexpensive, whilst small and
light it is very strong and handy and well suited for
light work; it can give a big cut on the occasion :
this is what we want, but ol course it requires
having the knowledge where to cut, how and
wiien to do it.

Lastly we have that with a rough sawHke edge:
let us dismiss this from our minds with the re-
mark that, being unweildy it is too slow in its
task, rough on the plant and tedious on the oper-
atoi- ; its use could only lie required as a last and
\ery desperate remedy ; in a now field like Ceylon
it should not bo necessary for many years. It will
be my object to show your readers how they can
best spare the knife with benefit to themselves.
Much of the deterioration one hears of is due to
its too liberal application ; at any rate, this and
the heaviest picking combined. Whilst repeatedly
advising the abandonment of the barbarous style
of plucking so conspicuous in the browsed bushes,
the abuse of the knife is a siill more crying evil.
And now let me urgently impress the absolute
necessity of giving the bushes a chance in the
coming pruning season. If you have young trees
let them rua, it can do -them no i)0ssible harm
until they begin to crowd each other, then it will
be quite time enough to prune them and there
will be no occasion (more especially with high-class
hybrid or indigenous) to do more than pass the
kiiife across as nearly as possible at the joint of
the main limbs, and as near the centre of the
tiunk as may be, the higher up one keeps with
the knife the better : positively no cleaning out is
ever necessary : some well- informed planters con-
tend that for every singio wiry twig removed, two
come to replace it. The so-called culling down
cannot he too strongly deprecated : it kills many a

Sept. I, i866,j

Tm tkOPlCAL AQktCVtVVtilBr.

iOf

tree outright and (so to speak) ages the whole pre-
maturely. With plants three to four years oi age
that have been cut across and plucked heavily there
will be more scope for ingenuity by the careful
application of the pruner.

But tea that has been plucked alter the fasjiion
usual here, will require a long letter to itself, which
you shall have by and by. In the meantime let
me enforce upon my brother planters that there is
nothing which plays more havoc with a tea garden
than the injudicious use of either the knife or the saw.

Assam Planter.
A good deal of what is denounced as cutting
down, has been advisedly resorted to in order to
get bushes into good shape, with all possible breadth
for plucking, present advantage being deliberately
sacrinced tor future benefits. — Eu.j

CHEAP QUININE.

Mr. John Hamilton (formerly of Dikoya) has
taken a step in the right direction in order to
make the cheapness of quinine known and appreciated.
He ought to try and get at the peole in the " fen "
and other marshy districts (if the oUl country whore
its use can be appreciated ; also at the velerinary
surgeons who promised to use it freely when cheap.
Out here also it is a boon to get really good cheap
quinine. — From an American journal wc take the
following : —

Quinine from the Eetait, Standpoint.

The. daily papors ot New York are taking unusual
mtertst in the quinine market. The Reporter has
already referred to an article which appeared
the other day about adulterations, and we reproduce
the following as the work of a reporter on the Trihuiu .

"It may be some consolation to sufferers from
malaria to know that there is little if any impure
quinine in the market at present. This desirable
state of things is not due to any sudden spasm of
virtue on the part of druggists, but arises from causes
that are pure)} economical. Quinine is lower in price
now than it has ever been ; it is selling wholesale at
55 cents an ounce, and is so much cheaper propor-
tionatelj' thau its usual adulterants that a loss rather
than a profit would result from mixing these with it.

' People are almost certain to get quinine pure this
season, no matter where tliey buy it,' said the pro-
prietor of one of the largo drug stores near the Post-
OfBce. ' The most unscrupulous druggist has no in-
centive to adulterate it now as he did when he used
$3 and $-i au ounce for it. Then it paid to mix it
with cinchona, which sold for §1 or so an ounce
Yes, that is about the only ingredient used and it
has the properties though not the strength of quinine.
About the only fault found with a compound of this
kind was that it lackedpower. Nothing injurious ever
resulted from its use nor, in fact, do I know of any
substance that would jjrobably be mixed with quinine
which might harm the system. The most despicable
form of fraud practised with this drug, is the short-
weight dodge. This is worked by some of the extreme
'cut-rate' stores and unprincipled dealers. They sell
a pill that contains but one grain of quinine for a
two-grain pill, thereby making just double the usual
profit, which one would think large enough at present.
An ounce of quinine costs the retail druggist a little
over 50 cents. There are 480 grains in an otuice.
At a cent a grain this gives a profit of over S-t an
ounce, allowing for the cost of the rice flour and gum-
arabic which form the body of the pills as well as
for the time required to roll them. Some of the high-
priced druegists charge two cents again, making a
profit of about §!• au ounce, or something like 1,800
per cent on their investment. The cheap stores I
referred to that give one grain instead of two to their
customers, make almost as much as this and few of
them are ever found out."

" How do you account for the cheapness of the drug
at this time?" was asked.

" Qainine, as you are aware, i.^ derived from Peru
viau or Jt-suit's bark obtained from Vi rious species of
cinchona which grow in the Columbian. Ecuador, Bolivian
and Peruvian forests of South America. The Coun-
tess de la Cinchona, wite of a Peruvian viceroy, was
cured of a fever by its use, and when she returned
to Europe introduced the medicine there about the
middle of the sc\enteenth century. It derived flie
naiiift cinchona from her. This bark used to be gathered
by the Cascarillas Indians chiefly, who obtained it by
cutting down the trees that produced it. This of
course, soon thinnel out the more valuable trees and
such was the reckless stupidity of the Peruvian gov-
ernment that, though it put every obstacle in the
way of the tree being planted elsewhere, it was never
attempted by a system of forestry to renew the riches
thus improvidently wasted. 'l"he result was that quinine
became scarcer and scarcer every year ; the price of it
went to an extravagant figure, and at one time it seemed
aa if this most important drug was likely to become
AinobtaiQable. It was at this time that the East Indian
government determined to try to naturalize the cinchona
tree in India. To obtain seeds and young plants was
a uillicult task, but Professor Clement R. Markham,
Dr. Spruce and others accomplished it, and in a
short time a nourishing plantation was yielding large
(|uantities of quinine on the Ncilgherry Hills of
Southern ludia. The tree has since become naturalized
in -Java, the niountanous, regions of .lamaica and
many other places, so that we arc almost if not en-
tirely independent of the Peruvian forests for this
great febrifuge. It is this increased production of
it all over the world, one might say, which is mak-
ing the drug cheaper and cheaper every year as the de-
mand for it becomes more widespread in this and
all other countries where

" ' Men shiver and shake.
Dose, swear and bake.' "
[Such is fame ! No express mention ^ of Ceylon
which has simply revolutionized the world's trade
in bark and quinine.— Ed.]

WYNAAD PLANTEES' ASSOCIATION.

Proceedings of a general meeting, held at Pookote
Club, Wednesday, 4th August 188(5.

Present :— Messrs. Abbott, Achard, Atzeuwiler,
Batty, Boosey, Imray, Jones, Towitt, D. Mackenzie,
W. R. Mackenzie, Tanqueray, vanReesema, Walker,
Winterbotham, and Romilly. Honorary Secretary ; Mr.
H. B. Winterbotham in the chair.

CiiwhoiM. — Read letter from Mr. Batty on the
question of the approximate possible loss of weight in
bark in transit from the estates to the coast. Prom
the discussion which ensued and from actual results
stated, it would appear that the loss from all natural
causes, except theft, should not exceed three per cent
under any circumstances.

Read an interesting paper forwarded by Mr. G. L.
Yonge giving the following statistics re the renewal of
Ledgeriana bark.

" Hybrid. — Bark analysed from the same trees for
'1 years.

Original ,, l'8l Sulphate of Quinine,

Once renewed, . '6'ii ditto.

Twice „ . , 4-H4 ditto.

Thrice „ . , 5-20 ditto.

Ltihjertt. — Original bark from narrow-leaved Ledgers
analysed last year gave 4'09 sulphate with total >")'97,
renewed bark, It months later, d'G'i sulphate with
total 8"49 hroad-lrured Lcdyais,

Original last year 2''J0 sulphate with total Blil.

Renewed 11 mouths 5"19 ,, ,, S'51.

A broad-leaved Ledger recognised by Professor
Lawson as C. Calisaya Hembra, yielded 5'96 of stil-
phate of quinine with total of 100b.

The Honorary Secretary called the attention of the
meeting to the Government Order in answer to the
representations of the Madras Chamber of Commerce
on the subject of their competion in cinchona cultiv-
ation, and asked whether the Association was pre-
jkjared to take any further actiou ia the matter. After

20&

tHE TROPICAL AGUiCiJLTVUmt. (Sei't, i, iSS$.

a long discuasioii it was decided that no further
action need be taken as Gcverument had pledged
theniaelves not to iiicreaae their plantations; in the
meantime the nieetiug regretted the inability of Gov-
ernment to assist us with cheap analyses in experi-
ments with C Ledgeriana bark, as such help would
only be in accordance with their expressed opinion for
theJUaiBOu d'eter "of the plantations.

CORKS AND OORKAVUOD.

Thebu exists in ihe art of bottling no more
prominent factor than the cork.

The Portuguese cork is inferior to the French in
quality, but superior to the Italiau, being lighter and
whiter. Sardinia pro'luces a kind easily distinguished
by its color and weight, being pinkish hued, and
heavier than many other varieties. It is considered
by the Euglish the best variety which can be obtained,
but little, if any of it, comes to the United States.
In 1861 it was reported that the cork forests of
Sardinia and Corsica had been iu a great measure
destroyed by improper working ; but this report, like
the annual rumored failure of the peach crop in
Delaware, seems to have made little difference in the
supply.

France produces the finest grades of cork, especially
in Languedoc province and the environs of Bordeaux.
The peculiar velvet cork, so esteemed in the bottling
of champagne, is the pioduction of those places, and
is beoomiug very scarce, it being feared it will, in
time, become unobtainable.

Africa produces hirge quantities of cork, but of an
inferior grade, although the soil and climate of its
northern countries seems peculiarly favorable to its
propagation. This is especially true of Morocco and
Algiers. The causes of this are to be found in the
uniformly high tt^mperature and profuse nightly dews,
while the dry, warm, open hillsides are covered with
a sufficiency ef light soil, peculiarly adapted to the
growth of the trees, which attain to a large size
here than elsewhere.

There are said to be 2,500,000 acres of cork forests
in Algiers alone, of which about 300,000 are utilized.
It is said to be capable of producing as much cork
as all the rest of the globe, if the inhabitants could
but be persuaded to remain peaceable, and give their
attentiod to agricultural pursuits.

In 1859 an attempt was made to introduce the
cork oak into the United States, Portuguese acorns
being planted, with this end in view, in Wayne County,
Miss. All grew, the largest trees, eleven years later,
measuring thirteen feet in height, while the trunks
had attained a diameter of eleven inches iu thickness
the cork bark being more than an inch in thickness.
In 1872 the planting of cork trees was attempted in
southern California, but with what success does not
appear.

Among the conditions necessary for successful cork
culture, climate and soil are of the foremost impor-
tance.

In the Mediterranean basin, where it is indigenous,
the tree favors altitudes varying from 1,600 to 3,200
feet. It does not flourish beyond 45° north latitude,
and the minimum temperature must not be less than
55° Fahrenheit.

It grows best on southerly slopes, which afford a
freer circulation of light and air than do flat lands.
It requires abundant sandy soil. Plintiug is usually
performed from seed ; as a rule the large, sweet
acorns developing into the best trees, which j'ield the
finest cork, the small, bitter acorns producing trees
of a coarse and inferior nature.

The most approved method of planting, and that
which is employed in France, Spain and Portugal
appears to be the furrow or " hill" system, which
consists in sowing the acorns twenty to forty inches
apart, in a furrow between two or more grape-vines,
placed at from five to seven feet apart. The sowing
and planting are conducted simultaneously, the vines
affording the shelter which is so noceasarj- to the
cork tree during its early growth. The young trees
are tbinued out ae re<juired so as to afford abundance

of air and light to each. About fifty trees to the
acre are recommended by the Frpuch cork producers,
and the production is about eighteen pounds to each
barking of the tree.

The distinguishing feature of the cork oak is that
the parenchyma forms the mass of the bark, while
the contrary is true with nearly all other trees. In
the earliest state of its growth it is much more
elastic than it ultimately become.", owing to its con-
taining in the first instance a large proportion of
woody matter. The outer casing of the bark is formed
during the first year's growth, and does not subsequently
increase ; but the ijarenchyma or inner bark continues
to grow as long as the tree is alive.

In consecjuence of this phenomenon, the pressure
of the growing inner bark beoeath, forces the outer
shell to split and peel off in flakes. The substance
thus shed under natural conditions is known as
'* Virgin corks." It is very coarse and of woody
texture greatly resembling the bark of the California
live oak in appearance. Its uses, from its coarse
nature, are very limited.

The removal of this outer bark from the tree is
fortunately when iierformed in a judicious manner,
unattended with any evil consequences to the tree ;
on the contrary, the operation seems to hasten and
assist the growth of the bark, improving its quality,
and at the same time the tree grows more vigorous,
and attains greater longevity, trees which are regularly
barked being known to live to the age of one hundred
and fifty years and upwards.

The age at which the first stripping may be attempted
varies with the locality, from fifteen to thirty years,
the former being the most general.

The yield much resembles the naturally shed virgin
cork, and is commonly included under the same term.
Subsequently the barking is repeated at intervals of
eight and ten years, the quality improving on each
occasion. The second crop is also still too coarse for
any but inferior ns^s.-'—Indepemlfiit Jouri>al.

The Coffee Ckop-ye.'Vr ix Brazil (says the
Bio News, July 3rd,) just closed has shown no very
marked features, but, so far as we can learn, has
been fairly satisfactory to exporters. The estimates
were very close to the actual out-turn, the estimates
being from 1,000,000 to 1,2,50,000 bags and our
receipts amounting to about 3,890,000. From
150,000 to 250,000 are probably carried over. The
interruption of traffic on the Cantagallo railway
dui-ing the early part of 1886 caused a sharp
decrease in our barra dcntro supply, which appar-
ently has not since been overtaken. At the end of
October a divergency of opinion arose among our
brokers as to stocks, the estimates varying to the
extent of 50,000 bags. This has since been reduced
to about 10,000 bags by deducting local consump-
tion, which is estimated to be 6,000 bags per month.
As to the crop year upon which we are now
entering, the extreme estimates seem to be that
the Bio crop will produce from 3,750,000 to
4,250,000 bags, the drought in January, it is claimed
having reduced the lirst estimates which were
very large. We incline to the belief that the larger
figures will more nearly approach the truth. As
to Sao Paulo, all advices agree in stating that the
crop will be very large. The May and June frosts
were not general and even allowing for all damage,
there are estimates that the crop will be one-half
larger than that of 1885-86. The crop of 18S7-88
will show greater prejudice from these frosts, but
it is, claimed that new plantations are likely to
counteract any inobable decrease in the older
orchards. In fact, there seems no reason to doubt
that Brazil will export the usual average amount in
1886-87, which we consider to be very near 6,000.000
tags of 60 kilos from Eio and Santos.

§fept. I, 1S86.3

tm 'tmPicAt Ac^kiciJi/ttsm^t,

2og

^txrx$sptxn^$no$.

To the Editor of the *' Ceylon Observer."

PALMS AND LIGHTNING : LIGHTNING
CONDUCTOES.

Colombo, 4th August 1886.

Sib, — Though it is some time since you had
an article on the above, I will act up to the saying
" better late than never " and endeavour to ex-
plain why palms, which seem externally only slightly
affected by a discharge of the electric fluid, be
doomed to die.

What causes the discharge to come to earth ?
It 15'. that the tension of the countrary polar elec-
tricity becomes so great as to overcome the resist-
ance offered by the intervening air to their union.
Now as electricity always takes the less resisting
medium, and air (especially dry air) being the
worst conductor, it is natural that high trees and
buildings will be chosen in its passage to earth ;
then, as water (especially acidulated water) is the best
conductor, the fluid will choose the most sappy trees
though they may not be the highest. As coconut
trees are the first high points which the monsoon
clouds meet on striking the island it is natural
that they should be the greatest suft'erers, and as
a single coconut tree is not sufficient to carry off'
the fluid other trees within a more or less ex-
tended radius according to the quantity of the dis-
charge are also affected. A queer effect on a tree
may be seen in front of Aitken, Spence & Co.'s
office.

The reason that palms and plantains which have
served to carry off the fluid are doomed to die is
simply because their life lies in a single sprout
in the most sappy, i e., the best conducting por-
tion of the tree, and the quantity of fluid which is
suflicient to singe the outer leaves is quite enough
to boil the life out of the tender shoot. Other
trees, animals and human beings are only affected
inasmuch as their life-sustaining properties have
been injured.

While on the subject of lightning, a few lines
about lightning-protectors (commonly called con-
ductors; may be useful to dispel a few popular
errors. The principal action of the iirotector is to
neutralise the electricity in the clouds by discharg-
ing into the upper air fluid of a different polarity,
thus acting as a " discharger." Its other important
action is to act as a "conductor" to the electric
discharge by offering to it the easiest passage to
earth, vnce the discharge has taken place within
its radius. Many persons, especially natives, be-
lieve that Ijghtning-protectors act as lightning
" attractors," and for this reason will not put up
any on their buildings— a great error I should
think.

It may astonish you to learn that there is only
one thorou^^hly well protected building in Colombo
and that is the Wharf and Warehouse Company's
premises at the Wharf, which can be classed A 1.
In the next class come the Colombo Club, the
Clock Tower, and perhaps the Surveyor-General's
Office. On the first of these, though the protector
is well put up, there are portions of the building
beyond its radius. In the case of the second a
grave error has been committed by not metallically
connecting the iron ladders and weight pipe in the
nterior to the protector. As to the Surveyor-
iGeneral's Ofiice, with half the weight of metal
used it might be twice as well protected.

There are many buildings, and mill chimneys
principally, which might with advantage have their
lightning-protectors refitted ; arid in the case of
the barracks, the Military Hospital, Pe Soysa'«

buildings and a few more likely exposed buildings,
their non -protection simply amounts to gross neglect,
and I should certainly not like to find myself
within an appreciable distance of the Ice Manu-
facturing Company's chimney even during the sligh-
test thuii ]■ rstorm, leaving, out of the question !||ys
like the 3id and 4th of M^y last, the like of which
' for electric discharp rr; I have never come across.
Apologising for taking up so much of your valu-
able time and space, yours faithfully.

Q. E. D.
[We have to thank our correpondent for his
clear explanation of what to us has long, in re-
gard to lightning-struck palms, been a mystery.
The general information also, is valuable. — Ed.i

THE "TUMBA PLANT," AN ALLEGED
CURE OF SNAKEBITE.

SiK, — A native Indian medical practitioner, writing
to the Madras Standard, declares that the juice of
the " Tnmba plant" is an antidote for snake-bites,
and gives directions for its use. Will you kindly
inform me by what name this plant is known to
botanists, and whether it is to be found in this
island ?— Yours truly, INQUIRER.
No. II.

don't die in the house — THE " TUMBA PLANT* — A
NEW PRODUCT — AN ANTIDOTE POU SNAKE-BITES?

Kelvin Grove, Colombo, 20th July 1886.
Dear Sir, — Instead of adding a footnote to the
letter of "Inquirer" on the subject of the "Tumba
plant" as an antidote to snake-bite which you have
submitted to me, I make you the following remarks :
— When staying at the late Dr. Elliott's at Kollu-
pitiya about 25 to 30 years ago, one evening after

I we had finished dinner '^ John Colombo" the head
appu rushed in and said to the Doctor! "Sir, sir,
the Sinhalese woman that you cured is dead \" We
all joined the Doctor in a hearty laugh at his
"perfect cure," the facts of which were that a mad
dog attacked a Sinhalese girl close to the Doctor's

I house and bit her severely in several places, and
when she was brought to the Doctor he at once

i did all he could to cauterize the wounds to prevent
hydrophobia, but though the wounds healed, and the
woman was so far cured, hydrophobia set in and
she died. The application is obvious.

I cannot find such a name as the "Tumba plant"
in any book at my disposal, but a very common
plant in Ceylon is the Getatumba, Liu. Leucas
Zeylonica, Br., but I do not believe that this or auy
other vegetable or miueral antidote has ever been
found for snake-bite; that is for the regular in-
jection into the circulation of the poison of a deadly
SNAKE of mature age; therefore I do not believe in
the cure of a cobra-bite by a Mudaliyar described
in a late number of your paper. No such cure has
ever occurred in all India or Ceylon as far as true
records are concerned.

About the same time that I refer to, several grass-
cutters and other natives used to come to Doctor
Elliott to get cured of snake-bites, and the Doctor
and myself believed that he was successful in his
operations in this respect.

The patients used to come stating that they had
been bitten b}' poisonous suakes and were in great
pain. The Doctor searched for the part bitten and
generally found it swollen, and he at once raised it
by a hooked instrument and cut the piece out, and
the patient soon got better ; but those were from the
bites of the small venomous and not deadly snakes,
or scorpions etc., no doubt, and, as already stated,
I do not believe in any nntidote internal or external
for the poison of a deadly snake, once it enters into

j the circulation, and no such antidote has ever been
found.

I Will your correspondent "Inquirer'' mention tlie
language from which the "Tumba plant" has been
derived? How very strange it seems that most of
the new and remarkable products have names not

i found in an^ native or Enropoan hooks.-- lourn
truly, * vv. i<\

ma

fME *tkOPiCAL A^klCiJL'rUkiHT.

t^LM. i, (886

THE TEA SYNDICATE.

20th August, 1886.
Sir, — The Tea Syndicate circular is now being
sent to all members of the Planters' Association and
will be supplied to others on application. I would
through the medium of your columns, desire to
irri^ess upon all those interested in tea the ex-
treme desirability of supporting the scheme by
contributing a little of their produce. The scheme
is, I think, the only feasible one for increasing
with some rapidity the number of our consumers
while wo are increasing our production, and for
establishing the wholesome stimulant of altern-
ative markets. Every one, I think, approves of the
idea and recognises the benefits to be derived, but
it should be clearly understood that barren ap-
proval is of no use, and if the planters of Ceylon
arf in earnest, and reay desire to see our teas
consumed in the Colonies, and America, they must
all help, for in such schemes, which at first may
require a little sacrifice, there is a tendency to be-
lieve that others will make that sacrifice, and a
desire not to interfere with their doing so. The syndi-
cate cannot conclude satisfactory arrangements un-
less we know approximately what quantity of tea we
will have to deal with during the coming season and I
trust that the circulars will be returned with
promise of some support, be it much or be it little,
and that superintendents will obtain the necessary
permission to contribute. The Syndicate will arrange
that those who desire it can, on shipping their tea,
obtain an advance of about thkee-fourths of its
value, and this no doubt, will be a convenience to
many — although the question has not yet been
definitely settled. I do not think any bulking of
the various teas will be attempted. Uniformity has
advantages, but it would be difficult to obtain and
has some drawbacks. It would do away with all
the individual incentive, which in an enterprise
like this is so necessary. Those shipping good teas
will naturally desire that they should go under the
estate marks, so that further orders for their teas
can be handed to them. In this way I hope many,
instead of sacrificing anything by contributing to
the Syndicate, will derive individual gain. I
should mention that the Syndicate has arranged
for the advertisement and sale of packets of Syndi-
cate Tea at the Colombo Hotels, so that all pas-
sengers will have Ceylon Tea brought prominently
before them. The quantity so sold will of course
be very small and unimportant, but the advertisement
of Ceylon Tea and the Syndicate's Australian Agents
gi\en by thet^e packets will be very valuable, and
our thanks are due to those whose public spirit
caused them to readily grant the privilege. — I am,
sir, your obedient servant,

THOS. NORTH CHRISTIE,

THE WORKING OF THE CEYLON TEA

eVNjDICATE IN A BUSINESS POINT OE VIEW,

_ Kandy, -Jlth August 1860,
SiK, — 1 trust 1 will not be considpred pie-
sumptuous if I venture to call in question certain
assertions made by Mr. Christie in his letter appear-
ing in your issue of "iSrd inst. I quote the passage
referred to : — (1) " I do not think any bulking
Of the various teas will be attempted. (2) Uniformity
has its advantages, but it would be difficult to
obtain and has some drawbacks, (3) It would do
away with all the individual incentive (?) which
in an eutorprise like this is so necessary. ''

In answer to clause first, I do most sincerely
hope that bulking will be attempted for the first
reason given in clause No. 2, viz., that uniformity
/nz« its advantages. If it (s difficult to obtain, surely
the consisjftBient of individual teas is the laoet un-

likely of all courses to be followed in obtaining it.
But again uniformity " has some drawbacks.^' Now
this appears to me to be unreasonable. A certain
amount of difficulty in obtaining the same I allow;
but that i.niformity in tea, which is expected to
find a place in a new market against tremendous
competition, has any drawback I do not allow. It
is a power in itself, to my belief, indispensable to
our new undertaking.

The chief, and only drawback stated is that "it
would do away with all the individual incentive."
Is this the case ? Not necessarily, I think.
In the first place let it be remembered that pro-
prietors are not supposed to send their entire cro'p
through the Syndicate, but, as Mr. Christie has it,
only " a, little'fii their produce" in short a sub-
scription from their crop returns to aid an under-
taking which must materially affect every producer's
future prospects.

Now, cannot the arrangements of the Syndicate
be such as to allow a certain amount of the
" incentive " element to remain in this subscrip-
tion to the Syndicate, as well as in the bulk now
shipped to London ? Is it necessary that the com-
parative value of individual teas be overlooked, or
that teas, up to and over a stated standard, sent
to the Syndicate, should not be fairly dealt with
in a fair division of proceeds, according to the
valuation put upon them before shipment by experts
whose decision is final ?

Is there any reason why local valuation should
be less powerful as an incentive to the producer
than that of Mincing Lane ? I can see no reason
whatever, and I hold that the valuation of indivi-
dual teas in Ceylon, before bulking, is a plan
feasible in itself and unprcjudicial to " individual
incentive."

As regards division of proceeds : whatever the

valuation put upon individual teas, the value of

I any individual consignment must form a certain

portion of the value of the whole, and the proceeds

as a whole must be divided accordingly.

By this arrangement, each consignor gets his dues
according to the value of the produce he consigns,
and I regret that Mr, Christie has expressed any
opinion unfavourable to bulking as his opinion is
influential. I am in hopes, however, that he will
acquiesce with me in my opinion that the uniform-
ity of tea properly obtained may not be altogether
deterrent to " individual incentive."

Having considered this question from our own
IJoint of view, suppose we turn to the buyer and
his incentive to continue dealings with an uuhuppy
agent who m;vek can supply him with tea that he
so liked at first.

Also the feelings of the agent who, bound to
push Ceylon tea, is not in a position to give away
a sample of tea to a likely customer (as is the general
custom in America) without feeling that he is robbing
someone to pay somebody else.

To attempt forcing the American market with one
thousand small lots, is in my opinion as futile as the
fire of one thousand rifles upon an armoured ship
of war, One big gun and one big shot is the weapon
to use.

" Those shipping good teas," says Mr. Christie,
" will naturally desire that they should go under
the estate's mark so that further orders for
their teas can be handed to them."

" A house divided against itself cannot stand."'
Individual brands may soon be in a position to
claim superiority to other brands in America, but
this is not the time tor them to do so.

Hand in hand brothers ! Waive local contention
until your market is secured. Then and then only
can you afford to force the sale of individual
brands,

Sept. i, i8S6,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

21 1

I trnst my criticism may be taken, as it is
meant, in a kindly spirit. If it leads to a full
discussion of these points I will be only too glad,
and if proved wrong will accept the opinion of
of those who prove to me that they are right. — I am
sir, yours faithfully,

J. McCOMBIE MURBAY.

Fibres and their Preparation.— A London
correspondent writes : — " Minchin is home now.
and it has only just leaked out why he is here.
He got to work on the Tremy process, but
found that the chemical melted all the libre in
India. So I supplied the green stems of the
China grass here, so that he could prove it in
their own works. Cross & Bevan assisted by
Johnston have agreed to test all the unknown
fibres from India chemically and microscopically
on the same scale as in Mr. Christy's book ; there
are also other departments in the Colonial Ex-
hibition who are asking to be included for this fibre
tests and classification."

We see a claim advanced on behalf of Mr.
E. Chasseriau, our leading agriculturalist, as the
discoverer of Coffee-Brandy, or Cafeine. What
may be the ultimate value of this new spirit
remains to be seen, but it appears strange that
nobody in Ceylon, Java, Brazils, *c. should have hit
upon the idea before, and it, therefore, redounds
all the more to the credit of our fellow-citizen
should he have " struck ile," which we sincerely
trust he has.— S. F. Press. — [For a generation past
we have read notices of spirit distilled from the
saccharine pulp of the coffee bean, but we have never
heard of this being done for economic use. — Ed.]

Ceylon Tea in Ajiekica. — We sympathise very
much with Mr. McCombie Murray's view. la a
country like the United States, it would be far
better to present one good average grade of Ceylon
tea before the consumers, at least until a hold was
got of the millions whom we hope to convert to
tea, from coffee drinking. We have had a long
talk with Mr. Murray on the subject of his mission,
or rather future business ; he has most promising
connections for pushing a big tea business where
good tea has never been known, and we are hope-
ful of the result; but we say, do not let the
Eepublicaus be distracted at first with several
classes and prices of tea, but let them have ample
guarantees from the Syndicate of the purity of
the article offered. Moreover. Americans even more
than English tea-drinkers, will be glad to learn
that in drinking Ceylon and Indian teas, they
are discouraging the Chinese foreign opium trade.

Tea in the Galle District. — A well-informed cor-
respondent at Galle writes :— " The production of tea
in the south of the island has of late increased, and
a good many gardens have been opened about Galle,
chiefly by native agriculturists. Tea for local con-
sumption is supplied from Morawak Korale and from
several estates in the Galle district, viz.. Citrus, Castle,
AVallahanduwe, Mount Pleasant, &c. Good pekoe season
1886 is retailed at Rl to Rl-25 per lb., other grades
from 60 to 80 cents. In the bazaars a fairly good
leaf is Fold at 50 cents per lb. The usual scented
teas from China which were formerly so much in
rei^upst. ar*' scarcily even seen in the market. We
presume the local supply has completely put a stop to
th(! trade in tlie imported article. The tea manu-
factured at Citrus and Castle estates at Narrawella,
about six miles from Galle, is of excellent flavour and
apparuntly much liked by consumers. Neajly all the
land now planted with this product were originally
cither citronella or Liberian coffee estates. Land is
also being rapidly opened up at Ratgama and Gaue-
gama under Europeen supervision, and there new
clearing's will be planted with tea during the next
wet =;euNon."

Standard Tea Chests. — Mr. Horsfall advertise"?
a reduction in the prices of his Nos. 1, 2, and
3 Tea chests from 9.5, 80 and 70 cents to 90, 75
and 65 cents respectively. All the sizes are of
standard dimensions, so that nothing is lost by
way of freight or dock charges.

Java Cinchona Planting. — We give promineftce
ence to the following paragraph translated from the
Java Bode for the Straits Times: — Cinchona plant
ation enterprise in Java seems to be going the
same way as that respecting coffee and sugar, its
future being also imperilled. The Government have
become so convinced of the impending danger that
it has directed otiicial inquiries to be made into a
disease which has put in an appearance in the
eastern portion of the Preanger Regencies among
the roots of cinchona trees, the latter dying withm
a few days after seizure.

Coffee on the rise. — It scarcely required the
result of the Dutch salt at 30 cents (against 28
estimated) to show how Coffee is going to rise.
Messrs. Rucker & Bencraft on July 22nd reported : —

A few months ago the question current was whether
the low prices then existing were low enough, or
whether when the pressure come on in the autumn
of tlie year coffee would fall to a still lower basis.
Now people ask themselves are the moderate prices
current high enough ? will there really be any pres-
sure in the autumn ? will coffee later on in the year
rise to a higher basis altogether. July August, and
often September, are dull months in the coffee trade.
If the weather be fine people leave business and cur-
tail rather than increase their liabilities. Again, coffee
of course is not so largely consumed in the hot woa-
ther, and Brazil receipts run heavy as a rule iu August
September, and October. On the other hand the.
public will do well to remember that there are except-
ional features current this year in the coffee trade,
features which might easily upset the usual run of
trade. One feature is this, that we have, existing
prices which have been established by years of over-
production, and which, though stocks have heavily de-
creased, and though the over-production is possibly,
some say certainly, a thing of the past, the trade,
rightly or wrongly, still maintains will continue aa
the fair working basis. Another feature of interest
is that 1885-86 crops generally were early, and it there-
fore appears probable that supplies from Honduras,
Guatemala, Salvador, Costa Rica, Porto Rico, India
Ceylon, and many other places, will be unpreceden-
tedly small for the next few months. We have not
time or space to go fully into the matter, but we
reiterate that the article has seldom been in a more
irteresting position ; we also note it as a fact that
those who look for higher prices are daily adding to
their number, though they still differ amongst them-
selves as to whether now or later on will give the bet-
ter opportunity for buying. The whole position may
be summed up very briefly. If the present reduction
in stocks, a reduction which assuredly will for a month
or two still further assert itself, is the result simply
of poor crops, caused and produced by natural causes
of a temporary and transitory character, later on the
position will right itself, and stocks will increase again
but, if on the other hand, as many experts assert,
though the consumption of coffee is steadily increas-
ing, the production is becoming a matter of more
and more diiBculty ; if we are again to see not in one
instance but in many countries profuse blossoms suc-
ceeded by poor crops, if the evil at work proves to,
be not above the ground, but below, then of coiires
overproduction will turn out to be a thing of the past.
This digression, however is at present of no commer-
cial value, the question the trade would like decided
at the moment is whether curreut Brazil crop are to
total about 5,500,000, 6,000,000 or 6,500,000 bags or
higher. As regards the spot market in this port, sup-
plies are and promise to be moderate. Plantatiou
Ceylon coffees are again dearer, and quotations all
round are well maintained in a market void of excite-
ment.

9t3

YHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

SfiPT. I, tSS6.

GAMBOGE.
The Collector of Malabar reports that there are
four species of Garcinia indig-^auus to the forests of
h's district: — (1) Garcinia moreUa grows ou the Peria
Chat iu the extreme uortb-west portion of the
■\Vjiiaad taluq up to au elevation of about 1,5()0 feet.
This species yields the tree gamboge of commerce.
There is a considerable export from Ceylon, but none
from the district. (2) (iarcinia pictoria is widely
distributed, and is found arrowiug along the slopes
of the Western Ghats, from 1,000 to 4,000 feet ele-
vation. It, is very abundant in the Ohenat Nair
forests, and fairly common everywhere. It yields an
excellent pigment, samples of which were sent to the
International Forestry exhibition, Edinburgh, last year;
also to the Calcutta Exhibition. The gamboge is
collected by hghtly scraping the moss and the old
bark of the stems of the trees, and then pricking
them all over, with an instrument resembling a hair
brush, with wire nails fixed in it at intervals of J
inch apart. The work should be done from December
to March, when there is no rain. The gamboge col-
lects in little tears, about the size of a small pea,
in from three to four days, and is quite hard in a
week, when it can be collected. The cost of collec-
tion amounts to about Rl-8-0 per pound, which
is as much the product is worth in the London market ;
hence there is no trade in it here. A second way
of collecting the gamboge is to clean the bark of
the trees of all extraneous matter, and then to strip
it off. pound and boil it. A yellow extract is thus
obtained, which when inspissated yields a golden
brown gamboge of inferior quality worth about 6d.
a pound. The .stripping of the bark, of course, kills
the tree. The method is, therfore, a wasteful and
expensive one. The fruit of both specie* are rich iu
gamboge, and the seeds yield an oil. 3 Xanthochy-
mus pictorious. — This species is indigenous to the Ghat
forests above Karimpoya in Nilambur. It bears a
large golden-colored, thin skinned edible fruit of a
pleasant sub-acid flavor, in bunches of 3 or 4 together.
It is cultivated at Calicut and in the Wynaad, and
is a tree of exceedingly slow growth. The gamboge
yielded by it is resinous, and worthless as a pigment.
(4) Garcinia cambojia. — A very common tree on the
Western Ghats, up to 4,500 feet where, however, it
rarely exceeds 20 feet in height. It yields a translucid
resinous gamboge useless as a pigment. The fruit is
ribbed, and of a bright canary colour. The aril is
edible, being of a pleasant sub-acid like the mangos-
teen. The rind of the fruit when green is intensely
acid, and is used by the Kurumbers and other wild
tribes as substitute for tamarind in their curries.
The seeds yield an oil. (5) Garcinia 2>iu-2>urea. — A
very rare tree on the Ghats, but cultivated at Calicut
for the sake of its edible fruit, which is of a bright
purple colour. It yields a gamboge which might be
used as a pigment. Garcinias Travancorica et WiyJdii
are both said to yield excellent pigments, but they
do not occur in this district.

The collector of the Nilgiris reports that the
Garcinia pictoria tree does uojb grow iu his district. —
Madras Mail.

TYPICAL TEA, COFFEE, CINCHONA AND
CACAO SOILS OF CEYLON, AND A FAVOUE-
ABLE SPECIMEN OF SOUTH AMEEICAN CIN-
CHONA SOIL,
have been analysed by Mr. John Hughes, the Cey-
lon soils for the Ceylon Planters' Association, the
Secretary of which institution has sent them to
us for publication, Mr. Hughes being good enough
to send us his analysis of the South American
soil for purposes of comparison. As Mr. Hughes
has pointed out, the considerable proportion of
alumina and oxide of iron in the South American
soil shows that it can scarcely be so porous as Mr.
Thomson represents. Indeed we have had accounts
of cultivated cinchonas dying off in Andean plant-
ations, just as they die off not only in Ceylon and
India, but in the lava soils of Java. The state-

ment that there are no winds on the Columbian
plantation would seem to require equal qualitic-
ation.

Mr. Hughes has accompanied his figures for the
Ceylon and American samples of soil with such
copious and exliaustive remarks, that we have little
to add to the few notesjwe have made on the state-
ments of Mr. Hughes. We would only say that
the proportions of nitrogen, potash and phosphoric
acid in most of the Ceylon soils, are so high as
to suggest the presence of manurial substances
added to the original soil and not exhausted. If
this should not be the case, the proprietors of land
showing such good results are to be congratulated
on the possession of soils, only needing " a dress-
ing of lime" to prove their fertility in the shape
of teeming crops of leaf, fruit, or bark, in accord-
ance with the nature of the plants cultivated.

For the following interesting paper we are in-
debted to Mr. John Hughes, so well and so favourably
known in Ceylon as an analyst : —

CINCHONA SOIL OF SOUTH AMERICA.

The only practical way of ascertaining the
chemical and physical properties of soils specially
adapted to the growth of particular crops or trees,
is to obtain reliable specimens of the soils in
which these crops or trees are known to flourish.
With this object in view and in order to get a
sample of soil representing the natural forest land
to which the better species of cinchona were in-
digenous, I had a correspondence some four years
back with Mr. Robert Thomson, whose name has
been deservedly associated with the now famous
Government cinchona plantations of Jamaica.

At that time he was on the point of going out
to South America, and he very kindly promised
to procure the desired specimens of forest soil, but
as time went on I was afraid I should hear no
more about them. However, the other day, much
to my surprise and pleasure, I received a note say-
ing he had again returned to Helensburgh ana
could send me a soil that he had brought home
with him according to his promise.

I have therefore much pleasure in sending you
the enclosed results of a careful analysis of this
soil and believe the figures will be interesting for
comparison with those of the ten soils sent me by
the Planters' Association, the analyses of which
were forwarded to Kandy by last mail and will
doubtless be published together with my ofhcial
report on same.

I gather from Mr. Thomson's letter to me that
this particular sample represents the soil of land
originally virgin forest, but which has recently
been planted with C. Lancifolia and other good
species indigenous to the country. However I give
his remarks as sent me.

"Soil from Central Cordillera of the Columbian
Andes district of Chaparrel. The best varieties
of Cinchona Lancifolia grow here. The soil is
from an elevation of 8,000 ft; average annual
rainfall about 100 inches, but you will see the
details from enclosed register of rainfall. Entirely
free from winds. One variety of Lancifolia gave
6-'20 per centof quinine 15 months old ctaltivated here,
and several other indigenous species of cinchona
gave 1 to 1.^ per cent of quinine. The subsoil to a
great depth" is the same as sample sent except
that it is more sandy and contains less vegetable
matter, that is to say that it is extremely
sandy and porous so much so that the soil
immediately after heavy rains becomes perfectly dry.
The sample ii from the virgin forest exposed
to the sun for about 3 years, and the soil

Stn. I, r886.]

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

213

throughout the entire Cordillera is of the same
character."

The above are Mr, Thomson's own words and I
am sure Ceylon men will attach importance to
the remark about the soil being so porous that
the rain water rapidly passes away, and the
trees consequently do not suffer from wet feet
which has been a bad feature on many Ceylon
estates and is the result of an impervious subsoil.

Indeed the dying-out of coffee in patches es-
pecially when situated under or in the immediate
neighbourhood of sluggish water-courses is now
fully recognized. As regards the analytical results
it is gratifying to know that in the matter of
the important mineral elements such as lime,
potash and sulphuric acid &c., the Ceylon soils
are certainly decidedly superior, at least those sent
me by the Planters' Association in connection with
the present exhibition and which are marked as
growing cinchona. Notwithstanding what Mr.
Thomson mentions about the soil being so porous
I notice that there is 4-823 of water in the air-
dried soil and also 21 per cent of oxide of iron
and alumina together, which would suggest that
the soil cannot be really so very porous or at least
not more so than some of the best cinchona soils
of Ceylon. In the matter of nitrogen it is above
the average of your soils as you will see upon
reference to published analyses in my report of 1879
but not above the average of the soils sent to me
this year and which are known to represent some of
the leading estates in the island.

In one respect this soil is peculiar, the amount
of chlorine being unusually high. Whether this
is due to exposure to saline rain I have no means
of judging, but as the figures -118 stand they ap-
pear quite abnormal for a naturally fertile mount-
ain soil.

It will be seen from the particulars of rain re-
gistered, that rain falls pretty equally throughout
the greater part of the year and that with a few
exceptions which I have had copied out, the
daily average is under an inch, although there
are two or three inches recorded as having fallen
in 24 hours.

March, April and May appear to be the months
of greatest rainfall though October is always damp
and tops the list in 1885 with the heavy record of
20-47 inches.

It will be interesting to compare these statistics
with those of your best cinchona estates, and I
will leave the figures for your consideration to-
gether with the analytical results of the soil.—
Yours very truly, JOHN HUGHES, F. C. S.

Analytical Laboratory, 79 Mark Lane, E. C.
Aug. 6th, 1886.

.Analysis of Cixchoxa Soil.

From the Central Cordillera of the Columbian
Andes in the District of Chaparrel, Republic of
Columbia : —

Analysed in the Air-dried Condition.

Water lost at 212 per cent.

4-823

Organic Matters

(Containing

Nitrogei. -304)

...

18-687

Phosphoric Acid

... ...

•10.5

Lime

•253

Oxide of Iron...

.5-752

Alumina

15-406

Carbonic Acid...

...

•473

.Sulphuric Acid

...

•055

1 hlorine

•118

Magnesia

•214

Potash

...

•086

Soda

•091

InsoUible Siliceous Matters (con-

taining Coarse Sand 7-620)

53-937

100-000
.TOHX HUOHKS, F. C. S.
August 4th, 1880.

Register of Rainfall at the Cinchona Plantations
Chaparrel, Republic of Columbia •—

From October 18S3 From October 1884 From October 18*5
to September 1884. to September 1885. to April 1886.

October

?>ovember

Decembei-

1881
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September

10-53
Sr33
4-65

6-88

3-25

15-65

12-75

15-25

8-97

2-98

2-20

5-50

October

12-25

November

6-30

December

5-93

1885

Jauuary

5'10

February

7-23

March

12-50

April

18-97

May

11-38

June

6-89

July

2-07

August

4-68

September

8-47

October

November

December

1886
January
February
March
April

20'47
5-84

13 32

8*62
5-11

6-88
14-80

Total inches... 75-04

Total inches... 97*94 Total inches... 101*77

Greatest Rainfall in 24 hours : —
From October 1883 From 0';tober',J1884
to September 1884. to September 1885

From October 1885
to April 1886.

October 10th
,, loth
November 27tU

,, 29th
December 3rd

1884
January 3rd
February 11th
March 4th
„ 23rd
April ith
„ 14th
May 5th
„ 8th
June 1st
,, 24th
„ -26111
July 12th
,, 22nd
August 8th
„ 1 5th
September 3rd
„ 39th

1-20
3-211
1-13
1-69
1-20

1-30
1 40
4-00
2-77
1-50
1-15

I'no

1-25
1-12
l-.SO
2' 01 1
1-00
(f31
0-72
0-50
1-65
1-31

October 4th
„ 5th
„ 15th
November 2nd
22ud
December .5th
22nd
1885
January 4tli
., ' nth
February 3rd
.. I'th
IMarch 12th
26th
1st
nth
16th
nth
30th
June 7th
July nth
August 7tli
September 14th
30th

1-70 October

240

April

May

7th
13th

1-40 „ 14th

1-00 „ 16th

100 „ 17th

1-30 „ 18th

0-62 „ 21st

November 5th
1-16 „ 22nd

2-50 December 9th
1-84 „ 27th

1-53 ., 2fith

2-10 1886

2-35 January 22nd
3' 11 „ 26th

1-70 „ 27th

1-46 „ 28th

1-87 „ 30th

2-29 February 11th
1-75 „ 24th

0-38 March I at
1-00 „ 20th
2-26 April 9th
1-62 „ 21st

1'46
4-10
2-11
2-10
1-20
1-.30
2-50
1-70
1-00
2-00
2-45
2-13

1-60
1-20
1-25
1-70
1-80
2-ld
0-86
0-86
0-86
2-12
2-40

CEYLON PLANTERS" ASSOCIATION:
ANALYSES OF TEA, COFFEE, CINCHONA
AND CACAO ESTATE SOILS FROM CEYLON,
BY MR. JOHN HUGHES.
Planters' Association of Ceylon, Kandy,
27th August 1886.
The Editors, the Ceylon Obseriur, Colombo,
Sins,— I beg to enclose for publication copj' of
interesting letters with reports from Mr. Hughes
on the representative samples of soils from some
leading tea, colfee, cinchona and cacao estates
transmitted to him for analysis in connection with
the Colonial and Indian Exhibition. — I am, sirs,
yours faithfully, A. PHILIP, Secretary.

Analytical Laboratory, 79 Mark Lane, London, B.C.,

July 30th 1886.
A. Philip, Esq., Planters' Association, Kandy.

Dear Sir, — Yours of the 21st June giving inform-
ation respecting the Rookwood soils 1, 2 and 3
arrived on Monday last, and I have much pleasure in
sending you the results of the analyses of the ten
Ceylon soils handed me about the end of May by Mr.
Shand, to whom I have also sent a copy of same.

I am writing direct to Mr. Downall by this mail
sending him a copy of the analyses of his soil from
Dambatenne estate, and giving my opmion as to the
kind of manure likely to be most suitable.

As regards these analyses it seems a favourable
opportunity to have them printed for the general
information of planters and those interested in coffee,
tea, cinchona, cacao, &c., and as these results in many
cases represent, or are at least supposed to repre-
sent as nearly as possible the average soil on certain
well-known estates, it would be desirable that the
air-dried samples of the soils themselves should be
placed for reference in some museum either in
London or Colombo.

I will see Mr. Shand on the subject in meantime.
— Believe me, yours faithfully,

(Signed) John Hughks.

214

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Sept. i, 1886.

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Analytical r.iilxiratDiy, 7'.). M.avlv liano, Lomloii, I^.C

lltli August 188fi.

A. i'hilip, Esq., Kaudy. Dear Sir, — Mr. Shaud as
the representative of your Association called upou
me this week to express his thanks for the aualyaea
of the ten soils which I had sent him, and copies
of which were forwarded you hv last week's mails.

Mr. Shand is having these analyses printed in large
type, so that when hung up in the Ceylon Court next
week, they can be readily scon and read by visitors.
He further informed me that hv iJiouj^ht a few gen-
eral remarks, by way of iuLoi-prctiiig the analytical
results, would be acceptable, and J have therefore
much pleasure in contributing the following :-

Of course it will be iniderstood that these remarks
are made entirely upon the analyses themselves, and
without reference to the respective elevation, rainfall,
exposure (more or less) to wind and wash, the gen-
eral physical character of the laud, whether steep
or flat, together with its situation, aspect and other
matters which are naturally of great importance and
demand careful consideration when reporting on the
relative fertility of different soils.

1. For general convenience of future reference, as
well as in order to arrive at the respective retentive
properties of the ten soils, similar weighed quantites
of each soil in an equally pure state of division
were exposed for a fortnight to the air in a room,
when the temperature varied from 60'' F. to 7.5' F.
The proportion of water still retained after being
thus air-dried was then carefully determined by
di-ying in the usual way at 212'' F. and the whole
of the different analytical results were accordingly
calculated for the soils in this air-dried condition.
By glancing therefore along the line of figures arranged
under the lieadingof water it will be noticed tiiat
there are great variations : thusDryburgh 4,244 stands
highest ; next comes Kagalla with 4.0M; then Damba-
temie 8,7(i.'i; and so on down to Pallekele which has
only 1,218.

'2. Next as regards the proportions of organic
matter- and wate/ of combination it will be noticed
that there arc great variations also under this head-
ing, sometimes, as in the case of Kagalla, Dambatenue,
llookwood No. if, Dryburgh and Liddesdale ; the
high results are largely caused by the presence of
an unusal amount of nitrogenous organic i-nattor, as
will be seen on referring to the column marked nitro-
gen which is an important clement in the composi-
tion of such valuable fertilizing matter.

if. The variations ot the oxiili- of iron and aluuiiua
in each soil are not very great, but there are notable
instances, llookwood No. 1 containiug the most and
J'allekello the least. (.leuerHJly high proportions of
iron aud alumina are associateil with a more or l(\ss
stitfncss of soil.

1. The lime v.-iries a good deal, Liddesdale having
as much as •? !;'■ while No. 3 Rookwood has only
•119, and as -100 per cent is usually taken to represent
one ton i>er acre of soil to the depth of six inches, it
wiil be undersleod that these differences although only
ai)pcaring in <ii'cinials really eoine to a <|uestion of
tons when considered per acre. In soils originally
formed from granitic rocks like those of Oeylon the
relative amouurs of lime found iu each generally may
be considered as indicative of its degree of fertility,
and therefore its careful estimation is a matter of
considerable importauce iu an aualy.sis.

5. Passing over the items under magnesia whirli
do not call for any remarks, as this constituent is
not usufilly supposed to have .any «;reat effect upon
the soil, we come to the proporlions of potash wlilrli
arc vfry higli in both the cacao soils, also in Dryburgh,
and Dambatomie, and fairly high in most ef the others,
DuiH^din in the Kil;ini Valley being the lowe.vt OSl,
but Itookwood No. 2 and ',<• are only very slightly
higher.

(J. The proportions of suda, sulphuric acid, carbonic
acid vary, but do not call for any special remark.

7. Chlorine is also somewhat various, but in Damba-

teune the propoition is far above the average, though

I what the reason for siicli being the case is 1 cannot

SEPi*. I, 1886.3

THfi TROPJCAL AGRICULTURIST,

^15

of course say unless it be e.viionure to the monsoon.*

8. Phosphoric acid stands very well in many of the
s»ils: thus Kookwooil No. 3 has the most 184, though
curiously enough No. \i next to it has the least of any,
neither soil having been niaimred. From information
furnished by Mr. Armstrong iu reference to these two
samples, it would appear that No. 2 represents a field
of tea lOi years old in virgin forest land, elevation
about 5,.HO0 ft., even lay of land ; also that No. 3
represents a field of tea IO5 years old, dttcji lay of land,
facing N. E never lu-inured, elevation about 5,3i'0 feet.
With this information it seems remarkable that there
should be so great a difference in the phosphoric acid
which moreover is also followed up in the proportion
of nitrogen, both being in favour of the steep land
which is specially loaded with quartsz. I am inclined
to think tlierefore that sample No. 3 may have been
taktn from some rich hollow in which a rather large
pr pi-rMon of vegetable debris had been previously
waslied down the steep face.j'

9. Nitrogen stands very high in many of the samples
and must be regarded as indicative of considerable
latent fertility, which only requires time and a
dressing of limes:); to render rivailabk^ as plant food.
How far nitrogenous organic matter is or is not in
an available form cannot be absolutely determined by
chemical analysis, but the fact that a soil is rich in
nitrogen, at least, is certainly satisfactory, for it
tells us that the element which is so important in
all fertilizers is present and that it needs only
proper cultivation to make it practically useful.
A glance at the analyses will show which soils
contain the most and tlio.se who know the situation of
the several estates will be able to judge how far this
richness in nitrogen is due to elevation, rainfall even
lay of land and freedom from the exhausting influences
of wind and wash.

It is noticeable, however, tbat both the soil.s upon
which cinchona flourishes, are particularly rich in
nitrogen: thus Liddesdale has 501, Dryburgh49G,and while
Kagalla at present included under cotfee has oven
more than these namelj' 521 and Dambatenne fol-
lows closely after with 411 which is far above the
average of most coffee soils previously reported on
by my.self.

10. The proportion of quartz furnishes the last head-
ing and varies from 7"89 iu Dryburgh to 30"78 in llook-
wood No. 3, the latter a soil that has already been spe-
cially alluded to when speaking of the high propor-
tions of phosphoric acid. Generally a soil which con-
tains much (juartz is light and porous iu character with
low retentive properties and a general poverty iu the
important elements of fertility : thus Rookwood No. 3
is a fairly good illustration as wc notice that the potash,
phosphoric acid and nitrogen are all comparatively low
and arc associated with 25 per cent of quartz, and
1' 549 only of water. On the other hand No. i the
next above (.') with 15"74 of quartz has nearly twice
as much nitrogen as No. 2 and is proportionally richer
in the other important elements such as potash, phos-
phoric acid and lime. In fact I have every reason to
suppose that No. 1 is generally a much superior soil
to No. 3. § Again the Kelani Valley soil furnishes an-
other instance iu which with ir02 of quartz the im-
portant elements above alluded to are also low, with

* There can be very little doubt that the origin of
the exceptional amount of chlorine on Dambatenne
estate is to be traced to the not remote salt formations
at flambantota. — Kd.

! Perhaps from the sheltered hollow which Mr.
Armstrong described in one of his valuable papers, as
giving an exceptionally large yield of tea. — Ed. 0. ().

i. There is a general feeling that the ai>plication
of lime is advei'se to the Hushing of tea ; but we suspect
that a moderate dressing of lime, would be as bene-
ficial to tea land, especially if clayey and stiff, as to
Boils growing any other substance. The application of
a dusting of caustic lime would seem to be especially
indicated when moss grows on the teabushes. — Ed.

S Unless thT sample was takenfrom an exceptionally
rich portion of the estate ? — Ed.

the exception, however, of the lime '302 which is fully
high for the average Ceylon soil. At the same time
we see two instances (Kagalla and Dambatenne; where
the quartz is nearly as high as the last, and yet the
nitrogen, lime &c. are certainly very far above the
average.* The proportions of quartz must therefore
only be considered in coHJuiiction with the other items
when forming a general opinion of a soil.

11. Taking then ail these analyses as a whole, I cert-
ainly must consider them as very favourable, and they
indicate in many instances a wonderfully fertile soil
which under favourable climatic influences should be
capable of producing highly satisfactory crop returns.
The analyses representing as they do the soils on es-
tates whose names already stand high in local reput-
ation must be useful as a future means of comparison
and as every care has been taken to render the results
accurate I hope they may in this way be of practical
use as well as of immediate interest.

In conclusion I have only to add that if any inform-
ation is required respecting the particular manure for
the respective crops on these .soils I shall be happy to
express my professional opinion as I have already been
requested to do in one case. — Believe me, &c.

(Signed) John Hughes, F.O.S.,
Member of the Society of Public Analysts.

Insects Affecting Paddy Crops in Tinnevellt. —
The following is a letter from Mr. J. WoodMasou,
Superintendent, Indian Meseum to the Under-Secretary
to the Government of India, Revenue and Agricultural
Department, Simla, dated 14th May, 1886: — I have
the honor to report that the specimens of insects
forwarded with the letter endorsed to me by you ou
30th April last are no doubt referrable to the species
of bug briefly described in 1837 by professor "West-
wood in his " Catalogue of Hemiptera in the collec-
tion of the Uev. F. W. Hope," under the name of
Li ptocoi'mi beitf/aheni/ii. This insect belongs to the
family Corrida of the insectean order Hhynchota, the
vast majority of the members of which live upon the
juices of plants, a few only, such as the common
bed-bug, attacking animals. The same insect has
frequently been received by me from different parts
of Assam and of Bengal, in both of which countries
it] has the same destructive habits. In the Sibsagar
district of Upper Assam; where it is known as the
" GanJi," it destroys the " Aho Dhan." Professor Stal,
the leading authority on the system of the Ehyuchota,
who, however, had never seen the specimens described
by Westwood, suggests that L. hciiiicdlcnsig may be
indentical with the bug previously described Z. acuta
of Thunberg. Some insects from Assam that differed,
BO far as I recollect, iu no respect from the museum
sp ecimens from the same locality referred by me to
L. bcHffulieiisis have been named L. vaiicorinis, Fabr.
by W. L. Distant, also a good authority in this branch
of systematic zoology. It is hence probable that the
names beiiyalkatsis varicorinis and acatu will prove all
to refer to one and the same species, for which the
last of these names, as being the oldest of the three,
should be retained ; in which event we shall have
one species of extremely wide range, extending in its
distribution, under slight variations of form, from
India and Ceylon through Burmah and the Malay
countries to Australia, wherein it affects low-lying
lands (only occasionally creeping a short distance up
contiguous hill-sides) suited to rice cultivation. It is
not possible, in our present ignorance of the economy
of this pest, to suggest any measures for stopping or
mitigating its ravages, or even to form an opinion
as to the possibility of any remedial measures. In
determining the name of the insect and its place iu
nature, I have done all that is at present possible.
The animal should now be studied in the midst of
its surroundings. — Madras Standard.

* Such being the case the <juestion naturally arises
whether the samples may not have been taken from
spots containing unexhausted manure? — En,

^i6

'PME tKOt^iCAL AdRtCULtOftlSf.

(SEl'f. t, i86fi<

MARKET RATES FOR OLD AND NEW PRODUCTS.

(From Lewis iL PeaVs London Prict Current, July 29th, 1886.)

illOM MALABAR

COAST, COCHIN,

CEYLON, MADKAS, &c.

BEES' WAX, White, per

cwt.

Yellow
CINCHONA BARK— Crown

per lb.

Bed

CARDAMOMS Malabar
per lb.

QUALITY.

QUOTATIONS.

f Slightly sottish to good

\ hard bright ... £G 10s a £7 10

Do. drossy & dark ditto... £5 a £6

Renewed la a 3s

Medium to fine Quill ...lis 4d a :?s Gd

jSpoke shavings J6d a Is 2d

Branch I2d a 6d

IKenewed {8da2s6d

iMedium to good Quill ...|6d a 2s (id

^Spoke shavings j3d a 7d

Branch 2d a 4a

Twig |ld

, , Clipped, bold, bright, finejls lOd a 2s tjd

and Ceylon Middling, stalky & leauiSdalsad
Aleppeo IKair to fineplunipclipped Is .'id a 2s 3d
TcUichcrry:Good to fine ...jls 6d a 2s 2d

'Brownish ...j6d a Is ;!d

Mangalore Good & fine, washed, hgt.l Is 4d a Ss

Long Ceylon Middling to good...
CINNAMON, per lb. lata jOrd. to fine pale quill .
2nds| ,, „ ,, ,, .
oraS| ,, ,, ,, ,, .
4th8|Woody and hard ...
Chips ...JFair to fine plant...

COCOA, Ceylon, per cwt...iBold to good bold
...'Medium

'Triage to ordinary
COFFEECeylou Plantation ;Bold to fine boldcolory.

per cwt. Middling to fine mid

Low middling ...

Smalls

,, Native iGood ordinary ...
Liberian ...Small to bold

Eastlndian ...iBold to fine bold,,.

iMedivim to fine ...

[Small

Native [per ton, Good to fine ordinary ...,.-„
COIRROPE, Ceylon&Cochin'Mid. coarse to finestraightjJET a £17
FIBRE, Brush, per ton'Ord. to fine long straight £13 a £3y

I8d a Is 4d
8da Is lid
[7^d a Is 6d
i7d a Is 2d
6d a lid
l|d a 7d
878 a 83.S
71s a 74s
!>4s a 65.S
83s a 104s
68s a 81s
60s a 676
56s a 61s
42s a 44s
33s a 51 s
78s a 121s
62s a 78s
52s a 58s
44s

Stuffing ...ICoarseto fine

YARN, Ceylon, per ton ...'Ordinary to superior

Cochin ..., Ordinary to fine ...

Do [cwt. iRoping fair to good

COLOMBO ROOT, sifted ^IMiddlingworray to fine

CROTON SEEDS, sifted ... Fair to fine fresh...

GINGER, Cochin, Cut Good to fine bold...

per cwt. .. Small and medium

Rough

NUX VOMICA, per cwt.

Mid. to fine, not woody,
Fair to bold heavy
, good ,,

£7 a £18
i£12 a £30

£11 a £35
.'£8 ICs a £13

1 6s a 32s

30s a 35s

65s a 100s

45s a 653

l30s a 4.is

25s a 30s

;80s a 12s

5s a 7s

(is a 8s

5s a 69 6d

6s a 6d 6s

4s a 58

Is a 33

Jt a Id

IJd a HA

403 a 553

7|d a 7jd

lOd a 2s 6d
lis a 15s
7s a 10s

Fair to good bold.

Small

Fair to fine bold fresh .^
, Small ordinary and fair...
MYRABOLANES.pale, perjGood to fine picked
cwt. jCommon to middling

jFair Coast

Pickings Burnt and defective
OIL, CINNAMON, per oz...!Good to fine heavy
CTTBONELLE , , Bright & good flavour
LEMON GRASS „
ORCHELLAWEED [rib-
PEP PEK.Malabar blk .sifted
AUeppee & Cochin

Tellicherry, White ... ,

PLUMBAGO, Lump, Vcwt. Fair to fine bright bold...

'Middling to good Email...
Chips ...iSlight foul to fine bright |7s a lis

Dust ... Ordinary to fine bright ...!3s a lOs

REDWOOD, per ton. iFair and fine bold ...j£5 5s

SAPAN WOOD ,. Middling coated to good £6 a £7

SANDAL WOOD, logs ., Fair to good flavor ...£20 a £44

Do. chips £10 a £16

SENNA, Tiunevelli, per lb. [Good to fine bold green... 9d a Is 5d

iFair middling bold ...:4^d a 8d
'common dark and small l^d a 3}d
TURMERIC, Madras, iicwtJFinger fair to fine bold liis a 13s
Do. ...Mixed middling [bright Us a 12s

Do. ...'Bulbs whole lis 6d a 12s 6d

Cochin ...I Do split Js 6d a 8s (id

VANILLOES, Mauritius &

per lb. iBourbon, Ists Fine crystalised 6 a 9iuch 14s a 248
2nds Foxy & reddish 5 a 8 ,, 10s a 128
.._j„ / Lean & dry to middling i

\ under 6 inches ... 5s a 'Js
4th Low, foxy, inferior and '

[pickiug.s ls6d a 43

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

ALOES, Soccotriue and
per cwt. Hepatic

CHILLIES, Zanzibar
oer cwt.

GLOVES, Zanribar
•Ad FNKbi, per lb<

Good and fine dry ... £7 a £10

...Common and good ....€4 a £8
...'Good to fine bright ...31s a 33s

'Ordinary and middling... 263 a 308

}!Q«odaud fine bright ... i'ad a lOd
Otdiawy tlttU Uim ... ^^ • ?!*

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

CLOVES, Mother, per lb...
,, Stems..,

COCULUS INDICUS

' le
■ cwt.

QUALITY

QUOTATIONS

GALLS, Bussorah \blut
J^cv

& Turkey

GUM AMMONIACUM—
per cwt, drop ...

ANIMI, washed, ^cwt,

scraped...

ARABIC. E.I. & Aden ..

per cwt. Ghatti ...

Anirad clia

ASSAFCETIDA, per

cwt.
KINO, per cwt.

MYRRH, picked „

Aden sorts
OLIBANUM, ±rop
pcr;cwt. „

pickings...
sittings ...
INDIARUBBER Mozambi
per lb.

S AFFLO WER , Persian . . .

Fair, usual dry

., fresh
Fail'

Fair to fine dark

None
...2da2 1.16d

... 83 6d

... 52s a 578 6d

FROM CALCUTTA AND
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

CASTOR OIL, Ists per oz.

2nds „ ...

3rd3

INDIARUBBER Assam, per
lb.

Rangoon ...

Madagascar

SAFFLOWER

TAMARINDS

FROM
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

ALOES, Cape, per cwt. ..,

Natal
ARROWROOT Natal per lb.

Good white and green
Blocky to fine clean
Picked fine pale in sorta.i
part yellow and mixed
Bean & Pea size ditto ...
amber and dark bold
Medium & bold sorts

Sorts

Fair to good pale
Good and fine pale
Reddish clean
Clean fair to fine
Slightly stony and foul ...
Fa:r to fine bright
Fair to fine pale
Middling to good
Fair to tine white
Reddish to middling ...
Middling to good pale ...
Slightly foul to fine
que.fairtofine sausage 1
„ Bali;
unripe root
liver
Ordinary to good

!42s 6da 52s 6d
jSOs a 603
£1310/a£1410/
£10a£ia 103
£4 IDs a £7
£7 10s
£5 a £8
6.5s a 953
|32s a 753
l70s a lOOs
|32s a 55a
1 308 a 353
20s a 26s
383 a 403
£6 a £7 lOs
70s a 1003
45s a 553
328 a 44s
93 a lis
lis a 133 6a

23 3^d a 2s 5^d

9d a 9id

la lOd a 28 Id

58 a 15s

Nearly water while
Fair and good pale
Brown and brownish
Good to fine
Common foul and mixed!
Fair to good clean ...i

Good to fine pinky & whitei
Fair to good black ... I
Good to fine pinky
Middling to fair
Inferior and pickings ...
.Mid.to fmeblackaot stony
Stony and inferior

3id a4J<l
2 15-16d a 3d
2id a 2jd
Is 9d a 2s 4d
6d a Is 8d
Is lOd a 28 3d
2s 4d a 28 7d
Is lOd a 2s
£4 los a £5 1
£3 5s a £4 28
£1 a £1 10s
lOs a 14s
3s a Gs

Fair dry to fine bright ... 30s a 33s
Common & middling aoft|12s a 2'.»s
Fair to fine ...j35sa403

Middling to fine ...iSJd a 6d

FROM CHINA, JAPAN &
THE EASTERN ISLANDS.

CAMPHOR, China, ^ cwt.jGood, pure, & dry white ! Ig3g g 688

.Tapan ... „ ,, piukj /

GAMBIER, Cubes, cwt. ...lOrdinarv to fine free ... 298 a 30s
j Pressed' ...|23sa248

Block [perlb.lGood ...|228 9da 238

GUTTA PERCHA, genuine Fine clean Banj&Macas- 2s 4d a 3s 3d

Sumatra.
Reboiled.
White Borneo

Barkv to fair

[sar 6d a 2s 3d

NUTMEGS, large, per
Medium
Small

MACE, per lb.

Common to fine clean ... Id a Is 4d

.] Good to fine clean ...lid a Is 3d

I Inferior and barky ... Id a 8d

lb... lot's a 80's, garbled ... 23 3d a .3s 8d^

...]83'sa95's ... 1* lU a 2sad

...!l00'sal60's ... Is 3d a Is lOd

...iPale reddish to pale ... Is 6d a 2s 8d '

[ordinary to red ... Is 3d a Is .5d

'chips ...Is a Is 2d

RHUBARB, Sun dried, perJGood to fine .sound ... Is 9d a 2s 9d
111. iUarkorainary& middling 8d a Is tid

High dried ...Good to fine" ..,1s Id a Is 3d
'Dark, rough & middling 7d a Is
SAGO, Pearl, large, \> cwt.lFair tofine ''''■ "-^ '

medium ...j ,, ,, ,,
small ...| ,, ,, ,,

Flour per lb. Good pinky to white

TAPIOCA, Peiiang Flake Fair to fine
Singapore ... „ ,,

Flour
Pear)

.Bullets, per cwt,
Medium ,,

iSeed <;

12s 6d a 14s
...il2sai:fciCd
... 8s6d alOsOd
... 83 a 9s
... IMa 2jd
...'Uda2Jd
...ijdalld
... I4sal5s
,,,158 a 178
.„'ld*9d4 leif

'4

iSv6,j

THE, TROPICAL AGkiCUL'VtjmBT.

'j,\]

CEYLON UPCOUNTEY PLANTING REPORT.

UESULTS OF THE LATR HEAVY KAINS — QUEER STORY
OF A TEA AUTHORITY " GOW SYSTEJl" OF TEA MANU-
FACTURE— LAST BREAK OF AGAE's LAX3) TEAS —
COFFEE — THE WEATHER,

30th August 188C).

From the late heavy rahis there have been many
results : cooly lines washed away, tea stores tlooded,
big slips on the railway and roads, and little
slips on estates, leaking roofs and damp bungalows,
wrecked bridges and burst drains, besides many
other things beneticial and otherwise. These were
natural and to be expected. It was, however, rather
out of the ordinary course of nature that planter's
expectation, who in an answer to a store-keeper
whose smile is not bland, and who expected some
grumbling from his customer, said: "No, no, I have
not come in to grumble ; was just passmg and
wanted to see if the late heavy rains had washed
down your prices any!"

By the way there is a (|ueer story of a
tea authority being employed by a local firm to
sell or influence the sale of their "Boom Roller."
He is not known to be in the swim, but as ati
authority, he is of the consulted : many men
are anxious to get the result of his experience, to
suck his brains in fact, and to these he yields of
his stores willingly and in an innocent way. He
will instruct you in tea from planting to packing,
but is greatest in machinery. As to rolling, well,
his universal advice is: "Go in for the 'Boom
Roller,' two hand ones are much better than one
of the large size ; both are not likely to break
down at once, you know, and / can recommend it."
If this seemingly unbiassed opinion is followed
he scores a commission, and this in a gentlemanly
way, having no visible connection with trade.

It is rather a ticklish matter evidently saying
anything about Mr. Gow, the tea authority. Around
him there has been a good deal of dust kicked up, |
and \ woui.l like to keep out of it if I can. But

" There is a Providence that guides our way,"
and when a friend of mine sent me a note of the
•• (!ow System," I felt I whs mixed up, and must
inkc my chance with the others. This is how the
mutter is |>ut : — •' Tiikc half the (|UiUitity of the full
charge and roll from five to seven minutes ; then
take it out and do the same with the other half.
Heap them both together and allow them to fer-
ment for half-an-hour; then re-roll for thirty to
forty minntes, complete the fermentation, and roll
again for twenty minutes, then sift and lire." Tea .
which had been manipulated in this way, and
which lately had been getting about lO^d a lb.
when treated in the ordinary fashion was valued i
at a good deal over a shilling. The tea was said
to have a lure black appearance and has a strong
liquor. To keep this system going, two rollers arc ''
wanted, if there be much tea to manufacture, but
the diifcreiice in price from what the estate had
been getting before, and the valuation of the new ■
tea manufficture on the " Gow Sytem " was so i
great as to make the buying of another roller a
mere nothing.

I don't care to name the exact figure which was
mentioned, it being something very hne, and a
great deal loss would satisfy. If Mr. Gow brings
about such results, he will have unmistakably shown,
that, although good teas can and have been made, ,
still he can make better.

I have not seen any notice of the sale of the
last break of " Agar's Land " teas which was dis-
posed of the other day privately at Rl 00 a lb. all
round. That is a price which should surely satisfy
the fortunate proprietor, and take a good d eal to
beat, TJie break, \ understand, was not sold in grades, i

Now that t/he price of coffee is rising almost
df.ily, it is not a little vexing to see how the
miserable sprinkling of crop which we hoped in
time to gather is somehow disappearing. Whether
it be the effect of bug or the persistent attention
of leaf-disease or the sheer " cussedness " of things,
certain it is that the lean promise -too scanty
even at its best, either to cheer or to inebriate
— which was held out of stomethinn in the way of
coffee, this promisi? is again to be a disappoint-
ment. It is not much that any of us on this
side hoped from it, as goodness knows; but when
you have humiliated yourself to estimate a one-
man-crop, and to find that thai has to be reduced,
it is then that you realize what it is to have your
mouth in the dust. I heard, however, of more
fortunate people ; and with them I can rejoice, for
it is not many good things which fall in the way
of our planting brethren in these days.

The weather still keeps very favourable for the
young tea plants, and several showers we had last week
were specially welcomed, coming as they did after
a few days' hot sun. Peppercorn.

■ --^

SPRING VALLEY COFFEE COMPANY, LIllITED,
Directors. — -John Brown, Esq., Managing Director,
Edward Conder, Esq., Leon Famin, Esq., Henry Hart
Potts, Esq.

Report. — To be presented to the Twenty-first
Ordinary General Meeting of the Company, on ^Vcdnes-
day, the 1th day of August, 188ti, at 12 o'clock noon.
The Accounts now presented to Shareholders com-
prise a Balance Sheet, showing the Company's
Financial position on 31st May 188(i, and
Profit and Loss Account for Season 1884-85. Spring
Valley Crop somewhat exceeded the estimate given
in last year's Report the total weight of Coffee
sold being ,'i,58.5 cwt. o qr. 3 lb., the net proceeds of
which amounted to £1.'),845 4s 2d, equal to an average
price of 5Gs 9d per cwt. Refuse Coffee sold in
Colombo realised 1'663 Os 8d. bringing the total
receipts from sales of Produce up to £16, .508 4s lOd.
The Ceylon Expenditure includes R2'2,iV23-20 spent
on Tea clearings, and after providing for tliis, tho re-
sult ol Hie Season's working is a profit of 1'1,S.37.')8 -jd
wliicli addcil to the balance of t'), l.X) '.Is 11(1, brourlil.
forward from last year, makes a sum of £B,oO?
los 4d at the credit of Profit and Loss Account.
The average price obtained for the Coffee was 33
per cwt. below that of last year, and taking
into account the sum expended on 'Tea ])lant-
ing the Profit secured is considered satisfactory.
L'c will be seen that no Cinchona Bark is brought
into the present account ; this arises from the fact
that enrly in the season the labour force was reduced
it being then thought that crop was to be very
short. The gathering of the larger crop secured,
however, fully employed all the coolies retained, and
no labour was available for Cinchona harve.stiug until
after the close of the Company's financial year.
The original estimate of the Coffee Crop for Season
1885-86 was 2,450 cwt., the latest reports, however,
show that no more than 1,200 cwt. can now be.
calculated upon. The returns from Produce will be
very materially augmented by the large harvest of
Cinchona Bark ; 25 tons of this Product being ex-
pected to come forward. 'lac Coffee Market
also shows signs of improvement, but it is
not thought that receipts from that crop will
be sufficient to meet the year's outgoings. Until
the ajrival of the last advices, the Boart
fully conte iiplated the payment of a dividend at
the present time, but in view of the reduced crop as
above, they now consider it prudent to carry for-
W; .'d the balance at the credit of Profit and Loss
until the produce for 1885-86 has come forward and
boon sold, when j,liey will be in a better position to
see whether there will be any important deficit on
that crop to be provided for.
Tea,— Shareholders were informed in last Report

2'i^

fHU TaOPiCAL AQRlCULrvmSt,

^a

(Oct. i, ibikf,

that the Board had resolved on further extending the
area under Tea. The extension decided upon has now
been planted up, and the acreage under Tea on the
Company's Properties is as follows : —

Planted. Planted. Planted.
Nov., Dec, May, Nov. Dec,

188.1. 1885. 1885. Total.

Spring Valley
Oolanakande

acres.
271

acres.

acres.
'230

143 —

acres.
501
143

271

143

230

644

The cost of planting the 271 acres on Spring Valley
in 1884, and the 143 acres on Oolanakande in 1885
has been met out of the revenue of the Account now
presented, and the cost of planting the 230 acres
on Spring Valley in 1885, will be debited
to Crop 1885-86. In face of the small crop
to come forward during the last-named season,
the Board are well satisfied in being able to
report such a large area already under Tea.
The Tea on Spring Valley is growing most satis-
factorily, and the first small plucking is now
being secured from the area planted in 1884.
On Oolanakande, the Tea bushes are growing
rapidly owing to the Estate being in the Low Conntry
where the climate is very forcing ; and preparations
are now being made for the gathering of leaf. The
whole of the Coffee on Oolankande has now been
replaced by Tea.

Cuor FOR 1886-87. — The planting of Tea, as above, has
reduced the area of Coffee on SpringValley to ;>90 acres.
This is an exceedingly fine slieet of Coffee. Though
leaf disease is still present, the Directors have hopes
that this Coffee may yet givo good paying crops,
and they have resolved for the prtoent to leave it intact.
(Several small blossoms have already set for Season
1886-87, and as far as can at present be seen that
Season should show a good result, as a very consider-
able quantity of Bark will be available. The year will,
moreover, be aided by a steadily increasing yield of Tea.
The Directors, with the exception of Mr. Brown,
whose fee includes the expenses of his visiting
Ceylon, have resolved, in the meantime to reduce their
fees by one-half. Mr. Brown returned from Ceylon
in April, having visited the Company's properties.
Ml'. Leon Famiii, a Member of the Board, retires
on this occasion and being eligible, offers himself for
re-election. Messrs. Deloitte, Dever, Griffiths & Co.,
the Auditors, also offer themselves for re-election.
By order, J. Alec Roberts, Secretary.

26th July, 1886.

Dr.

BALANCE SHEET, 31ST MAY, 1886.

To Capital authorized — 8,000 Shares of £ s. d.

£10 each, issued and fully paid . .80,000 0 0

„ Eeservcd Fund .. .. 4,012 10 0

„ Sundry Creditors .. .. 2,671 5 9

,, Bills payable . . , . . . 800 0 0

„ Sales of "Produce, 18S5-86 .. .. 693 18 6

„ Profit and Loss Account .. .. 3,307 15 4

Cr,

'.>1,485 9 7

By

(*
•J

Estates ,. ,, ..80,000

Sundry Debtors .. .. 1,093

Office Furniture . . . . 15

Charges against Crop, 1885-6 : —

Spring Valley ., ..6,188 13 9

Oolanakande , , . . 501 17 6

Freight and Sundry Charges 215 1 4
Directors' Fees . . . . 266 13 4

London Office Expenditure 254 17 11

7,427 3 10

iessTrofit on Exchange 2,100 17 11

,, Cash on Deposit.. ..4,000 0 0

„ C.ish at Bankers and iu

Office .. ..1,050 14 6

5,326 5 11

5,050 14 6

91,485 9 7

OUVAH COFFEE COMPANY, LIMITED.

Directors. — John Brown, Esij., Managing Director.
H. H. Potts, Esq , L. Farain, Esq., Edward Oonder, Esq.
Report. — To be presented to the Twenty-Third Ordin-
ary General Meeting of the Company, to be held
at No. 5, Dowgate Hill, London, on Wedues<lay.
the 4th day of August 1886, at 1 o'clock j). m.
A Balance Sheet shewing the financial position of the
Company on 31st May, 1886, and Profit and Loss Account
for Season 1884-85, are now presented to Shareholders.
Crop 1884-85, estimated at 5,600 cwt., resulted in a
total of 5,566 cwt. 0 qr. 17 lb. The value of this Cofltec
was £15,950 6s lOd, or, equal to a net average of 57s 3d
per cwt. Refuse Coffee sold in Ceylon and proceeds
of Cinchona bark brought the total receipts from sales
of Produce up to £17,344 3s 8d. The Ceylon Ex-
penditure includes R22,727'17 spent on Tea clear-
ings, and after allowing for this sum, the result of
the year's working is a Profit of £1,083 14s 6d.
Adding this profit to the Balance of £1,109 6s 6d
brought forward from last year, there is to the credit
of Profit and Loss the sum of £2,193 Is Od, and for thu
reasons which are given below, the Directors cannot
recommend a distribution of any portion of this amount.
In face of the low prices obtained and the small yield
secured per acre, the Directors feel some satisfaction
at having been able to carry out extensive Tea plant-
ing operations and yet leave a balance of Profit. It
was at one time thought that Crop 1884-85 would
amount to only 4,400 cwt. and the labour force was re-
duced accordingly ; these hands were so fully employed
picking the larger Crop secured, that it was found ne-
cessary to postpone any extensive harvesting of Cin-
chona bark until after the close of the financial year, —
the sum of £443 lis lOd appearing as the proceeds of
Cinchona bark in the accounts being derived from the
sale of 4| tons of this product. The Coffee Crop Season
1885-86," which was at first estimated at 3,00U cwt. is
now expected to yield no more than 1,500 cwt. A very
large harvest of Cinchona bark is however expected,
but it is feared that the year's returns from Uiese
products will hardly be sufficient to meet the ordinary
estate expenditure and also the expenditure on the
large additional area of tea. The tone of the Coffee
market is at the present time very firm. Tea.— -Tlie
contemplated extension of this Product referred to in
last Eeport has been very successfully carried out,
and the area now under Tea on the Company's Estates
is as follows : —

Planted. Planted. Planted.
Nov. Dec. Nov. Dec. Nov. Dec.

1883 1884 1885 Total.

acres.

acres

acres.

acres

Gien Alpiii ...

9

55

118

182

Ballagalla

—

74

89

163

Grahams Land

—

16

—

16

Eockhill

—

—

65

65

Hindagalla ...

—

120

85

205

Narangalla ...

—

82

90

172

9 347 447 803

The cost of planting the 347 acres iu 1884, has been
included iu tlie expenditure of the past year, whii'j the
cost of planting the 4 17 acres iu l-'-'SS will have to be
provided out of Crop 1885-86, and the small Coffee
Crop to be obtained that year, fully upholds the policy
of the Board in having accomplished the planting of
this further large area of tea. All the Tea planted
on the Company's Properties is reported to be grow-
ing remarkably well, and the first pickings are now
being obtained from that planted in 1884. Crop
1886-87. — The plantiug of Tea has reduced the
area under Coffee, from 1,992 acres to 1,273 acres, 89
acres of Tea having been planted iu land formerly not
under cultivation. The area of Coffee retained io
mostly at a higher elevation and in stronger soil than
that which has been replaced by Tea, and up to the
presput lime the effects of leaf-disease have not proved
so fatal to its crop bearing properties. It is not the
intention of the Board to entrench on this area for
the further extension of Tea, unless the ravagi s of
the disease make it unprofitable to continue it iu
coffee. Sq far, several good blossoms have feet tor

Oct. t, i8S6.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

2ig

Season 188(3-87. niul as the trees are said to be in a
measure fr e from leaf-disease, a fairlj' good yield may
be looked for ; which, with the returus from Cin-
chona and the commencing crop of Tea above referred
to, will, it is hoped, enable the Company to again
enter upoa the payment of regular Dividends.
In the meantime, the Directors, with the exception
of Mr. Brown, whose fee includes the expenses of his
visiting Ceylon, have resolved to reduce their fees by
one ha' f. Mr. Brown returned from Ceylon in April,
having \i3ited the Company's properties. Mr. Leon
Famin, a member of the Board, retires on this occasion,
and being eligible, offers himself for re-election.
Messrs. Deloitte, Dever, Griffiths & Co., the Auditors,
also offer themselves for re-election. By Order, .7.
At-kc Koberts, Secretary. 26th July, 188(1.

Balance Sheet, 31st May, 1886.
Dr.

To Capital authorized : — £ s. d.

10,009 Shares of £10 each issued and

fully paid ... ... ... 100,000 0 0

„ Reserve Fund ... ... ... 4,000 0 0

„ Sundry Creditors ... ... 1,159 4 11

„ Bills Payable ... ... ... 1,750 0 0

,, Sales of Produce 1885-8G... ... 1,053 19 0

„ Profit and Loss Account .. . ... 2,193 1 0

£

Or.

By Estates

„ Sundry Debtors

,, Office Furniture

„ Charges against Crop
1885-86 :—

Glen Alphin 3,029 18 7

Ballagalla ... ... 1,462 5 0

Narangalla ... ... 1,606 17 8

Hindagalla ... ... 1,449 16 9

Grahams Land .. ... 9o4 17 H

Hock Hill ... ... 761 6 4

Freight and Sundry Charges 592 18 7
Directors' Fees ... ... 308 (! 8

liOndon (Office Expenditure 25G 9 9

10,402 17 3
Zm Profit on Exchange 2,500 14 4

£110,156 4 11

s. d £ s. d.

100,000 0 0

l,33(j 17 2

30 0 0

By Cash at Bankers and in Office

7,902 2 11
887 4 10

£110,156 4 11

Sarawak. — An ex Ceylon planter wi-ites : — " Your
Tropical Aurirulturixt is indeed a great boon,
and is mneh appreciated in these pai-ts. It
is quite a treat to read of the improving
condition of the planting enterprise, due, in
a great measure, to the Old Rag. You will be sorry
to hear of poor Tom Parry's death in North Borneo.

Fruits. — In the Trinidad court are large glass vases
containing preserved specimens of the various fruits
of the island — jak, breadfruit, sour sop, numerous
cacao pods, some with the rind partly removed,
Ac. There are two good-sized coflec and cacao
trees, to the trunk of the latter dried cacao pods
are tied, showing how they grow ; and a living
specimen of vanilla creeper, showing method of
cultivation. They seem to be ahead of us in
Trinidad in the manufacture of such things as
chocolate, prepared cocoa, arrowroot and soaps of
various qualities, and I was surprised to see splen-
did samples of rich-looking conib-honey and to
learn from a Trinidad gentleman that he found
the keei)ing of importefl bees entirely successful
and the export ot honey to England profitable.
The bees have to be fed during the rains, against
which period I suppose nature prompts them to
store honey. Are the Trinidad rains more heavy
and cintinuouri than in Ceylon ? or why should
bef -farmers ])e succcessful in the one country, and
not in the other?— ^'or.

HORTICULTUEE AT BANGALORE.

Bangalore is forging ahead in the cultivation of
useful novelties for India. At the recent Agri-Horti-
cultural Show held at the Salbagh Gardens on 4th
August, some specimen of hop flowers were among
the exhibits and attracted some attention. The hops
were cultivated at the Eurasian Colony of Sansmora,
in the vicinity of Bangalore, by one of the settlers,
who had received the gift of some hop-vine slips
from the Manager of the Murree Brewery Company,
to be grown a« a trial. Now tliat it has found a
success it is probable the cultivation of hops will
be largely carried out by the settlers .at the
Colonies and form a large item of supply to Indian
Breweries.

The Exhibition of flowers at the Salbagh Agri-
Horticultural Show at Bangalore on 4th August, is
pri sumed to be below the average. This is attri-
buted to the fact that the falls of rain have been
unusually heavy and tended to damp off the blooms
of roses and run many of the annu.als to foliage.
The number of exhibits were small compared with
previous years ; to account for this we have heard
it stated that the issuing of Medals instead of small
money prizes would make competition keener and
create increased attractiveness for amateurs. — S'pecia7
Correspondent for T. A.

THE CULTIVATION OF JALAP.

In December 1880 a Government Order was issued,
directing that the report of the Superintendent, Gov-
ernment Botanical Gardens and Parks, on the eultiv-
alidu of jalap on the Nilgiris for 1879-80 be printed
with the oj-der as a Supplement to the Fort St.
George Gazette, and spare copies struck off for distribu-
tion; directing also, with remark, the Commis-sioner
to arrange for the gratuitous supply of tubers sufficient
for one-eighth or one-sixteenth of an acre, to persons
willing to attempt it, and that the matter of exper-
imental cultivation of jalap at the Lawrence Asylum
be brought to the notice of the Committee of Man-
agement through the Educational Department.

On the 26th May last Mr. M. A. Lawson, Government
Botanist and Director of Cinchona Plantations, Nilgiris.
wrote to the Secretary to Government, Revenue De-
partment:— "In reply to your demi-official asking at
wliat cost jalap could be grown per pound on these
hills, I have the honor to forward the following calcul-
ations. Every acre of ordinarily good soil ought to
produce, at the end of three years, at least, 1,000 lb.
of dry tubers ; and the cost of raising this quantity
may be detailed thus:^

Rs. A. p.
Preparation of one acre of land ... 75 0 0
Planting and manuring ... ... 30 0 0

Cultivation for three years ... 55 0 0

Digging up and drying the tubers ... 35 0 0
Hates and taxes for three years ... 7 8 0

Total ... 202 8 0
This would make the cost of the jalap, as ready
prepared for the druggist, annas 3, pies 2 per pound ;
but a.s the preparation of the land wouW be greatly
red\iced after the first crop had been taken, the cost
per pound of every succeeding triennial crop would be
considerably less. Taking the preparation of the laud
at R15 for each succeeding crop, the cost per pound
would be annas 2, pies 3. The only person who grows
Jalap on these hills, so far as I know, is General AVilson.
This gentleman bought a lurge quantity of the tubers
about four years ago, and has been growing them in
the neighbourhood of Kotagiri ; and has, I believe, some
400 lb. to dispose of, an amount quite inadequate to
meet the indent of 1,500 1b. send into this department.
Allowing R50 per acre per annum for profit, the cost
per 1 lb. would be annas 4, pies 8 ; so tliat. 1 think,
annas 5 per 1 lb. should be the outside limit :it which
the drug should be sold on tlii\<c hilla.

On the 7th instant the following (!.(). was passed :
— "Coveinment having dclinitely ascertained in IS77,
that the jalap plant could be readily and profitably
grown on the Nilgiri hills, endeavoured, between that

iz^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Oc-i. 1, i8h6.

year auil 1S82, by the gratuitous distribution and, when
a Inrgo demand occurred, the sale of tubers, to en-
courage the cultivation of this drug by private indivi-
duals, in the hope that the result woidd be that tiu;
6up,.lies re<|uired by the MciIIimI Department would
be procurable iu this country in suflicient quantity and
at a reasonable price. Iu the current year, an indent
for l,r,fl(» lb. of jalap for the Medical Department was
forwarded to the Government Botanist, with the re-
quest that information m; Jil be afforded as to whether
he could meet it. I.^poa this, Mr. Lavvson made in-
quiries from the different individuals who, from time
to time, had procured tubers from the Government
Gardens, and the outcome of these has been his
learning that only 400 H). of the drug can be supplied
from this source, and that only by one grower. This
being the case, and it being clear that private enter-
prise, to which every opportunity and ample time
have been afl'orded,. is unable to meet the calls of
the Medical Department, His Excellency the Governor
in Council considers it necessary, in the interests of
"economy, to re.sume the cultivation by Government
of the jalap plant, v/hich was discontinued some years
back in order that there might not be interference
with private growers. The (xovernment Botanist will,
accordingly, at an early date, arrange to begin plant-
ing operations calculated to meet an average demand
of not less than 1,300 lb. per annum. Government,
in issuing these instructions, desire it to be distinctly
understood that they do so merely because private
enterprise has been shown to be unable to meet the
« requirements of the Medical Department, and that,
when private growers are iu a position to supply
Government with jalap of approved quality at a satis-
factory price, the cultiva'^iou of it by the State will be
discontinued. A notification will, early in every year
be pubhshed, for the information of growers, stating
the quantity of jalap which will be required by the
Medical Department for the coming year and the
niaximum price per lb. which Government will pay for
it. His Excellency the Governor in Council considers
it desirable, as the growing of a large (juautity of
jalap would render the cost of the drug per lb. very
small and much below the price in Englaml, that the
< government Botanist should address the medical auth-
orities of other Governments in India in view to as-
certaining wliothcr they would be willing to draw their
supplies of jalap from this presidency. If the total
([uantity annually required is appro.ximatelv known, it
will be easy for Mr. Lawson to state very closely the
price at which he can supply the drug at .Madras. It
may at present be fairly estimated that this will not
exceed 4 annas per lb. The Government Botanist
should, when making the inquiries indicated above,
forward to the officers addressed a copy of the Govern-
ment Order embodying the opinion of Surgeon-General
Cornish on the <iuality of the jalap grown on the Nilgiris.
(Government are of opinion that it would be advant-
ageous if the Medical Department could be supplied
from India with other drugs and with preparations
which could be msinufactured with the help of the
(Tovernment Quinologist. They therefore resolve to
direct IMr. Lawson to place him.self in communication
with the medical authorities in order to determine
whiit can be done in this direction." — Madras 3faiJ.

TEA BLENDING.

A correspondent, who signs himself, " IMincing Lane,''
writing to the Grocer, gives the following hints as
to tea blending : —

First main point : Never use a coar.se earthy tea.

SuGfiESTED Blends.

For 2.S. retail, to cost Is. Gd., say :
]0 1h. fine Ningchow mouing (not too large s. d.

a leaf ; pure I'ekoe flavour), about ... 1 0
10 „ strong plain Ivaisow, " Saryune " or

''Soomoo" 0 lOi

14 „ puiigent As.sam souchong, not coarse

(if large leaf, should be milled to

^i'/.«-) 1 1

C lb. rich, thick broken Assam or Ceylon
fannings

40 lb. (If scent required, ;'ilb. fine Uuchuin

or Foochow.

For 2s. 6d. retail, to cost Is. lid.:
1 1 lb. choice small leaf Keenmn or Ning-
chow...
10 ., choice first-crop Paklin

suckle
10 ,, finest As.sam ])ekoe must be

— best if with a touch of

flavour) ...

6 ,, very strong, heavy liquoring

pekoe, either Assam or

with deep colour)

10 lb. (For scent use finest quality only, if

any.
I'or os. retail, to cost 2s. 2d. to

0 11

or lioney

jjungent
autumn

broken
r'eylon

I 2^

M.

10 lb. choicest Ningchow or Kintuck

10 ,, choicest first-crop
congou

Paklin or Pecco

1

8 ..
401b.

1

fi

finest Darjeeliug or Ceylon peko'e

autumn-flavoured Assam pekoe

the finest broken Pekoe obtainable,
- Assam or Ceylon (even small leaf).
(If any addition, o or 41b. of the best
Formosa Oolong, or .3 lb. finest
Foochow pekoe.)
All large teas should be milled being used, so that
the general result is a uniform small leaf. — Home
(ini Coloniai Mail.

THE INDIAN TEA INDUSTBY.

A well attended meeting of ladies and gentlemen
interested in the subject of Indian tea took place on
Wednesday evening in the Conference Room at the
Colonial and Indian Exhibition, when IMr. James
Peter, of the Mertinga Gardens, Sylhet, read a paper.
Sir T. Douglas Forsyth, C.B., occupied the chair.
Mr. Peter began by stating that his object in coming
there was to enlighten the British public as to the
excellent qualities of Indian tea. He then gave the
history of tea-growing iu India, with which our
readers are already familiar. It had been found that
tea would " grow " — he said '■ grow " with emphasis
— from 40 feet to 5,000 feet above sea level iu al-
most any soil. Having given a description of the
young plant, how it was first placed in the ground,
IMr. Peter said attention was then turned to keeping
down the jungle, and as soon as the plant was
fairly established cultivation began, when all there-
after depended upon the nature of the soil. In
regard to manufacture, he remarked that to this
day the difficulty remained — indeed, it was the planters'
greatest difticult3' — of withering the leaf. It was, of
course, iu wet weather, when for weeks at a stretch
the atmosphere was damp and muggy, that the worst
difficulty was experienced. The tea had to be taken
off, and the question that cropped up was " what
could we do with it? This made the planter sad,
and he could assure those present that jilanters
would hail with delight the success of anj' inventor
who would enable them to defy the elements.
(Hear, hear.) Here was scope for the inventor. The
man who was able to turn out withering machinery
capable of withering in the worst of moist wether,
would be sure of a fortune. Some sjjeculation existed
as to the j'ield per acre of tea in India. He found
that the average yield was 360 lb. per acre. The
present season's total crop was estimated at the large
quantity of seventy millions pound.-;. The average
price of teas now was Is. 2d. and at this figure
almost all the Tea Companies were able to pay good
dividends. Now, he was anxious to put before the
liritish public the advantages of tea as an invest-
ment. Would it pay, what were the best means to
make it known, and, liow were they best to en-
list the sympathy of the ])eople at home, with the
view of increasing its consumption ? To the first
l^nc|lnry hi- n-plied, that tea as an investment would

Oct. 1, i8S6.j

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

221

pay, and pay handsomely. He bad been met with
the seemingly unanswei-ablc statement that tea did
not pay tlie investor wben much better prices were
obtaininl than could possibly be cominandeil now.
He (the lecturer) said that no investment paid in
which those responsible for results were persons not
thoroughly acquainted with their subject. Planters
in India were in this position at first, but by degrees
they increased their knowledge of tea-growing, and
at the present time there was no body of men more
intelligently devoted to the task than India tea
planters. (Cheers). Better communication existed bet-
ween the tea districts and Calcutta, and facilities
generally were greatly improved iu the 'tea industry.
The teas produced iu Assam had found their way
with the public up to this time owing to their in-
trinsic merits, and not by any combination either in
Inilia or at home. Indian tea might have forced
its way sooner in the world had planters, plantation
owners, and all those interested worked together.
But no, in Assam it was the same now as at the
beginning, no co-operation for the general good. Let
them look at little Ceylon and its planters, who
began after the Indian grower, and by dint of bard
work, and working together, they had pushed their teas
to the front of the tea industry. Tea-growing in
Ceylon had, comparing it with India, entirely out-
stripped the larger country. A great deal had been
written at various times on this question — a great
deal of sentimental writing. The surest way to
success was to give a better article, for less money
than others. In this Indian tea planters could come
to the fore. Indian tea generally, did not differ exten-
sively from China, excepting in two great points —
Indian tea was purer and gave a more pungent
flavour. This being so, it was more economical — in
addition to being better flavoured — because a smaller
quantity of Indian tea would give an equal result as
against a large quantity of China tea. Most house-
wives imagined that if the tea in the cup was per-
fectly black, they had obtained the best possible
results (laughter) and had got good value for their
money. One pound of Indian was worth at least
l|lb. of China tea. Indian tea was being sold in all
the markets of the world. At first people did not
take very kindly to it in Australia, but now a great
demand existed. In America it ha<l not made much
headway, but a friend of the speaker who was in
Canada, recently observed that the use of Indian
tea had grown enormously fron the time he was in
Canada, previously. Many private families were get-
ting it direct, and the article was steadily advancing.
When once India tea was used in a family, no one
would revert to China — he had never known an in-
stance. He knew of a case iu which China had been
imported, because some people could not stand the
strength of our own growth of tea. (Laughter.)
That was, however, very easily remedied. Now,
he wanted to revert, for a moment, to the
subject of finance. It seemed strange to him that
it was so difficult to get money for tea planting, not
for new plantations, but for those alreadj' established.
The banks shielded themselves with the plea that tea
was not known as an investment. One way iu which
the British public could very materially assist the
planter was, by helping to remove the ridiculous
kigislation which encumbered him at every step. The
labourer was fenced round with many absurd regul-
ations. The houses must have a window and a door
in a certain spot and of a size. These were to
meet sanitary requirements. He had no objection
to this; indeed he thought them very necessary, but
when the coolie shut his window for ever, barricaded
his door, and by way of company introduced his
cow into the family circle, he (the speaker) enter-
tained some doubts as to the wisdom of such legislation.
AN'hat the planter wanted was freedom of action.
There was so much that hampered him in connection
with the laws affecting coolie labour that radical
changes would sooner or later be necessitated. (Hear,
hear.) There was no fear that planters would neglect
the coolie. If only from self-interest the planter
would si"e tliat his laiiour was properly housed and

cared for. It cost a great tleal to import the labour,
and when once there it was not likely the planter
would risk government interference through his neglect.
It was only necessary to mention one absurd ins-
tance. If the death rate on an estate exceeded 7
per cent, the Government could step in and shut
up the place entirely. No planter would object to
this rule, provided labour was allowed to come and
go freely, i'he extraodinary growth and importance
of the industry, rendered it essential that all such
rules sliuld be relaxed. In conclusion, he assured
them that Indian tea gave better value for money
than any description of China tea produced.

Mr. Parker Thomson said he wanted to ask Mr.
Peter a question or two. It seemed to him that
Mr. Peter touched on the most important feature of
the tea question only at the end of his paper ; it
was — Would Indian tea pay? That question was to
him more important than any. Mr. Peter said they
must lower the prices. That meant, that the cost
of producing it must be lowered. He wanted now
to ask Mr. Peter in what direction the cost of pro-
duction could be reduced. There was no prospect
of the quantity from China being materially dimin-
ished, and it was clear to everybody that the
fundamental law of supply and demand must operate
here as in everything. If Indian prices were lowered
as suggested, the outturn must be increased, but be-
fore that increase could be utilised a market must be
fouud, and it seemed to him that the market for
Indian teas of the future would be discovered in
the decline of China growths. (Hear, hear). He could
imagine the answer Mr. Peter would give to his
(the speaker's) enquiry as to the direction in which
attempts to reduce cost of output would be made.
Eleven years ago (1874) the As.sam teas were sold
in London at an average of Is. ll^d. per lb., and
companies he knew of, paid on capital invested divi-
dends as high as 22g per cent. The average last
season (1885) was just under Is. Id. per lb. Dividends
amounting to 20 per cent, had been paid by the
same companies ; so that although there had been a
decline in price of over lOd., they were in 1886 yet
able to declare a dividend only 2^ per cent lower
than in 1875. (Applause.^ The cost of producing their
tea had enormously increased during tlie eleven years
named, and yet the tea was very much cheaper, so
that he was at a loss to understand in what
particular item of expenditure Mr. Peter hoped to
reduce. On this side he could not see any chance
of lowering. Duty and freight must be paid.

Mr. Peter said he was glad to be asked .some
questions. He could not, however, speak definitely
at this moment as to the reduction or means of
reduction now being contemplated. As one .source
from which personally he expected unusually excel-
lent results he might mention Main's drier, which
he understood would wither the leaf in any cond-
ition of the elements, which, as he previously stated,
would be a Godsend to the planters. The process
of withering was one of the most expensive, and if
the consumption of fuel were smaller they would
be able to do with fewer hands. The " Sirocco No. ?>,"
one of the latest out, had withered more maunds per
day than any other up to the present.

Sir D. Forsyth asked whether Mr. Peter ■ would
give his experience as to manuring.

Mr. Peter said his experience of manuring was
not very great ; when he found that one part of the
garden was wearing out he added 15 or 20 acres of
new cultivation to make up for the loss in the old
ground. He had not, however, the slightest doubt
that in the future as cultivation wore out they
would have to take to manuring and condensing
their areas. The subject of manuring had not up
to this time, received any or very little attention
from tea planters in India.

Su- D. Forsyth asked what kind of manures would
be used.

Mr. Peter said the manures would be those u.sed
on our English farms, bone dust and chemical
manures. He had tried them all. His experience
was that whereas bone dust would last well for two

322

TJHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Oct. I, 1886,

years, the crops being equally good iu both, the
r-hemicals produced quite a difierent result. The
first year the tea was good ; but the effects of the
manure the second year were scarcely felt — at least,
advantageously felt. Besides this, the chemical manu-
res, he discovered, made the plant more sensitive,
and, unless they were constantly kept up — he might
liken it to a stimulant — the bushes, deteriorated. A
little had been done iu the way of top-dressing,
with excellent results. In cases where roots were
washed and left exposed, the manuring he spoke
of had been eminently satisfactory. He was in favour
of top-dressing twenty acres of old cultivation, as
against opening up twenty acres of new ground.

Mr. "\A''yllie, formerly an Assam planter, said it
was nearly twenty years since he was connected
with tea planting in Assam. The great difficulty
then — and gathering what he bad from the remarks
of the reader of the paper, he discovered that the
great difficulty now — was withering. He desired to
ask Mr. Peter whether from his own personal know-
ledge, he could name any machine or any contrivance
which had dealt successfully with withering tea or
was likely to deal in a practical form with it. He
had been in Cachar, Sylhet, and Assam provinces,
and could himself testify to the tremendous loss in
every way which the withering process entailed.

Mr. Peter repUed that he had seen Mr. Gibbs's
machine for withering purpcses which was most
excellent. The Main machine, manufactured by A.
and J. Main, Glasgow, was a magnificent drier, and
he had every reason to believe that Mr. Main's
machine would meet with the success it deserved.

Sir D. Forsyth said he wanted to make a remark.
He had been connected with tea for a long time.
His experiences iu India, however, were not in the
tea districts of Assam. Now Mr. Peter placed his
average yield per acre at 300 or 350 lb. In his
(the speaker's) experience they had never attained
to anything like that, except in a few very exceptional
instances. The greatest difficulty, perhaps, they had
to deal with was the shortness of yield. He wanted
to know how they were going to reduce their expen-
diture and increase their yield. The climate was
responsible for a good deal, but there were other
agencies at work besides the climate. Indian tea was,
in his opinion, making its way exceedingly well.
Everybody who cared anything for good tea knew that
Indian tea was pure. It was not adulterated like
China tea. and people were beginning to find that fact
out. If the objects mentioned by Mr. Peter as to in-
crea.se of yield and reduction of cost could attained,
he prophesied that before long Indian tea would stamp
all inferior teas out of the English market. (Cheers.)

The usual vote of th;aik3 having been carried
with acclamation, the (company separated. — Hoiiif and
Colomal Mail

♦

THE BLACKMAN AIR PROPELLEE.
The Blackuian Air Propeller Ventilating Company,
Limited, of 57. Fore Street, London, E.C., exhibited
at the Norwich Show six of this firm's air propellers
of different diameters, as well as a model of (xcoi'ge
Greig's patent fan all these of their own manufacture.
These .air propellers have already earned the world-
wide reputation of being the most efficient, most
convenient, and most economicnl form of punkah yet
brought out for use in cases where it is desired to
really remove from, or supply large volumes of air
to large apartments or buildings. The old-fashioned
punkahs merely cause an oscillation of the air con-
tained iu the room or building, whereas these air
propellers are capable of changing the whole of the
air contained in the building, either by the sujiply
or the exhaust process, as may be desired. Over and
above its mtsre utility as the best means of ventilating
ships, public and private buildings, &c., for sanitary
purposes or for the sake of comfort, anA \)y using a
kvis Ini-if. tattie in connection with one of these air-
propellers the air can be cooled to perfection, it is
worth while to point out to our readers that it is a
peculiarly opportune invention for removing the
saturated damp atmosphere of tea-houses in ca-ses where

no exhaust fans are used for getting rid of the mois-
ture evaporated during tea-drying. It has lately
been repeatcdlj' pointed out that the saturated con-
dition of the atmosphere in tea bouses is most pre-
judicial to tea manufacture, inasmuch as it prevents
rapid drying and tends to "stewing." Were these
propellers brought into use in pucka-hxxWi tea-hou-ses,
we have no hesitation in saying that a great improve-
ment would be noticed in the tea manufactured, and
a considerable economy in fuel would certainly be
effected inasmuch as the constantly renewed air itself
would be so much more obsorbtive. A 48-inch
propeller, fitted with the lately applied multiplying
gear, is capable of propeiling or removing .'i,00() cubic
feet of air per minute, and only requires onc^ coolie
to work it. It is easily packed for shipment, and
weighs under a hundredweight complete. — Home and
Colonial Mail.

CINCHONA AND TEA IN MADULSIM.\ AND
HEWA ELIYA.

This District, so far out of the ordinary beaten path
of Ceylon travel, is one of the most favoured in the
Island for the growth of Cinchona, and Tea is now
growing as luxuriantly and flushing as freely at an
elevation of 4,000 feet and upwards as in the most
favoured of Kandyan districts. Few strangers and only
at long intervals, visit the Estates, and the first im-
pression on entering the District is not pleasant,
owing to the wretched-looking fields of abandoned Coffee
the road pa.sses through. The feeling, however, rapidly
gives place to surprise at the luxuriant fields of
Cinchona and equally fine fields of still rich green
Coffee which rapidly replace the abandoned desolation
of the first part of the journe}'. Much of the soil
is poor to all appearance, but it is this apparently
poor quartz soil which has proved so fertile to Cin-
chona, whilst the heavier and richer soils are shewing
a cover of Tea, which for its age cannot anywhere be
surpassed. In no district in Ceylon has there been
more attention jjaid to the planting of Cinchona, and
what were at one time considered the most valuable
varieties were reared in nurseries on which neither
money nor supervision was spread : but unfortunately
the Ledgeriaua, Calisaya, Officinalis, &c., have not
given the returns so confidently expected. .\Iauy
varieties never reached maturity, others cankered and
died off, whilst in almost every case the percentage
of Quinine was found to be far lower than in the
original or parent trees in Java or India ; and it is
the at one time greatly despised iSuccirubra and its
acclimated sprouts or Hybrids, commonly known as
Robusta, which have covered our hills with the present
luxuriant growth of this valuable tree. The average
extent now under Cinchona in this small District
may be placed at 2000 acres in various stages of
growth, and although the axe and the shaving knife
are making inro.ads on the plantations, a large portion
of the coppiced trees are growing from the stools.
Far more serious, however, is the insidious disease
known as canker, which, once establi.shed, is like the
leaf-disease in Coffee and cannot be eradicated ; but
we find that healthy, self-.sowu seedlings are not only
less liable to canker, but are hardy and thrifty
growers, and the analysis is also good, so that plant-
ers are now at a nominal co.st planting hardy,
natural Cinchonas in sufficient quiintity to replace
the trees destroyed Miuuuilly in harvesting the bark.
Already about SOO.i 00 i)nunds weight of bark has
left the district, and shaving and harvesting are still
going on. Next year the harvested bark may reach
11 milllinn poumls weight, ami it will be some years
before tlicre is any ap])reciable ilimunition of the crop.
The planting of Tea and the consequent necessity
for uprooting the (,'inchona will be the first cause of
a material falling off in the yield of bark, but the
fact that (yiuehuna grows best on the poor ijuartz
and gravel soil, whilst Tea luxuriates most iu the
deep rich lirown loam of L'va will show a distinct
and well-defined limit for the cultivation of the two
plants. In Tea cultivation we are several years
behind the Kandyan and low country districts; in

Oct. i, 1886,3

THB TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

223

fact, the oldest Tea in Madulsima is only two
»ud a halt' years old, but so rapid has been the ex-
teosicu of this cultivation, that there are now 2,000
acres under Tea, and 600 will be added this season.
On Fva Estate there are 400 acres of Tea, and here
the first planting only, 18 months old, is as fine a
cover of Tea as any in the Island, and the question
of flushing may now be finally set at rest, as growth
during the dry months of June and July has proved
to be fully as good as anything in Kandyan country.
The flush on trees 18 months old cut down to the
hard wood in June, in one month from cutting, gave
a growth of ten to fourteen inches. On Galoola
Estate the Tea is even finer and more luxuriant and
stronger in growth at the same age. I have mentioned
these two Estates without disparagement to other
Estates, simply to shew what may fairly be expected
from Tea in Madulsima and Hewa Eliya. Much
of the Tea is quite equal to a yield of 600 lb. made
Tea to ^the acre, and when the ground is not too
steep to fork in manure I see no renson why the
maximum Ceylon yield of 1200 lb. should not be
obtained. The character of the plant in Uva is es-
sentially different from the Tea shrub raised from
the same jat of seed at a similar elevation on the
Kandy side. The growth is much stronger and thicker,
and lateral branches are thrown out with more regularity
l^from every eye on the stem ; the foliage is denser,
and the leaves remain longer on the bush and are
of a darker colour ; the stems of the young shoots
are thicker, and the brown or ripe wood follows more
quickly on the flush ; the leaves are also thicker and
heavier, and it will tie found in practice when pluck-
ing, although I have had no opportunity as yet of
fully verifying the correctness of this statement, that
a given number of tips, including the Souchong leaf,
will perhaps weigh as much as 20 0/0 more than
lowcountry grown Tea. It will probahly be found
necessary to pluck what usually termed fine plucking,
and there may be found some difficulty in the
manufacture at first, but the samples of made Tea
I have tasted and tried, although only roughly made,
bear me out in all I have previously said as to the
value of Uva Tea — they have both strength and
flavour. Several Tea factories are being erected in
the District, and before 1886 closes, Uva, or at least
Madulsima. Tea will have proved itself in the market.
Most of the E.itates have a small reserve of forest
which will last some time, and charcoal may be had
from the low country in any quantity, but a cart road
is much wanted from end to end of the District, that
is from Passara to Roeberrj' Estate. There are no
bridges of any size required, and a good gravel road
might ^be constructed for say R12,000 per mile.
At present length and difficulty of transport are the
great drawbacks to this District. No Estate will be
able to send down full chests of Tea, and even half-
chests will be difficult of transport to the cart
road. — Local '' Advertiser."

4

THE COLONIAL EXHIBITION.— NO. VII.

CEYLON.

From all poin*;s of view the collection from Ceylon
is one of great interest. Tea, as might be supposed,
occupies a prominent position, numerous samples
being exhibited, some apprently of excellent ([uality.
The preparation of Tea for the market is well
illustrated by a series of photographs. In the course
of ten years the Tt^'a industry has mii velloi sly increased
in Ceylon. In 1876, :.'82 lb. only were exported, and
iu 1885 it had reached 3.7!Hi,684! lb. — this increase
being the result of a high quality Tea, the distinguishing
characters of which are described as richness of
flavour combined with strength — '• the re.sults of most
careful cultivation and systematic attention to every
detail of manufacture." In the excellent Illc.strated
Handbook and Catalogue for Cei/l on, which has recently
been published, it is said that "On a Ceylon Tea
estate the leaf is never allowed to be handled from
the moment it passes into the factory to the time
it is bulked in a huge heap preparatory to packing
iu chests ; every stage hi the delicate operation is
passud automatically, and thus the mo^t rigoroui*

cleanliness and freedom from possible taint is secured."
Amoiipsi spices, Cinnamon takes the most prominent
place. Magnificent bundles of this bark are shown,
together with chips and clippings. These chips, it
seem.*, are largely used in the manufacture of Thorley's
cattle food, as well as in perfumery, and in the
distillation of Cinnamon oil, a good deal of which is
also made in the island. Jiiggery, which is a coarse
description of su^ar obtained chiefly from the Palmyra
Palm (Borassus flabciliformis), was exported from the
Northern Province of the island during the past year
to the extent of nearly 7,000 cwt., valued at £2,000.
Besides this large consumption of Jaggery iu Ceylon,
the trade mijiht be made one of great importance,
as there is at present an active demand from Europe.
Under dyes and dye stuffs we find Jackwood, the
wood of Artocarpus integtifolia, which, it is said,
" dyes an extermel_y useful yedovv, aud is ufsed by
the natives for dyeing house mats, fibres for orna-
ment, as well as for giving to cotton and silk cloths
the peculiar pale canary colour which is required for
the robes of the Buddist priesthood. It is not
exported."

Of Anatto, of which there are some fine examples,
both of seeds aud paste, the Handbook says : — " This
useful and rather delicate orange red dye is obtained
from the pulp surrounding the seeds of Bixa orellaua.
This dye is largely used in Europe and India iu
dyeing silks and also for colouring cheese and other
articles. The pulpy matter is separated from the
seeds by boiling, and when dried pressed into cakes
and shipped. It is imported into England chiefly
from French Guiana where it is native ; but the plant
is an ancient introduction to Ceylon and is now
semi-wild."

Besides a large collection of small wood specimens,
of which there is published an excellent list, there
are some remarkably fine examples of the choicer
cabinet woods such as Caiamander, T.imarind, Satin-
wood, &c. Of the first of these, obtained from
Diospyros quercita, it is unsatisfactory to known that
it is becoming extremely scarce. The tree is of slow
growth and the forests in the south of Ceylon are
now denuded of all their Caiamander trees of a size
suitable for furnishing cabinet wood. Of Satinwood
the produce of Chloroxylon Swietenia we also learn
from the Handbook that the " trees are common
enough in the northern, eastern, aud north-western
forests, but the proportion of these which yield
" flowered Satinwood " is very small, and this des-
cription of wood is therefore comparatively high in
price. One would not think there was any scarcity
in Satinwood when one sees such elaborate show-cases
made of it in which the Ceylon Teas are exhibited,
and the use to which it seems to be put in Ceylon
for carriage building.

The Ceylon court is well arranged, and the Hand-
book and Catalogue is one of the best of the Exhibi-
tion Series. John B. Jackson, Curator, Museums, lioyal
Gardens, Kew. — Gardeners'' Chronicle.

♦

Coffee Roasting. — " It is a nice task to brown coffee
just right," said a New York coffee-roaster the other
day. "Nearly everybody browns coffee too much.
It comes out burned instead of browned, although it
is greatly to the interest of the wholesalers not to
brown it too much on account of the loss of weight.
"\^"hen the berry is roasted until it becomes red, in-
stead of chestnut colored, as is customary, it preserves
its maximum weight and aroma. One hundred pounds
of berries roasted properly lose but fifteen pounds
in weight. As usually roasted they lose twenty pounds,
If roasted long enough the berry glazes over and
turns dark brown. It loses a fourth of its weight
in the process." " Why does the grocer overroast
his coffee, theny" was asked. "Th-^ trade demands
it. The coffee that is made from over-burned berries
is black, and the flavour is rank. The popular taste
is educated to choose black coft'ee, aud would find
the light-colored liquid made from the reddened berries
rather insipid at first, and would refuse to buy
enough to learn to admire the rich flavor of the
reddened berries." — Ainerkan i'aper.

a*i/4P

tnU IP^OPiCAL AGKiCULTU Kifc;!'.

:o<

(Jassia : — The attempt that has been made bj* the afifor-
estatiou Department of Hong Kong to grow Ciimamoiiium
Cassia appears to have met with an unexpected check.
According to the report of the Superintendent of the
Department, the Chinese persistently break off the
leaves and branches of the plants, and notwithstanding
the vigilance of the forest guard they manage to
keep the plants in an almost leafless condition. The
reason assigned is that the Chinese use the leaves
in medicine. (Gard. Citron., July 17, p. 82). — Fharm-
ace utica I Journal.

Coffee as a Disinfectant. — Years ago some studi-
ous German made the observation, the correctness
of which he endeavored (and to a great extent also
succeeded) to establish by statistical data that coffee,
if taken early it the morning on an empty stomach,
auted as a preventive against infectious and mainly
acute epidemic diseases. He quoted a great number
of cases where individuals accustomed to drink a
cup of hot coffee for breakfast had either escaped
an epidemic of typhoid then ravaging the part of
Germany in which tlie observer lived, or if attacked
by the disease contracted it in a much milder form,
while all those who died from the disease had not
been in the habit of taking coffee in the morning.
This was a good number of years ago, at a time when
iu many parts of Germany coffee was still either an
unknown or so costly a beverage as to be looked upon
as a luxury that only the rich could enjoy. "We have
forgotten the name of the phjsician, but remember
that the medical profession did not take kindly to
the idea of coffee being a disinfectant, or, as they
then said, an anti-zymotic, and those who could not
deny the correctness of the observation itself ascribed
the apparent immunity to other causes, many to
the hot water with which the coffee was prepared.
That the physician, however, has not been so wrong
has been but recently proved. During the last meet-
ing of the Prussian army surgeons in Berlin, Medical
Director Oppler reported that after extensive investig-
ations, which he related in detail, he had discovered
that we pos.5ess in coffee an antiseptic remedy of no
mean value, but one which could well serve for the
purposes of a first dressing of a wound received in
3 battle. If employed at once it totally prevented
ijuppuration. but if used after pus has already accu-
mulated in the wound, it leads to tlie formation of
% scab, beneath which the wound heals with asep=is.
The coffee should be employed in the form of powder,
and as it might entail the loss of valuabh' time to
have to grind first the roasted coffee bean, which in
Prussia every soldier is bound to carry about him,
O. recommends the use of coffee-tablets, which have
been recently discovered by a Hamburg firm, and
which answer their purpose admirably well, as it is
only necessary to rub these tablets a little, when
they at once assume a powder form. — Amerimn Fafer.

Agiucultuee in Cookg was thus reported
on in the Administration Report for 1884-85 : —
The area of laud held under grauts for coffee &c.,
and denoted in Statement I. E. Fiscal (2) as " Za-
niidari " was computed at 73, 1!)0 acres iu 1881-85. Of
this area 37,544 acres bearing an assessment of Rti7,t;02
were held bj- Europeans, and 35,655 acres with an
assessment of E65,591 by natives planters. The area
of European estates has been diminished by 609
acres since the previous year, and by 2,910 acres since
1882-83. The average size of European Coffee Estates,
is estimated at 163 acres, aud Native Plantations
and of at 7"8 acres. A considerable area of unassessed
Bane land (the wooded pasture land) attached
to farms under rice cultivation) is cultivated
with coffee, and it has been for some years past
in contemplation to survey and assess these lands. It is
expected that a commencement will be made during
the ensuing working season. Labor for the coffee
estates, though late in coming, was plentiful at the end
of the season. The Cooly Maistries are no longer
stimulated by the higli rates formerly paid by
the estate owners, the heavy losses sustained
of recent years having led to a disposition to
curtail expenses in every possible manner. The
monthly wage oow o^erecl varies from R6 to R7* for

a man, and R3§ to R4 for a woman. Pricfs. —
Allusion was made in last year's report to the sudden
fall in the price of coffee which took place early in
1884. The price had fallen during that and the
previous year from i\4() to R26 or K25 per cwt, and in
the English IMarket from 100 shillings to 61 shillings
per cwt. The local price has with occasional slight
fluctuation been maintained at the former average rate
ofR26percwt. The season was on the whole fairly
good. The South West Monsoon rains were lighter
than usual during the usual June and July, the
rain-fall gauged for those months at Mercara was only
16'55 inches and 29-()l inches respectively. The fall
during August, however, amounted to 42-94 inches,
and thus a fair average was maintained. Notwith-
standing the late period at which the rains commenced,
the outturn of the cereal crops was fully equal to
the yield of former years. The coffee crop was
somewhat affected by the untimely occurrence of the
blossoming showers, as well as by the circumstance
that the yield of the previous year had been in the most
instances large. The cultivation of cinchona has not
received the same attention as iu the previous years
as it is feared that the enterprise will prove a failui'e
owing to the low prices for the bark now ruling in the
English Market.

The Colonial Exhiuition. — The literature pertain-
ing to this Exhibition is not unnaturally extensive,
and for the most part it is excellent. Each colony
has caused to be prepared a short account, which
generallj' includes a summary of the history, found-
ation, government, physical and natural features, as
well as commercial products of the colony. In this
way an amount of authentic information has been got
together which can rarely if ever have been made so
accessible before. Adverting more especially to matters
in which our readers are more directly concerned,
we note an excellent descriptive and classified list of
the woods of Queensland, by Mr. F. Manson Bailey,
the Colonial Botanist. The Ceylon catalogue, in addi-
tion to a mention of raw products generally, has a
list of the drugs and of the timber trees of Ceylon,
to occompany the specimens exhibited by the Director
of the Rnyal Botanic Garden. The New Zealand
catalogue also comprises a list of native woods, ))ut
not so usefully arranged as in some other case.*.
New South A\''ales issues a general statement of the
progress and resources of the colony, but no list of
products. The (Jape of Good Hope catalogue includes
descriptive lists of iriedicin;il plants and of woods.
The otlicial handbook of Natal deals with generalities,
and the same may be said of Fiji, a special feature
of wtiich, however, are the elaborate meteorological
details, which will he useful for future reference.
South Australia furnishes an excellent general account
of the nature, history, and products of the colony.
The Victorian handbook is remarkable for the copious-
ness of its illustrations. Canada has an admirable
summary of its history, productions, and natural
resources, accompanied bj' two large sized maps,
which enable us to realise the extent of the Dominion,
and the splendid prospects in store for it. The
special British Guian^ catalogue is very interesting to
peruse, and the notes on timbers instructive, though
here, as elsewhere, the use of popular names, compul-
sory in this case, is a great drawback. The notes on
the Straits Settlements contain an interesting history
of the colony, but little detail as to its products.
The West Indian courts so far seem least well
represented iu this euumeration of literary exhibits.
Tasmania, for some reason or other, does not appear
to be represented at all in this Exhibition. We are
frequently asked to give information and advice to
intending emigrants — a task which, at least so far
as the counsel goes, we rarely comply with, for
reasons that will be sufficiently obvious ; but .>-iuce
the opening of the Colonial Exhibition we have
referred all applicants to the Exhibition and to the
official reports. We allude to this matter because in
our judgnumt it shows Ihs desirability of securing a
permanent Colonial Museum, where every applicant
may find the information he is iu ee^rch oi. ^Gardeners'
Chronicle.

Oct. !, 1886.J

tUE TROPICAL AGRietJLTu^lSif.

22^

THE NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA.

Poet Dakwin, July ()th. — The Government nur-
sery is now (July 9th) located at the new site about
a mile and a half from town. All buildings, fences,
and the most valuable plants have been removed
and work at the new nursery is now on a firm footing.

A late visitor to Cox's I'eninsula says it is dis-
heartening to see the rapidity with which the two
abandoned plantations in that locality are revert-
ing to their primarj' condition of tangled jungle.
Nearly every vestige of the trees and plants in-
troduced at the cost of so much time and labour
on Erikson & Cloppenburg's holding have vanished,
one of the buildings has been destroyed by a bush
fire, and the remaining erections are on their last
legs, prematurely decaying for lack of a caretaker ;
the doors are falling from their fastenings, and
the interior of the dwellings have been monopolized
by white ants, who have riddled every article of
furniture left lying about, displaying a special
weakness for Scripture, for they have gone for
several Bibles with such vigour that little remains
but the bindings. Shovels, hoes, wheelbarrows,
coils of wire, blacksmith's tools, and several other
once useful articles are mouldering away in the
vicinity and quickly being dissolved into their ori-
ginal elements. Harris & Head's plantation, which
has not been abandoned very long, is in a better
state of preservation. There are numerous papaya-
trees and banana plants loaded with fruit, but there
is also a thick crop of tall grass growing right up
to tlie dwelling-house, which only needs a careless
spark to afford food for a fire which would sweep

away every trace of what took so much toil to produce.

.^

CINCHONA IN JAVA.
The following translation of Bl.Van Romunde's Re-
port on the Java Gardens for the 2nd quarter of this
year —recently received, has been made for the Observer.
The most noteworthy fact is that there is not the
slightest reference to "canker" in the Report ex-
tending up 10 30th June, but of course the Gov-
ernment Gardens may have escaped the trouble
so far. The Government crop of bark does not
increase ; —
Ria'ORT ON rni-; Goveunment Cinchona Plantations

FOR TJIE 2nd OUARTEK OF 188(i.

The rains continued to about the middle of May.
The latter half of the month was very dry, as
was also the beginning of June, after which a few
rainy days were again registered. Planting out in
the open ground from the nurseries was pushed on
as much as possible, when the state of the weather
was favorable.

The dry Aveather had a beneficial influence on
the young plantations, this inllueuce was partic-
ularly noticeable on such plantations as had been
highly cultivated at the latter part of the wet
monsoon. TJ)e harvest of this year amounts to
fully 100,(100 Amsterdam pounds of bark, of which
85,10<5 pounds were sent to Batavia by the end
of the quarter. This harvest was almost exclus-
ively obtained by thinning out close plantations,
and consists chiefly of C. Ledgeriana. On the 15th
April fully half of the produce of the harvest of
1885 was disposed of by public sale at Amsterdam.
The gross proceeds amounted to l'JO,C0O guilders
(gulden) being an average price of ./' 0.79 per half
kilogram. The higliest prices were obtained for a
very fine lot of C. Calisaya bark in long quills
which fetched up to /'3'8('» per half kilogram. The
highest price offered at this sale for C. Ledgeriana
bark was /' 1-85 per half kilogram. The inquiry
respecting the influence of succirubra stems on the
bark of the Ledgeriana grafted thereon, is steadily
uursued. Thu reaull^ of the cliemJcal researches
29

shall, if possible, be made known during the com-
ing quarter.

The original Ledgerianas as well as the old
Succirubra plantations produced such an insigni-
ficant seed-harvest, that only a very few sales of
cinchona seed could be held, which produced a
gross result of / 552*75. The graft-plantations of
Tortasari promise in the course of the third
quarter an abundant harvest of valuable seed,
so that important sales will then be held.

(Signed) Van R0:«unde,

Director of the Government Cinchona Plantations.
Bendoeng, 5th July 1886.

Report on the position of the Government
Cinchona Plantations in Java for the 2nd quarter
of 1886 :—

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[Oct. a, ibb6.

iiiSii>g»aa'jjm.jUii-

phwMM^wWi

TEA IN UVA.

Everything concerning the practical development
of the tea enterprise in the Province of Uva is full
of interest at the present time, and we have been
much pleased with a series of reports from diverse
hands, which we have had the privilege of look-
ing over. When a Colombo Agent with a con-
siderable experience of tea writes to a Manager
in almost the ultima thule of Uva as follows, " The
teas you send down are first ' chop ' and leave
nothing to be desired ; if you can send us teas
like these from Uva in quantity, the enterprise
cannot fail of success," it is evident that the
district is to take no second jDlace in its quality
of tea. Madulsima ' broken pekoe ' has been valued
lately by London experts at Is lOd and upwards ;
while here is a local report on another series of
samples from the same district: —

"Your tea is excellent and bears favorable com-
parison with about a dozen tea samples we tried with
it. The report written on your tea was as follows: —
' Sample No. 4. — Broken Pekoe.

Appearance: — Fairly well twisted, slightly greyish,
good display of tip.

iermc.ntntion: — Good and even, bright.

Liquor: — Strong, dark, good flavour, somewhat rasping.
'Sample No. 4. —Pekoe.

Jppcarmice: — Twist uneven, evidently hand-rolled,
somewhat greyish, grading defective, some red leaf
and congou present.

Fermentation: — P]ven and bright.

ii^i^or:— Strong, dark liquor, sligLitly metallic taste.

"For commercial purposes you should grade as we
are doing elsewhere. Pluck out tea leaf, pass through
a No. 8 sieve, then break all save congou through the
No. 8 mainly by gentle pressure of the baud, not
against the metal. Take out dust by a 30 or 32.

" Your B. P. is beautiful arrd have a splendid liquor,
only two on the table were better, a B. P. of Kerr's
and old Taylor's.

" The pekoe has too much tip, I think, and is rather
disfigured by congou and a little red leaf. It liquors
splendidly. What you want is a roller, and you could
look over most men."

The Galoola Tea Factory, we learn, was opened on
the 1st September. Machinery will doubtless be
required on a good many other estates erelong.

CEYLON TEA.
The pamphlet issued by the Ceylon Planters'
Association, has at length reached us, a copy
having been courteously posted to our address by
the Secretary. The coloured lithographs, when
looked at closely are more patchy than artistic,
but they give a very good idea of what is intend-
ed to be illustrated, viz, : — ■
A Tamil Wuhan Plucking Tea Flush ;
ViJiW oi' A Tka Estate and Factory;
Weighing in Ghken Tea Leaf.
As a large portion of our readers are interested
in the subject, we quote the text which accom.
panics the illustrations. The writer certainly does
justice to our new staple and turns the tables ef-
fectually on those whose " vested interests " in
the inferior teas of China and Japan led them to
prejudice the public mind as far as they could
against the stronger and purer competitor as if it
were a dangerous poison. But it ought in fair-
ness to have been mentioned that Indian Tea and
itb producers bore the chief burden and heat of
the day in the fierce and hitler controversies which

once raged in England around the competing
teas of India and the Far East. By the time
Ceylon tea came on the stage, many of the old
enemies of Indian tea had been converted into
friends and had contracted vested interests in that
product, which the tea-drinking public had come
gradually to appreciate for themselves. Ceylon tea,
therefore, apart from its merits as combining in
an unmixed form delicate flavour with strength,
had less prejudice and selfish opposition to contend
with than was the case when " Ind of Great
Mogul" first entered the lists as a competitor
with " Far Cathay " and its world -renowned
" Thay." This might have been generously men-
tioned ; but the object of the writer was to re-
commend Ceylon tea, and this task has certainly
been well performed. We trust the circulation in
tens of thousands of this pamphlet, the show and
sale of Ceylon teas in the Exhibition and the
efforts of the Syndicate will be to increase con-
sumption in markets already open and secure favour
for our product where it is as yet unknown, or
only partially known ; so that consumption may
be in proportion to the increased production which
the writer of the brochure correctly anticipates : —

TEA IN CEYLON.

In the minds of the British public the name of
Ceylora has been chiefly associated with the production
of Coffee and Spices; the latter in poetry, but in
poetry only, imparting their fragrance to the very air.

Whrle Ceylon Coffee and Ceylon Spices are of
superior quality and remain most important articles of
trade, it is Ceylon Tea that is rapidly becoming the
staple product and the one for which the island will
soon be most celebrated.

Seldom or never has an industry made such progress
or a new article of consumption overcome by its in-
trinsrc merit the opposition of vested trade interests as
has Ceylon Tea.

In 1873 the exports of Tea from Ceylon were 23 lb. ;
in 1885 they have been 4§ million lb. ; in 1886 they
will be about 10 million lb. ; and in the near future
40 million lb will be exported.

The area under Tea in the island is rapidly extend-
ing, and already about 120,000 acres have been planted.
Over 700 European planters and 150,000 Indian and
Sinhalese laborers are engaged in the cultivation.
Some of the plantations are but little above sea level,
while others run up to an elevatioir of 0,000 feet.
The average altitude of the larger districts is about
4,000 feet above sea level, an elevation at which the
climate is pleasant and most healthy. A railway runs
up into the hills and a good system of cart roads exists,
so that most of the estates are already withirr a
day's journey from Colombo — the capital and shipping
port.

At a time when dietetics has almost become a
science, when purity and cleanliness in food and bever-
ages are so strongly insisted on, it is strange that
greater attention has not been called to the nroro than
doubtful nature of irruch of that which is coubumcd
as Tea.

It has been said that, if to be an Englishnrau is to
eat Beef, to be an "Englishwoman is to drink Tea.
True it is that the article which irr the sixteenth
century was a lu.sury, costing ten guineas a ponrrd
and consumed by a hundred people, has in the nine-
teenth century become a necessity, costing two shillings
a pound and consumed by millions.

Did the people of Britain thoroughly uirdcrotand
the difference between I'ritish-grown Tea— such as
Ceylon's — and that of China or Japan, it is certain
that those who could, get the pure, clean, rnachirre-
prepared leaf which is turned out froui the planter's
factory, would never touch the far from pure article
prepared by the hands and feet of the unwashed
Mongolian.

In Chiira and Japan Tea is mostly cultivated in
small patches by tlic peasantry, who ^gather the
leaves and prepare the Tea in tlicir Iruts in a very
unfastidious manucr. The Tea, either iu a halt-

Oct. r, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

22i

maunfactured or finished state, is sold to petty
dealers who in turn sell to larger dealers.

The large dealer mixes and manipulates Teas,
packs and sells them to the European Merchants for
shipment to England, Australia, or America. The
manipulation of Tea is an art in which the China-
man excels, and in many of the inferior kinds the
quality is infinitely deteriorated — thus, " the dust of
the leaf is mixed with clay and manipulated into
the form of the ordinary leaf " — this is with appro-
priate philological coincidence termed " lie " Tea.
'' Tea leaves which liave been already used are again
manipulated and rolled into shape and sold as
genuine Tea."

The Teas of Japan, which are almost entirely con-
sumed by our American cousins, are frequently and
admittedlj' '' faced " with a mixture of Prussian blue
and soapstone.

The Ceylon estate cultivation and manufacture are
very different, and it may not be uninteresting
to give a brief account of how i)ui-e Tea is made.
Visitors to the Ceylon Court in the Colonial and
Lidiau Exhibition will find an interesting series of
photographs from life, attached to the exhibits of
Tea, illustrating the various operations

The Tea bushes are planted in lines at regular
distances over hundreds of acres of carefully roaded
and drained land, which is regularly weeded every
month. Once a year the bushes are pruned down
to a height of about 2 feet ; and eight weeks after
the'pruning the first " flush" of young shoots is ready
to be plucked, and during the height of the season the
flushes reoccur every ten days. Coolies, having a small
basket attached to their girdle, then go round and
pluck the bud and a couple of the tender half-de-
veloped leaves. At mid-day, and again in the even-
ing, the leaf is weighed and taken into the factory.
The leaf is at once spread very thinly on trays or
slielyes to wither. The time which the leaf takes
to wither — to become soft and pliable without drying
up — varies with the weather, but as a rule the leaf
gathered one day will be sufticiently withered the
following day.

The withered leaf is jthenj placed in the rolling
machine ; an ingenious and eftective machine which
is driven by water or steam power. The rolling
lasts for nearly half-an-hour, at the end of that time
the leaf has become a moist mass of twisted and
bruised leaves, out of which the expressed juice
freely comes, technically called " the roll." The
roll is then placed in trays to ferment or oxidise ;
during this process it changes from a green to a
copper color. The subsequent strength and fiavor
of the Tea depend, to a great extent, upon the
fermentation — a chemical process, the success of
which is not entirely within the control of the
rianter, but depends greatly on the weather and
takes a time varying from two to six hours.

The next process is that of tiring. The roll is thinly
spread on trays, and placed either over charcoal stoves
or in large iron drying-machines, and at the end of
half-an-hour it is thoroughly crisp and dried and has
become Tea. The Tea is the» sorted or sized, by being
passed through sieves of different mesh (see working
model of a Tea-sifter in the Ceylon Court) giving the
varieties of broken pekoe, pekoo, souchong, congou,
and dust. The broken-pekoe, which consists chiefly
oftlie opening-bud of the leaf, gives the strongest Tea,
perhaps too strong a Tea to be infused by itself; and
a mixture of pekoo and souchong makes the most plea-
.sant drinking Tea.

The final process is that of weighing and packing.
When a sufficient quantity has been manufactured the
Tea is again slightly fired, to drive off any suspicion of
moisture, and packed while warm in lead-lined boxes
carefully suldert^d down to exclude air.

Such is tlie mode of careful) sleanly preparation in
the specially erected factory of the Ceylon Planter;
and every drinker of genuine Ceylon Tea may be certain
that it is (di^olutehi piu-f.

Specimens of the various classes of Tea, above named
and also of f;incy Teas, from all districts in Ceylon and
grown at sdl clcva'-.ions (trom sea level up to G.OOO
feet) may ho seen in the Ceylon Court, And every

information regarding the industry may be obtained
from the Planters' Commissioner at the Exhibition.
Ceylon Tea, in packets guaranteed by the Planters'
Association and also as a beverage, is sold in the Tea
Room attached to the Ceylon Court as well as in the
Ceylon Tea Kiosks in the Exhibition Grounds.

Ceylon Tea stands uurivalled for its combination of
strength and flavor ; and the pure Tea gives a beverage
pleasant and beneficial to those who drink it. One
cannot doubt that, were the well-meaning evangelists
in the cause of temperance to realize the difference
between pleasantly-strong well-flavored stimulating Tea
and the " wishy-washy " decoction infused from the
cheaper China Teas, their efforts to substitute "the
cup which does not inebriate " for that which does
might be made much more successful.

In addition to the other good qualities Ceylon Tea
possesses that of being economical ; for it is generally
admitted that two pounds of Ceylon will go as far as
three pounds of China.

The Tea you drink should be— 1. — Pure. 2. — Whole-
some. 3. — Pleasant. 4. — Economical.

And Ceylon Tea justly claims pre-eminence on these
grounds.

Would-be purchasers of Ceylon Tea must be warned
that there is dauger (just as there is with everything
which has earned a good name and become popular)
of a spurious or admixed article being sold instead of
what is genuine.

Feench Walnut Wood. — The finest and most
costly of veneering woods is the French walnut.
This is imported from Asia Minor and Persia. The
burr is the valuable portion of the tree, and some-
times as much as £100 to £200 was obtained
for them while one at the Paris International
Exhibition in 1878 realized the enormous sum of
£1,000, or about 8s per lb. weight. The use of
this wood is now limited to pianofortes. For a
particularly fine piece of ebony £1 the pound has
been paid, as it is difficult to get large pieces
which can be used without cutting. — 31. Mull.

Natal and Mr. Angus Fbasek. — The O. B. C. sold
their branch at Port Elizabeth to a local establishment,
which has since had to write off half its capital, and
our old acquaintance, Angus Fraser, having taken shares
ill the concern, was naturally somewhat irate at having
a hint that his salary would be reduced in like pro-
portion ; so he gave the Bank notice to quit, making
the fourth O. B. C. man now in London " on the staff,"
the others being J. B. Morphew, A. Oarmichael, and
J. D. Dawson. In reply to my enquiries about Natal tea.
Mr. Fraser laughed consumedly, and said the severe
and long droughts to which the district was subject
rendered tea cultivation out of the question, and what
he had seen of it had convinced him' that nothing would
ever come of that industry in any part of the Cape
territory. — Cor. Local " Times."

The "Tropical Agriculturist" is the means
of bringing us some curious requests and enquiries.
Here is a letter received by the last mail which
we publish in the hope that it may come before
the eye of the writer of the valuable paper referred
to which we took over from the pages of tiie Mel-
bourne Leader, as duly acknowledged at the
time : —

Surinam, Plantii. Gagtlust, 25th June 1886.

To the Editor of the Tiopical Af/ricullnrinf, Colombo,

Ceylon.

Dear Sir, — By reading your novelles, 1st Jan.
ISSti, vol. V. No. 7, p. 50.5, " Management of Fruit
Trees," the few lines had such effect to me as amator
of fruit trees, that I contain to pleas you to bring me
in transaction with the writer.

In this case you will oblige to give me the address of
the writer, if it is possible, — lam your obedient servant,

S CUKNCII,

Old President of the Agriculture, &c. Society,
Surinam.

228

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Oct. 1, 1886,

A TEIP TO CHIRIQUI : CACAO, BANANAS,

VEtiETABLES, COCONUTS, &c.
From au article so headed in the Gardeners'
Chronicle, we quote as follows: —
Leaving Kingston, Jamaica, on November 8, we
entered the lagoon of Chiriqui on the 14th by a
zigzag course between an island and a point of the
mainland through a passage known to navigators as
liocas del Drago, or Mouth of the Dragon, but
locally known as " Boque's Mouth." Once inside, a
broad expanse of water was before us almost deserving
the term of inland sea, for certainly the term lagoon,
as it is generally understood, is not an appropriate
name for these waters.

In the provi.sion fields we found Plantains, Bananas,
Pumpkins, Cassava, Sweet Potatoes, Yams, &c., grow-
ing in the greatest profusion; the only enemy they
appeared to have to contend with being the " ^\'e-we,"
or Umbrella Ant. This insect — although very destruc-
tive, it is true — did not appear to effect the general
results of the cultivation, and the groves of Cacao
on the outskirts of the field were in most instances
untouched by it. We found large colonies of this
insect in every part of these islands, and it is without
doubt ill a great measure due to the labours of these
little creatures, assisted by the numerous land crabs,
that the probably once barren coral rocks which
form the foundation of these islands are raised from
sea-level to become fertile fields adapted for the pro-
duction of food for the human race.

Plantains and Bananas produce large bunches,
which meet a ready sale on the spot, at the hands of
captains of trading schooners running to and from
the Isthmus of Panama. "8arse," the roots of a
species of Smilax, known to commerce as Sarsaparilla,
also meets a ready sale, large quantities being grown
at various places in the lagoon, and not a little is
produced and brought down by the Indians from the
mainland.

The varieties of Oacao (Theobroma Cacao) were
numerous. The most commonly cultivated were the
white and red-skinneJ varieties, the green-skined is
a .very heavy cropi)er, and produces beans of excellent
quality.

Ohocolate of good (juality is manufactured locally.
The beans are firot roasted, then deprived of their
skins, and afterwards ground on a small, flat, porous
stone, the crushing instrument, also of stone, being of
a shape similar to a housewife's rolling-pin. A\^e had
frequt-nt opportunities for testing this preparation, and
often declared that, if travellers of the olden time
tasted as good a mixture as it was our fortune to
drink, it was no wonder that they described it as
being "Food for the Gods."

Another distinct species of Cacao was met with,
which, though of doubtful value as an economic plant,
was of sufiicient botanical interest to induce us to
spare no pains to introduce it into Jamaica, in which
endeavour I am glad to say we were primaril}' success-
ful, as growing plants reached King.'^ton in safety,
and are now contributed to the Castleton Botanical
* Garden. The plant has not as yet been scientifically
determined, but I may venture to state that it will
probably prove to be Theobroma bicolor.

The tree itself is of a stout spreading habit, its
trunk and branches being much thicker than these of
the ordinary kinds ; but it is not so erect in its mode
of growth.

In the Cacao groves we saw many trees of the
ordinary kind reaching a height of over 40 feet while
the "Tiger Cocoa" .seldom reaches more than 15 or
20 feet.

Several plants of a tree locally known as the " Wild
Cocoa " were met with in the forest, and botanical
specimens duly secured, which will probably prove
the plant to be, not a Cocoa at all, but a species
belonging to the allied genus Herrania. The plant
has but a small single stem, its leaves resembling
at a short distance tho.se of the common Papaw
(Carica papaya). The pods are small, ten-ribbed, with
roundish seeds, covered with a thick sweetish pulp,
much sought after as • a "bush" delicacy by the
/uvenile members of the community.

9m*

On our return from the morning's outing we
examined the locality around the settlement in which
we were residing, and it was found that little cultiv-
ation was attempted near the dwellings, but that groves
of Cacao and (Joconuts abounded ererywhere, while
many of the inhabitants took great pride in showing
me their " Soopa ' trees. This is a palm well known
under the name of tiulielma speciosa, JIart., but
now referred by the authors of the Gfnera Plantanna
to the genus liaclris. Wallace in his Palms ufth,- A mazon
thus describes it: — •• This most picturesque and elegant
Palm has the stem slender, cylindrical, and thickly
set with long needle-shaped spines disposed in rings
or bands. It reaches GO feet in height, and grows
quite erect, though in exposed situations it becomes
curved and waving. The leaves are very numerous,
terminal, pinnate and drooping, forming a nearly
spherical crown to the s'lem ; and the leaflets growing
out of the midrib in various directions, and, being
themselves curled and waved, give the whole m.vss
of foliage a singularly plumy appearance."

" The fruit is the size of an Apricot, of a triangular
oval shape, and fine reddish-yellow colour. In most
instances the seed is abortive, the whole fruit being
a farinaceous mass."

" This palm appears to be indigenous to the countries
near the Andes. On the Amazon and Rio Negro it
is never found wild." It is most commonly known
as the ' Peach Palm,' from the similarity of its fruit,
in size and colour, to some species of the genus
Araygdalus, to which the 'Almond, Peach, and Necta-
rine belong.

The fruits are eaten either boiled or roasted, and
have a flavour, to our taste, somewhat combining that
of roasted Spanish Chestnut and Sweet Potato. As
they are very wholesome I ate several, which I
particularly enjoyed. They are said by Wallace to be
•• also ground up into flour, and made into cakes,
which are roasted like Cassava bread, or the meal is
fermented in water, and forms a subacid creamy
liquid. Parrots, macaws, and monkeys, eat them
greedily, but the latter gentry are prevented when in
a wild state from obtaining them by the prickly nature
of the stem.

The trees were growing at sea-level, and as the
temperature is similar, I believe it would be au excel-
lent plant to introduce for growing on the plains of
Jamaica. As an article of food it would certainly
be a valuable plant to the poorer inhabitants of thi.s
island, provided they could be induced to overcome
their invariable prejudice against " Buckra tings."
The fruit will stand transport with great facility when
ripe. I had a single one which I kept for some
twenty-five days, and that it was found in a com
paratively sound condition on my arrival in .Tamaica.

[?HE RED SPIDER.

(tETEAA'YCHUS TELAEIfS.)

The red spider is not correctly speakmg an insect,
though it is commonly .spoken of as such, neither
is it a spider, as its name would imply, but an
acarus or mite. Whether its name is correct or not,
it is a most destructive aud troublesome pest wher-
ever it makes its presence felt ; it by no means
confines itself to one or only a few kinds of plants,
as many insects do, but it is very indiscriminate
in its choice of food, and it attacks both plants
grown under glass and those in the open air. When
these pests are present in large numbers the leaves
on which they feed soon present a sickly yellow or
Bchorched appearance, for ttie supply of sap is drawn
off by myriacls of the.se little mites, which congregate
on the undersides of the leaves, where they live
in a very delicate web, which they spin, aud multiply
very rapidly ; this web and the excrement of the
red spider soon choke up the pores of ihe leaves,
which, deprived of their proper amount of sap, and
unable to procure the carbon from the atmosphere
which they .'^o much need, are soon in a sorry plight.
However promiscuous the.se mites may be in their
choice of food plants — Melons, Cucumbers, kidney
Beans, Hops, \ ines, Apple, Pear, Plum, Peach trees.

Oct. r, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

229

Limes, Roses, Laiirustiuus, cactuses, Clover, Ferns,
Orchids, and various stove and greenhouse plants
being their particular favourites— they are by no
means insensible to the ditfereiice between dryness
and moisture. To the latter they have a most
decided objection, and it is only in warm and dry
situations that they give nurch trouble, and it is
nearly always in dry seasons that plants. &c., out-
of-doors suffer most from these pests.

Sulphur is one of the most etticieut agents known
for killing them ; but it will not, however, mix properly
with water in its ordinary form, but should be treated
according to the following recipe:— Boil together in
four gallons of water 1 lb. of flowers of sulphur and
2 lb. of fresh lime, and add U lb. of soft soap, and,
before using, 3 gallons more oi water; or mix 4 oz.
of sulphate of lime with halt that weight of soft
soL,p, and when well mixed, add 1 gallon of hot
water. Use when cool enough to bear your hand
in. Any insecticide containing sulphur is useful. In
hot-houses one of the best ways of destroying these
creatures is to paint the hot-water pipes' with one
part of fresh lime and two parts of flowers of sul-
phur mixed into a paint. If a flue is painted in
this way great care should be taken that sulphur
does not burn, or much damage may be done, as the
flues may become much hotter than hot-water pipes.
During the earlier stages of growth keep the at-
mosphere moist and impregnated with ammonia by
a layer of fresh stable litter, or by painting the
hot-water pipes with guano made into a paint ; as
long as the air in the house is kept moist there is
not much danger of a bad attack. If Carnations are
attacked, t\iug up some flowers of sulphur iu a
muslin bag and sulphuring the plants liberally, and
washing them well in three days time has been
recommended.

Tobacco water and tobacco smoke will also kill
these pests, but as neither tobacco nor sulphuring the
hot-water pipes can always be resorted to with safety
in houses, by far the better way is to keep a sharp
look-out for this pest, and as soon as a plant is
found to be attacked to at once clean it with an
iu.secticide which it is known the plant will bear,
and by this means prevent other plants from being
infested. These httle mites breed with astonishing
rapidity, so that great care should be exercised in
at once stopping an attack. A lady friend of mine
hail some Castor-oil plants growing in pots in a
wiu.low which were badly attacked, and found that
some lady-birds soon made short work of the mites
and cleareil the plants. The rel spider lays its eggs
among the threads of the web which it weaves over
the undersides of the leaves; the eggs are round
and white; the young spiders are hatched in about
a week, and they very much resemble their parents in
general appearance, but they have only three pairs
of legs instead of four at first, and they do not
acquire the fourth pair until they have changed
their skins several times; they are, of course, much
smaller in size, but are, however, in proportion just
as_ destructive as the older ones. They obtain the
juices of the leaves by eating through the skin with
their mandibles, and then thrusting in their pro-
bo.sces or suckers through which they draw out
the juices. Th(;se little creatures are .so tran.sparent,
that it is very difficult to make out all the details
of their mouths accurately. The females are very
fertile, and breed with great rapidity under favourable
circumstances all the year round.

The red spiders, as I have already stated, are
not real spiders; but belong to the family Acarina
or mites, a family included in the same class fthe
Arachnidiej as the true spiders, from which they
may be easily distinguished by the want of any
apparent division between the head and thorax and
body ; in the true spiders the head and thorax .arc
united together and form one piece, to which the
body is joined by a slender waist. The Arachnid;e
are followed by the Myriapoda (centipedes, &c.), and
these by the Insectao or true insects. The red
spiders belong to the kind of mites called spinning
mites, to distinguish them from those which do not

form a web of any kind. It is not quite certain
at present whether there is only one or more species
of red spider; but this is immaterial to the horti-
culturist, as their habits and the means for their
destruction are the same. The red spider (Tetrany-
chus telarius) is very minute, not measuring more
than the sixtieth of an inch in length when full
grown ; their colour is very variable, some in-
dividuals being nearly white, others greenish or
various shades of orange, and red. This variation
in colour probably depends somewhat on their age
or food — The red ones are generally supposed to be
the most mature. The head is furnished with a
pair of pointed mandibles between which is a pointed beak
or sucker. The legs are eight in number ; the two front
pairs project forwards and the other two backwards ;
they are covered with long stilf hairs ; the extremities
of the feet are provided with long bent hairs, which are
each terminated by a knob. The legs and feet appear
to be only used in drawing out the threads and
weaving the web. The thread is secreted by a nipple
or spinneret situated near the apex of the body
on the underside. The upper surface of the body is
sparingly covered with long stiff hairs.— G. S. S. —
Rural Australian.

MINOR INDUSTRIES FOR THE WEST INDIES.

The following letter from Mr. D. Morris, formerly
Government Botanist of Jamaica to " Governor
Robinson of Trinidad, will be read with interest: —

Royal Gardens, Kew
21st May, 18S6.
Dear Sir William Robinson,

On my arrival at Kew, Mr. Thiselton Dyer was
good enough to place iu my hands correspondence
and papers bearing upon the prosecution of Minor
Industries in Trinidad, which are of a very interest-
ing character.

The Island is to be congratulated upon the able
and energetic action you have taken in this subject :
and possibly no time is so suitable as the present
for drawing attention to small industries, which in
the aggregate, would go far to make up the difii-
ciency in the larger stables of Trinidad, and of the
West Indies generally. I am not sure how far I
can help you, but I shall be happy to give the
results of my experience and knowledge in Jamaica
and other places known to me: and it is quite
possible that indirectly, if not directly, suggestions
thrown out in this manner may be capable of being
utilized as local circumstances may allow.

As regard the utilization of Trinidad-grown Corn
Meai. and Sweet Ooun', a letter from Kew was sent
a few days since to the Colonial OlBce, which no
doubt will be duly forwarded to you. The weak
point in papers received here was the absence of
numerical results in Mr. McCarthy's Report. The
general impression all round was good: but in tlie.se
days men require a substantial and reliable basis on
which to rest their conclusions, and unfortunately
in this instance it was not supplied. I wrote Mr. »
McCarthy on the subject but, as was natural, he
had not brought his books with him to Eugland
and hence could not give me the detailed analysis
of the two corns. He has promised to supply them
on his return to Trinidad and I would recommend,
that they be published as soon as possible. If it
can be shown by actual analytic results that Creole-
grown corn is richer in food products than American
imported corn, the superiority of the former will be
established beyond question.

Tea will grow in Trinidad at elevations above Cacao
and the Hybrid-Assam variety is specially suited
for a warm, moist climate such as exists in Trini-
dad. It is essential to have a trained experienced
manager from Ceylon or India, and such a man
might be obtained for about £250 a year. In addi-
tion to supplying local wants, I .should think a
good quantity of Tea might be supplied to the
^lainlaud at renumerative rates. A plantation of
say 50 jacres, might be established at the rate of
£10 per acre. The first crop would be avail.able in

230

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Oct. I, 1886.

3 or 4 )'ear8, and the results, evea on an experimen-
tal estate, give a good return on the capital invested.
If started in connection with a cocoa estate
the expenses would be reduced to a minimum
regards buildings and OfiBces.

The Ground-nut (AracliU) will only thrive in
light sandy soils which however require to be
fairly rich. In Virginia and Kentucky the " Pea-
nut" is very important crop, and if it could be
established at Trinidad, and the " nuts produced at
a price to compete with the States," there is a large
market open there for them. An experiment tried
in a few districts at Trinidad would soon show
what prospects the industry would have. Seed
nuts can be had in any quantity.

Among Minor Industries to which attention
might very well be directed, I would mention a
few here, in the hope that my remarks may stimul-
ate inquiry and lead to some practical result.

Limes, I know, are cultivated in Trinidad, and
the export of crude lime-juice may have been al-
ready attemptf^d. The most acceptable form
however for presenting lime-juice in the market is
as " Concentrated Juice. " This is prepared by
boiling the crude juice down to the consistency of
thick molasses. The proportion of concentrated
juice to the raw juice should be as 1 to 16. Just
at present concentrated lime-juice is selling at very
high rates, viz : — about £30 per pipe. I commend
this cultivation within certain limits: and I
have no doubt that there is plenty of scope for it
at Trinidad. In some Islands I find that a trade
is arising for the seeds of the Musk Mellow {Abel-
moichus Moschatus) which are used for perfumery
purposes. I believe the chief market for this
" Vegetable Musk " is in France. The plant itself
is a common weed in Tropics, and might be
grown in the rows between Sugar cane, Indian
corn or other field crops. The parts used are the
seeds cleaned from the husk, which, when crushed
have a strong flavour of musk.

It is a matter of surprise that the cultivation and
preparation of Vanill.\ has not taken a larger hold
in Trinidad than it has done. At Martinique and
Guadeloupe, Vanilla, exactly similar to what is
found at Trinidad, is sucessfully cultivated and
the exports are considerable. This is an Industry
suitable to old and somewhat feeble people and
requires no laborious effort or exposure to the sun.
Black pepper is another small industry capable of
being carried on successfully at Trinidad and at an
outlay that is purely nominal.

AnniVtto [lioucoif) is just now in large demand.
Thisis produced by a shrubby tree of a hardy char-
acter, not browsed upon by hor.ses or cattle and
capable of being established on rather poor savauuah
land. Seeds may be planted a few in each hole 12
feet apart and in three or four yeais the plants will
begin to bear.

There are various drugs and spices which might
be successfully introduced into the Island, but it is
Impossible to enumerate them here.

Bee-keeping with Italian or other good strains
might be greatly extended in the West Indies. In
Jamaica, Bees-wax appears as an important item
ia the Exports.

I have thus far only given general hints and offered
suggestions which might be hereafter devolped.

At to the best means of promoting the growth of
minor industries, there is nothing better than the
system of Agricultural Boards which you have
already organized to act as local centres. The.se
Boards might very conveniently distribute seeds
and cuttuigs of economic plants and give practi(^:il
information respecting their proper treatment. To
aid in this latter work it is important to prepare
and distribute all over the Island leatii^ts or bulletins,
couche i in simple and clear language, giving direc-
tions to the people how to proceed with industrie.s
the details of which are new to them. The prepar-
ation of such leaflets will require at first some care
and attention, hut they ari^ invalviable if rightly
worked .

In the West Indies there is an uofortiuato
absence of publications dealing with agricultural
matters and to this fact in a great measure is due
much of the doubt and hesitation which exists
respecting new industries. I know of no better
publications on miscellaneous tropical cultures than
one published monthly ia Ceylon called " The
Tropical Agriculturist " and for which Messrs.
Trubuer, 57, Ludgatt; Hill, London, are Agents.

The plan of offering prizes through the Agricul-
tural Boards is an admirable one. The prizes
might consist of seed, plants, agricultural tools
and implements, or purely a money priz(;. Annual
shows, trials of tools and implements, friendly con-
tests in agricultural tasks, are all means for exciting
the interest of the people in progressive ideas and iu
eventually bringing about an improvement in habits
of thought and life as bearing upon agricultural
matters.

I shall be happy to give any further information
in my power and shall at all times take a deep
interest in your efforts to infuse life and energy
into the agricultural interests of the West India
Islands. — I am, believe me, very sincerly yours,

D. MOBRIS.

His Excellency, Sir Wm. Robin.son, k. c. m. g.
Governor of Trinidad. — Trinidad Chronicle.

BALATA INDUSTRY-

In the Journal of the Society of Arts for Nov. 20th,
18ti3, a list of subjects for premiums was published,
amongst which was one " For any new substance or
compound which may be employed as a substitute for
India-rubber or gutta-percha in the arts and manu-
factures."* This was responded to in the Journal for
Fobryary 26th, and March 4th 1864, letter being pub-
lished in the latter from Sir William Holmes, from
British Guiana, advi.sing the despatch to the Society
of a box containing samples of balata, both in the
fluid or milky, as well as in the dried or coagulated
state. In the letter referred to, Sir William Holmes
speaks of the small specimen which was exhibited
in tbe International Exhibition of 1862 as attracting
a considerable amount of attention, and further says,
so far as he could judge, balata was not to be rivalled
either by India-rubber or gutta-percha, posses.siug
"much of the elasticity of the one, and the ductility
of the other, without the iutraotibility of India-rubber,
or the brittleness or friability of gutta-ptn-cha." Sir
William Holmes further expressed a hope balata would,
eie long, be included as an important item amonest
the exports of the colony. Notwithstanding that this
was written so far back as 1864, little or nothing
has been done since towards making balata a regular
article of import ; occasional notice has been drawn
to it from time to time, and tbe subject as frequently
allowed to drop. As a poof of the truth of Sir
William Holme's statement as to the ductility of balata
it may be mentioned that a sample of that exhibited
in the Exhibition of 1862, and presented to the Kew
Museum at the close of the Exhibition, is still in a
fairly ductile state, and shows no such brittleness as
is the case with gutta-percha.

In connection with this subject of the development
of balata, Mr. G. S. .Tenman, Government Botanist,
and Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens in IJritish
Guiana, has just drawn up a very cxhaustivt) r-.'port.
the result of which, it is hoped, will be to bring the
substance into a regular commercial channel.

The title of the report is " Balata and the Bnlata
Industry, Forest I/aws, &o.," and it conimenees with
a very interesting description of the bullet tree region,
including its inhabitants, character of the vegetation.
&c. Coming to the immediate subject of the report.
Mr. Jenman describes the bullet tree, from the l>ark
of which balata is obtained, as a large forest tree.

* In a paper on " Gutta-percha in Surinam," Pro-
fessor Bleckrode described balata as the protluct of
a tree named by him Sapotn Mnlleri. Jourval, vol. v. p.
625, Oct. 9, 1857. See also vol. viii, p. 713, and vol.
xxxii, p. 14.

Oct. 1, 18SO.J

THE TKOPICAL AGRICULTUKlSfo

^i'

rauging from Jamaica ami Trinidad to Venezuela and
Guiana. He refersjt to JlimK^ops halata, and says —
" Tkie vernacular name appears to be applied to two
species or sub-species which are unit d by Grisebach,
in his ' Flora of the British West Indies.' Young
plants of Mimnso'ps j/lobosa, of Jamaica and Trinidad
growing in the Gardons, seem to be distinct from
the Ciuiana type. The tree giows to a height of 120
feet, and has a large spreading head. The trunk is
nearly cylindrical. The bark is about half an inch
thick, with deep paralled fissures an inch or so apart.
The hard reddish-coloured wood is one of the densest
in the colony, and is used for all sorts of purposes
where great strength and durability is required. The
tree is more plentiful iu both the eastern and western
parts of this colony than in the intermediate region.
From tl)e east bank of the Bcrbice river to the
Core^ntyn is the region of its greatest plentifulness
in the colony, but its distribution extends still east-
ward beyond the Oorentyn into Dutch Guiana, where
a grant of several hundred thousands acres has recently
been required by an American firm for collecting
balata. The trees are more plentiful in this region
in the depths of the forest than near the rivers,
hence the creeks form arteries to the balata grounds.
Several of the creeks on both sides of the Canje are
instances of this. The wood cutters of this district
regard the tree as inexhaustible; in the interior of
the forest it exists in profusion and abundance, and
lies beyond the reach of the balata collectors as they
at present conduct their operations. As the trees near
at hand become exhausted, they will no doubt alter
their habits, and make clearings as drying places in
the heart of the forest ; but now they are under the
obligation of returning to the settlements on the
creeks with the milk they have collected to dry.
Under this necessity they can at most only peuetrato
about two days', journey, but, so far as they have
explored, they report there is no diminution in the
abundance of the trees. The forest at this depth,
of course, has never been touched by woodcutters,
as, for convenience in getting their timber out, they
have to confine their operations to the banks of the
river and creeks, rarely going in more than a mile
or two.''

Regarding the character and value of balata, Mr.
Jenman says its streiigth is very great, and as it does
not stretch under tension, for special appliances, such
as bands for machinery, it is imequalled. It has re-
cently been pronounced by an American firm of
mannfacturers as " the best gum in the world."

Dr. Hugo Miiller, v. R. s., in a report on the sub-
stance says : " It seems that balata is by no means
neglected, and in fact it would find ready purchasers
if more of it came to the market ; as it is, the supply
is very limited, and generally it comes only once a
year. It commands a higher price than gutta-percha,
and this in itself is a proof of its usefulness. It is
used almost in all cases in which gutta-percha is
used, but on account of its higher price only for
superior purposes. It seems that balata is treated by
the manufacturers simply as a superior kind of gutta-
percha, and, therefore, its name disappears when
manufactured. Nevertheless, balata is distinctly differ-
ent from gutta-percha, and this is especially mani-
fested iu some of its physical characters; for instance,
it is somewhat softer at ordinary temperatures, and
not so rigid in the cold,

"In one respect balata shows ;i veiy marked and
important ditt'ereuce from gutta-percha, and that is
its behaviour under the intluence of the atmosphere,
whilst gutta-percha, when exposed to light and air,
soon becomes altered on the surface, and changed
into a brittle resinous substance, into which the whole
of the ma.ss is gradually converted in the course of
time. Balata, on the other hand, is but slowly acted
Upon under these circumstances. The electrical insul-
ating quality of balata is said to be quite equal to
that of gutta-percha,"

Mr. Jenman says that the collecting of balata is
an open and recognised business, is carried on only
in te bice, l)ut he proceeds to show that the greater
part of that so collected is not obtained from trues

nwiQimMi viatminii i ig

on Government grants, but surreptitiously fi-om Crown'
lands; and Mr. Jenman further says that much
damage is done to the Grown lands by the depred-
ations of collectors, and " that it is desirable, in the
interest of the colony, till effective rules are devised
for the protection of the forest and preservation of
this valuable wood, that the trade should be dis-
continued."

The life of the balata collectors is a very hard one.
The ground they h-tvj to traverse is generally very
wet and swampy. In many cases the traveller sinks
at every step up to hi.s knees, and this continues for
miles, and water often has to be waded through up
to the armpits. When the collecting ground is not
too far distant, women sometimes accompany the
men, and cook or assist in laying out the calabashes,
and collecting the milk while the men fell and ring
the trees. The collectors connected with a grant sell
the milk they collect to the agent on the grant, and
never dry it themselves. The price for pure milk is
four shillings per gallon, or occasionally a dollar, and
for clean well dried balata one shilling per pound.
Considering the circumstances of the people who follow
it, balata coliectinf;, if pursued with Industry, is a
paying busines''. The calling pays better, while the
season lasts, than the best mechanical trade; with
fair weather, a man can earn from one to five dollars
a day at it, and an exceptionally expert collector has
been known to make twenty dollars in three days.

The instruments used in collecting the milk are an
axe for felling the trees,, a cutlass for making the
channels in the bark to cause the milk to flow, and
two or three gourds in which to collect the milk. The
collector commences operations by chipping a piece
of the bark from the selected tree, and if the milk
runs well he quickly shaves the moss and rough bark
from the side he intends to tap, then stooping down
with his back to the front of the tree, but on one
side of it, he cuts from the base of the tree obliquely
upwards towards himself, in the bark, a narrow
channel, then moving round the other side, a similar
one. These grooves are generally about eighteen inches
long ; they form an acute angle at the base, just
below which a niche is cut in the bark and is slightly
lifted with the end of the cutlass, and a calabash
inserted by the rim under it. Occasionally a piece of
palm or maranta leaf is inserted under the bark, and
the calabash is placed on the ground, the leaf con-
ducting the milk into it. The channels are then quickly
cut upwards parallel to each other on the opposite
sides, about ten inches apart, the operator continuing
them as far as he can reach, which is about eight
feet from the ground. The milk trickles from cut to
cut down this zig-zag line into the calabash beneath.
The best collectors cut the bark with much neatness
and precision, and do not injure the trees ; but little
care is usually taken, and the wood is injured with
every stroke of the cutlass, the result being that
numerous trees are killed, and left standing. Large
trees are always tapped on the opposite sides, careful
collectors leaving the intervening spaces or subsequent
years. It takes from five to ten minutes to cut the
channels in each tree, and the milk runs from forty
to sixty minutes ; at first it forms a little rivulet,
but after about twenty or thirty minutes, it only drips.
After a little use, the gourds become so coated on
the inside with dry balata, that they have to be
occasionally soaked in' water, when it peels off freely,
leaving them perfectly clean again. The yield of a
tree varies according to circumstances. If favourable,
a tree 15 inches to 20 inches in diameter, bled 8 feet
high, will yield 3 pints of milk. Trees are often
felled, and then tapped by ringing the bark in parallel
transverse lines, at intervals about a foot apart.

To dry the milk, it is poured into shallow wooden
trays, the insides of which are previously rubbed over
with oil, soap or grease, to prevent the balata stick-
ing, and the substance is exposed to as much air as
possible^ and sometimes to the sun. In fine weather
it takes two or three days to dry, and in wet weather
a week or more; when it is sutliciently dry to be re-
moved from the boxes, the sheet is throwu over a
line or bar to drip and become bard.

^p

ir'HE TROPICAL AGRiCaLtURiSJT.

[Oct. 1, 1886.

■LJi-^_ra. «

A good deal of foreign matter is found in the milk,
and Mr. Jenman says adulteration is systematically
carried on, and the agents have at all times to be on
their guard against it.

The report concludes with a consideration of the
damage done to the forest?, ami some remarks on their
better conservation. — Journal oftheSocieti/ofAits. — [We
have carefully read the Keport of which the above is
a summafy and the conclusions we have arrived at arc
that Balata gum is not equal to India-rubber, and that
the prices received for it do not justify the destruction
of the noble forest trees which are felled simply for the
Bake of the bark juice. En.]

>

The "Whistltng" Tree. — In Nubia there are groves
of acacia extending over 100 miles square. The most
conspicuous species, says Dr. Hchweinfurth, is the
Acacia fistufa. Its Arabic name is " soff ar," meaning
flute or pipe. From the larvse of insects which have
worked their way to the inside, their ivory white
shoots are often distorted in form and swollen out
at their base into a globular bladder-like gall, about
one inch in diameter. After the insect has emerged
from a circular hole, this thorn-like shoot becomes
a sort of musical instrument, upon which the wind
as it plays produces the regular sound of a flute.
On this account the natives of the Soudan name it
the " whistling tree." — Indian Gardener

Green Manuring.— Vegetable substances in their
green and succulent state are powerful fertilisers
when thoroughly incorporated with the soil. A great
portion of the "bulk of green crops is obtained from
atmospheric sources ; and after a green crop is ploughed
in, the soil necessarily contains more of the
organic elements essential to vegefable nutrition than
it did before that crop was grown; it is richer, in
fact, by the carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen,
which the green crop has obtained from sources in-
dependent of the soil. In like manner, the crop grown
after a green crop has been ploughed in has the
advantage of a regular supply of mineral elements,
which have been worked up by the roots of the fer-
tilising crop from the soil and subsoil, and which in
many instances, owing to their sparing solubility, are
with difiBculty obtained under ordinary circumstances.
— Morton's d/clopcedia.

Mica Mine in Gkoton, N. H.— The ledge is really a
large hill of solid rock, composed in the regular order,
after the covering of schist is removed — quartz mica,
feldspar, again through the hill to an uncertain depth.
The work of blasting has been carried forward there
until an open drift has been cut 300 feet long, at
least forty feet wide, and not much less than fifty
feet deep. Branching off from this cut is a tunnel
now about seventy feet long and twenty feet high,
drilled horizontally into the ledge. Small iron tram-
ways lead to the dump, and little cars, pushed by
hand, carry the refuse rock out of the way. The
mica crystals of all sizes, from an inch across to more
than two feet in their larger axis, protrude from
sides and from above and below, with their planes
at every conceivable inclination, waiting for some
well placed charge of giant powder to free them
from the mass of worthless rock in which they are
imbedded, These crystals vary from the size of one's
band to blocks two feet in length and from si.x
inches to a foot in thickness, and are rapidly split
into sheets by a group of men seated on low stools.
The thin sheets are carried from this group to a
long line of men standing at benches, who cut them
to the largest possible patterns with tinman's shears.
The market value of mica depends on the size of the
sheets. — Kocli/ Mountain Minimi Review.

Bones- It' is well known that boiie dust is a first class
fertiliser where sufficient farmyard dung is not avail-
able. But it is sometimes advisable to supplement
it with some other materials containing important
elements, such as potash, in which it is deficient.
It is a great pity that the (Jcrmau potash salts
Arc not to be procured here. The discovery some
years since of large deposits of potash salts in
Gternaany has led to an enormous demand in Europe
and America tor »gricuUural purposes. Good tuuriate

of potash, which is one of the salts above alluded
to, contains about 5ll per cent of pure potash, and
is most valuable to use in combination with bone
dust. Then to add to the stimulating quantities of.
the fertiliser, some salt containing ammonia or nitric
acid should be added. Soot, containing a large i)er-
centage of sulphate of anmionia, is excellent, if only
to be obtained in sufficient ((uantity. Nitrate of
soda, another agricultural salt largely used in Europe
and America, will also supply nitric acid. It is
very soluble and is most valuable in dry seasons,
as a very little rain will wash it down to the roots.
Supposing we have these at hand, we might apply
to an acre of land, five cwt. bone dust, two cwt.
muriate of potash and one and a hf»lf cwt. of nitrate
of soda. This would be a first-rate fertiliser for
ordinary farm land. — llural Ai/atrnlian.

Boxes kor Younc* Plants.— These are of different
sizes — from 15 inches to 20 inches wide, 1(5 inches
to 30 inches long, and 2^ inches to 3| inches or 4
inches deep. I buy empty soap and other boxes
at grocery stores at the price grocers are allowed
by the manufacturers for returned empties. I cut
these boxes lengthwise into three parts, and in this
way get two complete plant boxes (one from the
top and one from the bottom), and all except the
bottom of a third one. The bottoms of these third
boxes are supplied from factory strips, or a few
boxes laid aside for furnishing bottoms only. Of
course, the boxes got from the top and bottom cuts
are close-bottomed, and that will not do for plants,
but that is soon altered. When young plants are
raised in pots, their roots become root-bound, or
twisted into a tight mass ; if at planting time we
undo these balls of roots, it will for a short time
materially check growth, and if we set out tho
plants without unfastening their roots, the roots
never become uncoiled, and although the plants
may wilt less at the time of setting out, they do
not afterwards grow as thrifty as those do whose
roots are not coiled into a mass; and they also are
more susceptible to injury by drought. For all one-
season plants, such as Geraniums Coleuses, we should
avoid pots. Plants in boxes need less care in watering
than do those in pots, and in moving boxes from one
place to another, we move 100 plants with as much
ease and as quickly as we would six or seven in
pots. — Ibid.

The Value of Salt. — Severe pains in the bowel.s
and stomach are often speedily relieved bf the applic-
ation of a bag of hot salt. A weak solution of salt
and water is recomended by gooil physicians as a
remedy for imperfect digestion, aiid for a cold in the
head it is a complete cure snuffed up from the
hollow of the hand. We have known severe chronic
cases of catarrh entirely cured by persistent use of
this simple remedy every night and morning for
several months, when the best efforts of the best
physicians failed to do any good. It should be used
milk warm. A good handful of rock .salt added to
the bath is the next best thing after an '* ocean dip,"
and a gargle of a weak solution is a good and ever-
ready remedy for a sore throat. As a dentifrice, salt
and water is very cleansing and also hardens the gums.
It will also prevent the hair from falling out. When
broiling steak throw a little fait on the coals, and the
blaze from tho dripping fat will not annoy. A little
in starch, boiled or raw. will prevent the irons from
sticking. If the irons are rough, put a little salt on
thick brown paper, lay a piece of tbin brown muslin over
it, and rub the iron over it till perfectly smooth.
Ink stains are entirely removed by immediate applic-
ation of dry salt before the ink has dried. "When
the salt becomes discoloured by absorbing the ink,
brush it off and apply more ; wet slightly. Continue
this still the ink is all removed If new calicoes are
allowed to lie in strong salt witer for an hour before
the first washing, the colours are less likely to fade.
Damp salt will remove the discolouration of cups and
saucers c:Mised by tea and careless washing. A tea-
spoonful of salt in each kerosene lamp makes the
oil give a much clearer, better light, — KatuehiNK
AaMSTBOfo in Farmeri Ferkw.

Oct. f, t^^e.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

ns

SELECTION OF LAND FOR TEA GROWING
IN JAFAN.

Mr, T. Futatszzi, a member of the Committee
of the Central Tea Industry Association, Japan,
having inspected the cultivation of tea in China,
some of the estates in Ceylon and Darjiling in
India, has, with a companion, spent a few days
in Ceylon on his homeward journ.ey. (iathering
the materials for an oxliaustive report upon what
he has seen, this gentleman expressed himself
much gratified with the attention paid him in his
journey in British territory and the readiness with
which all information was afforded him in response
to his inquiries. He was good enough to supply
a paper on the soils of Japan, entitled " The
Mode of Selecting Land for Growing Tea in Japan : '

1. The red lime soil, partly black and mixed
with a little sand, is quick to grow tea, is free
from the invasion of insects, and the tea grown
on it has an excellent flavour and taste.

•2. The same kind of soil as above, only not
mixed with sand, is almost equal in capacity for
tea-growing to the first, but is more liable to de-
vastation from insects ; besides the tea grown on it
is not pungent.

3. Light black soil, partly red, is very quick
to grow tea. It wants, however, to be fully manured
or the tea bushes are apt to die away. The tea
leaf contains very little of tenacity and is hard to
twist, and consequently produces a large quantity
of fannings. Gardens on such soil pay the owners
well for first nine or ten years, but not beyond that
limit. The tea made from it is not good (superior ?)

•i. The red lime soil is slow to grow tea for the
first nine or ten years. It is liable to invasion of
insects, and heavy oily manuring must not be done
for the first six or seven years. It is recommended
to bury in only green grass and leaf, until a
change is eftected in the soil. Although the crop
of tea for the first nine or ten years is not so
large as from other gardens, it eventually pro-
duces the largest quantity, and the tea will be
found to be the best in quality.

."). White yellowish lime soil mixed with sand
requires manuring to the utmost. Tea is slow to
grow in it, but in other points equal to that of
other gardens.

(■). Pure black soil is not preferred in Japan,
as the cold and frost in winter and early spring
kills the bushes.

These statements are generally admitted in Japan
to be the actual condition of tea gardens, but first
of all it is very important to have a deep soil —
say eight to ten feet as the main root of tiie tea
plants grows straight downward. Therefore we
choose the jpoor deep soil rather than that which is
shallow and rich, if there is hard lime soil or rocky
sand below B feet of its surface.

The crop of tea made per acre in Japan is
as follows : — 500 to 7So lb. per annum in the
districts of Kioto, Kanagawa, and five others ;
417 to 490 lb. per annum in Osaha, Iliogo, and
nine other districts ; 139 to 390 lb. per annum
in Tokio, Nagasaki and seventeen other districts.
The average yield of all these districts is 438 lb.
per acre, and the average size of the tea gardens
belonging to each proprietor is only about three
and three quarter acres. It must be mentioned that
most of the tea growers do not depend solely
upon tea for their livelihood, but mainly depend
upon rice growing and other agricultural employments.

There are one or two interesting items in the
above report, principally as showing the conditions

under which tea cultivation is carried on in Japan.
There are but few of us in Ceylon who can afford
to look forward for nine or ten years as a prelimin-
ary period in which cultivation and growth must
be subservient to prolit, though doubtless from
a purely agricuituial point of view it ought
to be so. In some of the districts niGntionecl
the rate of produce per aero is eonsideiably
nice than we have hitherto seen stated, ami
it must not be lost sight of that to arrive at
actual correctness with figures from so large
a number of very small garden '=, must be an
extremely difficult task, and it does not appear
from what source these returns have boon com-
piled. In all probability the smaller and more
carefully cultivated gardens produce a much larger
quantity of leaf than the larger estates. There are
one or two questions to which Mr. Futatszgi would
like to have the answers if any of our readers
will be good enough to supp'y them : —

(1) What is the largest break of Ceylon tea sold
locally ?

{'2) What is the largest break of Ceylon tea
shipped from the island ?

{'■'>} What is the cost of opening tea land up
to the 2nd year. 1st Forest-land ; •2nd land turned
from a coffee into a tea estate (details ar*; not
wanted except as to cost of tea jilants.)

(4) What is the cost of transport of tea liinu
Darjiling to Calcutta?

As regards the third question we may at once
say that while R110toR130 is not too high to bring
forest land into cultivation, witli planting and two
years' expenditure ; in the case of coffee estates
transformed into tea, the expense would probably
not exceed R70 to R80. The " Tea Planter's
Manual," to be ready in a few days, will however
suijply the needful information on this point and
many others.

The AiisTKRDAM Qdinine Wokks, — The Pharma-
eeiitiuli Weekhlad voor Nederland states that the
Amsterdam (Quinine Works may soon be compelled
to stop working ; but that efforts are being diligently
made by the directors and a few gentlemen interested
in the cinchona trade to avert the threatened
disaster. If the works are closed it is feared that
the Java bark would be consigned to Germany
instead of to Holland, and the latter country would
thereby lose an important and growing branch of
commerce. — Chemist and Bntfjgist, Aug. 14th.

Thk Production of Heat in Flowkes has
often been observed and measured, and the general
chemical explanation given of the phenomenon is no
doubt true in the main. It depends upon oxidation
or the union of oxygen gas with the tissues of plants
or their contents, and to the "combustion" or des-
truction that goes on in consequence, accompanied
by the emission of carbonic acid gas. [This state-
ment, from the Gardener's Chronical, seems to have
a direct bearing on the discussion respecting the
so-called " fermentation " of tea. — Ed.]

TuK Ckisis Ai'rR0.\.CHiNG IN BiUziL. — The Fall
Mall has the following remarks in the course of
a review of Mr. H. C. Dent's "A year in Brazil": —
With regard to slavery, the slaves are gradually
being emancipated, and slavery will soon have ceased
to exist, besides which, the lot of a slave in Brazil
would appear to be very bearable one, and cases of
cruelty seem to occur but very rarely. Slaves are
worth up to £200 sterling. The financial position of
the country is a chronic state of borrowing more than
it can pay, and of thereby getting more and more
hopelessly into the mire of bankruptcy. Stoclc-
hilders should beware in time.

234

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

[Oct. I, 1886.

THE LONDON " TIMES " ON THE " CEYLON
COUET."
There is nothing very striking in the following
liei^ort, but it is of importance simply because it
is the view presented of Ceylon to the reading world
by the leading English journal : —

THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION:
CEYLON.

The very varied and highly attractive exhibits of
this most charming of islands are appropriately
placed at the end of one of the Indian Courts. The
whole arrangements and decoration of this court
reflect high credit upon the Commissioner, Sir Arthur
Birch, and his able assistant, Mr. Davidson. On en-
tering the court through the richly-carved Kandyan
porch, we do not think that it suffers in the least
from comparison with the splendour of India. The
visitor sees at once a likeness and a dissimilarity,
and experiences a sense of relief at the compactness
and methodical arrangement of the court, after the
confusing superabundance which he has just quitted.
In the colouring and design of the walls and the
roof the main object has evidently been to adhere as
closely as possible to the arts of Buddhism, of which
the traditions and sites have been maintained in
the highest purity among the mountains of Ceylon.
The most notable colour, therefore, in the decor-
ations is that shade of yellow which is the sacred
colour of Buddhism, and this yellow is blended in
the other shade constantly depicted m the Kandy
temples. The attractive and handsome entrance
gateway has been erected with the sime object of re-
producing the traditional features of the country's art.
It is a Kandyan porch flanked on each side by a loop-
holed wall, the whole copied from portions of the King's
Judgment Hall of the Buddhist Temple iu Kandy. The
rarviug was executed iu Kandy by Sinhalese workmou.
Dn passing through the entrance the eye is attracteil
]jy the decorations on either side, especially the frieze,
which is the production of Kandyan artists, and which
de.scribes the Perahera, or graud annual procession,
and other phases of Buddhist worship ; and those on
the west wall facing the entrance and terminating the
portion of the building assigned to Ceylon. High up
on the wall is seen a coloured bronzed figure of the
Gautama Buddha, modelled iu high relief, seated iu
the attitude of contemplation. Below the Buddha
the passage westward is made through a gate-
way, elaborately carved iu ebony, coconut wood, and
toromandol, faithfullj' copied by Sinhalese workmen
from a stone gateway found at Gapahoo, an ancient
capital ©f Ceylon. On either .side, at the base of the
west wall, is arranged a very fine collection of all the
woods of Ceylon, numbering over 250. Some of the
iiuer woods are further exhibited in slabs of timber
aifixed to the wall. These include the special cabinet
woods — satinwood, coromandel (or colomander) tama-
rind, ebony coconut wood, and a number of others
Avhose names are not familiar to English ears.

The cases near the entrance porch are .devoted to
a display of the arts and wealth of Ceylon — tortoise-
shell work (in which Ceylon stands pre-eminent), lace,
ebony carving, and ivory iu all stages from the tusk
to the most minute carvings. The jewels include a
very choice collection of Ceylon gems — the cat's-eye,
ruby, sapphire, and many others of miuor value, and
some good strings of pearls. Native jewelh-ry has
been largely lent for exhibition, and can vie success-
fully with that of the Indian Empiie iu quality,
though not iu quantity. The same remark applies to
the exquisitely beautiful silver work, the Kaudyan gold-
smiths specially excelling iu their vepo'MiQ work. The
Kaudyan pottery exhibited deserves attention from its
unique colouring and its astonishing cheapness, which,
we believe, disposed of the whole collection a few days
after the opening of the Exliibition.

The second half of the court is devoted to the ex-
hibition of the native aud European industries.
Among the former the collection of pearl-oyster
shells and the models illustratiug the method of
fishing for them are instructive ; while the native
agricultural interests in cinnamon, the products of
th(! coconut and palmyra palm, are adequately re-

presented. Plumbago, the only mineral in Oeylon
which it has yet been found profitable to work, is
shown as befits an industry in which Ceylon takes the
lead in the world's markets. The European enterprise
which has made Oeylon wealthy and prosperous in the
past is more fully represented than at any previous
Exhibition. Prominent among all are samples of tea
of all qualities and from gardens at all elevations from
sea level to an altitude of 6,.500 feet. Arrangements
have been made an<l are daily carried out with' Messr.s.
H. S. King and Co. for the sale of this tea both iu the
cup and by retail in the gardens, in order to give the
public an opportunity of judging of the quahty and
price of this now, and that only within ten j'ears,
the foremost industry in Ceylon, The Ceylon te.a-
house between the court and Old London lias become
one of the favourite resorts of the Exhibition for
wearied afternoon visitors and dangling couples, who
enjoy their tea all the more that it is served by white-
robed Sinhalese, with their jet-black heads coronetted
in a crosscorab. Ceylon coffee (a fading industry),
cinchona, and cacao, are also well shown, as well as
paddy and rice in various forms, grain of other
kinds, cardamoms, indiarubber, and many other
products from this exuberant i.sland. The scenery
of the island is well illustrated by numerous
pictures by Miss North and Mr. Gordon Oum-
ming, and a good collection of photographs by Mr.
Skeen, of Colombo. A view of Ivandy in the princi-
pal entrance hall of the Exhibition is worthy of
notice. It is from the brush of an amateur, but
from an art point of view will compare favourably
with the views representing the other leading colonies.
The Ceylon Court, like the Indian and Canadian
Courts, has its sporting trophies, foremost among
which is the huge stuffed elephant, surrounded by
other trophies of elephant shooting. Some well arranged
cases of leopards, deer, itc, are shown, and enough
is to be seen to remind sportsmen that there is no
country as accessible as Ceylon in which big game
can be found with equal ease. The elephant taming
scene near the gateway is particularly instructive and
interesting.

Such is a ruiming summary of the leading features
in a court in which every exhibit has some
special interest attaching to it, and in which
there is no padding, if we may be allowed the
expression in this connexion. Some of these exhibits,
however, deserve a little further notice. First of
all comes tea, uovv- the leading industry of an island
which only 10 years ago could export no more than
1,4001b. In ls85 the quantity exported amounted to
4,350,0001b. Along the side of the court are three
long cases of satinwood, containing samples of teas as
prepared in Oeylon from 30 different estates aud sorted
in the various grades of broken Pekoe, Pekoe, aud
Souchong. Besides these there are also samples from
about 150 estates shown in the exhibits of Messrs. H. S.
King and Co. (Tea Trophy) in the North Court. In
the catalogue attached to the entries of most of the
samples the rainfall in the estate is given ; it is always
high, ranging from 100 to 200 inches. Tradition says
that tea was introduced into Ceylon' by the Dutch dur-
ing their occupation of the island, but we only know
for certain that the first plants were brought from
China somewhere in the forties. It was not, however,
till 1865 that the low price of coffee drew the serious
attention of planters to the possibility of successful tea
cultivation. Seeds were brought from Assam, where
the indigenous tea plant had apparently not beec re-
cognized until after it had hybridized with the intro-
duced Chinese variety. It is this hybrid variety which
is now most generally used in Ceylon and is knovin
as the Assam hybrid. Still, it was not until the devast-
ation of the coffee estates by the ravages of the liemcleia
vaAtaii'iti that tea planting was undertaken on a large
scale. The scepticism iuoidental to an agricultur.il novelty
cau9eil much wavering, until it became au indisputable
fact that the moist climate of a great part of th« island,
its abundant labour supplj' recruited from Southern
India, and its exceptional transport facilities bj- road,
rail, and river, were specially favourable to tea cultiv-
ation, that Oeylon teas could be placed in the market

Oct, X, iBS6:j

THE 'P^OPfeAt ACiUmtJlWmBT.

m

at a less cost aud commaud a higher average than those
of India. As the plaut is now being cultivated with
successful fiuaucial results from the sea-board to an alti-
tude of (JjOOO ft. it is impossibie to say where the limit
of production may lie. It is estimated tbat iu the
present year 140,000 acres are under tea, aud this area
is rapidly increasing, for coffee planters are making all
haste to turn their estates into tea plantations. There
seems, however, to be some danger iu all this haste. Wa
believe that the plant may be shorn of its leaves iu
Ceylon much more frequently in the year than in China ;
but is there not some danger of exhaustion in this rush,
and that in the course of a few years both the plants and
the soil may be exhausted. However, with so competent
an adviser at hand as the Government botanist, Dr. Tri-
meu, dangers of this kind need not be blindly incurred.
Ceylon teas maj' be had in retail at all prices from lid up
to 20s per lb. The average price of the tea sold in Min-
cing-lane in 1885 was Is 3i^d per lb. But the com-
paratively high duty on tea aud the e.xtortionate pro-
fits of retail dealers increase the wholesale price iu
bond largely before the tea reaches the consumer. How-
ever, we believe that an excellent Ceylon tea may be
had for 2s per lb., aud what the Ceylon tea-grower
should do is to take some means of securing agents
iu this country who will be trusted to give Ceylon tea
when asked for. The following figures as to area and
export may be interesting: —

Area
— under Cultivation. Export.

1875 ... 2,700 acres 1,438 1b.

1880 ... 9,000 „ 162,575 „

1885 ... 100,000 „ 4,353,Oro „

188G ... 140,000 .. (probable)8,.300,000 „
For 1887 it is estimslted that 14,000,000 lb. will be ex-
ported, and for 1888, 25,000,000 lb. Still Ceylon has a
long way to go before it can compete with either India
or China. The value of the tea exported from Ceylon
in 1885 was about £250,000 ; that of China was about
seven millions sterling, and of India over four millions.
Though coffee is in danger of being put into the
shade bj tea, still the many fine samples shown in
the Exhibition prove that it still remains one of
the most important, if not the most important,
cultures in the island. How it has declined may
be seen from the fact that in 1877 the quantity ex-
ported was '.)71.000 cwt., while in 1SS5 it was only
ol0,;)22 cwt., and the estimate for the current sea-
son is not mrce than 200,000 cwt. Still, the value
of the export iu 1SS4 was £1,10(),000, by far the highest
export item, though the lowest value for cofl'ee since
1853. It would surely be a pity to let it lapse en-
tirely ; there must be some means of preventing the
plant from utterly deteriorating. Next to coffee,
hitherto the most important export has been cocoa-
nut oil, of which, as well as of copra, a good many
excellent sainples are shown. The export of oil has
risen from j.!l,000cwt. in 1876 to 428,830 cwt. in
1884, though itfell to 274,990 cwt. in 1885. The value
of the oil e.\;)ort in 1884 was. £448,000. Another oil,
an essential oil, which has rapidly increased as an
export, is that known ascitronella, used by soapmakers
and perfumer.s. The quantity exported has risen from
1,700,000 oz. in 1881 to 5,721,000 oz. iu 1885. Next
to products of the cocoa tree cinchona is tlie most
imjioitant economical exhibit in the Ceylon Court,
and, indeed, it bulks more largely, as the product
is shown in all states, from the broken bark to the tree.
It was only in 1872 that planters seriously turned their
attention to it, but the progress was so rapid that in
1881 the value of the export was over €389,000. The
qu.intity exported increased from 18,730 lb. in 1873 to
11,078,360 lb. in 18S-5, the result being to greatly reduce
the price of this invaluable bark in the market. Still,
there have been disappointments in its culture, arising
from extravagant expectations. One familiar method
of collecting the bark is to strip it from the treeiu al-
ternate layers, a new coverinf^ rapidly taking the
place of that stripped off. Whether this method is
deleteriou.s to the tree, as one would expect, results
have not yet proved. Specimens of the tree so stripped
arc shown in the court. As will be seen from tho many
samples exhibited, Ceylon has many other drugs anil
spices to show : the proauctiou of these by natives I

could be increased to any extent required, and certainly
should be encouraged. Dr. Trimen exhibits a collection
of over 360 native vegetable drugs from the Central
Province. The tobacco exhibits ' remind us that a con-
siderable qu'intityis sent across to India to be made into
cigars ; while the native cheroots of Jaffna can be had
at from 4s to 20s per thousand, cheap enough
smoking surely for those who care for it in
this form. Cane-sugar, though shown, is of little
importance, though the Jagghery, or sugar of the
Palmyra palm, is in some demand as an export,
and is capable of development. Wo have, of
course, specimens of the famous arrack of Ceylou,
and, besides these, a pot arrack still. Govern-
ment derives a large revenue from the licences to arrack
shops— £153,500 in 1885. A good many specimens of
cacao will be found in the court, and of this t'32,000
worth was exported in 1884. The export has grown from
122 cwt. in 1880 to 0,863 cwt. in 1884, though it fell to
6,758 cwt. iu 1885, mainly, we believe, owing to the
attacks of an insect pest, combined with prolonged
drought. Paddy and rice, the staple food of tho people,
have, of course, their place in the Exhibition, but al-
though over 5,000,000 bushels of rice are produced an-
nually, as much more has to be imported. Ciunaniou,
of which some bales are .shown, has not now the im-
portance as an export it once had, the price having
fallen tremendously; still 1,574,022 lb. in bales and
629,000 lb. in chips were exported iu 18S5. It would bo
useless to go over all the other food products, spices,
aud drugs, which have been sent from this productive
island. Over £81,000 worth of cinnamon was sent to
England alone in 1884.

Although nearly four-fifths of the area of Ceylon
is still a forest country, still timber has not that
importance as a commercial product which it might
have under aa intelligent and energetic fore.st depart-
ment. In the Exhibition, heavy timbers are par-
ticularly prominent, and some of the woods
are marvellously beautiful. A Forest Act has
recently been passed. It is only in the extensive
and thinly-inhabited dry plains of the northern parts
of Ooylon that any extensive forests remain, and even
here in most places the good trees have been cut out.
But all that is needed is demarcation of the best por-
tions and rigid protection and proper conservancy of
them for a few years to render them a permanent
source of valuable timber.

The exhibits of wood in the Ceylon Court consist,
first, of an extensive series of hand specimens — i. e.,
blocks about 15 in! high, illustrating no less than 255
specie.3 of Ceylon trees. These have been prepared
with th.3 bark left on, and exhibit, besides transverse
sections, vertical, tangential, and oblique mies, thus
fully showing the character of the wood. The native
and botanical names are painted clearly on each speci-
men, and much pains have been taken in the accurate
determinttion of the latter by Dr. H. Trimen, the
director of the Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, who pre-
pared and exhibits the collection ; secondly, a ser-es
of handsome planks of the best or most ornamental
timbers arranged to form a panelled wall or dado. The
woods employed here are .satinwood, eb onj', jack, nedun,
tamarind, sapu, wa, suriya, suriya-mara, pamburu, and
calamander ; thirdly, a series of discs, including, beside.*)
sora^ of the above, also kumbuk, del, palu, goda-kirilla,
&c., many of large size ; fourthly, miscellaueous speci- .
mens, inclu ling several palms, as the coconut, kitul palm,
areca palm, and four entire palmyra palms from the
north of the island surmounted with carved capitals
of the same wood.»

Oat of the great nurabec of woods many of ex-
cellent chiiracter, growing iu Ceylon, only a very
few sjrts are exported — ebony, satinwood, halmilla
or Trincomalee wood, and wewerane or ranai. Teak in
not native to tho island, but grows well iu the southern
pirts and ought to be extensively planted. India is
the principal market, but ebony goes to England and
also largely to China. This is a very hard wooil, but
the .Sinhalese carpenters turns out high'y-carved
furniture, of which Que examplccn arc shown in thu
Court. Satinwood is a heavy, strong and beautiful
timber, woll-kuowu aud generally aduiived, c^peeially

23^

i-HU TROPICAL AGRICULl^URIST.

[Oci:. 1, iS86/

the " flowered " variety. From its durability it has
been lately a {,'ood deal used for railway sleepers
in the Kast. The haudsome t ible cases contaiu-
iug the planters' exhibits of tea, coffee, k.c., were
made at Colombo of this wood. Triucomalco
wood is of a light reddish-brown colour, aud re-
markable for its combined strength aud lightness. It
is a •.^•ond which should be more widel}' known.
Of till? timbers and cabinet woods used in
Ceylou itself one of the most interesting and
curious IS calamander. a word corrupted from
the Sinhalese name Jvahimediriya. This is obtained
from a slow-growing, rather small tree of the wet
low-couutry, which has become extremely scarce,
aud, unfortunately., is entirely confiut^ to Ceylon.
Jieing vcrj' peculiar in appearance it is much sought
after by wealthy natives fur furniture, and som(> very
handsome and liighly-carved cabinets are exhibited.
The ordinarj- furniture woods of Ceylou are jak and
ncdnu. The former is a very common tree, though
not originally native; it^ wood; when first cut, of a
crutle yellow colour, seasons into a fine chestnut, aud
is scarcely to be distinguished from mahogany when
old. It is, of course, a well-known tree also in India.
Neduii i Ci ricopsi:! Mooniaua), on the other hand
occurs only in Ceylou. It is an attractive wood, easily
worked, and has a good deal the appearance of wal-
nut. If it could be obtained in sutficient quantity it
might become a favourite wood for furniture in Europe.
Another very ornamental wood is Wa, dark brown
with small black lines, but it is small and rather
coarse in texture, and is actually chiefly used in
Ceylon tor fuel on the railways. Na and pa! u are both
called ironwood, but have no relationship to one another.
Both are extremely hard, heavy, aud durable, aud much
used for piles of bridges, the latter also for railway
sleepers. The li^'ht cedar-like wood called hulankik is
much used for furniture and carving, being close-grained
easily worked, and durable, presenting much similarity
to teak. There are many other Ceylon woods deserving
of notice as furniture or cabinet woods, such as the
suriya (used iu carriage building at Colombo), the
mendora, the lunu-midella (of which the outriggers of
native boat* are always made), the tamruana, and the
lujau, some of which it might be worth while to export
on trial.

The importance of Plumbago, of which such fine
specimens are shown, may be seen from the fact that
in 18S4, i46,000 worth was sent to England, which was
only half what was sent in 1832. The Ceylon like most
of the other Courts, has its show of fibres, and here
they are of substantial importance. The leading feature
is no doubt coir, the product of the coconut palm, and
was exported to the extent of 81-,000 cwt. of yarn iu
1885 and 12,700 cwt. of fibre. To England alone the
export of cordage and twine iu 1834 was valued at
£177,500.

The Gems of Ceylou would require an article to
themselves, but here we can only drnw attention
to tlio many beautiful exhibits of sapphires, rubies,
cat'i»-eyes, moonstones, amethysts and other beauti-
l\x\ getiis, botli mounted and nnmouiited. One very
'are Alexandrite cat s-eje is apeciallv worthy of notice,
A'iti! tbetu may be classed the native gold and gilvcr
.•^oik, the fine npouniie objects, and the exquisitely
beautiful gold and silver filigree vioxk. The brays
K-ork also deserves attention, and especially the many
beautifully-carved objects in ivory, ebony und other
Hoods, and cocoanut shells. TWe tortoise shell ex-
hibits are al^o many of them exceedingly beautiful,
and the pottery is a study in itself. The finely-chased
Bwords and knives and the other weapons iu cases
and on the walls attract much attention, while the
models of natives, though few, are instructive. .Specially
interesting, in our estimation, is the very valuable
collection of objects from the Maldive Islands, in
case M. lent by Mr. C. W. Rosset. The portraits
of these islanders show them to be a dignified and
Self-possessed people, while their weapons, silver aud
gold jewelry, cloths, and other miuufactures show
them to be w'ell advanced in art and civilization.
Not the least interesting exhibit iu this case is a
primitive tclepliout; cousisting of a string feetweeu

two drums, and which is perfectly good for short
distances

Every traveller agrees that few islands of the
world are richer or more beautiful than Ceylon.
Haeukel's descriptions are scarcely less glowing
than those of Tcniieut. Tlie very fine map of the
island on the wall of the Exhibition shows that the
rainfall is below 50 in. over but a .small area. It
varies in other regions from 75 in. to 200 in., though
about 100 in. may be taken as the average. Its insular
character renders Ceylou remarkably healthy for a
tropical country, and the richness of its soil is shown
in the great variety aud luxuriance of its products.
Notwithstanding its long occupation by Europeans,
Portuguese, Dutch, and English there is much yet to
be done before the i>land is developed as it might
be. The population iu 50 years has increased from
1,000,000 to 2,700,000. Its revenue and expenditure
in the same period have trebled, rising from £400,000
to about £1,200,000 respectively. During the same
50 years the trade (exports and imports) has been
multiplied eight times, rising from £1,000,000 sterling
in 1 836 to £3,000,000 sterling in 1885. This surely is
significant enough of progress under British rule.
Should the Government continue a judicious expend-
iture on public works and useful institutions, and
planters aud natives work together to develop all
the possible resources of the colony, " this beautiful
island, from its geographical position, its excellent
harbour accommodation, and healthy climate, is destined
to justify its Brahmin title of ' the Pearl iu the
brow of India,' or Lanka, ' the Kespleudent. "

COFEEE ; HOW IT IS SOI^D IN ENGLAND.

Writing to the London Times Mr. Shirley Hibberd
says :—

Coli'ee deserves the imparlance it has acquired
as a subject of publice discussion, and the more
so because it is but little understood. At good
tables poor coffee is too often seen, and it may be
said that on the world's table (in these parts) it
is never seen at all, but in its place appear various
nauseous aud injurious imitations. Valuing coffee
as a great aid in hard work, I made a resolve to
have the real thing on my table daily or "perish
in the attempt." Thereupon, I entered upon a
series of experiments that were at least amusing
if not particularly profitable. I bought every kind
of coffee I could see or hear of, and tried every
possible (and some impossible) way of making it,
having the assistance therein of a diligent and
clever cook. One striking result was the discovery
that all ready-ground coffees sold in canisters,
packets, and other '-convenient" parcels are bad;
some very bad, a few infamously bad. After try-
ing innumerable samples without noting one that
was worth trying again, I concluded that canister
coffee is au unmitigated cheat--consisting usually
of a mere shadow of the real thing, with a great
bulk of chicory atid more or less of what is termed
"colour," this being simply burnt sugar to give
factitious strength. What may be termed '-chan-
dler's coffee" is so bad that I strongly recommend
a trial of it to respectable people who love good
living, for they ouglit to know.by a taste of real agony
how the poor are robbed and poisoned, and have
ftsit a['pear.:;, no protection from law, go-^pel, or
the customs of society. It is not good policy to
purchase coffee ready ground, but if it must be
done the supplies should be small and frecjuent.
Any one may test the purity of ground coffee by
shaking a little over a tumbler of clear, bright
cold water, and leaving it for an hour or so. Pure
coffee communicates its colour to cold water slowly
and when the colour has been imparted the in-
fusion is still bright and clear, and the colour is
never deep. But chicory and other adulterants
quickly produce an opaque and dark infusion. The
UiUereuge is so striking that fpi ordinary purposeg

Oct. I,

1886.J

THE TROPICAL AGRtCULTURlST.

^3^

a better test is not ic.iuired. To place good coffee
on the table daily is a simple and inexpensive
business, but it cannot be done at a penny a cup,
as some folks are in haste to aver. At for l'2d to
20d. per pound a good collee in berry is always
obtainable, and Kid. may at the present time be
considered a fair family price. It is best to roast
and grind as wanted, but the grinding is the one
important point because ground coiTee quickly
parts with its aroma, and there is a great charm
in having it made immediately from the mill. In
some houses the trouble of grinding is thought
much of, but as a matter of fact, it is almost noth-
ing and a mill costing only a few shillings will
last a lifetime. Coffee should never be boiled ; it
should be made with soft water at boiling heat
but if hard water must be used it should not be
made to boil until wanted, for boiling augments its
hardness. A common tall coffee-pot will make as
good coffee as any patented invention, but a ca/e-
tiere is a convenient thing as it produces bright
coffee in a few minutes, and thus enables us to
secure a maximum of the aroma and dispense with
the use of any rubbish called "finings." Every
one to his taste, we will say, but as careless people
make the coffee too strong one day and too weak
the next, the ground coffee and the boiling water
should be both measured, and it will always take
as much as four cups of water to make three cups
of coffee. For the breakfast-table the addition of
about one-eighth of chicory is an improvement,
but for the dinner-table coffee should be made
without chicory, because it dulls the piquant flavour
of the genuine article. Two points in coffee-mak-
ing deter people from using it — the trouble of grind-
ing and the boiling of the milk. The grinding
however, must be done, and it is really nothing,
but the boiling of the milk may be advantageously
evaded by using Swiss milk, which harmonises
perfectly, and by many well-trained palates is pre-
ferred to fresh milk heated.

PLANTING IN NETHERLANDS INDIA.

BUITENZORG GARDENS — JAVANESE COOLIES — SUGAR —
CINCHONA.

(Translated for the Straits Tunes.)
The yearly report on the Government Botanical
Gardens at Buitenzorg for 18^5 has just been
published. The particulars given of the improve-
ments made and work done last year in kee^jing
up and increasing their usefulness show satisfactory
progress, especially in the determination of the
Netherlands India Sapotaceae or family of plants
yielding gutta-percha. Dr. W. Burck, assistant
Manager of the (iardens, commissioned by Goveru-
mejit to invt'Htigate the subject, has determined
the existence of til different varieties of which no
Ichis than 24 were rcproseHted in tlic gardens.
Dr. Burck has drawn up and brought oui a mono-
graph on Gutta I'ercha plants describing no less
than 55 new species of which II were discovered by
himself. Another family of plants forming a subject
of investigation in the Gardens, was that producing,'
Minyak Tinkawang or vegetable tallow. From many
quarters, a,^ well from Holland and the Nether-
lands Indian possessions us from Britain and the
British Colonies, inquiries were made into the
Botanical characteristics of the so called Minyak
Tinkawang, a tallow exported from Borneo, and in
great demand throughout Europe and America for
industrial purposes. Research soon disclosed the
fact that the tallow in question was obtained from
a great many different kinds of trees belonging to
the Dipterocarpea' and Sapolacae families of
which but little was known botanically. Owing
to the cultivation of those plantfj being of great

importance from the demand for the tal-
low the yield, it was decided upon by the
Garden authorities to set to work make a
thorough investigation of the subject, by first
of all undertaking, systematic research regarding
the Dipterocarpea' to be found in Netherlands India.
The first steps taken to carry this through were
directed to calling in the aid of Major General Haga,
the then Civil and Military Governor of West
Borneo, and of the Resident of that Division.
Their co-operation resulted in the securing of a
large collection of dried specimens of tallow yield-
ing trees from West Borneo, besides a piece of
Minyak Tingkawang from each tree specified. Dr.
Burck has been smce actively engaged in these
researches. The results will be made public in
the next annual Gardens report.

The Batavia Dafiblad comments as follows
on the description of -Tavanese coolies as
bein^ full of arrogance and false pride
given by a Johore correspondent in a recent num-
ber of the Straits Times: "It is rather amusing
■to find a British writer complaing that Javanese
of the lower classes who go to other lands in
search of coolie work or have been recruited by
crimps for the purpose are in fact too proud and
too arrogant in nature to make good coolies. It is
especially instructive to the British to find their
cherished belief, backed by natural jealousy of
another colonial power in neighbouring countries,
that the Netherlands colonies are the scene of
tyranny, oppression, and extortion, meeting with
little confirmation when they come in personal con-
tact with the people of Netherlands India, especially
with the lower orders. Instead of a submissive
slavish sort of people they meet with fellows of
whose arrogant air they complain, and who do not
show that submission to discipline indispensable
for coolies to be serviceable.

It is to be hoped that the so-called arrogant air of
our Javanese coolies will give the British in some
way another idea regarding the oppression and
slavery under which the Netherlanders in the Far
East bring the people under their sway — so at least
the British persuade not only themselves but also
the world whenever they can." The Banhlad points
out that the substitute system under which
while the number of a gang of Javanese coolies
continues the same, the faces are continually
changing, is also known in Java, the substitutes
being called orawj (janti. This is accounted for by the
Javanese coolie being perhaps too honest to abscond
and fancying that his employer has nothing to
complain of when he takes upon himself to substitute
some other coolie in his stead.

Java sugar shows no signs of improvement in
value, (juotations ruling now under 1^ guilders per
picul. So near arc planters being drawn to the
brink of ruin that the Home Government has been
alarmed into prouiising to do something to alleviate
their lot. Meanwhile, notwithstanding the deaduess
of the times, enterprising individuals are casting
about seeking fresh cutlets for speculative energies
and unemployed capital. Fajicr mills and cenienl
works started at various places will yield little to
make up for the certain loss resulting from the
scanty outturn of staple articles, when plantation
enterprise not longer pays remuneratively. The
moment all is over with sugar and coffee cultivation,
it will be hard work to keep new industries going.

Several influential persons interested in the cin-
chona trade have forwarded a memorial to the
Netherlands Minister for the Colonies in favour of
increasing the number of bark action sales at
Amsterdam to eight a year, They urge this course
on the ground that Java cinchona has of late
been shipped by holders more and more to London

fMfi fkOPtCAL AGUiCULTlSmS'f. [Oct. i, m6.

■CfMHt^^iifWM

where auctions of bark fare hefd every fourteen
days. In tlieir oinniun, the Government, from its
bein^^ the greatest importer of the article, is fully
abel to prevent the larger portion of the Java bark
shi2)ped on private account from finding its way
to London.

mfmmmim

NOTES ON INDIAN AND CEYLON mODUUTS

FROM THE OLD COUNTEY.

{From Our Special Represtntative.)

Ceylon tea — ckvlon and indian couf.t at the

" COIjIND " EXHIBITION.

I saw in a grocer's window a printed bill which
stated in large letters that " the finest tea now
imported was from the mountain gardens of Ceylon,
grown at from 1,000 to 6,000 feet above the
sea," and another smaller one, of which I enclose
a copy : —

CEYLON TEA.

The climate and soil of Ceylon have ])roved them-
selves iieculiarly adapted to the successful cultivation
of Tea, and the product of many of the Estates possesses
all tlie richness and flavour of the old-fashioued
China Souchongs, combined with the strength and
fulness of Indian Teas, but without their excessive
astriugency. Such Teas are perfection in themselves
and need no blending.

It is now about ten years since the Ceylon Planters
first turned their attention to the culture of Tea, the
export in the years 1875 — 6 being only 482-lb which
had increased in 1882 — 3 to 1,522,882 lb. and still further
in the following season, to 2,263,000 lb. According
to the G rocer, a correspondent, writing from Colombo
under date August 1st, states :— " Already our export
for the new product. Tea, has doubled itself within
the year, and during 1886 it will again double itself,
with an ever-increasing value of the article." There
are now 3.3,000 acres under cultivation, which will bo
in full bearing 1887 — 8, duringjwhich season it is estim-
ated the export will reach Ten Million Pounds.

Prices — 2s 6d and 3s per jiound, in original leaden
packages only, weighing 1-lb and j-lb nett.

Sold by — E. J. Willis' Tea Deafer, Boscombe
But there is another link with Ceylon in a house
not five minutes' walk from here, the name of
which is TalawahcUie ! It has only just been
finished, and is at i^resent to let furnished : the
owner, I learn, is a Rev. Mr. Godson ; what ■ is
his connection with our island ? As might be
expected, the name is popularly mispronounced with
the accent on the first syllable.

I notice from your last Overland that Dr- Watt's
story about the jungle of 50 to 100 feet tea trees
is regarded by many of your readers as well as
yourself as a ' pull ai the long bow.' But though
he learned doctor may have exaggerated a little,
perhaps unconsciously, may not trees of at least
50 feet high exist in their wild state ? You are
mistaken in supposing that the Indian planters
who visited Ceylon were astonished at the Iieipht
of the ' giant ' trees on Abbotsford and other estates :
it was the immense lateral growth of the branches
to which they had never seen anything equal in
India. As to height, Mr. Tod of Assam told Mr.
A. M. Ferguson, Jr., that he had on his own estate
a clump of trees exceeding 50 feet.

I have already given a pretty detailed description of
the Ceylon Court, and will only add that when I
visited it last week I found that on each side of the
porch had been placed tubs with tropical plants, such
as Cycafi circinalid (Sinh. iladu), &c. ; also that
Col. Clarke's map of the mountain district has
been now hung where its details can be examined
minutely and justice done to its workmanship.
The Ceylon tea houses seem to be as well patron-
ized as ever. With regard to the complaints of
correspondents in your columns as to the quality
of the tea served there, I cannot offer an oinnion
as I uevci' drink tea ; the coffee and the obocolale

arc, as I can testify, excellent. Closely connected
as our island is with India, it is natural that it
is'] to the Courts of this empire that I should
iirst take your readers. The space allotted to
India is divided into (1) the Indian IJaU ; (2) the
Art Court ; (3) the Imperial Court of Economic
Products ; (4) the Court of Private Exhibitors ;
(5) the Tea, Coffee, and Tobacco Court ; (r>) the
Administrative Galleries; (7) the Indian Palace
and its adjuncts: and lastly (8) the Indian Jungle
and Kuch Bihar Trophy. To begin with the
last, it is naturally a great attraction to visitors,
but the thought that must strike an Indian xliikari
would be,. I should think, " C'est magnitiquc ;
mais ce n'est pas la — nature ": at least, 1 should
imagine one could hardly find so many animals con-
gregated in such a limited space in their native
wilds. In the Indian Hall (1), which is hung with
rich chintzes and guarded by portrait models of
the various types of the Indian soldier, are cases
in which are models of some of the P. <t 0. Co.'s
latest vessels while an illustrated pamphlet giving
the history of the Company and details as to its
fieet Ac, lies handy for visitors to take away. To
the general public the Art Courts (2) are, I ima-
gine, the most attractive, with the magnificent
Jeypore entrance arch, the courts of the different
states, presidencies and ijrovinces with their varied
and often elaborately carved screens, and the
thousands of articles of value and beauty therein
displayed. But these I must pass over and come
to the Economic Court, (3) which is entered by
an archway thus described in the Official Cata-
logue :—

The Forest Trophy.— The massive archway which forms
hte entrance to the Court is constructed entirely of
I dian timbers, and designed by Mr. F. B. Mausou,
Deputy Conservator of Forests, Oluitia Nagpur, Ben-
gal. The middle portion is 22 ft. broad, aud rises to a
height of 15 ft. ; the side parts are 12| ft. high. The
tntil breadth of the ti'ophy is 46 ft., and it is 5 ft. in
thickness. It contains 3,00(i specimens of useful timbers.

The timber specimens used in its construction belong
mostly to the Bengal Economic Museum, and have been
lent by the Government of Bengal. The trophy in-
cludes also the greater part of Mr. J. S. Gamble's col-
lection described in his " IManual of Indian Timbers."
The specimens so described are marked with a letter
followed by a number ; the letter denotes the region
from which each specimen was obtained. In addition
to these collection a large number of new blocks of
wood, furnished by the Inspector-General of Forests,
have also been built into the trophy. The very ex-
tensive series of timbers thus brought together has been
arranged on the trophy in geometrical patterns, and ou
either side of the arches are placed fretwork panels of
teak wood in arabesque design. A border of alternat-
ing dark and light woods surrounds the entire frame-
work. The pilasters are supported by large slabs of
timber, bevelled' to show the grain of the wood. For the
construction of the ornamental arches some of the
principal Indian timbers procurable in Calcutta, viz.,
teak, sal, sissu, and pine have been used. The geo-
metrical tracery of the panels forming the plinth on
eiih'.T side of the middle arch is of teak and sissu; whilst
that of the pilasters on each side of the smaller arches
of teak.

Immediately close to the arch "are articles of furniture
carved from the wood of thePadouk or Andaman red-
wood tree. The table constructed of one complete
section shows the enormous size which this dark red,
close-grained and hard wood .attains.
On entering into the court the first object that
strikes the eye is

The Bamboo r/-o^j/({/.— Occupying the ceutre of the
Court, and conspicuous by its height, the great object
of attraction will undoiihtedly be the Bamboo Trophy,
wliicli consists of an arch over the central transverse
path leading from the ArtAVare Courts, and contains
oue of the most perfect collections of bamboos ever

Oct. 1, 1 886. J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

239

exhibited. This familiar uatne of the gigantic grasses
has, like so many other terms, come to us through the
Portuguese pioneers of European trade and settlement
in India. The I'rophy cousist of a platform raised 12 ft.
above the floor on four columns. The steps on either
side are covered with split bamboo arranged in geo-
metric patterns which are continued on the floor of the
platform. The forty steps of the two staircases exhibit
forty different designs and ten spf^cies of bamboo. In
all, thirty species of bamboo are exhibited in the trophy,
for full explanation of which the curious are referred
to the index set on the adjacent walls. The number
of objet'ts made of bamboo which are hung over
the trophy far from exhausts the uses and applications
of this, as it may be called, most versatile gift of na-
ture to the Indian and Imlo-Ohinese peoples.
The solidity of tliis structure has been well tested
by the thousands of visitors who have ascended
its steps and descended on the other side. The
third trophy in the court is the

Grain Trophy. — All these grains are combined in the
structure of the Grain Trophy, the idea of which is
taken from the famous tomb of ItnaUl-nd-Dowlah at
Agra, the beautiful marble geometric mosaics having
been imitate! by glass panels of coloured grains. On
the outside elevations there are large panels, two of
which are devoted to rice, two to wheat, two to Indian
corn, one to barley and oats, and one to millets and
Job's tear's a curious grain which is cultivated in Assam
and among the Enstern frontier hill-tribes. Sixteen
smaller panels are filled with the pulses, and the re-
niainder with other edible grains and oil seeds. The in-
terior is filled with grains m enr, and Indian corn cobs.
In the four corners of the room are shown commercial
samples of the grains, and in the centre a group of
three women modelled in clay '* grinding at the mill."
Near it are cases containing special displays of wheat
exhibited by the Bombay Commercial Committee, and
collections of rice from Bengal and Burma.

Near the timber tropliy are specimens of
Indian furniture carved from the wood of
the Padouk or Adaman (the Official Guide says
' Cinnamon ') red-wood tree, one table being con-
structed of a complete section of this enormous
tree. The rest of the body of the Court is
ocecupied with specimens of fruits and vegetables,
nuts, pulses, grains, wheat, sugars, narcotics and
stimulants, drugs, tibres (cotton, jute, rhea), paper,
oil seeds, oils, extracts and inspissated saps, lac,
and models to illustrate the official life and indus-
tries of India. From the Official Catalogue I may
quote a few extracts regarding some of these :—
Fruits and Vejctahles. — A collection, partly of models
made at the Botanic Gardens of Sabaranpore, under
the supervision of Mr. J. F. Duthie and by the Krish
nagnr moddlers emplo3'ed by the Government of India,
and partly of actual fruits, such as will bear the trans-
port and keep good in the glass cases, is supplemented
by a verj' large collection of preserved fruits, jams, and
pickles. With regard to the fruits, it will be a surprise
to many to bear that the fruits of the East are, it is
believed much overrated in Europe. Many of the best
of Indian fruits have been introduced from Europe.
Ohena, the West Indies, and America. Tlie most char-
acteristic modern fruits of India are the mango, guava,
litchi, pine-apple and plantain. Of these the mango
is far the most popular fruit in India. Colonel Yule
in his Glossary says that theroyal fruit, the innnifci-a
iiidica, when ot gooil quality is one of the richest and
best fruits of the world. The origin of the word is
Tamil 3[da-kay, i. 6. man fruit. The Portuguese formed
from this manga which we have adopted as mango.
Numerous varieties of jams, pickles, and chutneys, pre-
pared from this celebrated fruit are to be found anunigst
thn exhibits.

Niiis. — Together with the fruits are samples of mits,
a term winch in Iiulia includes ground nut^ an I the
seeds of the edible pine. The true almonds, which arc
a sacred offering common to the Hindoo and the Jain,
as well as a regular ingredient iu cookery, especinlly
ill a savoury piUao, are imported by the traders of
Afghanistan ^ud Persia. The Afghau traders also

supply the hazel nut, the walnut, and the pistachio nut,
from Afghanistan and Kashmir.

The Siugara nut (G47) which is grown on an aquatic
weed, forms in some parts of the country an import-
ant article of food. It is stated that in Kashmir 30,000
persons are dependent upon this wild plant for food,
during certain months.

Coconut — Near the bamboo trophy is a most inter-
esting coll'ctiuu of objects made from the common
coconut palm (properly called coco and vulgarly coker),
exhibited by Mr. Pereira of Bombay. Eighty-three
articles are enumerated. The origin of the name of
this well-known and useful palm, which to the early
travellers and mediieval writers was known as the Indian
nut, is suggested to be the old Spanish com, a shell, al-
though the Portuguese and Spaniards say that it was
called coc'x because it looks like the face of a monkey or
some other animal.

I'et/etxibles.—The vegetables met with in India are
readily divided into two sections of indigenous
and introduced. Of the latter it may be said that
European fruits and vegetables, though often growing
luxuriantly, rarely attain the same flavour as their
European congeners. Of these, however, the cabbage,
the cauliflower, and radish, alone are eaten by the
natives of India, but not until they are over-grown and
coarse. From America, the potato and the egg-apple
or ?)ri;(/a?, have been introduced. As to the indigenous
vegetables, India may be viewed as the region of the
cucumber and the melon, with a large series of allied
plants, all of which yield valuable fruits and vegetables,
and furnish a great proportion of the food of the peo-
ple. It is almost impossible to arrive at any definite
idea as to the extent of the internal trade in vegetables.
Nothing is more characteristic of the Indian village
than its bazaar or market-place, and it would be difllcult
to find a bazaar where the egg-apple, the melon, the
cucumber, the pumpkin, and the radish were not of-
fered for sale alongside of rice, plantains and chillies.
The foreign trade in vegetables has increased in the
last five years from about £20,460 to £21,963 ; the bulk
of these exports go from Bombay. Nearly the whole
of the pot-herbs are wild plants which reipiire no
cultivation, and they illustrate one of the most striking
features of India, for in few countries in the world are
so many edible products to be procured for the trouble
of collecting, edible products too which enter largely
into the dietary of the mass of the people.

Fuhes. — By themselves under the head of "Pulses"
will be found the various leguminous seeds which under
the uameofrfc'i a,nd ff ram, the lentils (which furnish
the vaunted and really beneficial food for invalids known
as revalenta), and others occupy an area of cultivation of
forty-eight millions of acres. Ttie grain merchant's
shop, in which the varieties of this collection are shown,
reproduces one of the most curious and interesting fea-
tures of an Indian bazaar.

Grains. — One of the most important co'lections is
that of the grains, which may be popularly described
as rice, wheat, barley, oats, Indian corn and the vari-
ous forms of millet. Of these, rice is the most valuable
of all the cereals to the inhabitants of India. It is
the principal food iu Bengal, Burma, Orissa and the
eastern portion of Central India, the southern parts of
Madras, and the western districts of Bombay. In the
Punjab, the North West Provinces, and Oudh, B •bar
and the northern parts of the Central Provinces, and
Gujerat, the poorer classes live chiefly on millets, sup-
plemented by barley and gram, while the rich only use
wheat and rice. In the southern part of the Central
Provinces, Bernr to Bonibaj', Deccan and th(! northern
part of Madras, the juar and /lajra are the staple foods,
and in Mysore the small millet known as raggy or raffi,
furnishes the i)rincipal provision. In Assam rice is the
staple with the addition of Indian Corn and Job's Tears.
'J'he estimate of the total area of land annually under
cereals is 119 400,000 acres, (jf which nearly sixt3' mil-
lions are devoted to rice. As there are many forms, so
thi'reare several crops of this essential grain which is,
in truth, the staff of life to at least one-third of the
Indian population. For the Foreign trade, whicli, how-
ever, may be said to have been almost ruined within
the past few years, the chief supply comes from the

24<5

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Oct. I, 1886,

abundant harvests of that most prosperous province
British Burma, while Bengal supplies a small propor-
tion. Where rice cannot be cultivated the iiiiilets in-
variably take its place as the staple food crop of the
mass 01 the people. Even in wheat-producino; districts
this is true. Dr. Hunter is of opinion that, taking India
as a whole, it may be affirmed that the staple food grain.
is neither rice, nor wheat, but millet. Kxcludiny the
special rice tracts, varieties of millet are grown more
oslensively from ]\[adras in the south, at least .-i-! far as
JIajputana in the north.

Sii(i(ti.<. — The raw and reliued sugars exhibited by
IMessrs. Turner, Morris, A' Co., of Calcutta, and Messr.*).
t^arew it Co., are examples of a cultivation and a tr;ide
which are more important at pre.sent for Indian in-
ternal commerce than for the prospects of increased e.\--
portation. The 1,922,(X)0 acres of sugar-cane cultiv-
ation may be said to yield two million tons of coarse
sugar. Besides sugar-cane, sugar is obtained from the
date palm, or toddy palm, of Bengal, and ihe iialmyra,
or toddy palm, of South India, Bombay, and Burma ;
but the exports, in which the sugar-cane produce can-
not he discriminated from othi-r produce, oidy amounted
to one million ewt. as against the two midion tonsjust
mentioned. Improvements in the present defective
method of expressing the juice, and gradual removal of
the prejudice against retined sugars amongst the natives
of India, who chiefly consume _</vi/ or raw sugar, will
doubtless give a large stimulus to the internal trade.
A model prepared at Poona in order to show the method
of crushing the suga.'-cane in the Bombay Piesidency,
is exhibited in the Agr cultural (inncxe. The primitive
pestle mill is stiil the machine most gerjerally used over
the greater part of India for the extraction of cane
juice. The method of working it is shown in the model
village.

Xaicotics and Sti/nnhuifs. — * * * Attention is called
to the exhibits of beer produced by the hill breweries,
the more important of which are in Madras and the
Punjab, and whose ale and beer are of an excellent
qHality, as may be seen by the fact that the import
of foreign beers in 1884-85 was 194,r)81 gallons less
than in the previous year. Another novelty is the
exhibit by bis Highness the IMaharaja of Kashmir of
the wines and spirits prepared in his kingdom. The
white wine obtained at Calcutta International Exhibi-
tion, a gold medal for its pnrity and superior quality.

/inii/.t. — There are over thirteen hundred plants re-
puted by the natives of India to possess remedial
properties ; and as in all popular herbals which exist
unwritten as having been handed down from unknown
antiquity by tradition, a great number even of the
most highly-esteemed are valueless. The Sub-Court
devoted to drugs and medicines contains examples of
over one hundred indigenous drugs, which have almost
a'l attained a European reputation, and which most
thoroughly deserve to be more extensively used. From
Nepal a large series of aconites, accompanied by
botanical .specimens of ihe plants from which the
roots were obtained, has been sent by Dr. Gimlette.
The monkshood or wolvesbane, which grows on the
Himalayan heights, from an altitude of l(),0()i) feet to
the higiaest limits of vegetation, is equalled if not
surpassed in its poisonous and its curative powers by
its congener the Indian or Nepal aconite. The speci-
mens of cinchona or Peruvian bark numbpred 780,
bear their silent witness to the success of an enterprise
undertaken by the Government of India to acclimatise
if possible this invaluable tree, and so to bring
within reach of the population of India what u)) to
that time had been too costly a remedy. This was
primarily due to the travels and labours ot Mr.
Clements Markham, c.u., devoted to the examination
of the cinchonas of Pern in their native forests, and
their importation to and ultimate establishniHiit in
India in 186(1. Thepro Juct of the Government iilant-
ations at Darjiling and on the Nilgiris amounted
together in 1881-8;) to 4r)7,21.s lb., most of which was
manufactured into febrifuges. Extensive private
plantations also exist in Southern India, and theex))ort8
in 1884-8.") were valued at ne;irly flOH.UHi.
The epecimens of cinchona bark rcderred to above
are good, but of course not equal to tlie display
irom Ceylon. Next regarding

Filji-e.i.—We now come to the vegetable fibres of
India. The more important of these, such as cotton,
jute, rhea, and other commercial fibres and paper
materials, are exhibited in separate sub-courts, and
require separate notice. But besides these there is an
extensive series of fibres which are regularly used by
the natives of India, though the large majority are
unknown to the textile manufacturers of Europe. The
Indian flora contains over ;{(K) fibre-yielding plantR,
one third of v,-liich afford strong arid useful fibres.
Some of these will be found illustiati-d in the • Kope
Trophy." near which are excellent samples of stair-
earpets and door-mats made of the well-known roir or
coconut fibre.

All article on which a good deal lias appeared in
your ujlumns and in those of the T. A. is: —

Ithea. — One cf the first and most important of the
commercial fibres, not so much in its present as in its
probable future utility, is rhea. The jjrize offered by
the Government of India for the most perfectly suc-
cessful machine for separating this fibre was, it is
true, not awarded, no single machine being deemed
able to comply at the time with ail the reciuirenients ;
but strenuous endeavours have within recent years been
made to overcome the difficulties of dealing with rhea
grass, and the difficulty of the separation of the fibre
has been overcome. The high price of the fibre itself, t -
gether, with its exceptional strength and durability, unfit
it for manypurposes. The Glenrock Company, Limited,
of the Wynaad, Madras, exhibit an interesting collection
of their fibres, showing not only rhea but also two or three
of the allied rhea fibres, including the so-called wild
rhea of South India. The wild rhea of Assam, and
various Nilgiri nettles, and, in addition, pine-apple fibre
and Manilla hemp, together with a large assortment of
aloe filjre, are also on view.
Eegarding paper, I quote the following : —

The art of paper-making in India dates from the time
of the great emperor Akbar, and was first practised in
Kashmir. Ilapidly it spread all over India, displacing
the birch bark used by the hill-tribes, and the palm
leaves which served the people of the plains as the
vehicle on which they incised with a stylus their accounts
and written records, and of which examples are shown
in the Kducatiou exhibits. It is probable that the in-
habitants of the Eastern Himalaya, long previously to
that era, d(>rived the art fif paper-making a.3 iiractised
in Nepal from China. The Nepal papers, of which ex-
teiitsive collections are exhibited, are prepared from the
bark of two sorts of daphni^, and from the fibre of a
plant which grows along the Himalaya, and has recently
been found plentifully on the mountains of Manipur, ex-
tending to the northern frontier of Burma. The paper
manufacture of India, like the paper trade of England,
is still seeking for a new material. The piper trophy,
as well as the special show case contributed by the
Bengal Exhibition Committee, shows the paper mater-
ials ; the half stuffs, the manufactured papers from all
parts of India. The Bally Paper Mills of Calcutta, and
the Upper Indian Paper Mills of Lucknovv, are the chief
contributors; but besides, a large collection of jail and
native-made papers from all parts of India is exhibited.
Under oil seeds I read : —

Ttie trade name of the sesame seed, which comes next
in importance, is another instance of commercial nomen-
clature derived from the first Portuguese traders. In
Colonel Yule's " Glossary" it is traced step by step from
the Arabic (d-jaljnliin, corrui)ted by the Spaniards into
ti/loiijoli, and so gra tli'ly transformed into Jinjali or
(jiiiitrli. It is usi-d it) India lor eulmary purposes, for
anointing, and also i'l soup furniture, and as a lamp oil.
It shares with the ground nuts the reput.ition of being
employed by European importers to furnish a sham olive
oil. Of the latter the cultivation may be described as a
modem industry, the trade in oil as a substitute for
olive oil having within the past thirty or forty years
developed in an almost unprecedented manner. The
value of the exports of ground nuts from India rose be-
tween ls79 and 188.5 fri)tn nearly £17,000 to something
»ver £3()0,000; and the exports from the French ports
in India were but little short of the same amount, the
total value being thus just over half a million stf.rling.
The bulk of thjs seed is shipped for the continent, priQ»

Oct. i, 1886.]

THE ^kOPlCAL AQmCULTtSmST.

•24 1

cipally to France and Italy. France is said to import
from all conntiies 33 milliou francs worth of the ground
nuty, of which India only supplies 2J millions, but it is
believed that the oil expressed from these nuts, as well
as that from (/inc/eli seed, finds its way into the markets
of Europe as olive oil.

I might quote further extracts regarding oils etc.,
but refrain from doing so, merely mentioning that
a model of an indigo factory shows the process
of manufacture of this important product.

Among other objects shown in the Court are orna-
ments and other articles of rock-salt, a collection of
snakes exhibited by Col. Beddome, and some very
amusing life-like models of Indian villages. Through-
out the Court are grouped life-size models of the
various races of India, the different types being
admirably shown. Bound the walls are many
interesting objects, the most important being the
index collection in little tin boxes with glass fronts.
Then there are the grain and drug bazaars above
referred to, cases of stuffed birds and colored
drawings of birds, and a collection of very fine
photographs and drawings by Col. Lockhart (Mis-
sion to Gilgit and Kafiristan) and Col. H. C. B.
Tanner of the Survey of India, the latter being
chiefly representations of the Himalayan range.
The printed labels on these have not been care-
fully corrected, for on one, "The Yaccam Kunga
Mountains" (it should be " Yassana i Hunza"),
one reads :— " Behind the peaks in the left of the
pictures, is situated the great Ab-i-Nil, or Sar-i-
chasma-i-aba-sind, the northern source of the
Trans river decorated in 1881 by Pin Mukhtar
Shah, Emperor." The three words I have under-
lined should be Indus, discovered, and explorer !
In this Court are also shown a fine collection of
minerals and ores exhibited by the Geological
Survey of India, and illustrated by maps ; and in
an adjacent annexe are a large number of maps
shown by the Survey Department, there being
also an • over-flow ' assortment of models,
grains, *c. In the adjoining Burma Pavilion the
Bombay Burma Trading Co. have a fine exhtbit of
teak logs and ma.nufactured articles, including lattice
archways made of small pieces bolted together, show-
ing how such ' waste ' bits can be utilized. The
Court of Private Exhibition (1) is separate from
the Ceylon Court by a passage running north and
south and contains a variety of articles, mostly of the
class well-known to your readers as sold by the
' Delhi men' such as jewelry and carved work,
shawls, &c., and also jams, pickles, chutneys,
curry-powder, &c. The Crown Brewery Company
of Mussoorie show samples of their beer in bottle
and cask. Down the middle are specimens of
native and European carriages, a handsomely
carved billiard table, and Baroda pigeon-house.
Lastly, I must not omit to mention that at one
of the ends nearest Ceylon is shown the method
of reeling silk from the cocoons by the ' Tavelette
Consono,' an ingenious invention, which is a great
improvement on the native method. The Tea,
Coffee, and Tobacco Court I have before referred
to in connection with the Ceylon Tea trophy, so
I shall pass on to the Administrative Court, (6)
which is situated in the galleries to the right of
the Indian 1 fall and the southern part of the
Eastern Arcade. Here, to quote from the suc-
cinct description in the Official Catalogue : —

The Survey of India Department contributes illus-
trations of tlie various processes by which the re-
sults of the surveying operations are tran.sferred to
maps, and the maps themselves, ui which are made
accessible to ev-ry one the exact knowledge collected
by the labours of science, and the observations of
dauntless and patient explorers. The Kevenue Settle-
meut Maps and charts sbowiug the iuterual trade

and the emigration are both worthy of study. Every-
one will be interested to learn of the large and con-
stant emigration of Indian labourers to the tea-
gardens of Assam, the Island of Mauritius, and to
the distant labour fields of the West Indies and De-
merara, and even to our young but vigorous colony
of Fiji. Some return after their contract of service
expires, with their savings. Others remain as settlers.

In the divisions of the Department of Finance and
Commerce, besides the printed reports, there are ex-
hibited specimens of the coinage of India, and the
processes of the Mmts, Patterns of all stamps used
which make up a revenue of over three million
pounds, are shown by Messrs. De la Rue. The Post
Office shows from the different Presidencies models
illustrating the pecuUar means of carriage which
are needed in distributing the 184 millions of letters,
cards, &c., delivered throughout India in one year,
models of mail runners and riders, &c. Specimens
of buffalo horns sounded to scare away wild beasts
in Assam, or bows and arrows carried for defence in
Rajputana, carts, coaches, boats and rafts are ranged
according to the particular provinces. Our printers
and bookbinders can compare the tools and work of
their Indian fellow-craftsmen.

The Home Department sends a most curious and
complete illustration of the means and appliances
employed in the 111,237 schools with their 2,790,061
pupils inspected in 1882-3. The indigenous schools of
the Punjab, and all schools not inspected are of course
omitted. The model of an indigenous school in
Bombay is well worthy of examination.

The models shown by the Public Works Depart-
ment, illustrating the Indian railway carriages, the
public buildings, and the great works constructed
for irrigation, on which the lives of millions con-
stantly d'^p ad, can only be pointed out as claiming
much more than a passing glance.

The Military and Marine Department, in addition
to the portrait models which stand round the vestibule,
contributes, not only descriptions but various models il-
lustrating the internal economy of the army, and the
soldier life and work in barracks. The medical am-
bulances, the war material, elephant kheddahs for
catching the wild elephants, which become the most
useful and docile servants, and other instructive ex-
hibits, will be found illustrated in the somewhat
confined space available.

Besides the objects specified above, I may mention
a case of books published by the Christian Verna-
cular Education Society, and one of Messrs. Trubner
& Co.'s revolving book-cases, containing their latest
publications relating to India, including a volume of
the Tropical Agriculturist. I now come to the Indian
Palace (7) and its connected courts. Of the
Palace itself I need say no more than that it
gives an admirable idea of the Indian style of
architecture. The little bazaars, where weaving,
metal work, confectionery etc. arc carried on,
prove sources of great attraction to the crowds
who are always to be found in front of them,
and I expect a good trade is carried on in the
articles manufactured. Round the bottom of the
Garden Vestibule of the Palace is the Silk Court,
which is hun^ all round with silks of various
hues, while in cases are shown moths, woiins an;l
cocoons of Tusser and rcmla trifenestrata from
Eanchi, Chota Nagpore, the latter new to Europe*
This completes the Indian section, and I must
leave the other Courts for future letters.

THE WEST INDIAN, JAMAICAN, TRINIDAU AND DAKBAUOb'
COUKTS.

The Handbook and Cafalogue to the West Indict}
and British Honduras, issued under the authoiity
of Sir Augustus Adderley, k.o.m.o., the Royal and
Executive Commissioner, is, as you will see from
the copy I send you herewith, a work on the pre-
paration of which a good deal of labor and con-
iiidei'iibk e;i^euse bavo beeu i^peut. it k hmi-

242

fuu "r^OPtcAL ACckiciJLtvkiHt.

[UgT. i, fSb6,

Bomely bound in cloth with a design in gold on the
cover showing some of the typical vegetable products
of tlie West Indies, while the contents are as follows : —

Piincipal Entrance to the Court (Coloured Illus-
tratiuij) " West Indian Galleiy; Picture Gallery-
West Side (Coloured Illustnition) ; Picture Gallery-
East Side (Coloured Illustration) ; Jamaica (with illus-
tration) ; Trinidad (with illustration) ; ]>arbado3 (with
illnstiation); Sugar Canes by Anglo-Continental Guano
Compauy (Ohlcndorff) (illustration) ; Grenada (with
illustration) ; St. Vincent (with illustration) ; Tobat,'o
(with illustration) St. Lucia (with illustration) ; Anti-
gua (with illustration) ; St. Christopher (with illustra-
tion) ; Dominica (with illustration; Montserrat (with
illustration) ; Virgin Islands (with illustration); British
Honduras (with illustration); A Group of Exhibits
(illustration); The Bahamas(with illustration);Diagrani
showing the respective Values of the Imports to the
United Kingdom, &c. &c. List of Exhibitors Map
of the West Indies and British Honduras.

The account of Jamaica is written by Sir A.
Adderley; that of Trinidad by Mr. C. A. Harris;
Barbados by Hon. C. C. Knollys, Colonial Secret-
ary ; Grenada by Mr. J. Wells, editor of the St.
Geoiye's Chronicle ; St. Vincent by H. E. A. F.
Gore", C.M.G.; Tobago by Hon. L. G. Hay ; St.. Lucia,
Antigua, St. Christopher and Nevis by Mr. C. A.
Harris ; Dominica by His Honor J. S. Churchill ;
Montserrat by Hon. J. S. Hollings, c.e. ; Virgin
Islands and British Honduras by Mr. C. A. Harris ;
and the Bahamas by Sir A. Adderley, who con-
tributes an introduction to the work as a whole.
But, besides this, Mr. Eugene Rimuiel, the well-
known perfumer, has taken the opportunity to
advertise his wares by gf.tting up a little brochure
in colored cover, which is sold in the West Indian
Court, and which contains, besides a reprint of
certain details given in the Handbook and Cata-
logue, some interesting remarks (with illustrations)
on " The Fragrant Products of the West Indies."
I send you a copy of this, as it contains matter
which will be useful as well as interesting to the
readers of the T. A. Proprietors of land in the
lowcountry of Ceylon should take a hint from what
is said regarding the distillation of " rose-apple
water " from the jambu and " oil of ben " from
the murungai. The illustrations in the Handbook
will give you a fair idea of the artistic and taste-
ful manner in which the West Indian Courts have
been arranged, but, as has been said above, some
of the effect is due to the employment of articles
which have little or no connection with the West
Indies. I would only instance the portraits ojthe
royal and other notable personages in the Picture
Gallery and especially the fountain in the centre,
which attracts so much attention but which has.
80 far as I know, not the slightest connection with
any of the West Indian colonies. (Perhaps it has
been placed there to counteract the effect on
teetotal minds of the numerous bottles of rum in
the adjacent courts.) But lest I should be thought
to be trying to depreciate the West Indian Court I
Bhali at once ssy that & very considerable part of the
artistic effect is due to perfectly legitimate means,
For instance, to quote from the Handbook,

In order to fully illustrate the Flora of the "West
Indies— iudigenou3''and acclimatised— Mra. Blake, the
accomplished wife of the Governor of the Bahamas,
has most kindly pahited, expressly for the Exhibi-
tion, a aeries of lOi large water-colour drawings,
copied from nature. These drawings are nearly all
life-sine; they are very carefully finished, and arc,
for the most part, without being botanical studies,
faithful representations of the plants they illustrate,
besides beiug artistically beautiful. Mrs. Blake, iu
tho majority of her pictures, shows us the plant, its
foliage, fruit, and flowers. Sometimes she adds, as
a background, a landscape ; and now and then she
has included one or two specimens of insects, but-

The picture which appears to attract most attention
is that shown in the colored illustration in the
Handbook of the west side Picture Gallery. It is
thus described in the catalogue : —

In the centre is an immense painting of " A Wave
breaking upon the Bahamas Coast." The transparency
of the water, the brilliance of the colouring, and
the perfection of every detail reflects greatly upon the
exceptional powers of the artist, Mr. Bierstadt.

Mr. Albert Bierstadt is called " the Millais of
America " : whether this title is deserved or not
I cannot say ; but certainly to the unartistic eye
the painting seems wonderfully well done, and I
should not be surprised to learn that it has been
sold at the high price (£1,000) affixed to it. The
old maps and books and specimens of Carib pot-
tery &G, shown in cases in these Courts are all
very interesting, especially to the student and anti-
quarian. The Jamaican Court shows " the touch
of a vanished hand," that of Mr. Morris, whose
labors on behalf of Ceylon, St. Helena and Jamaica
have been recognized by his appointment as Assist-
ant Director at Kew. To his energy are largely
due the various exhibits of the Botanical Depart-
ment, including cinchona, spices and drugs of all
kinds, oils, woods, &c. Some very fine samples
of coffee and cacao are shown, among the former
beiug several from Arntully estate, with which Mr.
W. Sabonadiure is connected. Mr. J. Hart ex-
hibits some "Assam tea, prepared from plants grow-
ing on the Government Cinchona Plantation,
Jamaica:" of courte this is simply an experiment,
and Ceylon planters need not fear rivalry in that
quarter. In the Trinidad Court the chief ex-
hibits are the preducts of the sugarcane, cacao
coffee and chocolate and asphalt bitters. There is
a large collection of wood by Mr. S. Devenish, who
has compiled a list giving the English, French and
Spanish names as well as the scientific names
and families of each. A model of a cacao-curing
house is shown, illustrating the mode in which the
beans are dried in the sun. Before passing on, I
should rfote, that, as the Handbook states.

Opposite the Trinidad Court the Anglo-Continen-
tal Guano Works (late Ohlendorff's) exhibit a collec-
tion of Sugar Canes from all parts of the world. Here,
side by side, may be contrasted the different varie-
ties from West and East. Statistics of production and
imports, tools used lu sugar cultivation, and speci-
mens of the rat-killing mongoose, cane-borers, etc.,
make the exhibit a very attractive and interesting one
In the Barbados Court the i^redominant feature
is sugarcane and its products. Samples of bitu-
minous coal are shown, which testify to volcanic
action in this coral island ; and the sight of a
model house with ' hurricane cellars ' makes one
appreciate being out of the range of such destruct-
ive natural agencies in Ceylon. The exhibits from
the other Windward Islands are of much (he same
character as those above specified, jl would only
mention plantain meal, as it struck me that a pro-
fitable industry might Ise created in Ceylon in this
direction, as w^ell as in dried plantains sliced.
Of the Leeward Islands, Dominica has some in-
teresting exhibits, especially those of Dr. N. A. A.
Nicholls: and from Montserrat the lime-juice in-
dustry is well exhibited, not only in this Court but
in the eastern gallery where there are ' tasting
bars ' at which this refreshing drink can be had
gratis (by a certain number) and lime juice cordial,
tablets &C., can be purchased. British Hon-
duras has a fine collection of woods, fibres,
fruits, arts and manufactures as well as natural
products, and also some Indian antiquities :
and the exhibit from the Bahamas is small but
interesting, the bonnets made from gorgonas or
sea-l'evuij Icing very attractive to the lady visitors.

Oct. r, 1886, 1

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

243

A NEW INDTJSTRY--MINOR BUT USEFUL
FOR THE NATIVES OF CEYLON.

We li'irn that there is a good demand in
England :ir "crocodile leather," which is being
used Tor Llicj bags, purses, &c. In view of the
large number of crocodiles to be found in our
Eastern, Southern and Northern tanks and on
the margins of other waste waters extending from
Anuradhapura to Jaffna, it is a question whether
their capture and the conversion of their skins
into leather would not pay handsomely.

The skins, as exposed for sale, are stripped of
the hard scaly covering and present the color of
ordinary leather stamped with the figuring of the
outer scales. The price offered per skin is at
present we are told enormous, and none but the
choicest articles are made of this newiy developed
material. We think therefore that the authorities
of the Colombo Museum should prepare a few
specimen liides as used and sold in England, and
that, the (lovernment Agents in the districts
concerned, should exhibit the same with a view
to thrt development of an industry which would
put a good many rupees into the hands of the
poor half- fed villagers of the Vanni districts as
well as prove a benefit to many natives in the
Eastern, Southern and perhaps North-Western
provinces.

THE ORCHIDS OF CEYLON.

A friend writing from home teVls us that on
the occasion of a recent visit tu tlie magnificent
Botanical Gardens at Kew, he was struck by ob-
serving that there was an absence in the houses
there devoted to orchidiur of many specimens
with which he had become acquainted while
resident in Ceylon. So much attention is now
directed — not by botanists alone — but by home
floriculturists to this family of the plant world,
that it is certainly ^desirable some effort should be
made to have every member that can be dis*
covered, represented in the national collection.

Not very many years back, while travelling
through the dense forest towards Batticaloa, the
gentleman already referred to, saw for the first

time forms of orchids which had, to that time,
he^n altogether unknown to him. Of one of these
varieties he sent specimens to Kew, where it was
pronounced to be of a new kind and was gladly
accepted and propagated. There is no part of
Ceylon where orchids grow in such profusion, or
in such variety, as they do on the forest trees
in the neighbourhood of the Rugam tank, only
a few miles distant from Batticaloa. Doubtless
great liavoc has been made thereabouts by the
clearing of the land recently brought under cul-
tivation through the execution of the irrigation
works, but it is exceedingly improbable that having
once flourished in the district, there should not
remain many undisturbed spots where these lovely
eccentricities of nature do still abound. We are
asked to suggest that those whose business or
])lcasure take them into the recesses of the
forests we have referred to, or to others equally
favourable and remott;, should endeavour to secure
speciniLMi pkints of any varieties which may
appear to iw- new or rare. Their value as regards

their transportation to Kew can be determined
by a reference to the savants of Peradeniya ; but
so great, is the production and wealth of orchid
life in the forests between the foot of the hilly
ranges and the Batticaloa lake that — notwith-
standing all that has been done by the plant
collectors of Dr. Thwaites and Dr. Trimen — it is
just possible that careful search will reveal varieties
which may not yet have been named or catalogued.
In the paper which Dr. Trimen read before
the local branch of the Royal Asiatic Society a
few months ago. he mentioned that there were
in Ceylon of Orclitdea-, Ifio species of which 74
species (or 47'7 per cent) were endemic, that is
orchids peculiar to Ceylon. It ought to be an
object of interest and ambition— apart from
profit — with travellers, sportsmen and others to
add to this list.

The wonderful and endless changes in form
and colour which the family of the orchidcie
present to us are, to a great extent, the results
of hybridism. This, which is artificially induced
in the greenhouses of England, may be presumed
to go on j^naturally among surroundings specially
favourable to growth such as are presented in
favorite localities in Ceylon. Now in England it
is no nncomiuvon thing for sixty or seventy
guineas to be paid for a single new hybrid of
special beauty or eccentricity in form or colour.
It might prove far from unremunerative therefore,
for searclr to be made in the favorite Itahitat
of the plants for such hybridism as may have
occurred naturally. It may not be far-fetched
to assume that by encouraging hybridism in such
a vast storehouse of the plants as we possess
here in Ceylon, a new and paying form of industry
might be opened out. We are all accustomed to
laugh at the tulip-mania which wrought through
the speculation to which it gave rise, so much
ruin among our countrymen in the time of William
and Mary, and again also at that for ' crotons,'
favorite kinds of which sold in Java a very few
years ago for from £10 to £20 cash. But the
craze for orchids is scarcely less strong in its
present development than was that for the flashy
bulb of the Hollanders and more permanent than
that for crotons could be. If, as we learn is the
case, any new and strange variety of orchids
bring prices running up almost to 100 guineas
the plant who can pretend to say whether our
eastern forests might not prove well worth a
careful examination. There, at all events, the
plants abound among conditions most fostering
to their growth. A little art employed to aid
nature, and there need be no limit to the fantastic
forms and brilliant colours which a skilful operator
might produce and if he can bring these under
the notice of the connoiseur at home, he will
scarcely fail to reap the fitting pecuniary reward
of his labour and skill.

CINCHONA IN JAVA : OPINION OF THE

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF BATAVIA.

We present our readers with the flrst answer
received to our several enquiries addressed to well-,
informed quarters in Java. The following letter
is a formal one from the Chamber of Commerce,
Batavia, the office-bearers of which have promptly
and courteously responded to our enquh-y. It will
be seen that these gentlemen consider the estimate
(in our " Handbook and Directory ") of a total of IT)
million cinchona trees for -lava as above the fact,
while they very properly remark on the discourage-
ment to cultivation in the prevalent low prices for
bark. Altogether this report will be regarded as
reassuring by cinchona owners \n Ceylon who ought

544

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Oct. 1, 1886.

to say to Messieurs the President aud Secretary of
the Batavia Chamber of Commerce,
For this relief, much thanks —

(Earner van Koophandel en Nijverheid, No. 45,
Getal der Bijlagen:)

Batavia, 4th Sept. 1886.
Messrs. A. M. & J. Ferguson, Colombo.

In reply to your letter of 26th July, we beg to in-
form you that, according to the Colonial Report issued
hy the Dutch Colonial Department in September last
year, Government's plantations of cinchona for the
year 1884 amounted to l,.516,.'iO(J plants in the nursery-
gardens and l,7"):-5,90i) trees is the open air.

Private planters are very much against giving publi-
city to their operations and therefore we regret not
to be in a position to give you any reliable inform-
ations regarding the area under cultivation with cin-
chona trees en private estates.

We suppose, however, j-our estimate of 1.5 million
trees of all ages given in your Handbook, as you say,
as the extent of the cultivation in .Java, is rather
more than the real quantity. At all events when
prices remain as low as they are now, many plant-
ations, in so far as they are not of the best kinds of
Ledgerianas, will hardly cover the cost to gather the
bark.— 'The Chamber of Commerce of Batavia :

W. SuERMONDT, President,
F. Ader, Secretary.

TEA CULTIVATION AND LAND REGUL.

ATIONS IN NATAL

are thus noticed by the London correspondent of the
Indian Tea Gazette : —

At last the Natal samples promised sometime back
liave come to hand, but they have yet to be soldered up
I see, which means that they will not arrive at your
end till possibly a fortnight after this. I send them
merely as curiosities of interest from a new tea growing
colony which has already 400 acres under tea and is
planting out 200 more. The cHmate, or rather climates,
for with their hills in Natal they have several climates,
are excellent, and altogether the life is enough to tempt
anyone, who has had enough of jungle life and dis-
comfort, to start for Natal to begin afresh. To do so,
however, upon no capital and without a certain ap-
pointment to go to, is to drop the bone to snap at the
shadow, and a very long march to disappointment,
which may be found at far less cost close at baud if
.sought for. The following extract from the land regul-
ations of Natal, dealing with lauds likely to be re-
([uired by a tea-planter, as there are other regulations
lor grazing and other classes of land, may not be amiss
here. All Crown lands otherwise unappropriated are
open for sale in freehold (except those referred to in
the regulations) in lots of not over 2,000 acres each,
payable in ten annual instalments without interest,
but subject to certain servitudes connected with roads,
railways, minerals, and outspan, and subject also to
compulsory occupation. The definition of occupation is
expressed as follows: — " To constitute such beneficial
occupation, there must be continuous personal occup-
ation by the purchaser or by his agent, duly approved
of by the Surveyor-General, during nine months in
every year of the period for which the occupation
certificate is issued, and the erection of a suitable home-
st'ad or dwelling-house, and the cultivation, where
the lands purchased are 100 acres or more in extent,
of not less than one acre in every 100 acres." The
process laid down is as follows : — A person
having selected the lands he wants, makes applic-
ation to the Surveyor -General, depositing certain tees.
The survey (at purchaser's expense) is then completed
and the lot is advertised for sale by auction at an
upset price of ten shillings per acre. The intending
purchaser must watch this : if he buys the lot, he
must pay down one-tenth of the purchase price in
each, and a further tenth each succeeding year till
the whole is paid, but is charged no interest. He
can then obtain clear title, having first satisfied the
Surveyor-General that the conditions of occupatiou

have been complied with, and on payment of a further
sum of 40s. Should any purchaser wish to pay for
a lot, not exceeding certain limits, at once, he can
do so; but an auction sale must take place. The
upset price in that case is 20s per acre, and the
occupation clause is inoperative. I need hardly add
tliat the purchaser of land in a country of varied
soils and diversified physical conditions as are to be
met with in Natal, needs to take every precaution,
and should bear in mind that a small estate of good
soil and aspect, well looked after, is far more profit-
able than a large, unwieldy property, though bought
at a cheap rate. Over and above the large amount
01 Government lands still available — though not by
any means all suited for tea — there arc; doubtless
numbers of private owners of grants hi excess of their
needs, who would be willing either to sell land to
new comers on terms of credit, or to lease it with
right of purchase at a date to be fixed. At the
present time the usual prices are, on the coast, where
sugar and tropical products are raised, from £1 to
£6 per acre ; in the midlands from fifteen to thirty
shillings ; and in the up-country or pastoral districts,
capable likewise of producing cereals, from 12 to 15s
per acre.

♦

CEYLON UPGOUNRY PLANTING REPORT:

A NOVELTY IN TEi : MANUFACTUEIXG THE FLOWERS —
THE NEW PRODUCT COCA.

13th September 1886.

I have been shown a novelty in tea. The .sample
was made from the flower instead of the leaf, and
while it had all the fragrant aroma common to
high-class, well-made teas, the color was bright
orange. This, I should fancy, would prove a delicate
enough article, aud meet the wants of the most
fastidious. As to how it tasted that I cannot say.
I question if, up to the time I saw it, it had been
liquored : my opinion is that it had not. Perhaps
the owner of this dainty article was not quite sure
what its effects might be — in the tea seed there is
said to be poison, so there may be also in the
flower — and it is possible that he was waiting for a
friend to come around on whom it might be tried.
If the selection were judiciously made, that friend
might remember him all his life. I knew of one
manager whose memory will ever remain green in
consequence of his zeal. He was so determined to
get a strong liquor for his teas, and succeeded so
well, that a cup of it— taken in ignorance when
"^t was new — almost killed the wife of the proprietor,
and was likely to lead to a change in the management!

Whatever may be the effects of the flowery tea,
there is no doubt it would be a boon to estates
with a bad jat if the flower could be utilized,
and it has been utilized. I heard of one place
where the flower has been regularly plucked with
the leaf rolled together, and the tea has realized
a fine price. Whether it be that the high average
got by this estate has been owing to the presence
of the leaf of the flower having been mixed with
the other, or in spite of it, I cannot say, but that
the flower can be manufactured, is something to
know. It is a puzzle what to do with those plants
which icill flower, few finding that to pluck the
flower off is a thing that pays. To get however
some return for that labour, would put a different
complexion on things, and benefit in more ways
than one.

The new product Coca which was run after a
year or so ago, is not receiving much attention,
although there are some people who are now
planting it. That the export of its leaves from
Ceylon will ever be very great is not a likely
thing, but those who know about it, and what
weight of leaf it is likely to yield, incline to think
that even at the present price — 8d. a lb., I beheve
—it will pay to grow. If I remember aright,

Oct. 1, 1886,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

245

when we tiist had a trial of this plant and agonized
over the few seeds supplied by the Royal Botanic
Gardens, Peradeniya, seeing in them the potential-
ities of future fortune, the price for the coca
leaf was said to be 13s a lb. and now, —
well it is down to 8d. I suppose it was because
we threatened to grow it, that there was this truly
characteristic Ceylon decline. Had we done it,
we would have had to give the leaves away
for nothing. PEPPEuroRN.
♦ •

MANILA NEWS.

(Translated for the Straits Times.)
In the Philippines, too, the prospects of sugar
growers are far from encouraging. The future
gloomy enough already owing to low prices has
become more unpromising still by the Home Finance
Minister directing that sugar imported from the
Philippines into Spain should be saddled with a
duty amounting to seventeen pesetas and a half on
every 100 kilogrammes. This rate comes to ll'Ol
per picul. The average price of the sugar for-
warded to Spain is 14 per picul, so that the duty
is almost 40 per cent on the value. Under these
conditions, the sugar trade with the mother country
will become impracticable. A congress of sugar-
growers is shortly to meet in Spain. It is expected
that they will take steps to secure greater liberal-
ity to their Philippine fellows in fiscal matters.

PLANTING IN THE WYNAAD.

Rain, rain, rain for six continuous weeks, and still
rain, and yet all the difference one notices is that
the streams run through the sJioias a trifle nioro
noisily, and the cataracts leap down the distant Neil-
gherries a trifle more furiously, so that one ponders
as one paces the verandah, how many inches might
have been registered during those memorable forty
days some six thousand years ago. Still this weather
is not to be grumbled at, for up to now it has been
perfect for planting, but as nearly all the young
plants are out, a few warm, sunny days would be
most acceptable. Another great advantage of this
weather is the necessity for fires; for what is more
pleasant than after a hard day's work trudging about
ankledeep in slush and mud, with water spouts burst-
ing over you and a bleak sou'-vvester howling round
you, than to throw yourself into a long arm-chan-
before a blazing fire and give yourself up to the pleasui'es
of a cheroot and the latest Indian Planters' Gazette.
At such time the most truculent coolie might cheek
you and fear not, and the distant belling of a sam-
bhur, as he invites his mate to come and browse off
your choicest child cinchonas, merely causes you to
remark with the Newmarket tout, '" Another little
trial sent for my good."

Coffee is beginning to look up again, the latest quot-
ation being M. P. 70s. and lucky are they who have
not yet sold. Though some of the first sliipments
fetched good prices, one small lot of twelve tons we
heard of averaging 71s which means at the present
rate of exchange RtiOO per ton net on the estate. The
estimates for the coming season are in the majority
of districts below the average, owing to the failure of
the early rains, but the bushes themselves are in
good fettle, so if the clerk of the weather will only
prove propitious next March and April, 1888 ought
to find some of us smiling

Our cinchona trees continue to grow and grow fast
but alack a day (wish we had one) the unit eve,
sinks, sinks faster, but being planters we hope for
better times, for a planter without hope is as a preacher
without charity, and besides Peruvian bark has lately
been discovered to be an antidote to alcohol, and
forty-two diseases, and they are daily discovering more,
are attributable to alcohol, therefore if the statis-
tics given at Blue-Ribbonite meetings are the truth
and nothing but the truth, the demand for cinchona
in some form or other ought to be on the. increase.

A young planter of an enterprising but economical
turn of mind is opening out an estate this season
on a rather novel plan. He has planted up fifty acres
thusways, — cinchona, six by six, coffee five by
five, tea four by four. Where to put each plant
causes the thoughtful coolie more heart searchings
than would the puzzle 1.5. When last heard of, our
friend was meditiiting, seeing there are still some five
inches of bare soil left, whether it would not be as
well to put down ground nuts or ginger to keep down
the weeds; and as he pursues his trivial round, his
daily task, he piay be heard chanting this roundelay: —
Weeds, weeds indeed I
I am going to do without them ;
Won't have them any more,
I am going to do without them.
As none have done before ;
I am going to be a planter
On a very novel j)lan,
And agents and neighbours all will say
Oh 1 what a 'cute young man 1 ! 1
May we for weeds never have to read coffee, tea, cin-
chona, ground-nuts, &c. &c. — Indian Printers Gazette.

The Sikkhim Cinchona Plantations. — We
find the following notice in the Madras Mail : —
"The Government cinchona plantations in Bengal
now contain upwards of five million trees, of various
ages, of which the red Succirubra and the yellow
Calisaya Ledgeriana are the most numerous. A
considerable addition was made to the number
of plants last year, upwards of 400,000 of the
yellow varieties being planted out. The yield of
the plantations amounted to 205,410 lb. of dry
bark, principally red, and the bulk of it was made
over, as usual, lo the febrifuge factory. The ex-
penditure on the plantations amounted to R79,728,
and the receipts to R93,476. The capital account
now amounts to R10,96, 2.5.5, but this has been
recouped by the saving effect by the substitution
of cinchona febrifuge for quinine in medical in-
stitutions."

German East African Plantation Company. —
This company has been formed in Berlin, the
promoters including Count Behr, Dr. Grimm
(Karlsruhe), Rear- Admiral Count von Hacke, Karl
von der Heydt (firm of von der Heydt-Kersten and
Sons, Elberfeld) ; Dr. Otto Kersten, Vice- Admiral
Livonius, Captain von Luck, Dr. Karl Peters, Herr
Paul Rcichard, Dr. Schroder, and Dr. Zentzytski.
The capital is to be 2,000,000 Mks., of which only
a quarter will at present be called up, the re-
mainder being called up at the rate of 2.5 per
cent, yearly. The company will cultivate tobacco
on lands to be acquired for the purpose in East
Africa. German growers, trained in Sumatra, and
coolies will be employed. The German East African
Company grants to the company 25,000 hectares of
land, receiving shares to the amount of the pur-
chase money, viz., 4 Mks. per hectare. — Kuhlmr's
German Trade Review.

The Planting op Gutta-percha. — We hear
that the Netherlands Government has caused ex-
periments on a large scale to be made in the gardens
of Buitenzorg in the cultivation of the plants which
yield Gutta-percha, and thus far the planting of the
following varieties has been attended with favorable
results. Palaijuium Gutta (Isonandra Gutta Hookerii)
from Singapore ; Palaquium Oblongifolium and
Payena Leerii, of Sumatra; Palaquium Treubii and
Palaquium Parrifolia, of Banca and Palaquium
Borneese, of Borneo. The plantations are at an elev-
ation of about 2,000 feet above sea-level ; where
fully 4,000 plants are growing so well as to leave no
doubt as to the success of the experiments. — We
have had the above translated for the Obsfrri-r from
the Indische Mercmtr of the 18th August, 188(5.
Have experiments been made in Ceylon with these
varieties ?

246

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

[Oct. I, 1886.

The Tea Plantek's MaiJual.— 'The public
ation of this book has been somewhat delayed -
but we arc liappy to state it is now nearly ready
and the 14th of this month will we hope se e
copies in the hands of those whose orders hav e
been registered. We may mention that the two
large factory plans have been lithographed at the
Surveyor-General's Office, Coloinbo, and they are
as well done as they could have been in India
or even the old country. The way in which this
work has been executed speaks very highly for
the quality of the work turned out by the Siir.
veyor-General.

Mangostekn Trees in Ceylon. — I learn that
there are several very line mangosteen trees at
Galle which have been in bearing for at least 20
years past. Durians also bear at Galle. I hear at
Baddegama there are mangosteens planted on a
cabook hill, but these probably have been manured.
They are bearing heavily this season. A day or
two ago I- heard of a lot of trees at Ratnapura
doing well, and if my recollection serves me there
used to be mangosteens on the old Nillarabe nut-
meg estate which was abandoned over 20 years
ago. Home of your correspondents might tell us
the history of 'those nutmegs and other spices
which were tried at Nillambe, I think, by Sir John
Cheape. — Cor.

Value oe Tea Property. — Our Upper Lindula
correspondent — an old and experienced planter
both as proprietor and superintendent, — starts a
discussion on this subject, by showing that a
certain favourite property if it gets 000 lb in
tea per acre as is expected, should at seven
years' purchase, be worth over R900 per acre
when in full bearing. We do not at all quarrel
with the calculation in this particular case ; but
if we were asked for an average valuation of tea
properties coming into bearing in Ceylon, we should
be inclined to fall back on what was at one time
the old standard rate for coffee namely BiOO per
acre — basing our estimate on an average crop of
400 lb per acre and 10 cents per lb. protiit at 10 years'
purchase. Of course a very mucii better return
can be shown, and is expected, from tlie major-
ity of tea gardens in Ceylon; but there are ex-
ceptions already and these will probably increase
as tea fields on old coffee land begin to crop.

The Cixchon'A of Netherlands India. — We had
occasion some time ago to notice a paper read by
jNIr. Brady at a meeting of the Pharmacentical So-
ciety, in wliich he gave an account of a visit he
liari paid to tlie Government Cinchona Plantations
in Java. We gathered from his remarks thp«t, for
some years to come no considerable exports of bark
was to be expected from that island, as nearly all
available trees had been uprooted to make room for
the more valuable kind of " ledgers," to which
species the local authorities had decided to devote
all their attention. Tiie fact of old ground having
to be cleared to make room for the new plantings
did not look as if suitable land was abundant, and
the total extent of the Government's estates, which
have usually been supposed to be the principal source
of the Javan baric export, was then only 1.200 acres.
* * * Mr. Mundt'r IT.'i.OfM) acres of cnichona will
probably come into yield about the same time as that
riglit good fellow Allan Onatermain revisits Leu, and
sw.imns the diamond market with his discoveries in
" Solomon's Mines." One phase of this question has
apparently escaped the attention of the Ce't Ion
planters, who by the last accounts, are still some-
what alarmed about the .Tavan ledgers, namely, what
effect the approaching largely increased Indian ex-
port is likely to have upon them. Hithcnto the
bark trade from this country has been comparatively
insignificant, but were statistics tivaiiable, it would
be found that the five years' exemption from tax-
ation conceded by Sir M. E. Grant-Duft"s Govern-
went in 1»82 baa atartliugly increased tlie acreage

under cultivation. Our planting districta cannot show
175,000 acres of cinchona ; and the Forest Depart-
ment will probably see that they never do so, but
there is enough growing— and growing remarkably
well too — to make a very fair show even besides the
Ceylon export of the last two years ; not that that
inflated state of things is likely to be maintained.
Even if the 20,000 acres which it is just wildly pos-
sible may be in existence in Java, should ever come,
into maturity, the competition will not be enough
to hurt the Indian planter. It appears that in Java
the custom is not to harvest bark from trees less
i than six or seven years of age, — a fact that will
perhaps raise the old controversy as to the relative
profits from growing these expensive and delicate
varieties as compared with the commoner sorts
which yield less quinine, but can be worked earlier,
and give more bark. On the whole, the opinion of
large owners who can afford to wait some time is
in favour of planting ledgers. — Madras Mail.

Tea in Upper Dimbula : VAiiUE of Tea Property. —
Upper . Lindula, 11th Sept.— No change in the
weather : it still continues to rain every hour of the
day. The sun peeps out between the clouds for a
few minutes at intervals to let us know he is there,
and to let us know he will "give it us hot" by
and bye. Everyone is taking advantage of these
September rains to get another round of tea supply-
ing done, and splendid weather it is for that work.
I had the pleasure yesterday of a long walk with
the proprietor, over one of the most promising,
perhaps the most promising of the young tea
estates in the whole of this district. Lippakelle
is well-known to be a property of exceptionally good
soil, good aspect, and very favourable in lay of
land. Its grand expanse of coft'ee in days gone by
encouraged its former proprietors to pay i' 18,000
sterling for it ; that figure was not considered
too high in those days when prices of coffee were
good and the estate gave regular crops. That coffee
is gone, and the beautiful fields of young tea spring
ing up where the coft'ee used to be, give promise
of giving as good returns as the old product did
in its former days. Every care has, and is being
taken to have none but the best jat of plants in
the ground. The great advantage that this estate
and most estates in this district have, is, that the soil
is not worn out, and no wash of soil has occurred,
the land having been well drained from the year
of clearing the forest. On the property I
am referring to, the rotten bark of the old
forest-trees and stumps is still to be
seen scattered on the surface of the ground.
Mr. Maciver, the lucky proprietor of Lippakelle, is
commencing the conversion of the coffee store
into a tea factory. In another eighteen months'
or two years' time, this hue property will be in
full bearing, and judging from tlie vigorous
growth of the bushes, a regular return of bOO lb.
the acre will not be too much to expect from it.
It is not easy to get at the value of a tea estate.
How many years' value to place on it ? Say
seven years after the fourth year from date 'of plant-
ling. At seven years' purchase, giving (100 lb. the
acre at 02 cents a lb. and say 40 cents for all
charges would leave 22 cents profit or R132 per
acre value of estate Pi<l24 per acre. Bnt how about
those who take their estates at ten years' pur-
chase and calculate a yield of at least SQO
and 1 .000 lb. per acre ? It makes one's hair stand on
end to think of such figures, and to make such cal-
culations will do more harm than good to the
tea enterprise of this island. The lucky owner
of Lipiiakelle need not fear short returns from
such line soil and tine jat of lea. Beginners in
tea would do well to take a walk over this
properly. I will undertake they will get a hearty
welcome, and, what's more, a rare glass 0' whiskey
into the bargain.

Oct. i, iii'66,\

THE TROPICAL AGRICOLTUKIST.

Hy

"^■^HiB^SHfi

AUSTRALIAN FORESTS.

bV UiiNKY I'. JlOOKJi, FKOJlJi, S0MEK8ET.

So much of the Australian continent remains un-
explored that the approximate area of its forest lands
cannot be even conjectured. One thing is certain,
however, and that is, that a much smaller portion
of its surface relatively .speaking is wooded thaa wos
the case on the North American continent when it
was first colonized bj' Europeans. Nevertheless, it
and the neighbouring islands of Tasmania and New
Zealand contain immerse forests of valuable timber
for both constructive and oinamentiil purposes. These
are described hi a recent report to the American
Government. There are 150 varieties of the Evcah/ptus
or gam tree, some of them attaining a gigantic height,
as, for example, the Eucalypt-us ami/gdalina, which has
been known to reach an altitude "of 480 feet. The
specific gravity of the Eticali/ptv.s rostrata, or red gum,
which is largely used for railway sleepers, nearly
equals that of the oak, while it is capable of sus-
taining a much greater pressure to the square inch
than either oak or teak. In point of durability the
harder varieties of the Eucal>/2>tus will last four times
as long as the former. Many of the Australian trees,
ns, for example, the Eucali/pfus botryokles the Cedrela
toona,* the black-wood, and the Erenela endlichcri, or
Cypress pine, and the numerous indigenous cedars, are
beautiful in grain and colour and take a fine polish.
The Kauri pine of New Zealand, which, with a
diameter at the base ranging from io to 20 feet, at-
tains to the height of 160 feet, and often jiresents
a columnar trunk of 100 feet without a branch, is
much prized for its timber by the shipbuilder, the
miner, the railway engineer, and the cabinetmaker.
What renders it exceptionally valuable is that it
exudes a gum almost equal to copal, the choicer
qualities of which will sometimes command from 584
to 730 dollars per ton in the London market. The
rurin or red pine, an ornamental as well as useful
timber, some of it resembhng rosewood, though ol: a
lighter brown colour, is largely used in the manufac-
ture of furniture. With the totara, a durable and
clean-grained wood, not unlike cedar in apijearance,
the Maoris made their largest canoes, and almost in-
variably constructed the palisading of their "pahs."
The forest trees of Western Australia claim special
attention on account of their useful and valuable pro-
perties. Among these may be mentioned the tuart
{Eiiculyptiiff ijoiiiiihocepluda), an extremely hard heavy,
and close-grained wood, which furnishes the strongest
timber known, its transverse strength jier square inch
being 2701 as compared with the English oak, which
is 2-117, or the Indian teak, which is 2'20;). Hence
it is extremely valuable for shipbuilding purposes.
The karri {Eucalyptus diver sicolor), also highly prized
for its timber, attains to colossal dimensions, some-
times measuring O'O feet in circumference at the base,
while its tall and shapely trunk rises to the height
of 300 feet without a single limb. The jarrif {Eucalyp-
tus marfjiaata), which resists successfully the attacks
of both the white ant and the Teredo iiavalis, is un-
surpassed for the durability of its timber. Specimens
oi jarrah piles, after being exposed between wind and
water for over forty years, are still found to be in
an almost perfect state of preservation. According
to the Director of the Botanical Gardens at Sydney,
uo country has been favoured by nature with a
greater variety and abundance of trees yielding strong,
beautiful, and durable timbers, than the colony of
New South Wales. Its magnificent forests contain
woods valuable alike to the cabinetmaker and the
shipbuilder, including such timbers as the different
species of the Eucalyptus, the red cedar, turpentine,
rosewood, mountain a.sh, and tulip-wood, mo.st of which
are beautiful in grain, rich in colour, and susceptible
of a high polish. (Queensland is richly endowed with
immense tracts of forest lauds, furnishiug large quan-
tities of valuable timber, and indirectly supplying the

*What is known in India fln<i Oylon as thf Tdoi'i
tree.— En.
fjarrah.— Ed.

soil with an abundance of rain.* The enormous fig
trees and gigantic Eucalypti tower aloft and spread
out their great arms, festooned with vines and flower-
ing paras^ites, which throw themselves over every
spreading branch, and deck it with their varied and
brilliant colours ; the tall pine trees, the cedar, the
myrtle, the rosewood, and tamarind trees are also
forest representatives. — Journal of Forestry.

THE CULTIVATION OF TOBACCO IN

IRELAND,
lu an article on this subject in the iVatioiud Review
Mr. R. Staples says that upon the revolt of the Ameri
can colonies, for the double purpose of punishing the
Virginia planters and trying to win the affections
of the Irish, the Government of Lord North made
it lawful to grow and cure tobacco in Ireland. There
can be no question that in certain districts where the
soil was suitable large profits were earned. The county
of Wexford, ami the neighbourhood of Enuiscorthy
in particular, was the most favoured spot in this res-
pect. A young man from Enuiscorthy had been over
to Maryland, anl on his return brought with him
some seed, and encouraged his brother to venture on
it, and from' half an acre 100^. had once been pro-
duced. Holding a farm of sixteen acres this man made
a profit of 1,200^. in seven years. It is frequently
asserted that the climate is unsuited to tobacco, and
that it cannot be profitably cultivated, but in face of
the weight of evidence existing to show that a profit
used once to be obtained from its growth this objection
cannot be considered of much value. In any case,
the abolition of an artificial restriction would soon
prove the truth or fallacy of this assertion, for, if it
cannot be produced at a profit to compete with
foreign tobacco on equal terms, tobacco, like wheat,
would again cease to be cultivated. The farmer would
soon prove to be the best judge of the profit or loss
derived from the transaction. One objection, no doubt,
is that it is an exhausting crop to the soil ; but the
same objection, only in a lesser degree, applies to flax,
which has been for many years past the mainstay
of industry in Ulster. And, as tobacco can now be
cured by steam, the influence of the weather on the
process of curing is of less importance than formerly.
The climate and soil appear to be as well adapted to
it as they are to the potato, which was introduced
at the same time and from the same source. Some
short time since an interesting paper on the subject
of the cultivation of tobacco was read in Dublin by
Mr. J. A. Walker, at a meeting of the Statistical and
Social Inquiry Society of Ireland. The writer of
that paper, who, like many others, is fully alive to
the necessity of finding some new employment for the
unoccupied agricultural population, had taken the
trouble to communicate with several gentlemen, both
in Ireland and America, who are intimately acquainted
with the conditions necessary to the successful grow-
ing and curing of the plant. According to the test-
imony of one of his correspondents a statute acre
should produce two and a half tons of dried tobacco,
and if, after paying all expenses, the farmer should
only realise a profit of ^d. per pound, it would amount
to over -Wl. per acre. Another estimate i.>laced the
Ijrofit to be derived at not upwards of 231, per acre,
but all accounts agr^e that a good and substantial
profit would be realised. In France the expense of
cultivating a hectare of land, nearly two acres, with
tobacco, is stated by M. Joubert (Tabac) to be about
o'2l. Id. 8d., and the average produce to be 86/. 5s.
leaving 54/. 3s. -id. for profit to the French farmer,
while even more can be made in successful season.s.
The collection of the excise duties in France is not
surrounded with any .special difficulties, and it is not
easy to see why it should be otherwise in Ireland.
In the year 1870, the latest for which there is any.

* The mountains have more to do with the rain
than the trees, amongst which the Toon I'red cedar^
and the A i!n!Cit:ia Bidirillit, the latttr preserved for the
sake of the cones, on which the natives fatten, ought
to have beeu specially mentioned,— Ed.

24&

TUB TUOPICAL AQme^Ltt3ni§%

[Oct. I; m^.

special return, the importation of uumanuf;ictured
tobacco into Ireland amounted to. 634,()32Jb. This is
of uumanufactiired tobacco alone, and mainly for the
use of the poorer classes, and exclusive of cigars,
which are a luxury for the rich.— Overland Mail.

AUSTEALIAN WATTLES.

AN INDIAN POSSIBILITY.

It is not long, since the planting craze throughout
India, was " divt divi" as a source of tannin destined
to bring wealth to some and benefit to many by
creating a planting industry which it was asserted
would meet a world-wide demand. Time, however,
has nullified these expectations, and now the
((uestion often asked is " what has become of the
divi divi." This negative result has been simply
induced by exaggeration, which did harm by raising
hopes through promises purely speculative and out-
side domain of the feasible and practicable. There
can be no doubt that there are various part of
India well adapted by nature for the production of this
variety of the botanical family called " Coriaria "
and the pity is that they have not been utilised
for the production of a commerical substance of
great value in the arts, commanding a high price
everywhere as tannin matter. Had divi divi received
three or four years back the attention it needed
for development as planting industry, with rumuner-
ative aspects, the Australian Colonists would not at
the present period be going in for the cultivation
of wattles for bark which likewise yield the same
material as the divi divi pods, and for which, owing
to the falling off in the supply of tannin barks,
there is a brisk demand in the markets of Europe.
It is stated on good authority that the Australian
wattle yields the best material in the world for the
purposes of the tanner. The trees known as
" wattles" in Australia are indigenous species of
acacia, and it is only since past improvidence in
regard to this natural product has commenced to
tell unfavourably upon the present supply that
attention has been devoted to the ijhysical pre-
delectious of the plants with a view of cultivating
them on a commercial scale. We learn from a
Government Report issued under the auspices of the
Executive of South Australia— which is the principal
habitat of the wattle— that two species are avail-
able for cultivation, and that outlay in this direction
would give a return for in excess of that which is
realized in ordinary indmtrial channels. The first of
these — Acacia pycnantha — commonly known as the
broad leaf or golden wattle, is the best of the
many varieties. It is hardy and quick-growing,
nourishing in localities where the rainfall averages 15
inches per annum. According to the South Australian
Official Report— due to Sir. T. E. Brown, the
Conservator of Forests—" this species will grow
readily in almost all kinds of soils, but its rate of
growth is most rapid in those of a sandy character
while at the same time the largest trees and the
be»t bark is produced on sites where the soils is
.•sandy on top and of a good retentive clay in the
ijub-soil. Mr. Brown adds, that '"with this tree we
have the means of making our poorest soils yield
valuable crops, instead of their lying idle and worth-
less." For of all the Acacias the bark from this
variety yields the largest percentage of tannic acid.
The other of two species referred to Acacia
dccuinn^, called the Black AVattIc, " delights in
sandy soil with clay sub-soil; but it attains its largest
dimensions upon a black alluvial soil of great depth,
and where there is great percolation of moisture."
It will even grow in situations where the soil is
almost pure sand. The cultivation of this variety
can. however, only be recommended in more moist
and temperate regions than those which favour the
growth of the broad leaf or golden wattle. In other
words, it will not grow satisfactorily and as a pay-
able crop in places when the rainfall is below 15
inches annually. This variety is not so rich in
tannin as the broad-leaf wattle, yet it is three
times more valuable ae a tauDiog agent tbau

English oak bark. These two species of the
Australian wattle, therefore, offer the best recommend-
ations for Indian cultivation. The broad-leaf wattle
only attaius a height of 25 feet and 12 inches iu
diameter, whereas, the black wattle grows to a
height of 40 or uH feet and to diameter, of 20
inches. The latter is therefore sooner available for
stripping, which, in either case, should not be
attempted before the expiration of seven years from
seeding. The bavk now sells at £S7 per ton ; and,
since 10 lbs. of bark is the lowest yield per tree,
and 1,000 trees may be easily planted to the acre,
the profits derivable from wattle cultivation are
therefore found to be highly remunerative. "We have
no doubt that wattles might be i^rofitably cultivated
in India. Considering the vast extent of wasteland
suitable for the purpose in the country and facil-
ities it affords generally for this class of industry,
the possible becomes very probable that not only
the European planter but the Indian ryot would
find this a good field for investment. — Indian Agri'
cultural Gazette.

Surface Culture in Fruit Farming. — According to
Mr. Kruse, of Yew Tree farm, near Maidstone, fruit-
growing best succeeds when the roots not interfered
with are left to multiply and interlace, and so take
advantage of the upper and more nutritive soil. So
he practically uses only the common garden hoe and
the pruning-kuife, aided by an abundant top-dressing,
mainly of bones crushed to quarter-incli size. As
much as from £10 to £13 per acre is yearly .spent on
manure which is simply placed on the surface of the
soil. According to a correspondent of Tlie Field, the
results have this year been very gratifying, as regards
strawberries, gooseberries, black currants, as well as
apples, cherries, and damsons. — Journal of Forestry/.

Lord Tor.i.EMACHE's Estate Management. — On these
extensive domains in Cheshire and Suffolk extending to
about 33,000 acres, there are 250 cottages each with
three acres attached, so that the occupant may keep
a cow. There are also fiftv-one farms averaging 25
acres, some of which are in the hands of carpenters,
blacksmiths, and other artisans residing on the pro-
perty. There are besides fifty houses built by other
resident tradesmen on ninety-nine years' leasss. This
admixture of large and small holdings yields the
happiest results. — Journal of Forestn/. [And will con-
tinue to do so while the tenants are intelligent, sober,
provident and industrious, conditions which would
beneficially affect even the wretched Hebridean crofters.
—Ed.]

Coconut Toilkt Soaps. — Some interesting inform-
ation on the jireparation of cheap coconut toilet !<oaps
comes to us from Herr Eichmann, who discusses the
so called "filling" of soaps made from coconut oil.
Soaps charged with soluble glass, although at first
presenting a fine, transparent appearance, gradually
dry up to and become coated with a solid crust. More-
over, he assures us that such soaps are apt to act rather
injuriously upon the skin of the persons who use them.
Salt solutions, having a specific gravity of 15° \o 20",
Baume, are occasionally used in conjunction v/ith soluble
glass. The behaviour of potash solutions is similar to
that presented by soluble glass. Talc is used either
alone, or in admixture with .soluble glass, for the "filling"
of inferior toilet soaps. Where it is employed, it is
mixed with a small quantity of coconut oil, and then
added to the whole charge of oil- The same writer
offers some remarks on curd soaps, from which we
glean that for the preparation of a good curd soitj)
with a sih'ery fracture, we should boil TOO kilogrammes
of tallow with soda-ley of 16° B. to a clear jelly, and
introduce 450 of palm nut oil, and U)0 kilogrammes
of coconut oil with the requisite quantity of cau.stic
ley at 23* B. The mixture is then boiled until a clear
jelly, free from froth, is obtained. After the laps of
two hours, any scum that may have found its way to
the surface is removed, and the product is salted or i)rc-
cipitated respectively with salt solution of 20^ B., or
caustic soda-ley of 40" B.—Buryoyn ^ Co.'s Jlonthly Ex-
port Price Current.

Oct. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

n9

AGEICULTUEE ON THE CONTINENT OF
EUKOPE.

(Special Letter.)

Pabis, Aug. 7th.
M. Peligot announces some interesting facts
about sugar beet, and the influence of atmosphfiic
humidity and rains, on the quantity of sugar con-
tained in the bulb. According to bin), M. Girard
experimented with beet from the 19th June, to the
1st October last. Every twelve days he analysed
roots, simultaneously recording the meteorological
condition of the atmosphere. Excepting the water
and sugar contained in the root, the other matters
never changed ; the water varied from 83, to 89 per
cent, while the sugar fluctuated from 5, to IS per cent ;
but the water and sugar together, strange fact,
uniformly represented 94 per cent of the bulb. The
sugar augmented, as the water dechned, both compens-
ating exactly. However, once the sugar became
deposited in the root, that is, stored up, it there
remaiaed unaffected by the conditions of vegetations
or the action of rain.

M. Gagnaire confirms his experiments, that sulpliuret
of carbon is eiBcacious in the destruction of wire worm,
moles, beetles &c-, whether in garden or field ; half an
ounce per square yard dug in the soil with a spade,
will get rid of the vermin.

over-dried they lose their agreeable aroma anil
peculiar flavour.

The exact time for collection is when the green
leaves are mature enough to break on bending. They
are then pulled from the branches by native women
and cliildren. The subsequent ex-iicfatiou has to be
gradual, and is effected by exposing them iu thin
layers to the heat of the san.—0lie>7iist and Druc/yigt,

EBYTHEOXYLON COCA.

BV J. B. LILLIE MACKAY, A.K.C.

Foi-merly Prrfessor of Materia Medica to the Birkheck
Institutioi/, London.)

Ooca, or the " narcotic of the Andes," as ic has
been called, has for some time past created a good
deal of interest both to medical men and pharmacists,
who in late years have devoted no little attention to
the properties and uses of this remarkable drug.

It consists of the leaves of the Evythroxylon coca,
a plant, indigenous to South America, which thrives
most in the valleys to be found on the eastern slopes
of the Andes chain, in that continent. It grows best
at an elevation of from 5,000 to 6,000 feet above
the sea level.

The plant belongs to the natural family Erythroxy-
lacew nearly allied to the Malpiuldaccie or Barbadoes
cherry tribe ; and must not be confounded with
Tlitohroitia Cacao, which yields cocoa, nor with the
coconut tree {Cocos 'nucifera), species of palm. It
is. however, from the cultivated shrub, and not the
wild plant, that we obtain the sun-dried leaves which
constitute the coca of commerce.

Some description of coca plantation may prove in-
teresting to the readers of this journal. The plant,
a bush attaining a height of seven or eight feet,
abimdantly covered with green foliage, and bearing
small white flowers, is raised from seed sown in
December and the early mouths of the year, just
before or after the commencement of the rainy season
which prevails in these tropical regions. A mean
temperature of 66 deg. Fahr. is most conducive to its
healthy development. During growth the young seed-
lings require much watering, as well as protection from
the sun's rays. The latter is frequently secured by
the erection of thatched roofs over the nursery grounds
where the plants are reared. Sometimes, however,
shade is procured by the interplanting of palms or
Indian corn. The plants are generally grown in
terraces on the slopes of the hills in a similar manner
to that carried out in the vineyards of Palestine and
Southern Europe. After eighteen months the harvest
begins, and may be continued at the proper season,
for forty years, from the same plant. The average
crop from each bush is about 2|lbs., or 30 arrobas
(800 lb.) from an acre. Three pickings are got from
the shrubs in the twelvemonths, but if irrigation is
well carried out, no less than four harvests per annum
may bo obtained.

Almost a.s much care is required in the selection
and drying of the leaves as in the case of tea plant
cultivat- I in (.'hina and Imiia. If the gathered leaves
.-ire too int.i,^t they are liable to decompose, while if

COFFEE PLANTING IN' SOUTHERN INDIA
AND CEYLON. -No. li

(Review of "Wrinkles and Hinis on Coffee-

PL.^NTING" with diagrams and SPECIIIENS OF FORIIS
BY GEORGE WILDES ; MADRAS, .\DDISION AND
CO., MOUNT BO.U),)

(Continued from page S05.J

ESTIMATES.

An experienced pi inter can make a pretty accurate
estimate of the expenditure necessary under his own
system for any given operation, and he may make
a tolerable approximation to the quantity of ciop ou
an estate he knows well if he takes pains, but no
dependence can be put on any estimate that proposes
to go deeper.

I recollected a case in which the necessity of local
experience in estimating crop on the trees, was clearly
illustrated. Two estates were situated on each side
of a dividing stream. The older of the two had
always been pretty-well cultivated and the other had
been awfully neglected, but under a new agency and a
new superintendent a change was wrought thnt
brought out latent powers of the soil, and the re-
pressed vigor of the trees which developed in heavy
and brilliant foliage. Planters from other districts
passing through remarked that the old shuck place
was" greatly improved, but had gone too much to
leaf; but every one talked of the magniflcient crop
on its neighbour. The two superintendents both
estimated 10 cwt. Tlie agent for both (no red tape
planter, but a sound experienced man) added one to
the estimate of the one, and deducted two from that
of the other. When the crops were despatched and
cleared out, the one that made the noble display had
given 41 parchment bushels per acre ; the one that
had modestly hidden its treasure in its foliage,
gave 55.

Ou the first occasion I had to estimate a crop, I
confessed to my superior, my distrusted powers and
he undertook it himself, mentioning as a proof of
bis ability, that his estimate of the crop of another
estate the pevious year had turned out correct within
three hi/sktls. His estimate was made and booked,
and would have turned out very nearly the truth if
he had not omitted to divide it bj' two. I suppose
no such wild estimates of crop takes place nowadaj's,
yet we do hear of crop estimates being revised after
the gathering has been going on for six weeks, of
longer.

ACCOUNTS.

In Oeylon forjns are generally supplied, so that **-
is no p<irt of a superintendent's duty either to niak®
or select a system for himself. AVeekly reporf
never have taken root in Oeylon, and are not likely
ever to do so, being to those who send and those who
receive them alike a bore.

I never knew a really good planter, who loved desk
work ; who did not work with dislike on the materials
of his monthly accounts ; and who did not defer
the uncongenial labour to the last moment. It is
sometimes, but not generally, incapacity or self dis-
trust that lies at the root of the planter's reluctance
to tackle the accounts, and that renders the time
devoted to them the most disagreeable of bis month,
but the same habit seems to grow even on those who
were good accountants, before they became plat\ters.

250

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Oct. 1, 1886.

The planter of earlier times contracted rust from
paucity of social intercourse, and plodding iu his own
groo\c till any change of liabits or duties became a
terror to him. He would do his possible to avoid
meeting strangers, and, alas ! iu too many cases he
tooic to solitary tippling ending iu D. T. and death.
The old CVylon planter can tell many a sad talc of
the neighbours, acquaintances and intimate friends of
from thirty to forty years age, and can never feel
tliankful enough that he himself escaped the dau
gens to which the life he was obliged to lead exposed
him iu common with those who succumbed.

Yes, truly, it is an mimanly and ignoble thing for
one who has been taught some tincture of letters
.•md the habits of the civilized society to become deg-
raded into a sloven or a sot or even one who defers
as long as possible a disagreeable duty, But send
.'society's brightest ornament into the jungle five
miles from a neighbour, and compare him with his
old self at the end of four or five years : you will
probably find that he has deteriorated not a little.
The planter's safeguard in a new country or a new
district is a taste for science or literature, or art, or
a good stout Hobby on which he can mount at
will and gallop away into the brightest regions of Utopia.

FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CULTIVATION IN
THE WEST INDIES : A TRIP TO CHIRIQUI.

On reaching that portion of our route where the
surrounding districts consisted of flat alluvial, we
noted several extensive Banana plantations. I was
informed on reliable authority that from the time of
planting to the production of fruit only some nine
or ten mouths were required, and the plants from their
thriving and luxuriant appearance would assist to bear
out this statement. They were planted in straight
rows some 10 to 12 feet apart, and were producing
enormous bunches of splendid fruit at the time of our
visit. So productive are these plantations becoming
on this and other rivers iu the locality that large
steamers begin to come iu regularly to load for the
American market, and when it is considered that.the
depth of water in the lagoon is sufficient to allow
thera to come to within easy distance of an hour or
an hour and a half's journey by canoe, it will easily
be seen what a profitable business it is likely to be-
come in the near future. The transit of the fruit
from the plantations to the steamers is all performed
by large (Jedar canoes similar to the one in wliich we
were travelling, or in larger ones dug out from the
enormous Cotton trees. Rice was growing wild on the
river banks, and appeared to ba of good qusility.
Several large Cane fields were also seen, and Canes
1-5 to 20 feet high were common objects.

Near the house was a large leguminous tree, which
was here known as the " Guanga," but though it
bore considerable resemblance to the tree known under
that name in Jamaica, it was not ♦^he same. It is a
tall umbrageous tree, with bijugate leaves and brown
hairy pods, somewhat falcate in outline, and 6-8
inches in length. These, when open, are fouad to con-
tain a sweet mucilaginous pulp, which envelopes the
.seeds, which when freed from their covering were of
a chocolate colour. The pulp much resembles that
covering the seeds of Theobroma, and h is a pleasant
sub-acid taste. There were also plenty of Coconut
trees, which foiuid a congenial home iu the sandy
soil of the beach, but on tasting them as " water
Coconuts " we found that they were much inferior
in flavour to those grown on the islands in the lagoon,
but the ripe nuts are ecjual in size and quality to those
grown in other places.

"We also procured seeds of "Samba (lum" tree.
These were about the size of small Nutmegs, and, like
them, were covered with a redilish arillus, or fleshy
covering, nuich resembling the JIaco of commerce.
The " Sandja Gum," when first produced from the
tree, is a yellowish creamy-looking liquid, which after
n time becomes hard and somewhat resinous, and
when in that condition resembles the " Hog Gum "
of Jamaica, the produce of Symphonia globulifera, if,
iudeeil. it is not the pm Imc nf lln-i same tree, for

it has not yet been our fortune to obtain seeds and
botanical specimens of the Jamaica plant.

The remaining days of our visit were spent mostly
indoors, on account of the very inclement weather
which prevailed at the time ; but even during this
time I was fully occupied in drying and properly pre-
serving the specimens I had already secured. One of
tde specimens thus brought to us was the fruit of a
Pas.sitlora, called the '' Wild Granadilla" locally. It
was a ripe fruit 1 inch in diameter, bright scarlet in
colour, having a very thin papery pericar]) witli light
coloured transverse and longitudinal markings. ft
contained a very pleasant sweet pulp, and, being fully
ripe, seeds were duly secured, and 1 am glad to say
safely transported to this island, where they are now
growing freely. It is a pretty species, and was found
on a small island called Careening Cay, forming the
tougue of the Bidl's IVIouth. Another plant of
interest of which seed was brought to us was Elais
guineensis, or the African Oil Palm, which has prob-
ably been introduced in a similar manner as it was
into Jamaica from the coast of AVestern Africa. "\V'e
also hn.d a fruit of the true Passiflora quadrangularis
brought to us under the name of " Granadilla." 1 had
not seen the fruit of this plant for some twenty year.s,
but it has often occurred to me that the name "Gra-
nadilla " was probably applied indiscriminately to the
two kinds, i.e., Passiflora macrocarpa and P. quad-
rangularis, the former of which is known and grown
in Jamaica as the " Granadilla." The difference
between the two varieties is not so much in the size
and shape of the leaves, which are very similar, but
in the different form, size, and flavour of the fruit
[and specialljf in the construction of the flower, l^u.].
The fruit of P. quadiangularis is in size about one-
third less than that of P. macrocarpa, more oval in
•shape, and of a darker green colour. It is nuich
superior to the ordinary fruit known as the " Grana-
dilla."

The fruit of Bromelia pita was also brought to
us. This is the "Silk Grass" of the district, and
is the plant from which all the Indian hammocks,
bags, &c., are manufactured. It has leaves some-
times over 10 feet iu length, in appearance not unlike
those of the " Penguin " of Jamaica, but the fruit of
the plant is much more like the Pine-apple, as it rises
on a stem 3 or 4 feet long from the crown of the
plant, and the pips,- are aggregated together, in a
similar manner to that fruit. The bracts are nuich
more distinct, bright scarlet, and close together, and
the pips are much smaller than those of the Pine-
apple, and not of such succulent nature. It is very
handsome, and were it not for the somewhat uuwieldly
proportions of the plant producing it would be of
some interest as an ornamental fruit.

The bread-fruit was a tree we found abundant in all
the islands, and was tended in every place with much
care, as it is one of the favourite plants selected by
the " AVe Wo " and for the display of its depredatory
powers. It nevertheless thrives well, and produces
fruit in abundance. " Ca.ssava," as a rule, is not so
prolific as in some of the drier districts in Jamaica,
but it is generally cultivated by both Creoles and
Indians. Tobacco is grown, but is of very inferior
quality. Limes are plentiful, but Oranges are scarce,
rendered so by the constant attacks of the " We-We "
upon the leaves of the tree.

The Star-apple was fairly common, and several
trees of Blighia sapida, the " Ackee," were in cultiv-
ation near the settlements.

There is one variety of Coconut which is deserv-
ing of special mention. It is called the "green-
skinned," and though to all outward appearance it is
smaller than the ordinary kind, it is found that when
denuded of its husk the nut is very much superior in
size.- It is apparently quite as jirolific, the trees are
as quick in growth and quite as hardy as the ordinaiy
variety. The nut when ripe is about one-third
larger, and is much handsomer than the commoi\ one.
As water Coconuts they contain a very large quan-
tity of liquid ; one we had given us produced sufficient
t'j fill a soda-water tumbler once and a half, and
we were informed it was not selected for its extra

Oct. I, jS86;]

THg TROPICAL AORXCaLTURISl^

li'^

size. It would be well for those who inteud cultiv-
ating the Coconut in Jamaica if they were to seek
a supply of this special kind, as without any doubt it
is very much more valuable than the common variety,
and would coniniaud a much higher price in any
market.

A destructive auimal in the provision grounds is
the sloth, which is fairly numerous. It is a disgusting
looking creature, and specially adapted in form for
living in the branches of trees, &c. It is to be seen
occasionallj' at mid-day perched upon the top of a
buuch of Bananas or Plantains, leisurely eating
them without any apparent regard to e.\;terual
objects, never leaving the bunch until it is entirely
consumed.

riue-apples of the several commoner kinds are in
cultivation on the provision grounds; but just as we
were leaving we were presented with two enormous
fruits of a superior variety. I immediately recognised
this as being the true Smooth Cayenne, a variety
which I have not as yet seen in Jamaica. Inquiring
into the history of its introduction into the i.slands,
we were tol<l that the plants were introduced from
Jamaica. It is one of the best varieties that can
be grown, and is highly esteemed, even when produced
under artificial cu)tivatioir in English hothouses.
I cannot t.ike leave of this district without mention-
ing the immense tract of land on the interior mouu-
tiiins, which without a doubt possess a climate some-
what simUar to the Jamaica hills. Hence it follows
that there is plenty of room for the cultivation of
such products as Cinchona, Coffee, Tea, kc, while
the coast districts are suitable for the growth of
nearly all tropical products, &c. Cacao is at home
in the tracls near the coast, and produces much finer
beans naturally than can be exhibited by many other
countries which expend a large amount of capital and
labour iu its production. — J. Haht, Jamaica. —
Gardener s" Chronicle.

INDIAN AND CEYLON TEA AND COFFEE,

AND THE TEBEIBLE ADULTEBATION OF

THE LATTER.

[A mercantile correspondent in expressing the wish
that the following article should be republished, says
that Mes.srs. Gladstone and Bright are largely respon-
sible for the adulteration of coffee as sold to the
J']nglish working classes, but so, in fact, are all
M. r.'s who are silent under the present iniquitous
system of allowing mixtures of coffee and foreign
substances t" he sold. — Ed]

Nature has prepared, in Ceylon and Southern India,
a special home for the plants from the leaves of one
of which and from the seeds, of the other come an
average Briton's mornin?- and evening draught. China
may be proud of her Pekoe and may set aside her
choicest Bohra for the cultivated throats of Mand-
arins, but events seem to hint that it is no longer
her destiny to fill the breakfast urns of " foreign
devils" with those sun-dried leaves that have for so
long formed her staple trade. In Assam, to the
Soutli, and farther down yet in Hindustan, where
the black Deccan soil dips away iu noble terraces,
to the teeming plains of the Madras lowlands, there
are districts where the tea shrub can be, and is,
as well and successfully cultivated as it ever was
beside the ciuals and willow trees of the Celestial
kingdom, Ceylon, again, a little thrown bask by her
short coffee crops, now finds she can grow good tea,
and, what is equally important, can dry and cure it
to suit the curious and difficult tastes of Europe.
The industry is rising rapidly within the limits of
that brightest jewel of the English Crown, and the
island hillside.", where the disease-swept miles of coffee
bushes stood a year or two ago, have now put on a
new livery of venlure and in-osperity, and the "flush"
of new leaves which marks the commencement of each
season finds a counterpart, we must hope, in the
cash-account of Englishmen who have been down to
the very bottom of the well of despondency till this
uew enterprise rescued them.

This Ceylon tea is not a mere fancy article. _ It is
good sterling "stuff," commanding a high price in
the open market, of recognized strength, cured with
the best knowledge of modern times — as regards the
best samples, at least — packed judiciously in well-
chosen wood, and to be had for the asking in a
steady and constant stream. Only two things are
necessary to exalt Indian tea to the pinnacle of good
repute and fasMon — the stern suppression of adulter-
ation in every form and an encouraging initiative
patronage by all those who wish well to Briti.sh trade
and enterprize. "While dark arts are in certain quarters
practiced to a lamentable extent ia disguising and
weighting teas, coft'ee suffers even more from thi.s
cause than the alternate drink. It is an open secret
that consumers at home very rarely obtain a genuinely
good cup of coffee untampered with and prepared as
it should be. Here, in these stalls at South Kensington,
may be ."^een the bean in its natural state, just as it
conies down Indian Ghauts on the backs of a long
file of white bullocks, when the " pulp " and " parch-
ment " that composed the cherry-like fruit have been
crushed and washed off. .\gain, we see it here roasted
as it should be and ground finely, an operation that
should not take place until just before the coffee is
needed, as if kexit roasted and pulverized long, mvich
of the delicate strength and pungency is lost. When
visitors have had a hasty and superficial education in
the variety of beans from Mysore, Coorg, the AN'yuaad,
the Neilgherries, Travaucore, or whatever territorial
designation the sample may bear, they may put their
ideas of goodness to a practical test by stepping down
to the neighbouring coffee-stalls and sipping there with
judicial acumen a genuine cup of coffef, such as that
with which Fatima solaced the thoughtful moods of
the Prophet, and which to-day serves Afghan and
Arab, Nubiv. and Turk, for meat and drink combined.
Coffee is an invigorator for work and a restorative for
strained nerves and faculties. It must be owned that
the sovereign good qualities of this coffee, grown under
the .shadow of the British flag, may not strike every one
as a happy revelation. English taste is vitiated by long
abuse. People have drunk noxious compounds so
long that they hug their delusions and hardly
recognize anything but a foreign smack in the
genuine article when the allied planters and th 3 Ex-
hibition thrust it under their unappreciative noses.
In the United Kingdom its consumption hitherto,
unfortuuatelj', has bi'en hindered to a great extent
by many and shameful adulterations, ca.rried to .such
lengths that large classes of the population hardly
know the flavour of genuine coffee. Chicory is the
chief ingredient in the cheap mi.xtures, because it
soon makes hot water black, thick, and bitter, and
so gives apparent strength to what may contain
little of the coft'ce-berry. Among many other sub-
stances used to adulterate coffee are burnt sugar,
roasted and ground roots of dandelion, carrot, and
parsnip, together with beans, lupin and other seeds.
These are mixed in varying proportions, the only
" vegetable matter consistently in the minority " being
the substance that gives a nom de (/verve to the
miserable preparation. An analysis of forty-three
simples of coffee and coffee mixtures purchased in
London during March and April, 1S86, shows an
average proportion of coffee in these samples of
just fifty per cent., added to fifty per cent of burnt
sugar and various vegetable substances. Nine of those
samples contain from 62 to 93 per cent of chicory,
&c., averpging 70 per cent of other substances than
coft'ee. Those mixtures are sold at prices ranging
from lOd up to Is 4d per lb. The price of the pure
Indian coffee sold in packets at the IJoyal Commis-
sion's stalls is Is 4d per lb. Upon a moderate cal-
culation the vendors of many of the compoimds just
mentioned must be realizing profits of somotliing like
IDO per cent., and the worse the mixture the greater
the gain ; but from the report of the Local Govern=
ment Board for 1884-5 on this subject we nny call
a story which shows adulteration in cxcelsi^. Coffee,
says the evidence, continuc.s to be one of the chief
subjects tampered with, aud about one-fifth of the
gfiraplee examinod were cwidemaed, " Tbe peculiarity

^SC*

tH£ TROPICAL AGmCVLrURlBf.

[Oct, j, J8b6/

in one case was that the berries were actually shown
to the inspector and were ground in his presuuce, so
that there seemed to be no likelihood of an adultrr-
ation. Chicory, however, was found on analysis to Ije
present, and the vendor was .fined. It is possible
tliat this fraud was due to the revival of an old
practice of compressing chicory by machinery iuto
the size and shape of coffee berrie«. These sham
berries are mixed with real ones, and the purchaser
who sees what he believes to be coffee being ground
before his eyes, is hopelessly deceived. As chicorj'
only costs threepence or fourpence per pound, the
fraud is very profitable. It is no rare thing for so-
cared " coffee " to be sold which proves on analysis to
be composed of one-fourth part of coffee added to
three-fourths of chicory,"

There is no reason whatever why such deleterious
stuff should be drunk to the enrichment of unscru-
pulous dealers and the prejudice of a fine industry ;
a real article is perfectly accessible if we go to the
right quarter for it, and all that remains to be done
when we have qualified ourselves to judge by a cup
of the Commissioners' coffee is to secure our " Ceylon
plantation '' or " Mysoi e "—the older in bag the better,
for coffee improves with keeping— and then roast it
with skill. A modern Brillat Savarin is, however
much needed to teach the true manipulation of the
bean. The main care should be to roast the material
freshly, as it U needed, and the work may well be
done iu a dry, shallow frying pau, afterwards storing
it only in stoppered glass bottles ; having it ground
according to the prevailing fashion, or better still to
pound it iu a mortar as Turks do just before using.
Then if the Briton allows himself two ounces to a
pint of boiling water poured upon the crushed stone
— to boil coffee at auy stage is rank heresy — he will
have a beaker of healthful and dietetic drink such
as too seldom graces the table of any but a wise
and select few, and of which Pasquet Eosee himself
the first who made and sold good coffee iu London,
would not have been ashamed.

Half an hour may very well indeed be spent in
this Indian room, containing not the least worthy
of the many curious and varied collections of tbis
year's show, epitomizing, as all do, the wealth, in-
dustrj-, and endless capabilities of that realm
upon which the sun never sets. It matters little
that one branch of planting has suffered and suc-
cumbed under a widespread blight in Ceylon. Already
its place is taken and filled by more than one new
and promising enterprize. In India neither tea nor
coffee is yet within measurable distance of the limits
of production ; both stand high i)i the world's favor,
and, though appreciated today, ought to be still more
popular to-morrow. With their success is iiuked a
wide field of usefulness for adventurous younger .sous,
as well as the very desirable flow of English capital
to E igiish territories, and the securing of a whole-
some and cheap drink to replace the decoction of
the cabbage-stalk and burnt sugar, which has hitherto
pas.sed by the name of coffee. For many reasons
-the |>lauters" corner of the Indian and Colonial
E.Kbiiiiiion and the moral it teaches deserve, there-
fore, pub'.ic attention and reflection. — Daily Tcleyraph.

TOBACCO CULTIVATION IN LOWER BUBMAH
AND JAVA.

\i'e are indebted to Mr. H. Caine for the following
Interesting report, dated 1st June 1886, submitted by
hiroj to the Chief Commissioner of the Andaman and
Kicobar Islands on the cultivation of tobacco as
pursued it) Lower Burmah and Java: —

I have the honour to submit the following report
on the cultivation of tobacco as pursued in Lower
Burmah and Java.

Leaving Port Blair en the 23rd of February, 1
arrived iu Rangoon on 26th instant, and having a
a little time at my disposa'. pending the departure
of the Straits. steamer, I decided to go further inland,
and visit the tobacco districts under the charge of
Mr F. CabanisB, Assistant Director of the Agricultural
Pepartment. With this object in view, I left Baogoon

as soon as I had informed Mr. Cabaniss of my intend-
ed visit. I met this gentleman at Jlj'anoung, on the
Irrawaddy river ; we started together for Thayetmyo,
from which place we proposed dropping down the
river in a small boat to see the tobacco on the banks
of the river. The following is a summary of the
tobacco cultivation which I noticed in the Prome and
Thayetmyo districts . —

The tobacco grown by the Burmese in Lower Burmah
is usually planted in alluvial deposists without any
prepai-ation of the soil. The seed is sown broadcast
on the damp mud, and thus allowed to germinate,
which usually takes about eight days. When the
plants are well up, they are thinned out here and
there where crowded, and the surplus plants disposed
of at the rate of El per- hundred plants. The
remaining plants are left pretty much to themselves ;
very little (if any) hoeing or harrowing is done.

Mr. Cabaniss has instituted nurseries for trans-
planting at his own farm. A better crop could be
secured if the same plan were resorted to by the
Burmese themselves. The iJants could then be planted
out at regular intervals, each would have its own
area of land to grow upon, and a more regular crop
would be the result. Where village upland is used
for tobacco cultivation, the soil is ploughed up three
or four times, also partly broken up by wooden
rollers and five-pronged wooden harrows ; , in these
lands the seed is also sown broadcast, the plants
coming up very irregularly. The soil is not pulverized
as in Upper India, but broken up into small nodules
or lumps.

Ci'.rinrf. — I saw some of the tobacco cured by the
Burmese themselves after their own method, which,
however, does not differ materially from that of the
natives of L^pper India, only less care is taken over
it : the plants are cut when ripe and left to cure
in the sun, exposed to rain and night dews. The
samples I saw were dirty and badl}' cured. Mr.
Cabaniss has induced a few of the Burmese to try
shade-curing, which would greatly improve the quality
of the leaf; he also says tbat shade-cured tobacco
fetched R. 40 to 50 per 100 %iss, about 350 lb.,
which would be one anna and ten pies to two annas
three pies per lb. Sun-cured tobacco fetches some
E.IO less i)er 100 viss.

The seed is sown in December and January, and
takes about eight days to germinate.

I much regret that owing to my time being limited,
I was unable to visit the curing sheds at Slyanoung
under the supervision of Mr. Cabaniss. However, there
was no tobacco-curing at the time. I left Rangoon
on the 13th of ^larch and arrived at Singapore on
the 20th instant; from thence I crossed over to
Batavia on the 23rd instant, arriving at the latter
place on the 25th instant, Fi'om information received
from the British Consulate at Batavia, I decided to go
to Sourabaya to see tobacco grown in the Probolingo
and Passoei-ean districts. - 1 arrived at Sourubaya on
the 4tb, and from thence set out for Probolingo on
the Tih. I r. ceived letters of introduction to one or
two planters from Jlo.'-srs. Fraser, Ealon and Company,
of .Sourabaya; these gentlemen were very civil and
obliging. I engaged a native cart of Probo.ingo to
take me to Lomadgong, a distance of 10 mil-.s. The
roads were in fairly good order, lined by teak and
tamarind trees. There were vast tracts of land under
rice on each side, also a good deal of sugarcane
planted some four feet apart in ridges, allowing free
currents of air to circulate between the rows. A
fine grade of indigo is also grown in this district.
Jack fruit and rambutans (a sort of lichee with a
shell like a horse-chestnut) grown in abundance. I
arrived at Lomadgong on the 8th, and left this place
for the tobacco districts on the following morning.
The first planter I visited had finished curing, and
was engaged in sorting his tobacco leaf for the
Amsterdam market. He showed me his sheds and
system of bulking and prising.

Cvrinfj flieds in Java. — These sheds are built very
large and roomy, made up of bamboos and palm-leaf
thatch vnih plenty of space, so as to permit free
t'ijfpulatjou of nir and to prevent bouse-bntoiu^;

Oct, i, iSm

fUE rnOPlCAL AGRICULTURIST,

m

while allowing the plants to hang free of each other
These sheds are 300 feet long, (iO feet high iu the
niicUlle, by (50 feet broad, and would coiitaiu 30,000
lbs. of leaf hanging up. In this part of the district
the planter grows his tobacco ou much the plan as
that pursued by the tobacco farm at Poosa, Tirhoot.
namely, the cultivator receives so much advance on
his land which he cultivates himself receiving the
seed from the planter. The seed beds are 30 feet
X 3 feet in size. The e.xact proportions for sewing
the seeds are as follows ; —

With 1 ounce of seed mix 4 ounces of ashes
(wood) and 1 ounce of dry sand, then scatter over
the beds and rake over. When the plants are ripe,
they are bought by the planters at rates of 9 to 10
guilders, and sometimes when very fine plants, as
much as 20 guilders are given for 1,000 plants.
These rates vary according to the weight, size, and
texture of the leaf.

riantiny. — The seedlings are planted out at a dis-
tance of 2§ X 24 feet apart from each other, they
are topped when 8 to 10 feet high. The plants
grow tall with long narrow leaves, and about 20
leaves are allowed to remain on each plant.

In the Kedirie districts the planters iu most cases
possess the land, and then can make their own ar-
rangements about growing their crops. 4 to SOOlbs.
is the average turn-out per beegha.

Cunnff. — When the plants are ripe they are cut
off close to the ground, and then hung up in the
sheds with twine or some fibrous roots. No splitting
of the stalk is permitted, as the object of the
planters is to cure slowly.

The curing of the leaves usually takes about 24
days if the weather is moist and favourable. The
colour turns out a light brown which becomes a darker
shade through fermentation. If the weather is
hot and dry, the leaves cure quickly and become
more or less yellow which is a bad colour, and un-
suited for the manufacture of cigars. Otherwise
the curing process is the same as pursued in
shade-curing in India.

Fermenting. — When ready cured, and when the
leaves come in order, i. e., become moist and limp,
the tobacco should be taken down and bulked, the
leaves having been first of all stripped from the
stalk. The leaves are bulked in three bulks of some
4,000 lbs. each, ends outwards. Some planters fasten
a thermometer on to a thin stick, which they insert into
a hollow bamboo previously placed, so that the
thermometer reaches and remains in the centre
of the bulk. When you require to test the
temperature, the stick is drawn out, the hollow
bamboo remaining fixed. There can be no fixed rule
as to the number of degrees you should allow the
tobacco to ferment, as some leaves are of finer
texture than others and should not be allowed to
heat so much as leaves of a coarser kind. However,
leaves of the finest sort should not be permitted to
exceed 105°, and those of a coarser texture might
rise up to 107'' or 108°. The object of the thermometer
is to let you know the degree of heat, so that the
bulk may be opened in time to prevent the leaves
from over-fermenting and rotting.

After the tobacco has been bulked a few days, it
will have to be cooled. The bulk is then opened, and
the hands of tobacco well shaken and cooled. After
the cooling process is finished, two of the
bulks are made up again into one, taking
care, however, that the hands of tobacco forming
the outward sides of the first bulks should now be
placed more in the centre, and those previously in-
side now form the outsides. In a few days the bulks
will heat again, and must be opened and treated
nearly the fa-ne way, except that the light color:^
should be placed in the centre, and darker ones bulked
all around them. Three bulks of as near as possible
the same degree of temperature should now be
made up into one large bulk of 10,000 lb. or so. 8ome
of the bulks I saw contained as much as 40 to 50,000 lb.
of tobacco. Each bulk receives as it were three
beatiugs, The bulks arc raised three feet otf the

ground on platforms; this is to keep off the damp
as much as possible.

Several of the planters in Java dispense with the
thermometer altogether, and simply ascertain the
heat by thrusting their hand into the bulk.

Sorting.— The tobacco seldom heats after the third
time, if it should, however, still continue to sweat,
the bulks must be opened and treated as above ex-
plained. As soon as the fermenting is over, the bulks
are opened and the leaves arranged for sorting. These
leaves are sorted into :

Brovvu — clear, light, and dark.
I Red — light and dark.

Black — light and dark.

Fahl— Hght and dark.

Streaky.

These are again divided into five different lengths
for each colour. Scrubs, which are very small, and
poor leaves, are sold locally.

The tobacco costs abowt 30 cents shipped (5 annas)
per lb., and fetches about 50 cents (8 annas) per lb.
in Amsterdam.

The tobacco after sorting is baled into square boxes
lined with palm-leaf matting, and when the tobacco
is well pressed, the bale is made by sewing up the
sides and tops. A ratchet screw with four handles
is used for prising.

Ct'ltivaiion. — In Sumatra tobacco lands are used
once in ten years ; after having once had a tobacco
crop, they are left alone untouched for nine years.
In .Tava owing to all the laud being under some
sort of cultivation, the planters grow on the three-
year rotation system.

Seed. — I received two bottles of Manilla Kadow
seed from a Dutch planter, which seed I intend
sowing this year.

I left Java on the 15th April and arrived at Singa-
pore on the 19th. Left Singapore on the 21st, and
reached Penang on the 24th. Seeing that I should
not be able to catch the steamer leaving for Port
Blair from Rangoon on the "24th, I took advantage
of a Government steamer leaving Penang for Taipeng
(Perak), at which place I arrived on the 28th. I
went up a hill in Taipeng, where there was both
coffee and tea. The coffee, planted some 3,500 feet
high, seemed very flourishing, good report of its
quality having been received from England. There
is no tobacco grown here, the soil I saw was not
at all suited for it. I believe some tobacco has just
been started further inland, but unless they have
an experienced curer to look after it, no good result
can be expected.

My travelling expenses being very limited, I could
not see Sumatra. However, the seed of Sumatra and
Java were originally identically the same, ?. e., Manilla
Kadow. It is the virgin soil which gives that tex-
ture and gloss which is so much admired in the
Sumatra leaf, the color is obtained through judicious
fermenting.

I arrived at Rangoon on the 8th of May, and
drove out with a gentleman there who is given to
agricultural pursuits, and saw some of his tobacco,
about 7 miles out of Rangoon. It was planted much
too close, and otherwise badly attended to. None
of the tobacco lauds of Burmah can compare with
Ja\a for tobacco. This gentleman had grown some
wheat, which requires a good deal of watering, and
cost him a great deal of trouble.

I left Rangoon, on the I'Jth May, and arrived at
Port Blair on the 2l8t instant. — Indian Agriculturist.

KiLU Pe.^ch Crop. — The Kulu correspondent of
the Jh'hi Gazette writes quite recently : — "There is
a simply amazing peach crop, some of my best
trees being simply broken down by the weight of
the fruit."

Hoi's, when introduced into England from the
Netherlands in 1524, were regarded only as a means
of ''spoyling good beer," and in 1529 the city of
London petitioned against coal from Newcastle on
account of the stench, and against hops "because
they did spoil the national drink." It was not until 1771
that they became subject to duty,— 'iiwra? Australian,

m

tug ^nopiCAt Aauicistfumst.

[Oct. h iSSi

TOBACCO CULTUKE IN ENGLAND.

The August uuraber of the Nidhiiml Bevifir cou-
tahis an article by Mr. A. 6. F. Eliot-.James on
thf culture of tobacco in E'jgland. He says that
since the cultivation of tobacco in this country was
stopped the difficulties besetting the renewal of the
industry have materially increased. The Euglish
climate^ always to a certain extent unfavourable to
tobacco growth, has altt-.red for the worse, its vari-
ability is more pronounced, the rapid changes of
temperature, especially of late years, being against
not only vegetable but animal life. The soil, though
still very fertile, has less of virgin freshness, and
would require, for such an exhaustive crop as
tobacco is proved to be, high manuring, which means
money an article which our farmers, more particularly
our small farmers, are found at present sadly
wanting. Manuring is, however, by no means the
only expensive outlay needed for a profitable growth
of the plant. And, besides the disadvantages of
bad climate, unsuitable soil, and want of capital,
there are other conditions now attached to the open-
ing up of a home trade which formerly did not
exist. Foreign competition is incomparably more
severe, the tobacco-grown area of the world has been
enormously extended, and the freight charges on
the foreign supply so greatly reduced j^iuce the
time the plant was raised iu the United Kingdom,
and the cost of transmission consequently so trifling,
that it would give our cultivators little or no
advantage, certainly no really appreciable advantage,
over the numerous foreign growers who would contest
them the sale of inferior tobaccos.

Mr. Eliot-James goes a little into detail as regards
the disadvantages. First of all, unfavourable climatic
conditions. In a warm climate possessing a certain
amount of humidity, a tobacco, by ordinary means,
can be raised that yields a profit ; a warm and
moist climate allowing the selection of these fine
sorts of leaf which command a high price. Can
this be described as a warm climate? The tobacco
plant is not hardy ; on the contrary, delicate.
Frost is most injurious to it in the early stages of
growth, and the seedlings cannot be transplanted
into the plantations from the beds iu which they
must be carefully protected until all danger of frost
is over. Sown in Marcli and planted out in May,
the plant should arrive at perfection in September,
and the leaves be gathered before there is any dan-
ger of frost, as a single white frost would spoil the
whole crop and cause it to rot. Hail-showers at
certain periods of early growth are absolutely
fatal and high winds very detrimental, as they tear
the leaf. Heat, sun-heat, is an essential to the
well-being and proper development of the tobacco
plant both to ripen it for harvest and to dry the
leaf.

Taking soil, the difficulties, though great, are far
more easily met than are those of climate. Tobacco
requires a friable aud sandy soil, rich in those in-
gredients on which the plants thrive. It draws from
the soil, for the proper formation of its substance,
carbonic acid, ammonia, lime, potash, magnesia, oxide
of iron, chlorine, silica, sulphuric acid, and phosphoric
acid. In most Poils these essential ingredients are
present; not only must they be present, howerer,
but in proper proportions to the wants of the plant,
as regards quautity and quality, or else it will not
thrive. Tobacco needs a soil rich in humus from
the fact that its development nmst be both rapid
and complete. If the soU is not, therefore, naturally
rich it must be made so artificially, by high ami
constant manuring with well-matured manure,
carefully prepared for the purpose, and not of too
heating a nature, or else blighting of the roof, dust,
and consequent failure will be the result. Nitre is
one of the principal ingredients tobacco extracts from
the soil ; and some tobacco-growers, particularly when
they crop the same land successively with tobacco,
counteract this drain by sovv^ing rye on tli^ land
directly the tobacco is cut, aud ploughing it under the
uest May, scattering the tobacco-stalks, cut into two

or three iuch lengths, over the land the sowing of
the rye takes place, and ploughing them in also ;
both rye and tobacco containing nitre it is thus,
as it were, returned to the .soil. High manuring,
without which even in suitable soil, no good results
can be looked for, must be set against probable profits,
as also the rent of the land, and the price of labour —
no small consideration at the present time. Tobacco
is a crop requiring incessant looking after, and a
very large amount of hand labour from the time of
seed-sowing to the outturn and dt livery of the
cured leaf into the manufacturer's hands. The number
of persons employed would naturally depend on the
amount of land under tobacco. The amount of seed
required to raise plants for an acre of ground depends
very greatly on the vitality of the seed. There are
about 100,000 grains of tobacco-seed in an ounce;
but the percentage of vitality is low, so from three-
quarters of an ounce is usually sown in India to rai.se
enough jilauts for an acre. Allowing the plants to
be two feet apart in each direction, some 10,890 would
be required and 4,840 if set 3 ft. apart. The medium
distance is often observed of .3 ft. apart in one and
2 ft. in the other direction, and then 7,260 jilants
are needed. Anyhow, a reserve stock must be kept,
as many plants die in the seed-beds or after they
are transplanted into the plantations and such gaps
must be kept filled up. In America less plants arc
set to the acre — 1,613, if broad vigorous leaves arc
wanted. Such plants will each yield half a pound
of prepared tobacco, or about 800 lb. to the ^cre ;
this average of produce to the acre being what the
Indian Government farms are estimated to yield ; tho
natives put the production considerably lower. In
England the probable outturn may be roughly
estimated at 600 lb. the acre.

In cultivation, the following numerous operations
are followed : — The land is prepared by manuring,
ploughing, harrowing, rolling, the ploughing and
harrowing being repeated at certain intervals. The
seed-beds are most carefully prepared, sown, ' and
protected ; the seedlings thinned out aud transplanted
in favourable calm weather into the plantations ;
weedings and light hoeings are given as needed, and
followed by heaping, nipping, aud topping (some few
plants being saved for seed,) and when the crop is
ripe, leaf-gathering ; all this being hand-labour, the
operations having to bo conducted with care and
delicacy of touch to avoid injury the plants or
leayes. "WHh. the gathering of the leaf, the in-
cessaut labour is not over — indeed, the processes to
follow are of a much more delicate and critical
nature. Drying-houses will have to be provided,
not of a very expensive character, perhaps, but still
fulfilling the requirements of shelter and ventilation ;
wiltiug-sheds, too, must be built, .unless there are
unused barns or out-houses handy. If the plantatious
are far removed from the farm-house it is more
convenient to have the buildings close to the stand-
ing crop, as the wilting, or withering, aud sweating
processes are carried on with less risk, as also the
stringing of the leaves on a cord, or rather thread-
ing, for a needle is used for this purpose. "When
strung, follows the close suspension in the dryiug-
houses, the outside drying in the sun, or by flue-heat
if sun-power is not .sufiicient ; the return to the
houses and second suspension, farther apart this time;
then what is called the final suspension ; and lastly,
the sorting, making into hands and packing for
the market. It will be seen from the mere mention
of these various operations, without dwelling on their
intricacies, that tobacco is not simple but an extremely
troublesome crop to grow ; not an enterprise to
be rashly and unadvisedly luidertaken by anj' farmer,
e\en supposing the experiments about to be made
point to a favourable decision. — St. James'^ Budget.

TuE TliANsiT OF Te.\. — A tea train is now running
from San Francisco to New York, the object of it
being to demonstrate that the railway transit can
be accomplished more quickly than the sea journey
by the Suez Canal.— Ho;k« and Colonial Mail,

Oct. 1, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

255

COFFEE-GKOWING IN MYSORE AND
SOUTHE BN INDIA.

('From Paper Read ia Confere/ice Hall, of Colind Exhib-
ition, July 2inii, ISSa, By Coluiid Campbell, Formerly
of the Mysore Cummiision.)
The coffee districts of Mysore are the furthest
north on the line of the Western Ghats ; next to them
on the south lies Coorg ; then AVyuaad and the
Neilgherrie.s, and further south again Travancore.

The altitude at which coffee is grown varies from
2,000 to 3,50J feet above the sea, and the rainfall
from SO to 150 inches per annum. The months of
heaviest rain are June, July and August. This is the
period of the south-west mousoou, which begins to die
away in September, and is succeeded by the north-
east monsoon in October and November. The rains
of this monsoon are not heavy in a locality so far
to the west, and fortiinately so, as ra-n is by no
means acceptable at the time of picking and drying
crops. In December rain sometimes falls. In Jan-
uary and February seldom or never. In March occa-
sional showfirs are expected, and if none come till
the middle of April the coffee tree begins to droop,
except on WPU-sheltered estates, and anxiety is felt
about the blossom and the setting of the fruit. At
this time the heat is considerable, and thunderstorms
towards evening are frequent. But no period of the
year is in any special degree unhealthy, as compared
with other parts of India, and the mere discomfort
of hot weather is mitigated by the sea breezes from
the western coast at night, the distance from the
sea as the crow flies be'ng not more than fifty or
sixty miles. The rainy season is well known to be
the healthiest time of the year, and as there is plenty
of estate work to interest and occupy the planter
cut of doors, little regard is paid by him to the
weather.

As was mentioned above, the three head-quarters
of the Slysore coffee districts are — Ivoppa, Chicmug-
loor, and Hassan.

Tlie oldest coffee estates in Mysore — some of them
established between forty and fifty years ago — are to
be found on the slopes of the Bababooden Hills,
which project, in horse-shoe shape, towards the east.
In Munzerabad there are estates upwards of thirty
years old, and in Koppa, a few of nearly equal age.
J!ut numerous estates near Koppa, and in the Sulli-
byle portion of that talook and elsewhere, to the
number of about thirty, have been opened out within
the last ten years, and are growing trees, the seed
for which was obtained from Coorg, the "Wynaad ard
other places. The coffee from these plantations is
distinguished in Mincing Lane from that known as
" Old Mysore," and although more than rivalling the
l)rices fetched by other Indian coffees, the " Coorg
kind," as it is sometimes called, does not reach the
figures obtained for some well-known brands of the
•Cannon" description. But there is hope that prices
will level up, and that as it is found nece.ssary to
fill up vacancies in the old estates by plants of the
new kind, the distinction between them will, in pro-
cess of time, be obliterated. At all events, the satis-
factory conclusion may be drawn, that the coffee
plant can be made to reaew the promise of its
youth in a green and productive old age.

The pay is four annas a day for a man, and two
annas for a woman. It would be unwise to attempt
to lessen it. As the coolie's native village is seldom
more than three or tour days' journey from the
estate on which he works, there has been no necessity
to burden the Mysore planter with rules and regul-
ations intended to protect natives of India, wId are
temjited by large advances and high pay to emigrate
to places far distant from their homes.

There is not very much land suitable for coft'ee
cultivation remaining in the Mysore country, which
is not either occupied or secured by grant ; but
there is room — much room — for the profitable omi.loy-
meut of a great deal more capital than the majority
of planters possess. Nothing is more certain than
that in return for capital wisely laid out. coft'ee will
pay handsomely. It is doing so in individual instances
in which money and skill enable the fortunate

owner to force a fair return in spite of all the well-
known drawbacks, which is neighbour, for lack of
sufficient means, is unable to overcome. In one word,
judicious manuring is the secret of success, not, of
course, neglecting the important operations of pruning,
digging, kc. "Without liberal manuring, the large
returns of former years are not now obtainable.
But perhaps these returns, if regarded per acre, were
not so heavy as is often supposed. The yield from
large estates of from 500 to 700 acres was not, as a
rule, calculated at so much per acre. The ordinary
yield being well-known to the owner and his neigh-
bours, it was sufficient to quote the number of tons
more or less in any particular year, and these were
obtained sometimes from one block and sometimes
from another. But in the more modern estates of
from 200 to 300 acres, the calculation is per acre,
and large blocks out of this comparatively small area
cannot be allowed to remain fallow. It is not economy
to open out an estate of less than from 150 to 200
acres, although the question is sometimes asked, why
not restrict the area to 80 or 100 acres of choice
land cultivated in as nearly a perfect manner as
possible? But this risk, for reasons not difficult to
imagine, no one is disposed to run.

Take an estate not less than six years old, of
average quality in all respects. The outlay in up-keep,
including superintendence, but excluding all crop
operations on tbe estate, may range from K50 to K80
per acre. Under the head of crop: —

R.
The cost of picking and pulping is . 56 per ton.
Transport to coast . . . .26
Curmg, shipping, and insurance . .78 „
Total expenditure on crop, from R150 to R160 per
ton.

For R50 per acre spent on careful cultivation, but
with little manuring, a return of 3 cwt. per acre, or 30
tons, may be expected in good years. But for R70,
ov R80, which means liberal manuring, at least 5 cwt.
per acre, or 50 tons, oh an average, should be obtained.
Prices are now showing a tendency to recover from
the depression of the last three seasons, and may for
present purposes be quoted at £65 per ton net (a
reduction of more than 20 per cent, on the prices
of 1SS2-S3).

At R50 per acre, the yearly expenditure under all
heads in India would be — R.

Cultivation and superintendence . . 10,000
Crop expenditure at R160 on 30 tons . 4,800

Total . . RI4,800
The price of 30 tons at £65 would be £1,900, or
R25,350, at 1*. Q^d. exchange. Profit, R10,55(), or
£811.

At R8(i per acre, the figures would be — R.
Cultivation and superiutendence , 10,000
Crop expenditure on 50 tons . . 8.000

Total . . R24,oOO
Price of -jO tons at £65 ^ £3,250, or K42.2,')i)
Profit, R 18,250, or £1,403.

An income of, say, £1,400 a 5'ear, when capitalized
at 5 per cent, would be £28,()00. But for money
embarked in a distant land, with attendant risk.s.
from 15 to 20 per cent, should be looked for witli
some confidence, and from £7,000 to £10,000 wo dd
therefore probably be the approximate valuation of
an e'itatein full bearing, such as has been now described.
The value of a property brought into paying con-
dition, after years of labour, anxiety, and residence
in a foregin land, represents, of course, a sum much
larger than the actual outlay upon it. An individual
ijitending to open out an unfelled forest, and to
bring gradually into cultivation an estate of 200
acres, should have at his disposal at least £4,000, to
be expended during the first four Oi- five j-ears. Out
of this money he would support himself at tlie rate
of £150 a year. ]Uit if he were po.ssessed of no ex-
perience in planting, or had not the help of an
efficient partner, he woidd do well to go into train-
ing by working as an assistant on some well-man-
aged estiite, for. say, two years. Many men have'

256

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

[Oct. I, 1886.

begun a planter 's life with much smaller capital, and
by the exercise of great self-denial, coupled with
special aptitude for the work, have met with fair
success. But such ai-e exceptions, and in these in-
stances the hour of succes^s has to be patiently
waited for beyond the ordinary period. On Indian
plantations, as elsewhere, young men are received as
assistants on payment of a premium, and may
eventually gain a living as managers. But without
capital it will be a living only, and the life is not to
be recommended.

The calculations which have been given above have
special reference to Mysore, where, although the
conditions slightly vary according tc the positions of
estates, the supply and the price of labour are more
favourable to planters than in mo.st other districts.
The figures which follow refer to coffee estates in
Coorg, which is a British province Ijing to the south
of Muuzerabad iu Mysore, and is administered by a
Commissioner under a Chief Commissioner -namely,
the Resident at the Court of the Maharaja of Mysore.
The present Acting Chief Commissioner of Coorg.
Mr. C. E. R. Girdlestone, made a tour in that province
in January and February of this year, and inspected
a number of coffee estates, one of his objects being
to inquire into the state of the coffee cultivation, and
to ascertain whether local circumstances were such as
to justify a request for a reduction of assessment
which had been submitted to him by the Coorg
Planters' Association.

The full assessment being R2 per acre, leviable
only after the twelfth year, the Association urged
that it should be reduced to one rupee for coffee in
full bearing, and to eight annas on the remainder of
the estate. The Chief Commissioner, iu declining to
comply with this request, pointed out that, while
the relief applied for would be hardly perceived by
.successful planters, it would not avail to retrieve the
fortunes of those who, for a variety of reasons, for
which the Government was not responsible, had failed
to make their estates remunerative. At the same time,
he admitted that the planters had some cause for
complaint in the state of the roads, ard he promised to
arrange that they should be placed in a proper condition.
The result of the Chief Commissioner's inspection of
coffee estates, both in North and South Coorg, tends
to confirm what has been said above^uamely, that
coffee may be relied upon to give a fair return for
capital liberally and judiciouslj' laid out. One estate
of '22i) acres is said to give in a good year .50 tons
of coffee, or 4^ cwt. per acre, and the average net
price last year was £62 a ton. The outlay was about
ri:?0,000 on the estate, or nearly RPO an acre, and if
to this l)e added curing and shipping charges, with
insurance at R80 per ton of crop, the result will be
li'24,000 or jE1,846 for expenditure, against £3,100
purchase-money, or a profit of £1,2.j4. Allowing for
slight differences in rates, these figures are in near
correspondence with those which fiave been quoted
for Mysore.

In another estate of about 500 acres, the average yield
was 1.50 tons, or 6 cwt. per acre, and the net price
per ton about £6-5. The expenditure is not given but,
taking rates in proportion to those stated above the
profit must have been more than £.5000. A third
estate of 130 acres, yielded last year about 4i) tons,
or 7 cwt. per acre. Other estates are referred to as
flourishing especially some iu South Coorg, in what
is called the Bamboo District, but figures are not given.
The concluding remarks of the Chief Commissioner,
as coming from a disinterested observer after careful
local examination, deserve attention and are as app'ic-
ai)le to INIysore and other districts as to Coorg. Mr.
Girdieston says, " I am by no means singular in the
opinion that the success of the coff<'e industrj' depends,
humanly speaking, on refraining from extravagant
payments for Ian I already stocked, o;i avoiding loans
at high interest, on restricting the siz ; ot estites,
so as *o ensure close personal supervision, and on
economical and scientific managemeut. If these con-
ditions be observed there is a fair competence attain-
able by Euiopeau planters even though pri<;es .should
remain comparatively low.'

A CEMENT very much used at the present day in
China and Japan is made from rice. It is only
necessary to mix rice flour intimately with water
and gently simmer the mixture over a clear fire,
when it readily forms a delicate and durable cem-
ent.— A merlcan Grocer.

Planting Gladioli.— In lifting a quantity of Gla-
diolus bulbs of various kinds lately, I came across
one of ihe largest 1 have ever yet seen, and all
were as plump and fresh as couUl" be desired ; those
that were lifted and replanted last season had for
the most part two large bulbs with the old decayed
one still under them, and others that had remained
undisturbed for three or four years had increased
into large clumps. The finest bulbs of all were on
a raised bed of rather poor soil, and although last
summer was excessively dry, and other plants on
this bed nearly scorched, the Gladioli produced very
fine spikes of bloom, and branched out into several
side spikes when the leaders were cut off. I may
remark that our soil is light and stony, and that
the Gladiolus grows freely in it without the aid of
manure. I feel sure that the bulbs are sounder and
less liable to disease if grown without gross stimul-
ants of any kind. — RiiraJ Australian.

Rats. — Some years since (writes a correspondent
of the Queen) I took a house in Ireland which had
been untenanted for a considerable period ; but very
shortly after my arrival there it became infested
with rats. For a period I submitted to the nuisance,
merely allowing a terrier to visit the ground floor
during the night ; but the advent of an invalid
relative caused food to be taken upstairs, and the
vt-rmin soon follovifed, overcoming my patience. Find-
ing the rats behind the skirting " board, I had it
removed and a liberal coat of gas tar placed there,
and, seeking closely, I found the run leading from
below, into which I also caused some to be poured.
I found this effectually stopped their raid to the
upper storey, and then I determined to adopt the
same plan on the grouud floor, though, I had to
take down a dado in my dining-room and entrance-
ball. However, after this had been done, I neither
heard nor saw a rat in my house for the remainder
of my occupancy, which was about twenty months.
The gas tar should not be too thick, so as to re-
main soft for the longest period possible, as the
efficacy of the remedy depends on the feet and coat
of the animal becoming soiled on passing it. — Rural
AvstraUan.

Thf Results of the last Indian Tea Season.—
ISIost of the leading Indian Tea Companies have now
presented their report for the past year, and a weekly
contemporary has compiled an interesting table
which exhibits at a glance the results accruing iu
regard to 25 of these as compared with those of
the preceding year. From this analysis, which will
be found at foot, it will be ob.served that although
season 1884 gave good results, 1885, or last season,
gave still better returns. Higher values were iu
most cases obtained for the teas of 188.5 — the highest
average price reahsed last season for the crop of
any garden in Assam, viz.. Is. ojd. per lb. was
scored by the .Ihanzie Tea Association. Among Cachar
gardens Borokai Company still bears the palm, the
average price olitained for that mark being Is. Gjfd.
per lb. The Darjeeling Company's average Is. 5|d.
per lb., is al.so a haU'lsome one. Larger dividends,
consequently, were paid to shareholders on the results
of 1885. In 1884, as will be seen, dividends ranged
from 1 to 15 per cent, per annum. In 188,"), how-
ever, thej' range fruin \.^ to 20 per cent, per annum,
and on'y four concerns out of twenty-five pay no
dividend, while in three of these profits were made,
although circuni.stance-i rendered a division of the
profits inadvisalile. It is somewliat surprising that
with such haiivl.-ome results tea is not a more
favourite investment among English Ca))italists. The
shares it is true, quoted on the .Stock Exchange, and
for this reason probably little is known among the
general public of the advantages of tea as an in-
vestment.— Pla nte >••«' Go zttte.

Oct. I, 1886,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

25:

THE BANANA TRADE : AS IT IS AND AS IT
MIGHT BE.

Under these headings a writer in the Fiji Times
discusses thus the question of the disposal in fruit
which cau'ot be exported: —

Roughly i ostimate that six tons ripe bananas
make one tou of dried fruit (if my memory does
not play me false it takes only five tons). Well
let us take the low estimate of 20 tons of fruit
per acre, suppose half this fit to ship, green, the
remaining half from various causes, such as defective
size or appearance of bunch, or surplus over and
above carrying capacity of vessel, or the ripening
of large quantities between arrivals of steamers, or
low price of green bananas in foriegn markets, or
possible causes I have not enumerated, the grower
sells to be dried, for which I believe it possible to
pay him £1 per ton and still leave the driers a
sufficient margin for profit and working expenses.
Now the question is, Will it pay to raise and deliver
them at Levuka or other curing centre at such a
price ? I believe it will, it pays to deliver cane or river
banks for 10 per ton, surely it will pay to deliver
and carry a reasonable distance a much hardier crop
than cane which is liable to ferment in a very
short time. He has also to the good all those bunches
fit to send direct to a foreign market; also the
advantage of such a case as is now before me
where I am informed 1,000 bunches, which if of
marketable size, ought to weigh a*-, least 22 tons,
have arrived top late for the steamer, and unless
another steamer arrives will hare to be thrown
away which amounts to this, that £22 worth of raw
material or its equivalent of £103 manufactured do,
will be thrown over-board. This is only a case of
many in point. I suggest no royal road to wealth.
I greatly doubt its existence except in stock gamb-
ling, but I certainly think money might be profitably
saved which is now utterly lost. It has been ob-
jected to me that it would cost more than
the article was worth to place the first instalment
on the market ; well the only part of the premier
transaction which I perceive to be non-rumunerative
would be the cost of the travellers' wages and
expenses. This difficulty I opine to be unavoidable,
but I cannot at all see that so slight a one need
crush the industry, and this of course would be a
matter of after detail.

Thoro is another use for tlie banana, viz: — the
manufacture of jam. It makes a first class jam and
being free from stones and seed is admirab3- suited
both for the table and culinary purposes; and also
I believe the fruit to be suited for canning purposes,
though in that I have not practically tested it.
In fact to sum up, we are only at the beginning
of the banan.'i trade and have only developed one branch
of it; the other features are not to be projected
without an effort, at least.

OLIVE CULTIVATION IN SPAIN.

Consul Oppenheira says that there are many varie-
ties of the olive tree cultivated in Spain, the better
known descriptions being the Manzanillo. Sevillano,
Govdal, BeUotndo, Redondillo, Lechin, Nevadi'lo bianco,
J'aral bianco, Empeltre, Racimal, Terdejo, Madrileno,
and the Cornicabra. Each of tliese varieties can be
reproduced in several ways, but the method of pro-
pagation generally adopted is either by estacas or by
garrotes. Both these methods are followed through-
out the whole of Spain, though in the central provinces
the second process is more general, while the con-
trary holds good for the south and the extreme north.
The time chosen for planting is from -January to
INfnrch in the maritime zone, from January till April
in the central provinces, and from .January till May
in the north. The eataca, which is a stout limb of the
parent tree abiut three yards long, is planted imme-
diately after being cut from the tree; a hole is dug
to a depth vary'rg between one and two yards, the
depth increa.-iin^ with the severity of the climate.
53

[ Square pits, about three quarters of a yard each way,
are considered to be the best for the purpose. At the
bottom of the pit a layer of manure is first deposited,
upon which a layer of soil is placed ; the limb is then
placed in the centre of the pit, and earth is then
put in, thoroughly broken up, and pc^sed down with
the feet. In Andalusia it is usual to pile up 7noist
clay against the protruding part of the estaca, until
no more than about a foot of its length is visible ; .and
this is considered to be very efficient in hot, dr}' regions,
as otherwise it often happens that the Vvni produces
shoots from the lower part ouly, while tht- upper part
becomes dried up. The moist clay is piled up in the
form of a slender cone, and at half its height an
opening is left for supplying the limb with water, which
in dry v.-eathor is done plentifully. The ijarrntes are
cuttings of from two to three feet long, and for these
the pits are dug somewhat less deep than for the
estacas, and two of the garrotes are planted together,
leaning towards each otlier in such a position that the
two cuttings and the bottom of the pit form a triangle,
of which the apes is even with the ground. lu re-
gard to manuring ami filling the pit, the proceb.5 is
the same in both methods of planting, only the upper
part of the smaller cuttings must be covered with a
little loose soil. The sprouts from these smaller cut-
tings are more exposed to damage by frost and by
animals, and the bearing age is also reached some four
or five years later; but it is considered that the trees
cultivated in this way are more hardy and product-
ive. During the first eight or ten years after plant-
ing, the orchard is ploughed three times a 3'ear, and
the soil immediately surrounding the plants hoed
three times the first and second year, and later twice
a year. Manuring is usually effected once every three
years, and the autumn is the period generally ctiosen
for this operation. Plaster from old walls is con-
sidered to be a beneficial addition to the stable manure
ordinarily used, and calcined bones are known to
expedite the growth and increase the yield of oil.
It has been stated that one hundred kilogrammes of
manure increase the product of each tree the first
year by over two kilogrammes, the second year by
three, and the third year by two kilogrammes again.
Artificial irrigation is restored to only in dry regions,
or in times of drought ; as a rule the grown trees
thrive very well without it. In Saragossa irrigation
is largely resorted to, as is also manuring, while in
Seville there is very little of either. The time at
which the olives ripen varies considerably, according
to locality and the species cultivated. In Andalusia,
when intended for pickhng, they are picked usually
about the middle of September, and the pickling lasts
until the middle of October; at that time the fruit
has reached its full development, as far as size is
concerned, but is yet green and hard. When the fruit
is required for the extraction of oil, the harvest com-
mences in November and sometimes last until January.
The usual mode of gathering is by knocking the fruit
down with sticks, but careful growers pick by hand,
which is less expeditious but more profitable, as the
fruit is obtained in a better condition. For pickling
there are two methods employed, the first, which is
a very slow pi-ocess, being as follows: — The freshly
picked olives are placed in water, which must be
changed every day, and allowed to remain a fortnight ;
at the expiration of that time the water is quickly
drawn off and promptly replaced, not leaving the
fruit exposed to the air more than is absolutely necess-
ary. The water drawn off is at first very bitter, and
this bitter taste will go on decreasing day by day,
the taste being taken as a criterion as to when this
process is to be considered as completed, a fortnight
being the time usually required. The olives are then
placed in a solution of salt and water, generally in
barrels, in which wine or brandy has been kept.
At the bottom a layer of olive twigs and leaves is
first placed, which protects the olive from injury by
pressure, and on the top of the fmit another similar
layer is placed, care being taken to have this layer
well cjvered by the brine. The whole is kept down
by oak staves weighted with bricks or stone, all of

25^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

LOdT. I, 1886.

which are kept scrupulously clean, as any noxious
taste or flavour imparted to the brine will ett'ect the
olives, aud the vessels are then covered with a cloth
or tarpaulin iu order to exclude the dust. Olives
thus treated will be in good order for boiliug or for
consumption in about four months, and will keep
sound for two yeurs. For pickling by a quicker pro-
cess, a solution of caustic soda is prepared, and the
fruit plnf-ed therein. After remaining in soak altout
one hour, a few olives arc sampled by cutting, in
order to ascertain how far the solution has penetrated
the pull); the depth of such penetration being easily
seen by thf^ colour, aud it should not exceed half
the thickness of the pulp. AVheu the olives are in
proper condition, the solution is immediately drawn
off, and replaced by fresh water, which must be
changed quickly three or four times, the fruit being
allowed to reuiain in the last water for twenty-four
hours. During that time the brine is prepared, and
the next day the olives are placed in it. By this
method of pickling, the olives will be ready for use
within thirty days. In both processes the olives, after
once being wetted, are never exposed to the air more
than a few minutes at the time, and in handling the
fruit, ladles of wood or tin are used invariably. The
extraction of oil is effected in many ways, .some of
them being very primitive. The first pressing is gen-
erally done by means of a mill, and the mass, when
reduced to a pulp, is soaked in hot water, and is then
subjected to a second pressing, which in the Seville
district is usually accomplished by means of hydraulic
machinery. The refuse of the second pressing is used
as fuel, and in some cases as cattle fodder. Recently
a new process has come into vogue, whereby a further
quantitj' of fatt5' matter is extracted which is used for
making soap. Where it is not thought advisable to
utilise the refuse in any of these ways, it is employed
as a fertiliser for the olive groves. It is estimated
that the yield of oil generally averages from about 16
to 25 per cent. Consul Oppenheim states, in con-
clusion, that a considerable export trade both in olives
and in olive oil is carried on in Spain, the amount of
the former shipped in 1882 exceeding 1,722,000, and
of the latter 13,730,000 kilogrammes, the principal
countries of destination being the United Kingdom,
France, and Cuba. — Journal of the Society of Arts.

THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION
AT SOUTH KENSINGTON.

CANADA.

A trophy of fruits shows what may be done in
preserving the appearance of fruits. Mr. W. Saun-
ders, of London, Ontario, a pharmacist whose name
is as well known in this couafcrj' as it is as an ento-
mologist in Canada, after many unsuccessful experi-
ments has at length hit upon a fluid which itself
remains \incoloured while preserving the plumpness
and a good deal of the natural colour of these fruits,
and it may be hoped that he will publish some inform-
ation respecting the preparations employed. Some
idea of the fruit trade in Canada may be gathered
from the fact that 200,000 barrels of apples are
annually produced in Nova Scotia alone. Among the
chemical and pharmaceutical products it is interesting
to note that there is a collection of chemicals exhibited
by the North American Chemical Co., aud presumably
manufactured iu the Dominion. Hemlock bark extract,
obtained from bark of Tstuja caiiadensis^ is also placed
in the same class of products, instead of, as might
have been supposed, amongst tanning materials.
According to Mr. H. B. Small's pamphlet on Canadian
Forests, the manufacture of this extract is assuming
large proportions, the export of extract having risen
from 190,068 dollars in 1881, to 305,426 dollars in
18S3, exeUisivc of the bark, which amounted in 1883
to 321,291 dollars. According to the ceusus of 1881
there were at that date four factories employing 140
hands engaged in this industry. Iu a Keport of a
Committee of Parliament iu 1868 it was estimated
that an extent of l(t,0()() acres of the best hemlock

land was stripped every year for the bark, the timber
being left to rot on the ground. This wholesale
destruction threatens to dimini?h the future supply of
a wood that will become more and more useful as the
pine disappears. The mineral exhibits are far too
extensive to be noticed at length here. Among the more
striking exhibits in this class are a large mass of
graphite, surmounted by a gigantic plumbago crucible,
a tiue block of crystalline sulphate of strontian
(celestiue), magnessite, sulphate of barytes, a very
large crystal of apatite (native phosphate of lime)
for which £50 is asked, and a case illustrating the
manufacture of asbestos; also some good specimens
of mica shown close hy.— I'harmaceuiical JovrnaL

AGEI-HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETJ OF INDIA:

A Bifurcated Bamboo.

Mb. H. C. Spry, of Dhoolie Tirhoot, writes regarding
the very unusual circumstance, which he had recently
observed, of a bamboo branching. The following is
his de.scription of the phenomenon ;—" The bamboo
shoots up some thirty feet high, and then divides off
into two separate perfect bamboos : the measurements
are as follows : — From root to where the bamboo
shows signs of dividing 22 feet ; at 32 feet it divides,
each fork measuring 25 feet; the total length being
thus 57 f^et. The circumference of the stem at the
root is 10^ inches, and the same where it divides :
the forks shortly after separating are each 7 inches
iu circumference." The Deputy Secretary stated that
he had nut found any record of a similar freak, and
had consulted Dc. King of the Royal Botauical
Gardens, who had in reply stated that he was not
aware of such a case being recorded, and thinks it
must be of very rare occurrence. He suggests that
the specimen would be valued at Kew. Dr. King
remarks that " there is not more reason why a bamboo
should not bifurcate than why a palm should not,
but palms occasionally do. We have a fine bifurcated
specimen of Dictijosperma Alba in the garden here."
Thei-e is also, or was, a branching date-palm at Indore.
of which a drawing is given in Vol. IV^., New Seiies
of the Society's Journal. — [A seven-branch coconut
imlm which was oue of the great sights of Colombo,
was destroyed in the burning of the Racket Court
building recently. — Ed.]

MALTA LEMON.

Dr. E. Bonavia has frequentlj-, in letters to the
Society, alluded to this fine fruit. Some lemons grown
by Mr. Stalkartt, of Goosery, were recently sent to
him. He writes as follows.- —

" I have received the lemons you kindly sent me
and which were grown in BIr. Stalkartt's garden,
Goosery. Please tell him he has the finest lemon in
the world. It is neither more nor less than the Malta
lemon {citrvfi limonitinn vtilgaris of Risso). It agrees
in every pos.sible way with that lemon — scent and
shape of leaf — scent of rind, and shape of fruit;
abundance and purity of the acid juice, bears a
heavy crop, hearifst in cold wt-ather. That is the
spring crop, {sets in spring). Those you sent me
are ' Dumrez,' or after crop, which ripens in the hot
weather and rains. With mnageiv.in this lemon tree
can have ripe fruit all the year round. The Dumrez
is smoother, and varies often in shape from the
Spring crop, which is rougher. There is uo one point
in which Mr. Stalkartt's lemon does not agree with
the Malta lemon. I should like to learn the history
of it. I introduced the Malta lemon iu Lucknow in
18t)3. Last year when I sent your Society some
Malta lemon trees, you stated that there were .some
old trees in the Society's Garden of the same kind,
and it was not known they were Malta lemons. Pro-
bably your old trees came originally from Lucknow,
and Mr. Stalkartt may have got his from your .Society.
Anyhow I have been sending Malta lemon trees to
Assam, aud Dcvikulam, South India, from here, and
you have lots of them iu Calcut-a, from which you
could supply both East and South India. This lemon
is the beft Jor f/'roction, for fever and spleen. More-

Oci'. i> Jbm.i

tH® TR0P1CA.L AQRlCi3VtVmn%

^39

over, it makes the best jelhj, for which I send you
a recipe. If Mr. Stalkartt will trj' it, he will never
eat English or Scotch marmalade again. It is, in
addition, a fine antiscorbutic; I mean the lemon-jelly.
This fine lemon tree is easily propagated by cuttings
in the rains in the shade of trees. This is also the
best time for lai/crini/ it. In two months the layer's
roots fill the pot. The layering is done as follows : —
Take a lower branch fit for layering ; tie a bit of
twine tightly below a joint, so as to cut slightly into
ttie bark, and knot the string. Then bend the part
tied, U-fashion into a pot of good soil well drained,
cover it with soil, and put a heavy brick over the
surface to prevent the branch from springing out.
In two months or less, in the rains, the pot will be
filled with roots. This can be easily known by lifting
the brick, and seeing the roots under it. Then it is
fit to separate from the tree, and should be kept in
the shade and watered, till planted out. Lime in
any form is a good and essential manure for all
Citrus trees. Anybody who has a tree of this kind
would do a good service by propagating it, and widely
disseminating it. It propagates by ,^ecd and hud also.
Seeds sown now will be fit to plant out next rains.
"Now for the jelly recipe:— Cut up the lemon
• very finely, removing all the seeds. To every pound
of lemon allow 3 pints of water, soak the lemon in
the water for -24 hours (in the rains perhaps less)
then boil in the same water in a (jlazcd vessel, till
([uite tender, and let it stand another 24 hours (in
the raius may be less.) Then weigh ipj of Cossipore
crystallised sugar to each pound of the boiled lemon
and water. Boil sugar, lemon and water till the
marmalade, on trial, will *et. "When cool, eat it with
toast and butter. According to taste, more lemon
juice and less rind can be used.

" I am glad to find you have this lemon tree well
established in Calcutta.''

Mr. Stalkartt, on being referred to as to the age
of his plants, stated that he has known them to
exist at Goosery for some fifty years; so it is prob-
able that the Society obtained their grafts from him.
Firminger, at page 226, Edition 1874, alludes to
lemons distributed by the Society as " the common
Spanish, so much used in England," though he adds :
" this is not altogether similar in shape to the
European fruit," Kama Neeho is given in Firminger
as the native name, and under this name the Citrus
medica, common lemon," is given in the Hortus
Bengidemis, or a catalogue of the plants growin? in
the H. E. 1. Co. 's Botanic Garden at Ua,lcutta (1814)
and the date of its introduction is given as 1796.
Mr. Stalkiirtt's lemons are probably grafts from these
plants, which may themselves exist at the Botanical
Garden.

Dr. Bonavia, again writing on the subject, mentions
that he calls the Lucknow lemon " Malta lemon,"'
as he intreduced them from that island, but it is
indentical with those grown in Sicily, Malta Spain,
Portugal, kc. He adds: "In the olden times the
lemon was C medica, then Risso and I'oiteau called
it C. limoiinm vuh/aris;. Hooker and Brandis have
now called it C. viedica var liwoinnn."

In a subsequent letter Dr. Bonavia asks for samples
of the diiferent limes and lemons obtainable in
Calcutta, and these will be .lent to him to assist him
in the preparation of his book on this useful family.
Mr. Sturmer, of Khaja, Ghazipore District, mentioned
at the meeting that he had in his garden plants of
lemon exactly similar to those placed on the table
by Mr. Stalkartt, and they had been in existence for
some thirty years to his knowledge.

Ehe.v.
At the last Meeting of the Society a letter was
read from Mr. 0. S. Bayley. T^uder-Secretary to the
Government of India, submitting a sample of Khea
fibre prepared by M. Legros, an engineer attached to
the Public "Works at Cairo. The following reports
were kindly furnished by Mr. W. Stalkartt, of Goosery,
and Messrs. Birkmyre Bros. : —

Report. — " Sample of Khea fibre from iM. Legros,
Cairo, said to be prepared by a chemical process of
title cost,

" Parts of the sample are well cleaued, and th.Q
fibre retains its full strength, unlike other samples I
have seen chemically prepared ; while in other parts
of the sample, the gum and bark adhere to the
fibre ; save for this, the process appears to be efficient.
The important consideration is that the strength of
the fibre does not seem to be in the least deteriorated
by the process, as is unhappily so often the case
with chemical treatment." — W. Stalkartt.

Report. — " In reply to yours of 1st instant, we beg
to report upon the sample of Rhea fibre, from Mr.
Legros, Cairo, said to be prepared by a chemical
process of little cost, as follows : —

" The fibre retains its full strength, and does not
appear at all injured by the chemical used, but we
cannot say that the bark and gum have been effectually
removed.

" AVe enclose you a sample of Khea prepared by
Messrs. Death and F.llwood's machine, and also return
you your own samples and letters appertaining
thereto." — Bibrjiyrk Bkos.

BOOTS AND THEIB WOKK.

Uses of Roots to Plants. — f^pecial Uses. — A\'e ha\ e
in considering the various forms of roots spoken of
the probable uses for which many of them would be
suitable — the strong root for the tall growing plan t
the much branched fibrous root for the grossly feeding,
plant, the wedge-like root fox such as need support
and grow in crevices, &c. Some plants require long
roots to reach to cou.siderable depths, as in many
alpine plants where a stem and leaves 1 inch above-
groimd may have "40 inches below." This is to
ensure that the plant gets a supply of water when
the soil and surface of the ground are deeply frozen,
and w! 'i'.i the sun's heat would not affect, whilst
the leaves of the plant would soon wither under its
heat, no fresh supply of water coming into the
tissues. A Statice iucaua measuring some 9 inches
to the top of its leaves actually measured Ih feet •
from the neck to the extreme end of the roots.
Six of these plants were grown round the edge of
a pot, their roots had coiled rovmd and round at
the bottom, squeezing the crocks into the " ball."
Here, doubtless, the length of the root might be
abnormal— it might have grown at the expeu-^e of
the plant, but evidently the root attains great lengths
in its natural home, perhaps enabling it to penetrate
among rocks to a fairly depth.

Functions of the Roots. — But we have other than
mere vaiiatious in the size of loots likely to be of
aid in meeting special ends ; we have general uses
which roots fulfil, which we will briefly mention
here : — They support or fix the plants, as we have
elsewhere alluded to, and as it is so evident a fact
we will not further consider it here. They are the
means of supplying most of the [liquid] food neccs.'ary
to the growth of the plant. "We notice that the
leaves wither and dry up if they are severed from
the root; they may last for a considerable time if
placed in water; but it is evident by this that
roots are the means by which plants obtain the large
amount of water required by them. If we take a
leaf of Eucharis amazonica and place it between dry
pressing papers we find, after drying it, that ill^tead
of being about one-eightli of an inch in thicknes:-,
it will now be less than one-hundredth ot an inch.
This shows how large a part of most plants in
water alone. The solid part left after drying might
be burnt to an ash, and we cuuld learn what
chemical substance it was composed of. It is very
evident that these solid ashes could never travel up
the plant or cuter into it iu a solid form, and they
must have either got there [in solution] from the
air or froui the earth. , . ,,

Action of Leavi-:s.— We learn that there is no),
enough of the substances rfquired for the plant's
food in the air, even were the plant cap:'.blc of taking
it iu Cirl.onic acid gas, however, is plentifully
taken up by the leaves, a very largt; amount of the
ash being carbou. The greater part of the othcr
cyustitueut matter ie disttolved iu water? aud eu

26a

THK TROPICAL AQRiCULTVUiBf.

[O&r. 1, J

passes fioni the roots througE the cells of the plant,
and is so earned up to tlie leaves, kc. AVater may
also be takeu in by the leaves, as we know is the
case when they are cut off and placed on the surface
of water; also one use of a very damp atmosphere
in some of our houses for young plants is to supply
them with water, or at least not to allow the water
already in the leaves to drain away by evaporation.
We might just note here that roots seem to have
the power of turning towards moisture or to sub-
stances they seem to like to grow in, where also
they are generally found emitting more root branches.
We learn also that roots have the power to secrete
fluids [when in contact with iJarticles of] the soil ;
at times these secreted fluids are said to aid in dis-
solving solid matter (as marble even) which may be
taken into their tissues when so dissolved. Some
roots store up starchy or other matter for the future
use of the plant. We may see the swollen growth
of the preceding year decaying away as the leaves
form, and another reservoir for such starchy matter
is built up. There are good examples of this to be
met with among bicinials, as many Campanulas with
a thickly developed "first-root" or tap-root. Dahlia
also is a good example, and I expect that Oxalis
hirta has its root developed for a similar purpose.
Potatoes are about the best example one knows, how-
ever, and it is a really marvellous sight to see the
innumerable starch granules when exuded from a cut
piece, under a powerful microscope ; but we have
considered Potatoes as branching from (underground)
stems, though capable of emitting root fibres as well
as buds ; they also absorb fluid matter through their
exterior which bulbs and corms of Hyacinth and
Gladiolus are, I should imagine, unable to do, by
reason of their " coat." We might by " stretching
a point" consider that roots, as the word is understood
by horticulturists, of Drosera, Primula (and Dodeca-
theony), had another use to perform, that is, to
continue the species by budding.

The Manner in which Roots Perform their
Work. — Bearing in mind the remarks made as to
the structure especially, but also of the external
features of roots, let us discuss how they perform
their varied works in aiding the life of the plant.
1. It is not difficult to see how they act as anchors
or supports. The few fibrous roots noticed in the
Pjnguicula and Drosera, the swollen tap-roots of
Astragalus or Hippocrepis, the huge branching roots
of the Oak or Elm, all plainly tell us by their con-
struction and direction that they support or fix the
growths above them. Often the roots of a tree will
extend underground as far as the branches do above.
There seems a mutual dependence of one upon the
oiher, causing them to grow more profusely, or
stretch for further distances as required, 2. As to the
absorbing of food by roots. We have seen that tlie
external tissue of all young roots is soft, and that
this jouug tissue, either of cells alone, or of hairs
and cells, is present everywhere in roots, from the
moss to the highest tree, As any soft substance will
absorb water when placed in it, so we might assume
the soft tissue of the root would do wo- We can
indeed see coloured water entering into the root-
hairs when these are placed in it. l^Iost plants are
not surrounded by very evident supplitb oi' water,
and it is here that the longer root-hairs become
tnost useful. They stretch among the particles of
soil. an(l abstract the watery films which we learn
enclose all but the very driest particles, All the
solid food elements needed, if dissolved in water,
would thus be able to enter into the plant. We
have next to see how such are taken from the root
to the leaves, where we know the fluids undergo
necessary changes upon their distribution throughout
the plant. If we consider— 1st, the action of a
sponge or piece of sugar when placed in water; and
2nd, the effect produced by sucking the air from a
■straw held in water, we shall have a partial clue
to the modus operandi.

C'lpillaiy Action and Pressure of the Air.—
We know that in both the cases referred to water
tiill rise above its level in the dish iu which eugu

and straw were placet!. This rising of fluid is due
to simple physical laws, depending in one case on
the closeness of the particles of sugar for its effect,
the water rising up the thread-like openings bet-
ween the particles, and in the other on the partial
vacuum which would be caused by suction necessit-
ating that the water should rise [by atmospheric
pressure].

Osmosis. —The cells of a plant, as we saw, are so
arranged that watery fluids would rise in or between
them as in the sugar, and would be much helped by
the evaporation going on from the leaves, compell-
ing its rise, as the suction of water up a straw does.
But we often have, as in winter-pruned Ivy, a great
surface to be supplied with nutriment, and no leaves
to aid in drawing fluids up the stem. Clearly we
have great need for another process by which it
shall rise, and this has been found by botanists to
be indeutical with a well-known physical process
termed osiiiosis. Roughly this proce^^s of osmosis
takes place wherever a denser fluid is separ-
ated from a lighter one by any thin-walled sub-
stance such as parchment, when a current vrill be
set up from one to the other until the densities of
the fluid on either side are similar. AYith the cell
wall instead of parchment the cell's denser contents
might pass out into the earth, whilst water would
be takeu in were it not that the evaporation from
the surfaces of the plant keeps up a continual inflowing,
whilst the currents from one part of the plant to the
other are stimulated by the denser contents of cells
from es'aporation takes place, dra^ving lighter fluids
towards them. This ascent of sap is naturally much
more vigorous and vice rersd in summer, aud nearly
ceases in wiuter. Experiments have shown its force
to be very considerable.

Stem Cuttings .a^jd their Roots.

These are mostly fibrous. At times, however, some
are specially developed, and grow much in length,
and harden very considerably.

If we place a suitable piece of stem in the earth,
so that it produces roots, various changes take place
at the cut end, as follows : — ■

1. The pith cells shrink slightly and become dis-
coloured, owing to the decay of the damaged cells.

2. The cells forming the ring around the pith cells
grow so as to produce a ring of warty structure.
This is called "the callus."

3. From below this ring or series of worthy growths
are given off in an ordinary manner a greater or less
number of roots. In some cases these roots pene-
trate through the warty cells, but generally I have
observed that they spring from below them.

Probable Reasons For These Changes oi Tissue.

1. We can understand that the pith cells should
decay back where broken — possibly they harden a
little— in some cases where a stem is cut at both ends
one end may dry.

2. A^'e see the necessity for the woody aud fibro
vascular cells to be sealed up b}- some means — na
they are by the callus — or else the sap iu them
would not be properly fubjeoted to the influence
which would cause it to spread through the cutting.

0. We have seen that in all root-branches or root>
such as these are that there is necessity for some of
the denser central tissue entering into their structure.
We should then expect that they would (as we
saw in Strelitzia) start from the thickened layer of
cells. These roots push through the surrounding cells
in the ordiuary manner.

I believe that before much or any root-growth
takes place there must be some pressure of the fluid
causing tension in the cells of the plant, aud this
state cauuot well be if they are open iu the ground
or " bleeding."

A knowledge of the preceding facts will, I think,
show us why in many cases we should not expect
cuttings to strike.

What will Striki;,

1. A\'e should not expect any stem destitute of a
fair band of the harder (fibre vascular) cells, pither
to " callus " or subsequently to emit loote,

ucr, J, idm.j

THB TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

^i

2. We should not expect plants having a very
thick or hard epidermis to root, as the necessary
absorption through thin-walled cells could not take
place. Nor would the root branches be well able
to pierce the epidermis did they commence to bud.

3. We should not expect portions of the stem in
which there was a great amount of woody or thick-
ened tissue (in addition to little outer absorbing
tissue) to callus readily enough to allow much change
of growth before the cutting decayed.

Naturally we ask ourselves, Can we formulate any
rules which will be fairly correct in regard to the
chances of cuttings of roots " striking " ?

We require the formation of leaf-buds here in addi-
tion to the formation of feeding roots. The giving
off of fibrous roots we may consider even more likely
as were they in a slightly undeveloped state I believe
they might grow without callusing of the cutting.

But it will be considerably more difficult for stems
or leaves to be given off.

1. A stem requires a pith or central medullixry
tissue as well as woody tissue. This we have seen is
generally absent from roots.

Could the stem-buds, if pre.sent or dormant, find
enough woody tissue, and also obtain pith perhaps
from the outer layer, as they do when branching off
from a root-stock, as in Lysimachia, we might fairly
consider that our root cuttings would generally suc-
ceed. That they sometimes callus without producing
leaves is a known fact.

Leaf Buds from Roots.

An examination of Primula cashmiriaua and Drosera
ha? led me to think that the reason why these roots
[stocks] give off leaves so readily, is because there
is no central pith required ; the growths are " stemless."

Dodecatheon will produce little rosettes of leaves
from every root stock if once the crown has decayed
away after flowering. This may not be a fair ex-
ample of root-propagation, as it may be thought
that some portion of a very slightly developed stem
would be attached to the upper part of each root
and Irom this leaves were given off.

Ehizomes.

Wherever there are dormant leaf-buds, as on the
rhizomes of Helleborus and Draciena, there is no
difficulty in getting plants from small cuttings, but
these are not true " root-cuttings." There are cases,
as in Ipecacuanha, where stems are produced from
annotated root-cuttings, where also there is no pith.
It seems rather that we may take it as a fairly correct
rule, that where stems are required from our root-
cuttings there must be pith. In Dandelion and Dock
when cut accross wc know there is the power to
give off leaves.

We might consider here how universal in the
vegetable kingdom is the readiness of certiiiu tissues
to emit roots. There nKist be a trace of a harder
tissue than that which exists as an absorbing agent at
the exterior of all roots. They are given otf: — 1,
from scales, as in the Lilium auratum, Pinguicula
caudata, and many others; 2, from bulbils borne
among the flowers (in allium) or from the axils of the
leaves, iu Lily or Banunculus Ficaria ; 3, from soft
leaves, us Begonia or Kyophyllum : from succulent
leaves, as in some species of Echeveria, &c.; i, from
almost any part of the stems and branches if treateil
carefully, from the end of Fern fronds, as in Adiantum
Edgeworthi ; these organs, developed especially to
feed the plant, are very freely given off from the
other orgaus of vegetable growth.

Places from whence Koots grow out.

We are not surprised to see, then, that from many
lower parts of stems roots and stems (the latter either
ascending or creeping) are gi^■en off one above the
other very indiscriminately. This can be seen in
hosts of examples, from palm (Phwuix) to bog-loviug
creeper.

Roots prefer to grow out from places as in the
swollen norles iu stem?;, where there is more tibro-
vascular tissue, and as in the Philodendrou, where,
though having most of its bundles scattered through
the softer tissue of the istem, there is yet a conceutric

layer below the epidermis of more substance, there-
fore more reaily giving off roots.

1 may mention that Lysimachia verticillata is au
excellent example, showing the roots growing from
the dense woody ring iu the lower part of the stem if
cut across, whilt the branching stems have a growth
from the seemingly much-coloured pith (re.'in in the
pith y) passing into them in the centre of the woody
tissue.

The DisTiNt iions between Stem and Roots,

La.stly, before pas.sing ou to consider the bearing
of these facts upon cultivation, we will roughly try
and note whether we find any distinction between
stem and root, so nearly, as we have seen, do they
resemble each other.

1. The growth of the stem upwards away from
the more damp eai'th towards the light, stands out
in great contra.st with the tendency in all roots to
grow towards moisture, and as a necessary cousef|uence
towards shady or dark| places.

This growth i)i different directions is in direct
relation to the differing functions of the two organs —
stem and root. The one bears flowers and leaves
spread out to all the influences of air and light —
the other as a general thing chiefly developed to
absorb water and food which may pass into the
whole plant.

2. As to whether there is any difference in exter-
nal or internal structure I belit-.ve is au undecided
point. Internally the cells are, to all less thorough
investigation at least, just the same. We certainly
find that p.th is oftenest present in stems and absent
from almost all roots, except as in some trees where
they branch from the trunk, the pith being present
because growing as continuation of that in stem.
This pith (though useful in giving more bulk to the
stem, from which the leaves may more readily pass
off) is needless to the root.

We can all see that the root is colourless generally
though when growing in the air at times, as in Chio
rophyton, it becomes green, or hard, brown, and stem-
like, with bark on it. The epidermis in many stems
whilst green has also breathing places, or " stomata."
It is sufficiently evident that there would be no need
for these in terrestrial roots, although botanists point
out among aerial roots, as in some Orchids and iu
Mangrove, the marks of similar stomata.

3. As to the power in stems, and the absence of
this power among roots, to give off leaf-buds, which
we have already referred to somewhat fully, I may
ad<l that according to the functions of a root we do
not need the presence of leaf-buds, and they are never
present in true absorbing roots as we should perhaps
restrict the term though whether present iu storage
roots at all frequently I cannot yet make out.

It is certainly difficult to draw a hard and fast line
between these two organs, especially when in so many
of our best text-books of systematic botany we read
of '• roots," and find such able to produce leaf-buds
plentifully under certain favourable conditions. I think,
however, that the greater number of botanists will
look upon roots and stems both as complex structures
having similar rudimentary structures (in the thin-
walled celH, although these may be developed differ-
ently according to their functions. — Gcvrdenera'
Chronicle.

EuBBER IN Brazil. — The Para statistics not
having come to hand, onjy those for Amazonas
are published, viz. : —

weight. value.

188-2-83 .... 718,137 kilos. 2,253,369*

1883-84 .... 1,040,358 „ 2,564,431

1884-85.... 1,412,407 „ 2,505,580

The minister suggests that the municipalities
and provincial legislatures should take steps to
replant the tree, in the proper situations, near
villages, not only to prevent the destruction of
this source of wealth, but also by reducing thf'
cost of harvesting to place the article on a belter
iooting as regardij foreign rubber,--i?/o Neivs,

262

itjs Ti?oi*fdAt AQnicvLrvuiuf,

(Oct, If i35f

(iAMBOCxE OF BURMA.

Although various varieties ol' jamboge-beariug trees
have for luauy years past bdea known to exist in
different parts of the provnice, notably iu the Ten-
asserim division, it was not until comparatively re-
cently that the subject was brought specially under
the notice of the local Goverameut. Writing more
thaai 30 years ago, Mr. Simaiouds, iu his work en-
titled Commercial Products of the I'eyetahle Kiaydom,
says: "The Garcinia dliptica of Tavoy and Moui-
mein affords gamboge and approaches very closely iu
its character to Graham's Hebrodendron;" and he adds
that it affords "a fine pigmeut." Dr. Mason also,
in his work on Burma, remarks that " the best gam-
boge is produced by Garcinia ellipttca but an inferior
article is produced by G. cornea, G. aaomala, U. cava,
G. kydia, G. fi'.ccifolia,G. Aunthochi/mi'.s, and G. {Heb-
rodendron) morcUa. Gorciuia Cambogia yields a plea-
sant fruit and a gamboge quite insoluble in w.iter,
and it is the complete solubility of the best gamboge
that distinguishes it from inferior sorts, but it is pro-
bable that, when fully investigated, these insoluble
gamboges will be found of service in the arts-'"

Tu 1675 Mr. Whittall, of the Forest Department,
drew attention to three different species of trees, be-
longing to the genus Garcinia, growing in the dis-
tricts of Southern Tenasserim. These were known to
the natives as Taivmenyoot, Parawah, and Parajai/.
The two last named Mr. Witiali did not consider of
much account. The Faraivah yields an exudation
of a white colour, which changes to a reddish yellow
on exposure to the atmosphere, and is scarcely at all
soluble in water, but yields to alcohol. The Parajai/
yields a rather copious exudation which when dis-
solved in spirits of turpentine, affords a beautiful,
permanent, yellow varnish for metallic surfaces, and
on this account has been called the gamboge tree as
well as the yellow varnish tree ; but its exudation
does not form an emulsion with water, and, for this
and other reasons, Mr. Whittall considered it had no
claim to be considered a real gamboge tree. The
Taumengoot was, in Mr. Wittall's opinion, the gam-
boge tree of the South Tenasserim forests. He says :
*' The gum resin is larger in quantity and darker and
of a more glossy colour than the others : neither wet
nor dry is it so sticky, and so readily does it form
an emulsion with water that the exudation on the
outer bark is completely washed away by the rains."
This tree he believed to be the same as that which
Dr. Mason calls Thanataiv (Garcinia eUiptica) [G. hete-
randra']. and he adds that it was supposed to be the
same as that which yields the gum resin exported
from Siam. But Mr. Hill, Ofiiciatiug Conservator of
Forests, Pegu Circle, thinks the Tavniengoot is pro-
bably the G. morella or pictura, or gutta, the true
gamboge tree, which does not grow all over Burma
like G. ellipttca or G. cowa, which latter are common
trees throughout the province.

In May 1884 the Commissioner of Tenasserim, drew
the attention of District Officers to the trees called
Thauiigthaleh {G. ki/dia) and Thanataw (G. rllij>tica',
found growing iu the tropical forests of Martabau
and Tenasserim with the view, if possible, of devel-
oping a new industry for the people. Of the former
Mr. Hill says: "It yields a yellow substance of a
bright colour, but paler than the gamboge of Siam.
It is scarcely soluble in water, but dissolves in spirits
of turpentine and affords a beautiful, permanent,
yellow varnish for metallic surfaces. As the substance
is very resinous and will not dissolve in water, it is
valueless as a pigment." Of the latter he remarks:
" The product known as Thanataio is obtained from
G. eUiptica or heterandra. It is called a superior gam-
boge, but in all probability merits the name almost
as little as Thaunythaleh owing to its only partial
solubility in water. It is found throughout the pro-
vince and is darker in colour than Thaungthalth." A
sample of Thanataw obtained from Tavoy was found
upon analysis to contain —

Resin, .. 765

Gum, 23-5

This sample was sent to Calcutta for valuation, where
it nab Ueclareil to h> gamboge, but unsalable iu au

mmmm^tmtme

unrefined state. In August of the same year samples
of gum produced from two other kinds of trees called
Falagiji and Tammtiigoot were also obtained and sub-
mitted for analysis. They were found to contain —

Falagyi. Tawmengoot?

Resin, 58 82 53-2()

Gum, 9o4 20-30

Water, 32-66 2560

In his report on these samples Dr. Komanis, the
Chemical Examiner, says the yellow kind {Taumengoot)
makes a very fair paint, but the other is of no u.se.
If the gum is extracted it makes a spirit varnish,
but when warm it melts and gets sticky.

According to the broker's report, to whom the sample
of Thanataw referred to above was submitted for
valuation, gamboge in its refined state sells in the
Calcutta Market at from R2 to R2-8 per seer. It ar-
rives there freely from June to August, usually packed
in cases of from three to four mauuds, and it is
chiefly used in French polish and paint. In Burma
the cost of collection alone is estimated by the deputy
Commissioner, Tavoy, at R25 per visa (3-6o lbs). That
is to say, the cost of colltctigu amounts to nearly
E7 per lb., v»-hile the market value of the product is
only Rl-4 per lb., and that too when it is in a refined
state. It does not appear why the cost of collection
is so great. In Ceylon the process of collection is
very simple. There the gamboge is usually collected
by cutting a thin .slice of the bark of the tree here
and there of the size of the palm of the hand. On
the flat space thus exposed the gum collects and is
scraped off when sufficiently dried. It may be pos-
sible perhaps to reduce the cost of collection. Un-
less it can be reduced very considerably, we cannot
hope to introduce the Burma product into the market.
From the enquiries made, then, it would appear that
the Tauinengoot alone yields good gamboge, and that
the only obstacle in the way of the gamboge succeed-
ing as a commercial product is the high cost of
collecting it. The products of the other trees men-
tioned are not promising because of their compar-
ative insolubility in water. — R. A. M.\ck, of the Agri-
cultural Department, Rangoon 22nd April, 1885. —
ladian Porrstcr.

PSEUDO-GUTTA-PERCHAS, OR SUBSTANCES
SUPPLEMENTARY TO GUTTA-PERCHA.

From time to time numerous substances have been
recommended ;is substitutes for, or supplementary
to, gutta-percha. That a substance answering these
purposes has not yet been introduced lies, I think,
more in the fact that these substances have not
yet been properly treated, or such a substauce has
yet to be discovered, than that such substance or
substances do not exist. As to the method of pre-
paration of these proposed substances, I have pointed
out, in an article on gutta-percha,* the rapid oxid-
ation of that substance if it be not prepared immedi-
ately after collection. This applies even more strongly
to subjects of the present article, Balata gum has
au assured value of its own, and with regard to the
rest they may yet be utilised if their rapid resin-
ification can be arrested.

In the following remarks but a brief nt-ume is
given, and the subject geographically treated. In
view, too, of the various names which have been
given to these plants iu various botanical works I
also append the synonyms.

I.— AMERICAN SOURCES OF SITPLY.

(I) BALAT.\ GUM. (2) MIMUSOI'S BAT.AIA, G.KRTNER.

(3) Natural Order— sapotace.k.

SyNONYMS. — Sapota Mulleri, Bleekrod ; Mhmusops
Kanli, L : M. dissecta, Hooker ; M. Hookori, A.D.L.,
jr.- Ma7iilkara, Don; JI. Ballota, Blunie; Achras
balata, Aublet ; Lucuma mammosa. De Yriese.

Vernacular Names. — Paarden vleesh (Dutch),
Horse-flesh; liullet tree; Bolletrie aud Boerowe by
the Arrawak Indians.

Geoge.sphical Dtstkiju'tion. — Deraerara ; Berbiro ;
British Guiana; Antilles; Jamaica and Surinam.

~* Encj-clop, Britauu. ; Article " Gutta-percba/'

Oct. I, xSS6.j

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

265

One of tVie first writers on this substance wa-i
Professor Bleekrod, who commuaicated some iufonn-
ation as to ihe plant and its product to the Society
of Arts, in 1857.* He also described and named the
plant as Sapota MuUeri. In 1860 Mr. Walker f
communicated samples, &c., received by him from Dr.
Van Hoist, of Berbiee, to the same Society; and in
1864 Sir William Holmes also drew attention to the
same subject.}

The tree is a large one, with a trunk of about 6
feet in diameter, and furnishing a wood much sought
after as a building material. The Patch name,
Paardenoleesch, is given on account of the wood being
of the colour and having the appearance of hoi-.se-
flesh. The bark is thick and rough, and the fruit is
of the size of a coffee berry, sweet, like a plum, and
with a hard white kernal, which yields an oil bitter
in taste. The leaves are glossy, oval, and acuminated.
The milk is drunk by the natives, and when diluted
with water, used as cow's milk. The trees grow in
groups, and in alluvial soil.

The "Balata" gum is of a character somewhat
between caoutchouc and gutta-percha, combining in
some degree the elasticity of the one with the ductility
of the other, freely softening and becoming plastic,
and easily moulded under the intluenee of hot water.

What small parcels were sent to this country met
with a ready sale, and were remarkably free from
adulteration. But, unfortunately, through the difficulty
of collection, the undertaking being so dangerous and
unhealthy, the supply of this excellent and most
desirable article has fallen off.

Balata is collected by making incisions in the bark
about 7 feet from the ground, and a ring of clay
placed round the tree to catch the milk as it exudes.
The yield is said to be in profusion, especially at
the time of the full moon— a statement with regard
to milky juices which is adhered to by natives in all
parts of the world — and the operation can be repeated
every 'two months in the rainy season. It takes six
hours to bring about coalescene by simple atmospheric
influe ce, but very quickly by boiling in water. A
lar;.e tree is said to yield as much as 45 lb. of
dry gum.§

' II.— INDIAN SOURCES OF SUPPLY.

PAUCHONTEE, OR IXDIAN OUTTA TREE.

Dkhopsis elliptica, Benthaji.

Natural Order — Sapotaccm.

SykOntms. — Ba=is'ia eUipfica, Dalzell ; Isonandro/tcum-
hujM, Lindley.ll

VERNACUL.4.R Names. — Indian Gutta Tree ; Pauchon-
tee, Pauchoontee or Pashonti ; Pauley or Pali
Tree.

Geographical Distribution. — Wynaad ; Ooorg; Tra-
vaneore ; Anamally and Neilgherry Hills ; Sholah
Forest ; Cochin ; Sichar ; and according to General
Cullen, "appears to be common in all the forest tracts
at all within the influence of the south-west rains."

This ti'ec, which is now placed in the same c/em/.-;
as the true gutta-percha, is a large one, from 80 to
100 feet high, was first met with by Mr. Dalzell in
North Oanara, near the falls of Goirsuppah, in 1843.
Since that date. General Cullen and Dr. Hugh Cleghorn
have used every exertion to bring the substance
prominently forward. The gum is obtained by tapping,
a pound and a half being obtained from one tree by
five or six incisions, a large tree yielding as much
as 20 to 40 lb. of sap. Many experiments have been
made with specimens of the raw milk, i.e., milk simply
dried after taken from the tree. The result of these
experiments have shown that for telegraphic purposes
it is wanting in some essential qualities, but it has
been recommended as a sub-aqueous cement or glue.
AVhen dissolved in ordinary gutta-percha solvents, it,
after the evaporation of the solvent, rf»mai-s for imne

•• Jour. Soc. Arts. London, Oct. 8, lb57.
r Ih. Aug. 24, 18t)0.
i Ih. March 4th, 1864.
* Trinidad Chronic'e, September 2, 1873.
II Under this name, Dr. Hugh Oleghorn wrote a
very valuable report in 1858,

time soft aud vi.scivl, and partakes somewhat of the
characteristics of birdlime. When cold it is hard aud
brittle. Without wishing in the slightest degree to
throw doubt or discretlit on the many and valuable
experiments made, I would suggest that good samples
be collected. I have not the slightest doubt, from
the scientific aspect of the case, as well as from
practical experiene and experiments at home and
abroad, that many a parcel of what would other-
wise be good gutta-percha is spoilt through not l>eing
wel/ hoVed immcddateii/ after collection from the tree.
At present, this is the only way in which I can see
a possibility of ascertaining whether this product
can be utilised, and 1 have the more liope that it
can, from the fact that its structural character has
led the plant to be placed in the same genus as the
gutta-percha tree : structural afhaity being a wonder-
fully safe index in numerous instances to chemical
afhnity also. There are in India various species of
Ismiandrce and other closely allied sapotaceous yenera,
but I have foimd no mention nor heard of their yield-
ing any milky juices likely to prove of commercial
value. It would" be well if experiments were tried
with the products of these trees.

Cattimandu and other Euphokbiu-m Gums.

Eapliothia cattimandoo, and other .species.

Natural Order — Eaphorhiacere.

Fjiphorbia cattimandoo, of W. Elliot, is found in
Vizigapatam, and is variously known under the
vernacular names of (Jattimaudoo. Oatemandoo, or
Kattimundoo.

The product of this tree was first brought to notice
by the Hon. W. Elliot, and a prize medal was
awarded for the substance by the jurors of the
Exhibition of IJs.'il. This Euphorbia grows to the size
of a shrub or small tree, and the milk flows out
freely when a branch is cut. The natives use the
milk as a cement to fasten knives in handles &c.
Under the influence of heat it becomes soft and
visoi 1, and when dry it becomes very brittle. The same
remarks as to the probable utility of " Pauchontee."
apply also to this and following siibstances, although
in a somewhat litnited degree.

Eiipliorbia tinica/'i, of Linnreus, known vernacularly
as the Milk hedge or Indian tree spurge, tirucalli
and the Lunka ?ij, is found in the Coromandel,
Malabar, Bengal, aud is, in fact, a very common
plant in various parts of India.

This succulent unarmed plant often attains a height
of 20 feet, and its inspissated milk is used for various
purposes, chiefly medicinal, in India, and has been
recommended as a substitute for gutta-percha; but
like Gum Euphorbium, it has a very acrid character,
and the collection of it is a very dangerous operation
to the eyes.' When dry it becomes very brittle, but
when warmed in water has a certain amount oi
plasticity.

Alstonia or Pala Gum.

Alastonia sclio/aris, RorPrt Brow\.
Natural Order — Apoci/aarecP.
Synonyms. — Alxtonia nhandrifolia; Loddidr/e.' Kcliitrs
scholari.'t, Linn^us.

Vernacular Names.— Mookum pala ; Pala ; Ohatinn ;
Eerellay-palay ; Ezhilaip-palai ; Bdakulapala ; Edakula-
tariti ; Edakula-ponna.

GEOaRAPHiCAL DISTRIBUTION. — Travancore, Coro-
mandel, Assam, and Ceylon.

This tree attains a height of 50 feet, and its wood
and bark are much valued in India for their medi-
cinal qualities. The tree yields an abundant milky
juice, which was recommended as a substitute for
guttii-percha. amongst others, by Mr. Ondaartjee,
who brought the substance before the notice of the
Society of Arts in 1864.* It is stated to readily
soften in hot water, take impressions read 113, ;ii\I|
to retain these impressions when cold. 1 have oiUv
had very small .spe.^imeus in my possession, so am
unable to form any decided opinion. Good specimens
of this and other like substances would be acceptable,

* Jour. Soc. Arts, London, vol. xii. 39., Feb., 1864,

264

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST^

[Oct, It r886.

Ml'DAE Gkm.

CaIatropi!> c/iyantea, Robert Beown.
?,'.iturai Order. — Asclejikulaceae.
This plant, known also uader the name of Axclepias
(jigantea, <'f AVilldenow, was very early describvxl by
R heede in hif- Malabar Plants, under the name of Ericu.
VKRNAf'ULAR Namks. — Gigantic swallow-wort; Yer-
cum ; Yfrica ; Xella-jilledoo ; Akimd ; Mudah ; Ark.
Geographical DisxRiBUTroN.— throughout the penin-
sula and 8outht^rn Pro\-iuces of India.

This shrub is found in waste places, and grows to
a height of from six to teu feet. Ten average shrubs
are said to yield one pound of a gutta-like substance,
which becomes plastic in hot water, and other ways
behaves like gutta-percha. There is also anoth(;r
species said to yield the same characteristic milk,
viz., C. proceni. but I have not been able !•) procure,
specimens.

III.— CEYLON SOURCES OF SUPPLY.
In Cb\-lon tliere are species of Dichopsis, Ismuindra,
and other allied genera belongiug to the na.tural
order : Sapotacece. Specimens of their inspissated juices
I have not seen. When I passed through Point de
Galle, in 1874, I wrote to the late Dr. Thwaites, the
talented Diiector of the Government Gardens at
Peradeniya, with regard to the question of gutta-percha,
and received a quick and courteous reply, by which
it appears that the natives do not collect any of the
gutta, even if the trees yield it in appreciable quan-
tities. This agrees, too, with information I have
received from native and other sources of information.
Dr. Thwaites also remarked that some years ago he
sent the inspissated juice of one species to Sir W. J.
Hooker, but that the report on it was unfavourable-
Certain parts of Ceylon having a climate,* so
similar to that of the Malayan Peninsula and
Archipelago, it seems probable that here would be
found the best localities for the acclimation and
cultivation of the true gutta-percha tree. I have
recommended the adoption of this course, and
sincerely trust that efforts will be made iu that
direction. It is also probable that the isLiud contains
many indigenous pseudo-guttas, which might be made

use of.

IV.—AFRICAN SOURCES OF SUPPLY,

At the Cape of Good Hope there are many species
of Euphorbias which are said to yield a substance
very similar to Oattimandoo, but hitherto I have only
been able to see fragments, and thus have been
precluded from making any experiments. Like the
Euphorbia officinalis, the juice is .so acrid as to give
intense pain and irritation to any part of tlie body
with which it may come in contact, especially the
eyes and no.strils. Dr. .7. Crombie Brown, whilst
holding the post of Government Botanist at the Cape,
paid much attention to the subject, and favoured me
with much correspondence upon it. Our united efforts
bore no fruit. The substance has been well spoken
of as an anti-fouling dressing for ship's bottoms.

Mr. Baxter, whilst on the Niger Expedition, collected
a specimen of Ckrysophi/llu'ia (Sipotacea;) yielding a
substance like gutta-peicha, but no specimen seems
to exist. Tropical Africa should indeed be rich iu
such substances, and doubtless such will prove to be
the case when careful search and enquiry is ma*le.

"With regard to the whole question of the Pseudo-
Guttas, Baiata should most certainly rec-ive attention,
and efforts should be made by the Government to
introduce it into Ceylon and elsewhere. Pauchontee,
too. should receive attention, and the possibility of
the utilization of the rest of th*- group not deni'd
till further trial has been made. — J. C. — Indiarubhrr
and Guttapercha Journal.

Squirrels at 'Work on Norway St'huck.— In Ihe
August American Gardenej-'s Mnnthlt/. Professor W. A
Buckhout attribute* the broken braiichlets found under
the Norway spruces in the spring, rei. rred to in the
previous number of the periodical, t > squirrels. These
branchlets u.sually lie among the clumps of tr'es near
where these rodents may be seen feelin^; on seeds
and cones. Isolated irees do not thus suffer: though

* rirfe Thwaite's Flwa ZeylanicA. (Preface).

native Pines {P. rii/ida] do. The editor admits that
the Professor's specimens sliow distnct marks of
gnawing; but specimens f ro n New Hampshire appear
broken off at a bud — disarticulated as it were — which
a squirrel could not to do. Sach disarticula:ion may
have begun by drying commencing after thi rodent
had cut the br&ui:h.—Joi(ina.L of Forestri/. [We in Ceylou
know what our "rodents" the coffee rats can do in
the way of branch cutting. — Ed. J

Akabian- D.\tk Tkkk. — At the suggestion of Mr.
Cameron, of the Lai Bagh, the Dew.in has sanctioned
the introduction of the Arabian date tree, which is to
be cultivated as an experimental measure in the province.
Steps have been taken, through the British Consul
in the Persian Gulf, to obtain a supply of the proper
variety of the date palm and it is expect-.-d that 400
or 500 young shoots will arrive shortly. The date
palm which grows luxuriantly in localities that have
a scantly rainfall, will, it is hoped do well in the
Chitaldroog and Kolar Districts and part of Tumkur
where the rainfall is precarious and far below the
provincial average and should the experiments turn
out a success, and if the cultivation is largely ex-
tended, it will prove a stand by in the shape of a
large yield of dates, as food for the people in times
of scarcity. We believe that after careful enquiries
and an examination of all records, it was found that
some plants of Arabian date flourished in the Lai
Bagh may years ago, but being lost sight of probably
in the rush that set in for flowers and fallals the
trees were either cut down or allowed to perish from
neglect. B. S. — Jfadras Mail.

China Teas m. Indiak and Ceylon Teas. — The
first crop from China is larger than that of last year.
This has now been all shipped, or very nearly fo.
The quality of the second and third pickings is deter-
mined to a great extent by the prices obtainable by
the growers, and when the demand is good, fourth
and even fifth pickings are made, so that practically
the supph' from China may be said to be almost
unlimited, or at any rate limjted only by the fact of
the value declining so as to render it unremunerative
to pluck. VTe are inclined to think that a favorable
spring, after and unusually hard winter, and fine
weather for drying the leaf, have had more to do iu
determining the quality of this years' crop of China
tea (which is undoubtedly above the average) than
the Government edict, though this may have brought
the desirability of making good tea prominently to
the notice of the factors. The Chinese are eminently
a practical people, and are shrewd enough to take
care of their own interests. The course of the London
market is not such as to induce them to make much
really fine tea, and as the Russians also, who used
to take most of their finest crops either direct or
through their agents in London, appear now to be
turning their attention largely to the medium and
common grades, it seems doubtful whether it will
pay the Chinese to expend time and labor in the
manufacture of cheice parcels when they can obtain
a good average price with less care. While, therefore,
we believe that the resom-ces of China in regard to
the production of tea are almost unlimited, aDd that
she possesses many advantages, not the least being an
abundance of cheap labor, we do not think that the
outlook need cause alarm to Indian or Ceylon plant-
ers. The question to them to a great extent is the
cost of production. If by the use of improved
machinery they can keep this sufficiently low to make
tea planting remunerative in the altered condition of
the market, and maintiin a high standard so far as
quality is concerncil, they will hold their own. They
have no native tea-drinking population to fall b«ck
upon like China, and the greater portion of their
produce must find its way to this market. The tast*
of the British public is what they have to cater for,
and that demands for the most part a good strong
tea at as low a price as possible. There is also an
outlet for the finer grade.«, if they are fine to a cer-
tain extent, but the bulk required mast consist of
Pekoes and Pekoe Souchongs, anl miiderately fiue
Broken Pekoes." — Oor. Local " Times " quoting London
Broker!.

067. h f886j TBB "TROPICAL AQUnVLTURIST.

9$5

CINCHONA BAEK AND QUININE
SUBSTITUTES.

Another scare has just been started, this time in Lon-
don, which, did it contain the elements of success in it
should indeed cause uneasiness in the minds of cin-
chona planters, not only here, but all over the world.
The following paragraph appeared in the Morning
Post of Monday. 23rd August: —

E.E5IARKABLE DISCOVERY. — A correspondent says: —
Dr. Cresswell Hewett, of Lincoln's Inn Fields, has
discovered the synthetical or artificial mode of making
quinine, by which the price of that drug will be
reduced to something like 3d. per ounce. The im-
portance of this discovery (which was made two or
three weeks ago through the accidental breaking of
a medicine bottle) is rendered greater by the fact
that while hitherto we have been depending for our
quinine on the cultivation of the cinchona tree, from
whose bark only about 2 per cent, of good quinine
can be extracted, 9S per cent, being valueless, the
drug can now be manufactured without limit by a
very simple process from an article whicli can always
be got in abundance in any part of the world. A
few days ago Dr. Hewett submitted a sample of his
preparation to Messrs. Howard and Sons, quinine
manufacturers, Stratfoid, who have expressed surprise
at the result of their analysis the sample being
equal to the best quinine in the market. The dis-
coverer is about t ■) communicate with the Government,
who annually spend in India alone about £60,000 in
the cultivation of the cinchona tree.

This was followed by the publication of the follow-
uig letter in the Lancet; —

TO THE EDITOR OF THE Lincet.

"■ Sir, — In answer to your note of yesterday's date, I
beg to inform you that the enclosed paragraph is in
substance correct, with the exception that the process
referred to was not accidental as described, but was
first suggested lo me by the late Dr, Matheson, of
St. Bartholomew's Hospital, in 1869, while assisting
him in experiments regarding apomorphine. Subse-
quently Professor P.irkes, of Netly, aided me with his
advice. To these gentlemen rather than to myself
the process is due. — I have, &c.,

" Oresswell Hewett,"
From Messrs. Wilson, Smithett's circular, appearing
in our last issue, it will be seen that this correspond-
ence, which appears to have gone the round of the
daily papcis in Loudon create! some excitement in
the quiniu ■ 'r.i le, but the value set upon the announce-
ment, as t'\ • above firm of brokers state, may be very
fairly gau;;:; 1 by the better result of the bark sales
which to^i'j place shortly afterwards ; whilst Messrs.
Howard i^ Sons state that Mr. Cresswell Hewett had
no author! ly to use thei; names in connection with
his discover •. Tlie same sort of " discovery " has been
80 often repeated before, that planters are likely, we
fancy, to b; scared as little as the quinine manu-
facturers ai^pear to be. Threepence an oz, is certainly
a low price for quinine, but the news is, we fancy,
too good to be true. There will be found, we think,
to be .fust one little thing wanting to complete the
success of Mr, Hewett's " discovery." — Local " Times."

THE ALLEGED DISCOVERY OP ARTIFICIAL
QUININE.

Our readers interested in cinchona bark may
make their minds easy about the alleged discovery
o£ Dr. Cresswell Hewett, who is so unscrupulous
in his statements that the only excuse that can be
offered for him is mental aberration. His assertion
that the Howards had endorsed his invention is
disposed ot by a letter which Messrs. Howard &.
Sons sent to the Chemist and Druggist to the fol-
lowing effect: —

" Artifcial Qnin'nie—'ihe alleged di,scovery of the
above was brought under our notice, the supposed
U

inventor entirely failed to satisfy us of its synthetic
formation."

The account given by the representative of the
Chemist and Druggist of an interview with
the alleged discoverer, will afford our readers
amusement, even if it leaves them in doubt
wnether Dr. Cresswell Hewett is more humbug
taan madman. It is natural to incline to the
latter conclusion when v,'e find the man tally-
ing of manufacturing 90,000 tons of an article
of which only 150 tons are at present consumed
annually in ihe whole world ! Here is the amusing
account of the interview with the eccentric doctor
who had purchased 180,000 gunpowder tins to hold
his synthetically formed quinine: —

THE ALLEGED DISOOYERY OF ARTIFICIAL
QUININE.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. CRESSWELL HEWETT.

That eminently respectable and aristocratic organ,
the Morning Post, created quite a sensation on 'Change
last Monday, when, in a somewhat obscure corner of
its columns, as though the editor were not quite certain
whether he was announcing a discovery of the utmost
importance or communicatiug a joke, there appeared
the following paragraph " from a correspondent " : —
" Dr. CVes.swell Hewett, of Lincoln's Inn Fields, has
discovered the synthetical or artificial mode of making
quinine, by which the price of that drug will be reduced
to something like 3d per oz. The importance of this
discovery (which was made two or three weeks ago
through the accidental breaking of a medicine bottle),
is rendered greater by the fact that, while hitherto we
have been depending for our quinine on the cultivation
of the cinchona tree, from whose bark only about 2 per
cent of good quinine can be extracted, 98 per cent being
valuele? ;,, the drug can now be manufactured without
limit by a very simple process from an article which
can always be got in abundance in any part of the
world. A few days ago Dr. Hewett submitted a sample
of his preparation to Messrs. Howard & Sons, quinine
manufacturers, Stratford, who have expressed surprise
at the result of their analysis, the sample being equal
to the best quinine in the market.* The discoverer is
about to communicate with the Government, who annu-
ally spend in India alone about 60,000/. in the cultiv-
ation of the cinchona tree."

From these statements it would appear to bo prob-
able that the anonymous correspondent is but imper-
fectly acquaiuted with the properties of cinchona bark,
but nevertheless the information conveyed by him was
sufiiciently startling to cause a sensation amoag the
large number of parsons interested in its preparations.
Mr. D.ivid Howard no sooner appeared on 'Change than
he was besieged by eager inquirers, desiring to have
his view of the matter. Mr. Howard stated that his
firm had actually received from Dr. Oresswell Hewett
a sample of quinine sulphate, which was found to bo
in every respect equal to the commercial article, but
they had no means of knowing how the article was ob-
tained. The mention of their firm in the .Morning rost
was entirely unauthorised.

Desirous of obtaining some iuforniition from the
alledged discoverer in person, a member of oar staff set
out in search of that g.=ntlemau, who figures in the
Medical Registerjas Frederick Charles Oresswell Hewett,
Memberof the Royal College of Surgeons /^England),
and Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries ,''Londou),
Mr, Hewett's address in the Medical Register baing
inaccurate, and that in the Mi'mhig Po-^t vugue, the
discovery of him was a matter of some little difficulty,
but was overcome after some perseverance.

After stating our business to the attendant we were
admitted into the Doctor's parlour, where we fouud
him apparently engaged in " coaching" a couple of
medical students.

Dr. Hewett commenced by inquiring whethar we had
come i^rovided witli a cheque for 20,00J/., which
amount he named as the price fcriiis secret, and up>u

*■ The explanation being that the sample was ordin-
ary quinine, probably Howaids' own.— Eu,

'264

^m^ ^UOPiCAt AGRiCiJLtumST.

[Ocf. f, 1886,

being answeroil iu the r.egative, jovially responded,
" That settles it, my boy ; then you will uot get it out
of me."

"We stated that we had not the remotest intention to
deprive him of the secret of his invention, but merely
desired to hear something coucorning the manner of
the discovery, and the use he intended to make of it.

" Ah I" said the Doctor, " that's another matter.
Let me first tell you that the communication to the
3Ior>nv(f Post was entirely unauthorised by me. I don't
know who can have put the thing in, and I didn't
want it to appear. I wanted to keep the matter
quiet until I should have manufactured wt'nci// i!/to/<.va«(Z
tons of the article, when I would suddenly have swamp-
ed the market. Did you see those tins outside ?"
(Referring to some granulated gunpowder tins piled
against his door.) " Yes ? well, I have bought up
180,000 of them, sir. The cellar down below is choke-
full of them ; and the lot you saw in the passage
only cost me a shilling, I am interested iu this granu-
lated gunpowder ; it is made by an old friend of
of mine in the neighbourhood of Hamburg, and I
am going to put up my artificial quinine in
these empty tins. A \ I say, I want £20,000 for my
invention, and I think I shall get it too. I am now in
communication with the Government, and I think I
ought to get part of the annual subsidy they give towards
the cinchona plantations in India. Bless you, sir ! "
Dr. Hewettexcitedly exclaimed, applying vigorous slaps
to the seat of the sofa upon which he was reclining,
" I have had Mr. Howard in this room, sir ! sitting on
this identical sofa ! He wasn't a bit surprised when
I told him of my discovery, but said he expected it
all along, and knew it must come."

Dr. Hewett did not appear willing to give any further
account of his alleged negotiations with Messrs. Howard
& Sons. He mentioned, indeed, that he had a letter
from that firm which he would like to show us but, upon
looking for it the document could not at that moment
be found. He thought, however, that he would be able
to produce it later on, if we would pay him another
visit, to which we agreed.

Calling again later in the afternoon, we found the
Doctor enjoying a peaceful slumber on his sofa. He
had, he said on awaking, received no end of calls from
people anxious to know all about his invention and felt
very fatigued. Again adverting to the question of his
discovery he stated that he actually, at that moment,
was in possession of an offer from a German firm, a
member of which was a personal friend of his, the ac-
quaintance having sprung up during the Franco-German
War, in which Dr. Hewett was engaged as a member
of the Red Cross Society.

As to the statement that the discovery was made
through the accidental breaking of a medicine-bottle,
that was quite incorrect. He, Dr. Hewett, was not
in medical practice, and had never used a medicine-
bottle in his life. The fact was he had during the
last eleven years devoted his energy to the discovery
of artificial quinine, and it was at last found by him
in connection with the action of salicylic acid on urea,
with which he was temporarily occupying himself.

The Doctor declined to answer our question whether
he obtained his artificial quinine from a mineral or a
vef^e'able matter, but admitted the correctness of the
stiiteraent that the material from which it is manu-
factured is obtainable in abundance in every part of
the world, He distinctly stated that it was prepared
by a synthetical process, and was nothing iu tue way
of conversion of amorphous quinine as bad been sug-
gesed in some quarters.

Iir. Hewett claims to be able to make either Ly«
dr. chlorate or sulphate of ((uinine, aild maintaina
that the article can be turned out by him eVen at a
cott cf twopence per ounce, if the manufacture takes
plr ce on a suiKciently large scale.

He states that he has actually sold Botue of his
quifiiiie, not, however, in wholesale quantities, his
laboratory at the present moment not being sufficiently
extensive to enable him to do so.

■\Ve requested the Doctor to provide us with an
ounce of his artificial quinine, observing that of course
vve expected it at the new rate of 3d per oz. This the
Pwetur t;uulU uot i^xuv. tP, tic fras i^uitij )ViUu}^ tv

make some quinine for us — would we have sulphate or
hydrochlorate y — but he would have to charge us the
present market price for Howard's quinine.

To this arrangement we raised no objection, and it
was agreed that on the morning following our inter-
view the Doctor should send us a sample of his pre-
paration for inspection. But, remembering that his
time was very limited that evening, and having, he
said, no artificial quinine whatever in stock, he asked
us to be satisfied with the delivery of h oz. next morn-
ing, that being as much as lie could turn out that
night. By way of explanation, he added that the dry-
ing process of the quinine in the water-bath was a
slow one.

Adverting again to the commercial aspect of the
question, we wished to be informed in what manner
the Doctor purposed working his invention commer-
cially. "Would he take out a patent?"

This inquiry, natural and harmless though it seems,
appeared to rouse Dr. Hewett's anger, and in stentorian
tones he desired us to say whether we thought he
looked like a fool or an old woman. He knew very
well what he was going to do,ithe principal and first step
being the putting of money into his own pocket ! Then,
as if regretting his momentary ebullition of temper, the
Doctor assured us that he had carefully made his plan.
His idea is to start a company; a sum of about 2,000^.
being, he thought, all that was required for building
purposes and to set the concern going. He will be
glad to hear of anyone willing to co-operate with him.

Our representative then pointed out to the doctor
that the present annual consumption of quinine in the
entire world is stated to amount to some 150 tons only
and suggested that the quantities mentioned in the
earlier interview as intended to be placed on the
market by the doctor were out of proportion to all
possible requirements. But Dr. Hewett firmly adhered
to his determination to swamp the market in the manner
indicated. It might be that no eufiicient demand for
the artificial quinine would be found in Europe, but he
was quite sure that the inhabitants of other parts,
particularly North and South America, only required
to have the drug put before them at a " popular "
price, in order to swallow it in quantities undreamed
of hitherto.

We regret that up to the time of going to press
the promised |-oz. sample of the artificial quinine has
not been received by us.

ASBESTOS VERSUS INDIABUBBER.

Our naval authorities appear to be showing a
praiseworthy activity in the study of the problems
which anticipation of the maritime warfare of the
future suggests to them. How quickly ships beaome
obsolete nowadays is demonstrated remarkably by
the fact that the target for the guns of the
" Blazer " and the " Pincher " yesterday was the
" Resistance," an ironclad designed by Sir Edward
Eeed, soon after he had done the same creative
work for the " Warrior," The object of the experi-
ments was to test the merits of indiarubber and
asbestos libre as a means of plugging short holes,
preventing the inflow of water into a vessel after
performation by shot, and minimising the damage
from shell lire below decks. The indiarubber in-
serted in the skin of the ship seems to have
failed altogether. It was lacerated and scattered,
and was manifestly not to be relied upon. Reports
differ as to the results of the trial on the asbestos,
but it would appear to have carried oil' the palm
from its rival, though it won its victory in an
unexpected fashion. It wati supposed that it would
keep out water by swelling, and through its elastic
power generally. This was not the case, however.
It achieved the desired end by changing its sub-
stance, after perforation by the shot, having
been converted into a sort of paste or putty by
means of absorption. When the ship was heeled
over so as to bring tliis paste below the level of
jtbe watyi-iii vi the " Soleat," il wasi louuti tbal it

Oct. f, 1886.]

TttE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

2^7

fully answered the purpose for which it was in-
tended. The importance of the discovery of these
((ualities of asbestos cannot be over-estimated. It
will raise our confidence in those of our lighting
ships whij'i have unarmoured ends, and many pre-
vent them iDm becoming practically waterlogged
in action. Indeed, it would appear that a most
invaluable addition has been made to the defensive
properties of war ships. — Globe.

NOTES ON POPULAR SCIENCE.

By Dr. J. E. Taylor, f.l.s., f.g.s., &c., Editor of
" Science Gossip."

Most of my readers are aware that the edible
swallow's nests, which form the acme of Chinese
gastronomy, are composed of semi-digested seaweed
disgorged for the purpose of constructing those
curious dwellings. They may be also further aware that
many fishes build nests, some of a highly artistic charac-
ter. Amongst these nest-building fishes the stickle-
backs, marine as well as freshwater species, are most dis-
tinguished. Our marine stickleback constructs a
uest of various available materials, which latter he
binds together by curious mucous filaments. I'rofessor
Moebious, the distinguished Danish naturalist, has re-
cently shown that these mucous filaments are formed
from the epithalial cells of the fishes' kidneys. IMore-
over, he formulates the possible means by whicli this
ciurious habit has come into play. First, the kidneys
are hypertrophied; their enlargement causes an ab-
normal pressure, from which the stickle-back tries
to relieve itself by rubbing against foreign objects,
to which the squeezed-out mucin adheres. liut at
such time he is in close company with his mate, and
near to the bunches of eggs which the latter has
fastened to the water plants. Among the latter he
finds the nearest and most convenient place for getting
rid of the troublesome mucin, and thus he becomes
an unconscious nest-spinner.

Everybody is acquainted with the fact that after
the leaves of trees and shrubs fall the wound closes up
again. Otherwise the places would " bleed," and the
sap or vegetable blood would ooze away. The heal-
ing of these vegetable wounds is not a matter of accid-
ent, nor is it always effected in the same way. Pro-
fessor Haby has been carefully studying the subject,
and he finds that the closing of the scars after the fall-
ing of the leaves takes place in at least four different
ways. First, by the drying up of the surface of the
wound, as la tree ferus ; second, by the formation of
reticulated cells, as among the orchids ; third by the
formation of a special skin or periderm (which is by far
the commonest method) ; and, fourth by the wounds
being closed by the exudation of gum. The latter pro-
cess is also very common in nature, and it suggo.sts an
artificial means by which we may heal any accident to
the shrubs and trees of our gardens.

A very suggestive and possibly important discovery
to winegrowers has been made by Signor (Juboni, an
Itahau scientist. He shows that the sap which flows
from the Italian grape vine stem in March and April
contains numerous germs or microscopical organisms
which he holds to be identical with Saccharomyces.
When these germs are placed in sterilised must they
rapidly produce vinous fermentation. A still closer ex-
amination has proved that the " germs " are merely
buddings from the fruit-bearing (hypha) branches of a
fungus which grows parasitically upon the bark of the
vine, and which is known to botanists as Cladosporium
herbarum. These buds get into the gum which exudes
from the cut surfaces of the old braaches, or into the
sap which flows out. They then put on all the appear-
ance of, and are possibly actually identical with, the
ferment fungus Saccharomyces. Thus it may liappen
that we are indebted for the fermentation, ripening,
and bouquet of our wines to the apparently accidental
wanderings and ramblings of fungus spores, which have
no botanical business to be where we find them.

It has been shown that the quality of yeast depends
very greiMy U(,<>u the absence of Bacteria. The vine-
gar-piant ' (as it is called) builds up a tissue of true
cellq'ose;but the real yeast plant develops a modified

cellulose structure resembling that i^ioduced by Baclillus
aceti, quite difi'erent in its reactions to the other. I
don't know whether the little creature haunts Aust -a-
lian houses, but I have a strong opinion that 1 saw
it in Melbourne— the " fish-moth," " silverfish,' &c.,
as it is popularly called, but more correctly known to
entomologists as Lepisma domestica, one of the Thy-
sanuridfB, whose scales have long been favourite objects
with microscopists. It haunts damp cup-boards, and
glides about like a fish, and yet its body is silvery
and moth-like — whence its [popular nan c It is very
common in all old houses here. These insects are very
fond of paper, and their chief delight is to devour the
labels in museums. It has just been found that they
are also partial to .silk dresses (<dwa//gUacJ: ona^) and
even woolen garments, Curators of museums, &c., are
recommended to steep their labels in corrosive sublim-
ate. Ladies cannot adopt the same precaution with
their black silk dresses, so thej' will have to hang thom
in very dry wardrobes instead.

All important paper by Dr. Kelner has recently
been published, in which many of the facts menioned
will be familiar to horticulturists and agricultur sts.
The subject of the paper was the influence of urea
upon soils, with special reference to the well-knowu
methods of employing it in China and Japan. It is
proved that the application of fresh excreta is act-
ually injurious to crops, and that in such a state a gieat
deal of the most valuable nitrogenous compounds of the
manure are lost by the rain carrying them into the
deep subsoils beyond the reach of the roots of plan's.
Japanese farmers never employ either urine or manure
except when it is in a highly decomposed state, and
the urea has been converted into carbonate of ammo-
nia,— Australasian.

LABOUB IN FIJI.

{From the " Handbook to Fiji " for the " Colincl " Ex'
hibition.)

The chapter on " Labor " notices the subject under
its three phases, Indian, Polynesian, and Fijian, and
gives prominence to the leading facts in each case.
Among other matters having respect to Indians it is
observed : — " The quality of the coolies imported into
Fiji has varied with each vessel. Some ships have
brought a fine working lot of men ; others appear to
have successfully relieved India of a surplus gaol popul-
ation. No doubt the past experience of Fiji planters,
confined to quiet and more easily managed Polynesians
and Fijians, has not been good training for the working
of Indians. The notorious litigiou.sness of these people
has been a source of great annoyance to planters in
Fiji and has multiplied by ten the work in the district
courts.' It may be hoped, however, that as time passes
by, both Indians and their employers will become better
able to form working traditions which will bind both
sides by the bond of mutual advantage." It is generally
understood that Mr. Anson will shortly return to the
colony, and the resumption of his rule at the Immigra-
tion Office affords the very best possible guarantee for
the realisation of the hope above expressed. Further
it is remarked :— '• That Indian immigration to Fiji has
on the whole been a success admits of no question ;
without coolies uone of the large companies could carry
on work." It may here be interjected by way of com-
ment that the full list of employers is under thirty; that
almost half the coolies are under engagement to one
leviathan company, and that when four others have
been reckoned with, out of a total of about 6,000 there
are not more than 600 or at the outside 700 in the em-
ploy of the rest. But to proceed ; it is . stated : —
" Several indeed (of the large companies) have discarded
Fijian and Polynesians entirely and work with Indiana
alone, from whom Europeans can obtain ordinary and
extraordinary work by the inducement of money, which
oft"ers few temptations to the unsophisticated Polyne-
sian, but which appt;:ds with annually increasing force
to the Fijian." This statement contrasts strangely with
the following, taken from that section of the chapter
devoted to Fijian labor, — "At the present time (Feb.
1886) there arc 600 native laborers engaged for a term
of a year beyond their home districts at rates of wages

a6g

THE TROPICAL AGRICOLTURIST,

[Oct. I, i8H6i

varying from £5 to £8 peranaiun." The cost of Indian
introduction per caput is £21 16s 5d exclusive of £7 10s
for return passage mouey ; the cash inducement is
annually appealing with increasing force to the Fijian ;
yet oat of a population of 114,000, but 600 are engaged
as yearly laborers. The explanation given is that: —
•' This state of things has been contributed to by the
Fijian's high idea of his own importance as a laborer
and his exorbitant demands at a time when they had
to be conceded." This of conr.se supplies the fullest
explanation which could possibly be required. But re-
verting again to the coolie; it is remarked that "con-
stitutionally tlie ludiau coolie seems to adapt himself
to whatcvc^r coluny he emigrates to. The climate of
Fiji a])pcars to be admirably adapted to him and unlike
the Polynesian he has always formed one of the
healthiest factors in the population of Fiji. They are,
however, by no means such good workers as the Polyne-
sian ; while it woidd hardly be an (exaggeration to say
that the criminal statistics of the colony date their
existence from the arrival of the coolies. It cannot
but be regretted that while due recocjnition is given to
the value of the work performed by the coolies, both
on and off estates, the necessities of the colony no
less than the crying calls of humanity called for the
substitution of Indian for Polynesian and Fijian labor."
Concluding this subject the foUowinu may be quoted
from the section devoted to Polynesian labor and it may
be read in conjunction with the above statement that
the Indians are " by no meaus such good workers as
the Polynesians." — " It cannot be said that Polynesian
labor is really cheaper than that of the Indian im-
migrants, but being more docile and more trustworthy
the Polynesian is preferred to the Indian by most
planters who have had experience in working them.
It h.is been found that the Polynesians are not suffici-
ently strong to undergo constant work in the sugar-
cane fields and the Government have 'therefore dis-
couraged their employment by large sugar planters.
On the coconut and fruit plantations on the other hand
these people are quite at home, and are generally pre-
ferred to any other class of laborers. Of the Fijian
it is further remarked : — " It may be said that his oc-
cupation is gone. Eminently fitted for such work as
clearing a plantation his services were, on plantations
being opened up, eagerly sought ; but now that work
of this nature has for the most part been completed the
supply of native labor exceeds the demand." There is
in the whole of the remarks on the labor question a
great deal that is undeniably true^ but there is also
a great deal which will afford Fijian planters food for
reflection and comment. — Fiji 2'ime.-<,Ju\y 21st.

HOMING PIGEONS.

Sir, — I noticed in your issue of the 28th August
last an article on homing pigeons, by " Ilomer."
Allow me to point out that, not only in this country
but in Europe also, the carrier pigeon has been
immortalized by poets and historians as the messen-
ger pigeon sent out to friends at a distance from
beleagured cities with written messages, and in such
instances the preference has always been given to
the carrier. But in this country, from the manner
in which these birds are reared, they are not equal
to sustained flight, and from the want of practice
often grow too heavy for the purpose. For homing
pigeons, carriers should be selected when about two
months old, and they should be flown morning and
evening for an hour or two, with the double object
of allowing them to exercise their wings, and to
acquire powers of sustained flight, as also to make
themselves familiar with the surrounding country in
which their home lies, after which they should be
taken out either daily or two or three times a week
to a cfrtain distance, which should be gradually
prolonged, and then let loose, to And their way
home. When they can in time accomplish distances
of one or two hundred miles they may be considered
fully trained. I have said carriers are the best kind
of birds to form homing pigeons, but I have been in
the habit of crossing carriers with the wild blue or
rock pigeon, and their young make excillent homing

pigeons, as they do not grow so large as the carrier,
:ind they have the vigour o' great sustained flight,
which they inherit from the wild bird. I have now
some l.'nd of carriers as well as crosses with the wild
birds that would make excellent homers.

Yercand, 8th September. John Shortf.

— Madras Mail, Sept. 10th.

THE OmENTAL BANK ESTATES'

COMPANY.

It must be remembered that there were no less
than nineteen Ceylon and four Mauritius estates to
be taken over cu bloc, comprising in the former over
10,000 acres, and in the latter over 11,000 acres.
Though the Ceylon estates as a whole left a margin
of profits, and were certainly far more saleable than
two years ago, yet it is fair to assume that they are
not all equally remunerative, and indeed, that some
of them being in the trantision state, between coffee
and tea or other new products, are not at present
paying their way. The subjoined schedule will enable
our readers to form an independent judgment on the
question: —

e3
u

<< ■
0

c3 to

^ 2
Q S

® o

I I I

o •* o o

■^ >H CC -^

^

I IS

oo

I I I I I

?1 1

CO O

CI "-I

00

■-0

1 Ul Ttl

i a; o 05 >« CO
K o t^ c- I- CO

<U tH r-l CO tH

H

o^

<0 <->

o

O

6=*

o
o

O I 35 O 35 X
C2 I L.-; ir: uo ci
ci ci CO 1— I

m uo c~ C5
CO i^ d '^

lO --H 35 O

X moo

I I

o

00

CO

o

05
CO

CO

o m t^ -^

35 C~ i.O O

CO I O IM i-H
(M I -* C-l 35
(M i-H

O CO
-If x

o

to

o
CO

00
X

o

-f m O O CI X O lO <M CI 35 CC O X O O lO r-H
35 X c- 3-. 35 .t ,-H in c- I-H CTw X CO X 3. -* vo 3-
..': r-l rH -^ ■* r-l CI i-H C-1 -O CI -)< -^ rH r-( rH lO

_; O'-H"*O'0C0C~O'— leD-^XTHOC~XdC1
r3 CO O >-0 35 CJ lO rH 35 i-H X t~ lO >-l O X C~ >o X

^ ,-1 CO t^ -.O m CI O -^ CO 35 -r r-l '." t^ 'O r-l CO CO

o

13

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Note. — The figures for tea in the above table re-
present the acreage under this cultivation on 30th of
June last, but the figures in the other columns are
taken from Ferguson's Directory for the current year,
probably corrected to 30th of June 188."), and some little
alteration has taken place since then. Thn.s there was
an increase during that interval of about tiOO acres
under Tea, part of which is taken from the land
previously under coffee and cinchona.

The amount of cash payable to the liquidator, on
account of these properties was £87,600 which ia
equivalent to an average of about £8 lOs per acre
or considerably loss than the current price of the
primeval forest fifteen years ago. But if we now

Oct. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

J69

estimate the forest reserve and grass hind on these
estates at £4. per acre, or about f'20,000, there re-
mains only a balance of £07 to be spread over
close upon ti,000 acres imder various forms of cultiv-
ation, or just £11 per acre, which is, of course.
a very low average value. Or, if we put it in an-
other way, there are, roughly speaking, 2,300 acres
of tea, which certainly ought to be worth £80
per acre, or i'ti9,000, so that the Company obtains
the cotfee, cinchona, cocoa, and cardamoms for no-
thing 1 ThSre can be no question that the Ooiupany
enters on possession under most favourable circum-
stances. Ceylon has now passed- through the crisis
which coffee-leaf disease involved her European enter-
prise, and capital is once more seeking investment
there in the new industries created by the indomi-
table pluck and preseverance of planters, combined
with great natural resources. Every year the value
of the estates will steadily improve under judicious
management, and the Company will presently be
able either to sell them outright at a handsoine
profit, or to continue working them on its own
account, and we have no doubt that the result to
the shareholders will be highly satisfactory, which-
ever course is adopted.

The Mauritius properties acquired by the Company
are so circumstanced that it is impossible for us
to give particulars, consisting, as they do, of claims
and charges upon different estates, shares in estate
companies, etc. : but we are assured, by those who
have gone through the calculations, that the purchase
" consideration, viz., t'(35,350 in cash, besides a pro-
portion of the Deferred Stock of the Company
was very moderate, and that this part_ of the bar-
gain ought to turn out quite as profitable to the
Company as the other. — Planters' Oazetlc.

COFFEE AND ARECA IN MYSOEE.

From (t CorregiMiKlent.

From the official report of the Kadur district
for the year 1885-86 — one of the best coffee-growiug
parts of Mysore, we xiote that the total nuuiber of
plantations are reckoned at 23,238, comprising an
area of 138,185 acres, of which coffee covers 136,439
acres, cardamom 1,646 and cinchona 100 acres. The
cultivation of cardamoms is much on the increase,
while cinchona is also finding favour with the planters.

The Arecanut is grown very extensively iu the
Kidur district of Mysore and is almost entirely in
the hands of natives. The total receipts by the
Durbar on the tax from the arecanut produce was
R95,000 in 1885-86, being an increase of over K23,000
on the preceding year. The increase was due to a
good crop consequent on a favourable season and an
almost complete absence of " rot " to which this
produce is so subject. The arecanut sold at RlO-8-0
pep maund of 80 lb. locally; much of the produce is
exported into the neighbouring districts of the Madras
Presidency. Still more largely is arecanut cultivation
carried on in the Shemo\ah district, vvliich lies
to the N.W. of Kadur. The amount of tax collected
in this district for 1885-86 was close upon R2, U),000
being an increase of nearly R50,0C0 on the previous
year.

INDIAN MACADAMIZED ROADS.

[In copying the following article from the
Indian Engineer, it may be well to mention that
Kunlier or Kunkar is an impure nodular limestone
common in many parts of India where siliceous
rocks, do not exist. — Ed.j

Macadamized roads in India are of two sorts — (1)
kunker roads, and (2) stone roads. It is by no means
a very easy thing to produce a good metalled road.
It is considered by most people that all that is neces-
sary is to ' shove in the metal and ram it down.'
If well rammed, this method will, of course, pro-
duce a hard surface ; but unless an ordinary
" pucca " road even is made on scientific principle,
the fifi^Jioii can never be reduced to a minimum,

which is the object to be aimed at in the construc-
tion of macadamized hues of communication.

1. Kuuker Roads —The existing practice is to
break up the metal to 2" cubes and to consolidate
it with iron or wooden "door-mats" or rammers.

2. Stone Roads.— The present plan is to break
up the stone to pass through a li" ring and to
consolidate it with rammers. In some parts of
India ordinary iron rollers are used, and m some
places steam rollers. In consolidating stone,
" mooram " (decayed rock) is freely 7ised as a bind-
ing agent, and also for dressing the surface after
consolidation.

4. Now, this piactice appears to be defective If
a kunker road is dug up after consolidation accord-
ing to method (2), it will be found that the 2" cubes
have been crushed and reduced to J" and J" cubes,
thus reducing fearfully its power of resistance. Hence
It is that (1) tlie top layer of kunker does not last
long, and (2) the cost of maintenance is greatly
enhanced, and (3) the surface of roads is never m-u
and smooti,, thus increasing the traction. On stone
roads the surface is so very rough that the greater
number of country carts pass along the earthen siding
during the dry months of the year.

5. The writer ventures to offer the following suo--
gestions, which if adopted in constructing meUlled
roads, will, he is sure, produce profitable results.

6. Kunker roads.— Kunker should be of hard tex-
ture and broken to li" cubes. Consolidation to be
done with lots of water and one of Aveling and
Porter's steam rollers of 15 tons. The advisability
of. using a roller is obvious. The gradual pressure
will not hreal- up the kunker into small particles, but
jam it together, leaving the original nodules practi-
cally intact, but closely knit together.

7. Stone Road.— Stone (granite, quartz or other hard
stone) should be broken up as small as practicable, but
certainly larger than 1" cubes should never be used •
I'" and £" cubes would be better. It should be closely
packed and rolled with one of Aveling and Porter's
steam rollers of 15 tons. " Mooram " uhould not be
used, and the frst rolling should be done quite dry
until the layer of metal is firmly compressed. The
surface should now be freely sprinkled with a mixture
of " mooram " and water, or a layer of i" mooram
spread over the surface, well watered, and the road
rolled thoroughly over again until the surface becomes
perfectly smooth.

The last process is to lay a thin ski?/ of mooram,
say i", dry over the surface and the traflic allowed to
pass ov(!r it.

It is obvious that, unless the stone is broken up small
and to a uniform size as practicable, (1) a smooth sur-
face vyill never be obtained, and (2) the cubes will
never bimi and hold together as a solid mass. " Moor-
am," or any other binding agent should never be used
with the stone before the Jirst rolliny, as it absorbs
moisture and the road would break up during the rainy
season. ^

The Soap Tkke.— The soap tree grows freely in Tal-
lahassee. This tree bears a large number of berries
which are about the size of an ordinary marble, havin*
a yellowish, soapy appearance, with a hard, black seed",
from which the plant is propagated. Sometimes the
soap is obtained by boiling the berries, but in .Japan, and
other tropical countries, the berries are used as a' sub-
stitute for soap just as they are taken from the tree.

Bim/oi/ne, cjc.'.v Monthh/ Hxport Price Current.

Acid (lioRAcic). — The experiments to preserve fish
by curing it with this acid (to which attention was
called iu the Chemist and Drw/e/ist sometime ago) are
we hear, proving remarkably successful, sr)ine fish
having recently been insppcted in London which had
under the boracic acid treatment retained all its original
freshness. "\\'e hear that the i(l.;a is ent -Ttiined in
some t|uarters to introduce the boracic aci<l treatment
offish to Ireland. It is thought that fish so cured would
command a ready sale in England and contribute to the
revival of a drooping Irish m\\isivy.— Chemist and
Drvqcjist,

270

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Oct. I, 1886.

ARTiiiciAr/ Diamonds. — A correspondent of Invcntioas
(Mr. J- Palmf'r) staces that he obtains crj'stallised carbon
in the following manner : — Carbonic acid gas is liquefied
by pressure in a strong wrought-iron cylinder, which
has an insulated carbon rod fixed at each side of the
lower end. The end of each carbon rod projects into
the vessel about an inch. A current of electricity
(about E.M.F. 30 volts and 15 amperes) is then passed
through tlie liquid gas, by means of the ends of the
carbon rods, outside the cylinder, being connected to
an electric battery. Electrolytic action then takes place
on the liquid gas, and pure crystals of carbon are gradu-
ally deposited on the carbon points. What becomes
of the liberated oxygen, the iron vessel, and the operator
is not staled.— C/«fj«is< aiid Drugf/ist.

OoiOA Drvini; &c. in Matai.e. — What has become
of those perfections of drying apparatus— the American
evaporators y Is cocoa still stewed and desiccated in
these machines? I bear that on one large estate a
tea drier is being '.itilized as a cocoa-drier also. The
drying of cocoa artificially is not by .iny means
simple affair. I have seen a small room economically
arranged with stove and fan turn out very eftioacious
and a more ambitious scheme of Clerihew (with no
limit of care and thought and expenditure) yet turn
out a failure. There is no doubt but that cocoa
suffered terribly from the drought of 1883-84, and
that even old ' trees in the open were not able to
recover for a long time. The bark seemed black
and "bound." I may mention an experiment made
upon trees to effect some relief to this. They were
cut as deep as was safe (the bark merely) along the
older branches, but chiefly on the stems, straight
down, in four lines so as to allow the tree to expand
more freely. They all appeared to derive much advan-
tage from this, and there is one tree at the Pera-
deniya Gardens which was so treated that it is literally
crowded with fruit upon all its branches, as if the
cutting had somehow made the sap fly to the branches
in superabundance. — Local " Times. "

Agricoltuue in the BonTHEEN Province OK Ceylon.

Mr. Wm. Jansz, the retired head clerk of the Batti-

caloa Kacheheri, who has had 15 years' experience of
Agricultural operations in the Eastern Province, has
indented fot a supply of seed paddy from Batticaloa
with the objec of introducing it into the Galle dis-
trict. He is so convinced that before a good crop can
be got, the seed must be brought from some distant
place (which it appears the Sinhalese cultivator does not
recognise), that he is desirous of experimentino with
the Batticaloa seed paddy. The field selected is at
Gauegama in the Gangaboda Pattu, and three kinds
of seed, maturing in three, four and six months will
be used. We trust that Mr. Jansz's efi:'orts on behalf
of the agriculturists of the South will meet with all the
success which such a public-spirited attempt deserves.
According to Mr. Green (Agricultural Primer) " the
Sinhalese cultivator recognises this principle of rotation
without knowing it when he tries one kind of paddy
seed for one crop, and another kind for the next crop."
In case the present scheme result satisfactorily, we shall
be curious to know if the native cultivators will adopt
the experiment. Mr .Jansz's opinion is shared by an
experienced European planter, who states that the
present meagre yield can be (juadrupled by employing
imported seed.

The " FURIOUS " Ceylon Cinchona Pl.^nters.

Such is the way in which the Chrmist and

Drutiqixt in reviewing proceedings of the Pharma-
ceutical Conference refers to our cinchona cultiv-
ators. An interesting reference is also made to the
Nilgiri Gardens and to the scientific work going
on there :—

Last year Mr. David Hooper gave good indication
in a paper read at Aberdeen that there is good stuH'
in him, and that he is a worthy succesnor of Pirough-
ton. The importance of the Government cinchona
plantations has, from a commercial point of view,
diminished considerably since Ceylon planter.s have
gone in for cinchona so furiously; but for that
very reason the Government venture lias increased
in scientific importance. The work of a quinolo-

gist in a cinchona plantation is in the highest
degree interesting, and of great practical value to
the cultivator, since it reveals the effect on the bark
of the various artificial means which are adopted to*
improve the drug in quantity and quality. Na-
turally, such a paper as Mr, Hooper's may be little
discussed, but that is no reason why it should not
get a good place in the programme.

Cinchona and Tea in .Tava. — FrQm trans-
lations in Straits Times received today we learn : —
" The Planters' Association at Sukabumie in Java
has taken steps to test a newly invented process
found out by Dr. Eydman for cheaply extracting
medicinal alkaloids from cinchona barks. Should
the experiments result satisfactorily, a problem
of the utmost weight to cinchona planters in that
island will be solved. Dr. Eydman is fully con-
fident and sure of success so that there is every
prospect of arriving at a solution favourable to
the interests of cinchona growers there. Another
welcome bit of news to them is the assurance on
good authority that, in Ceylon, the export of cin-
chona bark has reached its utmost limits, attended
by a heavy increase in that of root bark, one con-
signment of which was secured by digging up about
tifty thousand trees. Bark exports show such evid-
ent signs of approaching decrease that one out of
three agents of European firms buying up that
article at Colombo is said to have made up his
mind to settle down in Java. His coming thither
is only deferred until that island produces cinchona
bark enough to admit of his establishing himself
permanently there. — Tea growing in Java as pointed
out by an expert in the Bode has a bright future
before it. Yet capitalists, for some reason or other,
shrink from embarking money in this line of busi-
ness. As matters now stand, of all the kinds of
cultivation carried on in Java, that of tea is cert-
ainly by far the most remunerative. Should season-
able rains continue to fall, the dividends of many
tea companies will assuredly prove this at the end
of the year."

Water Purification. — At a recent meeting of the
Institution of Civil Engineers, the paper read was on
" Water Purification : Its Biological and Chemical Basis,"
by Percy F. Frankland, Ph. D., B. s. c, F. c. s. The
earlier t attempts to purify water dealt .simply with the
removal of visible suspended particles ; but later che-
mists turned their attention to the matters present
in solution in water. Since the advance of the germ
theory of disease, and the known fact that Hving organ-
isms were the cause of some, and probably of all, zymotic
diseases, the demand for a test which should recog-
inze the absence or presence of micro-organisms in
water had become imperative. It was, however, only
during the last few years that any such test had been
set forth, and this was owing to Dr. Koch, of Berlin.
By this means the only great step which had been
made since the last Rivers Pollution Commission had
been achieved. It had been supposed that mo.st filter-
ing materials oft'ered little or no harries to micro-or-
ganisms ; but it was now known that many substances
had this power to a greater or less degree. It had also
been found that, in order to continue their efficiency,
frequent renewal of the filtering material was necessary.
Vegetable carbon employed in the form of charcoal
or coke was found to occupy a high place as a bio-
logical filter, although previously, owing to its chemical
inactivity, it had been disregarded. Being .in inexpens-
ive material, and easily renewed, it was destined to
be of great seivice in the purification of water. Ex-
periments were also made by the agitation of water
with solid particles. It was found that very porous
substances like coke, animal and ve^etchhi charcoal,
were highly otUoient in removing organized )nitter from
ivater when tlie latter came in contact with them in this
manner. Also, it was found that the well-known pre-
cipitation process, introduced by Dr. Clark, for soften-
ing water with lime, had a most marked effect in re-
moving micro-orgaaisQjs from water. — Indian Etu/ineer,

Oct. I, i886,j tWE TROPtCAL AQmCULrURlSt.

2yi

$orn2Bpnndi3ni:?o.

To the Editor of the " Ceylon Observer."

LIGHTNING AND COCONUT PALMS.— No. 1.

Colombo, 23rd August 1886.

SiK, — " Fact " has gone beyond facts when he
does not doubt that it was the Telephone wires
that attracted lightning. How does he account for
the lightning ferreting out the few Telephone wires
passing under the cornice of Messrs. Aitken, Spence
& Co.'s office and not being attracted by the massive
30-feet iron post with its greater number of wires
and brackets only a few yards off ?

I think "Fact" may with advantage learn a few
electrical facts especially with regard to Telephone
and its wires.

Fact No. 1. — If the Telephone wires had at-
tracted the lightning, they would naturally have
received at least the greater portion if not the whole
of the discharge, which was not the fact.

Fact No. 2. — The Telephone wires are so con-
structed, that, should they receive a discharge of
lightning, they will be fused and cut oft" the further
progress of the fluid, which fact did not happen.

Fact No. 3. — All the Telephone instruments are
protected by very sensitive lightning protectors which
act by fusion, and so sensitive are they that a dis-
charge several hundred yards away from the lines
causes them to act. In the thunderstorms of the
3rd and 4th May last over 80 of these were destroyed,
in fact every Telephone Office was cut off.

Fact No. i. — Ho small was the quantity of elec-
tricity taken up by the wires passing A. S. & Co.'s
office chat only their lightning protectors at one
end were affected and the annunciator coils on the
switch boards were not in the least injured.

Fact No. 5 — Is that if the Telephone wires had the
propensity of attracting lightning as " Fact" no doubt
believes, I should certainly not expose myself in a
Telephone Exchange from which so many wires
radiate, whereas the fact is that since the Telephone
was worked in 1877! there has not been an accident
in the thousands and thousands of offices over all
parts of the globe.

I will not take up more of your space, but if " Fact"
wishes to learn some more facts I will be happy if
he call round at the Telephone Exchange to show
him all the precautions to guard against accidents
taken by THE MANAGER, 0. T. C. Ltd.

Colombo, 23rd August 1886.
Deak Sir, — I must thank " Fact " for correcting me
as to the effect of lightning on the whole tree in front
of Messrs. Aitken, Spence & Co.'s office, but what about
the branches killed on the N. W. corner of the tree ?
For the information of the Manager of Ice Manu-
facturing Company, and others who should require
t, I shall describe the way to put up a good
ightning protector on a chimney ; those for other
buildings vary only as to size, quantity and position,
according to the bulk and shape of the building.
First, starting from the top it should consist of
a copper rod from J in. to 1 in, in diameter divided
at its upper end into thi'ee or more points which
should all be well electroplated or heavily tinned
to keep them from oxidising ; next, the rod should
be about 5 feet above the top of the chimney ;
then it should be attached to a ribbon of copper
2 in. by J in. running down the whole length of the
shaft, it must be attached directly, to the
masonry by copper staples, it must be buried
in the ground (or down a well preferably) to water-
level in dry weather, on reaching which' it should
ba cul iu two equal i>trips aud attached to a copper I

plate G feet by 8 feet by l-16th in., each of the strips
being attached 2 feet from either end and down the
whole breadth of the plate. The plate should
be brightened up and buried perpendicularly with
6 in. of charcoal pressed down well all round it. The
plate should be well below dry weather water-
level. A most important point is to have all
joints sci'ewed or riveted and soldered. It should
when finished, be, if possible, electrically tested.
The use of two metals is decidedly bad, and
it must be remembered that a bad lightning
protector is worse than no protector at all—
Yours faithfully, Q. E, D.

THE DOUBLE COCONUT AND VARIETIES
GROWING IN CEYLON.

Central Province, 25th August 1886.

SiK, — Does the Coco-de-mer or double coconut
grow in Ceylon? It is said to grow luxuriantly
in the Seychelles Islands. If we have none in
Ceylon, perhaps Mr. E. H. Edwards who is down
in those Islands will send up a few young plants
in the shell. It would also be well to ascertain
it the connnon coconut grown in those islarulii and
in South Africa ai'e the same as those we have in
Ceylon. It is only lately I became aware of the
several varieties there are among the coconuts
grown here : the only difference seems to be in the
size of the nuts. I am told some trees never
yield large nuts, however good the soil may be. I
should like much to know where the best and
largest grow, in what part of the island. — Yours
faithfully, LATCH.

[Our correspendent will find a good deal of the
information he wants in our publication, " All about
the Coconut.]" Dr.Trimen says of the Goco-dc-mer: —

Coco de-mer. — In response to an application made in
1882, I have received from the Chief Oivil Oommis-
siouer of the Seychelles, through His Excellency the
Governor of Mauritius, 10 seeds of this rare and magni-
ficent palm. They arrived in April (1884) and were at
once planted 7 at Henaratgoda and 3 at Peradeniya. As
yet there are no signs of germination, but the usual
period occupied in this process is from 18 to 30 mouths,
so that this is not to bo expected. Peradeniya already
possesses two beautiful specimens of this unique Palm,
about 30 years old, but in the case of so extremely
local a plant as this and one of such peculiar interest
to naturalists, it is much to be desired thiit a larger
stock should be in existence, so that in time it may
be possible to proi^agate by seed from another centre.
This pa'ra, being, ]il<e the Palmyra, di(i.;cious, it is
necessary to have sufficient plants to make it probable
that both sexes will be represented among them.
Mr. E. H. Edwards sees the Tropical Agriculturist
regularly in which this letter will appear, and he
may perhaps respond. We have no doubt our
Hapitgam Korale correspondent will have something
to say about where the largest nuts are found in
Ceylon. — Ed, ]

THE CROTON-CATERPILLAR ATTACKING

TEA.

Deae SiK,— You will be sorry to hear that, the
croton-caterpillar does eat tea leaves, baring the
bushes rapidly when there is no more suitable food
for it to devour. Of course it prefers croton, but
when that is exhausted it takes readily to tea and
even Liberian coffee. The ravages of this pest have
not been at all exaggerated, and those who have
both tea and croton will find it desirable to decide
which to keep, for if tea is held by, then the pre-
sence ®f croton becomes dangerous as tempting the
pest to settle, The Madatiya (/. e. the wild charcoal-
tree) also affords a tempting feeding-ground for the
giub. NEW PHODUCTy.

2f2

THE THOPicAL Aonicvtrvnisr.

cr, t, imo.

[It must then be a case of ' J>clenda est Carthacio'
croton-oil trees taking the place of Carthage. "Out
with them" will be the cry ol our tea-planters, and
the only cjuestion will be that of compensation to the
oroton-oil tree cultivators. — Ed.

Charcoal of the coconut shell is specially used
by native goldsmiths in meltiug gold and silver.
Why ? Is it that it yields more intense heat ?
Charcoal is variously used in electric lighting. Pro-
fessional or scientific men might try ditt'erent kinds
of Indian charcoal and ascertain if any of it is
specially fitted for the purpose. There is the i/ercum
charcoal, that of the coconut shell, that of oomi,
the husk of rice, and the arecanut, and so on. if
I remember aright, charcoal is also used in forming
galvanic batteries. Trials might result in some useful
discovery which might yield a little fortune to the
discoverer ! — Madras Mail.

Gutt.v-Perciia. — Sir John Kirk, writing in December
last, forvcarded a sample of native African gutta-percha,
the produce of a yet unknown tree which he fouud
at Mombasa. From the pa{)crs now published, it
would appear that after examination of the specimen
there remained no doubt that the substance would
prove an acceptable addition to the present supplies,
its value being about iOt?. per lb. At the same time
Sir .John Kirk also forwarded specimens of some
Indiarubber taken from plants supplied from Kew
Cardens about five years ago, these having flourished
and propagated freely at Zanzibar. The report on this
specimen valued it, if taken from the trunk of the
tree, at about Is. Oii. to 2s. per lb as Sir Joseph
Hooker, late Director of the Royal C4ardtns at Kew,
remarks, " the attention of Her Majesty's Consular
ofhcers in these countries (India-rubber producing
states) cannot be too closely addressed to matters
of this kind, which are not merely of great scientific
interest, but may from the basis of a lucrative and
beneficial trade." — Indian Agriculturist.

Planting Prospects in St. Lucia. — A. St. Lucia
correspondent thinks King Sugar is dead, and blames,
the Government and the planters for not initiating
other industries which it will pay to cultivate. This
is all very well, but it is very difficult to get out of
an old groove. It cannot be done in a day, neither
can it be done without money. Still, if there be no
prospect of reviving King Sugar, then, obivously,
something will have to be done if the estates are
not to run to seed. From the market returns it will
be seen that tamarinds, turmeric coconut oil, cinchona
bark, chillies, cloves, ginger, and mace sell at rates
which would pay for the trouble and expense of
their cultivation. Now, as it is well known that the
soil of St. Lucia is friendly to the cultivation of all
these articles, might it not be as well if the good
people there were to give some of them a trial. —
Planters' Ga-.ette.

Ok\i>on Tea Gardens. — Messrs. Eucker and Ben-
craft, the well known brokers, of 37 Mincing Lane,
have just published a second list of Ceylon Tea
Gardens, shewing the names, districts, and acreage,
of about POO different properties arranged in alpha-
betical order of districts.* In presenting this list to
their clients they remark :—" AVhen our first list was
published in November, 1885, about lo,000 acres were
under Tea. Xow, including as Tea (/rardens those
estates which are growing tea among coffee and cin-
chona, the figures approximate 120,000 acres, or nearly
three times as much. We have written so fully from
time to time to urge upon Planters the great neces-
sity of striving after (juality, that we risk appearing
wearisome by reminding them that very strong brisk
Havory China Tea, with a fair leaf, can be bought at
from 7d to 8il per lb. in this market, and that if
Ceylon Tea is not kept away above this class in quality,
the results must be simply disastrous. It must be
borne iu mind that such a list as this is necessarily
incomplete, as fresh ground is being, broken cv^ry

If Made up froni otjr Directory. — Ed,

day, but it niay be of some use if only to .signal
' Caution ' iu view of v/hat must be legarded as a
certain over production of Tea." — Planters' QaLCtto.

Makint. Tea in Japan. — The Japanese host never
intrusts the making of tea to his servai.ts on high
occasions, and the tine art of the process was fully
shown us in the dainty management of every article
of the service before the host. The teapot was a
little jeweldike thing that could be set — handle, spout
and all — inside of one of the common-sized coffee cups
that a foreigner draws once or twice at a breakfast,
and the cups were of line cloisonne, with plain en-
amelled linings, each no larger round than the circle
of a tulip's petals could inclose. With tliem was a
small pear-shaped pitcher, a beautifully wrought
bronze teapot in which the boiling water was brought,
and a lacquer box containing the caddy of the choicest
leaves from the fine tea gardens of II ji district — a tea
so rare and expensive that none of it is ever exported
or known abroad, and only the wealthiest Japanese
can afford to buy the precious leaves. Our host, taking
an ivory scoop carved in the shape of a large tea leaf,
filled the little teapot full of loosely heaped leaves,
and then having poured the hot water into the pitcher
that it might cool a little, poured it into the teapot.
That part of the tea-making was most puzzling to
us of the Occident, who had been taught, as the lirat
principle of tea-making, that the water must be boil-
ing at the minute it touches the leaves, and that un-
less at boiling-point, tea made with ic is flat and un-
profitable. Our Japanese friend explained to us that
to the most critical and epic\ireau tea-drinkers of his
country boiling water was an abomination, as it scorched
hte leaves, drove out the fine fragrance in the first
cloud of steam, and extracted all the bitterness instead
of the first sweet taste of the young leaf. " It may
be all well enough for the coarse black tea of China
to pour boiling water on it," said this most delightful
Japanese, " but the delicate leaf of our cultivated tea
plant does not need it." And we bowed submissively
and promised never more to apply Chinese processes
to Japanese tea-leaves. — Miss ficidinore's Kioto Letter
ill the Grocer.

TfA Coi'FEE, AND SUG.VR IN THE UnITED

States. — The other day, says the Pall Mall, we
printed statistics showing a great increase in the
consumption of beer and tobacco iu the United
States during the past financial year. As the New
York Tribune points out, a still better test of the
condition of the entire population, however, is the
consumption of tea, coffee, and sugar. Well, the
consumption of sugar last year was 10 per cent,
greater than the previous year, which means a
consumption of more than 50 lb. for every in-
habitant yearly, a quantity that has never been
used except in one year in the entire history of
the country. Twenty years ago the people used
only iJO lb. each. The consumption of tea was
over 1.27 per capita, as against 1.17 lb. in the
previous year. This is a consumption less than
was recorded in the years 1881-83. But in 1866
the consumption was scarcely more than a pound
for every person. The quantity of coffee consumed
last year was probably 0.17 lb. per capita. But
that is more than was ever consumed in any
previous year. It is nearly 1 lb, more than was
consumed in 1881, a year of great prosperity, and
2 lb. more than was consumed in 1876, ten years
ago, and more than double the quantity consumed
in 1866, twenty years ago, when the consumption
was only 4.37 lb. per capita. Surely, says the
Tribune, these are not evidences of starvation. If
the people drink two cups of coffee where they
needed one in other years when general prosperity
prevailed; if they take more cups of tea, at least
four where they formerly used three ; and if they
use for sweetening the tea and coffee ffvc pounds
of sugar where they used to be content with three,
if is safe to say that they are not in abiolute waut
oi tbe uecessaried oi iUe.

Oct. /, me.!

tUM tUOPiCAL AOHiCUt'fam^f.

■n'h

A CINCHONA aYNMCATE FOR CEYLON.

We have to call attention to the letter of
Mr. James Sinclair on page, 276, a subject of
very great importance to cultivators of Cinchona in
Ceylon, It strikes us that one of the indispens-
able preliminaries to the successful working of the
scheme proposed would be the acquirement oi reli-
able and full information as to the exact position
of the Cinchona enterprise not only in India
and Java, but in the States of Central and South
America where systematic cultivation has been
attempted, and also the conditions under
which the further exploitation of the native
cinchona forests would be permanently discon-
tinued. In this connection we may quote the
summary in the PharmacetiticalJoitrnal oi a paper
read by Mr. David Howard at the British Pharma-
ceutical Conference : —

" Ciuchoua Cultivation in South America was the
title of a paper by Mr. David Howard, who behves
that it is to other countries than Ceylon, which oc-
cupies at present tlie most prominent position of all
the countries where cinchonas liave been cultivated,
that we must look for the solution of the scientific
points involved in the cultivation of cinchonas, owing
to the little care that has been taken in Ceylon to avoid
the danger of hybridization. Unfortunately, very
little scientific information can be obtained from South
America, the natural home of the cinchonas, except
what little can be derived from the study of the cultiv-
ated bark which reaches us from that countr^^ Among
the cinchonas under cultivation in South America are
two new species, C. 'Tliomvoniaiia, named after Mr.
Thomson, who discovered it in the Central Cordilleras,
the home of the well-known C. lancifolia, and another
discovered by Senor Pombo in Ecuador. C. lliomon-
iaiui gave on analysis of the bark of a two-year old
treeo-8 percent, quinine sulphate, trace of cinchoni-
diue, andO'.')5 per cent, ciuchonine. The bark from
the other spi^cies of the same age gave 57 per cent,
ijuiniue sui] hste, O-IIJ percent, cinchouidine, with no
cinch<nune or (juiuidine. The impi-ovement brought
about by ih^. successful cultivation of the cinchonas
is further sliown by the results obtained from the
same plantt.iions in 1S7'2 and 1881 of the several kinds of
cinchonas g-'i-ni in Jamaica and these results were even
more favon • a M'? in the cultivation in Columbia oi des-
cendants tiom the Jamaica plantations, In the case
of asuccin.bra cultivation in Columbia from a Jamaica
plant the Lark yielded as much as 7'0 per cent,
quinine sulphate, with only lO i>er cent, cinchoni-
dine, and 0-(>7 ptr cent, cinchouiue aud Mr.
Howurd remarks that this succirubra is one
of the finest he has tested. In Mr. Howard's
opinion it cannot be too clearly borue in mind
that the pri.spect of future profits in the cultivation of
cinchonas di pends entirely on the cultivation of high
testing bark, for in the face of the importation of
such higlil.\ valuable cultivated bark from Bolivia, as
well as from Java, tlie profitable growing of inferior
bark is inqjossible."

If the Ceylon Syndicate were fully supported,
a special agent might be employed to collect in-
formation in the several countries, and it in ad-
dition the gentlemen in Colombo named by Mr.
Sinclair in a private letter as likely to give their
services, took a managing interest in the Syndi-
cate we should be very hopeful of success. Of
course there are other difficulties in the way, many
of which are detailed in the letter under notice ;
but probably all could, by persevering and united

endeavour, be overcome.
35

LETTERS FROM JAMAICA.— NO. XIII.

A STORM AFXEll A OONTINUANCK 01' UNSEa'TLED WEATHKB
— COFFEE CROPS — THE ANNUAL FL0V\T3K SHOW IN
KINGSTON — JAMAICA FKUIT TRADE — PROTECTION OF
PRODUCTS AND MANUFACTURES.

Blue Mountain District, Jamaica, July iHSfJ.

Since I last addressed you about the 20th ult.,
we have had a continuance of very unsettled
weather. Sunday night, the 27th June, we had a
storm which most people believe to have been
the tail-end of a hurricane, for more mischief was
then done in that one night, than had been caused
by the previous fortnight's bad weather : not only
was the rain heavy, but the gusts of wind were
fields have suffered much ; some estates worse
than others, and it is strange that the wind from
the Northward which usually does us most damage
most severe. It is pitiful to see how it has blown
off the leaves in all unsheltered places, all higli
this time was not the evil-doer, but S. and S. E.,
so that fields facing West have not suffered so
much. In the lowcountry, especially the central
part of the island, St. Mary's, Clarendon, Man-
chester, and St. Ann's, the iloods were very heavy ;
cane fields were turned into lakes, boats had to '
be sent to rescue the settlers, and those living at the
estates works, and great houses ; several deaths tool;
place from people being washed away and drowned.
As to the Railway, especially the two new exten-
sions to "Porns" and "Ewarton," it sullered very
severely: bridges, walls, embankments being carried
away, proving the contractor Mr. David Reid, our
old Ceylon friend and his Manager Mr. G. M,
Campbell, with their Ceylon experience, were right
in protesting that the work as specified to be done
by the Government Engineers was not sufficiently
substantial, and it will no doubt be a cause of
great expense to the Jamaica Government, *or I
cannot see it would be fair to make the contrac-
tor suffer for damage done by such very excep-
tional weather during their term of upkeep, es-
pecially after he had pointed out to the Govern-
ment Oflicial Engineers, and Public Works Depart-
ment they did not consider the works sufficiently
strong to stand against tropical floods ; it would
be injustice to make the contractor a sufferer under
such circumstances.

As to cofi'ee crops, last year's have not ([uitc
equalled expectations. I have only heard of one
Blue Mountain Estate that exceeded its estimate
and that was a very low one, and only exceeded
by some 8 tierces ; many others were short. No
doubt some coffee was lost during the continued
gales and winds in June ; there seems also to be
loss from rats and birds ; then there are so many
vacancies to the acre that it is very difficult to
make correct estimates, even old stagers are often
out in their calculations ; the quality, however, of
the 188(3 crop is excellent, aud there not being so
much as was expected should cause prices to be
all the higher. As to next year's (1887) crops, the
settlers' coffee and lower fields will do well, as there
has been so much rain, but I fear all upper fields
will be short as the vvind has cut them up so
n ach ; yet the coff'ee is so healthy and vigorous
(hke Ceylon, Udapussellawa and Haputale) that
they are doing their utmost to put out blossom,
and already jroducing a mass of young shoots.

The Annual Flower Show took place in Kingston
a few days ago and it was not considered ccfual to other
years,— no doubt the bad weather of the previous six
weeks had something to do with it. It is not un-
likely this Society will suffer from the absence of
Mr, D, Morris, whose experience as a ecientiiic

274

i'HK IKOPXC^t AGHiCULrUiiiHT,

lOi

m

botanist, good taste in arrangements, and happy
way of putting matters en train will be sadly
missed. This reminds me to mention that Mr.
Hart has been appointed 2^?'o tem superinten-
dent of the Cinchona Plantation. What the council
will decide as to the future management of the place
will not be known till next session, it is to be hoped,
they will not abandon the place, or let it be sold
below its value. Mr. Morris' former residence
would make a very good Government sanatarium :
there is no such place in the Jamaica Mountains
where oflicials can go to for change, when laid aside
by sickness.

Our Jamaica fruit trade flourishes best during the
winter and spring months before the American
fruits are ripe ; just now is a dull time and prices
low. In January, £12 is given per 100 bunches
bananas ready for shipment, now prices are down
to £6 and £7 ; this added to the number of trees
blown down during the gales and damaged by the
floods, will cause considerable loss to growers.
Cacao, and coconuL trees must also have suffered
from the late stormy weather.

The Gleaner newspaper has lately published
several leaders on the subject of protection, point-
ing to the decadence of agriculture and manu-
factures in England as compared with America
advocating the levying of heavy dues locally on all
goods that can either be grown or manufactured
in the island ; this is no doubt a very wise advice
(/ it can be carried out, but at present there would
be a sad lack of experienced hands, so protection
would only tend to a large increase in prices. It
does seem an anomaly that Jamaica with hundreds
of acres of fine land lying idle should have to
import corn from America, also ice which can and
is by one company manufactured cheaply at
Kingston. Thousands of pigs could be raised here,
and fed on sweet potatoes and turned into pork.
Ham and bacon, milk and butter, could be got in
quantities from the cattle pens; boots and shoes,
furniture, clothing, &c., &c., might be made in
the Island, and import duties saved and the money
kept circulating in the island employing men,
who, because our colonies, our sugar, coffee and
other products are not protected, have to go to
that deadly climate on the Isthmus for employ-
ment. I have always thought free trade a mistake,
unless it was generally adopted; England cannot alone
fight the battle of free trade and ruin her colonies
and farmers, and manufacturers. This fact must at
length be dawning on such men as Mr. Bright
and his school and may reconcile them to a
policy of reciprocity: allowing all colonial goods
duty free except those necessarily taxed for i^ur-
poses of revenue, and on these the import dues
should be double to foreign countries that tax our
products and manufactures. W. S.

COFFEE IN THE S. STATES' CONFEDEBACY.

Coffee had been almost the sole table beverage
of the South, and no privation caused more actual
discomfort among the people at large than the
want of it. There was nothing for which they
strove so eagerly and unceasingly to procure a
substitute. Few, indeed, were the substances which
did not first and last find their way into the
coffeepot. Wheat, rye, corn, sweet potatoes, peanuts,
dandelion seed, okra seed, persimmon seed, melon
seed, are but a few of the substitutes which had
their tura and their day. " A fig for the differ-
ence between Ri-o and ry-e," said the wits.
"Eureka!" cried an enthusiastic newspaper cor-
respondent. " Another of the shackles which holds
the South the commercial thrall of the world is
esvej'ed, Let South America keep Jjpr Jii© aod the

antipodes its Java. It is discovered to be true
beyond peradventure that as a beverage the seed
of the sea-island cotton cannot be distinguished
from the best Java unless by its superiority ; while
the seed of the ordinary variety is found to be
not a whit behind the best Rio."

What a flutter of excitement and Joy it raissd
in many a household —and doubtless the scene in
ours was typical— to find that the great national
plant, the very symbol of the Confederacy, was
indeed was so many-sided I It gave u^ greater
confidence, if it were possible to have greater, in
the power and possibilities of the South, now that
cotton, the great king, had had another crown laid
on his brow. So opportune was the discovory,
too, that it struck us as almost a divine revel-
ation, indicating the iuterpositon of Providence in
our favor. So eager were we to test it — or rather
to confirm it, for it was too good, not to be true
— that we could not await meal-time. Residing
in North Carolina and up the country, w-e had
never seen any sea-island cotton, but the prospect
of being confined to Eio was by no means
appalling. A pickaninny was forthwith hurried off'
to the cotton patch, then sparsely flecked with
newly opened boles. The apronful of precious
stuft', now a veritable manna, was hardly indoors
before a dozen hands, of all sizes and colors,
were tearing, picking at the discredited fibre, in
quest of the more priceless seed. The Rio was
made and drunk. Despite the sorghum sweetening,
the verdict was unanimous in its favor.

I hope that the communication of this stupen-
dous discovery to our neighbors added as immen-
sely to our happiness as to our self-importance.
But if in the last respect we sinned, retribution
could not have been laggard. For although, owing
to the fact that happily the recollection of dis-
appointments and humiliations is less abiding than
the opposite feelings, [ am unable to tell exactly
why and when we returned to parched bran, it
is nevertheless true that we did.

Recipes for making " coffee without coffee "
(when the real article was alluded to strong
emphasis on the word left no doubt as to which
kind was meant) were extensively advertised in the
newspapers, and in some instances sold by can-
vassing agents. But rye, okra seed, and meal or
bran held in the long run the popular favor.
Those who could afford an infinitesimal quantity
of the real article counted out by the grain, to
flavor the substitute, were the envy of the neighbor-
hood. A cup of pure and genuine coffee would
in the eyes of many have been an extravagance
akin to Cleopatra's famous draught itself. The
contents of a small gourd, which held our entire
stock of the genuine article for many months be-
fore the close of the war, must have gone towards
the making of an incredible lake of coffee. — David
Dodge, in tlie " Atlantic."

PETROLEUM AS FUEL.

In several issues of the Journal of the Society of
Arts, a lecture on Petroleum has been published
of an exhaustive nature. The latest portion deals
with petroleum as a fuel, and we extract as follows : —

The " pulverisers" of Artemetf, of Braudt, ©f Nobel
(vvliich is a modification of Brandt's), aud others, will
be found fully described and illustrated in Enx/iuecriiiy,
vol. 35 (18S3), by Mr. Thomas Urquhart, Locomotive
Superiuteudeut of tlite Griazi-Tsaritsiu Kailway of
Southern Russia. The burner which is statea to have
given the best results in use on the locomotives of that
railway company, is Karapetoft's ; and that which has
been adopted by the Russiau Goveriimeut as best
adapted for use iu torpedo vessels is Kaufmanu's. Al 1
these pulveriners depeud for their action upou tb o

Oct, t, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

^7^

principle illustrated iu the description of the Lentz
apparatus, aud differ only from that burner in details
of coustruotiou and iu the shape of the flame' pro-
duced. Tl y are all, in fact, similar to the apparatus
patented I. "Messrs. Wise, Field, aud Aydon, in 1867,
and used ai 'u; works of Messrs. J. C. aud J. Field,
of Lambeth. In a valuable paper, which will be found
in the "proceedings of the Institute of Mechanical
Engineers "' for 1884, Mr. Urquhart gives the results
obtained in the pi-actical use of petroleum residuum
on the railway already referred to. Comparative trials,
made in winter, showed that the economy of petroleum,
as compared with anthracite, was 41 percent, in weight
and 55 per cent, in cost ;. and, as compared with bitu-
minous coal, 49 per cent, in weight and 61 per cent
in cost. As compared with wood, petroleum was 50 per
cent, cheaper. At a speed of 14 miles an hour up an
incline of 1 in 125 the steam pressure was easily kept
up at a pressure of 8 to 8| atmospheres, with a No. 9
injector feeding the boiler continuously. In summer the
mean evaporation per lb. of fuel was 11'35 lb. of water
from an initial temperature of about 55° Fahr., the
tlieoretical evaporative power being 162. The useful
elt'ect wiis, therefore, 70 per cent. The compara-
tive trials in summer gave a difference of 50 per
cent, in weight and 66 per cent, iu cost in favour
ot petroleum as compared with bituminous coal, and 52
per cent, in weight and 63 per cent, in cost as com-
pared with anthracite. The results for the entire year
gave for petroleum, as compared with the mixture of
half bituminous and half anthracite coal used, an ad-
vantage of 38 per cent, in weight, and 46 per cent, in
cost in the case of the goods trains, and 25 percent, in
weight, aud 33 per cent in cost in the case of the passen-
ger trains. Mr. Urquhart remarks that he has success-
fully used petroleum as an auti-incrustator, and al,so
finds that the presence of oil in the boiler tends to
reduce the tendency to priming, unless too much is em-
ployed. Petroleum is more oifiicult to use in a locomo-
tive boiler thau in a marine or stationary boiler, aud at
Krst it was found impossible to prevent leakage of
tubes, accumulation of soot, aud inequalities of heating
of the fire-bos; but by the use of properly arranged
brickwork iusidc the fire-bos these difficulties have been
overcon^c.

Petroleum residuum is the only fuel employed for
steam generating purposes in the steam-ships on the
Caspian Sea, and I observed that, both in the case of
these vessels and of the locomotives on the trans-Cau-
casian llailway, the combustion was smokeless, though
occasionally a slight odour of imperfectly consumed oil
was perceptible.

It is reported that the Central Pacific Railway Com-
pany have recently commenced the use of liquid fuel
on their steam-ships, aud have obtained results which
show the cost of the oil to be 56 per cent, of that of
the coal previously employed.

In this country experiments are now being made at
Portsmouth with the object of determining the rel-
ative economy of liquid fuel and coal for use in the belli-
gerent navy. At the end of last year the cargo steamer
lliiiHilaiia, of SUO tons burden and 100 horse-power
nominal, which had been fitted with Mr. Percy P.
Tarbutt's oil-burning apparatus, made a successful trial
trip to Leith aud back, making 8| knots per hour under
disadvantageous circumstances, her mean speed when
fired with coal having been 6|- to 7 knots. The boilers
in this vessel have three furnaces, each of which is
lined with fire-brick and provided with a fire-brick
baffle, and a combustion chamber beyond. Within the
clumber is a coil of pipe to superheat the steam used
in spraying the oil. Messrs. Tarbutt and Quentin, the
m:magers of Tarbutt's Liquid Fuel Company, inform
ni'i that experiments made by two engineers of the
CompagnieFrancaisedes Diamantsdu Cap, at the works
f'f Messrs OHver aud Company, Chesterfield, with a
Itobey boiler fitted with the Tarbutt burner, showed
a mean cvajioracion of 16-3 lb. of water per lb. of oil,
1 he higliest re.sult obtained being 17-2 lb. Another test
made by Oliver and Company gave the relative effi-
ciency f feral aiul oil as 1: 2-G. In a marine boiler
fitted witii the same apparatus, the engineer of Messrs.
Wighani, Richardson, and Company is stated to have

obtained an evaporation of 1557 lb. of water per lb. of
oil. The liquid fuel which has been employed by Mr.
Tarbutt in this country is the residual product known
as " dead oil." In the use of the various steam-spray-
ing apparatus it is necessary first to raise steam iu
the boiler by the use of some other fual, or to employ
an independent steam-generating appliance until the
boiler has been sufficiently heated.

It is well known that Admiral Selwyn claims to have
obtained in the use of liquid fuel far more satisfactory
results thau those which I have given. Liquid fuel
occupies only slightly less space than coal, but its greater
steam-generating power obviously enables a steamer to
make a much longer voyage without taking in a further
supply. Liquid fuel can also be placed on board far more
quickly and with far less annoyance to passengers, ad-
vantages which will be appreciated by those who have
made a long sea voyage in a steam-ship. Besides
which, nearly the whole of the labour espended in trim-
ming the coal and stoking is saved ; and in the case of
ships of war the smokeless character of the combus-
tion is a feature of no small importance.

Cooking Gok.\kas. — The following extract is
from the proceedings of the Horticultural Society of
India: — From Mr. J.Buckingham, Amgoorie, Assam,
presenting some plants of the " Rupi tikora," a
shrub which he describes as "growing into a very
pretty plant ; the fruit also adds much to its appear-
ance, and is, when cooked, extremely palatable. I
think the plant is a species of Garciiiia." Mr.
Buckingham, in a later letter says : " We have three
or four species of Garcinia up here. First, Garcinia
pedunculata (Tikur, or Tikul, as you say) ; it is
called by the Assamese, Bar Tikora. Second Garcinia
coiva, called by the Assamese Koojec Tikora. Third,
a Garcinia sp, called by the Assamese Moli Tikora.
Fourth, the plant I sent you called by the Assamese
Rupi Tikora, not identified by any one yet that I
know of. The first three are trees, the last is a very
handsome shrub about 10 or 12 feet high if allowed
to grow." — Query, whether the last mentioned may
not be what is known in Ceylon as the Rata Goroka,
of foreign origin and with foliage akin to that of the
mangosteen, which the fruit so closely resembles ?
The N.\tural Be.wty of Burma is thus
described in a letter to the Times of India : — Coming
down the river from Bhamo, one is struck with the
natural beauties of the country and the promising
future still before it. More especially beautiful is the
second defile, a score of rniles south of Bhamo, but to
me the first defile already mentioned in this letter is
the grander of the two. Going down the river through
the defile, the ship swishes along gaily at the rate
of thirteen or fourteen knots an hour, aud when the
river is rising there are regular maelstroms iu which
the ship dips her bows in homage to the river nymphs
and gods ; and then it requires steady steering aud
hard going to keep her head from swerving, for nymphs
of all sorts are famous for making heads to swerve.
And coming along you get a good view of the rest
of the surrounding country and see how beautiful
Burmah is, perhaps all in all the most beautiful
country in the world, more especially the portion of
it lately annexed to the British Empire, Nothing,
however, appears to be perfect and without bleiuisli,
and you think, with reluctance, that the very char-
acteristics that largely impart to Burmah its beauty,
also imparts to her bane, such as the rich alluvial soil,
the swamp from the stately river, and the profuse vege-
tation, all more or less associated with sickn(;ss. No
doubt cultivation, sanitation, &c., &c., will do much
to diminish these spots on beauty or beauty spots. The
majestic river, dotted over with island gems, the wooded
plains and the tall blue hills in the distance are well
worth a long, long lingering look. Not a river in India,
if any in the world, can touch the Irrawaddy iu its
grand magnificence at this time of year. Neither the
holy Ganges of the east nor the " Indus " of the west
can at all apjiroach this nolde cinrent.

27<^

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

(OCT, I, 1886.

^nn^spmid^no^.

To the Editor of the " Ceylon Observer."

A CINCHONA SYNDICATE FOR CEYLON PRO-

POSED. IN ORDER TO REGULATE THE

EXPORTS OF BARK.

Bearwell, 20th Sept. 1886.

De.\e Sib, — " The price of Cinchona depends en-
tirely on the shipments from Ceylon" is the remark
of a leading ihm of London brokers in a recent
Fortnightly Report. This being so, surely a com-
bination of those interested here for the purpose
of regulating the supply which shall be sent from
the island, is far from impracticable. Self-interest in
this instance, would, I think, serve to bring the
grower and his agent into harmonious action, and
thus secure probably double the present price of
the unit of quinine to those who so much require
it. Judging from the ready way in which sales for
the past year have gone off, notwithstanding the
fact, that the most sanguine estimates of exports
will nearly be doubled before the year is out, I take
it that it is not so much the enormous increase
which continues to depress prices, as the feeling
that we may not yet have reached the highest
point and that next year may see ' this yeai''s ex-
ports once more doubled. lionce if a Syndicate
could be formed having for its objects the storing
of bark, and the regulating of shipments, in such
a way that the unit of quinine could be kejJt at
sixpence instead of about threepence, surely there
are but few, be he mortgagee, agent, or planter,
who would not give it his support.

I think I am not far out in saying that one and
all ox us have the idea that if we could keep up
our bark for a year or two, very much enhanced
prices would bo obtainable.

With your permission, sir, I shall as briefly as
I can lay before you the outline of a scheme, which
I tliink would provs ai once practical and economical,
and to some extent, if not entirely participate m the
better prices that will doubtless be ruling some time
hence. Let everyone in the island who has an acre
of cinchona form a Syndicate, and rent one or more
of the many unoccupied coffee stores in Colombo, to
which, all bark would be sent from the baling press
(having been previously analysed; to be stored there
until its turn come for shipment.

On the bales being handed over to the Syndicate
storekeeper, a warrant— on which the variety, weight
and analysis of the bark taken in would be marked —
would be handed to the owner or agent, which warrant
would be a (iocument on which dealings might take
place similar to those in respect of Pig-iron on the
Glasgow exchange, by which the grower would get
his money at once, or the Syndicate itself or one of
our local branches might arrange to advance up to
fully half the value of the bark, charging a low rate
of interest.

Tlie Syndicate would keep itself well-advised as
to the trade requirements, and would have the
entire control and regulating of shipments ; not
however to the extent of depriving the Colombo
Agent of his commissions or charges in any way,
but it would fall on those managing the Syndicate
to say how much should be shipped during any one
month.

I by no means underrate the difficulties that
would have to be overcome before the scheme would
prove a success, and I shall enumerate some of the
more prominent ones, and endeavour to show how
they could be met : —

1. I am assuming that self-interest would serve

to rally the planting body to a scheme which can

e shown to be of so much immediate benefit to them,

2. The fact that a considerable portion of the bark
is hypothecated to people out of the island, who
might be averse to even a temporary alienation
of their security which storing with the Syndicate
would imply. Even if self-interest did not induce
their supiiort, their agents in Colombo could hold
the warrants until the bark was released or in
other ways procure their sanction to a scheme
which they could not fail to see would be of im-
mense service to their constituents.

3. The fact that most planters require the full
value of every harvesting, the moment the article
is ready for the market, . and that no bank or
syndicate could with safety give an advance of
much over half the actual value. For this diffi-
culty, I would merely point out that if the
operations of the ' Syndicate raised the price to Gd
per unit an advance of fully the present quotation
would be procurable, so that besides the ultimate
advantage of getting 6d per unit, they would
receive as an advance as much as the bark would
sell for with no regulating Syndicate.

4. That of making a selection of bark for
shipment would probably give rise to more dis-
content than any of the other difficulties, and
yet I think a method at once fair and just could
be devised. For example, suppose the stored bark
consisted of that from 100 different estates, each
proprietor, mortgagee, or agent more anxious for
a realization than the other Directorate would pro-
ceed to select the barks that arrived up to a cert-
ain date of the previous month, and in the event
of that being insufficient for the market require-
ments then take the next in order and so on;
and on the other hand in the event of their being
unable to send all the bark to the date mentioned,
a proportion of each could be taken and the balance
held .U13, and so on.

5. Then comes the possibility of Java, India, or
South America, stepping in to upset our scheme, I
would remark with reference to this that our object is a
perfectly legitimate one ; we seek only to get a fair value
for an article which another combination, composed of
canker and hard times, has unduly depressed, a value
probably which may be raised even another 100 per
cent the moment our extensive fields become ex-
hausted as they assuredly will before many years
pass over. We do not seek to operate to the extent of
raising the fever powder up to, far less over its
proportionate retail value, nor do I think that the
extent we purpose, manijjulating for, would cause
shipments to be resumed from South America or
more to be harvested from India or Java.

But even in that case, according to Messrs.
Brookes & Green " the price of cinchona depends
entirely on the extent of shipment from Ceylon,"
hence the Syndicate could at once render
abortive any outside attempt to upset their aims.
I trust that you will be willing to give your support to
this, or some such Scheme, the outline of which
I have sketched. There are gentlemen in Colombo
I could name, who, were they to take the matter
up, could work it out in all its details to a per-
fectly successful issue. I trust therefore, you will
find space for my proposal so that the subject may
at all events get ventilated.

Unless we again take to planting cinchona a very
few years will exhaust the existing fields ; we
shall then feel similar chagrin to that most of us
must at the moment be experiencing, now that
coffee is fairly on its way to tlie three figures.
That, most men could not help ; but I maintain
that we have it within ourselves to prevent our
remaining cinchonas, from which so much was ex-
pected, from being sacrificed. — Yours faithfully,

JAMES SINCLAIR.

Oct, i, iSS6.]

THE TROF*lCAL AGRICULTURIST,

277

BEST SEASON FOR PBUNING TEA?

21st September 1886.

Dear Sir — The question, " What is the best month
in which to prune tea on estates exposed to the
south-west monsoon " is often asked and various
answers with reasons which appear conclusive
to each advocate, are given making the matter
rather confusing to a new hand at the work.
One man will advise a commencement in .June,
another in July, others at different dates uj) to
October ; a few preferring the north-east monsoon
to prune in.

Judging from the growth on coffee and other
plants throughout the south-west monsoon together
with the short experience we have of tea, June
and July pruning is I think a mistake, except on
places under 2,000 feet. In these months there is
a good yield of leaf and what is of great im-
portance, the tea made— where the withering ac-
commodation is sufficient — is of finer quality than
is made earlier in the season. On the other
hand, nothing appears to be gained by this early
^)runing, unless when the bushes require a length-
ened rest after pruning.

To make the most of the bushes, I would pre-
fer doing this work from middle of August to
middle of Se)Dtember : the first plucking would thus
fall to be taken in the first half of October and
would escape injury from the burst of the north-
east monsoon which usually comes on about 20th
October. The second growth would start in Novem-
ber and the tea afterwards be in fine bearing
condition for the best plucking months— March to
June. Later pruning than this would shorten the
yield from the small surface there would be to
pluck from in the best months.

On estates approaching sea-level where in the
wet season there is sufficient heat to induce the
bushes to flush, pruning might with advantage
be done in the dry season, but perhaps the pro-
longed drought immediately after pruning would
have a damaging effect on the tree and probably
cause a portion of the wood to die back. Has
pruning been tried at this season in low-lying
districts ? ALFYSO.

Ikdlus' and Kaffir Labouf. in Natal are thus
noticed in the London letter of the Imlian Planters^

Gazette: —

The following information re Indian labour in Natal
will not come amiss after what has already been
sent you in reference to Natal. The necessities of
the Coast plantations have led to the introduction
of East Indian or coolies labourers in considerable
numbers by Government ageucj', cbiefiy at the em-
ployers' expense. Several laws have been passed to
regulate terms of payment, and to provide for the
due care and protection of the immigrant. Indians
are engaged to tlieir employers for the term of five
years, after which they are free to engage in i-uy
occupation they choose, and at the end of ten years
from their first coming to the Colony they can claim
to be returned to their country by the Government
or to have au equivalent in land to the amoimt of
their passage money- A sum of £10,000 is annually
set aside as a Government contribution to the ex-
penses of this immigration. The interests of the
coolies thus imported are looked after by an officer
specially appointed (" the Protector of Immigrants," a
familiar term to your readers) and a complete medi-
cal and general staff. From the 17th November 18tj0
to the end of ISS."), there arrived in the Colony Hf,.582
Indian immigrants including men, women, and cliildren,
of these nearly 5,000 have returned to India, on coni-

Eletion of term of service, or have left for elsewhere
y license. Of indentured Indians, there are now, in-
cluding women and children, about 10,000 in the
Colony; and of "free" Indians, about 19,000
Indiana are now tg some extent employed in

the midlands and up-country. Considerable numbers
of the " free " Indians are at work on their own
account as farmers, market-gardeners, traders, and
hawkers. As a rule, all the Indians adhere to thoir
old habits in diet.dress, social eustoms,and religious ob-
servances. Hence an oidcl/amhib going to Natal would,
so far as he employed Indian labourers, feel quite
at home. The native population I have already alluded
to in a former letter ; it comprises various tribes,
but all of the Zulu type, and all use Zulu language, with
slight dialectic differences. The experience of 50 years
shows an unbroken record, except in a few unimpor-
tant instances, of submission to law and order and
of good social relationships with their white neigh
hours and employers. Naturally good tempered, docile
and honest, they appreciate just and fair treatment
and many friendships have been formed between the
two races. The Government of this large population
(361,766) has been carried on with scarcely a disturb-
ance and taxes amounting to a considerable sum
have been collected from them year by year with-
out friction or serious difficulty.

" Artificial Quinine."— Here is how the
British Trade Journal deals with this subject : —

No sooner does the "silly season" set iu than
the daily press astomshes its readers by announce-
ments of " remarkable discoveries " which are to
"revolutionise" either this or that particular indus-
try. Last autumn a London journal published the
startling intelligence that the present sugar indus-
try—beet as well as cane— was to be annihilated by
the wonderful returns cf sugar which it claimed
could be obtained from the Mahu-a or 2fo>rra tree of
Hindostan. As was pointed out sliortly afterwards,
this was nothing but a Munchausen story, since
the flowers in question contain only 1-04 per cent
of sacciiarine matter, and even that small quantity
is fit for nothing but brewing and distilling pur-
poses. We believe it was the same moruing journal
that reproduced the American hoax of the new
species of cotton tree with pods weighing each from
2 to 3 lb., by which the cotton trade was to be
" revolutionised." This year the same newspaper
brings forward a " remarkable discovery" of the arti-
ficial mode of making quinine, which will, we are se-
riously told, bring down the price of that drug to
something like 3d per oz. We are also told that
this important discovery " was made by the acci-
dental breaking of a medicine bottle." But, as we
are well aware that all great discoveries are usually
the result of accident, this need not surprise any
one. Tlie reallj- extraordinary part of the story
is that good quinine "can now be manufactured
without limit by a very simple process from an article
which can always be got in abundance in any part of
the World." In order to round off the story it should
have been stated that the artificially-made drug had
been admiinstered in cases of fever with the most
satisfactory results ; but to this extreme the inventor,
doubtless with a discreet regard for his patients,
appears not to have gone. We have the best authority
for stating that the announcement that an eminent
firm of manufacturing chemists has expressed itself
favourably with regard to the alleged discovery is
entirely false. It has yet to be proved that any-
one has really succeeded in producing so complex
a body as quinine synthetically; and it is extre-
mely improbable that even if produced at all it could
be made at any very low price. Before such
statements are accepted and published by any
newspaper it would be strongly advisable to have
certain evidence of their correctness

■till more interesting is it to learn from
Olieinist and Drucjrjist : —

Artificial Quinine.— Referring to the alleged dis-
covery of artificial quinine Mr. J. 0. B. Moens writes
from Haarlem :— "The French chemist who in 1882
claimed to have discovered a synthetical process of
quinine manufacture was so confident of bis discovery
that he actually submitted samples of his prepam-
tion to the Academy of Sciences for inspection. The
almost incredible fact was then revealed that the so-
called sulphate of quinine was nothius; but sulphate
of ammonia."

lys

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Oct. I, i8S6-

NEW RAW ARTICLES OF COMMERCE :— KAPOK.

(Australian Report.)

PursuiiiDg the course adopted some time ago in
publishing a series of articles on some ''I^Jew Haw
Articles of Commerce " we thought that ;i brief
review and history of a commodity, which, from its
importance in Australian commerce, must be classed
among its most staple imports, may not be without
general interest. Possessed of the knowledge o' its
origin and sources of supply, about which there is
almost comparative ignorance, a few observations
thrown together on the subject may serve a useful
purpose in the encouragement of so important a
trade, and may possibly suggest some means of attempt-
ing to meet at least a part of the enormous demand
there is in these Colonies for it.

Kapok is both a Malayan and Java term for the
Eriodfiidrom Anfractuosum and Gosmmphws Alba. It
belongs to the Bomhacttos family, of whicli there are
several allied orders known botanically as B;/ttneriave(P,
Ghfenaceoe and Ternstrcemiaceie, of whicli latte ■ family
the Boinha.v Gos.-iipinum belongs. Amongst the most
remarkable of the Bombacece family is the Baobab,
the largest known tree in ihe wo Id, whose trunk
measures 90 feet in circumference a.id the Durian of
the Indian Archipelago, the most delicious of all
fruits, also the Qua tier {Bombax JLalabaricum) so
extensively planted iu India as a shade tree. In
their growth and products there is very little differ-
ence, nil are intertropical and exogenous, jjerhaps uo
trees in the world have a more loftj' and imposing
appearance, the untutored children of Africa are so
struck with the majesty of their appearance, Ihat
they designate them the god-tree, and account it
sacrilege to injure tlieni with the axe, they are also
remarkable for their splendid inflorescence, their
capsules on bursting display a flocculent substance
often mistaken by tra\'ellers for cotton, and the tree
hence called Cotton Tree, but as the substance is
more silky than cotton, it has been distinguished by
the name of Silk Cotton, or as more generally known
in Eastern and Australian commerce. Kapok.

The fibre most imported here is of moderate length,
although some varieties are short, remarkably elastic
but unfortunately so very tender that it may be said
not to possess any staple. It was first brought into
notice in Europe on the occasion of the (rreat Ex-
hibition of 1851, beyond being recommended for
upholstery purposes, and in combination with other
substances iu the manufacture of mixed fabrics, to
wliich there were many practical obstacles, it was
generally considered as possessing little or no value,
consequently it was looked on with distrust, " it was
not in the market,"' '"Brokers did not know it,"
uo pains were taken with it, and from want of
attention the article never gained more than noticf;.
In Holland it grew rapidly into favor, and until the
Australian Colouies became a customer, that country
was the only market for it. At the late Amsterdaiii
Exhibition it shared a much better fat.^ than when
exhibited iu IbSl, it was described a-s "vegetable
wool," commanded considerable notice from .all classes,
and was valued at a very high figure. The effect of
this exhibition was to excite the attention of mer-
chants in .lava, India and Ceylon to the article, for
almost up to this time its (|ualities and capabilities
remained unknown or so badly neglected that little
or no progress was made in it, large cousignin(!n(s
were made to Europe and to these Colonies, but the
residt so far as Kuropc; is concerned, placing Holland
aside, .seems not to have been encouraging.

The extraordinary success which has .attended its
introduction, or literally .speaking its est:iblishm;iit
into Australian commerce, is, perhaps, without saying
too much, without a parallel, for only those who
have tried it know the difficulties of introducing a
new article of trade however good, tr.iders an 1
manufacturers cling with teoacity to old customs
and practices, and have almost a thorough disinclin-
ation to entertain new substances or new processes,
hence the rapid and increasing demand for the
product ig unmistakable evidenc(! of tin- favourable

maimer it has been received by merchauts, the

furniture trades aud the general public.

It is now abo'-t fifteen years ago .since the first
shipment of Java kapok came to this market; but
in couse(iuence of the trade in it at Java being con-
fined to Dutch and native hands, i-egular shipments
were not kept up, and, when they did arrive, it was
only in small lots; consequently, the trade was so
unimpo;taut as not to deserve more than notice
here, except a passing reference to one or two
eventful facts in connection with it. The price which
it fetched in those days must have been different
from now, for it is said that the purchasers of the
first consignment netted a profit of .1^7,000 on the
transaction. 8o firmly did it establish itself with
t'le trade on its introduction, that when supplies were
not regularly forthcoming they sought out a substitute.
Various fibres were experimented upon, aud much
valuable information obtained, till, at last the trade
settled down to the use of " Pulu," from the Sandwich
Islands, which grew rapidly into favor; but after a
few years" trial, though not until the trade had assumed
considerable dimensions, was it found to be totally
unfit for bedding and upholstery purposes. In a very
she -t t "me it went to dust ; in fact it possessed a^
peculiar property of dry decomposition until nothing
w j,s left, thus pulu had a short but curious history,
being of a fibrous silky .substance. It was thought
to be of the same order as kapok; but au examin-
ation of the plant proved it to be of the Cibotium
species, a quite distinct family altogether from the
Bomhax, and possessing none of its elasticity aud
durability. In proof of the lasting qualities of kapok,
we have to relate that i-ecently a pillow was shown
us by a gentleman in this city, who was a non-
commissioned officer in the imperial service engaged
in the Mahratta war of 1S43, who on noticing the
tree, picked sufficient of the fibre to fill a pillow-case,
which has been in constant use ever since (43 years),
and still retains its elasticity and fulness, and who
assures us he has fouud nothing so cool or healthful
to sleep on in warm climates as this article. Such test-
imony is most valuable. It was not until the year of the
Melbourne Exhibition (1881) that the first .shipments
arrived from India and Ceylon. It is diflicult to
obtain reliable statistics concerning the trade, for
there appears to have been a determination, which by
some houses is maintained to this day, on the part of
shippers and local merchauts to keep the whole thing
a secret, ^^^e find it catered at the local Customs
under all manner of names, such as •' vegetable fibre,"
"vegetable wo)l," "silk cotton," •'•tree cotton," "raw
cotton," and " Simool cotton." Even now, all the im-
ports from India aud Ceylon are entered at the Cus-
toms either as raw or Simool cotton ; oidy the Java
imports are described as kapok.

Tabulating all the values described under the above
headings passed through the Customs in 1881-2-3 the
trade seems not to have been followed up or pro-
secuted to any great measure of success, it may be
said that no decisive and important progress was
made with it luitil the year 1884, when the firm of
Messrs. Catherwood, "Welsby and Co. of this city went
largely and solely into the trade, Mr. E. A. Cather-
wood when passing through Ceylon in 18S3 became
attracted by the article, and at once perceived its
economic uses^ and the future there must be for it.
On retuiiiing to V^ictoria his firm entered with zeal
upon the trade, and it is due to Mr. Catherwood's
foresight and tenacity of purpose, as well, perb;ips.
to his firm's enterpri.-.iiig aud venturous spirit for the.
wonderful development Ijy leaps and boULuls the trade
has assunied today. IS'ot only may it Ite said with
truth that Messrs. Cathtrwood, Welsby and Co. ccmtrol
the market throughout .\ustralia aud New ;^ealand,
but also the Java maricet their large purchases abroad
arc not oidy felt ou the spot, but have a correspond-
ing effect <ui the market in Holland. Hail i', not been
for the heavy piachases of tliis iMelboiu-ue fir)u, it
would have been a sorry time for both .Java and
Holland, at the opening of the last seison December
1884, Holland had stored up in its warehouses 12,000
bales with a strong "ring" formed by dealers to bear

OCT, I, iSi^.'i THE rUOPlCAL At^mcVLtUUi8V>

m

down the market, both merchants aud dealers re-
maiued firm ; as the seasou advanced tlie latter hoped,
iu fact expected, shipiueuts woidd arrive wlieu mer-
chauts would be bound to ease dowii stock.s. They
had reckoned without their host, their action, as is
too often the case, was the result of a miscalculation,
other competitov.s had entered the field abroad, Messrs.
Catherwood, "Welsby and Co.'s orders alone for the
Australian market amounted to three-fourths of the
entire crop. "What a relief this must have been to
the Dutch merchants who through the operations on
this side of the globe were put ia a position to with-
stand the tactics of the " ring." Some small con-
signments were made to Holland from .Java towards
the close of the season, stocks by our last advices
from Holland dated April 27th had worked down to
2,000 bales, so that ne^t season at Java a rise may
be looked for, the crop will be keenly competed for
by Dutch and Australian houses.

Satisfies show that Messrs. Catherwood, Welsby
and Oo. imported duting the season now closed 7,815
Java bales ; we notice some very large parcels arriv-
ing in one bottom, the S.S. " Khandalla " bringing 1375
bales ; the S.S. "Tannadice" 1442, both within a fort-
night of each other ; in January and February. The
bark "Eachel" arrived iu May with 1320 bales, the
first vessel that has ever carried a full cargo of this
product.

The following comparative tables containing statist-
ics for the past three seasons will be found interest-
ing to this part of our subject: —

Importation (in bales) or

Kapok

INTO Melbourne.

Country.

1884

1885

1886

Java

Ceylon

India ,

500

86

450

1300
150
900

7,995
200
650

Note. — A bale of Java kapok average weight is
about 80 1b.; a bale of Ceylon about 2001b.: a bale
of Indian about 400 lb.

V.VLUE OF Entiue Pboduce.

Country,

Java ...

Ceylon

India...

1884

£

1400

430

3750

1885

1886

£
3700

700
600O

£
22,600
lOOO
3250

"W^hilc values have been comparatively steady for
the past three seasons, for both tlie Java and Ceylon
article, viz., 8gd. and 6d. per lb., free Melbourne,
there has been a gradual aud serious decline iu the
value of Indian kapok, receding from 5d. in 1884 to
3d. today. It is understood, we only allude to mer-
chants" parcels in original bales, tlie retail trade has
not been affected much by the fall. Even at the low
price Indian kapok is today, the trade find it to their
interest to pay 8§d. and higher for Java, than 3d.
for the former. The Indian is frequently received
in such a filthy condition as to be almost unusable,
more than 40 per cent of the whole being waste —
couijioscd of sand, dirt, seed.s, &c-, which necessitates
the bales being sent to a kapok mill to be cleaned
aud teased, for which the cost of milling is Id. per
lb. on the gross weight put through. On working out
the relative values of the Java and Indian artiele at
current market prices, in original bales as above quoted,
basing our calculations on the experience of experts,
we find that 21 lb. of the Java fill as well as 29 lb.
of the Indian in its teased aud prepared state, the
filling being the true test of respective values, re.stUt-
ing in a percentage of 38 in favor of Java. There-
fore manufactured articles of this commodity, filled
with the Java, are much lighter aud more easy to
handle, which is a great desideratum for bedding in
warm climates, for which purpose this product, at the
present period, is almost solely imported.

This notice treats it only as an article of commerce ;
iu (jome future paper we hope to review it in its
sanitary aspect;

We have not gone minutely into ttie Ceylon pro-
duet,, as the imports arc .so .small as to be almo.st
inappreciable.

The Indian product iu its pre.sent state is thoroughly
objectionable. First, as regards staple on fibre, it is
both shoit and inferior iu other respects to the pro-
duce of Java. Second, the inequaUties of the stuff
found in each bale, good and bad mixed together,
added to which is the too frequent fraudulent pract-
ice of water packing, putting seeds, sand, an.l other
foreign substances in the interior, in a manner not to
be detected without opening the bale. Third, the form
of packing is not the least obstacle which has so far
acted detrimentally upon the quality. Hydraulic or
steam-prtiss packing of bales totally destroys that
peculiar elasticty to which kapok may be said to owe
its value— without this springy nature it is unsuitable
as a stuffing material. Moreover, it is found by hard
packing uncleaned stuff a dark-coloured oil is expressed
from the seeds which is sulfused over the kapok, and
consequently stains it, hence the noticeable differ-
ence in colour between the Indian aud beautifully
white Java product. We might go on multiplying
facts iu support of the position we have ass.sumed.
but wo think sufficient has been said to satisfy the
reader that when merchants complain of the inact-
ivity and declension of the Indian kapok trade as
compared with the rapid progress of its great rival
of Java, they should at least remember that a portion
of that declension is traceable to their own sins of
omission. Of the causes which have brought it about,
we have the opinion and experience of a gentleman
who has been connected with the trade in Ceylon and
India from its inception. AVe give it iu his own
words. Speaking of buying at Calcutta, he says: —
"The crop begins to come in about May. Dealers
go to the boats that bring it from the interior, and
bargain. They screw the boatmen down to the low-
est possible figure, stipulating for quantity rather
than quality, and as it is generally disposed of before
it is seperated from the seed, the boatmen gets much
the same price for it, no matter in what condition
it may be. They have no inducement to pick it more
carefully ; so that the truth is, the " middlemen " are
more to blame than the natives for the filthy con-
dition in which it reaches here. Little encouragement
is given to them. So badly thus it pay that during
June, July, and August there is always a cessation of
deliveries at Calcutta, on account of the natives turn-
ing to more profitable work, being busy with their
mango season."

At Java the' trade has assumed a uniform practice.
No unclean stuff is shipped, but the dift'erent grades
of cleaning denote standard of (piality ; the first,
"extra cleaned," being cleaned by machinery and the
first picking of the crop; the second, denoted as
" best cleaned picked," being all hand-picked aud free
from seeds, except an odd one here and there ; the
third is simply designated " c/eaued." It contains a
few seeds, together with the "slubs," or little knotty,
curly lumps, which are cast aside from the higher
grades. Quality of any one class is found most uniform
throughout the bales. Packing is all done iu straw-
mats, and never tight pressed ; the first quality
" extra cleane<l," weighing about 65 lb. ; the second and
third, from 75 lb to 90 lb. Bales over 90 lb. to 95 lb,,
on account of having to be dumped by machinery,
destroying the elasticity of the fibre, are reckoned not
to be worth within gd. to Id. per lb. iu value of bales
of lesser weight.

In fact, it is a peculiar feature of the Java trade
that weight of bales from an essential condition of
piice — the lighter the highest, aud rice verm.

The article is of a kind that admits of a deal of
specidation. Its unparallelled development and firm
hold on Australian commerce hazards the belief that
it will take many a season before .supply overlaps
demand.

The price of any raw article, especially one of
this nature, never remains long at one fixed rate.
In kapok, much depends on the season. If wet, the
crop is small aud poor. Again, with the fact that
tke demaad more tba^n keeps pace with the iucreaeed

2Sa

THE TROPICAL AOKJCULtUHtST,

[Ocf. i, ib^.

supplies, auil others, entoriug tlio market with orders
for Europe, make prices fluctn-ite from day to day.
The history of tlie late rise iu value at Java and
Oeyion was solely and suddeu and unexpected enquiry
from these parts for a product that no previous
attention had been paid to.

Like most articles, kapok is not without its adult-
erations, imitations, and frauds. The practice recently
brought to our notice of mixing " cotton Hy," the
refuse of cotton with it, which is worth in this market
only from id. to l^d. per lb., is a gross fraud upon
the trade and consumers. Two lb. of the mixture is
not equal in filling to i^lh. of the true article, besides
being devoid of its elasticity, for no vegetalsle sub-
stance is so dead and hard as cotton fly. We have
been shown the ordinary Hessian bags fiUed with kapok,
as used by the trade. Wc notice the bags of
Indian and Ceylon were alike, 48 lb. A bag was then
filled of the .lava, especially for us, as the latter is
only sold iu "the original'" straw bales — this weighed
30 lb. Then we were shown a bag of the spur-
ious stuff, which had not even the appearance of
fulness as the others we examined, but this to
our surprise weighed 72 lb. — it was merely an
illustration of weight between kapok and the refuse
of cotton mixture. We asked the firm showing it
to us how it coidd be detected. Were the trade
aware of the fraud? They replied, very few; they
only knew it did not fill so well, meaning it required
ir.ore to do the same work, and as a consequence
some would take nothing but the Java, but its real
defects was its deadness and lumpy nature.

Underselling and cheapness being the mother of
this nefarious device, we can only characterise such
counterfeits as the surest means of killing a promising
trade, like other modes of adulteration, in becoming
established and universal, they cease to be profitable
to anyone. Ouce the more honest trader commences
to find he stands alone in selling an apparently
similar article at a higher price, and that his cus-
tomers as a consequence are going elsewhere, he
he will soon begin to furnish a like substitution to
cope with competitors, till quality and price becomes
so diminished that the trade succumbs to its own
vices and follies. Let us hope the kapok trade will
not meet thi^ fate.

The following method will enable one to discover
whether kapok is mixed with cotton Hy or other
substances of its kind: — The principal feature of
kapok is the total want of strength of the fibre,
being soft almost like eider-down, brittle and
eliistic — the tibre of the cotton Ily on the other hand
is broad and harsh, possessing great strength, with a
tendency to twist. In examining a small sample
where a mixture is suspected, it should be ilrawn out
slowly between the fore-fingers and thumbs of the
two hands, observe how on the slightest pressure the
kapok fibre easily seimrates, if mi.xed with cotton
fly, the latter will be detected by its strength iu
resisting this pressure, then by drawing the staple in
the other direction and thus alternately from hand
to hand, the kapok successively escaping pressure
leaves the cotton fly exposed and intact. This is
merely a rougb and ready test, but examining the
sample through a microscope, the difference between
kapok fibre and the staple of cotton fly is observed
without difficulty. We might animadvert on this
subject further, but we have called attention to the
iniquity, and we hope our remarks may be felt in
the proper (juarter. To speak mildly, it is most unfair
to those houses who have won a -justly earned reputation
in the trade for honest dealing. We could wish
that our calling attention, not only to the unfairness
of such competition, but to the dishonesty of such
action would lead to its being totally discontinued.
Those, however, adopting such means have not usually
any compunctions of conscience, and appeals to their
commercial morality seldom leads to satisfactory
results ; however, we can but do our best in the matter,
and that is to caution the trade and general public
to exercise care in buying, and pay attention to the
few hints we hpve tbrowu out.

It has a bright future before it, and we have little
doubt "that, with the invention of proper carding and
spinning machinery, it will be used in the fabrication
of articles of clothing, and prove a formidable rival
to its allied substances. It has already been used for
making gun-cotton, a substitute for beaver fur, con-
verted into half-stuff for paper-making, making silk
buttons and fringes, and by the Indians, who make
beautiful fabrics of it. In Bombay, the fibre of the
bark i.s used as a substitute for flax, and in Bengal
the natives collect the milky juice as a substitute for
shellac and gutta-percha. The seeds have almost the
same value as cotton seeds, being exported to Europe to
extract the orl, and fetch from £3 to £.5 per ton.

A kapok mill !ias been erected by Messrs. Lynas
and Gwynne on the Sandridge road, in this city,
which is kept constantly going. To these geutlemeu
we are much indebted for being allowed to inspect
the process of cleaning .and teasing the article, and
for their lucid explanation of trade matters.

In our next we shall give an account of another
new fibre, the Dook of the Areng-tree, which Messrs.
Gather wood, Welsby, and Oo. have introduced here as
a substitute for curled hair, the coarser fibres being
employed for cordage and brushware. — Buchanan's
Montldi/ Rei/iater.

^

Acorn Coffee. — In Germany " acorn coffee '' is used,
and greatly, liked, as a substitute for ordinary coffee,
and is considered to be very strengthening for con-
sumptive people and delicate children. The acorns
are gathered in autumn, when they are ripe, shelled,
and, after being cut into pieces of the size of coffee
berries, they are thoroughly dried in front of the fire,
or in a cool oven. They are then roasted like ordin-
ary coffee, until they becon^e a cinnamon-brown colour.
Immediately after roasting, the acorns are ground or
pounded in a mortar, to prevent there becoming tough.
Whilst the coffee is being ground or pounded, a very
light butter is added, and the coffee is then placed
in air tight bottles. For children, prepare in the same
way as ordinary coffee, using a quarter of an ounce
to a pint of water, adding milk and sugar to taste.
Young children should take it with two or three parts
of milk. For adults, half an ounce of the coffee may
be used fo a pint of water. Acorn coffee and ordinary
coffee are frequently mixed, and the decoction is found
very palatable. In their raw state, acorns are known
to be powerfully astringent, but they lose this quality
in the process of roasting. In some respects acorn
cotftju is preferable to coffee proper, having none of
the drying properties attributed to the latter —
CasielL's Dictionary of Cooker;/.

Thk Weduiinc-Ft.ower. — This is what is known
botanically as Iris or Morxa Kobinsoaiana, the giant
Iris of Lord Howe"s Island, and one of the most
disappointing garden plants even introduced into
English collections. Many have tried, and perhaps
a few are even yet trying to induce it to flower, but,
so far, no one iu Europe has yet succeeded. We
began to fuspect that there was some condition
peculiar to Lord Howe's Island aud essential to the
flowering of this Iris, till we learned that in the Hakgala
experimental gardens in Ceylon plants of it h,\d been
raised and flowered iu about a year from seeds pro-
duced from Australia. This is what Mr. Nock says
of the Hakgala plants : — " Planted round a pond are
several interesting plajits, among them being the
Wedding-flower, a gigantic Iris. One flower-spike
contains from 120 to 200 blooms, which come out a
few at a time, but only last 21 hours: the plant is iu
flower for sevi^ral mouths." Hakgala is at a high
elevation in Oeyion, the temperature being perhaps
somewhat similar to that of Italy. Many interest-
ing plants are growing there, amongst tliem being
the splendid Tree Fern found only in Oeyion, viz :
Alsopliila Orinita, of which several fine specimens
may be seen at Kew. In Ceylon, however, high-up
the sunlight must be much more intense than any-
thing we get, SI ill the A\'edding-flower may not really
require all this light to make it flower. What does
it want that we fail to give it here.— '/V/«e Garden,

Oct. r, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICCLTURIST

281

INVESTING IN PEECIOUS STONES.

ALL ABOUT THE FIVE PRIMARY STONES.

CoUectDis of Stones are apt to have their nerves
agitated I-. rumours of new mines, or threats that
the markii \ill be dehiged from the looted treasury
of King Th .; uaw, or destroyed altogether by some
discovery of how to make one ruby worth lO.OOU fr.
out of ten worth 1 fr. each ; but I have never found
persons wlio may perhaps have from t'100,000 to
4'2(K »,()()() worth of the stock so threatened to he in
the least disturbed by these alarms. Even the aston-
ishing increase which has taken place of late years
in the supply of diamonds seems only to have in-
creased, in still greater proportion, the demand for
them. Good stones are as dear as ever they were, and
really first-class stones dearer. Nor is there the re-
motest chance that '"real," though "non-natural,"
rubies will ever be produced by any process of fusion,
welding together, or otherwise. The products would
not be ruby, though, chemically, exactly the same
substance. Crystalline formation is of the essence
of the ruby, sapphire, emerald, and diamond ; and
though exceedingly minute diamonds — less than the
one-hundred-and-fiftieth part of a grain— appear to
have been produced by allowing the vapour of carbon
to cool under enormous pressure, it spem practically
certain that large crystals have been tlia product of
extinct telluric forces operating through enormous
spaces of time, the effects of which art will never be
able to copy.

Crystalline constitution is the condition of the
dischroism or double colour, and the power of disper-
sion of light, which make all the difference between
the mystic and ever-varying beauty of a true stone
and a piece of white or coloured glass. The ruby
may be softened by heat, and small rubies may per-
haps be thus welded together, as they are said lately
to have been by some cunning persons at Geneva ;
but in this process the crystalline character of even
the welded bits would be destroyed, a/ud much less
would the whole have any such formation. Again,
the ruby seems to owe much of its extreme beauty
and variety of colour to a fact which has not been
sufficiently dwelt upon in this connection. The ruby
and the sapphire are chemically the same substance,
or very nearly the same. Alternate layers of sapp-
hire and ruby are even sometimes found in the same
stone; and erroneous cutting has been known to
danuige immensely an inestimable ruby by "bring-
ing out the sapphire" — that is, by bringing out a
third and distinctly blue tint in the "table" over
and above the twin colours of the pure ruby. Now
it Iseems to me that some unequal mixture of the
colour of the sapphire in the body of a fine ruby
may account for one of the most inimitable beauties
of very fine rubies — namely, an exceedingly slight
and changeful inequality, or sort of smeariness in the
deep carmine of the lower facets, as seen through
the "table" and upper surfaces of the stone; a
quality which gives to its colour the same kind of
mystery and animation as is given to a space of
blue sky by the ever-present but all but invisible
and ever-changing shreds of white mist, with which
the clearest sky is always covered and without which
the blue would be as dead and hard, however bright,
as the splendid red of the imitation rubies now
manufactured in Paris : specimens of which may be
seen in a jeweller's shop where Piccadilly joins the
llegent's-circus. This effect must for ever remain
beyond the power of art to copy ; as also must an-
other with which a great expert has told me that
he considers the colour of the ruby to be somehow
connected.

Very beautiful pink-rose-coloured rubies of great
size, four to six carats or more, are sometimes ab-
solutely Hawless ; but no ruby of the true deep and
glowning carmine and of more than three carats in
weight has probably ever been seen without fiaws.
Even in very fine and valuable rubies such flaws
are perfectly visible at the first glance of the naked
rye: but the most perfect "specimen ruby" ever
known a^ fir as F have been able to ascertain, though
"perfect ' ill lli> sense that it is perfect to the

unassisted vision, will reveal, under a strong m igni
fier, at least one or two such little points or planes
of irregular reflection in its substance as tliose
whicli quite fill the body of a Mue opal and c luse
its many-coloured iridescence. It is a niostcuriout
fact that similar "flaws" seen to be similarl .-
connected with splendid colour in the emerald
though not so invariably as with the ruby. Largo,,
light-coloured, and flawless emerald-i are so common
as to bo comparatively worthless; and " aquam,
arine," which is nothing but a very l:,^ht emerald-
is found in absolutely faultless mass weighing
pounds, or even hundreds of pounds. Fine sapphires,
like emeralds, have usually some flaw or " feather "
in them ; but, " like emeralds and unlike rubies, are
sometimes to all appearance absolutely perfect.
These characteristic fiaws of fine stones are imit
ated by fraudulent manufacturers, but in vain. The
cracks which they produce in their silicious or
aluminous glass are too gross to escape detection
as the work of artifice, and they do not affect the
colour. But, while these imitated flaws are quite
unlike those of real stones, the substance of the
imitation stone, produced by fusion of alumina and
other earths by great heat, has unavoidable flaws
of its own, which easily distinguish it. On the
whole, it may be safely assumed that the chances
of any imitation or " production " ever endangering
the value of natural stones is so small that it need
not be taken into account by investors in them.

Pearls, though inferior in indestructibility to
any of the precious or semi-precious stones,
hive at all times, on account of their extreme
beauty ranked with rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and
diamonds in value. They are subject to various
kinds of injury, none of which affect the four prim-
ary gems, which are practically indestructible. They
are easily scratched, are subject to discoloration
by absorption of effluvia, and to actual and sudden
decomposition by the presence of acids, even in the
atmosphere. An instance came under my own ob-
servation in which some lustrous pearls were change :!
in the course of a few days, into things just like
the eyes of boiled cod-fish, by the accident of a
vinaigrette having been placed in the jewel-case with
them. NotwithstandiuK this serious drawback, their
beauty is so surpassing that a fine pearl of large
size exceeds in value every other gem except the
ruby. A short time ago I had the pleasure of being
shown at Messrs. Garrard's a necklace of forty
splierical pearls, not at all so large as to look
vulgar and ostentatious, the largest, being onlv
forty grains. The price was £14,000 ; and the other
day I saw two pearls, one of fifty-four and the other
of about ninety grains, which were respectively
valued at fl,()00 and t'1,000 : that is to say, at
about t'l 10 and £180 a carat of four grains. Black
and pink pearls are just now of even greater value ;
but this is rather on account of their singularity
than their beauty, which is incomparably inferior
to that of tlie pure white pearl, with its faint and
changeful " photosphere " of all hues,

Tlie pearl is even less capable of being success-
fully imitated than the ruby or the emerald. In a
fine pearl, tliough there is not the slightest transparency
or translucence, you seem somehow to see substance
and not superficies. It is an organic surface, and
cannot be copied by art. So with the forms of
pearls, which, though often mathematically perfect,
have a vitality and character of growth from within
which, though easily felt by the practised eye, is
not so easy to account for. The parabolic and
hyperbolic curves of fine pendant and egg-shaped
pearls seem somehow to be incapable of being copied.
I have one of about the shape and size of the egg
of the golden-crested wren ; and the beauty of its
form is a feast of which my eye is never weary.
Science is quite as much at a loss to account for
the formation of these exquisite gems in tlie pearl
oyster as it is to account for the hues of the finest-
coloured stones. Mr. Church, in his scientific little
tract, says : " That there are small quantities of
magnesia, oxide of iron, and silica in rubies and
sapphires of all burs has boon a'crrtained ; but this

aSiJ

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Oct. 1, 1886.

fact does not furnish the clue to the cause of the
blue of the sapphire or the red of the ruby." Similarly
though it has been sought to explain the formation
of the pearl by the irritation caused by a foreign
substiuce, "there are many joearls which betray no
sign of such origin."

A fact of ■which the anaatcur investor should not be
ignorant is that the carat by which the weight of
uil precious dtones is reckoned is a variable (juantiy,
ns is therefore the "grain," four of which go to
-■iialre the carat. Thr-ie are only ^''17 graiuF of troy
wei'^ht in the Eugli.sh carat, and Mr. Jackson, in his
":^^odern Metrology" (quoted by Mr. Church) gives
a list of sixteen different carat weights for ditfcrciit
parts of the world. These weights range between
■2I0O and 'ISSli of a French ijraiintic. There is an
understanding between the merchants, of London,
Paris, and Amsterdam to use the carat of '205 of a
(//■(fiiime; but it is not at all an inconceivable case
ithat the amateur investor should be buying or selling
very different weiglits. He ought therefore to possess
a pocket set of diamond scales and weights of the
London standard, and to use them when he conceives
that there is ground for doing so.

The amateur who invests primarily for the pleasure
of possessing a collection of the most precious and
beautiful objects in nature, and to whom their
character as safe and portable property is only a
secondary consideration tbough a necessary condition
in so laying out his money, must of course cut his
coat according to liis cloth; but, whatever may be
the amount of money to be spent — two thusand or
two hundre 1 thousand — he ought to have definite
views of what he proposes to do. Though he may lay
out a regular forty thousand a year on his hobby (as
a dealer lately teld me that a client of his was in the
practice of doing), if he be a true amateur there will be
uo superfluous repetition, no heaping up of treasure
upon treasure merely because it is treasure. If his
tastes are simple, he may easily spend a hundred
thousand pounds upon a dozen specimens of the five
primary gems — ruby, emerald, sapphire, diamond, and
pearl ; and a few thousands more would buy correspond-
ing examples of all the quasi-precious stones — spinel,
tourmaline, peridot, cat's eye, opal, etc. If he goes
in for variety in each kind, he may easily
spend any sum he pleases; for the individu-
ality of character in precious stones is far greater
than is commonly supposed. I was once examining
some rubies in company with an uninitiated friend, at
the house of a City broker, and my companion in-
quired how one was to be sure tliat a >toue deposited
for sale was not changed ? ''.Surely a man would
know his own ruby I" answered tlic broke; , with such
a look as one might ca.st on a ni'in v»'ho should sug-
gest a similar difficulty in identifying his wife. The
aurora red and the carmine of the fine rul/y exist in
.so many shades and proportions, t at it would lake
many specimens to illustrate the various beauty of
which the stone is capable : and it is so with the
iiiierald and, in a less degiecj with the sapphire.
Heveral pearls — spherical, "button," pendant, and
t gg-shspe;!— would be required to show off these mere
vuiieties of pure form, and several more the differ-
ences of colour. Cutting introduces another source of
v.i'ifty in piecious stones.

The first thing to be attended to, in choosing
stones for a specimen collection, is the colour; the
second their interior soundness ; and the third their
cutting. The power of appreciating their colour can
only come from practice, which, however, may be
assisted by such hints as I have already given con-
Ci-riiing the colour of rubies. The darker an emerald
is, tlie better, provided it is perfectly clear; but to
be a fine dark green is not enough. It must have a
pi-culiar oilyplay of colour, v/hich many have tried but
none have succeeded in describing. Isodorus, Bishop
of Seville (quoted by Streeterj, says, " It surpasses in
its greeni ess all green stones, and even the leaves of
plaiitri, and it imparts to the air around it a green
shimmer ; its colour is most soothing to the eyes."
V, iiy fays : "If the sight hath been wearied and dimmed
bv intently poring on anything else, the beholding
of Ihis stone doth refresh and restore it again.'' Pante,

describing the grass in a pleasant spot of Purgatory,
saj's it was ■' as green as broken emeralds." Psellos
(eleventh century) says it is " leek-green, playing easily
into gold and blue." Heliodorus speaks of emeralds-
as " gems green as a meadow in spring, but illumiu
ated with a certain oily lustre." Another ancient writer
desenbes them as " playing with a quivering green."
This pecidiar and iudesuribable btauty ij owing to
their strong liichroism ; the double colour showing
some different .sh.ide or mixture of shade<; nt every
.'ilightesi change of position, and, even when fheeye
and the stone are fixed, filhng tlie dift'erent "stefi"
or facets of the stone with indefiualile aiiimaliou.

•Sapphires of a bright, dark, and hard blue should be
avoided, as well as those which show a pale strawish
tint at the thinner edges. The right colour is the
dark and soft ultramarine of the cornflower; but this
hue is rarely, according to my experience, found with-
out some " silkiiiess." Clear stones of this colour and
without a flaw fetch very high prices ; but those of
the harsher blue of ninety-nine sapphires in a hun-
dred can be got for £10 or £12 a carat.

An emerald or sapphire of very fine colour ma}' have
several internal cracks or "feathers," and still be of
great value. Yet flawless emeralds and sapphires are not
so extrmiely rare as to justify a collector of first-class
stones in putting up with flawed examples ; but lie may
have to wait for ten or twenty years, if he cannot put
up with a ruby which does not, by some obvious irreg-
ularity in the reflection from the lower through the
upper facets, indicate the existence of interior unsound-
ness. He may be well satisfied if he is lucky enough to
obtain a ruby of three or four carats of the true colour,
without any brown or grey " marks" in it or serious
chips or chasms in its surface.

A stoue may be of the best colour and perfectly sound
and yet be worth oulj' half the value of another stone
of like constitution and colour, because the cutting and
shape are not so good. The "steps" and lower facets
should be in such numbers and at such angles as to send
their reflected sheets of hght through all portions of the
upper part of the stone, especially the table. If the
stone is too deep or too shallow the table will be lustre-
less, .showing only a dull transmitted light instead of
bright reflected planes. It is the fashion now. and is
likelj' to remain so, to give the " girdle " of the brilli-
ant a circular form. This is certainly more beautiful
than the old brilliant shape, which was a compromise
between a circle and a square. It requires sixty-six
facets, instead of the fifty-eight of the old brilliant. A
fin? large stone thus cut is worth some pounds more per
carat than another of the same weight and <|uality of
the old shape.

The value of all first-class specimens of precious stones
has greatly risen and is still rapidly rising, on account
mainly of the eagerness with which they are bought
up by wealthy Americans for their collections. T'niess
you get the first oft'er of an as yet uncut ruby pr. 'mi.sed
to you, on the chance of its turning out a " specimen,"
you are scarcely likely ever to get a faultless stone of
even one cara*, and for that you will have to pay at
least £100. Should a three-carat ruby of .such character
turn up, you may be asked, or you may ask, almost any
jprice for it. Eleven hundred pounds has been given for
such a stone — that is, nearly £400 a carat. — Ay. Jnmcs'n
Bt'df/et.

Vegetable Cultivation near Cot.ojmbo. — We have
to thank Mr. Atapattu, " Agriculturist, ' for an
excellent ba.sket of vegetables, the products of his
garden at Dehiwala— comprising live specimens of
tlie famous snake gourd, brinjal, and chillies Ac.
The radishes are somewhat large for ordinary u.se,
but doubtle.ss would have been very tender and
palatable a fortnight ago. Let us recommend to
the notice of this enterprising gardener, the choo-
choo gourd introduced by Mr. Nock, also the tree
tomatoes, both of which would probably succeed
under his care and prove a great acquisition to
our country gardens.

OCT. I, ibHb,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

2S3

PLANTERS' ASSOCIATION, TRAVANCOllE.
To the Editor 0/ Me "■ Tropical Afjru-ulUuist," Colotnho,

1st September, ISSil.

^lu., — I'lie members of our Association have ilrawu
my attention to the mi-leading nature of the state-
ments in regard to Travancore which appear from
time to time in your paper and the " Obsers'er." While
entirely agreeing with you that Ceylon has little to
fear from Travancore, I ^lardly see for instance the
necessity for the delibt rate perversion of facts to which
the Tropical .UjricuttnriH for April last, pages 704 and
712 gives currency. Ouiy two Estates Peushur^t and
Nagamallj- were at that time futliciently far advanced
to export Tea, whijb teas, unassorted sold @ l/6gd.,
Pekoe (a) 2 2^d. and averMges of l/OJ. and l,8d. for
shipments, prices with which we, in our humility are
^satisfied although you may not consider them to com-
pare favourably with Ceylon. — I am, Sir, Yours faith-
fully, ItonEKT T. BriLLEK, Chairman.

[This is the most extraordinary letter we have re-
ceived for a long time, and we should be inclined to
treat it as a hoax played off on the Travancore P.
A. ; for on referring to pages 704 and 712 of our T.
A. for our '■' deliherate perversion of facts," we can-
not on page 712 find Travancore mentioned at all in
the only paragraph that can be pointed to, and this
paragraph is not ours but the Calcutta Enjlislunan's !
So agaiu, on page 704, the extract is from the drocer'
and all that is .'^aid is •' In Madras and Travancore
the plantati)ns remain much the same as before I"
This is based on the official figures and report. AVe
recommend Mr. Chairmau Miller to send us a report
of the facts as they stand in place of accusing us or
the editors wo quoted of deliberate perversion. How are
the facts to. be known if the Travancore planters do

not report them ? — Ed.]

^

AGEICULTUBE ON THE CONTINENT OF
EUROPE.

(Special Letter. J

BKET CULTURE— CHEAP CORN— SUGAR IN BEET — CLOVER

FUNGI.

Pahis, Sept. 4.

Today beet replaces co'za, and autumn sown wheats
are the n\ost productive. Lucerne is followe 1 by
two consecuti»e wheat crops, then succeeds oats, and
next wheat agaiu. This wheat crop suffers from the
excess of nitrogen left in the toil, so the straw has
to be stiffened 1i_n doses of potash or phosphate manures,
which impart 11,^1 lity to the stems and corrects lodg-
ing. Red aie generally found to be stronger in
stalk th<>u whi e wheats Cultivating in drills, weed-
ing and hoeing, produce the largest yieMs of wheat.
It is thus th.it Messrs. Nicolas and Kaimon reap
!35 to 40 bushels of wheat, and 60 to 70 of oats per
acre. Their soils arc analysed before being cropped,
and when they indicate a provision of 4,000 to 5,000
kilog. of nitroj;iii per acre, no nitrogenous manures
arc given, such as sulphate of ammonia and nitrate
of soda. About K) fr. per acre is expende 1 on minertil
manuring--. 'I'bi; chief varieties of wheat grown are
the blue and w.ite Bordeaux, A'ictoria, Autumn reil,
ChiddhHU), g'dden drop, and Australian poulard. The
above gentleiiijii cultivate a mixture of wheats, the
Bordeaux and I'hiddhain. which gives three rows of
ears of diff..neut heights, a plan they assert, which
secures them 4 bushels more of grain per acre. The
Chiddha-n, Vic'.oria and Dattel wh^-ats are remarkable
for bfci'tg exemp*} from the attacks of rust.

At the Prmch Assojiatiou for the ailvancement of
Science, just held at Nancy, the chief subject of in-
terest was the CDndition of French, indeed one might
say, of European agriculture, in presence of the
augraentitig competition with the products of the
United States, India, Australia, and South America.
The concensas of .tlie meeting incline'l to the belief
that the fu'urc of French farming depended not
on fiscal measures, but in the augmentation of yield,
aod in the adoption to culture of scientific methods,
parallel with such as havij benefited industry. The
freight per hundredweight of corn bag fallen since 1

some years from 5, to 1 fr. for United States, and
10 to 4 for India. This reduction is due to the gen-
eral employment of,Sind improvements in steamers to
the Suez Canal r.in.e, the ameliorations in harbors, the
machinery for the loading and unloading of cargoes,
and the multiplication of railwa3's. These facilities
cannot be undone, so lower prices must be expected
in the case of grain, as in every other industrial pro-
duct, Russia, at Odessa has tried the lialf-and-half-
plan. On the qu.ays of that port the railway waggons
can shoot the grain direct into the holds of the ships ;
but in order to conciliate the prejudices of the porters,
the lifting machinery is put aside, so that porters
may carry the grain on board. In the employment
of improved implements of cultivation, much remaius
to be done in the reduction of expenses. The old
plough, still so general, only performs in the day of
ten hours one-fourth of the work that a modernised
plough easily accomphshes. Sowing grain in lines
permits the use of the scarifier or hoeing machine
to stir the soil and cut down the weeds, which, like
parasites, appropriate the nutrition destined for other
plants. Nearly one-half the quantity of seed is saved
by machme as compared with hand sowing. Similar
economy is to be obtained in harvesting ; one man
will mow say two-thirds of an acre of corn daily,
while a reaper will cut down 12 to 1.3 acres. In
threshing with the flail too, a laborer can beat out
4 to 5 cwt. of grain per day, while a machine does
its 550 bushels. Large and small proprietors can alike
benefit by the-e economic processes ; the first, by his
large capital or his credit, and the others by group-
ing themselves into co-operative societies to obtain the
best and cheapest goods that certain payments and
independence of sellers always command. France has
plenty of home wealth to develop yet; she has 6
millions of - cres to bring under irrigation; she has
80,000 to enclose from the sea, and 2| millions to
break wp and reclaim. M. Benoit, of Bousqueb, has
practically tested several of these guiding ideis by
furnishing precise information to wheat-growers — a
grain occupying one-seventh of the cultivated surface
of France Now several reasons concur that France
must rely on wheat as her staple, her national crop ;
hence the necessity to raise it better for the future
by the choice of the best seed and the application
to the soil of phosphate and nitrogen, wherever these
indispensable agents are wanting. And these essen-
tial conditions are limited neither by dim ite nor
soil. Where they have been applied," the yield of
wheat per acre has risen from 15 to 35 bushels per
acre. i\I. Benoit's soil is a calcareous — clay, poor in
all the elements of plant-food, save lime. He tried
no less than 17 diflferent varieties of wheat to as-
certain which suited his district best. He prepared
the soil by four ploughings and two harrowings; sowed
in autumn with an application of phosphates, and
ill spring top-dressed with 130 lb. of nitrate of soda par
acre. The average yield of wheat in the neighbouihood
of Bousquet is only 13 bushels per acre. M. Benoit
obtained by improved processes 28 bushels with the
Dattel, Bloid red, and Bordeaux varieties of wheat ;
while the AVhite Hunter. Square head, and Chi Idam
yielded only 12 to 15 busheh per acre. Now in other
regions these varieties have given rs high as 40 bushels
per acre ! Hence, the importance of selecting the ap-
propriate seed grain for a locality. B^- employing
natural phosphate in powder, the phosphoric acid will
not cost more than seven sous per lb.; and the nitric
acid about fourteen sous. It is only natural from
these facts that the French government is fully just-
ified in organising, as in Germany, a c )rps of ambul-
atory farming instructors, to impress on agi-icuiturists
to prepare the land well for wheat, to choose the
best an 1 most appropriate seed, and advance to the
land phosph!\tes and nitrates. At the same tinif\ t.lie
banks will stretch in my points in favor of small pro-
prietors uniting themselves into .syndicates for th'j
purchase of the best materials for their industry.
M. Aimc CJirard continuf^s his experiments relative
to the formatioi\ of su-^ar in the beet. He concludes
thit the pivot and radicals of the bulbs only serve
to pump up and convey to the organism the mjc'

284

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Oct. 1, 1886.

eral matters required for the development of the
plant — and which can convey during a season of 120
days, a total of two-thirds of an ounce per plant —
this is in the ratio of 2 grammes of mineral food
for the formation of one gramme of sugar. ?>[. Girard
demonstrates that the formiiii.m of the sugar takes
place in the. aerial part of the x''ant, that is to say,
through the medium of the leaves ; that it is in the veins
of the leaves, not in the stalks, and under the direct
action of light, that the saccharine phenomena take
place. Supposmg a tuft of leaves to weigh 20 ounces,
and these represent 66 per cent of stalks and 33 per
cent of veins ; and that the latter contains 2 gram-
mes of saccharine matter during the day, of which the
half disappears during the night, the bulb can thus
receive daily oiie gramme of formed sugar, pending
100 days. One hundred grammes, over ;3 ounces of
sugar, is thus stored up, which means for a root
weighing 26 ounces, a richness of 13 per cent.

About twelve years ago clover was attacked by a
parasitic fungi which seemed to cut the stem close
10 the surface of the soil, when the stalk blackened
and the leaves yellowed. It is complained that
Jacerne presents simiL.r symptoms in the east of France,
and is more general where rye is cultivated. Could
it bo ergot;-' And are vegetable diseases contagious ?

THE CACTI OK "PEICKLY PEAES " OF

SOUTHERN INDIA
are thus noticed in the proceedings of the Agri-
Horticultural Society of Madras: —

Read the following extract from a letter from the
Honorary Secretary, dated Madras, 23rd June 18S6,
to the Director, Royal Gardens, Kew:—

" Your reference to the Vactacece brings me naturally
to a subject which has been interesting me greatly
for some tiTue. Dr. Bonavia wrote to this Government
some time ago, and advised the introduction of " the
prickly pear " of Malta and that it should be grafted on
"the prickly pear" of India. In previous years,
suggestions had been made by others, to get rid of
prickly pear, which intrudes ou cultivable land, by
the introduction 01 the Cochineal insect to eat it ;
while many attempts have been made to introduce
Cochineal for its own value. In some cases it was
asserted that the prickly pear was so and so, and
" varieties " were spoken of by writers who should
have known better, so when Dr. Bonavia's letter was
referred to me, I set to work to study the subject.
I first satisfied myself that most writirs and author-
ities spetik of Ojjinitia Di/lcnii as, or as if it was
the prickly pear of India, or at least the only one
of any importance, See Hooker's Flora of British
India., Roxburgh Flora ludica, \\ ight and Aruott
Prod , p. 363, Wight's Illubtrations, fig. 114, and
innumerable i'roceedmgs of the Government of Madras,
the Board of Revenue, Madra*, and this Society. '' I
knew we had alout a dozen .species in the Gardens,
and I knew where to iind clump.-< of at !e»st four species
wild and used as hedge plants iu MMdras; but being
Lere in the last hot sea.son when the plants flower
most abuiidPiitiv, I undertook a^criesof long rides to
hsfpect a!l thickets of piichly piar of which I Knew
or heard) 10 tt IT) mile? *'roni tb-.-u Gnrdeus in all
dirtc'itnr^- "I found atoHceThit the spedis, which
appri'priates Whole fields and riilHtc >'te8 near Madras,
is not U. Vdlenu, that 0. Di"cirii is comparatively
rare and that there is a third distinct species nearly
as common as 0. DilUnii. •' I have little doubt
that the plint in and round Ma'h-as is O. spinosiimiw
Haw. meiitionid in Brown's Hand-book of tree?,

&c., in Madras, Voigt's Hort.

Sub

Cal. p. 62, Dons.

Miller's Garden* rs Dictionary, Vol III, p. 172 and
Gri.-^ebach's V>'. Ind. Fl. p. 302. It is a very distinct
plant. It grows c-frt ten to fi teen feet, often assum-
ing (luito a trct-like character, wiih a thick woody
sfteuii Its colour is blue green. I;s long (jrei/ spines
are very imn.erous, and they and t'le small thorns
hUrrouiu'ling them so tasily detached that they stick
and work mto every thing that touches them. The
flower before it opens is a beautiful rose colour, when
fully opdi almost orange from the quantity of yellow
i.iteriujngled. The fruit is oval; pulp very rich ii)

colour and probably sweet, aa though thickly studded
with thorns, birds and beasts eat it greedily.

"What I take to be the true 0. Dillenii though
not in all particulars agreeing with the figure in Wight's
Illustrations, Vol. 2, is over the considerable tract
of country through which I have specially looked
for it, comparatively rare -probably not found once
for the other's hundred. It is a prostrate shrub,
rarely struggling up four or five feet by resting its
upper branches on those below. Its colour is pale
or J>rif/ht green. " \\'here clumps of the two species
stand out on a bare plaiu,r side by side, as I have
found them, you cau tell which is which, a couple
of hundred yards off by the colour as well as by their
different habits of growth. Its thorns are far less
numerous, two or three in each cluster, yellow and
genei-ally curved. The flowers before they expand
are straw-coloured, when open the mo.st excpusite
and intensest, clear, bright yellow. The fruit is nearly
the shape of a jargonelle pear, and usually eaten
by animals before it is ripe. The shape of the fruit
is well shown ia Wight's plate. '■ The third species
is rarer than the last; in colour and habit of growth
it is similar, but perhaps its green is brighter, and
I think I have seen it grow higher. It grows in
the hedges in Madras; but I have found it outside
15 miles from these Garden.":, and far from native
houses or cultivation, where there could have been
no object in planting it, so it probably grew from
seed. The thorns are few, growing generally giiujle,
and (/re;/; the unopened flowers are ro.sy; when open,
yellow, streaked or suffused with ro.se. The fruit is
somewhat the shape of a swan egg pear. " The
flowers and fruits of the three species are about
the same size and the pulp of fruits much the
same colour, " We have unfortunately no work yet
in our Library which enables us to identify the plants
here, so a^e sending you in a box, specimens numbered
iu the above order — fiowers of each carefully dried
in !-aud, and a branch or two of each which will,
I hope, reach you iu good enough order to grow
if the matter interests you. We sent you seed of
the first two some mouths ago.

" Several of the species we have in the Gardens
do not Hower, including a spineless one (possibly
degenerate O. Cochliiellifera) which is not uncommon
in Madras, but we are making a new rock-work in
a sunny corner for them and hope to iudentify
them all in time,"

Read the following extract from letter, from the
Honorary Secretary, dated Sth February 1886, to
W. T. Thiselton Dyer, Director, Royal (Jardens, Kew: —
"I was amongst the Prickly Pear again yesterday,
and find my account of the fruit not quite accurate.
No. 1, 0. xpinogissima gets purple all over and has
pulp of the deepest of purple magenta or scarlet;
No. 2, O. ]>illenii. the fruit, from many opened
yesterday, is often ripe when quite green outside, and
usually seems to have only a pink or ro.sy cheek,
while the rii'-p is the same rich colour, bard to des-
eri:,, — pu!].|f ^ca^let; No. 3, which I think must be
0, Cochlnd ifera degenerate, has •.■nmetime.s a i>iuk
cheek, but seems to be u.^ually ycliow, «itb ^Tccn
pulp I vas surprised by this, and felt inther con«
Kised over i^ iH to how I before concliHcl the pulp
was purple. I could not find a good ripe fruit yester-
day, but ordered a look out for one for me. "There
is a very striking difference in the unopeu flower
buds of Nos. 2 and 3. '• Yesterday I found flowers
of No. 2. sireaked aad strained with crimson or
rose, nearly as much as those of No. 3."

Ren 1 the fol'owing extract from a letter, from
W. T. Thiselton Dyer, Esq., dated Kew, 31st M;irch
1886, in reply:— I have your letters of J.auuary 23
and VehruJiry 8. The box of Opuiitia specimens has
arrived in good order. "My colbague. Professor
Oliver has been so good as to report upon them.
He says that they are plants of unusual diiiicu'ty
from the muddle in their literature. He ide)itifies
your No. 1, as <). im/ricaii.s. Haw.— very nearly allied
to O. Tuna {—Cactiu Tuna, L,) and to 0 Ekttior,
Mill. ; No. 2. is O. Dillenii, Haw. ; No. 3. is ('.
mon'ocantha, Haw. {—Cactus indici'.g, Iloxb,). You will

Oct. 1, 1 886. J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

285

observe that Professor Oliver does not agree with the
synonymus of C. B. Olaike, in Fl. IJiit. Im!."

The Houoiary Secretary ob-erved on a recent
journey from Bombay that the Oiii'ntia Professor
Oliver names O. nif/ricans was the common species
all along the railway after ascending the P>hore
Ghaut, and possibly all the way from Bombay to
Madras. Recorded %vith thauks to Mr. tbiseltou Dyer
and Profe.'sor Oliver, for their assistance. Head the
following letter from J. T. Ward, Esq,, dated Nellore,
5th June 18S6 : — " I find from the report of the
Committee of the Madras Agri-Horticultui-al Society
of last year, that allu^iou is made to the seedless
Bread-fruit {^Artocarpus incisus) and the Tree Tomato
( <'i/pho)nan}ra hetacea). May I enquire whether you
can furnish rae with root cuttings of the former
and a few seeds of the letter. Also a few seeds
of the Cherimoya {Anona ckeiimolia). They could be
sent by post, and I would like to know their cost
including postage." " I have found the thornle-ss
Prickly Pear in some hedges here. I have fed Cattle,
Butfaloe,-*, and on it Pigs relish it very much.
Cattle refuse it at first, but if made to fast for a
<lay, take to it and relish it afterwards. Buffaloes take
to it easier than cattle. When cut up and thrown
into a tub of water, the water becomes very glutinous,
and is much relished by cattle. Can this plaut be
the '• Kew Nopal" which was introduced in the Nor-
thern Circars and in Tiuuevelly iu the year 1792,
and was even eaten by the people of latter place in
that year's famine. It was introduced from Kew
Gardens to St. Helena iu 1807 for the nourishment
of the Cochineal insect. It is said to cure and even
prevent scurvy and to be excellent forage for cattle,
&c." "The Mangrove plant grows luxuriantly on the
Coast, and by the banks of salt streams. Buffaloes
are very fond of the leaf. I believe ■< revenue is derived
from the cuttings of this plant I r fuel in Masuli-
patam." Resolved that Mr. Ward be thanked for
his interesting communication ami asked to be so
good as to send to the Society >pecimens of the
thornless Prickly Pear and Mangrove to which he
refers.

KOOTS AND THEIR WOEK.
Applications to Methods of Cultivation.

iSeeiU and seedlings. — We have seen how delicate is
the structure of roots after first being developed.
The soil must be liglit, easilj- penetrated, and damp
at the surface, for all plants whatever their habitat
may be when fully grown. Air must liave access to
.soil — it must not "cake," as stiff clayej' soil is apt to
do — the mere shaking of soil down in the seed-pot
is sufhcient for the purpose, except just a little
pressure after sowing to flatter the surface.

BuANCHiHG. — The branching rootlets are apt to get
broken, they should be removed from the seed-pot
before of much length, and in pricking in the seed it
is easily seen that a displacement of the soil to one
side instead of boring a hole and shoving the roots
in, is the preferable plan.

Pottin(t. — At potting, if we cannot indeed judge
from the seedling what is the habit of the plant,
we can at least see of what nature the perfect plant
is, and act accordingly, Had the plant a creeping
habit, tasily rooting from the stem, what folly it
would be to pre.ss the soil firmly around the seedling.
Were the roots very smooth and fibrou.s, plentifully
produced, we should judge that the plant wanted
plenty of water and a moisture-retaining soil. If our
root branched readily we might judge that it liked
a fairly loose damp soil. If there were naturally
delicate long hairs and a hard root, stony places would
be likely enough its natural home, and we should pot
it firmly. As to wedging plants (alpines) between
stones, there is the danger of drying them to death —
the stones and small pots if not plunged becoming
so( n very dry. It is an excellent help in cases where
there is no dwnger of this drought.

Kepoti i.N'ii. — In repotting plants great care should
be taken to get the old and new sail of the same
density, eleu if the new is looser the water passes

through it when watered and leaves the original ball
dry. !Somc potters slope tlie surface oi' the soil from
the centre to the circumference, considering tliat the
roots are mostly formed at the edge of the pot, or
on the further side of the old ball, therefore it is
best to send the water to the side. Others prefer
that the soil should be quite even, so as to secure
an etjual distribution of the water. This seems reason-
able when it is considered that the slope of the
pot will cause the outside to get most after all. It
is, however, very objectionable indeed to see a hole
in the surface of the soil into which the water always
runs, and so goes only through one part of the
"ball" thoroughly. If the ball be dusty it should be
shaken out or else water never penetrates it, although
as a rule there is not much root in the dentre of
the ball of pot plants. In cases where the roots are
very fine indeed and make but slow growth the roots
penetrate right through the ball. The best known
case of this is to be met with iu the Cape Heaths.
Where the growth is so, it stands to reason that the
"shift" in potting on should not be great, and
where the root is very fine it may be taken for
granted that it naturally grows iu a hanl, somewhat
dry place. These fine roots and long root-hairs need
the more careful treatment. In repotting also, except
among coarse, easily branching roots (those of not
too hard texture), care should be taken not to break
the •' ball," or the chances are that the greater part
of fibrous growths of the root are broken away, when
the shock caused by evaporation subsequently is too
much for the plant. Nor in slowly growing hard
roots, which do not give off branch roots, as Heaths,
should the fibre be disturbed more than possible,
certainly not broken by poking among them with
pointed sticks.

Watering. — Watering is considered about themost
difhcult part of plant-culture to manage well. That
the soil shall not be tjo much saturated with water
is quite as important as that it shall not be too
dry : in the latter case the flagging is readily seen.
Where saturated with water the soil is cold — if not
decaying — and the needful warmth is absent which
Causes the delicate growing roots to develop. Es-
pecially should this be taken care about where a
plaut is newly "potted on." The larger mass of
soil retains the water more readily, and the roots
cannot take it up quickly enough ; and siniilarly, if
a '"ball" is not fairly well covered with roots, it is
hurtful to water it much even if the leaves are large
and appear as though they would draw water up
quickly.

Dbainagk. — As to the drainage in pots, it is well
to have a considerable amount where the roots do
not — as, for instaiu:e, iu Gleichenia— penetrate deeply.
The plant may like a great aniouut of water about
it, but it does not want stagnant acid-generatiug soil,
which if the drainage is clogged is apt to occur. To
pour water on freely and left it pass off freely is a
better plan. For the same reason it is well to have
the soil porous, not to allow too much tine soil to
remain in the potting mixture, though among common
plants — and coarsely rooting plants especially — it of
course is not worth while to riddle the fine away.
AVe may notice that when the drainage is blocked
up the roots have a tendency to grow to the surface
again. Xi times we may see pots well filled with
roots at the sutface, and roots absent entirely from
lower dowu the pot. This shows that the roots object
to a water clogged soil. A considerable length of
root, as in Imautophylhnii, indicates great ( apabilitics
for absorbing water. Iu many eases one is tempted
to moisten the surface only of the soil in small pots.
This, though beneficial, on account of the damp, to
the leaves, is likely, unless very carefully managed,
to be productive of harm. The bottom of the '' ball"
may be dry whilst damp at the surface — a most
ruinous state of things, quite contrary to Nature.
Top-dressing is very nuich to be deprecated also,
for a somewhav similar reison — the fresh soil looks
dry, and water is given, saturating to a hurtful extent
the old soil of the ball below. It is much more
advisable where possible to plunge all small pots in

286

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[UcT. I, i8S6.

"aiidj wliich l<e<'i)N fhi m iiiiit'oru)l_v dttinp tbroiighout,
hikI is luore natural as eiisuiiti;; that llie dauinest
part sball he at the base ot the pots.

Sv 1! I NOiNG.— Syringing, though invaluable in many
rrspects, has just this drawback, that the surface is
damped, the base of the ball not; if well managed,
however, it is a most necessary aid, especially just
after potting plants, where, through the roots being
broken, and the leaves continually evaporating, there
would not be a sufficient amount of water in the
tissues, did not sy.-ingiug allow of its entering largely
by the leaves.

Planting. — In x>lanting care should be paid to the
physical nature of the soil especially. For example,
there can be little pleasure in seeing a creeping plant
growing on a di-y sunny place. AVherever roots grow
freely from the prostrate stems there must be a fair
amount of moisture in the very surface soil which
will attract them and admit them readily into the
surface. Trees moved should be as little injured in
the fibrous part of the root as can be; and it has
again and again been pointed out, that as the ascent
of the sap is more vigorous in the Spring and Summer
months, when also evaporation is excessive from the
leaves, transplautiug should be done in AVinter
or Autumn, when there is no great amount of leaf
in deciduous trees, or less evaporation.

Roots moving befoke Leaves. — Many plants make
vigorous roots and do not produce leaves until later.
I remember lifting in some rare plants (Ranunculus
Lyalli) growing in a boggy place because the leaves
were poor, and as winter was coming on it was thought
as well to take the plants under glass. After having
dug them up we noticed how vigorous and strong
the roots were. The planting and lifting in such
conditions ruined the plants. It would have been
much better to have slightly protected them in the
open place where they grew, had we judged from
examination of roots as well as leaves before disturbing
them. Koots of many rhizomes, as in Anemone
fulgens, A. nemorosa, &c., move before the leaves do;
therefore it is well to plant or pot these in the
Autumn, that growth of root may have taken place
before the conditions favourable to leaf growth are
present in the spring time. An example of the
dependence of root and leaf was given me the other
day by one who had grown \'ines. They made leaves
vigorously the first year, and were not cut back until
late ; the grower knew that whilst making leaves they
were also developing strong roots, which would be of
great help the next year after the stem had
been cut back. This was an example of thoughtful
pruning. The grower allowed all the leaves to be
developed fully before cutting back his stem, which
is generally the case in pruning, I believe.

Pruning. — In cutting stems either for pruning or
grafting great attention should be paid to the strong
ascent of the sap before noticed. In one plant the
time for the strongest ascent differs somewhat from
the time for it in others. I am told that this bleed-
ing from a tree has been known to continue even
after the cut end had been painted and treated in
many ways, the ground just under the branch being
continually moist from the sap exuding. Early or
late pruning would either be preferable to pruning
in the middle of the growing season, but where
possible late pruning seems to me the most recom-
mendable as regards the callu.'^ing of the place cut,
whilst early pruning is better where the parts left
are wanted to "break" or make buds quickly.
Illustrating the dependence of leaf and root, an old
story is (old bj- one of our nurserymen to the effect
that he once was growing Asparagus a long time
ago, and having to keep a walk clear through the
bed he tied string on either side of it, which string
supported the stems. The leaves or finely branching
stem were produced more profusely, and the roots
of the tied up plants were as a re.sult by far thi^
best in the plot. Tho.se wbiib had bent down Iiad
stopped the circulation ('f the .'ap, and therefore
prevented the full development of the parts of the
plants. Asparagus is now often grown against string
supports.

Sun TIM; I'l.ANrs. — It is said to be well for [.•■oiuej
plants to be pretty frequently transplanted. JJulbs
growing together and dividing, are of cour.se enabled
to swell to large sizes if shifted, and the soil below
them has much of its nutrient properties extracted.
All .soil has a tendency to become clo.se also, and
this is hurtful, as the air so necessary to sweeten
it does not have access to the particles of soil. It
is harder for many plants to root if the soil be very
close.

Mandkes. — In aj)plyiug manures also, it i.') well to
consider their etfect upon the physical condition of
the soil. Farmyard manure contains matter which
has to decompose, and its effect is to split up the
soil and keep it " lighter " for some time. When the
roots are consequently benefited by these as well as
by the chemical properties of the manure. No such
effect is produced by the smaller quantity of phos-
phates, or the like artificial manures. A surface soil
if well manured, should not be dug into a considerable
depth ; unless the soil is very light and poor, this
trenching is not advisable to prevent it becoming
too stiff. It is but a poor remedy, some very light
sandy or rubbley material should be added.

Lengths oe Roots. — Roots descend to different
lengths ; this fact is made use of by farmers on laying
down grass land. It would be useful in our lawns, and
I should think that a deeply rooting grass, for inst-
ance, would have a better chance of growing well
in a place which was likely to be baked in hot
summers.

Soils. — Also if roots thrive particularly in special
soils, they should have some attention where possible
given them in the way of supplying them with
similar constituents. But far more important to my
mind than supplying plants with soils of different
chemical composition, is to give them those which
retain more or less moisture in accordance with the
positions in which the plant has grown. It is of
no use to give a plant a peaty soil of a loose nature,
and then expose it to the fullest sun. Peat and
excessive moisture are generally associated in Nature,
and we should not disassociate the two in practice.
This is but one example out of many. Plants with
running roots, too, should, of course, have a light
soil, through which they will be able to easily send
their shoots, and by way of practical advice I may
say that peat, unless very sandy, or with leaf-mould,
does not form the most easy substance for roots or
runners to pierce; especiallj' in jtJts it is apt to
make a very tenacious " ball." Plunging in sand is
a capital attempt to remedy the artificial isolation
with which we visit plants when potted.

Gkowth. — !■ have thought that perhap.s plants in
pots, as is the case with many trees grown especially
for fruit, did not at times produce roots vigorously
at the expense of the rest of the plant. I have
seen a Dactylis hanging over a bank, and sending
out 15 inches of fibrous root without seemingly con-
tributing any fresh leaves to its parent plant. In
hoeing, we should not just cut off the tops of such
roots as Dandelion and polygonum ; we find that they
grow again. The plant should lie taken quite out of
the soil, or at least the root cut well down, so that
the greater part of the thicker t-ip-rnot is pulled
out. We often ask, "What time should cuttings be
put ) . or grafts madey" We should look to the
structitres of the I issue, and see when such are fairly
ripe, and not too woody. AVhere (Jrchids are grown
in the air they .should, of course, have a damp at-
mo,sphere kept up, and many of our pot plants would
be better grown if we sprinkled water oftener ou
stands and about the pots. I have not been able
in this essay to give any definite ideas as to hovr
to judge from roots as to whether they should be
placed in one place or another— whether for instance,
they are ilainp-loviug or the reverse. This has been
hinted at, but time has forbiilden any minute ex-
amination as to these :nid simihir suggestive que.^tion-^.
[This may often be seen from an e.\iiuiinatiou of tue
microsc'pic structure of leaves and roots. — Er>.] We
can all tell, for instance, if we see a root growing
iu mosg at the surface rather than in the soil below

Oct. 1, 1B86.J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

287

that sui;h a. plant likes open damp compoimds of a
light uature to grow iu. ftiu-h facts aud obst-ivatious
we can coutinually turn to account. In coucImmoii,
however, I would say that we must not he too
ready to throw over all '' rules of thumb " because
they are old aud we are new, and cannot see rea-
sons for them at first. We have many time;^ in the
investigations required lor this tstay been unable to
find any reason, much less ihe right one, for viirious
fp«ults we have met with; how important is it. then.
thai in our own practice that we should be re.son-
able enough to accept all rules of thumb when we
see them produchig good results, onlj breaking such
rules when we can better the result. Our reasoning as
to cause and effect should not be with the object
of breaking down these old traditions of experience,
but in the honour of our noble profession to show
the common and resonable sense which underlies
them. — V. Sp.wErjj. — iiurdi-ners' ( Utroitirlc

TALC IN CEYT-ON.

Talc is found in abundance in Ceylon and is very
widely distributed. It is a component part of most
of the primitive rocks and is found in all the crystal-
ine limestone or dalamite of the country. Very
beautiful and perfect specimens are found in the pure
white limestone of the higherj ranges of the mount-
ains. 'J'his limestone is perfectly snow white and so
compact it hardly shows a crystal in fracture. In this
are found perfect cubes of talc, black in colour, sharp
on the edges without sign of decay, in part bedded
in its natural matrix; the cubes are small. I have
never seen them larger than an inch and a half
square. They separate perfectly clean and sharp on
the edge from the lime rock and can be split into
infinitesimally fine flakes.

Talc in larger quantities is found all over the count-
ry, general lyg in proximity to Plumbago, and like
that mineral, to which it is nearly allied, is found
ni pockets, and is soon worked out. Ceylon talc is
usiuilh black in the block, but when split into flakes
gives a neutral tint or a rich brown yellow. This
talc is commercially inferior, but might be used by
photogr iphers as producing a subdued yellow light,
and not easily broken in a travelling outfit. All
Oeylou talc which I have seen is more or less broken
and twisted in the strata in which it had originally
leen imbedded an thrown up. Talc near the surface
is usually fo decayed as to ho worthle.ss, and the
deeper the deposit the better and more perfect it
is. The best specimens I have seen are from near
Haldamulle. They were pure, almost free from faults
and nearly white, appproaching closely to what in
commt-rce is called rviby tale, which is silver white
with a faint pink tinge, aud when .split fine very
transparent, giving to fire light or lamp light a
bright warm luddy glow in passing through it.

Talc is largely used in India and China for decor-
ative purposes in Temples, for fans, screens, paintings,
spangles on embroidery, and for lanterns &c., &c..
In England and America, especially the latter country,
i^ is principally and very largely usetl for light in
an hracite stoves, lamp shades, and similar purposes.
Like plumbago it is alsost indestructible by heat.
Although the " waste " produced in dressing is now
be^ug used as a lubricator ground to an impalpable
powder, talc is only valuable wden got in good
sized sheets free from faults and of good colour but
there is an unlimited market for good qualities,
and if attention were once directed to tale mining
a very valuable native industry may spring up. I
nee no reason why finely ground talc should not be
largely used in the manufacture of crucibles, either
as an admixture with plumbago or free. Tt is far
more pure and free from ((unrtz and grit than our
best plumbago. — J ajies IitviXE. [Wo have some samples
from HaldummuUe from 3 to 4 in. square. We can
find ft ready market for sizes from 4 to 9 in. square,
packed in I lb. packets containing pieces of only
one size. — Ed.1 — " Ceylon Advertiser."

CoiFKK — It is always a pleasure to chronicle really
successful coft'ee plantnig. The Daily Post writes thus
of a veteran planter of Kadur in the M^s.ire Territory.
"The twelfth of this month will have completed a
quarter of a century since Mr. Henry Courpalais set
foot oD the Sumpagay Estate, in the Terekere taluk.
During this long t -rm of a planter's life he has had.
what seemed t.i be, alaiost insurmountable difScultie*
to contend wiih; but he fared them like a ninn .ind
hi.s per-evernucp has been crowned with snccer.s. Ferv.,
if any, can boast of having been as prosperous as he
has been; and now. at the end of a quarter of a cen-
tury, he can point to estates in as flourishing a con-
dition as it is possible to e^et them. He goes in largely
for shade and abundant manure, but, better than al
this, he superintends every thing himself. Herein lies
the secret of his success." We congratulate Mr. Cour-
palais on his enterprise and success.- Nilgri E.rpresn.
Coconuts and Rke. — To return from controversy to
my subject, the rainfall has been such as to delight
the .soul of every Coconut Planter, and where plant-
ations are in proper cultivation and in good heart,
the prospects for " ne.xt year " are cheering, always
provided that drought does not destroy what the rain
has helped to put on. Our i'ala crops are fast ripen-
ing and becoroiut; fit to be harvested. I do not think
they will be large, as heavy rain at the time of sowing
helped to wash away the thin coat of mud overlying
fields, which helps to give the young blades a start.
Fields generally are free from insect pests, though
my field happening to seed early had all the flies con-
centrated on them. Through the courte.sy of Me.s.srs.
Brown & Co., of Colombo, I received a small quantity
of carbolic powder to be used as a remedy against
the fly plague. Unfortunately it reached me too late
to be of use, and the villagers prefer charming their
fields and watching for results, to being daily engaged
in dusting their fi'^lds with the powder. The one re-
quires the expenditure of a few cents, and the other of a
littleof their latent energy, i need not s.ay they choose
the former as least troublesome expedient. I shall give
the powder a fair trial next season. Local '' Examiner."
Thk Tka tJuESTiON.— Arthur Young, the famous and
most able writer on farming of the last centin-y, hald
very strong views about the tea (juostion. Oddry
enough they bear a curious resemblance to the waou-
ings now being issued by various doctors and food
reformers both in America and England. The fol-
lowing words were written more than 100 years ago
by Arthur Y'ouug in the eighth of his " Farmer's
Letter."! to the People of England " : — " I therefore, am
tempted to think that the present laws relative to
the support of the poor are univerral encouragers of
idleness, drunkenness, ami tea-drinking, and that as
such they are highly pernicious to the welfare of
the Kingdom, and here I cannot but observe that
as low a figure as tea-driukiu"g may make in this trio,
it is, nevertheless, of wonderful extent and con.se-
quence. As much superfluous money is expende.l on
tea and Sugar as would maintain 4,000,0fi0 more sub-
ject.s in bread. If it is considered what a fatal enemy
excessive tea-drinking is to the human body, how
much it impairs the vigour of the constitution and
debilitates the minil, the pernicious influence of it
will be apparent. It has been asserted that excessive
tea-drinkmg is of more fatal consequence to the in-
crea.se of the human speeiesthan even the immoderate
u.se of spirituous liquors, nor should it be forgotten
that the trade we carry on for tea is totally against
us in the btlanci^ It is a brancli of commerce by
which we perpetually lose ; thus burying our money in
an unfathomaljle gulf for a pernicious commodity that
tend.s to our very ruin. Our legislature taxes every
necessary of life : surely this vile superfluity calls aloud
in its ahuse for greater restrictions. But what are
we to think of a conduct, diametrically opposite, of
lowering the duty \ipon this pernicious drug, that
the people ma}' be able so much the easier to con-
sume their health, their time, and their money I To
enable them universally to drink it twice instead of
once a day. What wretched politics ! Such an idea
is congenial alone with the last ruin of the state !. —
Agrienltvre.

288

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

fOCT. f, 1886.

MARKET RATES
(From Leioix Jb Peat's

FOR OLD AND NEW PRODUCTS.
Loiuton Price Current, September 9tk, 1886.)

FROM MALABAR

COAST, COCHIN,
CKYLO.X, MADRAS, &c.

QUALITY.

REES' w^v>:
.wt.

CINCHONA
per 11).

QUOTATIONS.

FROM ROM HAY
AND ZANZlilAR.

QirALITY

I QUOTATIONS

CARDAMOMS Mulabiir

ppl- III

, White, per 1 f Slightly softish to good

n hard bright ... £6 a £7

Y'ellow ... Do. drossy & dark ditlo...|C4 10s a £(!

HARK— Crown :Beiiewed' Is a Ms

Medium to fine Quill ... Is 4d a 2s (id

Spoke shavings \M a Is l'.I

lirani'h |2d a Od

„ Red Renewd j.Sd a 2s Gd

iiediuni to good Quill ... 6d a L's (id
Spoke shavings ... ...l-'jd a T'l

Rraneh ''2d a 4d

Twig 'Id

Clipped, bold, bright, tiiir Is Idd a 2s tid
Middling, ^talky & b-a" .■>d a Is 9d
:Fair to tinephiinpelippod Is .'id a 2s 3d
Good to tine ... Is Gd a 2s 2d

Brownish .. ;6d a Is :^il

Good & tine, wa.shed.bgt.ils 4d a ."Js

aud Ceylon
Aleppee
Tellicherry [

Maugalore

Long Cevlon Middling to good...
CJNNAMON, iier lb. Ists Ord. to tine psile quill
2nds I, „ >• •■
^rds „ ,, >> >>
Iths Woody and hard ...
Chijis ... Fair to fine plant...

COCOA, Ceylon, per cwt... Bold to good bold
... Medinm

Triage to ordinary
COFFEECey Ion Plantation Bold to fine boldcolory.,
per i-wt.

Middling to fine mid
[Low middling ...

Smalls

,, Native Good ordinary ...

Liberian ... Small to bold

Kasi Indian ...Bold to fine bold...

Medium to fine ...

Small

Native [per ton Good to fine ordinary
COIRROPE,Cevlon&Cochin Mid.toarsetofinestraight C7 a £17
t'lBRE, Brush, per ton Ord. to fine long straighti£15 a £8H

8d a Is 4d

.ISf. a Is Ud
.i7Jd a Is (;d
,;rda Ls2d
, Gd a lid

1^1 a 7d

75s a 79s

68s a 72s
[?)4s a 62s
|8,Ss a 100s
1 72= a 87s

i^7s a 7Us

.58s a 60s

jOs a tiOs

•Bs a ."xis

80s a 121s
;68s a 78s

57s Cd a G2s

.■jOs a G9s

Nli.X Vt)MICA,per.wt. ..

£7 a £20
£12 a £30
:£11 a£;;.i
J£9 a £1.S
|l«sa 32:3
j30s a 35s
!75s a 100s
!42s 6d a 70s
! 30s a o.^s
1 23s a 30s
!.8s a 12s
Lis a 7s
•;s a 8s lid
•is a 6s .Sd
'ns a lis 6vl
4s a .5s
Is a 3s
i I a Id
Ifd a IJd
40s a 55s

Stutfing ... Coarse to fine
Y'ARN, Ceylon, per ton ...Ordinary to superior

(.'ochin ... Ordinary to fine

Do [ewt Roping fair to good
COLOMBO ROOT, sifted '# MidiUini; worniy to fine..

CROTON SF.EDS, sifted ... Fair to fine fresh

GINGER, Codiin, Cut Good to fine bold

per I wt, ,, Small and medium

Rough Fair to good bold...

... Small

Fair to fine bold fresh ..
iSmall ordinanand fair..
MYRABOLANES, pale, per Good to fine picked
owt. Common to middling ...

Fair Coast

Pickings Burnt and defective
OIL, CINNAMON, per oz... Good to fine heavy

CITRON ELLE ,. Bright & good llavour ...
LEMON (iRASS „ I ,, ,, ,, ,,
OKcmKLLA WEED [fib. Mi4. to fine, not woody...
PF.PPER,Malabarblk.sifted'Fiiir to bold heavy j

Alleppee iSc Cochin ,, ,, good ,, t

'IVllicherrv, While ... ,, ,, ,.

PLUMBAGO, Lump, li" cwt. Fair to fine bright boM... Usa 1.5s

Middling to gooil .'mall. ..'7s a 10s

Chips ... Slight fonl fo tine bright j*J'' a IN

Dnst ... Orilinarv to fine bright ...'^^ a Ills

REDWOOD, per ton. Fair ami fine bold ...|.f5.'5s

SAPAN WOOD ,, Middling coated to good £'' a £7

SANDAL WOOD, logs ,, 'Fair to good flavor ...£20 a £44

Do. chip.s £10a£lC

SENNA, Tinncvelli, per lb. Good to fine bohl green... -'d a ls.5d

Kair midillinK ni'iliuni... -'d a .Sil
(!ommon dark and small -'' a 4d
TURMKRIC.Madra.s,li ewt Finger fair to fine hold Us Gd a 12s fid
Do. ... Mixed middling [bright 1<^-* Gd a Us

Do. ... Bidbs whole MsalosGd

('ochin ... Do split ... 7f- "• I a 7-'- M

VANILLOES, Mauritius &

[icr lb. Honrboii, Ists Finn erystalised li a flinch 14-s a 2.1s li.l
~ ■ - - 10s a 12s

.Sd a 8id
lOd a 2s tid

KROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

ALOES, Soccotrine and
per cwt. Hepatic.

CHILLIES, Zanzibar
per iwt.

(rTX)VES, iSanzibar
. Ill, per 11).

2nds Foxy & reddish 5 a 8

•J, io f Lean .t cirv to niiddliu"

I under (1 nil lies

4tli Low, (uxy, inf''rior ami

r I lickings

■)s a Su

Is6d a Is

Good ami fine dry ... 67 a £10

Common and go'id ... i^4 a £.s

...'Good to fine bn^'hl ... iOs a ;i3s

lOrdinary ind middling... iCi-t a 30s

llOoodandfine bright ... S^Jd a 9d

J Urdluary doll to fair .,. 7^-1 a .Hid

■I-

CLOVES, Mother, per lb .
Sterns..
COCULUS INDICU.s
GALLS, Bus.sorah 1 blue

& Turkey J l?" cwt. I

ewt. Good white and green... 423 6d a 52s Gd
GUM AMMONIACUM per Biocky 10 fineclean ... 15.sa 403

I Fair, usual dry

I „ fresh
Fair

jFair to fine dark blue

..I None
..2d
..7s a Hs

.. 50s a 578 6d

AN! .Vlf , washed, fScwt.

scraped..,

ARABIC, E.I. Sc Aden ..

per ewt. (ihatti

Anu-ad

Picked fine pale in sorts, i^b"! 10 a£U10
part vellow and mixed f M a £12 10s
£4 10«a£7
£ 7 lOs
£5 a £8
05s a 100s
42s a 70s
80s a £7 OS
40s a 738

Beau & Pea size ditto
amber and dark lx)ld
, Medium & bold sorts

Surts

... Fair to fine pde
chalGood and fine pale
IReddish clean
ASSAFCETIDA, per Clean fair to fine

cwt. Slightly stony and foul..

KINO, per cwt. ! Fair to line bright

AmtRH, picked ,, jFair to tine pale
Aden sortsMiddlingtogood
OLIBANUM, Irop Fair to fine white
per cwt. ,, Reddish to miildling ..

pickings... Middling to good pale ..
sittings ... Slightly foul to fine
INliIARUBBER Mozambilq"e,fairtofine sausage (

per lb.

SAFFLOWER, Persian

FROM CALCUTTA AND
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

[unripe root

liver

Ordinarv to good

Bali;

30s a .35s
20s a 26s
38s a 40s
£6 a £7 lOs
70s a 100s
'45s a 5Js
32s a 44s
9s a 1 Is
Ills a 139 6d

2s .3d a 28 6d

lOd a Ud
Is lod a 2s 2d
5s a 15s

TAMARINDS

i3^d a 4Jd
■•2ida.3d
■|2Jda 2Jd
"2s a 2s 7d
Common foul and mixed''*'^" ^'^ 1^^
Rangoon ...i Fair to good clean ....-* a 2s Gd

MadagascarGoodtofinepinky &whitel^'* ^'^ ^ 2s 7d
Fair to good black .. Is lOd a 2s

... Good to fine pinky £•* 10s a £5 lOs

Middling to fair Z ^'^ ^^'^ ^^ 2s 6d

Inferior and pickings ...^^ ^ £1 10s
... Mid.tofineA/i7cAnot stony 10*3 l-l*
Stonv and inferior ■>.!<.«.,

CASI'OR OIL, Ists peroz Nearly water white

2nds Fair and good pale

.3rdfi ,, ...Brown and brownish

INDIARUBRERAs.sam, per Good to fine
lb.

SAFFLOWER

.3s a Cs

FROM
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

ALOES, Cape, per CM-t.

... Fair dry to fine bright ... -'''* * •''1*
... Common & middling soft!.'--"* » ^'»>'

Natal ... Fair to fine

ARROWROOT Natal per lb. Middling to fine

|:^a40s
VA a a\

FROM CHINA, . I APAN &
THE EASTERN ISLANDS.

|h.5s

a G8s

CAMPHOR, China, f cwt. Crood, pure, & dry white
Japan ...| „ ,, pinki

<i A MBIER, Cubes, cwt. ...'Ordinary to fine free ... 29s a 3ls
Pressed . 2i)S a 27s

Block [per lb. Good ... 22s 9d a 2.3s Sd

GUTTA PEKCHA, genuine Fine clean Bani& Macas-;2s -id a 3s .Sd
Sumatra.. .iBarkv to fair [sar Sd a 2s 3.1

Reboiled.
White Borneo

NUTMEGS, large, per lb.

.Medium

Small
MACF, iier lb.-

RIlUnARB,

lb.

Sun dric

High dried

SAGO, Pearl, large, f.i ewt
medium
small
Flour per lb,

TAPIOf!A, Penang Flake
Singapore ,.,
Flour
Pearl

Common to fine clean

Good fo fine clean

Inferior and barky

61's a .SO's, garbled

83's a 95's
...ilOO'sa ICO's
„.;Pale reddish to pale

Ordinary to reil

Chips
per Good to fine .sound

Darkordinary&niiddling''^d a Is Id
...IGood to fine ...Us a Is .3d

Dark, rough & middling

•■"air to fine

Id a Is 4d
■,lldals3d
;'ldu8.1
' I2s Gd a .3s Gd
■■2s Id a 2>.5d

lis 4d a 2s

■ Isiid a i!s lOd
ilstda IsCd

■ l- 'id a Is .'td
IsGda 2s 9d

■'8(1 a Is Id

Good jiinky to white
Fair to fine

Bullets, per evrt.
fifedinm ,,

Seed

7d a Ud
.12s lid a 1.5s
il2sal:i.sG<l
.■^s Gil a lOstU
83 a 9s

lida2Jd
Ildaiid
lid a I }d
14s a 1.5h (ill
1.5s a Its
l.5s9da 17» Gd

tsOv. I, 1886.]

tUE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

2S9

CEYLON UPCOUNTKY PLAXTING REPORT.

DLACK OR tlRKEN BUG ON THK TEA — THE " MOXAKCU"
TEA 3IACUINE — " ANOTHEU KICHARD IN THE FIELD."

27th September, 188G.

Most planters have seen a tea plant here and
there, especially when growing in the vicinity of
coffee, covered with black or green bug, and have
set the bame down to evil companionship. There
is always the fear, however, that the pest may
spread, and that tea may sutler as the coffee has
done. I was sorry to hear that in the Pussellawa
district a considerable extent of tea can be seen
now blackened with this plague. The effect en the
tea is not such as it was on our weakened coffee
trees, but if the bug follows the nation, and takes
a liking to our new product he may be rather hard
to satisfy. The effect of the bug in the meantime
is that all flushing is stopped. I have seen a
memorandum which Mr. William Gow has put out
regarding his "Monarch" Tea Leaf Withering and
Fermenting Machine, and which is about to be in-
troduced into Ceylon. This machine, it seems, tries
to do mechanically what the Chinese accomplish
by hand when they toss and beat the leaf about.
But it does more than this ; it withers and ferments
by means of a current of hot-air circulating through
a rotating drum of special construction. It is self-
acting, requiring only coolies to feed, and a man
to watch the fire. By its means the leaf is oxydised
and fermented be/ore luUimj, and can be
kept for a time — some hours — without deteriorating.
It is maintained that leaf withered by this machine
rolls well, and when fired is handsome and wiry
showing the requisite bloom, and being of a good
bright black colour. It further multiplies the
pekoe ends, by the convoluted leaf-buds opening out.
The rolled leaf is said to take a shorter time to
tire than is usually necessary and the expenditure on
fuel is small. Extensive withering space is rendered un-
necessary, and a machine 8'><8' at a trial on
Mohurgong estate, Sukna, prepared fourteen maunds
of withered leaf and six maunds of ' cutcha '
leaf per hour, and did its work to the
satisfaction of some eight managers of tea
gardens who had come to see it working. A fill of the
machine is six maunds of unwilhered leaf, and
the time occupied to complete the operation depends
altogether on the quality and state of the leaf operated
on. From the above particulars it will be seen that
the " Monarch " promises much, and we will be
all interested in comparing the result of the com-
ing trial in Ceylon, with what took place in India.
This is how the planters there put it: — "The
meeting found that all these conditions were
fulfilled, and that a great pull was obtained,
namely, that oxydization and fermentation were
fully and chemically perfected before rolling : that
extensive withering space was rendered unnecess-
ary ; that tea made from even coarse leaf gave
a good black appearance and that generally it was
most favourably affected. The meeting further
found that a good twist was given to the leaf, and
that all superfluous moisture having been removed
the process of firing was much more speedily carried
out."

The " Monarch " is however not be " mon-
arch of all he surveys," for 1 hear that there
is already " another Richard in the field," and
that a pushing upcountry firm is soon about to
launch another W itherer. But I have not heard
any particulars regarding it. except that the price
was to be moderate; which is a comfort.

BRAZIL'S COFFEE EXPORTS.

In the year 1722* the first coffee plant was
brought into Brazil, in the Amazon district. The
cultivation of the plant did not commence until
1761, extending to Maranhao in 1774, from which
province some plants were introduced in Rio in a
private garden. In 1820 the export of coffee wa;:!
97,500 bags of 162 pounds. Its cultivation rapidly
expanded, as the following table of exports from
Rio at intervals of ten years will show :

Bags of 162 lb.

1860 2,127,21!)

1870 2,209,156

1880 2,799,791

Bags of 162 lb

1830 391,785

1810 1,068,418

1850 1,343,184

In 1874 bags to hold 132 pounds were substi-
tuted, and therefore we make the figures of 18t"0
to correspond with those used at earlier compar-
ative dates. The civil war disturbed seriously the
relation of supply to demand, and as the United
States was the chief market, very naturally its
trouble discouraged production in Brazil. The
yearly average exports from 1861 to 1870 were,
138,537 tons, advancing to 155,912 tons per annum
from 1871 to 1875.

For the seven years 1874-1880 the annual aver-
age shipments from Rio and Santos were 229,149
tons, of which 48§ per cent, came to the United
States and 51g per cent to Europe. Adding local
consumption in Brazil, we had what was then
considered by tlie author of " Coffee from Plant-
ation to Cup" the "stupendous" average annual
production of 558,093,760 pounds, or 249,149 tons.

Since then we have had a period of low prices,
and it still continues. The natural tendency of
such a state of affairs would be to check produc-
tion ; that such has not occurred is evident from
the following statement :

EXPOKTS KIO AND SAXTOS COFFFK CROP YBAR END«

IN« .TUNE 30.

To United
States.

1882 2,536,457

1883 2,950,124

1884 2,447,759

1885 3,1.38,254

18S6 2,952,-322

To
Europe.
2,774,008
3,325,178
2,558,4(:)0
3,131,262
2,350,049

Total.
5,310,465
6,275,302
5,006,239
(i,2i;9,516
5,302,371

Total, five years 14,024,916 14,138,977 28,163,H93
Annual average 2,804,983 2,827,795 5X>32,77S

This represents, allowing 30,000 tons for home
consumption and exports from Bahia, an average
annual supply of 360,752 tons, or Sl8,081,l.s0
pounds, against an annual average of 558,093,700
pounds for the jjeriod 1874-80.

Therein lies the sequel of cheap coffee. It is
claimed that planters, whose plantations are free
from encumbrance, can profitably raise coffee on
the basis of prices ruling during the past three
years. Unfortunately many planters are paying
heavy interest on mortgages, and these have be-
come more or less discouraged.

It is noticeable that stocks have bee)i growing
smaller for two years, giving strength to the be-
lief that new plantations are not being set out in
Brazil, and a survey in detail of the above table
rather supports that idea. Tlie 1883 crop was
about equal to that of 1885 ; that of 1882 was
abreast of 1886, and making allowance for the
variation in crops, the indications jjoint to the
Brazil production having reached a maximum
until some new stimulant is given the industry.
It this proves to be true we must, with a steady

■^

P^rPEKCQBK,

* One Jiaudred i^nd sixtyfoiir years agro,-=-Ki',

THE TkOPiCAL AGRKruLTURiST. [NoS'. i, 1886;

increase in the annual consumption, conclude
that production is beginning to fall behind con-
Buniption, and unless I\'Iexico and Central America
rapidly increase their supply, coffee must sell on a
higher average basis. — Amcricoit Gmrer, Aug. 18th.

COFFEE IN VICTORIA.

(Duty. 3d. per lb.)
1882. 18^:3. 188i. 1885.

lb. lb. lb. lb.

Imports 1,836,033 1,289,606 1,189,010 1,656,403

Exports 494,408 418,408 397,348 414,(526

Tran.shipraents 59,404 64,656 116,426 253,729

Home consumi)-

tion (uet) 8CS,225 947,424 1,193,982 978,867
— Australinii Traih- llcrlov.

[The consumption of colfee, therefore, is a little
under 1 lb. per caput, while tea is 7 lb. and cocoa
and chocolate some\Yhat over ^^ of a pound. In all
S^ lb. of non-alcoholic beverages, — Ed. |

TEA IN VICTORIA,

(Duty 3d per lb.)
1882. 1883. 1884, 1885.

lb. lb. lb. lb.

11,438.456 7,363,122 11,524,205 13,679,952

3,293,102 3,703,109

Imports
Exports

rfrom bound) 3,577,788 4,600,507
Experts (uuder

drawback) 93.'),5tl 1,170,557
Tranthipmeuts 727,538 284,996
Home Consump-
tion (net) 0,097,371 6,378,862
— A/fsifdliaii Trade JUrieir.

[In round numbers a consumption of 7 millions
of pounds by 1 million of a population, or 7 lb.
p:r caput, against nearly 5 lb. in Britain. — Ed,]

1,684,327
' 384,841

2,084,818
340,578

6,489,390 6,989,580

M.V.NliOSTKKXS .\KI) LiTCHIS OX THE NiLfillUS.

— In the annual report on the Barliyar Gardens,
which are somewhat over 2,000 feet above sea-levei,
it is stated that mangosteen and litchi trees have
fruited well and it is added : — "It is odd that there
should be so little demand for these trees, lor,
after the mango, they arc by far the best fruits
we have in Southern India, and I believe they
would thrive and grow rapidly in almost any part
of the country." There is no limit as to altitude
here and we should like to know up to what
altitude the mangosteen can bo grown. We once
tried plants at 4,700, but they failed. No doubt
the depressed state of the planting interest accounts
largely for the decreased demand for plants. As
plants are plentiful and probably cheap, some of
our local readers may be led to indent on Mr.
Lawson for some Wardian cases.

Mvi,Ai!i.\ Altitudes. — "While malaria usually
hai its ordinary habitat in low-lying regions, it may,
smder favorable conditions, exist at great elev-
aUoiiP. On the Tuscan Apennines it is found at a
heij^ht of 1.100 feet above the sea ; on the I'yrenees
and Mexican Cordilleras, 5,000 feet ; on the Hima-
layas, (i, iOO feet ; on the island of Ceylou, 0,590
Keet ;* and on the Andes, 11,000 feet. At present
the elevation of entire security has been thus ap-
J^jfoxiraated for various places ; in Italy, from 400
to 500 feet ; in Cahfornia, 1,000 feet ; along the
Appalachian chain of the United States, 300 feet ;
in the West Indies, 1,400 to 1,800 feet. In any
of these regions, however, malaria may drift up
ravines to an indefinite height. — Indian Encjiiicer.

* This is entirely new to us. Is there n case on re-
cord of malarious fever contracted at such an elevation ?
Of course persous who have malarious poi.sons in their
svstems are liable to recurreoce of fever et any elev.

CoKr'KE-i'T,\NTERs in Southem India who liave
been complaining of a lack of matter bearing on
their staple in the TroplcaJ Afirirulturiat will be
gratified to find a series of reviews of the various
branches of a colfee planter's work by an old Ceylon
hand is now being published in the 7". A. They
were written some years ago but are revised to date.

PiNUS Insignis i-oii Nlw'.vra Ellya. — Crijpto-
mcriin Japoiiica promises to grow well at Nuwara
Eliya, but what about Piuu.'^ nmrpiiit ? It eught
to be largely planted at once, for Mr. Lawson re-
ports that this conifer is established on theNilgiris,
trees of six years old being sixty feet in height
(10 feet per annum), while trees fifteen years old
yield an abundance of excellent timber. If Mr.
Nock has not already got nurseries, he will no
doubt at once procure seed in quantity of this
pine which equals E. ijlohulus in rapidity of growth
and quahty of timber at an early age. Our forest
department ought also to pay attention to this
tree. With proper seasoning the limber would
doubtless be suitable for tea chests.

Can Artesian Wells be sunk in Jaffna!'' — Prob-
ably not : — Two conditions are necessary for artesian
wells. There mu.st be three layers of earth or rocks,
the upper aud lower impervious to water, the middle,
pervious. If water can pass tbrough the upper it will
come out iu springs when the middle layer is full.
If it cau pass tbrough the lower it will siuk. But if
these, layers are level, no water cau of course either
get into or out of the middle layer. The layers must be
shaped like one side of a cup at the bottom ol which
the well must be placed. The top of the layer must
be higher than the top of the v/ell, else tbe water
will 110 more come out of the well than it will out of our
ordinary Jaffna wells. But Jaffna is on a bank of
coral. If this coral rock could be bored through the
rock beneath would in all probability be like that
of South Ceylon and South India — not in layers.
There is hardly a possibility that artesiau wells could
be suuk in Jaffna. — Ed. M. tS. — "Morniug Star."

Ceylon v. Indian Teas. — The latest Produce
Market lie vie u- has the following pointed remarks : — •

Although the market for Indian and Ceylon Teafi
continues to be liberally supplied, the demand has
sufficiently improved to maintain prices. Some of
the last arrivals of Indian Tea are of distinctly bet-
ter quality, and there has beea a general improve
meut in the Teas from most districts. This may
indicate that as the year advances better Teas will
arrive than has been the case, until quite receutly,
since the opening of tlio season. At any rate, it is
to bo hoped that the improvement in quality will in-
crease, as, unless this is the case, the general posi-
tion of Indian Teas in the L/Oudon market may bo
less favourable than it has been of late years. There
is every probability of a lower range of prices this
season for the very lincst grades, in consequence of
the gradually diminishing demand for high priced
Teas. This is a consideration equally applicable to
all fine Tea coining from any country, but to give
less attention to quality in consequence must provti
prejudicial to the interests of Importers, and Ceyloti
Teas have beon recently ijubstituted for Liaiau
Teas, simply owing to their superior mannfaoture
and strength. If Indian Teas ore to hold their owu
in competition here, it can only be by careful atten-
tion to the requirements of the market, aud by sup-
plying Teas sufiiciently marked by the v.cllknowij
characteristics looked for in theso growths. Ceylou
Teas were some time ago very disappointing in (juality;
but they have much unproved of late, and buyers
have not been hIow to recognise the fact, as cvi-
d '.need by the brisk competition for them now. With
the increasing production, it was thouglit jirobabic
that the qua'ity of Ceylon Teas would not be main-
tained, audit certaiuly appeared so a few weeks ago,
but recent ehipments have quite dissipated this idea,
and most of the frc«h supplies arc quite up t9 tbe
average oi iQviucx vcare,

Nov. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

2<5f

THE TEA LEAF.

Siu,— In these days of small things (so far as our
knowledge of tea manufacture is concerned) the most
insignificant hint is not to be dispised. I need not,
therefore, apologise to my brother planters in inviting
their attention to the following small items of inform-
ation. In the j'oung leaf of the tea bushes, when
picked, a chemical change is faciliated by the " wither-
ing"" process, which goes on throughout the twelve
hours of darkness, whereby (in technical phrase) the
proteids are coverted into peptones. The nutritive
extractives, which give flavour and strength to tea,
exist, primarily, in the young leaf as insoluble grains
(proteids). Whilst the young leaf remains unpicked
upon the bush these proteids slowly become soluble,
but as fast as any portion becomes soluble (peptones)
such portions are at once drafted away (into some
other portion of the plant) and are lost to the leaf.
The " withering '" process not only hastens, but also
artificially completes this solvent transformanion, and
therefore the hint we have to bear in mind is that
the more thoroughly our tea leaf is withered (not
dried), the larger will be the proportion of the nutritive
ingredients of the leaf which become soluble, hence
the greater flavour and strength in the resulting tea.
We have conjectured frequently the ultimate purpose
that the large proportion of oil contained in the seed
subserves. Analyses of seed and seedlings seem to
intimate that this oil furnishes the extractive " theine "
in addition to increasing percentage of albuminoids and
cellulose. — Naduvatum, September 13. — Novick. — Mad-
ras Mail.

TEAK-WOOD AND PAPEE-MAKING IN SIAM.

Referring to Teak-wood, in his report on the trade
of Bangkok for the past year, Mr. Consul French
says : —

Throughout the year the prices ofliered for Teak
in Europe and China were good, and the export
from Bangkok was, although below that of the two
previous years, above the average of the preceding
five years. The rivers have now for two years past
been very low. and consecjuently much of the wood
could not be floated down. There is now a consider-
able quantity of logs upcountrj', the accumul-
ation resulting from two bad seasons, awaiting favour-
able floods to get down. More European capital is
now being invested in the working of the Teak forests,
and it is to be hoped that the experiment will re-
sult success fullj'. Hitherto the forests have been
leased chiefly to Burmese, very few of whom have
sufiicieut capital. The result has been that the for-
ests have been worked in a meagre and unsatisfactory
fashion, and litigation between tlie foresters and the
persons advancing their money has been bitter and
constant. The export of Teak may be said to almost
entirely depend upon the ship building business in
Europe, and as long as the present stagnation in that
trade continues the prospect before Teak merchants
will not be encouraging.

Native paper, it is said, is manufactured from the
bark of a tree called " Toukoi," the process of which
is a simple one, described as follows: — The smaller
branches of the tree are cut and steeped in water
for two or three days. The bark is then stri2)ped oft',
and brought in bundles and sold to persons who
make the paper. The bundles of bark are put in
water for two or three days by the paper-maker,
and having been cleansed from dirt, are taken out
and steamed over a slow fire for two days, a little
clean stone-lime being sprinkled through the bark.
It is then steeped in water in earthern jirs, and
more lime is added. After a few days it is taken
out of the jars, and having been well washed, to
free it from the lime, it is beaten with a wooden
mallet until it becomes a mass of soft pulp. A frame
of netting about GA feet long, and of width varying
from 18 to 5 inches, is set afloat in water, and the
pulp, having fir.--t been again mixed up with water,
is skilfully poureil out on to the frame, so as to ha
pqiirtlly distiibuted over it ']'he fran\e is tlK'ii lifted

out of the water, and a small wooden roller is run
over the surface of the pulp. By this process the
water is squeezed out and the pu'.p pressed together.
The frame with the pulp on it is then set to dry
in the sun. In the course of some ten hours it is
quite dry, and the sheet of paper can be lifted off
the frame. It now only remains to smooth the sur-
face ; this is done by applying a thin paste of rice-
flour to the surface, and tlien rubbing it down with
a smooth stone. A black paper, which is written
upon with a slate or steatit; pencil, is made by
colouring the surface with a mixture of charcoal. The
paper here described is made from the bark of Brous-
sonetia papyrifera.— .1. R. -J. — Gardener.^' Cfironic/<\
♦

TEA DRIERS.

Davidson made a rapid stride with his "Sirocco,"
which has served us very well, and from the number
now in u.se, he must have had a good time of it
since he started. Still he seems to have had steadily
before him the old " chulah " system in designing
his machines and this is very apparent when the
T Sirocco is closely examined. I have often wondered
why Davidson did not work out an automatic machine
like some of thos-^ now in use. We hear less oi
Kinmond's and the Uibbs and Barry machines now.
I daresay the letter would have a better run but
for its requiring coke as fuel. It is a costly item
unless one is situated near a '"ghat" or railway, and
we do not seem to be favoured with any of a
superior quality, though we pay very dearly for it,
Our wants seem to be met in the .Jackson's new
Victoria which burns any kind of fuel or rubbish,
It is a machine that will suit the requirements ol!
many who are short-handed, and have dilftculty in
getting either coke or charcoal, ^\'heu one of the
large machines now at work in Assam is compared
with the number of '* chulahs " and coolies re(juired
to keep pace with it, I can only say, that it is a
happy deliverance from the olden days when we had
to pass through the rows of perspiring " batty
wallahs" and getting half roasted before reaching the
end of the factory. Note also the number of men it
sets at liberty for much needed cultivation outside.
Three men with one of the^e machines will do as
much work as thirty '■ batty wallahs '" in the old days,
and last, but not least, note the saving in fuel. I
am not an expert at describing machinery, though I
am very fond of it, so I had better not get beyond
my depth in giving details. But I was greatly taken
with the dcsijription of this inachiue given in the
papers last year, and a recent visit to txainsborough
has shown nie that they justly merit all that has
been said on their behalf. It appears the first Victoria
machine was sent out to the Jorehaut Company in
1881 and since then they have three more at work,
and in addition a Venetian or small-sized machine
has been sent to one of the small divisions of the
Company. I was surprised to learn that altogether
50 of Jackson's Dryers (Victorias and Venetians) are
at work this season and I was struck with the
following novel features in them. The le»f is fed
into a hopper, or well, and nothing more it
seen of it until it emerges underneath from a fluted
roller which delivers the dry tea. Although turned
over for times in its course from tray to tray it is
not crushed or broken and not a particle of " goorie"
is lost. Now with the utmost care in working trays
in any machine of the drawer tray kind obc cannot
overlook the fact, that from day to day a large quantity
of good tea is trampled under the coolies' feet, whicli
if seen at the end of the season in a heap would
make him stare. And if this tea can be preserved
and its ajiproximate value put past at the end of
every season one would be able in a few years to
write oil' a considerable part of the cost of mach'iie
saved in " goorie " alone. As I have meutioued before
I am not an engineer or know much aViout machine
construction, but I think Jackson nuu-^t have tak'-n
a leaf out of the book of the manufacturer of the
pot.ato drvers sent to Assam many years ago with

502

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. X, 1886.

a view of their being capable of drying tea. The
furnace pipes in Jackson's are very like the latter
mentioned, and if they last as long without renewal
they will not cost much to keep up. The reason
why I confined my remarks to drying machinery is,
that we are quite pleased with our rollers and sifters
and I do not think they can be much improved upon,
lu coucludiug tliese I would recommend all Assam
planters who would economise labour and fuel to
have a good look at Jackson's Victoria and Venetian
dryeis before decidiug to go in for new machinery
of a like nature. — O.x " Ouootee." — Indian Planters'
(ja:<Aic.

IN

THE CULTIVATION OF THE EAMIE
FRANCE.

An article recently published by Mons. M. E. Fremy
in the Coiiiptcs-ItCiidus must be anything but pleasant
reading for our cousins across the water. A solitary
Frenchman in some part of Egypt is said to have acci-
dentally dropped a cotton seed in his garden, and thus
has been the means of iutroduciug the cotton plant
into Egypt ; and now M. Fremy, after devoting a
number of years to the investigation of the nature
and character of vegetable textile fibres, has come to
the conclusion that Chinese ramie can be cultivated
in France as a substitute for imported cotton. In
view of the importance of J\r. ]'>emy's assertions, it
may be as well if we give our readers a few part-
iculars of this plant. The ramie of China is grown
to the natives under the name of Tchonma ; to botan-
ists as the Bohmeria niveau; and more popularly in
England as the grass-cloth plant. The genus is of
the order of uettleworts, U/ticacecP, and allied to true
uettles, Urtica. There are several species found also
in Assam, Nepaul, the Sandwich Islands, and Brazil ;
and in each country excepting the latter, where it
has a medicinal use, it is employed in the manufac-
ture of textile fabrics. The Chinese plant reaches a
height of about 3ft. or 4ft. Its leaves, growing on
long hairy footstalks, are heart shaped, have serrated
edges, and are about Gin. long and 4in. broad. They
are green on the upper side, and covered on the under
side with white down. The Chinese obtain three
ci'ops of stems annually. The second is judged to be
thf best. The fibre is procured by stripping off the
hark in two long pieces, which are carefully' scraped
with a knife to get rid of the useless matter. These
!ire then divided into fine filaments by steeping them
in hot water or holding them over steam.

In the researches made by M. Fremy into the chem-
ical composition of the skeletons of vegetables, his
attention has been principally directed to the bodies
which weld the fibres together, and which oppose
their separation. He has known that the cement of
the fibres and cells is chiefly formed of three subs-
tances, which he has studied under the names of
■peclns.:, ciitosr. and vcscvlosr, or pectin, cuticle, and
vesicle. Knowing that these can be destroyed and
the fibres separated from them, he has tried to com-
plete his researches by applying himself to the sep-
aration of the fibres wliich are found in the principal
textile plant.s, such as the ramie, flax, hemp, and
jute. The ramie was cultivated in France, for the first
time, says 51. Fremy, at the Natural History Museum,
by tiie late M. Decaisne, and yields an abund.ince of
fibres of an extraordinary tenacity, often possessing
the appearance of silk. The ramie thus presents for
France, in which utilisation of vegetable textile fabrics
is perhaps the most important industry of the comitry
a particular intere.st, and may one day become, says,
the investigator, our French cotton.

France, he points out, buys enormous (juantities
of vegetable textile fibres from the foreigner, as is
shown by the fact that the value of .the cotton
imports into France in 1885, was about 7,200,000 fr.
The cultivation of the ramie would, M. Fremy is
persuaded, relieve the country of the necessity of
purcha^iing from the foreigner. It would also mitigate
the depression caused in French agriculture, by the
relinquishment of mulder cultivation, and might be
introdu'ji.d into their coloiiios, to the. assistance of

their threatened sugar cane industry. M. Fremy 'a
method of separating the fibres is to eliminate the
objectionable elements by the ordinary reactive action
of chemicals, the Chinese, as we have already described,
accomplishing this by mechanical means. M. Fremy
has laid before the French Academy samples of the
ramie fibres thus treated, to prove that the process
of elimination is successfully completed, and he
expresses the hope that French agriculturists will
not hesitate to undertake the cidtivation of the
ramie on a large scale, that French spinners will
utilise the fibres, and thus afford a fresh example of
the services which science is able to render when
allied to agriculture and industry, — Indnstric-f,

EEPORT ON THE HORTICULTURAL GARDENS,

LUCKNOW, DURING THE YEAR ENDING

31st MARCH, 1886.

Financial. — Despite the forebodings of lasst year
in regard to the effects of the h ailstorm of January,
1865 on the income of the year under review, receipts
exceeded those of last year and were R202-9-11 in
excess of the budget-estimate of 1110,000. Expenditure
amounted to R 14,45 1-5-5, or R454-5-5 in excess of
the estimate of R14,000, leaving the net cost at
R4,251-ll-6; from this deduct R822-4-0, which repre-
sent the cash loss on plants, &c., sent out at reduced
prices to public institutions, and we have actual net
cost R3,429-8-4.

Fruit Cidtvre. — The fruit crop was, with a few
exceptions, poor, as had been anticipated would be
the case. Great attention is being devoted towards
forming a good representative collection of the orange
family and success in introducing the blood orange
of Malta seems at last in view. The yellow Almorah
plum has been found to fruit freely, and more plants
of it have been laid down. Of grafted carob plants
only a few are left, but these are healthy. The
Arabian date-palms fruited freely, but, as in former
year.s a difficulty was found in preserving the fruit
till it had reached full maturity. Date seedlings
have been raised in good numbers, including some
from a successful cross between the Arabian and
the wild date ; a dift'erence in the time of flowering
limits free crossing of the two varieties. An ins-
tructive table of profit and loss on the various crops
shows how pine-apples grown in mango groves may
redeem the loss on a poor crop of mangoes by fruiting
abundantly. Of new kinds introduced, Barries' fig,
tree tomato, mountain papaya, quinces, the edible
prickly-pear of Malta, and a few American vines
were raised with success.

7 'cgctalilc and farm culture. — Following past experience,
more space was given this year to planting for
seed rather than for market sale. Cos-lettuce, for
which the gardens have always had a great demand,
proved a failure. Hybrid Nankin cotton is iironounced
to be of no importance, and its cultivation will be
discontinued. Muzaft'aruagar white wheat, grown as
an experiment after cotton, proved very successful
both as to yield and as to quality of seed. In
country vegetables improvement by selection is being
preserved with and time must be allowed for eft'ect.
Belgian carrot (white) proved, as it has done else-
where, to be inferior in yield to the country variety,
but to have advantages as a late variety. Of new
kinds under trial, salt-bush (Atriple.v nummnlaria)
continues to do well, and Saintfoin, from seed received
through the Government of India, gave a fair crop.
Ji'iUuiida coagvlans, prickly comfrey, hard white
wheat from America, and Sliafdar, a forage plant
from Persia, have been proved unsuitable for these
provinces. On the other hand, good new varieties of
mai/.e, tobacco, and early-maturing vegetables of
various K'inds were tried with more or less success.
Distribution was much the same as to acclimatized
seeds as last year, save in regard to silver-skinned
onion and cos-lettuce, for which the demand was
abnormal. For imported seeds the demand slightly
iii( Tonscd.

Nov. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

293

Ftmcer cidt'i.ri'. — A good demand for acclimatized
peeds exists. The improvement of Hippeastrums by
hybridizing is beiag carried on with continued success.
A large number of the best kinds of annuals were
imported and grown with satisfactory results. Of
new introductions may be named Kri/thvnxj/lon coca
and a timber tree (unnamed) from Bhutiui. Distri-
bution was nearly equal to that of the previous
year.

ArhoricuHure. — Owing to the ravages of the hailstorm
distribution was limited. A large number of young
trees (23,700) were raised during the year, and the
stock now in hand will admit of extensive distribution
in the rains.

Exotic ^)?«?ita<iOH. — The acre of divi-divl. planted
as a test for profits continues to flourish and a few
trees have begun to pod. No irrigation was given
and cultivation was continued in the open spaces;
though, owing to the heavy rains, there was not
much of a crop. There is no tree more suitable
than this for covering the waste soil on lines of
railway. Its low growth obviates all the disadvantages
to be found in higher timber in regard to obstruction
of air and danger from windfalls to passing trains ;
its dense shade kills down the coarse grass and
lessens to danger to villages and stackyards from
fire; and lastly, there is the profit, which is known
to be good. We have large numbers of young trees
in the nursery.

The paper mulberry (Brousaonetia papi/rifera) is
likewise being planted out on a scale sutficient to
test its potentiality for profit. It appears to grow
freely aud is well worth attention. As lately stated
at the Society of Arts by Mr. Baden-Powell, i. 1. 1:.,
this plant seems likely to become one of the best
sources of paper-making material in India and can
be commended for waste lands.

Date plantation. — In this plantation Eucali/ptus citrio-
dora and date-palm are beiug reared intermixed on
Dr. Bonavia's plan. The date-palms are flourishing,
but the Eucalyptus plants are proving difficult to rear
owing to the persistent attacks on them by white
ants.

Anmtal flower show. — As the weather for the year
had been "on the whole favourable for gardening, the
flower show, which h id been stopped in the previous
year, was held as usual. In exhibits the results were
not .so satisfactory as they usually are, but the .show
was managed with economy and success.

Ap'iireniirc^ and nppUca.tioux for walls — Eight applic-
ations were received for trained malis, and, from
amongst the apprentices, one has found a good
post at Ghiizipur. This branch of the garden work,
rtr. training boys, is a very useful one.

Mr. Ridley remained in charge of the garden
throughout the year and has had very hard work
to restore order after the damage caused in .lanuary,
1885. It is submitted that the results as now
reported are most satisfactory and creditable to his
management.

Krom the detailed report we copy the paragraph
regarding the attacks of white ants on Eurrdi/pti/s
Gitriodora : — "I greatly regret having to record
very limited success with Eucalyptus citriodora. Out
of 2,.350 seedlings planted out only 380 have
survived, or. more correctly, escaped the ravages of
white ants. The tree appears to have peculiar attrac-
tion for this pest, as I have never known any . other
plant so persistently preyed upon as these Eucalj'ptus
trees have been, both in small and advanced stages
of growth, and all efforts to find a remedy or protective
have equally failed. Kerosine and soap emulsion,
phenyle, decoction of madar leaves and asafrotida
were all tried as remedies, but without success.
Other substances are being experimented with in the
hope of finding a protective". There must be some-
thing very attractive to the termites in the Australian
tree, and the tenacity if life in the insects seems
marvellous.

THE MADRAS GOVERNMENT CENTRAL
MUSEUM,

which under Dr. Bidie became so complete and interest-
ing, continues, under Mr. Thurston's supervision to
be attractixe, over 25,000 persons having visited the
building in one daj'. We quote as follows from Mr
Thur.stou's report: —

MrsKiT!\r Gkoi'nos. — The Mhoganies mentioned in
the last annual report were planted out, and the ex-
periment is being tried of planting the faster-growing
rain tree Pithero/obiiuii saman by the side of them to
act as nurses of the tender seedlings. Some seedlings of
the giant Bamlmm l-atany, Bixa orellana and Eri/thro.xi/lon
coca were also planted, but the last are not thriving.
The iVdticlea cddnniha which was planted in 1881
dowered for the first time, but bore no fruit. Several
of the palms which were set down a few years ago
also flowered. The Andaman' trees, presented by (y'ap-
tain Torrie, are all making satisfactory progres.s. I
purpose planting some fruit trees— mango, jack ami
coconut— iu the grounds over several barren areas,
which are not pleasant to look on.

Artist. — The artist was mainly occupied with making
a series of drawings of impressions of seals attached
to copper grants. These he did neatly and accurately.

Ethnology and Antiquities. — Some Buddhist sculp-
tures (174 pieces) were presented to the Museum
through Major H. H. Cole, being a portion of the
sculptures discovered at two small Buddhist topes near
Mian Khan, Eusofzai. The excavations were made for
the Piuijab Government. The sculptures were con-
veyed by rail to ]Vfadras at the rate of 6 pies a mile
per truck and some of the finer pieces will be set up
in the sculpture gallery of the Museum.

It having been desirable to make a collection as
complete as possible of impres.sions of the seals of
the South Indian dynasties, an appeal was made
to the various Collectors for copies of any which are
to be found in their districts. In response to this
appeal a numlier of copies in wax, and other m.iterial,
were received and have been figured by the artist.

The Museum is indebted to His Excellency the
Governor for the donation of an old Dutch manus-
cript and His Highness the Maharajah of Travancore
for four shields. Herbariuji. — The Herbarium was
repeatedly visited in the early morning by His Ex-
cellency the Governor between the months of
Movember and March. The work of the Herbarium-
keeper, j\lr. T. Abboy Naidu, was retarded by the
collection of raw products for the Indian and Colonial
Exhibition. He, however, .systematically arranged,
according to Hooker's Flora of British India, natural
order Acanthacero to Amaranthacea? and natural order
Kanunculacere to Labiat.t (extra Indian plants) accord-
ing to the Genera Plautarum. Iu addition sixty-
one plants were collected iu Vellore, 59 plants
mounted, and 150 Indian and 220 Britifh Plants
poisoned.

LinRAny. — The total number of visitors who came
to consult books was Zfi(!>?, against 5,172 in the pre-
ceding year, being a monthly average of 46.3. That,
if their duties allowed it, many more would use the
books is shown by the greater number of visitors
during the Christmas holidays thau at anj other time.

Madras Harbouu and Beach.— Through the kind-
ne.ss of F. N. Thorowgood, E^q., Superintendent of
Harbour Works, I have received many interesting
specimens which were picked up during the diving
operations. These include a red incrusting sponge,
two other sponges, a zoanthus, several species of coral
(gargoniiUe) and a holothurian (sea cucumber). I have
also obtained from the surface water ia the Jiarbour
specimens of Salpa, ^'olella and Phy.salia (Portugese
man-of-war) and from the beach a shell of Ostrse.i
perforated by a boring sponge (cliona), a shell of
Pinna .Tapanica with hydroids attached to it, and
various other mollusean shells. Pieces of pumice
stone have been repeatedly picked up on the shore,
and I incline to the theory that they have drifted
hither from Krakatoa. Similar pieces have been sent
to me during the year, picked up on the shore of
the West Ooast at Calicut and Tellicherry,

294

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, 1886,

NuMisMATios. — Through a catalogue of the frokl coins
in the Museum collection had been issued, the arrange-
ment of a great mass of silver and copper coins
remained to be taken in hand. Wy first endeavour
ju this direction was to collect them all together and
distribute them roughly into dynasties. This work
was completed with the assistance of Oaptain H. ll.O.
Tufnell, who from his e.xperieuce iu Indian Numis-
matics was able to identify many issues to which I
should have myself been unable to assign a place. Tiie
same gentleman then gave me great help iu the
arrangement of the different dynasties, and the Koman
and Indo-Ureek series are already completed. Among
the former several coins of very considerable interest
and value have come to light, notably an issue of
riautilla. wife of Caracalla, with Latin inscription
PLAl'TILLA AIJGIJSTA, and a line green copper
coin of C'onstantiuu.s Magnus struck in London. The
collection of Indo-Greek and Eacjtrian coins is not
very rich, but I am iu correspondence with a view to
making it more complete. As the coins of each
dynasty are arranged, I am compiling a manuscript
catalogue, with a view to future publication, in which
all issues, gold, silver, copper, kc. will find a place,
but I propose to keep the gold coins, as at present,
iu the Museum strong box, and display the coins in
silver and the baser metals in the body of the Museum,
so that they may be seen by visitors without any
special application.

A.s usual a large number of coins, amounting in
all to 1,411 has been presented to the Museum during
the year either by various societies or by private indiv-
iduals. Among these I may specially mention a gold
coin of the fiupta era presented through the Hon-
orary Secretary of tlie Madras Literary Society, and
a fine Eama Tanka presented by T. M. Scott, Esq., of
Madura.

Nati.'r.u. History. — (1). Aracbnida. — A large living
»pider (Mygale fasciata) was forwarded to the Museum
from Hoonsoor where it was supposed to be causing
death among the flocks. An experiment was made on
a living sheep to see if the spider would produce any
ill-effect on it, but the result proved negative,
and the untimely death of the spider stopped any
further experiments I wrote requesting that some
living specimens should be sent to me, but at tlie
end of the year none hnd arrived. IMention was made
in last year's annual report of a scorpion sent by
H. R. V. Carter, Esq., living by preference iu water.
During tlie latter end of the year. I kt-pt specimens
of two other species of scorpion from Madras in jirs
containing soiuc water, and though the animals were
often seen above water on some stones which I
placed iu the jar, it frequently happened that they
remained for long periods submerged beneath the
surface of the water, so that our common scorpions
may be considered amphibious in their habits. The
subject is one which is worthy of stud^' on the
animals in their natural conditions.

Iti.tpcts. — A large number of insects were sent to the
Museum, among the most iuteresting of which
were one which was proving destructive to the sugar-
canes in North Arcot, and another which was inflict-
ing its ravages on the cinchona leaves iu the Wynaad,
and of which specimens were sent, together with some
of the affected leaves, by Messrs. Arbuthnot and Co.,
to whom I made a report suggesting certain precau-
tions to be adopted and certain ramedial agents to
be tried, while pointing out that the expense of apply-
ing chemical re-agents where the infested area is a
large one is often greater than the loss of money
caused by the ravages of the insect pests, and further
that in the interest of the planter, a prolonged and
careful study in a practical manner, not only of the
life history and habits of the parasites, but also of
the cheapest and at the same time most effective
meansof exterminating them isinuchuocdcd. I am inii^h
indebted to H. S. Thomas, Esq., for giving mc speci-
mens of the shells of Aviculu vcr/Unni and Aricula
f'acata ill various stages of growth in illustration of
his report on Pearl Fisheries.

The Order of Government on the Keport stated : —
Dr. Eidio gave over charge of the oftlct' of Superin-

tendent to Dr. Thurston on October 12th, 1885, and
His Excellency the CJoveriior in Council took an oppoi-
t unity of expressing his ap[)reciatiou of the former
officer's valualile services, in reviewing the report for
1S84-85. The number of visitors to the Museum
during the year again shows an advance, being :'>11,462
as against 272,968 iu the previoas year. The Gov-
ernment ob.serve with s.atisfaction that there was an
increase iu the number of gosha ladies who visited
the iNIuseum on the days reserved for them. There-
was also a considerable increase in the number of
books consulted during the year. The position of
the staff has been recently much improved and the
Government notice with pleasure the interest which
the various assistants take iu their work. His Ex-
cellency the Governor iu Council is much indebted
to the various gentlemen who contributed to the
Museum during the year. In conclusion, His EX'
cellency in Council desires to notice the evident zeal
and interest of Dr. Thurston in his work.

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR, GOVERNMENT
BOTANICAL GARDENS AND PARKS,
NILGIRIS, FOR 1885-8(1.
B-s M. A. L.\wsoN, Esq.,
Govei'iivient Botanist and Director of Cinchona Plant-
ations, Xih/iris.

I. Se.vson. — The weather during the past year was
all that could be desired for carrying on horticultural
operations. The amount of rain registered was 52'48
inches, spread over 142 days. The early part of the
season was dry, but the monsoon broke unusually early,
after which the rain was light and continuous. The
frost during January was severe, but owing to the
dryness of the weather, little harm was done.

II. General Conditions of the Gardens a.vd Parks

AND IMPROVEMENTS WHICH HAVE BEEN MADE IX THEM

DIKING THE .YEAR— (1) — OoTACAMU-ND — {a)Govtrnment
ikirdens. — These gardens have improved in appearance
during the past year, the lawns were kept constantly-
mown and are in good order. The trees and shrubs
which had been planted during the two previous years
are doing well, and are beginning to make a show. The
ground at the entrance of the gardens has been laid
out and shrubs and flowers beds have been planted
with the view of improving this formerly unsightly
piece of land. The ravine above the Doctor's house
has been cleared of brambles and brushwood and will
be planted up with shola trees as soon as the mon-
soon rains begin. The rest of the upper part of the
gardens was planted up during the past year with a
large variety of ornamental shrubs and trees. A con-
siderable portion, however, of this land is .still very
rough and untidy, but I expect to be able during the
next dry seas m to put this in order at a small cost.
The ground lying around the old Cinchona laboratory
has been levelled and sown with ditferent kinds of
grasses, the seed of which was presented to the
gardens by His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief
with a view to experimentation upon their value as
fodder. Next year this ground will be laid down in
permanent grass and form part of the gardens. The
roads and walks in the lower part of the gardens are
in fairly good order but want re-gravelling ; some of
the paths also iu the other part of the gardens have
been re-made or improved, but there is still a good
deal wanting before they can be said to be in a satis-
factory state. A tank to supply water for the fountain
which it is proposed to place in the pond opposite the
band-stand has been made, and pipes laid down to
the pond; but, owiug to the great difficulty of get-
ting a proper jet, the fountain has not yet been started.
Kitchen (;«;■'</«(.— During the past winter. I converted
one of the terraces in the upper part of the gardens
into a kitchen garden whiih has been sown with all
the more common kinds of European vegetables, and
I shall report upon them next year. The vegetables
obtainable in Ootacamund are very good, and I do
not expect that they will be much improved upon.
There is. however, room for improvement in our fruit

tfov. 2; am

TMi TRapieAL AaRteuLTyiisT,

in^

£e£as

mmssmm

mmm

trmes, especially the Native ones. The European kinds
as a rule do not thrive.

Garden far Herbaceous Flants. — On another terrace
adjoining the kitchen gardeu, I began an herbaceous
botanical garden, but the plants have not done well,
owing I think chiefly to its very exposed situation.

Nurseries. — The old nurseries having become over-
crowded with plants, I am converting the remainder
of the terraces into new ones, and these will be com-
pleted during the present season. Our stock of plants
has increased enormously both as regards variety and
numbers, as will be seen from a perusal of the price
list which was printed for distribution last spring.

The witty pi-actice of destroying labels or of chang-
ing their places is not confined to public gardens in
England, as it has been manifested during the last
year in these gardens.

(b) Goi-ernment House Gardens. — These are in a
better state than they have been hitherto. The lawns
about the place are in fair order, flower beds and
shrubberies have been planted, which make the place
look leas bare, and now that proper spouting has
been put up around the roof of Government House
and that of the Private Secretary it will be possible
to plant creepers up the walls. In my last year's
report I stated that many of the trees in front of
Government House were in a bad condition, and that
I thought they would not last many years longer,
and I regret to say that my prognostication has only
been too fully verified. Several scores of big trees
have been cut down during the year, and as many more
will, I am afraid, have to be removed during the
present one. The green house which was put up
last season has proved to be a good one for growing
plants in.

The blue-gums which are in close proximity to the
servants' houses ought to be removed as, in my
opinion, they are dangerous. The trees are one hun-
dred and fifty feet in height, and if during one of
our high winds any were to be blown down and fa'l
over these houses serious damage and even loss of
life might be the result.

(f) StonelioufC Park. — The trees which were planted
out on this estate the year before last are doing
well. A little planting was done during the past year,
and a little more which will be carried out during
the present season will complete all that is wanted.
Barbed wire for fencing this estate has been ordered
from England, and will be put up as soon as it arrives.

{(V) Chvrch Hill Park. — The usual upkeep has been
maintained.

(f) Crevc niid U(t/(y Hall Kalatca mil (uljoiitin;/
(jrovnd. — These estates were kept weeded during the
j'ear and portions of them planted with trees and
shrubs. The land lying between Crewe Hall and
Stonehouse was fenced to keep ou.t cattle. This bit
of ground is in a very rough state, and I propose dig-
ging or ploughing it up during winter and planting it
perhaps with potatoes or some other such crop for
one season with a ^iew of cleaning it, after which it
will be put down in grass.

(D) OooNooK— /Y; Sim's Park.— 'rim condition of
this park is good. -Several of the bridges have been
substantially repaired, and the roads and paths have
all been maintained in good order. The bridle road
through the new shola has been finished at a total
cost, including the bridj{c, of B,642-9-l. This road
is much frequented and is, I think, a great addition
to the park.

Ni'.nerieb, — These have been established and are being
gradually stocked with the indigenous plants of the
neighbourhood.

(b). BAiiLivAK — (;/) iixperi mental Garden.— Thiiiga
are looking well in theise gardens. Several new plants
have been put out here during the year, but damige
was done to some of then) by wild pig. Of the old
plants, the Mangosteen and Litchi produced a quantity
of fruit. It is Olid that there should be so little
demand for these trees, for, after the mango, they
are by far the best fruits which we have in Southern
India, and, I believe, that they would thrive and grow
rapidly io almost any part of the coimtry,

III. PROPOSITI) Museum or NAT^jRAt. MtsroRy ix
OoTALA^MUND,— In revicAviug my report of last year,
I was desired to obtain and .^ubmit plans and estimates
for the building suggested by me. This has been
done.

lY. Hekbakiu.m. — The number of dried plants col-
lected during the last few years had accumulated to
such an extent that the old oHice at the entrance
of the gardens was inadequate for the purpose of
properly storing them, and 1 Ibercfure asked to be
allowed to convert the old Cinchona laboratory into
a new repository for the collection. This alternation
Government sanctioned, and the herbarium is now
housed in its new liouse. The building is roomy and
all that I can desire.

A'. JiiBRARY. — E5'JU-4-l were spent during the
year on books, K,365-]l-3 being spent on botanical
works, and R224-5-10 on chemical works for the
use of the Quinologist ; the balance of the allotment
of Rl,20(t, or Rt309-ll-ll, was unexpended be-
cause it was not known what botanical works might
be eventually obtainable from tho library of the
t'entral Museum, Madras. This will now shortly ho
determined, as I propose during the coming autunm
to visit the Museum with the view of arrrangiug for
the transfer of the herbarium to this Department.

VI. NOI'ES ON" SOME OF THK MORK INTERESTING PlAMS

which have been tntitoduced ok guown jn the
Gardens ourint; thk vkar.

1. Eiijthro.vylon coca. — This plant grows very rapidly
from seed and cuttings, and a large number were
raised in the green houses at Ootacamund, but the
demand for it has ceased, and I think wisely, for al-
though there can be no doubt but that the plant
would grow well in many parts of Soutliern India,
it would not be hkely to compete profitably with the
vast tracts of country in South America where it is
already so largely cultivated.

2. /i'('cf^/.y/)^«.— Major A. 0. Smith, U.K., Executive
Engineer, Public "Works Department, has frequently
spoken and written to me about the desirability of
growing the better sorts of Eucalyptus in this country
for the purposes of timber. The following species
flourish on these Hills: —

E. jitarffinatus, E. siderophloia, E. calophj/Ua, E.
piperita, E. oMiqi'.a.— All these are reckoned admirable
as timber trees in Australia, and in tile course of
a few weeks I could supply the Conservator of Forests
with seed of all of them.

3. CastUloa eJadica. — Colonel Campbell-AV'alker in a
letter to the Board of Revenue, Ktt. 2,l.')(i, of the 27th
January 188(5, embodied in f!.0.. No. 231, of tlie24tL
March 1886, Revenue, states that this valuable Indiar.
rubber producing tree has at last been finally establised
by Mr. T. -T. 1-^erguson at Calicut. I ,saw 'Sir. Ferguson's
trees 18 months ago, and they were growing magni-
ficently, and as it has at last been found easy to raise
these trees from cuttings, I hope they will in the
future form no unimportant item in the forestry of
this place, The other rubber-producing plants have
so far been a failure, either through their not yield-
ing as much rubber as they do in America, or !«;-
cause we have not yet learnt how to tap the tretJi
properly.

•1. .l/a/io;v"'(//.~Iu my last year's reixirt I stated that
I had received two rasks of the seed of this plant
from Mr. Thiseltou Dyer. The seed arrived in magni-
ficent orde.v and was distributed chiefly to Colonel
Campbell-Walker and Mr. (Jamble of iha Forest
Department and to the Agri- Horticultural Society n»
Madras. iSlmost e\ei>y seed germinated and tens of
thousands of plants must have been raised. From a
single pound sown in the green houses at Ootaca-
mund between three and four thousand plants were
obtained, some of these haxe been sold and the
remainder will be handed over to Mr. (Jumble.

1 had the pleasure of visiting last autumn the
teak forest in chargo of Mr. <t. Uadfield, Deputy
Conservator of Forests, Nilambur. It was a treat to
see the grand growth which tho teak trees had
made during the last 40 years. In tho forest were
wnoy tiue spccimeu^ vi yuuwi,' Blabogauy titjos, by^

igQ

THE i^OPiCAL AQKieULTUSISt. [Nov. i, 1866;

laMiaM

they were suft'eriug from the ravages of a grub which
attacks the buds of all th»' leadiug shootfi. In other
situations the Mahogany might not suffer from these
pests.

5. Quilaja saponaria,. — This plant thiives well in
Ootacamunil and it is foiuid that it can readily be
propagated by means of cuttings, bo that if it proves
to be a tree of any value, it can be increased to
any extent.

(}. Ki'.mera. — The tubers of this plant have been
raised, and on being eaten, proved palatable.

7. Ulh'xus ("btrosi"!. — f received this plant from
INIr. Thiselton Dyer. It grows freely in the open air
at Ootacamund, and it would seem likely to yield a
heavy croj) of small tubers. Its name is derived
from the river 1 llucus, a river in the north-west of
■South America, in the neighbourhood of which it is
found growing wild.

>S. Arracucia and the Cochin tnheivvs-rwted Vine. —
On neither of these am [ able this year to report,
as the former has not yet produced any tubers, and
the second, although it tiowered at Barliyar, for the
first time this spring, has borne no fruit.

'.). /lo/i.—l am indebted to Mr. J. L. Holland,
the Manager of the ^'ilgiri Brewery, for some cut-
tings of the hop, from which I purpose raising a
large stock. I fear that the climate of these Hills is
not likely to suit the plant, but 1 .shall at any rate
give it a fair trial.

10. Ipemcuanlta. — In my last year's report I wa.s
obliged to confess that I bad lost a large number
of these plants, but during the past year, Mr,
Jamieson, who has paid particular attention to again
getting up our stock, has now about :300 plants. I
saw a bed of Ipecacuanha growing very vigorously in
the teak forest at Nilambur, the climate of which
seems to suit it much better than that of Barliyar.

11. Pteroxijlon utile.— "Sit. Gamble gave me a con-
ssiderable amount of the seed of this valuable timber
tree, which is a native of South Africa. On dissect-
ing the seed it appeared to be perfectly sound, but
on attempting to germinate it in the green houses
at Ootacamund, I failed completely notwithstanding
that it was sown under several different conditions.
I am glad to hear from Mr. (Umble that he has
been more successful, so that this tree will, I hope,
be added the loiig list of timbers which will iu future
years adorn our Hills.

12. Mr. J. Gaiaiuie, dupe/iiUendeiit uf the Cinchuiui
Vlaiitaliom, Darjudiny.—Tn this gentleman I am in-
debted for the seeds of several useful or ornamental
plants growing in the neighbourhood of Darjeeling.
The chief of which are Pliccnix rnpicola, Arcca
gracilis, WaUiclda disticha, Calamus flaijellum, Holl-
heUia lati folia.

13. Mis6 Bakti' of Pecr/naad, Travancoie— To this
lady the gardens are indebted for sundry Impatiens
and Souerilas collected on the mountains of Travan-
core. None of them has yet tiowered, but to judge
from their leaves and their habit of growth, they
appear to be different species to those which we get
here, and as such will be of much interest.

Jlr. T. Banbury. — From the maguificeut donation
of seedu which we received from this gentleman
through Hifci Excellency the l-overuor last year, a
^ery large number of plants have been raised in the
green houses Among the most interesting of the
plants are the Acaciat-, many of which are new to
the gardens, and bid fair to be \ery ornamental.
i'uchiifi pi'ocu'mhcns also promises to make a fine
basket plant.

15. t'oiV*''*^-" Several of the Ooinfer;e grow magni-
ficently on the Nilgiris. (1) Finus iit^ignis.— Trees
of six years old are sixty feet in height, and those
of fifteen years of age yield an abundance of excellent
timber. (2) Cupressus torulosa. — Though not nearly
so rapid in. its growth as the former, this flourishes
well, and at the end of twenty-five years makes a
massive tree of si.Kty to .seventy feet in height. (3)
C)ipr(^.<'(-'^ macroco/rpa and its varietie.^i grows with
surprising rapidity, but from their branching character
arc more suited for the purposes as fuel than for
tipit>ti', (I) Cr,'/pi0nena Japoniw grows well while

young, and will, I have no doubt, grow into a fine
tree, but there arc none of any great age ou t!ie
Nilgiris,

It). Tristaida conferta, Syncarpia, CauriJ'olvJ- Amjup-
hora, siiJ)celuti>iii and Grevillea rob:tsta. — All grow
rapidly' and make fine trees. I was told that in the
AVynaad there were <lrii:illeas which had been planted
out only eighteen montlis, that were five and
twenty feet in height. It ought, however, never to
have been called OicviUea robu.st"., for it has in its
living state the most brittle wood I know. The
brauches are always snapping off with the slightest
breeze ; * but grown in sheltered places, it becomes
a noble tree. Its wood is beautifully grained and is
well adapted for all the purposes of the cabinet-
maker.

From the remarks of (Government on Mr. Lawson's
report we (|Uote as follows: —

8- Kvoticf^. — The f!overnment approve of the pro-
posal to grow the better sorts of Eucalyptus for
purposes of timber, and the attention of the
Conservator of Forests, Northern Division, will be
drawn to the subject. The Quilaja S(ipo>taria thrives
well in the climate of Ootacamund and can be
readily propagated by means of cuttings. It still
remains to be seen, however, whether the tree will
prove as valuable here as in its native country, Chili.
Tubers, of the Kumera (Convolvulus chr;/sorhi::ut,
Soland) have been raised and were found palatable.
The Director does not say whether these tubers were
grown at Ootacamund or, as purposed in his report
for ] 883-81, at Coonoor and Barliyar; nor does he
give any information regarding their probable value
as an article of diet for the people of this country. A
new tuber (Ullucus tvhi rosu.s) a native of South
America, which was received from Mr, ThLselton
Dyer, has been found to grow freely in the open air
at Ootacamund. The (government await further report
on its properties and value. The director is not able
to report upon the Arracacha (Arracacia esculcnto)
or the Cochin-Ohina tuberous-rooted vine, as the
former has not yet produced any tubers or the latter
any fruit. E.xperiments in the culture of hops have
been commenced: the (government await the results
with much interest, for the successful cultivation of
this product would probably prove of great advantage
to the ryots of the Nilgiri Hills. The failure in the
stock of Ipecacuanha plants which was reported last
year has been effectually remedied, but Mr. Lawsou
thinks that the climate of Nilambur is more suited
to this plant than that of Barliyar. The remarks on
the successful growth of certain Coiiijertr ou the
Nilgiris are iuteresting and will be communicated to
the Forest Department. The Director has omitted to
report the results of his experiments with the
Medicinal Rhubarb plant, rel"erred to iu his report
for 1SS4-85.

Plolghi.vi; .iND Ma>uki>(:. — (Jue of the most inter'
esting results of the agricultural experiments carried
out during the past two years at the Cawnpore ex«
peri mental farm is the establishment of the use of
woollen refuse as a manure. This refuse is turnod
out of the Cawnpore mills in large quantities, and
great difbculty is experienced in getting rid of it ou
any terms. Kecent experiment?;, however, have shown
that as a manure for wheat it produces results only
second to saltpetre. As saltpetre is an expensive
manure, and the woollen refuse costs next to nothing,
the discovery ought to be of some value to cultiv-
ators. Another point brought out is the importance
of deep ploughing. The average for all the experi-
ments showed that deep ploughing gave an increase
over ordinary shallow ploughing of 53'5 per cent,
when the land was ploughed 9 inches deep, and 43'5
per cent, when ploughed 5 inches deep, although the
number of shallow ploughings was twice as manj' as
of the deep. — Bombay Gazette.

* The tree grown in Ceylon as Grevillea rohusta
must buiely be a different variety, as it stands win<^
without the <ju»PinDg of the twig,— Ed,

Nov. I, 1

.fiis i^mpiQkL AmicuLwum\

2'y.

STBAY BOTANICAL NOTES FEOM A VISITOR
TO THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE, CEYLON.

Galle, 27th Sept. 188(3.

At about 12-30 yesterday a strong South- West
'blowiH[/,' accompanied by rain, began at Kahitara.
The rain soon ceased, but the monsoon blew
steadily and strongly nearly all the rest of the
day till about 8 p.m., when the mail coach ar-
rived at Galle. " Brucea Sumatrana" which the
late Dr. Gardener found common on the Hantane
range as an escape from the Royal Gardens of
Peradeniya, is become a very common plant about
Kalutara, and the " Scoparia dulcis,'' a West
Indian plant, and known as a " ballest plant"
which the writer of this tirst found growing at
Galle when on a visit in 1871, has now spread
in some mysterious way over considerable por-
tions of Ceylon. It was very conspicuous at Kalu-
tara and Galle, and whole fields of it were ob-
served near some of the tea estates at Awissa-
wella some years ago. The " Turnera ulmifolia,'
with its conspicuous light, yellow colored
flowers, is a roadside plant all over the West-
ern and Southern Provinces, whilst the lantana
of several hues seems to have taken complete
possession of tracts of the country from Mount
Lavinia to Galle. The fact that the portion of
Ceylon from Kalutara to Bentota is the most ex-
posed to the force of the S.-W. monsoon rains,
is amply exemplitied in the luxuriance of the bread-
fruit trees growing here, some of which must be
fully tiO to 70 feet in height, and coconut trees
upwards of 100, and other plants and trees in pro-
portion. In the Kachcheri grounds here, I noticed
a solitary old tree of " Dalbergia Sissoo," which
you will recollect, was introduced by the late Mr.
Anstruther from India as a timber tree that would
come to perfection in 20 years, and of which several
hundreds were planted as avenue trees in Colombo
and elsewhere about 30 to 35 years ago, but which
have all died out and I do not now recollect where
anyone in the Western Province exists. The late
Dr. Boake is my authority for stating that in the seeds
of this tree sown in the avenue of Queen's College
it was that the now common " Luccena glauca "
first sprung up. This is the white-flowered Acacia-
like plant now so common in and around Colombo
with fiat brown pods, the seeds of which are strung
together for necklaces Ac. I saw today at "Cbsenberg'
where Mr. Scott now lives, the Doum palms planted
by Captain Baj'ley some years ago, 3 or 4of them in full
fruit and a younger one just beginning to bifurcate.
This is the famous "HyphiTine thebaica' of upper
Egypt and is remarkable for the fact that it is a
branching palm always divided into two. There are two
of these which have divided four different times, so
that each of these have IG different heads bearing
fruits, instead of the original single head. There
are two of these singular palms in the Queen's House
grounds in Colombo, one of which has begun to
flower and bifurcate and another at Temple Trees,
the residence of the Messrs. Green, Kollupitiya.
With the exception of the bifurcations, this palm is
so like the palmyra, that it may be easily mistaken
for this common palm. — About 28 people drowned
here in the late storm.

The " Treasury of Botany " says : —

Hyphtene. A small genus of African palms con-
fined to and widely distributed throughout that con-
tinent, more particularly upon the eastern side, extend-
ing from Egypt as far south as Natal. The
genus is remarkable for having the stem branched, a ]
peculiarity not frequent among palms, each branch
terminating in a tuft of large fan-shaped leaves, from
amongst which the branching catkin-like spikes of
£7w&rs aveiroduced; tb9dit{9i'6ut sexes beipg boru^ '•
38

on separate trees. The fruit is about the size of an
apple, and has a tliicli mealy fibrous riud with a smooth
polished skin, enclosing a single hollow seed of a horny
coDsistsncy. i/. //(('ia<c«, the Doum or Doom Palm, or
Ginger-bread treeof Egypt, grows also iu Nubia, Abys-
sinia and Arabia. It seldom exeeds twenty -five or thirty
feet iu height, and its stem is frequently three or
four times forked or branched in old trees, tlimgh
when youug it is always simple. The fruits, which
are produced in long clusters, each coutaiuiug between
one and two hundred, are beautifully polished, of
a rich yellowish-brown colour, and of irregular form.
In Upper Egypt they form part of the food of the
poorer classes of inhabitants, the part eaten being
the fibrous mealy husk, which tastes almost exactly
like gingerbread, but its dry husky nature renders
it unpalatable. The hard tough wood is u~ed for
making various domestic utensils ; and rosaries
are cut out of the horny seed. See Plate 18. The
doom-palm of Egypt (H^pluene Thebaica) has a
trunk which divides iu a dichotomous manner; its
pericarp is used as food, and has a taste of ginger-
bread. Ill the parched districts between the rivers
Dande and Zenza, in tropical Africa, Welwitsch came
upon a palm forest five leagues in length, which con-
sisted exclusively of the crowded stems of a branched
palm belonging probably to Hi/phceae. Like most
African palms, this yields an excellent wine.

^

COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION:

BRITISH NORTH BORNEO.

North Borneo is a British colony unattached, iu this
respect occupying a po.'ition the converse of that of
Cyprus, but similar to that ot the Niger districts. It
is a part of tlie British Empire by virtue of the charter
granted to the company which owns it and governs itj
and is on a similar footing to that of many of our
colonies when first we began to expand beyond the seas,
and indeed, to India in the early days of " John Com-
panj'." But we have long ceased to make colonies after
this fashion, and it might be well to put an end to
the anomalous position of North Borneo by according
to it the dignity, rights and privileges of the other
members of our great colonial family. As it is, though
only a company's property, it has all the paraphern.alia
of a Crown colony. It has its Ooven.or, styled "Ex-
cellency by his subordinates, its colonial secretary and
treasurer, its residents and sub-residents, and ail the
other officials whose designations form so prominent
a feature in the Colonial Office List. Its interesting
and well-stocked little court forms a continuation of
that of the Straits Settlements. From a commercial
point of view timber is the most prominent and most
important exhibit. Like m.iny of the other colonies in
the Exhibition, North Borneo regards itself as the
great timberyard of the world. Timber it certainly
has in abundance; it is one vast forest, and of its
timber there are several kinds of great economical
value. One of the principal woods shown in the com t i.s
known as billian. a timber that sinks in water, is very
hard and durable, and is already being exported in
considerable quantities to Australia. Other timbers
are exported to China and the Straits Settlements
as well as Australia. North Borneo hns a consider"
able number of other woods which are siid to b3 of
great utility where strength and <lurab!iity arc re-
quired, such as russak, tapang, paluwan, greeting
camphor, sereah or Borneo cedar (used in Australia),
&c. There are also several good fiunitnre vioods to
be seen in the l^xhibition, of fine grain, and eapablo
of beautiful polish, resembling maliogan^- and walnut.
The Borneo forests are still practically virgin, and no
doubt the company will take warning from other
colonies that now lament the reckless destruction of
their forests. Timber does not as jet figure largely
among the exports of the embyro eoloi-.y, but with
its many converging streams, giving facilities forUoat-
ing down logs, and its really fine harboiu's, much might
be made of it in supplying .some of the comparatively
timberles-? couutries of the Far East, ^» far fts Europe

UijH

^m fmpicAL AaftictriLfyMBf. [Nov. i, tme,

rirnrrrmVttiaaattii

is concerned, there is so much timber of every descrip-
tion within easy reach that we doub*; it Borneo can
ever expect to do a large business in that direction.
Another natural product found in considerable quant-
ities, and fig:uring largely among exports, is a kind
of native gutta-percha of several kinds, specimens of
which may be seen in the court. There are also speci-
mens of indiarubber in the court., and it also is
stated to be found in abundance. Wc have also
that rare Chinese luxury, edible birds' nests, which are
found in enormous quantities and of various qualities,
some of the finer kinds fetching very large prices.
A considerable export trade is done in this product.
Kattans, of course, grow in profusion, and they form
oue of the most important items of export. Tortoise-
shell, |bees-wax, vegetabletallow, gums, and beche-de-mer
are other products to be seen in the court that can be
turned to considerable commercial account. Of minerals,
coal and gold are shown ; and these and other minerals,
— tin, antimony, iron, copper, and cinnabar, are said
to exist in abundance. This is probably true with
reference to coal, as the testimony of explorers
proves, and, if so, the comi)any will certainly be fortun-
ate. But the interest and duty of the company at
present are to demonstrate in a manner satisfactory
to practical men and possible settlers that these and
other resources do exist in the abundance conjectured.
No mere vague statements will produce much effect.

As to cultivated products, there seems little doubt
that the soil of North Bo;neo is well adapted for nearly
all tropical cultuies. Tobacco, sago, pepper, gambler,
Manila hemp, sugar are shown in this court ; while the
natives largely cultivate rice. A German company has
entered on the cultivation of tobacco, and a report we
have seen speaks well of the results. It compares the
Borneo tobacco to that of Sumatra, and we believe
Sumatra tobacco has actually been introduced. No
doubt the tobacco is good enough, and its culture
deserves encouragement; but it seems to us premature
to bring it forward as something exceptionally superior.
The company certainly oifer liberal terms to planters
and settlers, and even advance money to those in want
of capita], under certain conditians. We believe a
Chinese company are at work with capital partly ad-
vanced by the company. Ii is doubtful whether the
natives themselves will ever be of much service in de-
veloping Ihe colony, and it would certainly bo a good
thing for the company if they could induce Chinese to
immigrate in large numbers.

The court abounds in " curies " and in articles of
native manufacture and ethnological interest. The
clothes and apparel used by the Dusuns, the principal
tribe of the colony, are abundantly representdl, as well as
implements and "weapons and ornaments. There are a
Dusun winnowing machine, plough, rice decorticator,
harrow, reaping knife, distaff ; a bamboo lyre, knives,
war apparel, shields, a curious coat of mail, swords,
kri", a poogun used in producing fire, and other such
anic'es, in'ereeting to ci>nip:iro with similar exhibits
in other courts in which sf mi-barbarous features are
nroiuiueiit. The Malay cxccutijn kriij if* an ugly look-
ing we^tpon ; whi c we ;*re Rlad to !^ce the last pirate
Jiatr, ttikti) i.u lAirvell'-jty iu April, 1HM,5, and a model
Of a pirats boiit,

The ci)W\:!ihy bn.vs; eertnisjly nrquircd oue of liic
cbl•ic"^t bits of a fine island) iududiug an area of <JI,OJO
aquarc mileH, wit!\ a co.a.'st-lluc of fiOO milen, con-
taining several inagnificent harbours. OnS ct the
best of these is Saudakan Bay, in which stmidtJ the
*!bicf settlement, .Sandakan. On thifi area the esti-
«latf'1 population is only 150,000. — Mahomedan Malays
with nil i'lfusio!! of Cliincse aiul Arab blood on the
coast, and v..r^aus abotiginal tribes, mainly Dumuis,
in the int( rior. The country ie well watered, some
of the rivi rs being navigable for small craft for a cou-
Biilerable distance. There are picturesque mountain
ran!re,«i averaging G,000 ft., rising in Ivina Balu to
13,700 ft., a jjicturc of which forms one of the decor-
ations of the court. Elephants, rhinoceroses, butfa-
\oiK, and other large game are found, and willdoubt-
Icjs afford fair sport for some time to come. _ The
territory was ceded to Mr. Dent and others in 1877~S7
by the' Sultwis of l^r^ilei fuul Sulu, aocj the cyoi-

pany, was formed, and chartered in 1882. The com-
pany, we understand, act only as administrators,
preferring to rent the land to settlers able to de-
velop it. The ports are free, but a royalty of 10
per cent is charged on the export of jungle pro-
duce ; the bulk of the revenue, however, is de-
rived from farming the right to sell opium, to-
bacco, and s])irits. During the short time the
company have been in possession of the territory
the progress has been marked. The revenue
has increased from §20,297 in 1881 to Sl0(J,19O in 1885,
and is estimated at > 127,886 for 1886. The expenditure
has not increased in anything like the same proportion ;
in 1881 it was sl08,294 ; in 1835, $202,075. The ex- .
ports, again, have advanced from Sl-45,-143 in 1881 to
$387,757 in 1885. To illustrate the hopeful prospects
of this infant colony, tlie rapid progress of the com-
merce of Hongkong and the Straits Settlements is ad-
duced. But it seems to be forgotten that this progress
is almost entirely due to the importance of these two
colonies as emporia for the trade of the Far East, and
not to any great extent to the development of native
resources, of which Hongkong has none. We doubt if
there is room for a third entrepot so near to Singapore
as North Borneo is. Let the company by all means en-
deavour to attract trade to its harbours, but it seems to
us that the prosperity of the colony must depend
mainly on the development of its natural resources, and
the culture of the tropical products for which its soil
and climate are so well adapted. As to climate, it
seems fairly well fitted for European residence, under
the precautions which should be taken in every tropical
couutry.

It is to be expected that the colony will soon be-
comeau Imperial possession. And, if go, it might be
advisable to consider whether an arrangement could
not be made by which for administrative purposes it
might be combined with Sarawak and Brunei; for
we believe it would not be difficult to persuade the
Sultan of the latter to part with his rights for a
moderate consideration, while Rajah Brooke, of Sar-
awak, might not object to be placed under Imperial
protection. The North Borneo Company certainly de-
serve credit for the very effective steps they have taken
to explore the'r territory and take stock of its resources;
and if they could only succeed in attractiog capital and
labour probably much could be made of it. They have
had several zealous and competent officials, who have
done good work for science as well as for the company.
Among the names that ought to be mentioned in con-
nexion with this court are those of the Executive Com-
missioner, Sir Hutherford Alcock, chairman of the com-
pany ; Mr. Alfred Dent and Mr. William Kidner, Com-
missioners, and Mr. W. M. Crocker, Afsistant Com-
missioner.— London Tunes.

TKA AS AN INVESTMENT FOR CAPITAL.

The Stail.f/,\n a recent article, called attontiou to the
favourable prospects of Tea cultivation in India and
Ceylon, .5tatinK that " The profits of the Indian Tea
Companies," \\^ierc there has been the combination of
careful management and freedom from debt, have
been very satisfactory in several iiistauccs. The
Assam, tlic Darjocling, and tho Lobong Companies
have yielded good dividends in face of claiming prices
of the produce. The dividoufls pflid arc set out below
iox i'eferci>cc, O'Tid wo add tho price por lb. realiscci
for the toa sent home for sale ;—

" Dividends at per cent, per aununi, and price pel*
lb. realised (exclusive of exchange) for Tea sold by
undermentioned Indian Tea Companies :—

Assam. 18Si. 18S:5. 18S2. 1881. iHgy,

11

10

Dividends.. U
Trice of Tea 11 ;d

Darjceling.
Dividends.. 7
Price of Tea la aid

Lcbong,

Dividends.. it l» « 7 H

Trice of Tea Is 1 l-5d Is 5 2r.d Is od Is G|d Is l|d
" Provided, then, that estates are acquired at reason^
able prices, that able miuagcmeut ia secured, an<J tb»t

Is Id Is 1 7-lGd l8 ijd l3 lid

7A tl 8 T^

Is lijd Is 3^d Is 7^d la b^i

Mov. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

m

the capital raised is in the form of shares and no pow-
ers are given to mortgage estates, there ought to be
some chauces for the legitimate Oompany-yromoter."

To the above list may be added the Brahmapootra
Company : —

Brahmapootra 1884 1883 1882 1881 1880

Dividends 15 12*: 9 U 7

Price of Tea Is 2.9d Is 1.5d Is 3.62d Is 4.77d Is 1.9 Id

All these Companies fulfill the conditions laid down
by the writer in the Statist as necessary for_ success,
being ably managed, free from debt, and having their
capital raised in the form of shares.

Since the above was written, three of the four Com-
panies named have declared improved dividends, the
I<ebong Company remaining at 9 o/o, viz : —

Assam Darjeeliug Lebong Brahmapootra
Dividend Co. Co. Co. Co.

for 1885 2U o 0 8 00 9 0/0 10 o o

Amount paid

per Share £20 £20 £10 £25

Approximate
Selling Price £42 £24 £12 £46

Yielding at these selling prices, and at the average
rates of dividend for the two years 1884 and 1885, the
following percentages, viz. : —

Assam Darjeeling Lebong Brahmapootra
Co. Co. Co. Co.

£8 Is lOd £6 5s £7 lOs £8 8s 6d

Equal to years'

purchase 12i yrs. 16 yrs. 13* yrs. HJ yrs.

There is a liability on the shares of the Assam Com-
pany for a further call of £10 a share.

The Jorehaut Company have declared a dividend at
the rate of 15 per cent, and their £20 shares are quoted
at £42, thus showing a return of £7 2s lOd per cent on
that selling price, or fourteen years' purchase.

The Home ami Colonial Mall of the IGth July, in an
article on Tea as an investment, remarks : " It is some-
what surprising that with such handsome results Tea
is not a more favourite investment among English people.
The shares it is true are not quoted on the Stock Ex-
change, and for this reason probably little is known
among the general public of the advantages of Tea as
an investment." August, 1886.

THE PEOSPECTS OF CINCHONA BABK.
The most interesting Report we have seen for
some time on the condition and prospects of the
Cinchona Bark market is that of Messrs. Lewis
and Peat received by last mail. It affords a very
fair summary of the latest information from the
different cinchona-growing countries and we learn
from it for the first time, the important fact that
Java shipped Ir} million lb. of bark in the 12
months ending HOth June last, while larger quant-
ities are expected in the future. We give the
report here in full; —

CINCHONA BARK.

CEYLON, INDIA, JAVA &C.

Mincing Lane, London, E. C, Sept. 17th, 1886.

The extraordinary and continuous increase in the sup-
ply from Cci/loti shows no abatement, and has bafflsd
the calculations of those who relied on previous ex-
perience, and on the information circulated from Ceylon
itself, especially in the early part of this last year's
harvestings.

(.Quantity (in pounds) offered since 1st January to
date : —

Ceylon East India Java Total

1880 9,4.57,762 702.614 301,477 10,461,853
1885 7,890,702 495,738 95,659 8,482,099

1884 6,214,636 404,000 86,144 6,704,830
We expect the shipments from Ceylon from Sept.

1885 to Oct. 1880 will total 15^- million pounds.

Hence the greatly reduced price (about 3d per lb. per
unit) which is today's value.

The i-atige of future values will, as in the past, depend
m( If on tho Mi)>ply than anythirg else ; for as we iiave

frequently observed, the capacity of this trade, the
greatly increised actual consumption of bark and its
products, is shown by the facts of deliveries and stocks
to be far in excess of the ideas of those new to the trade,
few of whom have had, as we have had, the privilege
of dealing personally for half a century in the disposal
of a large part of this article. But so overwhelming
and rapid an increase in the supply, — at a time when
seiious depreciation in the values of all produce was
the order of the day, though startling and fatal perhaps
to the prospects of many of our Eastern planters and
friends,— has not resulted in anything approaching hope-
lees views for the future, as the manufacturers have
adapted themselves to the altered state of things, and
the novel mode of handling this article (too abuudaot
supphes being forced on the market each fortnight)
with wonderful composure and cleverness.

We think it apparent, however, that the limit for the
present has been reached, and that any further material
iiicreaseof siqjplif would be disastrous to the trade and
reduce va.lues possibly considerably. No great war has
occurred during the last year to increase largely the
consumption of Sulphate (Quinine, but the opening of
Burmah to British rule, the settlements in Central
Africa, .specially on the Congo, and the new awakening
of China, and consequent intercourse and sojourn in
these countries of Europeans and Americans, will tend
to greater demands in the future for this invaluable
medicine, now so universally prescribed. The manu-
facture of the Sulphate the past year or two has, how-
ever, been excessive, and stocks of this too are large.

The imports from Ceylon have fairly maintained
their quality, and the packing and condition of the
Bark has left little to be desired. Spokeshavings and
stem chips have formed a large and valuable bu'k
of our imports, and have met a ready sale, bright
clean bold lots often realising high figures for other
medicinal purposes besides quinine making. Of re-
newed Bark the proportion has been good. Boot has
sold well, especially Crown. Quills, when fresh silvery,
of even lengths, in cases of 100 to 120 lbs. weight, have
sold at high rates : press-packed, broken and ragged
immature lots have sold very badly. Young branch
and twigs have come in large quantities, and have
sold at low prices, helping to swell the supply and
our stocks ; and some of scarcely any value to Quinine
manufacturers. It is said the great increase in supply
is largely owing to the cutting down and pulling" up
of so many Cinchona trees for Tea planting, and that
we shall see a great reduction consequently in the
future supply ; time alone will shew.

The supply from y«iY( shews a steady increase, but
as yet nothing alarming, total shipments from Java
1st July I8S0 to 30th June 1886, li million pounds.
The richness of quality, however, of much of it, will
make this a very important factor in our supply, and
we are told we may expect large quantities in future
years. The general condition of mercantilt affairs in
that Island, mainly owing to the depreciation of the
sugar industry, and consequently the reduced credits
from Holland may help to retard the otherwise prob-
able excessive outlay in this industry.

Our supplies from Central America have contin-
ued insigniticant, and the great cost of transit from
the interior (and according to their previous ex-
perience), the ruinous rates now ruling for Bark render
it unlikely that we shall receive any appreciable
quantities for a long time thence. The "Bark is there,
it must be remembered, in enormous forests of variou.s
descriptions, and when prices allow, and collection
and transit are cheaper and easier, we may expect
the United States of Columbia, Ecuador and New
(iranada to obtain once moro a place of great i.ii-
portaiice in our supply of this product.

Bolivia continues hor averaKo supply, and of rich
quality of quill bark, much being from cultivated
plantations.

India, Darjeeling, and the Wynaad and Ncilgher-
ries are m^iking still further developments, but
current lov.- values will not encourage them in great
outlay for the present.

We'st Indies, Africa (St. Thomas), which Inis sent
small poor lots, shews little prospect of becoming an
import int source .'f su iply.

Idd

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [Nov. i. 1886.

It must be remembered that it is more true today
than ever, that t}ie stocks for the world are in
London, and the fortnightly regular auctions held
here are the guide and controlling influence of
values, and of supply and demand. Both New York
and Paris hold. greatly reduced stocks of Bark as
compared with former years.

The consumption of Sulphate of Quinine in America
is euoniious and progressive.

The titatistics on the other side will be of interest,
and wo beg reference to our regular fortnightly
Prices Current on this article. — Your obedient ser-
vants, Lewis & Peat, Brokers.

We cannot lind room for the valuable statistics
appended to this lieport, but these will be given
in our Tropical Agricultitrist. We may mention
however, that out of 12/241,600 lb. total deliveries of
bark in 1883-1:, as many as 5,320,000 lb. were of
South and Central American barks; while in 1881-5 the
proportions were 1,101,720 lb. out of 11,186,720 lb.;
and in 1885-6, only 2,900,000 lb. of American
bark out of 11,900,0001b. delivered. As to Stock,
the estimate is for 1st September, Ceylon, Indian
and Java barks 2,229,810 lb. against 7,980,000 lb.
American, doubtless being held for prices. But
the total stock is only about the same as 1st
September 1885 and 20 per cent less than on 1st
September 1881.

As regards the prospects in Java, we have had
the following placed at our disposal : — 8

Extract from Mr. G. Tolson's letter of 24th August
1886: — " We certainly shall be shipping more and more
cinchona every year from Java, but nothing like what
Ceylon has done. If we ship one million lb. during
the next two years it will be A 1. But we don't
expect liigher prices so long as Ceylon sends such a
lot forward.

We mayalsD quote from the private reports of
merchants in London as follows : —

" We have 250,000 lb. of real giiod stem aud plenty
more to come, and 1 am much interested in the fviture
of bark. The stock here is not considered excessive,
60,000 bales, one year's consumption. They know more
about Java in Jjondon than we do in Ceylon. Van
Goorkem the man who has written about cinchona in
Java estimates the acreage of that island at 20,000
acres aud the production during the next 5 years at
1,000,000 to 5,000,000 lb. per anuum. The exports
from Java this year are \h million pounds aud this
is excessive as ihey have peeled up a lot of inferior to
make room for Ledgers instead. I wrote to a reliable
person in India: — "What is the probable production
of Southern India, during next three years." He
ro))liod: 1, li, and 2.^ millions per annum.

It is most diiiicult to learn anything satisfactory
'about cinchona. Tlie Mincing Lane Brokers de-
clare we have driven S. America out of the market
and hardly any comes from there now. The produc-
tion nilSSO and 1881 wlien2i per cent and 3 percent
stuff was worth 2s Od and 3s, was 24,000,000 lb per
annum and now it is not much in excess of that, yet
price has gone down to 3Ad a unit. Howard says
that the price entirely depends on Ceylon exports.

" Cinchona. — Sales advertised for next week com-
lirise some 2,200 lb. Ceylon, which is a large supply.
The market for Quinine has developed further weak-
ness and sales of Gf rnian have been made at Is lOd
per oz. We fear this will affect the price of bark
to some extent and we anxiously look for a material
deelinc in shipments from your side.''

From all this it may readily be judged how much
depends on the outturn and distribution of the
Coylon Cinchona Bark exports and this brings us
Lack to the proposed Syndicate, regarding which
we shall have more to yay in an early issue.

ri!OST ON THE NiLiGiuis. — The South of India

oh^eirer of 18th September states :— The fall of

frost at this lime of the year is unprecedented.

^'C)t even in the j-ecoJlectioji of that ubiquitous

animal, the oldest resident, can such a circum-
stance be called to memory, yet we have to
record a small fall of frost on the morning of
Friday and again today.

EuEA. — The secrecy observed in connection with the
cultivation and manipulation of Khca fibre is causing
great harm. It is strengthening the impression that
the whole thing is a failure and a delusion. If the
machinery is refractory, the fact should be known with
a view to stimulate enquiry aud inventive genius.
If Mr. Minchin is now on the steaming ami chemical
processes, we presume, it is because the Death and
Eilwood machines have not turned out according to ex-
pectation.— Nlhiiri Exjivesf.

Thk Government of Trinidad has taken a wise
step to encourage local industry in forwarding $40
to each of the District Agricultural Boards, ""it is
not a very large sum, to be sure, but it (vill encour-
age those boards to make an effort to develop the
minor industries in their several districts. If good
results should follow the action of the Governor,
he may perhaps be disposed to make a further and
still larger grant. Anyway, it is a step in the right
direction, and ought to be the means of doing much
good among the agricultural classes. — Colonies and
India.

C.\cxus Edging is finding favor in Bombay. In
an economical point of view it is an extremely
cheap undertaking, and as a safe-guard and pre-
ventive against the inroads of animals or intruders,
it is unparalleled. It is an erroneous idea that
long rested in the public mind, that this genus of
succulent plants afford harbourage for snakes.
We should prefer Aloe fencing. [On the above, from
the Indian Enyineer, we would remark that cactus
has an inconvenient tendency to spread laterally.
Aloes, on the other hand, will, in about a score of
years, or less, flower and die down. — Ed.J

Aloes and White Ants: is it True:-' A recent
traveller states : — I noticed that for the most part
the hedges of the Madras Railway were composed
of the common aloe plant. It is still a conundrum mmy
mind from which of two causes this came about. It may
be that aloes form a good fence to keep cattle off
the line. Possibly it originated from a knowledge
of the fact that white ants will at once leave any
place if you take aloe leaves and bruise them and
place the bruised leaves on or near their runs as I
know from experience, or as I have heard, if you
mix aloe juice with the mortar when building a
house, the white ants will never come near it. So
it may be a well considered design to protect the
sleepers of the railway. — Soutli of India. Ohsn-rer.

Effect of i.ong-continued Vegetaut.e Deposit on
Soil. — The following extract from an article in the
Indian Forester on deterioration and recovery of
forest soils, has a good deal of bearing, probably,
on the history of some of our Ceylon patenas: —
" Over large extents of Motipur and Chakia, the soil,
now supporting vigorous sill growth, would be un-
doubtedly very stiff in quality, but for the large
admixture, in its substance, of vegetable manure.
It is my opinion, therefore, that we have in Bhiuga
nothing more than an instance of soil deterioration on
a gigantic scale, a deterioration that has progressed
slowly through generations of time, the inevitable
consequence of unceasing destruction by man, of
pasture, fires, exposure to sun and air, and the
resulting exhaustion of that onl;/ element of oriyinal
fertdity in this otherwise purely arijillaceous soil.
Restore this vegetable manure, and, in my opinion,
you restore the forest at one and the same time.
But this restoration signifies no more fires, no more
pasture, no more fellings, no more removal of pro-
duce— not even grass— -for two score of years." If a
tract of pateua were enclosed aud treated as a forest
reserve, suitable trees being planted in succession as
the soil was improved by the fallen leaves, in half
a century we should probably have not only fine
forest trees but lanil Liiiinently suited for tea culture.
Such an experiment ought to be made.

Nov. If 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

301

. ♦

To the Editor of the " Ceylon Observer."

WASHING COLOURED COTTONS SO AS TO

RETAIN THEIR COLOUlt.

Matale, 20th Sept. 1886.
Sir, — In reply to " Outstation" 's letter in yotir issue
of 19th instant I beg to say that coloured cotton frocks
may be frequently washed and their good looks retained
by attention to a few simple precautious, A small
bag of bran (1 lb. will be sufficient) should be left for
some hours in the water (cold) in which they are to
be washed. Very little soap should be used, and that
little ought to be white curd soap, not the dhoby's
inevitable " salt soap," which contains much irte
alkali and various crudities most destructive to deli-
cate colors. A large handful of table salt should be
dissolved in the water in which the frocks are finally
rinsed, previous to the application of "congee". The
salt "' sets " the colours if there be more than one in the
dress and prevents their " running into each other."
The frocks should at once be put to dry in a
shady place, if possible in a current of air. It is
important that drying ibe accomplished with all
speed. Any intelligontdhoby will carry out these direc-
tions, especially if he knows a " santosvm " is forth-
coming to reward his extra trouble. At the samf time,
from sad experience, I would remind " outstation "
that many of the pretty, inexpensive cottons cannot
be washed successfully, as in nearly every instance they
derive their colours from aniline dyes. In this category
may be classed almost all pale blues, creams, greys, fawns.
and those delicate " tertiary " shades now so much
worn, and if striped or spotted with a different colour,
or colours, the dyes are pretty sure to amalgamate
very inartistically in the wash-tub. Most shades of
cardinal, strawberry, navy, or indigo, and notably pink
zephyr may be said to be "diehard" colours, as with
careful washing they retain tbeir freshness till the
last. I may add, that a pretty shade of cream may
be communicated to lace and cotton frocks, etc., by
substituting for the usual laundry blue a little of the
liquid from a few bruised arnatto seeds.

VANITY FAIR.

INSECT PESTS.

Haddington, Hatton, .5th Oct. 1886.
Dear Sir, — I am sending you by this day's post
two caterpillars or grubs, which I found this
morning on a tea bush in a 1") months' old clear-
ing, on Kudaoya estate. The bush was entirely
stripped of its leaves. The grubs seemed to have
worked their way steadily upwards from the bottom
of the bush, eating the leaves, old and young, as they
happened to come across them. There were six
of them on the bush. I send the twig also on which
the grubs were. I have never seen anything like
them in the course of my tea experience, and it
will be most interesting to know what they really
are.— Yours faithfully, T. J. TORRIE.

[Larva of Stauropus Alternus (grey coloured moth);
family Notodontida' : (pretty common and not much
to be feared.) — Entomolociieal referee.']

ON THE DESTRUCTION OF SMALL

BIRDS, AND ON FEATHERS AND

POOCHIES.

Dear Sir, — In the May number of the Tiopical

Ar/riciiJfinisf, there is a long statistical article on the

"Trade in Feathers," see vol. V. No. 11, page 782,

from the Journal of the iS'ocirti/ of Arts. The figures

given are probably far below the actual amount

both as to the money value of the trade, and the

number of birds slaughtered, and it may be fairly

.stated that for every bird's skin wliich finds its way

to market, four birds have been destroyed and that

frequently or mostly in the breeding season. Many

skins are rendered useless by being shot to pieces,

■•MK

many are spoiled by " bird lime,'' many are rendered
usele.>5S in skinnmg and many'more are spoiled for
want of skill or the proper means of preparing them,
so that they will keep. I quote from the article
in question : '' The average annual importation into
this country and France of small foreign birds of
bright plumage is no less than a million and-a-half.
They come mainly to England for distribution.
We import about quarter-a-million Humming-birds
yearly. At a puDlic sale in the Autumn of last
year, besides the loose feathers, 147,.S86 bird's skina
were disposed of daring the two days sale among
which were no less than 44,381 green or Amazon
parrots and other species." Is not this wanton de-
struction ? My poor little Humming-birds that used to
nest every Spring in the yellow-scented flowering
currant " Ribes Aureum," at my bed room window.
I know not which was the most beautiful and
pleasant after the long American winter, the beautiful
little bird or the sweet scented shrubs they fre-
quented. I consider the Humming-bird, perhaps,
the most perfect and beautiful of all the feathered
tribe. I will not even except the great bird of
Paradise and the Lyre bird in their native habitat
in the Malay Islands. The article and statistics I
have alluded to, are well-worth the attention and
careful perusal of all who take an intelligent in-
terest in Agriculture, Horticulture and Arboriculture.
It is useless to recapitulate the figures already
published, but I may quote again as to the value
of the birds and feathers imported. " In 1H83 the
import of birds was £1.55,240 stg., ornamental
feathers .£2,011,;)2ti. ' This seems an enormous sum
to be derived from such a source, no wonder that
our rice fields and our wheat fields are being de-
stroyed by insects when we are ruthlessly de-
stroying our natural protectors. How many of our
Government officials or planters know that in Cey-
loii, there is a considerable trade in bird skins to
India '? In Badulla, often when coolies are sick or
not to be found they are bird catching in the
chenas or lowcountry. AVhere they sell the skins
I do not know, probably to the Moor traders in
'the lowcountry. "Civilized" man is the most rutli-
less destroyer of all animals : the wild beast kills
that he may eat and live, the savage Indian will
not wantonly destroy game, but the sportsman
will kill for the slieer love of slaughter and excite-
ment. No wild beast of the forest will do this, but
what is to be said of the gentler sex, the better-
half of mankind, when a quarter of a million multi-
plied by four for those that are spoiled or wasted,
say a million poor little Humming-birds are
slaughtered every year to be worn as ornaments
for the person. Adding the above figures together
for value of bird's feathers and skins imported,
we have ,£2,167,100 stg., a trade not to be lightly
sacrificed, but it is not necessary that this trade
should be entirely sacrificed. The ostrich producing
the most valuable of all feathers is now domestic-
ated, peafowl are domesticated, pheasants are dom-
esticated, all the Heron tribe are easily domestic-
ated and many other feather-producing birds may
be domesticated profitably for their feathers. The
Astecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru kept their
most beaiitiful birds in aviaries to obtain uuinjured
the feathers with which they produced their most
exquisite feather work, but to return to figures as
above, £2,107,100 is a large sum, but at what cost
is it obtained ; the destruction of birds has cost the
world in grain and fruit-yielding plants more than
this many hundred times over. Take the Genesis
valley in the State of New York, long considered
the garden of the Northern states, it produced the
finest wheat and the largest yield per acre of all
the wheat fields of America, where is the wheat
now? — utterly ruined and gone ; destroyed by insects
because there were no birds to keep tiiem within
bounds, I have no statistics, but can put it this way.
Tlie Rocliester Hour mills, long said to be tlie largest
and iinest in the world, turning out the finest flour on
the American continent, the capacity of one mill alone
was, I believe, said to be 1.000 brls. (one tliouaand bar-
rols) in the 24 hours or say 300,000 brls. per animm,
value say $7 per brl— $9,100,000, I do not claim ».ro^-

302

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, iS86,

racy for these figures for the vahie of flour like every
thing else, fluctuates 'and few or no mills are run
to their full capacity uight and day all the ye.ir
round ; still my figures are not far wrong and I would
ask where is the profit in destroying our small birds ?
First the Hessian fly attacked the wheat, a small
insect which deposited its eggs in the first joint of
the straw above ground and just as the wheat began
to ripen, the larvw cut the joint and the crop was
ruined and the remnant of grain left uninjured could
hardly be cradled or cut owing to the straggling
straws; then came the midge, a small fly which de-
posited its eggs in the ear of the grain, just after
it had blossomed and the wheat was destroyed ni the
milk; and what to all appearance seemed a magni-
ficient field of wheat on examination was found to
contain not wheat, but millions of little red maggots.
The cultivation of wheat has had to be abandoned in
the Genesee valley, this is the result of destroy-
ing the equilibrium of Nature by felling all the
forest and killing all the birds. The Hessian fly is
said to have found its way to England, but fortun-
ately England may still be called a "sylvan " country,
and" we are too fond of our feathered songster.? to
destroy them. The destruction of insectivorous birds
is to Ceylon a very serious one; this season in Uva
lias been most favourable for paddy, yet the crop
reaped has been very light, all caused by " poochies,"
but what I plead most for are my pet humming-
birds, my swallows, my cocos and my sparrows.
The liumming-bird is foiind only in America, and in
no other part of the world ; there are a great many
varieties and all are birds of passage ; they are found
from Terra del Fuego to Hudson's Bay, to the very
utmost limit of flowering shrubs and from the Atlantic
to the Pacific. Humbodt in his " Travels in South
America," mentions having seen the humming-bird
in some of the highest passes of the Chilian or
Peruvian Andes : they flit with the flowers, and their
favourite food is in the earliest Spring blossoms.
I knew so soon as I saw the first blossom open
on the Miserion, the Finns Japonica, and the sweet
scented currant, that my little birds were not
far off. I do not think any lady would ever again
wear a humming-bird in her hat or as ornament
had she seen them, as I have done in Canada, after
the long cold winter flitting from flower to flower,
fearlessly entering the breakfast room, flashing about
brilliant as emeralds and rubies set in burnished
gold, sipping the honey from the hyacinth or Spring-
flowers on the breakfast table; constantly returning
to their tiny nest under the window to feed their
two little fledgelings, for they lay but two eggs and
if the present ruthless slaughter is to be continued
it will not take long to exterminate them. It is a
mistake to suppose that the humming-bird lives en-
tirely on honey, they are also insectivorous, and as
such most valuable in a flower garden, but the de-
struction of the swallows is worse than all the others.
They are entirely insectivorous and do no harm to
anything. Look at the swallow skimming a paddy-field
or a wheat field, the swallow is the salvation of our
crops. In America they have been nearly exter-
minated to supply the Paris market, the color of the
common American swallow having been found to
match admirably some new colour or "Mode." It
used to be a sight worth seeing in American autumn
when the swallows were preparing for their flight
southwards, the old birds had probably had two
broods of little ones, during the summer. Old and young
in the autumn would collect on the ridges of houses
and barns but their favourite place of resting was
tlie telegraph wires, where they congregated in vast
numbers, taking occasional flights to see if the young
birds were strong enough on the wing to take their
southern flight; in one day they disappeared how,
when, or where, or if in the night no one knows.
The Americans blame the introduction of the English
sparriaw for driving away the native birds and also
say the sparrow destroys the blossom buds of the
orchard in Spring and the fiat has gone forth that
jack sparrow is to be exterminated, (if they can).
Fools, it is their own insatiable greed and the law
which is no law at all and protects nothing, but allows
(>vorvono to do as he pleases. Younught as well tcH one,

it is the English sparrow has exterminated the Salmon
from every river and the trout from nearly every stream
and river in New England and New York. Mr. Downall
should aud must see to our Ceylon birds. A Sinhalese
goya will plough all day in his muddy paddy-field and
the coco is his companion li ':e the rook following
the plough picking up the grubs and slugs which
would otherwise destroy his crop 3. The goya may be
and often is hungry, but he will not kill liis coco birds
either to eat them or sell their feathers, and why should
the stranger or others be allowed to do so for any pur-
pose whatever, Here is an extract from the Sunday
Maijazine of June last; " In the State of Maine the
sparrows were ordered to be dastroyed ; the order was
carried into eft'ect, next year the crops and even green
trees were destroyed by citarpillars. At Auxeria a
similar order was given with precisely the same effect;
in the County of Oxford the farmers clubbed and des-
troj'ed all the sparrows and small birds on account of
the grain they destroyed, the clergyman alone protected
them iu his garden and encouraged them; he had that
season the only fruit crop 'u the parish and it was
unusually large, caterpillars and other pests literally
swarmed elsewhere. " My i.'riend, I a.sk, sparrow is an
impudent bird and will steal from my breakfast table,
but he is not particular; he will also eat cockroaches,
in the earl^ Spring ; iu cold countries he will feed on the
buds of trees in the garden or the orchard, but he
much prefers the buds on the trips of succulent
shoots to the blossom buds on the dry fruit spurs
of an apple tree. Our birds must be protected or
we will suft'er serious injury; that they destroy or live
on grain and young plants is to a certain extent
true, but they do infinitely more good than harm and I
can plead for my feathered friends as Burns did
for the field-mouse in his well known lines :

" A daiman icker in a thrave
'S a sma request

I '11 get a blessia wi' the lave
And never miss't.

JAMES IRVINE.

Ventnoe, Isle of Wight. — At Stcephill Cattle, an
Araucaria imhricata, about 40 feet high, lias had
nearly 40 cones, each twice the size of ordinary
coconuts, this season. A Chamwrops Fortimii, one
of Robert Fortune's palms introduced from China,
has beeu in full bloom throughout the season at East
Dene, near Ventnor. — Journal of lori'stn/.

Future Cinchon.\ JBaejc Supplies. — Mr. John
Hamilton who is a very good authority on the cin-
chona market, writing to us from London, says : — "I
quite agree with you that Ceylon people have more to
fear from themselves than from any bark ship-
ments that Java may send for the next four years.
In view of the great fall in the value of bark,
Ceylon men should decide only to send their good
barks home, and keep their common kinds and
twigs packed away on the estates for shipment nine
months hence, or perhaps a year. It will all be
wanted some day, but a combined eflort is necessary
to relieve the present tension." This again would
seem to point to some such combination as is
indicated in the Syndicate.

Jafina Coconut Planting. — If coconut planting were
not a success, and a decided success, we would really be
unable to account for the fact of the Catholic Mission
taking to it iu right good earnest. AVe know of one
coconut planter, the owner of almost half a dozen Pach-
chilapallai estates, whose views about coconut planting
are not very encouraging and who.se faith as to the pro-
ductiveness of existing estates on an appreciably remu-
uorative scale is rather shaky, liut he is po.ssibly mis-
taken. It is a conviction that coconut planting on an
extensive scale is a safe aud profitable investment aud
not one in which money is thrown away, that has in-
duced the local bead of the Catholic iMissioii to devote a
large sum out of his private means, as we are told, to
the purchase of a coconut estate and of 300 acres of
Crown land, part of which has been already cleared and
planted.— "Ceylon Patriot."

Nov. I, i8g6.]

THE TROPICAL AGkiCULTURlST,

5'-^j

THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION :

TKINIDAD.

The cocoa or cacao of Tricidad has a greater name
than its sugar. The value of the (juantity exported
was 4J1,974/. in 1885, as against (381,67.">' for sugar.
In 1829 the export was scarcely 3,000,000 lb. ; in
1885 it was nearly 14,000,000 ; an increase of lo3 per
cent in less than fifty years. Coconuts ;ire the
only other native export of importance. The cocoa
palm grows luxuriantly along the sandy shores of
the southern and eastern coasts of the island, and,
although the simplest, it is far from being the least
profitable of the agricultural industries of the colony.
Tlie number of coconuts exported, which has risen
from 4,450,840 in 1870 to 11,270',339 in 1881 proves
that it is a paj'ing and a progressive one, and it is
stated to be well suited to capitalists who can afford
to wait for a return. Beyond the purchase money
of the land and the expense of putting in the plan
but little expenditure is necessary, and when fully
established, say at the end of eight years, it will
give regularly a net income of from 80 cents to $1
(3s. id. to 4s. L'd.) per tree. In Trinidad the cocoa
palm has been known to flower when only three
years old, and generally bears at between five and
six years ; but it does not bear fully until eight years,
old. To a limited extent there is a manufacture of coco-
nut oil, and that industry has recently shown signs of
revival. Hitherto about 45,000 gallons have been
manufactured annually. Amongst the products which
thrive well in the colony, though they have not been
extensively cultivated so far, are coffee (for which
a ready sale can always be found in the local market),
tea, nutmegs, ground nuts, tobacco and lime tree.

Grenadv. — The chief product of Grenada is cocoa
(or cacao) for the production of which the soil and
climate of the island appear to be peculiarly adap-
ted. The consumption of chocolate has increased so
largely in late years that considerable lands have
been cleared and planted with cocoa trees with great
advantage to the island. Last year about 5,500,000
lb, of the product was exported (this figure being
below that of recent years), but the falling off was
due to unfavourable weather during the bearing season,
and the consequent lateness of the crop. Besides
cocoa many other economic plants have been cultivated
with success, such as nutmegs, cloves, vanilla, carda-
moms, coconuts, &c. Attention is also being shown
to Kola-nut — an African fruit said to contain a large
proportion of caffeine, and some enterprising agricul-
turists are attempting to cultivate the tea plant in
the island. Tropical fruits of the finest (juality are
always abundant, and the principal vegetable food
resources include ground provisions (yams, sweet pota-
toes, tanias, Kushkusb), pigeon peas, plantains, Indian
corn, cassava, bread fruit, &c. — Chamber of Commerce
Journal,

INDIA— (<7oH/(>iHed).

Next to the native shops referred to in our last
Dotice the seed and grain trophy is perliaps the
most popular; standing, as it does, in the centre
of the court, it cannot fail, to be seen, if not
actually admired by all. The syedn used in the
decoration of the trophy are very varied, and they
are here arranged more for effect than actual use,
patterns being worked out according to colour. As
this aspec't of the trophy, however, is not within our
province to criticise we will brieHy notice some of ihe
Seeds used in carfyiug out the <lesign, and this may
be the more interesting, as the seeds arc not named,
find, indeed, from the nature of the design, it would
he impossible to do 83. The following are amongst
the seels used: — The I'hysic Nut (Jatropha curcas),
the oil of which is a powerful purgative. The plant
js a bush or shrub, native of tropical Amerin, but
ihtroduced and now provvn in most tropical countries.
These seeds are about three-quarters of an inch long,
and of a dirty black colour. Here are also the seed
of the Gingelly, Beune, or Teel (Sesamum indicum
the oil of wbiclj is very extensively used iu luU

for culinary and a variety of other purposes. Tho
oil is brought to this country iu very large quantities,
and used as a lamp oil, in soap making," and for
mixing with Olive oil. Cold drawn Sesamum oil is
used in France and Italy for salads, and the lamp-
black used in China and Japan for making the best
Cliinese ink is procured by burning Sesamum oil. The
seeds are small, somewhat tlattened, and Pear-shaped,
and vary considerably iu colour, from a dingy white
through v.»rious shades of brown to black. The com-
bined violet and green tints of the Pistachio-nut
(Pistacia vera) causes it to be distinct in appearance
from its neighbours. In couse(iueuce of its pleasant
taste the I'lstachio-nut is eaten iu large quantities,
not only in India but on the shores of the Medi-
terranean. Sometimes they are cooked and eaten with
salt and pepper. The oil has a very agreeable smell,
and is occas-ionally u.sed in perfumery, or for scent-
ing soaps. Pistachio-nuts can bo obtained in this
country, but are not so well known as they deserve
to be.

Another well-known oil-seed, which is iu itself
edible, is the (rrouud-nut or Monkey-nut, as it is
sometimes called (Arachis hypogna), an annual herb,
probably of American origin, but now grown very
largely in all warm climates, both as a food and for the
sake of the oil contained in the seed, but more es-
pecially for the latter purpose. The oil is of a sweet
lim|)id character, and is much used as a substitute for
or mixing with Olive-oil, and also for making pomades,
soaps, burning in lamps, and for various other uses.
The Ground-nut' is weU known for its habit of pushing
its young fruit under the surface of the soil and
there ripening, from which habit its common name
is derived.

In the genus Bassia the best known species are
B. latifolia and B. lougifolia ; both of the.se have
shiny brown seeds, with a broad rough scar on one
side running the entire length of the seed, which
averages from 1 to Ij; inch. The former species is a
large deciduous tree, common in the forests of Central
India, and cultivated and self-sown throughout India
generally. Gamble describes the oil obtained from
this species as having a greenish-yellow colour, and,
says it "is eaten by the Gouds and other Central
Indian tribes, and is now used to adulterate glue, and
in soap-making. It solidifies at a low temperature
but melts at a temperature of 110°, and though it
keeps well iu a cold climate, in a hot one it soon
becomes rancid, and seperates into two parts — a clear
fluid oil above, and a thick brown substance below.
One seer of oil is obtained from four seers of kernels."
The tree is generally known as the Mahwa, and is
celebrated for the fleshy flowers or corollas, which
are eaten as food, or distilled for the spirit which is
obtained from them.

Bassia longifolia is a large evergreen tree growing iu
South India and Ceylon, and known in each country
respectively as Illupi and Mee. Froni the seeds ail
oil is expressed which is used for similar purposes
to the last named, as are also the flowers. Amongst
otiier oil seeds shown in the trophy are the Castor
(Hicinus communis), the varieties of which are very
numerous, some of the seeds being of a reddish or
chocolate-brown colour, while others are nearly black.
They also vary much iu si<5e, from a quarter to half
an iuch or even five-eighth inch long. The castor oil
of commerce i.^ obtained either by simple c."ipressioil
or by expression with a certain amount of heat; that,
obtained by the first proce.'is, known as cjld-drawi!
castor oil, is the best. Ttie Castor-oil plant is originally
a native of India, but is now widely dispersed tliroug''
tropical and warm countries, in the former of which
it grows to a height of about 40 feet« becoming much
smaller in warm climates while in colder climes it;
is known as an annual .

.Sunflower (Heliantlius aiinuus), and Liseed (Liuuin
usitatissimum). both of the brown and white varieties,
are here shown ; besides many varieties of food seeds
and grains, such as Leatils (Lens esculenta), Dolichos'
L^blab, green grain (Phaseolus mungo), ordinary grain
(Cicer arieiuum, Job's Tears (Coi.x lacbryma), Maiig
(^ea Mays) &c,)

304

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, 1886.

Of the very extens-ive collcctiou of fibres, which
has attracted a considerable amount of attention
amongst specialists, it would be difficult to speak
without a very extended notice ; it will, there-
fore, sutiice to draw attention to the Glenrock com-
pany's exhibits of China-grass (Bi.uhmeria nivea), and
fabrics made of the fibre, showing what can be done
with this useful Nettle. The leaves of Puya fibre
from Maoutia Puya, will also attract attention, in-
dicating as it does what might prove to be an excellent
paper material, if not a textile. In India it is used
for making cloths and fishing-nets. Close to this are
fine samples of Bhabar-grass (PoUinia eriopoda), a
very strong gi'ass, much used for ropes and cordage.
Dr. Watt says it is " largely used in the tract bet-
ween the Jumna and the Sarda, and is particularly
abundant in the Garwhall Himalaya."

Amongst products interesting to the pharmacist,
some fine samples of Cinchona bark will attract
attention, especially one of Cinchona Ledgeriana,
from a seven years' old plant, and some stems with
moss-renewed bark.

Dye products, and the method of their manufacture
or preparation, are well illustrated in the Indian
Court. Amongst the products themselves the
samples of Annatto (Bixa Oreilana) will be noticed
for the brightness of the colour, and the large
size of the seeds. This product is well represented
amongst the Ceylon and West Indian exhibits, and
is referred to under those heads. Here are also large
samples of Tissoo or Pulas flowers (Buttea frondosa),
of a bright fresh yellow colour, used for dyeing yel-
low and orangered. The tree is one of those which
yield a variety of products. The root-bark gives a
good fibre used for coarse cordage, also for making
slow matches, and for caulking the seams of boats.
The gum or resin, under the name of Bengal Kino,
is astringent, and is used in medicine, while the seeds
are used as a purgative and vermifuge, and the leaves
are employed as plates. Here are pods of Acacia
concinna, which contain a quantity of saponaceous
matter, and are used as soap, especially for washing
the hair. The leaves of this species are eaten on
account of the acid flavour they possess. Of indigo
the exhibits are both good and numerous, and the
model of an indigo factory will not fail to attract
the attention of all visitors, so accurate is it in detail
and so perfect in finish. The model shows the pro-
cess of steeping the plants and prt-t-sing them in the
vats or divisions, from which the water runs by a
kind of pan into a large receptacle below, in which
the workmen stand up to their middles in indigo,
stirring it with long poles, and in a room behind is
seen wire or wicKer frames on which the cakes of
indigo are placed to dry. The model gives a very
good idea of the preparation of an important article
of commerce about which but little is popularly known.

The other models illustrating Indian industries are
oil pressing. Sugar-cane pressing, and the preparation
of sugar from the Date Palm, in which the collector
of the toddy is represented in the crown of leaves
drawing the juice from the freshly cut spathe.

In the matter of direct forest produce, such as
timbers and Bamboos, many excellent examples are
shown. The timber trophy or screen at the entrance
of the Economic Court ie composed of small speci-
mens of a great variety of useful timbers, the most
striking specimens, however- are the large planks and
blocks of Padonk (Pterocarpus indicus), of which also
an enormous squared tiuuk lies outside in the adjoin-
ing promenade. The Padonk, or as it is sometimes
called Andaman Ked-wood, is a lofty tree of Burmah
and the Andaman Islands. The wood h fairly hard,
even grained, and easily worked, and is well known
for its deep red colour, which darkens or becomes
brown on exposure to the light. It is a very useful
v?ood, and is much used for furniture as well as for
cabinet work, carriage wheels, and similar purposes
in India.

Another wood that will no doubt attract consider-
able attention amongst cabinet makers, is the Anda-
fuan marble wood (Diospyros Kurzii), an evergreen,
tbc native Qi tb9 Audamau Islands- as its commpD

name indicates. The wood is very hard, irregularly
blotched with black markings upon a greyish ground,
usually arranged in alternate streaks of grey and
black, but in the plank exhibited at Kensington, the
figuring resembles as near as possible what might be
effected by the casual upsetting of an ink-bottle, au
appearance not to be found in any other wood. The
smaller specimens of woods are too numerous and
too well-known to claim any special notice, notwith*
standing that many of them are of excellent quality,
both on the score of durability and for their fine mark-
ings or figure, and ought to be better known amongst
English hard wood dealers.

In the matter of Bamboos, the well-known bridge
in the centre of the Court will be remembered as an
excellent illustration of what these gigantic grasses
can be applied to, besides which the numerous uses
to which they are put in India are well shown in
the couches, chairs, baskets, kc, which surround the
bridge, some excellent photographs of Bamboo bridges
spanning the Sutlej, are also shown in close proximity.
A stem of species of Calamus, a slender of climbing
Palm, often popularly confounded with the Bamboos,
is shown under the roof of the court, and reaches
almost its entire length. Thi.s, though a fine speci-
men, is not however, so long as one contained in the
No. 2 Museum at Kew, which measures over 400 feet,
or about the height of the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral.
These stems are very pliable, and some of the more
slender species are known as canes and are used when
split for the bottoms of chairs. Another Palm pro-
duct which will attract attention is a dug-out or canoe,
such as is ordinarily used in India, consisting of the
hollowed stem of a Palm from which one side has
been cut away and the central, cellular portion re-
moved. The bottom of the canoe has therefore no
approach to a keel, but is simply rounded— the shape
or from of the trunk. — .Tohx E. Jackson, Curator
Museums, Eoyal Gardens, Kew. — Gardeners' Chronicle''

Tea Ai)ulter.\t!On. — Mr. E. Collin contributes to
the August number of the Juurr. de Pharmacie d'
Anvcrs a valuable paper on the means of detecting
by the microscope the adulteration of tea and mate,
and also points out the features by which coca leaves
may be recognized under the microscope. The most
frequent adulterations of tea leaves, according to Mr.
Collin, are the leaves of EpUohium anf/u.itifoliuiit,
Frcuvinu'i excelsior, hiamhucus nigra, Lmirtts nohilis,
PrufU'S spinosa, fialij: a?/w, and Populus niyra, none of
which, however, present the numerous sclerench}--
matous phytocysts which are present in the tea leaf.
The leaves of mate are said to be often adulterated
with those of Jlyrcia acris, which are easily recog-
nized by the presence of pellucid oil clots in the
leaves. — Pharmaceutical Jov.rnql.

Prolonged VrrAiixY of Seed. — From the garden
at Glen Grant we have received two joints of the
pod of Entada scandens, The pods of this plant are
very large and woody, each joint containing a single
large seed. We have heard of these pods being
made to serve the purpose of door knockers in the
West Indies, and this u^e suggests another, viz., that
they might be used as rattles to keep the birds off
fruit trees. If we remember rightly, seeds of this
plant have been washed up in a germinating condition
ou our western coast- but this is of minor importance
as compared with the story told iu the followHng letter.—
" The enclosed are two Beans from the joint of a pod
2 feet iu length, and containing ten Beaus. This pod
wa.? brought home from India over forty years ago by
the late Dr. T.vylok; of Elgin. Two mouths ago I
put several of the Beans in a pot in our sto\ e, and
to my surprise two of them have germinated and
thrown up stalks which arc now over a foot in height.
The Beans have not been preserved in any special
way, so that under these circumstances and after so
lo ng u lapi-e of time it is strange to see vitality so
stronge in them. Perhaps you could tell me what
is the name of the plant from which the enclosed
has beeu takeu oflf.— GtEN GuANX."~C7«A(ic/i«r*"' Chron-
k'c.

Nov, I, 1886.3

TUE TROPICAL AQmcvtwrn^f,

3^5

J'lL ■JJ[J-Ji^'»l!"-lJi!

THE USES OF COTTON-SEED.

From the Monograph on cotton cultivation in the
Punjab, recently issued, it appears that Si per cent
of the whole yield of the province is locally consumed.
Taking this as a basis for calculation we arrive at the
conclusion that the quantity of cotton exported only
averages 10 per cent of the total yield of the entire
peninsula, including British Burmah. Assuming
therefore that 84 per cent of the 8eed yielded is retained
for local consumption, and taking the calculation given
in the Monograph referred to above, that the proportion
of seed to cotton is two-thirds, we have for disposal
506,604 tons of cotton-seed. The quantity of seed
annually crushed in the United States averages about
420,000 tons, which yields a revenue of 8,000,000 dollars,
or 3 per cent of the cotton crop. Therefore 506,604
tons of seed would represent 9,Gi9,()00 dollars, or
reckoning at the rate of R2-8 to the dollar, we should
have a revenue from cotton-seed alone of R24,123,800
which at present entirely lost to the country. In making
these calculations, we have taken only 16 per cent of the
yield of the country, taking the yield and consumption
in the Punjab as a basis for the whole of India. It
may, however, be stated, without fear of being con-
tradicted, that this represents a very small propor-
tion ; as it is not to be supposed that 84 per cent
of the seed is actually retained for local consumption
and sowing. Our estimate may tiierefore be regarded
as very low.

In no trade returns of India have we come across
cottOH-seed as forming au item of export or import,
nor have we seen any allusion to it as an article
of commerce. In the Punjab cotton Monograph referred
to in this paper, it i.s stated that the labourer
employed to separate the cotton from the seed, "is
commonly paid by receiving the cotton-seed which he
extracts:" and the only use to which the seed is put
would appear to he the feeding of goats and buffaloes,
and this, so far as we are aware, only to a limited
extent. "We have sometimes seen the seed used for
illumination purposes. Earthen pans, 4 to 6 inches
in diameter, are filled with the seed ; a little common
" sweet " oil is poured over it, and the whole ignited,
burns with a fitful sort of blaze for a couple of
hours or so.

That cotton-seed opens a wide field for the develop-
ment of a profitable industry in India must be ad-
mitted. It is therefore to the owners of oil-presses
and capitalists in particular that wc address ourselves.
We see no nason why it should not prove as profit-
able in India as it has in America. The Govern-
ment of India have turned their attention to the
development of various industries in this country —
fibre, wheat, cotton, ensilage, &c. Ve hope they will
add another to the list — the extended use of cotton-
seed.— Indian Agriculturist.

RHEA (FIBBE), "

B* Samuel Jennings, f. l. s.,

Corresponding Member of the Agri-Horticultural

Society of India.

The publication of Mr. Cogswell's useful Review
of the History and Prospects of Rhea in a recent
number of the Journal of the Agri-Horticultural
Society of India, YoK VII, Part II, may be con-
sidered to mark the period at which this valuable
fibre ceased to be merely the admiration and the
despair of evperfs, and definitely passed within the
range of practical enterprise. Thirty years ago the
excellent qualities of the fibre obtained from the
stems of the Rhea plant, Boehmeria nivea, were
recognised by the Societj', and strenuous efforts were
made from time to time to encourage the efforts of
inventors, to provide some method of treatment
under which the fibre could be produced at a cost
that would bring it into general u?e, but no com-
pletely satisfactory results were obtained, and all
that Mr. Cog.swell could ?ay was that he had hope
that the problem would .soon be solved. Agriculturists
were naturally r'4uctant to risk their capital iu a

new cultivation, with but slender prospects of an
adequate return, and consequently but little has been
done to encourage the cultivation of Rhea except
upon an experimental scale.

Since the middle of the year 1884, however, a
considerable advance has been made in our knowledge
of the best methods of preparing this fibre for the
manufacturer, and it may now be definitely stated
that all difficulties have been surmounted, and
wherever Rhea can be grown, it can also be prepared
for market in such a form that it will at once
command a remunerative sale. It is well known that
the fibre of Rhea is contained in that part of the
stem of the plant which lies between the wood and
the outer bark, to both of which it adheres tenaciou^'ly,
embedded in a mass of glutinou.';, resiuoiis matter,
from which it i.? most ditficult to free it. In China
this is accomplished by hand-stripping and washing,
an expensive process which involves a serious loss of
good fibre. M. Favier has invented a process of
decortication by steam, which so loosens the bark
together with the whole of the fibre from +he wood,
that it can instantly be stripped off without damage
to the fibre.

I have before me stalks of Indian grown Rhea
which have been thus stripped, and similar stalks
that have been decorticated by hand without the
use of steam, the contrast is remarkable and quite
conclusive. In the former case the wood is perfectly
clean, and the stalks can be broken short like biscuit,
but on the latter there still remains a considerable
quantitj' of fibre adhering to the wood, which of
course would be lost, and when it is considered that
no more than five per cent of fibre is contained iu
the green steni«, it is a matter of con.'iequence that
the whole be secured. This is accomplished by the
steaming process, and the ribbons so obtained may be
dried, packed and shipped to England for subsequent
treatment.

I have also the ribbons which have been removed
from the stalks to which I have referred, and
comparison indicates a further superiority of those
decorticated by steam, the inner surface being smooth
and even, whilst in the case of those which have
been stripped without the use of steam the fibre
appears much lacerated, and this would involve a
still further loss of fibre when the ungummed filasse
is converted into slivers in the carding machine, or
rather I should say the percentage of noils or short
filaments will be considerably greater from the un-
steamed ribbons than from those prepared by Favicr'a
method, and the value to the manufacturer will be
proportionately less. It will be the aim of producers
to furnish a staple which will compete for use iu the
raanufactux-e of the most expensive fibres, because such
a staple will command the highest range of prices,
and it cannot sufficiently be impressed upon cultivators
that whether their produce will compete in the
market with hemp, with flax, or with silk, depends
almost entirely upon the method they adopt for the
production of fibre in the first instance. Although
the fibre of Rhea is exceedingly strong, it is easily
bruised and injured iu the process of separating it
from the stem, and the severe treatment to which it
is subjected in the best machine yet introduced cannot
fail to atTect its ultimate value considerably.

I have recently sent some machine-prepnred Rhea
for conversion into filasse, and the result is deserving
of note. When carded the proportion of Slivers — i.e.,
long filaments — was considerably smaller than it should
have been, this was attributed to the bruised condition
of the fibre in the first instance. It must, however^
be remembered that the Fremy process is specially
adapted to de-gum steamed ribbons, and may not
therefore have been the best chemical process for
machined fibre. I do not mean to say that a machine
may not yet be produced, which will be, a great
improvement upon anything at present before the
piibli'!. A machine that will remove the fibre from
the stem and clean it at a small cost, and yield a
product that will command a ready gale fo.r many
jHirjtoscs, I have, iudtcd, alrtaJy ^cvu a aiumily

tuu

fkfei "tkdPi^AL AamcijtfmiBf^ [x\uv. i, mt,

■A-AttMiBHa

proiluci.ll by Mr. Death's recently invented machine,
whi(;h appears to be vastly superior to any Rhea
produceil by uieclianical means that had previously
come under my observation. "What this new machine
may do yet remaujs to be seen, but until it is shown
that any machine can produce the fibre without more
or less bruising 't, the trade will probably always
give tlie preference to filasse from steamed ribbons.
It is not alleged even on behalf of Mr. Death's new
machine tbat it can entirely remove all the resinous
matter from the fibre. The machine of Death and
Ellwood recently exhibited in Calcutta leaves about
15 per cent of foreign matter still adhering, to the
fibrp, possibly Mv. Death may have now succeeded in
reducing that percentage, but some still remains
which can only be removed by chemical treatment.
So that after all, whether machined or not, the
ultimate success of Rhea will depend on the complete-
ness of the process by which it is rendered fit for
the spinner.

This subject has long occupied the close attention of
the distinguished French Chemist and Botanist, Pro-
fessor Fremy, whose scientific works have obtained
for him a European reputation. M. Fremy and his
associate M. Trbain have now brought their system
of de-feumming Rhea to great perfection. AVithin
the past three or four months irapoitant discoveries
have leen made respecting the chemical properties
of the glutinous matter of the Rhea plant, which
have enabled them to simplify and cheapen their
process very considerably. But a,s it is well known
that laboratory experiments, however successful, are
apt to dii-appoint when applied in practical operations
on a large scale, M. Frenij' and his associate have
established a Factory at Louviere, near Rouen, where
many tons of Rhea ribbons have been treated and
the filasse worked up into yarn, hi whioh form it is
agerly purchased by French manufacturers, who
/horoughly appreciate its valuable qualities. A regular
busitjfss has thus been created, which is only limited
by the very small supplies obtainable of the raw
material. In the meanwhile English manufacturers
are by no means indifferent at the appearance of a
staple that threatens to be a serious rival to silk and
flax, and ultimately, perhaps, even to cotton, and
before very long arrangements will doubtless be made
to carry out the Fremy-Urbain process in this country.
I recently visited the Factory at Souviers in company
with several gentlemen interested in the subject, and
for the first time the full details of the entire process
were explained, and we were enabled to verify by
personal observation every step in the treatment of
the ribbons. The result of our visit was thoroughly
satisfactory, we not only saw the filasse produced,
but some of it was carded and manufaetured into
yarn in our presence, we were also shown yarn dyed
in various colours which were remarkably brilliant,
some that bal been passed between hot steel rollers
were as glossy as the richest silk, plainly indicating
the high class of fabrics for which this fibre will be
cniploved.

A manufaeturcr (Eugli-b) who had worked Ehea
into drps? tJiaterial, rem-irked to me recently tbat it
had onlv one serioURi diaadvant-ige, aJul that wa.-*, that
it Would never wear out. He had prc?onted his
H'ife with a dress of Khca fabric, it had been washed
Sereral times without in the least impairing its beauty.
"Oood," he said, "for the husbands, but bad for the
wivc.<i, nho would get tired of their dre.sse.s before
they could make them shabby," A^'hen in J'aris I
■was shown foroe very handsome curtain.*; having the
appearance or heavy silk daraiisk, delightfully soft,
nnd rich nod pleasing in colour. I wa.s surprised to
hear that they were made of Rhea. 1-vxcellcnt results
have also been obtained with the same material in
the manufacture of damask table cloths, napkins,
bed linen, and such like fabrics indicating a wide
range of uses to which this fibri may be applied, so
tbat all fear of over-production may be dismis.sed for
a long tinie to come. But apart from European
demand, when it is remembered that thousands of
ton.s of China grass are annually manufaetured into
Jsbrivs iu Cbiuei, Hankow wpvrtiuif S,QW tou» per

annum for local consumption, \t becomes a question
whether the same result will not follow in India, if
the cultivation of Rhea should be taken up on a
large scale, what an immense gain this would be to
the country in every way, and I d o not know any
reason why the Fremy-Urbain process of de-gumming
the Favier ribbons should not be as succes.sful, and
managed as easily in Bengal as at Louviers. I saw
nothing in the way of manipulation that Bengalee
women and childern could not do with these.
A superintendent with .some knowledge of chemi.stry,
and a man to look after the boiler would be necessary.
The chief requisite seems to be a plentiful supply of
soft water, and the means of getting rid of it; when
charged with colouring matter it becomes as black
as bottled stout. This la.st is a difficulty where the
water-supply is precious, and rivers may not be
contaminated. In preparing ribbons for the Fremy-
Urbain process, they may be greatly improved in
value by removing as much as possible of the outer
brown cuticle, this is effected by wiping th stems
with some pressure with a rough cloth, while hot
from the steaming chest.

In China this has been done with so much success
that the ribbons thus prepared have yielded from
75 to 80 per cent of fine filasse. Ribbons not so
treated yield from 45 to 55 per cent, of filasse. This
means that freight has to be paid on at least 40 per
cent of useless material which might be saved
by the removal of the cuticle before decortication.
It will also probably cheapen the chemical treatment
by saving the expense of one boiling. "Whether the
extra cost of handling on the field will be less than
the percentage saved in carriage and freight, will,
of course, depend on circumstances of time and place.
Cheap labour and high freight would be in favour of
land -cleaning. Dear labour and low freights might
turn the scale the other way. Suppose 100 tons weight
of Favier ribbons ha%'e been obtained, and the filasse
contained therein amounts to 45 per cent, then-
Tons.
The weight of filasse produced will be ... 45
And the weight of the waste will be ... 55

Total ... 100

But if these same ribbons had been thoroughly
cleaned when removed from the steam chest, so that
when converted into filasse, the yield would be 75
per cent instead of 45 per cent, the actual weight
of fibre would not be increased, but the bulk of use-
less waste would be greatly reduced, thus —

Tons.

"Weight of filasse 45

"Weight of waste ., ... 15

Total ... 60

Or a saving of 40 tons in every 100. It is obvious, how-
ever that the value of this deduction will depend on the
percentage of fibre in the ribbons, which may be greater
in China than in India, and may, in fact, vary in dif-
ferent parts of India, It having now been proved
that Bliea cin be converted into a highly remuotrative
(Staple for textile manufacture.*, there wjll .soon be
enquiry r.s to the best methods of cultivating the
plant, i'p to the present there has been a great
deal of talk about the subject, but scarcely anything
ha.s been done. Garden experiments are almost aa
unreliable for planters as Laboratory experiments arc
to the practical manufacturer. I am not aware that
any attempt has yet been made in India to grow
Rhen upon an extensive scdle elsewhere than on the
estates of the Glenrock Company in the .South-East
AVyiiand, where some -">0 acres are now fully p'anted.
Mr.'*. Montgomery has an estate at Kangra, where
the cultivation of iihea has been carried on for several
years, but I do not know to what extent, the pro-
duce, I believe, is locally consumed. In Algiers the
French have been growing the Rhea with consider-
able success, and alho in Egypt, and the earliest
information on the subject has been derived from
these sources, but their statistics do not seem to
apply in Southern India where the conditions are
itii ditfvrt'ut. TbertJ .is not, tlierfore, a great deal

Nov. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

%^1

of experience available for the benefit of would-be
Rhea planters, asd what there is must be studied
in view of the circumetances under which it has
been obtained. Every planter will have to find out
for himself what treatment is best adapted for his
own climate, soil and other conditions.

The experiment at Glenrock has e.Kcited consider-
able local interest not only amongst the neighbouring
planters, but also (mirabile diet)' at this stage)
amongst native cultivators as well ; it is only the
difficulty of obtaining plant that has hindered them
from already beginning on their own account. I am
quite satisfied that before another year has passed,
the cultivation of Rhea will be vigorously taken up
by the natives, especially in the Coimbatore District.
Plants and seed have been promised already to
several of the headman of the villages, who have
asked to be supplied.

I am indebted to Mr. J. W. Minchin, the able Manager
of the Glenrock Estates, for a vast amount of use-
ful information, the result of his own careful observ-
ation and experience during the past 18 months.
Mr. Minchin was sent out to India early in ISS4
for the special purpose of introducing the cultivation
of Rhea. On his voyage out he obtained la small
supply of plants from Algiers, these were dug up
and roughly packed in boxes, and after a long and
trying voyage at the hottest season of thd year,
were deUvered at Glenrock in the mouth of May.
The roots were at once planted, and from them
about 2,500 plants were obtained to start with. In
the following November 200,000 plants had been
obtained from the original stock by cuttings, layers,
and root divisions. These were again, taken up and
divided, and in June last the number of plants had
been increased to above two millions. A remarkable
example of arithmetical progression applied to agri-
culture deserves to be recorded. From one root
planted in January seven stems were cut, each
divided into five cuttings, three eyes to each cutting,
most began to grow in a week ; from the roots
bulbous tubers formed nearly filling up all the space
between the roots at 18 inches apart. From this
one plant 57 strong root cuttings were taken, making
in all 83 plants, from one root not five months in
the ground, and that under unfavourable circum-
stances, poor soil, and no water or shade. Again, a
single root left undisturbed for a year had so increased
in size that 42 stems were counted in various stages
of growth.

The plants require to be left a whole year before they
should be cut for fibre. During the second year only
half a crop should be expected, the yield of the
third year will be greater, and from the fourth year
full crops be cut. This is Algerian exp^irience, but
it remains to be seen if the rule holds good in
India. la Algiers they reckon the average weight
of each stem when ready to cut to be \h oz., and
they obtain ribbons to the weight of 10 per cent of
the green stems. Mr. Minchin states that the
average weight of Glenrock greeu stems when mature
is 3 ounces, but he has not hitherto obtained more
than 7^ per cent of ribbons. There can be no doubt
that the growth is far more robust in India than in
Algiers, and the plants too carry far more moisture, and
this may account for the smaller percentage of
ribbons to the green stuff cut. The season of
cutting may also make a considerable difference.
Then again all the French calculations are based on
the results obtained from Urt'ica ienacissiwa, Hoxb.,
whilst Mr. Miuchin's refer to Urtica Nivaa. He
has both species in cultivation at Glenrock, and re-
marks on the great difference between them. The
latter being far more robust in habit and quicker in
growth, though it m^y be that experience will prove
that the foimer will yield as good a crop when
thoroughly established, and the smaller weight of
stem may yield a higher percentage of ribbons.
During the wet seasons the stems will certainly
contain a fur greater waste of moisture ihau at other
times, and this is the case with Vrtica Nivea, with
stcn'.s 7 to 3 feet long, and weighing over 6 ounces
eacli. It dtes not, however, follow that the actual

weight of fibre will be less, neither can it be sail
that the same results would follow in ditferdnt parts
of India under different conditions of soil, tem-
perature, rainfall, &;c. These are points that each
planter must find out from his own experience, and
doubtless we shall .dl be very much wiser a few years
hence. A gentleman told me a few days ago that
he had seen Urtica Xivea growing in Italy with
stems fiom 10 to 12 feet high, but he could not
tell me what povcentage of fibre it yielded, which
after all is the important point. I should recommend
planters to try uuy species they can get, for they
all yield excellent fibre in remunerative quantity.

Vrtica candicani is also grown at Glenrock,
but I have no intorraatiou about it. IJrticn Nivea
may be known by its leaves, the undersurface of
which is silvery-white. In Vrtica tenacissima the under-
surface of the leaf is green.

I have already referred to the extraordinary
rapidity with which the varieties of Urtica can ha
propagated by cuttings and root division, plants
raised in this manner make new growth very quickly.
In one month new shoots appear, in three mouths
the shoots will be four feet high, and in six months
there will be five or six strong stems. .Separations
of the tubers are, however, much slower in growth
than cuttings, and in hot dry weather the best mode of
propagation is by layering without complete separation,
Mr. Minchiu sowed 2 lb. weight of seed on the
27 th March occupying an area of 1,400 square ftet,
germination took place on the ;3rd April. Much
trouble was at first experienced with ants, but a
little kerosine oil mixed with the water successfully
kept off the depredators. In four months the seed-
lings were 18 inches high and strongly rooted, both
cuttings and seedlings require partial shade till they well
established. 1 am inclined to think that for most districts
in India seedlings will ultimately prove to be the most
satistactor}', because the roots of plants raised from cutt-
ings seem to have a tendency to spreatl laterally, and do
not strike ileeply into the ground, these will be sure
to suffer more or less in long continued drought.
On the other hand, the tap root of seedling pene-
trates vertically, and seek moisture at a considerable
depth. The French recommend their own system of
planting out at 18 inches apart, so that each acre will
contain 16,000 plants. This, no doubt, applies to
the 1-ss vigorous species J'rtica tenacissima, and in
a cliniale!ess forcing than that of Indi-i. At Glenrock
Mr. Minchin has put in his plants in six-feet beils.
separated by a one-foot drain, two rows in e.'ich bed 3
feet apart, and 18 inches between the plants on the row, so
tliat in (Meurock 7,000 plants occupy an acre. He
finds that the space between the plants quickly till
up with new growth, and the ground soon becomes
quite covered. Irrigation is a matter of considerable
importance, as it will probably make a difference
of one crop in the year. A portion of the Glen-
rock plantings was left without any artificial water-
ing, in order to observe the result. It was found
that although root growth was not materially checked,
there was scarcely any movement above ground
between the months of February and May. Oil
the irrigated fields the dry heat did not seem to
affect the development of the shoots in the least,
in eleven days stems were observed to have grown
15 inches. Growth is more vigorous on the hollows
than on ridges, or on level ground. At Glenrock
the altitude above the sea is about 2,000 feet, and
the rainfall is exceedingly heavy during the monsoon.
Rhea is also being grown in the Bbowatii Aalley
at the foot of the Neilgherrie H.lls, in the ('oini-
batore district. Here, where the soil is rich and
the climate very forcing, the devciopmeiit of the
plant jippears to he much more rapid and the
growth more unitorui and vigorous than at the
greater altitude of the Wynaul. 0!ose planting is
strongly advocated in order to induce tall, straight
growth and check the formation of side branches,
it is also said to be a great protection from the
ravages of caterpillars and other insect posts wliicli
devour the leaves, and so caiso side growth. As
regards shading, the practice varies considerably i i\

3oft

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, i885.

RM«

dift'erenfc countries. In the Indian Archipelago Ehea
i3 planted under the shade of forest trees. In
Algeria and in Egypt it is grown in the open field
entirely exposed to the sun. Mr. Minchin advocates
partial shade, ami in clearing his forest land he has
left some of the larger trees for this purpose.
Manure can scarcely be despensed with, but the plant
gratefully responds to every attention paid to it.
Xo crop for the purpose of fibre extraction should
be expected until after the plants have been left
undisturbed in the ground for at least 12 months,
during which time the fields must be kept free from
weeds, an expense that will not recur when the Rhea
has thorougly established itself. The cost cf upkeep
after tlie first year wUl, therefore, be light in com-
parison with most other crops. When in full vigour,
Rhea should afford in India from four to five crops
in each year according to localitJ^ The stems are
said to be in their best condition for cutting when
they begin to ripen, which may be known by their
commencing to turn brown at the butt. An interest-
ing account has recently appeared in one of the ^lan-
chester piipers of a visit to the Rhea plantation
near Zagazig, on the Suez Railway, where there are
over 300 acres of Rhea inider cultivation, the prop-
erty of the Ramie Company of Egypt. Here it is
said that no shade is necessary, and the fields are
irrigated in the customary Egyptian manner. The
treatment of the crop differs very materially from
that recommended under the Favier system, and I am
unable to say whether the introduction of decortication
by steam would enable them to obtain better results
than they have yet realised. It appears to be the
practice in Egypt to cut the stems while still young
and pale green in color, and they do this because
they find that when the stem once begins to
change colour, the bark hardens, and the re-
sinous m'.tter becomes stronger and decoitication
almost impossible. Of course this is so, and as
the flowering stage approaches, the entire structure
of the plant will be undergoing considerable chiuges,
which, in all probability, will, to some extent, affect
the character of the fibre, as well as the bark and
the wood.

The steaming process enables the bark to be re-
moved with all the fibre attached, at a much later
period when the plant has reached its most perfect
vigour, and when it is reasonable to assume that
all its component parts are in their best possible
condition. In Egypt the stems would then be S or i)
feet in length, but they cut them when from 4 to 5
feet long, and the delicate fihn of bark can then
be easily stripped off the stalk by hand, and an
hour's exposure to the sun is sufficient to dry it
ready for packing. When removed from the half-
matured stem, the bark is described as "a thin
pellucid ribbon as translucent as green Persian silk
when in a moist state." No doubt, in this condition
the gum will be much less tenacious than at a later
period, and therefore more easily treated, but on the
other hand the weight of fibre lost by premature
cutting must be very considerable, and the decision
as to which of these two systems is the most ad-
vantagpous will turn upon the relative qualities of
the filasse so produced. If there is but trifling differ-
ence in the value of the fibres, the balance of ad-
vantage must rest with the .system that affords the
heaviest crop.

On this point I am not in a position to afford a
decisive opinion, never having seen any of these
delicate Egyptian ribbons, but of the fibre produced
from the mature .stems by Favier's steaming pro-
cess, some of the leading flax spinners have spoken
in the highest term's, de.scribiug the yarns made from
it as possessing " quality and strength superior to
other Clhina grass yarns from other sources," and
again "very superior to that which is obtained by the
application of mechanical methods." The testimony
is sufficiently conclusive as to the commercial value
of the filasse from steamed ribbons, and is satisfactory
evidence that the fibre is in no way injured either
by the action of steam or by the subsequent chemicul
treatment by the Fremy-Urbain process. Some

notion of the probable crop may be arrived at
from an interesting observation of Mr. Minchin's, who
selected three one-year old plants, and ou the Gth
March cut them down close to the ground. On the
t>th May following he cut from these three plants 62
stems, weighing in the aggregate ^Mb., and on the
1st July he again cut from the same plants 83 stems
weighing ll^lb.

In April, stems 0 feet long when decorticated, yielded
7 5 per cent of their weight in ribbons, but in the
rains the green stuff contained more water, and the
percentage of ribbons was somewhat less. In Algiers,
where the ripe stems only averaged about an ounce and
a half in weight, it is stated that an average yield of
10 per cent of ribbons is obtained, whereas in India,
owing to the greater vigour of Indian grown Rhea,
the stems of which averaged three ounces in weight, the
percentage of ribbons to the weight of the bulk may
very well be much less, whilst the actual yield of fibre
per acre may be as much as, or even more than, in
Algeria.

It will be seen that an enormous quantity of green
stuff must be cut and handled for every ton of fibre
that is produced. One hundred pounds weight of green
stems, after the leaves have been removed, will not
yield more than 3!b. of fibre, treated by the machine,
the average will probably not exceed 2ilb. The same
weight of stems, when decorticated by steam, will
furnish Tpb. of dry ribbons. The process of decor-
tication can be carried out on the field by the use of light
easily portable steam generators, and this will render
the carriage of but seven and a half per cent of the
gross weight necessary. Now the machines, I am
speaking of Death and Eliwood's patent, require a
strong pressure of water, and can only be used where
there is an abundant supply of water, and either
steam or water-power for driving. They must, there-
fore, be located where these requisites are available,
and the entire weight of green stuff must be carried
to the mills. Fancy carrying 35 to 40 tons of stems
for any distance to produce a single ton of machined
fibre. It is in this direction that the planter must
exercise all his ingenuity and close supervision to
effect economy in labour and carriage to prevent
his profits from being eaten up at the very first stage
of treatment.

With these figures before them will be possible for
planters to draw up approxima-te estimates of cost of treat-
ment according to the scales of charges current in their
several localities. I will now proceed to furnish some
idea of the probable crop to be expected. To ob-
tain a ton of ribbons per acre, assuming the per-
centage obtained from the bulk to be 7 per cent,
it will be necessary to cut 12,000 lb. weight of green
stems, and assuming them to average eight stems to
the pound, that will be 256,000 stems, .so that if
five crops are obtained in the year, it will be neces-
sary to get 51,200 stems at each cutting from the
acre, or per square yard (4,840 square yards=-l
acre), s.ay lOi stems. To get two tons of ribbons
per acre 21 stems must be cut from each square
yard. At Glenrock, in many places, over 30 mature
stems have been counted to the measured square
yard. Two tons of ribbons per acre is not, there-
fore, an unreasonable estimate of the probable yield
of established cultivation in favourable localities.
I have already stated that the dry ribbons produced
by the Favier system of steam decortication will
yield at least 45 per cent of fine filasse when treated
by the Fremy-Urbain process. If the yield per acre
be two tons of ribbons, the produce in filasse will
be 2,016 lb., the present market value of which is
stated to be from seven pence to nine pence per lb.
according to quality, the gross proceeds of the pro-
duce of one acre would therefore be .£67-4, from which
must be deducted the cost of cultivation, handling,
treatment, carriage, drying, packing, freight, chemical
treatment, commissions, kc, to ascertain nett results.
I cannot, however, as yet say that there is a large
present demand for the filasse of Khea in England,
tor the simple reason that no considerable quantity
has yet been offered in the market, and manufactur-
ers naturally hesitate going to the exjjense of altering

Nov. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

309

their machinery to suit the new staple until they
are relieved of "uncertainty as to supply. The French
ruanufacturers on the other hand will take as much
as they can get at about the price I have quoted,
and English and Irish manufacturers are ready to
follow their example as soon as a definite and regular
supply can be depended on. I have been personally
assured by some that they are prepared to enter into
contracts on a large scale, directly the supply can be
guaranteed.

I do not, in the least, fear that Rhea coming to
this market a couple of years hence will fail to find
ready purchasers, because arrangements have already
been made to obtain supplies from China and else-
where, that will encourage the trade to expect regular
shipments, and the present uncertainty will at once
disappear, and as every one freely admits the valu-
able properties of the new staple, it will not belong
before Ehea will take an important position amongst
textile fabrics of British manufacture.

NOTE ON RAISING EHEA FEOM SEED.
Bv Mh. J. W. MiNCHiN, OF Glenrock.

We have been fairly successful with Rhea Seed
Nurseries, and have germinated and planted out seed-
lings from seed received from Paris and London and
also two varieties of seed from plants on our own
plantations. Generally speaking, the seed and seed-
lings must be treated in the same way as Cinchona
Ledgeriana seed. Tbe great difficultj' is to protect
the seed, which is exceedingly small, from ants. We
tried soaking the seed and watering the seed in
phenyle and in kerosine oil water, but found the best
course was to sow the seed in boxes or raised berls
supported on legs kept constantly tarred. We made
long basket beds of bamboo lattice-work, raised about
one foot from the ground on forked supports 5 feet
apart, with 6 inch sides to hold in the earth; the
earth was sifted as is usually done for Ledger nur-
series ; fresh jungle soil is suflicieut: each basket
bed was 3 feet wi le, and over each bed was erected
an ordinary sloping screen thatched sufficiently to
keep out rain.

The beds should be made so that the slope of
the screen should face south anil west, which keeps
out the sun for the greater part of the day and even-
ing: before sowing the seed the earth in the basket
beds should be well damped through a fine rose
watering pot, the seed should be mixed with about
5 times its bulk of ashes, or fine sand, so that it may
be sown more evenly ; it can be sown rather thickly
as the seedlings can be pricked out when ^about an
inch high; after tbe seed is sown the beds should
be gently pressed with a flat board, no earth is re-
quired to be sprinkled over them ; they should be
lightly watered with a fine rose every evening. Care
should be taken to keep the supports fresh tarred,
and that no grasses or straws hang to the ground
by which ants, kc, could reach the seed beds. The
seed will begin to germinate in from 0 to 10 days.
In from two to three months some of the seedlings
will be large enough to prick out, they will be about
an inch high above ground, and will have radish-
like roots, two to three inches long, they can then
be carefully taken up with small bamboo, chop sticks,
the seedlings being handled as little as possible, and
can be planted out into ordinary nursery beds about
4 inches apart, and should be protected from the sun
by bracken fern, stuck into the ground about them ;
in another three months they will be large enough
to plant into the field, and I have found that in
12 months from the time the seed is sown, the
plants will produce stems large enough for treatment.
The seed should be sown between October and March ;
during; the monsoon the seedlings are very liable to
damp from some fungus growth, as in Ledger seed-
lings, although I have no doubt, with care, they
can be grown at any season of the year; but I have
not yet succeeded with young seedlings subjected to
the early monsoon mists

SUGAR AND " THE NEW SWEETNESS." "
In these dull and prosaic times the following
amusing article from the iVeekly Scotsnmn will, we
are sure, be read with some interest by Colonial
sugar planters :— Persons who are so fond of sweet
things that they have not the courage to practise
the self-denial of the Banting system have good
things in store for them. They have found a friend
in Orthobenzoyl-sulphonimide, the new discovery
of Dr. Constantine Fahlberg. Whether the makers
of cane and beet sugars will have as much reason
to be glad may be questioned, for in the near future
they will probably find their occupation gone.
What will become of the West Indies is, of course,
a serious matter. The ruin they have suffered by
the emancipation of slaves, and the ruin again
suffered by the abolition of the " differential duties "
about which Tom Dupuy waxes so savage in Mr.
Grant Allen's current story, " In All Shades," will
both be as child's play to the fate now in store
for the cane-sugar growers. Their only consolation
will be that the beet- sugar makers will share to
some extent, in the same fate : and, of course, if
there is one thing that sweetens one's own loss,
it is the knowledge that one's rival is being over-
whelmed in the same calamity. Dr. Fahl berg's
great discovery has recently been brought before our
scientific men in detail in Mr.Levenstein s paper before
one of the learned societies, and by Sir Henry
Roscoe before the Royal Institution, while incident-
ally it was mentioned by Professor Meldola in de-
scribing the progress of the coal-tar colour industry
before the Society of Arts three months ago. For
it is amongst the busy German workers amongst
coal tar products that the great modern discovery
is made, so that the country which has flooded us
and ruined our native sugar industries with cheap
sugar is to be hoist with its own petard, by making
a discovery which is not only to spell ruin to
Greenock and Bristol, but to render the cultivation
of beet as unnecessary and unprofitable as the sugar
cane seems likely soon to become.

The story of the progress of the investigation of
coal-tar products is the scientific romance of our
day. Since the sickly and somewhat fugitive colour,
mauve, was discovered by Perkins thirty years ago,
investigation has been carried on with indefatigable
industry, till at the present moment the most
brilliant dyes— scarlets, blues, greens, and yellows —
can be drawn from the waste of our gasworks.
And now a further stage of discovery has been
made in the production of saccharine from the
same source. In sweetening power the new product
is stated to be '220 to 1 as compared with the best
cane sugar. We give the Philistine or popular
name to the new product rather than the appall-
ing chemical title already quoted. For it is wise
in those learned people to invent a simple as well
as a scientific name for their products. It would
be rather hard if our helpmeets at home had to
ask, " Do you take cream and Orthobenzoyl-
sulphonimide in your tea '?" This, it is true, is not
so formidable as some of the names in the new
industry. Thus, Professor Meldola assured his hearers
that " it appears flavenol is hydroxyphenyl-lepide,"
and that when pure orthoamidoacetophenone is
treated in a certain way flavaniline is produced in
small quantities, and that flavaniline is amicophenyl-
lepidine. Truly, small quantities of such articles
should only be made when their pronunciation is
so difficult, and we may be glad that as sensible
a word as " Saccharin" has been adopted for
Dr. Fahlberg's popular invention. To an American
interviewer the successful chemist has laid bare the
entire process of extracting this new sugar, and
given illustrations of how it may be used to drive
other sugars out of use. It is not actually a sugar

po

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, 1886.

but contains carbon hydrogen, sulphur, oxygen, and
nitrogen in certain atomic relations. There are, it
appears, seven distinct steps in the course of
obtaining it from the toluene of coal-tar, and the
process is described by Sir Henry Eoscoe as a
triumph of synthetical chemistry, and perhaps
the most remarkable of all the marvellous pro-
ducts of coal tar. Saccharin is not a nutri-
ment or a poison. Where sugar is used as food
the new invention cannot take its place ; but for all
sweetening or flavouring purposes its use is cer-
tain to be great. It is so sweet, we are told, that
a tea-si3oonful will convert a barrel of water into
syrup, while a small portion will convert the bit-
terest quinine solution into " a regular molasses."'
It is already being used by makers of biscuits and
" wafers " in Germany. It will neither decay,
mould, nor ferment, nor will it be attacked by
bacteria. In sweetening power it is, as already
mentioned, 220 times more powerful than cane
sugar, and it is said that for food purposes a
small fraction added to beet sugar makes that
article equal to cane sugar in strength, as it is
already superior in digestibility and wholesomeness.
Another blow to the West Indies !

Dr. Fahlberg's story of how he made the dis-
covery is hardly less sensational than the inven-
tion itself. The German chemists are constantly
experimenting with the coal-tar products. It was
stated by Professor Meldola that while in this
country an experimental chemist can neither find
encouragement nor employment — so much so that
a young chemist here who wishes an opportunity
goes over to Germany — one German colour work
alone has fifty-four chemists at work. Labour of
this kind goes on with complete indifference as to
immediate "practical" results, and most of the
concoctions go down the sink ; but one successful
hit may enable the discoverer to throw a new and
valuable dye upon the market, and so more than
repay all the misses that may be made. Dr.
Fahlberg was in his laboratory one evening, so
much interested in some experiments that he for-
got all about supper, till very late he rushed to
his meal, without, as usual, washing his hands.
Breaking a piece of bread and putting it to his
lips, it tasted " inexpressibly sweet." Kinsing
his mouth with water and drying it, the
napkin with which he wiped his lips tasted
sweeter still. Kaising the glass of water to
his lips, his mouth came where his fingers
had previously touched it, and the water seemed
like syrup. Then the truth began to dawn. He
applied his thumb to his tongue, only to find it
. exceeding in sweetness any confectionery he had
ever tasted ! The secret was out — he had discovered
some coal-tar product which " out-sugared sugar."
A rush back to the laboratory, a taste of every
dish he had been working with, and some weeks
of careful study and experiment with the stuff he
found in one vessel, sulKced to trace out and fix
the elements of this remarkable invention. Dr.
Fahlberg says that when he first announced his
discovery people treated it as a scientific jest, and
he was laughed at in the press at home and abroad.
But now the laugh is on the other side, and large
works to produce Saccharine are already started
in Germany. The price at present is from 40s to
48s -pev lb., but Dr. Fahlberg hopes to reduce this
considerably soon. But even that is not dear for
220 lb. weight of sugar. And then the delight of
having everything as sweet as you like, without the
danger of gi-owing fat ! — Kiiropean Mail.

[The discovery, we need hardly say, is not new.
Dr. Fahlberg found it out in 1879, and it has
been frequently referred to in these columns. Even
the Weekly Scotvnan admits that when sugar is

used as food the new invention cannot take its
place, and it is very questionable, owing to its
enormous cost, whether " Saccharin " will ever be
largely used for sweetening or flavouring purposes,
even though its sweetening power may be 220
times that of cane sugar. As yet it is not certain
whether its consumption would prove injurious or
not, because although it and many other hydro-
carbons do not act as poison, a long course of
true hydrocarbons have an effect, more especially
upon the liver. Experiments are still being made
with this product from coal-tar, but even its dis-
coverer. Dr. Fahlberg, hesitates to recommend its use
at present. — En. E. ik.]

CEYLON MINERAL EXHIBITS AT THE
LONDON EXHIBITION.

The mineral resources of Ceylon comprise gold in
small quantities, platinum, silver, tin, mercury, iron,
and lead, graphite in large quantities, but no coal.
The mmerals exhibited are graphite, ironstone, talc,
and building stones, with a very fine display of Gems,
for which Ceylon has always been famous. The pre-
cious stones exhibited are, omitting the diamond from
consideration, the finest display of the kind in the Ex-
hibition.

The graphite of Ceylon is too well known to need any
commendation. It is chiefly met with in the north-
western and western provinces, and is an important
article of export, the total quantity which left the
island in 1883 amounting to 279,057 cwt. " The yearly
value of the graphite exports now varies from one and
a-half to two and a-half millions of rupees. . . .
the finest bright silvery lumps ranging between 100
and 135 rupees per ton, and the lowest quality, in the
form of dust, commaudiug a price of from 30 to 45
rupees per ton." Both the mining and trade are in the
hands of the Sinhalese, and the mines vary in depth
from 100 to 450 ft. The graphite exhibited appears
to come from the Dematagolla mines at Kurunegala,
the most important in Ceylon. JNIr. de Mel's miue at
this locality and from which samples are exhibited,
has been carried to a depth of 450 ft., and yielding, ac-
cording to Mr. A. M. Ferguson, at the rate of 800 tons
per annum for 11 years. The graphite exists here
generally in horizontal veins, "associated with beauti-
ful snow-white transparent crystaline to semi-
opaque quartz, the latter occasionally showing specks
of garnet and bands of soapstone." Anumber of these
small quartz crystals are exhibited by Mr. de Mel
in illusu-ation of this. Graphite is said generally to
occur in Ceylon in '-quartz gneiss',' embedded or diffus-
ed, but usually in long thin horizontal veins, the quality
of the mineral always improving with depth. The term
mine is hardly applicable to these openings, as they
are in reality mere excavations or deep holes.

Some fine blocks of graphite of great purity are on
view, the only associated minerals being little iron
pyrites, and the before mentioned quartz. One block,
forwarded by Mr. A. T. Fernando, weighs 3 cwt., 3 qr.
24 lb., another by Mr. W. A. Fernando' 3^ cwt., and a
still larger of 4 cwt. by Mr. W. Guuasekara. Mr. Fer-
guson states that a block of Mr. de Mel's was exhibited
iu the Philadelphia Exhibitions only 14 lb. short of 6 cwt.
probably the '• largest mass of plumbago ever shown."
.Some of these masses present a coarsely laminar struc-
ture, the portions between the laminae having a pri.s-
matic appearance. There are also on a view num-
ber of trade samples, known as " ordinary."
" chips," and " dust," but from a miueralogical
point of view the silvery graphite iu tlakes, shown by
Fernando & Co., is most interostiug, each fiake being
in fact an hexagonal plate. A fibrous variety is also
exhibited by the sauie exhibitor having much the ap-
pearance of radiating stibnite crystals. About one-
third of the Ceylon graphite is used in the mauu-
facture of crucibles, and the process iu illustrated by
Messrs. Morgan Brothers, of Battersea, who exhibit
specimens showing the various stages in the manu-
facture. Several works of art demonstrating the adapt-
ability of this miueral for ornamental carving and

Nov. 1, m6:\

tll£ fl^Ol^iCAL AGI^tetJfLTUmSf.

Sii

MilQiO(n«uiij!iitiiiriTfiin«ijtMi_M »,

turuing are also on view — a carved elepliant, an ele-
phant hunting scene in a jungle by Morgan Brothers
— a cashew tree with crows, a crab and lobster, by
Mr. A. T. t'ernaucio, a Buddhist Dagoba, by W. A.
Fernando, and other articles including models of the
sifter and tools employed in preparing the graphite
after extraction. Nearly one-half the entire quantity
produced in Oeylon is exported to the United .Statues,
the other moiety is distributed between this country,
the Continent, and India.

The ironstone found largely in the southern
provinces is of excellent (luality. A true bog
iron ore is exhibited from Kumilamzunai, in the
RfuUaitivoe district, by the Government of Ceylon. It is
found as large boulders and gravel, and was formerly
smelted by the Sinhalese and used for tools, weapons,
and other articles. Although of a rude character, these
have been found to possess a fine temper, and to be
not inferior to those made of the finest Swedish metal.
Talc has been found in the province of Uva, and speci-
men are on view. A few building stones are exhibited
by the Government, including pedestals of a massive
gneiss, both polished and unpolished from Mahara,
Western Province, showing but little evidence of feli-
ation. Gneiss appears to be the chief geological feature
of the island, and is overlaid by a dolomitic limes-
tone, hand specimens of which are also on view. A
pedestal of a highly crystaline limestone from the
Dolosbage district, and a coarse, gritty sandstone from
the sea coast, in the neighbourhood of Colombo, are
prominent stones in this collection. And this very in-
teresting sandstone is also to be seen slashed with
dark curving lines of foreign minerals, which seem
to be small octohedral magnetite, and garnets in
small grains. We again meet with laterite, or, as
it is called in Ceylon, cabook, in masses of suit-
able size for building purposes. Some interesting
blocks of coral-rock are also exhibited from the
Peninsula of Jaffna, Northern Province, where it forms
the principal rock of the country. Finally, Mr. A.
M. Ferguson has a good red granite from Veyangoda,
Western Province.

Oeylon produces almost every variety of gem
commercially valuable, with the exception of the
diamond ; but the principal are rubies, the sap-
phire, cat's-eye, and the moonstone. The gems
are chiefly obtained from the alluvial plains at the
foot of the Saffragam Hills not, however, in the
recent alluvium, but in an older and similar
stratum, known as nellau usually at a depth of
10 ft. to 20 ft. from the surface. It is separated from the
overlying recent alluvium by a hard crust called liadiia,
a few inches in thickness. The gem drift is composed
of waterworn pebbles and blocks of granite embedded
in clay. In 1884, oOO of these gem diggings existed.
The chief producing district of sapphires and rubies
is within a small radius around the town of Ratua-
pura (City of Gems), in the Western Province, and
near Kakwana.

The Ceylon Government have been much assisted
in their exhibit of the gems of the island, by the
loan of some exceedingly fine examples and suites
of stones by the following gentlemen, Messrs. C. H, de
Soysa, .}. i'.;E.O. Nockold, E. W. Streeter, Hunt and
lloskell; W, J. Tripp; O. L. M. Macau Marikar ; A. h.
Meera Ismail Lebbe ; A. L. M. Mohamadu ; Captain
F. Bayleyi and A. de Beer. The Sapphires of Ceylon
are very variable in colour, which is by no means con-
fined to shades of blue as is very generally supposed,
but embraces all colours and their shades, until they
approach that of the rose-red, Avhenthey are included
under the ruby. The blue stones range from a pale
azure blue, througn deepening tints to inky black,
when it is useless as a gem-stone, the most valuable
of those tints being the velvety blue found in the dis-
trict of Rakwana. Some very fine examples of these
are shewn, also a very large suite illustrating their
range of other colours besides blue. These form a
large part of the contents of two cases lent by R. C.
Nockold, eaoh of whicli contains 221 facetted stones
of high quality and beauty. Noteworthy also are
the sapphire and ruby star stones, the characteristic
feature oi which lwwev«r, is ouly well isecu uuder direct

instead of diffused light, as daylight. Like the other
varieties of corundum, the star stouo or " Asteria"
varies nuich in colour, but is usually of shades of sap-
phire blue or of ruby red. These stones are almost most
peculiar to Ceylon.

The Ceylon Ruby is iisually of a rich rose, vary-
ing iu intensity, and differs in this respect from the
Burniali ruby, which is mostly of a pigeon-blood
colour ; it also differs in its brilliancy, and " has
considerably more light and life." A peculiar kind
of chatoyance or as soiae may express it, a " silki-
ness " is characteristic of most of the rubies of Ceylon.
Of this stone a remarkably fine example is shown by
Mr. de Soysa, valued at £450. AVith this may be
coupled a tine exhibit of 49 unusually fine examples
of this rare gem which are designated as " specimen
rubies."

Some really magnificent examples of the true " cat's
eye " which is a stone also peculiar to Ceylon are
exhibited. One of those belongs to a " Moorman,"
and is valued by him at €3,000. This mineral is a
chatoyant variety of the species chrysoberyl. The
finest are found in the gem pits of Morowa Korle.
Like the star stone these chatoyant stones require
the aid of direct, instead of diffused light, to developo
the characteristic band to which they owe their
name.

Another variety of chrysoberyl is the " Alexan-
drite," which was first found in the emerald niineg
of Ekaterinburg, Government of Perm, Russia, where
it occurred frei|uently in large twined crystals of
the same type as those of the chrysoberyl of Brazil
and Ceylon, but, rarely of sufficient transparency to
admit being facetted as a gem. Its colour in day-
light varies from that of a dark emerald-green to a
smoky or sometimes bottle-green, but it possesses the
peculiarity of exhibiting a raspberry to a columbine-
red colour when exposed to artificial light. A stone
weighing about 23 carats is one of (if not the most)
beautiful example of this peculiar mineral we have
yet had the pleasure of examining. Quite new to
us is a single example of a chatoyant variety of
this stone, designated as an "Alexandrite Cat's-Eye."

The moonstone, hitherto in our opinion a much neg-
lected stone, is, we learn, meeting with a greater amount
of favour. Numerous examples illustrating its adaptabi-
lit3' for ornaments of personal decoration in the way of
brooches, necklaces, scarfpins, &c., are shown. This
variety of felspar is found in considerable quantities of
varying quality iu a pegmatite rock. The other gems
shown are the varieties of zircon, (the jargoon and hya-
cinth or jacynth), the lustre of which approaches
nearer to that of the diamond than any other known
mineral ; cinnamon stone, a variety of garnet often sold
as jacj'nth, which, however, is an exceedingly rare min-
eral. Most of the above minerals are also represented
iu their natural state as found, both those fit and unfit
for facetting purposes. Finally, a large crystal of quartz
is shown enclosing numerous cavities (some of consider-
able dimensions), each of which contains a fluid and
a moveable bubble, which recalls to mind the equally
interesting example from Brazil preserved in tho
National Collection of Bliiierals in the Natural History
Museum. — Minintj Journal.

At the British Pharmaceutical Conference an interest-
ing paper on the CoimEL.vno.v ov Sri-nv ix Boiaxy
AM) M.VJ'ERTA Medic.v was admirably read by
the author. Professor Hillhouse, of the Mason College.
The arguments set forth were based in a great mea-
sure on the requirements of the medical .student,
but Professor Hillhouse struck a chord of symp;ithy
with a section of his audience in declaring that
pharmacy is a part of the medical profession. Thy
paper was intended as the basis of an arrangement
for future consideration, and the subjects advanced
were (1) a thorough training in pharmacognosy,
pharmacogenesis, pharmacy, posology, and therapeutics ;
and (2) a comprehensive course of histological work.
The author re^'retted the abolition of botanical studies
by some medical qualifying bodies, and this was taken
as the key-note by some of the speakers who followed.
Dr, Triuieu— the wvll-kuowu botanist— could not agree

s

t'd

f HE "tRQPlQAL AQRie^tWRtSf. [Nov. i, iBS6,

with Mr. Hillhouse regarding medical botanical studies,
and gave a forcible illuHtratioii of tbe inefHcient
manner in which botany was taught iu London twenty
years ago. It was pointed out in the covu-se of the
discussion that bad results hitherto were due to the
want of systematic and practical teaching, pharmacy
apparently being as bad in this respect as medicine,
i'rom what the chairman said, however, it appears
that we shall by-aud-by get all that is required in
the research laboratory of the Pharmaceutical Society.
■ — Cliemi.it (tnd Drv.figist.

The Falkland Isles. — There is certainly a remark-
able contrast between this place and Seychelles in the
way of vegetation. There the most redundant tropical
growth, here all as bare as your hand. It is about
this very bareness that I am going to trouble you.
I am very anxious to try and grow some hardy
bushes and shrubs here ; and iu sheltered spots they
will grow I know, to a certain height, though I
doubt if one could expect anything about 12 or 15
feet at most. Still this would be something better
than "diddle dee" and Balsam Bog. Could you
advice me what to try, and perhaps send me a few
seeds or root.?, with directions as to the best way
of managing them. I have a good gardener here
who was at Paul's Xursery Gardens, and will take
pains with plants. The soil, as of course you know,
is chiefly peat, and the winds are high and cold. The
latter, I suppose, would always prevent trees of any
size growing. But it is wonderful what can be done
here in sheltered spots, and the flowers do capitallj'.
I have never seen such' Pausies, Pinks, Picotees, &c.
as are grown here- Fruit seems to degenerate — Straw-
berries, llaspberries, and Currants, ail get small by
degrees and beautifully less, year by year. So far
as I have yet seen, the climate has been too much
abused, chiefly by people who, like Sir Wyville
Thompson, happened to come here during bad weather.
It is now over three months since my arrival, and I
find from my journal that more than half the days have
been fine and calm, and when it is fine it is lovely —
like spring weather at home. To be sure it does
blow "whiles," and snow, too; and, unluckily, visitors
generlly arrive when it is doing one or the other, or
both, and at its best it looks a little bare and dreary,
but would be vastly improved if a few nice evergreen
bushes and shrubs could be induced to grow here and
there in sheltered places. About the town I do not
see why Laurels, Hollies, &c., should not do, but I
should be very glad of your advice and assistance to
think of me. — Extract from letter from Hon. A. C.
Barklej", late Commissioner at the Seychelles, now
Acting (Toveruor of the Falkland Islands, to Mr. AV.
T. Thiselton Dyer, F.R.S., CM G., Director, Royal
Gardens, Kew. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

Effects of AA'hite Ants on Soil. — The opinion
has been held and expressed that the white ants use
the best particles of the soil in forming their pyram-
idal nests, A writer on a sal forest in the Indian
Forester is of a very different opinion, thus exjjressed; —
But if, in the Bhinga forest, fires have devoured
the mould desiccated by exposure, and the free inlet
of sun and air has made further accumulations of
it impossible, if the hitherto highly impregnated soil
has been bereft of all its remaining riches in the
ordinary course of vegetable life, a most formidable
Agency of ruin and destruction remains to be described.
I refer to the ever-busy colonies of white-ants, whose
numerous hillocks — sometimes as many as fifteen to
the acre — constitute one of the most conspicuous
features of the Bhinga forest. Neglecting the ilmost
certain fact that the termites consume a considerable
quantity of the forming vegefable mould, these only
too industrious insects are mischievous in quite another
direction, and ou a much more serious scale. Each
one of these tiny Xeuroptea is but a living pump,
and by the united force of their myriad numbers,
an immense quantity of unkindly subsoil is annually
brought to the surface, to be there spread out,
wherever the protection of the neighbouring trees
is deficient, into even sheets of a plastic and im-
penetrable ct'Uicnt— a soil so inhospitable that, uutU

much diffused iu the progress of years, even the
loMliest herbs cannot grow upon it. An observing
visitor to the Bhinga forest will not fail to notice
the many blanks, from a fev/ hundred square feet to
acres in extent, whicli characterize it. These void
spaces bear many points of close resemblance to one
another in the generally barren nature of the soil,
its jwhite coloration, and the numerous eWdences of
extinct and living ant-life — evidences that range from
the not wholly demolished hillock to the white
circular deposit of unusually cement-like earth.
Before walking very far inside the Bhinga reserve,
the observing stranger will descry this process of
soil deterioration going on in all its different stages,
from the truncated cone just attacked by the
advancing monsoons to the three or four mounds
littering with their detritus half an acre of ground.
Wherever we proceed, we notice, at short interval.",
either towering ant-hills, or the evidences of their
past existence, and it is impossible for us to neglect
the immense importance of the part played by termites
in forest economy."

The Y.vlue of Fruit as a diet has often been
insisted upon ; but there seems to be a sort of
prejudice to the use of fruit on a large scale, which
may doubtless be traced to an ignorance of the laws
of hygiene. The following remarks, which we extract
from the Journal of Health will, we think, be read
with interest. In a hot, enervating climate like that
of India, fruit should form a very large proportion
of our daily food : —

Of all the fruits with which we are blessed, the
peach is the most delicious and digestible. There is
nothing more palatable, wholesome, and medicinal than
good ripe peaches- It is a mistaken idea that no fruit
should be eaten at breakfast. It would be far better
if our people would eat less bacon and grease at break-
fast, and more fruits. In the morning there is an
acrid state of the secretions, and nothing is so well
calculated to correct this as cooling, sub-acid fruit,
such as peaches, apples, etc. The apple is one of the
best of fruits. Baked or ste^ved apples will generally
agree with the most delicate stomach, and are an
excellent medicine in many cases. Green or half-ripe
apples stewed and sweetened are pleasant to the taste,
cooling, nourishing, laxative, far superior, in many
cases, to the abominable doses of salts and oil usually
given in fever and other diseases. Raw apples stewed
are better for constipation than some pills. Oranges
are very acceptable to most stomachs, having all the
advantages of the acid alluded to, but the orange
juice alone should be taken, rejecting the pulp. The
same may be said of lemons, pomegranates and all
that class. Lemonade is the best drink in fevers, and
when thickened with sugar it is better than syrup
of squills and nauseants m many cases of cough. Tom-
atoes act on the liver and bowels, and are much
more pleasant and safe than blue mass. The juice
should be used alone, rejecting the skins. The small
seeded fruits, such as black=berries, figs, currants
and strawberries, may be classed among the best
foods and medicines. The sugar in them is nutritious,
the acid is cooling and purifying and the seeds are
laxative, "We would be much the gainers if we Would
look more to our orchards and gardens for out
medicines and less to drug stores. To cure fever of
act on the kidneys, no febrifuge or diuretic is superior
to water-melon, which may, with very few exceptions^
be taken in sickness and in health in almost un-
limited quantities, with positive benefit. But in using
them, juice should be taken, excluding the pulp, and
then the melon should be fresh and ripe. It is
true that we cannot procure apples in sufficient
quautitieSj or at rates low enough to suit the pockets
of the masses, but peaches, water-melons, oranges and
figs are common enough, should be largely used. We
have other fruits, such as plantains, mangoes, plums,
papyas and pine-apples, custard apples, i^-c, which ar«
are all good wholesome fruit, which ought to figure
conspicuously on our tables. The tomato can be had
nearly all the year round, and limes or lemons are
plentiful in all sgasouD.— //(tliV/i AffricaUi'.riet.

Nov. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

V3

MR, LESTER ARNOLD'S BOOK ON

COFFEE -PLAN TING.

AND Profit,

Review of Coffee: its Cultivation
BT E. Lester Arnold. *

Only twenty years ago, and coffee-planting
was the best investment in Ceylon, the one
grand product of the island ; beside which,
all its other exports were separately insignific-
ant trifles ; but the destroying demon came and
marched in triumph through the land, leaving
his mark everywhere, gradually feeding on the
life blood of the plant, and extinguishing the
hopes of the planter. The invisible germs of the
destroyer floated in the air and attached them-
selves to every object, and were thus borne to
other lands ; it spread to the coft'ee regions of India, to
Java, to the Straits Settlements, carrying ruin in
its train, and it seems to be a work of time merely,
for the same fungus to extinguish this industry,
all over the world. We have no authentic in-
formation that this enemy has yet reached the
coft'ee regions of the West, but we have clear proof
now that coft'ee is nowhere a permanent industry.
Within living memory, coft'ee was profltably grown
on the sea shore in Brazil : it has now receded far into
the interior, and still marches westward, leaving
(so far as coftee is concerned) a barren exhausted
soil behind. We were told long ago, that the Brazil
system was unsound and must collapse ; but since
that theory was first broached, Brazil has doubled
its exports and goes on increasing them, till
the markets of the world are swamped and tlie
protits of that industry, reduced to the vanish-
ing point wherever it is grown, independ-
ent of the ravages of Hemileia VustatrLr. How
long it may take Brazil to exhaust her re-
sources, we have no means of estimating, but they
are not inexhaustible and her onward career, may
be checked by social or financial collapse, long before
she has got to the end of her vast forests ; in
the meantime, we cannot credit with very deep
wisdom the man, who goes into coffee planting
in any part of the world, with perhaps one ex-
ception ; the Blue Mountain coffee of Jamaica has
never been affected by the fluctuations of the market,
and probably never will, unless its production is
increased beyond the wants of its own special
market.

It is at such a time, and under such circum-
stances, that Mr. E. L. Arnold, an Indian planter,
has given himself the trouble of writing a book
on coft'ee. If the object of this work was to in-
struct those already engaged in administering
diminishing crops in a falling market, he will
probably be told to instruct a venerable ancestress,
in the art of extracting food by means of
suction. If on the other hand, the object is
to draw fresh capital into the enterprise, there may
be some chance of success. There are always
plenty of English people ready to open their
purses, for the support of any scheme that is
plausibly invested with the promise of profit, but
writing a book of technical instructions, is not the
best way of reaching them.

Planters first and last, have learned very little from
books: the new ' chum ' who comes among them has
only to open his eyes and his ears when he meets
his neighbours, they talk little else than ' shop '
and he sees around him daily the outcome of
the accumulated experience of a long series of years ;

* PuUli-lieJ l>v Whittinghaui i'< Co., Landon.

Ill

so that he has little need to turn to books on coft'ee
for professional knowledge. There is only one possi-
ble case in which such books are useful, that is
when new hands begin to plant in new countries,
but such a case is not likely to occur in this
century. The early Ceylon planters owed much
to the old French refugee, Laborie, and all the
books that have been since written, add little to
the information, given by him.

As to tha merits of Mr. Arnold's book, there is
little to say. It gives a fair view of the life and
work of a planter. His estimates are rather slovenly
in details ; and larger in the gross, than tli'e
Ceylon rate for the same works. One great
slip is cutting pegs, lining, making holes two
feet by eighteen inches, and filling them up with
fresh surface soil for R25-80 per acre, and then
charging Ii'27 for removing the plants from the
nursery to the field, setting thera in the spots pre-
pared for them and filling in any vacancies that
may occur during the season,

A maiden crop of \ cwt. per acre is more than
the average Ceylon yield in our best days, and 703
is certainly above the average of present prices and
no allowance is made for curing, packmg, shipping,
insurance, freight, and London charges ; if the differ-
ence between ten rupees and twenty shillings was
meant to cover those charges, it might have been so
stated. With no guide but Mr. Arnold's figures,
the investing capitalist can arrive at no other re-
sult than an excess of receipts over expenditure at
the end of the fifth year of not less than EHO.OOO
and the promise of RSO.OOO per annum for a long
series of years. If something like this is the
general experience of Indian coft'ee planters, nothing
more can be said, but the capitalist who has learned
what the coffee fungus has done in Ceylon and that
it has a hold in India, will shake his head and
button up his pocket.

_ ^

CEYLON UPCOUNTRY PLANTING REPORT.

DUMBABA WITH EN0U<1]£ RAIN — 1 INE CROPS OF CACAO
IN PROSPECT -MANGOES AND CARDAMOMS — TEA-SIFTER
AM) 'IF.A-ROLLEB — MOTHER SEIOEL's SVRFP.

11th Oct. 1S86.

This fine planting season still continues, and
the soutli-wesl seems to be as boisterous as if it
were but beginning to blow. That we have had
more than enough of rain was manifested
by the remark of a Dumbara man the other day,
who said that they really were not wanting any
more there! Fancy Dumbara in a state of satura-
tion and th« inhabitants thereof, calling out
' enough ' ! What fine crops of cacao may not be
expected ; in all likelihood, the best they ever have
had if the present promise holds. But what suits one
product does not suit another, and the tobacco
enterprise of that rich val'ey has, I understand,
not been quite such a mine, as it might other-
wise have been had the usual weather obtained.
Another season, let us hope may make up for
this.

I suppose it is one effect of tlie abnormal
weather that our mango trees arc full of blossom
which may mean another crop, whereas wo usually
have only one. In the old days a fine mango
blossom was a jiretty sure toki-n that there was
going to be a go n\ coffee one : but then the
mango flowered in llie early months of tlie year,
and to see it in bloom in October was not looked for.
In a (luiet way, there is going on at present a
good dral of Cardamom planting, and those wiio
are doing this are hopeful of reaping the reward
of their faith in having a linn maiket to send
to with good ])riees, when tlie timf; of 1 ar;cst

31-

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov, i, 1886.

comes. Most of the cardamoms now in fruit will
be past by the time the bulbs now being put out
are matured, and as there are not very many
extending the cultivation of this product, there
would seem to be ahead a good time for the
knowing ones.

Tkfessrs. Baillie and Thomson's patent Tea
Sitter has been improved lately. The old style of
■wood in frame has given place to a wrought iron
tubular end. which makes the machine look much
smarter. Witli this improvement, the price has also
advanced somewhat, whereas tea machinery in Ceylon
might well alloid to have a turn the other way.

Messrs. Law A- Davidson's " Simplex Tea Roller "
is tiuietly making a name for itself, and is said
to do very good work. It takes 100 lb. of leaf at
a fill and finishes this off in 30 or 10 minutes
with six coolies.

One who has had practical experience of almost
every hand-roller in the field, has now no hesitation
in giving the palm to the " Simplex." He main-
tains that it is strongly and solidly built, is the
lowest priced, has a better twisted leaf, gives a
larger j)roportion of tine tea, than can be turned
out by any other hand-machine. He further asserts
that every leaf is thoroughly rolled. That is high
praise, and if the "Simi^lex " comes up to it, it will
be another example of the capability of Ceylon men
to invent and manufacture their own machines.
Certainly such a testimonial should fully satisfy the
inventors, although in these days it is sometimes
difficult to do this. Of course, in regard to the
merits of tea-rollers, there will always be a variety
of opinions, and as almost every other man you
meet now is an authority on tea, there will be for
every machine that does any kind of fair work,
a number willing enough to supply the manufacturer
with a sample of this literary composition, so treated
or otherwise. Coffee, what at least of it is left,
is briginning to ripen up, but the picking is a farce
after all ; you don't know very well how to do it,
so as to secure the miserable harvest, at anything
like a modest cost. If you try four coolies in the
line, the tale at the close of the day is so poor
as to -make you regret the more : whereas by
the picking, you may secure half or two-ihirds
of what is really there, and the rest drops. And
then to read of the excitement and speculation
in the American coffee market, and the brilliant
prospects which lie before the cultivation of that
fragrant bean, and to feel that we are all out of
it or nearly so ! It is rather tantalizing that this
turn comes just as we are unable to avail our-
selves of it. Had it been earlier, it would have
suited Ceylon much better. I suppose it is because
that we are now recognized all over the world as
a sorely tried and suffering people that the pro-
l)ri-tor of "Mother yiegel's Syrup" has of late
inundated the island with an almanack, altogether
given over to the extolation of this quack medicine.
It is diHicult, however, to understand why the Post
Oflice officials should be mixed up with it — for
the copy of the almanack which lies before me
is from one of the outstation offices, and the name
of the postmaster is printed thereon. It has a
gay cover, and the outside is the best of it. One
who was disappointed in love, and took to the
" Syrup,"" says that its effects wci'e wonderful.
He at once recovered his spirits, was able to .sleep,
and ceased grinding his teeth. He hints that the
official connection with the " Syrup"' includes many
in high places, that the Acting Postmaster-General
is always at his worst when his supply is ex-
liausted : that Mr. MacBride goes in for heroic
doses, whenever Mr. Campbell writes a letter about
the state of the roads ; and that even His Ex-
cellency has of late been rather an extensive buyer.

and as he has not been known to oi?er it to any
one, it is conjectured that he uses it all himself.
But in Ceylon, it is very hard to know what to
believe, and this " gup " from the disappointed lover
may be, after all, not a whit more reliable than
much which we have formerly rejected.

Peppercorn.

HOOPER AND HO^YARD ON CINCHONA BARK.

We copy from the Pliarmaceiiticdl Journal ab-
stracts of papers read before the Pharmaceutical
Congress. As regards Mr. David Howiird"s opinion
regarding hybridization in Ceylon, it seems a pity
he did not explain how hybridization can be
prevented where different species Jare cultivated
within reach of winds and insects : —

"Mr. David Hooper communicated some of the
results obtained in the course of his quinological
work in the Madras cinchona plantations. Shaving
cinchona trees as a method of harvesting bark
is now very general, but the question as to the
limit to the constant and successful .^having of the
tree is not yet fully understood. It h.is been found
that when operating on trees of six years old the
increase in the amount of quinine during the first
and second renewal at intervals of twelve months
was most satisfactory, but the increase was not
so marked in the third year renewal, although
the conclusion arrived at is that renewal by shav-
ing might be permitted for at least four years.
The beneficial effect of renewal by shaving was
very marked in the case of a six-year old succi-
rubra, which yielded twice as much quinine sulphate
as from a natural succirubra of twice that age;
but the operation was not satisfactory in its results
when appUed to trees of sixteen to twenty-one
years, as such old trees will not bear the shaving
treatment. The appHcation of cattle manure to •
cinchonas seems, from the results of three sets
of experiments on succirubra and magnifolia trees,
to have the effect of increasing the amount of
total alkaloids, and in two instances the amount
of quinine, by 52 per cent, and 20 per cent, res-
pectively; but the usefulness of the application of
manure was not so marked in old trees, and it is
believed that the effect of manuring would be more
apparent in Crown and Ledger barks. It is also
stated that the maximum yield of quinine in Ledger
and succirubra barks seems to be attained when
the trees are between the age of five and six
years, as after that time there is no sensible in-
crease in the amount of quinine. Another point
ascertained was that bark which had been kept
for ten months in a damp room, and had become
mouldy in consequence, had not deteriorated as re-
■gards the amount and quality of the alkaloids."
Cinchona Cultivation in South America was the
title of a paper by Mr. David Howard, who be-
lieves that it is to other countries than Ceylon,
which occupies at present the most promment
position of all the countries where cinchonas have
been cultivated, that we must look for the solu-
tion of the scientific points involved in the cultiv-
ation of cinchonas, owing to the little care that
has been taken in Ceylon to avoid the danger of
hybridization. Unfortunately, very little scientific
information can be obtained from South America,
the natural home of the cinchonas except what
little can be derived from the study of the cult-
ivated bark which reaches us from that country.
Among the cinchonas under cultivation in South
America are two new species, C. Thomsoniana,
named after Mr. Thompson, who discovered it in
the Central Cordilleras, the home of the well-knowu
C. hi'icifoH'i, and another discovered by Sefior
Pombo in Ecuador. C, Thormoniana gave on an^-

Nov. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIS'To

n^

3IS

lysis of the bark of a two-year old tree 3-3 per
cent quinine sulphate, trace of cinchonidine, and
0-5.") per cent cinchonine. The bark from the other
species of the same age ^ave 'rl per cent quinine
sulphate, 0-43 per cent cinchonidine, with no cin-
chonine or quinidine. The improvement brought
about by the successful cultivation of the cinchonas
is further shown by the results obtained from the
same plantations in 1872 and 1881 of several kinds
of cinchonas grown in Jamaica, and these results
were even more favourable in the cultivation in
Columbia of descendants from the Jamaica plant-
ations. In the case of a succirubra cultivation in
Columbia from a Jamaica plant the bark yielded
as much as 7'0 per cent quinine sulphate, with
only I'D per cent cinchonidine, and 0"fi7 per
cent cinchonine and Mr. Howard remarks tha'j
this succirubra is one of the finest he has tested.
In Mr. Howard's opinion it cannot be too clearly
borne in mind that the prospect of future profits
in the cultivation of cinchonas depends entirely
on the cultivation of high testing bark, for in the
face of the importation of such highly valuable
cultivated bark from Bolivia, as well as from Java,
the profitable growing of inferior bark is impossible.

THE KALUTAEA TEA DISTEICT.

{Ffdiii (I Rfsuhnt Phinler.)

THE KUBH INTO AKD COLLAI'SE OF LIBERIAN COi'FEE

THE SUCCESS OF TEA, YIELDING UP TO 1,000lH.

I'EU ACRE— CHEAr SINHALESE LABOUR FOR TEA-1'LUCK-

INCJ — THE TEA DISTRICT PROPER NEARLY ROADLESS

THE TRAFFIC LOST BY THE RAILWAY — THE NEED
FOR A VISIT FROM THE GOVERNOR.

A very few years ago it was doubted if tea would

grow in this District, at all ; and experiments on

were tried, partly alone, and partly intermixed with
coHee. I only know what crops two fields of this
have given, but it all looks very tine indeed. The held

you saw on is giving 800 lb. per acre this season ;

and during the last 9 months the field you saw on

has given Ifii lb. of made tea per acre, with 3 months
to run yet, during which time it will be pruned, i
estimated some time ago that at least E800,000 had
been invested in the District, mostly spent in Liberian
Coffee cultivation, which has turned out a snare and
a delusion, and of which there are only a few acres
left now.

Perhaps never in the history of the Island, has so
much capital been put into an industry, which,
practically before it [ihcc any returnx, collapsed ; and
the perseverance of the planters under the heart-
breaking circumstances, is beyond all praise. As
much as E70 per acre was paid for some of the land,
and most of it was planted with plants costing from
50 cents to 12* cents eacii ! so you can easily
imagine what some of the capital accounts must
have stood at, to start with. Then came the fact
that it took i bushels of cherry to make I bushel of
parchment, and when it became known that instead
of being worth 50 per cent more than ordinary coffee
in New York, it was worth much less the last straw ■
was piled on " that broke the camel's back,"' or
rather that decided the fate of Liberian coffee, and
in the last 3 years a wonderful change has taken
place in the District, as practically all the colfee has
been replaced by tea, which is coming on remark-
ably well.

With Liberian coi¥ee, everything was an experiment
and the calculations of profits were built upon
fables waited over the sea, and pamphlets published
by the sellers of seed ; while the few trees in
Ceylon at the time only served to confirm the
exaggerated reports of its bearing capabilities, as they
bore enormous crops simply, I suppose, through over-
Uianurin^.Iknowoivne in^ti^uQe >Yhere dghl c;ipen*

mental trees gave at least at the rate of 50 cwt. per
acre ; one individual tree giving 2 bushels parchment /«
one year ! while the adjoining field never gave over 5
cwt. per acre, and this was very good for Liberian
coffee. With tea, on the contrary the planting generally
was gone about in a far more systematic manner,'
and with previous experience before them in the fields
fa-st planted, and in estates in other districts, there
have ensued the happiest results and I venture to
assert that there has not been a single (or married
either for that part) visitor to this district, who
has not been surprised at the state of the tea
industry and the wonderful growth of the plant
in the district.

Tea planted in abandoned citronella land and
in its Sth year giving over 1000 lb. per acre
augurs well for the future of the district. The price
that tea can be produced for in this district is another
point, with scarcity of Tamil labour and reduced
prices both looming ahead of us, this is an important
factor, and we have cheap work in the shape of
indigenous population, who will work more cheaply
and quite as well as Tamils.

" I pick leaf regularly at 2] cents per lb.,'
said a superintendent to me lately, " I have a
gang of 00 women (Sinhalese) always employed."
If prices fall, and as the women get better up to
the work, I have no doubt that leaf will be plucked
all over the district at 2 cents per lb. ; and even
supposing half the plucking only is done in
1888 by Sinhalese, it will mean an income of
about E50,000 (fifty thousand rupees) for this work
olo)ie to the local Sinhalese population.

It is clearly in the interest of Government to
encourage planting in Kalutara as much as they
can, for the very reason that it is employing a
large population of hitherto idle people (in many
cases idle, because except at seed time and harvest
time, there was no work) and there is still an
ample number of labourers of this description in
this population of 270,000 , many of them being
on the verge of starvation before the approach of
harvest.

The question of the value of low-grown tea at
first caused some anxiety to the owners of tea
gardens in the district, but the fallacy of the theory
that low-grown tea means poor prices has long ago
been proved; and in the last week's Sale List live
Kalutara estates had tea sold ; three of them real-
izing between 1/3 and 13^ sterling and two between
11 and l,2d sterling, averages that will compare
favorably with those of any district in the island.

The next question to be faced is how to get the
crops despatched and food imported for the labourers.
By their present policy Government are driving
the traffic from the railway to the river and canal to
Colombo.

Fancy what would be the action of -i private
Company if it owned 30,000 acres of available
tea land, within 10 miles of a raihvay, and wlieer
useful cart roads could be cut for EH, 000 per mile,
Certainly not to refuse to cut absolutely necessary
feeding roads, to its own direct loss.

In the year 1888 there v/ill be made
in Kalutara, tea . . , , yGO,000 lb.

Say packages, tea- lead and up and
down . , . . , , 300,000 j,

Eice, (say 1 bushel per month per
acre) .. ., ,. 2,ti00,000 ,,

Sundries .. .. . , 780,000 ,.

i,480,000 lb.
or 2,000 tons of traffic, and not a road through
the district to take it to the railway, although
this could be made for 1130,000 at the outside."

Tea is an article v,-hich should be possible fo
dispatch direvi, to iUi destiuativu witijout th§ iiel»i/<;

'^uu 'TROPICAL AaRicuLTumsf. [Nov. t. im.

■I i|iiiirhjiii r«nirin •>m

>..

and damping it gets in river transport, and the
only principal road to Kalutara now ia Hooded
repeatedly during the year, and stops short seven
nrilcs from the railway. At this point a large
cart bridge was put up some years ago at con-
siderable expense {and the road nut cvntinncd a foot
hi'i/ond it ! I), so that carts come to the bridge
and turn without crossing it, there being no road.

TLANTING IN NETHERLANDS INDIA.

(From the Straita Timen.)

We understand that Mr. Teves, one ot our
townsmen, along with an experienced Deli planter,
and on account of an enterprising tobacco grower
in Mid .Tava, will proceed to British North Eorneo
to ascertain how matters stand there, and how
far that article can be successfully cultivated there
for the European market by the methods pursued
on the East Coast of Sumatra. It is dej)lorable
that enterprising Hollanders must look to British
colonies for advancement in the cultivation line,
notwithstanding the circumstance of Holland having
niagnilicent colonial possessions. The British
seem to have the knack of better knowing how
to encourage private enterprise and backing
it up than our Government. We look forwards
with interest to further jiarticulars of this under-
taking owing to so little being known as yet of
British North Borneo. Sainarang Locoinotief.

At Buleling in Bali so says a Surabaya news-
paper, the tobacco hitherto grown was used only
for native consumption. The quality, however,
has proved so excellent and the leaf so choice
fhat the article has some chance of being grown
at a profit also for the European market. Bali
may hence at some time become a rival to Deli.
Experiments in this direction have not yet been
made but no doubt will soon be, judging from
appearances.

Du. BoNAViA, in a letter to the Gardeners' ('hro-
uic/e (July 31, p. 147), gives a glowing account of
the beauty of the Cassia ti.''tula tree, or "amiltas,"
as he calls it. When iu bloom he considers it to be
one of the sights of the Indian flora. An avenue of
the trees iu bloom would, he says, be worth a trip
from any part of the world to see. Wheu in full
Hower it is a perfect cascade of canary-yellow spra3'.
He remarks that there are two varieties, one with
bright green leaves throughout, wliich has liowers
of a pale yellow, avid the other with fiuc maroou-
brorze leaves wheu young, but turning greeu later
on, and bright canary-yellow flowers. — rharmaceutical
Journal.

iJxviiiUMKXTAL ToB.U'co Ci'LTUUK. — On .soiue ground
rented by Messrs. CABihU & Co., at Plaistow in Kent,
fi nunibir of varities of the Tobacco plant are
now lindergoiiig ;v course of trial, bo a.s to ascertain
the varitics best suited to our climate, Tlie tjrouiid
U so far isuited to the groivth of the plant it being
iv'.'li sheltered, Lut although its ana doea not cscecd
three-quarters of un acre, there appears to be consider-
iible diversity in its fertility, as is shown by the
Varying heights and strength of the plants ; and the
lowest part of the grountl is liable to be iloodcd by
>yatcr from a neighbouring ditcb. These drawbacks
«'ouH be avoid: d by deep digging after an even distrih-
ntiou of homogeneous well-rotted in.nnure, and by
oilier obvious change-:. 'J'lic sorts grown are Havana,
iSpmish Sced-Leaf, i^'lorida, ViUow I'ryor, Hester Vir-
ginii, rcnnsylvania, One Hucker, Kentucky, \^u-ginian,
15ig ]''redcrick, Mnryland Broadleaf, Island Broadleaf,
>\'hite Burlt^y, ^\'hite Stem, "b'ellow Oronoco, Con-
necticut, and G'.asuer. The most prc-nusing Tobaccos
are those which are long jjinted and broad-leaved.
Tho^e carry their foliage ch' ir of the soil, and are
iu toueequwitt not diipfigurcd by dirt vr injured by

worms and slugs; the air gets better amongst them
than is the case with the short compact-habited sorts
whoso leaves, as in the case of Cann's Seed-Leaf, lie
on the ground or nearly so. Glasner, Connecticut,
Pennsylvania, and AVhite Burley are each more or
less, so far as could be seen now, of this close dwarf
habit. The other kinds differ from these iu being,
as we have said, of an ascending habit, with long in-
tervals between the leaves. Some h.ave slendt^r foliage,
pendulous at the tips; other support the leaf horizon-
;j tally, or nearly so ; and in scarcely any of them are
the various hues of green ahke. The plants are now
growing fast, and if the weather continues warm,
without rain, gr«at progress will be made before we
get frost in that part of the country. The method
of cultivation adopted is that generally advocated by
men of experience in the United States of America.
the plants being set out on light hillocks standings
feet apart in the row, and 4 feet between the rows,
the greater space affording means of getting amongst
the plants with the cultivator iu the early stages, and
with the hoe later. Topping the plants as they show
the liower-buds and have developed nine leaves, with-
out reckoning the bottom pair, and constantly re-
moving laterals, requires the constant attention of
the man in charge of the crop. If it should be found
to answer, and our GDvernment lix an Excise tax on
each plant, as is done in Belgium, it would prove a
source of revenue to our small farmers and cottagers,
as the profits per acre are considerably higher than
those from corn, &c. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

Tea Peosi'Ects in Inwa. — From the Calcutta
"Commercial Letter" in the latest P/oKt'gy we take
the following : —

The following are the tigures published by the Cal-
cutta Tea Association, giving correct estimates of the
crop. The previous estimates of the Indian tea crop
given iu their Circular, dated 8th May last were : —

Estimated
crop ot 1S86.
lb.
. . 35,133,494
. . •2-2,908,180
. . 13,302,800
1,346,800
3,250,000

Assam

Cachar and Sylhet
Darjeeling, Terai, and Dooars. .
Chittagong and Chota Nagpore
Dehra Dun, Kumaon, and Kangra

Total . . 75,941,274

From figures since obtained, a revised estimate has

been prepared based upon actual results up to 31st
August, showing the following figures : —

Manufactured up to 31st August 1885. 1886.

lb. lb.

Assam .. .. .. li),520,520 18.910,054

Cachar and Sylhet .. 11,749,129 13,004,412

Dsrjeeling, Terai and Dooars 7,076,594 8,769,820
Chittagong and Chota Nagpore 589,154 651,057

Total .. 35,935,397 41,335,343
Ixevised estimate of crop, 1S80;—

lb. ,.

Assam ■ , , . , . ,, ;t'i,5H4,Jj,*;J

Cachar and Hyllict - , , , . , ■2-J,U74,0'^r

Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars.. ,, 13,Ol4,4^i^

. Chittagong and Chota Nagpoic .. 1,316,5' "

Dehra Dun, Kuuiaou and Kangra . . 3,500,000

Private and Native Gardens (estimated) 2,000,000

Total . . 74,489,579

The consumption of Indian tea in India and the
rc((uireincnts of Govcrunieut being estimated at IJ
million lb., and the exports to the Australian Colonies
and other places beiii'' calculated at 2 million lb.,
thtrc should remain about 71 inilliou lb. for ship-
ineut to Groat Britam against 65] million lb. shipped
during the season of 1885-86.

Adding 13 million lb. out of a total of 11 million
exported from Ceylon, we get ><i million lb. of
Indian and Ceylon tea for the United Kingdom in
IS8(>-87. But the Indian and Ceylon seasons clo not
quite correspond,

tSoV. t, i8§6,j

f«

f^n tKOPiCAL Aai^lCULTURlSf,

3i^

MANURING TEA WITH COTTON-SEED.

Our readers will recollect that we (|Uoted into the
Tropical Aciricidturist the results of experiments in the
manuring of tea by iMr. F. McL. Carter of Ohaudpore
(rarden, Chittagong, with castor cake solely, and the
same substance mixed with superphosphate. Mr. Carter
has now published in the Indian Tea Gaietti, the
results of manuring with Cotton-seeds. Three pounds
to a bush raised the yield to 831 lb. per acre as com-
pared with 554 lb. on an unraanured plot and the
profits in first and .second years were good in pro-
portion, though not quite e((ual to those resulting
from the use of castor cake. There is no evidence
that in this case the quality of the leaf was improved.

MEMORANDUM OF EXPEEIJIENTAL MANURING WITH

COTTON-SEED OX CHANDPORE GARDEN, CHITTAGONG,

TV SEASONS 1882 AND 1888.

Elevation of plateau 75 to 80 feet above the paddy
lands ; and soil, a sandy loam near surface, with a
ferruginous clay and sand for subsoil. The bushes
are of a fair Assam Hybrid variety, transplanted
from nurseries in 1867, to. 4' x 4'=:272'2 per acre, and
were pruned down to 18 inches on 5th, 6th and 7th
January 1882.

Season 1882.
The e.xperimental plots A, B. and C comprised :^
acre, 680 bushes each manured with Cotton-seed, &c.
and a similar area contiguous to each with no manure ;
all properly fenced in, and plucked by selected
women throughout the .season, the leaf being carefully
weighed by beam scales. The style of plucking 2J
leaves (the bud counted as one).
Plot A manured with Cotton-seed, (g) 2 lb. per bush )
equal 68 maunds per acre j

„ B Do. do (g 3 lb. per bush ]

equal 102 maunds per acre j

„ C Do. 1 lb. of Cotton-seed, mixed

with 5 lb. of ffobar per bush
equal to a combination of
204 maunds per acre.
The manures were applied between the 7th and 10th
March 1832.

Results in yield.

Plot A.
lb. oz. ft.

(594 8 green leaf =(594 tea per acre.
564 5 „ =564

J

}

Manured \ acre
Non-manured do.

In favor of former by 130 3

or an increase of 23 per cent.

= 130

Manured ^ acre
Non-manured do.

Flat B.
lb. oz. lb.

831 11 green leaf =831 tea per acre.
554 2 „ =554

=27/

In favor of former by 277 9 „
or an increase of 50 per cent.
Plot C.
lb, oz. lb.

Manured j^ acre 729 10 green leaf =730 tea per acre.

Non-manured do. 632 10 „ =633 „

111 favor of former by 97 0 „ ^ 97 „
or an increase of lo3 per cent.

From the foregoing areas there were 27 flushes in
the season, which commenced on loth March, and
terminated on 81st December.

The rainfall in 18S2 was 102 inches and 31 cents, and
number of days in which rain fell was 137.

The average rainfall for this garden in 15 years
was 97 inches 70 cents.
The height of bushes at end of season was on plot A

Manured plot 36"

Non do. 30"

Do. do. Plot B

Manured 36"

Nou do. 30"

Do. do. Plot C

Manured 36"

Non do. 30"

The mean average of Brokers' tliree valutatious in
ist season was lvO-8'5 per lb. from the manured

a^tBMWMnnnijw

areas, v/;. 8!h June, 5th August, and l7th November,
ani also KO-8-5 on non-manured area, no diflereiice
in fact, but plot B was the highest, being K(»-8-7
per lb., the lowest being EO-8-2 per lb. on plot C.
The results are estimated as follows- —
riot A.

Manured plot lb. 694 tea to say
Non-manured do. „ 5(;i

per acre
R0-8-0=R347-0
R0-8-0=R282-0

--R65-0

In favour of former by 130 „

Less the actual cost of the manure, includ- )

ing Freight, transport, and applic- V =R47-8
ation &c., was on this plot R47-7-4 per acre J
Amount in favour of manured plot ... =R17-8

Therefore, the profits were 36| per cent per acre.
Eesults from Plot B.

Blanured plot
Non do.

per acre,
lb. 831 say @ R0-8=R415-8
lb. 554 (w R0-S=R277-0

lb. 277 „ =R138-8

R71-3 per acre =R71- 3

In favour of former by
Less the actual cost of "i

manuring, &c., this >

plot was )

Amount in favour of manured plot =R67

Therefore, the profits were 943 per cent per acre.
Residtg from Plot C.

Manured
Non do.

plot

lb.

lb.

730
633

@

per acre.
R0-8=R365-0
R0-8=R3l6-8

In favour of former by lb. 97 „

Less actual cast of manures
on this plot @ R 39-11-8 per acre

=R48 8
-=R39-12

Amount in favour of manured plots ... =K 8-12

Therefore, the profits equal 22 per cent per acre.

From the above it will be seen that plot B, ma-
nured with lb. 3 per bush^l02 maunds, or about
H tons per acre, give the best returns.

This can be demonstrated in another way : for ins-
tance, the cost of manuring plot A is R 47-8, and
plot B, R71-3 per acre, which is exactly 50 per
cent more; whilst the profits on former were o6|
per cent and on luttir 943 per cent per acre, or
"57o5" per cent greater, whereas in "theory" the
profits ought not to have been in excess of 50 per
cent per acre above plot A.

I should have stated that these areas were twice
deep dug, and five times light hoed or weeded in
the season, which is twice more than is the usual
practice on this garden.

The foregoing experiments were carried on in 1883
also, being the second season, but no more cotton
seed or other mmure was applied to the plots, and
the outturn from them is as follows : —

A

Manured area ... lb. 470^ green leaf :=lb. 471 tea

per acre,

Non do. do. ... lb, 457 „ -^-Ib. 457 „

In favour of former by lb. 133 i? -■^^- 14 ,,
The increase therefore was ...= 3 per cent per acre.

Add do 1st year ..-^23 ,, ,,

Total iiicrea.sed yield in 2 sea.sons:::-,26 ., ,,

The profits therefore will be

Manured plot ... lb. 471 tea per acre (o' K« 8 =R23o 8

Non do. do. ... lb. 457 „ RO 8 =R228 S'

In favour of former by lb. 14
Less cost of manure

Therefore, net profits
Add profits 1st year

RO 8

=R
nil.

7 0

per

acre

>

...R
...11

7 0
17 &

.R 24 8'

Total profits in two years ,,

or 5I3 per cent.
Manured area ... lb. 571 green leaf^^lb, 571 tea

per acre,
Nou do. do, ... lb. 42G2 „ —lb. 427 „

In favour of former by lb, 144i

=lb, 14-1 „ .

.^iS

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, iS86,

per acre.

'I'Lu increased yield therefore was -^153^ per cent ,,
-Vdd do. 1st j-ear -~50 per cent .,

Total increased yield iu two seasons=^S34 per cent ,,

The profits consequently will be
Manured plot ... lb. ."illof teaperacre@ltO-S=^ R:283-S

„ @ K0-8--ll2ia-S

Non

do

...lb. 127

— ilG7-5

Tniavourofformer bylb. 144
Less cost of manure

Therefore, net prolit per acre ...
Add profits 1st yeiir ... ,,

Total profits in two years „

O

Manured area ... lb. 500 green leaf=lb. 500 tea per acre.
Non do. do. ... lb. 438 „ =lb. 438

... =R139-5
196-4 per cent.

In favour of former by lb. (52 ,, =lb. 62 „

The increased yield therefore was=14 per cent per acre.
Add do. do. 1st year =15'o ,, „

Total increased yield in two seasons=29'3 „ „

The profits therefore will be
Manured plot ... lb. 500 tea per acre @ E,O-8=250-0
Non do. do. ...-=lb. 438 „ R0-8=219-0

In favour of former by^=lb. 62
Less cost of manure

Therefore, net profit
Add profits 1st year

per acre

r= R31-0
== R8-12

Total profits in two years „

^E39-12

=100 per cent per acre.

Iu the second season the increased yield of C over
plot A must be attributed to the gobiir not liaving
been in a soluble condition, and therefore not fit for
assimilation by the rootlets of bushes until second
year after application.

The plucking of 2J leaves (bud as one) commenced
in 1883 on KJth March, and terminated on 29th Decem-
ber—and there were 25 Hushes 'u the season — the
rainfall being 112 inches 21 cents. The garden was
deep dug once, and light hoed or weeded 2f
times — total 3J times only this year, which is much
less than usual. The bushes were pruned down to
18" on 11th and ]2th January — and on plot B (the
others were not recorded) the average height at end
of season on manured area was 37 inches, and on
non-manured area 33 inches. On a reference to my
Castor Cake experiments published in 'Tea Ga.ette of
6th October 1885, it will be seen that better results
are obtained on plot No. 3 where castor poonac alone
was applied (^ lb 1 per bush— 24 cwts. per acre,
although the cost in 1884 was K70 per acre, than
on plot B manured with lb 3 per bush of cotton
seed, and which cost 1171-3 ; the profits in the
ti'v seasons of former being 245f per cent and from
latter 195-4 per cent per aci'e.

The trials with cotton seed were not registered after
the second season- but it was very noticeable that
the bushes were benefited by the single application
Ju the third year also.

I should have stated previously that the seed was
purchased at Naraingunge near Dacca perfectly fresh
at 6 as. per maund, and had to be trausported from
there about 170 miles to the Factory, all the tnu/
hy v.-ater except the last 2 miles, on a level road,
from the khal to garden. The seeds had then to
be heaped in 50 or 100 maunds, the latter (|uautity
the most desirable, moistened with cold water (hot
water wotdd have answi-red the purpose (juieker) and
then covered over witli c'.ods of earth to induce fer-
luentation with the object of destroying its vitality;
otherwise the seed when put into the soil would
bave gcruiiuated nn^ produced pluutti,

I found this took from 5 to S days, which could
be judged by the disagreeable sour odour emitted,
and also the proper stage could be ascertained by the
temperature of the heap, as the outside was Very
warm when felt by tlie hand. The entire charges
for trans])ort, fermentation, and application- to the
soil, cost KO-5-2 i)er maund, and including the purchase
money of 6 As. per maund, the total cost per niaund
was RO-11-2. The former charges therefore nearly
equalled the orgiual cost.

I have been frequently asked if such and such a
manure would pay if the transport charges were
hiuhcv thau yet Cost to this garden; and to enable any
one to ascertain the limit of expense under this
head, beyond which there would be a loss , it will be
necessary to make the following calculation. The
average price the Tea realizta per lb., is a principal
factor in the estimation ; another of considerable im-
portance, also, will be the average yield per acre on
a garden in ordinar)/ seasons prior to any application
of manures. If, as in the former case, the produce
sells below a certain price per lb., taken in connection
with the cost of manure there will be a loss ; and
in the later case loss will ensue likewise if the yiM
pier acre is below a stated (juantity ; and ou the other
hand the converse will happen if the tea realizes high
prices, &c. In this event the incre;ised price will en-
able the planter to pay more for the cost of manure
and transport, and still secure a good profit per acre.
Most managers can till fairly well what the ordinary
yield per acre is on the different areas of a garden
iu full bearing, unless the season should turn out ex-
ceptional, and therefore there will be no difficulty,
when the cost of manure and results obtained from
it per acre is known, in ascertaining whether it will
pay to apply a certain t|uantity or not on any
particular area. As a general rule, poor lauds that
are incapable of producing more than about 2 maunds
of tea per acre when in full bearing should be aban-
doned, as it would never pay to apply the large
quantity of manure requisite per acre iu order to
ensure a remunerative yield of crop, unless of course
the manure could be put late the soil for very much
less than is possible at the present time.

Table I, is based on the supposition that the results
obtained from plot B will be accepted as more satis-
factory than either of the other experimental pieces.
The plot C also shows well in second year, and prob-
ably would be preferable where ;/i*b(^/' can be had in large
quantities, and when cotton seed is expensive. I will
assume that a garden's teas realize any of the prices
from 8 As. to 10 As. per lb. inclusive as iu column
2. (-"olumn 1 gives the increased yield of tea per acre
due to manuring; col. 3, the gross receipts per acre;
col. 4 the increased yield in 2nd season ; col. 5 the
total gross receipts per acre iu 2nd season, cost of
mani.i.rina,

TABLE I.

Flat B

1

2

3

4.

0 : 0

1

llicreased yield
per acre lb.

Price realized
per lb.

j^ -r. u

Increased yield
tea per acre lb.

2nd soason

gross receipts

per acre.

III

277

0 8 0

138 8 0

144

73 0 0 431

210 8 0

0 S 3

U-J 13 3

74 4 Ol ...

217 1 3

0 8 6

117 2 6

70 8 0 ...

223 10 6

...

0 8 9

151 7 9

73 12 0 ...

•.':!0 3 y

0 9 0

Ibb 13 0

81 0 0

236 13 0

0 9 3

160 2 3

83 4 0

•243 6 3

0 9 6

164 7 6

8-5 8 0

249 l.'^ 6

0 9 9

161^ 12 9

S7 12 0 ...

2.iG 8 9

0 10 0

173 2 0

90 0 0

...

■iiS 2 !>

Table II show.s the itrt projits and loss yer acre in
bn/h s 'asons after deductiug the expenditure for
manuriug as on plot B, and for a progressive iu-
creiise in the cost of applying cotton seed from Kt'-U-3
up to IXi psr mi'-iul mduiivv.

Kov, 1, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, 1886.

From the foregoing table any one can estimate whether
there is gain or loss, and how much, in applying
102 maunds of cotton seed per acre to his tea cultiv-
ation, the profits being dependent upon the cost per
naaund to put it into the ground and the price obtained
per lb. for tea. As to what amount may be considered
fair -profit per acre must be left to the decision of
each planter who uses this manure, as circumstances
differ so greatly that what would be deemed satis-
factory by one person or garden might not turn out
a profitable investment for others.

In the foregoing table the cost of cotton seed per
inaund includes <■/// charges, viz., the purchase money
and the expense of transporting and application j)er
acre. Finally, it must be remembered that the above
quantity per acre extends its beneficial influ-
ence upon the cultivation during a p^^rtion of the
third season, also, after application: and although
there seems apparently to be no improvement in
the strength and quality of the tea, judging from
the few samples reported on by the Brokers, yet
there is no doubt whatever that ^uitahJv manures
when applied in adequate quanttty per acre, must
enhance the value of the produce in addition to
increasing the outturn. — F. McL. Oartee, Manacfer.

Ohandpore Garden, Ohittagong, 4th August, 1886.

P. S. — I have omitted to state that if the cotton
seed could have been procured fresh, with the oil
expressed, it would have been equally as valuable for
mauurial purposes, and the cost in consequence would
have been less.

♦

NOTE ON PAPER PLANT,
By .J. S. Gamble, Conservator of Fouests,

NoKTHEliN OlRCr.E, MADRAS.

The "paper mulberry" is very easy to grow when
once one has a few plants to start from, for cuttings
strike most freely. Before I left Bengal I planted a
few acres ( I forget how much ) in the Terai. They
were doing well when I left, hut 1 have heard no-
thing of them since. The tree is imligenous inTenas-
serim and wants a moist climate. It would not grow
in the Ceded districts, but would do well enough,
I think, in Goomsur, in Madras, and in, perhaps, the
coast rice country, and, of course, in Malabar, &c.
To be of any use as a fibre it should be grown near
the port of shipment, for we have unfortunately no
paper mills yet in this Presidency. I have no idea
of what its value is. Plantain fibre ( see also fo.'
this Dr. King's remarks ) is purchased by the Bally
Mills from Bengal ryots at Rl per maund of 80 lb,
Babuli grass ( Polliiiia Euopoda ) is worth R2 per
maund, and is nearly equal to Esparto. Clianed
Broussonetia might be worth R4, so that it would
not stand much railway freight to pay its expenses.
Grown at Madras or near other coast ports it might
be a good speculation if the land were not heavily
assessed, and it were done on a large scale. But unle.'^s
paper mills are started it is not worth growing in-
land. The Chingleput District Forest officer might
try it on the old farm lands at Saidapet. If seed
is wanted, it should be procured from Colonel Sea-
ton, Conservator of Forests, Tenasserim Circle, British
Burma. AVe have any number of indigenous fibre
plants in the moist climates of the Presidency, and
paper mulberry could be very easily grown if the
paper stock would pay its e.xpenses. In such clim-
ates, I have no more doubt of its success than of
any of the common urticaceous plants which grow so
easily from seed or cuttings. What we irant are
plants that will do to reafforest dry and poor soils
and give sufficient wood or fibre or bark or some-
thing to pay expenses.

THE NORTHERN AUSTRAIJAN TERRITC^tY

YAM.

(to the EDiroK 01 TlIK " AtKiKAI. ASIAN.'")

Sir— ]\Iy attention has been drawn by the various
accounts given in your paper of the jjioiific nature
of what is now generally known as the Northern
Territory yam, its extraordinary value as a fodder
plant for all kinds of stock throughout the year, as

well as its value to man as a substitute for potatoes.
If all that is written about it be true, it will flourish
under any climate and in any soil. Under these
circumstances it ought to become when once located
a great boon to both stockowners and farmers in the
arid North, especially during the summer months and
times of drought, when everything else is parched up,
yet its u.sefidness, I think, can be still further ex-
tended. Might it not be planted with advantage
through our scrub lands? I believe in a very few
years it would be the means of enabling us to' stock
many square miles of useless scrub which will carry
little or no stock at the present time. My idea is
that it should be distributed among the leaseholders
of these lands, with the request that it should be
planted through the scrub. The same should be done
on all unleased Crown lands by the Government.
If successful and once firmly rooted the vines would
soon spread over the ground, and would choke and
destroy a great deal of the undergrowth and bushes
which man or beast do not eat, and which prevents
anything like grass growing. It would also spread
and climb over the trees and entwine itself among
the leaves and branches. The stock would help to
destroy a great deal of scrub by constantly trampling
and breaking it down in getting at the vine, whereas
now they only make tracks or pads. I firmly believe
its presence in these said scrubs would make them
capable of carrying a certain amount of stock, and
by so doing would place a value on the land which
it has not now. Let it grow ever so thickly, a
plant that will give food to both man and beast can
never become a nuisance. There are scores of places
where it might be tried with advantage that are now
only refuges for bunny ; for instace, through the
Murray >Scrub, and that long stretch of country be-
tween the Gawler Ranges and the West Coast — the
bete noir of the Colton farmers. Provided bunny did
not destroy the vine it might in time become bunny's
greatest enemy, by drawing a population into the iso-
lated portions of the country, and help in a mensure
to break up these great breeding-places. I should
like to see it tried on this now despised Kangaroo
Island, I believe its advent here would help more
in its advaucemeut than anything I know ; there
would be little or no trouble or expen.se in the experi-
ment. The telegraph line runs through the centre
from one end to the other, A parcel of tubers
should be sent to each of the telegraph officers, and
given by them to the line men, who could easily
plant them on either side of the line about a mile
apart on their travels up and down. The lighthouse-
keepers ought to have some tubers sent to them, and
be asked to plant them rounil about, I feel certain
if the settlers and farmers were found in seed they
would only be too glad to plant them about, as
most of them leave home for a month or two every
year and pretty well spread themselves all over the
Island. It would be no trouble for each of them to
take a few in their pockets, and plant them here and
there as they go about. I myself could plant any
()uantity if I had the tubers over a large extent of
country from West Bay down. Like the wallaby-
hunters we could take some in our pockets and plant
them wh^n out mustering. By these means the whole
of the Island might be thickly planted in one season,
and the sooner the better. It will be to every island-
er's advantage to help in the cultivation of the yam
here, for well he knows what a very great boon it
would be even if it did nothing more than provid.^
food for his horses when travelling. The want of
grass has been the one great bar to all travelling
here, and the principal cause of so little being known
about this island. Kangaroo Island has been in the
background long enough. It only wan^s a little energy
and enterprise to bring it to the front. I am one
of the few who be'ieve that it is coming on slowly,
I live in hopes of yet seeing the smoke of a thriv-
ing township curling over the waters of A'ivonne
Bay, Wool, timber, fruit, and minr.rals chief ex-
ports, not forgetting the wallabies — skins, tails, car-
casses, and all, — I am. Sir, &c., Anothek Industry
TH.\T wti.i, Yirr HE Addhd.

Kov. I, 1886.]

THE '^ttOPtCAL AG^ieULTURIS'T,

321

PLANTING PROSPECTS IN UDAPUS-
SELLAWA, CEYLON

COFFEE EEAEINCt IN ITS OLD STYLE — CINCHONA KEEPING
UP — TEA VERY FINE — EOADS.

Udapussellawa, l'2th Oct. 1886.

The blossoming season is now well over and
we are in a position to ftauge our prospects for
the coming year. Mid and Upper Udapussellawa
will do very well, the eastern end of the district
not so well, but even there crops will be better
than some alarmists prognosticated some months
ago. The truth is that the nerves of our plant-
ers have been in such a state of tension, that ill
rumours are far too readily accepted and they err
in good company, for the press and the Col-
ombo agents too eagerly swallow any evil reports
regarding our old staple. The season has not
been a favorable one as regards weather and our
good crops arise from the inherent strength and
vigour of the coffee. Manured coffee is bearing in
is old style, leaving nothing to be desired. We
had our sharp attack of leaf-disease which did
some damage, but it soon passed off, and we be-
lieve as the area under coffee contracts, this
pest vrill diminish in virulence and strength.

Cinchona, — There is still a good area under cin-
chona, and this crop will not be reduced for
several. years. Some planters are rooting out when
the trees arrive at four years old, that being the
age, when the question arises which to sacrifice,
the cinchona or the good coffee. Time has just-
ified the warnings thrown out by many, years ago,
that bark was only a drug and would be over-
produced. Had we all looked upon it as simply
an auxiliary, and planted it only along roadsides
and in odd corners, we might have kept our export
down to six million pounds and preserved paying
prices. As it is, the cultivation will never be
abandoned. It grows as well as ever with careful
cultivation, and I do not believe that the output
will fail below the six million lb., in a decade of
years to come.

Tea is beginning to shew up and I feel sure that
finer fields of tea, than are to be seen on
Eskdale and Glendevon do not exist in the island.
Most of the coffee estates are getting in an appre-
ciable average of this product, as a secondary
cultivation most useful in the assistance of our
finances. The leaf will as a rule be sold to the
tea estates, Vr-hose managers are rapidly providing
themselves with the necessary machinery.

Roach — Our road is beginning to cut up and
wants immediate attention. I have not lost faith
in the MacBride system as it was defined in the
official instructions. Unfortunately, these instruc-
tions have never been carried out to the letter
save for a short time in the face of district agit-
ation. If Mr. MacBride would tell-oft' two men
to each mile of road, to v.'atch the first symptoms
of breaking up and there and then to fill in and
blind and pound, his system would yet commend it-
self to the public for the u^jkeep of grant-in-aid roads.
As it is, all the work is done during three months
of the year, the men then disappear from mortal
ken, and the road is left to itself. For my part,
1 consider that the upkeep of all grant-in-aid
district roads should be handed over to the care
of a District Road Trust, consisting of the district
engineer and two resident planters. The upkeep
of roads, is no longer a branch of the engineer-
ing profession as in the days of Telford or Mac-
Adam. All that is wanted is organization and
persistent supervision. The work ftt present is

done in a spasmodic fashion ; under a Trust every
mile would be in charge of a couple of men,
whose work, under a properly organized system,
would be seen every day, for . every planter
through whose estate the road passes, would have
a personal interest in the continuity of the repairs.
The old adage (a stitch in time) goes to the founda-
tion of what is wanted for road upkeep.

Labour. — Many enquiries are being made for coolies
and a good number have left the district, having re-
ceived advances from other districts. Anyone
can foresee further trouble on this head. I my-
self sent a European in 1862 to India to recruit
for coolies. I got a mixture of engine-drivers,
sepoys, sailors and rift'-raff of the jails, at great
expense and had to fall back on the old system
of trusting the coolie and the kangani, and can-
not say that I have been victimised ; on the con-
trary, the honesty of Ramasamy as regards ad-
vances, has always seemed to be very remarkable.

I enclose rainfall statement — for the first nine
months of the year from 1880-86. G. A. D.

-XI
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INDIA AND CHINA TEAS.

The North China Herald in discussing t'u'a
question says : —

People now iu the te^ trade must lookback with re-
gretful envy to the time when tea was synonymouj
with China an! China with tea. Every year brinars new
competitors with what was always regarded as the
birth-place of the tea-p!aut, and there rire far-seeing
tea-merchants in China now who belii-tvii than in three
or at most five years more the tea-tas'ing profession
will be extinct in China. The first blow was struck at
China's pre-eminence in <hc prod u tion of tea whea
the tea-shrub was fouml to be in'l'genous iu Assam :
and there are not wanting botanists in Iniha to declare
that the tea-shrub was introduced into i hina from ih'i
slopes of the Himalayas. The second dtadly blow wa-i ■
struck wben AmeriQap consumers fouml the Japan leai;

^ii

fUU TUOPtCAL AGRICULTURIST, [Nov. i, 1886'

BIBII^Briaaaiilttc

more to their taste than the China green teas. It is an
old cry row how the competition of India with China
grows ^tronger every year ; the Chinaman, with the
prestige of centuries of experience- in the production
and preparation of the tea leaf, cannot hold his own
with any success against English euergy and intellig-
ence. Followiug in the steps of India come Ceylon
and Java as competitors with China ; and the first
mutteriugs of ihe storm are beginuiug to be heard even
in the Straits beitJements, and South Africa. The fact
is that the tea-shrub is so hardy, and requires so little
attention when it once takes kiudly to the soil, that
every continent must have districts suitable to its
growth, and we shall by and by wonder not that suc-
cessful competitors wiili China have arisen, but that
China maintained the first place 6o long. There is
evidently little hope, without vast reforms which we
cannot expect to see realized, that she will keep it
much longer. — It is not to be supposed however that tea
will cease to be e.iported from China ; a commodity of
which the production is practically unlimited, and the
first cost no more than the rent of the ground which
the plants occupy, is not likely to be snutfed out alto-
gethei. It is the fine distinctions, the discovery and
maintenance of which have been the occupation of
chasees for decades, that will be swept away. Here
and there no doubt a special market will still call for a
special kind, and it is apparent that Ihe Kussians will
still for some years prefer the tine teas of China ; but
Ihe bulk of the China product will be lumped together,
or divided into two or three broad classes, and used at
home as the foundation of the grocer's shilling, or
eighteen-penny or two-shilling canister, as they are
called, the required fiavour being given by the mo 3
carefully prepared growths of India and Ceylon. For-
eigners in Chiuahave not to blame themselves for th'?
degeneration in the Chinese leaf ; they have preached
to the Chinese year after year, that the trade ma^c
suffer unless more care were taken to make good tea,
and not to hurry it to market before it was properly
cured. Individual foreigners have tried in vain to get
the midlemen — unfortunately they do not come in con-
tact w th the growers— to see the desirability of having
foreign supervision over the manipulation and prei >
ation of the tea. The Chinese have preferred to stajd
on their ancient ways, and the result will be the f ly
extinction of the lea-trade in China in its present forai
and the relegati >n of China tea, as an article of com-
merce, to a 1 vel with what has hitherto been contempt-
uously designated as "truck."

INDUSTRIAL ENTEEPEISE IN SIAK.
The Native ^tate of Siak on the east coast of
Sumatra made over to the Netherlands along with
Acueen by Mr. Gladstone's Sumatra treaty of 1871,
is now attracting some attention iu Java and Holland
as a promising field tor enterprise in the cultiva 'on
line. Several capitalists at Amsterdam have secured
land there for opening out a tobacco plantation,
and have actually set about operations by last advices.
As will have been seen in our recent article on the
productive resources of Siak, the waste land avail-
able is admiralbiy adopted for tillage so that with
conimou prudence, there is every prospect of success of
rewarding the exertions of both plant-rs and financiers,
Among the productions which abound in the forests
of Siak and have proved a spur to commercial enter-
prise are the trees yielding the prime trade
Articles styled Balan and Suutei, Under the name
of Siak vegetable tallow, they arc exported from
Singapore, and jiave gained a high repute in the
jBuropean market. Balam and Suntei trees are said
to be found in any quantity in forest tracts, not
only on the main land but also on the inlands off
the cost. The information available points to the
likelihood of their being mostly met with in primary
jungle on moist land near the coast The Balam tree
is from 60 to 80 feet high. It a'so yields gutta of
iinferior quality used for adulteraling superior kinds.
The timber turnedout therefrom is white and not
of a lasting nature. The Suntei tree is less hig
its measnremcnt being 50 to 60 feet. The timber is

reddish brown and in great demand. Seeds of both
these kinds of trees have of late years been regu-
larly collected and forwarded for the most part to
Singapore, where, from their lobes, tallow is manu-
factured which is used for sundry purposes, and is
in great demand throughout Europe. The collection
of the fruit is an important item in the domestic
finances of the people. From November 1884 to
March 1885, no less tiiau 200 coyans of tallow-yielding
material were collected and disposed of at high but
fluctuating prices. The usual price per coyans
is from 60 to 100 dollars, rising sometimes to |I20.
The pulp is taken ofT by hand very easily. The seeds
after being dried in the sun are then shipped off to
Singapore. A few Chinese at Bengkalis have taken
to the preparation of the tallow but in a very rough
style indeed. The Balam tallow is yellowish in colour,
rather bitter in taste, and as plastic as wax. It is
used in sugar refining, in making artificial flowers,
in preparing tapioca, and for other purposes. It is
smeared on the pans heated to a high temperature
upon which tapioca is dried. The larger portion of
this kind of tallow prepared at Singapore is forwarded
to Europe. The Suntei tallow is pure white in
colour, has a sweetish taste, and is used by the
natives for cooking purposes. In its extraction
by the native method there is a good deal of waste.
Prepared at Singapore the percentage o" tallow is
higher. The market price of both sorts varies from
7 to 15 dollars per picul. These rates are readily
j)aid on shipments for Europe. It is evident that,
gradually, this branch of industry will so increase in
importance and extent, that research will lead to
trees of the coveted kind being found in other local-
ities throughout Siak. The trees do not need to be
destroyed to ."^ecure the product so that they do not
run the risk of dying out. Considering the important
place taken by Siak vegetable tallow in the list of
articles making up Straits Produce, the advaatages
attending the experimental cultivation of the trees
yielding the article by our garden authorities ara
too obvious to need more than drawing attention to
the subject. At present it is hard to tell whether
growing them will prove profitable if taken in hand
by private enterprise. The average yearly yield of
dried seeds from a full grown tree is as yet an un-
ascertained point. Any estimate so far of the
pecuniary value of each tree iu bearing is hence
impracticable. Other trees of the same species take
20 to 25 years to attain full growth. Few private
individuals would be at all inclined to take this
branch of cultivation in hand at the risk of the
capital sunk in the enterprise remaining unproductive
for so many years. Planting it may however prove
advisable for afforestation purposes. The importance
of these trees to the people of Siak may be judged
of from the fact that, though this branch of industry
is still in its infancy, 600 coyans of seeds are, on
an average, exported yearlj', valued at 100,000 guil-
ders. Several specimens of both these tallow yielding
trees have reached the G.iverument Botanical Gardens
at Buitenzorg and more are expected shortly, besides
consignments of seeds. "We trust that the economic
section of the Gardens here will soon be the richer
by including samples of these valuable trees among
its treasures. — Straits Times, Sepicmber ,15.

SPECULATIONS ON THE PHVSIOLOGY OP TEA

are indulged in by the J.ondon correspondent of the
Jndiiin Te". Gc:.citc thus: —

TeainJohore is still confined to two or three small
experimental gardens^ the largest not much exceeding,
I believe. 35 acres of tea iu full bearing. This Garden
was started by the Maharajah (now sultan) of Johore
as an experiment, and has since become private pro-
perty. It is rumoured that a gentleman interested
in (he tea-trade of Formosa, is negotiating for a .share
in this property with a view to extending on a fairly
large scales. The climate is a forcing one, rain falling
regularly every afternoon, expections to this rule
being considered quite of the nature of events, Tbiij

Nov. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

32j

regular rainfall modifies the excessive temperature, and
renders the climate not disagreeable (for the tropics).
Chinese labour is chiefly reJied upon. Hitherto the
resemblance to Ceylou experience, of a temporary
extraodinary yield in the cases of coffee, cinchona and
spices, more particularly of the latter, only to be
followed by disease and disaster, has marked the
history of cultivation in the Straits, Malay Penin-
sular. It remains to be seen whether tea, as prophesied
en a qnatii scientific hypothesis, will follow the same
course. For my own part there is a noteworthy
difference between tea on the one hand and spices
and coffee on the other, if we exclude cinnamon and
roots. Thus tea is a leaf crop, the others for the
sake of argument are fruit crops. Nov/, it is an accepted
axiom that fruit is an effort of nature e.xerts her-
self in proportion to the danger which may be incurred
by the species. For this reason we expose the roots
of vines, peaches, &c., and produce temporary debility,
so to speak, and this excites nature to put forth her
utmost efforts to insure reproduction, which efforts
once excited we feed and nourish with rich and
suitable manures. In the case of the wonderful yield
of coffee obtained in Ceylon in the palmy days, we
may have had the best index that either the soil
or the climate was not suited for the p-rmanent
^endurance of the plant, inasmuch as nature made
such extraordinary efforts towards reproduction, there-
by under the above axiom telling us that the healthy
appearance of the bushes was misleading, and that
their vitality was low, just as a powerful man to all
external appearance Kay have the seeds of death
maturing within him. Now, the yield of tea in
Ceylon bears on this line of reasoning no analogy
to the past experience, re coffee and spices. Where,
however, we may look for an index, if this mode
of reasoning has anything in it, is in the yield of
tea-seed per acre in Ceylon. It is not alone a matter
of curiosity, but of great importance— as establishing
a precedent for future guidance in respect of other
crops — that planters in Ceylon should at this early
stage compile statistics of the yield of tea-seed per
acre in various localities, which statistics should be
carefully filed by some record-office in Ceylon. These
statistics should in the first instance be compared
with the average yields of similar— ^;V/? — plants in
Assam, and cases of excessive yield carefully noted
and tabulated. Should a large excess be noted
perennially, then, under above axiom, that excess
should indicate the approach of disease, blight, &c.,
and efforts should be made to stave off the evil day
by applying the particular manure which chemists
should be able to recommend after comparative analyses
of tea-soils and Ceylon soils. The vast difference in
the seed yield of different jaU in Assam is so re-
markable as to make the insistence of special care
•in comparing the statistics of the greatest importance.
The above axiom is borne out by these very dift'erencei
of seed-yield in Assam. Pure indigenous bushes under
cultivation and sickly old China bushes give the largest
yield. Healthy hybrids give the lowest seed yield.
The pure indigenous have not become habituated
by " heredity " to exposure and to pruning and plucking
and in fact to artificial living, and, " feeling," upset
so to speak, in fear of death, seek to reproduce
the species. The low, old Chinas found on some of
the oldest gardens, come from a worn out stock
deteriorated by centuries of artificial existence in
China, and being old plants too in themselves, without
a strain of the indigenous to reinvigorate their effete
race, also, spend their strength in efforts after re-
production. The healthy hybrids, being tiie result
of new life infused into stock already accustomed
to abuse and unnatural usage, embrace many of the
characteristics of mules ; and being vigorous and hardy,
under the conditions for which by descent on both
sides they have been produced, they make but little
effort to reproduce the species. This reasoning might
be fol'owed up in a sea^jch after the best crosses,
as I by no means wish it to be supposed that I am
h«re advocating a cross direct between a pure in-
digenous and a pure China. On the contrary, we
want thf smalUst possible amount of the deteiio.ated

China race which will suffice to infuse the asinine
quality of long suffering under abuse and unnatural
treatment into the more desirable qualities of the
thorough-bred. Crosses are now so woefully mixed in
Assam, that few gardens a; e suited for using as true
test.s, but there are many which would serve for all
practical purposes. AVere Ceylon planters to send a
commission to those gardens from whence the seed
used in Ceylon had been sent, to report upon each,
with a view to comparing thej'at conditions, and sur-
rounding jats of the parent gardens with the progeny
as visible in Ceylon, it might save vast sums being
wasted in the future. The whole scope of the en-
quiry and comparison is too vast to enter into here,
but if a botanist, who had made a special study of
the laws of reproduction were to accompany the com-
mission, its usefulness would be increased. Take one
instance- An estate planted on shallow strong soil in
Ceylon might have a dangerously high record in seed
yield, yet the parent garden planted on deep, rich,
forest soil in Assam might be all that could be wished.
Its seed, however, would be totally unsuited for that
particular Cej'lon plantation. The way in which people
have gone in blind-fold and purchased their seed merely
becau.se it was the "best"— for its own conditions
— irrespective of all the teachings of science as to
"heredity" and the laws of reproduction is staggering.
Thej; would not attempt to breed their racers by
sending their Arab to a donkey to obtain produce
qualified for weight carrying, why should they be less
paiticular in a matter of vital consequence to the
success of their plantations ? — Indian Planters' Gn-ette.

ARNOLD'S COFFEE MANUAT..

As much literature has lately grown up about the
cultivation of tea, we are glad to welcome a book .*
that is likely to recall public attention to the advant-
ages of the cultivation of coffee. ]\[any excellent
works on this .subject already exist, but they are,
in many cases, of a nature little calculated to attract
the notice of any one contemplating opening a coffee
estate in India, or to give him much useful inform-
ation as to what he may expect during his first few
years in this country. Some of these books are
antiquated; some, and, perhaps, the best refer exclu-
sively to Ceylou, where the conditions of life are
somewhat different to what they are in India ; while
others diverge into questions interesting enough in
themselves, but which have little to do with the
matter in hand. Now Jlr. Arnold's book gives a
very fair idea of the work that has to be done in
opening and managing an estate, and of the planter's
life and surroundings. It does not make the mistake
of representing the life in too enticing colours, but
neither does it fail to show that the pursuit has many
attractions for those who are suited for it. Keaders
of the author's former work will remember that his
experience was principally gained as one of the
first Europeans in the Neillampathy Hills, where the
life was then about the roughest, and the difliculties
of all kinds the greatest, that coffee planters have
had to contend with in these latter days. His account
of a beginner's troubles and of some items of expend-
iture must therefore be taken with a certain amount
of qualification ; but his book will be found eminently
readable. It contains a great deal of useful inform-
ation, and though some of his opinions are open to
controversy, they are never put forward with the
aggravating air of superiority found in some writers
on kindred subjects.

Mr. Arnold commences with the ine\atable historical
retrospect, and briefly traces the history of the plant
from its origin il home in Abyssinia, whence it appears
to have been first introduced to .A.rabia in the I-4th
century. An enterprising Bishop attempted to grew
it in England about 1796, and the Dutch have a
tradition that all their Eastern plant ati9n^ are from
seed grown in Holland. The first planting in India

'"' Coffee: Ita Ctdlivaduii and Profit By E- L. Arn'^kl
on don, AYhittiugham & Co., 1886,

5H

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, 1886.

was made in Wynaatl, as au experiment, in 1822 by
Major Bevan, and Komewhat later Mr. Oauiiou opened
his celebrated estates in Mysore. The various species
of the plant are next enumerated, and a glowing
account is quoted of that atrocious and unpronoun-
ceable fraud the " Maragogipe " coffee. Indeed, we
are inclined to quarrel witli Mr. Arnold for devoting
two p>ges to an extract on this subject — which first
appeared, if we are not mistaken, iii a circular — and
for api^arently accepting the wild statements therein
made about that variety of coffee as undoubted f nets;
if he had examined anj' of the beans he would have
found them rather smaller than ordinai-y coffee instead
of being " much larger," and any planter who had
experimtnted with it, could have informed him of its
worthlessuess, in this couutrj' at least. We next
have an account of the climate and soil most suitable
for coffee, and may raise a casual objection to the
statement that " the best zone of latitude for coffee
is 15° ou each side of the equator." As to soil,
the recommendations on this point are, we think,
good as far as they go, but the author himself
remarks that it must be remembered by the intending
planter, that "an estate may have everything to
recommend it to the external view, and fulfil to a
nicety all the conditions he has been taught to seek
for, and yet disappoint when the crucial test of crop
time comes." In fact, excellence of soil is one of
the most deceptive of all tests on which to rely;
negatively it may be a good guide, as there are
classes of soil which no cue with any experience
would care to put coffee in ; but affirmatively it is
likely to be neutralised by many other considerations.
The next chapter is devoted to an account of the
means employed to get together a gang of coolies,
and of tbe various races the beginner is likely to
come in contact with. Some useful hints are given
as to the best way of treating them, so as to gain
their confidence, and induce them to remain on an
estate ; and the author then proceeds to give details
of the vaiious works that have to be undertaken in
connection with opening. It is this part of the work
that will probably be found most useful to the
beginner. The question of cost is an important one,
and Mr. Arnold thinks that nobody should attempt
to open on his own account with a smaller capital
than £5,000. AVe shall have occasion hereafter to
aualj'se his "estinaate for bringing 200 acres of forest
land into bearing," but even if we adopt the somewhat
lavish seale therein advocated, we find the planter who
starts with £5,000, at the end of three years with his
estate of 200 acres in bearing, all his buildings, ex-
cept cattle sheds, complete, and about £2,600 in hand.
Now this is a state of felicity which most men, and
all coffee planters, would be glad to work a good deal
longe for, and, as a matter of fact, comparatively
few of those who have succeeded in coffee commenced
with as much as this fortunate youth's balance.

The account of the numerous countries in which
coffee can be grown is interesting. Burmah appears
as likely to come to the ivoat in this respect as any
other place, for the authorities are anxious to establish
the industry there, and have offered considerable
advantages to planters. The first accounts received
from the Tavoy district were rather encouraging, but
we have not had much opportunity lately of judging
how things are going ou. So much depends upon
the course of events in Brazil that we should have
liked our author to have given more space to an
account of the present state of the cultivation
and prospects of coffee in that country. The inform-
ation is to be found in Mr. Van Laerne's book, but
thi.s is not even referred to. There can be no doubt
that the cultivation of coffee in Brazil is gradually
declining; but it is dying very hard, and it would be
difficult to say with certainty that the influence of
Brazil coffee on the markets of the world is appreci-
ably less than it was five years ago. The abolition
of slavery, and the consequent inability of proprietors
to work their estates as economically as they now ilo,
ate powerfully destructive agents, but absolute predic-
tion on this matter is nearly useless. Of the other
ountriej noticed as likely to compete with India and

Java, little need be said here. Ceylon need not
have been omitted by Mr. Arnold from his list, for
the export is stiil Jarge, though terribly decreased;
m Natal, the attempt to grow coffee has been an
utter faiure and there does not appear to be much
likelihood of estalishing it in Queensland. New Guinea
appears to be adapted for ths purpose, but immigration
to that great island is not yet encouraged. The West
Indies, espt-cially Jamaica, produce a limited quantity
of very fine cuffee, but ou the whole "middling
plautatiou " appears likely to decrease in quantity, and
rise in value m the near future.— 3/af/)'«s Mail

Scientific Tea Manuiactvee.—" Another Old
Plaoter," writing to the Indian Daih/ News, takes
up this subject, and abu-es all who differ from him
in the necessity for a "scientific" knowledge of Tea-
making in ludii\. He states that he does not believe
there is a man in India with the reijuisite scientific
knowledge. As long as there are meu with a Practical
knowledge of Tea making, and who can succeed in
making good Tea to fetch good prices, we should
prefer them to any number of chemical experts.
You mav overdo even chemical analysis. We should
have thouglit that if the cognomen "Old Planter"
is a correct one, he might have told us something
about the "'science iu Tea-making " of which he*
says all are ignorant ; but although he claims to have
age and experience, and presumedly therefore " scientific
knowledge," he seems indisposed to part with any
of the results of the latter for the benefit of his
neighbours.— ///d/fljj Tea Gazette.

A Plague of Eaewigs. — Earwigs are a perfect
plague here; the place is swarming with them.
They eat the hearts out of lettuces, injure fruit trees,
and otherwise do harm in the garden. Is there any
ready way of getting rid of them ?— Hazelwood
(King's Langley, Herts). [These destructive insects
cannot be destroyed upon the plants they are devouring,
but they can be trapped in several ways. The
dahlia grower places small pots, partly filled with dry
moss, upon the tops of the stakes, into which they
gather for shelter and security through the day.
These he examines every morning, and casts the
occupants into hot water. The fruit grower places
pieces of beanstalk Sin. or 9in. in length about his
trees, and once at least every day blows the earwigs
into a bottle of hot water. Earwig traps, too, can
be obtained from dealers in horticultural requisites,
but their superiority over the gardener's jjrimitive
contrivances is doubtful. The insects being so very
numerous in your garden, get small pots Sin. diameter,
by the score or the hundred, put a small piece of
dry moss into each pot, place them ou their sides
in j'our lettuce beds, anywhere and everywhere about
the garden, where they will be partially or entirely
covered by the foliage or other shelter from raia.
Equipped with a cau of hot water, send a boy round
every morning — the earlier the better after they have
retired from their night's feed — and he will soon
make a perceptible reduction in their number. Some
put a piece of raw potato into each pot, but this is
superfluous, as the earwigs go out to feed by night,
and only require a dry shelter from rain aud cold.
This .system of catching and killing is the best for
the time being ; but, to prevent a recurrence of the
plague another year, dress your lettuce and other
beds with gas lime as .soon as the crop is off, and
let it lie until the time arrives for winter digging.
Scrape the surface soil away from nut bushes and
other fruit trees, and let i»; be burned, but do not
place the gas lime near the stems, as it is powerful
and dangerous to the roots. Collect all the soapsuds
from the laundry into tubs or tanks, and, so soou
as the leaves have fallen from the trees, commence
washing every twig and stem, also the old walls and
trellises, with the garden, engine or an old syiinge.
Eepeat the washings throushout the winter as often
as the supply of soapsuds will admit, and the earwigs
will not again trouble you. The benefit will not,
however, end here, as moss, lichen, and the larvje
of other insects will disappear. — Field,

Nov, I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

335

CARDAMOMS IN SOUTHERN INDIA.

CooRG, 28th Sept. 1S86.

Dear Sir, — I think if your correspondent ■' Aber-
doneusis" ecu d give the uett price per lb. realized
for ihe whole crop ;refu.se inciuded) of the M.M.M.
& O.C.C. estates, it would be a better coraparison
with Ceylon it other S.I. marks. I believe the above
estates send only the very fiiiest of their cardamoms
to the London Market.

Though not up to all the " tricks of the trade " I
managed to n^-lt Rl 6 per lb. for my crop this season,
the whole of it being sold in the country. The fancy
bleaching, which our Mysore friends think so pro-
found a secret, is very generally known now. Cue of
the firms on ihe Coast make cardamom, pepper and
ginger curing a special branch of their business, and
I hear a partner of the same firm is going in exten-
sively for cardamoms in the Wynaad. It would be
interestiug to know if the Cejlou planters are still
planting them to any extent ; and if the estimated
250,000 lb. f<H- this season is likely to be exceeded
in the ensuing season.

The lease of card<imom jungles in Ooorg having ex-
pired this year, the Commissioner invited tenders for
their lease for any period not exceeding 21 year.s,
subject to rather stringeut rules. I enclose for your
'readers, benefit, a copy of tbe form of agreement the
fortunate tenderer must enter into. Strange to say,
notwithstanding the new rules and the heavy decline
in the cardamom market, the rents in most cases
have gone up cousulerably, clearly shewing that the
natives at least consider it a paying spec.

The cardamom crop will be a mediume one. The
rain in January' forced the racemes out too early and
not being followed by showers in March, the b ossom
got burnt up. The monsoon has been light and en-
joyable, the heaviest rain being in July. The weather
for planting could not have been better,

Showers and sunshine. Yelakee.

rOHM OF AGEEEMENT IN RESPECT OF LAND LET i-QR
THE CULTIVATION OF CARDAMOMS.

I son of of

village Nad Taluk, being the successful

tenderer for the lease, for the space of years

from the 18S6, of the Malle situated in

the village of in nad of the Taluk,

the estimated area of which is acres, and which

is bounded as follows : —

North

South

East

West
do hereby agree and contract to abide by the following
eonditious : —

1. The sum of Rupees shall for the first 7 years
be paid by me anau«lly into the Government Treasury
on account of the rent of the said malle on or bf fore
the 2Uth January of each year, commencing from Janu-
ary 1887. In the case of tliis lease being for 14 years
or under, the amount of the aforesaid rent shall
be subject to revision by the Deputy Conservator of
Forests at the end of the 7tli year from the date of
the lease, according as circumstances and the ruliug
prices of Cardamoms may justify. In the case of
this lease being for 12 years or under, the amount
of rent as prescribed on revision at the end of the
7th year as aforesaid shall be similarly subject to
revision at the end of tbe 14th year from the date
of the lease. If the Commissioner require a fixed
deposit on account of rent from me, I will comply
with such requisition. For the due payment of rent
as above provided for I name and as

my securities,

2. If I fail to pay rent as above provided for on
the appointed date the Comrnissioin r' shall be at
liberty to cancel this lease and to grant it to some
other person or perfons % to dispose of it otherwise
as maj' seem to him fit. Any loss accruing to Govern-
ment from such canrelmcnt and release shall be re-
coverable from me, together with interest and process
charges, under the rules or existing practice' for the

recovery of land revenue. The Cardamom crop raised
from the said malle will be held by me liable for the
Gcfernment demand for rent as a first charge.

3. I will not cut any trees in the said malle except
such as it is indispensable to cut for the purpose of
making plots for the cultivation of cardamoms, or for
erectiiig cooly lines or other louildings iucideutal to
such cultivation. I will replace immediately every
tree felled by two suitable saplings. If any tree be
cut for other than the purposes above described I
hold myself liable to pay the value of the trees as
determined by the Deputy Conservator of Forests
together with such penalty not exceeding R50, as may
be fixed by the Commissioner, on e.ach tree so cut
down. No timber or produce, except cardamoms,
pepper arekanut and resin on which assessment is
paid as specified in the scliedule hereto attached shall
be taken from the jungle without the special permis-
sion of the Deputy Conservator of Forests.

4. (1) I will cultivate the malle according to the
plot method; (2) no plot shall exceed in area more
than one-sixth of an acre; (3) and I will leave a bolt
of Forest of at least .SO feet, round each plot.

5. Should I make any plot larger than one sixth of
an acre, or by any means bring a plot into such a
bad condition as to prevent its regrowth iuto forest,
and to render it unfit, for cardamom cultivation, I
agree to pay in respect of every such plot a penalty
of RIOO.

6. I engage to keep the boundary marks of the said
malle clear and to show the boundaries of the said
malle to the Deputy Conservator of Forests or to any
Official whom he may depute to inspect the malle.

7. 1 will not cultivate cardamoms or fell trees or
otherwise interfere with th*^ forest or soil beyond the
boundaries of the said malle.

8. If any above mentioned conditions bo contravened,
or if after being warned, I neglect to encourage the
growth of young trees in the plots of the aforesaid
malle the Commissioner shall be at liberty to cancel
this lease, and to prosecute me under any Forest
Rules for the time being in foi'ce.

Signature of lessee
Signature of
]st Witness
3ud Witness

Countersignature of Deputy

Conservator of Forests.

THE ENGLISH TOBACCO CROP.

In reference to the British harvest, one has
now to include a greater and a lesser novelty —
namely, maize and tobacco. In April last, when Lord
Harris found the Royal Agricultural Society considered
the date too advanced to attempt the experiment of
growing tobacco, he said, with some confiilence, "But
the R'>y'l Hoiticultural Society will try a quarrer
of an acre at Chiswick." Whereon the writer of this
article remarked, " But the public will not be satis-
fied with Royal societies or gardeners' experiments —
farmers wi'st c/ro'w it themfelve>i, and by the acre."
At this juncture the president and hon. secretary of
the En^lage Society, believing the attempt might yet
he made in 18S6, applicid to and obtained from the
Inland Revenue Department very prompt permission
/or several Agriculturists to grow " tlie Indian weed.'
As a result, there are now at this date, grooving and
maturing, several acres of English tobacco. I visited
two lots last week, and I have to record the first
impression of seeing the crop— this was, that the
dangers and difficulties said to be lying in wait for
the British agriculturist in the cultivation of tobacco
are ending, as difficulties often will end when they
are met, in smoke. A farmer who is making the
experiment, upon my asking him whether, if the crop
would paj', he would hesitate to grow it, replied, he
should -willingly grow fifty acres next season, just as
he might fifty acn-s of any other plant.

But, speaking vvitli all reserve of what is only a
beginning, and as referring only to two fields, I may
mention that I have received from the Revenue
Department a list which includes a score of growers,

32^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, 1886.

who farm in Kent, Essex, Worcestershire, Devonshire,
Suffolk, Norfolk. Lincolnshire, Lancashire, Scotland
and Ireland.

Now, in July, at the Norwich Show, at the Ensilage
Society's stand, were exhibited a few good and forward
tobacco plants which had been grown in a garden
(some chemists have supposed the silo maybe sevice-
able in preserving the tobacco leaf, hence the special
interest taken in the subject by the society) ; but
it was quite a month later before field plants were
of the same size as those exhibited at Norwich. Let
me, then, speak of the first English field of tobacco
visited on Tuesday Sept. 7, being grown at HoUoway's
Farm, at the foot of Bromley Hill, in Kent, for
Messrs. Carter, of Holborn. Whtn I was there, one
of the friends we have always with us was also present
— the supervisor from Oravesend, in whose excise dis-
trict the ground was situated. He had watched the
crop from the beginning, and expressed his surprise
at the thriving state of the plants: they seemed
acclimatised, and had nothing exotic or sickly-looking
about them. I give this as a second opinion in suppoit
of my own. The soil of the field was a good but
variable sandy loam, with a little slope to the north.
The tobacco plants, of several varieties, were sheltered
by h< dgerows on two sid'ss, a yard-high partition of
mattiijg fiom other crops on the third side, and
open to the .sun on the south side. 'J he space covered
was three-quarters of an acre, each plant being from
the next a yard epart, and being earthed up on a
hill. There was decidedly a noticeable ditference in
the sorts, some being better than others, whilst across
the fit-Id itself the soil ran in belts — good, better, best
the last being almost a black loam. For these reasons
— difference of variety and difference of soil— the
general surface of the plants was rather uneven.
Many of the leaves measuied 2ff. 6in. across, and as
for the previous three weeks the plants had been
pinched or topped, taking awaj' the centre sced-beariug
stem, the height was fairly regular. Each plant had
sevep to ten leaves left. The seed had been originally
sown in a bed; next, on the 14th of Mfiy, pricked
out in boxes; pnd finally planted out in the field on
the 16th of June. The weather that followed for
about a month was often ungenial. The varieties
called Pennsylvania, Island Broad Leaf, Connecticut,
(>lassner, Hester, Virginia, Maryland Broad Leaf,
appeared most thriving; the Havannah and Kentucky-
were least so. All the plants were ofagocd "stocky'
character, and their pyramidal growth reduces to a
minimum the effect of wind, which was considered
as likely to be a great drawback to the cultivation.
It is expected the crop will be cut in about a week.
A''i.'>itors to the farm manifest by their attendance
general public interest in the expriment. Insect pests
were conspicuous by their absence. No coverings, glass
or otherwise, had been used at any time. The leaves
have that gummy stickiness which rightly pertains to
the leaf. The ground had received farmyard manure
in the proportion of twenty loads and 7cwt. of arti-
ficial dressing to the acre. In going to the nearest
railway station, Plaistow, I observtd a small field of
inferior maize.

On Thursday, the 9th, I saw more maize and more
tobacco many miles from Kent — at the heme from,
Merton, Norfolk, where Lord AValsingham is making
his tobacco experiment, and continuing the already
successlid cultivation of maize. Here I do not want
any second opinion to support my own when I record
that the fifteen acres of maize which 1 there saw is
one of the grandest crops I have ever seen. I have
seen maize growing in parts of France, Germany, and
Spain, but have never seen a similar crop for hulk
and beauty as that now standing .'even feet high, in
plants a foot apart in rows and about four inches in
the drill line, each weighing some four pounds. Let
the students of Cirencester and Downtcn reckon up
the present weight per acre, and rcmemler for aliout
two weeks more the plant should grow rne to two
feet higher. Tru'y this was sn English jungle, and
I can onlj campare it to the seven foot high hemp
crops I have seen growing on the best lands of th
Loire valley. Of course the store for this harve e

was the big excavated silo, of which a model was
seen at the Royal Show. The maize was drilled 8th
to 10th June, and followed an oat crop. Fifteen
loads of farm muck and 5 cwt. rape cake per acre
was the manure applied a few days before planting.
This exuberant vegetation was not in tassel, and, as
frosts injure it, the crop will be secured this month.
Grass frosts often come in September, but seldom
occur at .seven feet from the ground.

I have purposely dwelt on the above particulars,
becau.se I think they indirectly infer that the last
six weeks have favoured broad-leaved plants, and,
therefore, tobacco. AVhite turnips, mangolds, and
swedes, especially, are looking remarkably well, and
possibly, therefore, this first season has lately suited
tobacco cultivation. Assuredly the plot of a rood on
the Merton farm was in a most thriving condition,
and more even, decidedly, than that seen on Tuesday.
One reason for this would be in the fewer varieties
grown. They are the Pennsylvanian, the Connecticut,
the Big Fredeiick, and some A'irginian. They form
seven rows across a large field of about 20 acies. These
rows are but 30 in. apart, and the plants are at the
same distance from each other. The rows run east
and west. The soil is a mixed, fairly good sandy loam,
with clay subsoil, and had twenty loads of farm muck
to the acre. The crop follows swedes. It is to be
remarked that the plants took well, and only about
a score of misses had to be made good. The plants,
I believe, were from Messrs Carter's stock, and were
set out on -June 16, then being .S in. to 5 in. high, with
four leaves. They were constantly hand hoed, and
now the surface soil is quite free from weeds. Since
they started in growth they have gone on without
check. The colour has always kept good. They are
now about 4 ft. high, and some leaves 3 ft. by 16 in.,
with an average of nine leaves each. Here and there,
where the seed stem has been allowed to flower, the
Iraves of the plant are much smaller than in the plants
which have been carefully "topped." The stem cir-
cumference is 5J in. They are entirely free from insect
attacks, and to the eye form a beautiful crop in the
evenness of colour and thriving appearance. It is
expected to cut them in about a fortnight, and take
them to dry in a sheep house admirably suited for
the purpose, as moveable shutters extend along the
sides, and allow the circulation of air in a direct current.

The morning of Friday, the lOth inst.. was very
unsettled in Norfolk, and much rain fell after midday.
Leaving Thetford for Brighthngsea, Essex, to view
Mr. John Bateman's experiment, I may note that
weather could hardly be more adverse — a circumstance
that confirmed my day's arrangements to see his tobacco
growing, although under equally wind and flooding'
rain. Although I had but one object for this journey,
to inspect the tobacco crops, there is no good reason
I .should not record, by the way, that a farmer at
Thetford showed me how he utilised some of the
headlands of his fields — by planting them with prickly
comfrey, a plant much like tobacco ; also where there
was a lorg wall to one field, close to which usually
nettles and other weeds abound, he had planted rhubarb,
which, well manured, smothered all undergrowth, and
produced a crop which, for several weeks in spring,
brought a return of 12s. per week — a single row more
thau paying for the rent of the acre of land, which
it only bounded on one side. The walk in the rain
from Brighthngsea station to the ''Hall" farm showed
me Mr. Bateman's neighbours were following him in
growing maize, and the crops looked generally well,
being in tassell and about seven feet high. There are
some 35 acres of maize on Mr. Bateman's farm, of
whih 30 acres follow the crop of maize I saw last
year ou Oct- 1, when it was being cut and carried to
the silo. This season's crop is heavier probably 30
tons to the acre, and was manured with sprats 5d.
per bushel and some SO bushels per acre.

Although planted at the same date as that of Lord
Walsingham, early in Jun4| the Essex maize was quite
ten days in advance of the Norfolk crop. My visit
being without notice, it was by chance, that I found
a party of a dozen gentleman already "prospecting"
the tobacco crop ! Amongst them were scientists and

Wov. h 1886.J

mtsBBBsamimsimmm

tHETROmCAL AGRICULTURIST*

m

manufacturers of cigars ; also a gentleman now living
in England, but formerly a tobacco planter and buyer
in Virginia. The plot selected by Mr. Bateman for
his experiment was a swampy piece of ground drain-
ing into a small lake, and with a moist, black soil
which had been enriched with ashpit manure. Here
were a dozen varieties of tobacco growiog, and the
plant ^tood up thick and well against the wind and
rain. The seed had been planted in a cucumber frame
and raised to the height of three to four inches by
June 12. when they were successfully transplanted.
They are now fairly ripe, and have remained free
from insect pests. The English experiments are too
new to have lured over the American worm, which,
however, said the Virginian planter, would be sure
to find out the tobacco plant, wherever it might be
raised. The whole crop at Brightlingsea was in flower
on the iOth, not having been budded or topped ; so
whilst it is tall and thriving the leaves are not equal
in size to those I had seen in Kent and Norfoik.
Our tobacco p'anter, philosopher, and friend from
Virginia expressed his opinion that this E-sex crop
was as good as he had usually seen in the Ignited
States and Mexico, and he could confidently say the
plants properly cured should make excellent cigars or
smoking tobacco. He recommended the cutting should
take place this week, and that the curing might be
undertaken in a silo compartment, which wouM form
temporarily a tobacco shed. The plants having a
slit made in the base of their stem, will be speared
throughout by oak laths, or threaded by cords, and
then be suspended across the silo at some elevation
from the basement. On the floor dry wood fires
(beechwood preferred, as emitting but little odour)
will be kept going for some eighty to ninety hours,
to produce the necessary heat and dryness. Next the
leaves should be stripped from the stems, and be
allowed an amount of fermentation that only an ex-
pert could determine. The manufacture into cigars
Mr. Phillips, of Colchester, would undertake.

The above remarks infer that English tobacco growing
successfully is so far accepted as a general probability,
failure not being apprehended ; reckoning of course,
always, that the drying and curing process of good
product can be accomplished by Englishmen in the
English climate.

On Thursday last I had expected to see the to-
bacco crop at Lynsted, in Kent, grown by Mr. Faunce
de Lanne, but a letter from that gentleman defers
my visit until next Monday, because on that day ••' he
will be taking out one cured lot of tobacco, and be
putting in a fresh lot of tobacco. Of the two kinds
cured, one lot has come out in the finest yellow leaf,
which has been inspected by one of the chief tobacco
manufacturers in the country, who pronounces it to
be of the best quality. Besides, on Monday I shall
be filling my silos with buckwheat and hopbine."
This extract carries the experiments a step further —
the growing has been successful, and the drying also
successful.

Whilst deferring further remarks until more visits
have been made, it is desirable to state, as several
growers are now wishing to cut their tobacco plants,
that, whilst tobacco grown in hot climates is usually
saved in the gross, by cutting the plant and drying
it off, each separate plant suspended complete, in
rows with others, yet in slower and more irregular
climates, such as the British islands, it is best to
select and pick off the leaves as they mature, and
these may be threaded together on string, and be
dried in succession.

First, should any grower be pleased with any special
Variety, and desire to save the selected seed, care
must be taken that no frost has touched it, and
impaired its vitality. AA^hen the seed pods blackeu,
the seed is ripe, and the heads are cut off below the
forks of the plant, and are hung to dry. The seed
Is rubbed out by hand and winnowed, and if it
crackles when thrown on*to a hot stove, it is good.
An ounce contains about 100,000 seeds; but as the
percentage of vitality is low, half an ounce is usually
saved to produce the plant required for an acre.

put probably most growers will seek to g*ve only

the leaves, and these are ripe when they assame a
marbled and yellowish green colour — they increase in
gummiuess, and the tips bend downwards. The leaves
should only be harvested after the dew is off the plant,
and not upon a rainy day. "When the leaves are
gathered singly, the bottom leaves are the first taken.
They should be taken to shelter — even a tree will
serve the purpose ; but commonly the grower will
have some suitable shel, where the whole plant, or
the struug leaves, may be suspended to dry. They
must not be hung so close as to press each other.
Usually a dry day is suflicieut to " wilt " the plants,
so as to allow them to be handled without breaking
or tearing the leaves. They may then be dried, and
below is given an illustration how tobacco plants are
suspended for drying :

The drying shed should be ventilated so as to allow
of regulation of the currents of air. Everyday the
leaves must be carefully examined, as they dry un-
equally. Experts recommend that artificial heat should
be supplied, and this should be conducted into the
drj'ing shed without the fire or the products of com-
bustion being admitted ; but, as stated above, many
Americans light wood fires on the floor, and cure
tobacco much as bacon is cured by smoke. Confirm-
ation of this mode — referred to at Mr. Bateman's
meeting — ha.-; been given to me by a former large
grower of tobacco in America, who has had 100 acres
in cultivation. One coloured workman was reckoned
sufticient to look after four acres of tobacco. The
arrangement of a tobacco-drying shed is much like
that of a fish curer, the object in both being to
keep the plants or fish close and yet apart. "WTieu
the tobacco plants or leaves have become dried, and
yet are pliable, the process of stripping commences,
which is done in a moist atmosphere, and then the
selected leaves are graded and made into hands, i.e.,
ten to twenty leaves are tied together, and each day
these "hands" of tobacco are " bulked" together in
heaps 4 ft. to 8 ft. squai-e (of course this refers to
cultivation on a large scale, and experimenters . can
only resonably follow the methods), with all the
stalks outside, in order to ferment. The amount of
fermentation can be controlled, as in the making of
ensilage, and the process lasts an irregular time. The
bulk is often pulled to pieces and rearranged through
days and weeks. Some tobacco is tit for smoking a
few weeks after drying, whilst it is usually some
months before it become-^ an article of commerce.

The above details, simplified and reduced as much
as possible, may appear to claim great skill and
trouble, but actual practice makes them easy and
quite within the scope of ordinary farmers who may
grow tobacco. — Invicta. — Field.

A Present of Coffee Leaf Disease fuom Oash-
MEBE. — We have just received a packet from Cash-
mere containing four or five coifee leaves more covered
with leaf disease than any we have ever ob-
served. The leaves are enclosed in a piece of paper,
on which the following is written : — " Coals to New-
castle, or leaf disease (of sorts) from Cashmere."
The present serves to show us that we arc not the
only ones troubled with Hemdeia rastalria;, though
the number in this colony who now take much
thought concerning this fell pest is getting fewer
every day. — Local "Times,"

At the Bbitish Pharjiaceutical Coxfehenck were
read two papers on quinological subjects. Mr. Hooper's
paper dealt with experiments in Madras, He showed
that renewal by shaving greatly increased the quinine
value of the bark, and that manuring has a some
what similar effect in a less degree. The paper also
contained details of analyses of barks at different
ages, and concluded with a reference to the effect
of mould on bark, which is almost nil. Mr. Howard's
p:iper was one of considerable interest, and con-
tained the results of many analyses of various cin-
chona barks, all of which, contrasted with a review of
what was being done in cultivation of the bark, lee)
him to predict that profitable cultivation can only
result from the propagation of the highest quinine«
yielding trees,— C/it/nist aui Dru^'jist,

328

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, i886c

Tl.4 Makers. — A writer in the Indian Drib/ yVivs
siguiiig himielf " Okl Planter" declaims against the
custom of employing native superiatendents of Tea
factories. He woulil have a " gi>o I, active, intelligent
European " placed in charge of the THa-hou<e, who
should be required to remaui in the Tea-!iouse from
the commencement of manuf 'cture till its finish, and
on no considerntion to lea-.'e the building— all his
meals being brouglit there to him. " The Old Plauter"
must, we taucy, have had very limited experience,
or he would know that on all large factories the
Assistant in charge of the Tea-making is a European,
and that ho does remain in the factory during m>tnu-
facture ; snmetimes half through the night.— Z/irfirtu
Tea Gazette.

Jap.vn Olovek (Lkst'Edeza striata, H. a.)— My
attention, says Dr. Schomburgk, was directed to this
valuable fodder pUnt by Mr. I". E. Schlegel, of Beach-
port, by his sendinii me a cuttii^g from a Caiifornian
paper (the Bnral Caiifornian), which gives a glowing
account of this remarkable plant. The extract runs
as follows: — The perennial Clover, Lespedeza striata,
is now covering thousands of acres where in ISSG it
only covered 10 ft-et square. It grows in the plains,
and at an altitude of 4000 feet, and stands well through
the midsummer droughts, tiowering and blooming un-
til the frost comes, and living after most herbage is
dead. It grows on every kind of soil — rich or poor,
clay or sandy, dry or wet— and is deep-rooted and
improving the soil. It never runs out, and can be
fed off without injury. It is wonderfully fattening,
and contains —

Nitrogen matter ... 16.60 Potash 0.8S

Fat 1.10 Soda 0-51

X'&h. 5.92 Phosphoric acid ... 0.39

Lime 0.99 Sulphric acid ... 0.30

Magnesia 0.56

—Gardeners Chronicle.

Dependence oi- the Growth or Wood upox Me-
teorological Factors. — A. Spamer communicates
the following conclusions as to the dependence of the
growth of wood upon meteorologicil factors: — 1.
Temperature and precipitation are the meteorological
phenomena that affect the process of the formation
of wood. 2. Of these two variable quantities during
the principal period of growth, the rainfall diminishes
he formation of wood while the heat increases it. 3.
The principal period of wood growth is from July to
October, at least for the plants which ar^ very sensitive
to frost. 4. The rainfall seems to influence growth
more than the temperature. [Excess of rain dimin-
ishes growth more than excess of temperature in-
creases it.l 5. The growth of different plants is not
affected in the same degree by the rain ; some are
affected more by rain and others by the temperature.
6. In many periods only one of these factors appears
to exert any influence, the other being inactive. 7.
Possibly this anomaly may be explained by observ-
ations of the duration of insolation. 8. The increase
of carbonaceous compounds goes parallel with the in-
crease in the inorganic c^instituputs of the wood. 9
The aqueous component of th<^ wood dimnishes when
the carbonaceous increa-es. 10. The so-called ripe
wood [the heartwood] differs from that which is less
ripe by a greater amount of ashes and carbon. — Smitli-
soni'^n histttute lieport.

OULTIVATIXG the M-i.MMOTH H+iQUOI \ Ov CALIFORNIA,

To the editor of this magazine one of the most interest-
ing lessons learned in California was one which only
one experienced in the culture of trees could Uarn ;
namely, that the Sequuia gigantea is by nature a
f-wampy tree. The places where they grow now are
comparatively dry ; but two or three thousand years
ago th^y followed the track of descending glaciers,
81 d they received the melting snows from the tops
of luiuntains that have no summer snows now. The
ground on wh ch the.«e mammoth trees stand, once
vtry wet, or even swampy, has become drier throusrh
tie i'Ugageb. Horticidturists know that swamp trees
gi ner^Uy grow very well in ground that is comparatively
^ly, but 8eed9 of tjucb trees will not sprout in any-

thing but the moist oozy moss on the top of a swamp
or damp ground. Hence the only young trees we
find in the mammoth tree locations are where a chance
seed happens to f>dl on a moist rock, or other damp
situation. Young trees an; common only in one loc-
ation, where clouds condense against a mountain-
side, and the whole situation abounds with springs
and flozy spots. Here in the east hundreds of trees
have been ijlanted during the past quarter of a century,
but rarely has one lived more than a few years.
They do not mind the winters.. We have known
them stand 20^ below zero uninjured, but some fungus,
fav'-iurcd by a dry atmosphere, carries them off gradu-
ally during the summer season. Profiting by these
facts, the writer brought three strong plants from
Cdifornia and set them in a swamp. Usually when
we set swamp trees in a swamp they will not grow
unless they are suff'ered to grow into the swamp them-
selves. We make a mound and plant them in the
mound, from whence they root down as suits them-
selves. These three plants have had two winters and
one summer the p.ist winter being a ter^iMy severe
one. Today they look perfectly soun I and flourish-
ing, and the editor believes that he has at last dis-
covered how to make the great tree of California
thrive in eastern gAvAena. — Gardeners' Monthly.

Cinnamon CrLTiv.\TioN in Ceylon.- Cinnamon peel-
ing is at a stand-still owing to a heivy bud being on,
and will possibly not be resumed till this month is
well nigh over. In the meantime the favourable weather
is causing the bushes to grow apace. I have to con-
gratulate you on a new departure, or rather on the
resumption of an old practice, the making public
the results of the Cinnamon sales- As the form in
which you give it is open to improvement, I trust
you will favourably entertain my suggestion to give
the price each quality fetches, the same as is done
with Tea. This will afford more information th.vn
simply giving the range of prices and the average.
The average price any produce of more than one
quality fetches, is a very misleading test to app'y as
to its excellence. The average price is lowered or
raised according as lower or higher qualities predo-
minate. The brand that heads the list, occupies that
exalted position owing to its two first qualities only
having been sold. The older Estatei, where the soil
is sandy and the growth not very vigorous, can as a
matter of course make a larger percentage of the
finer qualities of Cinnamon. Tlie same with the
Estates, that, in direct violation of the Kesolutiou
passed hy the Agricultural Association, and by which
they were bound, never gave up the short -sigted and
pernicious practice of scraping Chips. Estates were,
owing to the richness of the soil, the growth of the
Cinnamon is vigorous, will have the bulk of the
Cinnamon consist of the lower qualities, uulesr, very
tender Cinnamon is cut. One noticeable feature in
the shipments from Mr. De Soysa's numerous Estates,
is the absence of the 4tli quality Cinnamon. Has he
gone a step beyond the Resolution of the Association,
or does he convert his 4ch quality Cinnamon also
into Chips for the still? The Lairds of Wester-
Seaton asserts that if all Cinnamon Planters had
followed his example, and scraped Chips only for J the
still, the price of Cinnamon was bound to rise. I
go further than he, and say that if all Cinnamon
Planter's had followed my, I believe, solitary example,
and did not scrape Chips at all, the price of quilled
Cinnamon was sure to have risen. Cinnamon oil is
but a concentrated form of Ciunamon, and for some
purpose can with advantage be substituted for it,
under these circumstances it must be regarded as
much a rival of quilled Cinnamon as Chips. But the
respected Laird of Wester-Seaton so little believes
this, that he consistently refu.ws to sell Chips except
for the still, ex'-n though he receives a higher offer
for them, and asserts that he will sooner bury their
Chips, than sell them for ^xport- Paddy-crops are
being harvested everywhere, and the air resounds with
the cheering strains of harvest .songs. Except in a
few favoured fields, crops arc not above the averjigi',
— Local " Jixaminer,"

Nov. I, m6q fMB TmPtCAL AQlUCiJtWRiHV,

325/

THE PKOSPECTS OP CEYLON CINCHONA
BAEK.
We call attention to the letter of Mr. John Hamil-
ton on page 332, and feel sure it will be read
with interest both by tea and cinchona planters. It is
with reference to the latter portion of his remarks
that we would wish once more to consider the
position of the holders in this island of cinchona
bark whether on the trees or in the stores. Mr.
Hamilton, like so many other authorities, quotes
with approval our remark that Ceylon cinchona
planters have for several years to come, more
to fear from themselves in the way of competition,
than from any other quarter. The more
information we receive and the more we
study the subject, the clearer this becomes, at
least so far as the course of supplies for the next
four years is concerned. We do not see that the
exports from Java, India or Bolivia can, up to
1890, seriously affect the position attained by
Ceylon ; although after that the case may be

different.

But the question is, suppose Ceylon to go on for the
next four years exporting 12 or 15, or even 10
millions lb. of bark per annum, in what position
would our plantation clearings or bark supply be
at the end of that period. This is a most important
question to have answered, and we are glad to see that
the Dimbula Planters' Association has taken steps to
have the recjuisite information collected after a careful
and authentic fashion, and we trust the example
so set will be followed by other Associations in the
cinchona growing districts. At the Dimbula meet-
ing we learn Mr. James Sinclair called attention
to the subject, disputing the accuracy . of the
statistics supplied or worked out for our Directory,
and although the remarks he made could not be
embodied in the Secretary's report we have
received a copy to which we readily give a
place : —

" Cmclio-.iabark has fallen to such a low figure, that
it has really become a question whether much of it
is worth the expense of placing on the market.
There is too, an idea prevalent, which speaking for
myself, lias assumed something more definite, and
that ia, that before long (but too late for most of us)
a re-action is bound to set in ; I mean, when the bulk
of the article has been shipped from the island, and
this date at the ratio of shipments for the past three
years cannot be far off. Fairly accurate information
on this poiut, gentlemen, is within our reach, if we
will but set about it. I beg, therefore, to propose
that this Association do communicate with the several
District Associations interested, with a view to ob-
taining for each body the following information : —

I. The estimated acreage under cinchona.

II. The quantity to be harvested for the vears end-

ing Oct. 1887 and 1888.
If we can induce the other Associations to aid us, as
I say, fairly accurate figures are possible, and we
shall then know the ^c*-^ and 'vomt of our position.
If, unfortunately, it should be the latter, it might yet
be one which some such regulating Syndicate as 1
propounded lately in the newspapers, (which some of
you may have seen) would enable us to some extent at
least to participate in the rise of value, which we all
know must take place after our fields have become
denuded. In the Observe r oi Friday and "Times "of
Saturday much interestmg information is given, also
the opinion of the greatest living authority on bark
(Mr. H<5ward), viz., " that the price of cinchona entirely
depends on the exports from Ceylon." This coming
from one, who has probably the greatest facilities of any
cue individual foi- acquiring iijfQi'uiatioil fi'9iii ciughwai-
ll3

producing countries, may be accepted as true. Another
no mean authority, Mr. John H. Hamilton, tells us
that we have more to fear from our own exports than
from those of any other country. With such testi-
money to that efJect before us, can we not go liand
in hand in obtaining accurate figures of the total
acreage now in the island i* The following figures
and conclusions being given only to illustrate our pos-
sible position regarding the product, I need not now
take up your time by stating how I have arrived at
them, but I may mention, in passing, that such au
enquiry as I propose will probably prove them fairly
correct. Let us take the whole area in Ceylou under
cinchona at 20,000 acres with 1,200 trees per acre, which
when all matured, say at 30th September 1888, would
yield one pound of dry bark per tree, or twenty-four
million pounds. Suppose we once more ship 15,000,000
lb. of which quite |ds would be stem, branch and root
bark, or say ten million pounds we have but fourteen
million trees on which we can operate during 1888, by
shaving or any other process. If therefore, gentlemen,
my figures are nearly accurate, consider the re-action
that would take place in the value ; why, I believe we
should see the unit at Is again, and all our bark gone;
surely this would be too tantalizing ou the back of
all we have had to bear these last eight years. I hope
therefore, you will support this resolution ; and when
information is asked by our Secretary, that every
care will be taken in framing estimates. I am aware
there are many who do not belong to any Association
and who may decline to furnish information, but there
must be few who would wantonly throw obstacles in
the way of such an enquiry, and if there are, their
neighbours can generally give a rough estimate to
make the return as accurate as possible."

We are as keenly anxious as any planter can
be to give only fair and accurate returns of cin-
chona under cultivation as of all other i^roductg
and we shall be much pleased to get the result
of the Dimbula enquiry. We think it likely
enough that our returns will be found above the
mark, only it is possible that Mr. Sinclair forgot
they were compiled before much of the past
season's very heavy export was harvested. At the
same time Mr. Sinclair's own figures must be decidedly
below the mark : to say that Ceylon has only
20,000 acres with a>n average of 1,200 trees per acre,
yielding about 21 million lb. in all by 1888 must
be far below accuracy. Mr. Sinclair can have but
a poor idea of the cinchona clearings and in-
terspersed plantings in the several divisions of
Uva. From the best authority in Udapussellawa
we have a very interesting and able report in whi'h
Mr. Dick expresses the opinion that cinclion
may be regarded as a permanent cultivation, a
further that in a decade of years he does ni n
lieve our exports will fall below six million lb
From another reliable authority — a gentleman wno
we believe has been taking stock of the different
districts, — we have estimates which we consider
much nearer the mark than those of Mr. Sinclair,
In estimating for next season's export? the cor-
respondent we refer to, while venturing on 11 mil-
lion lb. as a possible total of exports for 188G-7,
adds that he thinks " 10 million lb. of cinchona
bark still remain in the country." This ceenis to
us as a much more probable approximate estimate
than 21 million lb. in 1888; but although the former
may appear large, in reality — remembering to what a
limited extent comparatively, cinchona is being
planted in this tea era, — 40 million lb. is by no
means a formidable stock to place before the
world. On the contrary if it could be shewn that
were Ceylon to ship say 10 million lb, for four
consecutive seasons, the export would thenof necessity
drop down to five to six millions, the effect would
inevitably be to strengthen the position of our bark
in the European market very considerably. It ig
tiig viucoilaiDtj' tlJBt CeylQii 'm^y aot go on jpour-

uo

im fkCPhtAL AGklCULTURiST. [Nov. i, iS66

ing in at the rate of 15 millions lb. (or even more)
per annum for an indefinite period that has ad-
versely affected prices. It therefore becomes a
question of supreme practical importance to all
interested m Ceylon cinchona to set a careful I'e-
liable enquiry afloat, and we know no better
medium for obtaining the information than the
several District Associations.

In this connection we would refer once more to
the projiosed Ceylon Cinchona Syndicate, regard-
ing which a competent commercial authority offers
the following remarks in a semi-private letter
to us : —

" About the formation of a Syndicate for the pur-
pose of helping planters who are obliged to crop
their cinchonas (in order to meet their expenses
of tea-planting), from glutting the market and thus
reducing prices to a ruinous rate per unit, not
alone for the poorer men, who are obliged to
coppice and shave or uproot, but for men who are
fairly well off, and whose cinchona is harvested
in the ordinary course. In some cases 'to make
room for tea, planters have only lost by rushing
their crops into the market and obtaining prices
barely sullicient, and in some cases not sufficient,
to cover expenses. The matter lies in a nutshell,
and all it wants is cohesion on the part of the
growers of cinchona and if petty jealousy could
be got rid of, the Colombo agent would really be
as much benefited as the planter, as he would be
saved from shipping cinchona when the market
was overstocked and the crops could be shipped
through his agency and the bills drawn on the
London houses to whom he sent crops, just the
same, without taking a cent from his pocket. In
fact, he would be benefited by it as the j^rices
would be higher and he would thus be in a position
to realize his advances to the planter against crops.
Planters must agree to be guided by advices from
home and they Aveuld be subject to the control
of a Committee of the Syndicate, as to when ship-
ments should take i^lace, the produce for shipment
being taken in the order of dates of receipt at
Colombo. The morel think of it, the more certain
I am of the success of such a Syndicate, which
really might be termed a Mutual Co-operative Society.

" We will assume that 100 planters joined (but of
course the number ought to be greatly exceeded)
and sent their cinchona to Colombo. On its re-
ceipt it would be baled by their own agents or by
any one the planters pleased. Samples drawn for
analysis and those who required advancef on crops,
would have a return sent to the banker or bankers
who agreed to advance on such, setting forth
claims, quantity, and analysis. The advance made
en it would bo expressed on the warrant, which
would be given to the Bank. As soon as the lots
were sliipptd, the usual bill would be drawn by
the ).janler*or by hi.? Colombo agent on the Lon-
ticn House. The IJank ivhieh advanced money on
the lot rejpaid and the warrant being returned
cflncellcd, the matter would end. The Bank's
Security being the warrant, and the fiynature^
t).f the man or men selected in Colombo to manage
the business, such managers arranging [luurantees
with the Bonis, so as to present any delay in
Bhii)ping or drawing bills. The whole matter is so
simple that there need not be the slightest hitcli.

" Unless something like a Cinchona Syndicate be
started and v.'orked as suggested herein, the next
half-penny or penny rise m cinchona will see
millions of lb. shipped and down will come the
prices to an amount which will simply ruin some
poor deserving men, who are struggling to plant
tea and to live on it."

Now it may be said that the collection and
publicatipn of reliable returns of the stock pf bari

(on the trees now growing) in the island would, of
themselves, have much the same effect as is anticip-
ated from the action of a Syndicate. We said that
the latter would require to procui'e reliable inform-
ation as to cultivation and stocks to guide its
operations. On the other hand, already we have
some wealthy and large owners of Ceylon cinchona
playing the part of a Syndicate by 'holding their
bark both in the island and in London off the market,
waiting for the opportunity of a more restricted
supply and a rise in ijrices. No doubt, this is
what every Ceylon planter would like to do. Each
one will say with reference to his harvesting pre-
maturely and shipping hastily, —

My poverty and not my will consents I
But it is just to meet the case of such planters
— gentlemen who must get money for their bark, —
that a Syndicate is required and it should
be the best means to help them, and
we would ask our commercial authority
whether it is necessary that there should be any
general adhesion of all cinchona owners. Let
those who do not need the aid of banker or
merchant go on as at present shipping ; but if
a considerable number would prefer to get
a moderate advance on their bark and to have
it stored until the market rises, they should be able
to make a considerahle impression on the distri-
bution of this staple from Ceylon. We do not
see why it should need all our cinchona owners to
form a Syndicate. Indeed, our correspondent supposes
100 planters joining together, and we think that if
rules or articles of Association were drawn up and cir-
culated, there would not be much difficulty in
getting that number of cinchona planters to support
a Syndicate. Meantime we trust the Planters'
Association in Dimbula will prosecute their enquiry
without loss of time and that their example will
be followed in Dikoya, Maskeliya, and throughout
Uva. For the rest of the country there ought not
to be much difliculty in forming an approximate
estimate of the cinchona trees and bark in the
everal districts.

THE OUTLOOK FOE INDIAN TEA.

Planters usually feel interested iu what their candid
friend the dealer thinks about them, and the following
article from the Grocer indicates the prevailing views
of members of the wholesale and retail tea trade con-
cerning Indian tea trade concerning Indian tea and its
prospects :

" The estimates of the tea crop for 188(5, prepared by
the General Committee of the Indian Tea Association a
few months fince, showed that there was likely to be
a yield of nearly 70,000,000 lb., as compared with
68,735,000 lb., actually produced in 1885. This repre-
sents an increase of over 7,000,000 lb. for tiie season
now cortimeuced, and niciiusa very considerable ad-
dition to ihe existing supply.

' Thc»!e figure.s relating to the deliveries show a dif«
ference of 1,126,400 lb., and mark the first decided phase
wiiich has been w'tnessed iu the rapid extension of In-
dian teas in this market during recent years. There
can be ho duubt that the trade experienced a severe
check in the early part of this year through the dis*
turbtd state of irit.h attains, politically, socially, and
commercially ; and as our Hibernian brethren, who
were previously free consumers of tlie strong and pung-
ent teas that come from India, have since used them in
a more stinted n)anuer, the >jround at first lost has not
subsequently been recorc red. To correspond with this
nicdificd taste in the consumption of tea tbeie has also
been a chaiige iu the character of the demand, which
has of late run chic tly upon the commoner kinds, or, as
we expressed it in our market report of Friday lasfcj
' upon teas for price,' and at such prices too as are 2d
to 3d per ib. lower than tliey were a twelvemonth ago.
Whether this is the cause or the effect of the altered

Nov. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

CJ) ■

style of the uew season's imports, we cannot positively
say, as both circumstances have happened simultane-
ously and as it by accident ; but of this the dealers and
those who daily inspect the teas are pretty sure, that
the supplies of Indian descriptions now contain a larger
proportion of inferior and badly made sorts than they
did in either 1885 or 1884, with the natural con-
sequence that both qualities and value are markedly be-
low those in preceding years.

To what then shall we attribute the real cause of the
deterioration of business in Indian teas? Is it from
necessity or choice, and are the tea-planters in India
sacrificing quality to quantity, by gathering the teas
froji their gardens before they have had proper time
for becoming matured and full-conditioned? If so it
may be a serious matter for them in after years, as
ihey have powerful rivals against them in the growers
of Ceylon tea, who are rapidly advancing in public es-
timation, and may wrest from the importers of Indian
as well as China teas the special advantages of the
market generally, which they are supposed to hold over
and above all other competitors. India up to this
time has successfully contended for the approbation
and support of her tea industry in the British niarket,
and for many years has displaced large quantities of
China productions from the annual consumption of the
country ; but from the facts already stated, it can hardly
be denied that at this moment Indian teas have not
the same name and reputation for richness and strength
which they had formerly. The home trade them-
selves, however are the final judges of what Indian, no
less than other teas, are or should be in the cup, and
as they determine by their rejection of, or preference
for, this or that kind of tea, so will the planters every-
where shape their course and regulate the process of
cultivation and the mode of preparation and manu-
facture from time to time. We believe that the ques-
tion of profit is the secret of all the changes that are
taldug place in the tea trade just now, and not till
this is fairly decided will it settle down into a steady
and healthful condition throughout.

" In considering the position and prospects for
Indiiui teas, it is also desirable to entertain a
broader view of the whole situation of the tea trade
in general, if only for the purpose of pointing out one
great inconsistency which prevails therein at the present
season more than at any other we can remember — that
is, the outcry against rubbishing and ill-prepared teas
bein-- imported here, and the coolness and indifference
of the reception which fine and superior qualities meet
when they arrive. To illustrate our meaning more fully,
we will remind our readers that in February last re-
monstrances and warnings were addressed to the Tea
Guild of Shanghai, against the careless and imperfect
preparation of China teas for the London market, and
assurances were thereupon given that in future more
attention should be bestowed upon the teas grown and
shipped from the Celestial Empire ; but with what re-
sult? The new season's teas, it is true, came to hand
in all respects better than those in 1885, but, as we
obssrved in the 6'rocer only a fortnight ago, ' tho dealers
often will not look at them, and many highly respect-
able houses are beginning to consider whether it is not
a complete farce to have choice teas to sell, when no-
body appears inclined to purchase them at any price.'
If preferable teas— whether from China, India, or
Ceylon, does not signify in the least— are thus at a
discount, what encouragement is there to make them
and send them across the seas? And if the trade are
supplied with the improved article which they ask for,
why do they not patronise it when it is placed at their
disposal? These are questions which the importers are
almost sure to put to the trade the next time com-
plaints are made of the inferiority of China or even
other teas, and unless the wholesale dealers can an-
swer them satisfactorily, it will be in vain to expect
any but common and poor trashy teas to find their way
to the United Kingdom one season more than another.
To be quite con.sivtent, if the trade cannot afford to
pay the necessary price for good tea shey should not
order it: and if, instead of the desired article, they get
a weak substitute, they must take it and say nothing."
— Hmne anil Oulonial J/ai/.

The subject of Balata Gum and its capabilities has
been attracting increased attention of iate, but wide
differences of opinion exist as to the commercial value of
this article. As regards the .advantages of growing this
product in the West Indies, Mr. James John Daj-, who
claims to be tho first European who systematically cul-
tivated Balata, states that a company formed by him in
1874 to work it came to grief, because the gum was_ so
unfavourably reported on by telegraph engineers as being
quite unfit for insulating purposes. He warns West
Indian planter.'*, therefore, not to waste time and money
on Balata. — Indiarahhev and Guttapevch/x Journal.

New Zealand EdiulE Fungus. — For the benefit of a
correspondent who made enquiries of us lately we ex-
tract the following from the current number of that
excellent periodical, the I'harmaceutical Journal : — " An
edible fuugus, which is shown in the New Zeland
department of the Colonial Exhibition (Hirneola poly-
tiicha) firms an article of considerable export to China,
where it is used largely as an ingredient in soups, &c.,
and also as a dye for silks. It is imported from
New Zaland to the extent of about 100 tons per
annum. This fact suggests that other • objects of
Chinese commerce might be worthy of cultivation iu
the colonies, such as the true Gingseng. It bears con-
siderable resemblance to the Jew's-ear fungus of this
country, which is common on Elder trees in damp
shady places." — Gardeners' Chronicle.

V.viiiKTiEs OF Gneiss. — The protean structure
and colouring of gneiss are well known and accord-
ing to the Madras Jfail are strikingly exemplified
in the crystaline rocks of Vizigapatam district as
described by Dr. King, the Indian Geological Survey : —
The only original work previously published on the
geology of the district was that of Dr. Benza, who in
1835 accompanied the Governor of Madras on a tour
in the Northern Circars and published his diary in the
Madras Journal of Literature and Science. His notes
show the almost universal prevalence of cry.stahne rocks,
but in some points he was mistaken, as when he sap-
posed that the Bimlipatam hill was capped by coast
laterite. As a matter of fact it has no capping at all,
but consists throughout of quartzoze and garnetiferous
gnei.'-s is as a rrde, a very uninteresting rock to the
amateur geologist, who, unless he be skilled iu petro-
graphy, sees little difference of importance between
one gneiss and another. To those, however, who have
spent years in the strrdy of the geology of IMadras this
is far from being the case, and, just as Mr. Bruce
Foote recently made the important discovery that
nearly all the gold fields of the Presidency lie in a
peculiar formation which he has named the Dharwai-
rocks, so Dr. King, when .surveying the Kistna and
Godavari districts some years ago, found in the neigh-
bourhood of Bezwada a more decidedly bedded and
presumably newer form of gneiss than is usually met
with in Madras. He then named this rock Bezvvada
gneiss, but from the predominance of this form iu the
districts now surveyed he is inclined to speak rather
of the Vizagapatam gneisses. Amongst the other
geological features of the district may be mentioned
the Waltair red sands. These consist of bright red
deposits of a fine-grained clayey sard . occurring
over most of the northern half of the Waltair
ridge. Besides its red colour this sand is notable on
account of its isolation, there being no visible source
from which it could have been derived. But in reality
it is only a particularly highly coloured example of what
is common over the coastal plains of Southern India.
Similar deposits of red sand and gravel ar. common
round the hilly regions of the Trichinopoly, Sahm
and South Arcot districts, and since they have jielded
a number of palaeolithic stone implements they pro-
bably ought to be classed amongst the post-pliocene
alluviums. The most interesting geological features of
the distiict are to be found iu the bands oi eijstalliuo
limestone, which occur in the gnei.-s of the hilliract.
This limestone may herealt' r be found to have groat
economic value but at (.resent the inter, st iu it n
chiefly due to the circumstance that it cmtains a num-
ber of swallow holes, or caverns, or.e of which is of
considerable size and magnificence.

S32

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. I, 1886,

To the Editor of the " Geyloyi Observer"

QUERY AS TO ALLOWING SEVERAL STEMS

OF CINCHONA TREES TO GROW.

Dear Sir, — Cau you or any of your numerous
readers give me practical information on the ad-
vantages of allowing two or three stems to each
cinchona tree? What will be the probable in-
crease in weight of bark by following the system,
and are there any known or probable drawbacks ?
^I am, dear sir, yours faithfully, SUBSCRIBER.

THE PACKING OF TEA IN CEYLON AND
THE WEIGHING AT THE LONDON CUS-
TOMS ; RROSPECTS OF CINCHONA.

• 12. Great Tower St., London, E. C.

Deae Sir,— Although doubtless many in Ceylon
are quite familiar with the peculiarities, of the
" London Customs " in weighing tea, the following
particulars may be of use to those who are on the
point of sending their tirst breaks into the London
market. In order to save loss in weight in making
up packages, care should be taken not to exceed
the round figure in lb. by too many oz. For
instance, say a package weighing gross weight
90 lb. \\ oz. would be called by the Customs
90 lb., and a package weighing gross weight 90 lb.
4 oz. would also be called by the Customs 90 lb.
the difference between these would therefore mean
a loss per package of 10 oz. The same with the
tare. A tare weighing 21 lb. 2 oz. would be called
25 lb., yet a tare weighing 2-4 lb. 14 oz. would
also be called 25 lb., meaning a further loss to the
shi^jper of 12 oz. (being the difference between 2 oz.
and 14 oz). Therefore, to avoid loss in weight,
let the gross weight be say 90 lb, (or any other unit
of lb.) plus 4 oz. = 90 lb., and the tare of the
package 23 lb., 14 oz. = 24 lb., which would be
90 lb. gross and the tare 24 lb.

Boxes should aot exceed 28 lb. Customs gross
and should be made up as under— gross 28 lbs.
2 oz., and the tare 6 lb. 14 oz. which would be
called 28 lb. gross and 7 lb. tare. If the weight of
a box is declared by the " Customs " to weigh 29 lb.
gross, an allowance of one lb. draft has to be made
to the trade. To give proper efi'ect to this, great care
must be taken in weighing up the tea before leaving
the island, and the scales should be frequently
balanced. The teas in London are weighed by a beam
scale ; and it is said weighing machines are frequently
out of order, and not easily detected and should not
j)roperly be used in weighing tea for the London
market. If packages run irregularly, they have to be
bulked in London, which of course leads to loss in
weight in addition to the trade allowance of 1 lb.
Small lots of 5 packages and under are always
weighed each separately.

It has been suggested to me that we should
endeavour to do away with the trade al-
lowance of 1 lb. Such an alteration would
of course be of decided benefit to all the growers,
but to bring about such an important change is a
matter of such enormous magnitude, that in the
present state of affairs it is quite hopeless. As I
said in a former letter, the whole working of the
lea business in London is conducted on a system
laborious, expensive, and unsatisfactory to the new
order of things now prevailing. The cumbersome
"weight note"' arrangement must be swept away,
together with other obsolete forms and customs only

suited to the old working of the China tea'trade and
its merchant princes. As I pointed out before, the
Ceylon and Indian Tea Planters' Associations must
unite against them and when sufficiently powerful
to make their wishes felt, then and then only will
this important article be dealt with on the inexpen-
sive and easy system that all other articles of pro-
duce are bought and sold at in the London market.
It is supposed that it would be no greater difficulty
to sweep away these trade allowances in the tea
trade, than it was in the bark trade, which is quite
a mistake. In the bark trade a few wealthy buyers
only had to be urged to acquiescence, and even in
that trade, it took some years to bring about so
important a change.

What was the result of the Ceylon Chamber of Com-
merce's cogitations on this matter? I have never
seen the subject mooted since in your columns.
Ceylon as a rising factor in the tea trade of the
world cannot too soon take the matter up.

Regarding Cinchona, I fully , endorse what you
stated in one of your recent leaders, that the
Ceylon growers have more to fear from themselves
than from any other countries. Some of us are
afraid of Java, whilst .Java is afraid of what Bolivia
can do. I don't think Ceylon has anything to
fear from the cinchona productions either of Java,
India or Bolivia. There is room enough for us
all with proper care ; and by proper care I mean
estates should not send forward their very low
class bark and twigs which can bring but little
profit, if any, in the present unsatisfactory state
of the market. Let all combine only to send for-
ward fair 1^ per cent, barks and upwards for the
next six months, and planters will benefit quite
as much with far less cost to themselves, as if
they threw in all their common barks to swell
their shipments, — common barks can easily
be stored on the ' estates, until they are wanted.
Mr. Von Gorkom in a recent letter to me men-
tioned that the Java export is not likely to exceed
1| to 3* million lb. per annum even by 1890.
Nor does he think the acreage under bark now
exceeds 20,000 acres. The heavy shipments
lately received from Ceylon have by now been
tolerably well discounted, and it will be a pity
when the market does revive, as it promises shortly
to do, to again crush it hopelessly with too
eager shipments of twigs and low class barks which
are only valuable with a steady unit considerably
above late and present rates. Apologizing for tres-
passing so much on your valuable space, I am,
yours faithfully. JOHN HAMILTON.

SHORT WEIGHTS IN TEA.

18th Oct. 1886.
Dear Sir, — Mr. Hamilton's letter in your issue
of the l()th inst. affords a means of gauging the
difficulties which underlie a satisfactory settlement
of the short-weight controversy; and hia explan-
ation of the manner in which the weights are
taken in London goes far to exonerate planters
from the unworthy suspicion of systematically
putting less tea into their packages than they are
invoiced to contain — nay more than this; for it
seems to suggest, that if they managed diji'ercntly
there would be no complaints of short weight
at the other end.

It may be that there is a clerical error in Mr.
Hamilton's letter, but as I read it, it seems that
whilst in taking the gross weight, fractions of ^ lb.
and under are disregarded, and fractions of over
A lb. are counted a full pound, it is not so with
the tares; in the latter case «// fractions, however

Nov. X, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

333

small, counting apparently as a full pound — and
so, if the actual gross of a package was Hi lb.
8 oz., the actual tare 24 lb. 1 oz. and the actual
nett 90 lb. 7 oz., yet when this package came to
be weighed at the Customs, the gross would be re-
turned as Hi lb., the tare 25 lb. and the net,
weight 89 lb. This is doubtless an extreme caset
in which the planter having ingenuously made a
present to the buyer of 7 oz. tea in excess of his
invoice weight, would be punished for his generosity
by being mulcted in a further 10 oz. If, however,
this be the system on which weights are taken in
London, it is scarcely fair that buyers who — prima
facie — must be admitted to be sufferers to an equal
extent, should call on the 2)Iante7- for a further
sacrifice to recoup them for the result of an in-
equitable system. Eather let it be an argument —
if the system be unalterable — for an agitation to abo-
lish additional trade allowances under the name of
draft. In face of the loss due to such a system as
the above, the trifling loss due to sampling in
Colombo sinks into insignificance.

Planters will doubtless note the stress laid by Mr.
Hamilton on regularity in the weight of packages.
No doubt irregularity is often met with, but in my
own experience, and dealing with my own standard
chests, I have not found this difficulty at all in-
superable. In the first place, care should be taken
in making up a break to have packages of as nearly
as possible the same weight, and this can as a rule
only be secured by paying regard to the seasoning
of the wood — and getting together packages so to
speak of equal ages ; which will in most cases
ensure even weights. The next thing, as there will
always be differences of ounces in the weight of
shooks, is to sort out, after putting together, the
chests according to weight. Thus m 100 chests it is
possible that 25 might run to 22 lb. 25 to 22^ lb.
25 to 22^ lb. and 25 to 22| lb. each. In making
up a break take all 22J (quarters), or all of some
other equal weight, but do not mix them— and
still less do so if the difference in weight be greater.
Then too in order to secure uniformity it is neces-
sary to have a stock, and as the drier the wood
gets, the more it loses in weight, it is advisable to
check the marked tares on stock chests imme-
diately before use. Uniformity of weight in lead
linings is easy of attainment, but even here care
should be taken to mould the linings, on a similar
plan, so as to leave the same amount of flap in
each. Much tea lead is wasted by inattention to
this point, and lead cuttings can always be utilized.
To show the need for greater attention in checking
tares on the estates immediately before weighing, I
may mention that I have known packages lose
apparently as much as 2 lb. on the way down in the
gross weight, leading to the belief that tea had
been abstracted en route ; but in nearly all cases I have
found the discrepancy to be really due to inaccuracy
in the tares, and the actual netl weight correct. —
Yours faithfully. C. W. HORSFALL.

PADDY GROWING : CHANGE OF SEED-
IRRIGATION.

15th Oct. ISSG.
Dear Siit, — The Council will soon be voting away
large sums of money for irrigation purposes which
is unquestionably right if these are judiciously
spent, which I think is open to question. Water
is an essential element in paddy cultivation, good
seed is equally so, and while our Government go
on building bunds, erecting sluices, and cutting
channels, the matter of seed is almost entirely
neglected, lience the miserable returns for the large

amounts spent on waterworks. The native cultiv-
ator goes on sowing successively — and has been
doing so for how far back, no one knows — the seed
his own field produces. Is it any wonder the
grain is in so many cases miserably light and a
great proportion of it simply ' husks ' ? In passing
through a broad extent of paddy-fields, some months
ago in lower Sabaragamuwa, with the owner — a
native headman — I remarked, you have very good
crops this year ? ." You would think so, sir," he
replied, " but they are very poor. There is plenty
straw, but the paddy is very light. We get no
good heavy paddy as formerly." " What seed did
you sow ?" I asked. " The seed was all right,"
he replied, " we never sow any seed but our own."
On my recommending a change of seed from a
disance, he smiled, and no doubt pitying my ignor-
ance— said, " We don't know why our grain does
not fill, but we know there is no fault to the seed."
Is it not surprising that this important matter
has escaped the notice of our able Governor, whose
mind is so much set on irrigation ? and why does
the Government Agents ignore it in their Admin-
istration reports ? Probably some of these sapling
A. G. A.'s promoted out of due time, neglect the
matter in their reports through ignorance of
agriculture ? So it is time it were dealt with the
the press and brought to the notice of the Council.
— I am, sir, yours faithfully, LOOKER-ON.

The Great Value of Coffee is beginning to be
properly estimated by the fortunate ones who still
own an acreage with our old staple in good heart.
We may be sure that full justice will be done
to such, now that the prospect is of extreme high
prices with a gradual falling-off in the produc-
tion of Brazil. Every eifort will be made in Ceylon
to help the trees to throw off the effects of the
leaf fungus, bug and grub. As illustrating one
phase of the attention given to coffee in Uva, we
may quote from a circular recently issued by a
proprietor to his superintendents on the subject
of "handling" coffee and its general treatment
with a view to crop : —

" Now that the price of coffee at home promises to
rule verp high, and will probably continue to do iso
for some years to come, it becomes necessary to re-
mind Superintendents that it is very desirable that
the fullest attention should be paid to the condition
of their trees. There can be no doubt that the
seasons liave changed and that no longer cau periods
of drought be counted upon with tlie same certainty
as they could in the past. Such being the case, it
seems more than ever necessary that the trees should
be constantli/ Itandled. Where this system has been
strictly carried on good coffee in Uva has, todai/, a
fine crop ou it. We know of an estate of about
.3300 acres coffee that lately produced not more than
3 or 4 days ago a fine health}/ blossom addimj quite
2,00U bushels of parchment to the crop ah-eady set,
and there is another in spike on th ebigher coff'oe; yet,
close by, estates that have ignored this factor of
constant handlinc/ have missed fire ! No doubt had the
anticipated drought been experienced in due season
these estates might have had large crops too, but as
they have comparatively uotliing thei/ have suffered
from the constant rain, while constantly handled estates
li.ave not. Therefore act in future so that every ad-
vantage may be taken of whatever sun power you
may get. Ifandle out the trees well and constantly,
keepiiu/ a swppU/ of younc/ wood (nursery in fact) al-
ways ill readiness on the trees and you will get good
paying crops when others fail and work jierhaps only
to a loss, j'ear after year. — This is proved by many
estates we might mention. The net results of both
systems have this year been invariably the same.
Wherever poor cinchona interferes with ffood coffee it
is a question if it shou uotld now be removed."

334

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, 1886,

THE MOUSE PLAGUE OF BRAZIL.

lu the colony of Lturen^o, Brazil, in the mniitbs
of May and June, 1876, mice suddenly appeared ia
enormous numbers. They invaded the ujaizo fields
in such great numbers that the corn seemed literally
alive with them, destroying in a few days everything
that was edible; and where but a short time before
bushels of grain might have been harvested, not an
ear remained ; and the noise produced by their nib-
bling and climbing was audible^ for a considerable
distance. After the corn-fields were devastated the pot-
atoes next received their attention. Only the largest
were eaten in the ground, such as were transportable
were carried away and hidden in hollow trees, or
other retreats, for future use. Gourds and pump-
kins, even the hardest, were gnawed through and
eaten. Of green food, such as clover, oats, barley,
not a leaf was left standing; even weeds were cut
dowh and the inner parts eaten out. In the house
the struggle for existence of these long-tailed invaders
was truly amazing. In many of the dwellings hun-
dreds were killed in a single day. The cats could
contribute but little aid fighting such a plague, for
not only weie many of the mice so large that it would
have been an unequal contest, but by their great
number they drove 'the cats actually from the houses,
not to return until the plague was passed. Nothing
except what was composed of iron, stone, or glass, was
spared from their destructiveness. Furniture, clothes,
hats, boots — everything bore the traces of their teeth.
They gnawed the hoofs of the cows and horses in the
stables, literally ate up fatted hogs and often bit away
the hair of persons during sleep. They penetrated
all apartments, and gnawed, their way through boards
and walls of houses. Ditches that were dug about
granaries did not sufiice;the mice would chmb over
each other in some corner or other and thus reach
the top. The foregoing account of one occurence in
Louren(;o will suifice to show to what an extend the
plague reached. The same proviuce had suffered
similary in 1843 and in 1SC3, and in all probability
will again in 1889. Similar plagues, though far less
in extent, have occured in Europe, in which the field-
mice unaccountably appeared in greatly increased
numbers. One may well- think . what would be the
result were these little, almost insignificant creatures
everywhere in such wise to take the ascendancy.
When one considers that on an average of every one
or two months from five to eight young arc born,
and that these young become mature in a few months
themselves, he will not be surprised to know that a
single pair of common field-mice, in the course of a
single summer, would increase to 28,000 individuals.
Could all the conditions which now keep them in
check be removed, every living thiag upon the earth
would be consumed in a haif-dozen years. — Science.

A NEW OPENINa FOE THE UTILISATION OF

THE SWEET POTATO AND YAM IN THE WEST

INDIES.

The root crops, often termed "bread kind," associa-
ted with the above plants are largely used in the
West Indies for food purposes. The sweet potato
{Butatai edalis) is the main food crop at Barbados,
where yam is little known, whereas at Jamaica the
converse is the case, the yam {Dioscoroca) being very
largely grown all through the interior hills, while
the cultivation of the sweet potato is confined
to a few places in the lowlands. Since the large
emigration of negroes to the Isthmus of Panama
there has arisen a considerable trade in yams between
Jamaica and Colon, to the manifest advantage, in
present cash returns, of the former country. Un-
fortunately, the cultivation of yams entails the cutting
down of forest year by year, as good yams seldom
do well, in the manner cultivated at .Jamaica, except
by the "rotation of land" — a peculiar negro mode of
interpreting the European idea of " rotation of crops."
. Hence it is not very desirable, from a general economic
point of view, to extend or encourage the cultivation

of yams. With the sweet potato, however, it is differ-
ent. This tuber can be grown without the sacrifice
year by year of valuable virgin forest, and it is, in
many respects, a crop well adapted to all the lowlands,
not only of Jamaica, but also of the West Indies
generally.

Besides being utilised directly for food purposes, it
would appear that a new demand is likely to arise
for the tubers of the sweet potato in connection
with the production of the alcohol. The first notice
of the sweet potato being utilised in this manner
appeared in a report to the Foreign Office given by
Consul Hertslet on the trade and commerce of the
Azores for the year 18S-1.

Owing to a variety of causes, it appears that cul-
tivators at St. Michael's and other islands of the
Azores, who had hitherto looked upon oranges as their
staple production, were so disheartened by low prices
and the diminished crops yielded by their trees, that
they resolved to clear their land of everything and plant
it afresh with sweet potatoes. The whole of the crop
thus raised was used in the preparation of alcohol.

During the year 1884, 1,326 pipes of alcohol, of
the value of £40,588, made from sweet potatoes, were
exported from Azores to Lisbon ; and, as will be in-
cichmtally shown later, the trade has assumed still
larger proportions.

For the imformation contained in this article we
would mention at the outset that we are indebted
to Mr. D. Morris, late Director of public Gardens
and Plantations, Jamaica, now of the Royal Gardens,
Kew, who has obligingly placed it at our disposal
for the use of West Indian planters.

Encom-aged by the success of the enterprise at the
Azores, it appears that an enterprising French chemist.
Monsieur A. Ilalu, having much experience in chemist-
ry, as connected with distillation, and possessing
extensive relations with the West Indies (Martinique),
has taken out patents: — (1) For utilising as a commer-
cial and industrial substance sweet potatoes and yams
by means of desiccation and conversion into tlour ;
and (2) for distilling alcohol from the above flour.

In relation to the ordinary or Irish potato, white
beetroot, and maize flour, sweet potatoes possess an
alcoholic richness of 1.5-50 per cent as comijared with
8 and 9 per ctnt in the Irish potato, and 4 and 5
per cent in the beetroot. The value of raw sweet
potato for distillation, and its superiority, both as to
quantity and quality, over other subst;iuces, has been
for some time known and recognised. The ditficulty
has been in extracting the alcohol on the spot ;
added to this, there is the danger attending its
exportation, for it is impossible to prevent leakage,
and the vapour of alcohol at 95^ Fahr. in hot clim-
ates is said to be inflammable. Alcohol, therefore,
is assumed to be a dangerous cargo. As alcohol cannot,
it is supposed, be made on the spot and exported
to J5urope, M. Ralu's patents aim at the preparation
of sweet potato flour in the West Indies, from which
afterwards the alcohol may be distilled and utilised
in Europe.

As already noted, one establishment for distilling
alcohol from raw sweet potato exists at the Azores,
and we gather that since it began work it has doubled
its plant, and all the alcohol it produces is sold in
advance at Lisbon, where it is used for the fortification
of wines. M. Ilalu says : — " The alcohol of which we
have specimens is superior in quality to the best
marks of France. The distillery obtains 12 per cent
{I.e., 12 litres of alcohol at 100^ per 100 kilog. of
sweet i)otato) of alcohol. We have experimented
with the sweet potato of Algeria. They give Hi 4-10
litres of alcohol per 100 kilog. The sweet potato of
Martiniciue and Brazil have given 15 litres. There
is here, therefore, a very rich material for distillation.
Ordinary potatoes yield only 3 litres of alcohol per
100 kilog."

The objects sought by M. Ralu's patents involve
the extensive cultivation of the sweet potato in the
West Indian Islands, its desiccation by means of
fruit driers, its reduction into a meal, and its ex-
port to Europe, where an almost unlimited demand
exists for sweet potato meal for distilling purposes.

Nov. 1, 1886.]

THK TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

;jj5

The alcoholic richness of sweet potato is unquestioned,
and the foUowiag table will give its -superiority
over the cereals ordinary employed at present for
distilling in Europe : —

Francs Litres

AYheat 19-75 to 21-30 28 to 30

Rye 15-50 to 1(5-25 22 to 23

Barley 17-75 to 20-00 U to 25

Oats 17-23 to IQ'SO 20 to 21

Buckwheat ... 16-00 to 17-00 24 to 25

Maize 14-00 to 14-50 28 to 30

Eice 18-00 to 1900 32 to 33

Sweet Potato
Flour 1400 to 1500 38 to 39

Maize, it will be seen, is the only cereal which is
as cheap as the potato flour, but it requires 324 kilog.
(714 lb.) of maize to make one hectolitre (22 gallons)
of pure alcohol, whilst it requires only 235 kilog- (519
lb.) of the flour to make the »ame amount of alcohol.
There is a great saving of time and combustibles when
distilling from the flour, as compared with the maize.
Alcohol from maize costs 10 f . per hectolitre more to
make, and when made sells from S f . to 10 f . less than
the alcohol made from the sweet potato flour.

The question for the planter, however, is, AVill it
pay to grow sweet potatoes and to prepare the flour
for e.xport purposes ?

The sweet potato at present cultivated in .Jamaica
is mostly intermingled with other plants in the provision
grounds of the negroes. Hardly any is cultivated by
Europeans. No definite area is returned as exclusively
devoted to this cultivation, and no returns or yield per
acre are available from authentic sources. A negro in
the same ground will have yam {Dioscorau), corn
(maize), sugar-cane, and possibly, also, two or thred
other plants, such as bananas, plantains, cocos
(Colocasia).

Sweet potatoes thrive best in rich friable soil free
from clay.

At the foot of the Liguanea Hills, and, indeed, in
most localities with the soil indicated above, they are
found to thrive. They are easily propagated by slips
or i^ortions of the stem planted in rows or in hills.
The roots come to maturity in three or four month.s,
» and the cultis-ation is continued by covering up the
stems when digging up the more perfect roots for
use. The crop comes in practically all the year round :
there is no regular season for it, and hence it can
be best harvested by examining the state of the roots,
iind taking out those that are found perfectly ripe.
The crop may be gathered at least three or four times
in the year ; but as to the amount or value of each
cropping, no data are immediately available.

If the cultivation were undertaken by sugar planters,
and large areas were jjlanted with sweet potatoes,
there is no doubt that in Jamaica they might be
grown as advantageously and as successfully as any-
where.

We apprehend that few of the West India Islands
would care to grow sweet potatoes to be utilised
simply in the manner indicated by M. Ealu. Why
should they go to the trouble and expense of drying
the tubers, reducing them to a meal and export the
latter to Europe to be there converted into spirit ?
If the whole process can be accomplished at the
Azores, there is no reason why it should not be also
accomplished in the West Indies. We say this with
due regard, of course, to auy patent rights hell by
M.- Ealu or his friends. At least, it is well worth
trying; and the number of sugar planters now on
the look-out for something to supplement the meagre
profits (or something worse) of a West Indian sugar
estate should lead to some concentrated and united
action being taken to examine and test everything
having the slightest hope of aiding them at the present
juncture.

In relation to its size, Barbados at present grows
sweet potatoes more extensively than other West
Indian islands. They are grown as a catch-crop
between the regular intervals of planting the sugar
cane, and are generally sold as they stand, the pur-
chaser harvesting them himself. Here there would
b e uo difficulty in growiug sweet potatoes on the

most extensive scale commensurate with the size of
the island ; but there are no stills already in existence
as in Jamaica, and botli the plant and the knowledge
of distilling would have to be introduced. Jamaica
has the advantage in this respect, for every sugar
estate there has its still-house, and when once the
modus operaHcli is known has regards this special
industry, it would be a very simple matter for the
Jamaica planter to distil alcohal pure and simple
from the sweet potato, as for him to distil rum from
molasses. The Barbados planter at present ships his
molasses either to Europe or America, or sells it to
the distillers., at Martinique, where it is used in the
preparation of French rum.

It is not our intention to advocate, in auy decided
manner, the preparation of alcohol from sweet pota-
toes, or cypress a strong opinion either way. We
only wish to point out the AVest Indian planter a
possible means, in these hard times, of meeting a
demand which evidently exists for a certain article,
and to throw out suggestions which may be of ultimate
benefit to him. At St. Vincent, for instance, where
nothing at present appears to pay a well-established
industry connected with this method of utilising sweet
potatoes might give the i nitial start to local enterprise
and lead to a more prosperous state of things. Or,
again, there is Tobago, with its Metayer or quasi
co-operative system, which might oft'er an excellent
openiug for and industry of this kind, provided, of
course, it were taken up in a business-like and
systematic manner, and adapted to the special circums-
tances of the island. In fine, this is essentially a
matter which commends itself for consideration to
West Inilian planters in general, and they would do
well to look carefully into it. — European, Mail.

THE PLANTAIN AND THE IIORSE-SHOE

BAT IN BOENEO.

The plantain of Paradise obtains its name from a
legend that Adam and Eve clothed themselves with
its broad green leaves after they had eaten the forbid-
den fruit. In India, where it is indigenous, the plan-
tain is termed Pisany ; here, as elsewhere, it is cult-
ivated as one of the principal sources of food. Jamaica,
it is said, would be scarcely ha bitable without the plant-
ain, as no species of flour or bread could supply its
place to support health and strength in the negro.
Bananas and plantains, when fully ripe, are eaten as
fruit, but unripe are boiled as a vegetable, and eaten
with meat or fish. In South America the ripe fruits
of both i^lantain and banana are first dried, then
pounded into flour, which is made into biscuits- One
iiundred weight of dried fruits yields forty pounds of
dry meal; four hiuidred and fifty pounds yield a weight
of meal (sic). A fermented liquor, also an excellent
temperance drink, is made from both plantain and
banana. The ripe fruit of either being pressed through
a cane sieve, is first wrapped in the green leaves, and
then dried in the sun for future use ; one of these
dried portions being dissolved in water, there results
a pleasant, nourishing, and refreshing drink. The
plants of all the tribe Musaca^ attains perfection in
ten mouths from the first planting to the ripening of
the fruit. The growth of the fruit, either banana or
plantain, is peculiar and unlike any other. When the
tree-stem is fully grown, spikes of flowers appear from
the centre of the top ; these spikes are from four to
six feet lon^ with knots of blossom on one side only ;
this is followed by the fruit, each being about twelve
inches long, growing in green clusters, forming a
bunch sometimes upwards of forty pounds in weight.
The bulb at the end of the spike somewhat resembles
in colour and shape a bullock's heart. The cluster
of fruit is generally taken olf before ripe, it mellows,
turns yellow, and .eatable. Sometimes it is left to
ripen when it becomes a dainty to be stolen by
animals. Bats are fond of bananas, particularly the
horse-shoe bat, which has a dark projecting ridge
over its upper lip, resembling a horse-shoe. These
bats are precisely similar to those of Madagascar;
there they are termed itousettes, lu Borneo this bat

33^5

THE TROPICAL AOmCXJtfVm^t. [Nov. i, 1886,

is known as Melanopis. It is a formidable creaturf?
about four feet broail, ami one foot long from
the tip of the nose to its almost imperceptible tail,
the form of its wings, in its manner of Iljiug, and
in its internal structure, is similar to our common
English bat, but there the likeness ends. The large
bats of Borneo and Madagascar resemble a fox
in colour, and some of the specimens in the shape
of the head and in their predaceous habits. These
creatures are often seen darkening the air by
day as well as night; they destroy the ripe fruits of
the country, driuk the juice of the palm trees, and
devour indiscriminately fruits, insects and flesh, some-
times settling upon animals, and will attack a human
being when sleeping. A portion of the tougue of the
bat is constituted as an .organ of suction. These bats
at night make a noise that can he heard for two
miles distance, but at daylight they generally retire
to their caves or hollow trees, for they make no nest,
but hang by the wing claws to the sides of the dark
rock or hollow tree. They are singular creatures,
being neither birds nor quadrupeds. They are never
seen to walk. The feet resemble loug fingers, but
are webbed like a duck's feet, the membrane however,
being thin. This serves to lift the body for flying,
which soon tires it. In some places in South America
the bats have a protuberance, resembiug a horn between
the long ears, and just above the nose. These generally
keep to the forests and deserted places, but when
they come into a village, as they sometimes will, they
darken the air like a canopy, and become the dread
of the villagers, as they attack and suck the blood
of all domestic fowls, and if interrupted will fly at
the face of the intruder doing serious injury. — Ladies

Treasury.

^

PEESERVING FRUIT, FRUIT-JUICES, MUST,
AND FRUIT WINE BY SALICYLIC ACID.

Dk. F. von Hkyden's successor, manufacturer of
salicylic acid at Radebeut, near Dresden, writes as
follows: —

Fruit and fruit juices can be preserved in a variety
of ways by means of salicylic acid, and which per-
mits of being employed iu all the various methods,
jam making and preserving, &c,

1. Cherries, Currents, Raspberries, Green Gage
Plumps, common Plumps {-wetschgen), Peaches, Apri-
cots, &c., are placed in wide-mouthed glass bottles
holding about 1 kilo. (2 lb. English,) without water
being added, putting alternately a layer of fruit and
one of sugar. The upper layer must be of sugar.
Above this last half a gramme about half a teaspoonful
of dry crystallised salicylic acid is strewed. The bottles
are then covered with parchment paper in the usual
manner and placed in a water bath, and the water
allowed to simmer for fifteen to thirty minutes, accord-
ing to the size of the fruit— small fruit requiring less
time than large ; berries about thirteen minutes. When
cool it is advantageous to cover^with a piece of salicylic
acid ijaper, and make fast. Fruits treated iu this
manner have and retaiu constantly the apjicarance
of fresh fruit.

2. If it be desired to preserve large fruits, such
as (Juinces, Melons, Gourds, also Rose haws, in great
earthen cooking vessels, put into the usual sugar and
water syrup, half a gramme of salicylic acid per kilo,
of fruit. AVhen filling the bottles a good fitting piece
of salicylic acid paper, which must be saturated with
a concentrated solution of salicylic acid and rum,
must be laid on the surface.

3. When preservirg Melons, Gherkins, Pears, Plums
kC; in vinegar, a. little more than the pro))ortiou of
salicylic acid given aliove can be added to the boiling
vinegar and sugar, and tlie rum-paper can be omitted.

4. Russian rum compote. — The making of this is
begun at the new year, and ends late in autumn, all
sorts of fruit being placed in a large vessel as they
come into season. The following is the process adopted
in this kind of preserving:— Strawberries, for example,
are placed in a layer, bestrewn with sugar, and a
glass of rum is poured over the mass, and as this
kiud of couapote easily ftrmwits, half a graonue of

salicylic acid per kilo, of fruit must be added eacfj
time anything is put in.

5 In making marmalade (must) and some other
particular kinds of fruits, as well as the so-called tutti
fruili, the salicylic acid is added towards the ond
of the operation, and preferably iu the form of the
rum solution.

G. Freshly pressed fruit juice, with or without sugar,
are preserved in excellent condition in a cool place
in rosined bottles, by the addition of half a gramme
of salicylic acid to 1-2 kilo, of juice. Such kinds
of fruit juices, free from alcohol, and not over-
sweetened, make agreeable drinks, mixed with water,
for children and convalescents. The raw juice of
small fruits require in the warm season, when they
are made, about 50 "grammes per hectolitre put into
the vessel when no spirits are added, so that ferment-
ation be prevented. Complete exclusion of the air,
and a cool storing place are absolutely necessary con-
ditions of preservation in this case. Attention must
be paid to the equal division and mixing ; and if the
acid be dissolved in spu-itsl|of wine, ten times the
quantity of juice can be diluted, and then be well
stirred about. In the wholesale manufacture, when a
large addition of spirit is made with the intention of
increasing the quantity, and therefore-the use of salicylic
acid does not appear to bo necessary, the mash re-
mains several days in the tubs before it is pressed,
exposed to the risk of an injurious fermentation. This
evil can be avoided, and the fine aroma preserved, by
means of an addition of salicylic acid, dissolved in
alcohol in the propotion of 5 to 10 grammes for
every 50 kilos, of raw fruit as it is'put into the vessel,
or after the same is filled. By this means the juice
will be more thoroughly and quicker clarified than
by the usual method by means of spirit, because all
kinds of fermenting organisms, owing to their absorp-
tion of the salicylic acid, remain inoperative.

7. Grape juice continues sweet and clear for a
whole year, when 20 to 30 grammes of salicylic
acid per hectolitre (=half a teaspoonful) per kilo,
are mixed with some must into a sort of thin dough,
free from lumps, and added to the unfermented must
immediately after it has left the press. In fourteen
daj's later the juice after becoming clear can be
put into bottles. The latter must be washed out
with a watery solution of the acid, and the corks
should be boiled iu the same,

8. Cyder and pcrrj' can be kept for long periods
by the addition of 10 grammes per hectolitre. If
the articles are preserved in casks, 5 grammes are
given in the spring and 5 grammes in the summer.
Complete exclusion of the air from the contents of
the casks is essential, and by partial opening of the
same the air should be passed through a cotton-wool
plug saturated with salicylic acid, or, better, through
prepared salicylic acid wadding.

Apples and Pears remain in good condition and
can be layered in large quantities when each fruit
is wrapped in paper impregnated with salicylic acid.
This last is readily made by soaking blotting or tissue
paper in a mixture of alcohol and acid and hanging
it over a string to dry. The complete purity of the
acid is essential to success. Dev,Uche Garten Zcitiing,
Sept. 22,--Gardeners' Chronicle.

GkKjiination oi- -Seeds of 'raEVlNE.— M. Nobbe has
ascertained that the number of seeds which germinate
is proportionately small, and that the process of
germination occupies weeks and even months. The
seeds of the best varieties germinate less freely than
those of commoner kinds, llipe seeds freshly taken
from the berries germinate best: drying of the seed
diminishes ■ the germinating power. There is no ad-
vantage in heating the soil to 18° or 20® C. (08® F.)
A slight fermentatin in the pulp acts favourably,
but the same operation if continued for six daye
destroys the germinating power. The best temperature
for germinating Cirape seed lies betweCU i2® and
lot) 0,—Gard(mrs' Chro/tklt;.

Nov. I, 2886.3

THE i'ROPICAL AGRICULtURlST.

sr^

PALM KERNELS.

A coiTespondent seems anxious to kuow if the im-
portations of palm kernels from Africa which are
recorded iu the Reporter almost every week, go into
consumption here. We have been asked before what
disposition if made of them. Last week the receipts
of palm kernels at this port were valued at ^2,000
and a considerable quantity arrived previously. In mak-
mg inquiry for our correspondent, we were informed that
a New York drug house used the kernels in medicinal
preparations, or the fatty substance as a base for
ointments, salves, &c. If such is the case, the amount
used is trifling compared to what is consumed by
soap manufacturers. It is understood that nearly all
the palm kernels imported into the United States
are sent from here to Liverpool and elsewhere on
the Ooutiuent to be crushed for the white soap stock
which is sent to this and other markets. Some enter-
prising capitalists who understood the business and
commanded a good trade for soap stocks, undertook
to establish a factory in Boston for manufacturing
palm kernel oil, but after all the plans were matured
and the contract awarded for erecting suitable works,
it was discovered that only sufficient kernels could
be secured to run the factory three months in the
year, and for this reason the scheme was abandoned.
The same parties have since congratulated themselves
on their narrow escape from a heavy loss, as since
that time prices have declined to some extent and
the Boston market has been burdened with heavy
stocks of palm oil, up to the present period. Palm
kernel oil bears no resemblance to palm oil, and is
held at one-quarter and one-half a cent per pound
above the latter. Its chief competitor is Oeylou
coconut oil. — Oil, Paint and Drwj Bc2iortcr.

GBAIN GROWING AND LABOUR IN INDIA.

The chief secret of India's ability to undersell her
competitors is the nominal wage for which the ryot
will work. Sir James Caird says that an Indian
family of four can live comfortably on ol. Qs. a year,
and clothe themselves for 305. more. An American,
writing from India a month or two ago, said that
twenty-five farm coolies cost no more for wages
there than one farm hand does in the United States ;
in addition to which the Indian boards and lodges
himself. The Chinaman has always seemed to ihe
Yankee to have reached the lowest possible poiu in
cheap living, but this writer says that, as compared
with the Hindoo, he cannot get a foothold. The
tools used iire of the cheapest and most primitive
character. ^Vhat passes for a plough is a rough wooden
implement which simply tears up the ground. It
costs Is. 8rf-, and is drawn by a pair of bullocks,
the average cost of which is 32s. the two. The only
other implement used is a cold-crusher, and this is
merely an ordinary log of wood which is dragged by
the bullccks sideways across the field. One of the
most serious items in the cost of cultivation is watering
the soil. This has to be done three times during the
growth of a crop, and costs altogether about lO*.
an acre. This is an item of cost which, with improved
irrigation arrangements may be reduced. The total
cost of cultivating an acre of wheat in the Punjab
has been stated to be as follows: —

£ s. d.

Bent, per acre 0 14 6

Cartage of manure 0 4 10

150 1b. of seed 0 6 8|

Ploughing twenty times 0 3 I5

Sowing by hand ... ... ... 0 0 7^

Watering three times .1. 0 10 0

Reaping and carrying 0 2 6

Threshing 0 1 5i

Winnowing .•• 0 0 3§

Total

1 lU-

October and the other in April. The North- West
Province and Oude are the chief wheat-producing
districts. They comprise an area of more than one
hundred thousand square miles of excellent soil.
Last j'ear the total area devoted to growing wheat
in the whole of India was 27,820,223 acres, which
produced close upon 300,000,000 bushels. It has been
contended in some quarters that as India has with
full crops only been able to export about one-si.xth
or one-seventh of her production, she is not likely
to glut the markets of the world to any serious
extent. The fact, however, seems to be overlooked
that India is only just developing facilities for getting
its wheat away from some of the most productive
districts. More wheat has not been exported simply
because it could not be got to ports of shipment at a
reansonable cost. In good years enormous quantities
have been left to rot on the ground because there
were not means of exportation. But once open up a
market for the grain, and make it possible to reach
it easily, and there is scarcely any limit to the
quantity that can be produced. — Britisli Trade Journal.

On good irrigated land the crops average about 17
bus-he's psr acre. On ord'.nary dry land 10 bushels
is tUe average. Two crops are got in sv year-^one in

COCA CULTIVATION IN THE DUTCH

INDIES.

The director of the National Botanic Gardens at
Buitenzorg, near Batavia, in his report for 1885, states
that in the gardens under his control extensive ex-
periments have been made in the cultivation of coca.
These attempts have invariably been attended with
success: every seed sown has germinated, and the
plants flourished with a minimum of care. Many
inquiries for coca seed arrived from planters in all
parts of the Dutch colonies, and they were in every
instance responded to. But strange to say, though
sound seed was supplied to every applicant, in most
instances the attempts on the part of the latter to
raise the coca plants were unsuccessful. The director
gives particulars of eighteen attempts at cultivation,
of which only five succeeded. The coca plantations
which promise well are situated in the residences of
Soekaboemi, Tjitjalengka, Malang, and Tjiandjoer.
The report attributes most of the instances of failure
in raising coca to the unsuitable or neglectful treat-
ment of the seed by the applicants ; but the director
is of opinion that with ordinary attention the shrub
may be successfully raised in different parts of Java.
Dui'ing the prevalence of the east monsoon the young
plants suffer considerably from drought, and should
be watered daily, and the soil around them covered
with mould. The seed decomposes easily, and the
application of moisture should therefore be a moderate
one. The seeds generally germinate after forty or
fifty days, They should then immediately be exposed
to the light in order to prevent excessive elongation,
which is generally followed by decay. Kats and
insects are dangerous enemies to the seeds, «;specially
before the proper development of the cotyledons.
During protracted drought coca plants do, perhaps,
require some shade, but this should be a light ouu
in any case. In the Buitenzorg Botanic Gardens
1,116 coca plants were put in the ground last October
between growing rows of Eucalyptus pilidari^, — Chemist
and DnKjcjist.

*- •

TOBACCO,

The following extracts are taken from a pampJiiet
■written by Sir William Robinson, k. c. Jt. o., tho
Governor of Trinidad,

Cultivation. — For general information and guidance
I would state from my own experience the following
facts: —

1. Any ground intended for the growth of Tobacco
should be cleared of bush by the end of July at
latest. The bush should be cut as low as possible,
and the stumps extracted if practicable.

3. Seed should be sown in the middle of the month
of August and not all the year round as is probably
now the case,

m

f ME fmpiCAL AQRiCtjLTUmuT, [Nov. t, Me.

3. Every planb before being trausplauted must liave
six leaves on it, and tbose leaves should be as large
as a half-dollar piece before it is removed from the
nursery.

4. When transplanted, a distance of 18 inches
should be allowed between each plant.

5. Tobacco plants are sometimes attacked by insects
in November. This, however, depends upon the state
of the weather. The plants should be carefully
watched, and the insects, if any, picked off.

6. As soon as suckers present themselves they should
be ripped off ; they will be found between the stem
and the leaves. By this operation the vigour of the
jjlant, which should not be allowed to ilower, is in-
creased, and the condition of the leaf improved.

7. Tobacco flourishes best on level ground, and red
or reddish soil is preferable to any other. If the
61)ot where it is cultivated is at all hilly, the north-
ern portion of the ground will be best, as in that
position the plants will suffer less than in any other
from the rays of the sun.

S. Vegetable manure will be found an admirable
fertiliser, and it will be necessary to dress the ground
every two years, as the plant exhausts the soil very
rapidly.

9. Care should be taken, iii sowing the seed for
transjjlanting, not to sow too thickly.

OuEiNG. — 10. The curing of Tobacco — and everything
depends upon the curing — is a very delicate operation,
and one requiring great care and attention. The most
common practice, when the leaves are fit for gather-
ing, is to cut the stems of the plants close to the
ground and lay them on beds to dry until the even-
ing. They should then be carried to a drying-house,
which should be thoroughlj' ventilated, laid in heaps
to " sweat," covered with mats to keep in the heat,
and left for several nights to soften and bleach.
The leaves — and no more than twelve should be
allowed to grow on each stem — should when supple
be stripped from their stems, strung together on
packthread and then hung across the drying- house :
Bufhcienfc room for the air to circulate among them
must be allowed. "When dry the leaves should, in
damp weather, be placed on hurdles in heaps and
left for a week or two. During this time the leaves
should be frequently examined and turned with a
view of preventing undue fermentation. When fer-
mentation is complete the leaves should be sorted
according to their different qualities, redried, tied in
bundles and pressed.

11. It is necessary in the case of those intended
for export that the bundles .should be compressed
into a solid mass and the .air excluded from them.

12. In Jamaica, Cuban, Chinese and native labour
is employed in the cultivation of the plant, but
Cuban ami Chinese labour alone is employed in the
manufacture of the leaf into cigars.

1^. The cultivation of two acres of Tobacco should
cost about £30 and the average produce should be
worth £80, leaving a nett profit of £50.

The Director of Kew Gardens informed mc for
years ago that with " proper methods of cultivation
and preparation Tobacco might become a very im-
portant article of export from the British West
Indies.''

If any one should doubt the correctness of my
i'ules let me say, though it may appear egotistical,
that Sir Joseph Hooker observed that "Governor
Bobinson's excellent despatch " (from which they are
taken) "really leaves little room for further remark.
It is of course desirable to obtain seed of good quality,
though this is of less moment than careful attention
to cultivation and preparation. Governor Kobinson's
statement that the finest Tobacco in the world may
be spoiled by improper or ineflicient curing cannot
be too much emphasised," Looking to the fact that
Spanish colonists in two distinct parts of the world,
east and west, grow Tobacco with pre-eminent success,
it certainly is difficult to understand why more should
not have been done with it by British enterprise.—
Gardeneri' Chronicle.

THE ENGLISH TOBACCO CROP.

Of tobacco literature available for immediate assist-
ance I would name as the best Spon's Encyclopaedia
of Oommercial Products ; the section therein is masterly
and exhaustive, referring especially to cultiv*tion and
curing in the U.S. and India. Then a shilling pam-
phlet, "Why and How Tobacco should be Grown,"
published by Nichols and Sons, Parliament-street, con-
tains much concise information, brought together by
J\Ir. A. A. Erskine from numerous sources. The third
edition of the pamphlet, "Cultivation of Tobacco in
England," issued by Messrs Carter and Co., 237,
High Holborn, contains, beside much general matter,
a; valuable and practical paper from au American
publication lent by Lord Harris, wherein it is noted
"five curings are spoilt by proceeding too fast to one
failure from going too slow." This American author-
ity recommends as a dry, curing heat that shall expel
the sap from the leaves, stems, and stalks of the
plants, and catch the colour — yellow, (next one to
nature's colour, green) — and to fix this yellow colour
indelibly, the employment of stone or brick fines,
with furnace and pipes, and with fuel of old wood.
As such flues do not exist in England, the nearest
substitute should be attempted. In a medium sized
tobacco plant is about one pound of water, and this has
to be expelled in from eighty to one hundred hours. Thus :

About thirty hours at a temperature of 85° to 90" ;
About four hours at a temperature of 100 °
About four hours, advancing 2h° to 110° ;
About four to eight hours, advancing regularly, 120° ;
About six to eight hours maintained at 120 ® ;

until the leaf appears to be cured and all sap ex-
pelled ; then advance 5 ° every hour up to 170 ® to
thoroughly cure the stalks and stems in those cases
where the whole plant is hung. Of course, where
only the leaves have to be cured, the treatment is
completed earlier. AVhen cured properly most of the
leaf will be of a mahogany colour, the remainder
of a bright dapple to a cherry red.

To me the whole of the inclosures (plots surromided
by a single line of hops at right angles) appeared
to have been overfed with manure — the result of delay
in permission for the experiment to be made. In
another season due preparation of the ground by
working and manuring should be made in time for
the soil to get duly mixed with the fertilisers em-
ployed. Farmyard manures, wood ashes, and sheep
droppings had been applied to the ground from which
hops had been grubbed up. Mr. de Laune raised some
of his plants from seed placed in a hotbed during
May, and set out from June 10 to June 26. Other
plots were from seedling jjlauts reared by Messrs.
Carter of Holborn. The distance of the plants apart
is about a yard— as recommended by American
practice— but the luxuriance of the English plants
demands much more space for the large-leaved varie-
ties, so as to allow room between the rows, to cul-
tivate and clean the crop from rapidly-growing suckers,
&c. During the past week this work could not pos-
sibly be accomplished without a greater evil follow-
ing, through injury to the finely-grown and ripening
leaves overlapping each other,

In reply to a schedule of queetions, Mr.de Launfr
has favoured me with the following particulars ; — _

1. Names of varieties grown i Keutuky, Connecticut,
Pennsylvania Island Broad Leaf, Hester, Virginia &c,

2. Prepared bed for plants with foot of farmyard
manure and a few inches of loam on the top. Did
not burn over the soil before planting out. Covered
the seed plants with sheets on cold nights.

3. Set out plants (June 10 to 2(3) in hills made by
hand.

4. Percentage of first planting which rooted and
grew off. A'ery few died from natural causes, and
none from insects or worms.

5. The soil is loamy (formerly a bop garden) ;la8bcrop
tnrnips, fed off by sheep,

6. Ilanures : Wood ashes, bats' guano, farmyard muck,
&c. Hqw applied : direct to the plant bills and bro^a^t.

Nov, 1, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGSICtJLTURISI!*,

53'5

S. Date of first topping— July 24. Average number of
leaves left ou each plant to mature — ten. I did not
prime or pull ofif inferior leaves.

9. Did not see any horn worm.

10. Earwigs the only insects that preyed upon the
plants.

11. Daily record of weather.— (Refer for this to di.strict
tables.)

12. Costs of producing crop. — Mast have time to
answer.

13. Date of cutting. — Commenced Sept. 3 and Sept. 22 j
am now proceeding. Mode of curing. — By fires in hop
oasts.

14. Total yield in pounds of marketable tobacco per
acre, and in what proportions of quality.— Answer must
be postponed.

I may add that I saw, on Monday afternoon, the
prompt enterprise which Mr. de Laune e.xhibits in
all his agricultural undertakings. The tobacco leaves
as they were cut were strung together in pairs, and
at once suspend from a rod supported by a newly-
made wooden horse of the right height. So the
leaves, some nearly two feet broad and over a yard
in length, cleared the ground, and when the rod was
completed it was carried away to a framework on
wheels, which latter when loaded was trundled off to
the ample oast house. This picking off the leaves
for curing, rather than struddle the whole plants in
pairs, seemed to me decidedly the best practice, as
the stalks require much more time and heat to dry
than do the leaves. — Field.

PAEAGUAYAN TEA,

From its earliest history, ye.i-ha mate, or Paraguay
tea (botanical name Ilex Parayuayensis), has gained
a greater notoriety than any other article produced
in Paraguay, and has been the chief source of revenue.
From it Fraucia and the two Lopezes gained their
enormous wealth, as did the Jesuit fathers before them.
Lopez I. annually exported about eight hundred
thousand dollars worth. The last year of his life the
export, of which he had the monopoly, amounted to
more than twelve million pounds, of which the value
was between five and six million dollars. The curing
of mate, which like all other active industries, was
almost wholly destroyed during the war, has revived
with the return of peace and is regaining something
of its former importance. Eleven million nine hundred
thousand and twenty-four pounds were exported in
1881, of which the official value was $996,752. It
was from the universal use of the leaves of this
plant in what was then known as Peru that Europeans
derived the custom of tea driuking. Paraguay tea was
introduced into Europe fifty years before the Chinese
herb was known there. It is said that the latter
gained the precedence by an opinion which some
physicians were hired to give by parties interested
in the traffic, that the Paraguay tea was injurious
to health. Quite as reason.able an explanation might
be found in the ditfereat business methods of the
parties engaged or interested in the traiiic from the
two sections of the globe. The plant is indigenous
to the entire northern part of the La Plata basin,
and grows spontaneously throughout a wider district
than the combined areas of France and Germany.
In no part, however, does it reach such perfection
SM in the locality from which it took its name. The
finest species is said to be found only in a com-
paratively small district lying north of Asuncion and
east of the Paraguay River. This variety would pro-
bably thrive under cultivation in all sections where
any species of the plant is found growing wild. The
increasing demand for it in European markets will
eventually incite to its cultivation. Washburn thus
detcribes a visit to the ycrhales: "April S. This
morning the work of collecting the i/erha commenced.
The process of curing was as follows : — A dry, level
place is selected and a circular spot some twenty-five
feet in diameter made perfectly smooth and hard, and
a layer of damp clay spread over it and stamped down
till it becomes a hard and smooth floor. "Within this
space I number of small trees are set into the ground

in circles of about eighteen feet in diameter. The
tops of the trees are bent over and interwoven inta
each other so that an oval roof is formed. Then,
commencing some three feet from the ground, long
witlis are woven in longitudinally with the upright
poles, forming a sorb of open basket-work at the top.
The peons next go in search of the ycrba, which they
collect and bring to the camp. They take with them
a sort of basket made of thongs of raw -hide, that
they adjust on their shoulders and neck in such a
manner that they carry enormous loads. Provided
with this and a hatchet, the swarthy native plunges
into the woods to look for the tjerha. That most
coveted is the bush from six to ten feet high, which
he cuts down, and then, chipping off all the branches
and leaves, whips them into his basket. It is the
medium-sized shrub that is most sought. ,Sometime8
the bush grows to a tree of twenty-five feet or more,
but those are left unmolested when the smaller shrub
can be found. So soon as the peon collects as much
as he can carry he returns to the camp, and the
branches, having the leaves still on them, are passed
quickly through the blaze of a hot fire, and the leaves
are stripped off and thrown upon the ground. When
a sufficient quantity has been gathered in this way
the leaves are all taken up and worked into the
wicker-work of the oval structure before described.
They are worked in with great care and so as to be
of a uniform thickness over the whole surface. When
this is finished the floor beneath is swept out, and
a pile of wood that has long been cut and seasoned
is placed underneath and a fire kindled. The heat
soon becomes very great, and much care is taken that
it reaches all parts overhead alike, so that none of
the ijerha is scorched and none that is not completely
dried. To cure it thoroughly every particle of moisture
must be driven away, and as there are always more
or less of the stems of the wood of considerable
thickness it is not considered safe to withdraw the
fire until it has been in full flame for some thirty-
six hours. When the roasting process is finished the
fire and ashes are drawn out, the floor carefully
swept, and the now cured i/frha is shaken to the ground.
It is then gathered up and placed under cover ready
for packing.

" The packing process is not the least singular of
the jjerha-cwxing operation. First the green hide of
a large ox is taken, and a strip about five feet by
two and a half is taken and sewed up with thongs
from the same hide in the form of a square pillowcase.
It is then attached to strong stakes driven into the
ground and a quantity of the yerha is put into it,
when a couple of stout peons proceed to press it
down with heavy sticks of wood in the form of hand-
spikes. It is a very slow progress, as the yerha is
beaten and hammered in until the mauls, though pointed
at the ends, can hardly make an indentation. When
as much has been forced in by this operation as possibly
can be, the open sides are brought together and laced
up with thongs of the green hide, and then it is
left to harden in the sun. What with close packing
and the contraction of the hide by exposure to the
sun, it becomes almost as hard as a rock. The bales,
called here tercios, usually weigh from one hundred
and fifty to two hundred pounds each."

Numbers of these tercios may be seen at the various
ports along the river and being unloaded h&iovn ahnacen^
in the towns. Small ones weighing an aroha (twenty-
four pouuds) are not uncommon, and those of a half
or even a quarter aroha put up in the same w;iy may
sometimes be encountered. The pounding to vyhich the
i/crha has been subjected to the process of packing
has reduced the dry leaves and twigs to a fine powder
of a pale-green co'lor tinged with brown, which is
highly aromatic. It is called yerha mate froni the
cup from which it is partaken of, and is more fre-
quently simply called a mate.

To prepare the tea, which is the universal bever-
age of the La Plata countries and the unfailing
token of hospitalitv, the cup is half filled with the
powder, with or without sugar, the bomhilla inserted
and the cup filled with boiling water,— for which tho

u^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [Nov. i, 1886.

kettle is always in readiness, — and the hot liquid is
sucked slowly through the tube,

I'evba mate is the one indispensable luxury of all
classes throughout the La Plata countr'es. A cup
of the tea is taken the first thing in the morning,
and also after the midday siesta. It is presented to
a visitor within a few minutes after entering a house,
and is not infrequently tasted by the hostess before
being x>assed the guest. The same cup passes from
guest to guest and to the several members of the
family, being refilled as required. Upon entering a
house and finding the lady taking her mate, she has
immediately withdrawn the bomhilla from her lips
and passed it to me. I have also frequently seen the
servant trying the fiavor through the homhilla while
bringing in the mate. — From " La Plata Countries,"
by E. J. M, Clejiens. — American Grocer.

PiPEu Betle Leaves. — According to Messrs. Gehe
and Co. {JIandehherichte) a supply of the leaves of
the Piper Betlc, L., which are used in India for chew-
ing with arekanut, has recently been imported for
the first time into Germany. An e.ssential oil obtained
from the leaves by distillation at Samarang, by Herr
Schmitz, has been credited by him with h.iving given
good results in the treatment of catarrhal disorders
and as an antiseptic, and the claim has been confirmed
in the experience of Dr. Kleiustiick, of Jena. The
oil, which seems to be of an aldehyd nature, is said
to oxidize with extreme rapidity, losing at tlie same
time its characteristic ethereal odour and therapeutic
properties. Great care will therefore be required in
the transit of the leaves, if the oil is to be distilled
iu Europe. — Fharmacevtical '■ Journal .

Couch Grass. — In a season like the present one,
vheu heavy rain falls about every fourteen days and
showers still more frequently, it is almost useless for the
cultivator to think that he can master couch grass. If
it is ploughed over it grows as freely from the underside
of the sod when inverted as it did before the ploughing,
and the furrow slice soon has a sward on the two
sides ; if the scarifier is put through the inverted fur-
rows it only tears them to pieces, and every joint
of the grass grows. The consolation the farmer has
is that his crop, owing to the favourable weather,
grows eqally well, and will repay a little energy be-
stowed iu attempts at keeping down the couch, by a
grand growth afterwards, and so will soon be beyond
harm from these under-growing weeds. Couch is a
good grazing grass, and apparently stands the worst
treatment iu the way of overstocking better than any
grass in the country ; it can be eaten down to the
roots by sheep, and be none the worse for it ; it can
he kept thus bare for years, and yet when rain falls
and the paddock is spelled the grass is as good as
ever ; all stok like it, fatten on it, and cows give nice
sweet miik and butter when grazed on it. In fact but
for couch {Cynodon dactylis) the commons, the road
sides, the suburban paddocks, and much of the country
■where close settlement is would be useless for stock.
One special feature about this grass that it follows
settlement; no matter in what part of the unsettled
interior man may elect to put up his house and live,
before the year is out the couch will be there too.
The grass likes a iirm consolidated surface, and appears
first in such places as by the roadside, stockyards,
or round the house. It is indigenous to the country,
but also it is largely spread by the minute seeds
getting embedded in the mud by the wheels of vehicles
and on the feet of animals, and also it is passed in
their droppings. Notwithstanding its being so fatal a
grass to ail cultivated plants and crops it is powerless
to master many weeds, such as sida retusa, catmint,
thistles, cobblers' pegs, &c., and iu this particular it
differs materially from the buffalo grass, although both
are creepers and joint rooters ; indeed the buffalo does
not spread by seed at all, so that the couch has the
advantage over it ; nevertheless the buffalo will smother

it when the two are planted together. In the garden

every rootlet of couch should this season be carefully
pi eked out as the forkful of soil is overturned, for

if left in the ground they are sure to grow again.

— Quen'landcr.

Growth of Pvooti.ets.— Messrs. Van Tieghem and
Doubot have recertly shown that rootlets, in
making their way out from the interior of the axis
of main roots, secrete a fluid which destroys the cells
in their immediate nighbourhood by converting them
into jelly and then dissolving, perhaps -absorbing them,
somewhat in the same manner that the embryo
metamorphoses the albumen surrounding in it and
then appropriates it as food. — Fharmaccutical Journal.
Vine Manures. — As a result of observations made
in Germany, it appears that superphosphate of lime
increases the yield, hastens the ripening of the
Grapes, and facilitates the ripening of the wood.
Nitrogenous manures are useful when the Vine lacks
vigour, otherwise they do harm by stimulating growth
i-ather than fructification and maturity. Potash by
itself is of no value, but when conjoined with phos-
phates and nitrogenous manure it is very serviceable.
— Gardeners' Cliromcle.

Caucasus Boxwood. — Vice-Consul Gardner report-
ing from Poti, says, that the Boxwood forests in the
vicinity of Poti are exhausted, and supplies are now
drawn from Abkassia, which Province has lately been
opened to cutters by the Russian Government. About
2,000 tons were cut and exported during the year 1885
to the United Kingdom. This wood is of fine clean
growth, good colour, and great thickness, many pieces
being 15 inches in diameter. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

Mandioca. — The numerous varieties of the mandioc
or cassava plant {JIanikot spp.) cultivated in Brazil,
where, as is known, the roots are worked for the pre-
paration of Brazilian arrowroot, or tapioca, forms,
the subject of a lengthy and exhaustive paper by Dr.
Peckolt, the chemical section oi-v/hidh {Pharm. Rund,'
schau, iv., 148, 174, 201) presents several points of
interest. Dr. Peckolt says that the occurrence of hyd-
rocyanic acid is not limited to the bitter mandioca,
bat extends to all varieties, though it is present in
smaller quantity in the sweet kinds. Hydrocyanic
does not, however, exist as such in the root while in
the earth, but is first formed on contact with atmos-
pheric air, and its formation can be entirely prevented
by immersing the freshly dug root in alcohol. The
capability of forming hydrocyanic acid proved to cor-
respond with a popular belief as to the time when
the bitter mandioca is most poisonous, being greatest
at the time of flowering. As a general rule it was
found that the richer in juice the roots of a variety
are, either sweet or bitter, the more poisonous they
are, some of the sweet varieties containing only traces
of milky juice. But Dr. Peckolt confirms previous
suspicions that the toxicity of mandioca is not due
wholly to hydrocyanic acid, for there exists in the
juice, already formed, another volatile poison, which
he has provisionally named " manihotoxin," as 5
milligrams of it killed a full-grown pigeon in five
minutes. This he obtained from ether in stellate cr5'-
stals, volatilizing completelj' at 69° C. Another sub-
stance, which is non-poisonous and occurs in the ex-
pressed juice from both bitter and sweet roots, but
in greater proportion in that from the sweet, has been
named " sepsicolytin," or " fermentation hinderer,'' on
account of its x'emarkable antiseptic properties. It
was obtained as a thickish light-brown extract, hav-
ing a peculiar odour and a bitter pungent taste. It
is insoluble in absolute ether, chloroform, petroleum
spirit, carbon bisulphide and essential oils; freely
soluble iu ether and alcohol ; less soluble in cold water,
and only partially soluble in boiling water. Two drops
of sepsicolytin mixed with fresh albumen (quantity
not stated) are said to preserve it for upwards of six
months without deterioration of any kind. It wou'd
seem therefore that the antiseptic properties that
have been attributed to " cassareep " and the " pepper
pot " of the ^Vest Indies, both of them prepared
from mandioca or cassava juice, have some found-
ation in fact (see Pliorm. Journ. [3], i., p- 274).
Other compounds separated were "manihotin," a
crystalline mannite-like substance, which is a decom-
position product, since it does not exist already for-
med in the root, and Henry and Boutron's '' mani-
hotic acid," which has been ascertained to be a decom-
position product of manihotin. — Pharmaceutical Journal

N(3V. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICtTLTURlST.

Ut

AGRICULTURE IN MYSORE,

{From a CoiTespondent.)

From Official Returns recently published by
the Mysore Government, we gather that the total
area cultivated in the Mysore provinces amounts
to 43,54,006 acres. Of this 5,54,554 acres are cultiv-
ated with rice ; 19,0"3 with wheat ; 32,71,771 with
food grains ; 1,33,433 with oil seeds ; 25,956 with
sugar cane ; 20,75'j with cotton ; 1,305 with fibres ;
9,860 with tobacco ; 1,40,50 l with coffee ; 32,032
with vegetables ; 6,074 with mulberry ; 1,38,264 with
coconut and arecanut ; 280 witla pepper and 164 witli
lac. The Shiringeh District with its 2,07,598 acres
takes the lead in rice, while the Kadur district
with 91,784 acres takes tlie lead in coffee. The
Taukar District takes the lead in coconut and areca-
nut, having 45,769 acres unc'er cultivation, while the
Kolar District leads i i vegetable with 11,915 acres
under culvation ; the Chitaldoorg Disirict, which ad-
joins the Bellary CoUectorate of the Mt^dras Presid-
e-icy has the greatest area under cotton. * *

The average races of rent from cultivated lands
in the Mysore province are as follows : — Per arce
for rice R5 2 9 ; for wheat R4 6 9 ; for inferior
grairs Rl 10 9; for cotton Rl 13 7; for oil seed
Rl 10 1 ; for fibres Rl 9 9 ; for sugarcane E6 1 4 ;
and for tobacco R3 1 7. * *

The average produce of land per acre in pounds
is : rice 1,069 ; wheat 661 ; inferior food grains 739 ;
cotton 26; oil seeds 633; fibres 2^6; sugarcane
1,382; tobacco 379; i^offee 501b. and silk 31. * *

The estimated value of manufactures in Mysore
is returned at R53,91,'^46 for a whole year, of this
silk realized Rl,61,800, and here it may be men-
tioned that the Bangalore District, wliich is the
great silk-growing district cont'lbute-^ Rl, 50,000 of
the whole. Cotton R21, 18,490; wool R2,66,525 ; 0 'her
fibres R32,470 : paper R400 ; iron R45,214 ; jaggery
and sugar R8,44,175 ; coffee Rli, 14,48s ; oils R6,53,184 ;
and brass and copper Rl,54,500. * *

THE INDIAN TEXTILE INDUSTRIES.

The Madras Times has been directing attention to
the condition of India's trade with Europe "Then and
Now," or its position at the begining of the nine-
teenth century and the present day, and it occurs to
me that as so many of your readers are interested in
India, a few remarks on the subject suggested by the
topic discussed in the aforesaid newspap3r will be
acceptable.

.Sir Thomas Munro was a carefu' experienced observer
of the state of trade in India sixty or seventy years ago.
It was his opiuion that European traders would not
remain long iu India, but from the operation of various
obvious cause would be forced to the sea coast. iSo
far as regards the coffee planters and indigo factors,
this_ prediction has been realised. Indigo factors in
India are now almost without exception natives, and
the coffee plantafons are rai^idly passing into their
hands. But with respect to the textile industries, the
forecast made by Sir Thomas Munro was not correct.
His words are the following:— "As to the exports (from
England to India) it is not likely they will ever, un-
less very slowly, be extended ; opposed by moral and phys-
ical obstacles, by religion, by civil institutions, by
climate, and by the skill and iagenuity of the people
of India. Some inqrease there undoubtedly will be, but
such as will arise principally from the increase of
European establishments, and of the mixed race which
springs up in their chief settlements. No nation will
take from another what it can furnish cheaper and
better itself. In India almost every article which the
inhabitants require is made cheaper and better than in
Europe. Among these are all cotton and silk manufac-
tures, leather, paper, domestic utensils of brass and
iron, and implements of agriculture."

The use of machinery driven by steam has falsifi(!d
this prediction. By its means Europe produces fabrics
which only fall a very short way behind the finest
hand-made fabrics of India, while the price is con-
siderably lower, and the goods can be produced to
any extent required in a very short period of time.

Now this state of things has reduced the native Indian
Industry very low. When the best Indian hand-woven
fabric IS conpa.ed with the productions of English
ard Scotch looms and found to be as 10 in favour of
the Indian, bat at the same time the price is as 60
iu favour of the British goods, it will bo seen at once
that the latter would command the native ma ket over
the former. This is the case vow. The finest cotton
fabrics from Indian looms, the admiration of the world,
is a decaying industry, and it is difficult to find work-
men suitable to produce them, while the coarse c native
cobton fabrics are subjected to a competition with Euro-
pean goods which prevents their proper development.
It must not, however, be supposed that the Indian
cottsn industry is ruined, for the formation of rew
companies promoted to estab'ish new mills at once
refutes the notion, but at the present time the Indian
cotton industry has not kept pace with the increase
of fie native population. Thanks to European manu-
faciurers, who have sent to India fabrics which from
the'r even threads, close weaving, and thickness 'ock
very strong, but are really very rotten, the natives
who can afford to do so prefer Indian cotton fabrics
to Europeans; still, owing to the cheapness of European
goods, clothing is more extensively used among the
lower orders than formerly. It may be that in the
future, by more equitable modes of raising revenue
than that now adopted by the Government, who have
removed all duties on imported goods in the interests
of European manufacturers, an obtaining an equivalent
for the lapsed duties by laying a heavier burdei of
taxation upon the country, and by encouraging the
growth of native manufactures, Indian productions
may supplant European goods.— Textile Recorder.
^

THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

Section D.— Biology. — Papers bt Professor
Marshall Wabd and Dr. Tbimen.

Oil the Germdiiation of the Spores of " Phytophthorct
iiifestaiis," by Prof. Marshall Ward.— One of the ob-
jects of this communication was to bring before the
meeting copies of some careful drawings of all the
stages of germination. These were obtained by actu-
ally watching the .development, escape and germin-
ation of the zoospores from the "conidia," following
all the phases in one individual. The curious effects
of Hght and of abnormal conditions upon the develop-
ment of the zoospores were also pointed out, and the
author showed diagrams of other forms of germin-
ation obtained by interfering with the conditions. In
the short discussion which followed Prof. Mirshall
Ward referred to some points in the development and
escape of the zoospores of the Saprolegnia.

Oh tlie Flora of Ceijlon, especMlly a^ efected hi)
Climate, by Henry Tumen, M. B., F. L. S.— Attention
was fiut called to the fact that the Island of Ceylon
was practically known to laropeans only by its south-
west part, being about one-fifth of the whole area,
but including the chief European centres, the plant-
ing districts of the hills, and the railway system.
The remainder of the country is thickly covered with
jungle, thinly inhabited, and rarely visited by Euro-
peans, save Ciovernment officials and sportsmen. This
d'fference was shown to be due to climate, especially
to rainfall. The distribution of the rain, so far as is
shown by annual amount, was exhibited by a map,
in which the great advantage to the south-west of
the lofty forest-clad escarpment of the central
mountain-mass of ovct 7000 feet was exhibited. The
south-west monsoon wind commencing at the end of
May deposits an immense quantity "of rain here, es-
pecially in the neighbourhood of Adam's Peak. In
the rest of the island this wind becomes dry, and
the country is parched and arid until the arrival of
north-east monsoon, which commences in October.
This wind brings rain to the whole island, and is tlie
only rain which the dry districts get ; in many places
it all falls in a few weeks, when the country is
completely under water, though parched with drought
for the rest of the year. This is very different to
the well-known south-west of Ceylon, where save in
February or March, a fortnight's drought is a very

34^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, 1886.

rare event. In some parts over 200 inches falls in
the year. In these respects Ceylon is an epitome or
continuation of the Southern Indian peninsula. The
peculiarities of the tlora were then gone through in
some detail, taking first the low country of the wet
districts up to 3,000 feet — in which the number of
introduced tropical plants was commented upon ; then
of the lower hills, the principal home of the planting
enterprise and tea and coffee estates ; and ne.ict of
the higher or true mountain districts above 5,000 feet.
In the low country the forest has been much destroyed
by the indolent and improvident native mode of cultiv-
ation called "chena," and but little virgin forest re-
mains in this portion of Ceylon. From .'5,000 to 5,000
feet the agent of destruction has be3n Kuropean plant-
ing, and the forest has almost wholly disappeared.
Above .5,000 feet, land is no longer sold by Government.
Attention was specially called to the concr itration
of endemic species in this wet district — over 800, or
nearly 30 per cent of the whole flora— and to the
strongly Malayan, as distinguished from I'eninsular
Indian type of these and of the whole flora. There
are no Alpine plants in the Ceylon hills ; dense forest
covers their summits, but a number of temperate
genera are represented. This flora is entirely Indian
in type, with no gmus represented which is not also
found in the Nilghiiis, but the number of endemic
.yjccies is very remarkable, only about 200 being com-
mon to both mountain-ranges. A few remarks were
then made upon the naturally open grass lands, called
" patanas,"' in the hills, and their peculiar vegetation.
TJie flora of the great dry tracts of Ceylon was then
considered. It is completely distinct from that
already considered, being maiuly the same as that of
the Oarnatic or Ooromandel coast of India, with no
Malayan admixture, and very few endemic species.
The whole country is covered with forest, apparently
primieval ; but in reality much of it is secondary, and
not more than 800 or 1000 years old, as is reported
by native tradition, and evidenced by the vast re-
mains of temples, tanks, and ancient buildings now
overgrown with trees. Most of the timbers of im-
portance in trade are obtained in these districts, and,
owing to a. very faulty forest conservancy, there is
now but little first-class timber remaining, save in
very remote places. The botanical characters of this
forest, which is everywhere evergreen, were given;
and the paper concluded with a few remarks on the
coast flora, which is very uniform throughout the tro-
pical belt of the world. — Nature.

THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION AT
SOUTH KENSINGTON.

Jamaica. — Several specimens of annatto are shown,
all of which are of very good colour and appear to
be the best in the Exhibition. A specimen of the
colouring matter in the form of a dry -red powdc
is worthy of notice as being likelj' to be useful for
colouring oils, and as a pant. It is free from the
peculiar and somewhat disagreeable odour possessed
by the so''d form usually met with. This specimen
was prepared by the Government Chemist, ]\[r. .J. ,T.
Bowery. Allspice is shown by several e.xhibitors. The
tree, which L'rows on warm limestone hills in the
is'aud at an elevation of 1,500 to 2,.J0O feet, ajipeara
not to flourish so well ar-'wiiere else, so that .Jamaica
practically supp'es the who 8 world. According to
the oflicial citalogue the export of this spice from'
the island during the year 188-5 was valued at £-53,St)7 ;
ginger being exported during the same period from
Jama'ca to the extent of £20,168. Several other spices
are exhibited as produced in the island, including
some fine nutmegs, also cardamoms, cinnamon, and
cassia. The clove, black pepper, anil vanilla are .also
estab'ished in the island.

The samples of cardamoms exhibited are small and
not well fiilel with seeds.

Neither the cinnamon nor the cassia exhibited by
the Botanical Department present the aspect of the
commercial product; indeed it would be diflicult to judge
from tho appearance alone which is cassia ;iiul whicU

cinnamon. They are also very deficient in aroma.
Unless the cinnaiio i could be obtained richer in
essential oil and prepared in fine quills, as in Ceylon,
it is hardly likely to be received in English commerce.
Dyewoods, including logwood, fustic and sapan
wood, are exported from Jamaica to the extent of
abouy £100,000 anmudly. The logwood tree was in-
ti-oduced from British Honduras in 1,715, and has
spread spontaneously over the island to such an ex-
tent that the export of logwood now exceeds that
from Briti.sh Honduras. — Pluinnaceviical Joornal.

THE NOETHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA.

Half-Yearfa- REPoax by Goverxment Resident.

3Iinhuj. — The discovery of an alluvial gold field in
tho Kimberley district of "Western Australia has of
course, \r \ a sharp effect upon our gold returns for
the half-year, which have fallen from 10,112 oz,
f- om Jar ^ary 1 to .Tuue 30, 1835, to 6,010 oz. in the
correspording period this year.

Geological Examination and Prospecting Parties. —
The Rev. J. E. Tenison Woods arrived here by H.
M. S. " Flying Fish," after completing a three years'
scientific tour in the East. He writes me from
Buirundie: — "lam much pleased with the geological
aspect of the country. It has the features of an
auilferous district in a way that brings to ray
mind some of the best gold-bearing tracts I have
seen in Australia, and one sees at a glance how
little can have been done as yet to explore its
deposits."

Ac,ric"lture. — The past wet season has not been a
favourable one for sugar-cane. AVe had nearly the
usual rainfall, but the rains came in heavy deluges,
with somewhat long intervals of drought between.
The rain, too, was unusually local. For example, in
fc.'ty eight bours there was a difference of about 4
incbes between the rainfa'l in Palmerston and at
Fannie Bay, only 4 miles distant. On my return
from the Katherine, when at Port Darwin Camp, I
was shown some splendid bins of rice which had been
grown on the Margaret River. The Chinaman who
cvned the rice informed me (and it was confirmed
by Mr.* M. D. Armstrong) that the Chinese give 2s.
per bag more for this rice than for the rice imported
from China. Originally 30 lb. were sown, and the
first harvest yielded over 1 ton of fine sample
rice. I thought the sample so fine that I purchased
a 56-lb. bag for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition
in London. At the same place I was shown some
splendid cobs of maize. On suitable soil maize grows
tn J crops in the year, and with fair seasons each
crop yields 40 bushels to the acre. The prize of
maize upcountry this year is £10 per ton. I have
no doubt that one of the successes in tropical agri-
culture will be the growth of rice. I have again
visited the Beatrice Hills plantation. The coffee plants
were strong and healthy, and many of them bearing
fir? berries. The indiarubber trees had grown well
and flourishing.

Sugar from the Territory.

AYe have been shown by Jlr. Otto Brandt, of the
Shoal Bay Plantation, near Palmerston, Northern
Tei..'itory, a parcel of sugar, being part of this sea-
sou's, the first recrushing in our northern depen-
dency. About three years ago there was a very small
crushing of a few tons on Delissaville plantation,
which is now abandoned, but this was not of very
excellent quahty. Trie sample sent to us by Mr.
Brandt is an unrefined good white. Mr. Brandt opened
his plantation in 1883. but this is the first year of
crushing, except for a few tons of sugar made last
year in testing the machinery. The operations were
at that time affected by the fact that a fire burut
about 20 acres of cane, and the cane could not be
put through the mill on account of the machinery
having been received from the south and erected too
late in the season. The plantation has an area of
761 acres of laud selected by Mr. Brandt, and pur-
chased under the 12s. Cd. an acre special survey laws.
In addition to this the survey cost 25. G.l, an acre.-

Nov, h J 386,1

fH^ TmPtQAt

AQmCVLfVPMV,

Mi

■tfTjCrBiW a

The area under cane is about 200 ; the yield of sugar
by single crushing is about 2 tous to the acre, or by
double crushing considerably more. The Queensland
average is about Ij tons. The cane grown is of three
varieties. This season, though it was a miserably dry
one, some of the plants gave 12 feet of crushable
cane, with a circumference of 7 to 8 inches, running
in density more than 15° Beaume, against about 9^
in Queensland. Mr. Brandt is now so far the only
plantation owner who has a chance of getting the
bonus offered by the Government of £4 per ton for
the first 1,250 tons of sugar grown in the Territory,
and his energy will certainly entitle him to that well-
earned reward, JMr. Brandt, from an intimate
knowledge of the capabilities of Queensland as a sugar-
growing country, points out that the Northern Ter-
ritory has several advantages for the sugar-grower over
Queensland. He remarks upon the absence in the
Territory of the frost, which frequently will destroy
a whole crop in one night. Another advantage is a
certaia dry season, which favours the maturing of
the cane, rendering unnecessary, as in Queensland,
occasional intervals in the crushing or complete stop-
page, because if the cane is wet the density will go
down. Consequently the Queenslanders sometimes get
only one crop in two years, whilst in the Northern
Territory one crop a year can alwaj's be depended
upon. Mr. Brandt further testifies that in the Nor th-
ern Territorj' there is an advantage in the labour,
which is cheaper than in Queens' and. A Chinaman
(used in the Northern Territory) costs oaly 2s. a day,
keeping himself, and they can be had at a moment's
notice without any diihculty, and re-engaged again in
the same way. In Queensland if the planter has
say 100 kanakas on the plantation he has to keep
them all the year round, whether he wants them or
not. They cost the employer, moreover, about 15s.
a week, counting everything. It should ',je added
that with the residue of the crushing Mr. Brandt has
made a number of casks of golden syrup treacle,
which he is having broaght down to Adelaide. — South
Australian Register.

^

NOTES ON DEUGS IN THE COLONIAL
EXHIBITION.

Medicinal Plants and Medicixes of Oeylox..

Amongst the many and varied exhibits of drugs and
medicinal substances from all parts of the British
dominions now to be seen at South Kensington, none
is so complete as that from Ceylon, and an excellent
handbook accompanies the exhibits, the uses of each
plant being given after the scientific and Sinhalese
names. In an introduction to native medicinal jilants
and medicines, the writer points out that in Sinhalese
medical practice disease is held to be a disturbance
in the eqq-ilibrium of the three humours — air, bile, and
phlegm — which pervade the human system. These
agents preside over certain vital functions, and whi.'e
susceptible of being aifected by temperature, diet,
drugs, habit, etc., react on the organs whoso functions
they control. Every individual is supposed to be born
with a predisposition to some one of these humours,
or to a modification of one of them in combination
with some proximate principle corresponding with the
nervous, bilious, phlegmatic, and sanguineous temper-
aments formerly recognised in the practice of AVestern
medicine. Of the five or .six hundred different causes
of disease recognised in Sinhalese medicine, more than
a fourth are ascribed to the abnormal conditions oi
the three humours, and the rest to to vitiation of
the seven proximate principles of the human body,
viz, blood, flesh, fat, etc. Hence, diseases are not
classified by their symptoms .so much as by thtir
causes, and accidental symptoms are not only confound-
ed with essential ones, but receive .special treatment
as distinct diseases. The treatment, accordingly, is
more theoretical than empirical, every symptom being
referred to some derange humour, which alone receives
attention, and has to be rectified accOidiug to the
rules laid down by the recognised authorities. A very
isomuou practice nitU uative practitiouers is to allow

a disease to progress for some time with a view to
" mature " it, or " to bring it to a head," before any
attempt is made to remove it. A quick recovery,
whether under European or native treatment, is depre-
cated, as hkcly to lead to a relapse, since sufficient
time has not been allowed for the restoration of a
permanent, healthy equilibrium between the contending
humours. They have great faith in critical days, and
in the influence of the different phases of the moon,
each of which is supposed to j: 'eside over its own
set of organs, so that purgatives, for instance, however
much they may be needed in any given case, are
never prescribed on the day on which the moon exercises
its influence oa the bowels, emetics on the day on
which it presides over the stomach, etc. The Sinhalese
seldom make use of powerful or hurtful remedies.
In most cases the treatment only seems to change an
acute disease into one of chronic character, while
recovery from a simple affection is protracted, the
patient being kept half-starved on gruel, and made
to swallow huge quantities of infusions and decoctions
of medicinal herbs, villainously compounded, the num-
ber of ingredients in each portion increasing in direct
ratio with the continuance and severity of the disease.
A mild form of fever, for instance, would be treated
with a decoction of the " Five Minor Roots." Desnw
diuiii gangctiini.in, Uraria layopodioidm, Solanum Jac-
quini, Solamviii indicuni, and Tt'ihuU'.s terrestris, which
are believed to cure fever due to deranged phlegm,
catarrh, etc. A severer form would be ascribed, perhaps,
to deranged air, requiring the use of the "Five Major
Plants," — JF.<jle marmelos, Calosanthcs itidica, Gmelina
arhorea, Stereospermv.m suavcohns, and Premna speciosa.
In remittent fever, etc., all ten may be prescribed
together, and in typhoid fever, with head symptoms,
the same, with eight or ten other ingredients. When
conducted by intelligent and skilful practitioners,
native practice is not unlike the morden treatment
of European Medicine, viz., that of trusting to nature
for efforts to restore health, while placing the patient
un der the most favourable conditions for recovery by
means of suitable diet and regimen, medicinal treat-
ment being direciied chiefly to the relief of the more
urgent symptoms. It must be admitted, however,
that the Materia Medica of the Sinhalese will com-
pare favourably in many respects with the Pharma-
copoeia of the most enlightened countries of the West.
Not only is every class of medicine well represented
and supplied in profusion by the boundless prodigality
of nature in Eastern tropical climes, but some of the
vegetable productions are valuab'e enough to deserve
a place iu the medicinal resources of Western science.

The Cevlon Collection.

The collection exhibited in the Ceylon Court con-
sists of 362 specimens, all of which are indigenous
or wild Ceylon p'auts, and the uses of which, as,
recorded, have been taken from the mouths of the
village doctors themselves. The following is a selection
of those drugs which appear to be the most important : —

Ahrus 2»'e<^((iorius (Olinda-welj. — The juice of the
green leaves is used as a purifier of the blood,
especially iu females. The root, for sore throat,
leprosy, stiffness of the joints, paralysis, and nervous
diseases ; externally it is applied to ulcers and sores,
This plant is a common tropical weed, and is well
known as the source of the jequirity seeds or crab's
eyes, which are sometimes used as an article of food
in Egypt, being harmless when eaten, but producing
fatal ett'ects when introduced beneath the skin. la
India the roots are used as a substitute for li({uorice,

Ahutilon adaticum (Anudi'i). — The root is used in
mild fevers, and is considered tonic, diuretic, and
stimulant. The water in which the leaves have been
boiled is used as a wash for sore mouth, and for
fomentation in piles. This is a malvaceous plant
and like most of the order it has demulcent properties.

Acacia cuncinna ;Hiuguru). — The juice of the wood
is used to cure murrain iu cattle. The pods are very
saponaceous, and are used as a substitute for soap.

Acali/phaindica (Kuppa-meniya), — The whole plant is
used in worm complaiats; aud to expel wind, Xb^

344

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURiST, [HoV. 2, 188S.

juice of the leaves is emetic, and is applied externally
to bad sores aud ulcers.

Aarrud calami's ("Wada-kaha). — Used iu bowel com-
plaiuts in cbildern as a stomachic and carminative.
This ijlaut is the sweet flag, and is very widely dis-
tributed, being found not only on the banks of rivers
and other wet places in PIngland, but also in the
cooler parts of Europe, India, and North America.
All parts of the plant, particularly the rhizome, have
a strong aromatic and somewhat acrid taste, in con-
sequence of which it has been used iu European
practice as a stimulant and tonic, especiall in cases
of indigestion and ague. Candied, the rhizome forms
a well-known confection, and it is also used in per-
fumery.

Acronychia laurifoJia (Ankinda). — The bark is con-
sidered a good remedy for obstinate ulcers and indolent
sores. The root, bark and leaves are applied to
dislocations. — Burgot/ne, 4' Co.'s Montldy Export Price i
Current.

STEAY NOTES ON CACAO IN CEYLON.

[From " Old Colonist."}

My visit to Matale North greatly charmed and
interested me. Twelve years ago, there was not a
cacao plant in the district, now its cacao groves
are amc igst thefinest sights in the island, aud as S r
Henry Ward said : — " It is difdcult to decide where
t-^ere is so much of surpassing beauty." No longer
is c:.cao a mere experiment, but in North Matale
at least, it is assured, as much as any vegetable
product can be. I am only sorry there are not,
and never can be, 100 Kowdapelelas in Ceylon.

I he.ve seen nothing of HclojJcUif, and believe
Boreas to be the only real enemy to cacao in good
soil ; as "K. B. T." long ago discovered. The lucky
proprietors of North Matale are getting an excellent
croi) this year, and as far as man can judge, ii;
is destined to go on rapidly increasing for many
years to come. WarriapoUa, also, is a fine picture,
nothing could exceed the luxuriance of its healthy
and heavy-laden cacao, nor the beamy of its well-
trimmed shade trees. Dear old Dumbara, of course,
Btill holds i^s own, and will probably this year
give double the crop it has ever before given.

New Products in ^Jexico. — Among the most valu-
able fruits yielded by the Mexican flora is the vanilla,
which has been in use in the country for ages as a
flavouring for chocolate, the national beverage. Its
use was made known in Europe by the Spaniards,
and until comparatively recent times Mexico was the |
only source of supply of the friut. Mauritius and
other parts have since taken the lead in supiilying
the Loudon market, but the true Mexican vanilla
still remains the best of any. In the country itself
it is cultivated more for home use than for export,
the centres of the trade being the districts of Mis-
cuitla and Papantla. A wild variety of vanilla is found
ftbundautily iu the virgin forests of the republic, but
its fruits, uoi beiug aromatic, are not gathered. The
value of the vanilla exports iu 1881 is declared at
83,000/. Efforts are now beiug made by a German
agriculturist in Mexico, Dr. Hugo Fick, of Cordoba,
to grow the cinchona tree iu that locality, one of
the most favourable parts for the cultivation of new
plants- According to official statements there were
in 1884, 15,000 cinchona plants flourishing in Cordoba,
and it is hoped that ni a few years Mexico will be
able to dtrive large profits from the export of cinchoiia.
Commander Maury, who visited the country in 1808,
was the first to suggest the introduction of the
cinchona in Mexico, but his advice was not acted
upou until several years later. Careful observations
have shown that the climate aud temperature of largo
tracts of Mexican territory correspond exactly with
that of the Bolivian provinces where the cinchoaas
fiourisU most In^wiiutlf, •-CJiemiii and Uruygist,

PiPERiNE !>■ AouE. — Some cases of refractory in-
termittent fever, in which, after the failure of quinine,
piperine has been administered with advantage, are
reported by Dr. C. 8. Taylor) Brit. Med. yo2»-«.,Sept.
4, p. 449). In one case, immediately on the accession
of an attack three grains of piperine were given
every hour until eighteen grains had been taken, and
on the following day, when the intermission was com-
plete, the same dose was given every three hours.
Dr. Taylor remarks also that piperine does not pro-
duce the unpleasant symptoms in the head that some-
times follow the use of (luinine,— P/iarwacecijcrt^
Journol.

Extract of Pojieoranate Koot Bark.— The official
preparation of pomegranate bark is open to objection
on account of its nauseousness, and three j'ears since
Mr. Siebold, in order to obviate this, suggested a pro-
cess for removing the astringent principles {Pharm.
Journ., [3], xiv., 396). "With a similar object Dr. von
Schroeder has recommended the use of an extract free
from tannic acid, but containing all the alkaloid of
the bark {Pharm. Zeit., Sept 18. p. 556). The extract
is p-epared by treating a decoction of the bark with
milk of lime to remove the tannic acid, filtering,
neutralizing the filtrate exactly with sulphuric acid,
evaporating it on a water-bath almost to dryness,
treating the residue with 70 per cent alcohol, and
then driving off the alcohol from the extract obtained.
The product is described as nearly entirely crystalline,
and soluble in water with a slight turbidity. The
yield is about one gram of extract from twenty grams
of bark. In order to retard as much as possible the
absorijtion of the pelletierine, which is present in the
extract as a sulphate, it is recommended to add to
this quantity one or two grams of tannic acid to con-
vert the alkaloid into the difficulty soluble tannate.
— Pharmaceutical Journal.

Vegetable Products in Tunis and Tripoli.— The
export of Esparto-grass or Alfa, as it is locally termed,
has been more active during the past year. This
valuable fibre, nine-tenths of which is shipped to the
United Kingdom for paper making, affords a live-
lihood to the Bedouin Arabs, who load their camels
with it and bring it a distance of 100 miles from the
interior. The Govermuent has not relieved it from
the oppressive duty which for the last nine years has
weighed upon it, amounting in the northern districts
of the Eegency to 12s. 6d. a ton, and to IT.^'. further
north at Susa. The largest shipments take place from
Sfax. The Alfa from Susa commands somewhat
higher prices than that farther south. The unusually
large quantity of the fibre which was exported from
the Eegency in 1831 was owing to a failure of the
grain crops in the south, which drove the Arabs to
Esparto plucking as the almost sole means of obtain-
ing a livelihood. In 1S83 the Arab tribes in the south
fled over the border to Tripoli to avoid the French,
and that year showed the lowest point to which
the export of this grass has sunk. In 1883 shipments
of Esparto began to be made from another little port to
the south of Sfax, called Skira, which would under ordin-
ary circumstances have found an exit at Sfax. Skira has
been selected as the port of exportation by the Franco-
English Esparto Company, which has' obtained a
concession to export that fibre from a cettrin district in-
land from Sfax, and which began its operation iu 1883.
From Tripoli it is stated that business iu E.sparto,
which had become very slack in 1884, had so far
recovered itself as again to be in the position it
occupied in more prosperous years. Notwithstanding
the low range of prices — 10*. to 15s. per ton below
the usual rates of the last two j'ears — the supply of
this fibre has not diminished, but flowed steadily into
market in even greater quantities than before. " The
quality of tho grass is better, as would appear from
the general satisfaction it has given in England ; and
it is anticipated that both the quality and quautitv
in 18S() will be above the average. Freights for Es.
parto kept low, ranging from Os. to lis. the ton for
hydraulic pressed bales, and from 16*', to 204-, foy
tUosc wechauicaUy pieHQi.—Gardemn' Chronicle,

Nov. J, 1886 ij

THE TjROPlCAL AGHiCULTUmSI^.

345

iiTlJB!

CULTIVATION OF THE OEANGE IN INDIA.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE "INDIAN AGRICULTUIUST."

SiK, — I shall be much obliged if you can give me
any hints on the cultivation of orange trees in India.
I don't want to know about the climate, because no
place is better adopted to growing oranges than the
place I have selected. I wish to know what distance
apart the trees ought to be planted, when they will
fruit, and how much fruit they will yield ; also wfiat
extent of land should be planted to yield a sufficient
return to pay for superintendence and up-keep, with
a profit of RG,000 annually.

If you could let me know whether there is a good
market for oranges in Calcutta, and what prices they
fetch, it would be an additional obligation. T.

The orange should be raised by budding on the
common lime or lemon. The operation shold be per-
formed in February. In the December following, the
young trees should be planted out at a distance of
20 feet apart, in large holes 3 feet deep and 3 feet
diameter, filled with a rich soil composed of well-
decayed cow-dung, night-soil, common black earth,
and a small quantity of slaked lime. The trees blossom,
as a rule, in February and March, and the fruit is
ripe by November, and sometimes earlier. They last
till the end of January, and sometimes February ; but
the fruit should, for the sake of the trees, be all
removed by .January, to allow the plants to rest a
little before flowering again in February. The soil
should ha.ve a top-dressing of manure every year just
before the trees begin flowering. A well-grown tree,
• ly about 3 or 4 years old, will yield from 200 to
500 fruits. We have known them to yield a great
deal more. [We suspect orange trees in Ceylon do not
bear under Uvic. the age specified. — Ed]

WOOD FOR CIGAR-BOXES, etc.

I have read the correspondence on this subject in
recent numbers of the Forester with much interest.
I entirely agree with Mr. S. E. Peal in considering
that ' tun* or Foma ' wood is the best we have in
India for the purpo,se. There are of course others that
will do, and among tho.se referred to by "ex-Student"
Diiabanf/n sonnrratioicles and Alnus nepalen<iis might be
used, but would not bg nearly so good as several
ot'ier woods that can be named, such as ' bakayan,'
MeJia Aztilaracli (very like tun) and Acrocarpus
fraxinifoKi's. To put down in a list such coarse woods
as Echinoc(n-/)i/.s and Ehpocarpus is only to mislead.

The bcces in which Trichinopoly cheroots are usually
packed are made of tun, those used in Coconada are
made inv.riably of Adina cordifoHa, but I doubt if
that wood would be used if tun were easily procurable
in the Godavari forests. I strongly advise those who
want a good cigar-box wood to stick to tun, the
Indian representative of the Spanish cedar, which I
believe is Cedrcia odorata.

It is worth noting here that according to the most
recent determinations, neither the ' Lah ' ©f Darjeeling
nor the 'S;im' of Assam is Macldlns odoraiisdma.
The real Machilus odoratissima is the Punjab tree so
common about Simla, the others will, I think, be found
under other names, wliich I am sorry I do not yet
know, when the next part of the 'Flora of British
India' is published. The three trees of Darjeeling,
known to the Nepalese coolies as ' LaH,' ' Kawala '
and ' Jagrikat ' re.spectively will probably be described
as distinct species, instead of being all placed, as
hitherto, under Machihn odoratis.iima. The 'Lepchaphal'
has proved lately, from good flowers and fruit collected,
to be not J'hcehe attenuata, but a new speci-s, to which
Dr. King has given the provisional name of Jfachilns
edulU. I expect "ex-Student" is nuxing up cigar-box
woods with those suitable for tea-boxes. It would be
rather too much to expect Mr. Sutherland to go to
Darjeeling for such woods, when he can get tun and
bakayan from the N.-W, Provinces.— J. S. Gamdle.
— Indian Forester.

* Popular spelling Xoon,-
44

-E».

THE QUESTION OF MULCHING.

Mulching may serve to keep the surface moist, but
it will be fo«nd that the portion in contact with tho
ground is apt to mildew and encourage fungus growth,
which does not promote healthful vegetation. We are
cautioned, therefore, against the use of easily decay-
ing or fermenting substances. A careful examination
of the under surface of most mulchings will develop
the fact that it is a snug harbor for slugs, .snails,
worms and all minor sorts of vermin.

If the material used cannot be usefully or properly
dug into the soil after its use as a mulch hns ceased,
as with tan, sand or sawdust upon light .soils, then the
labor of spreading and afterwards gathering it together
again is by no means incon.siderable. A coating two
inches thick on an acre amounts to about three hun-
dred single loads of stuff, which must cost at le.ast
;>.50 to '~60 to spread and remove. How many times
could you go over an acre with a cultivator for -50 ^
Certainly more than thirty.

Mulching induces a growth of fibrous roots to push
up to the surface. It is not a little remarkable that
none of those who have recorded this fact so repeatedly
have noted that this is not a useful result.

How can. temporary advantages of mulching be other-
wise obtained permanently? In a well-cultivated field
not more than from one-eighth to one-tenth of the
rain that falls upon the .soil finally passes off by per-
colation; the remainder is drawn to the surface and
evaporated by the process described. Anything that
breaks up the uniform continuity of the texture of the
soil, by which atom after atom of water is brought to
the surface, will accomplish the first steji in retaining
the natural moisture of the soil within it.

Now, mulching does not do this at all ; it only checks
or moderates the approach of the atmosphere to the
moistened surface of the soil, and therefore retards
evaporation to that extent ; but the reason why there
is so much moisture beneath the mulch is because the
capillary action of the soil keeps on pumping up the water
faster than it can evaporate.

Dry soil is an excellent non-conductor, made doubly
so by being loosened and thus intermingled with air.
This is precisely the condition of the soil after ,1
thorough cultivation. When thus rendered tine and light
the surface becomes truly a cushion of air and dry
earth ; the continuity of tho in.sensible process of con-
viction of the water of the soil is broken, the point
at which the upper passage of the water of the soil
ceases is removed to the depth of the cultivation, tin:
free access of the air to tho continuou.sly moist suifnce
is hindered and you have accompli'^hed all of tljo hf nc-
ficial effects of mulching in a cheaper, more intelh'giiit
and scientific manner. — Proceedings Massachusetts Horti-
cultural Society.

ANTS ON TREES AND PLANTS.

The ants so often found in great numbers upou
plants and young fruit trees cause no injury. Their
presence is due to plant lice, a very prcidiar insect
found upon nearly every part of plants, but usually
in the greatest numbers upon young shoots, bud^-,
and leaves. These parasites multiply with wonderful
rapidity. It has been provefl by Eeauniur that a
single individual is capable of becoming the progenitor
of nearly six thousand millions of these pests in five
generations. This accounts for the fact that the tendei'
twigs and leaves of plants and small trees will often
become completely covered with a living mass of
these minute lice in a very short sp;ce of time.
Most of these are females, destitute of wings. The
winged individuils, according to Harris, '■ appear only
at particular sea.sons, usually in the autumn, but
sometimes in the spring, these being all small males
and larger females. After pairing, the latter lay
their eggs upon or near the leaf buds of the plants
upon which they live, and together with the males
soon afterwaril.s i)erish." The genus to which plant
lice belongs is called Aphis, from a Greek word
signify inj; to oxhaust, The eggs arc batched in th<^

M^

fuu 'XmHCAi AQumji'rum&T, [Nov. 1, mi

iiin-ii-fWfi

spring ami the young lice immediately begin to exhaust
tlie vitality of "the plants by sucking the sap from
the tv\igs and leaves. They increase rapidly, in size
and soon mature, and it is a remarkable fuct that
the entire brood, without a single exception, are wing-
less females and in condition to propagate their species.
Their young, however, ure produced alive, and each
female may be the mother of fifteen or twenty young
lice in a single day. The second generation also
consists of wingless females, which grow up and have
their young in due time, and thus brood after brood
is produced to the .-.eventh generation, or even more,
without the appearance of a single male, but the
last brood in autumn consists of males and females,
upon which wings are developed, the eggs being laid
by the females as before mentioned, and remaining
upon the twigs until the following spring, when they
are hatched and their work of destruction begins.
The leaves and bark of plants much infested by these
insects are often completely sprinkled over by a
sticky, sweetish fluid discbarded by them, which upon
drying turns dark, greatly disfiguring the foliage.
This sweetish fluid is what attracts the ants, which
are very fond of sweets of all kinds. The ants are
very careful not to injure or disturb the lice, which
they treat with remarkable gentleness. Probably the
most effective remedy for plant lice is strong soapsuds,
which can be applied in the same manner as for
canker worms, by means of a garden pump. Some
fruit' growers use a decoction of tobacco with the
soap'-uds, which makes the remedy much mere effective.
American Oultivaior.

♦

CURING A COLD IN THE HEAD.

The commonest type of cold is that called " cold
in the bead," to distinguish it from " cold on the
chest." This " cold in the head " has certain well-
marked symptoms, a feeling of general malaise is ex-
perienced, often accompanied by a slight feverish
sickness- Then' comes a sensation of fulness in the
head, there is sneezing, a profuse flow of tears, an
irritating and copious discharge from the nose. This
means that the mucous membrane of the nose is
inflamed, and if this spreads down the back of the
throat the sufferer becomes hoarse. The best way
to treat this troublesome complaint is to take a " hot
drink." An orange sliced and put into a large cup
with a little .sugar sprinkled over it, and boiling water
poured upon it, and then drunk as hot as possible,
is both pleasant and beneficial. The feet should be
put into hot water, with or without a little mustard.
Thi-i foot bath should be taken at the bedside ; the
patient should be well wrapped up, and a blanket
placed across his knees should be drawn outside the
bath, so as to confine the steam. After keeping the
feet in the water for from five to ten minute.s, the
patient should lose no time in getting into bed, where
he will probably derive great benefit from the general
feeling of warmth, and from the flow of perspiration
which has been induced. If possible, at this stage,
the patient should remain in bed for two days, with
a fire in hi-s room, which should bo well made up
at iiiKJit, so as to krep alight ti;l mornnig. But keep-
ing in bed wilt do little good if the patient persists
ju holding a new.spfijnT or a book to read, for thereby
he h more dangerously csposed to cold then if he
Kere up, dressed and going al;out aa u,slial, The main
point is to keep throughly Wrappel up and constantly
warm, Even an uncomfortable degree of heat may
be beneficial,

A email piece of camphor chewed and sucked is
very good. i5o is the inhalation of sulphuric acid gas—
n rcn;edy which was found to be in constant use by the
weavers of Kircaldy, who bad it among the materials of
their work. Buy two ounces of sulphurous acid (dilute)
from a chemist, and then take out the cork and inhale
- through the nostrils only, of course— the pungent gas
which i,s given olF. Some use Ferrier's snuff, and find
brnelit therefrom; but it must b,; used cautiously, as it
Contains a powerful drug— to wit, morphia. Ten or
f.welve grains of Dover's powder taken in gruel at bed-
time is good for aij adult, but should uotbe administered

iiTiiT iiiitfi itia tim^BtmMiitmtsM

to children, as it contains opium, which should never be
given to them without a doctor's prescription. To
avoid an unpleasant excoriation of the nose and upper
Ho during the course of a cold in the head, they should
bo often washe 1 thoroughly with soap and lukewarm
water and a little vaseline should be applied. If the
throat feels sore a chlorate of potash lozenge should
be sucked ocasionally. — HoKsehold Words.

MEMORANDUM ON KILLING, PRESERVING
AND TRANSPORTING INSECTS.

For killing insects, the best thing is a tin cylinder —
say, an empty tobacco-tin — with a closely fitting re-
movable cap hd at each end. The ordinary half-pound
tobacco tin, which is about 65 inches long with a cir-
cumference of 9J inches, is a'convenient size for most
insects. Into this a perforated tin diaphragm may be
fi.Ked, at about 1^ inch or 2 inches from one end of
the cylinder. The larger chamber will contain the in-
sects to be killed, while the smaller one will be used
as a receptacle for poison.

The most effective poison against insects is cyanide
of potassium, but its peculiar property of deliquescing
with either heat or moisture renders it difflcult to
use. I have tried making up strong solutions of it
with plaster-of-Paris (calcined gypsum), but I find the
efl'ect goes off too rapidly, and the hardened cake
soon becomes perfectly innocuous, I have also tried
enclosing solid pieces of cj'anido of potassium in plaster-
of-Paris, but I have not yet succeeded in getting the
plaster to set properly. Should further experiments
in this direction turn put better, I hope to be able
to supply a convenient form of insect poison to any
one who wishes to possess it.

Hitherto, I have employed essential oil of almonds,
a drop or two of which on a small piece of sponge
is quite enough to fill a tobacco tin with strong
fumes of prussic acid. In place of the oil, ordinary
flavouring essence of almond may be used, but its
effect is not so good. The oil may be obtained from
any chemist at every large station, while the flavour-
ing essence is procurable from all provision dealers.
Ordinary benzine is also very effective, and is easily
obtained from any chemist. It has further the pro-
perty of removing grea.sy stains from the wings of
moths, when directly applied. Before being placed in
a collection, the insect should be painted over with
a fluid composed of: —

1 quart of methylated spirits.
1 oz. of mercuric chloride (corrosive sublimate).
1 oz. of carbolic acid.
This will preserve it from insects and mould.

Larvie of i"-sects— grubs of beetles, bees, wasps, kc,
and caterpillars of butterflies and moths — may be pre-
served in spirits of wine.

For transmission by post, larvie may be sent iu
bottles of methylated spirits. Beetles, grasshoppers,
and hard-bodied insects geuerally, should be placed
in tiii-boves with saw-dust, over which benzine should
be liberally sprinkled.

The various species of insects in one box may bo
sepirated by layers of piper. Lepidoptera (butterlliea
and nuths) should be packed, with their wings to-
gether, iu jjieccs of paper folded into triangles with
the edges oVerlappiug. The specimens must not be
left loose in the box, bub so arranged that they can-
not be shaken in transit. When |)ackcd with insects,
the box should have all its interstices covered with
gum piper carefully applied, so as to exclude all ene«
mies.— M. H. Qi.WioMn.— Indian Forester.

Origin' of the Br.ooD Oran'oe.— A corre.spondent
sends us the following cutting from the Tropical
Ai/ricuUu) ist respecting the origin of the Blood Orange
in the hope that its appearance in our columns
may lead to a discussion tending to confirm or refute
the ideas su|,'gested in it:—* * » (seepage Uo.) Of
course no gardener would admit the preposterous
notion that a Pomegranate would either graft or
hybridise wjtU an Orange.— (rart/cntM' ChroniQk,

Nov. I, i8S6.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

uy

THE NATURE OF DEW.

The researches of Dr. Wells into the nature of dew,
made a great many years ago, are still acknowledged
as disclosing the true theory of the phenomenon, and
yet there is ample room for further investigation.
The popular idea is that dew falls, and anxious mothers
still caution their children, especially if they are delicate
in health, against exposing themselves to the falling
dew. Dr. Wells proved that dew did not come either
from the earth below nor from the sky above, but
that it was condensed out of the air in contact with
plants and other cold surfaces. And yet the popular idea
not erroneous, for the vapor in the air may be
condensed on floating motes and du.st, giving
rise to what may fairly enough be denominated fall-
ing dew, although it is really a gentle rain formed
not far from the surface of the earth. Whether it
should be called dew or invisible rain is a mere
matter of taste, and a question of definition. There
is really no reason why the popular phraseology should
be changed, and even from a scientific point of view
the term " falling dew " may be defended as prefer-
able to "invisible rain." Dui'ing a fog the beards
and whiskers of men frequently collect quite a large
quantity of dew, while in very cold regions the
eyebrows may collect dew which is converted into
hoar-frost. The fact is that dew is deposited when-
ever the grass, the air, or the hair falls in temperature
below the dew-point. The analogy may be carried
further, and it may properly be asked whether fog is
anything else than floating dew. If the answer be
in the affirmative, then the whiskers may be supposed
to collect the dew already existing in the air, and
the difference between falling dew and fog may merely
be one of mass or quantity. Dr. A\"ells was no doubt
quite right in saying that the dew which is vi.sible
on the surface of leaves, is condensed upon them
directly from contact with moist air and yet it is
quite possible that the quantity is increased by the
incidence of falling dew— the phenomenon thus being
the result of two or more influences. Prior to his
time, there had been much discussion as to whether
the dew rose from the earth below, or fell trom the
sky above. It had been ascertained that there was
a heavier deposit of dew inside a bell-jar than there
was outside, and it was argued that the dew inside
must have ascended from the earth. The correct
inference is that the vapour already pre-existent in
the air is reinforced by an accession of vapor from
the earth, the heat absorbed during the day serving
to maintain evaporation after sunset, while the bell-
glass merely served to prevent the dissipation of this
vapor by the wind.

Some further light has been thrown by Mr. Aitken,
of Edinburgh, on the dew question. He asked himself
why dew was not deposited on gravel paths and dry
ground, as well as on the vegetation in adjoining
beds, and he has found the answer, which is— that
dew is deposited on the gravel and dry earth, but it
has to be looked for in the right place, namely, on
the under-side of pebbles, while some of it is no doubt
absorbed. There should, however, I imagine, be less
dew on dry patches, because there is a more free
circulation of air by which the vapor is carried off.
The vegetation itself imprisons the moist air, and thus
favors the deposition of dew.

Another form of dew, or of what is taken for dew,
was discovered by Mr. . Aitken. He found that some
plants were more bedewed than others, that the sur-
face of the leaf was not wet all over, and that the
deposit on any part had no relation to its exposure
to radiation or access to moist air. The position of
the drops of apparent dew had a close relation to
the structure of the leaf. On brocoli plituts the
drops were all placed at the points where the veins
of the leaf came to the outer edge. On grass the
moisture was in drops attached to the tips of some
of the blades. Other considerations led him to the
behef that these drops were not dew at all, but
exudations from the plants. That plants exude such
globules has been pointed out by other observers,
but Mr. Aitken is the first to point out their relation
to the appearance of dew. The explanation is exceed-

ingly probable. The exudation is no doubt going on
in all weathers, but it is only on dewy nights that
the drops will hang to the plant. When the air is
dry they are likely to be carried away as vapor.
Experiments were made on leaves protected from all
contact with the atmosphere, and on these the
exudations made their appearance. These facts do
not in any way invalidate the accepted theory of dew,
but they serve to show that the phenomena are more
complicated than has hitherto been supposed,

Mr. Aitken also made experiments on the radiatioa
by night of several substances, and lie found that
they gave very difl:erent results from those obtained
by experiments mafe in the day time. Black and
white cloths were found to radiate equally well, a
result which invalidates the received theory that
absorption and radi.ition are equivalent. Franklin's
experiment on the melting of snow under patches of
black and white cloth in full sunshine will be here
called to mind. Soil and grass radiate equally well
by night. Lampblack and whitening are also alike.
Snow in the shade on a bright day was 7 degrees
colder than the air, while a black surface was only 4
degrees colder. This difference diminished as the sun
got lower, and at night both radiated equally well.
These facts are exceedingly instructive, — header.

ENEMIES OF THE SUGAR-CANE,

In India little or nothing has yet been done iu
the way of protecting its agriculturists from the losses
caused by insects. There is a school of forestry at
Dehra, and the instruction given there includes some
accouut of the insects useful or hurtful to man and
his industries, and we see references as to individual
insects from time to time made to Mr. Wood-Mason.
Some years ay;o Mr. Thompson, of the Forest Depart-
ment, contrit)uted a valuable pamphlet on the enemies
of the forest trees; Mr. Haldane's " All about Grubs "
mentions several beetles which injure the coffee shrubs ;
antl Mr. Nietner in Ceylon, and Dr. Bidie of Madras,
have added considerably to the existing information
regarding them. But India has no reports or compen-
diums .such as iu England periodically issue from
Miss Ormerod's pen, and the first attempt to furnish
a general view of the Indian agriculturists' insect
foes has been given in the " Oyclop.'elia of India,"
the third feditiou of which was mentioned in our
issue of .Tuly 6. Yet the tillers of the soil of India
are skilful, hard-working husbandmen and gardeners,
but they are great sufferers from blights, and their
patient toil should win for them all the care which
the scientific skill at the command of Clovernment
can bestow. They are in many tribes and of ditt'eront
races, the farmers of recognised superiority being the
Oha^a and Khisan of Bengal, the Kuubi and Kurinil
of the Western and Northern Provinces, the Tamil
Vellalar, the Teling Keddi, Kapa, and Kama, and
the 'Janarese Wahala, the finer garden work being-
carried on by the Tota-Kara, the Mali, the Kaeh hi,
the. Lodha, and others. We have been led to these
remarks by the perusal of a pamphlet on, "The
Animal Parasites of the Sugar-cane," by Hy-Ling Itoth
(i'riibuer & Co.). The cane is to be seen growing
everywhere throughout British India, and, although
used by the people more as a fruit than for sugar-
making, it takes a prominent place among their garden
plants. It receives from them great care for it is
a costly plant to grow, occupying the grounds for
many munths, requiring a rich soil, with plciiby of
manure and abundance of water. It is lialjle to be
attacked by several iiisect^f, ;ind if, from boisterous
wimis, the tops become twisted, the growth is cheeked
and the cane rots. The planters of the W'e.-t luditis.
South America, the jMauritius and Aiistraliii, have
given much attention to the investigation of the
diseases au.l injuries of the cane, aii'i Mr. Pioth h.is
dune good service to the planting industry and to
science by summarising all that is known of its auiiiial
parasites. An examination of growing cane exhibits
a variety of animal lite which is simply marvellous ;
and the planter who thinks Iktle of a single parasite

34^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. I, 1886.

ignores two importaut facts: firstly, that parasite
breed most rapidly ; and, secondly, that myriads make
up for want iu individual side. Mr. Roth telLs us
that a .species of Hoplosternus is the commou chafer
ol (^Lieenslaud. Its grub destroys the roots of the
cane, causing the leaves to become brown and dry
up; the growth of the cane is then arrested, and
the first high wind knocks it over. Iu this manner
whole fields of cane are killed. In the early stage
the larvre are occupied iu gnawing the roots. Iu
November and December the chafers, fully developed,
appear above ground iu swarms, inactive during the
day but feeding eiig.'rly at night. An ant, the Fonnica
saceharlvora, is supposed to get at the sweet juices
of the plant aud injure it. Another insect, the waxy
sugar-cane louse, is known to the Mauritius and Bourbon
planters as Le Tou a Poche Blanche. It is the icerya
sacchari, aud occurs also iu Queenslaud, and Mr.
lloth supposes that it is milked by a small black ant,
Formica rufo-nigra, iu the same manner as ipecies
of aphides are by other ants. He considers the
Pou to be a cause of very great injury to the cane.
The cane has its enemies in other countries. The
sugar-cane beetle of the Unite i States is the Ligyrus
ruficeps, Le C. It is a stout black beetle, half an
inch loug, which bores into the stock ofj the sugir-
cane under ground.

Sugar-cane ravages iu Grenada are caused by the
cane-spittle tly, Delphax sacchai'vora ; iu Natal by
the cine smut, Ustilago sacchari, a disease, analogous
to the smut of wheat aud maize ; in the Mauritius
by the Proceras sacchariphagus, which Mr. A\'estwood
has supposed may be indeutical with the Diatr;ea
sacchari ; G adding, and Phaheua sacchari, Faliricius.
The Borer of the Queensland planters has been supposed
to be the larva of this Diatr;ei sacchari. It enters
the cane above ground and eats up the heart. It is
supposed to be indeutical with the Borer of the
Mauritius, the Proceras sacchariphagus. The wire-
worm, larvas of the chick beetle, are found at the
roots of the Qaeeuslaud cane, but no damage from
theui has been detected.

IMany suggestions hive been made for the destruc-
tion of these and other insect pests. In this country
Miss Ormerod is devoting herself, to the investigation
of the field, aud garden, and forest enemies of the
vegetable kiugdam, and has suggested several means
for preventing or lessening the sgverity of their
attacks. It has lately been s lid that many insect
marauders are killed or scaied away b.y_ a kerosine
emulsion ; a gallon of kerosine is mixed wrfch-three
pints of water and a pint an 1 a half of milk, and
churned into a butterine consistence. This is diluted
with twelve or sixteen times its weight of water, aud
has to be at once applied, because the component
parts separate if allowed to stand. W. Bancroft
writing in 1878, mentioned that he had with advantage
sown the Dolichos labial and Cajauus ludicus pulse
among the sugar-cane fields, with the object of
attracting the Ichneumon flies which destroy the
cane louse. On lauds which are cultivated on the
rotation system all parasites have to seek fresh
feeding-grourd once a twelvemonth or oftener, aud
are thus kept away for a considerable period, or left
to die iu the absence of their special food. Aud
the protection of insectivorous birds a:id bats has
been reoommended, with the hope of keeping down
the pests by their means. The snuit and rust, aud
yellow blast aud black blast are planters' names for
diseases of the caue which ueed scientific iuvestigatiou.
—Overland Mail,

The Indian Government Quinine factory sold, in
ten years, something like 75,233 lb, of the druj^.
In other words, supposing that each patient took
20 grains— sufficient in most cases to greatly
incommode all but the most hardened users — very
nearly 22 millions of lever-smitten people had
reason to ])less an " oppressive and tyrannical
luieaucracy." — 31. Mailt

NOTES ON BAMBOOS*

]?AMnoos may be propagated either by planting out
sets from existing clumps, or by sowing seed. If sets
are used they should be taken from vigorous two or
three year old shoots with their rhizomes, and trans-
ferred with soil about the roots to the pit in which
the bamboo is to grow. The stem should be cut back
above a joint at about 5 feet, aud the set planted
about 8 or 10 inches deep in the early rains, and
as quickly as possible after removal from the parent
clump. The new shoots will then be thrown up from
the eyes, and, all things being favourable, bamboos fit
for sale will be produced on good soil iu about six
or seven years. The stem may be removed and the
set laid flat under the soil, as is douo with sugar-
cane sets. This method has given good results, but
the sets were regularly watered from a well.

If seed is used, it should be put down in worked
earth, juit below the surface, and should be lightly
watered. It will throw up a shoot like grass, from
the eyes of which new shoots will be thrown up during
the first year. Iu the second year, other and larger
shoots will be thrown up, and so on, each year's shoots
being larger in girth and taller than those of the
preceding year until the full size of the culm of the
kind of bamboo is attained. With suthcient rainfall,
and iu a good but not too moist a soil, bamboos fit
for sale may be cut in from about seven to ten years.
On poor dry land, or on sandy soils, the period may
extend to twelve years or more. The seed used should
be not more than a year old, aud should be sown
very sparsely in the bed.

The first shoot that comes up from a seed never
grows into a bamboo. As already explained, the eyes
throw up shoots which develope into stems. Each
stem comes up as large in girth as it ever will be.
It first appears as a scaly cone covered with sheaths.
It then rapidly attains its full height, when the leaf
sheaths at its nodes either diminish in size or gradually
fall oif aud give place to leaves ; the stem branches
OM its upper half, and on completion of the branching
is matured. It does not grow any taller or stouter,
nor does it solidify or fill up inside year by year,
but stands iu the clump till it diies off and dies in
from twelve to fifteen years. Each stem matures under
ordinary circumstances in about twelve months. A
clump of bamboos of, .saj', twelve years of age is
thus a collection of stems from one to twelve years
of age aud of different sizes, the variety of size being
caused not by the annual increase of the older stems,
or of any individual stem, but by the fact that each
annual crop of shoots produces stems of greater diameter
and height than those of the preceding year until
the limit of the normal size of the species in both
height and girth is reached. That limit may be reached
in very favourable circumstauces iu five years, a shoot
of that year coming up, perhaps, two or more inches
in diameter in the first heavy rains, and rising by
October to 40 or 50 feet in height. The new shoot
not being branched at first is able to make its way
through its companions, and, as already said, it begins
branching on attaining its full height. All that has
lieen now written of the manner of growth applies
equally to stems produced from sets or from seed.
But a clump produced from seed has its normal period
of life before it, whereas a clump from a set has before
it only that portion of life period which had not been
already spent by the parent clump from which tha
set was taken. The hfe of an individual stem is by
no means the same as that of the clump to which it
belongs. Individual stems dieotf iu from ten to fifteen '
years, while the common life of the clump may extend
over from twenty to forty or fifty years. Some species
are shorter lived than others, and the duration of

* The above is taken from a very readable little
pamphlet by Colonel van Soraeren, Conservator of
Forests, Berar, and obtainable from Messrs. Thacker &
Co., Bombay. It consists of papers on Indian Forestry
originnlly published in the " Imlian Agriculturi.st " for
1881, intende<l by the author to answer, iu a popular
manner, the ciuestion " "What do you Forest officers
do?"— Ed. /. F.

Nov. r, 1886,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

345

the longer lived species is not accurately known, but
fifty years is probably the extreme. Individual stems
thus dry up and die in succession without seeding,
but the clump lives out its normal period, when it
flowers, seeds, and dies ; all stems then living, what-
ever their age or size, seeding and dying together.
As each stem matures separately, and, once matured,
will never becomes any larger, it may be thought that
when a clump has attained sufficient age to produce
stems fit for .sale, such clums might at once be cut
out and utilized. But this would stop the increase
of the clump, for it is only the young stems that are
less than four years old that send up fresh shoots
from their rhizomes. It thus follows that the younger
stems should be left till at least their fifth year,
while the older stems may be removed, for they are
matured are no longer reproducing themselves and
are saleable-

This peculiarity of the bamboo makes it a matter
of some little difliculty to decide whether a block of
bamboos is, or is not, being overworked. The con-
dition of the separate clumps, or of a large proportion
of them, must be studied, and measures must be adopted,
and enforced, to prevent the reproducing stems being
cut out. They are often among the finest in the
clump, and often al.so the handiest to the a.xe of the
cutter. They must be preserved, while if too many
old stems are left, the young shoots will be hampered
in their growth and become much twised in their lower
portions. Owing again to this peculiarity the closing
of blocks of bamboo forest against cutters for a term
of years may indeed protect the newer culms, but
will also lead to many of the older ones being wasted.
Each case must be settled on its own merits, but
where good supervision can be enforced the closing
of blocks is not advisable.

In Bengal, in parts of the North-West Provinces,
in the Deccan, in Mysore and Madras, and possibly
elsewhere in India, it is an article of common belief
among natives and acted up to in practice, that bamboos
cut in the bright half* of the month are sure to be
attacked by insects and to turn quickly to powder ;
while those felled in the dark half of the moon's
course will last for a long time. It is also held that
the new shoots are not sent up, even if rain falls,
till the thunderstorms that precede the monsoon have
set in ; and, further, that the more the thunder, the
larger will be the number of new shoots sent up that
year, — Indian Foreste}'.

THE VALUE OP SULPHATE OF AMMONIA
AS A MANUEE.

By Mr. F. J. Lloyd, F.O.S., Lecturer on Agriculture
at King's College, &c, London.

Writing to the Journal of Gas Lir/htiiuj, Mr. Lloyd,
F.OS., says :— Of late the Journal has contained some
interesting matter in reference to sulphate of ammonia.
Perhaps, therefore, a few words on this subject from
an agricultural point of view might not only prove
of interest to its readers, but, while dispelling from
their minds the false views regarding the future of
this product, enable them to rightly estimate the true
relative merits of nitrate of sisda and sulphate of
ammonia as manures. Each of these substances has
a manurial value ; and both owe this value to the
same fact, viz., that they contain nitrogen. In the
one the nitrogen exists combined with hydrogen as
ammonia; in the other, combined with oxygen as
nitric acid. It is a well-known fact that 100 parts
of commercial sulphate of ammonia, of 94 refraction,
such as is now usually sold for manurial purposes,

* An experiment to decide this, ,vas carried out at
Dehra in 1884, and the popular theory was fully con-
firmed, the 100 bamboos cut in the bright moon being
riddled by insect borings, whilst the 100 cut in the
dark half of the month are almost untouched. It
is probable that, the insects which cause the borings
only deposit eggs ou bright nights.— Ed. /, F.

contains about 20 parts or more of nitrogen ; while
the detrimental impurities, the various cyanides, which
used twelve or more years ago to be somewhat prevalent
in sulphates of aumonia, are now seldom met with.
On the other hand, commercial nitrate of soda, of
95 refraction, contains little less than .16 parts of
nitrogen. Hence, unless it can be shown that the
nitrogen in sulphate as ammonia is less valuable to
the farmer than the nitrogen in nitrate of soda, it
is evident that, so long as a ton of nitrate of soda
can be bought for £10 (which is approximately its
present price), sulphate of ammonia is worth £12-I0s.
a ton. Now, is the nitrogen of ammonia as valuable
to the farmer as the nitrogen of nitrate? In order
to answer this question, which lies at the root of
the wba'e subject, it is necessary to briefly state some
facts regarding the function of the roots of the plant,
atsd the properties of the soil. The majority of plants
take most, if not all their nitrogen from the soil
as nitric acid. There cin be no doubt, therefore,
that nitrate of soda will act upon vegatation more
rapidly than sulphate of ammonia. But it is equally
certain that every properly cultivated soil possessses
to a high degree the power of nitrification — that is,
it converts all nitrogenous substances gradually into
nitric acid. Ammonia is one of the substances most
easily so converted. Hence it is certain that, when
sulphate of ammonia is used as a manure, the soil
will gradually convert the ammonia into nitric acid,
and supply to the plant nitrogen really in the very
same form as is supplied by nitrate of soda. So far
it is evident, then, that nitrate of soda is only more
beneficial than sulphate of ammonia, inasmuch as it
acts upon vegetation more rapidly.

Next let us consider the action of the soil on
these two substances respectively. The late Dr.
Voelcker, among his valuable additions to agricultural
chemistry, left none more valuable than his researches
upon the action of soils on manures. By analysing
the water flowing from the drains of large fields,
where crops were cultivated under varying conditions
and manures, he proved that nitrate of soda is washed
rapidly through the soil by rain, so that a largo
qaantity of the nitrogen so applied to the soil is
never taken up by the roots of the plants ; and during
the time there is no crop growing the nitrate of
soda is being merely washed away. Not so with sul-
phate of ammonia. Only once or twice in all his
experiments, did he find ammonia being washed through
the soil into the drains, and then only in minute
quantities, and this was found to be the case even
where the land had been manured with 4 or 5 cwt.
of sulphate of ammonia — far larger quantities than
are usually employed. What then became of the
ammonia ? It was found that all fertile soils had
the power of retaining ammonia, which became only
gradually converted into nitric acid ; and then only,
and not until then, was it washed out of the soil.
Meanwhile any plant growing in the soil would be
well able to take up the nitric acid as it was formed,
so that less would be lost, than where the nitrogen
had been applied as nitrate of soda. If then nitrate
of soda is more active than sulphate of ammonia,
still the latter is more lasting and less wasteful. It
is evident that manure manufacturers are well aware
of this fact, for one seldom finds nitrate of soda
admixed in compound manures, except for special
and forcing purposes, while sulphate of ammonia is
largely and rightly used for mixing with pho.sphatic
manures. If I have made my meaning clear, it will
be evident that the producers of sulphate of ammonia
have nothing to fear, from theoretical reason, as to
the supposed inferiority of this manure, when com-
pared with nitrate of soda.

As might be anticipated, practice in the field con-
firms these scientific conclusions. Thus the renowned
experiments of Sir J. B. Lawes and Dr. Gilbert at
Rothamsted, and the experiments by the late Dr.
Voelcker at Woburn, for the Eoyal Agricultural Society,
yielded the following results, where equal quan-
tities of nitrogen were applied as sulphate of ammonia
and nitrate of soda respectively:—

35<^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, 1886.

EOTHAMSTED. WOliUKN.

Barley. Wheat. Barley. Wheat.
Sulphate of Ammonia —

Bushels 425 3li 41-'2 29-1

Weight per bushel (lb.) 45g 60| 52 4 571
Nitrate of >Soda —

Bushels 45 37| 426 28-9

Weights per bushel (lb.) 4S 59 523 50 9

Aver, of 13 yrs. Aver, of (i yrs.
At Kothamsted the ammonia salts wei e applied in the
autumn ; but at Woburn iu the spring. In both cases
the nitrate waa applied iu the spring ; and it is evident
that there is an apparent superiority of nitrate of soda
over sulphate of ammonia (and chlorides, for they
were mixed) at Rothanisted. I have, however, brought
forward these results because they illustrate very forci-
bly how much the value of a manure (and especially a
manure like sulphate of ammonia) depends upon the
time of its application. Undoubtedly the best time to
apply sulphate of ammonia is in the spring — early
spring — and in damp weather. And this is why the
Woburn experiments yield more favourable results.
Had the nitrate of soda at Rothamsted been applied
in the autumn, it would have been largely washed out
of the soil, and proved useless ; and then the sulphate
of ammonia would probably have yielded much larger
crops than the nitrate. The fact that the sulphate
remained in the land all through the winter, and
produced a crop very nearly as good as the nitrate
applied in .spring, is a strong proof of its great value
as a manure. In fact, the only legitimate conclusion
which can be drawn from the preceding is that the
nitrogen iu sulphate of ammonia is every whit as
valuable as the nitrogen in nitrate, provided the
sulphate be properly used. But there is another advant-
age possessed by sulphate of ammonia, as opposed to
a direct disadvantage under which nitrate of soda
labours. It is this: nitrate of soda will often prove
of more harm than good on stiff clay soils ; while
on such soils, sulphate of ammonia proves a most
valuable mauure. Indeed, there is no soil upon which
sulphate of ammonia has proved to have any injurious
effect ; while there is evidence of farmers having found
nitrate of soda injurious on their wet stiff clays.

It must not be supposed for a moment that in up-
holding the value of sulphate of ammonia, I wish to
detract from the value of nitrate of soda. E-ich has
its proper use ; and each to give good results, requires
care and judgement in its use. There are circumstances
and conditions when, as shown, sulphate of ammonia
is superior to nitrate of soda; but there are equally
circumstances and conditions, when nitrate of soda is
superior to sulphate of ammonia. This, however, i.s not
the place to enter into the conditions. All that I
wish to point out to gas companies and sulphate of
ammonia manufacturers is this — that sulphate of ammo-
nia is most valuable as a manure, and can be applied
in the majority of cases with as great advantage as
nitrate of soda. The unite value of nitrogen there-
fore in these two substances is (for the farmer ident-
ical ; so that the price of sulphate can never be above
that of nitrate of soda, except in so far as it contains
20 parts of nitrogen to 16 parts in nitrate of soda,
and the market value of these two articles must regu-
late one another.

But the question of demand mu.st be taken into
account ; into the supply of sulphate we need not in-
quire. What the manufacturers want is to create —
or rather to increase — the demand. Those interested
in nitrate of soda have already realised the importance
of this ; and hence, no doub*^, the tempting bait of
. £500 which has been offered for the best essay on
its advantages. That this essay will be in strict ac-
cordance with scientific and proved facts is certain
from the names of those who have been selected as
judges. Hence it will carry great weight and convic-
tion; and the impetus which will bo given, not only
in England, but throughout the world, to the use of
nitrate of soda as a manure, will be immense. Some
twelve months at least must elapse before the prize
essay can be published ; and the prodncors of sulphate
of ammonia will have none but themsi-lves to blame
if they refuse to utilise the interim in making more

widely known the advantages of sulphate of ammonia
as a mauure — advantages which are as real, and as
well proved, as any of those which can be brought
forward in favour of nitrate of soda. — North Uritish
Jtpuculturist.

♦

O.VKD.\MO!^s IN QuKENsL-VND. — The Acclimatisation
Society have just receivedj from India a small parcel
of the seeds of those valuable plants iVettarla caida-
Monium and E. rohu.sta. The cardamom, being of a purely
tropical nature, is unfitted for cultivatio.j in the sou-
thern portion of the colony ; but iu the far North
many favourable localities an be found where the
plant would luxuriate. The Society will therefore be
pleased to supply with a small quantity of seed any
of our Northern settlers who are desirous of giving
this plant a trial ; application should bo made to the
overseer, Bowen Park. It may be interesting to note
that a plant of iJ. /■oliustd was wintered at Bowen Park
(in the bush-house) without any protection, the lowest
temperature being 30°. This proves the plant to be
much hardier than is generally supposed, although the
higher the temperature the more success will attend
its culture. — Qncensla/ider.

The Sub.)Ect of Tropical Frdits, and a probable
future market for them, is oneof gre it moment to Queens-
land settlers ; therefore, we have watched with in-
terest the doings of the sister colonies in their ex-
perimental shipments of fruit to Europe, and have
from time to time informed our readers of the success
or otherwise of these ventures. Considerable interest
also has been felt in Britain at this sight of splendid
fresh fruit " all the way from Australia." The other
of the British colonies have not been behind and also
iu forwarding fruits, and notably from the West
Indies have fine specimens of tropical fruits been
sent. Being the nearest colony possessing a tropical
climate, the West Indies will naturally supply the
English market with pineapples, bananas, mangoes,
&c.; still there is abundant room for Queensland com-
petition, and the ease and success with which such
a perishable fruit as the banana can now by the aid
of cool store-rooms and swift steamers be landed in
London argues well for a similar success from this
colony, though the distance is somewhat greater.
The taste for tropical fruits is one which increases
the more they are eaten. Few people think much
even of the banana the first time it is tasted, but
soon the fruit "becomes almost a necessity. The same
with mangoes, &c. Once let the liking for these
fruits get hold of the populous countries of the
temperate portions of the world, and the demand for
them will be insatiable. — Queenslcouler.

Peermaad. — A correspondent wrii.es: — "The rise in
the coffee market has cheered planters both iu this
district as elsewhere, but owing to the transformation
of many coffee properties into tea and cinchona, there
are not many proprietors who will benefit by the rise
To those a golden future is in store, as the rise, from
all accounts, promises to be a permanent one. Tea
cultivation is increasing, and that too in the face of a
fall on the market of 20 to 25 per cent, and a good
deal of tea finds its way down to the Coast. Tea and
cinchona have done much to save planters here from
shipwreck, and were it not for the illiberal condition
of the Travancore cardamom monopoly, that product
would also have materially assisted them, as it grows
well iu the forests and belts attached to estates.
Under the present rule, growers have to hand over
their crops to Government agents, au<l when the card-
amoms, are sold receive one third of the value for
their expense and trouble. This rule is, however a
dead letter, and the crop picked by planters nearly a
year since has not been yet settled for, while the Gov-
ernment has realized on the sale as far back as April,
lender these circumstances, it is not to be wondered
at that planters scarcely care to work their holdings,
and the cultivation of the spice must eventually be
given up. The fault does not appear to be at the
door of the manager of the department, who is a
well meaning man and anxious to do his best for the
growers, but the blame seems to rest with the up^er
admiuistratora of the State." — Jtfadras Mail.

NoVi u t

.1

^Hfl tRdl*f^AL AGRICOLtl/RlB''T.

55f

THE TEA PLANTEll'S MANUAL*.

2otIi October 1886.

"The Tea Planter's Manual" of Mr. T. C. Owen
which has lately been issued from the Press is
a useful little book, and comes to meet a much
felt want. With tea as its topic, it has a wide
horizon, and should have a wide circle of readers.
Every manner of subject connected with our new
product is more or less discussed, and the budding
tea planter who is all alive for information and
has an insatiable appetite for "wrinkles" as well
as the man who poses as an authority and is
above such things, may find in its pages something
instructive to the one, and interesting to the other.

The book is unambitious; "more a compilation of
the opinions of others, and the results they have arriv-
ed at than an original work" is part of the modest
preface which introduces the reader to the " Manual."

Still Mr. Owen does not efface himself when in
the presence of our most authoritative names, but
objects to their finding when he sees due cause—
" checks up" in the planter's vernacular — and in so
domg he but evinces the every day characteristic
of the class to which he belongs, who having ac-
quired their knowledge in the school of experience
are unwilling at the bidding of any to resign the
heritage won therefrom.

In works of this' kind there are several classes —
compilations and compilations in fact — and those of
my readers who are acquainted with an ambitious
London book entitled " Tropical Agriculture " will,
when comparing it with " The Tea Planters' Manual"
appreciate the difference I speak of. The former
is a thing of paste and scissors, bundled together
any way, contradictory, confusing, and unsafe;
whereas the "Tea Planters' Manual" — albeit largely
the work of the paste pot and cuttings — has like
the famous artist's paints, a mixture of brain
therewith, and is all the more valuable for the
addition. It is in fact a practical treatise from a
practical man.

Yet it is not perfect and has some sins of omission,
which might be remedied in another edition.

For example, in the estimate for opening 200
acres there is an item for roads and drains, and
we can suppose a student of the " Manual"
anxious to get some information as to the best
kind of roads to cut. K15 an acre is allowed for
reading and draining ; but when he turns to the
chapter on " Field cultivation," he finds nothing
whatever to guide him regardiag roads except
a few general statements as to the desirability
" to make all portions of the estate as readily
accessible as possible." The information about
the drains is complete enough ; " good 18-inch
drains at from 30 to 50 feet apart according to
the character of the land, at a gradient of 1 in
15 ft." What I complain of is that similar definite
information has not also been given regarding
the roads. In a Manual there should be no
taking for granted. A similar objection applies to the
item under nurseries. It runs as follows : — " Nurseries
and cost of "25 maunds seed which should have
been laid down previously 112,000." Now how is
this to be a guide to any one? How much for
seed? How much for nurseries ? Again I turu back
to the chapter on " Seed and Nurseries," and al-
though there is no reason to complain of the
general information in this case, which indeed is
very full, still the cost of making beds, planting, &c.,
Is not given. All you have to guide you as to cost
is the remark, " I do not think E2 per 1,000 is t«o
high an allowance for the cost of raising good plants
including cosi of making a nursery." What a

""♦By T. C. Owen; published by A. M, «c J. Fergusuu,
. Qbscmr Office, Colombo, 198(5,

student of the "Manual " wants is detailed ifaform-
ation which will be useful to him in his work aS
it progresses day by day, although the other is
not without its value. To the experienced planter
details are not so important,, yet even he cannot
carry about in his head the cost of everything,
and I do not think that a Manual can be too
explicit or too full. One man wants one thing and
one another, and if both knew the whereabouts to
enquire for everthing, they would go there.

The book has two coloured plans of factories
drawn to a scale, which must have added very much
to the cost of the " Manual," more I think, than they
are worth : and although they help to wear your book
out earlier than it otherwise should, still when you
add to the plates the figures estimated to erect such
a building — and remember what such estimates are
worth, those who don't care for them as plans, can
regard them as illustrations of what is expected from
the Ceylon planter, and more especially from the
favourite product, to the cultivation of which he is
now so devotedly attached. May it prove a true
prophecy.

There is very much in the " Manual " to which
I should like to refer, but already I am near
my limit, and must deny myself the pleasure. If I
here objected to some things, it is not that I do
not appreciate this new addition to the Ceylon
Planting Manuals : but rather that I should see its
present value enhanced. The book i^ stuffed full
of information, and the wonder is not that there
are some omissions, but that these omissions are so
few. As an " Enquire Within " for everything about
tea, I would commend it. Peppekcokn.

Dr. H. J. Fox announces, in the St. Louis Medical
Journal, that creosote is almost a certain cure for
erysipelas, for he has treated some hundreds of
cases with only one fatal result. The affected parts
are kept constantly covered with cloths soaked in a
solution of creosote in water — six to twenty drops of
creosote to one ounce of water ; or a poultice may
be formed by stirring ground elm into the solution
so as to make a paste, — Aladrax Mail.

Advantages of Crown Gkaftinc}. — By adopting
crown grafting, almost all the advantages of budding
upon single stocks are secured, and in this way part
of the work can be done in the winter, and not all
rushed into the hurry and bustle of summer. In crown
grafting it is best to use good, first-class stocks shorten-
ing the tap root a Httle, leaving 9 to 10 inches of
root, and use scions shorter than piece-root grafting,
say about 3 inches, and make the splice or union
just at the crown or collar of the seedling. Plant
the graft about 1 inch below the joint, leaving 2
inches of it above ground. Should any of the scions
fail, the seedhng will throw up a sucker, which can
be budded the same fall, and thus have nearly a
perfect stand. — N. H. Aluungh. — Journcd of Tore st it/.

Lemon.— The Gardeners'' Chronicle says :— The lemon
plant, or sweet-scented verbena of our gardens (Aloysia
citriodra), holds a foremost place among Spanish herbs,
Every leaf of it is treasured and dried for winter
use, and it is regarded as the finest cordial and sto-
machic in the world. It is taken in two ways either
made into a decoction with hot water and sugar and
drunk cold as a refrtsco and tonic, or, better still,
with the morning and evening cup of tea. Put a sprig
of lemon verbena, say five or six leaves, into the tea-
cup, and pour the tea upon it ; you will never suffer
from flatulence, never be made nervous, never have
cholera, diarrh(ua, or loss of appetite. Besides, the
flavour is simply delicious; no one who has drunk
their Pekoe with it, will ever again drink it without
a sprig of lemon verbena. It may notjibe generally
known to our readers that some of our most success*
ful tea mixers have ac(iuired fame by using the leaves,
of this plant amongst their teat.,—Flantcr aiul Farmer
—["Is that 80/" fw they say in America,— Ed-1

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURISt, [Nov. i, 1^86.

35^

iLXJimU iMOj ijj|r*i— .1^— _ ■ . I . . , ' ■■■;!!!!!

iNsECtiCiDES are always a subject of more than
passing interest to cultivators, for they are brought
directly face to face with these pests experimentally.
A new and very promising one consists of camphor
dissolved in methylated spirits to saturation, and mixed
with soft soap to the consistence of cream. When
diluted so as to be fit for use with a .syringe, this
has been found an efficacious substitute for fumigation
in the case of mealy bug, scale, red spider, &c. &c.,
—Planter and Fanner.— [Too expensive on a large
scale, we fear. — Ed.]

Fink Sale of Oeylon Hybrid Cinchona J3ark.— We
have lately been favored with an in.spection of an account
sales of 6,124 lb. of bark from the Broughton estate, in
Haputale, which netted, after paying all charges, £308
6s 5d, or about Is a lb. nett. One lot of Hybrid renewed
bark analyzed 3'72 per cent, sulphate of quinine, and
realized Is 3d. per lb., whilst another lot of renewed
Hybrid analyzed as much as 5*73 sulphate of quinine, and
fetched Is 8d. per lb. These fine hybrid trees which
are planted at an altitude of about 5,000 feet, are
rohustas of the most vigorous and robust type, and
are naturally highly prized by the proprietor of the
Broughton estate, to whom they must be a little
gold mine.— Local " Times."

Ceylon Tea.— The BritishTrade Journal states :—
The Ceylon Tea Agency, Thames Street Chambers, E.
C, are offering to the public, in packet form,
the "Colombo" brand of pure Ceylon tea. These
lead packages, of various quantities, are carefully
got up for the retail trade, each bearing the
trade-mark of the company on a neat wrapper.
The tea is selected from the best gardens, and
possesses those qualities for which tea is growing
in favour in this country. The leaf is free from
mineral or other facing matter, clean, well-formed
and free from dust, while its flavour and colour
are excellent. It should need but little effort to
induce the British consumer to patronise so good an
article offered at so reasonable a price.

Qdinine IK .Japan. — Vice-Consul Eussell Robertson
writes from Yokohama :— The low prices ruling i:i
Europe for quinine have tended greatly to increase
the consumption here, and continental manufac-
turers, by reason of competition, have been bid-
ding for the trade by coming into the market
direct themselves to supply the demand. Lead-
ing French and German makers have their agents
here, and consequently prices that have been ruling
during the year have not offered any inducement
for resident business importers. The English
makers have not been so pushing, and their quinine
is now almost unknown in this market. — Chemist
and Druggist.

How Sunflowers are Usefpl.— Th's plant is a vig-
orous grower and has been extolled as a preventive
of malarial diseases. The seed affords excellent food
for hens and also for horses. It is said that there
is no kind of feed that will keep horses in health,
give them a sleek appearance, and make them lively
and spirited like the seed of the sunflower, feeding
half a pint night and morning. It is particularly re-
commended for giving a horse power of endurance,
being fed half a pint night and morning with other
feed. The stalks and heads, after theseed is worked out,
also make good material for fires, and are especially
conveaient in summer when a quick fire is desired
and an enduring heat is not wanted. In their growth
they make a showy appearance about dwellings and
give an agreeable fragrance to the air. The latest
direction in the line of utilization of the sunflower
is the planting of a seed in a place at the proper
distances, so that the stalks as they grow will serve
as been poles. We have seen them started in that
way this season, and as the stalks grow the leaves
are reinovcd, thus forming an excellent stalk for the
beans, but what the effect will be upon them re-
Jfiains to be seen. The roots must tax the feeding
capacity of the sojl quite haa.vily.—Gcrmcintow/t Tth-
araph,

PLANTING IN WYNAAD.

fFrom Annual Report of Wynaad P. A.)

We have been ablj' represented on the Coffee Oommit-
tee of the Colonial Exhibition byl\lr. H. Pasteur. As you
are all aware, he has for many years fought against the
legalised adulteration of coffee, and though he has
been unable to get Government to interfere in thd
matter, I liope that great good will result from his
Committee's efforts to expose in a small pamphlet
(thousands of which were distributed at the Ex-
hibition), the frauds of the retail trade, and
also from their sale of pure Indian coffec-i. We
are indebted to Mr. Jowitt and his colleagues for
an exhaustive report on the causes of colour or want
of colour in coffee, which, if the result is not ([uite
satisfactory, is from no fault of theirs, but from the
difficulties inherent in the nature of the enquiry- How-
ever that it has been appreciated by the outside pub-
lic is apparent from the numerous requests that I have
had for copies. We are now carrying out experiments
in barking 0. Ledgeriana, which I hope will prove of
general utility, and I only regret that Government
has not seen its way to substantiate its avowed
' raison d' etre ' as a cinchona planter by assisting us
with free, or at any rate cost price, analyses. I must
congratulate you on our improved prospects. During
the struggle of the last years I know that I, and I
daresay many others among you, have felt that an-
other bad year might be my last in the district,
and indeed if you only compare a list of our members
of 1880 with one of today, you will see how many
good friends have had to succumb. But at last we
stand in the clear dawn of better times. That it is
so as regards coffee, the following facts and
figures which Mr. Pasteur has very kiudly sent
to me will I think, convince you. During 1885-
86, for the first time for many years, the con-
sumption of the world has overtaken the production,
and stocks in all European ports have fallen
nearly 70,000 tons. On the 1st Sept. last they
stood at 146,000 tons, against 217,500 tons on the
1st Sept. 1885. This is the lowest limit that has
been reached since 1881, and in that year prices ranged
from OSs to 85s. The immediate future depends on
this coming Brazilian crop, which is variously estimated
from 380,000 to 300,000 tons. If the latter estimate
prove the right one, as is generally expected, stocks
must fall another 70,000 tons, and I need hardly point
out to you that this could not happen without an
extraordinary rise in prices. If coffee was to reach
110s or 120s per cwt. again, as in the days of 1875,
with the present rate of exchange, we who have tried
over the bad times should reap a golden harvest. The
prospects of cinchona are also good. The two great
scares of these latter days have ended in nought. The
story of an artificial preparation of quinine, which was
to .reduce the price to 3d per oz., has ended in a
ridiculous fiasco, and we have the satisfaction of know-
ing that even if they do succeed in preparing quinine
synthetically it is sure to be an expensive process.
As regards the 175,000 acres scare from Java, ic is
pronounced by people who ought to know as a gross
exaggeration, I now beg to submit the accounts for
the year, and lay my resignation in your hands."—
Madras Mail,

OnoTON-OiL PLANTH.—Wattagama, 2(lth Oct.— The
caterpillar which proved so destructive to the croton
seems to have disappeared and along with it the fear
that the tea would suffer from the same cause, so that
it is hardly to be wondered at that, the proposal to root
out the croton trees and compensate the growers
should have been lost sight of. I do not know
whether croton grower.? would look with a more
favourable eye on this proposal, than on their trees,
now that they are again covered with leaf and
showing signs of blossom. An authoritative and
regular quotation of the price of crolou seedsj would

be of advantage in making a deci^pion,

Nov. t) i8S6.j

fHHI TiOPiCAh AO^ICULtU^IST.

353

WATTLE CULTIVATIdN.

We and our readers are indebted to " W. R. T.''
(see page 359) for the interesting information that
there are wattle trees (Acacia dcciiirens) growing in
Nuwara Eliya, 30 feet high at 25 to 20 months from
the seed ! We had previously heard from Mr. Nock,
who showed us at Hakgalla, what he regarded as
the true " golden wattle," that it was rare, if it
existed at all, amongst the trees grown in Nuwara
Eliya and on estates. But we did not understand
Mr. Nock, to impeach the value as bark-yielding
plants of the species which are now so common
here. The truth is, that the number of acacias
in Australia is very large and probably the majority
'Of them yield yellow blossems and are popularly
known as " golden wattles." We shall never forget
the glorious golden borders of the Mitchell river
as we steamed up its channel to Bairnsdale eii
route to the Gipps Land Lakes, comparable, with
their surrounding mountains, to the Loch Lomond
district in Scotland. The varieties of acacias in
the Melbourne Botanic Gardens, some of them
exquisitely beautiful, is quite bewildering and many
Australians are as much puzzled as we in Ceylon
can be to distinguish the different varieties. This
is shown by the extract from the Aiititralusiaii,
one of the foremost papers of Australia, to which
our correspondent refers as appearing in the
Tropical Agrivultnrist of 1.S81-82. We quote the
note by the agricultural editor of that paper to a
letter making enquiries as to species and varieties ; —

[The real black wattle, or true tanning variety, is
the acacia delbata. The silver wattle, which is con-
sidered inferior to. the black, is the acacia niollissima,
which can be easily distiguished by the silver ap-
pearance of the under part of the leaf, and the
glaucous appearance of the bark ; the flowers of the
latter are a bright yellow, that of the former a
dirty yellow. The silver wattle is in general found
on the banks of creeks the , black wattle on high dry
ground. The black has rough bark, the silver being
comparatively speaking smooth. The seed, so long as
it is good, may be gathered from any tree. — Ed].
If ■ that information is misleading, it was given not
by us, but by one of the best authorities in the
land of the wattle, and it is not fair to warn
persons against " misleading statements in the
T. A." which are quotations, even if they were
misleading, which we are not prepared to admit.
Por a note on page 2.jl of the volume referred to
we are personally responsible. It runs thus : —

[All the wattles are acacias : the black wattle is
..4. uffius or iiivllistiima. It propagates only too readily
from the roots, spreading all around, and being diffi-
cult to keep within bounds : a very deep trench must
be cut for the purpose. It does not need topping, but
grows very fast and shrubby, much more so than the
gum. It is an excellent break-wind. — En.]
What is there misleading in this ? Of course, there is
" blackwood '" as well as " black wattle," the former a
tree the latter a large shrub. We did not speak of the
value of the black wattle for bark but as a " break-
wind," and what our correspondent says about the
rapid growth of the trees in Nuwara Eliya shews how
valuable tlie wattles are calculated to be as shelter
belts and we should say for firewood for tea fur-
naces. But our personal experience induces us to
warn planters not to plant wattles amongst tea.
Some were inadvertently so planted out on Abbots-
ford and the result has been that in the
cold, drizzly, windy weather which prevailed
some weeks ago, the wattles shed their leaves, the tea
bushes immediately around them following suit. The
wattles have not, like the symplocos, killed the tea
bushes but given them a shock. The wattles will,
of course, be removed. They and gums and almost
all other trees, ought to be cultivated in separate
Jgts and not amongst \,q?,--01 course tbg KH"]

per ton of the Indian Afjriculturist was a gross
error for £8, which we ought to have corrected
in taking the paragrapli over. Wo scarcely think
it would pay in Ceylon, to grow any of the wattles
for the sake of the bark, but experiments in this
direction might well be tried on the patanas around
Hakgala and in Nuwara Eliya by Mr. Nock, from
whom a paper on the whole subject would bo
valuable.

We take this opportunity of again (juoting the
reliable information given by Mr. Gamble in hig
Manual of the Timber Trees of India, regarding
the species of Australian acacias hitherto cul-
tivated in India. From the information thus
given, it will be seen that A. dcalbata is
the silver wattle ; A. melanoxijlon is the
Australian blackwood ; while A. decurrem, so
common in Ceylon 'is the black wattle. A.
pijrnantha is the broad leaf or golden wattle,
which is aaid to be the most valuable for gum
and tanners' bark. If this species has not been
supplied by Australian seedsmen, it is matter for
surprise. But any one specially interested in the
subject and desirous of trying experiments, might
apply direct to Mr. Brown, the head of the Forest
Department in South Australia, or to Mr. Wm.
Ferguson, Forestor of Victoria. Baron von Mueller,
too, and Messrs. Guillefoyle and Moore of the Mel-
bourne and Sydney Botanic Gardens, would readily
give information and aid. ;\tr. Gamble writes : —

A. dealbata, Link,: Benth. Fl. Austr. ii. 415 : Brandis
180. The Silver Wattle.

A tree f-prcadiug rapidly by numerous root-suckers
The wood i.s moderately hard, light brown,, but warps
considerably. Pores !^nlall, often in short linear groups.
Medullary rays short, fine and moderately broad, well
marked on a radial section,

Indigenous in New South Wales, Victoria and Tar-
mania. Introduce! on the Nilgiris, and now natur-
alised siuce 1810.

The wood is extensively used in Australia for timber,
and the bark for tanning. It is being tried in plant-
ations on the hills of the TuDJab, North- Western
rrovinces and Sikkim. Our .specimen was cut from
a tree 11 y^-ars old and -16 feet high, and was about
12 inches in diameter. Colonel Betldome, in bis re-
port on the Nilgiri plantations of April 1S78, says that
this Wattle grows very readily from the .stool, but
comes up in a dense mass of .^niall lwi--like stems
so that it can only be depended on for very small
firewood.

A. meianoxylou, II. Br.; Benth. Fl. Austr. ii. 415.;
Brandis 180. Australian Blackwood. A large tree with
hard and durable wood ; heartvvood dark brown and
beautifully mottled, soft, shining, eveu-graiued ; porea
mostly oval, moderate-sized and divided into compart-
ments conspicuously marked on a vertical section.
Medullary rays short and fine.

New South ^yale', Victoria, Tasmania and South
Australia. Introduced on the Nilgiris since 1810 and
no.v completely naturalised. Also being grown in
the hill.i of the Punjab, Kumauu and Sikkim.

With regard to its r^to of growth, Colonel Bcddorae,
in his report of April 1878 on the Nilgiri plantations,
says tint in the ]31eakliouse plantation, Wellington,
the average girth of the trees in the portion which
is 2L to 22 years olJ, taken from the measurement
of 30 trees as they came, was 35 inches at 6 feet
from tlic ground (about 4 rings per inch of radius), the
girth of some of the largest trees being 50, 63, 5U,
40 and 41 inches. Our specimeu was cue fioma tree,.
20 years oM and 90 feet high ; it gave a plank 2 feet
broal. The wood seenls to be regarded on th? Nil-
giris as very inferior to that of i:ucitli/i>tiis irlafmus,
either for lirber or firewood; its growth is much
slower and it is attacks 1 by spccias of Ltrintka-'i
whijh uai-asites in time kill the trei!. It doei H t Cop-?
pice well, unless cut very yowog,

S54

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Nov. 1, 1886.

Wciglit, aRcording to Mr. Newbery (Timbers of Vic-
lori.i, 1,.S77,) 41 to 4Slb. per cubic foot; our specimen
gives 'Mi il).

It is useil in Australia for cabinet work, coach-
buiUliug, railway carringcs and agricultural imple-
ment.-; on the Nilgiris chiefly for firewood. Its bark
is used for tanuing

JJesid'-s A. tacldiioxyloii and .4. (Jealhata, there are
several other species of Watile, some of which are cul-
tivated in India. A. (Iccinreiis, Willd., the "Common"
or '-Elack " "Wattle, is a small or medium-sized tree;
liirger in moist localities. According to l\Ir. Newbery,
the wood weighs 45 to 4S ib per cubic foot. It is being
grown in several places in India. A. pi/cna)i1Iia, Hth.,
the "Golden" or -'Eroad-leaf " Wattle, is the most
valuable species for tanner's bark ai\d gum. Its wood
weighs r)l"5 lb per cubic foot. A.howolojihiiUa, A. Cunn.,
is the Myallwood, a small tree with a hard, dark wood
with the scent of violets.

Wattles grow in almost any soil, but their growth
is best in loo.so, sandy places or where the surface has
been broken for agricvdtural or other purposes. It
is well, before sowing the seed, to soak it for a short
time in warm water ; this moistens the outer shell
and inducts more speedy germination. The seeds
generally germirate in from 7 to 10 days, iind are
apt to damp cff if too carelessly watered.

GOW'S TEA WITHEEINCI MACHINE.

The experimental machine, which we cannot
honestly call " a thing of beauty," for, externally
it presents the appearance of a revolving horse
box, perforated at intervals — was tried today in
the presence of a large number of gentlemen in-
terested : merchants, brokers and tea-tasters,
planters, members of the local press, Ac. The
tea leaf used was only very partially witliered by
atmospheric air, was somewhat heated and con-
tained a good deal of haujii or hard leaf. The
quantity iilled in was 200 lb., and the time occu-
pied in withering was, as nearly as possible
one hour. Good judges pronounced the leaf,
when taken out, well withered and it must
have gone pretty far in the process of fer-
mentation, tor it felt quite hot to the touch.
Mr. Gow attracted attention to the bright appear-
ance of the pekoe tips, although a good propor-
tion of the banjy leaf was but partially affected
by the withering process. The verdict of a tea-
taster was, " The withering is well enough : let us
see what the quality of the tea will be." We
waited long enough to see the withered and heated
tea put into one of Jackson's rollers, and
to have our attention attracted by Mr. Gow
to the readiness with which the roller acted on
leaf withered in his machine. We were, therefore,
.turj'rised to hear him say that he wished to give
tlie leaf an hour's rolling. Hearing this, we came
away to write this paragraph (lime, 20 minutes to
1, the experiment liaving commenced shortly after
11), but .at Mr, Gow's request we promised to go
"back again," which promise we hoi)c to be able
to fult't!. ,» . , ,

Meantime we may suy that liic withering nmchlne
\\[\\ require motive power to cause the huge
(liui'i lo revolve, and to drive it into a stream of
hot nil' which, wiiJi the moisture from the leaf,
escnpc; throtigh row^i of perforations at intervals
over tiio surface. There is nothing new in this
api>li(atio!i of hot air, so t]iat the distinguishing
l^rinciplc of Mr. Gow's machine is avowedly bor-
rowed from thoFC original tea mauufacLurers, the
Chinese. To imitate the celestial process of flap-
ping the tea leaf between the hands, a series of
wooden fans or Mappers, working on hinges, is
placed inside tiie dium, by wliich the leaves are
f-truck in mid air (the liot air of the interior) as
the drum revolves, Ju tliis Dapping prgcess tlie

cells of the leaves are broken and fermentation is
thus added to withering, both of which actions
would be considered fatal to the tea in the ordin-
ary process of withering, thinly spread on floors or
shelves or webs, by means of atmospheric air, or
by air, slightly warmed by the heat from
siroccos or other driers. As Mr. Gow claims as a dis-
tinct, indeed the distinguishing merit of his inven-
tion, the cell-breaking and partial fermentation so
much dreaded by tea manufacturers who use the
ordinary process of withering, we and others shall,
of course, wait with great interest the final result
of today's experiment and of the more perfect
carrying-out of the process by the finished machines
which are shortly expected in the island. The
heat, we ought to have stated, was 140^ when the
leaf was put into the witherer ; it rose spedily, after
the door at the end was shut, to 160*
and this was the height sustained until
towards the end when Mr. Gow said he wished to
see it up to 180^ Having heard so much of the
cell breaking, we confess we were somewhat
surprised to see how little in external appearance
and to the feel, but for the great heat, the
withered and partially fermented leaf differed from
leaf withered by being spread at the rate of 1 lb. of
green leaf to (5 feet of superficial space and operated
on merely by atmospheric air of a shade temperature
as is usually the case. When we are satisfied that leaf
withered by Mr. Gow's process, makes good tea ; then
the (question will arise how far the withering machines
(and at what comparative cost) will supersede the
enormous stores, with numerous floors and multitudi-
nous Hessian web shelves, which are now deemed
necessary for withering purposes. Of course longer
machines can be built to take in more than 200 lb.
at a fill and we suppose much less time than
the hour occupied today, will suffice for the
withering process. If the work is well done and
speedily, then, of course, will arise the question
of price. Our impression at present is that Gow's
withering machines are not so much likely to super
sede withering floors and webs (Mr, Gow prefers
wire or small mesh fishing nets,) as to prove
useful adjuncts to existing appliances in high and
cold or VBry wet districts. In the Kelani Valley,
too frequently, the heat of the atmosphere is so
intense, that the tea leaf is withered prematurely.
In wet and cold districts on the other hand, planters
this past season especially were driven almost to des-
pair by seeing their leaf still unwitheredon the fourth
and even the fifth day after plucking. It would
seem that it is in the latter class of places that
Gow's Witherer, if really a success and attainable
at a moderate cost, is likely to be chiefly used,

■!-Lj p. )ii. We have now to add that the tea,
which was not fermented in the usual fashion
before being put into the roller, took a very
good roll. It was then ronstcd under diOiculties,
by means of two traya and the sloping lube of
an American Evaporator, All the tea showed a
fine colour in leaf and cup, and that which was
perfectly dried gave a good liquor. In answer to
our remark that it was " very fair tea under
the circumstances," a leading Colombo Tea Taster
said, " It is very good tea under the circum-
stonces." Samples are to be sent to the brokci'3
and to the press, so that we shafl be able in a
succeeding issue to give the final verdict,

■*•

THE ,SALE 01' CEYLON TEA IN LONDON-
The information sent to us by our London Cor-
respondent by this mail detailing arrangements
that have been made by well known Ceylon men
for the sale of our island teas in the Metropolis
and elsewhere throughout England will be deei^pcl

Nov. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

555

satisfactory without doubt, as being a step in the
clirection we have alwaj-s desired to see followed.
But the particular case instanced is, after all, but a
single step, and can scarcely be held to fultill ((// the
requirements of the position. The names of the
gentlemen by whom this new venture is supported will
certainly be a sufficient guarantee that, under their
auspices, all will be done that can be done by a
limited Association. But, while expressing this
amount of satisfaction we cannot but feel that, if
we are to obtain all the success that we desire
towards the assurance that tea of a high quality
shall always with certainty be obtainable by English
cc'nsumers, it will have to be secured by means
far more extended than are likely, to be at the
command of the Ceylon Tea growers Company,
Limited.

It is to a Syndicate of the main body of those
interested in tea-growing in the colony that we
must look for the full realization of our desires.
It must be by compact action that such will
be obtained ; by the sinking of rivalry and un-
worthy competition such as we fear we are
not likely to be altogether free from when priv-
ate interests are held paramount to the public
good. Such a Syndicate has been much discussed
in our columns. Our planters one and all should
give it their support, and they must do so if
they hope to see the chicanery of the retail grocer
defeated, and to convey assurance to the Home
consumer that what he purchases as pure Ceylon
tea is what it is represented to be. We by no
means undervalue the possible result to the
enterprize now started. "We have no doubt that
the article it will submit for sale to the English
public will be all that the best well wishers for
the prosperity of this colony could desire. But
thty are bound in the very nature of things to
have to submit to a competition by unscrupulous
parties. Unless that competition can be etfec-
Kially wiped out, such complaints as have of
late been addressed to us by several correspond-
ents are not likely to escape the need for re-
petition. It is only, as we have said, by quite a
ciushing influence being brought to bear, that
the sale of inferior and impure teas which has
bi ought our produce into comparative disrepute
can be altogether stopped.

We think therefore that, valuable as this newagency
is likely to prove, its establishment ought not to in-
duce our planting community to slacken their efforts
to effect such a desired combination as we have re-
ferred to. It will be seen from what our London
correspondent writes that, as with previously formed
agencies, it is the intention to practically limit its
sale, so far as the primary elfort of the Associa-
tion goes, to those of the produce of particular
estates. When that sale passes the linnts of the
producing powers of those particular estates, re-
course will have to be made to purchase in the
open market to make up the deficiency of supply.
To ensure that purchases so made, shall be of
corresponding quality to that of the produce of
the estates concerned, it must manifestly be neces-
sary to ensure that the agents employed are not
alone perfectly honest but also entirely competent.
Human nature being but what it is, we are
driven to ask ourselves the question whether sucli
ensurance can invariably be guaranteed ? Even a
single failure to obtain ' those qualities may
altogether undo all or nearly all the good the
Ceylon Tea Growers Comimny may on other oc-
casions have effected.

Now, if the wliole body, or the larger propor-
tion, of Ceylon Tea Instates was represented by
a Syndioatc entirely representing their interests,
it is scarcely within the bounds of probability

that any demand would be in excess of the guar-
anteed supply by men who would have a direct
personal interest in the quality of the supplies.
In fact the interest which, in the case of the
Ceylon Tea Growers Company, is centred in
comparatively a few individuals, would be extended
to a representative body so large and so influ-
ential that shortcomings such as we have of late
had reason to complain of, could scarcely be
dreaded. Under no circumstances hardly— iri sucls
a case,— would resort have to be had to promis-
cuous purchases in the open market. Such a
course, as we have pointed out, is always likely
to prove the weak point in the armour of those
who are acting as private individuals only. We
wish the new concern every possible success, and
appreciate the efforts and intentions of those who
have devised it and are bringing it to a practical
issue. But nevertheless do we feel that it. is
scarcely by such an agency, or by any multipKc-
ation of such agencies, that the peculiar needs of
Ceylon Tea Estate proprietors can be met.

We have alone and specially noticed the Ceylon
Tea Growers' Company, because it seems to some
extent to be a rival to the proposed Syndicate,
though on a much narrower basis ; but this
Company is by no means the only one affecting
our teas of which the present mail has brought
us information. Wa have besides the prospectus
of "The Ceylon Pure Produce Company Limited "
(£20,000 in 4,000 shares of £5 each) with such
well-known names on the list of directors as
Messrs. Dobree, li. W. Forbes, John Hamilton,
.1. H. Eobcrts (S. Eucker A Co.) and C. ,]. Scott,
"This Company is formed" — says the prospectus
— "for the purpo.se of supplying the Public with
pure and genuine Ceylon tea, and to combine
with it also the sale of pure coffee." Further we read :

" The intention is to open p, Central Depot or Ware-
house in London, and, as opportunities olfer, to
establish Branch Depots or Agencies in different
parts of London and the Provincial towns, and to
adopt all tiie necessary sources and means for publi-
city. It is intended to make the entire purchases ni the
London ftlarket from all the importations as brought
forward. In adopting this course continued uniformity
of each description sold by the Company can thus
be ensured, intead of depending always and solely
on any particular estate, the quality from winch
may vary season by season. No other than Ceylon
tea will be bought or sold by the Company. It
would be premature to form any calculation as to
the quantity of tea likely to pass through the
Company's sources of disposal, but estimating tho
amount at only a quarter of a million of pounds
weight, the profit would amply justify the expecta-
tion of a 'very good dividend. The sale of Colfeo
also should produce very satisfactory results."

Then our advertising columns have for some time
shown that the " Direct Tea Supply Association
of India and China (Limited) " claims the atten-
tion of Ceylon planters having 40 agencies for the
delivery of tea direct to consumers. This mail too
has brought us interesting information respecting
the " tea " work of Mr. Pineo in America ; of Mr.
MacCombie Murray who is on his way thither - there
is plenty of room for a dozen independent promoters
in the United States — and of Messrs. Shand, llal-
dane & Co. in London, The last-named Arm deal
only in Ceylon teas and coffees and supplies asylums,
hospitals and charitable institutions at actual cost
price, and lay themselves out on all sides not so much
for large gain as a large connection. Apart from all
these agencies, and from Messrs. Buchanan Hois A- Co.
started locally, we learn that several other Ceylon
Tea Companies are incubating in London, so "that
after all we begin to think there may be no room
for the Syndicate in the old country; but certainly
it could do much good in America and Australasia.

35^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. t, 1886.

NATIVE CULTIVATION AND CATTLE MUR-
RAIN—NEW PRODUCTS— SUITABILITY OF
UVA FOE TEA.

(I'rcm Mr. JI'l. A. Kim/'.': Report as Govt. Aqent,

for 1S85. )
jIi'vs riis : JVatire. — The greater crop of the ytar
(the ixiJiha) is reaped during the live montljs May,
Jul e July, August, and September; the lesser crop
during the five months November, December, January,
February, and ]\tarcb. The greatest activity in reap-
ing is in June and July. The area of paddy land sown
dui nj IbSo it. given by the headmen at 26,688 amu-
nam>, or 35,584 acres. There wms certainly a larger
area u'lder crop than had been for many years, not-
withstanding (hat there were complaints of want of
seed paddy in Wellassa and Butiala in the early part
of the year. Where there was plenty of water the
crop may be estimated at twenty-five bushels an acre,
but on the average it would be only safe to estimate
at fifteen bushels the acre. The area of dry grain and
Indian corn was 5,508 amuname, or 7,344 acres. The
average crop was eight bushels. The sown area would
have been larger had it not been that heavy rain in
the end of 18S4 had prevented the burning of many
ckarings. The chena harvest was accordingly rather
i-torter than might have been e.^pected, and the crop-
ped area was below the average. There is only one
hai vesting season for dry grain in the year, viz., during
December, January, February, and March. It is grati-
f J ii'g to note that paddy cultivation is extending in
Bintenna in the neighbourhood of the Horaborawewa,
Kudanewa, and Hembarewa tanks. The native c ffee
crop for the year was extremely insignificant. Indeed,
by far the greater number of the native gardens have
died out completely. For the most part, what was once
flourishing gardens is now a wilderness of dry sticks.
It is no uncommon thing to see coffee gardens being
felled for the cultivation of kurakkan. In the few cases
where there has been utter neglect, little more can be
said than that the trees have been just kept alive. The
j)rtsent state of things contrasts painfully with the
luxuriance of nMli\LCi ffte in former days, when it put
in circulation ai. onp tie villagers annually in this (iis-
trict as much as l-iOOO.tUO. It was this that ersured
tlie regular t nd cheerful payment of taxes, crowded
the court with suitors, and tilled the pockets of the
firrack renters. There were occurrenccss of cattle
disease in the first and third quarters of the year. Al-
together 239 bla(k cattle Juid l.')il buffaloes are re-
pirtod by the headmen to have died from disease.
These figures do not include the mortality among trans-
pi rt bullocks, of which it was not possible to pro-
cure full information. Murrain and theft have been
tliiiiiiing the village cattle for some years back, but
M'Of were people accustomed to take so little pains
to lierd their cuttle, preventing their associating with
animals iufccted with disease, ai.d j.'uardiiig them against
hiiinglitcr by cattle-stealers, as the K-iudjau. peasantry.
J ihinsiriis : Junopf-d/i. — Allowing for dilferent pro-
ducts growing ujjon the same land, the following is a
statement of estate cultivation in tlic district of ifva at
the end of 1^85, as compareil with the previous year —

18S5 1884'

('ofi'oe ... 31,755 ... 35,01)2

Tea ... (;,5;i8 ... 522

(!iiichona ... 10,(J29 ... 11,650

Cocoa ... 1,184 ... 482

l.il erian coffee ... I;i2 ,,, 132

l^id)'ier .. 122 ... Not ascertained.

Cardamoms ... 488 ... ilo.

Otberproducts ... 186 ... do.

51,031
Unlike other districts of thi^ Isl md, coffee-picking in
in a greater or his.ser degree goes on all the year round
in llva, but the great harvesting seasons are in Spiiug
and Autnnin. The Spring croj) is the chief of theyeir
for high estates (sny over .'),5(l() feet), the Autumn
crop fi r the lower estates. I'lauters count the sea-
sons fi (iiii the miiKlle of one year to the middle of
the iiixt. 'I'lie Spiingcrop of 1885 was the be.st the
estates had produced for many years, but the Autumn

crop was poor. Though the Spring crop of 1886 is
understood to be very short, it is gratifying to hear on
all sides most encouraging prospects, ba.sed upon the
blossom which has just set (April 15th, 1886). It ises-
timated that the later crop of 1886 will be a magnificent
one. Encouraged by the promising appearance of the
trees, many estates are giving special attention to man-
uring, when cultivatiim was beginning to be abandoned
as unprofitable or absolutely wasteful. Coff . e produce
during the past season, 1884-H.') (June to June), was
much greater than the previous one, as the following
figures will show : —

^ „ ^ Bushels. Cwt.

Coffee crop of Uva for 1883-84 ... 386,589 = 128,860
Do. 1884-80 ... 542,387 = 18i I J'Jd

Asimdar increase is shown in the produce of cinchona:—

^. , Cwt.

Cinchona crop of Uva for 1883-84 ... 7 545
Do. 1884-95 ... lo'sSO

Takmg coffee and cinchona together, we have there-
fore the satisfactory result that the crop in 1884-85 was
about half as much a^ain as in the previous season. The
ruling transport rates were 66 cents per bushel in 1885,
as against 55A cents per bushal in 1884. Cart hirero.-e
IsSo, owing partly to the larger crop to be carried, and
partly to the presence of cattle murrain on the Katna-
pura road. Tlie result was the crops were very late in
being despatched, causing great loss of colour to the
coffee, which consequently fetched a low price in the
London market. The coffee crop for the season 1885-86
is expected to be less than half what it was in the
previous season ; but it is believed that the quai.tity of
cinchona to be sei.t into the market will be the largest
Uva has ever proJuced, Ltaf-disease in cotfee is be-
lieved to be fast disappearing, and some planters are
beginning to think that they made a mistake in clear-
ing out coffee to make room for tea. In examining the
figures at the head of this section, attention will he at
once arrested by the large increase in the acrca{,e 01
tea. Great and praiseworthy vigour has been thrown
into this new branch of estate cultivation, notwith-
standing the hardne.ss of the times. Indeed, the man-
ner in which the planter has roused himself from griev-
ing over the shipwreck of his fcrtunes, and bravely en-
tered upon new fields of industry, merits our greatest
praise. It is now admitted on all .-i Irs thit, in Uvi,soil
and climate are as well suited to the growth of tea .is
anywhere else in Ceylon, and th.it the oidy impedi-
ment in the way of our taking (he pi silion v.couuhtto
take in tliis industry lies in our isolation.

COFFEE PRUNING.

(Review ok the " Wkinkles and Hints on Coffee-
pr.anting" wrih diagrams a^d si'ecimrxs of forms

liY GKOIifiK WII.OKS ; MADRAS, ADDISION A.\D
CO., MOUNT UOAD.

Bi/ an Old Cn/Iun Goff,c rianti-r.)
It cannot be said, that in his article on pruning
Mr. Wildes» adopts a false principle but the whole
affair appears to me rather meagre and unsatisfactory
The man who puts himself forward as teacher .should
be able to go to the roots of his subject, clearly
explain and logically supi)oit his opinions. As the
character given and mode of growth of the coffee
tree vaiies with every variety of soil, climate, and
exposure, within the range of its pos-ible cultivation,
the experience of any one individual planter is too
narrow to embrace all the po.ssible coudjinations and
the danger, therefore, arises of elevating local circum-
stances into universal principles, llowcvor carefully
the planter may study his own set of circumstances ;
however just the views he may arrive at and how-
ever correct the .system that grows out of his expc^r-
ience, it is oidy a local .system after all and may
in many of its appliances and operations be totally
inapplicable on the otlier side of his own mountain
range, or even on the same side with a few hundred
feet of ditt'erence in elevation, and this more alfeots
the art of pruning than any other opeiatiou of
cultivation.

In lo(pking at an Arabian C'offee shrub two years old
in its natural stale any stranger to the habits of

Nov. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

357

the plant would conclude that through its whole life
the plant would continue to develop its straight
vertical stem with a fresh pair of primary branches
over each pair of fresh leaves. This is not, huwever,
what happens to the natural bush, the first crop is
borne on the lower primaries and these may bear
a small proportion of the next, but the second crop
will be chiefly borne on the primaries developeil
while the first crop is coming to maturity. The same
course will be followed by the third but as the tree
is now nine or ten feet high and the stem has not
gained a diameter iu proportion to its height, it
becomes unequal to the support of its vertical position
under the increasing weight of its crop and droops
into a curve ; one or more suckers start from the
point at which it leaves the perpendicular to assume
its functions and be in their turn supplanted. Mean-
time the old wood, branch and stem, gradually rot
uud drop oft", the plant assumes its regular regimen
sending out fresh suckers every year to bear subse-
quent crops, none of which ever attains a height ex-
ceeding eight feet.

The bulk of the crops of the natural coffee bush
being borne at the height of from five to seven feet
from the surface and as wind tells disastrously on
them during the first few years those facts originated
the idea of the artificial bush iu the minds of its
cultivators. The advantages gained by this form were
that the whole growth of the plant being kept with-
in three feet of the surface the collection of the
crop could be accomplished with less than one half
the labour necessary to the natural tree, and the
bushes being all stopped at the same height, the
wind passes over them after the third year without
doing any material injury. It is likewise generally
held that the average crops of the artificial is greater
than the natural tree bears, but this is one of those
opinions that every one accepts but no one has brought
to the test of actual experiment.

In imposing and maintaining the artificial form on
the coffee shrub consists the science and the art of
pruning. In treating of the science and the art of
pruning coffee, or forming and maintaining an art-
ificial bush I must choose my own set of circum-
stances, premising that only under the same conditions
can my system be applied in all its details.

My elevation runs from 2000, to 3500 feet, I get
100 inches, more or less, of rain iu the course of the
year ; more in the N.-E. than, in the S.-W. Monsoon.
Aly .soil is a dry crumbly one rich in decayed organ-
ism and becomes the loser from rain from sunshine and
from treading on. The subsoil is a sandy and gravelly
loam, in which quartz predomiuates and the pre-
sence of lime becomes evident] on the application of
acids. On this laud I have planted my coffee 7x7
feet, I could not do justice to my trees with less
room.

The first operation in the formation of an artificial
tree is to take off the top of the stem, but if the
tender stem be merely pinched off leaving the next
pair of primaries to their free development they
will in the course of two years most probably split
the top of the stem down to the pair next below
them. To avoid this the pair of branches next
below the topping height should be pinched off at
the same time. The suckers on all occasions origi-
nate at the highest buds left on the stem ; thus the
ioint immediately above the highest pair of primaries
left gains growth and strength to resist any pressure
brought to bear subsequently. This first act of ag-
gression, is the opening of a war with nature that
admits of no truce. Two, three or four suckers im-
mediately make their appearance and as after as they
are stripped fresh ones succeed them. The sap beaten
back by constant stripping at the top of the stem,
seeks an outlet in the branches the upper primaries
rapidly reach the same length as the lower one, and
the hitter begin to develop secondaries. The second-
aries come out iu pairs one on each side of the
primary with which they form an angle of 45 degrees
on the same horiaontal plain. The first secondaries'
are seldom conoplicated with irregular growth but
they are frequently too numerous in which case they

must bo thinned. Mr. Wildes assumes that this is always
the case and proposes to remove one half of them
either iu alternate jjairs or alternately from each side
of the primary, but in the local circumstances I have
chosen to treat, the quick growth of the primaries,
assures a good length of joint and sufficient distance
between the secondaries to prevent crowding and much
less thinning f liat he recommends will generally suflico ;
its measure mast of course be settled by the operator
with the plant before him should thinning be judged
necessary the first year that secondaries have to be
dealt with or whether or not all growth within six
inches of the stem should be stripped and next those
so far out on the primai-y that their ultimate weight
may sink its extremity below the horizontal line at
which it should be maintained in the following year it
will generally be strong enough to hold its proper
position however weighted with crop. The bulk of
the second crop of the artificial coft'ee-bush is borne
on the first secondaries, and all that have borne crop
on the greater part of their length should be re-
moved as soon as possible after the last of the crop
is gathered and the circular clear space round the
stem should be enlarged to a diameter of eighteen
inches.

The removal of the secondaries should be done in
a clean cut with a sharp knife leaving uo vestige
of a stump on the side of the primary. As soon as
the secondaries are disposed of there is a rush of
young wood in succession from the buds round the
cuts. As soon as this young growth is sufticieutly
advanced for selection that one shoot at each joint
that makes the nearest combination of approach to
an angle of 45 with its primary and a direction in
the same plain must be left and all the others
stripped, and should more irre^-ular wood appear in
the course of the season the operation should be
repeated as often as necessary.

The operations of every subsequent year, are pre-
cisely the same as described above and may be cou-
veyed in a few words such as

Strip all suckers as soon as possible after their
uppearancft.

As the tree grows out enlarge the clear circle round
the stem till it measures two feet iu diameter.

Out off after each crop every secondary that has
borne on the greater part of its length.

Strip all superfluous and irregular wood as soon as
possible after it appears.

If those directions be strictly carried out year by year,
there will always be sufficient regular and symmetric-
ally disposed secondaries, to bear the next crop ; the
pruning will be light and easily learned by the coolies
and the bushes on the soil and in the climats I
have mentioned will cover the whole space of seven
feet aud be equal to a yield of fifteen cvvt. per acre in
the fifth year from planting.

Inferior soils and situations will of cour.se pro-
duce inferior trees and yield less crops ; and in many
places this system cannot be advantageously carrietl
out in its integrity, but the principles are the same
everywhere though practical modifications may be
required to suit local conditions. The worst case that
CTer came under my notice was on a place with soil
rather better than the average of its district tho
elevation run up to over 5,000 feet and a steep lay
boldly faced the south-west. As heavy rain fell on
something like three hundred and twenty days in the
year the soil was always ia a state of saturation.
In this situation the form of growth was long slender
primaries unable to carry the weight of their own
foliage and they finally grew downwards like a weep-
ing willow aud on reaching the ground run along on
the surface when cut back the growtli did not go
into secondaries along its whole length only throw
out a pair at the end. The few secondaries that did
grow bore crop on only a few joints and at the
end of the crop had always a foot of new wood in
front aud when cut off the growth went into ex-
tending old wood rather than originating new. It
was a case in which the conditions rendered the form-
ation and maintenance of a symmetric artificial coffee-
bush impossible and the wise course would have been

358

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov, r, 1886.

to leave it entirely to nature whether this was ulti-
mately tloue: I know not as I have not seen or heard

of it for twenty five years.

The cultivation of Liberian Coffee is not yet suffi-
ciently aivauced in Ceylon for the btudy of the
mature plant but there are circumstances in its hab-
its that at present appear to me iutuperably negative
in "the matter of dispos-ing of its bearing wood artifi-
cially in a limited space, but in eighteen months or
two years if I live so long I will have a definite
opinion to offer on this point. In the management
of this plant there has been and will be great blunders
before the true view is struck. I know that in the
past I have contributed my fair share of the blunders
but a philosopher learns even more from his failures
than his successes.

PADDY (RICE) INSECTS IN CEYLON.

No. 1026. Olfice of the Director P. I. Colombo, 11th
October 1886.
The Honorary Secretary, Agricultural Association.

Sib, — I have the honor to forward for your inform-
ation the annexed extracts of reports received from
the Head Teacher of the Walalla Anglo Vernacular
Boys School, concerning a cure for paddy insects with
which he has made successful experiments. — I am,
Sir, Your Obedient Servant, H. "\V. Greex, Directov.

{Extracts rejWred to.)

Of letter of 16th Sept. 1836.

This is the remedy I used: well cleaned ashes and
a little kerosine oil. This powder I sprinkled over the
plants three or four times which made the insects
to retire, the few that remained could do no harm
to the ears. As to the efficacy of this powder in
driving off the insects, there is not the least doubt;
you may kindly recommend this powder with con-
fidence to any body in the Western Province who is
in need of it ; but the powder most be carefully prepared
with the proper quantity of kerosiue oil, otherwise
it will do more harm than good. It was advertised
some time ago that a rope saturated in kerosiue oil
and drawn over the paddy plants will drive off the
insects. I tried this method also, the result was that
all the blades of paddy plants aud ears that this oil
touched withered, and the insects concealed themselves
at the root of plants, came up after a few hours. No
one is satisfied with the rope method. I have already
given orders to my Goiyaa to collect ashes to instruct
them how to prepare my powder.

Of letter of 1st Oct. 1886. • * *
Take a pint of kerosine oil and mix well with one
bushel of well cleaned ashes; press well this powder
in a bag jvnd keep in the sun mouth tied from three
to four hours, "\^'hen the powder is sufficiently dry,
sprinkle it lightly over the paddy plants bo'h morning
and evening when there is dew ; if the insects still
remain repeat this every other day for sometime, for
the second application however not more than half a
pint of kerosine oil should be taken for every bushel
of ashes. If the application of this powder is made
immediately before the ears appear it is preferable.
The dams or the ridges of the field also must be
sprinkled over with the powder as insects too often
take refuge in such places, grass should be cut short.
The jungle near about the field especially Lantana or
Ratahingura as it is called in the upcountry should be
cleared. Even if a few insects remain after the above
process they can do liitle or no harm to the ears.
If a Goiya does not succeed in this plan to save his
crop, he must be a very unfortunate man. Consider-
ing the immense loss that cultivators suffer yearly on
account of insects, I suppose my powder will be of great
use to them. I am &c.,(Sigd.)D L. Wickremasingha.
♦

The Or.\nge Crop in Valencia.— As an illustra-
tion of the importance of the Orange crop in Spain
it is stated that from the Port of Valencia alone ^over
3,000,000,000 Oranges have been shipped in ' the
course of one seson. The fruits, which are considered
the best of their kind in Europe, can now be delivered
in England at 9*-. the box, leaving a fair margin of
profit to the producer. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

Praisk of Ceylon Tka from the best-
K.Now.\ Medic.ill JorRNAL. — We are indebted to Dr.
Eockwood for the following extract : — " Analytical
records. — Cassell's Ceylon tea. The tea plantations
of Ceylon have been a great success, and have added
in an important degree to the material resources
of the island. The sample now before us is very
satisfactory. There is no facing or other mineral
matter. The leaves are small and clean, and give
a strong decoction of delicate flavour. Such tea
may well replace the product of China." — The Lancet.
Mica or Talc : a New Industry.— It is
rather a coincidence that just as we were taking
up our pen to attract attention to the advertise-
ment in another column in reference to a demand
for this article a gentleman in the Fort should
have sent us for inspection, two of the finest pieces
of talc from Badulla we have ever seen in Ceylon :
they measure more than a foot square about J inch
thick, beautifully smooth and form a capital mirror.
Pieces of this description would meet with a ready
sale we have no doubt. Anything above 8 inches
is considered good and marketable ; while three
and six inches' pieces are considered small. We
are aware that mica has been collected in Uva for
some time. Perhaps the Messrs. Greig & Co.'s de-
mand may give an impetus to the industry.

Cinchona Bark in Madras. — At an auction held on
October 18th, Madras, by Messrs. Oakos & Co., of the Ex-
change Hall, the following prices were rfalised for
Dodabetta Estate, Natural Crown Bark : —
Description No. of bales

of Bark. for each lot. Amount realized.

Stripped ... 1 to ION

do ... 11 30

do ... 21 30

do ... 31 40

do ... 41 50 \ R6,400 at R64 per bale.

do ... h\ m

do ... 01 70

do ... 71 80

do ... Si 90

do ... 91 100^
Shaved ... 101 110,

do ... Ill 1-20

do ... 121 130

do ... 131 140 R3,000 at R40 per bale-.

do ... 141 150

do ... 151 \m

do .. 101 170

do ... 171 175'
Each lot contains 10 bales, with the exception of 171
to 175, which contain 5 bales. — Madras Midi.

What is Bhang 'r* — I have always understood bhang
to mean gauja leaves. But those who ought to
know explain that bhang is a preparation of bnviiUa
leaves aud opium ; that the preparation is \ised for
smoking in pipes, which is called luadat. and that
ganja leaves, leaves I think of the Indian hemp, have
nothing in tiiem in common with bhang. The Ordin-
ance which prohibits the sale of opium and bhang ex-
cept upon a license, does not prohibit the sale of K^i'ij^
leaves. But I would wish to have some more inform-
ation on the subject. Asa matter of fact, ganja leaves
are sold in many unlicensed boutiques. But they say
the police levy a black mail on it. — Cur. [The inebri-
ating preparation made from the leaves of the ganja or
bhang, the Cannabis Sutiva, is generally in a liquid
form and is a fiercely intoxicating draught. Hemp
leaves (washed in water) 3 dr., black peppei- 45 grains,
cloves, nutmegs and mace of each 11^ grains. Triturate
the ingredients with 8 oz. of water or milk, or with the
juice of Water-melon seed or cucumber seed, and
strain. The spices render it more ine'>riating. The
dried Hemjj plant which has flowered, and from which
the resin has not been removed, is called " ganja."
The larger leaves and capsules of the dried Hemp
plant are usually termed " bhanjf." — {E.riract from
" Balfour's Enci/clopitdia.") The leaves or young
leaf buds of the hemp plant, ganja, are smoked by
tseor added to tobacco. — From Dr. Vanderstraaten.""

Nov. h J 886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

jyj

■ ♦ — —

To the Editor of the " Ce\jlo7t Observer."

ELECTEICITY FOE TEA MACHINEEY : A
QUESTION FOE ENGINEEES.
Theberton, Ambagamuwa, 18th Oct. 188G.
Dear Sir, — I noticed in your paper of the 18th
inst. an article on Branch railway feeders, and
that electricity might be used to work them. I
was just on the point of writing you on nearly
the same subject, viz., cannot electricity be used
to work our tea machinery ? Steam-engines are
expensive in everij icay, besides the difficulty to
get them on out-of-the-way estates. Water in
most places is only sufficient during the S.-W.
monsoon. Dams (where possible) are very expensive
to make " as a rule," and on our hillsides are
difficult to keep water-tight. Through nearly every
valley in the hills runs a river or a considerable
stream of water, all the year round. Would it not
be possible to work a water-wheel or turbine with
the water from the river and generate electricity,
in a dynamo there '? Then bring it to the factory
by wires to a second dynamo, which would work
the rollers etc. There is generally enough water
in most of our principal streams to work machinery,
and if we could place our factory alongside of
them, we should do very well, but as ' it is, this
cannot often be done.

Do you not think it would be well worth finding
out, what would be the cost to work our tea machinery
by electricity ? Would it be a saving on steam ? The
first cost, I fancy, would be nearly the only one, as
there is no other that I know of ; unless the
armatures on the magnets oxydize in our damp
climate, this could be provided against by covering
the wires coiled round the magnets, the same way
as deep sea telegraph wires are done. If this
could be provided against, there would be only
general upkeep of wear and tear of machinery.

To work steam-engines when the present supply
of firewood is exhausted, will be a very exj^ensive
affair. Is it not worth while for those who
have not yet decided on the motive power for their
machinery to find out, if it is practicable to use
electricity. Could you not give us some inform-
ation on this subject ?

I know farm machinery is both worked in Eng-
land and on the Continent by dynamo machines.
The question is : are they expensive play-things
or practically useful ? Of course, the question of
first cost is tha principal point. The wire rusting,
etc., could be overcome, as, I believe, steel wires
are used in some machines. If you think the
subject worth ventilating and this letter of mine
worth it, please give it a corner in the Observer.
Your idea as regards railway feeders is a good one
and worth considering. — Yours, vei-y truly,

T. J. GKIGG.
I There are gentlemen in the island competent
to give an opinion, and to make a practical ex-
periment in connection with IVIr. Grigg's question,
and we trust one or other will do so and re-
port the result. — Ed.]

'~~' WATTLE CULTIVATION. '

•21st October ISSi;
Db.vk Sir, — I often read in your columns how
profitable the cultivat on of Wattles in Ceylon would
be. In the T. A. of last month, page 248, you say
(or rather the Indian AijricuUiiri.st says), "The
bark now sells in London at £87 per ton " ! Well,
at 3 years we may confidently rely upon 2|- to '6
tors per acre, of bark of the Acacia decurrcns the)
variety referrecl tp) and ao a'Witipnal tcui pet acre

up to the 10th year ! Who will henceforth think
of the troublesome tea cultivation, with its so-called
moderate profits ? Who would take the trouble to
dig for gold, or search for diamonds ?

But I fear £8 per ton is nearer the mark, and
that leaves so large a margin of profit, . it is in-
explicable to me, that its cultivation is not attempted
in Ceylon

At Elephant Nook in Nuwara Eliya may be seen
trees of Acacia decurrens now 25 to 2(3 months
from seed, and just 2 years from nursery, standing
considsrably over 30 feet in height. These are not
whippy and shew no ill-effects from the terrible
winds to which they have been exposed for the past
lew months. There are strong branches from the
ground to within a few feet of the top. A boy stood
on a branch at 24 feet with the tape-line, his
weight insufficient to bend the tree more than
slightly.

The seed was brought by Mr. W. M. Mayes from
Australia.

From the articles in T. A. 1884-85 extract from
Adelaide Observer, pages 165-1(37, and report of
Mr. T. E. Browne (Conservator of Forests) to Legis-
lative Council, Adelaide, pages 916-1J18, I learn
that there are two varieties of Wattles standing pre-
eminent tor the production of Wattle or Mimosa bark
of commerce. A. 2»jciiaiitlia broad-leafed or golden
Wattle gives the most valuable bark, but the tree
itself is a much smaller one than A. decurrem or
Black-Wattle.

Average Average Average yield Average

height. girth, tanning mate- yield of

rials. bark.

A.injcnantha 25 ft. Sin. 30 to 40 o/o 70 1b.

A. decurrem 40 ft. 24 ,, 29 to 34 o/o 500 „

These regularly planted 4" by 4" a crop is taken
every third year. Selected trees I presume.

The wood and twigs all yield tanning materials,
but the wood of A. decurrens is valuable for
cooper's work (staves) and as firewood is very
far superior to blue gum.

In your T. A." for 1882-83, page 823, Mr.
Jameson's Report, Botanical Gardens Neilgherry, is
the following paragraph : —

" In three years an acre of A. decurrens, will
give 2,J tons of bark selling in London at £8 to
£11 per ton" (not £87).

The seed will germinate after being boiled for
7 minutes !

It is quite unnecessary to boil it. Soaked in
warm water all night it germinates readily :
within a week.

As may be inferred from its name, it spreads,
but where there are Weeding contractors the shoots
may be broken off' monthly, Thej grow readily,
when transplanted shoots from the roots of those
growing in Nuwara Eliya (before referred to)
planted in the patenas some six weeks ag-> are
growing well. I write this to elicit information.
Mr. Nock says he doubts that there is a single
plant of A. 2>i/cnantha in Nuwara Eliya ; yet we
so frequently read and hear talk of the Golden-
Wattles m Nuwara Eliya. It is certain that the
acacias termed " Black-Acacias" growing in Nuwara
Eliya are not all " Blackwood " or A. Jlclan-
oxi/lon. Bark and leaves ditt'er greatly.

Of course everybody knows, Black-Wattles and
Black acacias (or Blackwood acacias) are totally
diff'erent things. You will excuse my warning
your readers not to depend on T. J. Yol. 1 (1881-
82) for information re wattles and acacias.*
There are some misleading statements.
For instance, see pages 251 and 318 and there
are more. — Yours faithfully, W. E. T.

* I refer almost solely to the wrong Botanical names
givtn.

360

THE TROPICAL AGRlCULTURISf.

[Nov. I, i88i.

MARKET RATES FOR OLD AND NEW PRODUCTS.
(From Lewis <£; Peat's London Price Current, October 7th, 1886. J

FROM MALAHAR

COAST, cocmx,

CEYLON, MADRAS, &c.

QUALITY.

BEES' WAX, Wliite, per f Slightly softish to good
cwt. I I liarJ bright

Y'f'Uow ...jDo. drossy & d:irk ditto...
CINCHONA BARK— Crown':ReiieT;rpd

QUOTATIONS.

per lb.

Red

£6 a £7
|£-1 10s a £6

Is a 3s

Is -Id a 2s 6d

i3d a Is 2d
'2d a (id
'8d a 2.S 6d

CART)AMOMS Malabar
per lb.

'Medium to fine Quill
Spoke shavings ...
Braneh

ReneTT'-d

Af ediuin to good Quill
Spoke shavings ...
Branch

Tuig

Clipped, bold, bright, fine!2s a 2s lOd
and Ceylon IMiddling, stalky & leanjSd a Is lid
Aleppee IFair to tineplumpelip>ped|ls .Sd a 2s 3d
TellicherrylGood to tine ...jls 6d a 2-i 2d

^Brownish ... 6d a Is ;kl

Mangalore ,Good & line, washed, bgt

Long Ceylon Middling to good

CINNAMON, per lb. Ists ^Ord. to fine pale quill ..
2nds ,, ,, ,, ,,
oraSj ,, ,, ,, •■ ..
4ths Woody and hard ...
Chips ...|Fair to fine plant...

COCOA, Ceylon, per cwt... Bold to good bold
... Medium

Triafre to ordinary

...|Oda 2s 0(1
...\'id a 7<'.
...•2da4d
(Id

ls4da .-is 4d
8d a Is 4d
8|d a Is lid
...|7^d a Is 6d
... 7da Is 2d
...;Gda Ud
...J If da 7d
..:ii>a a 81s 6d
. . C8s a 723
■ij.s a fi.5s

COFFEECeylouPlantationiBold to fine boldcolory... 8Ss a 100s
per cwt. Middling to fine mid. ... 71s a 87s

iLow middling tj4s a 70s

Smalls 61s a 71s

,, Native Good ordinary oOs a 60s

Liberian ...Small to bold 33s a .52 s

East Indian ..., Bold to fine bold 82s a 100s .

Medium to fine 70s a SOs

Small •i8s a^s 6d

Native LP^r ton Good to fine ordinary ...j.50s a'60s
COIRR<'I'E,Ceylou&Cochin Mid.coarse tofinestraighti£7 a £18
FIBRE, Brush, per ton,Ord. to fine long straight | £15 a ,£40

Stuffing ...'Coarse to fine
YARN, Ceylon, per ton ... Ordinary to superior

Cochin ...Ordinary to fine

Do [cwt j Roping fair to good
COLOMBO ROOT, sifted ^ Middlingwormy to fine..

CROTON SEEDS, sifted ...Fair to fine fresh

GINGER, Cochin, Cut Good to fine bold

per cwt.

Rough

NUX VOMICA, per cwt.

£7 a £20
£12 a £30
£11 a £35
£9 a £13
10s a 30s
30s a 35s
SOs a 100s
40s a 70s
32s a OOS
22s 6d a SOs
Ss a 12s
OS a 73
js a 8s tjd
OS a 6s ,3d
6s a 6s 61
Is a 5s
Is a 3-i
Jla Id
!fd al|d
40s a 553

•5d a 8|d

lOd a 2s 6d
Us a 153

Small and medium
jFair to good bold...

..ISmall

..[Fair to fine bold fresh ...
ISmall ordinaryand fair...
MYRABOLANES, pale, per 'Good to fine picked
cwt. ICoraraon to middling ...

jFair Coast " ...

Pickings Burjit and defective
OIL, CINNAMON, per oz....|Good to fine heavy

CITRONELLE ,. i Bright & good flavour ..

LEMON GRASS ,, ,, ,, ,

ORCHELLA WEED [Fib iMid. to fine, not woody..

PEPPER,iMalabarblk.sifted|Fair to bold heavy 1

AUeppec & Cochin ,, | ,, good ,, ' I

Tellicherry, White ...

PLUMBAGO, Lump, ^ cwt.! Fair to fine bright bold...

iMiddling to good small. ..{7s a lOs

Chips ...(slight fo'ul to fine bright jos a Us

Dust ...lOrdinarj' to fine bright ... -is a lOs

REDWOOD, per ton.: Fair and fine bold ...£5 53

SAPAN WOOD „ [Middling coated to good £6 a £7

SANDAL WOOD, lox.s „ [Fair to good flavor ,..£20 a £44

Do, chips ...j '£10a£ie

SENNA, Tiunevelli, p-jr Ib.iOood to fine bold green... 8d a Is
I i^air middling luedittin... 5d a 7d
Common dark and small 3d a 4^d
TURMERIC, Madras.i? cwt I Finger fair to fine bold 123 a la^

Do. ... Mi.Ked middling [bright 10s 6(1 a Us 6d

Do. ...Bulbs whole 93 a lOs ed

Cochin ... Do split 78 3d a 83

VANILLOES, Mauritius *c
per lb. Bourbon, Ist.s Fine crystalised 6 a Sinch 14s a 23s 6d
2iid- Foxy & reddish 5 a 8 ,, 10s a 12s
3rds ' / I'fi"" ^ dry to middling

I under 6 inches ... 5s a 9j
'It'i jLow, foxy, inferior and

[pickings Is 6cl a 4s

FliOM BO -MBA Y
AND ZANZIBAR.

AT.01-:S. isoj'-Otrine and Good and fine dry
per cw!. H'patic...|Common .and good

CHILLIES, Zaiwibar ...iGood to fiue bright

^(?r cwt. Ordinary aud middling

OVRS. Zanribfi' \ iQoodand fine bright

ftndFembti. per lb.

■ Ordinary dull to fair

.£7 a £10

. £ 1 a £8

, 283 a 233

2.'is a 27»

... 9fd a lOid

FROM BOMBAY
' AND Z.\NZIBAR.

I CLOVES, Mother, per lb
I ,, Stems,

COCULUS INDICUS
GALLS, Bussorah 1 blue
( & Turkey j'|>'c\vt.

[cwt,
GUM AMMONIACUM per
ANIMI, washed, Pcwt.

QUALITY

QUOTATIONS

Fair, usual dry

„ fresh
Fair

.1 None
,'ljd a 2d
|7s a 8s

Fair to fine dark blue ... 50s a 578 6d

scraped...

ARABIC, E.I. & Aden ..

per cwt. Ghatti ■...

Amrad cha

ASSAFCETIDA,per

cwt.
KINO, per cwt.

MYRRH, picked ,,

Aden sorts
OLIBANUM, drop
per cwt. ,,

pickings...
sittings ...
INDIARUBBER Mozambi
per lb.

SAFFLOWER, Persian

Good white and green...
Blocky to fine clean
'Picked fine pale in .sorts,
I part yellow and mixed
{Beau & Pea size ditto ...
lamber and dark bold
JMedium & bold sorts ..

'Sorts

Fair to fine pale
Good and fine pale
IReddish clean
Clean fair to fine
Slightly stony and foul ..
Fair to line bright
Fair to fine pale
Middling to good
Fair to line white
{Reddish to middling ..
{Middling to good pale ..
jSlightly foul to fine
ique,fairtofine sausage)
,, Bali;
unripe root
lliver
Ordinary to good

'42s 6d a 52s 6(1
1 15s a 403
'£I310/a£l410/
£10 a £12 lOs
£4 10sa£7
£ 7 10s
£5 a £8
,65s a 1003

FROM CALCUTTA AND
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

42s a 70s
803 a £7
40s a 73s
30s a 35s
20s a 26s
3.1s a 40s
£6 a £7 103
70s a tWs
453 a 5.53
32s a 413
ilsa Us
lis a 133 6d

2s 3d a 2s 6d

lid a Is Id
23 a 23 2d
5s a 153

CASTOR OIL, Ists per oz Nearly water white
2nds ,, ...jFairand good pale
.3rds ,, ...iBrown and brownish
INDIARUBBER Assam, per! Good to fine

lb. Common foul and mixed

Rangoon ...Fair to good cleau
Madagascar Good to fine pinky & white
Fair to gooii black
SAFFLOWER ... Good to fine pinky

'Middling to fair
Inferior and pickings ...
TAMARINDS ... Mid.tofiueZ)?acinot stony

(Stony and inferior

3i a 4Jd
2.^d a 3d
2f d a 21d
2s a 23 7d
8da Is lOd
23 a 2s 6d
2s 4d a 2s 7d
Is lOd a 23
£4 10s a £5 lOs
£3 5s a £4 23 6d
£1 a £1 IDs
10s a 14s
3s a 6s

FROM
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

ALOES, Cape, per cwt.

Natal
ARROWROOT Natal per lb 1 Middling to fine

...jFairdry to fine bright ...r27s a 323

...[Common & middling 80ftil2s a 2'^^

...1 Fair to fine ...35s a 403

...ajdaOd

a 633

FROM CHINA, .JAPAN &
THE EASTERN ISL.\NDS

CAMPHOR, China, f cwt.'Good, pure, & dry white I 1 ^.

Japan ... ,, ,, pink; )

GAMBIER, Cubes, cwt, ...iOrdinary to fine free ... '31s a 323
i Pressed .,, 273 a 283

Block [per lb. Good ... 223 a 228 6d

GUTTA PERCHA, genuine Fine clean Bai)j& Maras- 23 4d a 33 3d
Sumatra. ..IBarky to fair [sar6d a 23 31

Reboiled... ."ommon to fine clean ... Id a Is 4d
White Borneo ... {Good to fine clean ...lid a Is 3d

' Inferior and barkv ...Idafid
. 61'3 a 80's, girbled ...{29 fid a .Ss 6d

. s3's a 95*3 ...lis Id a 2s 5<i

.lOO'saieo's ...lis 4d a 23

. Pale reddish to pile ...; Is 9d a 2s lOd
{Ordinary to red ...lis Jd a Is 6 I

IChips ...!u 2da Is 3d

RHUBARB, Sun dried, perGood to fine sound ...Is tJd a 23 9d
lb. Darkordinary& raiddliii;; 8d a Is 4d

If UTMEGS, large, per lb.

Me Hum

Smill
MACE, per lb.

High dried ... Good to fine ... Is a Is 3 I

Dark, rough & middling 7d a Ud

SAGO, Pearl, large, ^ cwt. Fair to fine
medium ... ,, ,, ,,
small ... ,, ,, ,,

Flour [per lb, Good piaky to white

TATIOCA, Penang Flake Fair to fine
Singapore .. ,, ,,

Flour

Pearl

... uU^t-s, per cwt

Mediuoi ,,

Seed ,,

123 fid a 15s
.. 123 n 13s 6d
..83 6aal0s9i-
,.8sa,93
. Uda 2id
., ;'i^..3'(d
.lUdftl^d
. 1.58 a 17s
.168 6d a 178 ed
,;lOs nl7i6(i

1

Dec. t, 1BS6.]

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

id

FISH-CUBING IN CEYLON.

Dried salt-fish, known popularly as " Karawala,"
forms so large a portion of the food of the in-
habitants of Ceylon, and especially of the immigrant
Tamil coolies, and disease, including even leprosy,
has so often been traced to the use of this article
of food in a putrid or semi-putrid state, that all
who have given attention to the question must have
rejoiced when the Ceylon Qovernment, following
the example of the authorities in the Madras Pre-
sidency, determined on measures calculated to ex-
pand and improve the local industry. This they
have done by commencing to open fish-curing yards,
Buch as have been generally so successful in South
India, and supplying salt for use in such yards
at the moderate price of Rl per cwt., so low indeed
as 80 cents at Hambantota, These yards are pro-
perly protected and supplied with guards by Govern-
ment, so that the native fishermen who choose to
i<vail themselves of the advantages offered, not
only obtain good clean salt at a low price, but
are saved the trouble and expense of watching the
fish which, after cleaning they spread out to dry.
In Ceylon as in India, one great cause of the
inferiority of salt-fish sent into the markets for
sale, (next to imperfect salting, often with salt mud
merely) is the practice of drying the fish on the sea-
shore sand. It is inevitable under this system
that a very considerable proportion of sand should
get into the substance of the fish or adhere to
it, and so large is this proportion sometimes that
the price even of putrid or inferior fish used for
manurial purposes, has been regulated by the ex-
tent to which it has been freed from sand.
In the Government curing yards the salted-fish
is dried on wicker platforms. Where forest or
scrub is plentiful, we would suggest that the ex-
periment of smoking some of the fish, after the
fashion of Scotch speldings or "Finnan haddocks"
should be tried. We do not know if the Europeans
who recently engaged in the fish-curing enterprise
in Ceylon tried any experiments in the direction
of smoking or " kippering." In any case, the
dried fish they sent into the market was exceptionally
clean and well cured, and, although we are not
surprized to learn that in a pure y native industry
like this, Europeans have not been successful com-
petitors with the indigenous fishermen, we greatly
regret the result. Our readers must understand
that our Government in taking measures to en-
courage and extend the local fish-curing industry,
must have contemplated a considerable sacrifice of
revenue. The more dried fish is locally produced,
the less will be the import duty collected on the, at
present, very large quantity of salt-fish intro-
duced from Southern India, destined largely, like
our imports of rice, to feed the coolies who
come to us from the same quarter. A duty on
salt-fish, although the latter is a staple article
of native food, has always been deemed necessary
as to a certain extent a protection to the local
revenue derived from salt, the quantity of salt
in the imported fish as well as in that locally
prepared being calculated in estimating the con-
sumption of salt (from I'i lb. to ICi lb. per caput,) by
the inhabitants of Ceylon. Besides loss of revenue
in the direction indicated, Government sell salt
for fish curing purposes at less than half the
monopoly price, and the yards, supplied by Govern-
ment with supprintendeuts and watcliers, are not
yet and probahly will not for some time be self-
Bupportiiig. iUit this (rovernment, like that of
•If.!

Madras, is clearly acting not merely in the spirit
of paternal benevolence, but in the line of positive
duty in taking measures to improve and expand
a local industry, whereby the seas around our
shores shall be made to yield increased supplies
in a wholesome shape of a species of food speci-
ally grateful to the natives, as giving body as
well as piquancy to their curries, so largely com-
posed of succulent vegetables in addition to the
unfailing and absorbent staple, rice. The quantity of
salt used in proportion to the fish cured, varies widely
and any large excess above well-established averages,
such as has occurred at some of the Ceylon curing
yards, demafids and will receive enquiry, so that
the abuse of the privilege of obtaining cheap salt
for a specific purpose may not be allowed. The
following table shews the results, so far, of the
fishing-curing experiment in Government yards, in
the face of the inevitable suspicions of the natives
that the whole scheme was merely a device to
impose upon them additional taxation : —

The foUowiug abstract shows the results of the
establishment of the yards in which work was car-
ried on during the period from October 15th, 1885,
to July a 1st. 188(5 :—

. , >>

* g 5 >

« 5 " =

S a>

S

K

^ M J! W

> V2

O— 3

CC -H <M
-# I-- O

lO •-* ^

lo tr ro
'n -9 '>*

.J »c fC

> O

■,r. 51-^^

225 ^

n -* o

o

CO

Ci

■J.

CO

02

00 Oi

e.H , Tj <W »-

O:^ = £ «

•■B.O = >.

o O

CO I" -*

.♦-cc —
: CO 3
:iO-"-»

S -" o --c 2 J o --D 2 . "

^ 'Z> ^^ -^ f-\ ^ '^
— ' '^ » tC »o . ■
'iJ j2 J3 -I 7: <N *- ■

■= ^ 4? f

^»

O P.

y.

a s.

3
□.
O.

s ch -;r

Our readers will, of course understand that the
discrepancy between fish received into the yards
and fish taken out arises from the removal of olfal
and especially from the drying away of most of the
moisture in the "Karauala." Thn figmcs show
only 2, ;')()! cwt. of fish taken out for •i.syO taken in.
The difference would be still greater, but for the

3&

THE TROPiCAL AGRICULTURIST. [Uec. i, i885.

«sas

fact that quite a dili'erent style of curing to that
generally in use was adopted at Gandara. Here
080 cwt. of tish taken in, had increased in weight to
Hli cwt. by the time it was taken out. The
mystery is thus explained in Mr. Ravenscrolt's
report, which was laid on the Council table on
Wednesday and which we are reviewing : —

The system of preserving fish in vogue amongst the
Gandara people is that known as "jadi," and as tish
prepared by this method is wet when taken out of the
yard, the excess of "tish out" over "fish in" is
. accounted for. When at Gandara on the 1st instant,
witli the Government Agent Southern Province and
the Assistant Government Agent of Matara, we made
inquiries as to the reason why karawala — /. c, dried
and salted fish — was not prepared, and were informed
that the people found they could turn over their
money more quickly by preparing " ja,di," and sending
it directly into Galle, where it commands a readv sale.
I am, however, in hopes that some of the curers will
undertake the preparation of karawala, which is more
suitable than "jadi" for transport into the interior;
but necessarily this must depend upon the market for
"jadi"' in Galle. Should the supply of the latter at
any time exceed the immediate demand, — and there
is a possibility of this, — the price will fall, and there
will be an inducement to the curers to prepare
karawala; but whether this comes about or not, I
think there is reason for the continuance of the yard
at Gandara. As I have already said, it has had a
good effect in the direction of encouraging the fish-
curing industry, and increasing the local produc-
tion of a cheap and wholesome article of food for
tile people ; and there is every reason to anticip-
ate that it will tend to the further development of
the industry.

The " jadi " fish is so cured as to retain its moisture
which, of course absorbs a considerable quantity of
salt, the weight being thus increased even above that
originally noted when offal was included. The result
js very different in regard to " Karawala," for it
will be observed thnt in the case of Hambantota
only 845 cwt. of dried tish resulted from 1,217
ewt. received as taken out of the sea. The mode
of preparing the fish which, notwithstanding the
addition to the cleaned material of a considerable
quantity of salt, shows so large a decrea-se of
weight, is thus described. We quote from the in-
teresting report of Mr. Murray, Assistant Govern-
ment Agent of Hambantota, in which much general
information is embodied : —

The following few remarks about the fishing itself
m ly not be out of place : —

The boats generally make an early start before day-
break, when the land wind carries them out of
sight to the fishing grounds, where they remain the
whole day. The return journey is made in the after-
noon, when the wind changes, the boats arriving be-
tween five and six generally- The lisli when landed is
piled in heaps, and is either sold by auction to the
highest bidder, or by private sale when a fair offer is
made, the fishermen thus realising the full value of
their fish at once.

At the commencement of the season, when the
hauls were small, the prices ran up to R4 and
Iv.') a cwt,, but as the season advanced they went
down to Il'2'7.') and R-2.")iJ. The fish is at once
cut open, and after being cleaned in the sea close by,
conveyed in the pin^'oes and carts to the fish-yard,
where it is weighed. The curers then set to work
to apply the salt, being engaged at this during the
whole night. The different process adopted in curing
are : —

First, the ordinary one of salting and drying.

The fish when cleaned are slit in parallel lines
down the fleshy parts, into winch pounded salt is
v.ell rubbed. They are then putint^ barrels a:id kept
there for twelve hours, after which they undergo a
soCMuJ cleaning in s^lt-water, and are then exposed tj
dry ill the hot sun for four or five di,ys on raised stick
platforms, so as to keep them free of sand. On the fifth
day they are ready for removal,

Another process is that of placing the fish after it is
rubbed with salt in jars or water-tight barrels, and sprink-
ling over each layer a good quantity of saltmixei with
dried goraka fruit, the acid juice of which imparts a
good rtivour ti tlie fish ; when tlie jar is full it is cov-
ered over and left to stand for three weeks or a month.

A third way adopted, when large (pjantities of small
fish, such as sardines, sprats, &c., are caught, is to steep
them in brine, and then taken away.

The amount of salt required for curing varies accord-
ing to the size and doscription of fish, as well »• the
process of curing adopted. For instance, in picking
.small fish in jars or tubs the proportion of salt to fish
is one tj two, that is, 1 cwt. of salt is required for 2
cwt. offish. For dressing small fish the same quantity
is required; for salting and drying large fi,li the pro-
portion is one to three.

Tnere are three descriptions of canoes employed in
fishing, all of them with the usual outrigge.s. The first
is a single-masted large canoe, called in Sinhalese hedi
or 'favalapanne oni, capable of cairying G to 8 cwt. The
second, the vara ora, constructed in such a way as to be
able to sail out in stormy weather, and carrying a lar^e
oblong sail supported by two bamboo masts. This boat
is chiefly employed in catching the rarer kinds of fish,
such as seer, parair, &c. The third kind is a small
cockle-shell of a canoe, keeping close in shore when
fishing, and only veuturing out when the sea is smooth.

The large kinds of fish are caught vvith hook and lino
manufactured by the fishermen. There are a few
draught nets, m ule of coir rope, and circular hand nets
used in fishing from the shore. It would be well if they
were abolished altogether, as the fishermen complaiu of
their frightening away the small fry on which the large
fish prey.

The dift'erent kinds of fish caught are given in return
"A." Ka'.ai/ni/a, v/tiigh'mg on an average about 5 ll>. is
caught in largest qurntities. iieer and pi raw are the
most prized on account of their excellent; flivonr, while
the small sprats called /ayyo would mike a good sub-
stitute for sardines,

A sample of the fish cured here under the salting and
drying process in the yard of the European firm was for-
warded to the Secretary of the (Jeylon Committee for
the Indian and Colonial Exhibition, and he writes of the
excel'ent condition in which it arrived.

It is my opinion that this industry is capable of still
greater development by the employment of more b;at<i,
and that a sufficient quantity of fish cou'd bj caught
and cured to supply the whole of C 'ylon.

I see no reason why tinning fish should not be c irried
on profitably. A seer fish costing abjutlS cents wou'dfill
aboutthreegood-sized tins selling at llloileieh. The tins
would be manufactured by machinery on the spot for
25 cents each, and the labour, kc. would absorb another
25 cents, leaving a profit of Kl on each tin. No doubt
this and other methods of curing will be tried by the
English Company next season.

It does not follow that because there are a large
number of boats in a populous fishing village fish-
curing, is sure to succeed. It has been fouud that
gcuerally the number of boats is limited t • the demaml
tor fre.sh tish and that only enough is caught to meet
the demand. I (juote the case of Suriyagahawella,
whe'-e there are over 200 boats, and a large number of
fish caught and yet the quantity cure 1 is very trifiing.
The season closes about the end of April, when the
rou^h weather which indicates the burst of the south-
west monsoon compels all fisherm ni to beach tludr
canoes, and no attempt at fishing is made again till
about September. So elated, however, have the men
been with the encouragement given by the Govtu'u-
ment, that they have all promise 1 to return as early
as possible next season, and in larger numbers.

This District has probably never witnessed such a
large fleet of canoes as came down this season, and
residents assure me that never did suc;h a larg(! i|uan-
tity of salt fish pass through the market and town
for sale up-country.

I have endeavoured as far as possible, by the ex-
amination of the principal traders in the town, to
ascertain the ([uantity of dried tish erred in Ham-
bantota and Pattanagala the previous season before

Dec. i; i386;j ^m TROPICAL AGKiCULTtlRlST;

iC:4

the yards were opened, and give the result in the
annexed statcnient marked C. The Iresh fish of the
previous season has been left out, as it was uever
weighed. The quantity cured this season is also given
for the purposes of Compailsoli. I'he trifling loss to
Government is more than Compensated by the large
amount of nutritious food manufactured for the bene-
fit of those who, living inl.iud, have not the means
of getting it except in a preserved condition. In a
separate column will be found the number of boats
engaged during the two seasons. Below -will be found
a statement showing to what District the dried fish
has been sent. The quantity shipped to Colombo
was by the European Company, while the native
enrers sent theirs principally to markets in Uva,
where good prices were realized.

Abstract of Fish-curing Operations in the Hamban-

tota Yard, from October 16th, 1635, to April 15th, 1886.

Number of appHcations ... ... 1,153

Description of Fish •. cwt. )b.

Laggo ... ... 241 81

Lawayo ... ... 196 70

Paraw ... ... 39 38

Toru ... ... 41 50

Kalamiyo ... ... 275 11

Other kinds ... ... 412 8

Fish removed
Salt issued

Total ... 1,207 2■^

855 00

279 70

E. cts.

Eato per cwt. 0 80

Eeceipts ... ... 223 80

As far as I can ascertain, the cost of curing fish
is Kll"31 a cwt., and may be analysed tlius : —

R. CtF.

Cost of fresh fish, per cwt. . . 2 75

Cost of cooly labour in cleaning . . 0 75

Cost of 40 lb. salt

0

Multiplied by

77
3

R. 11 81
One cwt. of fish when dried is reduced to one-third
its former weight, and the result must, therefore, be
multiplied by 3, making Ellai as the prime cost of
one cwt. of dried fish. All native curers send their
tish to the markets along the Badulla-road, such as
"NVellawapa, Koslanda, &c., where the prices range
from 1U5 to K20 per cwt., and often as high as R;!0 ;
after deducting R 1 per cwt. for cost of transport,
the curer reaps a profit of from R3 to R4 per cwt.;
where the fisherman is his own curer, the profits to
him are double.

Colombo is not a good market at present, as it
has to compete with foreign importations, which tend
to keep down prices.

Fresh fisli, as well as salt, is a favourite food
With the Sinhalese, and where there is a full de-
mand for unsalted fish, there is, of course, no
motive to induce the fishermen to resort to curing.
We are not therefore surprized to learn that one
yard failed for reasons thus given by I\Ir. Murray :—•

A third yard opened at Surijagaliawclla on Nov-
ember ITith, has not turned out a success, for rea-
SOlis \rthich are easily explained; Though there were
a latger number of boats there, and the quantity of
lisll catight exceeded that of Hambantota, yet so
great was the donand for fresh fish by the dense popul-
ation in the neighbourhood, and the prices were so
high, that it was impossible for curing to be carried
on profitably, and the little that was cured was the
surplus remaining when large quantities of fish were
caught. There is little hope, therefore, of anything
being done there, unless curers specially engage boats
T)n their own account.

There is ample scope for the extension of the iishr
curing industry where tish ia plentiful and popu-
lation scanty, as the following extract Irom Mr,
JlavenBcroft's report shews ;—

•s^^^smt'ii'matimm

It was my desire to visit the MuUaittivu District
in the early part of the year, and to have conferred,
on the spot, with the Government Agcut of tho
Nortllern Province on the subject of the establish-
ment of fish-curing yards in that District, to wJiich
fi shermen from the west coast of the Island resort
in considerable numbers for the purpose of catching
and preserving fish, of which the supply is abundaul,
during the south-west monsoon. In many respcils
this District offers special advantages for tish-curing.
Fish are, as I have already said, abimdant, aud even
under existing circumstances fishermen arc attracted
to the District from the other side of tho Island.
With a very sparse resident poi)ulation there is a
very limited demand for fresh fish; aud if facilities
could be given that would enable the fishermen to
pr« serve a greatly increased qnantity of fish, without
the expenditure of a larger amount of capital than
is now yenrly invested iu the business, it is not un-
reasonable to anticipate that the industry of fish-
curing on this part of the coast would be greatly
developed, to the advantage, not alone of the fisher-
men, but also of the people of the Island generally
Owing, however, to the many other calls on my
time, I was prevented from carrying out my inten-
tion of visiting MuUaittivu, but I trust it may be
within my power ere long to visit not only that
District, but also the neighbourhood of liatticaloa,
where the business of fish-curing is, I am informed,
carried on to a considerable extent, both by local fisher-
men and also by men from the west coast of the
Island, and where there are places — no it is reported
by officers who have served in, and who are thoroughly
acquainted with the District — at which fish-curing
yards might be established with every prospect of
success.

At Trincomaiee, assisted by the Assistant Govern-
ment Agent, ]\Ir. Keid, I made careful in(juiries, in
order to ascertain whether it would be advisable to
recommend the opening of a yard or yards in tho
neighbourhood of that place; but although I found
and questioned fishermen from the west coast, tem-
porarily located at Trincomaiee, it did not appear
to me that there was sufELcient reason to suppose that
if a yard were opened, it would meet with a reason-
able amount ef success.

In conclusion, I would say, although it is perhaps
hardly necessary for me to do so, as it is self-evident
that, however well suited a locality may appear to
be for the successful working of a fish curing yard,
from the fact that the supply of fish is abundant, that
fishermen are available, and that there is little or
no resident population, the results must greatly de-
pend on the interest taken in the undertaking by
the local officers of Government. Without careful
and well-organised supervision and attention to details,
and the exercise of the strictest economy compatible
with efficiency, by the Eevenue OflBcer8,fhe scheme
although it may benefit the fishermen, and to some
even to a considerable extent, the people of the
country by placing within their reach a largtr supply
of preserved fish, carnot be expected to pay its way
as, under favourable circumstances, judging from the
experience gained in India, it may reasonably be eJi-
pectedtodoif carefully supervised.

MR. GOW'S TEA WITHEKEK ;
THE RESULTING TEA SAMPLES,-
To judge by the samples put before us, WC
think Mr. Gow may well be congratulated
on the tea turned out by his new process — a
process on which he has been experimenting,
and gradually perfecting for some thirteen
years. We have received five qualities ;- -Pekoe
Souchong 30 per cent ; Pekoe 31 per cent ; Brokoii
Pekoe 21 per cent ; Orange Pekoe 12 per cent ;
Pekoe Pust 3 per cent ; and the reports of fouf

S64

tHE tROPiCAL Agriculturist.

[Dec. 1, 1886.

mgsammi

aarijjjBjtt'MLi

of our Colombo tea experts on the same arc as
follows :—

Present Colombj, 30th Oct.

De cr ption: London Rejurlp.

va'up.
Orange p.k. Is ICd

to 28 Blackiah small mixed brok. peV.
audfaniugs with gold tip--,
lull da-k ricli liquor, i ood
quality.
BtokeQ p \. B d. Blackish even wiry pek. leaf with
ends, little broken, strong dark
malty liquor ; little pungent
good quality.
Fekoe Is 2d

lo iB'-d Blackish fiirly made pek. souch.
leaf few ends, dark malty liquor
little pungent fair strength and
qualit/.
Pe . Souch. lO.V to

iTd J lacki8h rather open choppy
souch. lea", dark pungent liquor,
little thin.
Pek. du8t 1 :dto

]8 3d (J lack, brownish, small. .Small
broken orange pek. and fannings,
full of tips, stionij dark pungent
liquor.
pp. SoM EViLLE & Co.. A.B.. Thompson.
[E : Is G^d F. £1 1-5]
Bro. pei oe black sh rather even
little flaty bro. or. pek e 12 per

ct. full of golden tips a d strong Is 8-lOd 9l'c to Kl'lO
Bro. pekoe blackish rather even
and twisted littlv bro. pekoe 24
per cent, fairly tippy, strong Is 'Jd 88;
Pekce blackish rather bold uneven
pekoe leaf 31 per cent few
tnds and good strength Is f d 71c

Pek. sou. greyish very uneven iiie-

gular leaf 30 p r cent fair s tr. lid 4 "c
P koe dust handsome tippy flat
dust 3 per cent rather thin Is (fr.

app.) 55c
FoRUhs & Walkkk.
Exchange. Freight.
Is i;jd fl 1)3 Od
Character. London Colombo

value, equivalent.
Or. pk. Black rather uneven little
choppy leaf. Many orange
tips strong thick liquor
rather pungent little flavor
good quality . . . . Is 9d 1'04 cents.

Brr, pek. Blackish uneven little
twisted semi-broken pekoe
a few tips strong pungent
liquor good quality . . Is Od ^6 00
Pekoe Blackish rather uneven
rather flaky leaf. Few
tips ; strong rather pmig-
ent liquor . . , , . . Js od 71 to 77
i'ek. fcJoU- Jilackish uneven acmibro.
pekoe sou., good strength
little pungent li(jiuor , . Is Od Iw fJ
}'t9. Ami Small black flaky fanngs
full of orange tips. Fair
strength ., , .- ., is Hd 71 W
These teas arc especially t^ood considering they are
made from leaf plucked from newly pruned bushes.
The liquor being strong and of good quality, and the
leaf ef a line black colour, free from all greyness.

HEKWKIiV TAliU.Wr.

'Qualify. Description. Valuation for

London market.
Ur. pykoe.i. Handsome Mack leaf

with tips.,, ... Is 8d to Is 9d.

Uro. „ , , Well made Or. Pek. leaf

with few tips ... Is id.
i tkoe ... 'Well made black leaf... Is 2d.
,, sen. ... Good black leaf ... lOid to J Id.
,, dust... Small br. pek. dust

fiill of lipij „. Is nomiua/.

The infusions are goiil.

1 he liijuors arc strong and pungent, with good flavours
l''ui{ l'osANQi;i:icV Co., A. M. Cai.dkcoit Smiih.

/Ihe bulk can be seen at Messrs J. Walker & Co.'s
olUce. .

TEA IN AMEEICA.

Writing from Philadelphia, Pa., under date 18th
September, Mr. Pineo has a very satisfactory re-
port of progress to make as follows : —

" The Overland Obscrrcr comes to me regularly.
The paper is perused with the greatest interest and
all matter pertaining to Tea has a special attrac-
tion, as I am. and have been, introducing your
tea into the markets of the United States and
Canada. I have established agencies in St. John,
Chatham, Beauford, Toronto, Hamilton, Kingston
and Montreal in the Dominion of Canada, and have
secured the co-operation of one of the largest and
best known jobbing houses of New York, hence
I am in a position to place any quantity of tea on
consignment in those towns. There are two great
dithculties with which I have had to deal. First, to
get the dealer to handle and the consumer to
appreciate Ceylon tea, and second, to get a uniform
quality in appearance of leaf and in liquor. There
is too much red and irregular sized leaf. I am
about starting an establishment here for the sale
of Tea and Coffee in packets, and also for selling
in original packages by wholesale.

" I have met Mr. Morris, Liberia Consul, and he
agrees with me in thinking a good trade can be
done here. We are only two hours by rail from
New York." [Mr. Pineo's remarks will, we have
no doubt, receive attention ; and all in Ceylon
will wish him success in his good work. — Ed.]

ceylon j'. india and china as a
tea-peoducin(t country.

The following extract from the letter of an in-
fluential correspondent in the old country who
takes the deepest interest in all that concerns the
welfare of Ceylon, merits and has received our
careful attention ; — •

'* No one has studied the question of our ex-
ports more deeply than you, and I want you to
reassure if you can many timid people connected
with Ceylon from the Colonial Oliice to myself on
the subject of tea. There is no apprehension as
to the failing power of tea, but as to over-produc-
tion in Ceylon, India and in China which will so
reduce profits that the planter having no gain will
cease to cultivate and there will be another and
(iiial depress on of Ceylon. The f;ill in the price
of lea has caused iJicsc rttlections. Tlic inaryiii
of profit is already becoming smiil], but what will
it be five years hence, when our esports ol Isa
shall have readied some 40 millions of pounds,
and when the increase of Indian tea will be
on the fsmc advancing scale, to say nothing
of the Chinese. Once open China by rail-
ways and I fear they will send in tea in such
(juaiititics and at such a price as to swamp our
planters and the Indian also. You have seen
what has been done by Indian railways opening
up vast tracts from which formerly it was impos.ii-
ble to export the grain which was grown and which
might be grown. Now Indian wheat is sent into
the market for 2!ls a quarter, and has utterly
swamped liussian and American wheat, to say
nothing of our own — and they boast in the Punjab
that they can supply the world with the best
sample and at a latc of cheapness with which U9

tJEC. I, 1886.]

*rl

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

3^5^

other country can compete. If we could get new
markets all would be well, but when are they to
be found? I am a good deal exercised in mind
about all this, not only as interested in Ceylon,
but as a tea-planter myself. Suppose you write a
careful article on the subject in the Observer and
send me a special copy, I know the subject will
often be discussed hereafter in my presence, but
pray do not let it be known that I have misgivings
as to the future prosperity of Ceylon. I daresay
you will dispel them."

Almost on the top of this, there comes a com-
munication couched in much the same spirit
from our friend " Old Colonist," who, fifteen years
ago, pointed out to us the western slopes of
Adam's Peak as specially fitted for the future tea
gardens of Ceylon, just as poor Mitchell of Kel-
burne so far back as 1861, took us over Baker's
Farm reserve forest with the view of starting a
Company to cultivate tea in the neighbourhood
of Nuwara Eliya, as he had seen it a year of
two before grown at high elevations in Northern
India. Here is " Old Colonist's "' view of the
situation : —

" DiKOYA, 2.")th Oct.— I have seen Adam's Peak
this morning for the first time in a dozen years,
and a blithesome sight it is to an old Ceylon
man. Now that I am satisfied it stands where it
stood, I begin seriously to take my bearings,
and the first thought that occurs to me is to
marvel at your moderation in estimating the pro-
babilities of tea, three years hence. I have not
yet seen the Kelani and Kalutara Valleys, though
from what I know of them I can readily credit
them with a super-abundance of good leaf, but
when I look at the vast expanse of these three
sister valleys comprizing possibly over 40,000 acres
of tea, most of which is under two years old, and
I am told that shipments of 14 to 15 million lb.
are confidently expected for the present year for
the whole island, how can anyone be supposed to
restrict their estimates for 1889-nO to ;-50,000,000
lb.? And when I look once more at the vast
extent of suitable chena-land from Matale to
Kandy and Kadugannawa to Nawalapitiya, — where
I still hold that a dozen Mariawattes may be
easily carved out, — and again peep at the other
side of the Peak where what was the wrong side
for coffee is right for tea — even from Bambarabatuwa
down to Udugama, where J. C. E pluckily plays
his last and winning card, — immense tracks of land
will be found eminently suited for the fragrant
leaf, to say nothing of Haputale, Badulla and
Madulsima which will doubtless yet top the
market with finest flavoured pekoe. With all this
in view, I simply stand aghast at the bare possi-
bilities of the leaf produce here, and wonder how
on earth the consumption is to keep pace with
tliis extraordinary quantity thrown on the top
of the China and Indian supply. What /.-■ to be the
upf*hot? Will the Chinaman cave in? Both Kama
gamy and Kanghamy are taking very kindly to this
tea business and even John Chinaman cannot sub-
sist on a Gd per day. If prices can only be main-
tained, there can be no possible fear of Cey!on.
Meanwhile, capital begins to flow back — the clear-
est indication you have had of this for many
years was the land sale of the '20th;— K48 per
acre smacks of old times I Confidence once lost,
however, is very hard to regain and much might
yet be done to facilitate or encourage the return
of capital by remodelling the Mortgage Laws. By
all means let every man who can, with all this
in view, keep his title-deeds clean, but as business
cannot usually be conducted without borrowing
and lending, ngw is the time to make the necess-
f>ry reform,"

We anticipated a good deal of criticism of the,
statement we ventured to offer at the meeting of
the Agricultural Association to the effect that Cey-
lon tea could possibly, by-and-bye, be laid down
in the London market, not costing more than 6d
per lb. On reflection we thought this was going
a little too far, and referred the question to a
gentleman in our midst who has paid special at-
tention to the detailed cost of our Ceylon teas.
Here is his reply : —

"Colombo, Oct. 2Gth, 188G.
My dear Sir, — The reply to your question as
to whether Ceylon tea can be laid down in London
at nd per pound, depends a good deal on rates
of freight and exchange ; the former fluctuates a
little from week to week, and the latter from day
to day as you know.

Calculating, however, freight at 40s per ton of
;")0 cubic feet, exchange at Is Gd per rupee, and
taking the cost of tea from estates in full bearing
at 30 cents per pound laid down in Colombo, it
would require 7d per lb to cover cost.

The home charges with 40s per ton freight,
would come to about l^^d per 11j. At present prices
they are ^d per lb,, but Insurance, Brokerage and
Commission on '}0 per cent under these prices would
reduce these charges proportionately.

You have published over and over again in your
daily issues, and also in your Tropical A(iriiultiiri>>t,
statemeuts from the highest tea planting author-
ities in the Island, proving that the produce of
properly managed estates in full bearing can be
laid down in Colombo within thirty cents per
pound.

This being so, I am tolerably sure that no
other country can drive us out of the field without,
also succumbing ; not even our chief competitor,
China, as long as the internal and export duties
levied in that country, which amount to the equi-
valent of '2id per pound, are maintained.

Exclusive of these duties, the only advantage
the China grower has over us, is that his green
leaf costs him nothing to produce. Nevertheless,
John Chinaman is no more disposed to carry his
green leaf to market and give it away for nothing,
than a Sinhalese will give away the coir, coffee
and other products which also costs him nothing
in the shape of wages to produce.

We are informed by the most recent authorities,
that the usual price of green tea leaves in the
interior bazaars of China is eciuivalent to Id per
pound. As they cannot manufacture their tea, how-
ever low wages may be in the manufacturing
towns, (and they are not so low as is generally
supposed) cheaper than we can, nor can they make
their ornamented boxes cheaper than ours. It.
would not be dil'ficult to tottle up a comparison
between the cost of Ceylon and China teas. — Yours
truly, C, S,"

Here, we might almost leave the matter, for
" C. S." puts the case in a nutshell and if
our esteemed home correspondent and " Old
Colonist " want further information, is it not given
in the pages of successive issues of the
Trojiicul A(jricitUuri>'t from 1^80 onwards. For
a fair and moderate summing-up on many of the
practical points involved, enquirers cannot do
better than study the " Ceylon Tea Planter's
Manual." But something more will very probably
be expected in support of the position whicli
Ceylon tea planters begin now fearlessly to assume.
That position involves a challenge both to India and
China in respect of the comparative quality, cheap-
ness of production, and probable demand for their
teas, and the general feeling of most observers is that
Ceylon has nothing to fear from the severest competi-
tion wbigh may be offered, We none of us wislj

S66

tHE l^ROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Deg. i, 1886.

to see the present average of prices reduced. But if
there is a further reduction, the Ceylon planter
will not be the first to stop. Our planters
have already proved what they can do in respect
of quality and further improvement in this direc-
tion may be steadily anticipated. All the patent tea
machinery which has already found a birthplace
in Ceylon is but a foretaste of much more to come.
In regard to economy of working it is difficult to
get those who are not personally acquainted with
the advantages of Ceylon to give credit to what
can be done here as compared with other tea-
growing countries. Our climate, situation, facilities
of transport and relative cheapness of labour will
enable us to defy competition from any country
where labour is paid for ; and we certainly do
not expect for a quarter of a century to come
to witness that fiscal as well as transport
revolution in China which would enable that
great tea country to beat us in the race. —
As to opening new markets lor the consumption
of tea, no one can say that Ceylon men are not
doing more than their full share and we think
there is much reason to anticipate that the taste
for Ceylon and Indian teas will more and more
supersede that for the inferior, and often adul-
terated China article.

CEYLON PINEAPPLES FOE HOME USE.

A correspondent lately returned from England
writes as follows : —

" The best quality of pineapples in England
during the month of May fetch half a guinea
a piece, at least such was the price asked upon
enquiry. Small ones, about as big as a coconut
were sold at half a crown each. Ceylon pines
are sold in the Colombo markets during April
and May at prices varying from five to fifteen
cents each ; of course, the difficulty is to get Ceylon
fruit placed in the English market in sound con-
dition. Has the exportation of pines from Ceylon
ever been attempted ? Good sound fruit carefully
wrapped in tissue paper and packed in pure dry
cinnamon sand, coti'ee husks or other suitable
vehicle and enclosed in boxes containing half
dozen pines each, might prove a success. Each
pine so packed could probably be put in the
English market at 50 cents each, whilst the retail
price would vary from two to eight shillings
each, according to the condition and quality of the
fruit."

At the old Industrial School, Mr. Thurston used
to preserve pineapples and plantains for the home
market, but beyond that we are not aware that any
experiments have been made. It is a question how
far Ceylon could compete with the West Indies,
which are much nearer the European markets.

Thi; Deleteuious Action of Cockcuaieu
Lakv.i; on Soil and Roots is thus described
in an article in Nature :—

"A more extreme case ia where the soil becomes
damp and clogged with excessive moisture ; not only
does no oxygen reach the roots, but noxious gases
accumulate iu solution in the soil, and will hurry
matters by poisoning cells which might otherwise
live a longer life of usefulness. It is extremely pro-
bable that such gases find their way into higher
parts of the plant iu the air-bubbles known to exist
and to undergo alterations of pressure in the vessels
of the wood: this bcin^ so, they would slowly retard
the actiou of other living cells, and so eflect the
lipper parts of the plant even more rapidly than

would otherwise be the case. Damp soil may thus
do injury according to its depth and nature ; but it
need not necessarily be deep to be injurious if niucli
oxygeo-cousummg substance is present. I have seen
excellent soil converted into damp, stinking, deadly
stuff from the action and accumulation of tlie larvse
of cockchafers: these "grubs' may, it is true, accel-
erate the devastatiou caused by the consumption of
oxygen and the accumulation of poisonous waste
matters in the soil by directly cutting off portions
of the roots themselves, but the accniiiulation of
oxygen-consuming substance, and the cutting off of
supplies to the root-hairs evidently plays a chief
part in the destruction."

The Amstekda.m Quinine Wokks. — A general
meeting of shareholders in this company was convened
for September 15th, but no quorum being present the
chairmau adjourned the meeting for a month, when it
is hoped sufticieut interest will have been aroused to
ensure the taking of a final decision concerning the
future of the works. The board of directors propose
to increase the capital of the concern to 3i 9,000 florins
(25,000/.), divided into three series of shares: the first
and second of 50.000 florins each, in shares of 250 florins;
and the third of 200,000 florins, divided in shares of
1,000 florins, 500 florins, and 100 florins each. It is
further proposed to place the management of the works
in the bands of a director, under supervision of a
committee of five members, of whom two must be
Dutch pharmacists of repute. If by October loth a
subscription of 150,000 florins in shares of the third
series has not been secured, or no other means have
been found to guarantee the possibility of continued
existence, the company will in all probability be dis-
solved, but an appeal is made to patriotic feelings,
and the continuation of the Amsterdam Quinine "Works
is described as matter of national importance. It is
said that a committee of experts who have investigated
the working of the entire concern have stated that
the works are capable of being conducted at a profit,
provided the active assistance of all Dutch pharmacists
in pushing the preparations of the Amsterdam works
iu preference to those of any foreign firm be secured.
— Clic/nint and l>iu<j(jist.

China Grass or Ramie, — The Textile Becorder
has been sent to us with the following paragraphs
marked : —

" M. Marius Moyret insists upon his statement that it
is only throwing money away to patent processes in
Europe for decorticating ramie or China grass. It will
not grow in Europ°,and it is far too bulky to bring here
iu its native form. It must be treated near where it
grows. He again states that the fibre can be separated
from the woody p^rt quite easily and cheaply. The cut
plant must be dried gradually as far as pos-'ible
in the sun, then put into a heated stove for a night.
All that is required is now to beat the dried plant ; the
wood falls off, and a bundle of fibre is left. If the
drying is done too rapidly, the real fibre become.s, as
it were, glued to the wood, and nothing can be done
with it. A final process is required for separating the
fibres from one another. This could be done in Europe,
But the celebrated chemist and academician, M. Fremyj
who iu conjunction with Urbain has made a special
study of ramie, spoke to the French Academy upon
this substance on June "iSth last, exhibiting some very
fine samples of manufactured China grass obtained by
a process which he has described. He remarked that if
was to be hoped that French agriculturists would no
longer hesitate to undertake the growth of ramie upou
a large scale, for France would then po.«se8s a vegetablt;
fibre resembling silk which skilful manufacturers woi<lJ
work up without loss of its silky lustre and produce
goods such as China had done for a long period. An-
other instance would then be created of the services
which science could render when it was associated with
agriculture and industry. There is, it will be seen, a
great difference of opinion upon the matter between
tl.e man of science and the man of practice."

The first process is new to us and seems worth
trying, but so many sanguine expectations respect-
ing rhea and aloes have been falsified that we ar?
rather sceptical.

Psc. i< 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

367

$ovr^spondeno0.

To the EdUor of the " Ce[ilon Observer."
WHITE CASTOR CAKE : AN ENQUIRY ?
The Editor " Tropical A(friciilturist."

The Siddra Bunnoo Estate, Koppa,

Mysore, 21st Oct. 1880.
DuAB Sir, — I should feel much obliged if you
would inform me the price of white castor cake
per ton in Colombo, and also where the larger
part of that shipped to Ceylon comes from ? I
have made enquiries in Mangalore and Bangalore
and cannot get any. My object in writing is to
ascertain whence the castor cake comes and to
arrange to get some either in Mangalore (my nearest
port) or Madras.— I am, dear sir, yours faithfully,

ROBERT BUCHANAN.
[This is a most extraordinary enquiry to make
of us in Ceylon, seeing that all the castor cake
now in Ceylon comes from India. It is sold here
just now, crushed and delivered at Colombo Railway
station, in boxes at Rtio to RG7 per ton, and comes
chiefly from Calcutta. — Ed.]

THE CINCHONA ENTERPRIZE IN CEYLON !—

AND IN INDIA AND JAVA : THE NEED

OF FRESH SEED.

Gampola, 23rd Oct. 188(5.

Dear Sir, — A great deal has appeared lately in
your valuable paper on the subject of cinchona
and it has surprized me that no one has noticed,
while on this subject, the gradual though certain
extinction of this important cultivation within
the island. I shall preface my remarks with tlie
hazard, that less than ten years will see the last
of the present race of cinchona trees extinct.

In taking a retrospect of cinchona since say 1805,
when only a few trees and isolated patches were
scattered here and there over the country, all from
one original stock and propagated by cuttings on'y,
viz. from the Hakgalla Gardens, until the period
between 1877 and 1882 when the cinchona plant
threatened to become a troublesome weed, spring-
ing up everywhere over estates and being reg-
ularly weeded out along with other weeds until
down to the present tnne, what do we see ? and
what have we learned '?

All the earlier planted cinchona took live to
seven years to come into seed, grew so far as I
ever knew or saw, perfectly free from canker,
attained to line well-grown trees, and when cut
down again grew to trees, retaining their original
vigour.

When the cinchona period arrived and men
counted their riches by the number of plants
they had planted, (now the seedling period) taken
wherever they were to be found, what a different
appearance they presented : trees ran to seed from
IJ to three years old ; along witli this period came
canker, sweeping out whole plantations^ no doubt
hastened somewhat by the abnormal seasons of
1879 and 1.S82, but I think most observing men
will admit the great vital cause to be degener-
ation of species, till at the present time cinchona
seedlings die off wholesale, before they have at-
tained a foot high.

I maintain canker is but symptomatic. The
disease is embryotic, /. e. the cinchona plant never
has been, nor ever can be naturalized in the East
and my remarks apply to India and the whole Brit-
ish Possessions where this valuable tree has been
cultivated.

Now if we but take into consideration what part
Geijl(jH alone has played in this mighty boon to

humanity, in the matter of cheapening the cinchona
alkaloids and bringing them within the reach of
the poorest, is it not sad to contemplate if extinc-
tion be admitted how soon this gift may be swept
away and quinine get beyond the reach of the poor.

I look on this as a hic/hlij importcuU Imperial
question, calling for the immediate attention of the
powers that be ere it is too late ; at any cost the
British Government should keep up a small fresh
annual supply of seed and plants from their native
habitat and have them propagated and distributed,
bringing them easily within the reach of all wil-
ling to undertake their cultivation.

What owner of land in Ceylon would not gladly
plant up a portion of his estate in cinchona if
he were satisfied there would be a healthy per-
manent growth as attended the early efforts ?

I have no hesitation in saying like results would
follow if seed or plants were again re-introduced,
and planting confined to original stock only. I am
very desirous to hear the opinions of those who
have watche 1 the progress of cinchona planting
from its earliest start in the island to the pre-
sent time, and what they think of its future.

Much might be written of disappointed hopes,
but also much of the fireat aid it brought the
struggling planter in his time of need, also what
a lamentable fact it will be if we have to record
its decay, when a little foresight might prevent
such a calamity and give a fresh impetus to an
industry so fraught with good.— Yours truly,

AGRICOLA.

[Our correspondent's idea is a good one, al-
though we scarcely think he is correct in his vaticin-
ations. If cinchona trees canker oft' in Ceylon
and India, so they do in the Andean plantations,
while in the forests of America, South and Central,
the bark gatherers had to search for scattered groups
of the fever trees. We believe we have in the
eastern world as good a cinchona climate as exists
in the western world, but in both hemispheres, the
plant is particular as to soil and especially subsoil,
dying off in damp, stiff clay. We should like to
hear from other planters also what they have to
say about the nourishing of cinchonas on soil opened
up and drained by tea plants. Our own experience
shows that in such cases they flourish wonder-
uliy. — Ed.]

COFFEE IN UVA.

Dear Sir, — I see the Uva men still try to live
in a fool's paradise keeping up the hope that their
coft'ee may resist the green bug. How true the
proverb is that "Wise men profit by the experience
of others, fools by their own." My coffee was
among the healthiest and most vigorous in the
Kandyan side, the soil, climate, cropping and growth
were in many respects similar to those of Uva,
while it was distant and separate from other
estates. Green bug put in its hr.st appearance
only last year, but this year it is very bad on all
over the coft'ee, stems, leaves and even fruit.
Further it is not even confined to the coft'ee but
it prevails on jungle bushes and even on forest
trees. The merry men of Uva must, like their
Kandyan brethren, just submit to the inevitable,
and the sooner they face it the better. Green bug
is far worse than leaf-disease, and neither good
soil nor dry climate mend matters. Coft'ee must
be replaced by tea, but for Uva to do this success-
fully, it must have a railway, no matter of what
kind. The long weary years have proved the
folly of Uva having allowed Rutherford's proposed
temporary narrow gauge scheme to collapse — half
a loaf would have been better than no bread.
DELENDA EST CARTHAGO,

368

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Drc I, i8S6.

■ ■- 1' ■LM"?-'-Ul?

BREAD AND FLOUR— INFORMATION FOR
HOUSEKEEPERS.

Colombo, '2nd November 1880.

Dear Sir, — With reference to correspondence in
your paper sometime ago regarding outturn of
bread, we annex extract of a letter on the subject,
received from an expert, Mr. E. Freeborn of the
Western India Flour Mills, Bombay : — a gentleman
whose experience in connection with Hour and bread
industry extends over the past twenty-live years.—
We remain, dear sir, yours faithfully,

pp Fraji.iee, Bhikhajee & Co.
Pestonjee Dixsuawjee Khan.

" Our ptreenfage in bread made with our Hour
18 140 lb. bread for every lOu lb. flour ; but iu
Colombo, where toddy is pure, and the dough is
made softer so as to turu out light bread, the bakers
ought to realize about 115 1b. Flour with pleuty of
strength and very dry will take more water than
moist flour, or flour that has not much gluteu iu
it. To liistiuguish good flour coutainiug strength you
need only mix an ounce in suliicient water to m^ike
a bolus or pill, and then to knead it well and draw
it out into a string to see how long it will go
without breaking. If it breaks short you may ci^n-
clude it has little strength ; but if the fibre extends
and is elastic it is good strong flour aud the per-
centage will be better. In colour, a pale white or
chalk colour is not a healthy colour, good flour
must possess a bright rosy hue or what millers call,
a bloom on the flour."— pp. F. B. i Co., P. W. K.

A W'rixkle for Tea-1'Lanters (By a returned
Colonist). — On your tea-cheats, put only the nett
weight, say " 50, 90 or 100 lb. nett " — nothing more ;
and then state in invoice not simply the total,
say "9 chests cijualling UOOlb. "; but rather put
in 9 chests, each containing 100 lb : 900 lb. The
word " each " is of much practical importance.
Of course, a few ounces say ^1 b. extra, should
be put into each chest.

Recent P.\tents. — Tonic or Coca Bitters. (.S'-
]V<i(,T.-;. No. (),.S99. May 22nd, ISHH.) Any British
or foreign wine is taken, and quinine, " cinchona,"
quinidine, or other bitter alkaloid dissolved in it
until the proper degree of bitterness is acquired, and
therefore it is mixed with coca leaves or an extract
thereof, solution being, if necessary, aided by the
addition of sulphuric, citric, or other acid, and the
mixture afterwards clarilied with isinglass or other
finings. The claim is for the pre^jaration termed
coca bitters, and for a beverage containing an
extract of coca leaf and a bi.ter alkaloid. — Chemigt
and l>ru(i(jii>t.

The Successful Cultivation, since 188-1, of the
Ramie or China grass plant [/(velimericu/ivea) on the
Champ-de-l' Air at L-iusaune (altitude 520 m.) by Prof.
Sclnietzler, i.s an interesting fact iu botany. This
shrub, a native of China and Sumatra, bas been grown
in the south of the United .States and of Fiance for
thirty years. Recently it bas been introduced into
Algeria. There is of course a striking difference in
the conditions of temperature between Lausanne and
llie places in Asia where Ramie is grown. Wliile the
latitude of the latter is from 15*^ to 3.")*, that of Lau-
sanne is 46'^ 31'. The mean^ temperature at Lau-
sanne is 9'^ "5 C. Last winter the plants underwent
long periods of great cold; in one cise, <•</., the ther-
mometer being below zeio for 124 hours, witli a mini-
mum on the ground of — 12" 'oC: — Siitiut.

" LoNi'ON Pur.ri.K" as an insecticide is thus
noticed in the Melbourne Leader: —

Phiquiries having been made respecting the collin
moth poison, we republish the following particulars
from an American source : — Mr. T. G. Yeomans, speaks
from experience in the Conntitj Qe)ithinan of London
purple for orchard enemies as better than Paris green,

because it is cheaper, mixes well with water, and does
not need to be stirred to prevent precipitation. A pound
to 100 gallons is a suitable proportion, the poison being
first mnde like paste in a small dish and then added to
the tank. He applies it with force pump, suction pipe,
hose, &c.— costing, all complete, 10 dul.— one man driv-
ing the team and directing the nozicle, while another
works the pump vigorously. Thus hundreds of tn es
m;.y hesprajed in a day ; bethinks the best time is
about when the blossoms fall, or as soon thereafter as
may be convenient, and the effect is very noticeable in
improved (piality of fruit, due to the destruction " not
only of cankerworms and codliu moths," but of ail
other insects injurious to the ajsple.

Mica or Talc— A correspondent writes :— I saw
your para re Mica or Talc, and give you the
following information received yesterday from a
friend of mine in London. I send a large
sample of the Talc he took home, and enclose
herewith two small pieces, one is a bit off one of
my samples, and the other is a piece of a mar-
ketable sample, and my friend alludes to them
as being as different in color as a white man and
a colored one :—" J/ua. I spent money and time
to succeed, but the one white quality is all I could
get quotations for. I am in contact with the real
buyers, and can sell quantities, but they must be
large white clear sheets, any suspicion of amber
or brown, I cannot get even an offer for. What I
brought home is too brown and wavy, but I learned
that a man of colour (a native no doubt) had been
in the habit of shipping from Galle to Germany,
mica of the right sort and quality, which fetched
good prices, but suddenly supply ceased, • and
sometimes afterwards it was discovered he had
died. Who it was I could not learn, but was told
lie shipped the mica from Point de Galle. It is
used in Germany for making lamp shades, as per
sketch, also for ovens. Magnetic Instruments, Screen
paintings for fire places etc." I send this so that you
may make any use you like, as some of those
reading about Talc might go to a lot of expense and
never get the rgiht volar, not being aware that
the brown is worthless. The specimens sent are
certainly very clear and tine. — Ed. ]

J.wa ANn SuMATiiA.- The Colonial report of 188.5
has beeu is.-ued. It shows that the population of Java
and Madura was on Dec. 31st, 1884, ;i7,6»0 Europeans,
228,404 persons belonging to various Eastern nations,
and 20.G()5,510 natives, together 20,931,654, against
20,G:J0,102 iu 1883, the population having tims increased
during 1884 by 301,552 persons. In the district of
Bagelcu an epidemic prevailed during the tir.st six
months of 1884, which caused a decrease of the popul-
ation of 20.289 souls ; in all the twenty-one other dis-
tricts there was an increase of 321,791 souls, viz. 37l.82-i
natives, and 8,907 foreigners. About the condition of
Java aud ^ladura the following information is given.
Owing to the small (Jovernment colTee-crop and the
low prices realised for the plentiful rice crop, the natives
have earned only a small amount of money, but the
sanitary conditions generally gave satisfaction, almo.st
all districts being free from epidemic diseases. Order
remained undisturbed, except in certain cases of religi-
ous excitei^ient, but v.hich were soon suppressid. The
relations with the various native Courts, and theiuigh-
bouring Colonial Powers, have continued to )e of the
most friendly nature. Agriculture was satisfactory,
the outturn of the lice crops being plentiful. The
coffee cultivation was less favourable, the plant having
suffered much from the continueil aridity anil the pre-
vailing disease of the leaves, which involved consider-
able damage and loss. The sugar cultivation has been
satisfactory, but the tobacco crop unfavourable. Mid-
dle and Eastern Java suffered very much from inun-
dations. A'olcauic eruptions were only observed in April
aud October, the con.sequences of which were of little
importanct.'. The amount of the land-rent was 19 265,807
guilder.s, against 19,301,700 guilders in 1884.— Z. ^ ( ',

yi'.iy);'tf.>-.<.

Dec. i, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

3^9

FARMING IN DnDIA.

It is not always that we see ourselves as others
see us. One of our much respected English exchanges
{North British Agriadturist) has an article of Farming
in India in a recent issue, a perusal of which will
doubtless enlighten many of our readers, who are
quite up in the agriculture of the country. Our
contemporary says: — "The Indian farmer has scarcely
any food, but what he has is of the simplest kind.
There being no hard, gravelly soil, no stiff clay, no
hard pan, and no sticky calcareous soil to work, is a
great advantage to him. By a very crude implement,
which can scarcely be called a plough, the land is
torn up. This plough consists of a triangular piece
of wood, about 18 inches in length, and 6 inches in
diameter at the larger end, the other being pointed.
On tae flat side of this piece of wood a groove is
made, into which a flat piece of iron, a foot in length,
an inch ^vide, and half an inch thick, is inserted,
and held in its place by a staple. The staple under-
neath does not interfere with the rooting. This iron
bar, which is pointed, serves as a nose or point to
the plough. The larger end of this triangular piece
of wood is mortified into an upright stick, the latter
about 3 feet in length, at the top of which is a
wooden pin on the front side for a handle. About
18 inches from the ground a strip of board 3 inches
wide, an inch and a half thick, and 8 feet long, is
inserted into the upright stick, and serves as a beam
and a tongue. The j-oke is a straight stick, 6 feet
long, 3 inches in diameter, with four wooden pins
each 6 inches long, one on each side of the neck of
the bullocks. A small hemp rope, or grass twine,
(joes under the bullocks' necks to keep the yoke in
it? place. The beam of the plough has a few notches
under it near the end, and is fastened to the yoke
by a small grass rope. The plough makes no furrow,
but simp'.y roots or tears up the soil, and the plough-
man, with his little goad or whip in one hand, the
other holding the wooden pin in the upright stalk,
walks by the side of the plough. The cattle are of the
Brahmin species, white, slender-bodied, long-legged,
and very lean. About the only feed they get for
months before the rain is 'blioosa,' or wheat, straw,
and chaff. Ploughing is hard work for both the
little cattle and the man, and the best a man can do
is to tear up three-quarters of an acre a day, and
the work tlen is poorly done." "The land has to be
ploughed in this way a number of times, especially
for the moie substantial crops. The cattle cost from
£1 to £4 a pair, but the aveiage price is about
£1 IS.^-. The average price of a plough is Is. 8d.
The only other implement used is a log or slab of
wood d ft. or 8ft. long, drawn sideways across the
field by one or two pair of cattle, to crush the clods
and .smooth the surface. After the laud is pulverised,
and finally this is well done too, the last ploughing
takes place when a man or woman dribbles the seed
from the hand into the furrow. The next operations
are those of reaping and thrashing. The reaper con-
sists of a blade of iron 6 inches in length, 1 inch in
width, and curved like an old fashioned sickle with
a notched edge and a short handle. Its cost is
2d. The harvester sits upon his heels, cuts a handful
of straw \vhich he lays down, and then waddles on
without rising, and cuts another lot. He cuts about
one-twelfth of an acre a day, for which he receives
2^rl, out of which he has to board himself. After
this primitive reaping machine comes a binder, who
gathers up the grain and binds it into sheaves. It
is then shocked, and a day or two after carted to the
thrashing-floor. The thrashing machine consists of a
floor — a bit of hard ground — a stake, a number of cattle,
and a driver. The grain straw is piled arouud the
stake in the floor, the cattle are connected by a rope
tied to their horns, and one end of the rope fastened
to the stake, and the driver keeps them going until
the ■ straw is trampled very fine, into what is called
' bhoosa.' This after the grain is separated from it,
is fed to the cattle." "We trust the English public
will not need further enlightenment upon this subject.
^Indian Agriculturist,

LETTER TO AN AGRICULTURAL STUDENT
IN CEYLON.

No one denies that agriculture is essentially a
practical thing; so is medicine; and will any one be
fool enough to suggest that science be put away from
the study of medicine ? That would be senseless. The
land is the subject of the cultivator's operations ; how
much do the cultivators of Oeylon know about it?

Of course, they are convinced they know everything

" igoaros vire miseratus agrestes."

The object of agriculture is thus concisely put.
To produce, in good condition, the greatest amount
of produce in the shortest amount of time, at the
least cost, and the smallest deterioration of the land.
If this object is to be faithfully carried out, the
cultivator must have a certain knowledge of such
sciences as would help him. English agriculturists
for a long time laughed at the idea of bringing
Geology, Chemistry, Mechanics, Meteorology, Botany,
and Natural History to the aid of agriculture. Land
has been supplied by Nature with an enormous
amount of natural food which can sustain it for an
indefinitely long period ; and for as long a period the
cultivator may take no thought of how it fares, .so
long as it yields its return year by year without de-
cre;ise. But time works changes, and old methods are
not always the better. It must be understood by
those who ridicule the idea of seeking the aid of the
sciences I have mentioned above, that these sciences
are not studied abstractedly, but only as applied to,
and so far as they touch on, the main subject i c.
agriculture. Now I can assure that you in this sense,
of being illustrative of Agriculture, and dealing with
concrete things, they form a most interesting and
charming study.

Geology, dealing of rocks and soils, tells you what
soils you may expect in different quarters ; and
'stratification,' 'dip,' and 'strike' all go to help you
in draining, well-sinking, &c. Chemistry, of course,
principally helps you in the matter of analysis of
soil, water, manure, feeding stuffs, &c., and enables
you to detect adultsrations, and fix upon the relative
value of important ingredients. Why supply manure
generally and indiscriminately when you can find
what element has been exhausted in the soil, or
which plant-food the crop lacks. Thus expense is
saved, and injury is averted ; for certain elements that
are superfluous maj' produce combinations or changes
that would be better absent.

Mechanics helps you in the matter of irapleinenti.
Bj' an acquaintance with the branches of this science
you learn the applications of steam, water, and wind ;
or, to put it in its most attractive form, you will bo
able to drive a working engine, set up a water wheel,
rej)air a pump, and do a score of such useful things.

Meteorology comes to your aid in matters of weather,
temperature, rainfall, moisture, forecasts, &c. Botany^
you, of course, know how usefully this science comes
in, in agriculture. It struck me lately how careful
growers of cattle here are about the grasses of cattle
feed on. In a fortnight or three weeks you can be
perfectly familiar with all your gr.asses, know all
their names and their nutritive value. How little do
you attend to your grazing fields out there, caring
nothing about grasses that keep your cattle back in
condition, and otherwise exert most injurious influences.
Why not have a pasture ploughed up and sown with
a good selection of grass seeds, so that you may
always have a good gra/.ing ground on which the cattle
will thrive ?

Natural History at least will come to your aid in tho
matter of insect pests. Veterinary, you know, will
be of inestimable value to you, and it is an interest"
ing subject to study. I intend taking out Principal
Williams' classes. You know he is said to be the
greatest authority on the subject in Great Britain,
and his writings are the standard works. The corres«
pendent to the Fxaminer spoke about the variety of
agricultual systems in different parts of the world.
True, but the broad principles of agricultural .science
apply generally, and what knowle(?g§ you waut is, ](

370

^ME I'ROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Dec I, 1^86.

suppose, of such operations as of ploughing, harrowing,
rolliu}:, drainage, irrigation, &c. I hear you are being
inslructctl in ploughing. Well, you will know by this
that even iu such a simple agricultural operatiou you
want to kuow something of the nature, constitution
and texture of the soil and subsoil, and the advisability
or danger of going deep or shallow ; what width your
furrow slice shtuld be, &c. But now you must be
laughing at the idea of my referring to ploughing at
all when you know all about it by this. — " Examiner."

PLANTING IN FIJI.

The Rp:w\ Kivkr. — The largest river in Fiji is the
]\ewa in the island of Viti Levu, the largest island of the
group. It is formed by the confluence of the Wanibuka
and Wainimala, and at 2is and 11 miles respectivelj' from
its mouth receives as tributaiies, on its right bank the
Waidina and Waimana. Including its tributaries, the
river is navigable for about 72 miles, and it drains a
surface area of about 1360 square miles, there is an
approximate average annual rainfaU of 130 iu. The
Rewa Kiver has five entrances, all of which are,
separated from one another by extensive delta. They
are, however, protected from the fury of the ocean by
a coral barrier reef. Nature has perfected the handi-
work by leaving channels wide and deep enough to
admit the largest ships through the barrier. After des-
cribing other smaller tributaries, Mr. Thomson remarked
that the Rewa River system is a most important
one, from both a commercial and an agricultural
point of view. During heavy floods, which are of rare
occurrence, the fiat land on the margin of the river
is enriched by the deposits from the waters, just as the
Egyptian plains are through the overflowing of the
Nile. The writer described the nature of the European
land claims, and gave a table showing the area so
claimed on the Rewa River. The different sugar est-
ates were described at coneiderble length. The Fijians
themselves cultivate cane upon small plantations, and
sell it to the manufacturers, receiving the same price as
the European grower. There are extensive areas of
virgin soil available for the same purpose awaiting
European capital and enterprise. The average annual
rainfall on the Rewa is over 100 in., and the climate
good. Prior to 1881 all the labourers imported into
Fiji were Polynesians, but owing to the great com-
petition in the Polynesian labour trade from other
colonie.s, the Government established a system of coolie
immigration from India, which has so far proved a
great success, and now very few Polynesians are em-
ployed in the Rewa district. Each cooly or Polynesian
can work from two to three acres of the cane field,
and the number of labourers on each plantation is
properly regulated. The cost of imported coloured
labour, including introduction, &c., per head per annum
was as follows : — Ooolies, about £28 ; Polynesians, about
X35 ; and Fijians, £27. Ooolies cost £21 16s. 8d. in-
troduction money; wages, Is. per day for men, and
9d. per day for women. For the first six months the
employer has to find the cooly in rations, deducting
od. per day from his earings for the same. After that
period ho has to find himself. Th3 term of service is
five year."!. The percentage of sick and ab^ient from
work every day showed them to be au expensive class
pf labour, A new Fijian labour system has beeu
ndopted, to be assimilated with the cooly ordinance
to allow the engagement of the Fijian by the day or
task tvork, which would no doubt be a benefit to
European agriculturalists. Atpresent the European popu-
lation on the Rewa Hirer is about ^000, being mostly scat-
tered throughout the districts The soil and climate
were peculiarly adapted for the growth of all tropical
and semi-tropical productB. The cultivation of tobacco
was much neglected, and was left almost entirely in
llic hands of the natives. The total value of the sugar
exports during the last four years from the colony of
Fiji was £708,569 2s. lid. 8heep did not appear to
thrive in Fiji, but horses and cattle did well, and the
latter Avere often met with in large herds. All kinds
of birds were there in profusion, and many natives
could boast of well-stocked poultry yards, The natives
gt F'ji were » poutented people, and roucb ffup^rior

in physical and intellectual capacity to other Polyne-
sians, the Maoris being their only superiors iu the
South Seas. Previous to the writer's visit there can-
nibalism e.xisted, but the outrages committed against
Europeans were, in his opinion, the result of great
aggravation. However, the Fijians were pow a useful
race and were civilised. The youths were trained at
Tarious religious schools, and at the Government Native
State Schools. — Queenslander.

A NEW INDUSTBY FOR QUEENSLAND :

FIBRES.

Amongst the many interesting facts to be met with
in the study of the vegetable kingdom not the least
interesting are to be found in the history of some
members of the nettle tribe. They are widely dis-
persed over the face of the globe, and like members
of a human family exhibit immeasurably different
characteristics, according to their habitat and associ-
ations. They have opposite or alternate leaves ; their
stamens are as many as their perianth segments and
opposite to them. They have limpid juice. The
flowers are unisexual or polygamous. Ovary, free one-
celled, with one erect ovule. So much for the features
by which we may know them, but in temperate re-
gions they are only herbs, whereas in the tropics
they attain the diginity of shrubs. According to
Lindley there are twenty three genera and 300 species,
hut he adds that there are probably more known now.

So common is the Biritish nettle weed that it has
given rise to the proverb concerning " Grasping the
nettle."

The reason why the nettle does not sting when it
is f/rasped, but does sting if it be touched lightly,
is not generally known, except amongst botanical stu-
dents; and almost all books on botany seem to be
written with the express purpose of frightening people
away by means of using the longest and hardest
words that can be found. It is somewhat in the
same way that the serpent uses the poison-gland at
the base of his tooth that the nettles exude their
poison, and one German botanist has fancifully des-
cribed them as " the serpents of the vegetable king-
dom." In the stinging-nettle there is a little bag situ-
ated at the bottom of a hollow hair ; this bag con-
tains an acrid fluid surrounded by a number of elas-
tic cells. The point of the hair is sharp, and is
protected bj' a tiny cap. "When the nettle is touched
lightly this cap is broken off, the point of the hair
pierces the skin, and a drop of the stinging juice is
forced into the blood. If the nettle be grasped
firmly the tube is ruptured lower down, hence there
is no sharp point to pierce the skin, and the juice is
simply poured upon the exterior. Endlicher con-
siders that the "causticity of nettle juice is owing
to the presence of bicarbonate of ammonia,'' but the
properties of the juices of virulently stinging nettles
is a subject which still requires minute and careful
investigation, for in the case of some exotic urticace;o
or nettles the wounds produced are so dangerous as
to necessitate amputation.

According to Pouchet. " If we look at the minute
quantity of venom with which one of their hairs
inoculates us — not perhaps the 150,000th )3irt of a
graui — at the rapidity and intensity of the symptoms,
it is clear that the pjisou of the nettle is the dead-
liest known." In fact, the true stories concerning
the depravity of exotic nettles may in a mild way
compare with the fabled wickedness of the Upas tree,
though it cannot be said that " for three or four
leagues around only dead bodies and skeletons of men
are to be met with, whilst the birds which ventured
into the surrounding air felt to the ground as if
struck by lightning," Whut is true of the Upas tree
is that eight drops of the juice injected into the
veins of a hor.«e killed it in a few minutes.

Leschenhault says that he ha.i seen the sting of
Urtica creiudata bring on the most horrible suffering
for a whole week, whilst Shleideu declares that if a
person is stung by the Vrtica r.rentiisima amputation
is the only remedy, or rather the sole means qI saving
life.

Dec. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

37i

The natives of Java call the latter the Devil's leaf
and say that the etfects of its sting last for a year
or more when it does not cause rapid death; whilst
I'rtiea stimulans in Java is another most dangerous
species. Like the much talked of antidotes to snake
poisoning, an antidote to the effects of the similarly
venomous if less common violently stinging nettles has
yet to be discovered. Having glanced at the male-
volent and illbred members of the urticaceas, let us
turn to some of the useful and benign members of
the family.

The foliage of Boehmeria candita, says Lindley, is
used advantageously in Brazil in baths, as a relief
for hffimorhoidal complaints, and in the same country
an extract of Pilea, mascosa is regarded as a remedy
for dysuria. Uriica dioica is used as an astringent
and diuretic. It is also used as a decoction, strongly
salted, which will coagulate milk without giving it
any unpleasant flavour. In Abyssinia an acrid species
{Urtica siynenais) is cooked and eaten by the natives
as a vegetable. The tubers of Urtiat tuherosa are es-
culent and nutritious, and are boiled, or roasted, or
eaten raw by the natives.

The common nettles are used frequently in France ;
sometimes in England and in Scotland I have often
seen women of the poorer labouring class carrying
home great bundles of the tender and young portions
of the nettles to put in their " broth."

The stalks of Urtica cannabina were manufactured
at one time into hemp, but were not so successful
as another species which will be mentioned hereafter.

Urtica tenacissima, called "caloose" in Sumatra,
yields an extremely tough cordage. From the Pooah,
or Puya, of Nepaul and Sekkim, which strongly re-
sembles Voehmeria nivea, good cordage and strong sail
cloth is manufactured in the Eist Indies. The shoots
and tubers of the Urtica tuberosa are eaten by the
Chinese. This plant is also prescribed by "Celestial"
doctors for rheumatism, neuralgia, palsy, and lumbago.
But of all the plants of the Urticacepe f;«nily the
most highly prized by the Chinese is what they call
Chii-ma, which is generally kaown as "China grass"
amongst traders, and the Bdhmeria nivea of botanists,
which is the same as the Kankhoora or Ehea of
India, and said to be similar to the Caloose of Sumatra.
This Bohmeria nivea is most important to Chinese
trade, and is extensively cultivated in Ohe-chang-fn,
Kwang-sin-fu, Nam-sing-fu, and Wu-chang-fu. The
fibres of the stalks are soaked in native soda, beaten
and broken up with a rake-like tool, and heated
in a dry boiler. The staple is manufactured into
grass cloth and is mixed with silks in making several
fabrics. Chinese physicians also hold the plant in
esteem for medicinal purposes. The root is said to
be cooling, pectoral, diuretic, and resolvent ; and the
leaves, vulnerary, alternative, and astringent.

But it is as a fibre-producing plant that BiJhmcria
■nivea has the most importance. It is a perennial her-
baceous plant with broad oval leaves, with white
down on the under surface. It is assertd that it is pos-
sible to obtain three crops from it per annum.

It has lately been the topic of much consideration
in the Indian Government, which considers that the
manufacture of this soievZ-rjctal might become' of
great value in increasing the revenue in India if a
pracitical scheme could be contrived for its accomplish-
ment.

With a view to this end of the Indian Govern-
ment some time ago offered a reward for an econom-
ical method of preparing the fibre of the " China
grass. " A few months ago Messrs. Fremy and
Urbain, of Paris, invented a method for converting
the fibres into filasse ready for spinning. Since then
a Mous. Favier constructed a machine for gathering
the fibres by decorticating the stems by means of
steam. Belting for machinery has already been made
of this fibre, and I saw a statement the other day
to the affect that on this belting being tested it
was found that it coud bear a strain of 8,320 lb.
to the square inch ; whereas leather could only sus-
taiji a pressure of 4,239 lb. to the square inch. A piece
of wiiter hose male of the sime substance was sub-
jected to the high pressure of 600 lb, to the square

inch, and it was proved that it only " sweatel as
much as a good ordinary hose does under a pressure of
100 lb." It remains to be seen whether some enterprising
Australian will start the cultivation and manufacture
of this valuable plant in the tropical soil of Queens-
land, where it would probably flourish. So far as is
known the Bohmeria is not indigenous to the main-
land of Australia; but an allied species, the B'lhmeria
calojihle, is endemic to Lord Howe's Island. There seems
no reason why Queensland should be behind our Indian
colonies in encouraging an Industry which has yet
been an exclusive source of wealth to China.

Our friends the nettles may yet be the cause of
giving employment to hundreds if not thousands of
colonists, and of thus conferring blessings more than
sufficient to compensate for the venom and malice of
other members of their numerous family.— L. M.
Alston. — Qweeyislander.

♦

EOOTS. *

It is a fact which has become more and more
evident to the practical cultivator that the results of
his efforts manifest themselves on the whole io a sort
of compromise between the plant and its environ-
ment; I mean that although he sees more or less
distinctly what his plant should be — according to a
certain standard — it is but rarely, if ever, that the
plant cultivated perfectly fulfils in every respect what
is demanded of it. Of late years this has of course
forced itself more prominently before the observer,
because the facts and phenomena constituting what
is termed variation have been so much more definitely
described, and the quettions arising out of them so
much more clearly formulated.

Two points can be asserted without fear of contra-
diction ; first, the plant itself is a variable organism ;
and, secondly, its environment varies. Now within
limits which are somewhat wide, when closely examined,
the experience of man leads him to neglect the
variations occurring around him, and so no one
quarrels with the statement that two individual
Geraniums belong to the same variety, or two 0.ik
trees to the same species, although an accurate des-
cription of each of the two Geraniums or of the two
Oaks might require very different wording.

The 'Water-supply. — It has also become more and
more evident that although we cannot ascribe all
variations to their causes — very often, indeed, we
cannot even suggest causes for them — there are
nevertheless numerous deviations from the normal, so
to speak, exhibited by plants which can be distinctly
referred to certain deviations from the normal on
the part of their environment.

To illustrate this we may take the case of two
plants of that very common weed, the Shepherd's
Purse, growing at different ends of the same small
plot of ground : the soil is sandy, and so much alike
all over as to be regarded as the same everywhere,
nevertheless the plant at one end is large, more than
a foot high, and luxuriant, with many leaves and
flowers, and eventually produces numerous seeds,
whereas that at the other end is small, less than
4 inches high, and bears but a few stunted leaves and
three or four poor flowers and fruits. The cause of
the difference is found to be the different supply of
water in the two cases; and if any one doubts that
this may be so, let him try the experiment of growing
two or more specimens of this weed in pots : the
pots to be new, filled with soil which has been
thoroughly niLxed, and all the pots exposed to the
same conditions — i.e., practically the same — except
that those of one series are watered sufficiently often,
and those of the other only just sufficient to keep
the plant actually living. 'Ihe experiment is ea.sy and
conclusive with such a weed as the above. Now it
is just such experiments as that above described — some
of them equally simple, others less so — that the
physiologist devotes much of his attention to, and

* A lecture by H. Marshall Ward, m.a., f.l.r.,
Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge; Professor of
Botany in the School of Fore.stry, Royal Indian
College, Cooper's Hill.

3^^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. i, 1886,

in just such a manner has beed gathered together a
nucleus of iuforuiation arouud which more knowledge
cau bd grouped. I may make these points clearer by
again quoting an illustration, and, not to confuse or
mislead you by going too far afield, I will keep to
the same line of investigation, partly because it is
quite as simple and conclusive as any other of many
that might be selected, and partly because it may
be possible to set before you some facts which are
interesting or even new to you.

Hairs. — It has been found that in some cases
\»here two plants are growing in the same soil and
under the same conditions as above, but where one
plant receives less water than the other, that the
dwarfed drier plant is more hairy than the larger
and luxuriantly growing plant, which has been well
watered. On looking more closely into this matter
it turns out that the extra hairiness is (in some cases,
at any rate) simply due to the fact that the hairs
are closer together, because the little cells on the
outsr parts of the plant which grow out into hairs
do not increase so much in length and superficial
extent as those on the well-watered plant, and thus
the hairs stand thicker together on the same superficial
area of the organ— of a leaf, for instance. In other
cases, however, the hairs are really increased in
numbers and length— the plant is absolutely more
hairy. It will be noticed that details concerning
growth and turgidity, and of the influence of various
minerals, and so on, are not under consideration here.
I am not asserting that all cases of hairiness in plants
are to be ascribed to this cause ; but it does occur,
as stated, and the point is a curious one in view of
the fact that very many plants which grow in sandy
dry soils are conspicuously hairy, whereas allied species
growing in or near water, or even only in moister
situations, are devoid of conspicuous hairs, or even
quite smooth. The above peculiarity is not confined
to leaves and stems, moreover, for experiments with
roots have shown that the root-hairs, which are so
important in collecting moisture, &c., from the soil,
cau be made to appear in enormous numbers when
the root is kept in a soil which is very open and
only slightly moist, whereas none or very few are
developed on the same roots growing in water: this
again is in accordance generally with the fact that
the roots of laud-plants growing in light soils develop
innumerable root-hairs, whereas those of water-plants
do not thus increase their surface and points of
attachment. I cannot here go into all the interesting
facts known about these hairs, but it will be sufficient
if you bear in mind the main points just mentioned.
Dkficiency of Watek. — Let us now vary the ex-
periments a little. It is obvious that we might suppose
any number of differences in the amount of water
given to the plants used in the experiments described
above: but it would be found, as matter of fact,
that however little be the quantity of water given
to the soil in which the dwarfed plant is, compared
with that put into the soil ia which the luxuriant
l>lant grows, the actual weight of water will never-
theless have to be considerable, taking the whole life
of the plant into consideration — there will be more
used than you probably know, moreover, because the
soil itself will no doubt condense and absorb some
from the atmosphere during the night. There is a
minimum of water absolutely necessary, and if the
plant does not obtain this it will die. Its death will
be ushered in by drooping and withering of the leaves,
stem, and roots, and this condition, in which the
functions of the plant are interfered with beyond a
certain point, passes into a condition of disease.

Excess of "Watkr. — Now take another case. "We
might so arrange the experiment that we poured and
continued to pour too much water into the soil. Here
again it would be found that a condition of disease
eventually sets in — ?.^., a condition in which the
functions of the plant are again interfered with
beyond a certain point. The symptoms and progress
of the disease will be very ditt'erent in the latter
case, however, from those in the former. It may
also Vie mentioned that in neither experiment is
death inevitable if the disturbing cause ia removed

soon enough — i.e-, if sufficient water be added in the
first case before the cells have ceased to be able to
take it up, or if the previous conditions of the soil
are restored soon enough in the case of the over-
watered plant. Here we come to a matter which is
less simple than may appear at first sight. You will
note that the problem in the latter case is to restore
the previous conditions of the roots and soil soon
enough; I put it thus, because the conditions of
the roots and soil may soon be very profoundly
altered by the over-watering. To understand this, it
is necessary to become a little more fully acquainted
with the condition of affairs in what may be called
the normal case, where the soil is light and open,
and plenty of water, but not too much, is at the
disposal of the roots. Such a soil will consist of
innumerable fine particles, of different shapes, sizes,
and composition. No doubt there will be grains of
quartz, particles of broken up vegetable matter, and
little rugged bits of stones containing various minerals ;
each of these tiny fragments will be covered with a
thin layer of water, and you would probably be
greatly surprised if I were to go into the proofs
showing how extremely tenacious of its water-blanket
each particle is. It may be enough for our present
purpose if you accept the fact that it requires enormous
force to deprive the particles of the last traces of
their water-layers ; they will give off some — or in some
cases even a good deal — rather easily, and in fact
when the layers become of a certain thickness no more
water can attach itself to the particles, but it falls
away, and the soil remains saturated, as we say.

AiE IN THE Soil. — Now these particles of soil, each
enveloped in its water-blanket, are not in close contact ;
there are spaces between them, and these interspaces
influence the quantity of water which can be held
back by the soil. Let us suppose such a soil perfectly
dry ; the particles above referred to being irregular in
shape and size, and only roughly in contact at various
points, the interspaces will be filled with air. If
water be then added in some quantity, each of the
particles becomes clothed with a layer of water, and
some of the air is driven out, though bubbles of air
will still exist in the larger interspaces. — Gardeners'
Chronicle. (Jo he continued.)

CBOPS ON DRY LANDS IN INDIA.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE " MADRAS TIMES."

Sib, — Having received no issue of your journal for
the last two months, I happen to be very late, I
am sorry, in replying to your remarks, under
the head " Dry Lands " in your issue of the 24th
ultimo, on a paper on the same subject read by me
before the Agricultural Students' Association in March
last. With reference to my statement that it will
generally be possible to grow on dry land two crops
of horsegram for green manure, in addition to the
usual crop, you say that the absence or great defi-
ciency of moisture in the subsoil and in the air of the
interior of the Presidency is the reason why the ryot
cannot adopt the plan proposed. Taking this for
granted, the absence or deficiency of moisture in the
interior of the country is, of course, no reason at all
why the ryots in the more favoured Northern Oircara
and in the low Carnatic plain should not adopt the
plan. Are the dry lands in neighbourhood of the
Saidapet Farm, situated under the same or even
better circumstances than that estate, cultivated with
any more crops during the year than elsewhere ? It
cannot be denied "that there are thousands of acres
in the Northern Circars and in the low Oarnatic plain,
sadly wanting in organic matter, to which, at least,
the "plan of green manuring is certainly applicable.
As regards the interior parts of the Presidency, one
might see there, about the month of June, fair
crops of gingelly and cumboo, which are, in fact, far
less hardy than horsegram, while the adjacent lands,
though similarly circumstanced, are quite bare. The
reason why gingelly and cumboo are "not then exten-
sively grown is, not that the plants refuse to grow at
all, but because the ryots are not certain that the
supply of moisture will be enough for their matufa-

t>EC. 1, i8S6.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

m

Hon, and I must admit that the season for cumboo
and gingelly is indeed very precarious, though it would
not generally be so, if only the production of stem
and leaf were cared for. "Were the moisture in the
air and in the soil of the interior of the country really
too little for the growth of horsegram about the
mouth of June, the growth of the far more delicate
crops of gingelly and cumboo, even on a single acre,
would be absolutely impossible, which, however, is
not the case. You have conceded that " it is not
much moisture that horsegram requires, but some it
must have," fend that, even in the driest weather in
the interior of the Presidency, hardy plants do endure
and survive the drought. It must then be admitted
that the fair growth of gingelly and cumboo at the
time when I propose the plan of green manuring to
be chieily carried out, is conclusive evidence that
horsegram, which is one of the hardiest of the cult-
ivated crops, and which need not mature for purposes
of green manuring, would grow far better. You say
that in the low Oarnatic plain and in the Northern
Oircars, the supply of moisture is so good that cul-
tivation can be carried on during the greater part
of the year, and the soils, though inferior, yield
better outturns. Only the former part of this asser-
tion holds good, and that only in comparison with the
Ceded Districts, which are indeed exceptionally dry.
In Ooimbatore and Salem, which are but interior
parts of the Presidency, a much larger percentage of
the total extent of cultivated dry land bears a second
crop, and the yield per acre is not less satisfactory
than in Tanjore, South Arcot, Chingleput, Gaujam,
Kistna, &c. The meteorological reports show that,
from June forward until the outburst of the North-
east monsoon, the relative humidity of the atmos-
phere in these districts is, in fact, more than that
of Madras. In these districts, subterranean water is
met with, in many places far off from streams and
tanks, at no greater depth than on the Saidapet Farm,
viz., about 20 feet. It is not unlikely that, even in
the Ceded Districts, the character of the prevailing
black soils, which will surely retain well the moisture
of the few showers which occur from .June forward,
will make up for the deficiency of the" atmospheric
moisture. The recent trial borings with the augur at
Anantapur prove that subterranean water may be
tapped there in many places at even 14 feet below
the surface. I beg to add in conclusion that, having
seen horsegram cultivated with fair success even
under most adverse circumstances on the Saidapet
Farm, the plan of green manuring is extensively
applicable to this Presidency. I am myself a native
of Coimbatore, and my observations and information
warrant me in concluding that there will be little
difficulty in carrying out the practice of green-manur-
ing there, during the season for gingelly and cumboo
at least. C. K. Subba Eao.

GEEEN MANUEE CEOPS ON DEY LANDS.

A letter in our columns on the subject of Dry
Lands by Mr. 0. K. Subba Rau, Assistant Professor
of Agriculture, Madras Agricultural College, ought to
be read by those who feel an interest in agricultural
matters. It is a rejoinder to an article in which we
remarked on Mr. Subba Rau's lecture on the subject.
The letter contains information which will be found
useful in leading to a right conclusion in respect of
crops of gram previous and subsequent to the prin-
cipal or winter crop on dry lands — which additional
crops Mr. Subba Rau proposed to raise for green
manure. In relation to this question, dry lands may
be classed as those along the coast and those in the
interior; and the latter may be divided into lands
very dry and under a very dry atmosphere ; and
lands less dry and under a comparatively huir.id at-
mosphere. As to the coast lands, they are very un-
equal in quality. Some, in the deltaic regions, are
rich in the organic matter contained in silt; and
they need no manure whatever. But these being wet
lauds, fall out of the scope of the present discussion.
Of the dry coast lands, some v/e may consider
deficient indeed iu organic matter but so ciicumatanced

as to grow, with comparative ease, crops that require
but air and moisture for their nourishment. On such
lands, destitute of, or deficient in organic matter, it
would, doubtless, be advantageous to grow horse-gram
or green-gram for manure, if the cultivator does not
find it cau be used to better purpose for fodder, or,
if the crop matures, for food for both mau and beast.
However, for whatever purpose, a second crop of the
kind indicated by Mr. Subba Rau would seem possible
and advantageous on the poor dry lands of the Eastern
Coast. But not all the dry lands in the plains along
the coast may be deemed deficient in organic matter
and require green manure ; and on such as are not de-
fective, or on which the expenditure of organic matter
cau be made good by cattle manure, it would be a pity
to raise crops simply for green manure. If the lands
have sufficient moisture to raise a second food-crop,
that second food-crop ought to be raised ; and if not,
horse-gram might be raised for fodder rather than
manure. Here at least, but probably in all cases where
a green crop and that only can be raised, it will be
found advantageous to let it serve as fodder, and to
let the cattle convert it into stable manure.

As to the lands in the interior, our correspondent's
letter shews that, — what with the natural richness of
the soil, and the supply of stable manure at com-
mand,— there is no lack whatever of organic matter ;
the one thing wanted is moisture. Where this exists]
the soil is capable of yielding summer crops superior
to horse-gram and green-gram ; so that these as green
manure are quite unnecessary. And the growing of
them would probably deprive the land of moisture
which might be of use towards preparing it for the
principal crop. As to the cotton soil in the Ceded
Districts, Mr. Subba Rau himself has said that it is
rich in organic matter ; what need can there be then
to raise a green crop for manure ? He says the cotton
soil is retentive of 0»oisture. So it is ; but there is
none to spare, and what there is, is low down; and
in years of late and deficient rainfall it requires
four or five yoke of oxen to plough the ground with
a large plough to break it up for sowing ; and that
sowing becomes of no avail, if the first rains are
very late or scanty, or are not followed up soon by
other showers. Even if a green crop could be raised
before or after the winter crop, it would be a pity
to exhaust the moisture by raising it for manure
which is not wanted. Mr- Subba Rau makes use of
an admission that in some of the very dry districts
as the Ceded Districts, some hardy plants do live
through the hot weather. Yes, they do ; but only if
they are watered. Does Mr. Subba Rau propose to
irrigate a hot weather crop of gram for green fodder
in those districts, where, from deficiency of moisture
even the winter crop is on some lands but a poor
crop of gram ?

The conclusions at which we arrive are, that only
on poor soil in the maritime districts would it be both
possible and desirable to raise a crop of gram previous
or subsequent to the winter crop, to serve as manure ;
though even here it might with more advantage be
given to cattle, and their droppings used as manure.
In the interior, in one or two districts, where thei-e
is moisture, in the soil and air, there is no need of
such a crop for manure ; though it might be useful for
fodder. And in the very dry districts it would not be
possible or necessary to raise such a crop for either
fodder or manure; and if it were possible, it would
be undesirable to e.Khaust for this purpo.se the mois-
ture in the ground ; when it might be necessary for
preparing the ground for the early winter crop. The
first great want of the dry lauds of the country is
water; the second great want of the dry lands is
water ; and their third great want is water. Indeed
startling as the statement may appear, it is not much
besides what light, air and water can supply, that
many plants need for their nourishment; and much
of the agriculturist's labour consists in preparing the
land, so that it can best absorb and retain water and
air and transmit them to the plant. And even some
of the manure that is used, helps but to lighten the
soil —that is, to fit it for the work of communicating
air and water to the rootlets of plants. And euoh

374

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. i, i8S6,

nourishment as plants require, besides what air and
water can furnish, is to be found in a few ingredients,
ammonia, lime, phosphorus, potash and the like, in
different proportions. This has been shewn by a pro-
cess of natural analysis ; for it has been ascertained
by experiment what ingredients plants take out of pre-
pared soils, of which the constitution and composition
were noted beforehand, and compared with the same
after the growth of the plant. — Madras Times.

THE FRAGRANT PRODUCTS OF THE WEST

INDIES.

The West Indies, like all warm countries, abound
in fragrant products. Most flowers possess there a
potency of aroma unknown in colder climes, and
many fruits, plants, barks, leaves, gums, seeds and
grasses exhale scents of their own, which combine
into an harmonious whole. Those natural treasures,
however, have, as yet, been but little utilized for
commercial purposes, aud this Exhibition affords an
excellent opportunity for studying them, and seeking
the way of turning them to account. This is the
object of this brief sketch.

We shall confine our observations to Jamaica and
the Bahamas; the former as being the largest and
best cultivated British i-sland, the latter as offering
■ome difference with the Southern group.

The most fragrant flowers in Jamaica are the Rose,
the Jasmine, the Orange (sweet and bitter), the Tube-
rose {Polianthes Tuberosa), the Cassie {Acacia far neiia-
na), the Frangipane (Plumeria rubra), the Unona
odoratissinia (called by the Tagals, in Manilla, Ihlang-
Ihlang), the Mignonette tree, or Henna (Lawsonia
inirmis), the Olea fragrans (called by the Arabs Zensfur,
and by the Chinese Kwei-hwa) the Voleameria, and
the Rondeletia odorata. A strong but less delicate
■cent may be obtained from the leaves of the following
trees: — The bitter Orang«, Lemon, Cigar-Bush (Critonia
Dalea), Mountain Cigar-Bush (Hedi/osmum mutans),
Wild Cherry, Bay, Pimento and Allspice.

Among other indigenous fragrant products may also
be mentioned : — The beans of the Vanilla ( Vanilla
planifolia). Vanilloes ( Vanilla ^)o;«/jo«ff), and of the
Tonquin {Dipterix odorata); Lemon Grass (Andropogon
citratus), Kus-Kus Grass Andropogon muricatus), Oloveso
Nutmegs, Cassia, Cinnamon and Musk-seed (Hibiscus,
ab ilmoschti.s) some aromatic plants of the labiate
or.ler, such as Thyme and Rosemary, and various
woods, the most remarkable amongst which is a
species of rosewood, called licoria odorata, which
yields an essential oil strongly resembling Bergamot
in flavour.

The mode of extracting the fragrance from those
various prod\icts so as to render it of commercial
value differs according to its nature. Distillation is
the most frequently adopted, but is only available
for hardy substances such as leaves, barks, plants,
&c. There are but few flowers that can be treated
thus, and the usual processes employed to obtain,
their aroma are either maceration or absorption, called
by the French enjleuraye. The former consists in
infusing the flowers in hot grease or oil, which is
strained off after repeating the operation daily for
two or three weeks. This process, however, can only
be applied to flowers like the rose, orange aud cassie.
More delicate flowers, such as Jasmine and Tuberose,
are treated by the enfleuragc system, which may be
thus described: — A mixture of lard and beef suet,
properly washed and clarified, is laid on a square
glass tray and fresh flowers are scattered on it and
renewed every morning until the grease has absorbed
the perfume of the flowers. Those trays are piled
up on each other to prevent evaporation. The same
result may be obtained with oil, and in that case a
thick cotton cloth, soaked in oil, is laid on a frame
with a wire bottom and the flowers strewn on it.
The best handkerchief perfumes are made by infusing
this grease (called pornmade ), or the oil in rectified
spirits.

Among the exhibits in the Jamaica Court is a
most interesting one by Col. Talbot, who has the
merit of having been the first to establish a flowej

farm on his estate. Worthy Park, St. Catherine. The
products shown, prepared by Mr. John Gray, include
Essential Oils of Bitter and Sweet Orange leaves,
Lemon, Limes, Lemon-grass and Pimento and some
Tuberose Pommade made by the cnjicurage system
above described. To the list of those exhibits is
appended a note stating that many of the plants
are very abundant and obtainable in large quantities,
whilst others, like Jasmine and Tuberose have to be
cultivated. The same is the case in the south of
France, where there are large plantations of roses,
jasmines, tuberoses, ond other flowers ; but aromatic
plants, such as lavender, rosemary, and tUyme grow
wild in the neighbouring mountains.

The question of flower-farming is evidently exciting
some attention in Jamaica, for the Director of the
Botanical Department, also exhibits same Jasmine
Pommade, made from the flowers of the Jasminum
grandiflorum, besides Essential Oils of Pimento and
Cigar-Bush leaves, Lemon-grass, Mountain Thyme (Mic-
romeria oborata), and Juniper Cedar.

Mr. B. T. Scharschmidt (C. E. Mandeville) shows
some essential oils drawn from the rind of the orange
{Citrus aurantium), the lemon (Citrus Medica), and
the Bigarade (Citrus Bii/aradia), but they appear to
be distilled and consequently inferior to those ob-
tained in Calabria and Sicily by expression. The letter
mode consists in placing the fruits between two
cylinders armed with spikes and revolving in a different
direction ; the minute vesicles on the surface of the
rind containing the essential oil thus become pierced,
and the latter runs down a funnel at the bottom
of the apparatus. The essence thus procured is quite
pure, whilst that obtained by distillation carries with
it the coarse flavor of the rind. The same exhibitor
has some interesting specimens of Oil of Pimento
leaves and berries, Eupatorium Dalea, Lemon-grass,
and Kus-Kus (or J'etivert), some Jasmine and Tube-
rose Pommades, some Extracts of Jasmine, Musk-
wood, and Rose-wood, some orange-flower water and
some rose apple water, distilled from the Jamhosa vul-
garis— a decided novelty.

The Honorable H. J. Kemble, of Kingston, shows
some very fine Oil of Ben drawn from the seeds of
the Horse-radish tree (Moringa pterggos'perma). This
oil was largely used by our ancestors in their per-
fumery compounds ; it is mentioned in almost every
page of the recipe-books of the sixteenth and seven-
teenth century. It has the valuable property of not
turning rancid, and it is to be regretted that it is
not more frequentlj' employed. It would, no doubt,
be found superior to grease in practising in .Jamaica
the enjleurage process — as above described, for it is
difficult to keep grease fresh in a warm climate. As
the seeds yield 30 per cent of that oil, it might,
perhaps, be offered also to European perfumers at
a sufliciently low price to induce them to return to
its use.

In the Bahamas is to be found nearly the same
flora as in .Jamaica, and to judge of its richness and
variety, one needs but to cast a look on that most
interesting collection beautifully painted by Mrs. Blake.

In addition to the flowers already named may be
mentioned the following, included in the above collection
and possessing all an agreeable odour . — The Diilher-
gia amerimnum, the Cassia Fistula, the Jpomoea Tube^
rosa and Quamoclit, the Bletia hyacinthina, the
Glorisa superba and the Neriurn oleander.

The Eucalyptus has been lately introduced from
Australia into the West Indies, and with its usual
rapidity of growth it will no doubt soon spread and
render important services to public health. The wonder-
ful properties of the Oil of Eucalyptus, so strongly
exhaled by its leaves, in checking fever and curing
bronchial affections, are now universally recognized,
and wherever that tree has been planted it has puri-
fied the air in a remarkable manner. Its latest
achievement has been to drive malaria completely
out of the Campagna of Rome, where it had been
prevaiUng for centuries.*

*An oft-reapeated mistake. — Ed.

Dec. 1, 1886.]

T'HE TROPICAL AGRICULTtJRISTo

3:^5

Mr. Wentworth Scott, an eminent analytical chemist,
thus explains the atotion of the Eucalyptus : —

" Eucalyptoles, a hydrocarbon of the Thymole type,
appears to be what might be termed the ' active
principle' of the Eucalyptus oil from a hygienic
point of view. The oil of E. globulus seems to be
the richest in this hydrocarbon, upon which its
* ozonizing ' property depends ; but the same body
with numerous homologues m varying proportion is
present in the oils secreted by all the plants of this
genus, hence the remarkable 'healthful character' of
the atmosphere in Australian forests.*

The antiseptic powers of Eucalyptole are, I find from
crucial experiments, fully 3i times greater than those
of carbolic acid, while its use is certainly free from
tne danger that not unfrequently attends the latter."

The Eucalyptus leaves contain as much as six per
cent of essential oil, which can be easily extracted by
distillation, and which will always find a market in
Europe, where the consumption is great. Not only
is it largely used in medicine, but it makes a capital
scent for ordinary toilet soap, and is still more valuable
as a deodorizer. It forms the chief ingredient in
Rimmel's Aromatic Ozonizer, a pine saw-dust im-
pregnated with that oil, which, by simple evapor-
ation, evolves the refreshing breezes of the forest,
and acts as an agreeable disinfectant in dwelling
houses or in places of public resort.

Being an orchid, the flowers of the Vanilla require
the presence of an insect to fertilize them. This
insect exists evidently in Honduras, as numbers of
bunches of beans are found on the wild plants, but
where it does not, its action may be replaced artificially
by taking a little of the pollen which is deposited
on the anther with a sharpened pencil or knife blade
and letting it touch the viscous disk situated on the
front of the white column which rises in the centre
of ttie flower. This forms part of the instructions
issued by the Botanical Department in Jamaica for
the cultivation of Vanilla, and it would no doubt
prove a remunerative one if carried out with proper
care and attention, for it sells at a good price —
being used both by confectioners and perfumers. The
most esteemed sort in the market comes from Mexico
and there is no reason why the West Indies — possessing
a similar climate — should not produce an equal quality.
That grown in Mauritius and Reunion is deemed
inferior. There is also a good demand in Europe for
bastard Vanilla, or A'^anilloes {J^anilla pompona) and
for Tonquin Beans {Dipterix odorata) already men-
tioned.

The only species of Orange Tree worth cultivating
for its fragrant products is the Bitter Orange (Citrus
Bigaradia), which is easily distinguished from the
others by -the peculiar form of its leaf, the petiole
being heart-shaped. A very fine essential oil, called
in Provence Xcroly, is distilled from its flowers ;
another one, called Petit-Grain, from its leaves, and
a third can be obtained from its rind by ex/yregsion,
as already explained. The edible Orange Tree (Citrus
Aurantiiim), yields very inferior essences, and the-
Lemon (Citrus Medico), gives but one from its rind,
which is not worth collecting when the fruit can be
gold whole, as it could scarcely compete with that
produced in Calabria and Sicily. If West India colonists
will attend to this warning they will save themselves
the disappointment experienced by the Florida orange
planters, who have been of late years attempting to
distil their orange leaves, and who, by emplojiug in-
discriminately those of all species and chiefly of the
edible orange, have produced a very coarse essence
of Pf-/!«-&rat«, which has been offered all over Europe,
but will only sell at a very low price.

In conclusion, the manufacture of fragrant products
in the West Indies will, no doubt, prove ultimately
a safe and lucrative speculation, but it requires a deal
of study and attention. The first conditions of success
are to create plantations of suflBcient extent to obtain
the necessary quantity of flowers, and the training
of a skilled stall of operatives to work them. Dis-

• Dry atmosphere-cleaves do not decay but are dessic

tillation, when practicable, is the simplest process;
maceration and etifeurage are open to the danger
of the fatty basis turning rancid during the hot
season of the tropics. Another method might be tried,
and this is percolation, a system which Mr. llimmel has
brought to some perfection by means of an apparatus
of his invention, which he calls Myrogene. Freshly-
gathered flowers are placed in a sort of sieve, and
some prepared alcohol drops through them from a
great height and carries with it the most subtle
part of their aroma. This alcoholic shower, after pass-
ing two or three times over fresh layers of flowers,
becomes strongly impregnated with their perfume.
Mr. Rimmel has been using this apparatus on a
large scale for some time at his Nice manufactory
for drawing the scent from flowers which can neither
be distilled nor treated by the macerating process,
and a specimen in operation was shown last year at
the Inventions Exhibition. — JFest Indian Court Guide
Col.-Ind. Edkibitien, 1886.

NOTES ON GEASSE AND ITS CHIEF
INDUSTRY: PERFUMES FROM FLOWERS.*

UY WM. SADNDKRS, F.L.S.

A few notes from this interesting old town, with some
references to its chief industry, may possibly prove of
interest to some of your readers. It is a land of flowers,
where a large proportion of the perfumes of the world is
made, and such an odd, out of the way corner of the
country that but few visit it. Here odorous flowers are
grown in immense quantities for the purpose of prepar-
ing the sweet scents in which civilized mankind and
womankind delight, and it is from this district that per-
fumers everywhere obtain the chief ingredients from
which by skilful combinations their celebrated perfumes
are manufactured. On the main line from Paris to Rome,
via Marseilles, about six hundred and sixty miles from
Paris, lies the town of Cannes, on the Mediterranean
shore, a noted health resort for invalids from Great Bri-
tain and other countries, the winter climate being remark-
ably mild and agreeable. Here a branch line of railway
about twenty miles in length brings the traveller to
Grasse. At Cannes the chain of mountains which for
many miles on either sides runs along the seashore re-
treats to some distance inland, and the route to Grasse lies
up through narrow valleys and broader slopes of hill and
dale. For the first few miles the general aspect of the
country is rather desolate ; vegetation seems parched and
stunted ; even the pine trees are dwarfed, and the way-
side weeds lack vigour. But soon vegetable growth be-
comes more luxuriant, fertile belts are reached, and fields
of roses, jasmine, mignonette, violets and other flowers
are seen on every hand, while groves of olive trees clothe
the hillsides, along with plantations of the vine and of
the fig tree. As Grasse is approached the valley widens
to about four or five miles, the mountain slopes are grey
with olive trees, and nearly the whole valley is utilized
for flower-growing.

The town, with a population of about 12,000, lies high
up the mountain at the end of the valley, where the roads
and narrow streets are so steep that the occupant of the
ground floor of the back part of a house may often look
out of the third story at the front of it, and where the
quaint old houses tower up to six, seven, and even eight
stories high at the front. The route leads through fields
and gardens of roses, jasmine, jonquils, tuberoses, etc., up
steep winding streets and alleys, where long flights of
steps afford short cuts from one point to another in the
town, and where buildings hoary with age greet the eye
of the visitor at every turn. Mountain torrents steam
down the hillsides here and there, affording water power
for the ancient looking olive mills and means of irrigation
during the hot weatht r for the flower growers. These
streams also fill the public troughs with pellucid water,
where crowds of women may be seeing washing clothes
from early morning until dark. It is said that this town
was founded three hundred years before the Christian
era ; it is known to have been an important Roman
station, and its excellent water privileges must have been
a strong incentive to its early settlement, Nearlv all the
population excepting those engaged in mercantile busi-

* ifrom the Fhanmceutical flecord, ~^

376

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURiST.

[Dec. I, 1886.

ness, and a few hundreds who are employed in the manu-
facture of oHve oil are engaged either directly or in-
directly in the flower industry. The shop-keepers dis-
play their wares in the tiniest little shops, in which they
have scarcely room to turn about ; the hotels are antique
country inns ; but the air at this season is balmy and
delightful, and the views from the upper part of the town
charming.

There are about sixty firms or individuals in Grasse
engaged in manufacture of perfumes from flowers.
Throe or four of these are very large establishments, the
others smaller. The harvest period here is a long one.
It begins in February with the violet and the jonquil,
which keep the perfume-makers busy until the end of
March, when the mignonette comes in, which is followed
in May and June by the orange flowers and roses, and
in July by the jasmine, then with the rosemary and
lavender, which are succeeded by the tuberose and cassia,
which keep the trade busy until quite late in the
autumn.

The rose bushes are grown in rows about three feet
apart, with about eighteen inches of space between the
plants. They are closely pruned in the spring, which in-
duces a strong growth of young wood and an abundance
of flowers. The jasmine and other flowers, where the in-
dividual plants occupy less space, are grown more closely
together, the aim in each case being to have the ground
as closely covered as is consistent with convenience of
picking. The orange trees are about fifteen feet apart.
It is the bitter orange which yields the most fragrant
flowers ; but the fruit of this variety is not eatable, so
the trees are grown solely for the flowers they produce
and for the oil obtained from the rind of the fruit.

In company with my genial travelling companions
Prof. J. P. Remington, I visited some of the principal
establishments, where we were received with much kind-
ness and courtesy; but to Mr. Warwick, of Warwick
Freres, we were indebted for special attention. We found
that while most of the larger manufacturers have flower
plantations of their own, the bulk of the crop is grown by
the peasants and small landholders, who during the
season bring them daily to the factories. We rose early
in the morning and drove into the country, hoping to see
some of the flowers gathered, but the flower-growers were
up before us, and had their fragrant crops collected and
packed in sacks ready to take to the manufacturer before
we reached the ground. Nothing is known here of the
movement in favour of short hours for the working
man.

It has long been known that fatty substances absorb
odours very readily and retain them with much persist-
ence. The perfumers of ancient Greece and Rome
understood this well, and made use of Buch substances to
steep flowers in for the purpose of extracting their
odours. At Grasse fatty substances are largely used for
the same object, and the pomades made there consist of
fftts strongly impregnated with the odours of flowers,
which odours may be extracted from the pomades by
exhaustion with alcohol and used as spirituous perfumes.

Pomades are made by two very different methods, the
one by maceration, the other by what it is known as the
process of enfleuraffe- Pomades of rose, violet, migno-
inette, cassia and orange flower are all made by macerat-
tng the flowers in fat warmed to 6° 0. The fat is allowed
ao remain in contact with the flowers for several hours
pnd occasionally stirred, after which it is put under a
powerful hydraulic press, by which means the fat is ex-
t ressed Avith but a trifling amount of waste. The same
tat is thus treated daily with fresh flowers for from
Bwenty to thirty days, during which time it becomes
trongly charged with the odour of the floAver.

The jasmine and tuberose pomades are always made
by the other process. A large number of frames, or
" chassis are prepared, each of which is fitted with one
pane of glass about 18 x 24, set in a wooden frame, so
that the wood may j)roject on either side of the glass
about J inch and each side of the glass is coated with a
layer of fat about j inch thick. The woodwork of these
frames is so constructed that when laid the one on the
other they fit very closely, so as to avoid any waste of
odour. The freshly gathered flowers are strewed over the
fat in each freime iu a tbio layer and the frames then piled

one on the other to a convenient height, the upper and
lower frames in each pile being coated with fat only on
that side next the flowers. The odour emitted by the
flowers is rapidly absorbed by the layers of fat above and
below them, and after twenty-four hours of exposure
they are practically exhausted. Every morning the
trays are examined, the old flowers thrown away and
fresh ones put in their place, the surface of the fat both
above and below being broken every few days by a
toothed spatula, and mixed so as to present a fresh sur-
face- This process is continued for about thirty days,
by which time the ftit has become saturated with the
odour, when it is scraped off the surface of the glass
packed iu tin cans, the process being continued with
fresh fat as long as the flower harvest lasts. Some of
the larger factories have many thousands of these
frames.

The buildings in which this work is carried on are
built either of stone or brick, where the temperature is
maintained as low as possible, so as to prevent the fat
from becoming rancid. The fat is composed of a mix-
ture of lard and mutton suet, melted together and care-
fully washed and treated until it is free from all trace
of fatty odour. It is then slightly perfumed with orange
flower, which is said to aid in preserving it from change.
The fat is usually prepared during the winter months
and stored in cool celltrs until wanted for use.

Roses are picked in the bud every morning just as the
buds are about to open. They are picked with the
green calyx attached, and this appendage is removed in
the factories by the women employed there before the
roses are treated.

Mignonette is picked before the seed pods are formed.
The flowers of the violet, jonquil and tuberose are picked
with the calyx attached, but the jasmine flowers are
pulled free from their calyx in picking.

The following are about the average prices paid
for the flowers as they are received at the factories : -

Roses, 8 to 10 cents per kilogram ; orange flowers, 17
cents per kilogram ; violets, 70, to 80 cents per kilogram ;
jonquil, 60 cents per kilogram ; mignonette, 40 cents
per kilogram ; jasmine, 50 cents per kilogram ; tuberose,
50 cents per kilogram ; cassia, 1 dollar per kilogram.

At these figures it is said the growers can make
far more off their land by devoting it to flowers then
they can from any other crop.

A large quantity of orange flowers are used for the
preparation of oil of neroli and orange-flower water. To
obtain these products the flowers are placed in large
copper stills of water; steam is introduced and the water
made to boil, when vapour arising is passed through
coolers into suitable receivers. A small quantity of oil
gradually accumulates on the surface of the water,
which is removed from time to time. The water which
collects in the receiver is the orange-flower, water of
commerce. The largest part of the rose crop is similarly
treated, and rose water with a small proportion of otto
of rose the result.

Distilled perfumed waters when first made have a
rank and rather unpleasant odour, which is softened and
becomes quite fragrant after they have been kept a
few months. While luidergoing this mellowing process
it is necessary that the jars in which these waters are
contained should be uncorked. They are left either
open or tied over with a piece of brown paper to exclude
dust.

It is difiicult to obtain reliable statistics of the quanti-
ties of flowers grown in this district, but the following
may be taken as approximately correct. It is estimated
that the sixty firms or individuals engaged in the manu-
facture of perfumes in Grasse consume annually about
3,000,000 pounds of roses, 4,000,000 pounds of orange
flowers, 160,000 pounds of jasmine, 10,000 pounds of
mignonette, 40,000 pounds of tuberose, 20",000 pounds
of violet, and smaller quantities of jonquil and cassia.
They also use large quantities of orange leaves for the
preparation of oil of petit grain, and immense quantities
of lavender, rosemary and thyme, from which the oils
of these plants are distilled.

The aggregate value of the perfumes exported from
Grasse is said to be about 3,000,000 dollars annually .-=»
PHrmsceutical Journal,

Dec. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

%11

ELECTRIC MOTOES FOR DRIVING TEA
MACHINERY, AND THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.
It is necessary to correct the over-sanguine ideas
of planting correspondents who, because the sub-
ject of Electric Motors has been ventilated in our
columns, have begun to rush to the conclusion
that the same can speedily be made available to
them in supersession of steam engines or water-
wheels. No such revolution can be anticipated for
the present. We are merely in the early days of
invention tending to the perfection of Electric Motors.
Besides, where a given head of water is immediately
obtainable for driving a wheel or turbine, so placed
as to be convenient for the erection of a Tea
Factory, no improvement can be made upon the
practice in force, inasmuch as there is simplicity
of detail and direct power available.

But, there are no doubt, many places in the island
where such facilities do not exist and where water
power is running to waste from its inaccessible
position in reference to the erection of tea factories.
By way of exainple, we may point to the Devon falls.
A factory placed at the foot of the falls would be most
inconvenient. Here we may well look by-and-bye,
for the electrical transmission of energy stored by
the aid of a turbine at the foot of the falls work-
ing a dynamo. Such power could be transmitted
by cable to a second dynamo working the motor
at any convenient part of the high land in the
vicinity, and the former ought to be, we suppose,
sufficient for tea machinery on a large scale.
This case may illustrate the direct gain to
be had by electrical transmission of energy
which enables the turbine to be placed in the most
favourable position as regards head and supply of
water, and to erect distant factories on the most
able favoursites.

As regards economy, the question of first cost and
maintenance of working would probably be in favour
of electricity against the steam engine with
its outlay in fuel and complicated machinery;
but here again, we have to wait for that practical
experience in Ceylon which is being rapidly
matured in the mother country, but which has not
yet reached the Far East.

In reference ti the cognate subject of Electric
Lighting we have been favoured with the following
remarks from a Ceylon resident now at home
who has given special attention to the subject
and who is deeply interested in the various
practical applications of Electricity which the
present day is witnessing. Wc quote as follows : —
" You asked me to let you know something regard-
ing the progress of Electric Lighting in England
and I therefore jot down a few particulars which
may be interesting to you.

" In some respects Electric lighting has advanced
during the last three years very materially, but in
a pecuniary sense, the position of affairs is not
satisfactory. Many of the Companies have been
wound up and it is (|uite sufficient to mention the
words electric light to cause the capitalist to close
his purse. There are still advertisements in the !
papers of batteries of high electro-motive force and |
low resistance capable of doing wonders in the way 1
of electric lighting, and there is now before the
public a Library lamp, " the Regent " which is said to j
be a wonder. If so, the sooner the money is found to 1
start it the better. No one will be better pleased j
than I shall be to hear of the success of any inven- !
tion which will provide a good portable electric |
light suitable for reading purposes, but so far as I i

'IS

can ascertain, we are just as far off as ever we were
from obtaining this desirable article and though
such a thing is not altogether an impossibility,
there is no lamp in the market which I would
recommend any one to purchase for use in Ceylon,
" The incandescent light is only suited for enclosed
areas, so much so that I am assured by the
engineers in charge of the installation at the British
Museum, that no number of incandescent lights would
satisfactorily light up their vast Reading-Room
which is now so admirably illuminated by five
arch-lights. Judging from the flicker which is
observed in most of the arch-lights which are seen
in different places in London, it would appear very
difficult to avoid this unpleasant movement, anci
I am informed that however much this quivering
in the light may be controlled it will never be
suppressed altogether. The Reading-Room of the
British Museum, where the arc-lighting is almost
l^erfect, is the best exhibition I know, of arc-light-
ing on a large scale, for not only is this quiver
hardly perceptible, but the light undoubtedly con-
sumes carbonic acid gas and in this and other
ways has a decidedly advantageous effect in puri-
fying the atmosphere.

"Given sufficient horse-power— the most important,
consideration— and if due regard be paid to cleanli-
ness, Electric lighting may be worked with very
little trouble. It is so vastly superior in many
respects to gas and oils that it must in time
supersede them. Mr. Preece, f.r.s., the other day,
remarked at a meeting of the Telegraph Engineers,
that no one who has experienced the advantage
of having his house lighted by Electricity knows
what it is to live until he exists under the in-
fluence of the Electric light ; the introduction of
which will, he scys, do more good for society than
all the sanitary institutions of the world. This ig
going a little far, but there is a great deal more
truth in Mr. Preece's remarks than most people
will be prepared to admit.

"In Ceylon and India we want alight which is
not accompanied by heat. For small installations
the engine and its management is the chief
difficulty, and I am in hopes that something may
be done to take advantage of the wind which blows
so steadily at Colombo for the greater portion of
the year. I am now endeavouring with the aid
of Messrs. Siemens Brothei's to put together a
plant consisting of a windmill, a storage-battery
and a dynamo. The windmill can be worked day
or night in turning the dynamo which will charge
the battery. There are difficulties in the way ; but,
if an effective and, at the same time, not too ex-
pensive storage-battery can be used, there is no
reason why the scheme should not answer. As
soon as we have given the arrangement a fair
trial, I will communicate the
"In the meantime, I intend
more of what is being done in
lighting, in the hope that I
something which may
Quite as serviceable as

results to you.
to see a great deal
the way of Electric
may coiue across
be useful to us in Ceylon,
the Electric light will be

a good Electro-motor when such
vented, but I cannot go into this

a thing is in-
subject today."

" RusHiNfi INTO Tea," we are told may be one
bad result of the perusal of our yesterday"
article. But where is land available we may ask ?
No one surely would prevent planters who
have estates capable of transformation from going
ahead ; but apart from this, the Crown blocks
the way effectively, by only offering some .5,000 acres
per annum of new land for tea cultivation. How
long planters may have to wait for the Adam's Peak or
other reserve lands suited totheculture, no one knows.

378

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Dec. I, 1886.

OUE TEA INDUSTEY :

PROPOSED CEYLON-AUSTRALIAN TEA AND TROPICAL
PRODUCE COMPANY.

Our shrewd and esteemed friend " Old Colonist''
has not been idle during his present visit to the
Colony in which the best part of his life was
spent and in which he, in over a score of years'
residence and hard work, gathered up an experience
of the practice and conditions of tropical planting
which has since placed him in the forefront
of our planting critics and authorities.

Mr. Arthur Sinclair, — to whom we refer and
who sails thisjevening (Nov. -Ith) for Australia — is we
understand, hopeful of forming still another Ceylon
Tea and Tropical Produce Company, more directly
linking us with the Australian Colonies. Our
Australian cousins are the greatest tea drinkers
in the world and though hitherto they have been
content to use almost exclusively the China leaf
there, as elsewhere, it is already apparent that
Ceylon teas only require a fair trial and that few who
give it, care afterwards to revert again to Chinese Con-
gous. Tlie object will be to get as many as possible
of those directly interested in the wholesale tea
markets to take shares in the purchase of suitable
land for tea cultivation, and few amongst all our
planters, old and young had better opportunities,
in olden times, of knowing where to select such
and, than fell to the lot of " Old Colonist." The
only fault we ever heard attributed to him (Mr.
yinclair) as a planter and caijitalist was that he
was " too cautious." This ought to be a recom-
mendation certainly to his supporters in the present
case, but with caution, we have no ordinary
shrewdness and experience of Ceylon combined —
so that success ought to be assured.

After a careful inspection ot the up-country tea
districts, Mr. Sinclair we are glad to hear, is per-
fectly satisfied with the thorough soundness of the
rising enterprise and we can only wish him every
success in his efforts, to add another to the thriv-
ing Ceylon Tea and Produce Companies already in
existence.

NUWAEA ELIYA VEGETABLES.

Our chief towns are now likely to be well supplied
with English vegetables, first Mr. Young advertised
his good sui)ply ready for the market and now Mr.
A. Whyte comes before us, with a fuller list of
what he can offer. The one dilliculty witli growers
is to find ready .tule when the vegetables are ready ;
and a number of standing weekly orders are what
are needed to make this a paying experiment. The
railway charges for packages of vegetables are now
much lower than formerly ; they run as follows : —

Cost of parcels of vegetables from Nanuoj'ato Colombo
by passenger train : — From 1 to 5 lb., 50c. ; 5 to 10 lb.,
63c. ; 10 to 20 lb.. !)3c. ; 20 to 40 lb., Rl- 15 ; 1 cwt. veget-
able E2-60.

The vegetables just sent to us by Mr. Whyte
are certainly all that could be wished — fresh and
crisp, succulent and tender and fully, but not
over grown. We could not wish for finer speci-
mens of English vegetables. In sending them
Mr. Whyte writes : — " I send you a box
of vegetables which you may look on as
a sample lot of what we can do. The collection
consists of :i3 varieties — not such a poor list,
considering I have not yet been a year at the
work up here and have Iw^d to break up and clean

rough grass land to operate on. The list includes : —
1, sweet little E. York cabbage ; 2, red pickling cab-
bage; 3, carrots ; 4, turnips; 5, lettuces (cos and
cabbage) ; (>, cauliflowers ; Ci, spring onions ; 7,
Scotch kale; 8, beetroot; 9. salsafy or vegetable
oyster; 10, artichoke; 11, vegetable marrow; 12,
celery; 13, green peas; li, long runner beans ; 1.5,
knol-khol ; Id, endive ; 17, leeks ; 18, parsnip ; li>,
radish; 20, rhubarb; 21, brussel sprouts ; 22, chou-
chow; 23, tree tomato; 21, horse radish; 25, pars-
ley; 2() to 33, thyme, sage, marjorum, sorrel and
other herbs.— No. 9. salsafy, you may not be ac-
quainted with. It is a regular ' bon-bouche,' is
cooked first plain boiled, then pounded up and
fried as oyster patties or spread on toast. No. 22, is
the new perennial vegetable marrow and is cooked and
served with white sauce just as vegetable marrow
is. No. 23, the tree tomato, makes a delicious tart
or jam. I was to send a dish of mushrooms
and one of strawberries, but our beds of the
former have been too closely picked and some
of my friends, the insectivorous kinds are
unfortunately also frugivorous and have pretty
well picked the strawberries for me. However, you
shall have them another time. When all our new
things come into season, I shall have no less than
40 varieties of vegetables available and ought to
be able to suit the most fastidious tastes. As these
vegetable gardens (over three acres now in veget-
ables) are the first that have been opened and worked
systematically to test the question of ' will it pay ? '
I think, we deserve encouragement and support, and
rail-fare is now cheap for vegetables. By the way
while on the subject of gardening, I may men-
tion I have of late been very pleased to learn
from several quarters that the cultivation of the
splendid yams of the West Indies, which I in-
troduced years ago, has at last been taken up
by many of the intelligent Sinhalese of the low-
country and others. The delightful little purple
' cusJi-ctish^ yam is evidently the favorite, and
is being planted up by some in quantity, so that,
I suppose, ere long these really delicious and deli-
cate roots, will soon be offered for sale in our
Kandy and Colombo markets and form a most
agreeable change, from the everlasting and in too
many cases inferior bazaar potatoes.

A WAENING TO TEA PLANTEES.

(From I. A. Riicker d- BencrafCs Weeldij Tea

Circular, Oct. 14th.)

Ceylon Tk.as.—" Bulked Unassorted."— We are glad
to see how those who have followed our persi.stent
recommenilations to adopt ttiis plan have profited by
the same. A very striking instance of the advantage
to the planter occars in this week's sale. The pro-
duce of an estate has been apparently dealt with
experimentally with a view to testing the correctness
of our information. A portion of it has beea sub-
divided in the usual manner into Broken Pekoe, 2
Pekoes, Pekoe fauuiugs, Dust, and Pekoe Souchong,
giving the already over-worked dealer six more
samples to value than was necessary. A very high
price was obtained for the few packages of Broken
Pekoe, the remainder of the laboriously assorted parcel
pulling down the average to one skillinj and one penny
Jarthing per lb.

The "tlHassorted " portion, one .sample onlyrepre-
lienting the bulk, fetched without trouble one %hilliiig
and five pence farthing. Loss by dividing into six breaks
the remainder of the packet, 4d per lb., in this case
nearly ±'300 sterling say Rupees 4235.

A reference to our Circulars of November 5th and
November 26th, 1835 January 14th, March 4th, June
17th and 24th of this year, might have saved much
money. [ Whose tea was this ? — Ed,]

i)i.Q. t, iBs6.i

tm "vMPtCAi A6MCVLftjmUT,

^n

DEATH OF ME. MOENS, THE DUTCH
QUINOLOCIIST.

Many in Ceylon as well as in Java— and indeed
wherever an intelligent interest is taken in the
scientific culture of cinchonas, — will hear with
much regret of the death of Mr. Moens. We can
well add our own testimony to that which follows
as to the special attainments, ready courtesy and
genial hospitable disposition of the deceased gentle-
man. We are glad toj put on record, so full
a notice of our friend as is given in the journals
from which the following is taken : —

[Translated for the "Ceylon Observer'" from the
Indische Mercriur of 9th October 1S80.]

Johan Card Bernelot Moens, our friend and
fellow-laborer, unexpectedly succumbed to a short
illness on the 2nd October. In him Nctherland
loses one of her most meritorious sons in scientific
and colonial interests. And not only Nether-
land, but many friends and kindred spirits
through the civilized world will lament his death
as an irreparable loss. Since Nctherland was res-
tored from her deep humiliation to her position
as an independent state, she has had but small
weight in the scale of nations. Instead of being,
as in olden times, the leader in Europe, she has
generally occupied the back ground, and she would
in effect have shrunk up into an insignificant and
forgotten little land, had she possessed no colonies,
and no men to strive in those Colonies with giant
might. In the introduction of the cinchona tree
into Asia from America, Nctherland really set
the example, and maintained her ancient renown.
And this cultivation, of such vast benefit to all
humanity, and which commence under the skilful
guidance of the veteran leaders Korthals, Hasskarl
and de Vrij who survive— has in a great measure
to thank Moens for its success and development.

Born at Kratingen in 1837, he devoted himself
from his sixteenth year to the study of Pharmacy
and the teaching of the late Professor (>. J. Mulder
who trained so many learned chemists, directed
the course of his life's labor. He went to Nether-
land's India in 185B as Military Apothecary of
the ;{rd class, and in 18(5(5 he had already at-
tained the 1st class.

Heer K. W. van Gorkom who at the time
directed the Government cinchona cultivation at
Bandong did not long remain unacquainted with
the extraordinary zeal and ability displayed by
Moens in chemistry — and as early as 18(5(5 Moens
stood by him as a trusted friend with counsel
and cooperation.

It was just then that the discovery of cinchona
Ledgeriana had tended greatly to develop cincliona
cultivation. Consequent on the large yields of
alkaloids obtained from this sort it assumed the
first place in general estimation, and of the earlier
known sorts, only officinalis and succirubra were
retained. Chemistry had now to come forward to
shew how by cultivation the greatest development
of alkaloids could be brought about.

And when in 1872 the Government appointed
Moens to be Chemist to the National Cinchona
Cultivation, the way was prepared for important
impro/ements and for adding to the national name.
"A new era," said van Gorkom, "was then opened
that constantly brought striking facts to light,
and gave more positive form and greater strength
to the development of the cultivation." Three
iDjportant procesees were about this time

brought into practice by the zeal and perseverance
of Moens: the partial stripping of the bark and
protecting with moss and other covering (first
employed by Mclvor at Madras), tlie collection
of bark by scraping, and the propagation of cin-
chona trees by cuttings. Let a word of homage here
be paid to the late Director of the National Botanical
Garden, Schaft'er, who co-operated with Moens and
to Messieurs van Romunde (the present Director)
and Venlemans, who have latterly continued his
work. The destructive disease of the cinchona trees
was discovered by the researches of Moens to be '
caused by an insect and thus the way was shewn
for counteracting the evil as much as possible.

On the nomination of van Gorkom as chief in-
spector of cultivation in 1875. Moens was appointed
to succeed him at the head of the cinchona culti-
vation— of which he was in sole charge for four
years, till in 1870 Heer van Romunde was sent to his
aid. In 1880 Moens was commissioned by the Go-
vernment to undertake a voyage to Ceylon, Madras
and Bengal for the purpose of examining the cin-
chona cultivation in those countries. This voyage,
of which he published an account in December 1880,
contributed not a little to establish the value of the
new processes. In 188:5 after a residence cf 25
years in India he obtained two years' leave for the
restoration of his health, and in 1885, at his own
request he was honorably relieved from his office
of Director of the cinchona cultivation. Soon after
his return home he was charged by the Govern-
ment witli the analytical examination of the
cinchona bark imported from Netherlands
India. With great zeal and scientific concieii-
tiousness he acquited himself of this task up to
the time of his death. His labors survive in
the great work he wrote, entitled " Cinchona Culti-
vation in Asia," containing a full review of the
cultivation from its introduction in 1851 up to
1882, illustrated by five photographic plates by
Carl Lang. This work written in Dutch has obtained
an international celebrity as well as his minor
writings and numerous contributions to the
ImVisehe Mfrcuiir, which were always republished in
the English and German scientific and commercial
periodicals. Notwithstanding that he was highly
appreciated abroad, Moens remained always a
warm patriot — he shewed this especially by the
intense perseverance he displayed in protecting
the Netherlands cinchona market from the over-
whelming infiuence of London. By constant
struggling for the Netherlands quinine manufacture
and by conscientious valuation of the imported
bark, he succeeded in preserving that market for
Netherlands until now. During the most unfavour-
able crisis of the cinchona prices he frequently
exclaimed "We can hold it no longer" —and only
an expert can judge how painful such a regret
must have been.

Moens was an honorary member of tlie Society
for the Advancement of Medical Science in Nether=
lands India, and of the Netherlands Association of
Industry ; corresponding member of the Royal
Academy of Science, and member of many other
learned Societies at home and abroad. He was
made a Knight of the Netherlands Lion 1871. Married
in India to Augusta Schenck. He leaves 5 children
of whom the oldest is 19 years old, and the youngest
barely one year of age. Moens was a quiet and
retiring man, never coming uninvited to
the front. He always sacrificed his personality to
the great work for which he lived. But those who
knew him intimately soon learned to appreciate his
clear understanding and rich experience. There
was something sombre in his appearance, but on
his cherished subject he spoke with warmth and

«QtliU6ia&ui< Se was iw ItQm Wmg partial au4

"tm f Mdi^ieAL AhMtVlftJ^^'^. [t^Ed. 1, 1886,

ii-Mi-m>iii-»«SrMr;l~iriil i»Ti>M«Mail

nil m J I iiiiriliiyit^"^'" mil inimnHTTr

was quite at home on scientific, technical and
social subjects.

For many years, I was in corresirondence with
Mr. Moens and became personally acquainted with
him in 1883. To me in the Colonial Museum he
was nn invaluable oracle and counsellor. In him

1 lose more than I can now realize.^ And what is
to become of our cinchona cultivation now that
its great champion is stricken down ? Shall that
gigantic work at which so many of our best
laborers have wrought now tend to its fall ? Scarce
ten days before his death, Moens paid me a visit,
apparently recovered from a short but severe ill-
ness. We spoke of the Colonial Exhibition in
London, which he would willingly have seen. He
seemed worn out and sad, and in his voice there
was a peaceful resignation. It was as though he
misdoubted repose after a long and exciting labour.
We parted and he promised to return soon . . .
So pass all things away, but not the grateful re-
membrance of such a Netherlander as Bernelot
Moens. — Haarlem, 5th Oct. 1886.

F. W. Van Eeden.
From the English Chemi'it and Druggist we iiuote
as follows : —

Mr. Johan Carel Bernelot Moens, the celebrated
Dutch quinnlogist, died at Haarlem on October

2 nd after a short illness. Mr. Moeus was born at Kra-
liugpu, near Eotterdam, iti 1837, and studied pharmacy
in Holland. At the age of twenty-one he left for Java
having been appointed pharmacist of the third class
in the Dutch-Indian army. Mr. Moens rapidly advan-
ced to the position of military pharmacist of the first
class, and showed special proficiencj' in chemical
studies. Shortly before 186G he made the acquaintance
of Mr. K. W. Van Gorkom, then director of the Gov-
ernment cinchona plantations at Bandong, in Java,
and soon found himself on terms of intimate friend-
ship with that gentleman. About this time the dis-
coTery of C Led'/eriana gave an extraordinary impetus
to cinchona planting. The Ledgeriana bark, with its
richness in alkaloids, gradually superseded most of
the other cinchona varieties, the officinalis and the
succirubra only being able to hold the field against
it. It was found necessary to call in the aid of ex-
perienced chemists in order to perfect the cultivation
of cinchona by showing how to obtain the largest
possible percentage of alkaloids. Accordingly in 1872
Mr. Moens was appointed chemist to the Govomment
cinchona plantations, and it was in this capacity that
he created his reputation as a quinologist. The three
principal discoveries in cinchona cultivation for which
we are iudebttd to Mr. Moeus are the propagation
of cinchonas by grafting, the obtaining of bark by
shaving, and stripping of part of the tree, covering
the naked parts with moss, This latter process was
first practised l>y Mr. Maciver at Madras. Mr. l\Ioens's
researcbeb have shown that the disease to which cin-
chonas are subject is caused by an insect, and rend-
ered it possible to successfully combat the disease.
1875 Mr. Mcens was promoted to the directorship of
the Government cinchona plantation.s, which post he
^iied umidc d until ]87t>, when Mr. Van Boniunde, the
prt'fit'ot director, wa.s appointed as hi.s assistant. In
1880 Blr. Muens visited Ceylon, Madras, and Bengal,
in order to report to his Government upon the cou-
dition of cinchona culture in those countries, and in
18^3, after a quarter of a century's residence in India,
he obtained leave of absence for tA-o years, his health
having broken down He never returned to India,
but was at his request relieved from his post under
the Government and charged with the analysis of the
Java bark.s imported into Holland. His work on
"Cinchona Cultivation in Asia" contains a complete
account of the introduction of the tree in the East
Indies, and the progress of ils cultivation, Mr. Moens's
death is a severe loss to those interested iu the Am-
sterdam cinchona market, for it was to a great extent
oviug to bis talents and energy that that market has
{ipt Ipng since succumbed to British competitiou,

•mmt

PLANTING IN JAMAICA

(From an ex-Ceylon Hajjutale Planter.)

Jamaica, 12th Sept. 1880.

Ygu may imagine with what pleasure 1 look for-
ward to a regular perusal of yonr most valuable
periodical. I have heard two or three persons here
speak iu the highest terms of your monthly gazette,
the Tropical Aijrieidtii list.

As you have expressed a desire to receive some
news from this part of Jamaica, I will endeavour
to give you from time to time a few notes of planting
and general interest. Within the last four months
the island has passed successively through an earth-
quake, a flood and a hurricane, all three visitations
doing more or less damage to estates, houses, roads
and railways. American intelligence would lead us to
expect another hurricane in October, but I sincerely
trust that we may be left in undistui-bed security for
many a long day.

Coffee. — Crops are over and the majority of estates
have picked their estimates which although not large
will leave a fair margin of profit to proprietors.
This year prices in Liverpool are extremely good and
but little inferior to those of last season. In the
matter of value, I am glad to say that this estate's
coffee came third in the last "account sales." The
marks and prices are as follows : — Clifton Mount 136s,
Radnor 131s, Chester Vale 127s, per cwt. At one time
prospects for the coming year were good. But the
Blue Mountain properties have suffered so often from
wind and rain in the past twelve months, that the
crops will be as small as those gathered in 1880 I am
afraid. Last month when a good blossom was looked
for we encountered the hurricane of which I have
spoken elsewhere. During the last six years Jamaica
has suffered from drought, hut we are now supposed
to be entering a wet cycle, and it is to be devoutly
hoped that such is the case, for our planting of both
cmchona and coffee has been more or less, a failure
of late.

Cinchona. — The three or four plantations that hold
land from the Government under certain " conditions "
are gradually planting up the required acreage to
qualify for a title, but otherwise no extension is being
made in this direction. The present state of the
market is anything but encouraging and indications
are not wanting that the great mortality amongst
trees of all sizes, is not alone pecidiar to Ceylon.

Tea, — At the Government Cinchona Plantation
some four acres, mostly Assam Hybrid, has recently
been put in. They look healthy enough but appear
tc grow very slowly. 1 have not seen the Portland
Gap clearing lately, but as the plants were excep-
tionally fine and the elevation more suitable, they
shduld be showing up well by this time. No private
individuals as yet have taken to the planting of tea
in the island. Before closing my remarks on this
industry, I cannot help givmg praise to Mr. Hart of
the Cmchona Plantation for the first class samples
of hand-made leaf which he has produced. To one
unaccustomed to drink anything but China tea its
superiority is not always detected, or appreciated,
but there is no doubt tliat this Jamaica sample, like
Ceylon Tea is refresjiing, strong and economical, Mr.
Hart has manufactured several lots and 1 think I
may say he goes on improving. But in the roll of
the leaf there is yet room for great improvement.
The above remarks I should not feel justified in
making, had I not had some little experience iu
the ■' Lane," before coming out to Jamaica. In the
early part of 1880 when I was established in a small
way as a tea dealer, I submitted a splendid sample of
Ceylon Tea to a broker. I tried to impress him with
the special quality of this ten, but I am sorry to
say he was not deeply enamored with it.

He admitted that the liquor was strong, but said
that the leaf was badly made and the infusion rough
to the tongue. How things are changed since then I
He valued the sample at Is Id to Is 6d and I
know that the same tea was selling at os per 2lb
packet.

/^((;/aH«.s.— Nearly the whole of the year the de-
mand has been far above the supply of this fruit,
The price fpr a long time vemaminj at Uli pec IC j

mc, 1, 1586.] THE tROPlCAL AGRICULtURiSt*

39'

bunches. At this rate Bananas pay as well as any-
•thing cultivated in the island. Unfortunately, a vast
amount of damage has been done to all the seaside
properties by the wind in August.

CINNAMON CULTIVATION IN THE SOUTHERN

PEOVINCE.

(From a Correspondent.)
Of late years the cultivation of Cinnamon has
greatly spread in the Southern Province, and it is
interesting to note that Sinhalese capitalists are
largely interested in the new plantations which
have sprung up in Amblangoda, Wallahanduwe,
Vowlagalla, Hapugalla, Matara, Ac. The plantation
spice from these estates is said to be of excellent
(juality, and the produce is readily taken up by
the Galle merchants for export to Europe. The
present market price all round is quoted at 36
cents per pound first cost. Our informant states
that there are nearly 100 plantations and gardens
now, whereas formerly there were scarcely half a
dozen. To Mr. Simon Perera, the owner of the
large estates in Galle, belongs the credit of having
embarked so successfully in the cultivation and pre-
paration of cinnamon in this province.

OUR CABINET WOODS.
We confess to a feeling of disappointment
that the several reports appearing in the London
Times and other home journals of the Conference
lately held at the instance of Messrs. Ransome
& Co. upon the Cabinet Woods exhibited at
South Kensington this year, should make no re-
ference to those of Ceylon. While the products
of India, Australia, Borneo, &c., are the subject
of remark, those of Ceylon are entirely left out
of sight. This can scarcely have arisen from
want of prominence given to the collection of
Ceylon woods sent home. Indeed from various
correspondents we have received the assur-
ance that that collection is very complete and
full ; while we know that the magnificent
calamander wood furniture sent to the Show by
Mr. De Soysa has been made the subject on
many occasions of highly eulogistic comment. It
may be, however, that our exhibits in this part-
icular have been somewhat deficient in the special
form in which our many cabinet woods might
have been shown to the best advantage. It is
well-known that many of the most beautiful
grained woods may be passed over as undeserving
of notice if the proper treatment has not been
applied to them to show off their graining. The
colour of many of the timbers most in request
for the making of furniture is due, it is well-
known, to artificial treatment. The American
walnut, now so extensively employed in England,
and, perhaps, the most generally popular at the
present time for Cabinet work, remained for
many years a perfect drug in the London market,
unused and even unenquired for. It was not
until some expert either devised or learned from
America the character of the dye or varnish
required to develop the colour it is now made
to assume that the trade commenced to use it.
When once, however, this necessary process was
attained to, the demand for the wood became
almost excessive, beyond indeed what the export
from the American forests could supply, and the
i'eguU has been that it has hseu enormQUisly in

price, nor is there we understand, any sign that
its appreciation is decreasing.

Now a similiar result might have followed if
many of our woods sent home to the Indian and
Colonial Exhibition had had their qualities
developed by some such treatment. It cannot
be said that the wood of the jak in such common
use among both natives and Europeans in this
island is in its untreated condition very
attractive looking. Indeed, its bright yellow
colour when new may almost be said to be repulsive
to the eye. As a rule, it is left to time, and to
the effects of what is known as continued
" elbow polish,"' to develop its really beautiful
colouring. The beautifying effect can, however,
be produced by artificial means. If the wood is
washed over with a solution of lime, — which has
the effect of at once deepening the colour, — and
then treated with the common native wood varnish,
an appeal aace of dark polished oak will result, and
several intances are familiar where this treatment
has been successfully adopted. Among our native
woods, nadoon perhaps, comes the nearest in colour
to the prized American Walnut in its virgin state.
But its grain hardly possesses the variety and
beauty to be found in some of the finer specimens
of the transatlantic wood. Nevertheless we believe
our local product might well rival the American,
in the estimation of home wood-fanciers — to
coin a term — if it were placed before them in an
attractive form. The method which has become
of late years so fashionable with English cabinet-
makers of incising patterns in the dead unpolished
wood, and relieving them in gold, seems to many
judges, to be specially applicable to the nadoon,
the natural colour of which would afford
a striking contrast to the bright gold of such
incised patterns. The roots of the suriya too
possess a variety both in grain and colouring
which probably only demands scientific treatment
to be devoloped to suit the taste of home
manufactureis.

Of Ceylon ebony and satinwood it is scarcely
necessary that we should speak. They are too
well-known, and too generally appreciated already,
to call for special remark. Nor do they, indeed,
come within the category of the woods which are
the present subject of attention. They are widely
grown in many other countries besides Ceylon, and
although our island growths possess attributes which
cause them to be largely in demand, the sources
of general supply are, as we have said, too varied
to cause us to feel disappointment that they should
have been passed over without remark in the
Conference to which we have alluded. But we r
think that that omission may have taught us a
useful lesson. On future occasions which may
occur, for exhibiting our island products in Eng-
land,—such perhaps as may be one day afforded
by the formation of a Museum for the proposed
Imperial Institute,— we should endeavour to
show furniture made after modern patterns from
those of our woods which seem likely to be
new and unknown to the trade at home. We
feel that Ceylon has no reason to hide its head
in this particular class of exhibit, and we feel
that if our furniture-makers would bestir them-
selves, and if they were aided by some European
advice as to the best means of developing the
colour and grain of our native woods, very use-
ful results might be attained. In our Tropical
Aijriculturiiit, we are republishing the full reports
which have appeared on the Timber Exhibits, as
the result of the Conference referred to, and al-
though there is no direct mention of Ceylon woods,
the information given is both instructive and
locally ioterestiog.

38^

THE tMPlCAL AaHieULTUKlST. [Dtc. j, 1886.

•MHS

COFFEE PESTS— FUNGI.

Coffee plauters are just now bewildered bj' an old
disease in a new shape, which is likely, if not im-
mediately checked, to cause much loss in crops, and
some indeed look upon its destructive results as a
graver calamity than bug, borer, kc. 'We allude to
the disease known as leaf rot, of which there are
several forms recognised — as black rot, mildew, &c.,
ice, caused undoubtedly by a superabundance of young
wood (requiring handling off) and excessive moisture.
These, however, are easily remedied by opening out
the centres as soon as possible, and sickling the weeds
which at this time of the year grow apace and shut
out the light and air. But the disease is assuming
quite another phase, and it is rather difficult to assign
any reason for its appearance. We are inclined to
the belief that it is a severe kind of funyi the spores
of which enter the epidermis or bark, and cause
disease in the first instance in the leaves which after,
wards extends to the fruit-bearing portion of the tree
as well as the fruit, all of which in course of time
or near the close of the rainy season, drop off. The
fungus acts by feeding on the juices of the plants,
preventing the elaboration of the sap, obstructing the
admission of air and the emission of transpired fluids.
The limbs of the trees being thus overcharged with mois-
ture, ultimately rot, while every source of nutriment
is cut off from the half developed berries, which also
rot and fall off.

There may, however, be another cause, which is
necessary for the spread of funrji, occasioned by the
roots, in which maj' be traced the want of corres-
pondence between absorption and transpiration and a
consequent stagnation and decomposition of the juices.

An estate which suffered considerably last season
in this respect, was at once take in hand by the
energetic Superintendent, by pruning back the trees
to their primaries, removing all moss and lichens from
their stems, renovating and manuring, which treat-
mentwithin a month (September) directed the nutri-
tive matters in the directions of the increase and
development of subterraneous as well as aerial branches :
the result is astonishing and shows that nothing but
careful and high cultivation is necessary to bring the
trees to a healthy state.

But in South "Wynaad we learn that the disease
is making great havoc, having assumed the form of
an epidemic, and the planters scarcely know how
to control it. "We have adduced the above for their
information, as we think it well worthy of imitation.
Our opinion inclines us to the conviction that the
sudden change their estates have undergone this year,
from long and extreme drought and heat to sudden
and excessive rainfall and moisture, — which we hear
in Yythery alone has amounted to over 150 inches
since May — has produced the phenomena. The drought
must have brought the trees to such a low state of
exhaustion, the spring showers having failed, or they
might have gradually recovered with steady and
moderate showers, and thus have regained strength
and vigour for the monsoon. Thus when the rains did set
in, they came on with a force and copiousness not
known before ; the trees being sickly were unable to
benefit by it, and they became diseased in the manner
described. The subject threatens to become one of
very grave importance, so tve trust planters will come
forward with their views and opinions and see what
can be done to put a stop to and evil which easily
grows. — yUgiri Expresn. — [This black rot has always
been more prevalent in Southern India than in Oeylon,
but it seems now to have appeared in a form of in-
tense virulence. Alas poor coffee ! — Ed,]

A Rival to Dk. Hewett. — The Moniteur des Pro-
duits Cliimiques is informed that Professor Fischer, of
Munich, after an extended research on the nature and
properties of quinine, has discovered that a substance
may be extracted from coal-tar which exercises on the
human organism an action identical with that of quinine.
The substance appears in the shape of a white crj st-
alline powder. Administered in cases of fever it has
the effect of rapidly loweriug the temperature, and its
efficacjr in this respect ie stated to be so remarkable

as to permit the use of ice to be dispensed with ; in
the stomach the wonderful powder assimilates with even
greater facility than does quinine.— t'/it mist audJJrumist
[We wait for " more light."— Ed.]

Tea. in J.vp.w. — A dispute has arisen between
Messrs. Mourilyan Heimann & Co. and the Mitsui
Bussan Kaisha, as to the rejection of a (luantity
of tea which the former firm alleges is not up to
sample. As the result of correspondence between
the buyers of the tea in question and the Yoko-
hama Tea Brokers' Association, a meeting of
foreign tea buyers was held on Wednesday, at
which it was resolved to appoint a committee to
act with Japanese delegates in the arbitration of
disputes between foreigners and Japanese. A com-
mittee of three was elected to bring the queution
before the Japanese brokers. A slight decrease has
taken place in the volume of tea transactions,
prices ruling firm all round. There must be heavy
losses upon Japanese teas this year. Their selling
price in New York was never before so low. It is
strange that while the price of Chinese and Japanese
teas shows a steady tendency to decline in Western
markets, that of Indian and Ceylon teas goe.=!
slowly but surely upwards. This fact, taken in
conjunction with the largely increased production
of India and Ceylon, seems to indicate that Japan
and China may one day or other be completely
ousted from their monopoly of the fragrant staple.
Perhaps we should Hmit the prediction to China,
for Japan has the good fortune to possess the entref
of the United States markets, where black tea is
not popular.— <7a/K</t Wteldy Mail, Oct. •2nd.

Artu-icial Quinine,— Messrs. Brookes and Green,
of 25, Mincing Laue London, state in a recent IMarkei
Eeport : — " No sooner does the ' silly season '
est in than the daily press astonishes its reader.';
by announcements of ' remarkable discoveries ' which
are to ' revolutionise ' either this or that particular in-
dustry. Last autumn a London journal published the
startling intelligence that the present sugar industry —
beet as well as cane— waste be annihilated by the won-
derful returns of sugar which it claimed could be ob-
tained from the mahwa or mowi-a tree of Hindostau. As
was pointed out shortly afterwards, this was nothing
but a Munchausen story, since the flowers in question
contain ouly 1-04 of saccharine matter, and even that
small quantity is fit for nothing but brewing and distil-
ling purposes. We believe it was the same morning
journal that reproduced the American hoax of the new
species of cotton tree with pods weighing each from 2
to 3 lb., by which the cotton trade was to be 'revolu-
tionised.' This year the same newspaper brings for-
ward a ' remarkable discovery' of the artificial mode
of making quinine, which will, we are seriously told,
bring down the price of that drug to something like od
per oz. We are also told that this important discovery
' was made by the accidental breaking of a medicine
bottle.' But, as we are well aware that all great dis-
coveries are usually the result of accident, this need
not surprise any one. The really extraordinary part of
the story is that good quinine ' can now be manufac-
tured without limit by a very simple process from an
article which can always be got in abundance in any
pirt of the world.' In order to round oflt the story, it
should have been stated that the artificially-made drug
h.d been administered in cases of fever with the most
satisfactory results ; but to this extreme the inventor,
doubtless with a discreet retrard for his patients, appears
not to have gone. We have the best authority for
stating that the announcement that an eminent firm of
manufacturing chemists has expressed itself favourably
with regard to the alleged discovery is entirely false.
It has yet to to be proved that anyone has really suc-
ceeded in producing so complex a body as quiniue
synthetically; and it is extremely improbable that even
if produced at all, it could be made at any very low
price. Before such statements are accepted and pub-
lished by any newspaper it would be strongly advisable
to have certain evidence of tbeir correctness. "—jiatfma

OfiC, if 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

38s

A Russi.wj Plan to extract rusty screws is to
heat a flat iron bar to a cherry red and press it
in the head of the screw for a couple of minutes,
after which the screw becomes loosened, and is
easily extracted with a screw driver. — Xilijiri
Ex})ress.

Cinchona Plantations. — At the request of Mr. M. A
Lawson, Government Botanist and Director of Cinchona
Plantations, Government have sanctioned the abandon-
ment of the Kalhatti Cinchona Gardens on the Nilgirris
from the commencement of the next official year. The
Collector has been instructed to dispose of the site
in the manner most advantageous to Government. —
Madras Standard.

Perfect Insulators. — Some experiments lately
brought before the Paris Academy by M. Luvini,
combine with those of other observers (he considers)
in warranting the conclusion that "gases and
vapours, under any pressure, and at all temper-
atures, are perfect insulators, and cannot be electri-
fied through friction, either with one another, or
with solid or liquid substances." — Nature.

Young Baboon. — Mr. H. H. Johnston informs
us, (The KiUma-Njaro Expedition), that when in
East Africa, he shot a baboon, young and tender,
which he had cooked and ate. " I can only say
that the succulence and quality of this creature's
flesh were quite unexceptionable." He writes of
having met elephants at the elevation of 13,000
feet, says they mount banks with the agility of
goats, and is convinced that the elephant " can
easily adapt himself to a mountain life." — Nibjiri
Express.

Coffee Rolls. — Take twelve cups of flour, one of
white sugar, one half of butter or lard, one of yeast,
one grated nutmej^, aud three eggs. Mix with three
large cups of warm milk, and let it rise over night ;
if well risen in the morning, knead aud set in a cool
place until three o'clock in the afternoon, then shape
into long rolls, and let them rise one hour and
a half. Bake half an hour in a moderate oven.
When done, glaze them with a little milk in which
a little brown sugar has been dissolved and set them
back in the oven for two minutes. — Appledore Cook Book.

Nat.al Tea. — Our Tea Correspondent, the " Peri-
patetic Planter" was kind enough to send us two
samples of Natal tea, which our Managing Agents,
Messrs. Balmer Lawrie & Co., were good enough to
have sampled and priced for us by a tea
expert with the following result: — "Natal Tea.
— The two samples of Natal tea, leafy broken
Pekoe Souchong and rather open leaf Broken
Pekoe, are not unlike Indian or Ceylon tea in
appearance ; in liquor they are softer, more like the
China manufacture. I should describe the liquor as
rather dark soft not strong ; they want the strength
and pungency of Assam teas, the outturn is dark,
the quality generally not good : value in Calcutta
today 6-3 annas broken Pekoe Souchong, 8 annas
Broken Pekoe. — Indian Planters Gazette.

Fluid ExTRAcfr of Cinchona. — At the request of
the Surgeon-General, her Majesty's Forces, Govern-
ment have ordered a certain quantity of the new
preparation of cinchona — the fluid extract by Mr.
Hooper, the Government Quinologist— to be placed
at his disposal, for trial in Upper Burmah, as there
appears to bs a large amount of inefficiency caused
by fever in that country. To give publicity to the
preparation, Government have approved of the sug-
gestion of Dr. Bidie, to issue the drug gratuitously
to certain charitable dispensaries, both for experi-
mental trial in hospitals and for issue, free of charge,
to outdoor sick in quantities not exceeding one ounce.
This gratuitous issue is to be continued for one
year, subject to a report at the end of that period.
•—South India Observer.

North Borneo, Oct. 7th. — His Excellency the
Governor arrived from Sandakan, in the steam
launch " Kimanis " on the evening of 31st August,
on a visit to the West Coast Stations. The fol-
lowing day the Governor, accompanied by the
Resident, rode to the Hakka Settlement. The
gardens were looking fairly well but the men
appeared to be planting up more land than they
could look after properly. The Liberian coffee,
tea, pepper, &c., were all growing luxuriantly. A
visit was next paid to Limau Limawan, a smt<ll
island lying five miles south of Kudat, and leased
to the Imaum, Hadji Abdul Drahim, who first
opened a settlement there towards the end of 1883.
His village now contains a prosperous community
of about three hundred souls. On September 3rd
the Governor, the Resident, and Mr. Christian
proceeded to the German Borneo Company's Es-
tate at Limbuac, Banguey Island. His Excellency
was much pleased with all he saw, and the party
walked to Mitford covering the distance of a
little over seven miles in a couple of hours.
The road was found to be rather rough in some
places. On the way to Kudat, in the launch the S. S.
"Hong Ann" from Labuan was sighted off Muliangin,
and Capt. Slaker kindly stopped her and delivered
the mails. Owing to news received the Governor
after a short stay in Kukad returned to Sanda-
kan. Mr. Christian, a Ceylon planter, is opening
an estate for Liberian coffee, cocoa, &c., three
miles from Kudat on the road to the Hakka
Settlement. The late Mr. T. Parry, examined
this land at the request of the Resident, and
thought there were five hundred acres of as good
soil as that found on the Pangkalan River
Banguey. — British Nortit Borneo Herald.

Noxious Weeds. — On Tuesday evening the assembled
wisdom of the colony collectively shirked the task of
defining what is aud what is nob a noxious weed.
Probably our legislators considered that the powers of
Parliament are already sufficiently large without adding
to them the function of making botanical classifications.
But, impressed as they evidently were with the im-
portance of constructing a correci; definition, it was too
bad of them to hand that duty over to the divisional
boards. There is no saying what may be the con-
sequences to posterity — who are our favourite clients
nowadays — of armiug these unscientific bodies with
power to exterminate from the face of the land what-
ever they may choose to place under the category
of weeds. Even if they should go no farther than sida
retusa, prickly pears, and thistles, one may be pardoned
for contemplating with somewhat of fear the extirpation
of these fecund and hardy races. The secrets of
Nature are nothing like half-explored yet, and who
"knows what potentialities of textile fabric may perish
with sida retusa, what famine-defying ensilage with
the prickly pear, what fortifying elixir with the thistle y
What will posterity say if the virtues of these races,
here exterminated, should be discovered in some other
country, and the Government of the future be com-
pelled to import them, like the American seed maize,
and distribute them at so much a root? As the ex-
tirpation of these "noxious weeds," provisionally so-
called, will cost a deal of money, it really becomes an
important question whether it would not be as well
to set aside a fair share of it as rewards for the
successful interrogation of Nature as to what she had
in her eye when she created them. Failing this — for
the endowment of research is not likely to commend
itself to the divisional board mind — by all means let
us, in the interest of posterity, have siJa retusa reserves,
prickly pear reserves, thistle reserves ; and, if even this
simple suggestion should fail to find acceptance, we
call upon all whose hearts yearn over their uubegotten
descendants to put away privily a root or two of each
of those doomed vegetables, where the divisional eye
canuot see them, as centres of future propagation.
There will be no difficulty about it. In fact, it ought
to be quite au easy matter to elude the notice of
such ihort-sighted legiAsktion.—Queenslander.

384

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. i, i885<

*

To the EdUor of the " Ceylon Observer."

TKAVANOORE PLANTERS AND THE T, A
Central Travancore, Oct. 18S6.
SiE, — I note m the T. A. fcr the current mouth a
letter signed by the Chairman of the Travancore
Planters' Association accusing you of " perversion of
facts."* I have turned up the April number of the
T. A., pages 704 and 712 and find nothing there to
warrant such language. The Chairman had not the
authority of the Association (as he would lead the
public to believe) to write to you, and he should have
been more careful before assailing your good name
and placing the members of the Association in a false
position. I as a member of the Association, and I
know many others never heard of this matter until I
read the letter in the 2'. ^i. I only regret you let him
off so easily in your foot-note, but I know it is from
the fact that j'ou have always taken a warm interest
in everything that concerns planting in Travancore and
I hope you will continue to do so, notwithstanding our
Chairman's foolish production. — Yours, &c.

AME.\IBKR OF THE T. P. ASSOJIATION^

OEANGESAND OTHEE FRUITS FOR ENGLAND.

Deab SiB.^Can you or any of your correspond-
ents inform me of the best mode of sending
oranges home (in small quantities) and what other
Ceylon fruits can be sent? — Yours truly, ENQUIRER.

[If care is taken that the oranges are neither
over-ripe, nor in the smallest degree bruised, and
the boxes in which the fruit is packed stowed in
a cool part of the steamer, there is no reason
why the fruit should not be transmitted in good
condition. We do not see what advantage would
be gained by wrapping the fruits in tissue paper,
or adding any packing material, if the packing
is 60 done that the oranges would not roll about.
We fear pines and plantains would scarcely stand
a voyage of nearly a month, but some of our
readers may have suggestions — the result of actual
experience — to offer. — Ed.]

""coffee and pepper exports from
west coast of india.

Tellicherry, 25th October 1886.

Dkae Sir, — We have the pleasure to hand you our
usual statement of exports of coffee and jiepper
from the West Coast for year ending 30th June 188G.

Cojf'ee. — The export of this produce for the year
exceeds that of any of the five preceeding years,
the largest quantity being shipped from Mangalore.
Estimates in Coorg and Mysore were realized and
in many cases exceeded and the quality of the
coffee generally maintained. From statistics com-
piled by the Commissioner of Coorg, we gather that
103,420 cwt. of plantation coffee alone were ex-
ported from that Province, 70,2(J0 cwt. of which found
its way to Mangalore and Tellicherry, the balance
33,160 cwt. going eastward for shipment in Madras.

A glance at our figures will show that compar-
atively small crops are obtained every alternate
year, and the coming one will not be an exception
to the rule, for we regret to say prospects as re-
gards quantity are by no means good ; but we
anticipate this will be to a certain degree counter-
balanced by the better prices that will be obtained,
the market showing a decided upward tendency,
which with exchange in favour of the planter we
would fain hope is indicative of a return of prosper-
ity to the coffee enterprize. A small crop too,
invariably means better quality.

Pepper. — The export of this produce for the past
year in quantity almost equals that of 188'2-83, when

* We showed that the Chairman referred to extracts
from Indian papers with which we had nothing to do,
and I'sorae of which positively praised Travancore. —
Ed.

s far as we are aware the largest quantity was
shipped ; and we have reason to believe that larger
quantities still will be exported in the course of a
year or two as a far larger acreage under pepper
has still to come into bearing, and as prices are
maintained, the cultivation is highly remunerative
to natives in whose hands at present it rests. —
We are, dear sir, yours faithfully.

ppro ALSTON LOW & Co.
Ralph Tatham.
[For the table appended see our Handbook and
Directory. — Ed.~;

Planting in Honduras. —The following advertise-
ment in the Field is of some interest to Ceylon
colonists : — Colonial Opening. — A gentleman, resident
for the last seven years in British Honduras, has during
that time purchased 20,000 acres in that colony, the more
fertile parts of which are suitable for growing bananas,
coconuts, oranges, &c., for the American markets
(with which there is regular communication by
steamer), and the rest for cattle grazing. He has spent
considerable sums in developing the property, and
wishes to find a Partner or Partners, with about £,3000
capital (to be expended on the property), to take the
active management in a year's time. The colony has
been English for over a century; is twenty days'
steam from England, and has a good climate. The
t state is already working at a profit, and the coconut
trees planted are gradually coming into full bearing

Notes fhom Agkicultukal Letter : Paris. Oct. 2. —
Sulphuret of carbon has proved a valuable agent for
the destruction of ants. First, batten down the hills,
then make a hole, and pour in one ounce of the
chemical. The vapours will soon penetrate into the
interior and not an insect, but will be killed. The
operator must be careful not to go too near the
fumes himself. To render barrels, wooden troughs
&c., inodorous and impermeable, paint them with a
preparation of quick lime and alcohol. This will make
fir-wood as hard as oiik. The alcohol will dissolve th«
resin and the lime will replace it in the pores. Wash
off any excess of the paint. Mr. Petermann, Director
of Agronomic station of Gembloux, has been ex-
perimenting with bone dust since three years to test
its nitrogenous value. He finds that a top-dressing of
this manure, given to winter wheat in March, — the soil
being sandy-clay and fair — will increase the yield of
grain 13 per cent.

The Colonial and Indian Exhibition. — The Con-
ferences under the direction of the Conference Com-
mittee of the Exhibition recommenced this week,
a paper being read on Oct. 6th, on " The Pearl
Fi.'iheries of Ley Ion," by G. Vaue, c. m. g. On the
8th, a pai)er will be read on " Cauida as a Flax-
Growing and Linen-Manufacturing llegion," by E. B.
Biggar. Papers will also be read on dates to be
hereafter announced, on " Stock-Raising in Canada,"
by Professor Smith ; on " The Climate of Canada," by
W. Kingston; on "The Canadian North- West," by
Captain Clarke; on "The Coco-nut Palm of Ceylon:
its Products and other Uses," by ,J. Capper ; on
"Ceylon Tea," by J. L. Shand ; on ' St. Helena: its
Past, Present, and Future," by Lieut. -Colonel Palmer;
on " British North Bomeo and its Resources," by W. B.
Pryor ; on " The Social Condition of Cape Colony,"
by Spencer Todd, c.ji.g. It is also probable that a
second conference will be held by the National Fish
Culture Associaiion. It has been arranged, moreover,
*;o hold a meeting for the purpose of testing the quali-
ties of the different colonial timbers exhibited at the
Exhibition. The object of the meeting is to bring to-
gether the leading civil engineers, timber merchants,
builders, and other users of wood, to meet experts
from the various colonies. Samples of the woods will
be converted by machinery into railway sleepers, joinery,
casks, spokes for wheels, &c., so that practical men
will have an opportunity of seeing what colonial woods
can be most easily worked, and for what purpose they
can be utilised in this couutry. — London a»d China
Expresi.

buei ;, m64 fUU I^HOPICAL AOtMCtJlfmHf^

5%

VANILLA.

A ladj'-writel? says i — But the most precious crop
here (South Sea Islands) is vanilla, which is both
pretty and lucrative, being worth about four dillars
a pouud. It is a luxuriant creeper, and grows so
freely that a branch broken off and falling on the
ground takes root of its own accord, and it climbs
all over the tall coffee shrubs, the palms, avocado,
pears, and orange trees, and everything that comes in
its way, growing best on living wood, the tendrils thence
deriving sustenance. It aJso flourishes best in unweeded
^grounds, the roots being thereby kept cool, 60 the steep
wooded hill-side is densely matted with this fragrant
TSf ice, which scents the whole air; indeed, the atmos-
(jhere of the house is redolent of vinilla. It is like living
in a spice box, as the pods are laid to dry in every avail-
able corner. They must be gathered unripe and dried in
a moist warm place. Sometimes they are packed
under layers of quilts to prevent them from bursting,
and so lose their fragrant essence. AH this sounds
very pleasant, and only suggests light work. Yet in
truth this cultivation involves moit exhausting toil.
The plant is an exotic ; it lives in these isles by
the will of the planter not by nature's law. In its
. native home exquisite humming birds hover over its
blossoms therein darting their long bills in search of
honey, and drawing them forth clogged with the
golden pollen which they carry to the next flower,
thus doing nature's work of fertilisation. Here the
flowers have no such dainty wooers, and the vanilla
bears no fruit unless fertilised by human hands. So
M. and Madam Valles and their sou divide the steep
hill side into three sections, and each morning thej-
patiently but wearily toil up and down, up and down
again, again, and again in order to manipulate each
blossom thiit has expanded during the night. " Faire
le mariage des fleurs " as Madame ^^alle describes
lier daily task, is no sinecure ; it must be done during
■the hottest hours of the day when any exertion is
most exhausting. It needs a keen eye to detect
■eajh fresh blossom, and any neglected flower withers
or drops. Each day the ripened pods must be gathered,
and in dry weather the plants require frequ'^.nt water-
ing and indescribable toil.— P/(?iucr and Fanner.

NEW DEVELOPMENT OF THE WATTLE

INDUSTBY.

Messrs. Fajrrow &'H.\yceoit have established at
Echunga, Sjuth Australia, a manufactory of tanage,
which must be of great interest to all colonists, and
from the m-thods employed is almost pharmaceutical.
About lO.OOit tons of wattle bark are sent annuiUy
from Souili Australia alone, and it is calculated that
the waste in stripping is about four times this amount.
The new factory converts the branches too small
to pay for stripping into a strong fluid extract
called tawir/e, which contains water 60 per cent,
soluble tannin 33-2 per cent, according to an analysis
by Mr. G. H. Hodgson of samplei from the first
80 tons recently shipped to England. The wattle
"trash" yields 12 to 16 per cent of tanige ; two
men can often cut and load 3 tjns, and the waggons
can bring in two loads a day, equal to 5 or 6 tons ;
and, at the price (1/. a tou) which the flrzn is
paying for thinnings and tops and branches, so much
is offering that the patentees are obliged to distribute
their orders. The " tra,^h " is tied up in large bundle.';
fiiid carted in to the factory. It is there weighed,
close besides the machine which cuts it up into
" chaff." This machine is very much like an ordinary
Steam-plane, the chisels revolving at a high speed,
and cutting through 2A-iuch saplings quite readily.
The chips are shovelled into large wooden hoppers,
into which steam is introduced from a large Cornish
boiler. _ There are three steam-heated vats, and the
liquor is transferred from one to the other, pumped
into elevated tanks, and thence allowed to tl.nv from
a tap on to steam-heated evaporating pans about 30
or 40 feet in length. The evaporation is so rapid
Miat in traversing the paos from one cud to the otber

4y

the liquid is converted into a thick, tenacious, trei-
cly extract. At the end of the pans it flaws into
a cistern, and thence by a kind of treacle-gate iu'.d
the casks, each of which will hold about 10 cwt. All
that now remains to be done is paste on a label,
put in a bung, weigh the cask, and send it off to
market. In the process of evaporation a certain
portion of the tannic acid is destroyed. The '• plant "
can be easily remove 1 from place to place. It does not
pay to cart the " trash " far, but a ftw sijiiare miles of
wattle country will keep a factory going. The utili-
sation of thiiiniugs allows the cultivation of the tree
thickly on waste ground, and to begin cutting the
third year. European tanners are quite accustomed
to the use of such extracts, but it is said that it
will be very hard to introduce it into colonial
tanneries. The Cbi.f Secretary (Hon. David Murray)
and others were invited to make a visit of in pection
on July 17, and .>^eemed to have been highly grati-
fied. "While on this subject we may mention that
Messrs. \y. Mofflin & Co. have sent the Ho}i.th Ai'str<i-
lirni Il"ijUter a letter enclosing a cutting from a
perio lical called Leather, published in London, which
seriously reflects on the credit of the Melbourne
merchants, and it is likely to injure the btrk trade.
Ticii'lter states th^t a large proportion of the ground
bark sold there as best Melbourne ground mimosa
bark never grew on the continent of Australia, but
in Tasmania, where the tree is plentiful, but the 1. irk
very iuferi )r. Its value on the market at ^Melbourne
is about 4/. per ton in the rind. " The superior
quality of the bark grown in Melbourne and Adelaide
has created a large and increasing demand for it
on the Lindon marke\ The shipments from Ade-
laide and Melbourne since January 14» have amounted
to 3,874 tons. This is a large quantit}', considerably
more than the two districts can produce, so that it
IS certain that there his been a large ad nixture of
inferior bark from the Tasmauian forests. Our corres-
pondent informs us that the value of this second-
rate bark in Melbourne is 41. per ton ; cost of grind-
ing, lO.f, do.; bigging, lO.v. ; freight, H. 10s. do. —0/.
lO.v. The best ground bark realises in London from 10^.
to 12^. so that it w 11 be seen it is a very lucrative
business, and likely to continue so if the English
buyers have no means of detecting the fraud."— CVu-./iisi
and Dreggist.

THE CULTIVATION OF CELERY AND
STRA^VBERKIES.

The close of the rains being the -seed time for
European vegetables, millis are (or should be) very
busy at the present season ; and the following practi-
cal hmtson the cultivation of celery one of the most
highly prized of our home vegetables may prove oppor-
tune, especially as celery so often fails under the
treatment of the native gardener. The seed imported
should bo sown in boxes of rich, li^'ht soil; it should
be sown very thinly, and the best way to effect this
is to mix a pinch of the seed with a little dry sai d
or earth, and then sprink'e it evenly over, the sur-
face of the soil which should first be presse 1 down
smoothly and somewhat tirniiy, by means of a flat
board. After scattering the seed, cover it thinly with
a little light soil and give a moderate watering. The
boxes should bo placed where they get plenty of light
but no suu and the soil should be kept of Uniform
moisture. If the seed conies Up very thick, thin out;
the weaker looking seedlings. AX'heu the seedlings
show three leaves they must be planted out into a
raised bed in the garden, to make which proceed As
follows : — Select an open place on hard soil for tliG
nursery and rise on it a bed four inc'jes high of the
richest thoroughly deciyeil stable litter or cov's manure
a mixture of both is preferable. Press it down pretty
firmly, and then transplant the seedlings on to it four
inches apart. The plants should be shaded in tho
midday liy means of a piece of matting suspended
on sticks over the bed ; the watering should be liberal
both morning and evening.

» Tjo What date is not stated, "~

386

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Dec.

1 886.

It will now be found that the plants will grow
very rapidly. Meanwhile the ti-enches should be pre-
pai-uil one foot deep and one foot wi le. Place six
inches of thoroughly decomposed manure at the bottom
of the trench. When the seedliugshave been a month
or five weeks in the nursery bed, the largest of them
should be removed carefully, taking special care not
to disturb the roots, ami planted iu the treuch,
" two iaches deeper iu the soil than they were in
the nursery bed," and nine iuches apart. After trans-
planting give a good soaking of water (tank or river
water is best where procurable). As the plants make
growth, they .';hould be earthed up by refilling the
trenches by degrees with soil which was originally
dug out. For an early crop, the trench should be
out in the open ; and for a later croj) in a shady
situation. If rivers are procurable, it is preferable
to the garden soil for earthing the celery. It will be
seen that the chief art of growing celery to perfect-
tion consists 'u rapid forcing by means of the richest
manure.

Strawberries are well worth more attention than our
native gardeners give them. At the beginning of the
hot season this fruit very small and flavourless, finds
its way to the Calcutta market in considerable quan-
tities from the Patna district where it is grown by
the native market gardeners ; but none who have not
tried the effects of cultivation cau realise how vastly
this favourite fruit can be improved. Firminger's
plan, given iu his " ^Manual of (xardening," is the one
which should be followed; and for those who have
not his work at hand to refer to the following brief
abstract of his method is given: — Choose a piece of
ground well exposed to the sun, and dig holes in it six
inches deep, eight iuches wide, and one foot apart.
Fix the holes with a mixture of equal parts of old
now manure, leaf mould and garden soil ; and iu each
put down a strawberry plant. Water at the time of
planting and as often afterwards as the plant seem
to require it. The plants should be put down early in
October, and by February they will come into full
blo.ssom, and " when in blossom, the beds should be
watered every day from a rose watering pot." Un-
less this is done, the fruit frequently does not set,
and you get no crop. "When the fruit is ripening, it
should be protected from the ravages of birds by a
net. The strawberry requires daily watering during
its growth and bearing ; and in the hot season the
plants are sure to die uuless regularly watered. The
rains do not injure the plants. Care should be
taken to plant out the young growth, i.e., the new
plants formed by runners from the old plauts during
the rains, as the old plants seldom bear fruit the
secoud year. Strawberry plants are procurable from
the North West Provinces, and doubtless, if good seed
were procured from Home, superior varieties could be
introduced. The seedlings would not, however, bear
fruit the first year. The writer has by following the
above method, grown strawberries as large a round
as the top of a sherry glass, and of excellent flavour.
— Englishman.

THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION

AT SOUTH KENSINGTON.

Jamaica — coatinual.
Perfumery is represented by two or three esbibit.s,
which do not, however, include such a variety as
might have been expected from the number of plants
in the island capable of yielding essential oils and
perfumes. It is consequently interesting to Jearn
from the ofhcial catalogue that Colonel Talbot, of
Worthy Park Estate, is about to establish a flower
farm, and to extract perfumes, this being the first
attempt of the kind that has been made in the island.
The essential oils exhibited by Mr. Sahaarschmidt
include those of lemon, sweet and bitter oranges,
pimento berries and pimento leaf (oil of bay) ; also
spirituous perfumes derived from Bonplandia, Ca-
nella alba, red muskwood and rosewood. Pomades
made with tuberose and Jasmine flowers are also
shown by the same exhibitor. The essential oils
prepared by Mr, J, J, Bowery, the Government

analytical chemist, comprise, in addition to the above,
the essential oils of JCuca/i/ptus i/lolndus, lemon grass,
Juni/ierns, Bermudiana, Critonea Dcdea, Iledyosmum
nutans and JliciJineria obovata. Ylang-ylaug fruits
are sho.vn, but no spicimeu of the oil.

A specimen of aloes presenting the appearance of
inferior Curacoa aloes, rather than of Barbadoes aloes,
is shown by the Botanical Department. In this in-
stance, and in mai:y others throughout the Exhibi-
tion, it is evident that w.-vnt of attention to appear-
ance is one of tbe reasons that colonial products do
not satisfy the requirements of commerce.

Large quills of cinchona bark are exhibited by the
Bjtanical Department aiul Dr. Heaven, including C.
officinalis, C. Ludyi-nana, C. succirnhra, a hybrid (G.
robasta.'), accompained by herbarium specimens of
these trees and of C micrantha, Calisai/a verde and
Calisai/a morada.

The C. sncciruhra bark grown in Jamaica appears
to have quite a dift'erent character to that cultivated
in the East Indies, in not possessing the warty
character of the latter, which is seen also in the
South American G. succiruhra. According to Mr. D.
Morris, C. Calisaya was not rightly distinguished at
the Government plantations in .Tamicia until 1881,
being included under C. officinalis, to which it bearS
some resemblance in the shape of the leaf.

Some very fine specimens of honey, both liquid
and solid, are exhibited, the former by Mr. 0. Gordon,
and the latter by Mr. J. W. Aikman ; both speci-
mens are of good colour and fine flavour. This Court
should not be left without noticing the beautiful
ornamental articles exhibited by the Women's Self-
Help Society, including baskets made of the luffa
fruits, and of various seeds yLeuca-na (jlaaca, Ahrns
precatorii's, Adtnautliera pavonina, and Coio: lachri/ma,
etc.). The articles made of lace bark {Laijetta lintearia),
and of the beautiful white tissue of the dagger plant
{Yucca aloifolia), which is even more elegant than
the celebrated rice paper of the Japanese, have been
much admired, and wou'd doubtless sell readily iu
this country. Probably the bright coloured seeds
would also find a ready market iu Roman Catholic
countries for rosaries-

Trinidad. — The Botanical Gardens exhibit vegetable
ivory nuts, mace, nutmegs, nux vomica seeds, and
coca leaves. Nine varieties of tanning substances are
shown by Mr. F. J. Hill. Of these the dividivi pods
have been found to yie'd Go'OS per cent of tannin.
A remarkable product, labelled " Cedar gum, " is shown
by the Pvev. J. Morton in the form of long trans-
parent tears. When dissolved in water it makes an
enormous quantity of thick mucilage, deficient in
adhesiveness, but forming an excellent size, like
Japanese isinglass. It is probably obtained from the
bastard cedar (Guaznma tomcntosa), and seems worthy
of further examination.

B.VKUADOEs— Several specimens of rock, recently dis-
covered on Ox ord Estate, St. Peter's Parish, and
stated to contai 1 nearly 70 per cent of phosphates,
may be s( en in this Court. A very interesting series
of specimens, illustrating how these phosphates are
fo! mtd in the cural rock, is shown by Mr. H. E. Thorne,
of the Antilles Manure Works.

Iu the opinion of I^lr. George Hughes,* ihe deposit
of Aruba phosphate in the island of Barbadoes, which is
estimated to contain not less than 500,000 tone, has
been formed from a superincumbent layer of guano,
the carbonate of lime of the coral reef having been
changed into phosphate by the soluble phosphate
washed out of the guano by the rain, etc. The
guano ha.s, ho a ever, now di-appeared. The structure
of th'-i oial rock is seen to be perfectly retained,
although the chemical change that has taken place is
shown in the presence of phosphate of lime to the
extent of 76 per cent. The Sombrero phosphate from
Sombrero Island owes it origin to another cause, viz.
the direct marine deposit of bone, and another deposit
in the island of Barbuda to the excrement of bats in
the bottom of caves. These deposits form a valuable

*Quart. Jouni. Geo!. Soc, Feb., 1885, p. 8.

Dec. r, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

387

manure for the sugar estates. [Our readers will b^
reminded of poor Tytler's Sombreorum. — Ed.]

MoNTSEEB\T. — The name of this island is perhaps
best known in this country in connection with lime
juice, althou.h the principal produce, as in most of
the "West Indian Islands, is sugar. The Moutserrat
Company exiiibts. lime juice in various forms, such
as cordial, bitters, sauce, etc., and also ecuelled oils
of limes, bergamo; and shiddock, as well as distilled
oil of limes and distilled oil of basil {Oci/imon sj).).
The ecuelled oil of limes, judging from a specimen
received t-ome months since, is very superior to the
distilled oil. Essential oils are also exhibited by
Mr. J. S. Hollings, consisting, in addition to those
nr.entioned above, of the ecuelled oil of orange (Citrus
Bigaradia) and the disiilled oils of Canella alba, casca-
rilla, lemon grass, bay (Pmenta acris) and wild basil;
also the pe.fumed wattrs formed during their distil-
lation

British Honduras — The chief products of this
colony are dye wood and timber, the amount of log-
wood annually exported reaching 17,OuO tons. It is
described a< growing in immense thickets in marshy
places, with a crooked trunk 16 to 24 feet high, and
rarely thicker than a man's thigh in diameter. Two
varieties of the tree appear to be recognized in this
colony ; one having bioad leaves is considered the
most valuable on account of its solidity, and of yield-
ing a larger quantity of the dye, although the smaller-
leaved variety is said to yield a better quality. Of
fustic {Madura tinctoria) about 100 tous are annually
exported. The seeds of Sisamum orlenta/e "used for
flavouring cakes " are exhibited under the name of
"wangla" seeds.

The Bah.^mas. — To pharmacists these islands are best
known as the geographical source of cascarilla and
Canella alba barks and of sponges. The exports of
sponge in 1885 were estimated at £oO,000. Amber-
gris is also found on the shore and is exported to the
value of £1,000 per anuum. The most marked feature
in Jthis Court is the fine display of sponges, which
will form the subject of a subsequent notice, and the
many beautiful treasures of 'the great deep, including
sea ferns, corals, sea feathers, sea star.s, sea urchins
and shells, etc. — Pharmaceutical Journal.

EOOTS,

{Coniinucil JToin p. 'dl'2.)

A third case is conceivable — so much water might
be supposed to find its way in, that no air remained
in the interspaces between the particles of soil. Now
it is true that such a state of affairs is not realily
brought about in a normil soil; but I may iudicate
how the result is occasionally attained to a great
extent. Suppose that a layer of clay or other impene-
trable subsoil lies beneaoh the soil in question ; then
if water oozes into the soil in larger quantities than
can ha got rid of in the time, it is possible for
nearly all the air to be displaced. Of course the
object of good drainage is to prevent this ; and it
is often overlooked that drainage from below has the
effect of drawing in air as well as of running off
superfluous water — air is driven into the spaces as
the water leaves them.

In speaking of the "bubbles of air" entangled in
the interspaces between the particles of soil, each
with its water-blanket, I have overlooked some details
as to what the bubbles really are. As a matter of
fact they will not remain of the same composition as
ordinary air, and may soon differ considerably; besides
the vapour of water, they may contain gases in quite
different proportions from those in the air outside.
In the type case, however, there will be some oxygen
present in the bubbles.

EoOT-HAiRS.— It is not intended here to go very
fully into a description of the roots of land-plants ;
enough if you are reminded how the smaller ramific-
ations of a root are found to be more numerous and
thinner as we approach the periphery of the mass
of earth which they traverse. From the youngest
rootlets are produced the root-hairs, in enormous
quantities, new ones arising forwards— /.c, near the

tip of the rootlet — as the rootlet grows on, and tho.s,
behind dying off after fulfilling their functions
These functions are chiefly to apply themselves in
the closest manner to the surfaces of tlie particles of
soil, and in this way to place the water which they
contain in direct continuity with the water which
clings with such enormous force to the surfaces of
the particles. Hence this water can pass from the soil
to the plant aud anything dissolved in the water can
also pass into the root-hair, and thus up into the plant,
I am not going to dwell on how the root-hairs them-
selves aid in dissolving mineral substances — corroding the
surfaces of the particles of soil they cling to — nor shall I
trouble you with the details of what substances will
be dissolved in the water; for, of course, you will
see that anything soluble will pass into solution aud
maj' be carried into the plant. The chief point to
be insisted on just now is that this water in the soil
will contain among other substances oxygen dis-olved
in it from the air-bubbles referred to above, and that
this dissolved o.xygen will pass into the root-hairs in
solution together with the minerals and any other
substances. This oxygen, moreover, is absolutely
indispensable for the life of the root-hairs ; it can
be easily shown that if the supply of oxygen is
stopped, or even diminished to any considerable extent,
the roots begin to die, because the root-hairs cease
to act. Let us look a little more closely into this
point. Each root-hair is a tiny cell containing living
protoplasm and certain other substances, all inclosed
in a thin, elastic, porous membrane. Now it has been
abuudantly proved that if such a cell is deprived of
oxygen, its protoplasm becomes dormant for a time,
an-l slowly breaks up, as it were; subsequently it
becomes decomposed into other and simpler materials,
A sort of internal combustion and fermentation take
place, -€ftnd these processes result in the formation
and liberation of bodies like carbondioxide, alcohol,
acetic acid, and other acid matters — substances in the
main not only incapable of supporting the life of the
root-hairs, but actually destructive of it. Evidently,
then, if we deprive all the root-hairs of oxygen, they
will eventually die. Their death will entail that of
the rootlets and roots to which they belong, and
this for two obvious reasons: — first, it is the root-hairs,
and the root-hairs alone which can absorb the necessary
water and substances in solution from the soil to
supply such a plant as we are concerned with; and,
secondly, the noxious products resulting from their
death accumulate in the .soil and diffuse into the
root, and so hasten similar decompositions in what
were hitherto healthy cells. It must not be supposed
that these disastrous consequences of tho deprivation
of oxygen always follow immediately. Not only are
the roots of some trees, for instance, able to withstand
ill-treatment longer than others, but, obviously, the
kind and degree of ill-treatment may aifect the
problem of how long the plant shall survive. The
number of rootlets and root-hairs, and the spread of
the roots and other factors, will obviously affect the
matter. Suppose the following case as an example. A
young tree is growing and flourishing in an open,
good soil, aud, for some reason or other, more soil is
heaped about the roots until the depth is increased
considerably ; the deeper situation has placed obstacles
in the way of the roots obtaining oxygen so readily as
before. Not only are the roots further from the
atmosphere, but the water carried down has to percolate
through more soil, and may part with much of its
oxygen (or even all) on the way: of course the
nature of the soil, the presence of organic matters, and
other circumstances, decide this. It is not at all
difficult to conceive of such a case where the supply
of oxygen to the roots is thus diminished so far
that the activity of the root-hairs as a whole is
simpl3' lovvercfl, but not destroyed, — a stage or two
further and they might become dormant, and their
protoplasm undergo intra-molecular respiration for a
time, and break up. It is clear that the dimini.^hed
activity of the roots will affect the supply of water
(and the substances dissolved in it") to the leavo-i :
this will obviously react on the tbickncs-i of the
annual rings, and this again ou future supplies— tine

3S8

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. i, 1886.

the water passes up the alburnum, or j'ouug outer
layers of woolly tissue, moreover, a diruiuution of
supplies from the leaves meaus less substance and
poiver for replacing the root-hairs, ami so on. In this
way it may require some time to kill the tree, and
all kiads of complications may arise meanwhile. This
case is probably by no means uncommon. A more
extreme case is where the soil becomes damp and
cloj^ged with excessive moisture ; not only does no
oxygen reach the roots, but noxious gases accumulate
in solution in the soil, and will hurrj' matters by
poisoning cells which might otherwise live a longer
life of usefulness. It is extremely probable that such
gases find their way into higher parts of the plant
in the air-bubbios known to exist and to undergo
alterations of pressure in the vessels of the wood:
this being so, they would .slowly retard the action
of other living cells, and so affect the upper parts
of the plant even more rapidly than would otherwise
be the case. Damp soil may thus do injury according
to its depth and nature; but it need not necessarily
be deep to be injurious if much oxygen-consuming
substance is present. I have seen excellent soil con-
verted into damp, stinking, deadly stuff, from the
action and accumulitiou of the larvio of cockchafers :
thef e " grubs " may, it is true, accelerate the devastation
cauhsi by the consumption of oxygen and the accu-
muliit on of poisonous waste matters in the soil by
directly cutting off portions of the roots themselves,
but the accumulation of oxygen-consuming substance,
and the cutting off of supplies to the root-hairs
evidently plays a chief part in the destruction.

There is another matter with regard to damp soils
thai, cannot be left out of account. I have already
told you that roots which are developed in water, or
in very damp sandy soil — and which are perfectly
healthy— have few or no root-hairs formed on their
surfaces; whereas it may be readily shown that the
roots of the same plant growing in a well ai-rated
open soil, which is scarcely moist to all appearance,
will be densely covered with a close set pile of hairs,
iudeed it is by meaus of the mdlions of root-hairs
on its n otiets that a Sunflower or a Bean, for ins-
tance, obtains the enornnus quantities of water
nece.s.sary for its needs from soil, which to our rough
perception, seems to be dry. I cannjt here go into
all the proofs that such a sail is by no means sj
dry as it looks; but will simply remind you of what
was said above as to the enormous force with which
the minute particles of rocU, &;., which form " soil "
retain their hold on the thin films of water which
constitute what have been termed their water-blankets.
This is certain, that a healthy, well-rooted plan can
take up water from a soil which is to ail appearance
air-dry; whereas a plant which has not yet had time
ti) (ievelope its root-hairs in sufficient numbers to
take these firmly adherent water-films from numerous
pirticles of soil would, droop and wither. Of course
it must be borne in mind that we are speaking of
land-plauf-s such as we commonly meet with on
or.linary dry land ; in the case of plants which flourish
in bogs or in water there are corrtspondii'g differences
in the structures of their roots agreeing with the
ilitfeiences of environment. Even such plants need
air at their roots, and an excellent illustration of
this is afforded by sonifj Willows. O.ir common Osier
and Willows grow, as you are aAiiro, in low-lying,
dam)i, and even boggy places, often flooded ; now it
has been found that, if young Willows are planted
too (Uep in the soil, they very soon send out new
roots — adventitious roots they are often called— close
to the surface of the soil, and these roots soon do
all the work. There is no doubt that this power
enables these "W'illows to live in places that would
be fatal to them otherwise ; and the same is true of
home other plants.

El ough has now been said to show you how necessary
it is that seme care should be exercised in watering
plants, or in exposing them to conditions different
Irom those to which they are accustomed ; and, it
r.icd scarcely be ad led, apparen'ly mysterious diseases
ni:iy son:ptimes be explained when it is shown that
fciich precautions haye been peglectecj. Any one cm

quote instances of plants which will grow in sonje
soils and not in others, but no very satisfactory reason
is afforded by simply saying that the one soil is suitable
and the other not : however, all I have attempted to
show you is that some soils are not suitable for some
plants because the plants in question need mofe air
at the roots than these particular soils can affoid
them under the circumstances. — H. Makshai.l WaUD ,
M.A., F.J..S. — Uardciuirs Chronicle.

{To he continued.)

QUINOLOGICAL WOEK IN THE MADEAS CIN-
CHONA PLANTATIONS.

JIV DAVID HOOPER, F.C.S.,

(jovi rtunent QuinoIo(/ist.

Last year I communicated to the Oonfereuec at Aber-
deen the results of some experimeiits made in the
cultivation of cinchona. A number of analyses were
given of the different varieties of bark grown on the
(.lovernment and other estates. It was shown how
the alkaloids were distributed in old succirubra trees ;
and it was noticed how natural shade and the pro-
cess of mossing promoted the increase of alkaloids in
the bark. Some of these conclusions were perhaps
not altogether unknown before, but I thought it
desirable to confirm results which are liable to vary
under different conditions of age. Another year's
work sliows some more extended investigations into
the effect prdouced on alkaloids by the renewal of
bark and by the manuring of trees, and tables are
compiled from numerous analyses showing the rise of
alkaloids in growth and their deterioration by age
and other causes. I have again been permitted to
quote extracts from my annual report, which has lately
been forwarded to Government through Jlr- Lawson,
Director of the Cinchona Plantations.

Renciral ly <S/tarui(/.— Shaving cinchona trees has been
for some years a method of harvesting bark which
in some districts works better than that of stripping
and mossing. The cellular and richer portion of the
bark is removed in this way, and the librous portion
is left. The bark thus treated thickens again, and
the shavings, taken from it are fouu 1 to bo richer
still in alkaloids. The analyses of some succirubra
shavings taken from trees grown in the Ouchterlony
Valley will show to what an extent trees may be
improved by this method. The renewals were taken

afier intervals of twelve months
fore lasted over three years.

Quinine.

1-35
2-4t)
3-GO
3-87

the experiment there-

Original bark
Once renewed
Twice renewed
Thrice renewed

The increase of
year by renewing
not so prominent in
good, and indicates

Other
Alkaloids.
5-87
4-22
3-99
3-71

Total.

G-68

7-59

7-58

quinine during the first and secDnd

is most satisfactory; the increase is

the third year, but the bark is

that shaving for at least four

years might be permitted. The trees upon which these
experiments were made were six years old when the
original bark was taken. If at this comparatively early
age they are not injured by shaving, and renew their
bark so well, it is not desirable to wait for the trees to
become more matured.

When trees are allowed to grow until they are over
twelve years of age, and then shaved, the renewal set in
more slowly, and the resulting bark does not compare
more favourably with the original bark than if the tree
operated upon had been half the age. This may be
instanced by quoting some more analyses. Last Decem-
ber some interesting samples were sent by the manager
of the Glenrock Company, 8. E. Wynaad, consisting of
some natural and renewed shavings of succirubra taken
from trees of six and twelve years of age. The follow-
ing is the analysis of four of the samples : —

Sulph. T, . .

Quinine.

J otai

Red bark, 6 years, natural ... 1-34

500

„ „ renewed 2 years 2r)4

6-95

„ 12 years, natural ... 243

7-41

„ „ renewed 2 years 27].

7Pl

Dec. I, 1886,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

3^g

Thus it is seen that by renewing a six year old tree,
00 per cent more of sulphate of quinine is obtained, and
by working on a twelve year old tree only an increase
of 12 per cent takes place during the same period of
two years. With regard to the total alkaloids it should
bea'so noticed that the shaving has made an increase
cf 39 per cent in t^e younger tree, while the older bark
has somew'iat deteiiorated. One of the most import-
ant features in these results is that tlie renewed bark
from the six yeir old tree is superior to the natural
bark from trees of twice the age.

I have had very few opportunities of observing the
effect of shaving on pure Ledger barks, contaning little^
if any, alkaloid, besides quinine; but it appears that
hybrid Ledgers of the broad leaved variety, holding
cinchonine, are capable of great improvement by the
shaving process, as the following renewals of eh ven
months will show compared with the natural bark of
six year old trees.

/^^'P.^- Total.

Ledger, narrow leaf, natural, 1885 4 09 5f)7

„ „ renewed, 1886 662 8-49

Ledger, broad leaf, natural, 1885 290 601

„ „ renewed, 1886 5-19 8-Jl

The sulphate of quinine in the narrow-leaved Led-
ger had increased 62 per cent, and in the broad-leaved
Ledger 79 per cent ; the greater increase in the latter
var'©ty is due to the presence of other alkaloids which
appear to develop quinine in the growth of the tree.
Shaving old trees has certainly not had a beneficial
effect in some trials made on Cloven ment estates.
Both officinalis and succirubra trees from sixteen to
twenty-one years of age cannot well bear the re-
moval of the bark in this way; the renewal takes
place slowly, and is found to be impoverished instead
of enriched. An officinalis on Dotabetta of twenty
years' growth was shaved ; the shavings gave 3 '66
per cent sulphate of quinine. After six months some
renewed shavings were taken and found to yield only
1-85 per cent; the bark was then commencing to
decay, and the tree has since died.

Experiemcnts in 3f(iniirinf/ Cinchonas. — The effect of
manuring c'nchona trees in order to stimulate their
growth and produce a greater yield of alkaloids has
recently been tried at Naduvatam. The first experi-
ment was made upon a succirubra of seven years'
growth. Cattle manure, which had been previously
kept for some time in closed pits, was applied some
six months before the bark was taken for analysis.
A sample of bark from a tree iu the sume plot, but
which had not been manured, was collected at the
same time for comparison. Two samples of magni-
folia bark were taken from trees which had been
manured in a similar manner to the succirubra ; the
first was seventeen years, the second twenty years
old, and simples from utmanured trees were taken for
comparative analysis at the same time. The results
of the ex: minations are tabulated on the next page.

Amor-
Cin- Cin- phous „ . 1
Qui. choni- cho- Alka- ■'^'"^^'•
nine. dine. nine, loids.
SucciruVra manured 2-29 3-78 1-94 -52 8-53
„ unmanured ISl 413 2-03 32 7-99
Mag'folia.l manured 378 390 -28 -82 8 78
„ „unm'red 3-13 439 -56 -39 8'47
„ 2 manured 2-59 349 1-21 -52 7 82
„ „unm'red 2-62 2-67 '67 "56 6-52
It will be seen that the manuring has had the effect of
increasing, in each instance, the amount of total
alkaloids in the bark ; and the quinine— the most
important feature — has received a gain of 52) per cent
in the succirubra, and 20 per cent in the first mag-
nifolia. In the older magnifolia bark the quinine re-
mains about the same in quantity, and if no other
influence is at work it might be inferred that older
trees are not so sensitive to the action of manure
as younger and more vigorous growing trees which
have not reached maturity. The food of such plants
as cinchonas, which yield alkaloids in large quantitj',
must of necessity contain some nitrogenous element,
»nd as this must be t^ken from the ground it is only

fitting that a manure of this kind, which contains
some constituents that are .similar in their nature to
alkaloids, should be supplied periodically to the soil,
llegarding the question from a commercial aspect,
the higher value would cover the expense of the
manure and the cost of its application to the land
The succirubra bark mentioned in the. first experi
ment, if the unit were 4d., wouM realize in the mar
ket S(?., per pound, whereas the bark of the manured
tree would be worth more than l.<t. per pound. I
believe the effect of manuring would be more ap-
parent in crown and Ledger barks, with large pro-
portions of quinine in the total alkaloids; in such
rases, the extra outlay on manurial agents, compared
with the additional value of the lark, would be much
more remunerative.

J/icrcase of AUailoiih with the Age of trees.— A.
question of much importance in cinchona cultivation
is the age to which trees should grow before the
bark can be profitably taken. To settle such an
inquiry a large number of analyses of barks taken
from trees of all ages should be available. In the
following tables I have made a selection of both Ledger
and red barks, and have arranged them according to
age. Some of the figures are averages of two or more
analyses, and as the two lists represent some forty
sam.ples, I hope they will help to throw some light
on the subject.

The first list comprises natural barks of the narrow
leaved variety of C. Ledgeriana, and, with one excep-
tion, they all came from the Wynaad district.

The second list is made by taking from my
laboratory journal all those red barks whose ages have
been determined, whether they came from the
Government Plantations at Naduvatam, or from jjrivnte
estates in Wynaad, Ooorg or Travancore.

Other

Alka- Total,
loids.

277 511

2-61) 5-52

2-90 682

181 7-46

1-78 7-54

1-46 7-05

•55 0-70

1-15 900

■88 816

1-00 815

1-45 10-20

•85 7-67

In the Ledger barks it will be noticed that there is a
steady rise of quinine up to the age of between five and
six years, after which there is no apparent increase.

In the second table of red barks the same fact is
shown, that the bark has attained its maximum con-
tent of alkaloid when between five and six years of
age. The quiuine increases up to twelve years, but,
as pointed out before, the renewed barks of the
younger trees much exceed the slightly increased value
of these older barks. The trees of .sixteen and twenty
years show a marked deterioration in alkaloids, al-
though the bark is often in large thick fibrous pieces,
similar to the drug that was originally exported from
the South American forests.

Amor- Total.
Red barks. Qui- Cincho- Cincho- phous

nine- nidine. nine. Alka-
loids.

2 years "55 72 120 122 369

3 „ -85 175 167 -99 5-26

3i , 108 1-65 1-15 -61, 4-52

4" „ 113 203 1-79 -58 553

4.1 „ 1-02 2-64 178 -50 5'9I.

5 „ 1-23 272 2-36 -52 6-83

5| „ 1-32 215 3-11 -63 721

(ih , 1-31 3-22 218 71 7-42

7" „ 170 2-69 228 -93 7-60

7h „ 178 3-18 1-97 -53 7-46

12" „ 1-81 2-62 208 -90 7-41

10 „ 1-08 -94 1-04 1-57 4-03

20 78 113 1-37 :97 425

Ledger barks.

Qui-

Cincho

nnie.

nidine.

20

months

1-68

•6G

0

years

2-18

■65

3

a. , , , j^^

3-28

•55

U

.. ,, , ,,,

473

■93

4h

») ••• •••

4-97

79

5

4-57

1-02

5

JJ ... •• .

5-09

1-06

5h

„ ,,,

7-54

•31

6

)) ••• ...

652

70

6i

9* ■*• •* ■

5-97

1^18

8

9) •* • • ■

7-59

1-16

20

5-58

124

390

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Dec, r, 1886,

Effect of Mould en Bark — It has been stated that
bark loses much of its virtue when allowed to get
mouldy', or when kept in a damp atmospliere. I was
asked more than a year ago to an.ilyse some mouldy
bark to obtain its value, but not knowi ng the com-
position of the freshly dried bark the results would
not have been very useful. I have therefore made
an experiment which shows that little, if any, eflfect
is produced by prolonged contact with mould. A
sample of powdered bark of known composition was
taken in December, 1881, and kept in an open dish
on the floor of a dark liamp room; a fungus {Penicil-
linin) set in in a fortnight, and spread itself over the
surface of the powder, and slightlj' increased its weight.
The bark was constantly stiried .so that fresh b,irk
from beneath might be intlueuced by the fungus. It
was mixed occasionally for ten months, and as the
mycelium had bj' then penetrated to every particle
of the powder it was analysed in October, 1885, with
the following results : —

Original Mouldy

bark. bark.

Qmnine ... • ... 2-82 "iSU

Cinchonidine ... 1-22 1-25

Quinidiue ... ... -18 -11

Oinchonine -90 '87

Amorphous -31 "45

5-43

5-48

It is thus manifest that the analyses being almost
ider.tical, moulded bark of ten months is not neces-
sarily deteriorated.

Octacamund, India, July 16, 1886.

CINCHONA CULTIVATION IN SOUTH
AMERICA.

BY DAVID HOWARD, F.I.C.. F.C.S.,

Although Ceylou has of late occupied in the bark
market the most prominent position of all the countries
where cinchonas have been cultivated, it is to other
quarters that we should look for reliable information
on the scientific points involved.

Vast as has been the scale of the cultivation in
Ceylon, tho soil of the island is by no means of the
most favourable for the growth of the cinchonas,
and, unfortunately, far too little care has been taken
to avoid the danger of bybrirlization, which takes
place with marvellous facility whenever more than one
species is found in a district, unless the greatest care
is taken to isolate the seed-beariug trees. AYe thus
find that Madras and Java give far better opportun-
ties of studying the effect of cultivation on pure
strains of the more valuable species, and it is inter-
esting to add to what we have learned from the
plantations in those countries, some light from those
in the natural home of cinchonas in South America.

The jealousj' which made it so difficult to obtain
cinchona plants in the first instance still remains to a
great extent in Bolivia, and although we have valu-
able information as to the progress of the plantations
in Schuhkrafft's consular reports, no scientific inform-
ation can be obtained from that qu.irter, except
what is derived from the bark which already reaches
us from them in considerable quantity. This we find
to be of very fine quality, far superior to the average
of even selected parcels of the uncultivated bark ; a
yield of 6 to 7 per cent of sulphate of quinine is
quite as commonly obtained from them as one of 4
to 5 per cent was from the importations of twenty
or thirty years ago, and it is evident that the in-
fluence on the calisaya of cultivation is just as favour-
able in its natural home as in .Java. Among them
are two new species, the flowers of which are as yet
unknown, but the habit ot growth of which clearly
marks them out as distinct from the liitherto des-
cribed species. As plants of botli are under culti-
vation, it is hoped that before long we shall be able
to add botanical descriptions of them.

The first it is proposed to call Cinchojiu '/'IioDisoniana,
after IMr. Thomson, who discovered it in the Central
Cordilleras of the Columbian Andes, iu the districts

which yield the well-known Cinchona Janc'ifolia, the soft
biirk of commerce. It has very large leaves, and grows
with a rapidity equal to that of succirubra.

The young bark analysed, which was from trees only
two years old, gave already 3-3 per cent of sulphate of
qninine=2-5 of quinine alkaloid, traces only of cinchoni-
ilme and -ns of cincboniue. The purity of tiie (|uinine
and rapid growth make this a prumising .species for
cultivation.

The other was discovered by Seuor Pombo in the
forests of Ecuador; the miture bark pre.sents marked
ponits of diiference from the species at present, known
ai.d yielded.

The sample of cultivated bark of the species two
years old, gave quinine sulphate 5-70=of quinine 4-28,
cinchonidine ()-43, no cinchoiune or quinidiue. Tiiis test
is a very high one, and, if the growth is not too slow, it
ought to prove a valuable species.

For comparison, I would add the analysis of the typical
sample of the finest lancifolia bark, the calisa^'a S mta
Fc, brought over by Mr. U. Cross, from Columbia,
wh;ch yielded of sulphate of quinine 4-2 = oE quinine
alkaloid 3-15, cinchonidine 1-90 and cinchonine -30.

Of even more interest are samples of bark grown
from plants derived ftom the (iovernment plant-
ations iu .Jamaica. The history of these barks shows
the great influence of successful cultivation and favour-
able habitat upon the yield of all alike. The first
samples received from Jamaica in 1872 gave the follow-
ing results : —

Sul- Oichoni- Cincho-
Quinine. nhat?. dine. nine.
Q, Calisai/a ... 1-65= 22 -7 '2

C. officinalis ... 1-35 i-g -^ -i

C. succirubra ... 105 1-j 25 '8

0. succirubra ... 1-12 15 y-Q 2-0

The improvement brought about by careful cultiv-
ation is shown in a marked degree by the following
samples received from the same plantations in 1881 .- —

Elevation.

— Calisaya
5500 ft. Officinahs
48(J0 ft. Ofhcinalis >
(thiiteen years old) J
2400 ft. Succirubra
3400 ft. Succirubra >
(cold spring) |

01 II

■J.9

a, s

3 5

4-93
0-95

5 00

1-97

2- 10

a
'a
'5

C?

3-70

5'18

3-75
1-48
1-80

« s

o .
u a

a

a

o o

0-00 035 005
0-22 001 015

0-40 0-12 016
2-98 2-24 013
1-30 '^-20 O'OO
The de-cendauts of these plants grown in Columbia
give the following results : —

Sulphate Qai- Oincho- Cincho - Qui-
Quiniue. nine, nidine. nine, uiuine
C. Calisaya,
3 years old "grown, I. 4-32=3-24 0-60 trace O'OO
at bOOO feet.
C. Calisaya,
22 months old (. 271 2-03 055 0-13 0-00
7500 feet.
C. officinalis, ")
3i y^ars old. V 4'66 3-49 0-21 0-OG 005

SOUO feet. J

C. ufficinalis, -\
renewed, 8 months C 4-.3n 322 0-23 0-07 0-07
under moss. _)

C. mcciruhra, \ ..„. „._, „„., „,_
3 years old. \ ^ ^"^ ^ '^ 3 03 0 1/ O-Q,
C. succirubra, re-
new..>, w ^..uux.., , J.QQ -.25 j.^q q.^- q.^q

1^

newed, 8 mouths I

without moss, (

grown at 7500. )

All these samples are from very young trees and
if we may judge from universal experience the more
mature bark will give even finer results. The .Jam-
aica calisaya is not of thi; finest type, the percentage
of (iuinine is lower than in the best ledgeriana and
the proportion of cinchonidine is much higher. I
should have been inclined to suspect hybridization,
but my late uncle, J. E. Howard, F.ll.S,, after a careful
examination of the botanical specimens in 1881, re-
ported of this bark : " It appears to me triji to the

t)EC. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRlCULTURISTc

m

calisaya type ; I should not tliink that it belongs
either to the josephiana or ledgeriana form, but that
the exact variety is perhaps not jut published. There
is no appearance of hybridity." The succirubra is
one of the finest specimens that I have tested. I
have found very great variety in the tests of trees
of this species growing alongside each other in Oeylon,
the quinine varying even in the proportion of three
to one and so it is possible that all the bark from
the plantations will not be found of this admirable quality.
Still we have here an additional proof that whether the
result be due to favourable circumstances or to more
or less permanent varieties, red bark can be grown
of far richer quality than what we usually receive as
such from the East Indian plantations.

Amid all the discouragements of excessive fproduc-
tion and low prices that planters suffer from at the
moment it cannot be too clearly borne in mind that
the prospect of future profit in the cultivation of
cinchona turns chiefly upon the cultivation of high
testing bark. With favourable soil and climate the
richer varieties grow at least as freely as the poorer
and it is evident that, the cost of production being
approximately the same, a bark of higher quality
may yield a profit when an inferior quality may cause
a serious loss. In Bolivia and Java these most im-
portant requisites are found, and the analyses I have
given above show that the same favourable results
may be obtained elsewhere. In the face of such
competition it is evident that the profitable growing
of inferior bark is impossible. — Pharmaceutical Journal.

TKOPICAL GARDENING.

Hedges. — The best material for forming a hedge is the
Barbadoes cherry, Jlcdpiijida yhthra. Naturally it grows
into a small tree, and as it yields abundance of fruit
there is no difficulty in obtaining a supply of seeds
from which to raise young plants. "When the fruit
is ripe it should be picked and thrown into a tub, to
get the pulp removed and the seeds divided (these are
from one to four in each fruit), by maceration and
washing after which operation the seeds are ready
for sowing. They are generally sown thickly in boxes,
and require no attention beyond a little watering if
the weather be dry. In sowing, the seeds should
not be deeply buried, hut should only be covered
with a little more than their own thickness of soil.
If the seeds are covered with much soil, they will
probably not germinate at all, or if they do germinate
many of the germs will perish before arriving at
the surface. When the plants are a few inches
high they are fit for transplanting. To form a stout
hedge they should be planted in two rows, zigzag.
After the plants have grown about a foot high, the
hedge should be allowed to grow more than a few
inches before being pruned again ; by this means
the bottom will be kept well furnished and strong.
If left to grow two or three feet before being
pruned, (and this is generally the case, as everyone
is in a hurry to get the hedge up to a certain
height,) the result will be a weak hedge and very
few branches at the bottom where there should be
plenty to form the foundation. When proper care
is given to the pruuiug no other plant is so suitable
for this purpose. At the present time it may be
Been in many place.'s in Demorara, showing how
well it is suited for this work. This one kind of
plant may be used for a hedge of any height, from
an edging of six inohe.5, to a screen of ten or twelve
feet, and answers as well for one purpose as the
other. Of course it cannot be kept as an edging
all its life, as after a time with continual clipping
when only a few inches high it becomes scridjby ;
it can then be taken up and replanted in a position
where a medium sized hedge is required, and in
due course can by the same method be utilised for
a high hedge. Scarcely anj'' other plant will bear
transplanting better than this cherry, but it should
be done in damp weather ; with ordinary care plants
of several feet high can be moved successfully.

Clerodendion acideoi^un , liommonly called wild coffee,

OX bitter fence, is a West ludian plant. It is very

useful for forming a good strong hedge, and on
account of the bitter taste in the young shT)ot ami
the short sharp thorns it bears at the base ot the
leaves, is not interfered with by goats ; a strong
recommendation for its use where it can be planted
without setting up palings, or the protection needed
by most plants against these animals. It is usually
planted by cuttings, and so easy is its cultivation,
that the shade and care generally afforded to cuttings
is not needed. The branches may be cut up into
pieces from six to nine inches long, and planted at
once into the permanent position, by being pushed
slantwise in the ground a few inches apart, leaving
just the end of each cutting e.xposed, pressing the
soil firmly as the planting proceeds. If the weather
is damp, or case of drought if the cuttings are well
watered, they will commence to grow at once and
in a few clays will have the appearance of an
established hedge. "W^here failures occur fresh cuttings
must be put in without loss of time, so that all
may grow on together. When left to grow in its
natural state, this Clerodendro/i is of a very
straggling habit, so that to make a decent hedge
it must be well and regularly chpped, and must be
taken in hand as soon as a little growth is made,
treating it in a -siiuiiar manner to that advised for
the Jlalpigkia. It flowers freely and gives plenty
of seed irom which plants can be raised, but planting
by cuttings is by far the quickest method of form-
ing a heilge of this plant.

Civto/i variu/atuM, the commonest of the many
Crotons now to be seen in gardens, and the only
one whicli is used for the purjjose, makes a very
good hedge ; but it must not be clipped, in pruning
each branch must be cut separately with a knife.
It is propagated by cuttings and scarcely any other
plant is so easily grown. It is proof against goats,
the sap being extremely bitter. The stain of the
sap is indelible on linen.

Aralia Goilfoilei, is another variegated plant which
can be used in the same manner of the Croton ;
it is propagated just as freely, and is as easily
grown. It has compound leaves growing like small
drooping branches, each leaf edged all round with
white. It grows in an erect manner sending up long
strait stems, which after being allowed to grow
between one and two feet long, must be cut back
to induce the plant to form a good bottom ; for
each stem cut several others will spring from below.
Both this and the Uroton are introductions to the
West Indies. — Indian Gardener.

Sickly-looking plants may be taken out of their
old pots, the roots washed, the weaker branches
trimmed, and placed into as small pots as the roots
can - be placed into. Let such a plant remain there
until by good growth it shows its healthy roots
then it may have more earth in a little larger
pot. — Planter and Farmer,

LiQuoBici:; Culture in Daji.iscus.— A considerable
amount of business, it seems, has recently been done
in Damascus and Syria generally in the expurtatioii
of Liquorice root to the L^nited States. Abjut four
years ago, one of the partners in an American firm
in PnilaUelphia largely concerned in the commerce of
this article, visited Damascus with the object of
ascertaining the amount and quality of the Liquorice
root grown in the country , and of making purchases.
The result of his emjuiiies having proved satisfactory,
he gave orders for somewhat large consignments to
be shipped to the United States, and appointed an
American gentleman in Beyrout, well acquainted with
the language of the people and haying a thorough
knowledge of the country, to act as agent of the firm,
The Liquorice root can be obtained in considerable
quantities to the mirth of Damascus, and in the
neighbourhood of Lattakia and Autioch, and a regular
business is now being carried on in this article. The
amount exported last yeir from Dainiscus and other
parts of Syria was valued at £3U,U0U. — Ganlmori
(Jhronicle,

THE TROHCAL AGRICtfLf URISf,

[^isi i, igSd

Increase of Fuxgus Diseases jx the South. —
rresideht Jjcrckmans in his recent address, notes
that the three past seasons have been more rainy
than usual, which he thinks may account for the
remarkable prevalence of parasitic fungi among fruit
trees. — American Gardener's Monthly.

OocoNuis IN Florida— G. T. Field, of Monmouth
county, New Jersey, speaks in glowing terms of
the prospects for success of coconut culture along
the coast of Florida. All reports favor Mr. Field's
enthusiasm. There can be no doubt, we think, that
coconut culture is to be one of the profitable invest-
ments in this remarkable State, They bear in ten
years, and yield from 100 to 200 nuts annually.
American Gardener's Jfonthly. [They will do nothing
of the kind.— Ed.1

Pl.\ntinii in Nobtiiehn Australia. — Port Darwin,
Oct. 10th. — The season's operations at the Shoal
Bay Sugar Plantation have, owing to want of rain,
aaltness of soil, and of other causes, not been
successful. The final result is about 5 tons each
of sugar and molasses from about 10 acres. General
sympathy is felt at Mr. Brandt's ill-luck. The
general opinion is that the plantation is on an
unsuitable locality. Different news has been re-
ceived from the Beatrice Hills Plantation on the
Adelaide River. Coffee and guttapercha are thriving
splendidly. The plant exhibited here showed over
300 berries and buds. — ,S'. A. llegister.

T A Planting in the South : Galle, 10th November.
—The weather being very favorable, tea planting is
being pushed on in the new clearings. At Gordon
estate, near Baddegama, of which Mr. L. Christie is
the experienced Superintendent, 50 acres have just been
planted. Estate owners down South are waking to
the necessity of having thoroughly experienced tea-
makers and the latest appliances lor manufacture, in
order to secure good qualitj'. Citrus estate has now
a European Superintendent. The tea in Monrovia
estate, Ratgama, is said to be flushing vigorously and
a further large acreage is being planted. Mr. E. Kocb,
who was lately in charge of this place has accepted an
ajipointment on a coconut estate in Jaffna. I under-
stand that the bug has made its appearance on a tea
estate at ■VVallahauduwa, three miles from Galle- I hear
that all the plants in a two acre field have been seriously
injured by this pest, and that all the recognised
remedies have proved ineffectual in removing it."

New Caledonia. — Coconut trees c^ist in the colony
in different varieties, nearly all having been jjlanted
by the Kanakas. INIost of the groves are on the
^eastern side, where the majority of the tribes are to
be found. This precious tree produces yearly from 50
to 80 nuts. The kernels, dried in the sun, are readily
sold under the name of coprah, at from 300 to 350
francs (£12 to £14) per ton. This is the chief means
by which the natives obtain the goods and luxuries
of civilization. A few important groves are, however,
held by Europeans. The other principal fruit trees
are orange, lemon, banana, cauella apple, mango, guava,
Shanghai peach. In spite of indigenous valuable
timber, no important felling of trees exists in New
Caledonia. The quantity cut is not even sufficient
for the use of the colony since New Zeland and Cali-
fornia imported timber amounts to the vearly value
of 500,000 francs ( £'20, OQO).— Journal of Foreitry.

The Le.mos. — Few people know the value of lemon
juice, A piece of lemon hound upon a coin will cure
it in a few days ; it should be renewed night and
morning. A free uae of lemon juice and sugar will
always relieve a cough. Most people feel poorly in
the spring, but if they would eat a lemon before
breakfast everyday for a week, with or without sugar
as they like, they would fiud it better than any medi-
cine. Lemon juice, used according to this recipe will
sometimes cure consumption. Put a dozen lemons into
cold water and slowly bring to a boil ; l)oil slowly
until the lemons arc soft, then s/^ueeze until all the
juice is exhausted ; add sugar to your taste and
drink. In this way use one dozen lemons a day. If
they cause pain or loosen the bowels too much lessen
the quantity and use only six a day until you ar«

better, and then begin a dozen a day. After using
five or six dozei\ the patient will begin to gain flesh
and enjoy food. Hold on to the lemons and still
use thtm freely for several weeks more. Another
use for lemons is for refreshing drink in summer, or
in sickness at any time. Prepare as above directed
and add water and sugar. But in order to have this
keep well, after boiling the lemons squeeze and strain
carefully; then to every ^ pint of juice add 1 lb. of
crushed sugar; boil and stir a few minutes more until
the sugar is dissolved, skim carefully and bottle. You
will get more juice from the lemons by boiling them,
and the preparation keeps better. — San Francisco
Chronicle.

The Artificial Manure Trade. — Of late a very
large trade has sprung up in Germany in artificial
manures, the chemical industry of this country
having scored various successes over foreign products.
In regard to Thomas ijhosphate, which is coming
into extensive use, it is stated that when it is
mixed with kainit in equal parts a manure admir-
ably suited to barely ground is the result. A
couple of years ago an agriculturist spread 1,600
kilog. (about 3,8()0 English lb.) of Thomas
phosphate tiour upon half a hectare of ground
(5,980 square yards) in order to see if an excessive
quantity acted injuriously and if the effect would
last over several years. In the first year three
excellent crops were obtained and this year a
similar number, the quality of the hay being
better than before. — KuJdoic's Gernian Trade Review
and Exporter.

How wOJD is made, — la many trees the annual
layer is so regular, and seemed to be placed so nicely,
that one not a botanist might be pardoned for believ-
ing that the sap was changed to woody matter in
the leaves, and the new formed matter sent down,
sliding over the old layer like the sections of a tel-
escope ; but though the food is prepared by the
leaves in a great measure, the actual growth is made
by the germination of some of the cells along the
whole outside wall of last year's wood beneath the
inner bark. The germination of the cells takes place
about the middle of the June. He takes a healthy
cherry tree and strips it of its bark to any length
desired. At that season a viscid liquid will be found
covering the woody surface in abundance. The strip-
ped part is covered with a cloth to prevent evapor-
ation, and in a few days numerous dots like needle
points, will be seen about the sixteenth of an inch
apart all over the surface. These are the young cells
that have germinated from those of last year. They
continue germinating, one from the other, until they
meet, when they unite and form a complete surface.
In the autumn a layer of wood will be found just
as thick as in the part of the tree not disbarked,
and a single layer of liber, with its outer coat of
cellular matter — perfect bark — will have been formed
over the whole. The entire formation of wood and
bark can thus be seen by the ordinary observer,
without the necessity of any nice microscopical work.
Large apple trees have been seen that have had
their bark peeled wholly off from their trunks, at
the season named, make an entirely new layer ofbark
and wood, not only with no injury to the tree, but
to its manifest enjoyment. By this experiment we
learn that there is no difference primarily in any part
of the annual covering. The same cell may become
permanent tis.tue or generating tissue, and from the
generative tiasue may come before the season of growth
closes every form of structure known to anatomists,
from pure wood to the outermost cuticle of the bark.
How these cells become differentiated may be passed
over here. We know that cell-growth is not always
uniform in its operations. The law that changes the
outermost series of ncivly made cells into liber need
not necessarily operate so exactly as to make, them
perfect to this end— a few may be thown cilf into
the liber as generative tissue — and granting this po.s-
ibility wc see how the woody granules in the apple-
bark are formed- — Liada;

1)EC. r, i3'86.]

i

A6ki6istftSMif,

m

FiSH-CUEING AND NATIVE
IN CEYLON.

INDUSTEY

Mr. C.J. A. Man-iiy, A. G.A„ Ilambantota District.

FISH-CUlUNG — rOOD SUPPLY —A NEW INDUSTRY.

FiSH-CTliviNO. — Annexed is a copy of my report on the
Fish-curing industry in this district: —

It was decided by Government, on the recom-
mendation of the Auditor-General (Mr. Ravenscroft),
to give some encouragement to the tish-curiug in-
dustry in this country by the sale of salt at as low
a rate as possible. Early in May the Auditor-General
visited the District, and after inspecting some of the
principal fishing stations along the coast, and making
inquiries from the headmen about the quantity of fish
caught and the number of canoes engaged in fishing,
it was arranged -to make a start at Hanibantota. A
yartl was accordingly opened on the 15th October, in
which the salt was retailed to curers at the reduced
price of 80 cents per cwt., instead of at the Govern-
ment price of R2 36, on the condition that the curing
was to be carried on inside the enclosure. The dimen-
sions of the yard were "200 foet by 100 feet wide. Three
sheds were built for the carers to work in and store
their fish, and also an oiSce and a store for the salt, the
whole being placed in charge of a Government Officer,
■with a salary of R30 a montk, and two watchers at
R12-50 each.

Unfavourable winds continued for a longer time than
usual, preventing many of the larger boats from com-
ing down from other gtations along the coast ; and this,
combined with adverse currents, accounted for the
small quantity of fish caught at first. About the erd
of January, however, things took a favourable tu^n :
more boats began to arrive, and fishinfi commenced in
earnest. The number of canoes of all kinds engaged
in fishing amounted to twenty-seven. The annexed
statement (marked A 1) gives the result of work in the
yard up to the 15th of April, 1,207 cwt. of fresh fish
were admitted, which turned out 835 cwt. of cured
fish. A detailed statement of e.'jpenses, amounting to
E514'93, connected with the yard during the same period
is given in return B 1. 280 cwt. of salt realised 1122 1,
at 80 cents a cwt.; but as this sum only covers the cost
of collection and transport, it cannot be counted as profit.

Encouraged by favourable reports from another fish-
ing station, called Patanangalla, thirty-eight miles up
the coast townrds Batticaloa, I was induced to open
another yard there on the 16th March, with the sanc-
tion of Government, and up to the present it has
worked most satisfactorily : boats continued to arrive
day after day until they numbered about nineteen. The
amount of fresh fish admitted in'^o the yard up to the
15th April was 300 cwt., turning out 120 cwt. of cured
fish. 'Iheamouutof salt sold at Kl per cwt. realised
K65'20, and the cost of establishment, which is the
fame as at Hambantota, amounted with incidental
charges to lvt32'50. Fishermen resort there for two
mouths in tlia year, taking with them as much food
as will last for that time. It is an isolated spot with
no population, and nothing but jungle for miles around.
A small bay affords some protection to the boat.'! from
the N.E. wind, and the sloping beach enables tho
canoes to be easily pulled up, Two small subsidiary
statioDB were opened at Potana and Anvadui to "he
right and lift of Patanangalla, and were placed under
the ?ame officers. There were four boat.s at each place.

An English company started curing in this Dis-
trict on their own account in December, and sent
down a manac:er to .supervise all arrangements. It
Vfaa thought advisable not to launch out into heavy
expenditure at first, until some practical knowledge
of the work was gained, and the quantity of fish
that could be caught ascertained. The manager
therefore confined himself simply to buying all fish
at a paying rate, and salting and drying it accord-
ing to the native method. The profits were not
great, but tho experience gained this year will no
doubt be turned to good account next season, and
produce some more tangible results.

The fishermen were the class who beuefited most ;
fox they sold their lish at once, and tUe competition
60

among tho curers raised the prices appreciably.
Next come the native curers, who also derived a
good profit, and this is proved by the large num-
ber (over 300) down in the register. They got their
salt at a minimum price, the cost of watching was
saved to them from the protection afforded by the
yard, and the improved means used in salting and
drying brought them a better price. They also took
their cured fish to villages in the interior and to
bazaars along tlie road to Badulla, getting a far
higher price for it there than they would have obtained
if it had been sent to Colombo. As far as I can
ascertain, the cost of curing fish is 1111-31 a cwt.

One cwt. of fish when dried is reduced to one-third
its former weight, and the result must there!ore be
multii)lied by three, making HU 33 as the prioie cast
of one cwt. of dried fish. All native curers send th^ir
fish to the markets along the Balulla road, such as
Wellawaya, Koslanda, &c., where the prices range from
R15 to K20 per cwt., and often as hiirh as R3U. After
deducting one rupee per cwt. for cost of transport, the
curer reaps a profit of from R3 to Rl a cwt. aul
where the fisherman is his own curer, the profits to
him are double. Colombo is not a good maket at pre-
sent, as it has to compete with foreign importations,
which tend to keep dowu prices.

FooD-SurPLY. — Annexed is a memorandum show-
ing the yield of paddy and tine grain in this District,
which, according to the last census, would give ten
bushels per family. This is small compared with
the supply of previous years, and is accounted for
by the fact that a severe drought in Giruwa Pattu
destroyed a good deal of paddy before it matured.
The large yield of paddy at Tissa in Magam Pattu
has produced a most marked change for tho better
in the condition of the villages lying near it ; the
inhabitants of which, intead of subsisting entirely
on kurakkan and jungle produce, as formerly, have
now a large proportion of rice for their food. Each
village contributes a certain number of cultivators,
who, after the harvest is over, bring back their
labourers' share of the crop for themselves and their
families. The paddy of this place even found its
way to the Tangalla market, forty-seven miles off,
in consequence of the supply there running short.
The crop of jak-fruit in the gardens of Upper Giruwa
Pattu was fair, and formed an important article of
food among the poorer classes. Large quaniitia^ of
the fruit are plucked when green, cut up and dried,
and exchanged for paddy.

MrscEiiL.vNEOus. A new industry— that of making
pith-hats — has heea started in the jail. Tiie plant
which furnishes the pith grows in abuudauoa in the
tinks. It is cut into broad strips, and parted over
a mould of the required shape. The hats h^vo been
made, though not as neat as one could wish, haye all
heeu bought. I hope to induce the Malays in the
town to take this industry up, as they show a peculiar
aptitude f >r faucy work of this kind.

Sand Hilis, A good deal of attention has heeu
bestowed on the planting up of the sand hills durin.j|
the year. There has been no further advance to .vard?
the town owing to the spike grass planted a year ago
having taken root, and spreading so tiiickly as to

freveut the sand f rom hoiug blown along the surf '.C0<
speak only of the hill which threatened to over'
whelm and bur}' the town ; but for two miles down
the ro,id, towards Ambalantota, much hai yot to
be done in the way of planting spike graes. The
pirallel rows of live fences planted last year hiv^hnen
either killed by the intense heat or covered witli smd.-
They have, however, undoubtedly been thu moms of
checking the onward movement of the hills, and I have
this ye.4r erected cadjan barriers to an.^werthe ."^anla
purpose until the grass spreads and renders them UU'
necessarj'* To give some idea of tho rapi lity with
which everything is covered, I may state tha''. the.
outermost barrier, fifteen feet high, was comi) e ely
buried in a month. A shirp-pointcil ridge of sand novy
mirks its site. But I have to chronicle a moresncces.sful
experiment in covering thes3 hills with vegetation, and
that is, the planting of palmirahs, This paliu fioui irihefi ia
BJmilar soil in tho Northern Province, and I fjaw uy

^HE TKOPXCAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Dec. I, 1886,

reason why it sboulil not thrive here. The dry climate
is suited to ios growtli, and as the plant is tough and
hardy it is able to withstaud the stroug wind that
swoips over the s.ind. The 500 nuts plaiitrid last
}-ear ac; all growing well, with healthy leaves, two
feet and a hah' above ground. The success attend-
ing this attempt iuduced me to apply for 4,O00 more,
and tlipse v/ere planted in October and November
last. Tliny hive all struck roof, and will no doubt
appear above grouml in another month or two. The
successful growth of these palms is a subject for con-
gratul.i'iou, as no one woulii have imagined in look-
ing over the large expanse of .sand that it was cap-
able of producing anything. I have now applied to
Government to as.sist me \n procuring a fourth supply
of 20,000 nuts. These will be planted out in thick
belts, 100 yards wide by 200 long. The spike grass
planted between the belts will be rooted out as more
nuts are put in every year. The topes of palms will
in time relieve the barren appearance of the place.
Other experiments have been tried with the screwpine
and ward, both of which are growing well, specially
the former, which will for a pretty fringe along the
base of the hills.

JAVANESE FOB QUEENSLAND.

The following rep )rt from the Bitish Consul at
Batavia has been received by the Chief Secretary,
under date 1st September : —

Sir, — I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of
your despatch, No. 862,307, of the f)th Ju'y last, ask-
ing for iuformition regardintf the new class of Asiatic
labour which is being iutro luoed into your colony
fro'u Java, and in reply beg to inform you :

The natives \rho have been engaged here lately f')r
employment on the sugar estates of Queensland belong
almost entirely to the Bmtam and Suada district? of
this islaud, and have the reputation of being hardy,
strong, and well adapted for agricultural and other
purposes: they are willing workmen at any trade, and
are always ready to learn and sat their hands to any-
thing they are taught, altho igh rather slow at picking
up anything new. Their hours of work here are from
6 in the morning till 6 at night, wi'h an interval in
thi middle of the day of about two to three luurs.
They cannot be said to be quick workers, but are
very steady, and have woaderful powers of endurance.
Their food is very plain, consistiii'^ chiefl/ of rice,
fresh or dried meat or fish, and salt. With very few
ixcep ions, hardly any of them have ever tasted al-
cohol, expressing a dislike for spirits of any kind.

They are accustomed to work in gangs under the
direction of their native overseers, whom they look to
as their masters, and whose word they attou'l to
more than tothit of a Europexn ; what they would
c;)nsider »•■ bullying from a Europem an! res-^nt as
euch, they wou'd take witluut the slightest demur
from their native headmen.

I am iiiforn.ed that the only provisions required by
tba NetlierUiads Indian G ivtrnraout to secure thy wel-
fare and return of the emigrants, ^fter their terms
of ungagfraent has expire!, is a bind, given by the
Srm h^Td engaging the n, certifying that tht^y shall
he well treated whilst in Queensland and guaranteeing
their passage back to Java,

I am not at present in a position to venture an
opi lion regifding the probability of the natives re-
m lining abroad after the expiration of their term
of engagement, but I should think the difficulty ex-
perienced in obtaining women to accompany them
would be a strong reason for their returning here
when they can di so.

I havereiS.m to believe that the Netherlands la-
diio Goveruraent is not in favour of this kind of
emigration, and siiould it assume larg;r prop irtion^,
will probably prohibit it altogetbtr, or place such
obst >clo in the way as to prevent it.

Encloseil 1 beg to hand you cr>py of a contract made
between a Hrm here and sme natives, who proceeded
i. itely to your colony, which will doubtless be of iu-
t-imi ti'.-»i aca, BJr, ^c,

The contract referred to provides that the labourers
shall "hold themselves in readiness to embark for
Queensland, there to work for three years after arrival,
certain of them as mandoors, the others as field La-
bourers for and in accord mce with the instructions of
the other pirties to the contract, on one or mire of
th".ir sugar etja'-es in Qaoenslaul.'' They are obliged
to work ten hours a day, Sundays and other general
holidays e.'ccepted, A salary of twenty-five guilders
for every mandoor and seventeen guilders fifty cents
to every field labourer will be paid per mensem from
the date of their arrival in Q leensland. Besides, they
will be entitled to free board and lodging and free
medical attendance. The food is to consist of rice,
fresh or dried meat or fish, and salt. Their right to
wages and food is immediately forfeited in case of
their refusal to do the work assigned to them, only the
case of sickness excepted. Aid an advance on his wages
every appearer on the other part at the date of his

going on board sliip at is pai I an amount equal to

three months' wages, to be paid b ick by monthly in-
stalments to be retained on the said wages at the rate
of four guilders for every mandoor a id two guilders
ftftycents for every field labourer. Tiio passige from

to Queensland, and at the expiraS in of the

present covenant the passage home to if the ap

pearera on the other part is to be piid for by the
appearer on the one part. The appearers on the
other part, in so far as they have not appeared at-
tended by their wives, may be accompanied by their
wives. Only free passage out and home and free
board will be allowed to these wives. On their per-
forming any work wages are to be paid them, the
amount of which is to be settled hereafter. Im-
mediately after their arrival in Q leensland the ap-
pearers on the other pirt are considered as having
submitted to the ordinance enacted m 1861, regulating
the connection between masters and workmen, the
contents of which they declare to have well under-
stood.— Queenslander

THE PUEE PRODUCE COMPANY, LIMITED.

TnK Future of Ceylon Tea,
From "Stocks and Shares,'' October Kith, 1886.

" As an illustration of the position which Ceylon Tea
is occupying in the London market, it may be intereSu-
ing to note that only so far back as 1880, when atten-
tion was being practically drawn to this new industry
of Tea cultivation in Ceyloa, the production that year
was about llo,0001b, and this has goue on rapidly
increasing to 7,000,000 of lb. in 1885-6 ; and the estim-
ates for the next twelve months promise to reach
I'J.OOa.OOO of lb., and so on till in 1839 90 the pros-
pects indicate some 33,030,000.

'' The imports of China Tea into London during the
past fiv.i years have uniformly averaged about
HO,O0O,OJ0 of lb , md from India there have been about
(30 to 70,0jO,O00, thu-! showing that while these two
s lurces of supp'y exhibit no fui'ther development, that
of Ceyloa stan i.s onspic lously forward as the channel
whence wa niiy derive the extra supplies to provide for
the incfeasod con.^jniption goiu? on in this country,
and which at preaent averages 5 lb. per head.

" From all accounts, too, Ceylon Teas seeiu to possess
qualities specially attractive, and if they could be
pUced before consumers at prices free from the heavy
burden of excessive retail profits, which, from what we
road an 1 hfir, amount to something like 8d. and la.
per lb., they will no doubt enter largely into consump-
tion, uum x^d with Chinese and Indian.

" Profits like these of about £300,000 on 7,00(^,0)0 lb,

of Tei., the value of which duty paid at, say 2s 6d. per lb.

is £8,0,000, seems a large percentage. There can be no

I question, therefore^ that any commercial enterprise hav

j ing for its object the systematic development of the

I Ceylon trade cannot fail to prove highly remunerative.

We commend this idea to Minciig Lane."

The above article, which appears in " Stocks an I
Shares," contains in its remarks so clearly the nature
of the bu-iuess which the " Ceylou Pure Produce
Com^avj" iatyufj ti? cayr^' v'ut, t!jat Ibej- take Ibv

Dec. 1, 1886.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

395

opportuDity to reprint the paragraph in its entirity.
The Company draw attention to the fact that they
are making Ceylon Tea their speciality, as will be
found in the accompanying Prospectus. The practical
knowledge which \''ill be brought to bear on the
business they uudertake, and their cloFe connection
with tlie Mincing Lane Markets, place the Company
in a position to make their selections most advant-
ageously from the entira importations brought into
London ; and by using all the extensive means at
their comraaud for publicity, the widest scope will be
afforded to participate largely in distribuling their
Ceylon Tea at prices which will show an appreciable
gain to the public, and in quantities to suit the most
moderate orders.

Without indulging in any extravagant ideas,
:here seems no reason why the Company's^ sales
.xhould be Hmited to the moderately estimated
amount of a quarter of a million lb annually, and
it the profits be calculated, even at a considt-rable
ri duction, on the basis of those stated by " Stocks
and Shares," they would still yield dividends which
may be variously estimated from 20 to 30 per cent.

CEYLON TEAS.—" BULKED UNASSORTED."

In /. .4. nucker cf- Bcncraft's Weekly Tea Circular
October 21st, we read : —

Last week we referred to this subject, faking as an
example of what we consider its importance the case of
an estate, which shall be uamele.'^s, the produce of
which we pointed out had apparently been experimen-
ted upon with a view to satisfying the planters as to
whether or no our advice on fhia ht ad was sound. We
Say our advice, as we have been hammering at it for a
year, and bave got some of our friends to adopt the
nu'tliod, while we are informed that in other quarters
our recommendations are discountenanced, and the
advantages we claim for the planter are denieil by some
who perhaps may not have had the time or inclination
to go as thoroughly into the matter of blended Teas as
we have in the last fifteen years. The proof in the pud-
ding is in the eating, and we should liave thought a
clear loss of £300 on the assorted portion of the estate
in question, even though only shown by our estimate,
would have been enougli to set people to wotk for them-
selvrs to see if there was " anything in it." For the
satisfaction of those friends in Ceylon, who have acted
ui)0u our suggestions, we have deti rmiii'd to goa step
further, and we now invite attention to the following
facts which may confirm thu-ii in adhering to the
decision to which we had led them, and which may
benefit those who have not yet had a lengthened prac-
tical e.xperience. It will be remembered that the " un-
assorted break" — wiiich, we may explain to the un-
initiated, was the portion of the yield, or picking, in
which the Broknn Pekoe, Two Pekoes, Pekoe fannings,
and Pekoe Souchong were blended together and sold
in one break — fetched one shilling and five pence farth-
ing per pound. The remainder of the invoice sold in
six separate breaks, averaged only one shilling and one
p nny farthing. We first heard it doubted whether the
Teas were from the same garden. To this we can only
say they are all marked with the estate name, and all
comprised in one invoice. There is a slight di'^crepancy
between the two lots which we shall allude to
further on. The proportions in which the Teas
came from the machine may be expressed thus: —
Broken Pekoe 1'4 ; 1st Pekoe 5 8; Fannings 1-9;
2ud Pekoe 06 ; Dust 00 ; Pekoe 8ouchong 0-3.
Toe dust, we take it, represents the entire quant-
ity of dust from the whole invoice, whether as-
B )rted or unassorted, for we cannot find the proper
proportion of dust in the Is r)Jd parcel. We have
t ken tho trouble to procure one of each of those
particular six Teas, and have had them carefully
blended in the same proportions as above, and with
this result, our blend of the six Teas which when
sold separately only avoraj^'ed Is l^d, is worth a
fnll haljpiiii.ii /»')■ If), iiio (' than the "unassorted"
which realized Is .^Jd. We account for this by tho
simplf fact that the dnst which of course sold by

itself for a low figure — but has a grand pungen t
Pekoe flavoured liquor— assists to thicken and
" fetch up " the bulk when added to it. Being,
as we take it, removed from the entire parcel,
the " unassorted," minus the dust, was xn our
opinion depreciated to the extent of Jd per lb.
lleaders may recollect that in a less sprightly
market on March 1th, 1885, we called attention to
the sale of an entire invoice " unassorted " at Is tid
per lb. " Certain buyers want fine broken Pekoefi
and give long prices for them, and we have to
take that into consideration." To this we can only
say, why should you take out the Pekoes, Fannings,
and dust, to sell at a low figure in order that
some one may buy the broken Pekoes at a long
price and mix them again? "But then if every-
body bulks his Teas ' unassorted,' we shall soon
arrive at one dead level of price for Ceylons, and
there will be no range from 7d to .Ss 6d as formerly.''
.John Chinaman has from the year 1840 adopted
this plan, and a glance at a China Tea Broker's
Circular wil'. show there is no dead level for China
Teas yet. Quotations for Congous still range from
'ihA to 2s (id in an average year, and this is for
millions of pounds where Ceylons are still thousands.
There is no doubt quality will tell in the price
obtained for the " unassorted " Ceylons just as it
does in the "unassorted" Chinas. Reflections will
bring to mind several recent sales of unassorted
parcels from different gardens selling same day and
side by side at lid and Is .5d per lb. Besides we
do not advocate treating the entire Tea crop of
Ceylon in this way, it is quite open to the expert
to decide how much of his broken Pekoe he wilJ
ship as it is, and how much return to the bulk,
to assist in giving tip and appearance to the re>
ihainder of the parcel. It would be obviously ab-
surd to lay down any hard and fast rule about it.
Experience and judgment must guide the planter
after all said and done, as to how he is to get the
best return in money, and we trust we have in-
dicated one direction in which he may look for
a reward for thought and skill. There is no reason
to be disheartened and discouraged if first efforts
do not bring out a much higher result. The secret
of the success of blending is that the finer
Teas, owing to their greater strength and flavour,
which overmaster a much larger quantity of some-
what inferior Teas, and raise the quality of the
bulk, but the exact limits to which to go without
making the fine Tea resemble the proverbial needle
in a bottle of hay, can only be arrived at by ex-
periment and practice. It is perhaps worth whilq
to point out once more that when there are ten
millions of pounds of fine broken Pekoe the price
is scarcely likely to bo the same as now there is
one million. In nine cases out of ten this fine
broken Pekoe is blended — smothered we should per-
haps call it— with vastly inferior Teas, for the
drinkers of pure finest Ceylon broken Pekoes sel-
ling in the Rooms at 2s to Ss are few and far between.
The description " unassorteil " though perfeorly well
understood by the trade is somewhat misleading, and
we are inclined to advocate boldly marking such Teas
" Factory Blended." The planter may be sure of one
thing, be is far more likely to send forwird even
quality by Idending than by assorting. What planter
would contract under p^nilty to ship from an estate a
broken Pekoe of exactly the sim-^ quality six times
running!' yet by blendinsr, contracts here can lie taken
for a year at a time with no fear of having goods
declind as not up to muster.

The Ckyt.on Cinchona Syndicate proposal
is discussed in the Madras Mail, in an article
whicli will be found on our last page. Althongh
a formal organisation is not likely to result now,
yet tlie discussion will probably iead to a good many
individual proprietors doing the work of a Syndicate,
by holding their bark in quantities under warrant,
rather than rushing it on the market. Advances
can be got on such stocks within n safe margin.

s^^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. i, 1886,

THE CEYLON CINCHONA BARK RING

SCHEME.

The low prices whicli have been realised for cinchona
bark, owing to the enormous experts from Ceylon
dining the past two seasons, have led growers to
cast about for some means of improving them, and a
proposal, made by Mr. Sinclair, inthe Colombo papers,
10 form a bark " Ring," or Syndicate, has attracted
ft good deal of attention. Combinations of large
holders of any article in general demand, who have
ugreed not to sell under a certain price, have occa-
sionally resulted in large profits, and though the con-
ditions' existing in the present instance are very
dift'erent, the idea must possess considerable fascin-
ation for the planter, with the unit of quinine
down to M. The mode of procedure suggested
is, that every producer in the " spicy island " should
send his bark, after baling and analysis, to a store
in Colombo, and agree only to ship in such
quantity, and at sach time, as the directors of the
scheme" should decide. Mr. Sinclair takes as his text
tlie dictum of Messrs. Brooks and Green, wellknown
London brokers, that " the price of cincliona depends
entirely on the shipmentB from Ceylon," — which may
be accepted as a truth, though not an eternal one —
and argues that, if growers could limit their supplies,
the unit would rise from 3d to (id A receipt speci-
fying the variety and quantity of bark stored would
be handed to the owner, and the Syndicate, by keep-
ing itself well informed of the state of the market,
could, it is thought, so regulate supplies, as to keep
the price at paying level.

Mr. Sinclair himself mentions some of the difficulties
to be encountered, but declares that none of them
aie insurmountable ; for instance, that mortgagees
would be unwilling to wait for their money ; that
most planters require the full value of their harvest-
ing at once ; " that the making a selection of bark
for shipment would probably give rise to more dis-
content than any otlier difdculty ; " and, lastly, that
Java, India, or Sout'i America might step in and
upset his plans. This last objection he cheerfully
intends to combat by flooding the market on the
first sign of agEjressiveness on tlie part of any of these
countries, and for our own part, we are disposed to
think that " tlie seleccion of bark for shipment," on
the occasion of one of the.se patriotic sacrific s being
dt emed ueces.sary, would give ri.se to even greater dis-
f-ontent on the part of the devoted Syndic-i than the
refusal of prioritj- at other times. This could only
be obviated by all grower.s agreeing to "pool" thiir
bark ; but such a suggestion is merely chimerical.
The first and third difficulties might, perhaps, be over-
cumo ; as to the second, it is gravely suggested that
the Banks would advance half the enhanced value (('.
/"., the full present value) against the storekeeper's
receipt. Perhaps Colornbo Bauk.s are fonder of dab-
bling in cinchona than Indian oues, but it would be
a sanguine planter who, in this country, went to a
3Ianager with such a ' heads I win, tails jou lose"
proposal ; for, supposing the speculation failed, and
prices did not rise, the Syndicate might simply
hand over the key of the store to the Bank, and
tell it to make the best it could of the business.
Added to which — such are the peculiarities of the
Ceylon law — if the store was found to be empty, it
is more than doubtful if any remedy would exist.
Another difficulty not noticed in the letter we arvj
considering, is the fact that it is not so much the
qmntity of any articles that is actually up for auction
in Loudon, or Amsterdam, that fixes its* price, as the
q lantity available, or soon expected to be available, in
the export towns of the producing countries. The
Brozilian planters used annually, when raising money
for working expenses, to depress the coffee market
with apocryphal tales of the magnificence of their blos-
som, and of the enormous crop they would be shipping
11 a f"W months. If rumours of this kind were
I elieved, what might be expected to happen in the face
f 10 million lb, or so, being actually stored in Colombo r"
Nor must the expenditure on rent, staff, and insur-
ance be Ibrgotten, all of wliich would have to ba in-
curred for a very problematioal advaotage. The Syndi-

cate is, apparently, to be worknd without capital, ex-
cepting, we suppose, the monthly contributions of
members for current expenses. The scheme is, how-
ever, one that essentially requires capital, aud is not
likely to succee i in the hands of moa largely depend-
ent for a livelihood on the article they are speculating
with, aud who are anxious to raise every anna they can
to put into next season's tea extensions. For, after all,
few Ceylon p'antors look upon their cinchona just now
as anything but a means to that end. The price of
bark is likely to rise in the near future, but it will be
from the exhaustion of the supplies in Ceylon, and not
from any artificial limitation thereof. Were it not
for canker, it might be found more practicable to
agree not to harvest more than a certain quantity of
bark, whereby all storage expenses would be saved ;
but canker is ever present in the island, and the
bark must be gathered from dying trees. The ('e)/loii
Oliscri-er sensibly suggests that steps should be taken
to ascertain what cinchona may be expected from
India, and other countries ; but such an enquiry would
take time, and this the promoters of the Syndicate are
anxious to save.

In conclusion, two facts may be borne in mind by
any one desirous of meddling with a speculation
of this kind, first, that though stocks of bark are not
abnormally high, there does not seem to be any
great competition amongst the buyers ; all the bark
is absorbed, but only on a3count of its low price.
Enormously as the consumption of quinine has in-
creased, there has been no exceptional demand — such
as would be caused by a great war,^and it is very
likely that a great deal of capital is looked up
in quinine. Should, then, the supply of bark be
limited, and the price be raised, manufacturers
might be able to hold oat, and refuse to buy for a longer
time than would suit the Syndicate. The secoud point
is that, when Ceylon planteis boast of the possibility
of driving all other bart than their own off the market,
thev forget that, in India certainly, and perhaps also
in .Java, bark can be harvested just as cheaply as in
Ceyloti. They have been talking so loudly of their
" unrivalled labour supply " — which, by the way, seems
to be rather short just now — that they have at last
persuaded themselves that thej' work cheaper than
any one else. As a matter of fact, a coo!y on an
estate in Cochin, Wyiiaad, Ooorg, or the Nilgiris,
often gets only half, and never more than two-thirds
of the pay of his brother in Ceylon. It may be ad-
mitted that a 8d unit does not pay in either country,
in the sense of giving a return on Cipitil; bib for
one iu the position of His P^xcellency's "enterprisiii;;;
citizen," with his ci.ichona ready to haul, itpiys
well enough for the mere hirvestiug and, as the
Indian planters work more economically, it pays them
better than the Ceylon one; sj, as loug as bark i>
saleable at all, no amount of Ceylon competition
can drive out the Indian article. Sjuth American
uncultivated bark can simply not be p it on the market
while prices remain at their present level ; there is
no question of capital involved there, but simply one
of collection. It is usually sii I that a 6J unit admits
this bark, and once the unit goes up tj that figure
it must be reckoned with. The Dimbula Pianters
Association has s-^t to work to discover ho-v much
cinchona is actually left in Ceylon, aud wheu the
information has been published growers in Oeylou
aud elsewhere will know better what to expe3t. —
Madras 3Iail.

COLIND EXHIBITION AND PL.\NTERS'
ASSOCIATION.
Planters' Association of Ceylon, Kandy,

13th Nov. 1881).
To the Editors " Cei/lo.i Obsrrver."
Sirs, — I beg to eirclose for publication copy of a
letter from Mr. J. L. Shand on the subject of the
Colonial and Indian Exhibition. — I am, sirs, yours
faithfully, A. PHILIP, Secretary.

Oeylon Commission, Colonial and Indian Kxbibiti.n

South Ken.sington, S. \V., 22nd October 1836.
Alex. Philip, Esq., Planters' Association of Oeylon,
Kandy,

Dec, I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

397

Dear Sir, — Your letters of the 14th and Cith have
come to hand this week upon following days. The
letter of the former date encloses addresses to which
eight p^imphlets have been sent and the latter a list
ol sixty-four. On receipt I have written to Messrs. P.
O. Don & Co. but have not yet received their reply as
to the 2,000 copies. I have not yet heard in reply to
my formal application as to the registration of a trade
mark, but as I was promised an answer within ten days,
I am daily expecting it.

1 have packed for you a box containing the Official
publications connected with the Exhibition as per list
enclosed. The box will also contain samples of the very
best Trinidad cocoas which may be interesting for pur-
poses of comparison, and a sample of Jamaica carda-
moms. I conclude there is no use sending out samples
of teas, though I shall be glad to do so at any time if
it should be desired. We can draw no profitable com-
parison except from the finer Indian teas and I know
many planters get regular supplies of these from home.

Referring to IVfr. A. M. "White's letter from which
you send me extract, it is impossible to follow the course
of markets by comparison drawn from specially pre-
pared Exhibition samples, but the connection i have
been able to form in the city among brokers in various
products will enable me when lam released from my
duties here to obtain information which may be of
value, and such information will always be at the dis-
posal of the Association. As regards improvement in
cuUivation or manufacture of our various products, we
are so constantly taunted on this side with extolliug
our own wares, that it is gratifying to find there is still
a school of disciples in (Jeylon, but with the exception
of cocoa about the mode of preparation of which there
is much uncertainty, I am afraid I can otfer no sug-
gestions. When I asked Mr. Pasteur who is reporting
upon the coffees in the Exhibition, if he could suggest
any improvement in the preparation of coffee, his
answer was that though much Oeylon coffee, now con-
tained many defective beans, he believed it to be im-
possible to improve upon the system of curing in
Colombo. I may mention that there is a strong and a
growing fseliug in favour of bringing coffee home in
parchment and it is said that Java coffee sold in
parchment in Amsterdam brings Gs per cwt, more
than when cared in Java. Mr. Pasteur does not expect
there would be anything like so much difference
between Colombo and Loudon cured coffee, but sj
many large dealers have spoken to me on the subject,
that I have arranged to give it a trial. A^hen I
asked Dr. Paul if he could suggest any improvement
in our systems of harvesting cinchona barks, he replied
in the negative, but, he added, if you cease tho
shipment of twig and inferior barks your mark-ts
will improve. He is, as I mentioned before, strojgly
iu favour of the cultivation of C. ?oi«.va in 1 Jeylon.
The same with tea, though Mr. Stanton tells us as
we all well know that much Ceylon t< a, leaves m/ich
to be desire'd in preparation. He will also tell you
that the better marks from Ceylon leave nothiu<j to be
desired. Brokers have so long been pointing out the
advantige of large breaks and of not sorting into too
many grades that I need not enlarge upon it. I liope
the few analyses Idr. Hughes is gomg to supply us
■with, may throw some light on the questions'as to
how much inferiority is due to faulty m nufacture and
how much to defective soil. Ic is hard, but I am
convinced it often happens that Superiuteudents are
blamed for bad prices when the fault lies really in
the soil and this is a. matter easy of proof. I hope
the Association may see its way to a regular extended
series of analysed. While on the subject of tea. I am
sorry to heir tliat the result of Mr. Walker's en-
quiries as to (he pi ice at which crude petroleum
can be put down iu Colombo is by no means satis-
factory, but as has just been pointed o'ut to me
by Mr. Hervey, the gentleman who first drew uiy
attention to Tiubuttti Paicnt we do not want crude
petroleum, but the residue after the volatileilos have
DRen extracted and he is saugume that the result of
further enquiries which have been set on foot will
prove that the patent is practicable and will be
economical iu Ceylon.

I aui sorry to be able to write in a different strain
about the Japan tea chests to what I expressed for-
merly. My firm bought a shipment of Ceylon tea
packed in half-chests of the moniewood I think and
several of them arrived with their sides stove in. The
wood of which they are made is extremely brittle
and shows that care must be exercised iu purchas-
ing these chests. I notice that some of the Indian
chests have y small upright stick in each of the four
corners of the chest fiom top to bottom which must
tend materially to strengthen the chest. These Japan
chests are so very neat and especially for sending to
the country so much more attractive, that it will be
a pity if the standard should be lowered.

The only Cardamoms in the Exhibition besides those
from Ceylon, are a bottle from Jamaica a few from
which I enclose as a curiosity : a sample of racemes
('? ) and fruit preserved in spirit from Grenada
and two small boxes from India one from Merkara
and one from Bangalore so there is but little opportunity
of drawing comparisons, but ours are suown much
better and look much better than any others. There
is mention of cardamoms inthi .Straits Settlements'
catalogue, but 1 have uoc yet bjen able to find them.

The Reports now being lirawu up, ou all those sub-
jects will be interesting and though they are I believe
in no way to draw attention to competitive merit, Ihey
will contain much valuable informaiioa, Mr. Stanton
has, lam glad to say, had instructions to include Indian
teas in Lis report. I will of course send you copies of
these reports as soon as they are published. 1 have
this moment had a letter from Mr. Pasteur asking me
to go and see the samples of cocoa arranged in order of
merit and 1 hope to do so. He showed me the other daj-
a sample of cccoa which, guided by outward appearance
only, would have been pronounced of great Viihie, but
which was almost wortnless because it was mildewed
inside.

Mr. Wnite asks if I can not suggest any new pro-
ducts for Ceylon. I believe fibres oa our wastelamls
and sericulture among natives will yet become Inrge
enterprises. Fibre mactiinery is rapidly being improved
ui)Ou and it the proper machine for alje manipalation
can be found, it will yet be a large industry. It a chance
of sending a few dried aloe leaves should arise, I
think we might work out some practical good with
them, but the market for the dispo>il ot all the minor
proiucts which have been brought to my notice is so
fickle and f.iucifnl, that I hesitate to suggest.much less to
recommend.

I enclose you rough copy of figures connected
with the Tea Trade of the Colonies ; there is nothing
new ill it, but it shews the extent of the various
local market.s.

There are few articles of food supply being pushed
as Ceylon tea is; it is advertized everywhere, even
on the programmes of theaiit^ and new Com)ianie8
are springing up all round us to push it-^ sale. W'e
have opened several foreign couneccions, which may I
trust develope.

The fate and the future of the Exhibition is to be
d2cided the day-after-tomorrow and you will probably
know of it by telegr.im before you geD this.

We had a Ceylon Dinner on Wednesday which the
newspipers will ])robdbly have an account of. I need
oidy mention that Sir Arthur Birch, Dr. Trimen and
iNlr. Saunders all referred to the excellence of the
P. A. Arrangement and Show, and to how much this
was attributable to Mr. Christie's persoua.1 exertion.

I lecture on Ceylon Tea hereon Wednesday. I will
send \ ou by next mail an account of my receii)t3
and disbursements. Meanwhile, to soothe the feelings
of the anxious, I maj'' remark that I hope to get a
grant towards my incidental expenses fro-n Sir A-
Birch, which will leave the ±50 you sent me untouched
You will have heard of Mr. de Soyza's generosity.

Faithfully yours, Signed, J.L. SHAJSiD.

List of Books REFEnREo to.

India.— Hand-book collection wild siiks, Imlian silk
culture, Empire of India Catalogue, Hand-book of
Jeypore Court 4.

Canada. — Canada Guide-hook, Report on Agriculture,

398

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Dec. I, 1886.

Proviuce of New Brunswick, Province of New Bruns-
wick 5.

New South Wales. — Official Catalogue, Progress and
Resources, Progress and Resources, the Year Book 4.

V'ictora. — Year-book, Catalogue, Illustrated H;in('-
book. Royal Commission ou Vegetable Products 4.

South Australia. — South Australia 1.

Queensland. — Queensland, Queensland Catalogue 2.

West Australia. — ^West Australia, "West Aborigines,
West Geology, W* st Catalogue 4.

New Zealand. — Catalogue, Hand-book, Geological
Catalogue, Fieli foi Emigration, Colonization Circulars.

Fiji.— Hand-book 1.

Cape of Good Hope. — Catalogue, Hand-book 2.

Natal. — Hand-book, Catalogue 2.

S'nits Settlements. — Notes on, Notes on Perak 2.

Biitish Guiana. — Catalogue 1.

West Indies. — Hand-book 1.

West Africa. — Hand-book 1.

Malta.— Hand-book I.

Cyprus. — Oa alogue 1.

h N. B( rneo. — Hand-book 1,

West Australia. ^Timbers 1.

Messrs. Ramsonie Sons and Jeffries Catalogue 1.

TABLE OF COLONIAL Tx^AS :

.U'STRAIiASIA.

Victoria.

lb. Value

Import 1884-85 .. 11,.5'24,205 .. £667,8(0

Duty .Sd per lb. Price Is 6d to 2s 6d per lb.

Imported A. J, and whole chests of about io lb.

Chiefly imported from Assam, China and parts of

India, principally Calcutta.

Queenslaud.

lb. value.

Imports from U. K. 1.5, .550 £' 738 Duty 6d per lb.

.. N. S.Wales 1,077,263 60,946 £65,004 8s 3 J.

., Victoria 387,467 21,222

„ N. Zealand 410 28 Export 88,715 lb.

., Hongkong 528,.%6 20,063

.. China 744,503 35,099 £4,683.

„ India 3,(590 219

\T r> ■ I - 1 Average retail

., NewGmnea 4:, 1 ^J^^M.

S. S. Islands

43

2,757,277 £138,318
Imported in chests, J-che&ts and boxes.
Import lb. New Souih AV.iles.

1881 7,4ii9.541 ) Customs value Is 9d per lb.

1 882 8,^76,930 ( Duty 3d per lb.

1883 7,588.709 j Retail price same as Eng ml

1884 5,732,011 J Chiefly i, i and ^ chests 1

Customs Revenue in 1884— £99,954
Chiefly from China ; hardly any fromludia.

West Australia.
Import in IssS— :wo,9901b., Customs value £22,066
Duty levied four pence per lb. average retail
prices, Is 9d to 2s Gd
Size of packages from 101b. upwards.

lb.
Imports United Kingdom ... 1,247

„ Vic tori t ... ... 88,4)5

„ South Australia ... 56,189

„ New Sjuth Wales ... 6)0

„ Queensland ... ... IsO

„ HoQgk.ng 49,71-1

„ Singap

.le

i'4,47fi

„ Chiaa

...

77,742

„ Ceylon

Total ...

2,357

3i0,99fi

South Australia.

Imports of Tea

lb.

£

ill 1881 from

U. K.

523

41

Victoria

794,791

44,521

N. S. Wales ..

49,356

2,130

India . .

51,715

2,238

*> »i

Ceylon

3,119

242

Hongkong

232,469

12,227

M M

China . .

1,098,020

.53,967

3,229,993 115,369

Entered for home consnmption 2,220,099 lb. Groaa
amount received £27,750 158 3d. Duty 3d per lb.
Nf.w Zkalanp.
Imports in 1884, U. K. . . . . 9,525

„ N. S. Wales . . 125,081
„ „ Victoria .. 1,112,345

„ „ Queensland . . 51

,. 1^'iji 942

.1 „ Hongkong .. 189,240

•I „ Bengal . . . . 38,355

„ China .. .. 1,704,803
„ South Seas . . 24H

3 180,590
Duty 4d per lb. Entered for home consumption
4,391,809 lb. Value £180,301 lb. Custom receipts
£73,196 16s 5d Retail price Is 4d to 3s.
West Indies.

•Jamaica

Barbadoss ..

Trinidad

Dominica ..

St. Kitts and Nevis

Montsiirat

Antegua . .

St. Lucia . . ,

Tobago

Grenar'a ..

St. Viice t

British Gu ana

British Honduras .

Bahamas

Quantity,

lb.
. 23,077
. 35,961
. 27,151
488
4,500
. 225
. 6,785
. 913
. 1,698
. 2,701
. 3,168
31,170
7,2.50

Value.

£

2,307

2,697

1,723

59

326

14 10s

452

65

121

216

246

1,462

434

374

Duty.

Is per lb.

3d ,.

6d „

6d „

0

4d „

0

6d „

6d „

6d „

6d „

6d „

1b „

Is ,.

Retailed

..4,493

Practically all imported from the U. K.
from 3s to 5s per lb.

Imports from United States subject o ad valorem
duty of 10 per cent. Canada.

Import. Value. Entered

home con- Value. Duty,
sumption.
S lb.

41,667 1^7,371

174,537

43, \: 8

S
4,3^9 SO

Black teas
Grf en and
Japan 1,642,494 257,7c5 1,837.5 2 290,^58 29,086-09

Green and Japan
from U. Kingdom

„ China

,, .Japan

,, British East Indies

Black from V. Kingdom
,, China
,, Japan

,, British East Indies
St. Pierre

lb. S

2,765,829 f32,e45

1,424,335 299,741

4,859,857 857,704

640 153

9,050,101 1,790,443

6,260,602 1,210,667

1,072,430 228,186

31,326 5,330

23,438 4,258

380 90

Impoit in 1880...

I88L..

„ 1^82...

1S83...

7,38S176 1,448,531

M.VUBITIDS.

lb. Value.

R
16,428 17,281

39.748 42,971

26,732 36,803

24,846 31,624

Duty RO-04 ct nts of rupee per lb. Average retail
price Wl per lb. Packag'=s of 1 and 2 lb. Usually
imported from India, Ceylon and Hongkong.

Straits Skttle:ments.

Cases. Value.

S
Import in 1884... 69,944* 563,408

No Customs 'uty. Indian tea is denrerthan Chinese
The bulk o the tea consuming population is Chinese.
Cases. Value.

s

92 2,906 from India.

1,926 10,991 from British Burma.

67,926 549,511 from China.

69,944 563,408

Dec. I, 1886. 1

THE TROPICAL AGHICULTURIST.

3yy

Lots.

1 to a

4.06

61

9 to 12

2.99

40

13 to 17

0.40

14

18 to -I-l

3.82

66

•23 to 30

3.61

68

31 to 38

4.03

73

39 to 42

3.20

46

13 to 47

0.48

19

IS to 51

3.78

66

52 to 58

3.95

66

CINCHONA BARK.

(FrvM I- A. Buclei- and Beiin-rft's HVtA/;/ Prio'
Current.)
The last Eark sales went agaiu iu favour of sell-
ers, aud the unit may now bo quoted at 3Jd to 3id.
Only 1,470 bales of Oeylon were offered, of which
the bulk Bold. 156 bales Java, direct import also
all sold. Some of our readers may remember that
iu a recent circular we implied that at the September
Dutch Bark sale. Barks were sold far and away
cheaper than anything done in our London market,
and we suggested that such a result must be
additionally aggravating to the owners of the Java
shipments, considering that the tone of our market
was firm : the London sale shortly after the Dutch
sale having given results slightly better than those
of the London sale shortly before the Duch sale.
\Ve believe our facts to be correct, and the deductions
drawn from them to be reasonable. Mr. Wischerhoff,
a Rotterdam Drug broker, disagrees with us, and
has written a rather lengthy pamphlet, which has
reached us through the post, the receipt of which
we take this opportunity of acknowledging with
thanks. The basis of Mr. Wischerhoff's argument
Bsems to be the following table, giving the results
of the sale of 283 bales of Ledgeriana, on the 29th
of September : —

Sulphate Price per
ofQuinme. h kilo.

cents. cents.

61 therefore per unit 15.00

13.37
35.00
17.27
18.83
18.10
14.37
39.58

16.70

or on an average fully 20* cents per unit. Of course,
we may conclude that all these Barks were of a
manufacturing quality, as, if Druggist's Barks were
amongst them, Mr. Wischerhoff would not have felt
justified in including them iu his average. But the
deductions drawn from such tests are of no com-
mercial value. In Holland, either through erroneous
testing, or through bad sampling, they appear to
sell manufacturing Barks on one and the same
day at 13 cents, and at 39 cents per unit.
Mr. Wischerhoff, however, honourably acknow-
ledges that the prices of Lots 13 to 17 and 43 to
47, are not comprehensible on the surface, and as,
iu a commercial argument, we prefer dealing \vith
the comprehensible, not with the incomprehensible
we have figured out the above table leaving out
these two acknowledged doubtful lots, the result
being that the unit value was 16i cents, not 20*
cents. All this, however, to our mind, goes for
nothing. The question as to whether London or
Amsterdam is the better Bark market, a question
which some interests attempt to wrap up in ob-
ncurity, is really a remarkably simple one, and is
solved by the large buyers whenever sales take
place in Holland. Planters have and can again
I'Are the question for themselves, but even they
cannot know the rights of the whole question as
easily and as completely as those who buy freely in
both' places. We ebould hardly have ventured to as-
sert that the nett results of the last Dutch Bark
aale were so very unsatisfactory, unless we had had
high and unbiassed authority behind us. Growers
and shippers of Bark in Java are no doubt fully
aware that a Dutch Drug Broker would like to see
Java shipments setting towards Holland, and that
an English Bark Broker, on the contrary, would
prefer to see his market getthig the preference. As
ineu of the world, therefore, we kuow that our oni-
niou on this matter would carry but little weiglit,
first, because we are biassed ; second, because we
ourselves have no means of getting properly drawn
Dutch samples, if we had we could satisfy our own
mindri, by employing our own chemists, but Dutch firms

5V'ould tUak iks tiial a doubtful oun. Bnyexs, Uov.-

ever, we think are to all intents and purposes uu-
biasaed, indeed, if biassed at all, it would be to-;
wards the cheaper market. All Barks offered and
sold daring the year in London and Holland are
analysed by the buyer who is the authority for
our statement. The same chemists in the same
laboratory work out the results for him, and as he
is one of the largest, at the present date we be-
lieve the largest buyer of Bark in the world, we
imagine his opinion will carry weight and practic-
ally decide this vexed question. He endorses every
word we have said as to the superiority of this
market. In addition to this we know that another
large buyer interviewed him on this subject, iu order
to compare results, and that it was mutually agreed
between them that far and away the cheapest Bark
sold this year was at the last sale in Holland.
Again, we" have put the question to another large
buyer, a gentleman whose firm's name is a house-
hold word in the Birk trade, and he assures us
that there is no doubt about the matter, and that
the causes are not far to seek. We believe we are.
correct when we state that the representatives
of the two former gentlemen bought between them
about three-fourths of the whole Dutch sale. We,
therefore, witli every apology to Mr. Wischerhoff',
must perist in dogmatically asserting that his ques-
tion is answered as far as results go, Java- Cin-
chona, Holland or London':' London. Only a short
time ago, as Java planters must by this time be
fully aware, a consignment of 200 bales of Java Bark
was most carefully bulked and divided, half going
to Holland, half to London. The shippers made a
bona fide attempt to solve the question of markets
for themselves, the result being that their experi-
ment cost them £120, the 100 bales sold iu Holland,
realizing £120 less money than the 100 bales sold
in London. It is on the opinions of high class
merchants, and on facts such as the latter, that we
venture, to use Mr. Wischerhoff's own w»rd3, to offer
our persevering, benevolent, and sympathizing counsels
to those shippers who still doubt which is the better
market. As we are short of time, we will only add
that we disagree altogether with Mr. Wischerhoff's
remarks about sampling : according to him, the more
faulty the samples, the more they vary one with
another, the more unrepresentative they are of the
bulks, the better the competition and the more satis-
factory the result. We, on our part, like to know that
what a buyer thinks he has bought, he has really got.
aud such is the result of London sampling.

CINCHONA BARK ANALYSES.
We have been favoured with a copy of a Circular -
report by Mr, T. R. Visey of the Analytical Labo-
ratory, Ilford, which contains certain curious in-
formation worthy of the attention of our Ceylon
planters. The correspondent who is good enough
to send the circular, says, " the charges made against
analysts generally are severe " ; but unfortunately
there is so much that smacks of sjelf-advevtisiuy
about Bome paragraphs that we can scarcely give
so much weight as -we otherwise should to all
that is said. However, our readers can judge for
themselves ; here is the report ; —
CLSiCHONA BARK,

ANALVriCAI. L.iHORATOliV HlOH Sl'HEtiT. ItlOliP.

Essex, October, 18S6. — The Ceylon Crop for ls.>^5-8,
having ]ust closed, ancl New Season commenced
affords a fitting opportunity to glance at the general
position Concerning the future it is a certain fact
that the Crop of Java Bark will be heavier and pro-
bably include a larger quantity of fine quality. The
export from East India will also show increase, but
to what extent, depends materially upon the decision
of the owners whether tliey will cut their Bark at
preeut rates ; from a private source I hear there is
an inclination on the part of some owners not to
Harvost at Pieseiit, but ^^ ait u Ijttlc iu Lope oi better

400

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[Dbc

Jt,

i8S6.

values. What will Cejfloii Ship iu the coming
Season ? This is the special question affecting every-
one interested in Bark, wliether Buyer or Selltr.
Although estimates ranging from 12 millions upwards
have been mentioned, I do not think at this date it
is possible to form any definite conclusion. The
quantity that may be harvested (under any circum-
stancesj to make room for Tea or other produce.
Amount likely to be cut for financial reasons, and
still more important the course of market, all
these uncertainties render an estimate at present
moment of little value. But unquestionably the
principal point that will guide the bulk of the merch-
ants, will be the price likely to be obtained, and it
is to this I desire to direct especial attention. All
interested in Bark are anxious to see the Ceylon ex-
port as moderate as possible and yet the same mis-
take made in previous years of quoting values too
high is actually bemg made at the present moment,
when the error can only be of disadvantage to owners.
From the various analyses I have made, compared
with the Manufacturers Tests, I state positively that
the bulk of the Bark sold in Public Auction during
the past month has been quitted at '2Jd. to 23d. per
Unit, and for very low grades occasionally 2d per
Unit. I heartily wish the rates were doubled, but
there is no good in disguising facts, indeed at the
present moment it is especially a mistaken policy to
quote the Unit value above what is obtainable, and
Manufacturers know that they have purchased on
this (and very Fine Barks) at other Markets at the
above prices.

The explanation of the principal cause of the Unit
value being quoted too high is the most unpleasant
duty I feel thrust upon me, but in the interest of
owners I cannot avoid it, although the knowledge
ci'.me to rae during the first month I was estab-
lished, I have deferred any reference to the fact,
until my business was thoroughly successful, to avoid
any reference.

For some considerable time past certain Analyses
of Cinchona Bark have shown a failure to obtain
the FULL and proper per centage of Quinine con-
tained in the Bark Analyzed and as a necessitous
result the price realized has worked out Sd to 3id
and in some cases even more per Unit. This failure
to obtain a proper result or in other words an under
estimate, is to me inexplicable with a thoroughly
practical test ; I have Analysed samples of Bark and
seen the Parcel manufactured confirming my Tests
and cannot give way to anybody in the question of
accuracy and therefore feel confident in repeating
that where Analyses during the past mouth have
repeatedly shown a unit value of over Hd such results
have not found the proper and full contents of the
Bark, or in other words the Analyses were incorrect.
But beyond the statement already made I would
point out that German Quinine has been sold in large
quantities recently at not over 2, - per oz. and manu-
facturers are now making fairly satisfactory profits :—

£ s. d.
Now ^ sa per Uuit=100 Units = l ft.

-100 Units vg: 3d 1 5 Opertb.

Manufacturers' charges, Buying Com-
missions, Clearing, Making, &c., say
About . . . < • • • < ..076 „

1 12 15

1 ft>.=^](i o/-. Quimue i' 2 -. . 1 12 0
Thi.s 1 think is conclusive proof that buyers can-
not affort to pay- regularly even .'id per Unit at the
present price of Quinine, as a matter of fact they
have often purchased Utely at nearer 2d per Unit
as reckoned by the proper and full Analysis of
the Bark.

Before clobiug my letter, there is one small matter
I would refer to- Several Samples sent me the owneia
have desired an Analysis made giving all the Sulphates
and Alkaloids (charge 17(1) and of course I am
pleased to comply with the request, but as the
SulfShate of Quinidino and Cinchona and Amorphous
Alkaloids are not now of any particular value to ]\Iauu-
facturers and consequently the proportions do not
affect the value of the Bark in the least, and it is
po advantage to kcow the (juaatities coutaiued thereiu,

with the present low value of Cinchona Bark I would
point out that an Analysis showing —

Sulphate of (Juinine . . . . per cent

Sulphate of Cinchonidine . . do.

for which my charge is 12 fi is really all that Im-
porters require, to determine the value of their
Consignments.

The variation in prices of Ceylon Bark, I recently
announced by Circular, continues ; Parcels containing
a heavy quantity of Cinchonidine. realizing less per
Unit than pure Barks with little Cinchonidine.

I recently Analyzed some Ceylon shavings giving
about 2 per cent of Quinine and about 3* per cent
of Cinchonidine, a most unsatisfactory Bark for
manufacturers to have to work. — Yours truly,

T. E. ViSKY.

Ceylon Tea. — On the 27th instant, in the Cou-
ference-hall of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition,
a lecture was delivered by Mr. J. L. Shand. repre-
sentative of the Planters' Association of Ceylon, on
the subject of " Ceylon Tea." In the course of his
lecture Mr. Shand said that at the time when the
prospects of coffee growing in Ceylon were brightest
the whole industry was checked and finally blighted
by the appearance of an ineradicable disease in the
coffee leaf. Industrial attention in the country was
then directed to the cultivation of various other pro-
ducts, but it soon became apparent that if the large
area of hill property in European hands were to re-
tain its value it must be by the agency of tea. The
coffee plantations were gi-adually converted into tea
plantations ; and as the first specimens of Ceylon-
grown tea sent to test the London market were very
favourably received the industry developed rapidly.
It was not, however, till 1880 that' the Ceylon planters
began to send tea to the English market in any quan-
tity. In that year 115,000 lb. of tea were shipped to
the United Kingdom, while tlie year 1885 this amount
had increased to no less than 4,353,000 lb. There
were now about 120,000 acres in Ceylon planted with
tea, and it had been proved that the country was capable
of producing a greater yield of leaf per acre than any
other country iu the world, and that its tea could com-
mand higher prices than any other tea in the market.
In the very near future the tea export from Ceylon
would amount to 40,000,0001b., and, indeed, the only
danger which the industry had to apprehend was lest it
should overflood the markets of the world, scientific
authority having declared that the fatal disease which
had attacked aud ruined the Ceylon coffee plantations
was incapable of injuring the tea plants. Did the British
people thoroughly understand the difference between
the pure, clean, machine-prepared leaf which was turned
out from the Ceylon planter's factory, they would never
touch the far from pure article prepared by the
hands and feet of the natives in China or Japan.
Ceylon offered advantages for tea growing which
no other country could afford. The climate wag
favourable and thoroughly congenial to European life,
there was an abundant supply of labour at hand, the
facilities for traui^port over the country by road and
rail were exceptionally great, and the i^oil was very
favourable. The Ceylon planterrt had .suffered consider-
ably by the action of di.sbonest tradesmen in pawiug
of? cheap China tea:* as genuine Ceylon tea, which cost
them nearly twice as much. The Ceylon tea wan
pre-eminent for purity, wholesomenesK, and economy;
and though nominally it could not be purchased so
cheaply as some of the worthless China tea, yet it
would be found to go much further than its low-priced
competitor. In regard to openings in Ceylon for young
men from England, be would advise that no young
man should go out unle.ss he had a certain prospect
of employment or had enough capital to embark in
tea industry and enough caution to control the capitil.
The field of employment was limited, only 14G Euro-
pean planters being at work, while varancies were
chieflv in the pitronage of London fiims. Slore-
over, "there were no other directions in which a young
man who had failed to find an opening in the ts,>
industry could turn bis energies.

r

Dec. 1, i8S6,]

fHE TROPICAL AGRtCULTUHI^f.

4«i

CKYLON UPCOUNTEY PLANTING BEPOKT.
Jackson's and law's t kolleus comiuned — tka under
cinchona.

8th Nov. 18815.

I hear that if the table of Messrs. Law
and Davidson's Simplex lioUer is supplied to
any of .Jackson's rollers, it has the effect
of getting about twice as much work out of
the machine as it would otherwise accomplish.
IMiere is an arrangement of battens which brings
about this result, assisted by the peculiar shape of
the table. 1 fancy we will be hearing more of
this combination by-and-bye, as there arc several
trials being made.

Tea grown under cinchona, is as we all know, not
a happy combination : but it is being observed
that although cinchona does not suit tea, the tea
suits the cinchona giving it a more vigorous
growth, and benefiting it all round. If this really
be so, there is some comfort, and one will be able
to regard the slow progress of the tea plant
when shaded with cinchona with less litiulness
than before. The time will not be altogether lost.

The weather still keeps very suitable for
planting and cacao — but we would all willingly
take a little more sunshine just to brighten
up things. But the dark skies are pretty per-
sistent, and almost daily there is ram. There
are very general complaints of the effects of this
dull weather in retarding the flashing of tea, and
the returns of quantity up to date are considerably
below what were anticipated, and might have been
got had there been more of our usual genial warmth.

The rise in the price of coffee is bringuig round
more than the ordinary number of Moormen who
are all anxious to buy refuse. Evidently there is
a little excitement among these keen traders, and
thay are not afraid to speculate. But their means
of doing so are now very limited as compared to
what obtained in the happy joast, and one bad
shot generally closes up the unfortunate for that
season anyhow.

ytill it is wonderful how they return to the
charge, season after season, and are willing
to try again so as to turn ''the honest penny"
if by any means possible. To deal with them,
however, one wants to have a good temper for they
will haggle for an hour over a few cents, and
hang aboal for a day if halt a rupee can be
saved. Peppekcokn.

NEW INDIGO COUNTRIES :

Tkopical Ceylox.
When youngsters, long before we even dreamt
that our life shjuM be spent in the East, we often
pictured to ourselves p;iddliiig lougrafts or rough
canoes s!ia;.cd from tree trunks through mter.-ninable
forests, cr inhabiting a cottage of wicker or hut made
from the unbarked lo^^'s of some j^igauMc tree on every
fide suiTounded by luxuriant vcget^ition, ami jungle.'?
infested by wild boisls and poisonous reptiles. The
reality of the picture is th"^ plains of Hindustan, with
their dry, arid landscaj)^, where four n'onth.'j in the
your wc are roasted, four stewed, leaving f nr wouths
to revivify the rcmnins of vitality leti by the two
preceding operation". Tbi?; reali'y wa.t a sore blow to
our youthful imaginations but years of labour and
toil have tutored us to find some beauties even in the
uncongenial clime of India. Nor do we admire the
native, but long intercourse with him, his ways and lu.s
conditions of life make us sympathise, and in some
cases have a sneaking foudncss tor the Hindoo. He
is not ft bad fellow if you have a touch of autocratic
dignity added to the fellow feeling of man to niau ;
but he is never grateful and never will be so. Let
us take him as he is. He was made so and cannot help
himself.

Oeyloii reilized the vague dreams of our youth.
Here we found th« vegetation of the tropics ; on every
side some new palm or gorgeous dowering shrub, while
the elephantine polonga und the cobra proved l)y
their presence that there were big beasts and reptiles
to be found in the spicy I.^^^ The native; there,
probably like all (Orientals, were to the youngest child
open and smiling. The young girl tu-ued not away
her heal, as though we intended to eat her up, but
though not understanding our iJirticular liuguage
gave us a sunny smi'e and jabbered iu her own
tongue son-irons syllables of Sanscrit-like sound and
merrily passed on to her work. The ter.'ac^d rice-
fields peculiar to C?yloa attracted our attention
when travelling by rail, and miles and miles of tor-
race I ringes.from cne to many yards wide, roio up
and up till thousands of feet still saw thesa won-
derful terraces rising one over the other to the momi-
taiu top. Rice is the staple crop of the Cingalese
and the rice season varies, there are two sowings
and reapings according to locality and elevation. The
countr}- in some places seemed suitable for the growth
of indigo and in some parts of the island Mr. Falkner,
a Bengal planter who visited it, found the mdigo plant
growing spontaneously and in considerable quantity.

The following notes are from one of the many
useful books publislied in Ceylon by the Oh-
serrer Office. The cultivation of indigo in the
seven Korales begun by the Dutch in IHIO
was nu'-uccessfa', and Governor Barnes in 182(5 lost
money over this article. Mr. Henley, a Bengal planter
tried indigo also in the S inthern Provinces, but failed
iu his attempt to grow it properly. An attempt has
moie recently been made ti grow it in the Naithern
Provinces. Bennett condderod the Tangilla district
the best adapte 1 for the culture and manufacture of
indigo, an 1 he thinks it almost incredible that no export
of the dye has taken place since the Dutch Rule in
1791, thougli the p'ant; (Indigofera tinctarin) iu both
the varieties, sativa iuid agrestis grows iu mos^ prolific
abundance. He adds that in 1817 an exteusivo Bengal
planter, Mr. Falkner, who visited Ceylon, was 'dolighte.l
to see indigo growing wild and made a propjsi! to com-
mence the industrj', but it fell through.

A Swedish gentlemiu, a Mr. .John Tranc'jell, next
proposed the formation of an indigo factory to Sir
Edward Barnes, but Mr. Tranchell's dea'h in 1328
knocked the scheme on the head. From the abive it
seems that indigo has never be"n properly tried iu
Ceylon. The drawbacks are labour and getting land.
Thouijh the land in the low cjuutries is very oh ap. if
the Government were anxious to helj) the introduction
of a new industry, Crown land m ght be had on very
favourable terra«. There is no doubt that the climate
of Ceylon would prove just the thing for in ligo, and
that indigo made in Ceylon would equal the finest
marks of Bengal, .Java, San Salvador or Guatemala,
The difh'julty of labour is every year becoming less, as
large quantities of the Tamil c )0.ie class, are rea'ly
settling in the island, and the increase of .steam iinple-
racnts to the indigo industry in all its brancUes,
such a steam ploughs, steam diggers, tramways, j) unp-
iug water — heating boilers— all by steam, only leave
the pr.'ssiog operations for hand labour ami th-- n^cefi'
sary fine work such as hoeing, weeding lud pioug'iin^
for manual labour. — Indian Panters' Gazette.

bl

ARTIFICIAL QUININE.
The par.igraph declaring that an Engii-h dnctdi'
bad discoverei a process for manufacturing artificial
quinine is still on its travels roviud the g obe. Tlii^
week an East Indian merchant sent to oin- ofHce to
a'^certain where he could buy aom". Customers of
his in Calcutta and Bornlay had dccid 'd to try it.
A cable message from us to our Australasi-in subsi-
diary journal anticipated any possible scare there on
the subject, and we may nlso claim <-> have saved
America to some extent from a reign of terror in
the quinine market. The representative of tb-^ larg>st
New York d-ti'v paper called on us imm^diat-ly artcf
the discovery had been announced, and infimaled
big intentiou of iuoluding the item in his daily laes*

^i

fHi tiopiCAL AmicuLrmmf, [Uua, 1, ime.

•sea

sage. The correspondent had his own doubts as to
the accuracy of the Morniny Fost's chemistry, and
thi-se doubts were ccn'mued after some conversation
in tliis office, a conversation which left its impress
on the message ultimately sent. Still, as we said, there
are quarters wliere, naturally enough, the reports find
credence. Within the past few days we notice that
a w ll-kai wu pharmacist of the Hague, Mr. J. Th.
Mouton, who has interested himself iu the Amsterdam
Quinine Workp, writes to the Dutch papers, begging
1 hem to point out that there is no truth in the dis-
covery, or he says the efforts to raise fresh capital for
the Amsterdam Quinine "Works will fail, owiug to the
fear that the discovery isgeuuine.

Lastly, there have been gentlemen of the company
promoting persuasion, who, neither believing nor dis-
believing the assertions made ; thought there might
be enough faith on the earth to get a limited entcr-
pri-e floated on the strength thereof. We have heard
several times that preliminary steps had been taken,
tha some more samples were in course of aualysis,
that a prospectus was nearly ready, and so on ; but
hitherto no company has been actually registered.

The most definite report stated that everything
was now ready, and that Messrs. Burroughs, Well-
come & (Jo., having satisfied them'^elves of the gen-
uineness of the discovery, were taking it up, andthat
the manufacture was to be carried on at their factory
at Wandsworth. To ascertain how much truth this
statement contained we called on Mr. Burroughs, whose
information was given somewhat as follows : —

" Mr. Cresswell Hewett was introduced to us by
another medical man with samples of quinine, which it
was professed he had made. We uuderstood that he
asked 20,000?. for his secret. This sum we told him
we were willing to pay. He said he could make a
ton a week. We told him a pound would be sufficient,
but that we stipulated we should see him make it.
Then he wanted 1,000/. a year salary. We told him
he should have that too, and we olTered to deposit
L'1,000?., payable to his order as soon as he had sati-
tied us that his process was a genuine one. Ho went
to see our factory and agreed that the arrangements
were suitable, but he said he would have to go to the
Contiuint to get some apparatus. We reminded him
that h ■ had declared he had made his samples in his
own roims, and declined to advance money for Oon-
tinen al appar itus. Ultimately he came on to our
gclici tors, and wanted to make other stipulations. We
were will.Dg to agree to most of his conditions, but
we fi mly declined to advance him any money for
expenses or salary till he had shown us his process
at work. He left us, I suppose to find some one more
pliable." — iheuiist and Draggist, Oct. 23rd.

AMERICAN OPINION ON THE QUININE
MARKET.

A representative of the Antcrican Drug Reporter
called last week upon Mr. L. Eugelhorn, the mnn )ger
01 the New York branch of 0. F. Bohringer & Sons, the
quinine manufacturers of Mannheim, Germ;ny, to as-
certain if he found any new developments iu the quinine
market during his two mouths .-tay abroad which would
give encouragement to operators here. After speaking
about the e.xpusure of tbe Lindou chemist's tactics in
the artificial quinine f aud, mention ol which is made in
OU-V editorial colnmna, Mr. Eigelboru proceeded to dis-
cuss the su' ject in ham! as follows;—

"The barl5 ahipments were somewhat reduced during
the past three mouths, and the trade thought that it
was the beginning of a new era in prices, but the large
shipments for the last auction rather dispelled this idea
ami made future calc■u'aticn^ uncertain; they were too
heavy to e.xpect in the near future such a decrease in
barks as to justify any considerable advance in the
price of quinine. The principal a'gument for higher
prices lies iu the fact that a very large percentage of
tlid receipts at Loudon are root barks, thus showing
a desire on the part of the planters to substitute more
remunerative products, such as tea and coffee for the
profith ss cinchona barks, The time is certainly ap-
proaching when a shortage of barks will cause an im-
i)ortant change iu the (juiojue market, but that eveut is

yet too distant for any reliable opinion to be expressed
on the probabilities. Considering the present cost of
making quinine, based upon ruling prices for bark, I mwst
consider the present prices for (juinine as cheap, and it is
to be presumed that those who purchase now and can
afford to carry their stocks will ultimately make some
money on them. As to the profits of mauufacturers, I
would say that after striking an average for the year they
will find themselves behind. The bark shipments have
been a surprise to the manufacturers ; they increase
when least expected and the price of quinine is conse-
quently forced down while that of bark is not, as the
latter has never gone below od to ;3id per unit ; .since
last October the shipments of bark have increased 2.>
per cent over the similar period of last year. Owing
to the cheapness of quinine, the consumption of cin-
chonidia has decreased somewhat, hut its production
as a by-product of the Ceylon barks has increased largely,
and is estimated at five times greater than the con-
sumption, (vhich caused prices to drop very low. For
instance there was a sale of 20,000 ounces of ciuchonidia
in this city last Wednesday at Ic per ounce ; one year
ago we sold ciuchonidia at 30c a.id today our price is
lUc. About ten years ago that article was scarcely
known as manufacturers of quinine did not know how
to make ciuchonidia, but now it is a by-product with
all of them. Retu'-ning to the question of profit in
making (juinine it may interest to you learn that, as
we are informed, some manufacturers are so thoroughly
disgusted with the business that they would willingly
receive proposals from some one to buy them out.
The Amsterdam factory is closed for good after en-
tailing heavy losses on account of small capacity, as it
costs considerably more to operate a small work.
But one more fact remains to be told and that is con-
cerning the production of quinine, which has not in-
creased to the proportion of increase in consumption
which is gaining every year." — Drug Reporter, Sept.
15th.

ANOTHER OPINION ON THE QUININE
MARKET.

iiMr. .J. Hasslacher, of the firm of Roessler & Uas-
slacher, agents for the Gold and .Silver brand of quinine,
is not inclined to entertain tbe opinion so generally ex-
pressed about cinchona bark aud quinine prospects.
As he has been spending some time abroad looking over
the field, and arrived home last week, are preseutative of
the "Reporter " monopolized a portion of his time since
then to inquire about the situation from his standpoint.
He did not believe that quinine would ever reach the
prices of former times ; but it was more than probable
that prices would continue to fluctuate on a low basis ;
competition is too close for manufacturers to realize
any large margin on their product, aud the price of
barks is not likely to be much higher, for the reason
that a plentiful supply may always be e-xpected, ex-
cept in case of war or some other uuforseen circum-
stance. Mr. Hasslacher was asked :

" Are you not a believer in the reports about dis-
couraged planters substituting tea and coffee for cin-
chona barks, on account of the low price of the latter P

" No, decidedly no; ever Huce the cultivation of
barks commenced we have heard the same, story
r<-peated each year, and atill they go on growing more
barkfi than ever. The production of barks will keep
on increasing, instead of decreasing^ notwithstanding re*
ports to the contrary, and tbe alleged fact that large ship-
ments of roots are made to the London market. Plan-
ters have never been satisfied and never will, but the>-e
must be money \\\ the business or they would not
continue it. Whenever shipments of bark are light
then we are informed as the cause that an important
shortage exists and that other crops are taking its
place ; but the trade is surprised in the following few
days or weeks by a deluge of barks, evidently held to
await the result of the preconcerted arrangements to
bull the market by unreliable rumors. No, the trade
in quiniue will not .'•oon be benefited i)y any radical
change in the bark situation, and I would advise
speculators to let it alone — I mean those capitalists
who buy aud bold for a rise in the market, uot (b9

Dec. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

40}

legitimate traders in the article who contract ahead
for supplies to meet regular wants, in anticipation of
prices being against them in the future. Speculation,
in the true sense of the term, is damaging to legiti-
mate business and should he discouraged. The posi-
tion of quinine today is not what it was several
years ago, and manufacturers have to confront a change
which is against their interests and to the benefit of
the consumers. Instead of bark shipments being perio-
dical and uncertain, made so by the crude method of
gathering, the devastating wars, floods. &c., we can
now rely on weekly shipments and a stock in London
from which to draw upon, besides having no distur-
bance to trade or transportatien.

" Tiiere is littrle money in the quinine business
to manufacturers, but it can be produced cheaper
abj-oad than here. We have enlarged our factory,
as the increased consumption caused princi-
pally by the low market, makes it necessary to in-
crease our capacity. During the fiscal year closed
last June, our quinine factory created a sinking fund
and declared a dividend of five per cent. This is a
good showing for an off-year when prices never ruled
so low. There is one important fact which has not
yet appeared in print ; in Germany the retail price
of quinine is fixed by law, and consumers have been
compelled to pay the same price established several
j-ears ago against their strong protest. Physicians
state that the consumption of quinine in Germany
would be much larger if the price was lower, and
they are now agitating a change in tho law to have
the retail price fluctuate with the wholesale rate and
allow the public to reap the benefit instead of the
pharmacists, who realize a large margin of profit at
present The feeling is so stronar on this question
that a change is looked for, and quinine manufac-
turers are of course helping the movement along. The
so-called substitutes for quinine are not injuring the
sale of the article abroad, as the substitutes are only
used for reducing the temperature and not for destroy-
ing the germs of the fever, like quinine does." — Drt'j/
lieporttr, Sept, 30th.

♦

AETIFICIAL QUININE.

It happened rather curiously last week that just
as our editorial note, dealing with the somewhat un-
fortunate observations of the Oil, Paint, and Div<i He-
'porti'i-, was passing throi;gh the press, we should re-
ceive a communication upon one of the very subjects
our contemporary appears to be so anxious about.
Even yet, however, the denoiteincnt longed for by the
Ueimrter has not — as its readers would probably say
— eventuated. Mr. CresswellHewett's artificial quinine
has, up to the present time, neither demonstrated its
own veracity by being turned out by hundredweights
per diem at .a cost of 3d per ounce, nor has the
entire scheme resolved itself into thin air, or some-
thing even thinner still, by exploding altogether as
so many company concerns of the " limited '' class
did in the beginning, are doing at the present mo-
ment, and probably ever will do to the end of our
national existence. Although we cannot oblige our
trauFatlantic critic with the percussional sensation
so ardently desired, we publish today an important
narrative which he may probably regard as a small
instalment of that dcnoupment which our contemporary
appears to consider as the only fit and proper solu-
tion of the whole mystery.

The salient points of this quinine story are capable
of being summed up in a very few words, although,
the last of such words — by a good many— has not
yet been spoken. Let ns state the chief facts of the
case and see how we stand : — Observing an announce-
ment in several papers nearly two months ago to
the effect that a certain Mr. Cresswell Hewett had
discovered a method of preparing quinine by synthesis,
at a cost of less than Hd per ounce. Dr. Burton, of
Bncklersbnvy, at once caused negotiations to be opened
v.ith the alleged discoverer, through the intermediary
of a friend, in the first instance, as is usual in such
cases. C)n his ofl'ors being accepted, Dr. Burton de-
clared himself, and, according to the account furnished
to our representative as given in another cohimn, he

has all along been desirous of pushing the matter for-
ward to a satisfactory issue, andcf fulfilling his part of
the arrangement said to have been concluded as between
vendor and purchaser. Eepresenling not only himself,
but several other gentlemen, including Mr. Bland,
Messrs. Burroughs, Wellcome and Co., &c., it has been
stated to us by Dr. Burton that, not only were the
general, but also the financial, arrangements absolutely
completed and the sum of .£21,000 could have been
handed to Blr. Hewett within seven days after he had
really produced a couple of pounds of sulphate of
quinine which should stand all reasonable tests, chemi-
cal and therapeutical.

That the latter proviso is fully as important as
the former, cannot be doubted when we consider the
large number of substances known to modern chemists
whose composition is absolutely identical, but whose
properties are widely different in one or more res-
pects. Thus, for example, there appear to be a whole
host of bodies with the common formula of GlOHltJ'
but perhaps in no two instances do even the phy-
sical characteristics of these substances agree. Their
specific gravity, boiling-point, index of refraction, &c.,
are all unlike, to say nothing of the variations ap-
parent in their odour, taste, and pharmacology. Some-
times these dift'ereiues may be reconciled by a study
of the particular way in which the elements they
contain are grouped together; in other instances,
the bodies split up precisely the same marner,and
no light is afforded from this direction. Quite recently
the readers of our " Science Notes " may have noticed
that an Italian enquirer has ascertained that there
are two distinct modifications of the vegetable prin-
ciple known as Asparagine. Both kinds agree in
moat respects ; in appearance, in composition, and
in general properties they UMy be deemed absolntely
indfintical, but it is possible that they differ thera-
peutically to some extent, and it is certain that their
optical properties are diametrically opposed. Hence
we can only fall back upon an old and crude method
of distinguishing them and say that a solution
of rt-Asparagine rotates a ray of polarized light one
way, and yi-Asparagine twists it just as much, but
in precisely the opposite direction.

It may therefore be the same with quinine, and in
our readiness to welcome the " Queen of Specifics,"
produced— if this can really be done— artificially, at
a nominal cost, for the benefit of suffering humanity,
there can be no more important clause in any agree-
ment pertaining to what we consider as G'20 H21 N2 02
than that which, as in the draft we publish today,
provides that the substance must be miuUcalhi, as well
as chemically and physically, indistinguishable from
" Howard's Quinine."

To return to our narrative ; so confident does the
inventor appear to have been of his success that he
actually accompanied the intending purchasers of this
secret to a factory at Wandsworth— t'.ie very same
by the way, that was described and illustrated in
the.se pages some time ago — where he selected the
room and some part of the appliances needed for the
production of the test sample. After this there was
practically no progress made, or information obtained
until the publication of our supplement of last week
and the determination of Dr. Burton and his coadjutors
to leave no stone unturned to discover the truth, and
to bring the question to a climax of one sort or
another, by npplying for an injunction in defence of
their alleged rights. Meanwhile a Mr. J. F. Buntino-,
described as a surveyor, of Ponders End, speaks witJi
calm confidence of the pros))ects of the Atlas Quinine
Company and of what his "principal " is going to
do. In the interests of either or both parties to this
curious emhrn^ilio, of the public, aud of truth, we shall
bo happy to do anything in our power which may
facilitate the investigation.

We shall next week publish a special analytical
report upon an authentic sample of the " Hewett
Quinine, " and it is not improbable that our observ-
ations tliereon may tend slightly to illuminate some
points which today appear to beniore or less obscure,
— Biitisli and Colonial Dmnfiist.

404

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUKIST. [Dhc. i, i8S6.

Mlt. HEWETT'S ALLEGED DISCOVERY.

HISTORY OF THE NEGOTIATIONS : LEGAL
PROCEEDINGS THREATENED.

Wo published last week, as a supplement to this
joiuiihI, the inforiuatioii, verified only while the issue
for the IGtli instant was actually being printed off,
that Mr. (Jresswell Huwett was out of London, but
that his secretary, signmg as for "Cresswell Hewett
& Co." announced that orders for " artificial quin-
ine," in quantities of 100 ounces and upwards,
would be received and booked, although such orders
could n"t be executed for a few weeks yet.
thj: ATI, as cjuinine company.
V\'c were further given to understand that a com-
pany had been formed under the title of " The Atlas
Quinuic Company,'' for the due carrying out of Mr.
Hewett's discovery upon a commercial scale ; that
offices had been taken for the said Companv at
Mary's Chambers, St. Mary Axe, E. C, and "that
the factory for the manufacture of artificial quinine
would " probably be in Germany." As to price,
little or no information was vouchsafed beyond the
bare statement that the quinine would be sold at
something under the market price ruling for the
alkaloid derived from cinchona bark.

A great number of orders for the quinine, it is
alleged, have been received from all ^^arts of the
world, as also applications for agencies, and offers
of capital, one firm in particular being referred to
as having tendered a considerable sum of money
for the entire secret and the sole right of manu-
facture, but nothing could be gleaned from " Cress-
well Hewett & Co." respecting the constitution of
the embryo company in question, or the sources
from whence its future output of quinine is to be
drawn. We ascertained, as a nratter of fact, that,
up to a very few days ago, no patent for the prepar-
ation of quinine had been applied for at the En"--
lish Patent Office, and no company, whose avowed
objects resemble those of such an undertaking as
has been sketched out in the foregoing paragraphs,
has, as yet, been registered under the Companies' Acts.
Mr. Cresswell Hewett's chambers remain at the
adihess given in our previous account, published Au^f.
f'Mlh hist,* viz., 50a, Lincoln's Inn Fields ; but offices
have been taken for the Atlas Quiuine Company at 3a,
fit. Blaiy's Chambers, «t. Mary Axe, E. C, althougli
the name of the company had not been painted upoi
the doors at the date of our last visit and no clerk or
other «M^/o//e.' has been found in occupation of the of-
fices when our representatives have called there. This
narrative, meagre as it is, taken in coijunction with
our previous accounts, gives practically the whule his-
tory of the matter so far as this can be obtained from
what might be called the Lincoln's Inn brief.

A somewhat different comple.xiou is, however, put
upon tlie afl'aii- by the facts and statements we are
about to record, '-Ciesswell Htwett ^ Co." and '-The
Atlas (juinine Company " having apparently, in the ab-
sei.ee of their principal, written up " No thoroughfare."

INTERVlKW Wllil UIl. WILLIAM UUKTOX.

At this point we directed our enijuiries into a differ-
ent euaimel, and as a first result a member of our edit-
orial staff called upon Dr. "iViiliiim Hurton, of 20 Buck-
ler.-liury, E. C , ami was fortunate enough to find that
geutli'uiaii disengHged, and wil'ing to afford us all the
iulormitiijii in bis power.

Dr. liurton received our repiesentative with the ut-
most courtesy, and frankly e.^c.-vaiiied his connection
with this strange and eventful history from first to last,
or r itlitr from th> date of our ori^n'nal announcement
to 111- present, the ''last" staj^e of the enquiry being
by no uiems attuned a.s yet. Omitting some points of
minor detail, wluch, in view of certdii proceedings to
be elab.)rated a little later on, it may not be advisable to
publish today, the sum and substance of what has taken
plaee in religion to '-rtr.ifici.il ijuiaine " during the
pH-t few weeks, i-, iiK'.luiled in the following paragraphs:

£'20,000 FOll THE SECRET.

On the first eonlIIleMceInon^ of M-. 0. Heweft'* al-

* '■ Ar ai. ia! Quinine; iMr. Cn s-weii Hewett lu
viewed." 7j'. cj- (.'. /;,, Vol. x , pagsi 212,

leged discovery, Dr. Burton, through tlie intermediary
of a third party, put himself iato communication with
Mr. Hewett, with the view of making some business
arrangements, or of buying the entire concern outright.
After certain negotiations had been exchanged, the
amended terms offered by Mr. Cresswell Hewett were
accepted, and the name, &c., of the purchaser — Dr. Bur-
ton—revealed to Mr. Hewett. These terms, in brief,
consisted of an agreement to pay the sum of £20,000 to
the discoverer of " artificial quinine," and to retain his
personal services ami those of an ass stant, in con-
nection with the raanulacture, for a ]):'riod of not less
than 12 months, at the salaries of iisOO and £200 per
annum respectively, in return for a fuU disclosure of
the secret of the di.scovery to Dr. Burton, and those
associated with him, the investiture of these parties
with the sole and complete rights to manufacture and
sell the article, and the actual productiou, in presence
of the ])urchasers, of a sufficient quantity of the alk-
aloid for te.sting and trial, of a quality not inferior to
" Howard's."

nUUEOUGILS, WELCOME & CO. AS PURCHAM'-RS.

Mr. Hewett, however. Dr. Burton informed our re-
presentative, after himself propn.siufj and aj/reeing to
these terms was so constantly seeking to amend or
enlarge them,tha^ some of those wluo acted as Dr. Bur-
ton's colleagues in the matter, particularly Messrs. Bur-
roughs, Welcome, &, Co. and Mr. F.land, began to show
some impatience at tlie new demands. The.i-e, how-
ever, were eventually agreed to all round at the instance
of Dr. Burton, who considered that in a matter of .'■ueh
superlative importance, neither one or two thousand
pounds, nor any individual peculiarities, should be
deemed of great moment.

Mr. Hewett so frequently insisted upon the necessity
of his visiting the Continent, in order to arrange for the
starting and due carrying on of the new industry, and
also of the inconvenience his withdrawal from his jiriv-
ate connectiou for a year or more would entail, tliat,
with the view of avoiding these objections and of facilit-
ating the negotiations, Dr. Burton wrote a letter some-
what modifying the conditions previously laid down ;
the following is a verbatim copy or the communication
in question.

I.El'TER FHOM DR. W. BURTON K) MR. CRESSWl'LL
HEWETT'.

20, Bucklersbury, Sept. 9th, 1880.

Dear Sir, — In order to expedite this business, and,
if pos«ible,save you the trouble of a journey to the Con-
tinent, and the loss of your present connection, w hich
would naturally follow the devotion of your entire time
for the next 12 months to the manufacture of quinine
synthetically, ]\Iessrs. Burroughs and Welcome join me
in making the following proposal : — " That we under-
take to make all necessary and satisfactoy arrange-
ments to pay you £21,000 promptly, on^your demon-
strating to us your ability to produce ([uinine at the
price named by you, and your transferring to us tlie
scfiretofits manufacture, and of the sole and exclu-
sive rights to manufacture, under your procesH, and
your undertaking to patent such process, at our ex-
pense, if we do desire. For this purpose the production
of only a small quantity will be necessary to satisfy us,
say 2 pounds. A laboratory shall be placed at your dis-
posal, and we will leave the details of arringements
greatly in your hands. After you have manufactured
the 2 pounds of quinine a sample of it is to be submitted
to two analysts, one to be nominated by yourself and
one by Messrs. Burroughs and Welcome. On receipt
of reports from the selected analysts, certifying that the
quinine manufactured by your process is veritable
marketable quinine, possessing the medicinal properties
of ihe present sulphate of quinine, the payment is to
be made to you cash down. The advantage of your
.accepting the present offer is very clear : the £1,000
offered for your services for one year is added to
the purchase price of £20,000 already agreed upon,
and the actual cash will be iibiced in your hands
within a very few days if you c: rry out your part
of the bargain. — Yours faithfully,

tSu'neti) W. Bl'RTON.

Ml'. Creaswell flewett.

Dec. t, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

4«5

These terms being, of course, more favourable for
the vendor, were duly accepted, and a few days later
the agreement, of which the full text is quoted here-
after was also acceded 10 : —

DltAl'T OF AGREKMENT BETWEEN CKESSWELL HEWETT
AND WIIjLIAM BfUTON AND OTHERS.

40, Chancery Lane, "W.C, 13th Sept., 18Ht).

KahI'-ord anu Franklin.

Tennn of proiiosed Agreement hetween Cresivell and
Heicett and Doctor 11 lUiani Burton.

Dr. Burton to deposit i;21,00U with a banker to be
approved by C. Hewett.

C. Hewett to manufacture within a week, in the pre-
sence of Dr. Burton and two persons to be named by
him, a sufficient qunitity of quinme, by a synthetical, or
artificial process, at a cost of not more tlian 4d per
ounce. The quinine so to be manufactured to be
equal in quality to the ordinary quinine, and identical
in its medical properties.

On the manufacture being completed to the satis-
faction of Dr. lUirton, C. Hewett shall be entitled
to the said sum of £21,000, and also to shares in a
company (with the capital of £250,000) intended to
be formed, to the amount of £29,000, as the con-
sideration for the disclosure to the said Dr. Burton
of the secret process of so manufacturing quinine.
Such £29,000 shares not to pay dividends until the
ordinary share of the company sluill pay dividends at
the rate of 10 per cent per annum.

C. Hewett to commumcate all information necess-
ary to the manufacture of quinine by the process
aforesaid, and to assist Dr. liurtou ni protectuig the
said invention by letters patent in the United King-
dom and all other countries. Such letters patent to
be taken out in the names of the said Dr. Burton,
or the said intended company, or other, the nominees
of the said Dr. Burton.

VISIT TO THE FACrOUY AT WANDSWORTH.

On the 4th ult. Dr. Burton, Messrs. Blaud, Cress-
well Hewett. J. F. Bunting, and S. M. Burroughs
(Burroughs, Wellcome & Co.), visited the chemical
works of the last-named him at Bell Lane, Wands-
worth, where Mr. Cresswell Hewett selected a room
and certain machinery and appliances, to be supple-
mented by other apparatus of his own, and made
various general agreements for the proposed demon-
stration of the actual process of quinine manufacture.
Such process is stated to involve the admixture or
manipulation of three ingredients only and the time
occupied by the treatment of such ingredients, from
the first handling of the raw material to the com-
pletion of the finished products, docs not exceed 24
hours. Besides the "quinine," it is alleged that a
" bye-product " is also formed.

After the incidents just mentioned. Dr. Burton in-
formed our representative nothing particular occurred
except that Mr. C. Hewett appeared to hang back a
little, and could not b; induced to fulfil or go on
with his part of the compact, and neither Dr. Burton
nor Messrs. Burroughs and Wellcome seem to liave
known much more about him except that he left
England, presumably for the purpose of forwarding
the business in view. It is thought by some that
he has gone to Liege ; another report has it that
he is not a great way off Darmstadt at the pre-
sent moment.

•'burton and OTIIEUS V. CRESSWELL HEWETT AND CO."

The announcement made in these columns on
Saturday last, therefore, seems to have been the
first intimation received of the existence of " The
Atlas Quinine Company," and accordingly it fell
with all the force of a wet blanket upon Messrs.
Burton, Bland, Burroughs and Wellcome, &c.
These gentlemen have nothing to do with, and have
no cognizance of, "The Atlas Quinine Company,"
and tbey not unnaturally contend tliat its very ex-
istence is m direct contravention of their previous
arrangements with Mr. Cresswell Hewett. It has,
therefore, Dr. Burton informs us been determined,
in the absenc of any explanation from Mr. Hewett,
to apply for an injunction restraining the "Atlas"
Company and "CresswelJ Hewett <i' Co." from sell-

ing, dealing in, or manufacturing the said artificial
quinine, and should this come off shortly the whole
matter will probably be well ventilated. " Having
gone so far," paid Dr. Burton to our representative,
" we cannot stop where we are. Whatever it may
cost now, I must sift this matter to the very bottom."
Small samples of the "artificial quinine" and tlie
"bye-product" are in Burton's possession ; the former
he retains for the present unopened, the last we are
informed has been examined by Mr. Clayton, f.c.s.,
of Holborn Viaduct, \\ho reports that he can make
nothing of it.

It may be remembered that a sample of the
"quinine," A'c, was entrusted to us by Mr. Hewett.
We have analytically examined this sample, and also
the " bye-product, ' and we shall have some observ-
ations to make respecting them in our next issue. —
BritUh and Colonud JJruc/i/ifit.

▼

INDIAN TEA COMPANIES'

DIVIDENDS.

Statement >liovviiig

the actual amount of dividends

di.'.tributed by 24 of

the principal

Indian tea

Com-

pauies, in respect of

1S65 crop : —

Capital

Amount of

Kate

paid

dividend

per

up.

distributed.

cent

£

£

Assam ...

... 187,160

37,432

20

Brabtnapoetra

... 114,500

18,330

16

Borokai

... 48,560

6,970

16

.Jorehaut

... 100,0(10

15,000

15

Doom Dooma

... 116100

15.3«3

13i

Mookhameheira

... 47,, 500

0,175

13

Jokai

... 56,037

6,604

10

.Ihauzie

... 55,000

5,855

10

Tiphook

... 26,060

2,600

• 10

Paiiitola

... 58,810

5,881

10

Chargola

... 65.500

6,550

10

Leboug

... 82,070

7,3,s6

9

Darjeeling

... 135,120

10,S84

8

Dooars

... 106,000

*7t9

8

Hingajea

... 30,000

2,880

8

BDrelli

. . 78,170

4,090

6

Indian (of Cachar)

... 94,060

5,644

6

Dej.JO

. . 43,580

2.615

6

Scottish Atsam

... 79,590

3,980

5

IMoabiind

... 35,007

1 ,750

5

BaliJAu

... 31,000

1 ,395

4*

Nassau

36,000

1,440

4

Luckimpore

... 76,852

3,074

4

British Indian

... 243,300

3,011

H

£1,947,216

£174,748

Average dividend 9 per cent.
-name and Colo-ud Mud, October, 1886.

Fibre Co.— In the case of Mr. C. E. CoHyer,
described as of Fenchurch-street, hemp, fibre, and
China produce broker, trading under the firm of
CoUyer and Co., who filed his petition in August
last," Mr. S, Woolf applied in the Bankruptcy Court
for the approval of an arrangement come to by the
creditors, whereby it was agreed that Llie property
should vest in, and be administered by a trustee
for the benefit of creditors in like manner as if the
debtor had been adjudged bankrupt. The official
receiver, for whom Mr. Aldridge appeared, reported
that the debtor had traded after knowing liiinself
to be insolvent, but the Court did not think that
anything had been shown to disentitle tlie debtor to
his discharge, except perhips with a nominal sus-
pension, and therefore woulil not withhold approval
of the scheme. The application was accordingly
granted.—/., di G. Express.

» Working part of year.

40$

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec, t, i8^5,

MANUEES.

The character of the soil ix, as is well known, an
important element to be taken into account in the
choice and application of manures. The general
difference between strong and light soils may be taken
to be that the former cnnttins a largt-r store of the
natural elements of fertilitj', though for the most part
in an uudeveloped state, while fconi an exci-ss of clay
the physicial property of retentiveness and its con-
sequent drawbacks are too prominent; while light
soils, on the other hand, are coraparativt ly deficient
in natural resources, and by season of a deficiency of
clay possess the property of porosity in a too great
degree, and hence afford a too ready passage for
water, and other bodies necessary to vegetable
growth.

Clay soils. — On stiff clay soils we have all the
"defects arising from the tenacious and pi istic pro-
perties of this substance, and its consequent imper-
viousness to water, hence the first necessity' towards
the improvement of such soils must be drainage, in
order to remove the excess of water, and without
which the best manures will have but a meagre
effect. All means of adding to the porosity of stiff
clav soils are to be recummeuded — one of the best
of which is burning in heaps with vegetable refuse,
or small coal, in the mann r "balhist" is burnt, and
which spi-ead over the surface before digging, has an
excellent effect in light-niiig the soil.

It is on these descriptions of soil that a thorough
breaking up and stirring at favourable times isso^.
beneficial, particularly before fro.st, which does more fo_
strong clays than almost anylhing else. In fact, culti'
vati'U on these classes of sod must always be the
primary resource for advancing their fertdify — but
supplemented of course by a judicious selection and
appl cation of manures.

S.\NDY SoiTyS.^ — In sandy soils we find all the defects
arising from an extreme porosity, or, in other words,
an absence of retentiveness consequ-nt on the paucity
or absence of clay, which is the chief stDrehouse, so
to speak, not only of the moisture of the soil, but
also of pkiit-fuod, either artific ally added or derived
from natuial sources, and from which the root-fibrils
of i^lants draw their supplies as required.

The retentiveness of such soils may be enchanced
by the addition of clayey composts, and by green
niiinuring.

CtRi^en MANtTRiNG. — Is often an excellent source of
plant-food in the lighter description of soil, and de-
serves to be more extensively arlopted, as we thereby
obtain a clear gain of nitrogen from natural sources,
and at the same time gather up and preserve any
nitrates present in the soil in a staple and efficient
form ; while the humus compounds arising from the
decay of t'le vegetable matter aft'ords absorbent for
moisture, &c., in the same manner as clay. That
vegetable matter in a readily decomposable state is a
vabiable form of manure is shown by the character
of the Wheat crop following a Clover lea. Where
the Clover has been successful, the Wheat plant, as
well known to the agriculturist generally, corresponds,
and vice versa. Dead leaves and garden refuse of all
crops not consumed as food should therefore be care-
fully returned to the land, as they are rich in mai u-
rial elements iu the best posible stale for future
plant-life when prepared by dec^iy in soil.

We may take it as a general rule not to burn
any refuse thai will rot in the soil, except in the
case of foul turf infested with in-ects or seeding
weeds, &c., since by so doing we lose the nitrogen
and organic matter, besides rendering the ash c m-
stituents le>s available by minera'ising them. Sir J. B.
Lawes an I Professor Gilbert have su'^j cted this theory
t.) a mosk rigid investigation at Rothamsted.

The ashes of 14 tons of fc.rmyar.l manure were
applied to an experimental crop of Wheat, and gave
no increase of produce whatever ovt-v an adj >ining
plot that was left entirely unmanured, and iu suc-
ceeding J ears the ash constituents were found to be
but very slowly available as plant food.

Besides all this, able chemists have demonstrated
by growing plants in distilled water, that to produce

a goorl crop there must be nitrogen in the soil or in
the water. They have dissolved the ashes of plants
in pure water, and then, by adding a few grains of
nitrogen in the form of a nitrate, have produced a
luxuriant vegetation; but without nitrogen only a
very feeble growth coidd be obtained.

Wekds. — The field experiments at Kothamsted and
also at Woburn conclusively prove that crops of every
description grown upon ordinary cultivated land are
greatly reduced by weeds. It is true that weeds, if
again returned to the land, do not exhaust a soil, as,
in their decay, the fertility which they have taken
up becomes again available ; but weeds take up nitric
acid, which during their growth reverts to the form
of organic nitrogen. When this occurs in regard to
soluble plant food it is merely so much nitric acid
employed in growing weeds instead of useful garden
produce, and this nitric acid does not again become
available as food of plants until the weeds have under-
gone decay in the soil and become nitrified. — J. J. W.
— Gardeners' ChronicJi".

AJI-AJI, THE PEPPEE OF PEPPEES.

Our contemporary the Saturday Eeview, in its issue
for September IS, had an article under the mysterious
heading of "Aji-Ajt," which the writer at once pro-
ceeded to explain was a "compound Quichuan word"
for Pepper of Peppers, and further informed his
readers that " both word and thing are largely dis-
tributed over South America," that " it is the fiuest
of all Peppers. No other Pepper in either hemi-
sphere competes with it, neither the Pij^er nigrum,
nor the Capsicum baccatum, nor the C. fruticosum,
the C. annuum, nor yet the Eugenia pimenta. All
these are varied merely in pungency, some being sharp
and fiery, others, caustic and stimulating, and some
pricking and penetrating. But the refined and deli-
cate Aji is persuasive aiul enticing, of not one flavour
but many flavour? ; it never conceals, but, on the con-
trary, increases whatever of fragrance and sweetness
of taste or smell it comes in contact with." The
writer then proceeds to give a long list of its extra-
ordinary virtues, and an enumeration of the articles
of food it may be used to improve, from a new-laid
egg to a Strawberry or a jug of mulled claret. It is
said to prevent evil effects in a malarian atmos-
phere, and on this accouut we are told that " the
War Department of the United States has secured a
monopoly of all the Aji which is exported from
South America," and further that "no Aji in these
days finds its way to London, and that which we
once enjoyed in the belief that it would never fail
us has become nothing but a sigh and a regret. It
remains to be seen," the writer continues. " whether
the people who have acclimatised the Cinchona trees
iu the Neilgherries. in Ceylon, in .Jamacia, and in
Fiji will allow themselves to be deprived of their
delicious and inspiriting Aji"

Perhaps the most interesting part of the Saturday
Review's article is that which treats of the prepar-
ation of Aji, which is as follows: — "There are two
kinds of Aji, but there is only one way of prepar-
ing it. The best is that which is made from the greatest
variety of Peppers. The pods of these are taken
when fresh, stripped of their seeds, and ground into
a paste of the consistence of fresh spring butter. The
paste is put into a small, well dried Gourd, prepared
on purp'jse, of the size and shape of a well grown
Orange. The Gourd, when thus charged, is then
coated with a layer of well tempered clay, and placed
in the sun to dry, or to ripen, as the simple people
who prepare it say in their own tongue. By the
time the clay is well baked the pulp or paste within
has been dried into a fine yellow powder, and it is
then fit for use. Many people, ignorant of this fine
art of the Incas, have supposed quite naturally that
these Aji-laden Gourds, with their exquisite flavour
and refined taste, were some uncommon and little
known natural fruits. The other method of preparing
Aji is to grind the seeds with the pods, which simply
adds great pungency to the Pepper, and is always
used in the preparation of Maize or Indian Cor

JdKC. 1, 1BH6.J fUn rnOPtCAL AGRICULTU^ISf„

407

which is boiled in its own husk with so much Aji
aud surpass iu flavour and jjleasantncss any vugo
tablc curry of the Kast. The CJourds of Aji when
thoroughly ripe are cleansed of their coating of clay,
tied up in suitable leaves, well secured by the fibre
of the Aloe, and which much resembles when ready
for market reeves of large onions, a dozen Gourds
making up one reeve of Aji. The cost of these iu
the good old times was 15d. for a dozen Gourds ;
what the price may be now is only known on
the Exchange." From the references made iu the
preceding passage to the pods and seeds beiug ground
to constitute the Pepper, it will be readily guessed
that it is the produce of a species of Capsicum, not-
withstanding that the writer of the article says it is
" not the Capsicum baccatum, nor the C. fruticosum,
nor the C. annum." In the Kew Museum are
numerous varieties of the fruits of Capsicum annum,
all bearing the name of Aji, and the museum also
contains specimens of the small Gourds filled with
Capsicum Pepper as described by our contemporary;
so that the " Aji-Aji" of the Saturday Beview is clearly
the produce of Capsicum annum. — John R. Jackson,
Curator, Museum, Eoyal Gardens, Kew. — Gardeners'
Chronicle.

BOOTS.

{Co/tduded froiib p. 388.)

Many plants flourish in an open soil with plenty
of sand in it, but will not grow in a stiff wet soil.
This is not necessarily because the heavier soil does
not contain the right food materials, but because
its particles are so small, so closely packed, and
so retentive of moisture, that the root-hairs do not
obtain sufficient oxygen : moreover, the very dimp
state of the soil does not favour the development
of the numerous root-hairs necessary, as we have
seen. Nor is this all — though I cannot here enter
at length into this point — root-hairs and roots cannot
grow or act unless the temperature is favourable,
and we have plenty of evidence to show that a close
wet soil may be too cold for the roots at a time
when an open drier soil (exposed to similar con-
ditions as regards sunshine, &c,), would be of a tem-
perature favourable to their growth. Many a pot-
plant receives an overdose of water because it is
drooping from the roots, being too cold to act
properly. The opening up of stiffer soils by means
of the spade or plough, or by the addition of other
kinds of soil, such as sand, burnt lime, &c., or by
means of drainage of various kinds, is thus to be
regarded as a means of letting in air, and therefore
oxygen, to the roots. " Sweetening the soil " is an
expression one hears used by planters and others ; this
is often no doubt their way of expressing the fact
that the air thus let in does so much to turn the
noxious substances which have accumulated into other
substances which the root-hairs of the plant can
take up with profit. The exposure of certain soils
to sharp winter frosts in part benefits the plants
subsequently grown in it, because air can make its
way into the cracks produced as the particles crumble :
there are other advantages also due to the" weathering"
of soils, of course, as also to the addition of lime,
&c„ but I am purposely abstaining from referring
to points concerning the nutrition of plants as generally
understood.

Let me shortly call your attention to a few other
practical applications of the knowledge briefly summed
up above, It is well known that a good deal of
experience has been brought to bear on the question
of what trees are the best to plant iu or near large
towns: there are very many facts to be considereil.
It is not sufficient to find a tree which will accommo-
date itself to the possibilities of the annual rainfall,
or a diminished supply of sunlight throughout the
year, and so on; nor is the problem solved when a
tree is found that will put up with traces of acid gases
in the atmosphere, and, as may follow, the accunud-
atiou of acids in the soil, and consequent alteratious
in its chemical composition. In many cases trees
bare beeu fouud to die as tbey grew oldgr becauise

the pavement or asphalt over their spreading root-
system prevtnted proper ac'iatiuu and a proper supply
of aerated water to their root-hairs ; imagine the
elfect of a few days' hot summer sunshine on roots
just beneath the pavement of an exposed street !
it is true the cover may prevent rapid evaporatiou,
but it also shelters the soil from the well aerated
raindrops ; moreover, such sheltered roots will at
certain seasons grow up to the surface of the soil
and in contact with the lower surface of the pavement.
Then thtire is the question of drainage. If the water
which does find its way in slowly accumulates and
becomes stagnant, the results are as disastrous or
even more so ; yet it is obviously a difficult matter
so to arrange things that the accumulated surplus
water of certain seasons shall pass away below, acting
like a suction-pump and drawing in air after it, and
still fulfil the other requirements hinted at above.
I leave out the question of exhaustion of the soil —
the dead leaves, &c., being carefully removed. Can
we wonder that there are so few trees to choose
from that will stand such treatment? The fact that
there are some only accords with what has been
already stated — that plants vary iu their requirements
and powers ; and no one doubts that the variations
have been influenced by variations in the environment.

We have now seen to a certain extent how variations
of a particular kind may affect a plant. The plant
responds to a certain extent — it is, as some people
say, "plastic" — but if the limits are reached and
s'ightly overstepped, the variations on the part of
the plant become dangenus to its existence, and
the plant becomes diseased and may die.

Not to dwull upon hypotheUcal matters, I will
content myself with saying, in conclusion, suppose a
variety of a given plant grows in damp places and
has roots which form few or no root-hairs, and suppose
an individual of that plant to become transferred
to a more open soil ; I have shown you reasons for
regarding it as probable that the latter individual
might produce more root-hairs and thus adapt itself
to the altered conditions. If such a case happened,
it is by no means improbable, but the contrary, that
other circumstances co-operating or adverse would
decide certain problems of importance to the existence
of that particular indiviLJual.

But the main oliject of this lecture has been to
show you how very complex the conditions may be
which bring about a " tliseased " condition of the
roots. It is no uncommon event to see a tree flourish
for years and then die slowly off from " some-
thing at the roots ; " examination shows that the soil
still contains the necessary foods, the water-supply
is constant and good, the tree is exposed to no ob-
vious adverse influences, and yet with steps so low
that they are scarcely noticeable, the tree begins
to die off before its time. In some cases this is
probably because the root-hairs are not receiving
their proper supply of atxuospheric oxygen, and this
may be due to very slight changes in this structure
(not the chemical composition) of the soil: a very
slight diminution in the activity of the root-hairs
may cause a diminution in the nupply of water to
the leaves at seasons when they rtquire much, and
this mems lessening their supply or food-materials.
If the leaves are placed on short comraous they
cannot form wood, and so the next season's supply
of nutritive solutions may be cut short; moreover,
fewer root-hairs will be formed. No doubt differ-
ences will appear in different years or seasons ; but
if the tendency on the vvhole is in the above direction,
the life of the tree is already limited — it may drag
on for years as an object, which can scarcely bo
termed a t^ee, however, but its doom is sealed.

The difSculty of placing one's hand on an exactly
illustrative case is due to the fact that other causes
are usually at work after a short time. I have
purposely avoided any reference to the changes brought
about in the chemical nature of a soil by the addition
or cutting off of air, &c., ; and for the same reason
— to keep your attention directed to the root-hairs
as living cells exposed to the influence of a defi-
uite environment— I have left out of account soni^

4©S

THE TROFItCAL AaRICULTURiST. [Dec. i, i3?6.

questions of food supply. These matters do not in-
validate anythinfj Raid above, hut they do profoundly
sfifect the problems of the diseases of plants, and
( sptcially those dist-ases which start from the roots.
H. MAB.SHALL Ward, m. \., v. l. s. — Gardeners'

Chronicle.

^

TEA HAIR.

Tea-makers will agree with us that hair, of
all substances in nature, is least likely and least
desirable as a component of the fragrant leaf.
But all Indian and Ceylon tea planters are familiar
with a substance, somewhat resembling the pollen of
flowers, which collects on the machinery in the pro-
cess of manufacture and which we have heard gener-
ally described as " orange " or "golden pekoe dust."
The general impression, we think, has been that the
dust in question was specially derived from and was
about the richest portion of the pekoe buds. Our
attention has, however, been attracted to a paper
in the "Year Book of Pharmacy for 1877," in
which it is shewn that the main constituents of
the substance, are hair-like processes which are
separated from the leaves in the act of rolling.
In taking over the extract we invite communi-
cations as to the proportion of this substance
formed in extensive manufacture ; whether it is
genera ly collected for exportation and what its
commercial value may be ?

FUKTHER KESEAROHES ON TEA HAIR.
Bt Thomas Greenish, f.c.s.

Under the name of Pekoe Flower, or Flower of
Tea, this substance was brought before the Conference
at Glasgow last year by Mr. Grcvef, and on that
occasion [ gave the result of its examination, maiuly
microscopical, which I had previously undertaken. At
that time but little was known either by Mr. Groves
or myself of its history, the position it occupied in
commerce, or its ultimate destination. I followed up
the subjfct with the view of supplying for this meeting
that more complete information which was wanting
ou these !^everal points, as the tea hair may probably
crop up again as a natural curiosity for a lover of
science, or to supply a sensational paragraph for a
public analyst. The tea h;dr was said to have'emauated
from a house in the city, but the city is a large
place in which to look for tea hair,and I found it so.
For many months I worried with my inquiries tea
brokers and tea merchants, but without result, until
at last a friendly hint directed me to a tea broker's
office, where I found a member of the firm who, in
adoi'ion to a very discriminating palate as regards
the strength and tiivour of tea, had also acquired a
vast deal of collateral information about teas imported
from India and China.

It Bppears that tea hair finds its way into tbia
country as an article of legitimate commerce, at
tolerably regular intervals; its commercial name is
"Pekoe Flower," and soQietimes the "Bloom of the
Pekoe Flower." It is a product of India teas, not
of those of China. It is purchased somewhat as a
curiosity, but there arc those who buy it pretty
regularly. Pekoe flower is never sold as tea simple
or for mixing with tea. It is almost a necessity
that it should be sold alone. If it be mixed with ordinary
tea there is such a tendency to the sopa'-ation of
the tea hair and its agglomerition into lumps, that
any attempt of this kind would probably result in
the whole being returned as an adulterated tea.

In an essay on the cultivation and manufacture of
Indian teas by Lieut. -Col. Mo?iey, and published in
Calcutta, the whole process of the manufacture of
the Indian ttas is givtu, and it is not <lilticult to
trace the condition in which this tea hair is found,
to its origin. One part of the process consists in

what is called " rolling " the leares, when the juice
is given out freely; and as to its results ou the leaf,
ho says, ''If the leaves which give Pekoe tips aie
separated from the other leaves and rolled vtry little
and very lightly there will come out Pekoe tijjs of
a whitish colour ; if not hcparated from the other
leaves, but manufactured with them, the sap from
the other leaves, expressed in the rolling, .stains these
said leaves, which are coverid with a tiiK-- silk}- down,
and makes them look like the rest of the tea.'' This
is evidently the part of the process in the manufacture
of Indian teas which gives to the otherwi.^e grejish-
white hair its brown colour, and also that extractive
matter which is found adhering to it.

Mr. Wiguer, in his analysis of the tea hair, gives
theine 1"5 per cent as compared with 80 per cent
for Pekoe tea, and Mr. Groves remarks in reference
to this, that "it is interesting to find theine present
in the tea hair." 1 doubttd the correctness of this
conclusion. The hair of the leaf is an extension of
the epidermal cells covered by the cuticle ; there is
an absence of chlorophyll, the cells being empty ;
this layer prevents too rapid evaporation from the
parenchyma of the leaf, but plays no part in the
plant's economy. I have no doubt but that the
theine obtained by Mr. Wiguer was derived from
extractive and parenchymatous tissue adherent to the
base of some of the hairs. To determine this point,
I took 100 grs. of tea hair, exhausted it with cohl
water and evaporated the liquid to dryness. It
yielded 15 grs. of extract; this closely agrees with
the result obtained by IMr. Wigner. My ol)ject was
now qualitative, to determine tlie presence of theine
in the extract, and for this 1 adopted the micro-
sublimation process. A little of the extract was
dissolved in water, to which was a ided some Cilcined
magnesia ; the solution was boiled and evaporated to
dryness; part of it was then placed in a cell on one
glass slide covered by 'another, and at a temperature
of about 120 -' 0. I obtainel successive crops of theine
in acicular crystals. I then subjected the hair from
which the extract had been obtained to the same
process, but there was no indication iu the hair freed
from extractive of the presence of theine. It is evident
that this experiment on the exhausted hair could
not be considered conclusive as to the absence of
theine in the normal hair of the tea leaf. I further
picked carefully clean hairs from young Pekoe leaves,
treated them iu the same manner by gently boiling
with a little calciued magnesia, and emplovcl the
same micro-sublimation process, but failed to get the
slightest indication of the preseucj of theine iu the
hair itself when free from extractive matter and
parenchymatous tissue. These experiments are to my
mind conclusive that the theine was obtained from
the extractive matter and parenchyma of the plant,
and that there exists no theine in the normal hair
of the tea leaf, and I believe that there is no known
instance of a simple hair, such as that on the tea
leaf, containing ttie active principle of the plant. A
further careful e.xaraiaation of the tea hair, besides
calcareous matter, shows the presence of minute
panicles of the elytra of beetles, the marking."? on
which bear a cl '»e resemblance to the venation of
a, leaf, and which ni:»y easily be mistaken for frag-
raeiits of NOine leaf other tbau tea, i may aid that
the tea hair has created considerable interest, and
I aire been applied to frojM the continent for
museum samples, which until lately I was quite
unable to supply,

Thinks havmg been voted to Mr. Greenish for his
paper.

Mr. Groves said he could have saved Mr. Greenish
a great deal of trouble if he hafl known that he
was in search of the importers of the tea hair.
It was no mystery — he had known all about it from
the first. The general impression was that this tea
hair was worked up into the compressed te^, as the
only way of getting rid of it. As to the presence of
theiu", the presumption was in favo'ir (jf Mr.
Greeui>h's theory that it was tiot- preseut. — Vcitr Hook
of rharmacy ani Transact ions of the lU-itish PharvM'
ceutical Conference for 28/7.

Dec. 1, x886.]

THE TkOPlCAL AGRICULTURIST.

460

♦- —

To the Editor of the " Cexjlon Observer."
PADDY AND CATERPILLARS.
School of Agriculture, Colombo, 22iid Oct. 1886.

Dear Sib,— I am sending you two kinds of cater-
pillars found in a crop of paddy growing in the Agri-
cultural School compound: please ask your Entomo-
logical referee to what kind of moth or butterfly we
are indebted to for this pest. The green-coloured cater-
pillar feeds upon the leaves of the paddy plant, but
the other feeds in the culm, a little above the root and
is by far the more destructive of the two. These
insects cause serious damage to paddy crops, but U
there is an abundant supply of irrigation water avail-
able, they need not give any cause for anxiety, for by
flooding the field these depredators could be drowned
and washed off the crop. In a season like this when
Ko rain falls, the destruction of these caterpillars would
be a serious difliculty.— Yours faithfully, ,^^^^^^

A. W. JAYKVVARDENE.

[The specimens sent have turned into chrysales
before they were fully recognized by our entomolo-
gical referee; but they are probably only common
visitors. Now-a-days every " poochie " seems to be
pitched on as a new and formidable pest. If Mr.
.Tayewardene will send further specimens they will be
fully identified.— Ed.1

PINE-APPLE PLANTS FOR FIBRE
AND FRUIT.

Kirimetia, lOtli Nov. 1886.

Dear Sie,— I enclose a sample of pine-apple,
fibre and will thank you for your opinion of it. It
could be made much longer if required. In one
acre of land there are ten thousand plants the
first year, twenty thousand the second and thirty thou-
sand the third year. Each plant has twenty leaves and
each leaf gives thirty grains of fibre and with
steam or water-power with proper machinery
could be made in (niy quantity according to the
force employed.

The plant will also give ten thousand pine-apples
the first year, twenty thousand the second, and
thirty thousand the third, which could bG made
into wine or brandy. Three full-sized pines will
give a bottle of juice.— Yours truly,

J. HAWKE.

[The specimen of fibre looks very nice. There
is no question as to the value of pine-apple fibre,
but in this and in all other cases of the kind the
question is will it pay to grow the plant largely
and to use the requisite machinery. Pine-apples
grown in the shade yield abundance of long
leaves, but if regularly cropped, we suppose the
application of manure would be necessary. Of all
the fibre plants in Ceylon we have alwaysregarded
the pine-apple as the most likely to give good
results. But an extensive experiment can alone
settle the question of profitable returns. There is
such a large and increasing demand for the
fruit, — what with hotels and steamers, — that conver-
sion into alcoholic drinks need not be contemplated.
— El>.]

FRUIT FROM CEYLON FOR ENGLAND. ,

Catton, 12th November 1886.
Dear Sir, — For the information of " Enquirer,"
in yours of Gth inst., I have sent oranges home on
two occasions, through Mr. E. B. Creasy's Agency
oliice, and they reached home in good order, and
I must say were very promptly delivered, a great
point with fruit of course. I may add that in my
last package I sent home one of the largest sized
fragile chutties used by natives ior carrying and

storing water in, just as a curiosity for my friends
to see. I filled it with oranges, wrapping each
fruit in paper, and put a straw envelope in
centre for ventilation ; the corners of the case I
filled up with oranges in bottle-envelopes, the
chatty also arrived in good order. S. B.

N. B. — The oranges were carefully gathered, and
about a week er so before I expected them to get
quite yellow.

"UNASSORTED" Vs. "ASSORTED" TEAS ;—

PER CONTRA— FOR THE BENEFIT OF

MESSRS. RUCKER & BENCRAFT.

St. Leys, Dikoya, Nov. 15th 1886.
Dear Sir, — Regarding Messrs. Rucker and Ben-
craft's Tea Circulars and their advice to us to ship
"unassorted," I will give you my experience. In
August last, I had two lots sold in Mincing Lane:
one "assorted" 1,.500 lb. and the other " unassort-
ed, " 1,000 lb. They were sent as a test, one against
the other, and the teas were from the same bulk.
The " assorted " was ii-. live grades : Orange Pekoe,
Broken Pekoe, Pekoe, Pekoe Souchong and Dust,
and fetched an average of 1/5J — the " unassorted "
fetching 1/1. Messrs, Rucker's figures reversed. A
leading Mincing Lane Broker expressed the opinioa
that, "it was a pity the latter had not been
assorted, as there was a large proportion of fine
tea in it."

" Who shall decide, when Dactors disagree" ? *
Yours truly, JAS. W. HOLT.

CEYLON CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE
OF TEA : CHANGE OF SYSTEM PROPOSED

AS A REMEDY FOR OVER-PRODUCTION.

Dear Sir, — The "Tea Planter's Manual" contains
much information, which will be extremely useful
to the young, and inexperienced planter, but there
is almost a certainty that the progress of invention,
and knowledge will at no distant date render ralue-
less more than half, of the contents of the volume
you were good enough to present to me.f

The present ideas regarding manuring, plucking,
withering, fermenting, and the necessity for large
tea-houses, will ; I think, undergo a change, and
new systems will not only be forced upon us, but
accelerated by the rapidity of our progress in
cultivation.

In a few years hence, when Ceylon produces
sixty millions of pounds, India eighty or more,
.Java thirty, on the top of two hundred
millions from China, and fifty from Japan ; we
may find too much tea is produced, even for the
increased consumption, which may naturally be
calculated upon in every consuming country ; and
the inevitable result of producing a commodity,
which at present can be successfully, and profit-
ably grown over so large an area as tea will follow,
namely, over-production and a decline in prices
thereupon, to a killing point.

If this should happen, the important question
will be : whether anything can be done to avert
the consequences which a forced curtailment of
production entails?

I think it is possible by changing the present
system of cropping, not only to largely diminish
production without reduction, or abandonment of
cultivation, which, in ths case of nearly every other

* Hear, hear ! — It is evidently ridiculous to lay down
any hard and fast rule.— Ed.

t In which case a new and revised edition will be
published, with all information brought up to date. But
we don't think present systems will be so entirely and
so rapidly superseded as our correspondent antjoipatea,
—Ed.

410

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. i, 1886,

product, is the only way of attaining that object ;
but to render it possible to profitably continue
cultivation undiminished, under almost the most
adverse circumstances which are likely to occur.
The compiler of the " Tea Planter's Manual," has
in the last three paragraphs of his introduction,
set fort) I the peculiar advantages Ceylon possesses
for the profitable cultivation of tea, but I cannot
recall that either he or any other authority, has
ever pointed out, though the fact is well-known,
that there is scarcely any product but tea, from
which if he wishes it, the cultivator can harvest
the finest and highest priced grades of quality, and
leave the inferior and lowest priced on the plants,
without detriment to them.*

When you reflect on what would follow if Euro-
pean tea-planters in India, Ceylon and Java, could
at once, when necessity arises, curtail the pro-
duction of their estates by fifty per cent, and still
be able to keep up their full acreage cultivation,
not only without loss, but at some profit, you will
recognize the almost unique advantage a tea-planter
enjoys over the producer of almost every other
commodity.

That this can be done, I will endeavour to prove,
although in the method I suggest, which can be
gathered from what I have said above, I shall not
be communicating anything new, for, I believe some
of the planting cognoscenti adopt it now, not be-
cause they are forced to do so, but because they
think it more j)rofitable.

As long as the cultivation of tea is as remuner-
ative as it is now, it is more than probable that
the safest course to adopt in harvesting, is to con-
tinue^ the system now generally practised, that is,
to take from the i^lants all the pekoes, and pekoe-
sonchongs they will yield, whether by doing so the
planter obtains four, five, six or more hundreds
of pounds per acre, but, if the time comes when
over-prodnction has to be killed, a different system
must, 1 tliink, be carried out to avert abandonment,
and that change is to pluck fine, and produce nothing
but orange and broken pekoes.

We now know that by careful manij^ulation,
planters can turn out on the present system of
plucking, fifty per cent of orange and broken pekoes,
which average at present in London, at least eighteen-
pence per pound. If in the distant future prices
decline fifty per cent below what they now are, orange
and broken jiekoes would be worth only ninepence.
The question, therefore is, whether fine teas only, can
be produced profitably, to sell in London at this
average ? JMy answer is, that planters whose estates
now yield 400 lb. per acre at a cost of 30 cents per lb.
in Colombo, could reduce their yield to 200 lb. per
acre and lay it down in Colombo at a cost of
about 36 cents per pound ; this at present rates of
freight and exchange is equivalent to 8d per lb. in
London, leaving for interest or profit, a margin of
a penny per pound.

In support of this statement, I offer the follow-
ing calculation based on the figures given in the
"Tea Planter's Manual," making such slight alter-
ations as an entirely different set of circumstances
would warrant. For instance, I have reduced the
cost of management a little, because in times of
great depression it is necessary to economize in
every possible direction. I have omitted the cost
of nurseries, as there is no need to provide for
increased i^roduction, when reduction is the order
of the day ; and I have omitted the charge for
machinery and buildings as not belonging to the
■ cultivation expenditure on an estate in full bearing.

* Mr. Arm<;trong and other experts have charaf^ter-
ized tine plucking as more trying to tea plants than
medium gathering of ie^f.— Ed,

The working expenses of a 200 acres garden ia

full bearing would be : —

Superintendents and Tea-house Conductor E3,500
Weeding El per acre : 200 acres at R12 . . 2,400
Pruning RG per acre . . . . . . 1,200

Upkeep of roads and drains . , . . .500

Tools ; contingencies, general transport and

repairs .. .. .. .. .. 1,000.

Total fixed charges on 200 acres ... R8,G00

which on 40,000 lb. of made tea, comes to
per pound cents.. .. .. .. 21'50

The cost of plucking, manufacturing, pack-
ages, transport, are the same rateably, whether
the yield is large or small, I, therefore, take
the cost of these from the " Manual " . . 15-00

Total cost per pound in Colombo cents . . 86'50

It 'may be urged that the cost of plucking 200 lb.
per acre will be greater than that of 400 lb., if
this is so, then the 400 lb. may be plucked ; the
leaf passed through a green-leaf sifter, and the
coarse leaf put into the manure-pit.

I need scarcely pointjout, that many charges] fall
more lightly on high priced tea than on low, and
that the fixed charges on cultivation compare more
unfavourably than they would do if worked out.
There is no use of arguing, that as Ceylon planters
can produce tea to sell without loss, even if prices
decline fifty i^er cent below the present average of
thirteen-pence-half-penny there is no necessity
to reduce production ; because as overproduc-
tion must be put an end to, prices will fall not
fifty per cent, but sixty or seventy until that end
is attained.

A falling-off of 50 per cent in supplies from India,
Ceylon and .Java, would not only enhance the prices
of fine teas, but those of all descriptions ; more-
over the masses, would, whilst fine teas were selling
at 9d per pound, be educated into appreciation of
good tea, and would not easily be again induced to
consume the low teas which form so large a por-
tion of what is exported from China. The Chinese
have hitherto exported very largely, descriptions not
averaging as much as 8:1 per pound, a decline of
fifty per cent would compel these accommodating
people to consume their own rubbish. No doubt,
they would adapt themselves to circumstances, and
ship more of their fine teas, but it would take a
considerable time to induce them to abandon old
customs, we need not, therefore, dread an over-supply
of fine qualities, when low sorts are not procurable.
It is fortunate, that it would require no united
action to carry my suggestion into effect, because
if prices from over-produeti:)n are brought down to
a ruinous point every planter will be compelled
to do something if he can, to avert ruin ; each
can " paddle his own canoe," without consulting
his neighbour.

I may be asked, why I trouble myself to write
a letter so long in advance, which, if not based
on a fallacy, would do much to encourage that
increase of cultivation, which those like myself
who are already interested in it uj) to the hilt,
would like to see stopped short. My answer is
that so far as Ceylon is concerned, the mischief
— :if there is mischief in it — has been done already
or is in the course of being done. There is every
probability that the colony will, in the course of
five or six years, export GO millions of pounds or
more without any encouragement, but the prospects
of the immediate future — but there is no disguising
the fact, that there is a strong undercurrent of
opinion that the Ceylon tea planter in his eager-
ness to retrieve past losses, has already overshot
the mark and has gone, and is going too far aliead

b

tie. 1, 18S6O

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTORfSt.

4ii

as he did in the case of cinchona, and in a small
way with cardamoms.

It does not suit ray book, nor I think the book
of any one interested in tea planting to have doubts
thrown on the permanency of an industry to which
we are irretrievably committed : and I do not think
I am cutting my own throat in doing what I can
to disperse doubts, which many people make use
of to suit their own views. I commenced this letter
with the intention of criticizing the article iu the
Manual on Manuring, as it appeared to me that
the compiler. Col. Money, and Mr. Carter, had
fallen into the mistake of calculatiug the gross value
of the whole of the increased yield from the appli-
cation of costly manures as protit without deducting
the cost of manufacture, chests and transport, in
fact all rateable charges on the extra output, but
as this letter has spun out to an inordinate
length, I must postpone my remarks on the sub-
ject shie die, no doubt, to the great satisfaction of
your readers. This letter will, however, only be read
by the few who recognize the signature as that
of the writer of one you published in August
1883, in which, for reasons given in it, the con-
version of coffee estates into tea gardens was
strongly advocated and this is a seiiuence to it. —
Yours truly, ^- ^^ ^s

TuE Aetifici.vi, Quinine Scuie.— A very
complete and amusing exposure of the Cresswell-
Hewett deception will be found on our back page
taken from the " British and Colonial Druggist."
It seems clear to us that Mr. C. Hewett bolted
to the Continent to escape being put to the test by
Dr. Burton and Messrs. Burroughs, Wellcome & Co.,
in doing what he promised, namely, to turn out 2 lb.
of marketable medical quinine, — satisfactory to two
competent referees — at a rate not to exceed 4d
an ounce, besides a bye-product of some value !
Cresswell-Hewett is evidently either a madman or
a rogue.

Fiiuir TO England. — In reference to "Enquirer" 's
letter of -8th October, a correspondent reminds us
that in Tropical Agriculturist 1885-8G, page iiS, we
published a letter on the subject of sending oranges
to lingland— aboxof these to Norwich, sent through
the London and Colombo Forwarding Agency,
arriving in capital condition. We learn that another
lot of oranges went forward by the same agency a
short time ago, and we hope to hear the result very
shortly. We are told the object of wrapping such
fruit in tissue, or blotting paper is in the first
place to prevent them from touching each other,
as almost all fleshy fruits are apt to decay at the
point of contact, though they may not actually be
bruised ; in the second place to absorb any moisture
that may exude from the skin. All fruit confined
in boxes sweats to a certain degree and it is im-
portant to get rid of the moisture, if possible.

Watei; Potnt.r ani> Tea Machinery. — With
reference no doubt to our remark on the suitable-
ness of electric motors for connecting machinery
in factories placed at suitable centres with water-
power at a distance, a correspondent sends us some
interesting information respecting a Darjiling factory.
He refers to the gardens of the Tukvar Tea Com-
pany and states that the power for driving ample
machinery for a large tea factory is provided by
a turbine situated at the level of the river nearly
1,500 feet below the level of the factory, the power
is carried up the hill by wire-ropes running round
pulleys about a chain apart. The factory is a
large one and is one of the Show places in Dar-
jiling. Mr. Curtis is a practical Engineer. The
machinery works well, as several Ceylon resideuts

wbo bave seen the |>1^$§ can i9§\iif,

The Lungla Tka Company, Limited, is registered
with a capital of £40,000 divided into 4,000 shares of
£10 each, with power to increase. The object is to ac-
quire and take over as from January 1st, 1880, from
the present proprietors, the tea gardens, plantations,
factories, land and property, situate in the district of
Sylhet, iu British India, known as the Lungla Tea Est-
ate, aud all the manufactured tea and all the tea-leaf
and other produce thereof respectively, aud all the
houses, erections, buildings, machinery, iniplenieuts,
utensils, elephants, live and dead stock, and all other
property of whatever kind thereunto belonging at the
price of £36,000 to be paid to the said proprietors in
3,000 shares iu tliis company, on which the sinu of £10
shall be credited on each share as paid ; and also to ac-
quire such other tea gardens, plantations and property
as shall be convenient for the purposes of the company,
and to carry on the business of planting and cultivating
the tea plant and the manufacture aud sale of tea.
The first subscribers are :—M. Fox, railway contractor,
of Catherine Tlace, Bath ; Major-General T. B. Har-
rison, Blackhoath Park, S. E. ; H. A, Harrison, Judge,
B. c. s., Blackheatli Park, S. E. ; 0. A. Goodrich, tea
merchant, Dtshwood House, E. C. ; A. R. Mcintosh,
merchant, 47, Qucensboro' Terrace, Bayswatcr ; G.
Seton, merchant, 34, Old Broad Street ; J. Sanderson,
solicitor, 40 Queen Victoria Street, E. C. The numlier
of directors shall not exceed five, and shall not b '■ less
than two, and the (lualifioatiou of each shall be the hold-
ing of £1,000 of the nominal share capital of the com-
pany. The followiutr are to be the first directors, liz : —
Michael Fox, B anfill Harrison, Frederick Bailey, El.
mund Theodore lioberts, and Charles Alfred Goodrich,
Mr. Fox being chairman. — limes of India., Cor. — London,
October 21st.

Cinchona Culture in Be.azil. — The Bio
JN'cH-.s- states: — During the Senate session of the 20th
instant Senator Taunay took occasion to call attention
to the question of cinchona cultivation, and asked the
government for information regarding the Bcrreira
cinchona plantation. He referred to the efforts em-
ployed by the British and Dutch governments to en-
courage this industry, and the advantages which the
state might derive from its cultivation. Senator
Dantas took up the same subject aud stated that the
cultivation of cinchona was begun in the country in
1868, and that the experiment had giveu good results.
In entire accord with the preceding speaker, he
thought that the Government ought to encourage its
cultivation on a large scale. There can be no doubt
whatever as to the good results of such an industry
provided it is intelligently carried on and it is not
handicapped by export taxes. So far as it can
legitimately do so the government will certainlj^ do
wisely to encourage this and all other new industries,
for the country needs a greater diversity of product-
tions. But how is this to be done ? And is it not a
sad commentary on the state of affairs that no in-
dustry can be started without government aid and
encouragement ? Must we believe that the Brazilian
people have come to that pass where no industry can hn
initi.ited and no enterprise carried on without such
help? And what future is therefor a country so
helpless as tliis Y Instead of trying to secure aid and
encouragement for this or that special industry, bow-
ever advantageous it maybe, we are inclined to think
that the first duty of the government is that of arous-
ing the people to think and act for themselves. In-
dustry should be made less dependent upon the public
treasury, and more upon individual enterprise. In-
stead of confining their whole attention to cotfee and
sugar cultivation, why should not tlie idantcrs ex-
ercise their own good judgment aud undertake the
production of other staples ? The state may very
properly obtain information for them, and miy even
carry on experimental farms, like this ciichona plant-
ation at Barreira, but beyond this is the domain of
private industry into which the state should not enter.
The minister of agriculture should furnish all the
required information in regard to this exi);rimen5,
which should be published, but we do not see that
anything further should be done. The people should
be made to feel that the matter js wlioily ia theiv

4ii

^m f^oPicAt Aomttjvvvmnf, pEc, i, me,

PLANTING IN FIJI : COCONUTS, CINCHONA,

COFFEE.

{From the Handbook t» Fiji)

Under the heading " Agriculture " a considerable
space is devoted to noting the prospects and pos-
aibilitits connected with the chief products of the
colony. Attention is directed to coconut cultivation,
and after describing the method considered to be
most suitable, probable results are thus referred
to: — "Taking the produce in Fiji at 00 nuts per
tree, per year, an acre would give, say, 4,200 nuts.
This would make about two-thirds of a ton of copra,
the average value of which is about £7 10s., from
which deduct the expense of collecting and manu-
facture, which is about £2 10s., which leaves a pro-
fit of £5 per acre. It may be added that copra is
shipped to Europe where it sells at fBom £16 to £20
per ton. And it must be remembered that in the
aljove calculation no account is taken of the husks,
or pericarp, which, by the use of the proper machi-
nery, is manufactured into coir fibre and is of con-
siderable value. As to the oost of land and the ex-
pense in labor, etc., entailed to bring a coconut plan-
tatiou up to the bearing point, a rate cannot well
be fixed as many causes may operate to vary the
amount. Land may be purchased at a low or a high
figure. Labor may be well and economically used,
while on the other hand it may be wasted most
enormously. Taking the above into considaration the
co-t per acre for bringing a cocoanut plantation into
full bearing may vary from £20 to £40 per acre ; it
may be done for £20, but it might take £40. If
therefore, a person has capital to purchase, say,
50O acres suitable coconut laud in the proper locality,
to clear, plant, and cultivate 500 acres of coconut
trees up to full bearing point, he may calculate on
an income of at least £3,<100 per annum as the combined
profits of copra, fibre, and cattle. As to the value
elsewhere of full-bearing coconut plantations, a refer-
ence to the Oeylon newspapers will show that sales
of such property there are never made under £100
per acre, and often much more.« * ^ * Probably
no crop or product is to be found where so large
a return is obtainable at so small a risk as that of
coconuts. * * *■ The husks from 700 coconuts produce
about one ton of fibre, which is of the value on the
estates in Fiji of from £5 to £15 per ton, according
to quality. Brush fibre or bristles is worth from £15
to £30 per ton in Fiji. The cost of labor to pro-
duce one ton of fibre, exclusive of cost and wear of
machinery, may by putting down at from £5 to 10."
The exact value of the foregoing will at once be
relised by the coconut growers of Fiji, while those
who desire to be enlightened may easily attain to
the most perfect assurance on the point through the
fame medium, experienced.

•'Cinchona" is the next product noticed and after
a truthful statement to the capacities of the group
for this cultivation, the subject is quitted with the
following observations : — " Here a planter who can
afford to wait for the returns for seven years cannot
do better than open out a cinchona plantation ; whilst
for one whose capital is too small to enable him to
wait there are many products such as tobacco, corn,
ginger, cardannms, bananas, etc., which he could

flam afi well, and on the immediate returns of which
e might live until the cinchona would be fit to cut.
For the capitalist who i-equiies ffood interest for his
money and a healthy pleasant life there are few
places like Fiji.'' Kclerence is here kindly permitted
to the long roll of capitalists and planters who have
realised this good interest, but whose names have un-
fortunately not been mentioned,

Relative to the next product noticed, '• Coffee," the
gcuticniau whose name appears up^n the title paj^'e
j;ive« assurance that it can be received with perfect
Confidence. Possibly he may not have written the
matter; liut he has been a coffee cultivator himself ;

a Surely there is some great mistake here ! Has
coconut property iu Ceylou ever sold at £100 per
^cre 'f — Eb.

the scene of operation specially retfered to is one with
which he is intimately acquainted, and these facts
are a sufhcient guarantee that he would not counten-
ance an imperfect or insuflBcient statement of the case.
With this premise it is only necessary to quote briefly; —
" Perhaps no tropical industry offers more genuine
attraction to a man possessed of ordinary business abil-
ity with a taste for agricultural pursuits than does
coffee-planting. * • # The coffee industry is no
longer in its infancy in Fiji. Questions with regard
to soil, natural fertility, elevation, and shelter having
now been proved by the experience of pioneer planters,
may be regarded as settled, and any one now open-
ing up a coffee plantation in Fiji need no longer
run the risks attending experiment in these directions.
• * * The coffee-leaf deseaise which some four years
ago threatened to crush the coffee industry through-
out the world may now be said to have all but dis-
appeared from Fiji. Experience has shown that it
may be best resisted by high cultivation, and for this
purpose the incomparably rich soil of the group offers
facilities that cannot elsewhere be met with. On
the island of Taviuni, for instance, which on account
of position and fertility seems to have been specially
selected as a field for the coffee indu.stry, the disease
is rarely to be met with. Of this i.'^land Mr. F. B.
Thurber in his ' Coffee from Plantation to Cup ' re-
marks : — ' In the island of Taviuni, in the Fiji Group,
there are somi half-dozen coffee estates ranging in
area from fifty to three hundred acres. Coffee trees
are just coming into bearing (1880). At the Sydney
Exhibition the first gold medal was awarded to an
exhibit of coffee from Fiji.' " This is all that is said
as to the present prospect of the industry. It is of
course left to the Executive Commissioner to dilate
orallj' upon the astounding progress which has been
made with these half-dozen estates since the date
above quoted. He may also be expected to supple-
ment it with glowing references to the Wainunu,
Bua, Rewa, and Serua plantations, and to explain
under what exceptionally favorable condition, apart
from those of fertile soil and admirable climate, they
have steadily attained to their present high state of
remunerative development. Connected herewith his
own personal experience will s-upply a most encour-
aging illustration, and it will further jiermit of the
confidential intimation that as soon as the exhibition
is over it is his fixed intention to rush back to Fiji,
put in a large area of coffee and to retire in a few
years upon the magnificent addition, he will thereby
be able to make to the colossal fortune he has al-
ready amassed. — Fiji Times — [This is, of course, sar-
castic, coffee culture in Fiji, so much vaunted by Mr.
Mason in the Hand-Book having been, really a great
failure. — Ed.]

♦

AGRI-HOKTICULTUEAL SOCIETY OF

MADEAS.

The Dinde Tree. — Read the following letter from Mr.
Morris, dated Kew, tith July 1386 :— •' In the Report of
your Committee for the year 1885, mention is made of
the seed described as ' Dinde,' a valuable timber tree
sent to the Society from Kew. ]Mr. Dyer desires me
to say that since the despatch of the seed it has been
determined as C olorophora ti/u-toria or the Fustic Dj^e-
wood of the AYest Indies. I notice that in your Report
you do not speak very favourably of the 'Tree Tomato'
in Sourthern India. It is quite possible that it may not
be quite so good with you as it undoubtedly in iu the
West Indies, but on the other hand, it may be found, on
larger knowledge and experience to possess qualities
which may commend it to geueral approval. The
fruit .••hould be allowed to fully ripen on the tree. This
is an essential point as regards flavour and size. For
cooking purposes, all the seeds should be removed and
the outer skin, then cut the fleshy part into (juarters and
stew or cook as you would apricot or peach, or make into
jam or jelly. If found too acid, steep in boiling water for
a few minutes before using, and the flavour will be much
milder. The p auters iu Jamaica attribute to it very
beneficial prop rti s as regards liver disease ; and

m\*nid uiy aikj^tiou. was lirst Urawu to it uader i\n

tJiic. 1, 1S86J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

4ti

name of ' vegetable mercury, ' I cannot say anything
about its medicinal properties for I have had uo oppor-
tunity to test, them ; but I can certainly speak highly
of it as a fruit prepared in the manner above
described. ' ' Recorded with many thanks, and resolved
that Mr. Morris be informed that from more recent
Keports his introductions of the " Tree Tomato " to
the Hills of the Southern India may be regarded as a
decided success which is much appreciated.

Tree tomato. — Read the following letter from
Charles Gray. Esq., dated Coonoor, 11th August
Iggg: — « I notice in the Annual Report for the past
year that the ' T ree Tomato ' is said to have proved
a failure as regards the liavour of the fruit. All I
can say is that on the Nilgiris every one tha,t I have
given a fruit to, has pronounced it most delicious ; and
if the longing looks cast on the fruits on the tree
after one has been given as a trial, are to be taken
into account, I quite believe it. Unfortunately my
Kupply is limited, or I could have disposed of hundreds,
and if you have any surplus seed, I should be glad
of some, as I am continually asked for some. I write
this, as I, for one, (and there are many others here too)
am decidedly in favour of its propagation, it being a
valuable addition to our limited list of really tasty
fruits, as well as being most ornamental. I do not
know how the plant grows in other districts, but hi
Ooonoor it grows with a nice straight stem about 6 feet
high, and then branches straight out, each branch
being very even in length ; the clusters of scarlet fruit,
from 3-lb in number, which hang well below the foli-
age, give a perfect picture that makes the tree an
ornament to any garden.

Coca.— Sir Walter Elliot {M. C. S. [Retired).— B.ea.d
the following letter from Sir Walter Elliot.

I have to thank you for the last Keport (1886) of the
Agri-Horticultural Society, which contains an inter-
esting account of your endeavour to distribute seeds of
the Erythroxylon coca. In the Report of the previous
year it was stated that it was expected to form
an anesthetic agent which would be useful in
India. 1 looked for a further notice of this discovery
in the present Report, but the subject of cocaine is
not mentioned. Colonel Beddome told me that some
years ago he tried to use the dried leaves as the
Peruvian miners do, who chew them with powdered
chalk as a stimulant, but he did not perceive that it
had such an effect. The trivial name recalls to me
a substance with which I was familiar many years
ago, when employed louder the Bombay Presidency.
It was sold in the bazaar under the name of Kokum,
a soft or soapy substance procured from the Konkan,
and applied to the skin when cracked and escoriat
by the sun with good effect. It is prepared from the
seed of Garcinia purpurea of Roxburg common in oiir
forests, and is described by Colonel Beddome in his
Icones p. 64. It has often occurred to me that it
might be utilized more generally if prepared in a more
refined form. I brought a piece home which I sent
two years ago to my son when with his regiment, the
Black Watch, on the Nile expedition. They were the
most advanced party, and suffered severely when row-
ing all the day against the stream under intense
solar induence. It did not reach him in time to give
it a full trial, but if it had, I am convinced it would
have been of esspntial benefit. It might be worth the
while of the iSociety to consider this. The Report of
1884, for which I have also to return the best thanks,
made special mention of the Fourcroya, and other
fibre-producing plants. When in London, last year, I
found ray old friend, General Fred. C. Cotton, n. e. ,
much occupied with an improved process for extrac-
ting fttires from the cellular substance which, by the
present practice of applying water from above, is apt
to cause entanglement of the finer fibres. The impro-
ved practice consisted in forcing the water from below,
which by the experiment then making appeared
to answer perfectly in bringing out the fibres undisturbed.
Very likely you may have heard of this, but I
think it was well to mention it in case you have
not. Owing to my complete failure of sight, I am
unable to take the same interest in these matters
tljat I used to do, iu adUitiyu to which myadvauced

age acts as a still further hindrance. I still, how-
ever, love my garden, and should be iilad if you
would send me a small packet of seeds of Nilgiri and
other Indian plants, which I formerly had, but have
lost, I may mention particularly the Meyenia and some
of the handsomer Acanthacwa and Scrophalacete. I
sent a small packet of Ipomcea Quamocut seed to my
daughter in 1859, which after her marriage was found
in her room, where it had been overlooked for 20
years, I sowed them, however, iu 1881, though with-
out the least expectation that they would germinate.
To my great surprise they did so, when, owing to the
carelessness of a stupid gardner, they were lost during
my absence, after they had attained a height of 10
or 12 inches ; I should like to try this exepriment
again if you can send me a few seeds, both old, if
you have them, and new. I shall feel much obliged
if you will make my grateful acknowledgments to the
President and committee for their kindness in send-
ing the Reports." Recorded. The seeds will be sent. —
Madras Mail.

Kapok, or tree cotton, is attracting some attention
just now, not only abroad but in tbis country. We
therefore reproduce in another column this week, a
somewhat lengthy piper on the suliject from one
of our English exchanges. Our coutemporary bus got
a little "mixed" about the various sub-orders w lich
make up the natural order which chiefly contain silk
cotton trees : for instance, the N. O. Trestromacew
(the Tea and Cammellia order) is included among the
allied orders of Bombacese. In other respects, the
paper contains much interei^ting information, and
will repay perusal. — Indian Aijrwidturist.

Fibre — Our esteemed correspondent, Dr. B -navlajof
Etawah, calls attention, to the w/tiie flowered variety of
the Calotrupis Giyentea ('Madiir') as an excellfiit fibre-
yielding plant. Owing to the branching habit of the
ordinary ' Madar ' and its low, straggling growth, it
loses much of its value as a fibre plant, as the staple
is very short. AVith the white-flowered variety it is
different. The plants are single-stemmed, erect in
habit, and grow to over six feet iu height. We have
frequently come acioss this variety in the North-
western Provinces and the Punjab, especially in the
Delhi district. Dr. Bonavia's suggestion is a {,ood
one, and the experiment is worth being carried out
on a small scale at first, if necessary. — ludAan Agri'
cultuiist.

BfiiCK Tea. — Mr. C. Maries, the Superintend nt of
the Durbhunga Rej gardens and parks, gives a Calcutta
paper an account of the manner they make b ick
tea in China. It is interesting, dpro2}os of the subject,
to know that tea bricks are used as currency in
Tibet, where the salaries of the Chinese officials are
paid with them. Mr. Maries says : — " I have visited
the factories in Hankow, China, where brick tea is
made. I was there in 1878, and, after watching the
process with great interest, I saw only dust tea used —
generally of the dirtiest nature — the very sifliugs of
sittings to all appearance. The dust was weighed out
and put into thin cloth bags; the bag was then put
over a cauldron or large boiler and steamed for a
certain time. When thoroughly steamed (the time
was, as near as I can remember, about five minutes),
it was taken and put into a strong wooden mould
and pressed under a beam press, coolies acting as
weight for the press by running along the beam. All
was done most quickly and easily: it was less like
work than play. After the pressing the mould was
taken into a drying room, where the tea was allowed
to remain in the mould till the cake was hard. The
cake was then turned out and dried like common clay
bricks till perfectly free from moisture. I did not
see any other material mixed with the tea ; nor was
it damped before steaming. If the dirty Chinese dust
would make good tea for Russian consumption, I
should think the clean dust and refuse of the Indian
tea-factories, such as I have seen, would make a
profitable article of export. This brick tea is .'ent
overland from Hankow to Siberia." — Indian A^rical-
I'.vist,

414

TOS fRaPfCAL AO^ICULTURlSf.

[Dec. 1, iSS6.

Tree Roots and Buildings. — At a recent meeting
of the Society ot Arts, in the course of a discuB>.ioii
on Indian Archwology, Mr. Sewell said he did uot
know auytliing which would advance the preservation
of ancient monuments in India more than tiie dis-
covery of some means of chocking the growth of
tree-roots on the temples. All sorts of things had
been tried in Southern India, but they had discovered
nothing effectual. They burnt the roots with red-hot
crowbars, and some people had suggested putting
iugar upon them, in order to attract ants and other
insects, but he did not think that was very practic-
able. If any remedy were discovered and made
known, it would be invaluable. — Jndian Oardener.

Remedy foe EAKACHE.^The Therapeutical Gatette
recommends the following as an effectual means of
administering chloroform in this complaint, and one
which is absolutely devoid of danger. This is to fill
the bowl of a common clay pipe with cotton wool
upon which pour as much chloroform as it will retain
without dripping. This done, insert the end of the stem
carefully into the ear, and let some one blow gently the
yapour of the chloroform against the tympanum.
The person blowing through the pipe must* of course
be careful uot to inhale the fumes of the chloroform.
This is an exceedingly effectual relief for earache
in children when there is uo inflanmiatory disturbances.
— Burgoyne ^ Co.'s Price Current.

Canaby islands Cochineal. — A recent consular
report states that the value of cochineal exported
from the Canary Islands during the past year was
£127,023. It is still the most important staple of ex-
portation, and the principal product of the islands.
"We hear, however, that an attempt is about to be
made to cultivate the tea shrub on these islands.
"With regard to cochineal, in spite of the above re-
sults, there has been a general falling off, amounting
to something like 10 per cent as compared to the
produce of the year 1884, particularly on the Grand
Canary, where the crop of cochineal is always more
thau half the whole yield of the islands. It is as-
serted that the trade is evidently declining. Never-
theless, the recent rise in price gives some hope that
the cultivation of the opumia for the rearing of the
cochineal insect will not be entirely abandoned for
many years to come. It is not a little surprising that
the discovery of the coal-tar dyes should have iujured
the cochineal trade; and it would doubtless have
ruined it ere this had it uot been found that most
of the coal-tar colours are poisons, which cannot be
employed with safety in pharmacy or in confectionery.
This fact alone ought to cause a revival of the " good
old times " as regards cochineal. — Burgoyne ^- Co.'s
Price Current.

Thk Bamboo. — The following is an extract from the
" Exhibition " number of the Journal of Indian Art
for May 1886, describing the plans of the Indian
Courts at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition : — " In
the centre of the Economic Court the great Bamboo
Bridge, or as it may be called trophy, is a couspiuu-
ous object, and the collection of over 3,000 articles
made from this most versatile material, can only be
briefly iniroduct^d by a quotation from Colonel Yule's
Anglo-Indian Glossary, page 41 — ' In fact it might
almost be said that among the Indo-Chinese nations
the staff of life is a bamhoo. Scaffolding the ladders,
landing jetties, fishing apparatus, irrigation wheels and
Bcoops, oars, masts and yards, spears and arrows, hats
and helmets, bow, bow-string and quiver, oil cans,
water stoups and cooking pots, pipe-sticks, conduits,
clothes-boxes, pan-boxes, dinner-trays, pickles, pre-
serves and melodious musical instruments, torches,
footballs, cordage, bellows, mats, paper; these are but
a few of the articles that are made from the bamboo.
To these may be added from a cursory inspection of
a collection in one of the museums at Kew, combs,
mugs, sun-blinds, cages, grotesque carvings, brushes,
jans, shirts, sails, teapots, pipes and harps." — Indian
Gardener.

The S.^vnitauv Value of Teees. — Dr. Stephen Smith
recently read a paper before the Now York Academy
©f Sciences oa the sanitary value of trees in tbe city

It is a well-known fact that during the intense heat
of summer there is more suffering and death from
sunstroke and high temperatures in the JNorthern
cities thau in the South, a result which must certamly
be attributed to the absence of suitable proteclion.
From three to five thousand people die every summer
in the metropolis from the effects of heat. In the
and, treeless streets and avenues the temperature
often runs from 130° to 150° Fahr., when under
the branches of a thrifty shade tree it vvoukl not
exceed 70" or 80". In the absence of sheltering
trees, the stone and brick walls act on the principle
of the regenerative furnace, and absorb the heat of
the sun to yield it up again during the night. If
trees were planttd in the streets the pavement and
surrounding walls would be much cooler, and at the
same time the trees would absorb the deleterious
gases thrown off from the lungs and from decomposing
rnatter, yielding in return a supply of pure oxygen.
The value of a systematic culture of trees in all of
our large cities can hardly be estimated. From both
a sanitary and artistic stand-point they are a very
desirable addition to any city.— /nrfiVu! Gardener.

Comicalities in Plants.— There is a jack in the
pulpit, the flower of the plant known as Indian tur-
nip {.irisccma triphylhon). Who could ever look at
one of these singular blossoms, says a writer in the
Jf-estcrn Review of Science, without that same stir-
ring the risible faculties which one experiences in
perusing a parody or caricature, or witnessing a pan-
tomime ? The very sight of one is provocatire of
mirth. How many times in my school days did I
challeng the teacher's frown by involuntary giggles
of the whimsical look of the imprisoned Jack ! Monk's
hoo of the genus Aconitum, has quaint, comical
flowers, suggestive of an old lady's head in a night
cap. The well known fly-trap, Dionoia mtiscipula,
strikes the mind with all the effect of a joke. The
leaves of this plant are fringed with stiff bristles, and
fold together when certain hairs on their upper sur-
face are touched, thus seizing insects that light on
them. Seeing the leaf stand temptingly open, a poor
fly pops in for shelter or food. No sooner has it touched
its feet than some sensitive fibres are affected, and
the cilia of the top closes in upon the intruder, im-
prisoning him as eft'ectually as if a boy bad taken
him and closed him in a box. The pitcher plant, or
monkey cap of the east, although not particularly
ludicrous, has a whimsical arrangement which borders
closely upon the human economy. To the footstalk
of each leaf of this plant, near the base, is attached
a kind of bag, shaped like a pitcher, of the same
consistence and colour as the leaf in the earlier state
of its growth, but changing with age to a reddish
purple. It is girt around with an oblique baud or
hoop, and covered with a lid neatly fitted, and move-
able on a kind of hinge or strong fibre, which, pass-
ing over the handle, connects the vessel with the leaf.
By the shrinking or contracting of this fibre, the lid
is drawn open whenever the weather is showery or
damp. AVhen sufficient moisture has fallen and the
pitcher saturated, the cover falls down so firmly that
evaporation cannot ensue. The water is thus gradu-
ally absorbed through the handle in the footstalk of
the leaf, giving sustenance and vigor to the plants.
As boon as the pitchers are exhausted, the lids again
open to admit whatever moisture may fall ; and when
the plant has produced its' seed, and dry season fairly
sets in, it withers, with all the covers of the pitchers
standing open. The flower of the bee or/c i'.s is like a
piece of honeycomb, and the bees delight in it. Then
there is the snapdragon, the corolla of which is cleft,
and turned back so as to look like a rabbit's mouth,
especially if pinched on the sides, when the animal
appears as if nibbling. The flowers of the cock's comb,
and the seed pod of the inostynia probosscidia bear
curious resemblance to the objects which have suggested
their names. Some kinds of the Mendicago have also
curious sted-pods, .'^ome being like bee-hives, some like
caterpillars and some like hedgehogs — the last being
itself an essentially ludicrous ohiQci, —ScieniifiQ
American,

Dec. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

415

VEGETABLE CULTUEE IN NUWARA ELIYA ;

INSECT PESTS— A NEW WBINKLE &C.

{Written for th- ''Oei/lon Obsercer.'')

Kitchen gardening at the Ceylon sanitarium is
not " all beer and skittles." I have been up here
for nearly a year opening up extensive gardens, for
the rearing of choice European vegetables, and, though
as is usually the case, I have had to pay for my
experience, I have jet no wish to bottle up and hide
under a bushel, any useful wrinkles, or little know-
ledge I may have gained.

You have long ago asked me, to jot down some
instructions as to the growing of vegetables in the high-
lands of Ceylon. To begin with, I had not until Lttely
acquired sufficient knowledge to authorize me to write
on the subject with any degree of confidence. In
the second place, constant outdoor work, superintending
Nuwara Eliya coolies, — and surli cooJies — is not cou-
ducive to scribbling and desk work. I am not, I think,
naturally a bad-tempered fellow, but if Job himself
had had the ordeal to go through, I do believe the
writings of that patient Saint of old, would have
been handed down to his posterity in a very much
more modified form. But I am wandering from my
subject, and first let me give you a few Hues on our
insect pests.

1. — Insect pests. — The worst enemy to Horticulturists
here, and indeed lower down to about 3,000 ft. elev-
ation, is the "black grub," the most destructive of
all loathsome creeping things, it has been my mis-
fortune to make the acquaintance of. It is the
larva of a small gray moth,* and reaches to
the length of about 1| inches. This black imp
may be termed an omnivegetarian, feeding on no
particular plant, but cutting down indiscriminately
everything that comes in its way. Fancy what a
blessing this little cuss would be if it would only
confine its attacks to the herbage aiud weeds, which
nature originally provided for it to feed on ! Not a bit of
it, his taste has got highly educated. He has a decided
predilection for the succulent cauliflower, and is
ravenously fond of a good salad, beetroot and let-
tuce plants not having a ghost of a chance with
him. The omnipresence of these " varmints," seems to
me to be a good example, of Darwin's theory of the
survival of the fittest.or at least in this instance of the
moat voracionif. The unkindest part of it is, that
this knowing poochie, does not seem to feed on
th'e plants it attacks, but simply cuts their throats,
just at their junction with the ground. In a word,
he is a regular little garotter. He leaves his victim
prostrate and knowing his deeds are evil, proceeds
onwards in the darkness of night, to repeat his
wanton mischief. The mothers of these little imps
must be bad ones, for they do not attach their
eggs to any particular food plant, as most respect-
able and high caste moths and butterflies do, but
deposit them in the ground — instinct dictating to
them that their ill-begotten progeny from their
naturally predatory habits— will have no difficulty
i\x gaining a livelihood. Now what are the cures for
this pest ? To begin with we have a plant growing
in Nuwara Eliya— a tall species of Lobilia, f which
when cut up and put round the stems of the
young plants, undoubtedly wards off the attack of this
destructive gtub. This acts, however, only so long
as the acrid, milky juice of the plant is fresh and
potent and this chopped up Lobilia requires to be
repeated frequently, to be of much efficacy.

But now let me give you and your readers a
wrinkle, which to a great extent, thwarts this vdlain-

* Ayrotis segctum—A clouded, dark grey motti If iuch
in expanse of wings, with whitish margin to upper
wings, and abdomen whitish grey. A similar American
species, is A devastator, the moth of the " cabbage
cut worm." A specific name most appropriate to our
Devastator.

t Lobilia excelta.

ous little vegetable garotter. My friend W. and
I sometime ago put our heads together, and
vowed vengeance against him- We made up ever so
many horrible concoctions, the rehearsal of which
would be far from pleasant:- many of them were
most effective and such as no poochie ever born could
face, — but too expensive and troublesome to pay.
At last we got on the right tack, and the best and
most effective cure w<^ have yet discovered, is one,
which I fear you will look ou, as down right dese-
cratiim and vandalism,— but the truth must be told. Our
old Ceylon Observers are carefully cut up into squares of
3 by 3 and 4 by 4 inches. These little fragments
of the " Old Kag," are carefully rolled round
the necks of our cauliflowers, beet and cabbage plants
&c., and form real comforters. We then finish off by
giving these fragments o"f your valuable journal a dash
of coal tar and when Mr. Poochie comes in contact
with them, he sheers off iu quest of a more palat-
able diet. The past numbers of other local papers
are dissected iu the same ruthless way, but I
feel sure, the editors will excuse the apparent
sacrilige, when they view the matter in a utili-
tarian and philantliropic point of view. The London
Times, the t^pectator &,c., sent me occasionally by a very
dear friend, share the same fate. It is indeed an
interesting subject "for reflectiou, that the mental
food provided for man by so many able journalists,
should scare away the black grub. Mr. Poochie has
evidently no stomach for tarred literature.

The next destructive larvje we suffer from here are
those of several species of bjetles— or what are gener.illy
known _as white grub— repulsive looking things with
big heads, but not very injurious to vegetables.

A much more serious pest is a little tiny black fly
which appears only, thank goodness, at certain seasons.
There are several species of these, some almost micros-
copical; two of them are evidently of the lehne^imonida
family and to the minute larvas of which, we fear,
we have to trace much of the damac:e done to our
very young seodhngs. The wire-worm is also a severe
scourge to say nothing of the cockchafers.

Sulphur when sprinkled over the seed beds just
before the first or cotyledon leaves make tbeir ap-
pearance, will be found useful in warding off the
attacks of the small black flies : and of course, one of
the best plans to keep down black grub, is to con-
stantly collect them at the roots of the newly cut plants.
Thi^, however, is far too expensive and tedious a task
in a large garden.

I have noted briefly our worst insect enemies, and
in my next I will enumerate and return thanks indi-
vidually to our best garden friends— the insectiverous
birds. A. W.
♦

BURMAH: PLANTING AND NEW PEG-
DUCTS.

(By an old Ceylon Planter.)
Areacacha.
Arracacha is an esculent tuber known in the
vernacular of the West Indies by this name ; it
requires no water, it flourishes equally well in dry
or wet season, it gives a much larger yield than
the ordinary potato ; many people in Jamaica, even
the blacks, prefer it to the yam and potato. No
insect or blight— nothing seems to interfere with
its growth, and it is believed that its general in-
troduction into India would go far towards making
many of our provinces nearly famine-proof ! If
such a result can be' attained it is certainly worth-
while trying its introduction into this country,
The Arracacha is a native of the elevated regions
of' equatorial America, Pasto and New Granada,
whero the root is largely cultivated for food. It
has since a very recent date been introduced into
Jamaica; it is called by hoUm^iii Arracacha escu-
leuta and is classed in the natural order Um-

4i6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Dec. I, 1886.

belliferce.* In Spanish it is known as Apio (from
the Latin Apiiun, celery), and is in appearance
as a growing plant similar to celery, as a sub-
stitute for which the tender shoots can be used.
It may be used with advantage when celery or
parsley is used. It is also described as being some-
what like the hemlock, but its leaves are broader,
its stem is dark-green, d'^eply striated but not
spotted ; it grows to about three feet high and its
flowers are of a dingy, purple colour. The roots,
which are the object of the cultivation, are large
and divided into several tubers which in shape
and size are like short carrots, but more oval or
rounded and irregular in shape. As food, tlie tubers
are very wholesome and nutritious, and when
boiled are firm and have a flavour interiiiediate
between a chestnut and a parsnip. A f.'fcula,
analogous to arrowroot, is obtained from tlie root
by rasping in water, as starch is from the potato.
The yield in tubers is very large and as much
as 16 tons can be had from land that will
not bring more than 9 or 10 tons of potatoes.
There are .SO heaped bushels to the ton ; so,
put this at the low rate of '>0 cents per bushel, and
so make your calculation. The mean temperature
of the Arracacha country is said to range from
64 deg. to 82 deg. ; the tuber is cultivated at an
elevation from 4,000 to 6,000 feet above sea-level,
the night temperature being from .55 deg. to 65 deg.
in the shade. The climate is said to be free from the
extremes of frosty cold weather and dry summer
heat ; it is one of continual moist. Would not this
suit your beloved "Nuwara Eliya," Mr. Editor!

The Arracacha requires a deep, rich soil, or loose
mould like the potato ; and the ground if thoroughly
cultivated so as to provide a deep friable clean
bed, will give well-developed roots. A large number
of sets is produced by one plant and the propagation
is rapid. The mof/f/io/^cruHr// is as follows : the pro-
pagation of the Arracacha is effected by the
separation from the plant at maturity of a number
of small peduncles or heads (leaf-stalks) spreading
from the central root, which also underground
throws out the carrot-shaped horns which are the
best of the edible part. The hard upper part of the
central tuber to which these leaf stalks are attached
serves for hogs or cattle, as do the leaves for the latter.

The planting is done in rows, with a distance
of from three to lour feet between each row, and
as much between each in the rows. The sets are
planted by simply making a hole in the prepared

* We quote from the "Treasury of Botany" aS
follows : —

Arracacha. A name applied by the natives of the
northern parts of South America to several kinds of
plants, possessing tubers or tuberous roots, but, bota-
nically speaking, confined to a genus of Umbellifer-
ous plants allied to the hemlock. Its principal dis-
tinguishing characteristics are — limb of the calyx
entire ; petals ovate or lance-shaped, purplish, with
the point bent inwards; fruit turgid, compressed from
side to side, wingVss, surmounted by the thickened
bases of the style ; albumen curved, A e.icuJenta is cul-
tivated in the cooler mountainous districts of Nortli-
ern South America, where the roots form the staple
diet of the iidiabitants. Tne plant is somewhat like
the hemlock. {Ooninm macu/atum), but its leaves are
broader, its stem not spotted, and its flowers are of
a dirgy purple colour; the roots are \nrgc and di-
vided into several fieshy lobes of the size of a carrot
wbicn when i)oiled are firm and have a flavour in-
termediate between a chestnut, and u parsnip. Trials
have been made to cultivate the plant in this country
bat the climate has not been found suited for it; It
might be tried iu some of our colonies with .ndvant-
age. M. T. M.

The name Arracacha is also given to one of the
truba-bearing species of Oxalis, O. crenata, — T. ]\I.

ground about six inches deep with a pointed stick
and inserting the set slanting with the concave of
its curve upwards, and then treading in the soil
slightly leaving the short bit of the stem barely
at the surface. The average length of the set
with the small piece of root attached will not
exceed three to five inches. The set being broken
off, the root should be neatly trimmed to a clean
smooth surface. Weeding and earthing- up con-
stitute the subsequent citlture as often as re-
quired. It is customary also when the plant grows
large to gather together the leaves and twist their
necks moderately — a j)rocess said to prevent run-
ning into head and favouring the development of
the root. There does not seem to be any particular
season for planting. In favourable situations
the planting may take place whenever ground and
seed are available and probably the close of the
well-defined dry season would be the safest period.
The plant requires from 10 to 12 months to reach
maturity, but the tubers (or carrot-shaped roots)
may be gathered two months earlier than this period
if much wanted. In this event, of course, the jDro-
duce in quantity is less, but it is said to be equally
wholesome and agreeable to the taste.

As to diseases properly so called, the Arracacha
has none. Occasionally, when exposed to much
drought it becomes as it were frost Ijitten, in which
state it boils semi-transparent and remains hard
after cooking, and is unfit for human food. If,
however, plants so affected are allowed to remain
till the return of the rains and to renew their
foliage, the root will recover. Manure is never
employed. I can, therefore, give no opinion based
on experience as to its application.

But analogy would indicate that, as in the case
of the other edible roots, the support and stimulus
of manure could hardly fail to produce greatly-
increased crops and improve quality of same.
Wild Silk in Burmah.
You will, I am sure, be glad to learn that the
wild silks of British Burmah are attracting at-
tention ; and that those prepared and sent last
year by the local Government to some English
manufactories for experiment have been pronounced
superior tlian Chinese and Indian tuamr silks.

A further supply is now being prepared under
the orders of the Chief, Sir Charles Bernard, and
will be submitted for experiment to some of the
leading Continental manufactories.
Tea IX BuEMAH.
You seem to be all T., all tea ; the T. A-is monthly
all T. and the Observer is all tea (and tea machinery).
Well, you have set me planting T. T. I have planted
up 34 odd acres this year, and my tea-plants are
really splendid from 2 to 3 feet high already, other
products covering the ground some places rather
too thick, in fact. As I have written you at greater
length than I intended to do, I shall forbear until
my next on planting, when I shall give you a line
on planting and our troublesome war.
IxDiGo IN Burmah.
Indigo manufactured in British Burmah has been
sent to India for valuation during the present year.
It is known that Indigo grew wild in the country,
and that the Chins and other hill-tribes extracted
a dye from the plant. No manufactured indigo
had, however, been sent to India ; and the first
attempt has been made by a native of India named
Kafir-nel-din, on the Wimpadnoo island of the
Shwegyin district. The cultivation was tried on
a small scale, but it was sulHcient to prove that
indigo could, in certain localities, be cu tivated in
the plains of Burmah. The indigo manufactuVed
was valued at only £0 to £6 10s per maund. The
defects pointed out in the report can be corrected
by more careful mauufaoture.

Dec, I, 1 886 J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

4^7

FIREPROOF TREES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE " PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL."

Sir,— The " Fireproof Tree," described by Mr. Dyer
in the Gardener's Chrcmicle, aud referred to in your
issue of October 2, would seem to lend some credence
to the wonderful tales of Methodius, Nieuhoff (quoted
by Folkard) and others, of similar "vegetable .sala-
manders" growing in various parts of the world.
One of these, near the city of Buran, in Natolia, is
described as rooted in fire, and yet flourishing in
great luxuriance and beauty, whilst another, some-
where in Tartary, even when cut down and thrown
into the fire, can neither be ignited nor consumed,
for though it becomes glowing red in the flames, yet
as soon as they are extinguished the wood is again
colo, and precisely the same in appearance as before.
You ask, naturally enough, '"to what cause this im-
munity is due ?" Is it pos.sible these trees belong to
the same order as the one described in Bishop Fleet-
wood's ' Curiosities of Nature and Art ' under the
name of Mesoneidereos, which grows in Java, has iron
wire for pith, and produces a fruit impenetrable by
iron ? Or perhaps they are related to that equally
wonderful plant which Sir John Maundeville saw iu
the city of Tiberias: — "In that cytee (says he) a man
cast an brennyngne dart in wratthe after owre Lord,
and the hed smote in to the eerthe, and wex grene,
and it growed to a great tree ; and yit it growethe,
and the bark there of is like coles." However this
may be we shall have in future to read these old
travellers' tales somewhat less sceptically than hereto-
fore.—0. 0. Bell.

[The above from the Pharmaeeutical Journal reminds
of the property, of resistence to fire possessed by
some of the Indian figures. After '• a good burn "
which .destroyed most of the felled forest on a plant-
ation being opened, we found some gigantic trunks
of fig trees at an elevation of about 5,100 feet, not
only intact but the bark retaining its natural colour.
It was many years before the trees yielded to decay.
—Ed.]

♦

COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION.

Colonial Paintings, Photographs, and Draw-
ings.— A most interesting and bulky volume might
be produced on the photographs and paintings of
Indian and Colonial scenery exhibited in the different
coarts of the Exhibition.

NeiLi Zealand. — The collections of New Zealand
paintings will not readily be forgotten, especially
those of the celebrated Pink and White Terraces,
which have become famous, if not historical, on
account of the recent eruption.

Neiv South Wales.- The photographs also are of
unusual excellence. The New South Wales collection
of paintings will also be well remembered, many of
them giving vivid impressions of characteristic vege-
tation, especially of forests scenes in which the various
species of Eucalyptus play a prominent part. The
splendid set. of water-colour paintings of Australian
plants by Mrs. Ellis Rowan will be especially valued
for their general beauty and accuracy of drawing.

Trinidad shows some instructive photographs of
the growth and preparation of Cocoa (Theobroma
cacao), the staple product of the island; while on a
screen between the Trinidad and the British Guiana
courts is a series of excellent photographs, several of
which illustrate the cultivation aud preparation of
sugar, inc'uding a general view of a sugar plantation,
{<. field of young canes, banking aud planting, weed-
ing, passing canes through the mill, view of manager's
quarters — a really fine house, behind wnich are the
works, and in front and around some tall Palms and
various tropiutl plants — apparently very comfortable
quarters, which is fully confirmed by another photo-
graph of interior of the mauagei's parlour, the
appointments of which are even luxurious. Tliis
serieB is both interesting and instructive. One photo-
graph which cannot fail to attract attention repre-
sents a portion of a trench 3 miles in length filled
with the Victorii Eegia Water Lily, the circular leaves
53

of which are so thickly grown together as to forta a
covering from bank to bank. Three miles of this
magnificent aquatic must be a splendid sight wheo
in flower.

Straits Settlements. — In the Straits Settlements a
co'lfiction ot photographs of buildings and some of
the principal economic plants are shown, amongst
others a group of Sago Palms at Singapore, an avenue
of Coconut Palms, also at Singapore ; a Tea plantation,
in which the plants strike us as being very wide
apart, not only in the rows but from each other.
That illustrating the preparation of Gambir (Uucaria
Gambir) is of considerable interest. Outside the
thatched huts, which are shown on either side, is
spread the Gambir to dry on light Bamboo frames.
Another photograph shows a very fine group of young
Betel-nut Palms, the trunks of which are remarkably
straight and slender. A Pepper plantation, with the
crop in process of harvesting, is shown, as well as
Liberian Coftee trees in full bearing.

Ceylon. — In the Ceylon court, besides others of
special trees and characteristic vegetation, the series
illustrating the preparation of Tea is extremely good,
and will be found very useful.

Natal. — In Natal there are a large number of
photographs of very varied subjects. Those bearing
on subjects with which we are most interested are
amongst a series exhibited by Mr. G. T. Ferneyhough,
of Pietermaritzburg ; one represents the smoking of
Dakka, or Hemp (Cannabis sativa), or, as the Kaffir
call.e it, " Isangu." Dakka is described as being a
" corruption of the Dutch work for the weed." The
following description is given of the photograph : —
" The plant grows wild all over Natal in waste places,
and produces large crops of seed, bat is useless for
fibre— at least, so far as experiments have gone, and
the natives alone make use of it. At a certain stage
of its growth,'>., when the flowers are fully out,
branches are cut off, and allowed to dry in the sun,
and are then tightly pn eked in bundles, wrapped round
with grass matting, when it is ready for use. The
pipe of the Kaffir is a species of hookah, and is called
' Igadu.' It consists of a bullock's horn, in which
about half-way up is tightly inserted a hollow stick
in a slanting direction, which reaches nearly to the
bottom of the horn. Tuis stick is surmounted with a
bowl or pipe-head, made of a softly cutting green-
stone— " soap-stone," which is very heavy. The pipe
being filled with ' Isangu,' or Hemp, the horn is filled
with water, aud the smoke is drawn up into the
mouth ; several puffs are takeu, until a volume is
secured, which is retained for a time and partly
swallowed. This soon produces spasms, and results
in a most violent fit of coughing, that would kill
any ordinary white man. This is the luxury sought
for, together with the stupefying and soothing influence
ot the narcotic contained in the plaut. The fit of
coughing having subsided, the saliva generated is
then passed through a long hollow reed, and a
series of bubbles results which are formed into circles,
representing kraals, or into strings and other shapes,
and according to number, size, and other indications
are taken as signs of future wealth, number of wives,
and other items interesting to the childlike mind of
the Kafiir. This continues until they have had enough »
and sleep or go away. The smoking of this wild
Hemp is the most noxious aud injurious habit that
the native indulges in."

While writing of Natal it may be well to mention
that the exhibits of Tea grown and prepared in the
colony have attracted a considerable amount of atten-
tion, and that the Tea is now on sale iu the Natal court.
We have had an opportunity of tasting this Tea,
and find that the quality is very good. The only
fault is that it is a little too mach roasted. This,
of course, will be readily improved upbu, aud there
seems no reason whatever .igainst Natal becoming a
regular Tea-growing country. Nu:nerous sampl-'s of
Tea from different estates are exhibited, and it is
worthy of note that tlie China Te.i from oii*^ estate —
uamnly, that of Mr. liriclcLiiil — was obtained from
plants introduced from the Royal Gardens, Kew, twenty
year.s ago.

if%'6

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Dec. I, 1886

Fkoits, &c. — Ainougst a fine collection of preserves
from native fruits those exhibited by Messrs. Jameson
& Co., of Durban, attract most attention, though
from the fact of their being in sealed tins the public
are unable to see what they are like, still less to
judge of their value. Mention maj', however, be made
of three of these from characteristic tropical fruits,
namely, the " jimatungulu" (Carissa [Arduina] gran-
diflora), which is of a dark reddish colour, not
unlike Plum jam in appearance, but with a less
decided flavour. The Papaw (Carica papaya), about
the medicinal properties of which so much has been
written of late ; this produces a fine soft preserve
of a yellowish-green colour, and a slightly acid taste.
The Grauadilla (Passiflora maliformis) has, perhaps,
the most distinct and agreeable flavour of either,
having a slight trace of Pine-apple ; one objection,
however, is the presence of the very numerous black
seeds, which cannot readily be crunched between the
teeth, nor can they readily be ejected, inasmuch
as the pulp clings to them with great tenacity. It
is interesting to see what can be done in the matter
of preserve-making from tropical fruits ; and though
few, if any, can ever approach the best known English
fruits, the foreign produce might be made to supple-
ment that of our own country. Though it may not
be practicable to import fresh fruits in any quantities
into England from distant countries, there seems to
be a field for tropical candied fruits, which might
be brought in tins or jars, as well as for whole
fruits preserved in syrup, and hermetically sealed in
a similar way.

The Natal exhibits of vegetable food substances
generally are very interesting, and great credit is due
to Mr. Morton Creeu for his readiness in making the
exhibits known, and assisting by the help of samples
to develope the resources of the colony. — John R.
Jackson, Curator, Museums, Royal Gardens, Kew. —
Gardeners' Chronicle.

HALDANE'S SUBTROPICAL CULTIVATIONS.

This very in.etructive and well got-up work should
be in the hands of all those planters, who desiring to
profit by past experience in regard to coffee, are re-
solved to vary their cultivations as much as climatic
conditions will allow. Mr. Haldane has entered very
fully into the geographical and climatic distribution
of the various classes of products with which he
deals, in some chapters placing before his readers
carefully prepared maps, on which are indicated the
localities of certain growths. In many instances, such
as that of vine culture, the reader is informed why
certain latitudes are unsuited, and others suited to
particular products, by attention to which planters
and settlers may often avoid costly mistakes.

Of the Grape vine, Mr. Haldane says : — " Beyond
the 50° parallel of !atitude, the fruit is deficient in
the saccharine matter required in alcoholic fermen-
tation : the wine not possessing sufficient alcohol to
preserve it is sour, and more like vinegar than wine.
On the other hand, if the vine is grown in too warm
a cUinate, too much grape-sugar is produced, and the
grape gives a thick, sweet alcoholic fluid of indiffer-
ent quality. When the vine is cultivated in tropical
countries, where there is no winter to check its
growth, which is therefore uninterrupted, we find it
proilucing in the same cluster flowers and both green
and ripe fruit in consequence of which wine-making
becomes impracticable." "Whether this has been
foiuid to be the case in Ceylon I am not aware. The
anther alludes to the practice of the .Jaffna vine cul-
tivators of baring the roots of vines during the
dry season in order to check vegetation, and arrest
the flow of sap as is caused by a winter, but I find no
notice of vine-growing in Colombo where grapes as
good as those of Jaffna are occasionally produced, but
thf probability is that the c'imate on the west coast
of your island is too humid for the vine, Mr. Haldane
insisting on the necessity for a dry atmosphere.

The chapters on the citrus variety of fruits contain
sonii' iiiterestiug information, and seeing how readily
the tree grows and, bears in fJeylon it is surprizing

that so little has been done for the production of a
finer class of orange than is usually met with in your
bazaars, where in fact the articles s<)ld under that
name are very frequently " sweet limes." The author
tells us there are 4.5 varieties of the sweet orange, .31
of the sour variety, 12 of sweet lemons, 5 of berga-
mots, 47 of lemons, 9 of limes, 1 of citron, 17 of
the cedrat, and 0 of the Shaddock or Pomplemouse
(Pumeloe).

Mr. Haldane says he has eaten most perfect oranges
in Ceylon grown at an elevation of 1,000 ft. ; we have
tasted some of the finest and most delicate flavored
grown at almost sea level ; at the same time we agree
with the author that as a rule the Oeylon oranges met
with in the native bazaars are sorry rubbish, of which
the Sinhalese growers do not appear to be aware any
more than they are of the difference between a good
and a bad egg. It seems strange that, whilst in several
of the warm colonies of Australia the cultivation of
the orange for marketable purposes is carried on
upon a large scale, little, if anything, has been done
in your island towards extending the production of
this really fine fruit. In New South Wales it is
usual to estimate the value of a full grown orange
tree at £1 per annum and fine trees in full bearing
have given a return of £100 per acre. Large trees
18 years old have given from 150 to 200 dozen oranges
yearly. The trees are subject to root-rot, the remedy
for which is to bare the main roots for a short dis-
tance round the stem and expose them to the sun
for a short time.

The lime is cultivated in the West Indies for the
production of lime-juice, in which there is a large
and paying trade to Europe, after the juice has been
boiled down to a certain state of condensation. The
tree grows readily from seed and taken from the
nursery may be planted out fifteen feet apart; they
begin to bear in four years and are in full bearing
at eighteen years.

Mr. Haldane affords a good deal of information
about tea and coffee cultivation as well as of rice,
sweet-potato and arrow-root cultivation. The Olive
cultivation is believed to have a good future in some
of the Australian colonies, and would no doubt thrive
in your hill districts. The best situation for this cul-
ture is on the slope of a hill facing the morning sun,
beyond the influence of fog or mist, and well sheltered
from high winds. The tree is very easily propagated
and lives to a great age, some say 300 years. They
commence bearing when 10 years of age and reach
their prime at forty, giving a gallon of oil per tree :
at the age of 30 years the tree will give a return
of 2s. Space alone forbids our doing full justice to
this very carefully compiled work, which is worth
all the money charged for it.— J. C— Local "Times."

THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION

AT SOUTH KENSINGTON : DRUGS.

Oetlon. — Diugs are largely represented in this Court.
A collection of three hundred and sixty-two specimens
of native remedies is exhibited by Dr. Trimen, the
Director of the Pioyal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya,
and the special catalogue gives the vernacular and
botanical names of these drugs, with their medici-
nal uses, making it one of the most perfect of its
kind in the Exhibition. A case illustrating the cul-
tivation and manufacture of cinnamon in .all its stages,
accompanied by series of photagraphs, and by specimens
of the tools used in the process, forms a very in-
teresting exhibit. This is from the property of Mr.
David Smith, M.P. for Brighton. The exports of
cinnamon appear not to have increased much during
the last ten years, having been l,262,'2oO bales of
bark and 258,381 of chips in 1876, and 1,574,022 of
bark and G28,91't of chips in 1885. The chips consist of
the cuttings from imperfectly grown cinnamon bran-
ches; they are said to be largely used in perfumery
and in the distillation of cinnamon oil, much of which
is made in the island. The current value of cinnai.nou
is given in the Official Catalogue as l.v. 3cZ. per pound
for the first quality, 9d, to lid, for the second sorts,

tJEti. 1/ 'xB86.]

THE TJ^OPICAL AGRICULTURISTo

419

■^^

and 6d. or Sd. for the third ; these prices allowing
profit only on very well cultivated and carefully
managed properties. There is also a good show of
cardamoms, some of the samples being remakablj'
fine. Two kinds of the plant are cultivated in Oeylon,
viz., the ordinary Malabar kind, which throws out
its racemes horizontally, and the Aleppy, commonly
called the Mysore cardamom, which has upritjht
racemes and is more robust and hardy than the
Malabar kind, standing drought and a high altitude
better. The Malabar cardamom is, however, usually
cultivated, since it is more productive. The cardamoms
known as Ceylon cardamoms are gathered by the
Sinhalese from wild plants, and dried in a compara-
tively careless manner, while the cultivated cardamoms
are treated with great care. The fruits are cut off
witti scissors by the coolies, then spread out in trays,
slowly dried, and subsequently bleached, the chief
obiect being to prevent the capsules splitting and
to have them ©f a whitish colour and well filled
and solid. If gathered in the immature state they
are of a light colour, and have what is known in
trade as " lean" appearance. A good deal of the spice
18 said to be consumed in India for cooking and
chewing. Nutmegs are exhibited from the Kalutara
and Kegalla districts. The tree is grown chiefly by
natives, at altitudes ranging from 1000 to 1800 feet.
The annual ralue of the exports amounts to only
26,000 rupees. Cloves are shown from the same dis-
tricts. This spice is grown in similar localities to
the last, and comes into bearing when seven years
old, continuing to yield crops for fifty years or more.
The yearly shipment of cloves amounts in value to
6,000 rupees. Pepper is shown by three exhibitors,
but although commonly grown by the natives it is
not exported ; several varieties of the plant are in
cultivation in the island. Of vanilla there are two
exhibits. According to the Official Cfftalogue the
flowers have to be fertilized by hand, the insects of
Oeylon appearing not to be able to effect this pro-
cess, unlike those of the native country of the plant
(Mexico). The flowers usually appear during the
hot dry north-east monsoon, i.e., from January
to April, and the pods begiu to mature about the
commencement of the following north-east monsoon,
increasing in size and ripeness until January. As
soon as thoy begin to show an orange tint, they
are gath'Ted and air-dried, cotton wool being fastened
round them to prevent their splitting open. The
plant thrives only in rich moist ground, under some-
what lofty .shade, and fruits well in the neighbour-
hood of Kandy; with care it has borne fruit also
near Colombo.

Cinchona bark forms a very prominent exhibit iu
this Court. A trophy formed of trees and large
quills of bark serves to illustrate the varieties in
cultivation and the several modes in which the bark is
removed, as well as the usual size of the trees at
different ages. From these specimens it is evident,
however, that the name of Ledger bark is applied
to more than one kind of bark rich in quinine. It
was not until 1872 that the planting of cinchona
was commenced in Ceylon in earnest, and it increased
between 1S73 and 1878, until about 4,000,000 plants
had been distributed to planter?, in addition to large
plantings in private nurseries. Much of the seed
obtained iu 1886-7 from C. succirubra and 0. officina-
lis produced trees of a hybrid character rich in
alkaloid, these trees being known under the name
of C. rohusta. The methods of harvesting adopted in
the island have been by uprooting, by coppicing, by
stripping, and more recently by shaving. The last-
named process has usually, but not invariably, been found
to yield a larger percentage of alkaloids than the
original bark. The extent to which it may be carried
has not yet been ascertained. Many experienced
planters recommend shaving the tree at five years,
and again at six, and coppicing at seven, taking earn
that a good-sized sucker is allowed to start from
the collar before cutting down the tree. The reason
that the shaving process finds so much favour is
that it enables the planter to obtain handsome and

continuous returns witlio«t destroj-ing tbe value of tbe

tree. Although some of the finer varieties have at
times yielded as much as 10 50 per cent of sulphate of
quinine from trees three and a half years old at
an altitude of 3,200 feet, at the present day there
are few that give 4 per cent, the largest proportion
yielding only 1-50 to 250 per cent. The shipmeuta
of late years have consisted largely of the strlppiugs
of the branches and twigs, containing not more than
I per cent of quinine. The exports of cinchona bark
from Ceylon have risen from 18,731 pounds in 1875
to 11,678,360 pounds in 1S85. A specimen of sul-
phate of quinine is shown by Messrs. Symons and
Cochrane, of Colombo.

The essential oils of cinnamon bark and leaf and
citronelle and lemon grass oils are represented by
several exhibits. According to the OflScial Oataloguo
the shipments of citronelle oil have increased from
a few thousand ounces about a dozen years ago to
1,760,677 ounces in 1881 and 5,721,112 ounces in
1885, and there are now about 10,000 acres of land
under cultivation ; this over-production having caused
the oil to fall to one-third its former value, and the
price being now unremuuerative, growers are now
abandoning many of their grass fields.

The oil of lemon grass, or as it is commonly
called oil of verbena, is manufactured entirely by
the natives, but not more than 8,719 ounces were
exported last year. Oil of cinnamon is distilled in
the island from broken quills and the coarser portion.s
of the bark, which are incapable of being worked iu
with the usual quills. The finest oil is valued at a
rupee per ounce, but the inferior quality commands
only one-fourth of that price. The shipments of the
oil have risen from 41,719 ounces iu 1881 to 117,023
ounces in 1885.

Of the resins exhibited the following seem worthy
of notice, viz, that of Dooaa cordifoha, shown by Dr.
W. 0. Ondaatje, of Z>. Zeylanica, which is colourless
and hard and makes a good varnish, and that of
Vateria acuminata, which is ti good clear white
dammar-like resin. A fossil resin, dug up on the
island, named " Bindummala,''* the origin of which
is unkuowD, is also shown. Of dye stuffs that of the
jak wood ( Artocarpas integrifoliii) is worthy of note.
It is used by the natives for dyeing house mats and
fibres for ornamental purposes and gives to cotton
and silk the peculiar pale canary colour which is re-
quired for the robes of the Buddhist priests. Mililla
wood ( Viiex altissima) is used to give a still paler
yellow, but neither of these dyes are exported. 8apan-
wood, which in 1883 was exported to the extent of
11,404 cwts. has declined to 2,834 cwts. in 188-5,
owing to the low price now obt:ained for it.

The chief tanning materials used iu the island are
ranawara bark (C'liJ-s/o. auricuhcta), and the half-
ripe fruit of the timber! {Dio.<pi/ro!^ Einhri/opteris).
The latter is also used to coat the planks of boats to
preserve them from the attacks of marine insects.
The tannin of the plants of this genus appears to ba
of a peculiar character and to deserve further inves-
tigation. Very fine specimens of plumbago are ex-
hibited in this Court from the western and north-
western provinces. The trade in this article has
increased from less than 1,000 cwts., forty-five years
ago, to 279,057 cwts. in 1883, half of which goos
to the United States, and of the remainder seven-
sixteenths to the United Kingdom, and one-sixteenth
to British India and Europe. The yearly value of
the export varies from one and a half to two million
rupees, the highest qualities ranging in value from
100 to 135 rupees per ton, and the lowest quality
from 30 to 45 rupees per ton. The trade is entirely
in the hands of the Sinhalese.

Of fixed oils coconut is the most important ex-
hibit. The amount exported in 1835 was 274,998-
cwts. The oils of the bright yellow, or "king"
coconut, is said to be devoid of the strong aroma
of the ordinary oil, and is highly esteem". I by all
classes of natives and many Enroiienns ns hai- od
The value of giugelly oil exported is given at 7,500
rupees. The cultivation of croton seed has beea

* The "Dammar" of tUe C'yion export list,— Ep,

\'ll^

fM£ IKUFICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[Dec. ]t, 1886,

taken up during the last few years by a few Euro-
peans, and the samples exhibited look fresh and
cleui.

The oil of Aleurites moluccana, known in Ceylon
as Itckune oi', is said to be exported to Europe for
soap making and for cloth dressing for which purpose
it is rt'ported to be superior to olive oil. Margosa
or kohouiba oil {3fella Azedarachta) is stated to be
much used by native practitioners for suppurating
scrofulous glands. The oil cake resulting from the
preparation of coconut oil, and called " poonac "
in Oeylon, is said to be used pretty generally _ by
French military authorities for cavalary horses, since
a siuiill portion added to their ordinary food gives
a glossy appearance to the coat of the animal, and
at the same time promotes its general health*. Jaffna,
or sea moss (Gracilaria lichenoides), which is com-
monly used in Oeylon as a nutritive food for persons
of weak digestive powers, is only occasionally exported.
Concerning the edible birds' nests exhibited, it is stated
in the Ofiicial Catalogue that the bird which makes
them {(Ji)UocaJia francica) builds in large dark caverns
in any locality, from the seaside to the highest hills.
They contain much less glutinous m\tter than those
of Java and Borneo (see ante, pp. 41-42). The nests
are built close together against the face of overhang-
ing rocks, and the bird is of a smoky colour, and
darker on the head, wings and tail than elsewhere,
whereas the Java and Bornean birds are said to be
bluish. The nests are collected by Chinese, who pay
Government a small annual sura for the exclusive
privilege of collecting them in certain caves, chiefly of
the Morowak Korale of the Southern Province. The
yearly value of the export amounts to about 4,000
rupees.

In this Court, Dr. "W. C. Ondaatje exhibits dried
pulp of the nux vomica fruit, from which loganin
was obtained by Professor Dunstun ; also several
medicinial barks, and the concrete milky juice of
Ahtonia scholarlsf, which possesses some of the pro-
perties of india-rubber. Specimens of these pro-
ducts have been presented to the Museum ot the
Pharmaceutical Society by Dr. Ondatjee. — PharmactUr
tied Journal,

GOVEENOE GEANT DUFF ON PLANTING
IN MADEAS.

The last Budget of official papers brought us the
Eeview Minute of the retiring Governor, from which
we extract largely matters more or less directly con-
cerning the Nilgiris, and local industries.

Cinchona, Hoeticultitre, Bot.\ny, Economic
Plants, &c.

It well may be that in some far off future the
English may have the fate of the Portuguese, and
that their most enduring monuments, in many
parts of the Peninsula, may be the plants which they
brought to India from other climes. Not the least
important of these will be the various species of the
genus Chichnna, although these have not, like the
^'promotion nut" (Anacurdiuin occidenta'e) of their
predecessors, shown any capacity in India for fight-
ing, unaided by roan, the battle of life. The story
ot' the introduction of these precious trees by Mr.
Cletnente Markham and othRf-rs in v/ell known. The
Nilgiri plantations remained for many years Under the
ehatge of an intelligetlt gardener, After his death
they were placed for a time Under the J^^crest Depart-
Inent, but that arrang ment was not one that could
last ; and in 1883, Mr. Lawson, formerly Professor of
botany; at Oxford, and in charge of the exquisite garden
^vhicb stretches along the bank of the Cherwell close
to th(! bridge which Macanlay has described in a
famous passage, came out to take charge of our Cin-
chona, as well as of all the Government gardens on

* This is c|uite new to us. Has coconut poonac
ever been added to horse feed in Ceylon ? The
favourite food for cattle is giugelly poonac. — Ed.

fWe have found it difdcult to preserve these trees
and Cassia fistula, in consequence of the value placed
by the native.s ou tl-.e bark? as njedicine.— Ed.

the Nilgiris. The time had arrived when a great
number of important questions were ripe for examin-
ation by a trained botanist and a trained quinologist.
Ere long accordingly we added to our establishment
Mr. Hooper, who liad worked under Dr. Koppeschaar
at the Hague, and came out possessed of all the
latest learning on this subject. Mr. Lawson soon saw
that considerable changes in management were wq.nted
on all the estates, and set himself to make them.
First, with the assistance of Dr. Trimen of Ceylon, the
plantations were carefully inspected, and some alarm-
ing doubts, which had been raised by Mr. Cross about
the value of many of our trees, set finally at rest.
Thereafter, a great number of trees which had done
their work were cut down, and fine healthy shoots
are now springing from them. Then, a considerable
acreage in and near Naduvatara, which had gone or
was going to ruin, was taken in hand, and is being
replanted. Further, the Cuprrea bark from New
Granada, a species of Rimijio., a genus nearly allied
to Cinchona, was sown, and will, it is hoped, give
fair results, while the same is hoped of the Cinchonoi
Santa Fe and Carthayena. The growth of the various
species of Cinchona at different elevations, and the
amount of their respective yield are also being care-
fully watched ; while the diminution in the cost in-
curred in looking after our Cinchona estates, since
Mr. Lawson took charge of them, is as remarkable
as the increased efficiency which has characterised his
management. One of the objects to which Mr. Hooper
has turned his attention since his arrival has been
the production of a preparation of Cinchona alka-
loids, closely resembling that known as De Vrij's liquid
extract. This he has succeeded in producing to the
satisfaction of the Medical Department at an astonish- .
ingly low price,* and the problem now is to try to
get it .spread amongst the people. Time and patience
will be required for this, though there are some very
encouraging symptoms; but fever is in South India
so terrible a scourge that ignorance and prejudice
will eventually be sapped by interest. Mighty indeed,
must be the political reform which would be worthy to
be named with this in the promotion of true ivell-being.
As I have elsewhere t pointed out, we want a class
of practitioners intermediate between the really skil-
led persons turned out by our medical schools and
the Vythians who have still such a hold upon the
people. This want was much in the mind of the
late highly-intelligent Maharaja of Travancore, and I
have read an excellent private letter of his, upon the
subject. AY'S still hear at intervals the wish expressed
that Government would divest itself of its Cin-
chona plantations in the supposed interest of private
trade. To do this p(Y«t«^!(yfZ// would be to take a
very false step ; but a very large part of the Govern-
ment Cinchona plantations will, it is to be hoped,
soon he devoted to preparing the cheap febrifuge
to which I have just alluded. I need hardly say
that the amount of the Cinchona even now put ou
the market by this Government, is as compared with
what is produced by private growers in India. Oey-
lon and elsewhere altogether insignificant, Mr. Law-
son also, f-oon after his arrival, began greatly to
improve the Government Gardens at Qotacamuud,
aud to give them a. more jnirkcdly botaniciil char'
acter by- carcrully naanng the vtjry numerous and
valuable ccUecticn of plantsj w=hich ere scattered
about over the large area of beautifully brokeii
gi'ound which they cover. He gave no less care to
the gardens at Coonc-or as well as at Burliar, and
laidj by endless plant-hunting in every interval of
leisure, the foundation of a very fine herbarium at
Ootacamund.J At length the moment came for the

* We expect to be able to sell a bottle containing
eight doses of five grains each, for one anna, which re-
presented I may mention for the English reader, three
halfpence, when the rappee was at par.

t Adrcss to the University of Madras, ISJ'G,
:J: His own already very considerable collection has
been .supplemented by many of AMght's plants sent
from Kew, and I was happy, before leaving the hills,
to see thepi all conjfortably fodgod,

Dec. I, iB$6i]

THE TkUPICAL Au

fT f '7>T

JRISTa

42 1

establishment of a botanical department, Sir Joseph
llooker and Mr. Thiselton Dyer lent their invaluable
assistance, the Secretary of State agreed to our pro-
posals, Mr. Lawson was satisfied to undertake new
duties for a very slightly-increased remuneration, and
the reproach was taken away from this Government
that it did nothing systematic for the encouragement
of either scientific or economic botany, for which
Ceylon, Jamaica, and so many other less iraportan;
British dependencies do so much. When the arrange-
ments now in progress are entirely completed, Oota-
camund, which is a particularly good climate for pre-
serving dried plants, will contain the principal her-
barium of the Presidency, but a typical collection will
be left in Madras, and other collections will, doub*-
less, as civilisation extends, be formed in other im-
portant centres. In time, too, new botanical gardens
will be created, with a view to making experiment <
to which the climatic conditions of the existing gar-
dens do not lend themselves. The pubhc spirit and
intelligence of the rulers of some of the aeighbour-
ing states, such as Travaacore (exceptionally we'l
situated for botanical experiments) will, I doubt not,
one day be enlisted in the same good cause. We
have received from Kew not only a great deal, of
guidance during the last five years, but also many
seeds, such as the following. I mention only plants
of economic value, not those which are merely orna-
mental, or interesting -to the botanist aloue: —

Cinchona Santa Fe.

„ Carthagena.
Rimijia Purdieana.
Ipomrsa chrysorhizi.
UUucus tuberosus.

Erythroxylon coca.
Rhus vernicifera.

„ succedauea.
Ceratonia siliqua.
Qaillaja saponaria.
Arracacia esculenta.

I found Erpthroxi/loii coca established in one or two
places; but the immense medical value of the plant
was quite unknown in 1881. It has been very grati-
fying to me to find that it can be so readily multi-
plied here, and that as Mr. Hooper and Dr. Drake-
Brockman have proved, the alkaloid produced from
the plant in Madras is as eflicacious as that which
is produced from it when grown in South America.

Arracacia esculenta and UUucus tuberosus are both
food-plants. The former is an important article of
diet in the higher regions of Northe-n South Amer-
ica in spite of its near alliance to our familiar hem-
lock. The other is related to the Bassella or Indian
Spinach, and comes from the Bolivian and Peruvian
Andes. Both seem likely to succeed at Ootacamund.

Ipomcea cri/.whiza is a New Zealand form of the
Polynesian sweet potato, which is well spoken of, and
is certainly palatable.

Jihus ceridcifcra gives the valuable Japan lacquer ;
lihus succedauea, the Japan wax ; Ceratonia .-iliqua, is
the Caruba so important in Sicily ; Quillcija mpo)Mria
is a Chillian tree, rich in a vegetable soap.

The others have been already alluded to. Another
benefactor has been Mr. Thomas Hanbury, whose
collections of living plants at La Mortola, not far from
Bleutone, are amongst the most remarkable in Eu-
rope. One cannot now walk through the gardens at
Ootacamund without seeing many traces of his friendly
ce-operatiou, I have kept up a very close corres-
Moudenoe with Kew from the time I arrived in this
Presidenoy, and have done what little I could to
repay, by sending thither very large quantities of
seeds,— =the debt which every British dependency
owes to that magnificent and supremely Imperial
Instutition.* So slight was the connection between

* Berlin, Cintra, Christiania, Upsala, Orotava in the
Canaries, Cambridge in Massachusetts, the Island of
Grenada and Mauritius are a few of the widely-scattered
places to which our Madras seeds have found their
way within the last five years. It often happtns that,
just from their very commonness, things do not get
forwarded the great botonical centres in Europe from
the tropical countries. I recently found that they
wanted at Kfw the palmyra ; the Custard apple which
appears so often on our breakfast tables ; and last, but
not least, the very handsome but ill-used tree which
goes through life under the name of Odina JVodUr,

that is, if I translate it correctly, the worthless, I

f9t\h\m one,

it and Madras before 1881, that I do not think
a:iy single person connected with the Royal Gardens,
at all knew what was the ordinary vegetation, cul-
tivated or indigenous, in the neighbourhood of thft^j
city. I have also bad very careful lists made by
that most devoted botanist, Mr. R. Holliiagsworth,
of the planti in the park of Government House
Madras, and at Guindy, waile to the (oUectiou.'s at
bo h paces i have a idt-d,— thanks to ihe kiiivlness
of Dr. King of Calcutta, Mr. Gamble and others,
— a large number of species. The Government has
noD had it in iis power, — owing agaiu to the pecuniary
difficulties of the Imperial Treasury, — to do quite as
much as it could have wished to help so valuable
an institution as the Agri-Horticultural Society of
Madras, excellently managed by Mr. Steavenson and
others ; but it coutrived to enable the Society to lay
the foundation of a botanical library, and I have no
doubt subsequent and wealthier Governments will be
able to do more. A great deal of miscellaneous, hor-
ticultural, agricultural, and vegetable economic infor-
mation has been circulated in these recent years by
the Government, and we have introduced the practice
of sending every scrap of intelligence of that kind to
Kew, where it is utilised for the general advantage
of the whole of Oceania, and of many broad lauds which
do not belong to our Political System. Mr. Morris, now
of Kew. but recently of Jamaica, lately informed mo that
the Pepper which was under the intelligent superin-
tendence of Mr. Ross, C.S., transmitted a year or
two ago, through Kew from Telliclierry, to that is-
land, has succeeded perfectly. Considering the im-
memorial antiquity of the Malabar Pepper trade, it is
strange that it remained for our generation to make
this gift from the East to the ^V^est.

Planting. — Indian Governments have been some-
times blamed for not welcoming with enthusiasm the
English capitalist. Madras is not open to that re-
proach. Every encouragement is given to the English
capitalist to settle and to cultivate in those districts
of the Presidency where the climate makes this pos-
sible. The planters on the Nilgiris and elsewhere have
in the last five years met with special consideration ;
but the mischief is that the English cajntaUat won't
come. There never was a truer maxim thau that " the
first duty of a landlord is to be rich." If he has not
other means, it is idle to attempt to cidtivate land
in India or in any country 1 have heard to tell of,
with a reasonable hope of success. No good-natured
" concessions " on the part of Government can do any-
thing more than stave off the inevitable. They are
too often only a cruel kindness. I once said to a
friend "How do the — s get on with their estate?"
" Excellently," was the reply, '• their father gives
them the money to work it." "And what return does
he get," I rejjined. "Oh, the return he gets is that
one of them periodically returns to him." C'est
magnifique mais ce n'est pas le commerce ! What we
above all things want in the Nilgiris and similarly*
situated tracts is the English capitalist, who wdl buy
his estate without needing to mortgage any part of it,
and retaining enough money to live upon, and to
work it to the very best advantage, without ever
having recourse to the money-lender, while he gives
as nmch of his persoual attention to planting as he
would give, if he meant to succeed in any other
profession, Such men will be able to tide over bad
yeara, and sooner or later may do fairly well, while
those who count upon a succession of good years will
certaiuly be disappointed, however much Government
may do for them. — JTilgui Express.

DEODoRisiNt; Iodoform. — Coffee has been used for
deodorising Idoform with very satisfactory results,
and without interfering with its antiseptic effects
Qrovmd cotfee is employed in proportions varying
from thirty to fifty per cent. Fifty per cent is said
to completely deodorise the Iodoform, and the coffee
being itself au antiseptic no bad effect is produced.'
Iodoform so prepared should only be used for out-
ward applications,— l^ziJ'.ycj'W^ 4' ^o's Frice Ciormt^

4^^

THE TROFiCAL AGRICULTURIS'T. [Dec. i, i8S6<

Trial of a Ootton-Pickixg Machine. — A dispatch
from Sumter, S. C, states:— The cotton-picking
machine, invented by C. T. Mason of this place, was
tested this week in the field in the presence of
committees from the New York Cotton Exchange and
the Charleston Exchanges and representatives of the
State Agricultural Department. The machine picked
cotton at the rate of ISO pounds per hour, without
injuring the bolls or plants. The general opinion of
those present is that the machine is correct in its
principles, does fairly good work now, and can be
made completely successful. — bradstreet's.

A New Vegetable Oil from Jamaica.— Samples
of the solid fat of " antidote cacoon " from .Jamaica
were exhibited at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition
at South Kensington. This is probably the first time
that the solid oil of the last named seed has been
exhibited in this country. In Trinidad it is used to
prevent steel and iron from rusting. It is white,
and of the consistence of coconut butter, without
having any special odor. The seeds are excessively
bitter, Hke'colocynth, and appear to be a good purgative
of considerable value in dropsy. The seeds contaio,
according to an unpublished analysis by Mr. E. 0. C.
Stanford about half their weight of fatty oil which
if the seeds could be procured in sufficient quantity
would probably find a use in commerce. — Oil, Paint
and Drug Reporter.

Kola Nux.—Oue of our English exchanges {Planters'
Gazette) understands that Mr. Epps, the well-known
cocoa raauufacturer, has recently been devoting atten-
tion to the kola nut, and that he has succeeded in
producing a paste containing all its valuable proper-
ties, and, at the same time, very palatable, especially
wheu mixed with cocoa. It is found that kola nut
is very beneficial to those who suffer from weak action
of the heart, and there is an increasing demand • for
it, particularly in the United States. Such being
the case, and as the kola nut grows and fruits to
perfection in Southern India, this announcement ought
to act as an incentive to planters in thit part of
the country, to take measures for the extensive cultiv-
ation of this plant, and open up a trade with European
cocoa manufacturers. — Indian Aytricidturist.

Lantana as a Medicine.— In a notice of drugs
from the Cape in the Pharmaceutical Journal we find
the following statement ■.—Teucrium africanum, the
tribal remedy of the Kaffirs, seems to possess anti-
septic properties. When a cow has died of milk fever
the Kaffirs boil the flesh along with this plant, and
believe they can eat it with impunity. It is used in
ophthalmia, in glanders, and for snake bites, but in
cases of very venomous snakes, Lenotis Leonurus is
given with it. It appears to merit investigation as
to its active principal. Lantana salvifolia appears to
have similar properties, and is reputed to have the
power of intoxicating birds. Dr. A. Smith found
small doses of the infusion beneficial in incipient
bronchial affections. — PUarmacev.ticci.l Journal.

Edlvptol.— " Eulyptol " is the name given by Dr.
Schmeltz to a mixture consisting of six parts of
salicylic acid to one each of carbolic acid and oil of
eucalyptus, which he considers preferable as an
antiseptic to iodoform, corrosive sublimate or carbolic
acid {Journ. Pharm., Oct. 15, p. 361). Dr. Schmeltz
coDS-'ders that a chemical combination takes place
between the ingredients, since carbolic acid cannot
be detected in the mixture. It is described as having
a strong aromatic odour and acrid burning taste,
and as being nearly insoluble in water, but very
soluble iu absolute alcohol, ether, chloroform, and a
mixture of equal parts of alcohol and glycerine. It
is also soluble in ammonia and alkaline solutions.
According to Dr. Schmeltz, it completely arrests the
fermentation of all putrescible substances, a small
quantity added to urine, under any condition, being
sufficient to preserve it during a month. — Pharmaceutical
JouYiial.

Hybeids.— In spite of an alleged instance of frateru-
isatiou, resulting in the production of a new hybrid,
the experiment of turning cats loose iu xiustralia to
destroy the swarms of rabbits, is reported to have
proved emJMOtly succesgfiil lo oaQ of the worst

infested districts of Victoria 250 cats were bought at
Is. a head, enclosed for a time in a limited space by
meaus of wire netting, fed on rabbits, and afterwards
turned loose iu batches, food having been still supplied
in a rough building for any cats which might not at
once support themselves by hunting. Not a .single
cat is known to have found its way to its original
home, and as to the result of the experiment, the
special reporter of the Melbourne Farmers' Gazette
says: — "During a thorough inspection of the sand
hummocks just a little before twilight, our party
onjy succeeded in seeing three rabbits. The cats, ou
the other hand, were to be met with everywhere, and
maugled rabbits, some slaughtered but recently,
and others dead for weeks, were come across in all
directions. The cats were evidently the complete
masters of the situation." The writer goes on to
express the opinion that there is no doubt whatever
as to the success of the experiment, which is, more-
over, as expensive as it is successful. — Indimi Agri-
culturist — [But when the supply of rabbits runs short,
we suspect the poultry yards of the settlers will be
in danger. — £d.]

MuGA Silk. — Experiments, writes a Calcutta paper,
were tried by the Agricultural Department in Assam
last year to determine the practicability of growing
muga silk for the Eaglish market. A small quantity
of muya yarn was sent to Mr.. Wardle, of Leek, in
January last, which cost on an average K3-11 per lb.,
exclusive of carriage, but Mr. AVardle has not as yet
reported ou its value for the purpose of the English
manufacture. Again, 6,UO0 muya cocoons were sent to
a gentleman in Calcutta, who had invented an im-
proved process of reeling this silk which would enable
him, he fancied, to obtain a remunerative price for
it iu the English market. This, however, did not prove
to be the case, for the yarn, when reeled and sent to
England, was valued at a price insufficient to repay
the cost of producing it iu India. The largest ex-
periment was made by the Bengal Silk Company, who
were supplied by Governmeut with three lakhs of
miuja cocoons at a cost of R60Q, or 112 per 1,000.
These cocoons were reeled into 67 lb. of yarn, besides
58 lb. of marketable floss and waste. Unfortunately
the yarn was damaged on its way to England, and
proved unsaleable ; so that the result of this experi-
ment, by which it was hoped to test the possibiiites
of a trade iu taiuja, was defeated. It is to be hoped
that these failures will not prevent further experi-
ments with the silk, which may yet prove an im-
portant addition to the industrial products of Assam.
— Times of India.

Agbicclture is Mauritius — For supplies of cattle
and sheep Mauritius is entirely dependent on other
countries, notably Madagascar, the Cape, and India ;
but iish abound in the surrounding seas. So much
of the agricultural area of the island is taken up
with sugar growing, that small room remains for
other branches of farming, hence much of the grain
consumed by the inhabitants, especially rice, is imported.
The raising of cereals, such as maize, millet, gram
dhal, and rice is attempted on a small scale, and
yams, manioc, and sago have been produced iu trifling
quantities, but the total local supply of vegetable food
stutfs is inconsiderable. Fruits, on the other hand,
are cultivated to a large extent, and embrace apples,
avocado pears, bananas, custardapples, figs, guavas,
the litchi {Nephelium litchi), a delicious pulpy fruit
from China, mabolo (Biospi/ros discolor) of exquisite
flavour but objectionable odour, mangoes, pine-apples
of the choicest kinds, shaddocks, and tam xriuds.
Mention must also be made of the papaw fruit, from
which, iu this island and Bourbon, a passable
coinpotp. is made. Spices, raised iu small quantities,
comprise betel, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, pepper, pimento,
turmeric, and vanilla, pods of the last-named being
sometimes exported. The date palm has become well
established; so also has the coconut, whose oil is now
shipped iu thousands of gallons annually. Sugar is
the all-absorbiu^ object li[ calture, e;igagiag the whole
population, and atfordiug an export value of about
Jto.OoOJOOO a ye&x, -'Journal of the Society oj Arts,

Dec. I, 1886.}

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

423

INDUSTBIES IN MYSOEE.

(From our Bangalore Gorreapondent.)
The tanuiug of skins for leather is an industry which
is carried on pretty briskly at Bangalore. There are
upwards of i30 large tanneries at work, all owned by
natives and worked solely by them. Dressed skins from
B angalore have always maintained a good reputation ;
the export trade in these are soo'^j large quantities
being shipped via Madras to London, various places
on the Continent, to America, besides bemg sent up
to Northern India. The principal tanning material
used is the bark of the Cassia Anriciilata, which grows
abundantly in some of the districts of the Mysore
Province. The Government levies a license fee of
about 8 annas per cent, and in the district of Toom-
koor alone the fees so levied amounted in one year to
R20,000. All the bark is brought into Bangalore, but
much of it is pas sed on to parts in the Madras Pre-
sidency where ta nneries exist.

The raius this year all throughout the Mysore Pro-
vince have been seasonable and plentiful. The staple
crops of the country have grown well and the vield
will be a bumper one in many parts. Eaggi, though the
new crop is not in ther market yet, is now being sold
at 40 measures per rupee, and jola at 25. It is a
curious thing, however, to note that the old gowdas
and ryots do not like the bumper crops, alleging that
a very good season is alway followed by a bad year.

The Mysore Government maintains a stud breeding
farm at K'uigal, about 30 miles from Bangalore, for
the purpose of supplying remounts to the Silladar
Cavalry, which latter is about 2,000 sabres strong.
There are 11 stallions at the farm: 3 Australian and
8 Arabs ; a thorough-bred English stallion is now on
the way out. The total area of the stud farm is
257 acres, on which good crops of grass, oats and maje
are raised. Australian and Oawnpore oat seeds are used
and are found to do very well. E.xperiments with
.silos and ensilage making are carried on. and as far
as the experiments have gone, the slow filling of silos
seems to be the best method for preserving fodder.
The stock mares are principally Australian, and stud
bi-ed, and it has been found that there is a smaller
percentage of deaths among the foals of the former
than of any other class.

JAVA BUDGET AND PLANTING.

Amstebdam, Oct. 27th. — The most important
event of the past week has been the intro-
duction of the Bill for Government assistance to the
Sugar cultivators in Java. The Minister proposes to
authorise the Governor-General to make an agreement
with the sugar planters, working under Government
contracts, by which delay of payment is granted of the
excise duty due during 1887, providing that planters
pay interest on the outstanding amount at the rate of
six per cent per annum. Regardmg free cultivation, the
Governor-General may assist sugar manufacturers by
granting advances on the crop of 1888 not exceeding the
rate ot one and a half guilder per 100 kilos at an m''-' r-
est of six per cent per annum, and under a guarantee
that the Government advance shall have precedence of
any other claim with which the undertaking might be
charged, and in the event of suspension the total Gov-
ernment ad Vii nee to be paid immediately. In introduc-
ing the Bill the Minister pointed out that the measure
is only temporary, being proposed with the intent of as-
sisting the sugar cultivators during the present diiBcult
times, aii<l as soon as an improvement sets in the ad-
vanced capital is to be refunded. For this reason a de-
crease of the fiscal burden is not included in the scheme,
neither a reduction of the Government's railway tariff,
wWch would only afford a trifling benefit. The Minister
concludes by stating that the proposed measures will in-
volve a temporary loss to the Government revenue, ob-
tained from the sugar cultivation, which will be re-
covered when mare favourable times set in. The maint-
enance of the sugar industry in Java being a matter of
general interest, the Government urges an early con-
sideration of the Bill. A revision of the regulation of
the laud rents iu Netherlands India is in progress,

and in connection therewith a revision of the export
duty on sugar will be necesary.

The report on the Java Budget of the sections of
the States General has been published. Some members
expressed satisfaction ac the fact that the Minister pro-
posed to improve the financial position of the colonies.
On the other hand, several members criticise the policy
of the Government, which does not comply with the
repeated complaints of those concerned in the Java
trade, and maintain that the high railway tariff, the ex-
port duty on coffee and sugar, whereas a fresh tax on
tobacco was put on, no decrease of the compulsory
labour was introduced, and the endeavours made for
an improvement of the military and naval forces would
prove to be insufiicieut. This opinion was opposed by
certain other members, who referred to the proposals
of the Government for the construction of railways and
the reorganization of the system of police in Eastern
Sumatra, which will certainly be for the welfare of the
population. Attention was directerl to the unsatisfact-
ory position of the Indian army and the reorganisation
of the navy ; the construction of a harbour for men-of-
war was advised. The opinions regarding the concen-
tration system in Acheen were divided. Many mem-
bers disapproved of it, but others believed that it would
lead to the pacification of Acheen. The renewal of the
concession for steam navigation in Netherlands India
was also a matter of consideration. Many members
were against the existing monopoly, which is not to
the interest of trade in the Archipelago, and advised to
grant the concession to a Netherlands Company. A
contract should be closed with one of the existing com-
panies working the line between Holland and Java.
Several members preferred the publication of the terms
for the new contract and to invite tenders, a private
agreement involving numerous difficulties. The idea
of the Minister about the construction and working of
the Government railroads was not joined, and some
members advised to sell the same to private companies,
while others opposed both the Government's regulation
and the sale of the radroads.

In the month ef May several commercial firms iu this
city forwarded a petition to the Minister for the Colonies
to bold at least eight Government auctions of cinchona
bark during the year instead of two, and to announce
the dates of the auctions in the States Gazette and the
Java Gazette in December of every year. Information
has been received now that the Minister will comply
with the request of the petitioners, and make a trial
during the years 1887 and 1888, which will doubtless
lead to a more favourable compfititiou of this market
with other foreign markets. — L. ^ C. Express, Oct. 29th,

THE POSITION OF CEYLON PLANTING
PRODUCTS.

In criticism of certain correspondence which
appeared in the local papers about two months
ago, an esteemed correspondent now in England
has sent us a communication which is evidently
the outcome of the deliberations of not a few
capitalists and proprietors interested in Ceylon.
We accordingly give prominence to the views ex-
pressed : —

" We noticed more than one corres^jondent re-
cently writing a few words of warning as to the
danger of haste in the abandonment, or com-
parative abandonment, of one of your most important
items of planting enterprize, Cinchona. One corre-
spondent pointed out very forcibly how inadvisable it
is to prematurely abandon this form of cultivation.
According to him, many of your planters, owing to
the low prices for the bark now obtainable in the
European markets, are neglecting the further planting
of the tree. The writer and others at home are at one
with that gentleman in the view he expressed, feeling
that there is every reason to hope that some day or
other the demand for quinine, as its use becomes ex-

424

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Dec. I, 1886.

tended under the influence of present cheapness,
will again bring about such a condition of the
market for the raw bark as shall enable its cultiv-
ation to become once more nrotitablc.

" That view has been strengthened by com-
munications we have had with authorities at
home. We have all seen how whole fields-
whole estates we may say— wliich formerly grew
little else but coffee have been transformed
bodily into tea-gardens. It is perhaps due to a
considerable extent to the consignments falling off in
the Eastern exports of the berry, that prices are
once again rismg largely in Mincing Lane. It is not
Ceylon alone, it should be remembered, which has
had the prosperity of its coffee industry checked
by that potent enemy leaf-disease. There is scarcely
a coffee-growing country in the world which has
not been more or iess a sufferer from the same
cause as has affected Ceylon. The adjacent con-
tinent, .lava, Fiji and many other countries, have
had to regret the presence of the disease and its
results to their prosperity. But comparatively a
few years have passed and we have before us the
consequence of a reduced outturn in improved
prices, prices which may well induce Ceylon planters,
now that there are evidences that the effect of
the fungus is weakening, to pause before they
further denude their lands of the coffee bush, and
revert to that wide acreage of a single product to
which, we believe, we may in great measure at-
tribute the birth of the disease on our estates.
There is no reason to conclude that the perpe-
tuation of such a system with regard to tea will
be never free from its natural consequences than
has proved to be the case with coffee, and although
Dr. Trimen, when speaking at the Ceylon Dinner
lately held in London, declared it to be impossible
that the present form of leaf-disease which has
proved to be so disastrous to coffee should attack
tea, we have no assurance that some other form
of pest may not be bred should we revert to our
former mistake of devoting our lands wholly, or
nearly wholly, to a single form of cultivation.

" Into this error we at home observe a disposition
to fall ; and we may, therefore, add our note of
warning to that already given by yourselves and
some of your local correspondents. We believe
that some Ceylon planters already fully recognize
that the impetuous clearing out of coffee is being
carried too far. The Uva Estates Companies
seem to be strongly alive to the danger of acting
too precipitately in this direction, and they have
determined to proceed henceforth with very great
caution. Their directors are observant of the in-
creasing rates for their coffee produce arising
from the diminished supplies of its higher classes,
and they now make a judicious selection of those
fields wherever the symptoms of returning health to
the coffee are most manifest, and retain them
under the same conditions of careful and high
qultivation as were formerly practised with respect
to them. We counsel that such an example should,
as far as may be possible, be generally followed,
not with respect to coffee alone, but also as re-
gards cinchona. It should be borne in mind
with respect to the latter that the presence of
cinchona trees on estates affords advantages alto-
gether independent of the pecuniary value of tlicir
bark, and to sacrifice these by neglecting the
further planting of the tree, would, it seem to us,
be highly injudicious. Our experience of the
markets for colonial produce has fully satisfied us
that no single form of it has ever become
so permanently reduced in price as to nullify all
hope of future profitable cultivation. The markets
follow of course the natural law attending supply
and demand. Seasons of depression in prices, if

this be long continued, cause decrease in pro-
duction, and as the result, prices again rise to
their normal level. Now this is what we see at
the present time taking place with regard to
coffee, and we believe the same result will as
surely follow with respect to cinchona. The pre-
sent favourable prices obtained for Ceylon tea
will almost as certainly experience reaction due
to its large production, present and prospective,
and it may be, therefore, that the day will come
— if the present course of wholesale denudation
of coffee and cinchona be persisted in, — when
your planters will strongly regret the total aban-
donment of those other forms of cultivation which
have until lately appeared almost hopeless as to
their yielding a satisfactory return. We should
recollect the outcry in which all shared when
misfortune overtook Ceylon as to the impolicy of
treating all your eggs in one basket. Are you not
tending once again in that mistaken direction ?
We fear that your are, and that the future will again
force regret for doing so upon us. Beading the
signs of the times, and warned by past ex-
perience, we would counsel less haste in the
abandonment of coff'ee and cinchona cultivation
than at present seems to find faveur among the
greater proportion of your Planting Community."
4

Amount of Quinine m Cinchona Trees. — The
late Mr. Howard found that the amount of quinine
varied largely in trees of the same species growing iu
the same locality. High-class barks should aloue
be cultivated.-TGiar<^e«ers' Chronicle.

The Drying and Withering. — Referring to
the work of the patent " Dessicator," a well-known
planter writes that with reference to his withering he
feels almost independent of the weather, now that
he has got a "Brown's Dessicator" as his Drier.
When the weather is unfavourable for withering,
he simply conducts the hot air from the " Dessi-
cator " to the withering room, and by that means
he lias the withering under his control with, as
he thinks, a very satisfactory result. He adds : —
" I lind that in weather that would otherwise
take two or three days to wither leaf, I can have
the day's leaf ready, and well withered the fol-
lowing morning by keeping the fan going all night
to raising the Dessicator heat, to say 230^ to '250°."

Demand for Mica in Canada. — We have a
letter from Toronto from an ex-Ceylon resident
who says, he (along with a fellow-townsman, a
former Kandy Banker) is interested in learning
all about the mica procurable in the island. He en-
closes a specimen which is liner and clearer than
the best we have yet seen in Ceylon. Of good
quality our correspondent says a large quantity
can be sold in America, but he has to learn that
there have been several here collecting and buy-
ing before him for the London market, whence
doubtless it is widely distributed. We shall be ready
to give the address of our Toronto correspondent to
any mica collector who may wish to try Canada
with a parcel.

iNOA PuLCHERHiMA. — A small plant of this novel
South American plant^a recently struck cuttiuj; — is
now in flower at the Royal Exotic Nur.-^eries, Chelsea.
It is quite a tiny plant, but it h;is thrown cue cluster
of erect long crUuson-coloured stamens. JNlr- Court
states that he has had the pluut under bis oare at
the above nurseries for the space of twenty-three
years, but has never previously succeeded in flower-
ing it, though he had seen fine spiximens of it in
Mexico, 6 to 8 feet in height, and covered with
clusters of flowers. It is there cultivated as an ordi-
nary greenhouse plant, placed out-of-doors during
the .'•uininer, but housed during the winter. The
cutting — now a blooming plant — was taken only in
August last, and it was bloomed in the pot in wliich
it was rooted. — Gardemrg' Chronicle,

Dec. iy 1886,]

tHE TROPICAL AGKiCULTURIST,

425

*

To the Editor of the " Ceylon Observer."

ANTS ON CROTONS.

Tke Castle, Slave Island, 12th Nov. 1886.

De.\.e Sir, — May I so far trespass on your valuabi*
time as to ask you how I can prevent ants attack-
ing crotons. A kind of mould or bligkt appears and
I notice whenever this is so, the ants are busy. I
have lost several crotons from this cause and I would
not have troubled, but that most of these shrubs are
now attacked by this pest— Yours faithfully,

BARLOW A. WOORE.

[We suspect that the crotons are infested with
msaly bug, white scale, or some form of aphis. Ants
are well-known destroyers of Aphis and this will
account for their presence. A good remedy is to
paint the stems thoroughly with the following mixture: —
^ lb. of soft s«ap, ^ lb. of fluur of sulphur, ^ lb. of
tobacco, and a wine-glass of spirit of turpentine. Mix
the sulphur, turpentine and .<^oai) into a paste with
warm water, boil the tobacco for an hour in a covered
saacepan in some more water, strain it, mix it with
the soapy mixture and then add enough water to
make one gallon.— Ed.]

TEA PLUCKING: HEAVY AND FINE; AND

COST OF CULTIVATION: A WOED OF

WARNING.

Deak Sir,— Referring to " C. S." 's correspond-
ence in your paper of 15th inst. re Tea Manu-
facture and change of system, I will, with your
permission, make a few remarks. I think " C. S."
is. a little out when he says " that the cost of
plucking tea per acre is rateably the same whether
the yield is large or small." And further out when
he remarks that " it might be urged that the cost
of plucking '200 lb. per acre will be greater than
that of 400 lb. ; if this is so, the 400 lb. may be
plucked and the leaf passed through a green leaf
sifter r.nd the coarse leaf put in the manure pit."
No one ever said that the cost per acre for pluck-
ing 200 lb. would be greater than that of 400 lb. What
is said and known to every practical man is that
a small yield will cost more per lb. to pluck than
a large yield per lb. The rates would be for pluck-
ing 400 lb. per acre 9 cents per lb.
200 „ 16

So if my figures for plucking are correct and in
practice, I fancy I am nearer to it than " C, S."
His 200 lb. per acre (allowing all his other figures
to be correct) will cost him in Colombo cents 48-50
per lb. " C. S's." system is not fine plucking at all.
It only means the rejection of souchong leaf, either
by leaving it on the bushes and only taking the
bud and one leaf or plucking it all and, as he says,
" pass the leaf through a green leaf sifter and put
the coarse leaf in the manure pit," As I understand
fine plucking, it is to take the bud and one leaf
before a souchong leaf has time to form on the shoot.

Although I have not, like " C. S." sunk my bottom
dollar in tea, I am deeply interested in it and I
would be the last to run it down. Yet I cannot
but think that inflated and inaccurate writing will
have much of the over-production to answer for,
and I think it is to be regretted, that some of the
"authorities" have not based their estimates on
a more moderate yield than 400 lb. per acre. Un-
less we are to assume that the capital invested in
planting and in the erection of the pilatial fact-
ories recommended in the " Manual," as sunk
irretrievably, I think it but right that interest on
this capital should be included in espenditure. If
one of our " authorities " would frame an estimate

on a more probable yield than iO^ lb. per acre, say
250 lb., adding interest on capital, then show what
it would cost f o.b., it would be more to the pur-
pose, though I fear it would be too late to do good, as
the mischief is already done.— Yours faithfully.

PLANTER.

A NEW COFFEE TREE.

24th Nov. 1880,
Dear Me. Editor,— I enclose an amusing cutting
from Public Opinion : —

"A New Coi-fee-tree.- The Qiornalc (V Agricol-
tura 0. Commercio for August reports the discovery
in West Africa of a new variety of coffee-plant,
whose berry appears greatly to resemble that of
Arabia in appearance and flavour. It grows, how-
ever, not on a shrub but on a tree nearly 7 ft.
high, which develops rapidly and yields an abundant
crop. Arrangements are already being made for
introducing its cultivation in favourable localities."
The Italian paper seems to have discovered a
very promising mare\ nest, seeing that the claim
of this coffee plant to be a new variety, is based
on the astonisliing fact that it grows on a tree
nearly 7 ft. hiijli ; our own old variety would grow
double that height if permitted. If you think it
worth while, you might copy "the " para " in the
Observer for the edification of those who, like my-
self, once cultivated the noble shrub.

Ex K. C. B., NOW K. T.

ENEMY OP COCONUT PALM.

Pallai, 29th October 1886.

Dear Sir,— Will your entomological referee kindly
afford me some information regarding the beetle I
herewith send you. What name does it go by, and
what is its appearance in the larva state ? P'rom
interested motives I should also like to know what
it generally feeds on I As far as my experience goes,
it does not appear to be very common to this part
of the country, and, until very recently, I was under
the impression it was the black coconut-beetle, or
Kuriiminiija of the Sinhalese.

Is it at all destructive te coconuts, and if so, in
what way ?

I captured the present specimen on the ground,
as he was taking a quiet evening stroll, having
probably emerged from some hole or heap of rubbish
near by. His appearance is certainly formidable,
and I should say he was capable of doing a con-
siderable amount of mischief with the pair of
forceps or shears with which he is provided ; but
I trust they are not quite so powerful as to enable
him to effect his escape from the parcel beiore
it reaches you. — Yours faithfully,

" COCONUT PLANTER."

[Our referee has been trying to find out the
name of the beetle, but has nof been successful,
It belongs to the family PrionlcUc, genus Priunits,
and the larva which is large, fleshy and white,
feeds on the decaying wood of
beetle usually conceals itself in
roams about after dark. The
coiTesj)ondent, is a male ; the
ably much smaller mandibles. The family
comprises some of the largest known beetles. — •
If our correspondent could tend some more speci«
mens of the beetle, it would be well. — Ed.]

DOES TEA IMPROVE OR DETERIORATE
BY KEEPING.
Deai Sir,— =There is a question on the subject of
tea, and one about which opinions vary so much
that no definite conclusion can be arrived at by the
UQiuitiatecl, and I kuo>y no one more able to ventilato

fallen trees. The

the daytime and

one sent by our

female has prob-

4'iO

fflE tkOPiCAL AGklCaiWRIgt'.

[Dec. !, 1886.

■BS-W^SHSWI"

Ihe subject than yourself, or the columns of whose
newspaper are more freely placed at the service of
the public. The (juestion is this : — Does tea improve
or deteriorate by keeping ? Some tea planters say that
it improves, and others say that it begins at once to
deteriorate, unless put in bottles and hermetically
sealed. I am a believer in the former theory, and
will give my reasons, and shall be glad to hear any
arguments in favour of the deterioration theory. In
Australia, where tea is move universally drunk
than in any other country, we no more doubted that
age improved tea than we doubted the fact that port
wine required maturing. In Ihitain everyone that
I have made enquiries of, who has tried Ceylon
tea, declares that it requires age, and I am, at
the present time, using tea which has been stand-
ing in the open chest for over two years, and it
is now very much better than at tirst. Many of
my friends drink Ceylon tea only, and they in-
variably complain of the falling-off in quality, when
they begin a new chest, but, as each new chest
has the same fault, a fault which m a week or
two disappears, I conclude that it is merely the
want of age that is complained about. I am not
asking you to convince me that my taste is wrong,
and that the taste of my many friends here, who
use Ceylon tea, is also deficient : that you will
hardly be able to do ; but I would be very pleased
if you would give some practical reasons why some
planters are so dogmatic on the deterioration
theory, and others are just as inconvincible with
regard to the opposite view of the case. What
would those advocates for drinking new tea think
of people always having an unopened chest in
stock, and, as soon as it is opened, a new chest
is purchased, to lie ripening in their store-room
to be ready for use wlien the other chest is fin-
ished ■? I am not ur^^uing in favour of old tea : I
am only making a statement that I. and all the
friends I have in Britain who drink Ceylon tea,
are convinced that age improves the flavour and
the strength of your staple. I will be much
interested in your reply to this, and as I am
asking you the question for the information of
many others besides myself, I trust you will ex-
cuse my trespassing on your space to such an
extent as I have done. — Yours truly,

Scotland. Oct. Ex-K.C.B.

^The experience related is ccrUinly contrary to
the commonly-received opinion. The general idea
is th^.t tea is at its finest three months after
preparation, and surely this is borne out by the
rush every year for the new China teas — the race
home, and the prize offered to the first steamer
in, as also by the higher prices paid for these new
teas. On one thing we are clear that like port-
wine, " Ex-K.C.B. "s "' tea must be kept hermeti-
cally closed, to improYe by age : if the chest is
left'open, the tea loses bouquet, thou^^h if the
surrounding atmosphere wtre rijh in germs
might gain a nev,- flavox^r ?— Kit.

iKDi.A.x TE.i.i. '-There Jiat. been a good demand for
Indian Tia, and prices remain stealy, as the coutiuuous
heavy oiipplie.s have proved amply sntScieut to meet
the iargef reqni'pmeuts. It has been frequently re-
J)Orted that the bulk of this season's imports would be
Jn icb inferior in quality to these of recent years, but
this has Certainly not bre" confirmed by tbe late aup-
plies. Of the tiiiest sorts tliere lia*, it is true, been
a diniinihed supply, but the niediiim and lower grades,
for which liie principal demand existn, are now not
only more plentiful, but quite equal in quality and con-
dition to the Teas of former seasons. There seems no
good rea.son to suppose th:it tbe .shipments yet to arrive
will lie inferior to those now being offered, and the
latest advices infer that the total crop will be a large
pnc. Ibert) in th«icf«r« every probability of a steady

and increasing development in the consumption of all
Indian Teas. The large Indian crop is further supplc-
mentei by the steadily-growing supplies of excellent;
Teas from Ceylon, which are not only freely used by
the grocers for blending purposes, but are now being
sold unmixed to the public for consumption. "Witli
an estimated import of "2,000,000 lb. of Indian and
about 5,000,000* lb. of Ceylon Tea, the consumption of
these kinds at current cheap rates bids fair to increase
rapidly — I'ntdace Muriels' llecitir, Oct. 23rd.

The So-called "Buo" on Tea Near Gaj.le.
— Our informant of the other day on this
matter, writes : — " I send you a sample of
the tea leaves and the insects which were called
bugs, but which appear to me a sort of lly, but
ask your ' entomological referee' to look at
them and report." We are pleased to receive the
following report from the gentleman referred to : —
" No. 5 (Aphis coffea- or coffee louse) of Nietner's
' Enemies of the Coffee Tree,' with the larvie of
Syrphus si^lendens preying upon them ; also a few
wood-bearing caterpillars." This is a very different
matter to blackbug, and ought to relieve the minds
of our tea-growers in the South and elsewhere.
Nietuer says of the coffee louse : —

b. Ap/iis coffeae. {Coffee I.ouse.)

Both sexes :naketl, shiny pitch-blaek with whitish rostrum,
aiiteuii;.! and legs and frreenish abdomen. The rostrum
reat-lies to beyond the base of the second pair of legs. The
antenna? are seven-jointed the first, second and sixth being
short, the rest lon^r, the two basal joints are black, the rest
wliitish, black towards apex. Legs With femora and tarsi
nearly black, tibi;e nearly white, hind-legs with base o£ tibia;
slightly curved. Male four-winged, with black stigma in
the upper ones. Female apterous. Abdomen in both sexes
two-(.oriiiculate and with an anal tube. Size middling. Young
individuals light coloured.

The insect just described is found in larger or smaller com-
munities upon the young shoots and on the underside of the
leaves of the coffee tree. Its presence in larire numbers pro-
duces honey-dew and Syncladinm, as in the case of the bug.
The procreative powers of this family of insects (Aphiilcp) is
well-known, and unequalled in nature: from one iiiiprc(;natino
nine fruitful generations of females have been prod\iced in
throe months : in another instance eleven generations in
seven months ; in a third instance they continued to propagate
for four years! (Westwoop.) The eggs being hatched in the
body of the mother-insect, the young come forth alive. Such
productiveness, however, does not appear to exist among the
Ap/i. cnffrac -■ at all events the communities are generally
small, and their injuries of no consequence. But a species
which feeds npo)i the orange and citron-tree is much more
productive, From the anal tubercles a saccharine fluid is
discharged of ■which ?nts are very fond, as in the instance
o^ the Coccida^.

The Aph. mffaec is subject to the attacks of various parasites
— Syrp/tiis- Xietneri ; Syrphus splendent. These are two large
flies belonging to the family, the member of which from their
resemblance to bees and wasps, might be called " bee-flies."
They rallier resemble each other, are of dingy colours, black
abdomen variegated with whitish-yellow bands ; the forme
is pubes.ent. tlie latter smooth ; they are both 3-8" long an
Li-$" across the expamled wings. TJieir larviv devour the
Aphides: these are soft, unsightly, eyeless and footles
worms, narrowed on one end :j'; long when full-growd
That of the Si/rpltm Xirtncri is brown with a lighter doru
mark, the segments are drawn out into scale-likeknobs which
torui a ridge" along <he centre of the back. That of the
Si/rphii>: sj/leiidcns is nxnen v,\{\i a whitish dorsal mark. They
nirtlie inuneirjc havoc amongst the .Aphides, being so vora-
ciaus '.hat ill t>¥enty-{our hoi'rs they increase double their
volume. The pupa is pfar-shrtped, resting within tlie larva
skill for e.ght days AVheii the perfect insect comes forth.
Another enemy is '.—JJiCronii'! Avdraliii. This is a pretty
little insect allied to the tribe of the ant-lious. Feeding
upon pluiithce the larvip have been called, " Aphis lions,"
bot from their s' ape they might more appropriately be
styled " Aphis crocodiles." This larva is about 5-16" long,
narrow, dejressel, tapering towards botli ends, lightly
covered with white hair. It is of brownish colour ; sides,
dorsal line and under-sicklc-shaped jaws, and long, slender
palpi and feelers. The former are distinctly three-jointed,
the last joint being very loi!g, and the whole palpi a.* long
as the inanOildes. Between head and throat there ia a dis-
tinct neck. The larva encloses itself in a light cocoon in
which the pupa rests for two weeks, when the perfect insect
makes its appearance. The latter is very delicate, brownish,
«ilh green eyes. The egg-* of these insects are deposited
upon leaves, each egg being furnished with a long, thin
peduncle, thus resembling pins or certain fungi. There are
several minute Hymenoptera parasUic nyo\ii\ie Aphis cojfcac,
but I ani unable to give, their names. ^

' • IJioyojUOO surely luuaut.'-jjDi "

Dec. I, 1886.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURiSt.

427

The Largest Gas Well yet is described in an
American paper as being started in Western
Virginia on Oct 8th: — Natural gas was struck at
Fairmont, W. Va., today. When the gas was struck
the force was so great that all the tools were blown
from the well and stones thrown from 100 to 200 feet
high, tearing up part of the deri'ick. It is said by
experienced gas men to be the largest well in the
country. The noise from the rush of the gas can be
heard from six to ten miles.

Tea Seed in Assam is likely to be scarce this
year to judge by the following extract from the
letter of an Assam planter: — "I don't know what
has made the seed so bad this year; it is a great
disappointment to me, but can't be helped. Am
making very good tea just now, and have re-
ceived good valuations from Calcutta." Fortu-
nately there is a considerable quantity of good
seed available in Ceylon now and there should be
less risk in using local seed.

Rubber iv Brazil.— The following extract from a
sketch of the physical geography of Brazil, lately pub-
lished, gives a new idea of the importance of nihbir : —
" Amongst the immense stores of valuable veget-
able productions of this great forest, the india
rubber tree figures pr°-eminently. It exists in such
vast quantities, and the collection of the juice
is so very lucrative, that it has attracted to even
the most remote rivers thousands of adventurous
Brazilians. Eubber is doing for the' Amazons
what gold did for Australia and California ;
although most other industries on the Amazons
are neglected and paralyzed, rubber has enabled
Para, Manaos, and other riverine cities to make
unijrecedented progress. It has covered thousands
of miles of rivers with steamers, and spread a
vast population over vast areas that would other-
vise have remained dormant for many many years."
Pests on Tea, — We hear of an insect shew-
ing up rather extensively on a field of tea in the
low-country and our informant considered he had
very bad news, indeed in giving us the informa-
tion. But taking the worst view of the case of
such pests, it must be remembered that there is a
vast difference between tea and coffee or almost
any other field product. In the case of tea, very
strong measures — such as burning or stripping off'
all the aff'ected leaves — can be rccorted to with
little prejudice to crop prospects — with simply the
effect of a pruning. For fighting pests— should
pests really come, in any force, and no branch
of agriculture is entirely free of such— tea affords
greater advantages than almost any other tropical
product. In the present case, probably treatment
with lime will entirely dissipate the bug.

How TO CoUNTEEAC'f OsER-PRODrCTION OF TeA

IN Ceylox. — We call attention to the letter of
"C. S." (page 40'>) on this subject, to which
we had appended the following note: — " IJy
all means, let our correspondent persevere in
his criticisms and suggestions, which others in-
terested will carefully weigh, and give their reasons
for adopting or rejecting the systems recommended.
Of course, it is the net and not the gross returns
from the application of manure on which calcul-
tions of profit should be founded and in the case
of the system of fine plucking recommended, there
can be no doubt of the saving in packages, local
transport, freight etc., resulting from its adoption.
The question then is as to the theory that fine pluck-
ing is more exhausting to the plant than ordinary
medium harvesting of leaves as well as buds." On
this " C. S.", having seen the above in " proof " wrote:
— "No, the question is whether a lingering death
from fine plucking, or a sudden one from aban-
donment is preferable: we are told that tea-drink-
ing, and smoking are injurious; fortunately people
on't mind being killed imperceptibly."

Fortunately, we have already in Ceylon, an ex-
ample of the happy medium, between the process
recommended by '-C. S." and the ordinary prac-
tice in plucking In the case of a wellknown
plantation, which maintains a high average price
for its teas, the process adopted has been described
as a comparatively light or fine plucking; but not
unduly fine, just such as keeps the bushes in
good order ; and then the throwing away of 25
per cent of the coarser leaves. This secures a
very fine regular tea from what remains, and the
fourth of what is gathered goes directly back to
the soil. This process would suit"C. S." well in
the time of "overproduction," when it arrives.

Tea in America. — That the American peo-
ple are in a fair way to learn all about " good
tea " is very evident when we find such a para-
graph as the following in a Chicago paper :—

Cheap Tea-Drinking.— The doctors are falling into
agreement that the excessive use of tea is working great
injury to its consumers. Tea is now set down as more
deleterious than coffee, especially when taken hot. This
being the case with good tta, it is painful to.think
that the article commonly sold and used is in quality
far below that which our grandmothbrs were wont
to gossip over. The Ohiue.'e have discovered that
England and America want cheap tea, and they conse-
(lueutly ship over an article which a cooly in Canton
would fling into the street. The use of this wretched
stutf destroys the taste for really good tea. Yet there
are people who drink the latter. Japan, lndia,and Ceylon
have become formidable competitors with China in
the tea trade ; and there are brands of Japanese tea
worth from §15 to §18 a pound. The Russians drink
prime tea, and the best which is not reserved for
home use is sent to them. A well-to-do Russian family
rarely drinks tea worth leas thau iS2.50 to §3 a pound ;
and this tea goes much further than the cheap trash,
it being true economy to use it. The best grades of
tea go far to supply the craving for wiue and liquor,
so that a man who consumed the finest Bohea or Peru
from the I-baug distiict would soon get into bad odor
with his wine merchant. The best Indian teas bring,
at wholesale by auction, in England, 75 cents to .SI a
pound. From this the quality of our cheap teas may be
guessed.

Tka " Bulked Uxassokted." — AVith reference to
the above we do not altogether agree with Messrs. I.
A. RuckerandBencraft in their remarks ; from reading
carefully their circular it appears they advise all
planters to forward their teas as " Unassorted " and
to prove their ideas they quote the result of one
Garden where, by the teas being sorted, the owner
lost nearly £.300 sterliug. They state the sorted portion
was divided into six different grades. This multiplying
of grades both London Brokers and ourselves have
often written against. We do strongly advise for
.small gardens just coming into bearing where the Tea
is of Medh'.m Quality that it should be sold as
" T^iassorted " but Fj(KE from dust ; but for gardea.s
that produce exceptionally fine quality teas we advise
them to be sorted hito five grades namely : — Orange
I'ekoe or Broken Orange Pekoe, Broken Pekoe, Pekoe,
Pekoe Souchong, and Broken Pekoe Souchong, with
an occasional Dust, where an estate by sorting as
above, would be forwarding once a fortnight only 2
or .3 packages of each description, we would recom-
mend them keeping it back until breaks over S pick-
ages have accumulated, even though it may be in
some cases six weeks. Messrs I. A. Rucker and Bencraft
state that the "proof of the pudling is in the eating' ;
this is all very true, but they are only able to state
for example one instance out of the hundreds that
are sold in London, so we consider the para lei does
not hold good. In short where a garden only produces
medium Teas such as Broken Pekoes SL-llir g at 1/1
to 12, per It). Pekoe lid 1,0 per lb., Pekoe Souchong
9^d to 10|d per It)., Broken Tea 8d per Ih., we would
advise the invoice being Bulked and s )ld as " Un-
assorted," but NOT for gardens producing good qua'ity
Teas. — Wifson ^- Co's Fortnightly Tea Eepoi-t.

42S

THE TSOPI-CAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Dec. I, 1886,

FIB HE MACHINERY.

Cn Satur.lny, the 17th iast., au Arcjxis represen-
tative vitite ^ ihe shop of D. F. Burden, near the city
whprf, to l-(k at the model of a fibre cleansing and
vrathiug machine, but, owing to crowded columns last
week, we were unable to mention it. Some weeks
ago we saw the first machine of the series — the one
for estracticg the fibre — which i* now on a shelf in
the patent office at Washington, and were impressed
with its simplicity and wonderful working powers.
The last model made, as we have stated, is the
cleansing and washing machine, and there is yet one
more to construct, when Mr. Burden and his associates
will have a set of fibre machinery which will be
worth a fortune. No part of the globe furnishes so
many valuable fibrous plants as Florida, and all that
is needed is the proper machinery for its extraction,
and the industry will be one of the greatest in the
South. We have samples of fibre in our office, which
were extracted from the Spanish jNIaguey plant by
Mr. Burden, whit n measures thirty-six inches in length
as pliable as thread but as tough as wire. Can a
better fibre for the manufacture of ropes, twine, etc.,
be conceived which is so easily produced and yet so
valuable ? The resources of Florida in this line have
been only touched, properly speaking, and it seems
that it remains only for Mr. Burden to develop them.
Should these machines prove successful and practicable
(and in our opinion they cannot jjrove otherwise), a
new industry will be inaugurated in Florida which
will be even greater than that of orange growing, and
which will accordingly command mere interest and
insure the investment here of more capital. That the
manufactories will be located here is almost a fore-
gone conclusion, for the raw material is at the door,
and the shipping facilities as good as could be secured
at any place. We wish Mr. Burden success, and know
that he is able to attend to it. — Sanfonl Argus.

DESIGNATIONS OF DIFFERENT TEAS.

A correspondent writes: — "The terms "Pekoe"
" Pekoe Souchong," and "Souchong" are here treated
BS referring to Indian, Ceylon, and similar teas, and
have no connection with the sane terms as used in
describing China and such-like teas. Strictly speak-
ing, these terms are used to denote tea manufactured
from the leaves in different stages of development,
though for ordinary trade designation, the actual
pppearance of the leaf is the standard for determin-
ing to which of these grades a tea belongs: —

'• Pekoe " tea is manufactured from the first two
or three young leaves at the end of the shoot, or
" flush," as it is technically called. The just unfold-
ing bud at the end, which in about another day
would be a leaf (and often the just expanding young
leaf next it), is covered with a white velvety down,
which, if not stained dark by the juice expressed
during the rolling process in manufacture, comes out
light-coloured in the finished tea, and the tea that
contains these whitey buds is called " tippy." This
" tippy " form is the characteristic of Pekoe teas, as
the lower qualities do not contain it. Pekoo is rolled
with great care during the process of manufacture
to curl the leaf well. " Orange Pekoe " is Pekoe con-
taining an extra quantity of these Pekoe "tips" or
" ends," and is more valuable than " Pekoe " inas-
much as these "tips" or '-ends" are highly prized
and add to the value of tea. " Fiowery Pekoe '' is
manufactured from the aforesaid downy buds alone,
and is prepared in a different w.iy altogether from
the other teas ; very little of it is made, and it is quite
a fancy tea.

"Souchong" is manufactured from older leaves than
those from which Pekoe is got, and less careful mani-
pulr.tion is given to it. It rarely contains "tip,"
though a few tippy leaves may sometimes be found
in in. It has a bold rough leaf.

'• Pekoe Souchong " is made from the leaves, taken
altogether, which manufactured separately, would pro-
duce Pfkop and Souchong. It contains usually some

" tip '' and also some large leaf, and in all its
characteristics comes between the two former grades.
This class of tea is manufactured more extensively
than any other, as by picking all the leaves to-
gether a great saving in laboui* is effected— a most
important point in tea cultivation. The larger and
older leaves, when picked, make "Congou" — a very
inferior class of tea ; and that made from the still
larger and coarser ones, if they are taken at all
(which is not often done, as the tei obtained is
hardly worth the extra expense), is called "bohea."
This latter term is, however, now practically obsolete.

In ordinary trade nomenclature a tea is called
" Pekoe " if it have a wiry, wellcurled leaf of greyish
liquor, and a good general appearance ; " Pekoe
Souchong" is bolder and containing more ragged leaf;
and "Souchong "if still larger and less tightly curled.
Anything in the way of whole- leaf teas below these
is now known as "Congoii."

As these grades run imperceptibly one into the
other, it is evidently impossible to lay down a hard-
and-fast rule for distingushing the kinds, and the
terms must be of necessity more or less relative, not
absolute. They have, of course, distinctive kinds of
liquor, but to refer to these would take up far too
much of your space, on which I have, I fear, trans-
gressed too much already ; but I hope we shall hear
something on this point, as for practical blending pur-
poses it is far more important that that of leaf.
Perhaps someone else may be found who will give us
his experience on this question, as it is of great import-
ance to those interested in tea." — Planter and Farmer,

TRIAL OF COLONIAL TIMBERS.

An important and eminently interesting demons-
tration cf the industrial value of colonial timbers was
held on Friday afternoon, Oct. 8, at the works of
Messrs. A. Ransome & Co., Chelsea, in the presence
of about 150 gentlemen, includiug the Agents -General
of the various Colonies and a few of the leading
civil engineers, builders, timber merchants, and others
interested in the employment of timber in various
branches of trade. Among those present were Sir
Philip Ounliffe-Owen, Mr. Edward Woods (President
of the Institute of Civil Eagineers), Sir Charles Hutton
Gregory, Sir John Coode, Sir Frederick Bramwell,
Sir Charles D. Fox, Sir Charles IMills, Sir Graham
Berry, Sir Arthur Blyth. Sir James Garrick, Sir W.
J. Clarke, the Hon. J. Gordon Sprigg, the Hon. Adye
Douglas, the Hon. Malcolm Eraser, Mr. Alfred t)ent
(Commissioner for British North Borneo), Mr. Charles
Hawuslev, Mr. A. H. Vesey, Mr. Henry C. Beeton,
Mr. Ernest E. Blake, Mr. F. G. Baker, Hon. Alex.
Hay, Colonel Beddome, Colonel Percy Smith, Mr.
J. K. Jefferies, Colonel Lees, Mr. W. B. Lewis, Mr.
C. K. Stuart, Mr. Charles Hawksley, Mr. J. C.
Homersham, Mr. A.J. E. Trendell, Mr. H. Trendell,
Professor Macoum, Mr. P. L. Simmonds, Mr. James
Thomson, Mr. H. ,J. Scott, Major G. Malei, Mr.
Sydney Cowper, Mr. George H. Hawtayne, c.m.q..
Ml-. J. L. Shand, xMr. F. E. Smnde-s, Mr. Oswald
Brown, Mr. Alpin Thompson, Mr. X, V. Trevernen,
Hen. E. H. Meade, c.b.. Dr. Trimens, Mr. W. B.
Pryer, Mr. F. Jo.sselyn, and Messrs. A., J. S., and L.
H. Eansome.

The object of the meeting was to test a number
of important colonial timbers which, from want of a
knowledge as to their qualities, have been hitherto
commercially unknown in the English market, and
with a view of practically exemplifying to what pur-
poses they could be most advantageously applied,
the various samples were converted by special machi-
nery into such descriptions of work as the colonial
experts present deemed them most suitable for.
It is not too much to. add that no more suitable or
appropriate centre could be selected for such experi-
ments than the Stanley Works, having regard to
the world-wide emiueuoe attained by Messrs. A
Eansome & Co. as manufacturers of ever^' description
of wood-working machinery. And, before going further,
we may here compliment the firm on their public-

Pec. I, 1886.]

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

429

spirited action in the matte — action which cannot
fail to advance the interests of the Colonies and India,
as regards one of the most valuable of their natural
resources.

The following is a list of the woods that were
dealt with, together with a description of the uses
for which they have proved most suitable : —

yew SoKth Jrales. — Jilne Gum for ship and house
building, wheelwrights' work, posts and rails, plough
beams, railway sleepers, &c. ; Ironbark for carriage
building, spokes of wheels, piles, and railway sleepers ;
Momitain Ash for wheelwrights' and coopers' work,
palings, and genera! building purposes ; Forest Oak for
veneers, cabinet work, &c.

Victoria. — Blackwood for all kinds of cabinetwork,
carriage building, gun stocks, &c. ; is also used for
making casks ; White Box for railway sleepers.
Blue Gum for beams, joists, railway sleepers, piers,
and bridges ; Red Gum for veneers, furniture, rail-
way sleepers, &c.

South Australia. — Red Gum for railway sleepers,
fence posts, telegraph poles, jetty and bridge piles,
wheelwrights' work, &c. ; Blue Gum for railway
sleepers, posts, piles, planking, and general building
purposes ; Sugar Gum for railway sleepers, jetty
planking, bridge piles, felloes of wheels, naves, posts, &c.

Western Australia. — Karri wood for joiners' work,
railway sleepers, furniture, cabinet work, &c.; Jarrah
for joiners' work, railway sleepers, furniture, cabinet
work, and piles ; Raspberry Jam wood for ornamental
woodwork and furniture ; York Gum for- spokes of
wheels, &c.; Tuart for wheelwrights' and railway
waggon work ; "Wandoo for wheelwrights' and rail-
way waggon work.

New ZeOjland. — Black Pine for house-building, fur-
niture, and cabinet work ; Red Pine for house-build-
ing and general purposes ; Totara for veneers, fur-
niture, and cabinet work ; Kauri for building, fur-
niture, and all general purposes ; also for making slack
barrels, and pattern-makers' work.

Canada. — Douglas Fir for pattern-makers' work,
joinery, furniture, building, and all general purposes ;
Bitternut, or Swamp Hickory for spokes of wheels,
joinery, &c. ; White Fir for joiners' work and gene-
ral purposes ; Black, or Swamp Ash for building
purposes, joiners' work, and cask-making ; Iron Wood
for handles of hammers, and agricultural implements ;
also spokes of wheels.

Cape of Good Hope. — Yellow Wood for furniture,
pattern-makers' and joiners' work, and general building
purposes ; Umzumbit for bearings, walking-sticks, and
tool- handles; Box Wood for engraving purposes;
Kamassi for engraving and turnery ; Sneeze Wood
for piles, posts, and Telegraph-poles, cabinet and
waggon worn ; Stink Wood for building purposes,
furniture, waggon work, &e.

British North Borneo. — Bilian for beams, piles,
planks, &c. ; Russock for building and general pur-
poses ; Serayah for furniture, veneers, and cabinet
m iking.

India. — Tun, or Indian Mahogany for tea-boxes,
and all kinds of furniture panels, and carving ;
Black Wood, or Rose Wood for furniture, gun-
carriages, cart-wheels, agricultural implements, and
fancy articles ; Sissoo for felloes and naves of wheels,
and carved work of all descriptions ; Long-leaved
Pine for tea-boxes and general building purposes ;
Padouk Wood for furniture, joinery, and carriage-
building ; Chugalam for furniture ; Sej Wood for
house and ship-building, also for making carts and
waggons.

As the samples of woods from West Indies, Oeylon
Queensland, Straits Settlements, Western Africa, and
Fiji, were found too small for practical experiments,
they do not appear in the above list.

The experiments, which were conducted with more
than forty different varieties of timber from India
and the Colonies, comprised tree felling, cross-cutting,
sawing, planing, moulding, morticing, tenoning, and
boring ; while the manufacture of such things as
casks, doors, pick handles, carriage spokes, and railway
sleepers was carried to its completion and the articles
exhibited to the assembled guests. The woods espri-

mented upon were of every variety, from the hardest
iron-bark to the soft mild working Douglas fir, but
the samples left the various machines with the same
smooth finish, the only difference being that the
harder qualities of wood were passed through the
machines at a somewhat slower speed than the
softer ones.

Among the more noticeable experiments were the
felling of a rough log of hard Kauri (Western
Australia) timber, 3 feet in diameter, wnich had been
planted in an upright position in the yard, and which
was sawn through close to the ground by Ransomes'
patent tree-feller in four minutes, and the subsequent
cross-cuttnig of a similar log in a still shorter time ;
the preparation of railway sleepers by a machine
which in less than a minute planed the two rail
seatings and bored the four spike holes ; and the
planing, grooving, tonguing, and beading at one
operation of boards from each sample of timber
submitted for experiment, the boards being passed
through the machine at the rate of from 12 feet
a minute for the harder woods to nearly 24 feet
per minute for the softer woods. But perhaps the
most interesting experiment of all was that of manu-
facturing light casks for spirits, &c., from such of
the colonial woods as were suitable for that purpose.
In this, the cooperage department, nine machines,
worked alternately by one lad, were employed, of
which four sufficed for the manufacture of the body
of the cask, three for the preparation of the heads,
and two for making the hoops. Although, in con-
sequence of being made of different descriptions of
wood, the casks presented a varied appearance, they
were, in form and contents, all precisely alike, while
in point of finish and solidity, they left nothing to
be desired.

At the close of the experiments, and after some
refreshments had been partaken of, a conference, at
which Mr. Edward Woods presided, was held in the
Pattern Room of the works for the purpose of elicit-
ing information respecting the several varieties of
timber experimented upon from the gentlemen repre-
senting the colonies in which they were obtained.

The proceedings were opened by Mr. Alan Ransome,
who observed that those who had witnessed the ex-
periments must have seen enough to convince them
of the excellent quality and great serviceability of
most colonial woods. The question, therefore, that
now demanded solution was whether they could be
imported into this country at a rate which would
lender them commercially useful. Summarising the
conclusions arrived at from the experiments which
his firm had that day and during the past fortnight
been engaged in, he might state, in the first place,
that among the 40 odd different species of timber
dealt with, some stood out as pre-eminently suitable
for the English market. There were iron bark and
mountain ash from New South Wales, both suitable
for wheelwrights' work, and the former, owing to its
peculiar hardness, for piles and railway sleepers as
well ; black wood from Victoria, suitable for carriage
building, cabinet work, and case making ; Karri wood
and Jarrah, from Western Australia, both useful f jr
joiners' work, sleepers, furniture, and piles, of which
he could say that there was no fault to bo found ;
black pine, red pine, totara, and kauri, from New
Zealand, which could be employed for furuitwre, cabinet
work, house building, and general purposes, kauri
being specially useful ; Douglas fir and the swamp
ash, from Canada, both suitable for building, joiners'
work, &c., the latter being particularly sound, strong,
tough, and cheap ; yellow wood, stink wood, and
sneeze wood, from the Cape of Good Hope, the two
former species suitable for furniture, building, and
joiners' work, and the latter, from its unusual dur-
abilitj', for piles, posts, telegraph poles, &c. ; Billian
and Sorayah, from British North Borneo, the former
suitable for beams, piles, and every purpo.se where
durability was necessary, and the bitter for furniture
veneers, &c. ; and, lastly, Padouk wood from Imiia,
which was suitable for joinery, carriage building, and
furniture, was exceedingly plentiful, and was grown
n ear the co»st. Many samples of wood seot had uu-

4^0

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Dec< t, 1886.

fortunately beeu too small for experiment, but of
those operated upou he could say that they had all
been found suitable, so far as quality was concerned,
for their various purposes.

The Hon. M.^lcolm P'r.iser, Western Australia, re-
ferring to the two principal woods supplied by the
Colony he had the honour to represent^the .Tarrah
and the Karri — said that they were both highly ap-
preciated at the Antipodes, the latter being the timber
jiar excellence of Australia. A considerable quantity
of these woods was now in Loudon and could be ob-
taiued for about 71. per load, e(iual to 50 cubic feet,
and which was about half the price of teak. More-
over, railways had beeu constructed in the Colony
with the view to the developing the supply of the
timber.

Mr. P. L.SiMMONDS, while admitting the value of most
of the New Zealand woods for useful and ornamental
purposes— Brinsmead and others recognised their merits
for furniture, &c. — expressed the fear that the Colony
would not be able to complete with other sources
of supply — first of the local demand, and next because
of the long distance from the London market.

Professor BIacouji (Canada) described in eloquent
terms the valuable characteristics of the chief wood
of the Dominion. The Douglas fir of Canada was
fully equal to the white pine now employed, and when
the supplies of the latter were exhausted the former
would of necessity take its place. The Douglas fir
grew in vast quantities, attained a great height, and
tapered very gradually. In their black ash, too, the
Canadians possessed a species of timber which would
some day be very widely employed, for it had all
the qualities of the now favourite white ash, and its
supply was unlimited. The Douglas fir could be
supplied in England at 5/ a load, and the black ash
at the same price as elm or white pine.

Mr. E. A. Cooper (Cape Colonyj commended the
peculiar qualities of the Umzumbit wood — its hardness
and durability. The cape yellow wood cou'd be supplied
as cheaply as any, the price being about Ql. 10.?. a
load.

Mr. A. Dent (British North Bomieo) stated that
the Billian wood, which offered great attractions to
the English merchant, grew in enormous quantities,
was very easy of access, and exceedingly hard and
durable. As to its cost, one firoa was already pre-
pared to supply it alongside ship at 3? lO*'. per ton,
to which about half as much again had to be added
for freight, &c.

On the motion of Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen, seconded
by Sir. C. H. Gregory, votes ot thanks were accorded
to the chairman and to Messrs. Kansome & Co., and
the proceedings closed. — Colonies and India.

THE RECENT COFFEE CROP IN COORG.

The figures for the last coffee crop in Ooorg, as
given in a memorandum prepared by the Commissioner,
are: — Plantation coft'ee, 5,171 ton.s. Native coffee 829
tons, total crop 6,000 tons. The Plantation Coffee
is no doubt very near the mark, as there are ready
means of obtaining exact information ; but there is
reason to believe that a serious error has been made
in the quantity of Native. The exports of all Native
kinds from Tellicherry in the past season exceeded
5,000 tons, of which about 500 tons received from
Mangalore must be deducted, leaving net exports
4,500. Of this not more tliau 1,500 tons could be the
produce of North Wyuaad, the only other district
from which coffee is brought to Tellicherry. This
leaves 3,000 tons for the receipts of Coorg Native
coffee at Tillicherry. At Mangalore the receipts were
probably not le.s8 than 1,000 world tons, but if taken
at the very low estimates of 500 tons the total crop
of Coorg Native will be 3,501) ton.s. Taking the Com-
missioner's figures for Plantation as above at 5,171
tons, and adding the corrtctod estimate for Native
coffee 3,500 tons, and we get a total crop of 8,(i7l
tons. This is the largest crap the district has ever
been credited with, yet, taking the acreage under
coffee, given in Mr. (Jirdle.stone's minute to the
Planters' Association of 18th March last, at, 73,199

acres, it only gives cwt. 2-35 per acre. Placing the
acreage held by Europeans at 37,544, and cwt. 277
is found to be the 'average yield of Plantation. There
can be little doubt that Mr. Girdl.estoue's figures
include a large area of abandoned and semi-abandoned
land, which it is unfair to include in calculating the
acreage ratio. A careful revision of the area upon
which the above Plantation crop was grown might
prove the actual effective acreage not to be much
over 25,000 acres, and of this, 5,000 may be put down
as yielding very inferior crops. If this estimate be
correct, not more than 2O,(»0O acres would, therefore,
be the area from which the great bulk of the present
Plantation crop was drawn, and that, on the average
the yield was about 5 cwt. per acre. Individual est-
ates can shew an average of from 7 to 10 cwt. per
acre, and some planters can point to fields which
have given 12 and 13 cwt., but although the crop, taken
as a whole, is a large one for the tlistrict, the acreage
yield, even on a greatly reduced estimate of the
total area, is not large, though very fair.

It is impossible to arrange the figures for Native
coffee with any assurance of even approximate ac-
curacy. Apart from estates of considerable extent
held by the better class of Coorgs, there are innumer-
able patches of coffee distributed over every part of
the province, the total acreage of which it would be
all but very difficulty to arrive at. On every httle
holding, in the smallest compound attached to the
meanest dwelling, under the shade of every small tope,
there is coffee to be found, bearing fairly well. It
is only at the ports of export that the total yield
of this class of coffee can be ascertained with any
decree of accuracy. Returns obtained at the toll bars
for the entire crop of Plantation and Native would
be useful if they could be relied upon, but they are
notoriously defective, and too much trust has hitherto
been placed in them. The importance of accurate
statistics cannot be too strongly impressed on the
authorities. It is probable that, from defective returns
of crop, the coffee industry in Coorg has been under-
rated, and the interests of the planting commuuitj',
and the affairs of the district, generally, have in con-
sequence, not received the consideration to which they
are entitled. There is reason to believe that if the
official returns of previous crops were enquired into,
sitniliar corrections to those now noticed would have
to be made.

In Ceylon everything that can conduce to the in-
terest of the planter has the Government's first
attention. The planting districts are covered with a
net-work of roads, the best of their kind anywhere,
great care and much money being spent in keeping
them in good order ; 120 miles of Railway, if uot
more, have been made, running into the planting dis-
tricts, and this at a cost that throws any proposal
ever submitted for Coorg into the shade. A recent
extension of 40 miles has been completed in Oeylou
at a cost of £21,000 a mile. The island has passed
through a period of severe depression which .still
weighs heavily upon it, but the Government do«s not
abate its activity in providuig further facilities for
the planter of Coffee, Tea, Cinchona, Cocoa, &c., and
in doing all it can to promote his interests. Further,
railway extensions are recommended, and will probably
be undertaken. AVi'h Coorg it is different. No more
is spent on roads and communications than can bj'
any possilnlity be avoided, and the internal com-
munication.s are kept in notoriously bad order. Not
much more can be .said for the highways by which
pro luce is conveyed to the coast, and to outside
markets. Are, though, the Mysore Railway comes
within forty miles of the province, and the finer coffee
districts are within sixty miles of the coast, there
is no thought of giving Coorg the benefit of Railway
communication with those important ]»ioiuts, although
it could be done at a comparatively moderate cost,
and with every prospect of profitable results. The
Ceylon planters cheerfully consented to an export duty
of one shilling per cwt. on coffee to provide a fund
for their first Railway, and this they paid for many
years, and they fidly recognized the value thev had
received in return wheii the line was c ompleted. Some-

Uhc, 1, me:]

THE TROPICAL AGHICUL

TURiST.

45*

thing of the same kind might he done in Coorg, and'
in fact, in connection with the coffee industry generally,
for the purpose of providing Railway communic-
ation. The Province, however, suffers from being
governed from Bengal. It is too remote to have the
attention given to its affairs that it deserves, and so
long as its contribution to the Imperial revenue is
regularly forthcoming, it excites little or no interest.
It is high time for this state of things to be put an
end to. Coorg is, geographically, an integral part of
Madras, and it should be ceded to Madras. The ad-
ministration of "Wynaad by the Madras Governmeut
is by no means all that can be reasonably desired ;
but, when AVjoiaad, Coorg and the Nilgiris present an
united front, the local Government may be persuaded
to do more than it has yet done to emulate the able
broad-minded attitude of the Ceylon Government
towards private enterpise. — Jladras Mail.

A New Method of Glazing Sash. — It is well known
that all glass (now both in portable sashes and infixed
greenhouses), is simply imbedded in putty, and kept
in place by glazier's points, no putty being now used
en top, as was formerly done. It has been found that
when the glass lays on the sash-bar thus imbedded
the putty soon rots or wears out, and water gets in
and not only loosens the glass but rots the bar as well.
A most simple plan to obviate this is to pour along
the junction of the bar with the glass a thin line
of white lead in oil, over which is shaken dry, white
sand. This hardens and makes a cement that
effectually checks all leakage. It is quickly done. I
have seen glass, so cemented, that has stood for ten
years, still in perfect order, and it looked as if it
would stand fur ten j-ears more without further
repair. This plan, which is but little known as yet,
is of the greatest importance ; had I known of it
thirty years ago I would have saved manj' thousands
of dollars iu repairing, besides having the plants under
this water-tight glazing in better condition, — Peter
Henderson in Amei-ican AyricidUtrist.

CoMJiERciAL CopA]>. — The copal from which varnish
is made is found in a fossil state, chiefly on the
east coast of Africa, and consists of the exudation
of former forests long since submerged. It is never
found far inland. Copal varies in quality according
to the vicinity where it is obtained ; sometimes two
descriptions are unearthed iu the same district, varying
in quality, structure, and shape. The young copal of
Sierra Leone is globular, or tear-like, brownish and
slightly odorous ; the "pebble" copal obtained there
is more or less white, with thick opaque crust, and
is odourless. That of Gaboon is in flat pieces, with
a crust of branching striie, and the fracture is
conchoidal. The copal of Lango takes the form of
broken sticks, of which there are two kinds, one white
to yellow grain, the other reddish or browuisli, and
iu irregular fragments. The latter, which is trans-
parent, homogeneous, and fragrant, is the best. Of
Angola copal one kind is globular, and of uniform
quality throughout; another is in the form of sticks,
mostly cracked, and found in common with air-
bubbles and bark ; it is yellow, red, or brownish.
Slightly coloured copal has a dull appearance, aud is
not so imiform or transparent as the strong coloured.
The copals of Manila, New Zealand, and South America
are softer than other descriptions. —C7;e)/((.v< & Dntgaist.

BRrcK-TKA does not excite much attention in this
country, beyond the fact that there is a large trade
between China and the countries bordering it in this
article. Some attempts have been made to develope,
a trade in Indian manufactured brick-tea between
this country and Thibet but so far without any practi-
cal results. The composition of brick-tea has also
been a subject of some speculation, and erroneous im-
pressions would appear to be extant regirdiug it.
But a Eussian savant, Professor A. P. Bjrodiu,
of St, Petersburg, has been turning his attention to
tb« subject; auU Li»9 Aualy»t;d 96Vt;fal gp^cinieus o[ a

kind for which there is a very large demand. The
Kussian name for these 'bricks' is k!r/ntchvt/i tchnij
and that of the Chinese makers is Shun-Fan. The
name, however, throws no light upon the composition
of the bricks, which are extensively used in Eastern
Siberia, as well as in the East of European Russia.
Up to the present, it has been supposed that brick-
tea was prepared from a mixture of tea leaves and
a decoction of starch or rice, with various foreign
colouring substances. This seems to be quite erroneous.
Professor Borodin, in the specimens analysed by
him, found that it consisted of quite pure siftings
of black tea compressed after softening by steam.
It contained from 2-36 to 2-44 per cent of theine ;
from 7-yi to 796 per cent, of ashes ; 22-5 per cent
of soluble substances, and from G 72 to G'77 per cent
of tea tannic acid. But it contained no essential oil,
thus differing in that " particular from tablette-tea "
(Russian plitofchnt/i tchai] or ordinary compressed tea,
which is prepared by subjecting dri/ siftings of black
tea to the action of a powerful hydraulic press. The
price of brick-tea is only 40 copecks (about lid.) a
pound. The foregoing particulars are of some interest,
and suggest the propriety of Indian tea-grower.'<
developing an industry which opens a way to a trade
with Thibet, Yarkand, Chinese and Afghan Turkistan,
&c. Professor Borodin, moreover warmly recommends,
the use of brick-tea generally.— /nc/taH Agriculturist.
Pkoi'ESsok Wallace ON Agkiculture. — Mr. Robert
Wallace, Professor of Agriculture and Rural Economy
at the T'niversity of Edinburgh, delivered his introduc-
tory lecture to the agricultural class on Oct. 20th at
the opening of the session. In introducing the subject
Professor Wallace pointed out that even iu this great
manufacturing country the industry of agriculture
was the largest and most important of all, locking up
more capital and employing more labour than any
other. He had already shown that the appreciation of
gold, increasing for a number of years, had a tendency
to lower the prices of all commodities, agricultural and
other, and that those who were bound by leases
must suffer each year. He thougt it entirely illusory
to find in legislation alone a remedy for present or
future evils. Proprietors should meet and consult to-
gether as to what Avould be the best course to follow
in their own interests as well as those of the country.
The system adopted iu Scotland of leasing land
for a longer or shorter term of years was, he thought
doomed to vanish. All long lease contracts must come
to an end. Proprietors would consult their own in-
terests if they would at once, without waiting for
the termination of leases, adopt a sliding scale for
the fixing of rent, based on the average prices taken
iu the local markets. In fact this was an old custom
and many rents in the Lothians had been fixed
annually by the average yearly price of wheat. He
stated as a noteworthy fact, drawn from his own
personal experience, that the districts where systems
of mixed farming were followed had suffered less
than where one single crop or one single branch of
agriculture had been depended upon to meet all costs.
Mixed husbandry had many advantages. By dividing
risks among a number of crops or varieties of

the

stock the principle of an insurance company was to
a certain extent adopted. Further, the growth of a
variety of crops conferred on land all the advantages
of the improved systems of rotation, "^'ariety of live
stock was also a source of wealth as much as variety
of cropping, Turning to the connexion between agri-
culture and the University, he said that the degree
of Bachelor of Science in the department of Agricul-
ture, which would be opened for competition in a
few weeks, would give a grand stimulus to agricul-
tural education. He advocated Lectureships or Chairs
of Forestry and Agricultural Chemistry, and generally
upheld the advantages of education in the art. In
conc'u.sion, he urged them to prepare themselves for
any emergency that might arise in the future. For-
tune helped those who helped them.«elves, and no
oue could succeed who did not rely on his own
industry and perseverance. Success was inpossible
without application. He had no fear that Scotchuieu
would lag behind in the race— Lojidou Tivics,

432

THE TKOi»iCAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Dec. I, 1886/

MARKET RATES FOR OLD AND NE^W PRODUCTS.

(From Lewi" d: Peat's London Pi-ice Current, November 4th, 1886.)

FROM MALABAR

COAST, COCHIN,

CEYLON, MADRAS, &c.

BEES' WAX, White, per

cwt.

Yellow
CINCHONA BARK— Crown

per lb.

Red

CARDAMOMS Malabar

QUALITY.

■ Slightly softish to good
hard bright
Do. drossy & itark ditto...

Renewed ...

Medium to fine Quill ...

Spoke shavings

Branch

Rene'vrt.d

Medium to gooil Quill ...

ISpoke shavings

JBranch

Twig ...

jClipjed, bold, bright, fine
IMiddling, stalky & lean
Fair to fineplumptlipped
Teliieherry 'Good to fine
(Brownish
Mangalore |Good & fine, washed, bgt

Long Ceylon Middling to good

CINNAMON, per lb. Ists jOrd. to fine pale quill ..
2ndsi ,, ,, ,, ,,
brdSj ,, ,, ,, ,, ..

4ths Woody and hard

Chips ...!Fair to fine plant

COCOA, Ceylon, per cwt... Bold to good bold
...Medium

iTriage to ordinary
COFFEECeylon Plantation Bold to fine boldcolory..

per lb.

and Ceylon
Aleppee

QUOTATIONS.

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

QUALITY

[QUOTATIONS

per cwt. Middling to fine mid.

|Low mid. and Low grown

Smalls

,, Native Good ordinary

Liberian ...Small to bold

East Indian ...iBold to fine bold

■Medium to fine

jSmall

Native [per ton Good to fine ordinary ...

COIRR0PE,Ceylon&CochinlMid. coarse to finestraight

FIBRE, Brush, per tonjOrd. to fine long straight

Stuffing ...Coarse to fine

YARN, Ceylon, per ton ... Ordinary to superior ...

Cochin ...'Ordinarj' to fine

Do [cwt. [Roping fair to good
COLOMBO ROOT, sifted ^Middling wormy to fine...

CROTON SEEDS, sifted ...'Fair to fine fresh

GINGER, Cochin, Cut Good to fine bold

per cwt. ), Small and medium

Rough Fair to good bold

„ ...jSmall

NUX VOMICA, per cwt. ...iFair to fine bold fresh ...
ISmall ordiuaryand fair...
MYRABOLANES, pale, per'Good to fine picked
cwt. IComnion to middling ...

iFair Coast

Pickings Burnt and defective
OIL, CINNAMON, per oz... Good to fine heavy

CITRONELLE ,. Bright & good flavour .
LEMON GRASS „ I „ „ „ ,,
ORCHELLA WEED [f Ib.iMid. to fine, not woody.
PEPPER,Malabarblk.8ifted;Fair to bold heavy
AUeppee & Cochin ,, ,, good ,,

Tellicherry, White ... ,, ,, ,,

PLUJIBAGO, Lump, ^ cwt. Fair to fine bright bold.,
|Middling to good Email,,
Chips ...iSlight foul to fine bright

Dust ... Ordinary' to fine bright..,

RED WOOD, per ton. Fair and fine bold

SAPAN WOOD „ jMiddling coated to good .£6 a £7

SANDAL WOOD, logs „ 'Fair to good flavor ,.,'£20 a £44

Do. chips £10 a £16

SEKNA, Tinnevelli, per Ib.'Good to fine bold green,,. 8d a Is

Fair middling medium... -id a 7d
Common dark and small 2d a 4 jd
TURMEKIC, Madras,^ cwt Finger fair to fine bold|ll3 a. VJs

Do. ... Mixed middling [bright 1 Us a 10s 6d

Do. ... Bulbs whole 9s a 10s

Cochin ... Do split 6s od a 7s 3d

VA5ILL0ES, Mauritius &
per lb. Bourbon, Ists Fine crystalised 6 a Wnch 14s a 23s 6d
2nd8 Foxy & reddish 5 a 8 ,, ;10s a 123
3rds / Lean & dry to middling

\ under 6 inches ... -Ss a 93
4th IIjOW, foxy, inferior and

[pickings la 6d a 4s

£G a £7 5.S
£4 103 a £6
Is a 3s
1 s 4d a 2s 6d
i>d a Is 2d
2d a ijd
8d a 2s (id
6d a 2s lid
.3d a 7d
2d a 4d
Id

2s a .-is Id
8d a Is lid
Is 3d a 2s 3d
Is Rd a 2s 2d
6d a Is 3d
1 s 4d a 3s 4d
|8d a Is 4d
;8|d a Is lid
7Jd a Is 6d
Id a Is 2d
6d a lid
1^1 a 7il
7.3s 6d a 83s
7os a 74s
oOs a 65a
8S3 a 100s
73s a 87s
t54s a 71s
64s a 70s
50s a (iOs
45s a 55s
.s2s a lOOs
70s a 80s
58s a 63s 6d
50s a 60s
£7 a £18
£15 a £40
£7 a £20
£12 a £30
£11 a £35
£9 a £13
IDs a 30s
30s a 35s
80s a 115s
40s a 703
32s a 55s
22s 6d a 30s
8s a lis
53 a 7s
tjs a 8s tid
5s a 6s 3d
6s a 6s 6d
4s a 5s
Is a 33
|1 a Id
If da l|d
40s a 55s

8d a 8Jd

lOd a 23 6d
Us a 1.53
73 a IO3
•5s a lis
3s a IOs
£5 a £5 5a

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

ALOES, Soccotrine and
per cwt. Hepatic

CHILLIES, Zanzibar
per cwt,

CL<0VES. Zaniibar
»BdFemb», per lb

}:

Good and fine dry ...£7a£lo

Common and good ... £4 a £8
Good to fine bright ... 30sa31s
Ordinary and middling... 2.58 a 29»
Good and fine bright .,, PJd a lOd
Ordinary dull to fair ,,, Sd a i>|d

,, Stems...

COCULUS INDICUS
GALLS, Bussorah 1 blue
& Turkey J^cwt.

GUM AMMONIACUM per
ANIMI, washed, ^cwt.

scraped,,.
1 ARABIC. E.I. & Aden :.
j per cwt. Ghatti ...

! Amrad cha

ASSAFaETIDA,per

cwt. I

KINO, per cwt.

MTRRH, picked „

Aden sorts
OLIBANUM, drop
per^cwt. ,,

p'ck.ings...
siftings ...
INDIARUBBER Mozambi
per lb.

fresh

..jljd a 2d
..7s a 8s

Fair

Fair to fine dark blue ..,!52s 6d a 60s

Good white and green,.
Blocky to fine clean
Picked fine pale in sorts
part yellow and mixei
Bean & Pea size ditto ,.
amber and dark bold
Medium & bold .sorts ..

Sorts

Fair to fine p;ile
Good and fine pale
Reddish clean
Clean fair to fine
Slightly stony and foul
Fair to fine bright
Fair to fine [)ale
Middling to good
Fair to tine white
Reddish to middling .,,
Middling to good pale ..
Sliglitly foul to fine
que,fair tofiue sausage I

Ball!

unripe root
liver

,|46s a 5.53

, 1 5s a 403

,i£1310/a£1410/

1 £10 a £12 IOs

,.'£4 IOs a £7

. £ 7 IOs

,'£5 a £8

. (>.5s a £5 12s 6d

,'42sa 8-53

. 80s a £7 5s

.40s a 73s

, 30s a 36s

.22s 6d a 26s

42s a 463

£6 a £7 IOs

70s a 9.'is

45s a 553

32s a 44s

»sa Us

lis a 133 Gd

2s 2d a 2s 5d

lOd a Is

Is 8id a 28 Id

FROM CALCUTTA AND
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

CASTOR OIL, Ists per oz
2nds ,
3rds

INDIARUBBER Assam , per
lb.

Rangoon
Madagascar

SAFFLOWER

TAMARINDS

Nearly water white
.[Fair and good pale
^iBruwn and brownish

Good to fine

Common foul and mixed

Fair to good clean

Goodto fine pinky & white

Fair to good black

Good to fine pinky

iMiddling to fair
Jlnferior and pickings .,,

Mid.tofiue6?acinot stony
, Stony and inferior

3i a 4Jd
2s d a 3d
2id a 2iA
2s a 2s 7d
8d a Is lOd
2s a 2s 6d
2s 4d a 2s 6§d
Is lOd a 2s 3d
£4 IOs a £5 IOs
£3 5s a £4 23 6d
£1 a £1 103
IOs a 143
3s a 63

FROM
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

ALOES, Cape, per cwt. ...Tairdrv to fine bright ...,253 a 293
,, ...ICcmmo'n & middling soft ^^s a 24s

Natal ...iFairtofine ... 35sa40s

ARROWROOT Natal per lb. Middling to fine ... 3d a 4Jd

FROM CHINA, JAPAN &
THE EASTERN ISLANDS.

i-633 a 678

Good, pure, & dry white

.. .> pi"k, . ,

Ordinary to fine free ,,.!323 a 32s 6a
Pressed „. 27s a 28s

Good ... 2l8

Fine clean Banj& Macas- 2s 4d a 3s 3d
Barky to fair [sar 6d a 2s 3d

CAMPHOR, China, f cwt.

Japan '.,,

GAMBIEB, Cubes, cwt. ...

Block [per lb,

GUTTA PERCHA, genuine

Sumatra,.,

Reboiled...|Common to fine clean .., Id a Is 4d
White Borneo ...!Good to fine clean .,, lldalsSd
Inferior and barky ...ildaSd
61's a 80's, garbled ... 2s .'^d a .38 Od
83's a 95'i .,,'2s 1(1 a 2s 4d

lOO'salGO's ..,jls4da2s

Pale reddish to pale ...lis 9(1 a 23 lOd
.Ordinary to red ...Is Id a Is 6d

Chips ...'Is 2d a Is 3a

RHUBARB, Sun dried, perlGood to fine sound .., Is 6d a 33
lb. Darkordinary& middling 8d a Is 4d

High dried ...Good to fine ... Is a l.s 3d

Dark, rough & middling -'d a 9d
SAGO, Pearl, large, ^ cwt.iFair tofine
medium ... ,, ,, ,,
small ... ,, ,, ,,

Floilr [per lb. Good pinky to white ,,

TAPIOCA, Penang Flake Fair to fine
Singapore ... „ ,,

NUTMEGS, large, per lb..

Medium

Small
MACE, per lb.

Flour
Pearl

,, Bullets, per cwt,
'Medium ,,
'Stti „

123 6d a 143 6d
.., 12s a 13s
... 83 6dal0s6d
„ 8s a 9s 3d
... Uda2id
... Ijda2id

... IJdalH
... 15s a 17s
„. ISsed airSd

...169 a lis M

/an. I, m-'/.i

THE THOi^tCAL AOHtCOLfUmif.

433

CEYLON AGEICULTUEAL SCHOOL.
Annual Kepokt : Nov. 1880.

The Colombo School of Agriculture was opened is January
1881, and hitherto there has befii no public prize day,
the Director desiring that the school should be established
on a tirm basis before any public attention was drawn
to it.

Now, however, that the training of the first batch of
students has been completed, and very satisfactorily com-
pleted, the prohibition of publicity has been removed, and
on behalf of the students I welcome your Excellency very
heartily to this our first prize day, and we thank you,
sir, for tlie great honor you have doii^ us in coming here
today.

A short history cf the school may not be out of place.
It was first proposed by the present Director in 1883, and
it was very generally predicted that it would be a failure.
It was said that Students who were cadets of the better
families of Ceylon would be above working with their own
hands at ploughing ana other farm operations, while, if
stiuleuts of the lower class were adu itted, no practical
good would aiteud the opening of the school. Nevertheless.
out of some SU applicants for admission 28 students were
selected and admitted in January 1881, only 3 of whom re-
presented lesslhan 100 acres of land, ^Nhile many representei^
very large acreages.

Tlie design of the school was to train these students for
cultivating their lands aud the lauds of their friends by -
the light of more modern Agricultural knowledge, and .
by the use of improved implements of tillage, care beinf ,
taken in no way to do away with existing native customs )
hut to bring out what was best in tliem, and to supplemen'
them where necessary with more modern knowledge.

The few poorer students were to be traiueri for future use as
school-masters.

There was at one time an intention to attach this school
to Mr. De Soysa's Model Farm, but the Director considered
Model Farms expensive aud cumbersome, and arrangements
were made ii stead to follow the German system, and to
send the students out for their practical work to the lands
of private land owners. Aud here I desire to publicly express
our gratitude to Mr. Abeyratne for permitting us to work upon
his property.

I am glad also to state that every one of the students
now in the school has performed his 'full share of manual
labour shrinking from nothiug, but working pluckily aud
heartily at the most wearisome details, thus improving their
physique and health, and gaining practical knowledge of
all operations, from tending buffaloes up to ploughing with
their own hands.

The first year's work was theoretical only and was
devoted to tlie ordinary subjects of a High school educ-
ation, but sub^titutiug agriculture, chemistry and botany
for Latin and Greek.

The second aud third year's work has been both
practical and theoretical with book work on the liues above
mentioned.

Mr. Charles de Soysa has with his usual geuerosity given
a prize for the best students in Agricultural Cliemistry and
analysis of soils, for which we thank him heartily.

With regard to the book-work of the school, it has been
mainly in charge of Messrs. Charles de Silva and H. D.
Lewis, whose services I desire to acknowledge, while the field
work and actual Agricultural Teaching has been in charge of
Mr. Jayawardene who was trained at Saidapet and who
has turned his training to good account.

Our work on Mr. Abeyaratne's land has been heavily handi-
capped by two bad floods, but, nevertheless, wo succeeded in
obtaining a proportion of rather more than 12 bushels of
paddy for every 9 bushels obtained by the native method,
although the ii itive land in competition with ours was the
more heavily manured.

Experiments have also been made with various gardens, or
dry-land products with a view to checking the wasteful cultiv-
ation of such soil-exhausting crops as amu, &c. in chenas. We
have fouiiii for instance that dhoU, which is seldom grown by
t.he Sinhali-.-e, will grow with little trouble in any soil, and
it is a most agreeable and nutritious food. It is hoped that
the students who leave us tomorrow will spread the know-
ledge of this valuable food amongst their own people in their
own villages.

But I must not Aveary you, sir, with details, I will now
only state that according to the proposal sanctioned by your
Excellency, six of the students who are leaving us now will
assume appointments i ext January as Village Agricultural
Instructors at Mullaitivu,at Toppur, and at Kanankudah in
the Tamil districts, aud at Minuangodde, at Panapitiya,
and at Bandarigama in the Sinhalese districts. Too much
importance cannot be laid u, on the success or failure of these
young men. The natives of this country are very generally
opposed to wliat they deem new-fangled ideas, aud it will
require much tact to guide them aright-

For instance they say that our ploughs are too heavy for
their buffaloes ; it will be f r these village instructors to show
them that they are not too heavy if the buffaloes are trained
to their use. A horse reiiuires breaking to haruess, and a

Ibuffalo reqvures siBiilarly traiaiBg fvs Wj?s6 iiei'Slis.

And above all it will be their duty to train np theboyS
of the villages to which they are sent, boys whose
minds are not yet rooted into prejudice, to a kuowled^e
which the grown up men m;iy be too proud to acquire."

la this their arduous duty they wul be cheered by
your Excellency's presence here today, aud I am confi-
dent that each one will do, if possible, more than hig
best, feeling that your eye, sir, is upon him, aud that
your best wishes attend his work.

H. E. GovEr.NOR Sik A. Gordon said : You have
been good enough, Mr. Green, to ask me to come here
today to distribute the prizes to the boys of this
school, and I have had great pleasure in accepting
your invitation, though I should have had that same
pleasure under any circumstances, because it is always
an interesting thing to see boys assembled together,
and yet more interesting to think, that those to whom
the prizes are given, are about to go out into the
world, and in their Oivn persons experience the value of
the lessans which they have learned : that is the case
in any school and at any prize-giving ; but the interest
is today deeper and more peculiar, because it is not
only the boys who are about to leave the Institution,
but, it may be said in one sense, that it is the Institu-
tion itself which is now, for the first time, going out
into the world. (Applause.) Hitherto its work has b3eu
confined to that of training ; now it remains to be s sen
what the value of that training has been, and what its
results will be on;those who leave it and go out to apply
elsewhere the principles which tliey have learned
here. Those who so go forth from you today bear
with them not only my good wishes, but the good
wishes, I am sure, of all the company which
is assembled here today. But, as is usually the
case, it depends more upon yourselves than on any
one else whether those wishes will be realized or
not. We may wish you success, but the making or
marring of that success is in your own hands.
Some of you on leaving this place, go to try novel
experiments and have received novel appoint-
ments. Now, it depends very much — I do not know
that we should be very far wrong if we were to say
it depends altogether — on the manner in which these
first few students who are leaving this place dis-
charge their individual duties whether this Institution
bec&mes a failure, or whether it proves a benetit—
and lasting benefit — to the country. But al-
though those who go to take up these posts are the
most conspicuous, and their failure or success will
be most marked, do not think that I undervalue the
importance of the action of those returning without
such appointments to their own homes, and their own
districts (Applause.) In some respects, their work
is even more important than that of the paid
teachers recognized by Government (Applause.), bo-
cause the influence they exercise will not be the
official influence, but simply the influence that their
own good sense and their own tact may gain for
them. Now, some of those who are educated here,
when they go back to their own districts, and live
among their own people, and are surrounded by their
old associations and superstitions will no doubt
forget a great deal they have been taught here and
will take up again the old habits and associations
which surround them : that is quite inevitable. It
is not a thing that can be avoided in case
any number of people are going back to their
old associations. I mean that you will And that new
methods of ploughing, new systems of agriculture
are troublesome ; that they are unpopular amongst
those whom you live, and they will gradually be
dropped out of sight and forgotten. That will bo
the case- with some, and it will bo a pity,. although
it ia inevitable, but there are others with whom,
that will not be the Qase, and I am not sure that
some of these others may not do more to prevent
the success of our scheme here than those whom
1 have just mentioaed— I mean those who go bacl^

434

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

[Jan. i, 188/.

to thfir own district full of the importance of
what they have learned and full of the importance
which that learning has given to themselves, and who
set themselves above all the people of the country
as knowing something better than they, and are
prepared to set them all to right and tell them
that they are all wrong, and that unless they are
listened to, nothing can be done properly, that
nothing has been done rightly hitherto, and that
they are prepared to shew they are right. Now you
may depend upon it ^hat that is not the way in
which such influence will be gained : the lessons you
wish to be taught will not be learned, and, perhaps,
more harm to improved agriculture may result
from want of tact and self-conceit than from indolent
apathy or the taking agam to old habits ? But
between those two extremes I hope, and I believe,
there a will be others who will neither be elat°d by
knowledge little more than their neighbours, nor
yet so apathetic as to fall back into the preju-
dices and superstitions of those who surround
them. From them I expect great results, and \Yith
tact, patience, care and good humour I have no
doubt that you will do much to introduce im-
provements in agriculture into the rural districts
of Ceylon ; and in so introducing them you will
increase the prosperity, the wealth and the
happiness of the people to whom you belong (Ap-
plause.) I can conceive no happier destiny than
that of those who are placed in a position which
naturally confers on them some influence, who
should exerci&e that influence with wisdom, moder-
ation, and in such a manner as to enjoy the esteem
and goodwill of those about them and lead them
gradually into improvements of which they will see
the result. As to those who are going with Govern-
ment appointments, tl ey too will require to exercise
very great care as to ilie mode in which they per-
form their duties. Of course, so long as they teach
merely in a Government school, they can make
the Government school boys listen to them, but if
they attempt to teach other people, as I said before,
it will depend upon themselves whether they Mill
get listeners or not. They may be like those cry-
ing out in desert places, or they may be real
leaders of the people ; that they nny be of the
latter is my earnest hope. I trust that in future years,
when I, or my successor, who will more worthily
till my place comes amongst you to distribute
prizes, that we shall meet here seme of those
who are leaving us to-day, and that you will then
give some account of the experience which you
have had since you left this place, and will be
able to cheer all those who have taken part in
this Institution and its management with the
intelligence you give them of the manner in which
your mission has been received by ihos-e among
whom you have gone. Wishing you every success,
hot only as agriculturists but as individuils, I
how beg to repeat the pleasure 1 have had in
distributing the i^rizes, (Applause).

Mr. A. M. J'^EiKii'sjON made some pidctical re-
Hjatks with regard to the cuItivnl,o.i of dholl,
and alluded to the grand physique of the men of
Korthern India, P> 11 result of living on dholl
porridge, dholl being largely cultivated in that
part of India. He referred in eulogistic terms to
the irrigation works initiated by H. E. the (iov-
firnor, and went on to sSy that the fish in the
globes around the room suj^gested. to him that
those in authority who had the power to initiate
experiments siiould endeavour to wipe away from
Ceylon the reproach of knowing vtry little about
the cultivation of lish. In Java there were two
harvests, one of fish, and another of grain, and
tbe tisb harvest wa^ fully equal to the giain

very welcome addition to the table and there was
no possible reason why they should not be largely
cultivated in Ceylon, for it was really a part of the
great science of agriculture.

BROKERS' REPOBT ON CEYLON PEODUCTS :

COCOA, RVJiBEK, AND ALOK FIBRE.

(h'jtracifroiu kiter/rom Mr. J. L. Sluaid lo P. A. Cajlon.)

In the box which I have packed ready for you and
which I hope to .send in a few days by Mr. W. .Saunders,
there is a parcel of several best Trinidad varieties of
cocoa and also three samples drawn iu London with
valuation attached. ]\Ir. Pink, who is a great cocoa au-
thority and who is rejiortiiig upon the cocoas in the
Exbibitioi). thinks Ceylon is maku g a mistake in copy-
ing the A\'est India mode of preparation. He says
the bright colored beans which Pallekt- He used to send
command a special market both at home and on the
Continent. He considers we should continue washing
and he values Wariapolla uiiwashsd considerably lower
than the same mark washed. He also thinks that the
value of produce has not been increased by the
introduction of new kinds of cocoa. External ap-
pearance goes for nought in the trade and the.
stoppage of fermentation at the proper time seems
the secret of success. He considers Ceylon cocoas
will never reach the height which some of the
large full West Indian beans fetch, but I
pointed out to him that this might be only
a matter of age of trees. He says plainly that
Ceylon is not sending as good a marketable
colour as it did a few years ago and he recommends
striving for the brighter colour.

I was in the City yesterday with one of the largest
South American cinchona brokers' who showed me
by his books the days when the unit of sulphate of
quinine was worth 28. There has been a little activity
111 the market this week, but stocks must fall before
prices rise much. The cultivated Bolivian bark which
generally yield from 1 per cent to 6 per ct. of sulphur of
quinine are what the trade look to most as the future
source of siii)ply. There is no belief iu the very large
quantity coming from Java aadpleuty of room for from
(J,000,oOu to S,000,UOU lb. of good Ceylon bark an-
nually and considerable rise iu prices should Ceylon
exports fall to this figure, is the general verdict of
the trade.

I enclose you two reports upon samples of the
aloe fibre sent by Mr. Henry Brown and upon Wariapolla
Ceylc'U lubber. The three samples of rubber were
all taken from the same piece. — The coffee market
continues firm and theie is expectation of considerable
fuither improvtmeut in prices.

I'atry and Pasteur present their compliments to J.
L. Sband K.s<(. and beg leave to hand him a report on
aiul valun'ijiis ot the following samples of Ceylou
Ku jber :

J.— Faiily wti! ciu'cJ and worth today '2s per lb.

2.— Badly cured and would bo .-iomewhat diflicult of
sail', wor h aay I.-> iSd to Is <Jd according to position of
niarktt and buyera' reijuireniiMita,

;i.— Lew, dirty and inelastic ; badly cured and false
packed Vtilue ahout Oil ptr ib,

38, Mincing L;ine, 2Sth October 1880.

a^, Miuciug Lauf, Loudon E. O. 28tli Oct. lb'80

J, L. Shand Esij. Ce\Jou Court, Colonial Exhibition.

Dear l^ir,— We have submitted your !*amp!c of
aloe fibre to cspcif.-, who rt-port upon it as follows;— ^
The sample is of good quality and well prepared, aud
if tie bulk prove equal to this, it should Hud a ready
^ale.

The present value is about £20 per ton. Great caro
must be taken to send it home perfectly clean v.H'
eiitdiii/hd an(> as long as possible.— We are, dear frir,
yours truly.

(Signed) Patry k Pasteub.

r, ■>',— W« eucloee our reports ou rubber sttuiplee,

JAH, t, tB8f,] tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

435

PLANTING IN CEILON: SCOTTISH TEUST

AND LOAN COMPANY OF CEYLON, LIMITED.

We are indebted to the local agents Messr.x.
Cumberbatch & Co. for a copy of the Eeport for
the year ending August, 1880: —

Capital, ... ... £250,000

First issue (fully subscribed) £150,000

Of which paid up, ... £45,000

The Directors beg to preseut their Ninth Report
to the Shareholders, being for ye.ir to 31st August
1880. Since last Report the price of Coffee has materi-
ally improved, and Ceylon Tea is steadily main-
taining the favourable promise of former years, but
owing to the shortness of the Coffee crop, the heavy
fall (50 per cent.) in the price of Cinchona, and to
the fact that the Tea Plantations on the Estates in
the Company's hands are not yet of sufficient age
to give substantial returns, the Directors are of
opinion that it would be in the best interests of the
the Company to retain rather than to distri-
bute the balance at the credit of Profit and Loss
Account.

The iJirectors have to explain that owing to the
want of full information, at the time of making up
last year's Accounts, as to the apportionment of the
produce of the different crops and years they were
led to include in the Estate produce on hand and in
transitu, at the end of 1881-h.5, aconsiderable quantity
ot Cinchona which really belonged to the crop ot'
1885-86. The prices at which the produce was va-
lued in the last account were fully realized, but
the error regarding quantity requires a re-adjust-
ment of Accounts by taking the sum of £2,560
6s. 7d. out of the balance of Profit and Loss at
31st August 1885 and placing it to the credit of the
Estates for the year to which the preseut Accounts
refer. The balance therefore of £6,805, 8s 6d at credit
of Profit and Loss at the end of last year must be
reduced to £4,245, Is lid.

The Compauy's Estates beiug now thoroughly in hand,
there has been no difficulty in determhiing what pro-
duce belongs to the year 1885-86, and care has been
taken, as on the former occasion, to adopt a safe basis
of valuation. Of the £4,651, 'is worth .of produce
stated as on hand or i?i traagitii, £3,321, 2s has since
the cluse of the Account been satiafactorily realised.

The net return from the Company's Estates for the
year is £2,764, 13s 9d, us against £3,354, 19s 6d for
last year (which is the corrected return after deduct-
ing £2,560, 6s 7d of ciop over-credited as above ex-
plained). Had the ptice of Cinchona not fallen so con-
siderably, the return for this year would have shown a
considerable improvement over that of last.

The Company have now 863 acres of Tea under cul-
tivatiov, and 177 acres more are prepared for planting.
The Directors have ordered the erection of the Com-
pany's first Tea f;ictory, which will srrve for two of
the estates, Aunfield and Kahauwatte, from which some
crop is expected during the current season.

The iutdiest on mortgages in arrear last year has
been paid up. Of the £1.723 19 9d. Interest in arrear
at the cluse of the account, £820 lis lid. has been
tither paid or provided fur to the satisfaction of the
Directors. Payment of £487 10s. of the balance, which
is all due by one estate, has been deferred by arrange-
ment until Tea production commences, — -the Proprie-
ors having undertaken to expend at least this amount
tin Tea extension, — and the remainder is being gra-
dually paid off by consignments of produce to the Com-
pany's Agent in Loudon.

Sums amounting to £10,148 IS 6d. have been re-
ceived during the year in extinction and reduction of
Loans, and of the five remaining rupee loans the Direc-
tors have arranged for the conversion of three into
sterling.

The Debentures which the Company agreed to re-
new at Whitsunday last were renewed at a reduced
rate of interest, and the Directors have further re-
duced tho rate for renewals at Martiuinaa. The De-
benture Debt has been reduced during the year from
t'64,92') to fti0,375, and will ibe further reduced at
Maninmas from Cash on Deposit. It will then stand
at little more than 50 per cent, of tlu uncalled Capital.

The Balance at the Credit of Profit and Loss
Account is . . . . £3,522 5 2

and the Directors propose to carry
to Reserve Fund. . . 1,000 0 0

Leaving .. £2,522 5 2

to be carried forward to next account.

Under the rotation fixed by the Directors Mr.
Kidston retires from office at the Meeting ; he is
eligible for re-election in terms of Section \A of the
Articlts ' t Association.

BALANCE-SHEET AT 31ST AUGUST 1886.

£.50,667 14 10

Loans made in Ceylon

Real Estate at the amount of the

Bonds foreclosed
Tea cultivation— Amount expended

on Estates for year

1884-85 .. ..£1,286 9 4

Do. for year 1885-86.. 1,192 1 6

Cash Balances — Royal

Bank of Scotland . , £.S,711 9 a
Chartered Mercantile

Bank .. .. 6i51 5 0

Sums on Temporary

Deposit ., .. 7,900 0 0

Ceylon Agents ., 24 l3 9

£12,297 8 0
rc.s.v— Due Secretary .. 24 10 8

Balance due by Oriental Bank Corpor-
ation, in Liquidation (ex Interest),
5s per £

Interests on Investments and Depotits —
Accrued £895 10 1
In Arrear 1,723 19 9

£2,t;i9 9 10

y^.'.s.',— Accrued on De-
bentures.. .. 989 2 3

42,770 16 8

2,478 10 10

12,272 17
464 0

Value of Estate produce on hand or

/;( triiusitK, as estimated . .
Office Furniture (Londonj. .

1,630 7 7

4,651 2
30 0

0
0

£114,965 9 8

Or.
Capital -First Issue of 15,000 Shares

of £10 each, whereon £;{ per Siiare

have been paid up .. ..fJ5,0J0 0 0

Borrowed on Debenture .. .. 10,375 u 0

Reserve Fund .. .. .. 5,500 0 0

Outstanding Accounts . . . . 568 4 6

Profit and Loss Acccount for Balance 3,522 5 2

£114,965 9 8

Profit and Lafs Account for the Year

31sT August 1886.
Dr.
Interest on Debentures paid and

accrued, ... ... £3,440 17 10

Commission to Ceylon Agents, 67 5 1

Commission on Debentures, ... 231 13 0
General Charges, including Office Rents,

Auditor's Fee, Outlays in Ceylon

etc., ... .. 231 13 1

Telegrams ... ... 23 14 8

Debenture Stamps, ... ... 8 13

Home Salaries, ... ... 510 0 0

Directors' Remuneration, ... 200 0 0

Postages, ... ... 12 0 9

Incorae-Tax, ... ... 122 18 6

Bilaiice of Profit, ... ... 3,522 5 2

C,'. £8,370 9 4

Balance at 3 1st August l8.'-5, £6,805,

8s 61, undor deduction of £2,560,

6s 7ii found to be applic.ible to

ye;»r 1SS.-.-86, ... £4,245 1 11

Zf.<s Carrieil to Reserve Fund, 3,500 0 0

£745 1 11

43^

THE TROPLCAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan. I, 1887.

luhrest on Investments —
Keceived, ... £3,G39 3 11
Zess Accrued at 31st
August 1885, 1,756 ,0 5

Accrued to date,
In Arrear,

£1,8S3

3 6
818 14 9
1,723 19 9

lieturn from Estates in Company's

possession for 1885-iS6,
Bank and Deposit Interest received

and accrued.
Discount and Exchange,
Eegistratiou Fees, ...

4,425 18

0

2,764 13 9

2G1 9 8

170. 18

2 7

£8,370 9 4

WIRE TRAMWAY TO CARRY ESTATE
PRODUCE.

(From our London Correspondent.)
There has been shown to me very lately a
drawing which fully illustrates a design for a wire-
rope tramway to take down the produce from a
Ceylon estate. For certain considerations, it is
desirable that that estate should not be named.
It is, however, one of many similarly situated as
regards difficulty of transport. Its greatest elev-
ation, and that on which the machinery of the
estate is situated, is some 1,200 feet above the
cart road, while the distance of the curing estab-
lishment in which machmery has to be worked
is fully three miles from the river where water
power to work it is obtainable. Very considerable
previous experience has been had by the pro-
prietors of the estate with similar tramways (I
doubt that being a proper term) on other estates ;
but in all such cases the distance over which the
wire-rope has to be actuated is very much less,
the greatest distance hitherto absolutely worked
with, being, I believe, oneand-a-quarter mile
only. It was asserted to me that very close
calculation, based on the experiences above referred
to, shew that fourteen horse-power can be
relied upon to give all the motive-power re-
quired for the greater length of line, to over-
come all its friction, to perform its duty, and
yet leave a sufficient residuum of force to
work the machinery of the curing house. This
amount of power, it is said, can be readily obtained
from an overshot water* heel t© be worked by a
stream running at the base of the hilly range on
the summit of which the estate under reference is
situated. The engineer who designed the rope-way
shares in my own view that watcrwheels are pre-
ferable to turbines in this and similar cases.
Although the former are not so fully economic in
their nett results as the latter, they are less liable
to frijtional wear in positions difficult to get at
for repair as are turbines. It has, therefore, been
decided to use the waterwheel. About 8 horse-
power, it is determined, will suffice to carry the
burdens and overcome the friction to be imposed
upon the rope, leaving 6 horse-power available for
•driving the machinery of the factory. If this design
is carried out, as I am assured it will be, and the
limits of power assigned shall be found to be suffi-
cient, it would, we think, give great impetus to the
use of such means of conveyance on Ceylon estates.
But it must be confessed that the spaces between
the standards supporting the rope look somewhat
alarming. One of these is fully a quarter of a mile,
and we all know what a tremendous power would
be necessary to stretch a wire rope over that span,
quite independently of any load which may be
imposed upon it. The catenarian curve, one
would suppose, must prove so great that at some
point or other between the supports the ground
must be touched. We are told that such a sup-

position need not be entertained ; but we shall
undoubtedly feel more satisfied than we are when
such an assurance has been justified in practice
an ounce of which — we proverbially know— is of
more value than a pound of theory. The names
associated with this scheme incline us to attach
weight to the probable efficiency of the design.
Should it prove as reliable in practice as is
claimed for it, there seems no reason why in the
end a system of th^se rope-ways may not super-
sede any scheme of subsidiary tramways as feeders
for your lines of railway in the hills. There
would be a fine opening for some of your indepen-
dent engineers— Mr. Grinlinton for example— to start
a Company to establish lines of such carriers to
tap the base of certain groups of hill estates.
Subsidiary lines for each individual estate might
well remain in the hands of their owners. If
three miles prove capable of being worked by 8
horse-power, there seems little reason to fear,
but that a line of ten miles could be worked
between fixed points, and the transference of the
boxes as they came down from individual
estates to the principal ways could readily be
arranged for. There can be no want of water-
power at spots to be selected to drive a rope of
ten miles, and supposing this rope to start from
one of your railway stations, and take a course
up a valley on the hillsides of whiah numerous
estates are situated, such a line would prove to
be of incalculable benefit to estate_ owners, and
must pay well the enterprizing nien who may
start it. This suggestion is thrown out for what
it may be worth ; but it is due to a careful in-
spection of the design referred to, which is
guaranteed to bear a practicable character. Of course,
the value or otherwise of such a suggestion muit
be dependent upon such a guarantee being de-
monstrated by actual experience to possess worch.
Presuming that to be established, however, it seems
to those of us w-ho have considered the question
that there will be an opening of great public and
private value for some of your public-spirited men
to take up. It is probable, we hear, that the
estate line named will be working before the first
six months of 1887 have expired, and necessai'ily
it will provoke intelligent observation. Upon the
result of that observation should depend the decision
whether the more extended application of the
system might not wisely and with profit, be under-
taken in Ceylon.

^

THE TEA PLiNTER'S MANUAL.

Mr. Owen, who is already well-known to those en-
gaged in tropical agriculture from bis Cinchona Planters'
Manual, ha< now written a similar treatise* on the
present leading Cevlon industry, which is — though
written principally with regard to the conditiuns exist-
ing in that island — likely to prove very useful to all tea
planters. He has been well treated by his publishers,
who have issued his book in a neatly printed and handy
form, at a moderate price ; the index and table of con-
tents, too, appear full, so far as we have had occasion
to use them. Amongst the attractions of this volume
are two lithographed plans of factories which may be
commended as the subject of a happy dream to the be-
ginner in tea ; thej' are said in the advertisement to be
" worth the whole charge," and, to do our little fault-
finding at once, we may i)rououuce thetn very elegant,
but totally uiisuited for a work of this kind. The first
is to be built of iron, and the second of wood ; suppo.iing
water power available, and therefore no steam power
wanted, and the requisite timber procurable on the
estate, the cost, including machinery, is, respectively,
K3:i,0()0 and K22,()0J. " There are also," we are told,
" numerous little lU'tails in the fitting up of a factory for
which it is quite impo.ssible to estimate accurately."
Now Indian planters will willingly admit that Ceylon

Jan. 1, 1887,5

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUmST.

43,

estate buildiugs are generally a credit to their archi-
tects, and an example to be striven after, but the sums
we have named are simply impossible to the ordinary
cultivator, who, it must be remembered, will, in perhaps
the generality of cases, have to also provide an engine.
It would have been much more to the purpose if the
author had given us half a dozen plans of less costly
factories, and of existiug buililings adapted to new
needs. Some very fine tea houses— notably those on the
Carolina and Mariawatte estates, — have indeed been
erected, but it is improbable that imitators desirous of
spending equally large amounts would omit to get pro-
fessional advice, or copy a plan out of the book we are
reviewing without attention to local circumstances. The
vast bulk of Ceylon tea making is, however, done in
more modest editices.

Mr. Owen tells us that his " Manual '' is more in-
tended as a compilation of the opinions of others, and
the results they have arrived at, than an original work.
He has, however, done well in collectiug this inform-
ation from various scattered papers, and has brought it
up to date. The Ceylon tea enterprise, which has re-
cently made such remarkable strides, dates — commer-
cially at least — from 1841 ; the Dutch are said to have
previously attempted it, and failed. Messrs. Worms
manufactured some tea about that date, with the assist-
ance of a Chinaman, at a cost of about £5 per lb. but
their estates, now owned by the Cejlon Com-
pany comprise a large area under tea. Coffee,
however, paid, and, except in phenomenal
cases, still pays better than tea, so until the
terrible inroads of leaf disease and other pests made
planter despair of pulling their trees round, little
attention was paid to any other product. It
will be in the recollection of readers of Mr. Owen's
previous work, that the greatest difficulty was ex-
perienced in inducing Ceylon planters to believe that
the cultivation of cinchona was worth attention as
a commercial speculation. In 1867 only 10 acres
were planted with tea; twelve years later this had
increased to 6,500 acres ; but there are now said to
be 116,000 acres opened, including old coffee laud re-

Elanted, and it is confidently predicted that this will
e doubled in a few years. The total consump-
tion of the world is said to have been 350 million
lb. in 1885 ; two-thirds of this was taken by Great
Britian, and it is worthy of note that the quantity
of Indian and Ceylon tea in this proportion, has
risen from 3 per cent. 20 years ago to 39 per cent.
This loss has been borne by China, and it certainly
looks— in the absence of any disposion on the part of
the Chinese to mend their ways— as if the anticipated
increase of Ceylon to 30 million lb. in 1888-9 would
result in a further falling-o£f of the demand for the
China varieties. The advantages possessed by Ceylon
as a tea-producing country are naturally laid stress
upon by Mr. Owen ; in some respects it may be
doubted whether a long enough trial has been given
to establish these beyond dispute ; however, the hill
districts are certainly healthy, and the railway to
Nanuoya (on the occasions when it is open for traffic)
is a great convenience ; the system of roads through-
out the planting districts is on the whole above the
Indian average. As to the low country, we are told
that the principal new district, the Kelaui Valley,
" though very hot, is not specially unhealthy ; re-
sidents have, of course, to take care of themselves,
so that exposure to heat may not result in fever,
but in general healthiness these districts compare
most favourably with the plaiiw of India." This is
as it may be, but we have heard that residents in
the Kelani Valley consider it imprudent to stay
there more than three months without a change.

In selecting land for tea in Ceylon, the investor
hds two courses open to him : he may either purchase
abandoned or semi-abandoned coffee laud with a vitw to
replanting it, or he can take up a block of forest in the
low country; little forest remains in private hands at
high elevations, where all (Jovernnient lauds is reserved.
Tea has been found to thrive from a little above sea
level to 6,000 feet, and taking one thing with another
the profits seem about equal. At low elevations a
typo of plant closely approaching imligeuous tea
should be selected, and in the hills a hardy Assam

hybrid. Under no circumstances does Mr. Owen
recommend the China plant. The advice given
respecting nurseries, manuring, manufacture, and
the every-day working of a tea estate will
we think, be found generally interesting and useful
to planters in search of information on these matters.
Clean weeding is of course insisted on ; it is not
usually adopted, for some reason, on tea estates in
India, but it has been found the best system with
cotfee, and is undoubtedly the cheapest ; the Assam
plan is to grass-knife down the weeds, and then
trench and bury in ; it seems an unsatisfactory
proceeding and likely to exhaust the soil, but it
gives excellent results, and no amount of argument
is likely to induce a change.- Shade of all kinds
is found injurious to tea, more especially that
afforded by cinchona trees, which perhaps partly
accounts for the extirpation of these trees which
has been going on in the island. Some attention
has recently been drawn to an alleged exception to
this rule in the case of the " sau " or albizuhi
stipulata, but it does not exactly appear how it acts ;
there seems to be no doubt, however, that tea in its vici-
nity is in some way benefited ; it is a quick grower,
and is often planted with coffee. When it becomes
necessary to renovate the soil, either cattle or aitificial
manure can be used ; there can be no doubt that the
former is infinitely the best, and if the amount said
to be sufiicient for a tree, both by the editor of the
Tea Planter's " Vade Mecum" and the present author,
namely 7 or 8 lb., is really so, it ought to be univer-
sally adopted. We believe, however, that on the most
largely yielding estates considerably greater quantities
are applied. Castor poonac seems to be the best arti-
ficial fertiliser, as far as experiments go at least, as a
plot manured with 24 cwt. gave 961 lb. of tea to the
acre. The art of manufacturing tea must be learnt
practicnlly; in his chapter on this subject Mr. Owen
give« a good deal of instruction as to what to aim at
and what to avoid, which is well worthy of attention.
As regards packing and shipping, the leading rule is
to send in as large breaks, and as few varieties as pos-
sible. A tea "account sale" is an even more distressingly
complicated document than one of coffee, which is saying
a good deal, but certain fixed charges mount up if
there are several lots to be dealt with. Nearly all tea-
house work is now done by machinery, and in chapter
9 will be found some account of the machines chiefly
used in India and Ceylon, and an appendix con-
tains instructions as to the care of boilers, taken
from the Indiaa Tea Gazette. Chapter 10 gives esti-
mates for opening an estate and bringing it into
bearing. It is somewhat difficult in India to check
this, and some of the charges more especially for
the first year's weeding, usually heavier than after-
wards, appear rather small. No doubt, however,
every care has been taken to get correct information.
A capital of 1158,000 is apparently required for '200
acres ; at the end of five years, supposing a yield of
350 lb, per acre all round to be obtained, and no
manuring to have been necessary, R4O,0OO woidd be
still outstanding. Of course with more gradual ex-
tension less money would have to be invested, as the
old fields could be made to pay for the expendituie
on new clearings, but probably '200 acres is as little
as it is usually profitable to put up machinery for. —
Madras Mail.

The " lirae-juice and glycerine " of commerce con-
tains neither lime-juice nor glj'ceiine, but consists of
equal parts of olive-oil and lime-water, scented with
essence of lemon. — Indiaa Gardener.

CiiLOROi'oioi AND ToOTH EXTRACTION. — Chloroform
applied after the extraction of a tooth has a twofold
effect : it allays the pain, and arrests the bleeding.
The best strength to use is two parts of chloroform
in 100 of water. — Bt'.rgni/ne ^- Co.'s Price Current.

Eczema, according to Dr. "\Vyss, succumbs to re-
sorcin. To allay the itching, he used a vaseline oint-
ment with 10 per cent of resorcin, and the eft'ect
was surprising and most gratifying. In every case
he had tried it, it had been a success. AVhen the
eruption is oozing is the best time to apply this
remedy. — Burgoi/ne ^ Co.'s Price Current.

43«^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan. I, 18S7,

LlBERIAN OOFFEK IN NourHEKN AUSTKALIA. — Mr,

Holtze returned from a trip to the Adelaide River last
week, and he has kindly showed us a specimen of the
Liberian coffee plant taken from the block of 1 lud
experimented on by Fi slier and Lyons. T^ us it ap-
peared a perfectly healthy plant, entirely free from
any traces of the ravages of insects, and Mr. H<Atze
describes it as a fair average specimen of some 10,000
plants growing on the plantation. He had taken from
the plant no less than 320 berries, and as it is onlj'
about three years since the plantation was started,
and during the major j.ortion of that time it had been
utterly uncared for, the bush gives an excellent idea of
what might be done by careful cultivation. The whole
of the plants are said to be in a fine hea'thy condition,
with an average height of three feet, and many are
already bearing luxuriantly. It is the intention of Mr.
Holtze to send the plant to Adelaide as a practical
proof of whit the Territory can do in the way of
growing coffee, and if such a result can be furnished by
a plantation that is allowed to run wild, we think it
is only a fair assumption that the industry would well
repay a little care and attention. — Xorihern Austra-
lian Paper, Oct. 15th.

Jaffna : AciRicuLTiTnE and Puhlic Instruction. —
This is the season for paddy cultivation in Jaffna.
The rains for sowing were rather late this year, and
then when the plant had germinated there was not
sufficient ram to make it grow. And now the fields
are being scorched by heat. This is unusual. The
thermometer has risen from 82 to 88 degrees, and
the paddy-plant is all over the peninsula, diseased,
more or less. The disease is called in Tamil
" Kurukkutt'i. When the fields are sufficiently tlooded
the diseased plants rot away hopelessly. The only
way the farmer meets this disease is by pulling away
the diseased plants along with the weeds by the roots,
and replanting the vacant spaces. This year whole
fields are diseased in this way, and the poor farmers
are very busy with extensive replanting. There is
another important disease from which the paddy-plant
often suffers. We haven't any trace of it anywhere this
year. It is called in Tamil "Sental." I have noticed
this disease of the paddy-plant at length here, just to
draw the attention to it, of the Government, or rather
of Mr. Green, the Director of Public Instruction, and
of his Agricultural School. Scientific farming is quite
unknown in Jaffna, and it is high time now for the
Government through its Agricultural School to lead
the way for improvements and to enlighten the
farming public in different ways. A good service has
been lately done to Jaffna by one of its educated
farmers by distributing freely the entire edition of his
pamphlet on Agriculture. The work is dedicated to
Mr. Green. JNIr. Green is said to have already
perfected his arrangements for agricultural teaching
at least in Batticaloa, Trincomalee, and Mnlaitivu.
Cannot the funds at the disposal of the Director
allow him to provide agricultural teachers to each
of the following places, viz., Jaffna, Point Pedro,
Chavcachcheri, Mannar and Vavuniya Vilankulam at
least. — Cor.

Tea Machinery. — Yesterday afternoon (Nov. '27th)
there was a trial at the Store and Works of the Col-
ombo Commercial Company, of the new Cycloid Tea
Roller patented by Mr. Hutson, Engineer to the Com-
pany. The roller is very simple in appearance and con-
struction being an octagon box with an iron lid
which tits inside above the charge of tea, pressing
the same down as the rolling proceeds. Apart
from this pressure the motion is entirely confined
to the table below, on which grooves are scienti-
fically cut to give the leaves the needful twist. The
roller is very easily driven, and has already been
at work on Hunasgiriya estate with very satis-
factory results. It is also moderate in cost. The
Colombo Commercial Company havo altogether an
exceedingly busy place in Slave Island — in great
contrast with most coft'ee stores in Colombo. Mr.
Hutson has metamorphosed a gr.jat part of the
store besides adding new buildings. The steam
engines now do other work besides driving coffee

peelers, eifters, etc. There is extenpive timbe
sawing, and box-cutting and fitting machinery —
the best in the island we suppose -for tea boxes,
of which a large supply is turned out. Bone-
crushing is an industry always associated with
enr Colombo mills ; bat it was news to us to learn
that the bone dust was being shipped from this
mill to Europe. Hydraulic machi lery pressing
cinchona into compact bales was working noise-
less y aiKJ well; while another Department in its
busy as well as noisy (hammering) action, gave
evidence of the steady demand which has sprung
up for Brown's patent " Desaicator " for tea-drying.
This machine and its good work have already
been described in our columns, and altogether
we congratulate the patentees and the Company
on the good useful work evidenced during a visit
to their Stores. Of course, coffee is not dead yet
in Uva, and a goodly share of the Principality's
produce conies to the Slave Island Mills, so that
altogether we have here as busy a scene as can
perhaps of the kind, now be found in Colombo.
Mr. Hutson is becoming well-known upcounlry
where his skill as engineer and machinist is widely
appreciated.

Java ; Amsterdam, Nov. Hrd. — Advices from Java
continue to be very unsatisfactory. Sugar plant-
ations and manufactories are being sold at ridi-
culously low prices, one manufactory at Probo-
lingo being acquired by a mortgagee for the sum
of tl. 4,000, what the second mortgagee sustained
a loss of about fi. 400,000, Several other manu-
factories have changed hands at fi. 100 or there-
abouts. These facts show conclusively how gloomy
the present state of matters is, and how enor-
mous the losses must be in this branch of in-
dustry, which formerly yielded large profits. It is
not surprising that under these circumstances ef-
forts should be made to secure more effective as-
sistance from the Government than is afforded by
the proposed scheme of the Minister. The Nether
lands India Railroad Company has further reduced
its tariff for conveying sugar by c. 25 per picul.
According to statistics just published, it appears
that the imports in Holland during last year de-
creased by 2 1-5 per cent compared with 1884, and
the import by 3.25-100 per cent., whereas the gen-
eral exports have increased by 77-100 per cent., and
the transit business by 17.29-100 per cent. — L. and
C. Express.

Wild-Birds Protection. — The destruction and
trapping of birds (says the Singapore Free Press)
of all kinds and sorts is going on as actively as
possible, notwithst.iiiding the provisions of the Act in
such case made and provided. This .'-hould be put a
stop to, or the consequences will be serious to the
fruit and coffee trees and tapioca and sugar plant-
ations, which represent our agricultural poverty. If
insects are allowed to get the upper hand, human as
well as vegetable creation will suffer, and therefore,
on purely selfish grounds, we hope the Government
will urge the Police to carry out the law. Hundreds
of birds are snared and shipped on board of steamers
homeward bound, whilst the Frenchmiu iu Malacca is
said to be shipping his thousands of skins a mouth.
It is no wonder that the traveller in the Malay Peninsula
sees so few birds. Where there is nothing for them
to eat, the feathered tribes do not care to congregate,
and where there is they are shot and trapped, if
the gunning tribe devoted their skill to snipe, or deer,
wild pig, tig rs, or elephants, they might be viewed
as useful m mhers of society, but wlien anything
witii a feathe.' is indiscriminately facrificed, nnssacre
becomea a nu'sance, iind cills for the strong hand of
the law to suppress it. There can be no objection to
the fiying-fox being added to the list of game, as it
may help to keep the ardent sportsman from further
evil, and a str.iy pariah dog mipht help to fill his bag,
but birds, in general, should be protected from the
devastating guns and blow-pipes of our Eurasian AVinkles,

Jan.. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURltST.

439

.ABYSSINIAN ECONOMIC PLANTS.

Amoug the vegetable articles of diet of the Abys-
sinians, the first place is taken by tcff {Foa abysHiinca),
A herbaceous plant, whose grains are as small as a
pin's head; the meal from this forms the bread in
general use. A much inferior black bread used by
the poor is made from a kind of millet called toca so
(Ehusine Tocusso), frequenting the low grounds. In
addition the roasted seed of the flax plant {Linum
uifitatissimiim) is somtimes eaten, as it was by the
ancient Romans and Greeks. Another admired vege-
table is the flower stalk of the local plantain, called
enstte (Musa Ensete), the fruit of which is dry and
unfit for eating. The stem is cooked with milk and
butter. It is cut ■ off just above the rootlets, and
about two feet high ; if old, the green outer coat
is peeled off till the white interior shows. It is as
tender as a well cooked turnip, with a fljvour like
the best new bread somewhat underdone. It is an
exctUeut dish, nourishing, wholesome, and digestible.
From meal cakes a fermented drink called housa is
made.

The coffee grown in Abyssinia is principally sent to
Djedda and Upper Egypt; though not of first rate
quality, it possesses a special aroma, and is sold at
the rate of 16 dollars per canturo of 113 rottoli (say
37s per cwt.)

The women of Gurage make mats of the leaves of
the eiisete. The ecca of the Abyssinians, a species
of asclepiad, produces a tough fibre, used in making
cordage and tissues on the Red Sea littoral. The
bark of Calotiopin glgaiifea afford excellent fibre used
for various purposes. The tender leaves newly pulled
from the stipa of the doum palm are woven into all
kinds of matting and basket ware. The powdered
seed of a large tiee called berebera {MUettia feiru(/inea)
is thrown into the water to stupefy fish and facilitate
their capture. The native dress consists of a large
folding mantle and close-fitting drawers. The houses
are rude conical structures covered with thatch.

Among the local products figuring in the exports
are: — Calves' hides, .salted and sun diied; beeswax,
chiefly from Gedaref ; ivory, tamarinds, ostrich
feathers, gutta-percha, from Kassala ; gum arable,
mother-of-pearl, leopard skins, about 1,000 annually
to India ; musk, contained iu bulls' horns, to the
number of 200 to 300 a year ; honey, and tobacco,
chiefly from Sanaaid. — Journal of the Society of Arts.

CINNAMON AND PADDY (RICE.)

Cinnamon peeling is now in full swing, and will bo
carried on, w( ather permitting, into the New Year.
All planters are now paying special attention to the
make of their Cinnamon, which, in spite of improved
make, seems to be still leceding iu price. Quarterly
sales, which conservative old-stagers authoritatively
declared would arrest the downward course of prices,
have been resumed ouly to find prices still going
down, "With the present prices Cinnamon yields but
a narrow margin of profit, and if things do not look up,
all excepting those who prepare quills of very fine
quality will have to throw up the sponge, or ce.iise
manufacturing the coarse qualities of Ciuuaniou like
Mr, De yoysa.

I read with great interest the correspoudeuce relating
to the alleged remedy for flies in paddy fields. Hulu-
gala llatcmahatuieya too proclaimed liis Kerosiue oil
remedy with the .same confidence. It was tried and
found wanting. Though I u.'-t'd Kerosine oil, both
morning and evening everyday, and failed to stay the
plague of flies, yet I was not so unfortunate in its
Use as Mr. AVickremesiughe, who asserts that the
blade and ear that came in contact with the oil
blackened and died. I have not much faith in the
Kerosine-aslies cure, especially in the proportion cf the
materials and the intervals between application. Kero-
fiine oil does not retain its disagreeable smell in
situations exposed to wind and rain for so cosider-
able a perio 1 as two day^. I will be inclined to
have faid) in the efKcacy of the Kerosino-ashes mix-
ture, if applied twice a day during the week or

ttsa da^B that the ^wis arts liardwiiJg. Tlie flies

continue their ravages from the time the ears are
forming till the husks of the paddy are too matured
to allow of tlieir being punctured — a period of about
ten days. If remedies be applied towards the latter
period, when the flies have ceased to be able to do
damage, their di.sappea ranee is too readily attributed
to the remedies used. Last season, after all remedies
had failed and I Ijad resorted to the old practice
of catching them by passing a fan-like contrivance
smeared with a prepared sticky substance over the
ears, it occured to me that by substituting tar for
the prepared sticky stuff, I might so taint the ears
as to be avoided by flies. The results exceeded my
expectations ; but I was not quite certain that the
disappearance of flies was due to the tar or to the
maturing of the ears, or I might have posed before
the public with my "perfect remedy." Through the
courtesy of Messrs, Brown & Co. of Celombo, I was
favoured with .some carbolic powder for experiment-
ing, but it unfortunately reached me after I had
established a scare with tar. I shall, however,
during next .season give both the carbolic and
Kerosine powders a trial and report results. With
reference to Mr. Jayawardeue's letter to the Ohstwir
anent the attack of caterpillars on the fields under
his charge, there is no cause for alarm iu their
attacks, I too. at one time had my field attacked
by a green caterpilhr on the leaves, and an orange
coloured maggot at the heart of the plant. A free
application of fresh ashes, or perhaps the " efflusion
of time," caused them to cease their ravages, 1 used
the ashes of coconut husks, which are particularly
rich in potash. I attributed the attack of worms
to the stagnant water iu the field, as the attack was
during a period of drought when I was chary of
letting out the wa*;er in the fields as I had not
suthcient to replace it, and it stagnated. — Local" Ex-
aminer."

THE GROUND NUT TRADE OF
PONDICHERRY,
'J'he export of ground nuts from Pondicherry for
the season of 188(5, has nearly come to a close. A
steamer is now loading in the roads, and the last for
the current year is expected to arrive in a few day.".
The shipments up to date amount to 873,302 bags,
and the two cargoes yet to be cleared will add about
50,000 more to the total, making in all 923,302 bags.
At the beginning of the sc^ason we estimated the
crop available for export from the districts SPrved by
the port of Pondicherry at upwards of a million of
bags, and if to the above quantity is added the ship-
ments of three cargoes from Cuddaloro, say 85,000
bag.", the total number of bags exported will be 1,008,302.
A still further addition to this total should also be
made for the export in ground nut oil, which, for
the nine months ending September 30th, amounted to
15,589 ca,sks, and for the whole year will probably
reach 17,500 casks, representing in raw material,
about 170,000 bags of nuts, Total export crop there-
fore may be taken, approximately, at 1,180,000 bags,
as compared with 720,000 bags during the correspond-
ing period of the previous year, and 850,000 bags iu
1884; the increase being equal to 64 and 39 per
cent respectively. Twelve years ago, ground nuts, as
an article of foreign export, were comparatively ua«
known, the small crops produced being eagerly bought
up for local consumption. The present trade seems
to date from about the year 1875, when 211,170 bag^
were exported ; but the season was quite exceptional ;
the crops being unusually heavy, and the home rates
very high, and, in the following year, 187b', only
72,700 bags were shipped on foreign account. In the
next two seasons, 1877 and 1878, succeeding the famine
years 187(3 and 1877, the traflHc entirely ceased, the
aggregate exports for the two years amounting to
ouly 609 bags. But, by this time, the value of the
nut had become known, not only in France but also
in Italy, Gerniaiiy, and Belgium, and during the two
years which followed, large profits were made by all
concerned in the trade, owing to the great demand

iu the coutiueutal iflftvkets, The foUoTYJng atateraeot

440

tME TRaiPiCAL AGRICULTURIST.

AN. J, J 887.

gives the total shipments of ground nuts, and ground
nut oil, and the approximate minimum and maxinuun
price per local candy of 529 lb. (English) for each
vear from 1875 to 1886 inclusive:—

Bags of

Quotatio

ns

Casks

Quotations.

Nuts. H

ghest.

Lowest.

of Oil. H

ghest.

Lowest.

1875 '211,470 R

K.

..•

16,672 K

...

K.

...

187(3 72,700

...

• •■

7,278

...

...

1877 216

. . •

■ • •

5,143.

101

80

1878 393

• >.

6,057

96

68

1879 167,179

22 i

19

6,0()0

68

h-I

1880 281,882

22tf

20.\

7,273

V6

55

1881 257,803

21

m

4,979

68

49^

1882 387,311

19

15

9,942

54

42^

1883 552,847

24i

15i

8,777

63

42

1884 746,876

23i

19

10,492

64

66

1885 615,558

21

m

10,403

67

50i

1886 923,302

20i

Hi

17,500

53|

40^

It -will be seen by

the abov<

3 figures.

that

the

prices

of both nuts and oil have greatly fallen since the first
report quotations were recorded. In 1879 the average
rate was 1120-12-0 per candy for nuts against
R17-8-0 for 1886, the fall being equal to 18 57 per cent ;
and for oil, in 1S77, R9O-8-0 per candy as compared
with R47 for the current year, ur 8948 per cent
less. It is evident from these facts that the largely
increased production has had the effect of lowering
prices, and, judging from the increased cultivation
year by yearj it would seem that the producer has
not suffered any material loss. Pondicherry has obtained
the lion's share of the ground nut trade ; for the
total exports from the whole of British India during
the three years ending 31st March 1886, amounted to
only 1,533,314 bags, while the shipments from Pondi-
cherry alone for the same period reached upwards of
2,250,000 of bags. It is shown also, by the accounts
published of the trade of British India, that the ex-
port of nuts during the three official years declined
from 534,716 bags in 1883-84 to 507,345 in 1884-85 and
491,753 in 1885-86 ; the fall being equal to 5 40 and
8'74 per cent, respectively, whereas, as we have al-
ready stated, the "^ shipments from the French port
for the same period increased by 39 and 64 per cent.
The statement below shows the freight engagements
(in sterling per ton of 20 cwt,) for Marseilles for the
last eight years, viz., from 1879 to 1886 inclusive:—
Highest. Lowest. Avge. Highest. Lowest Avge.

1879 £3-5-0 £1-12-6 £2-4-6 1883 £3-0- 0 £2-10-0 £2-13-9

1880 3-7-0 2-15-0 3-2-91884 2-10-0 1-12-6 1-19 9

1881 3-5-0 2-17-6 3-0-3;i885 2-10-0 1-10-0 1-17-9

1882 3-2-6 2-17-6 3-0-6|lSS6 1-16-3 1-11-3 1-14-0
The French home prices have ruled very low

throughout the season and notwithstanding the greatly
reduced rates of freights, shippers have never ceased
grumbling, even from the commencement of the year,
when the nuts were quoted at R14-0-0 per candy.
The trade is of vital importance to Pondicherry,
forming, as it does, nearly three-fourths of the total
exports of the port, and giving employment — apart
from the cultivation — to several thousand people. The
crop prospects for 1887 are excellent, far surpassing
any previous season, and the area planted is largely
in excess of last year's sowing. — Madras Mail.

AtL vegetables, when cut, may be kept fresh by
putting the stalks into water. Servants generally
insist on immersing them, which favours decomposition.
Parsley, in particular, can seldom be guarded from
a watery grave. Carrots, turnips, and the like, if
placed in layers in a box of sand, will keep for many
weeks. — Indian Gardener.

Cinchona. — A local contemporary announces that
the Government of Madras is apparently about
to withdraw, partially, from competition in the growth
of cinchona, and that at the request of the Director
of Cinchona Plantations, the Collecter of the Nilgiris
has been instructed to dispose of the Kalhati Gardens
by the end of the year. This is a step in the right
direction, and we hope before long all Government
Cinchona plantations will be dis])osed of, r^^taiuing only
such, if necessary, upon which it is intended to conduct
special exporiment»,-~/«rf!a?i AgriculUirisl'

Ckment. — A French authority gives the follow-
ing recipe for transparent cement. The advantage
claimed is the absence of the slightest yellow tinge,
BO that the addition of the cement is imperceptible,
while it possesses an extreme degree of tenacity.
Mix in a well-stoppered bottle 10 drachms of choloro-
iform with 12^ drachms of non-vulcanized caoutchouc
n small pieces. The solutionis easily effected; when
finished, add 2h drachms of mastic, and let the whole
macerate from eight to ten days, but without iieat.
A perfectly white and very adhesive cement is thus
produced. —Indian Aijricvllurist.

Root Haiks. — That the largest portion of the liquid
used by the growing plant makes its entrance through
the roots, from the soil, is a well-establishtd fact;
but those parts which are the most active in the
absorption of this food material in solution, were for
a long time not so clearly understood. By careful
experiments and microscopic investigation it is found
that the extreme tips of young roots are about the
only portion which take little or no part in this
work. A short distance back from the growiug points,
on nearly all growiug roots, may be seen with the
aid of a microscope a large number of minute slen-
der bodies extending out in all directions from the
surface of the root- These thread-like structures are
not inaptly called root hairs, and consist of sac-like
protuberances, as outgrowths from the epidermis or
surface cells of the root. With the naked eye they are
not easily seen, but their presence may be inferred
from the manner in which they cling to the particles
of the soil, when a young root is lifted carefully
from the earth in which it was growing. This power
which they have of fixing themselves to the grains
of earth is very great; so that, when a plant is taken,
violently from the soil, large portions of these deli-
cate hairs are broken from the roots and retain their
attachment to the soil. As the root grows along in
the earth new hairs are produced, while those be-
hind perish as the root becomes woody, and a dense,
non-absorbing, protecting epidermis is formed ; so
that the active life of a single hair is of short dura-
tion. The office of these hairs must have already sug-
gested itself to the reader. By means of these
prolongations the greater part of the absori)tion takes
place, though the newly-formed surface cells are also
active. — B. C. Halstead, in Gardeners' Monthl//.

PoBOUs Carbon. — A report of a new system of
sewage in operation at Southampton, published in last
Saturday's Times, reveals the existence of a certain
mineral powder found in Devonshire and known as
porous carbon, which, according to the report, possesses
remarkable properties. This substance is said to be
rich in available iron, alumina, and carbon. By treat-
ment the metals are rendered soluble, and then the
mixture is a wonderful chemical precipitant. It is
mixed with the sewage in the proportion of 2^ to 3
grains per gallon, whereupon it at once destroys all
odour and precipitates and oxidises all solids and
organic matter. The effluent water is rendered almost
perfectly pure, while the i?recjpitate " mixed with
road scrapings " finds a ready sale to farmers, who
fetch itj away for manure, and pay 2;.. 6d. per ton for
it. If this be true, the sewage problem is solved, and
for the solution we are indebted to Mr. W. B, G,
Bennett, engineer, and Mr. Arthur Angell, chemist.
The virtues of the porous carbon are not limited to
its use as a precipitant. " In addition to its chemical
properties," says the Tunes, "it possesses the mecha-
nical property of adding to the lightness and poro-
sity of the soil by reason of the presence of the
particles of earthy carbon." There are several points
of mystery about that sentence, but the chief one
lies in the main statement. With only two or three
grains of the carbon to the gallon of sludge there
would only be about half an ounce to the ton of
manure ; unless this acts after the manner of a fer-
ment, which would be very wonderful indeed, it is
difficult to understand how much a minute i)ropor-
tion cau have much mechanical inHueuco on the
millions of tons of earth which form the syil of »
t«o-acre ' held,— Chemist and Druggist,

Jan. r, tSS;.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

44 1

DELI PLANTING TOBACCO.

(Translated for the '^Straits Times.")
One mischievous drawback to planting life in Deli
has always been the recurrence, year after year, of
incendiarism iu tobacco sheds on estates ; several of
the latter being continually marked out for the pur-
pose by fire-raisers. These fellows always turn out to
be Battaks exclusively, who take to this pastime not
from any grudge against the planters thus singled
out, but from causes which throw light upon certain
peculiarities of Battak character. The available in-
formation shows that the Malay rulers who domineer
over the Battaks treat them with indifference, harsh-
ness, and the utmost unfairness. The feeling of
resentment at injustice done is so highly developed
among these people that they turn to account every
means that serves their turn to gratify it, no matter
Sow strange the method may be to European ideas.
Burning down tobacco sheds happens to be one
favourite means to gain this end. They know, too,
that incendiarism is a highly effective way to bring
pressure to bear upon the planters, owing to the
burning down of tobacco sheds at certain seasons,
meaning nothing more or less than the destruction
of the whole crop gathered in. They have now taken
to destroying the standing crops as well, thereby
making the tobacco growing business very risky in-
deed, all through the fault of the authorities in not
taking stern measures to counteract the evil. The
authorities burden the planting community there to the
utmost limits with many and heavy taxes but afford
them scant protection against evil-doers. The pros-
pects in store for the planters are impoverishment
by attacks of Acbiaese marauders, the burning down
of their tobacco sheds and the destruction of their
standing crops.

♦

DYEING AND CALICO PRINTING IN INDIA.

BY J. liELMONT,

Red and shades of bed. — The Indian dyers, in
us^ing cochineal, employ alum very largely as a mor-
dant, the result being a crimson. They employ a
yellow dye, such as " harsinghar, " together with coch-
ineal, to get a good scarlet.

I have previously stated that cochineal finds a great
competitor in coal tar reds. This is a great pity for
the future of India, the country being so well adapted
for cochineal production.

A shrub called Grislea tomentosa,, belonging to the
natural order Lythracece, yields a red dye. This shrub
is not known outside India. It grows to a height of
ten feet at least, and has long spreading branches.
The bark is smooth, peeling off in thin scales ; the
wood is pale nut-brown, and is used for fuel. This
shrub flowers between February and April, and the
petals contain a red colouring which is of no little
importance. It is found in many parts in India and
is largely used in the Punjab for dyeing silk. It is
valued at about two rupees per cwt.

Another shrub, Lawsoniainertius, -^ielAmg a red colour-
ing mattter, is found iu several parts of India.
The Hindus call it henna. Dr. Balfour says that this
shrub is the camphire of the Bible and is mentioned
in the Song of Solomon. It has small leaves, and
greenish yellow flowers of great fragrance. The Greeks,
Arabs, and the Turk, Indian, and Persian Mahomed-
ans, often present the tiowers to their friends.

There is no doubt but that the camphire, or as it is
also called iu English, the cypress shrub, has been
u-ed for many centuries as a dye. It is fairly fast
and is employed by the Mahomedan women as a dye
for their nails and their hands and feet, the colour
given being a reddish orange. By merely steeping the
leaves in water, a light reddish-brown colour is ob-
tained, which, applied to cloth mordanted with alum, is
fairly permanent. Acids destroy the colour, but alkali
and infusions of astringent vegetables deepen it.
Camphire is largely used as a hair dye. Sometimes
myrtle leaves are mixed with it, the resulting colour
btiug a purplish black. It is sold in India at five
rupees per raaund (82 lb.)
56

One of the most valuable red dyes known to the
Indian dyers is the Indian madder. There are s.;v-
eral varieties of the plant, the roots of them all
I yielding a colouring matter. The plant is found in
several parts of India. One species {Morinda hracteata)
is a small tree with large shining leaves. It is known
I to the natives under various names, comprising hurdi,
1 hiddi-Kimj and ranch in Bengal, mfian-hin and yaii/oa
I in Burmah, and Yahooguha in the Sinhalese language.
I The bazaars of Bengal sell the wood, which gives a
j bright yellow colour. The native dyers use it very
j largely. Another species of Indian madder is the
I monnda tifrifo/ia, called by the Hindus ft/. This tree
i has also smooth shining leaves and white flowers.
It is found in several places outside India, including
Queensland and several islands of the . Pacific. In
Madras it is very 2>leutifu!. The bark, especially
that of the root, yields a red dye, which, fixed with
alum, is fairly fast. Most of the red cotton tur-
bans worn in Madras are dj-ed with this species of
madder. Many uses are made of this dye. It is
largely employed in dyeing handkerchiefs, cotton cloth,
carpet thread, and iu Calico printing. The root is
usually sold cut iu small pieces. This colouring mat-
ter is very cheap and plentiful. The best kinds can
be purchased for 8:*. to lOs. per maund (82 lb). The
cultivation of this plant does not appear to pay in
some parts of India, and its price has declined to
a very large extent. At one time it was sold at
the following rates : — The thinnest part of the root
(bhara), twenty rupees the maund the middle part
(jharan), ten rupees the maund , and the thickest or
upper part (ghatiya), nine rupees the maund. The
prices are now eight rupees, four rupees, and two
rupees respectively. It is thought in India that
European dyers would largely use this colouring matter
if they were onlj' better acquainted with its proper-
ties. Many of the Indian dyers use it along with
more expensive dyes for producing reds. The plant
after being dug up, is sorted into three qualities, and
packed into bags. It is sold to the dyers in this
state, and they extract the colouring matter when
required. — 2'he Dyer and Calico Printer.

AGRICULTURE ON THE CONTINENT OF

EUROPE.

(Special Letter.)

cows .\ND MILK — HOGS — MISTLETOE.

Paris, Nov. f{
M. Nicolas is a wealthy wine merchant in Pans,
and has forty depots distributed over the city for
the retail sale of his wines. Later we shall see how
he has utilized these. Like many commercial gentlemen
he desired to occupy himself with farming : so he pur-
chased an estate of 1,200 acres at Chaumes, thirty
miles from Paris in the department of the Seine and
Marue. The estate cost over half-a-mi!lion francs ;
it conT«ists as a rule, of poor and cold clay land ;
about 270 acres were wooded, and 530 had to be re;
claimed. The remainder were worn out from exhaus-
tive cropping. Reclaiming, draining, road making and
building suitable offices, were the first tasks under-
taken. M. Nicolas having put his hand to the plough,
never looked back. The soil requiring to be brought
into a state of tilth and heart, a three course rot-
ation was followed. This permitted the land to be
cleaned, divided and fertilized. Manures had to be
purchased, and these comprised the street-sweepings of
Pari.s, farmyard manure, Peruvian guano, super-
phosphates, marling and limings. Lucerne is grown
on a separate part of the estate; all the cereals are
cultivated in lines. To rapidly ameliorate a soil with-
out investing considerable capital iu manure it was
indispensable to maintain numerous live stock, but in
what end keep the latter ? What speculation would
bring in tangible profit ? It was in stuilying this piiase
of the question, that M. Nicolas decided to become
a dairy farmer, and utilize his forty wine depots in
Paris, for the sale also of the milk. It may be re-
marked here, that the generality of public houses in
Paris, now sell milk by the glass from capsulecj

445

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

fjAN. I, 1887*

special bottles. M. Nicolas commenced with 12 cows;
in 1878 he had 22 ; in 1883, 210, and at present, he
has neirly 300. He confines himself to one race —
the Xormand. It is this breed which is peculiar to
the rich pistures of Normandy, and that yield tlie
famous IsiL'ny and Gournay butters. The Normandy
or " Got( ntin " cow is a voluminous animal, and is
in%'ar!ably recognised by her brindled hide. The
Cotentin was formerly a good beef-producing cow, but
this has now become secondary to the milking quality
— some cows yielding from 24 to 32 quarts daily —
which is of course exceptional.

The cows are purchased always in calf in Normandy
and kept for two years. Before being introduced
into the general shed, they are placed during four
or five weeks, in a little, special farm called the
"quarantine.'' This precaution has completely pre-
vented the introduction of the foot-and-mouth dis-
ease. Eight quarts of milk is the average daily yield
of each cow. The morning milk is placed iu wrought
iron pans, plunged all the day in marble troughs,
through which runs a stream of fresh water. The
cows are a second time milked at noon. At five in
the evening, the two milkings are mixed, submitted
to a cooling process and poured into special glass
bottles — with name of farm engraved thereon, — of f
of a quart to 5 quart each, hermetically closed and
forwarded to the central depot in Paris to be dis-
tributed to the branch depots, and then to clients
at their domicile at 14 to 16 sous the | quart, fol-
lowing season. The general expenses amount to one-
third of the selling price.

M. Nicolas delivers from 1,300 to 1,600 quarts of
milk daily in Paris, and he aims to secure unifor-
naty of composition in butter caseum and sugar. A
leading chemist analyses samples of milk, and once
.a week the analysis is published iu a leading city
journal. The sheds and dairies are not only models
of care and cleanliness, but the soil is also studied
for the cultivation of the forage and the application
of fertiliziug agents. The scientific history of each
field is kept and the special plant-food in which it
is deficient, supplied. About 24 tons per acre of farm-
yard manure, specially azotised is the average applied.
Vast quantities of cake are consumed. The action of
each commercial manure on the various plants raised
is recorded as well as the influence of the food on
the general health of the stock, and in the produc-
tion of milk. M. Nicolas keeps his farm expeediture
with the same precision that he bestows on his wine
transactions. The capital expended, represents about
430 fr. per acre, and the annual sales of the milk,
amount to 350,000 fr.: that, which leaves a handsome
margin for profit. M. Nicolas believed that with
scientific aid united to ordinary commercial exacti-
tude, it was possible to pursue practical farming eco-
nomically and profitably, and he has succeeded.

Profpsstr Holdeflei.'is of Breslau, makes cows
contribute to their own dietary by employing skim
milk in the rations to the extent of four to eight
quarts daily even if the milk be acid. In distillery
grains, cows absorb a much superior quantity of
Gaelic acid. The influence of this skim-milk diet tells
most favorably on the richness and nutritiveness of
the yield of milk. Oue-and-a-fourth quart of skim
milk contains 46 grammes of albumen, 63 of car-
burets, and 3 of fatty matters. By judiciously com-
bining the usual feeding stuffs the farmer in employ-
ing skim milk co\dd economise in the matter of pur-
chased food. M. Holdefleiss gives as a daily type
ration, 8 to 11 lb. of hay ; 40 lb. of sliced mangolds ;
8 to 11 lb. of cut straw, chaff and issues ; 5 quarts
of skim milk and 2 lb. of oil cake. These propor-
tions can be modified following circumstances.

The Oomte de Bessenitz's experiments on fattening
hogs, point to very practical conclusions. The animals
were fed on crushed maize and cooked potatoes, made
into a me.ss with boiling water and butter milk, but
given cold. Others had crushed barley and rye, with
cooked, maslitd pi)tatots wetted with butter milk or
scullery wash. The results proved that maize was
more favorable to hog fattening than the same quan-
tity of biarley and rye ; aud farther that it is more

profitable to diminish the cereals and to augment the
quantity of potatoes iu the feeds.

Professor Wilckens of Vienna after a long series
of interesting statistics, and Lootechnic comparisons,
arrives at the fullowing conclusions :— The age of a
bull has no determining influence on the sex of the
progeny. On the contrary, in the case of cows and
generally young ones, their tarly calves are females,
while with regard to older cows the contrary is
observed; also rich feeding tendu to produce female,
and the poor dietary male calves.

It appears that the " Mistletoe bougb," though
pretty iu song aud story, is not at all popular in
Normandy, where it is a veritable plague iu the apple
orchards, although it is profitably exported to England.
A deputy is to introduce a Bill into Parliament, mak-
ing the extirpation of mistletoe compulsory, as such
also exists iu the case of May bug.s, &c. Birds and
notably thrushes are very partial to the berries of
the mistletoe and they are the agents which propa-
gate the parasite. If the branch, on which the
parasite commences to sprout, be not cleared effect-
ually of the nuisance nothing cau extirpate it later,
save the amputation of the branch. A law-suit is pend-
ing to decide if a farmer who keeps poplars, on which
to grow mistletoe for the London market, can be
allowed to continue to keep up that nursery for con-
taminating orchards in his vicinity.

ANCIENT HINDOO PHARMACY.

From a paper in the Archiv der Fharmacie we extract
the following interesting notes on medicine and pharm-
acy as practised by the ancient Hindoos. This race,
it is well known, presented high intellectual attain-
ments, which, together with the fact that Indian
fauna and flora are peculiarly rich, is probably the
reason why they have left in their writings distinct
traces of intimate acquaintance with the science of
medicine. In the Vedas, notably in Rig- Veda, Samu-
Veda, aud Atharva-Veda, we have many interesting
facts regarding their modes of treatment, and these
indicate, what we would expect, that much of the
efficacy of the remedies employed was attributed to
the religious and other ceremonies which accompanied
the preparation and admiui.straticn of physic. The
holy Soma, (A.-ciUjiias acida), for example, had the
credit of being the basis of the most eflicacious
remedies, and it was said to drop from the celestial
fig-tree in the Himalayas. The physicians formed a
distinct caste, called I'aidc/a, and were esteemed al-
most as highly as the Brahmins. Migasthems, am-
bassador of Silencus Nicator (300 B.C.), states, from
personal observation, that the Vaidga method of
treatment consisted as much in regulation of diet as
iu administering physic. It is not the case that
they derived their knowledge from Grecian sources,
for until 327 n.c there was no direct communication
between the two countries except isolated journeys
by early philosophers (such as Scylas, about 515 B.C.).
There is no mention of the Grecians in the Vedas ;
but it is possible that knowledge of Hindoo medicine
may have come to the Grecians through the Persians.
It is noteworthy, too, that translations from the Vedas
exist in Tamul, Tibethan. Arabic, and Persian works ; also
through the Tibethan into Sanscrit, in which langu-
age medical literature holds high rank.

Pupils of the Vaidga were received at the age of
12, and their curriculum lasted for 5 or 6 years.
Thfir admission, which took place in the winter
season and at full moon, was attended with elaborate
religious ceremonies. The instruction given consisted
of lessons in minor surgery, such as bandaging and
elementary anatomy, performed on dummies consist-
ing of various fruits and wax-coated models ; and the
preparation and proper uses of medicinal agents,
which we may put down as materia medica and
pharmacy. Under practice of physic, such subjects as
ajitidotes, mental diseases, diseases of women and
children, and external treatment had a place ; pathology
and chemistry were also, to a limited extent, included
in the required knowledge of the accomplished physi-
cian.

u^

I il

^Aj

'M^ 'fidPICAL AaklCiJLTvmnf.

443

■^i— ^jgaaaaa

In surgery they were remarkably proficient ami
had as many as twenty different kinds of surgical
knives. Cupping the actual cautery, and the clyster bag
were familiar to them, as were also leeches, of which
they hid twelve varieties. The escharotics which
they used appear to have been jjotash in different
stages of carbonisation {mite, mediocre, and acre). These
were prepared by burning various plants, such as Bidea
frondoaa, terminalia Hdlerica, &c., treating the ashes
with urine or water and evaporating. Internal remedies
were divided into the mobile and the staUc. The
former included all animals, and the latter plants,
minerals, and earthy matters. These were further
divided into 37 classes, according to the ailments
for which they were used ; the majority, over 600,
were of vegetable origin, aud asafcetida was the only
imported reraedj'.

All plants were gathered, as they were administered,
with definite religious ceremonies, and under certain
rules and planetary influences. The list of crude
drugs Croots, barks, &c.) used is too long for repeti-
tion here. It comprised mo.st of the drugs which
are described by Dr. Dymock in his able work
on "Indian Materia Medica." There were also used
gums, resins, and oils ; prominent among them benzoin,
bdellium, turpentine, ol. riciui, ol. lini, and other
fixed oils. Expressed juices were rarely employed.
The liquids obtained by fermentation and distillation
are classified as liquores spirituosi sicerm (sicera was
the sherbeth of the ancient Israelites) and destillat?.
The first were prepared from rice, barley, different
varities of pepper, and Oeylou plumbago. The method
employed was as follows :— 2^ parts of the liquid were
powdered with 2 parts of jujube berries and two
parts of myrabolans. The mixture was then placed,
with 14 parts of water, 1 part of iron, and 21 parts
of sugar, in a vessel previously coated internally
with pepper, honey, and butter; closed, and the whole
left for seven days in a barley- basket (/(09'(?ft«o curhi).
Sicara was prepared by boiling separately the juice
of the Dalhcria sist!, Mimosa ferrvginea, Fasineum
auricidalum. Premna s-pinosa, liuia c/raveole'its, and Tri-
ckoraiithcs dioica ; diluting, mixing, and leaving them
to ferment. Sicera were also obtained from Ficus
indica or Cassia fistula. Liquores destillati are men-
tioned, but there is nothing said concerning the mode
of preparation or the apparatus employed. From
what we know otherwise of their acquirements, as
well as of modern Hindoo methods, we may safely
assume that the process of distillation and its appli-
cations were known.

The animal kingdom yielded several contributions
to Indian pharmacy, notably the leech, the Hcineus
officinalis, a kind of lizard of which even now a
species is used in Northern Egypt. Oantharides was
also known to thtm. An insect called fmtor was
used as a remedy against cepra ; lizards and mice,
against worms, cough, and catarrh. The milk of cows,
goats, sheep, mares, elephants, and buffaloes, was held
in high esteem; also cheese and butter, the latter
being frequently used as an ointment. Butter made
from human milk was used as ambrosia similm in
diseases of the eye. Animal fats, gall, and other
animal secretions were administered internally and
externally; and nails, skin, and hair were uf-ed as
fumigants. Musk and similar substances were used as
stimulants and for impotency, Bezoar orientale was
also knovvn to them.

Medicines derived from the mineral kingdom were
comparatively numerous, and afford a proof of the
acquaintance of the ancient Indians with alchemy.
Amongst those employed were charcoal, sulphur,
aephaltum (for diseases of the liver and of the urethra),
gold and silver (for the prolongation of life), tin
lead, copper, brass, antimony, spelter, and iron. Ar-
senic and mercury were known as the oxides and sulp-
hides.^ Feri'i rubiffo, mixed with cinnamon and ginger,
was given as tonic and antidote ; lapis magnus as an
antidote, and for gonorrhcea ; yellow and red orj imeut
against leprosy; white arseiiic with pepper and fra-
grant herbs for intermittent fever. Alum was used
in the arts and in pharmacy, and salammoniac was
ftlso known, Tbe following is the recipe for the

preparation of ammonia, which was used as a local
incentive in debility, fainting, and hysteria :— Dry care-
fully one part of salammouiac and two of chalk, mix,
and sublime at high temperature. A very interest-
ing description is given of the preparation of a kind
of sublimate. Mercury was rubbed up with sulphur,
and a layer of this " sulphuret " was placed over a layer
of common salt in a vessel, half filled with bricks.
Another vessel was inverted and securely fixed over
the first, and the whole exposed to a strong fire for
twelve hours. After cooliog, the mercurial salt was
found deposited in the upper part of the vessel. The
ancient Hindoos were evidently acquainted with the
preparatioa of acids, and they used vinegar, sulphuric
acid, and nitric acid. The following is a sperimen
of the emetics which the Vaidgas employed: — Digest
the ripe fruit of Vaugueria spiuosa in water, together
with Poa cynosuroidf's, rub with cowdung, boil iu
rice or barley, then digest during eight days with
Terminiala liellerica, Phaseolus mungo, and rice. Next
Echites antidi/scntei-ica and long pepper were added,
and the vvhole dried in the sun. With the residue
curdled milk, honey, and sesame were mixed, dried,
and placed in suitable vessels. In the next stage a
handful of the above mixture was digested for 24
hours in a hot decoction of Sa2}onanthus indica and
honey, then mixed with more honey or rock-salt, and
administered by the physician, who looked northward,
while the patient's face was directed towards the
east. Hindoo pharmac3' generally was somewhat after
this fashion. Emetics of various kinds were employed
in cases of poisoning. The Vaidga distinguished
between aninicals poisons and those derived from the
mineral and vegetable kingdoms. But the meaning
of "poison'' was somewhat wide, and we find Calamus
rotang and Piper nigrum classed along with the
juices of several species of Euphorbium ; and amogst
animal poisons we have " the evil eye, " breath, claws
of scorpions, and many nasty things, even a certain
class of young females had the reputation of being
highly poisonous ! — Chemist and Druggist.

THE POTATO— SOILS SUITABLE AND THEIR
PREPARATION.

(COMPILED FROM JAMES PINK'S WORK — " THE POT.iTO
AND HOW TO GROW IT.")

The potato is one of the most convenient vegetable
witti regard to its culture, and will thrive on a greater
diversity of soils than any plant in cultivation. There
is no soil from the bog or peat earth, with its 70
to 75 per cent of organic matter and upon which no
other plant can be made to produce a remuuerativo
crop, to the clayey, with from only 3 to 5 per cent
of organic matter, upon which the potato if properly
cultivated may not be grown with more or less satis-
factory results. The soil that is generally considered
to be the best suited for the cultivation of the potato
is a light .sandy loam with a good natural drainage
and with a gentle slope; but as all soils differ iu
their texture, and it is rare to find a soil just as
we would have it, so we endeavour by tillage, by
manuring, and by exposing the soil to the pulverising
influence of the atmosphere, to improve its texture
and thereby its fertility.

In preparing the land for the ensuing crop of
potatoes it is especially desirable that the soil should
be well pulverised, for tubers of first-class shape and
quality are never taken from an unkindly soil, and if
we wish to succeed at the exhibition table or to grow
remunerative crops we must take advantage of every
means of improving the texture and productive pro-
perties of the soil. To grow potatoes well the land
should be prepared previously by deep culture of the
soil. Of the several methods resorted to for this
purpose double digging is the most preferable as it
gives the advantage of improving the depth of the
soil by placing the manure in the second spit and
retaining the top spit, which is generally lighter and
more friable, for the tubers to form in. Having
selected the piece of ground upon which the potabooe
n,r« to be grown, tUe manure that i§ to be tlu^ iq

444

*Hg. TROPICAL AGRfCtfLTURlST.

[Jan. I, 1887.

with the bottom spit should be spread over the ground.
For this purpose the refuse of the garden is excellent ;
if farm-yard manure be applied it should be in a
thoroughlj' decomposed state, for strong rank manures
of animal origin should never be applied for the
immediate crops of potatoes. Double-digging consists
in taking out a trench 3ft. wide and one spit deep ;
the manure is then raked from the surface of the
adjoining strip of the same width, and spread over
the bottom of the trench. A shovelful of hot lime
thrown ia with the manure will greatly aid its
decomposition and assist to eradicate vermin. The
bottom spit should then be dug up to a depth
of 12 in., well mixing the manure into the soil. The
top soil of the second or adjoining strip of 3ft.
should now be dug and thrown on to the just dug
bottom of the first trench, and so on until the plot
is finished.

This method of cultivation of the potato is specially
suited to light sandy soils, which it the weather be
hot and dry, part with their moisture too freely, so
that the crop matures before the tubers have attained
their full size. The manure that is placed in the
bottom spit enters the rootlets downwards, for roots
do not strike downwards into the earth by the force
of specific gravity but by the power of nutritive
attraction, and all plants possess the natural instinct
of sending their roots in the direction that they can
find nourishmen*; most congenial to their wants. By
placing the manure deep in the soil the plant has
one uniform source of nourishment, and therefore
receives no check from variations in the weather,
during the growing season.

Notwithstanding the animal and vegetable manure
placed iu the bottom spit, should the land be poor
and deficient in vegetable matter, a good dre.ssing
of well decomposed vegetable manure may be added.
Poor soils never produce a good crop, neither are the
potatoes of fitst-class quality, for vegetables, like the
flesh of animals, are always deficient in flavour if
they have been half starved. On stiff soils any
substance that serves to render them less adhesive
may be applied witii benefit; such as old mortar,
charcoal, burnt earth, ashes, lime, decayed leaves, &c.
They should be applied as early as circumstances
will admit and be well incorporated with the soil,
which should be allowed to remain as rough as
possible so that it may get the full benefit of frost,
Bun, and air.

Different kinds of plants take up iu different pro-
portions the various inorganic constituents of which
they are composed. Thus we see the necessity for
applying the special inorganic or mineral manures
in proportion to the requirements of the plant. The
inorganic constituents of the potato tuber, as contained
in 1,000 lb. of its ashes are; —

lb.

Potash 557

Soda 19

Lime 20

Magnesia 53

Oxide of iron .. 5

Phosphoric acid 126

Sulphuric acid ,., .,, .,, ... 136

Silica.,, .,, ,,, , 43

Chlorine ,.. .,, , , 42

1000

Tbt! above aualysis shows the proportions that have
been abotracted from the soil by the plant while
growing, Potash, the principal alkali of land plants
largely predominates i hence the special value of wood
ashes as a manure for potatoes- Phosphoric acid is
Of animal origin, and is supplied to the soil in all
bone manures ; it is of special value jwheu applied
to cold wet soils, as it has a tendency to induce
early ripening of the tubers, Caustic lime enters
largely into the composition of the foliage cf the

otato, and independent of its food-giving properties.

t is of great benefit to the land by improving its
texture and dissolving veg:etable fibre. Common salt
Bhould be used only with great care as a manure
''or potatoes: it ma^, however, lometimes be uKd

?

f

with advantage on light dry soils, but it enters very
slightly into the composition of the plant. Green
crops ploughed under are a beneficial manure for
potatoes on both stiH' and sandy soils. They render
the clays less adhesive, and add to their productive-
ness by allowing the rootlets freer access in search
of food ; while in sandy soils they attract and retain
moisture. Artificial manures, when judiciously applie.\
arc invaluable aids to the good culture of the potato,
as well as of other crops. One ton of potatoes con-
t:uns about 25 lb. of ash (which represents the inorganic
or mineral food of the plant); supposing an acre to
produce 10 tons of potatoes, there will be taken from
the soil by the tubers alone 250 lb. of matter per acre
in very nearly the following proportions —

lb.

Potash 141

Soda 5

Lime 5

Magnesia 13

Oxide of iron 1

Phosphoric acid 31

Sulphuric acid ... 34

•Silica . ... 10

Chlorine (salt) 10

250
Some soils contain one or more of these consti-
tuents in abundance, so that it would be waste, and
in some cases injurious, to add more of that substance ;
yet, being deficient of some others, it is impossible
for the plant to arrive at perfection ; so special
artificial manures become a necessity for the success
of every crop that depends on the presence, in an
available form, of all the mineral constituents of
which the plant is composed. Stimulating manures
when applied to the potato in excess, are often in-
jurious, for by inducing a strong rank growth of
foliage the plant is rendered more susceptible to
disease, and the quality of the tuber is never so good
when stimulating manure has been applied to the
growing plant. — Queenslander,

Packing Pears.— The French, who export more
Pears than any other nation, cover the inside of
the boxes with spongy paper or dry moss, which
absorbs the moisture. Each Pear is then wrapped
in soft paper, and placed in layers in the boxes,
the largest and least mature iu the bottom, filling
all interstices with the dry moss. Thus, they will
keep a month or more. They are so closely packed
that though they cannot touch each other, all motion
is prevented. If one decays the others are not
harmed. — Gardeners^ Chronicle.

The Philosophy OF Vine Pruning.— The production
of graius of starch in the chlorophyll of the leaves
when exposed to the sun is a well-established fact.
This starch is subsequently dissolved, converted into
sugar and other substance fit for the food of plants,
and transmitted to the growing points or to the
store-places, where it is again converted into starch.
The production of starch in leaves is shown by
immersing the leaves in boiling water, to which a
little potash is added, and then plunging them for
a quarter of an hour in hot alcohol. The leaves are
by these means deprived of their green colour, and
the starch in them is now easily rendered visible by
the addition of tincture of iodine. By covering one*
half of the leaf with some opaque substance, leaving
the other half exposed to the sun, starch may bo
detected iu the uncovered half, while none is to bo
found iu that which has been shielded from the sun's
raj's. Signer Ouboui, who has made numerous ex*
periments on the Vine , says that this production of
starch increases gradually from the leaves at the base
of a young shoot to the middle and as gradually
diminishes from the middle towards the point, starch
being absent from the very young leaves near the
apex. These facts supply a reason for pruning,
for the young leaves above the flower bunches, not
producing starch, but on the contrary consuming it,
in so far deprive the berries of their s^g^r.—Gardencrt'
Chronicle.

Jak. I, 18S7.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

44S

Tobacco in Loaxda. — Keferring to the cultivation
of Ttbicco in Loanda, the British Consul reports
that the plants are carelessly grown and gathered
by the natives. When the leaves are sufficiently
manured they are plucked from the stem, tied in
bunches, and hung round the native huts to dry.
No care is taken, no selection made, nor is any
preparation resorted to beyond the bunching and
drying. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

Nothing will purify and keep a stable so clear from
odoiurs as the free use of dry earth, and every one
keeping horses and cattle will find it pays to keep
a heap of it on hand, to be used daily. A few
shovelfuls of earth scattered over the floor after
cleaning will render the air of the apartment pure
and wholesome. The value of a season's manure pile
may be largely increased by the free use of such
absorbants. The strength of the gases and liquids
absorbed is retained, and is the very essence of good
manure. — QvAenslander.

Cinchona Barks in Colombia. — In a recently issued
report on the trade of Colombia, the Consul states
with a view of illustrating the alarming depression
of the export trade of Colombia, that the exportation
of Quina bark, which was the staple article of Colombia,
has greatly diminished in consequence of the com-
petition of the Indian and Ceylonese growers, who
produce an article which yields a far larger percentage
of quinine than is obtained from the Colombian bark.
In 1881 the value of the bark exported was about
5,000,000 dollars. It is estimated that since 1881 not
half the quantity exported in that year has been
shipped yearly. — Gardeners' Chronicle-

The improved French method of preserving wood
by the application of hme is found to work well
(says the Indian Foreiter). The plan is to pile the
planks in a tank, and to put over all a layer of
quicklime, which is gradually slaked with water.
Timber for mines requires about a week to be thoroughly
impregnated, and other wood more or less time,
according to its thickness. The material acquires
remarkable consistence and hardness, it is stated, on
beink subjected to this simple process, and the assertion
is made that it will never rot. Beech wood prepared
in this way for hammers and other tools for ironwork
is found to acquire the hardness of oak, without parting
with any of its well-known elasticity Or toughness,
aad it also lasts longer. — Queeiislander.

Peppebmint Culture in Japan.— As an indication
of the increased demand for Menthol in Europe the
following extract from Consul Robertson's report on
the trade of Kanagawa for the year 1885 will no
doubt be read with interest :— " Peppermint oil has
been an article that has attracted much attention
in the past year because of its increasing importance
as an article of export. The production has been
steadily increasing for the past three years, and the
latest crop has greatly exceeded those of previous
year. This is principally due to the demand for
crystals, a product of the liquid oil, and which are
now largely used in pharmacy as a specific for neuralgia
and other complaints. Japanese Peppermint oil is
distilled from a species of Mint (Mentha arvensis)
cultivated largely in the northern portion of the main
island of Japan. Like the English Mint (Mentha
piperita) there are several varieties of the Japanese
plant, one only of which produces an article of good
quality. The sudden and increased demand from
abroad for the Peppermiut crystals has led to new
plantations being formed, and these have, I am
told, been for the most part laid out with inferior
plants. The produce of these new plantations has
been sold at very low prices, and the oil thus obtained
is not likely to be of good quality. If this is sent
to a foreign market, it will, perhaps, cause the Japan
oil to be regarded with less favour, and thus damage
the prospect of an otherwise promising e.xport."
Some blundering seems to have been made in printing
this report which it would be well for the authorities
carefully to look after in future. Though the report
}9 issued under tUe authority of the Foreign Office,

and is "printed under the superintendence of Her
Majesty's Stationery Ofiice," and is dated " Kanagawa,
May 28, 1686," and further bears the word Japan
on its title-ppge, the heading of every alternate page
is "China, Kanagawa." Some one, therefore, whote
duty it is to look after these things has apparently
a hazy notion as to the country to which Kanagava
belongs. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

The Forest species of Japan are thus noticed by
a writer in the Indian Forester: — As far as I have
been able to ascertain from personal observation and
study of various books, the principal forest species of
Japan appear to be as follows: — Metz (^Finus Thianhergii
and dcnsi flora), both of which species appear to be very
common throughout the empire. Hinoki {Chumact/jja-
ris ohtusa and pisifcra), both of which species form
extensive forest in the Central and Northern islands.
Suji {Cryptomeria japonica), found planted through-
out the length and breadth of the country, and es-
pecially near villages and round all shrines and
temples. Keaki {Zelkowa Keaki), kuri (Casfa/cea vulga-
ris), much used for railway sleepers. 21 species of oaks,
25 kinds of bamboos, 30 species of cherries, many
species being grown simply on account of their flowers.
Numerous kinds of azalias, camellias, and laurels'
besides various species of elms, maples, deutzia*
hornbeam, viburnum, holly, olive, &c. As regards charac-
teristic plants of Japan, they may probably be enumerated
as follows : — Azalias, camellias Cri/ptomeria japonica,
Cydonia japonica, chrysanthemums, Hibiscus, the Japan
shrub peony, the famous water lily nasu {A^'elnmbiuni
siircifera), asters, &c.The principal forest trees common
to Earope, which are mainly confined to the northern
islands, are elms, beech, larch, aspen, wild cherry
ash, yew; whilst amongst shrubs and other plants,'
the following are most common .- — ivy, honey-suckle
lily of the valley, monkshood, marigold, wood sorrel
poppy> chick weed, dock and dandelion. Palms are by
no means common, and are confined principally to the
southern portion of the empire.

Tomatoes and Vines. — If science has its marvels
which however well attested, often fail -to convince
certainly ne-science has sometimes even greater mar-
vels, which nevertheless are accepted as gospel by
some folk. At one time, year after year, we received
from a correspondent leaves of Violets affected with
a fungus (Puccinia viola;). The leaves thus had a
superficial resemblance to those of a Fern studded
with spore-cases, and as the Violets grew beneath
the shade of some Ferns was not that proof positive
that a cross had been effected between the Fern and
the Violet ? It was no use appealing to structural
and physiological reasons wliy such a cross could not
be. Nothing could shake our correspondent's faith,
and year after year, with an expression of surprise
and pity at our incredulity, the specimens were sent.
As we write a multiple Grape berry is before us
such as often occurs at the end of the bunch, when
two or three Grapes, from union in a very early
stage of development, run together into a mass lobed
like a Tomato. Now, as Tomatoes grew in the house
what more natural (:') than to infer that here we
have a cross between a Tomato and a Vine ? It
would not be so unlikely as a cross between a Fern
and a Violet, nevertheless we should be as incredulous
in the one case as in the other.— Gardeners' Chronicle.
Kamik Fibre in Spain,— Mr. Consul WooJdridge
reporting from Barcelona, refers to the opening in
August last, near Gerona, of a manufactory, tho
first of its kind in Spain, for cutting and seperating
the fibres of the Eamie, or Cunia-grass plant (Brehme-
ria nivea). This establishment is described as the
property of a French company, styling itself tho
" Compagnie Ramie, Fran^aise." This plant was in-
troduced into the country as far back as 1870, and
its cultivation proving a success, the above manu-
factory has been erected. There are three machines
at present, of French manufacture, at work, which
decorticate some 450 kilos of fibre per day, and tho
thread is said to be much cheaper, finer, and stronger
than either hemp or jute, and produces a rich, glossy
textile, and the refuse is used iu the manufacture
of pafei,^ffarde)i$rs' Chronicle,

44i

#ffi fnoPi^Ai A^mcx^Lfmiifc iU^. i, m%

fca^jMa—

MMa

iggan

HttiMMMMMMMI

CINCHONA CULTIVATION IN JAVA.

A report by Mr. N. McNeill, Hor Majesty's Consul
at Biit.avia, which has just been published, affords a
good deal of important infonnatiou upon the Quiuology
of Java, and we extract the foUowiug as including the
points likely to be of interest to our readers. The
second table shows that the large and continuous fall
in prices has been experienced (juite as severely in
Holland as elsewhere. The best method of cultivation
does not seem to liuve yet been quite decided upon,
as Mr. ]\[cNeill deals with it in the following manner : —
The cinchona tree is found to flourish best at an altitude
of from 4,000 to 7,000 feet above the sea-level. The
seeds are planted iu nurseries, well shaded from the
Bun, and transplanted when they are about six weeks
old, and placed at distances, varying with the species,
of from 4 to 9 feet apart, the ground between the plants
being well drained by narrow channels. Grafting has
lately been practised to a large extent with very satis-
factory results, and seed planting has given place
greatly to it. The names given to the different species
of the genus cinchona, all of which are planted by

the Government, are ;

(a) Ledgeriana. (c)

(6) Succirubra. (/)

(c) Oalisaya Javauica. (</)

Oalisaya Anglica.
Hasskaliaua.
OiScinalis.
Lancifolia.

(rf) Oalisaya Schuhkrafft (h)
Several different methods are employed by Government
and managers of private estates for harvesting the
bark, and it has yet to be decided which method gives
the best result with least injury to the tree. Which
course is adopted depends greatly upon the hardiness of
the tree, this quality varying in different species. The
bark obtained from the roots is generally found to
contain the greatest percentage of quinine, that from
the trunk coming next, whilst the percentage ob-
tained from the bark of the branches is so small
that it is not worth while collecting and exporting
to Europe. The accompanying statistics show, as far
as I can ascertain, the extent to which cinchona has
been cultivated in the last few years on Government
and private estates. The area of land planted in 1883
by Government with cinchona was about 1,800 acres.

CINCHONA STATISTICS.

4»

si.

u

a

o

^O?.

'A .

O ■

Year,

§0-

a o

gc3

O

«
.*-»

.9.2
^ 1

d1

T. O

o

>

a I' c

g

iO

Ph

e« V

Ph

P-l

Lb.

Lb.

£

No.

No.

1881

179,520

25,290

18,204

736,600

2.036,480

1882

275,264

35,259

28,036

1,205,800

2,099,400

1S83

453,424

172,733

28,J15

1,333,000

1,966,500

1884

380,800

275,62

30,000

1,516.500

1,753,900

18b5

458,728

—

—

1,390,000

1,567,000

AVEBAGE PKICES OBTAINED AT AUCTION IN HOLLAND
rOB GOVEENMENT CINCHONA CROPS.

Sterling Price for lb. English.
1882. 1883, 1884.

8.

d.

s. d.

s. d.

Calisaya Ledgeriaua

..3

1*

1 lOi

2 3

Oalisaya Javauica

..1

6

0 9

0 9

Caliaaya Schuhkrafft

..1

5

0 10

0 8

Oalisaya Auglica

.,1

3

1 2

0 9i

Hasskaliaua

..2

lA

0 7

0 4i

Succirabra . .

..2

0

1 Oi

0 11

Officinalis ..

..2

10*

2 4

2 OJ

Lancifolia . .

..1

8

1 Oi

0 8

— The Planters' Gazette.

A "West Afhican Substitute for Coffee is thus
noticed by the Pharmaceutical Journal: — The root of
Banta mare {Cassia occidental is) is used as a pre-
ventive of fever, a decoction being taken every morn-
ing, and the leaves are applied in erysipelas and local
inflammation. As much as fifty tons of the seed are
said to have been exported from Seuegal as a coffee
§ahstiiute,-'Fharmaceutical Joiirml,

COFFEE : TKOSPECTS OF
BEIGHT. POOR CEOPS

PRICES VEKY
IN BRAZIL:

DISEASE PREVALENT.

[Here is a very important Circular, Coffee Planters
will yet be happy — Co/. 1
(I. A. Pucker ib JJciivraft's Price Current, Nov. 11th)

The statistical position continues as strong as ever.
During the first nine mouths of the current year we
have delivered in Europe 86;i,000 tons agaiust 360,000
tons same period last year, and this notwithstanding
the important advance established in value. During
October we delivered 34,500 tons, 35,500 tons being
the average delivery per month last year, and 42,500
tons the actual delivery in October last year. Stocks
continue to decrease, and if our information be cor-
rect, this feature will be very marked iu the summer.
As regards Rio and Santos receipts on the 5th they
totalled 2,535,000 bags against 2, .500,000 bags same
time last season. In the bulk of the circulars issued
the present Rio crop is taken at 3,500,000 bags, Santos
crop at 2,.500,000, or together 6,000,000 bagt, and many
assert that all their calculations are based on this
figure. The probability that these estimates are ex-
cessive must not be lost sight of. The reports that
the prospects of the blossoming Rio crop are un-
favourable are maintained ; as regards the Santos crop,
it is still too early to say anything. The Havre
market maintains itself on a basis of 65 francs, and
this notwithstanding the fact that unusual efforts have
been made to get rates down. Current gossip asserts
that many are out who would like to be in, and
hence a great deal of the wire pulling.

The key to the problem, however, is not
in Havre, but in the Brazils. The imme.
diate future depends on the course of re-
ceipts in Rio and Santos, November being, per-
haps, the most important month in the crop year.
Our information continuing unchanged, if anything
more favourable, we maintain our opinion that as time
goes on the visible supplies of Coffee will get smaller
and smaller, and that prices must rise in unison.
Extract of a letter from Messrs. Andrew Muir & Co.,
dated Rio de Janerio, 20th October 1886 :— " 1886-87
Crop. — We are now feeliug the weight of the crop,
and all the more so at the present time because of
the accumulation of Coffee up-country, caused by
three mouths of constant rainy weather. We look
for a very marked falling off in supplies, however, in
a short time. Many districts are already bare of
Coffee, having marketed their crops. The Serra
Abaixo crop has been a complete failure this season.
We expect then to have a very limited supplj' of
Coffee to deal with, during the first six months of
1887, and as the Americans will require all, or nearly
all, of that supply, there should be a lively competi-
tion for it. We do not think the export for the cur-
rent crop-year will exceed three and a quarter million
baf/s. 1887-88 Crop. — We must inform you that the
prospects for the next yield are so far anything but
bright. During August and September it rained al-
most without interruption, and even during the pre-
sent month we have had very little fine weather such
as would favor the blossoming of the plants. Re-
freshing rains, followed by intervals of bright sun-
shine, is the kind of weather required to produce a
' bumper' crop, and this season the rainy part of
the programme alone has been carried out. The re-
sult is that the trees do not seem to have had suffi-
cient strength to put forth the usual preliminary
flower during the month of August, where any ap-
peared it was promptly washed away by the floods.
We have been anxiously awaiting the appearance of
the second flowering which invariably takes place iu
September and October, and forms the basis of the
crop, but up to the present, over very extensive and
important districts, no blossom whatever has been
seen. News has just come to hand that in some
parts a blossom is now commencing to be formed, but
at so late a period it is extremely unlikely that such
a flowering can produce a satisfactory result. The
old trees are as a rule entirely bare, and the appear-
ance presented by the new plants is very unsatisfac-
tory. We Uave uot liad »o poor a prospect for a, crop

Jau. r, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

447

Bince 1861/1862. The state of cultivation now, of
course, is very different from what it was in those
years, and the vast area covered by the plantations
almost preclude the possibility of an absolute scar-
city in the production of the bean. On the other
hand, we are assured that there is a disease at work
among the Coffee trees, which has already caused
considerable damage, and which must be carefully
watched. An Imperial Commission has been appointed
to inquire into this all important matter. The only
chance for a moderate crop would be a luxuriant
blossoming now, but even this would hardly be suffi-
cient to save the situation, because before the cherries
could be thoroughly formed, they would be assailed
by the strong sun of November and December, we
fear, with . terrible effect.— S. Mausfeld & . Co.
London, 11th November 1886."

MANILA NEWS:- KAPOK, SUGAE, RAILWAYS,

{Translated from "Straits Times.")
The advantages of growing Kapok or silk cotton
has so far attracted attention in the Philippines that,
according to the Oomercio, the authorities there have
decided upon taking measures to further its cultiv-
ation. It is their intention to secure seeds or young
plant of that useful produce articles. The object in
view will be to experimeut with its cultivation in
those islands to find out the possibility of acclimat-
ising it. Should the trial planting succeed, the
Philippines will be the gainer by the con-
sequent increase in the tale of export articles
sure as it is to thrive in the country, and yield
handsome profits indeed to enterprising cultivators.
The local committee for ensuring a suitable display
of Philippine products at the coming Madrid Exhibi-
tion have so slackened their energies, that the Central
Committee in Spain have been obliged to stir them up
to incrpased activity by means of circular letters.
, The handicapping of Philippine sugars and produce
generally by heavy import duties in Spain to the great
detriment of trade between the two countries, has
been at last remedied. The Home Government has
decided upon lowering these duties considerably, and
admitting into Spain sugar from the Philippines duty
free when borne in Spanish vessels.

After four fruitless calls for tenders to construct a
railway from Manila to Dagupan, an important sea-
port, an English firm sent in the only tender opened
at the last call. Should the firm secure the concession
it is by no means sure whether the venture will pay.
The expected passenger traffic will it is said, not pay
expenses. The goods traffic has no prospect of ex-
pending sufficiently to yield a high income.

HUNASGERIYA TEA COMPANY, LIMITED.

At the annual general meeting of this company,
held in London on the 26th ultimo, the Directors
presented the following report : — The total value of
produce secured during season 1885-8t), amounted to
±'1,558 9s .5d. This sum has been deducted from the
cost of planting, upkeep, &c., and the balance of
£2,189 6s lOd has been carried to Property Account,
so that the Estate now stands in the Company's books
at £21,509 13s 3d.

As stated in last report, the planting of a large
acreage of Tea was accomplished at the beginning
of the season now under review, and besides the
expenditure on this and the upkeep of the former
clearings, the Ceylon expenditure includes outlay on
machinery, tea houses, &c., and also the cost of seed,
nurseries, and general preparation for the planting of
further 75 acres ; this latter clearing has now been
planted up, making the total area under Tea SSo
Bcres as under : —

AKEA UNDER TEA.

Planted July— October, 1882 ... 25 acres
Do do 1884 .. 188 „

Do do 1885 ... 297 „

Do

do

1886

75

Total under Tea at tbia date

585 acres.

Thd weight of Tea manufactured on the Estate for
the season amounted to 12,527 lb.

The yield per acre is considered very favourable
as the leaf was secured almost entirely from the 25
acre clearing, only a small plucking being taken from
the 188 acres towards the end of the season.

It will be seen that the average price of the Tea
sold in London was Is O^d per lb. Although the
Tea market was ruling very low during last season,
a higher average price would have been secured had
the quantity coming forward from the Estate been
larger.

The small area yielding leaf, and the consequent
minute daily pluckings during the early part of the
season, made it necessary to retain the manufactured
Tea on the estate longer than is usual, so that parcels
large enough for shipment might be sent off, and this, to
some extent, caused a loss of flavour. Even then the breaks •
of Tea were not of sufficient size to command the
full competition of the trade, and from these causes
the Tea realised' a lower price than would otherwise
have been obtained.

Now that the plucking is being carried on over a
much larger area, these disadvantages are disappear-
ing, and good saleable breaks will now come forward
with regularity. The market for fine Ceylon Teas
has also improved. The returns given by the other
minor products were in accordance with the expect-
ations. As stated above small pluckings of leaf were
being secured about the end of last season from the
188 acres planted in 18S4, and as the yield is rapidly
increasing, it is thought that between 40,000 and 50,000
lb. of Tea will be secured during the current season,
viz. : 1886-87, and this, with the returns from the
other products, should very nearly meet the year's
expenditure- Looking at the age of the Tea, and the
small area yielding leaf, such a result would be deemed
most favourable, and the prospects for the following
season, 1887-88, are very encouraging as ♦■hat will
be the first season during which any applicable area
will be old enough to yield a considerable crop of
leaf. A reference to the planted area, as given above
will at once show that there will then be 510 acres
of Tea giving larger or smaller supplies of leaf. With
these facts before them the Directors cannot but
feel that it would be greatly to the advantage of
the Company if from 100 to 200 acres of Tea could
be planted up each season, until a total of 1,000
acres is reached ; but with the capital at present
subscribed the Board do not feel justified in sanctioning
any further extension. They would, therefore, strongly
impress on Shareholders the desirability of at once
subscribing Shares to the extent of £4,172, thus bring-
ing the capital up to £25,000, so that the further
planting of Tea may not be delayed. A clearing of
'25 acres of Cardamoms has been pl.'inted up during
the season, making a total of 33 acres under this pro-
duct.— Plan ters' Gazette.

-♦-

Tea Hair. — We have received from Mr. Gow
a small tin of this curious product of our tea
with the bright colour which indicates tannin
and golden tip. Under the glass the fine hairy parti-
cles of the mass are readily discernible. The
sample can be seen at our office.

The Luminosity of Leaves. — Dr. Gorlam has dis-
covered that the light reflected from green leaves con-
sists chiefly of red and green rays, and by ascertaining
the proportions of these colours reflected from leaves,
and taking a revolving ring with the like proportions
of colour on it, he has been able to mix these colours
as it were in the eye and reproduce the tint of the
leaves. He found during the enquiry, however, that
the simple colours did not exactly reproduce the
colour of the leaf required, but that a certain admix-
ture of black was necessary to this end. Black, it
may be remarked, is well known to exist in the
cellular structure of leaves in the form of carbon.
It is deposited there, as is believed, from the ab-
sorption of carbonic acid gas from the atmosphere
by the siomata or mouths on the underside of the
leaf, — Indian Oardener,

448

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan, I, 1887.

A Correspondent from Uva writes : — " I send you
by parcel post three fruits that I think are un-
mistakebly lemons (Malta or any kind you like to call
them.) I found a tree laden with these fruits in a
village garden near here, and the villagers treating
them as u-ild limes, using them only while bath-
ing and washing their hair with them. They can
give me no account how this lemou tree got into
the village. Can it be possible that a native lime
seed sported into a lemon tree ? not unlikely I
should think." The fruits sent are undoubtedly
citrons of a very good kind.

Bonded Tea Warehouse Accommodations. — The
"Wholesale Tea Dealers' Association have memorialized
the Lords of the Treasury in regard to insufficient ac-
.comniodatiou for the proper storing of tea. They say,
also, " We are informed on the best authority that the
complaints from country grocers as to spoilt tea owing
to careless warehousing are more numerous this year
than ever. The tea comes in the months above men-
tioned in immense quantities , and warehouse keepers,
whose hands are full to overflowing with work,
allow the chests to remain for months uncovered with-
out even the lids being put on, aud thus teas, especially
the finer sorts, are greatly damaged." — Indian Tea
Gazette.

Cocaine (Crude). — A case, containing 3,765 grammes
just arrived from Lima, was offered in sale. The ana-
lysis was given as follows : —

CrystaUisable cocaine 01"4

Ash ... 50

Moisture, &c. 36

100-0
The whole was bout,ht in at lOd per gramme-
We understand that one of the principal English
makers offered 4^d per gramme, but this bid was de-
clined. We have described this cocaine, which is ex-
tracted from the leaves in Peru, and of which fre-
quent shipments are received at Hamburg, in a
recent issue. CocA Leaves remains quite neglected,
47 bales offered in sale this day found no purchasers. —
Chemist and Driiygist.

Kainit as a" Fertilizer. — The following de-
serves your consideration at this period of the
year, (say Messrs. Samuel Downes & Co., Liver-
pool, writing on September 30th). Intending users
will please to observe that it should not be ap-
plied to stiff but light sandy soils and mossy lands
which are deficient in potash :— The late Dr.
Voelcker wrote:—" By far the best mode of apply-
ing kainit to liyht or to heavy land is to sow
broadcast in autumn or early in icinter, both for
wheat and potatoes. For winter wheat on heavy
land the kainit may be mixed with dissolved guano
in the proportion of 2 cwt. of kainit and .S cwt.
of dissolved guano (8 per cent quality dissolved
guano), and sown broadcast, either before sowing
or soon after the seed has been sown. For pot-
atoes it is best to sow broadcast 3 to 5 cwt. of
kainit per acre early in winter, and to plant the
potatoes with 4 to C cwt. of G per cent quality
dissolved guano diluted with ashes or burnt soil,
or any similar bulky material, which has the effect
of spreading the dissolved guano more freely upon
the land, and preventing the concentrated manure
coming into direct contact with the seed potatoes.
Kainit should always be sown in autumn or early
in winter. For rather heavy land 2 to 3 cwt. are
sufficient; for light soils 3 to 5 cwt. per acre may
be applied with advantage. — Afiricultural Gazette.
— [Has any one tried kainit with dissolved guano,
or with white castor-cake as an application to tea '?^
Since writing this, we have learned that Messrs.
Freudenberg & Co. have been appointed Ceylon
Agents; and the proprietor having got samples from
them, some experiments with kainit for tea are to
be made on Abbotsford, and the results carefully
noted for publication. — Ed._,

Ceylon Plant in Bequest. — Says a corre-
spondent of a home medical journal: — " I hear tha
the leaves of a Ceylon plant, the Michelia nila-
gcrica, have been found by a foreign medical
authority to possess great antipyreti3 properties, a
decoction of the drug acting in this respect better
than one of cinchona bark. A peculiarly bitter
princij)le is also said to have been extracted from
these leaves." — From the " Treasury of Botany "
we take over all under the heading of Michelia,
as follows : —

Michelia. A Florentine botanist of the early part of
the eighteenth century is commemorated by this genus
of Mac/noliacff, which consists of lofty trees, natives
of India and the islands of the Eastern Archipelago,
and is nearly allied to J/^z/z/io^/a, but distinguished by
the axillary flowers, the looser arrangement of the
carpels, and the more numerous ovules.

M. Champaca, the Ohumpaka of the Hindoos, is
cultivated commonly in India for the powerful fra-
grance of its flowers, which, indeed, according to Sir
W. Joues, is so strong that bees seldom if ever alight
on them. The tree is sacred to Vishnu, aud is there-
fore an object of superstitious regard on the part of the
Hindoos, who adorn their dark hair with the rich
orange-coloured flowers. The root, like all parts of
the tree, has bitter properties, and is used medicinally.
There appears to be some difficulty iu defining the
species ; or probably that just mentioned, having been
ong cultivated, has origiuated numerous varieties
which are mistaken for species ; thus 3r. Rheedu is re-
ferred to M. Champaca by Hooker aud Thomson. The
timber of M. Rheedu is employed in Bombay for cabi-
net work, and has been tried in ship-building, while
various parts of the tree are used medicinally as
stimulants, &c. M. Doltsopa, anotVer variety of the
Champaca, is mentioned as furnishing a fragrant wood
used in house-building in Nepal. Lindley mention .
the bark of 3t. montana as having proprieties liks
those of cascarilla, but milder, and that of M. gracilis
as having the odour of camphor. M. Champaca is
cultivated as a hothouse plant in this country, where,
however, it does not appear to be as gi-eat a favourite
as its Indian reputation would lead us to infer. [M.
T. M.]

A Few Notes on the Soil of Ceylon. — As to
the soils of Ceylon, that of Colombo consists of
either sea sand or of laterite, locally called cahooh
or a mixture of the two. It is a pretty well esta-
blished fact that the sea in former ages covered the
present site of Colombo and the Cinnamon Gardens,
hence the sea sand deposited there. Further inland
we have the large expanse of paddy-fields -cultivated
by the natives who have been for ages experts in
terracing and irrigating their lands — may be said to
be a deposit principally of gneiss — still further on
the slopes of the hills of the Central Provinces, the
soil, where wonderful crops of coffee were in former
days made, is anything but rich, being of a loose,
friable, gravelly nature, very apt to ^et washed into
the paddy terraces of the Cingalese Gova below,
a circumstance which " Apaswammy " thoroughly
appreciates. In fact the wonderful returns of various
tropical products from the soils of Ceylon is more
due to the climate than to the richness of the soil.
When we arrived at Nuwara Eliya we exclaimed
what grand black soil. To our astonishment we were
told by a friend that this black deposit on the plateau
of Nuwara Eliya is utterly worthless, inert stuff, be-
ing simply peat in a high state of decomposition,
and which would burn as peat ciit from the bogs of
Scotland. Oil the slopes of the hills of Nuwara Eliya
the soil is of a better character aud grows good tea
and chinchoua the latter however suffering some-
what from the hoarfrosts in January, February and
March. Notwithstanding the poverty of the soil of
Nuwara Eliya wonderfully good English vegetables
are raised by an enterprizing .Scotch-man, Mr. White,
who has a large garden within the grounds of the
Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya, and from which he
supplies people in that station, planters in the dis-
trict and hotels aud steamers at Colombo. W. M. R.
—2he Indian Planters Gazette,

}au. I, t88fi]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURl'Sf,

4'^

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF

GOVERNMENT CINCHONA PLANTATIONS,

NILGIRIS, FOR 1885-86,

1. Season and Rainfall — (See Statement No. 1, a)
Dodahetta. — The season for the past year was very
favourable for carrying on all works connected with
the upkeep of this estate. The total amount of rain
registered during the year was 53'25 inches, spread
over 154 days. This was about 8 inches less than
what fell during the previous year, but it was spread
OTer 154 days instead of 123 days, showing an in-
crease during the past year of 31 wet or cloudy days
over last year. Very little rain fell during the early
part of the year ; indeed the spring showers failed
almost entirely, and it was not till the breaking of
the monsoon, which began early (3rd of June), that
the earth got at all wetted. The monsoon broke
very gently, and continued with hardly any inter-
mission for nearly six weeks, after which the weather
continued very favourable till the end of the year.
The wind was never furious, and with the e.vcept-
ion of one storm in November, the rainfall was never
excessive. On the 17th and 18th of this month,
4"30 inches of rain fell, but nothing more than a little
wash on the steeper and more exposed parts of the
plantation was experienced.

(6) Xaduvatam. — The quantity of rain which was
registered on this estate during the past year was 9040
inches, spread over 132 days ; this being very nearly
the same amount of rain and the same number of
wet days which occured during the previous
year. The season was good for all kinds of work,
and the new plantings on the old plots which had
been made during the last three years, are looking
Tery well.

(c) Pykara. — This estate now comprises the two
which were formerly known under the names of Hooker
and Wood.

(1) Hooker. — The rainfall for the year on this
plantation was 90'77 inches, spread over 134 days.
Last year the amount of rain was 10427 inches,
spread over 136 days. With the exception of a
storm in November, when 10-1 inches of rain fell in
two days, the weather during the season was all
that could be desired. On the occasion of this storm
some damage was done, by reason of the great
wash which took place on some of the slopes
which were exposed to its full blast. Considerable
damage was also done at the same time to several
of the roads and paths on this estate, owing to drains
and culverts becoming choked. The damage done,
however, was not more than might have been expected
from so violent a burst of wind and rain. The
general appearance of the plantation is good and
the younger plantings are much improved.

(2) Wood. — On this estate 74-18 inches fell during
the year, and were spread over 129 days, the amount
which was registered during the year before being
86"06 inches, which was spread over 139 days. Some
damage _ was done to a portion of the coppice of 1884,
which lies just below the water-course that runs from
the Pykara rivei* to the coffee estates in the plains,
owing to the bursting of the bank of the water-
course during one of the heavy storms which occurred
during the autumn. The water-course has now been
repaired and there is no further apprehension of
the accident occurring again.

III. Peemanbnt Plantations — (a) Dodahttta.—Tlh.&
condition of the estate is much the same as when
I reported upon it last year. The coppice and iuter-
plantings are doing very well. All these were manured
and will, I have no doubt, show the result of this
liberality by an increase in the vigor of their growth.
Statement No. 8 gives calculations of the number
and the different sorts of plants growing at present
upon this and the other estates.

{h) Naduvatam. — The general condition of this es-
tate has materially improved during the last year.
All the yo mg plantations were highly cultivated and
many of them freely manured, the result of which
and the favorableness of the season is a fine vigorous
57

growth of all the young plants. A considerable
amount of the land, which in former years had been
pitted for planting, but which had either never
been planted at all or where the plants had died
ou*-., I planted up during the past year, chiefly with
Cinchona magnifoiia. Most of the remaining pitted
land lies on slopes which are too steep for convenient
cultivation or on poor soil or on places too much
exposed, and all this laud I propose to abandon.

The shelter belts which I have put up round many
parts of the estate are doing well.

Santa Id. — In my last year's report I mentioned
that I had very nearly lost my only remaining speci-
men of cinchona Santa Fe, but that it had been
saved by the skill of Mr. Jamieson ; and I am happy
in being able th's year to report that not only is
the old plant living, but that J\Ir. Jamieson has been
able to raise between 20 and 30 new plants from it,
most of which are now well rooted and will be
ready for putting out in the plantations during the
present season. Four hundred and twenty plants of
C. Carthayena raised in the Government Gardens,
Ootacamund, from cuttings were planted out on the
Naduvatam and Pykara estates, the lower elevation
of which seems to suit them better than that of
Dodabetta. As I mentioned in my last year's report
those at Dadabetta are not doing satisfactorily.

The Remijias which I mentioned in my last report
were planted out during the autum on this estate ;
they have as yet made little or no progress, but they
look perfectly healthy and will, I have no doubt,
begin to grow during the warm season after the raiu;
On the same plot of ground adjoining the land on which
the Remijias have been planted, I have put out speci-
mens of several species of cinchona, and this year I shall
put out all the remainining species which we possess.
These are not intended for commercial purposes, but
by their being placed side by side and allowed to
grow in a free and natural manner, it is hoped that
they will enable those, who are interested in the sub-
ject to examine the characters of the different kiuds
with greater readiness than can be done when they
are scattered, not only over different parts of the
same estate, but even over the different estates
themselves as occurs at present.

(c) Pi/kara — (I) Hooker. — This plantation has greatly
improved during the past year. The young plantings
have been highly cultivated, the whole of the ground
which they occupy has been deeply pitted and the
greater part of it manured. The remaining portion
of the estate requiring renovation is but small, when
compared with that which has already been carried
out during the last two years, and I shall, I hope,
be able to complete it during the present season.
The sambur are still troublesome on some parts
of this plantation, but as barbed wire has been
ordered from England and its arrival is now being
daily expected, I hope that I shall be able before
long to put up such a fence as will eft'ectually keep
out these intrude(;s.

(c) Pykara — (2) Wood. — This Plantation is hardly
in a more satisfactory condition than it was when
I reported upon it last year. Some of the succirubra
coppice has done well and some of the planting
close to the lines and the head overseer's dwelling,
where the sambur dare not come, are also doing
well, but in all the other parts of the plantation
which lie at a distance from human habitations the
young plants are destroyed as much as ever and no
hope of any improvement can be expected until a
substantial fence has been erected. Some underwood
consisting chiefly of strobalanthis which wa> enci-oach-
ing upon the plantations, I ordered to be cut dining
the winter as that tended to harbour the sambur,
and I regret to say that towards the end of the
dry season this brushwood c.uight fire during a high
wind and that the fire spread through a portion of
the shola which surrounds the Pykara falls and has
seriously injured, if not killed, many v^ry fine trees.
In a former report I recommended to Government
that they should <;ivo up the cultivation of the Wood
plantation altogether, but Government at that time

45<5

THE TROPICAL AGRIClJLTURlST.

[Jan, I, 1887.

thought my experience was of too short a duration
to admit of their rashly adopting the suggestion,
and I was desired to do my best to put it into
repair ; but my experience of the past three years
makes me doubt if it will ever be very profitable to
Government to retain it. The soil in many parts is
])Oor and stony, other parts again are exposed to
devastating blasts, and it is in bad weather diflScult
of access. At the best it will cost a large sum of
money to repair the plantation, and it will be many
j'ears before it yields any reasonable returns to the
money invested. If the greater part of the Wood
plantation was abandoned and the few acres of land
round the head overseer's bungalow and the drying
sheds only were kept, the Pykara.head overseer would
be able to pay more attention to the Hooker plant-
ation, which is now becoming a very valuable pro-
perty. This would save nearly the whole of the ex-
pense of the upkeep of the Wood plantation or
about 118,000 per annum.

IV. Upkeep. — The maintenance of the buildings,
roads, drains, bridges, &c., with one exception has
been well attended to on the Dodabetta, Naduvatam
and Hooker estates. The exception is the Mucroochy
bridge which spans the river crossing the road which
leads from Naduvatum to Hooker.

V. Manure — («) Dodabetta. — I have been able
during the past year to obtain abundance of manure
for this estate from purchases made in the town
of Ootacamund, and on this account I have trans-
ferred the greater number of the Dodabetta cattle
to Naduvatam.

Cuttle. —Many of the draught cattle belonging to
the Dodabetta estate are very old and several of
them died during the past year. These I propose
replenishing by young ones which may be obtained
at a resonable price during the fairs which are held
yearly at Murally at Mysore: The great want on
estates and indeed in all farms of this country is
the want of a sufficiency of manure. Almost every
estate has qattle upon it, which may be regarded
purely as manure-making machines, but these machines
are worked at very great waste, because owing to
the cost of storing up fodder they are obliged to
be sent out during the day on the hill sides to
graze where all the manure which they make during
the day is lost ; but if a sufficiency of fodder could
be stored in stacks or silos, these cattle might be
altogether stall fed, with the result that there would
be' an immense increase of manure coming into their
owner. At the same time, they would become much
fatter and therefore saleable for the purposes of the
butcher. During the past year very considerable
economy has been effected by using more largely
than had hitherto been done the Government carts
ami bullocks for the transportation of bark to
Mettup;ilayam and for the carriage of supplies to
the estates.

(li) Naduvatam. — Owing to the transfer of the Doda-
betta cattle and the purchase of the few additional
animals, this estate has been much better off for
manure during the past year than it had ever been
before.

(c) Pj/kara. — Both the plantations of Hooker and
Wood continue to be well supplied.

YI. Havstack. — During last autumn, I made a large
haystack of grass obtained from the hills on the
Government estate at Naduvatam at a cost of R109 ;
the grass was cut by sickles and was well dried
before being stacked. The hay turned out very
fair and sufficed to keep in good condition all the
cattle on the estate during the five dry months of
January, February, March, April and May. I made
another smaller stock on the Dodabetta estate consisting
entirely of lirizu maxima commonly known as Jacobs'
tearg. This grass completely covered may of the plots
and often grew to the height of nearly two feet.
The hay was not very well got ou account of the weather
being wet at the time it was harvested. Never-
theless it proved very nutritious and horses and
cattle took to it readily. Dr. Shaw, Inspecting
Veterinary 8urg(on, Madras Army, to whom I sent
fjome of these haj-s for cxperimeutf tion, has been

good enough to send me the following very interes-
ting report on their quality, and the suggestions
which he makes with regard to the other kinds of
grasses, which may be used as hay, will be attended
to during the present year: —

A(lvcrtin? to my letter, No. 4.5-8(5, Ootacamimd, 10th April
188t>, I have the honor to report on tlie two samples of liuy
forwarded with your letter, No. 38, of lOth April.

2. The Naduvatam samp'e (namp iiuknown) did not prove
a success. It wa-s in the tirst place coarse and wiry in its
nature, and I should .say o\ er-dried, being ii-isp and "crumbly
when rubbed, and fracturing into small particles. It liad
little or no aroma and was lure and there mouldy as if it
had been exposed to dry on damp ground. The horses I
tried this sample with, did not evince any keenness to eat it,
and two out of five absolutely refused it for some days, after
which it was only sparingly partaken of.

3. No. 2 sample (Briza maxima) or Jacob's tears was better
saved, had an aroma of hay and, I think, if it had been
cut a little earlier, or when more succulent, it would have
afforded a better sample. Four horses partook of this sample,
and kept in fine working condition on it. The fifth (a horse
I had in training) being at the time on an allowance of oat
hay, occasionally nibbled at it only.

4. As regards the feeding properties of the two samples,
I do not think sample No. 1 is good enough to persevere
with as a horse fodder ; at the same time, I think it far
preferable to the bad grass which is brought in during the
dry months and which forms the bulk of ste,ble supplies up
here from November to May.

5. The question of stable fodder as an industry on these
hills is one, I think, capable of great extension and would
prove a remunerative investment to the agricultural classes
if they could be encourage I to grow them. The cultivation
of o:tts by General Morgan and Mr. J. Sullivan has proved
that three crops can be produced from one tillage. The
first and second crops can be cut as green fodder and the
third allowed to go to ear and made into hay. I am using
such now with the greatest succes.s, The so'l and climate
of Ootacamund are particularly favorable for the cultivation
of oats-, the stalks of which attain a great size ; and I have
seen it growing with the ear just buddinjr though seven feet
high. I have no experience with the "Bromus"' or South
American oat grass but General Morgan tells me it has
taken favorably to the soil und has proved a valuable fodder.

VII. Silos. — In my last year's report I stated
that I had made silos on the Dodabetta and Wood
estates for the preservation of fodder during the
wet weather. The silo on the Wood estate wag
never utilized, as a heavy storm flooded it before it
could be properly roofed ; but on the Dodabetta
estate I made six silos, all of which have been
successful, and I will describe their structure and
the mode of filling them.

No. I was a brick-built pit lined with cement the
internal measurement of which was as follows ; — Fifteen
feet long by ten feet broad by twelve feet deep ;
the walls from top to bottom had a slope given to
them inwards of six inches. This pit was roofed
with zinc so that no rain could by any possibility get
into it. The cost of building the pit was 1120(5. I
began filling this pit on the 14th of October and finished
on the 19th idem. The plants used for filling the
silo were very numerous ; indeed, almost everything
was put in which it was known the cattle would eat
in a green state such as maize, cholum, rayi, lucerne,
Spanish needle, Polijgonvm nepolense, Jacobs' tears, grass
from the lawns of Government gardens, hill grass,
swamp grass, &c., &c. All these with the exception
of lawn grass, which had been cut by mowing ma-
chines, were passed through chaff-cutters and cut into
pieces not bigger than an inch in length. As this
was cut, the mixture was thrown into the silo and
when a stratum of about two feet in thickness had
been put in, it was trodden well down. This was
repeated until the silo was completely filled when
mats were placed on the top, then planks of blue
gum and then two feet and-a-half of moderately dry
earth. In the course of a week the earth sank exactly
one foot, after which there was no further subsi-
dence. During the subsidence the earth cracked
around the edges of the pit and it was necessary to
dig up the earth about these cracks with a fork and
then tread it down again, to prevent the access of
air to the fodder below. It was opened on the of

April in the presence of His Excellency the Oom-
mander-in-Ohief, Brigadier-General EUes, c.n., Adju-
tant-General, Dr. Sbaw and others who had ex-
perience in the making of silos. The fodder on

]A^. I, 2 887. J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

4Si

being uncovered had lost its bright green color, owing
to the partial decomposition of its chlorophyl, but
with this exception it differed little in texture and
appearance to what it had presented when first put
in. On weighing a portion of it each cubic foot was
found to contain a little over forty-seven pounds.
The smell was exceedingly oflfensive, especially the
upper layer of about half an inch in thickness. His
Excellency the Oommander-in-Chief, Brigadier-General
Elles and Dr. Shaw pronounced it to be good, and
on its being given to some of the bullocks it was at
once greedily eaten by them, and since that time
they have been fed upon nothing else, and they are
said by Mr. T. Narrainasawmi Nayudu, the Assistant
Superintendent, and Mr. McDonald, the Sub-overseer,
to be generally in better condition than they have
ever known them to be before at this time of the
year and this in spite of their having done, at least,
double the usual amount of work. Besides this silo
which was both costly in its construction and in its
filling, I made five others of a much cheaper des-
cription and which turned out ensilage, every bit as
good as that from the big pit. These consisted of
pits six feet cube dug in the earth in a place where
there was no fear or springs or stagnant water. The
fodder was put into them as it came from the field,
that is without being cut up, and after it had been
well trodden down mats were placed on the surface,
and on the top of these two or three feet of earth,
which was heaped up and slope like a grave, and
OYer these mats, thatch or plates of galvanized iron
were placed to shoot off the rain. The ensilage in
these pits shrank more or less, according to the
particular plants which composed it. In one instance
the earth sank as much as three-and-a-half feet, and
it was necessary, during the first few days, to fill
up the cracks which were made in the soil by -this
shrinking. In one of these pits I stored up Jacob's
tears separately, in a second Spanish needle, in a
third Polygonum nepolcnse, and in the two others a
mixture of plants. The fodder, which was turned out
from all of them, proved, on experiment, to be
everything that could be desired, although during the
time that they were being filled, it was raining
hard and the stuff saturated with moisture. I shall
in the future make no more costly silos, but use
these earth-pits, only making them of larger dimen-
sious, and covering them with a roof of thatch. The
estates, hills and sholas of the Nilgiris and the Wynaad
must possess an enormous amount of nutritious fodders
which grow rradily in the wet season, but which
cannot be preserved for future use except by means
of silos, and I look forward to the time when knife-
weeding upon a cinchona or coffee estate will be
regarded no longer as a di:;igreeable necessity.

VIII. Nurseries. — The demand for seed is still
decreasing and that for plants and seedling also.
Most of the applications which I received during the
year were from the planters in Ceylon. ■

IX. Crop. — The total amount of dry bark pro-
duced by the estates during the past year was 113,36(3 lb.
In addition to this, there remained on the 31st
March 1885, 125,603 lb., making a total of 2.39,029
of all sorts. Of this quantity, 113,940 lb. were dis-
poiiied of during the year, so that the balance in
stock at the end of March last was 123,089 lb.

XIII. Copi'it'iNG — Several questions having been ad-
dressed to me during the year relating to coppicing,
I have carefully attended to this matter, and, so far as
my experience goes, I believe (1) that it is immate-
rial at what time of the year the trees are cut down ;
(2) that tliey should be cut quite close to the ground
for then the shoots have a better chance of making
roots for themselves, ani so becoming independent
trees, than if they are allowed to spring from a
point at a distance from the ground ; shoots springing
immediately from the ground are much less liable to
be blown down by the winds ; (3) the number of
flhoots which should be allowed permanently to re-
main will depend entirely on local circumstances.
If the shoots are far apart, then two or even three
may be allowed to grow, but if the shoots are close

tlieu &fie will, ae d lult^; be suffickut, No ^^d ruk;

however, as to the number which should be left can
be given ; but if it is borne in mind that wood and
bark are the result of the activities of the leaves,
it will be readily understood that those trees which
have the most leaves exposed to the light will pro-
duce the thickest stems and the largest amount of
bark. The planter should therefore see that his cop-
pice is not so thick as to prevent each individual
shoot having its fair share of light.

XIV. Gr.u^ting. — The nearly allied species of cin-
chona seem to lend themselves, rather readily, to being
grafted ; but the labour entailed in grafting is so
great that I do not believe it will ever pay to do
this on a large scale.

XV. Quinot.ogist's Department. — Mr. Hooper in
accordance with the instructions issued in fi-.O., No.
650, of 12th May 1885, Revenue, went down to Mad-
ras to start the manufacture of 1,000 1b. of Be I'rij'g
Cinchona LiquiJa. Of this amount, however, 500 lb.
only were made and for some reason or other tho
manufacture of the febrifuge did not turn out quite
satisfactory. So I asked Government that Mr. Hooper
Eoight be allowed to make the remaining .'lOO lb. in
Ootacamund. Government accorded their sanction to
my proposal, and Mr. Hooper has just completed
his task. The febrifuge which he has turned out
seems to be in every respect excellent, and will, I
hope, prove a cheaper and at the same time as effica-
cious a drug as any that has as yet been made.
Should the febrifuge prove acceptable to the poorer
classes of natives, not only will all the bark which
can be raised on the Government estates be required
to meet the demand, but a very great deal more.

XVI. Other matters connected with the chemical
aspect of quinology, I leave Mr. Hooper to speak
for himself, whose very interesting report I enclose.

XVfl. Ukgext need for a cheap febrifuge. — I
am indebted to Surgeon-General G. Bidie for the
following statistics. The population of the Madras
Presidency was 29,000,000 at the last census. The
total number of deaths during the last year from all
causes was 615,449 as detailed below: —

Deaths from undescribed causes ,.. 260,960

Fever 218,786

Cholera 53,109

Small-pox 34,726

liowel complaint 31,209

Injury 11,6-59

Total 015,449

From these figures it will l)e seen that nearly one-
third of the total number of deaths are due to
malarious fever. A proportion which must be regarded
as too high when it is considered that we have a
specific medicine for this fatal disease.

XVni. Prospects of the Cinchona Markkt. — So
long as the cinchona alkaloids are produced chiefly
for the European and North American consumption
(non-fever stricken countries) the supply will always be
in excess of the demand and the present low prices will
contiuue to exist ; but if a market can be found for
the alkaloids in the malarious tracts of the tropics,
this state of things would be reversed and the price
of bark would go up.

Dr. Bidie tells me that he believes every one in
the Presi lency would be benefited by taking quinine
in more or less quantities during certain seasons of
the year, and he does not think that forty grains
per head would be a high figure at which to place
the yearly re(iuirements of the country, If this be
correct then close upon 2,000,000 pounds of bark
averaging 6^ per cent, of total alkaloids will be re-'
quired for consumption in this Presidency alone.
Enclosures.

Letter from D. Hooper, Esq., F,c.s.. Go^■ercnleIlfc
Quinologist, Ootacamund, to M. A. Lawsoii, Esq.,
Goveriinient Botanist and Director of Cinchona Piant«
ations, Nilgiris, dated Ootacamund, Gth July ISSG: —

I have the honor to present tho following report oii
the analytical work conducted in the Government
Laboratory for the year endiug March 31st, 1886'

2. The report includes a valuation of the cinchona

bark soUl by auction i« JXadrtvs liuriug the year, aati

45-

fM£ TROPICAL AORtCVLTVklST

fjAN. 1, IBS'?.

complete analyses of all the different species of
bark which were sent to the Colonial and Indian Ex-
hibition in London. Some experiments in renewing
bark and manuring trees are recorded ; and tables are
given showing the increase of alkaloids by growth,
and the deterioration of alkaloids by age and other
causes. The liquid cinchona which was partly made
last year has been completed. Most of the analytical
work has been done for Government, but several
barks have been received from private parties, and
I have to thank some of these gentlemen for infor-
mation respecting samples they sent, as this enabled
me to summarise results which are of general use-
fulness to planters.

3. There have been six sales of Government bark
in Madras during the year, viz. September, October,
November, December, 1885, January and February
1886. Samples of the various kinds have been valued,
which has given a reserve price to the auctioneers,
but the competition being so brisk at each sale, these
prices were exceeded.

I append a statement showing the qualities of barks
disposed of, their value in sulphate quinine, and the
value of the unit in pence.

September 1885.

Sulphate Value of
Description of Bark. quinine, unit.

Per cent. d.
Dodabetta Natural Crown ... 4-18 4-0(5

Naduvatam Root „ ... i-iQ 4-90

October 1885.

Dodabetta Renewed Crown ... 406 5 85

„ Mossed ,, ... 4-70 5-48

Naduvatam „ ,, ... 4-05 5-37

„ Root „ ... 4-46 5-38

November 1885.

Dodabetta Natural Crown 4-18 6-70

„ Branch „ 1-17 7-90

„ Root „ 4-33 6-93

NaduTatam Natural „ 3'52 7'10

Renewed „ 4-22 7-52

„ Branch „ 2 1(5 7-06

December 1885.

Dodabetta Natural Crown 3-10 6-69

„ Mossed „ 4-73 555

„ Renewed „ ... ... 6'5G 5'49

January 1886.

Naduvatam Natural Red 156 497

February 1886.
Naduvatiim Renewed Red ... ... 2'54 4'62

„ Root *„ 138 5-25

4. These barks are, on the average, of the same value
as those sold last year, but with regard to the value
of the unit it will be observed that the market h«s
experienced a great fluctuation during the year. In
September the unit being 4-48r/, October b-o2d, Nov-
ember 7"20d, December 5'91(', January and February
4-94(/.

Bark sent to Ixdivn and Coi-onial Exhibition.

a

1

(5

a

t

O

<D .

,s

&

S 0^
O

1

a. a

O 13
|<1

C. officinalis;

Natural ,,.

2'71

lot

•16

•39

'50

6-39

3'72

Mossed ,„

3'40

1-50

•20

•45

■62

(517

4-57

Renewed

4-20

•85

'22

'65

•70

6-63

5-66

C. Angustifolia :

Natural ...

3-97

1'32

'12

'12

•87

6'40

5^34

Mossed ...

5-60

1'41

'33

•04

•97

8'35

7^o3

Renewed

4-91

•89

•38

'19

1^14

7-51

6'60

C Succirubra

.

Natural ...

'l-91

211

f t*

114

•88

6^04

2-57

INIossed ...

1-69

2-03

1 •*

1-68

•98

6-38

2'27

Renewed

1-84

1-43

. •*

1'25

•71

5-28

2-47

Branch ...

1-33

2-28

• •■

1-59

116

6-41

1-85

Root

1-24

•77

•41

1-43

1-27

512

166

liencwed

sllRViuge

i-ifJ

116

H»

2-06

l-4o

6-97

p-09

1

o .
o <u

a
'"5 <

1

M

cs a

.a a

•a ja a

ft,0

^

-a .3

*3

§l2

•i .;

2'S

OS

-♦J
o

"3 3

O"

5

C O

H

ccO"

C. Robusta :

Natural ...

1-43

2-08

...

1^58

•31

5-40

1-92

Mossed ...

l-9->

316

• ••

•77

•35

6^20

258

Renewed

4-40

2-54

...

•51

1-65

9^10

5-92

Branch ...

1^64

2-71

• *■

117

•50

6-02

2-20

Micrantha :

Natural ...

• < •

• ••

,..

1^92

•40

232

Renewed

tr

2-45

...

1^12

1-02

459

Branch ...

•■•

...

...

1-60

•45

2-05

• ••

Calisaya :

Natural ...

1-21

2^32

...

213

•29

5-95

1^82

Branch ...

•59

•73

...

1^93

•48

373

•79

Anglica :

Natural ...

■81

•88

•29

149

•44

391

1-09

Branch ...

tr

tr

•25

2^04

•36

2-65

••••

Ledgeriana :

Natural ...

5-49

1^33

...

•81

■88

8^53

7-38

Branch ...

2-21

•49

...

107

•50

4-27

2^97

Javanica :

Natural . . .

...

...

132

264

•48

444

Branch ...

...

...

143

1^49

•45

3-37

1 . •

Humboltiana :

Natural ...

2-24

1-55

tr

•49

•90

5-18

301

Renewed

1-28

•64

..•

•43

1-07

343

1-72

Pitayenses :

Natural . . .

2-34

•56

I'lO

1-93

•39

6-32

3-14

Mossed ...

3-81

•95

•63

191

■37

767

512

Renewed

2-50

■52

•78

2-33

■55

6^68

3^36

Pahudana :

Natural ...

•04

•10

...

•39

•43

■96

•05

Renewed

•51

1-19

...

•28

•87

2-85

•68

Other

Quinine

Alkaloids.

Total.

1-35

5^S7

7^22

2-46

4^22

6^68

3-60

3-99

7^59

3-87

3-71

7 ■58

quinine

during the

first and

5. Renewal by shaving. — Shaving cinchona trees has
been for some years a method of harvesting bark which
in some districts works better than that of stripping and
mossing. The cellular and richer portion of the bark
is removed in this way and the fibrous portion is left.
The bark thus treated thickens again, and the shavings
taken from it are found to be richer still iu alkaloids.
The analyses of some succirubra shavings taken from
trees grown in the Ouchterlony Valley will show to
what an extent trees may be improved by this method-
The renewals had been taken after intervals of twelve
months ; the experiment, therefore, has lasted over
three years.

Original Bark

Once renewed

Twice rentwed

Thrice renewed

0. The increase in ^
second year by renewing is most satisfactory ; the
increase is not so prominent in the third year, but
the bark is good, and indicates that shaving for at
least four years might be permitted. The trees upon
which these experiments were made were six years
old, when the original bark was taken. If at this
comparatively early age they are not injured by shaving,
and renew their bark so well, it is not desirable to
wait for the trees to become more matured.

7. When trees are allowed to grow uutil they are
over 12 years of age and then shaved, the renewal
sets in more slowly, and the resulting bark does not
compare more favorably with the original bark than
if the trees operated upon had been half that age.
This may be instanced by quoting some more analyses.
Last December some interesting samples were sent
by the Manager of the Glenrock Company, South-Eaat
"\Vynaad, consisting of some natural and renewed
shavings of succirubra takeu from trees of 6 and 1%
years of age,

Jan. I, 18S7.]

THE TKOPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

453

The following is the analysis of four of the samples : —

Sulphate
quinine. Total.

Red bark, G years natural 1-34 500

„ „ renewed, 2 years 2-54 6-95

„ „ 12 years, natural 2-43 741

„ „ renewed, 2 years 2-71 7-01

8. Thus it is seen that by renewing a 6-year-old
tree 90 per cent more of sulphate quinine is obtained,
and by working on a 12-year-old tree, only an increase
of 12 per cent takes place during the same period
of two years. With regard to the total alkaloids, it
should also be noticed that the shaving has made an
increase of 39 per cent in the younger tree, while
the older bark has somewhat deteriorated. One of
the most important features in these results is that
the renewed bark from the 6-year-old tree is superior
to the natural bark from trees of twice that age.

9. I have had very few opportuniti'^s of observing
the effect of shaving on pure Ledger barks, containing
little, if any, alkaloid besides quinine, but it appears
that hybrid Ledgers of the broad-leaved variety holding
cinchonine, are capable of great improvement by the
shaving process as the following renewals of 11 mouths
will show compared with the natural bark of 6-year-
old trees : —

Sulphate

quinioe. Total.

Ledger bark, narrow leaf, natural 1885 409 597

„ „ „ renewed, 1886 6-62 8-49

„ „ broad leaf, natural 1885 290 6-61

„ renewed, 1886 519 80I

10. The sulphate of quinine in the narrow-leaved
Ledger had increased 62 per cent and in the broad-
leaved Ledger 79 per cent the greater increase in the
latter variety is due to the presence of other alkaloids
which appear to develop quinine in the growth of
the tree.

11. Shaving old trees has certainly not had a
beneficial effect from some trials made on Govern-
ment estates. Both red and crown trees from 16 to
21 years of age cannot well bear the removal of the
bark in this way and the renewal takes place slowly
and is impoverished instead of being enriched- A
crown bark was taken from Dodabetta aged 20 and
shaved. The shavings gave 3"66 sulphate of quinine ;
after six months some renewed shavings were taken
and found to j'ield only 1"85 per cent sulphate of
quinine, the bark then was commencing to decay and
the tree has since died.

12. Experiment in manirriwj Cinchonas. — The effect
of manuring cinchona trees in order to stimulate their
growth and produce a greater yield of alkaloid has
been tried recently at Naduvatam. The first experi-
ment was made upon a succirubra of 7 years growth.
Cattle manure which had been previously kept for
some time in closed pits was applied some six
months before the bark was taken for analysis. A
sample of bark from a tree in the same plot, but
which had not been manured, was collected at the
same time for comparison. Two samples of magni-
folia bark were taken from trees which had been
manured in a similar manner to the succirubra ; the
first was 17 years, the second 20 years old, and samples
from unmanured trees were taken for comparative ana-
lysis at the same time.

13. The results of the examination are tabulated
btlow: —

3

229 3'73 1-94

o.^^

Succirubra manured 2 29 3'73 1-94 52 8'53

,, unmanured 1-51 4-13 203 -32 799

Magiiifolia 1 manured 378 3'90 -28 -82 8-78

„ „ unmanured 3-13 439 58 '39 8-47

„ 2 manured 2'59 3-49 1-21 '53 7'82

„ „ unmanured 2'62 2'67 "67 '56 652

14. It will be seen that the manuring has had the

effect of increasing, in each instatioe, the aniouut of

total alkaloids in the bark; and the quinine, the most

important feature, has received a gain of 52 per cent.

}u tbe succirubra; aad 20 per ceut. ia the &rst mag-

uifolia. In the older magnifolia bark the quinine
remains about the same in quantity, and if no other
influences were at work, it might be inferred that
older trees are not so sensitive to the action of man-
ure as younger and vigorous-growing trees which have
not reached maturity. The food of such plants as
cinchonas which yield alkaloid in large quantity must
of necessity contain some nitrogenous element, and
as this must be taken from the ground it is only
fitting that a manure of this kind which contains
some constituents which are similar in their nature to
alkaloids should be supplied periodically to soils. Re-
garding the question from a commercial aspect the
higher value of the bark would cover the expense
of the manure and the cost of its application to the
land. The succirubra bark mentioned in the first ex-
periment, if the market price of the unit of quinine
were 4d, would realize eight pence per pound, whereas
the bark of the manured tree would be more than
one shilling per pound. I believe the effect of manu-
ring would be more apparent in Orown and Ledger barks
with large proportions of quinine in the total alka-
loids; in such cases, the extra outlay on manurial
agents, compared with the additional value of the
bark, would be much more remuneratire.

15. Increase of Alkaloids ivith the a^e of trees. — A ques-
tion of much importance in cinchona cultivation is
the age to which trees should grow before the bark
can be profitably taken. To settle such an inquiry,
a large number of analyses of barks taken from trees
of all ages should be available, and in the following
tables I have made a selection of both Ledger and
red barks and have arranged them according to age.
Some of the figures are average of two or more ana-
lyses, and as the t\yo lists represent some forty
samples, I hope it will help to throw some light on
the subject.

16. The first list comprises natural barks of the
narrow-leaved variety of C. Ledgeriana, and with one
exception, they all come from the "Wynaad district.

17. The second list is by taking from my labor-
atory journal all those red barks whose ages have been
determined, whether they come from the Government
Plantations at Naduvatam or from private estates in
Wynaad, Ooorg or Travancore.

Ledger Barhs,

a
■_3
'3

6 ^

-s.s

CO

o"3

"3

1

20 months

... 1-68

•66

2-77

511

2 years...

... 2-18

•65

2-69

5-52

3 „ ...

... 3-28

•55

2-90

6 82

3i „ ...

... 4-73

•93

1-81

7-46

4i „ ...

... 4-97

•79

1-18

7-54

5 „ ...

... 4-57

1-02

1-46

7 05

5 „ ...

... 5-09

106

055

6^70

Si „ ...

... 7-54

•31

115

900

6 „ ...

... 652

•76

•88

8^16

6i „ ...

... 6-97

118

100

815

8 „ ...

... 7-69

116

1-45

1020

20 „ ...

... 5-58

1^21

■83

7-67

Bed Barks.

.' t«

CO

•= a'o c3-a H.a=;^s

•55 -72 1-20 1^22 3-69

•85 1-75 1-67 ^99 5'26

108 1-65 1-15 -64 452

113 203 1^79 -58 5'53

1-0-2 2^64 1-78 ^50 594

1^23 272 2^3rf -52 6^83

1-32 215 311 -63 7^21

1-31 3-22 218 ^71 7^43

1-70 269 2^28 -93 760

1-78 3-18 197 •SS- 7-40

1-81 2^62 208 -90 7'41

108 ^94 104 157 403

•78 113 1-37 -97 4-25

18. In the Ledger barks it wiU be noticed that there

is a ptaady rise of quiuiue up to the age ot

2 Years

3

H

4

41

5

5^

m

7

7h

12

16

20

454

THE TRdPlCAL AGRICtJLTURISt.

fjAN. I, I

I iTTrrtin

five and six years< after which there is no apparent
increase.

19. In the second table of red barks, the same fact
is shown that the bark has attained its maximum
content of alkaloids when between 5 and 6 years of
age. The quinine increases up to 12 years, but, as
pointed out before, the renewed bark of the younger
trees would much exceed the slightly increased value
of these older barks. The trees of 16 and 20 years
show a marked deterioration in alkaloids, although
the bark is often in large thick fibrous pieces similar
to the drug that was originally exported from the
South American forests.

20. Effect of Mould on Bark.— It has been stated
that bark loses much of its virtue when allowed to
get mouldy or when kept in a damp atmosphere. I
■was asked more than a year ago to analyse some
mouldy bark to obtain its value but not knowing the
composition of the fresh bark the result would not
have been very useful. I have, therefore, made an
experiment which shows that little if any effect is
produced by prolonged contact with mould. A sample
of powdered bark of known composition was taken in
December 1884 and kept in an open dish on the
floor of a dark damp room, a fungus (Penicillium)
Bet in in a fortnight, and spread itself over the sur-
face of the powder, and slightly increased its weight.
The bark was constantly stirred so that fresh bark
from beneath might be influenced by the fungus. It
was mixed occasionally for 10 months and as the
mycelium had by then penetrated to every particle
of the powder it was analysed in October 1885, with
the following reeults: —

Original Mouldy
bark. bark.

Quinine 282 2 80

Oinchonidine 1'22 1'25

Quinidine '18 '11

Cinchonine -90 -87

Amorphous '31 -45

Total.

5-43

5-48

21. It is thus manifest that the analyses, being al-
most identical, moulded barks of 10 months are not
neeessarily deteriorated.

22. Liquid Extract of Cinchona, — At the suggestion
of Dr. Cornish last year, I prepared a sample of li-
quid cinchona which was reported upon most favor-
ably by several medical officers in the Presidency and
called forth an order from Government for the pre-
paration of 1,000 lb. (G.O., No. 550, 12th May 1885).
In August last, 1,000 lb. of bark were supplied to the
Medical Stores in Madras, and resulted in the manu-
facture of 595 lb. of liquid extract {vide demi-official
letter from Principal B-Iedical Storekeeper, dated 10th
September 1885.) As a loss must have taken place
in this outturn I received orders to produce another
batch immediately under my supervison in Ootaca-
mund (G.O., No. 55, 25th January 1886). 5001b. of
bark was powdered by the Medical Store Department,
the maceration with the necessary chemicals and
percolation was conducted in my laboratory, and the
evaporation was made in ordinary chatties in an ad-
joining out-house ; 340 lb, of liquid cinchona of the
prescribed strength, 40 grains to the ounce, were
thus made in two months at a cost of R211 as de-
tailed below: —

BS- A. V.

Grinding 500 lb. of bark 4 0 0

Glycerine 62 0 0

Acid 9 0 0

Fuel 24 0 0

Labor .< 20 0 0

Chatties 3 8 0

BOO lb. of branch succirubra bark esti-
mated at 3 annas per lb. (taken the

current value of the unit of quinine) 94 0 0

Eent ,., ... -. ... 5 0 0

Total .. 211 8 0
Allowing for the high cost of buying the chemicia
lb Madras iustead of from Uoudou direct, audtaku

1

Into account the special expenses of this experiment,
t coii-sider that if made on a large scale and con-
finously, it should not cost more than R7 or R7-8-0
(,or an amount of liquid extract containing 1 lb. of
olid ferbrifuge.

Appendix.
Analysis of Cattle manure stored in covered pits
on the Government estates.

Water 7-9

* Organic matter 61'1

f Ash soluble in acid ... ... ... 12'7

Siliceous residue 18-3

Total... 100 0

Analysis of sample of Peat from the Djdabetta
Plantation and used for burning at the drying sheds'

Organic mater 8!d-8

Siliceous ash 13'2

Total.

1000

Statement showing the Quantity of Seed, &c., sold to
the Public during 1885-86.
Particulars, Seed. Plants.

LB. OZ.

Cinchona

Condamenia...

21 3

Do.

Magnifolia ...

32 Hi

15,000

Do.

Succirubra ...

22 8

„.

Do.

Pubescens ...

14 8

Do.

Verdes

• • • t •

151

Do.

Moradas

,, ,,,

1,876

Do.

Ledgeriana ...

Total .,.

_^

..

800

90 Uh

17,827

Chickmagalur Coffee Prospects.— The rains have
been timely and mother earth very prolific. The
berries on coffee plants set well and have developed
nicely, in some quarters of the district where the tem-
perature rises very high during the day, the berries are
ripening and picking will soon commence, and the cry
for labour is beginning to rise. There are planters who,
owing to one reason and another, are always able to
command sufficient labour, but there are other unfor-
tunates who can never get sufficient, in consequence
of which, fine estates are overgrown with weeds, and
useless suckers have to be allowed to drain the plants
of their very life-sap, and thus the quantity of berries
is injuriously aftected. Those who look for labour only
within the district generally meet with disappointment ;
others import their labour from South Canara and more
distant parts. — D. V.— Madras JVecklt/ Mail.

How TO Bulk Tea. — A gentleman, some years in the
China Tea trade, gives the following method as being the
simplest and least expensive : Four square and wooden
posts grooved on two of the adjoining sides, and several
planks of say, 18 inches in breadth are all that are re-
quired. These should be made into a pit or large box,
the posts forming the corners and the planks the sides.
The pit should be built raised some 4 feet from the
ground, the bottom being made of having a sliding
trap-door in the centre, so made that the outlet can
be enlarged or reduced according to the size of the
leaf to be bulked ; when the pit is being filled with
tea the trap-door remains closed. The tea to be bulked
should be spread out in layers as thin possible, one
quality on top of another, until all the tea required to be
bulked is inside the pit. Now open the trap-door, and
the tea will run out from the top, taking a little from
each layer in its downward course, the result being a
perfect bulk. The bottom of the box should be made
slightly on a slope from the sides to the centre near
the aperture, so that the tea may get away equally.
By means of a zinc tube the current of tea leaf can
be carried direct from the pit into the package standing
on a lever scale. A sand-glass will illustrate the above
on a small .scale. Tea is bulked in China on the same
principle as the above, but there, one side of the pit is
drawn away and packages filled from the tea that col-
lects at the foot of the pile, — " Ceylon Advertiser,"

♦Containing Ammonia 2-15

"I- Coutaioiug Tricalcic phosphate Z'bO,

jAtI, I, 1SB7.I THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

45$

MB. G, H, D. ELPHINSTONE ON RUSSIA AS
A MAEKET FOR CEYLON TEA.
Russia being, next to Britain, the largest con-
sumer of tea of any nation in the world, our read-
ers will peruse with interest the graphic letter in
which Mr. Elphinstone records his experiences in
the modern and ancient capitals of " the White
Czar's" vast dominions. What he says about his
sufferings from intense cold will cause our readers

to appreciate the desire of the Muscovites to

" see before they die

The groves and temples of the south,"
The cemeteries and mosques of Constantinople
being, however, substituted in Tennyson's lines.
The instinct which drives the northern hordes
southwards is next to irrepressible, and we sus-
pect that do what England, Europe and the world
may, the banner of " Holy Russia " will yet float
over the mosque of Sophia, in its new character
of a cathedrial of the Greek " Orthdox Church."
The Russians may then, like the Turks take to
coffee, but meantime we have to regard them as
incessantly engaged in brewing tea in their samov-
ars to keep out the bitter cold, which Mr. E-
phinstone, though a Scotchman, found too much
for him. But the tea the inhabitants of St. Peters-
burg drink, is of a peculiarly delicate quality and
has artificially imparted to it a special flavour.
Then there is a " ring, ' such as we had to do
battle with in Melbourne, and such as exists also
in the United States, who are determined, if
possible to , keep out a new thing calculated to
interfere with their vested interests. But the crusade
against monopoly commenced by an energetic Ceylon
planter will be carried on by others, and long
before the Russians are sitting in " the Sublime
Porte," they will be delighting in the consumption of
large quantities of Ceylon tea, unadulterated and
of unsophiscated flavour. The battle against vested
interests, custom, habit and taste, may be severe
and long protracted, but Ceylon tea which has
conquered the markets of Britain, will yet triumph
in Russia and in the United States. Mr. Elphin-
stone tells us in a private letter that he will send
out to Mr. Rutherford the samples of tea he brought
from Russia, and he promises to let us have the
opinions of London brokers on those samples. We
cannot doubt that the movement thus initiated by
our good friend " Logid " will be followed up by
the Planters' Association of Ceylon and by in-
dividual planters. If so much tea is drunk in
Russia, burdened as the article is with a duty
equal to Is Cd per lb., we may look forward to
an enormous increase when a less onerous tariff
is adopted by the Russian Government. Not much
in this direction, at an early date, however, is to
be hoped for from a Government which discredits
its own depreciated paper money by refusing to
accept its promissory notes and insisting on gold
and silver payments. Still reform viiist come, even
in Russia. Even as matters stand, her tea market
is worthy the careful attention of our planters and
merchants.

MR. ELPHINSTONE ON RUSSIA AS A
MARKET FOR TEA.

To the Editor,

London, 18th Nov. 188G.
Dear Sir, — I have for long believed that
one of the_ best markets for our Ceylon Tea could
be found in Russia and I accordingly made up
my mind to visit St. Petersburg and ascertain for
myself what chance there would be for the sale
of Ceylon Tea, either by wholesale or retail
agency. Through the kindness of a friend of mine.

one of the largest merchants and shipowners in
the Leith and Petersburg trade, I was enabled
to do my journey at a nominal cost and I am
satisfied that my fortnight in Russia gave me more
bona fide information as to the requirements of the
trade than any amount of letter-writing would have
done. Thinking a short account of my trip may be of
interest to some of your readers, I send you a
few notes of what I saw and ascertained while
in Russia.

I intended leaving Leith by the S. S " Petersburg "
but was unable to leave London the day the
steamer started and fortunate it was for me as
after leaving Leith she had to lay two whole days
in Aberleddy Bay, and after that had a fearful
passage across the North Sea, arriving fully four
days to five days late at Cronstadt— I went
via Flushing, Hanover and Berlin to St. Petersburg
by train. At Cook's office I got a second-class
ticket for £9 10 10 which took me right through,
and after a most comfortable journey, extending
from 8-30 Wednesday evening till 6-15 Saturday
evening, I arrived in St. Petersburg. The journey
from London to Petersburg is full of interest to
anyone who has never travelled that way before,
for besides the charm of novelty, there is so much
to be seen of real interest.

The well-cultivated canal-divided Holland has
much sameness, but is of great interest. Then in
Germany one passes through varied scenery, and
none of more interest than the Black Country
where the coal and iron industries are carried out.
This is entirely between Hann and Hanover ;
Berlin is reached 24 hours after leaving London,
another 24 hours brings one to the Russian frontier,
and another 24 hours St. Petersburg.

Once into Russia the temperature was sensibly
a great coat colder and at St. Petersburg with
ordinary English winter clothing the cold goes
right through one.

On my arrival I was fortunate enough to secure
a most comfortable hotel, the Hotel de France.
On the following morning, Sunday, I started with
a guide to find the S. S. " Petersburg," as she
had then ample time to have arrived, but I had
a wild-goose chase, for, after 4 hours' cruising up
and down the river among the shipping, I ascert-
ained that she would not come further up than
Cronstadt. I can tell you I had a good taste of
Russian cold, 15 degrees of frost in St. Petersburg
in an open boat with no furcoat is no joko, and
I was right glad after cruising about for some
time to see " Dundee " on the stern of a steamer. I
promptly called on the Captain and experienced
not only his kind hospitality in the way of a
good hot Scotch dinner, but he also gave me a
lift down to Cronstadt, as he informed me none
of the Leith vessels came up further. Cronstadt
is 23 miles down the river, the Naval Arsenal and
the harbour where, until the completion of the
canal, all steamers were unloaded and loaded, the
river not having deep enough water for heavy
draught before the completion of the canal. Cron-
stadt is the key of St. Petersburg, and in ad-
dition to the real island there are several arti-
ficial islands on which fortifications arc built.
From what the older English inhabitants
say, Cronstadt ought to have been taken in the
Crimean war, but by some mismanagement it was
net. I did not find the " Petersburg" and was in-
formed she would not arrive till Monday, so I re-
turned by one of the river boats. Next day I
returned to Cronstadt and found the "Petersburg"
had arrived. I was thus able to get my box of sam-
ples. It would take longer than you would care
to read, to narrate all the trouble I had to clear
my box of samples. The difficulty lay in my hay-

4S6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan. I, 18S7.

ing booked the box as passengers' luggage, and
not having accompanied the box myself. However,
I did at last get the box passed and I do not
grudge the time spent, as I ascertained fully all
the intricacies of the working of the Custom house.
The duty on tea amounts to about Is 6d (English
money) per lb. Russian. A Russian pound is 10 per
cent less in weight than an English pound. The
duty must be paid in gold. The authorities will
not accept their own notes, not even if you oifered
lemon may be added, and ail the teas have a
more or less artificial aroma, which must have
been added by either dried Gardinia flowers or
dried Lime leaves. As I said, I cannot speak
with certainty, but I believe our inferior tea would
suit Russia well, and the flavour now in their
teas could, I believe, be easily added in Ceylon if
requisite for their disposal. I enclose memo, of
samples brought from Petersburg with prices at-
tached. Next mail I will give you London values.
It is extraordinary, the quantity of tea which is
drunk in Russia and the tea shops in Petersburg
and Moscow are as numerous and well dislributed
as the Public Houses in London. I visited Mos-
cow, but having only . one day there I could not
find time for seeing the Cremlin and other objects
of interest. However, I found out all I wanted
about tea. Alreadj some Indian or Ceylon tea has
been sold in Moscow, imported by a young English-
man and with a mixture of China has sold well.
I mention Indian or Ceylon as he was not certain
which it was. He bought it in London from a
firm I know. The translation of the Russian ad-
vertisement with reference to the tea is as follows: —
Newly Received

Tea from India

The crop 1886
Commenced to be sold at

Roubles 2 per lb.

2-20 Koopecks *

3' sold in 1 lb., J lb. and l lb. packages.

Indian Tea under the name of [Kakwyan (a place
in India) is distinguished by its aromatic and soft
taste and gurpases the Chinese.

Customers outside the town may buy through the
post office. All orders executed by

P. Bycloff & Co..

Moorsuskeen,

Moscow.
Of course, there will be for some time a pre-
judice against Ceylon and Indian Tea, but that
will soon be overcome as in England. A good
deal of tea comes from China overland to Moscow
and with that means of transport we can certainly
compete.

List of prices of teas I brought as samples : —

Petersburg Teas. Moscow Teas.

No. Roubles. No. Roubles.

18 1 2-68

2 5 2 2-20 (0)

3 4 3 2-

4 304 4 2-

5' 2-64 X 5 1-80 (00)

6 2-40 6 1-40

7 2-24
81 2-

9 1-84

10 1-60 XX

11 1-20 Brick Tea, not much used.

12 Spurious tea made from a shrub growing
in Russia used for mixing, 10 k. per lb. Not allowed
by Government.

X XX These teas in principal use in Petersburg.

(o) (00) These teas in principal use in Moscow.

I returned by sea from St. Petersburg ; stormy
accross the Baltic, but fine in the North Sea. —
Yours faithfully, G. D. ELPHINSTQNE.

* A koopeck at present exchange is ftHout la 4d ; it is
really 100 of a rouble.

Tea Planting Manual. — In closing a review
of Owen's Manual, the Straits Times says : — " These
bright prospects speak volumes for the energy of the
Ceylon tea planters who, taking every advantage of
the favourable conditions enumerated above, have
lifted the Colony out of the slough of depression, into
which it had fallen on the collapse of the coffee
enterprise. The Manual itself bears every mark of
painstaking care. It is full of information on every
subject connected with tea planting. Intending tea
planters in this quarter will never regret the money
spent in procuring copies for their behoof. To
them it wiill prove indispensable indeed."

Tea in Western Dolosbaqe is flourishing
apace: we have just heard so good a judge as
Mr. Gow speak in high terms of the Ardross and
Glenalla estates as including some of the most
vigorous tea he has seen in the country. On the
latter property there is a held of 38 acres planted
with seed at stake in 1881 and consequently about
live years old, which has given this year so far,
close on 1,000 lb. — certainly over 900 lb. — per
acre and the tea has had no manure nor does it
appear to suffer. Mr Drummond's Gangwarily is
also doing well and he has got a splendid crop
of cocoa this season ; while it is needless to say
that Mr. Blackett's far-extending tea fields are crop-
ping. Some experiments in Dolosbage made by
Mr. Gow in tea-making — improved fermentation
— have resulted very favourably, to judge by the
prices got in Mincing Lane for sample invoices.

The Use of Coffee appears to be rapidly declining
in England. The reduction of the duty to three-
half-pence a pound has had no effect on consump-
tion, and in the year ending 31st March 1886, some
314,000 lb. were consumed less then id the pre-
vious year. " The decline is attributed," " says
the Spectator, " to the comparative difficulty which
the poor find in making coffee ; but it is quite
as likely that the true causes are the declining use
of alchohol, and the cheapness of tea and sugar.
The bulk of the people prefer tea to coffee. If
tea were ever to become really cheap — say, six-
pence a pound — nothing else would be drunk ;
and it would be drunk all day, cold as well
as hot. The taste for it is becoming uni-
versal, and distinctly increases with the ad-
mixture of the Indian teas, which are rougher, and
develop the special ' teacy' flavour." — Madras Mail.
Ornamental Trees at Hakgalla.— The tollowing
list of ornamental plants supplied by Mr. Nock from
Hakgalla to a recent purchaser (R30 cost of all) for
planting on a piece ot ground at Nuwara Eliya, is
of interest as showing what can be procured at the
Gardens for a very moderate charge:— Height

100 Frenela rhomboidea — Australian Pine 50-90ft.
25 Piuuslougifolia— Ohir Pine ... 60-lOOft.

18 „ sineusis— Chinese Pine 30-40ft.

6 „ massoniara from China) 30-40 ;P)

18 Cupressus macrocarpa — Citron Pine 150ft,

18 „ tournefuti looks as though it

would be large)
12 „ torulosa — Bhootan Cypress ISuft.

(i „ Lawsouiana — Port Oxford Cypress ICOft.
6 Thuja Orientalis — Chinese Arborvitse 18-20ft.

6 „ Nepalensis 12-20ft. ('O

12 „ aurea-semper-aurea ... 3-6ft.

G „ conpacti ... .. (?)

6 Tristanea conferta— Queensland Box 50ft.

G Fraxinus Americana— Am: White Ash 60-80ft,
2 Quailaja isaponaria— soap-bark Tree GOft.

12 Tecoma velutina— Velvety trumpet

flower ]2-20ft.
6 Psidium montanum — (Hard-wooded

Jamaica tree) 30-60ft.
12 Leptospermum acoparium — Broom Tea

Tree 12-20ft.

6 Oallistemon rugulosum (Bottle-brush) 10-iUft.

18 Salix Babylonica— Waeping Willow 40£t,

Jan. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

457

$ovr^spornJ^nc50.

To the Editor of the " Ceyloji Observer."

COFFEE AND GEEEN BUG.

Deak Sir, — If this bug is more to be feared than
leaf-disease, or any other previously known coffee-
pest, the different Planters' Associations would do
well to collect all the information available with
regard to its increase, decrease or stationary char-
acter, and publish the same periodically. Coffee
is now, or soon will be, so valuable that it is worth
even this attention yet. If it is retiring all along
the line, I should not be surprized to see a little
coffee planting started again in favorite localities
PROPBIETOB.

COCONUT FIBBE DUST.

Colombo, 2nd December 1886.

Deak Sies, — Will any of your numerous corre-
spondents give their experiences with that curious
substance which we call coconut fibre dust,
which comes away from the dry husks of the
coconut in the proces of extracting the fibre.

The absorbing properties of this substance are
well-known and it is for this reason that I i^re-
sume it is so extensively employed in gardening.

It would, however, appear that it is applicable
to other, and probably more useful purposes, for
a young French Chemist, Mr. P. Germain, has
brought it to notice in connection with Primary
and Secondary Batteries. M. Andre Eeynier, the
Electrician to the Societe Generale des Telephones
has investigated its uses in connection with electricity.

P'rom a report which has been written by M.
Eeynier for U Electricien, we gather that "sporique,"
as its finer variety is termed, is prepared from
the husks of the coconut ; it has the colour and
aspect of coco powder.

The extraordinary properties of this substance
arise from its extreme lightness, its specific
gravity being represented by the abnormally
low figure of 0*08. Under the simple pressure of
the hand its volume can easily be reduced to
one-third, and even then its density is only about
one -fourth that of good sponge. Its absoibing
power surpasses that of all other known materials.
A given volume of " sporique " can easily be made
to take up a volume of liquid equal to itself,
without any perceptible increase in the total volume ;
or, in other words, the volume occupied by
" sporique " in the combination is nenliiiihJc.

A good sponge will absorb seven times its own
weight of water: "sporique" absorbs 12-5 times
its weight of water. The substance has hitherto
been found to be insoluble both in acids and in
alkalis and in solutions of salts. It is, therefore,
evident that it will thus readily lend itself for use
in primary or secondary batteries. M. Eeynier
states that the resistance of the battery is not per-
ceptibly increased by its presence, and it is sug-
gested that by saturating two slabs of the substance
it may be employed in two fluid batteries, thus
doing away with the porous cell. Not oaly are liquids
thus kept separated and preserved from accidental
spilling, but it is also found that the loss from
evaporation preceeds much more slowly. It would
appear that the substance is certainly worth a trial
for the purpose indicated, and I hope the day is
not far distant when the heaps of refuse coconut
fibre dust now looked upon as worthless may possess
a commercial value sufficient to make the export
remunerative. Whatever the results, I trust this
brief notice of a substance so well-known to us
enquiry. — Yours faithfully,

Ed. B. HUELEY.

TIMBEE FOR GUNSTOCKS.

Haldummulla, Dec. 2nd 188(5.

Dear Sir, — I enclose a cutting from the last
Field on the subject of wood for gunstocks.
Perhaps, your botanical correspondent may know
whether the tree in question (Oreo daphne bullata)
grows in this country. I have myself seen in the
Kegalle district trees which emit a sufficiently
villainous odour to merit the epithet applied to
Orcodaphne ; and whilst living in Badulla, I had
a gate made of a heavy white wood which always
smelt very unpleasantly after a shower of rain.
If the Orcodaphne is found in Ceylon it might
pay to export the timber for the purpose indicated
by the Field correspondent. — I am, yours faithfully,

EDWAED F. HOPKINS,

niaj stimulate

STINKWOOD (orcodaphne BULLATA) FOR GUNSTOCKS,

Sir, — The subject of this excellent wood being used
for ganstocks made in this country has recently been
mooted in the leading daily paper. As it is of con-
sequence to sportsmen in India, South Africa and
its interior, or other parts of the world where clim-
atic influence or rough wear may have to bear on the
guustoclc, to know the most serviceable, I ask your
permission to give in llie Field a few particulars re-
specting the Orcodaphne bullata, a wood that can-
not be too highly recommended. The orcodaphne is
of two shades of colour, a lighter (sometimes almost
approaching Ilungarian ash), and the darker, ordin-
arily selected for gunstocks. This has been com-
pared to mahogany, but perhaps it more reseinbles
something between rosewood and American walnut.
It is decidedly a handsome wood, and in grain is
firm, close and tough ; it is not given to warp when
seasoned, nor snap across the grip like walnut ; in
fact, it possesses every merit almost desirable, except
being heavier than walnut. In its seasoned state
it has not the slightest disagreeable odour. Botanic-
ally the tree has been thus described in Hooker's
"Botan. Mag." t. 393 1.:—

Orcodaphne bullata, Nees ab E. (stinkhout, stink-
wood), much branched, branches divaricating, smooth;
leaves, alternate, leathery, elliptical, veiny, netted,
glabrous, attenuated into a chanelled stalk, and hav-
mg at the axils of the lower costals veuis, on the
underside, deep hollows, ciliated at their edges, and
showing on the upper surface corresponding bhster-
likc protuberances ; flowers, small, racemose ; race-
mes, lateral or exillary ; perianth, 6 parted ; lobes,
obtuse, deciduous ; corolla, none ; stamens, 0 ; grands
of the outer stamens large, capitate ; style, tapeling ;
stigma, peltate ; berry surrounded at base by the
enlarged, thickened, cup-shaped tube of the perianth.

Though this wood was the African oak of Barrow,
Dr. Pappehas stated, in his " SilvaCapensis "(Cape
Town, 1854), the real African oak of commerce is " Old-
fieldia africana." I would strongly recommend the
leading English gunmakers to have a supply in stock
of Orcodaphne bullata, and to suggest its adoption
by any customer about to proceed to a hot climate,
or requiring a gun or rifle stock for rough work ;
but it must be observed that the wood has become
scarcer, it appears, and is therefore probably dearer
than it used to be some years ago.

In a memorandum on the Crown forests of the
Cape Colony, published in the 7'twfi% September S.'Sth
1885, it was stated : " The two kinds of timber moat
sought for in these forests are " stinkwood " (Orcoda-
phne bullata) at the Knysna, and " sneezwood "
(Pleroxylon utile) in the eastern districts, and these
two kinds have been fast disappearing." It is also
stated in that memorandum that the Orcodaphne
bullata, when cut, possesses the smgulav property
of throwing out from the stump shoots, which again
throw out roots descendmg (.svt) the old stump.

FUKDERIC R. SURTEES.

Boxley Abbey, Sandling, near Maidstone, Oct. 26th,
—Field.

,58

45S

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

fjAN. 1, 1887.

[The Ceylon " stink-tree " is thus described in
Ceyh'ii Timber Trees : —

" Celtis dysodoxylon," Thwaites Eu. p. 267.
Gooi-diula, 8. Moon's Cat. p. p. 26 and 32, Nos. 418
and WM pt. 2. Vrfine, S. ex Ainslie 2 p. 317 Pooda-
carapan J'litta;/ (its bark,) Tamil. Pan dc /nerdn, and
Pini sii/o, Port. A middle-sized tree in the Central
Province up to .5,000 feet. This is a notorious tree
from the fact that I believe its freshly cut wood
has the most abominable and disgusting odour of
all plants in the vegetable kingdom. Hermann wrote
about it upwards of 2O0 years ago, but mixed it up
with the Wal-lmonmda, S. (" Clerodendron inerme,")
and misled Ijinnieus and Burmann by so doing. His
explanation of the Sinhalese name, and other remarks
I give m his own words, as no doubt applying to
this tree: — "Ghu stercus humauum uotat. lihanda
fastorem stercoris. Est et alia species arborescens.
Alias Phaiida notat proprie lignum sublato cortice
c-eterisque." Mus. zeyl. p. 23. Thunberg when in
Colombo in 1777, gave the following account of it: —

" The stinktree was called by the Dutch Strnn-
hout, and by the Sinhalese rreiute, on account of its
disgusting odour, wliich resides especially iu the
thick stem and the larger branches. The smell of
it so perfectly resembles that of human ordure,
that one cannot perceive the smallest difference be-
tween them. When the tree is rasped, and the
raspings are sp;inkled with water, the stench is
quite intolerable. It is nevertheless taken intern-
ally by the Sinhales, as an efficacious remedy. "When
scraped fine and mixed with lemon-juice, it is taken
internally, as a purifier of the blcod in the itch,
and other cutaneous eruptions, the body being at
the same time anointed with it externally. 1 was
at great pains to procure some blossoms of this tree,
in order to ascertain its genus, but was constantly
disappointed. Of the Sinhalese, whom I sent out for
that purpose far up the country into the woods, I
could only obtain some branches without any blos-
som ; from which, however, I could perceive, that
the tree was neither tlie Au'ii/i/i-is futida- nor the
Sterciilia fufida. I had likewise set some live, but
small, plants of this tree in boxes, and carried them
with me alive quite to the English channel, where
they were totally destroyed, together with several
other scarce trees and plants, by cold and storms.
Of the wood, I carried with me some pieces to my
native country, which, however afterwards lost their
scent to that degree, that now not the smallest trace
of it can be perceived. "—Travels 4 p. p. 234—5.
"What this tree absolutely is, becomes a subject
for future research. Ain 2 p 318. For Thwaites,
therefore, remained the privilege of naming this tree
Botanically.]

TEA HAIR.— No. I.

Sir, — This is nothing more than the " fluff ''
from the pubescent tips of the tea buds, the
hair.-5 from the fine pekoe or orange pekoe. It is
a provision of Nature for the protection of the
young leaf when in embryo. All plants are pro-
vided with a protection to the young or embryo
leaf or fruit bud. With coffee a resin or gum,
coals the blossom and many think when the
blossom buds or " spike," as we call it, is burnt
it is simply the resin or gum exuded from the plant:
a wise provision of nature to protect it from the
hot sun. The first fall of rain or genial shower
at once dissolves the gum, the burnt blossom bud
opens and the snowy white of a beautiful plant
in full bloom replaces the burnt spike. All plants
have some protection and in many cases the leaves,
as with several varieties of cardamoms, retain their
pubescence, but the tea shrub throws it off as the
, leaves develope. This fluff has been shipped from
Coylon as " bloom," it is practically worthless and
has never found a market ; let the curious try it
in the cup. One thing is certain, however, this
pubescent fluff' is so line that it will permeate the
wliule (if a tea factory and lodge oa every beam

and corner and it is not only easily ignited by a
match or light carelessly thrown down, but like
" punk " or German tinder, once lighted it will
smoulder for days and when least expected will
break out in a red glowing mass, never flame, but
quite sufficient to burn down the factory. The smell
of the burning fluff, however, is so pungent that
it is readily detected. A few drops of coconut or
kerosene oil dropped on the tea hair will or may
create spontaneous combustion, like cotton waste
it might be in a few hours ; therefore, keep your
tea factories and especially your machinery and
sifters, where there is both oil and fluff, thoroughly
clean and free from red dust and the risk of fire
will be greatly reduced.

If you have to pluck " banje " you will have
proportionately more hair, fluff, pubescence, red dust
or bloom, because the "banje" tip the effect of
a cold wind or other cause is so tightly wrapped
up in its warm pubescent covering, that it is nearly
all fluff" and only genial showers and a rush of
warm sap will set free the imprisoned bud.

J. IRVINE.

P. S.~l may add the tea hair is both interesting
and very beautiful under the microscope.

No. II.

December 3rd 1886.

Dear Sir, — Your article on above subject in paper
of 30th is very interesting.

I sometime ago tasted tea hair but did net
repeat the experiment. Liquor was very thin in
appearance and had no strength, whilst flavour
was awful and nose of outturn almost did for
me— it was just exactly like something I never
heard or thought of before. I tasted it with a
view to ascertaining whether or not it could in any
way add to strength or flavour of tea, and I came
to the conclusion that it did neither. In my
opinion it spoils the appearance of finer teas and I
have in consequence, ever since trying above
experiment, carefully extracted it from my teas and
— thrown it away. But if there be a market for
it at home, the sooner our Colombo brokers take
it up the better. Just fancy having a " tea hair
sale"! Of course it's hard rolling that brings out
the hair and I have seen so much of it that the sifting
cooly was glad to put his head out at window to
get a mouthful of fresh air. And I may say in
conclusion that if "tea hair" manipulation is to
be successfully gone about. Barber's Rollers will
yet cut a way for themselves like— Yours truly,

OLD HA(IE)RY.

COCONUT DUST.

Colombo, 8th Dee. 1886.

De.\r Sir, —Referring to your remarks on Mr.
Hurley's letter on the question of utilizing coco-
nut fibre dust for scientific purposes, I may men-
tion that about three years ago I made some ex-
periments to ascertain its fertilizing value. I got
some from Horrekelly and put it into forty cement
barrels. I mixed the coir with liquid manure in
varying quantities and allowed the barrels to stand
for a year until the coir decomposed. After the expir-
ation of that time I planted vegetables in the
barrels, they grew pretty well, but not altogether
satisfactorily. I therefore turned out the contents
of one of them, and found it full of large white
grub. I then turned out all the others and I
should say there was a hundred in each barrel.
The crows had a jolly feast of them.

This facility for breeding grubs appears to me to
be a great objection to the use of coir in bulk
as a fertiliser, when it is formed into one. It can,
however, no doubt, bo used very advantageously

jfA^'. i, i§8;.]

*g

fUOPiCAL AQmCiJLTiJkl^fs

45^

hy horticulturists in those cases where the use of
decayed leaves or wood is beneficial especially with
ferns.

At the present moment I have ten large pots
filled with coir, mixed with liquid manure, in which
brnijals are planted ; they are growing fairly well,
but nothing like as well as those in pots with
sandy soil and the same quantity of manure.
The objection to the use of coir as a top dressing
for coconuts, is, that it retains the moisture, and
thus draws up all the young roots to the surface
and finding no sustenance in it, they die off es-
pecially in dry weather. Simply put on the
surface, it appears to be very injurious, indeed, in
a dry climate like Horrekelley, all surface manur-
ing, which draws up the roots, instead of allowing
them to seek the moisture lower down, must in
the long run be injurious.

If the coir is put into holes, the remote benefit
from it, when it becomes humus, does not com-
pensate for the immediate expense of bui'ying it.

What the late Mr. D. Wilson contended for was,
I believe, that the coir dust without being mixed
with manure, was not of any immediate value as
a fertilizer, and that the Horrekelley sand
was a better and cheaper medium for applying
manures than coir, with fewer drawbacks.

No one who knew Mr. Wilson's inventive genius,
and mania for experimenting almost equal to my own,
can doubt, that every method of utilizing the vast
mounds of coir at Horrekelley was employed, and
when such a man came to the conckjsion that
the Horrekelley fibre dust could not be benefici-
ally used, it is a good excuse for his successors,
not doing more than experiment with it ; whichi
believe they have done. — Yours truly, C, S.

TEA-MAKING AND TEA PRICES : LABGE
AND SMALL BREAKS ; USEFUL HINTS.

Nahalma, 13th Dec.

Dear Sir,— I have read in your paper of 8th,
Messrs. Forbes and Walker's letter anent tea prices ;
also your footnote, in which you remark " how
easy it is especially when dealing with small quan-
tities, to show exceptional rate?. Averages for large
quantities are doubtless the true test." Seeing that
somany, even when dealing with small quantities,
fail to show exceptional rates, it would be a great
boon were you to point out the very easy way you
allude to. Nahalma tea goes forward in small
quantities, because it is found convenient to dis-
patch it weekly, by coolies going for their rice ;
but as every sale so far, has proved that buyers ap-
preciate this tea, I cannot see how the " small quan-
tities' has anything to do with it. If it has, the
Brokers would only be doing their duty if they
advised all local sellers to send in their teas weekly.

But granting that larger quantities are a better
test of value, I send you my average for the
month of November. Messrs. Lee, Hedges * Co. sold
for me in that month 4,242 lb for R3,437-77, or
an average of over 81 cts. per lb. If Kaluganga,
Glentaaffe and G, V. (in dia :) have done better,
I congratulate the owners.

I note Messrs. Forbes & Walker say, " moreover
Kaluganga, and G. V. breaks contain everything
made, we do not think the others do." That the
Colombo world may be furnished with proof of the
great penetration and astuteness of these gentle-
men of the hammer, I admit that jny last break
did not contain everything made. Messrs. Wilson
& Co., sold 30 lb at 90 cts. and I sold 20 lb.
damaged dust at 30 cts ! But including those
large outside sales, Nahalma average for Nov. is
81 cts. Of course, I agree with what Mr. Forbes
has assured many of my friends, that the tea sold

mucl) io 6iW5i Qi lis nl\i9,

ma

I hope you will give this opinion of our leading
Colombo broker publicity in your Overland, as
I see by your issue of 10th that London buyers
are also labouring under a delusion with regard
to this tea. Nahalma average, j'ou give in the London
sales as highest, except that of Riverside ; and in
the grades sold from Riverside, Nahalma prices are
considerably higher than those of that estate !
—Yours *c. Wji. MACKENZIE.

[We learn that all Mr. Mackenzie's tea is
sold in Colombo, that is all made at Nahalma since
they began to manufacture their leaf, with the ex-
ception of a small quantity of tippings taken after
pruning which is sold to a native. In Nov. Mr, Mac-
kenzie made at the rate of 550 lb. per acre from
HO acres two years and four months old. Quantity
and quality are due to good work in open-
ing those 80 acres, good jiit and good soil.
The credit for choice of land, seed and work
are due to Messrs. Forsythe and Bett ; but Mr.
Mackenszie is responsible for the manufacture
and lie may well be congratulated.— Ed.]

TEAS FOR THE AMERICAN MARKET^

Sir, — I have just received the accompanying
samples of Oolong from Foochow that planters
may see the class of tea required for the American
market.

Planters wishing to examine these teas for prac-
tical purposes can do so at my office.

Kindly return samples at your convenience.

At foot I give report.— Yours faithfully,

FRANCIS F. STREET.

Colombo 1 1th Dec. 1886,

The following is the report alluded to above : —
Box Cliaracter Liquor About

No. Grade of leaf value per

lb.
I Blackish, rather
43 Fully fair cargo j stalky aud fair brisk -^0 dollar-

,.„ ^ ,, , i yellow cents

1(0 Jbiilly j^ood to

Superior Good blackish On fine 28 ,,

{Fragrant black-
ish little Fine flavor .3(3 „
stalky
j Fiue fragrance
89 Finest to choice ] blackisli even wiry Choice oO ,,
^ little stalky
These teas are grown in Saryune country.
The export of Oolong to America to 12th of last
month was 15,(530,000 lb. against 17,250,000 lb. same
date last year, the former being more than three
times the export of Congou— the consumption of
which is comparatively snail— the figures from all
China this season only reaching some 5 million lb.
to same date, against 3^ previous season. To tiie
above has to be added the export of green teas
from China and Japan, some di million lb. to 12th
November.— Yours faithfully,

FRANCIS F. STREET.

Ek'inus Communis Cultivation i.v Thr United
States.— According ta the Oil, Paint, and Druq Re-
2)ortcr, there is a belief among American commerical
meu that there are millions in cultivating the Ricinu.f
communis and extending the castor oil industry. Two
new companies for this purpose have been started in
the south, and there are many inquiries for parti-
culars regarding the culture of the castor plant. It
is claimed in the South that the farme • can cultivate
the castor seed on his poorest land and make more
money than with cotton on the richest bottom lands,
and at the same time command cash for every load.
In^ Texas, twenty-five farmers were furnished with seed
this season and guaranteed the full St. Louis price for
the seeds, which to-day is $r70 per bushel. Some
years ago castor oil was so abundant in the Soufh,
that it was principally used for illumioating purposes,
but other more profitah'e crops giadually disphccd it,
and the revival of interest in the article may be a
repetition of history, as larger production means Jowef
prices,

46^

*!ife f Topical acinic OLfu^isi*.

[JaK I, i88y.

THE DEY ROT FUNGUS.

Mkrumus lachrymans.— Thedry rot fungus is one of
the most widespread aud destructive of all fungi.
It is espe ially common and well known on the
squared timber of ill-ventilated buildings, and from
dressed wood it will quickly spread to walls, whether
built of stone, brick, or concrete ; it will often grow
through the mortar of a thick wall, and perfect itself
on the bricks both outside aud inside. We have seen
it growing on damp concrete between the girders of
iron fire-pi'oof floors, and seen it spread from wood on
to plate-glass, aud perfect itself on the latter subs-
tance whilst drawing its nourishment from the wood.
In wine cellars it will spread from the wood work
and walls to the bins and even to the corks of wine
bottles. The mycelium of ik; fungus will luxuriate
between the cork and the neck of the bottle ; a
slight attack of this sort is said to make the wine
" corky."'

The dry rot fungus prefers .the squared unpolished
wood of coniferous trees as a substratum on which to
luxuriate, but we have seen it on polished Mahogany,
and it will spread from other woods to Teak aud
destroy Teak-built ships. It is not UDCommon on the
fallen timber of Pine woods, but, like some other
plants, it has long been peculiarly associated with man
aud his dwellings. It destroys churches, houses, ships,
bridges, railway sleepers, telegraph poles, and many
other objects. It must not be assumed, however, that
the true dry rot fungus is the sole, depredator.
There are twelve British species of Merulius, inclusive
of M. lachrymans, and several of these appear at
times in our houses. We have seen M. coriun al-
most as destructive as M. lachrymans. In addition
to the dry rot fungi, it is by no means uncommon
to find buildings destroyed bj' different species of
Polyporus, Lentinus, and other fuogi.

Merulius was so named by Fries on account of the
shallow pores or wrinkles of the spore-producing sur-
face, and lachrymaus on account of the drops of
moisture, like tears, whi'ih stad the fruiting surface
of the fungus when growing in full vigour.

The upper part of the accompanyiug illustration
(fig. 125, p. 629) shows a small plant of a dry-rot
fungus ; the circumference is white or livid in colour,
and thick and fleshy. The whole plant is fleshy and
almost meaty when cut. The odour is very strong
and Mushroom-like. The livid rirn consists of trans-
parent interwoven fungus tubes and cells as illustrate],
enlarged 400 diameters at c ; tubes of this nature
and size also form the entire i)ase of the fungus.
The fungus cells or tubes break down the substance
of the wood upon which they grow and tran.sport
the juices of the wood to the fungus for nourishment.
The central part of the surface of the ilerulius is
rich reddish-brown in colour and indented with coarse
shallow pores or wrinkles, as illustrated in the upper
figure. A reddish livid juice is exuded from all parts
of this fungus ; this juice stains every object with
■which it comes iu contact. A section of the wrinkled
surface i.s shown natural size at a. Every part of
the reddish wrinkled surface produces spores, the same
portion distills drops of moisture, chiefly derived from
the wood upon which the fungus grows. By breaking
.down the substance of the wood and extracting its
juices, the timber is ultimately left in a atate little
better than dry sawdust or powder, hence the popular
name of " dry rot/' a curious name for a naturally
wot or " weeping '' fuiigus< If a very small fragment
is cut from the wrinkled surface of an example of
Merulius lachrymans, and a very thin transparent
slice is then removed from the exposed surface and
examined with a microscope it will be seen, if en-
larged 400 diameters, as at h. The coarse transparent
tubes of the base of the fungus become much
narrower as they gradually grow up towards the
brown wrinkled surface; aud in the latter position
they support tall colouvless cells or bladders as shown ;
eacii tall bladder throws out four minute horns or
spore-supporters at its apex, and on each horn an
ovel spore of rich brown colour is borne, as illustrated,
When the rips spores fall from their supports
^u to damp wood in close confined »ir, tljey g^rwiu-

ate and throw out fine mycelial tubes, the tubes
penetrate the sweating wood and Eoon produce a
perfect dry rot fungus by drawing from the wood
the material necessary for the life and well-being
of the fungus. The fungus continues to grow till
the supporting timber is completely exhausted ;ind
reduced to tinder or dust; the fungus itself no v
perishes, but not before it has produced mj-riads
of spores which have probably been carried away by
currents of air to destroy other damp wood, or wood
m damp places. The dry rot fungus will under
favourable conditions attain a very large size, its
dimensions appear, in fact, to be only limited by
the size of the object or material on which it grows ;
we have seen huge thick growths, like large pancakes,
a yard or more in diameter. As the growth of the fungus
is as rapid as it is exhaustive, it follows that when
dry not once gets a footing in an ill-ventilated
building the work of destruction is rapid and com-
plete. Floors rot, roofs fall, galleries collapse, and
window sashes turn to powder and drop out. As
the air of the infe.sted building is full of dry rot
spores it is useless to replace old ^vood with new,
for new wood merely supplies fresh food for the
fungiis. Sometimes improved ventilation is beneficial
but it is impossible to really cure dry rot, and almost
if not quite impossible to stop its progress when once
well started, as the fungus is always ready to in-
vade various other materials in addition to wood.
To keep well clear of dry rot its attacks should
be prevented.

Petroleum will quickly destroy the dry-rot fungus,
and prevent its reappearance, but it is so extremely
dangerous to thorougly soak a building or ship with
petroleum, that the remedy is as bad or worse than
the disease. Burnett's mode of preserving timber is
by the application of chloride of zinc ; this, without
injuring the wood, has a tendency to protect it from
destruction. Kyan's method (hence the term kyanis-
ing) consists of the use corrosive sublimatic, but this
material can only be applied effectually on dry (as
opposed to wet or damp) timber. Margary's method
(hence the term margarising) consits in the appli-
cation of the sulphate or other salts of copper.
Bethell's method, which is the best, consists of
"creosoting" the wood, by the application of coal
tar or oil of tar. This substance does not get
driven out of timber by moisture, whereas all the
salts of metals fail in this direction. Ooal tar, a
material which looks like treacle, is derived from
coal in the process of gas-making. When coal tar
is distilled, light oils, heavy oils, and pitch (the
residuum) are produced : the oils heavier than water
are the " creosote " of Bethell. The most effective
heavy creosote for timber preservation is derived
from the best Newcastle coals, a less valuable mate-
rial is distilled from IMidland coals. A good deal
of our knowlege of wood preservation, as
possessed at the present day, seems to have been
known in part at least to the ancient Egyptians, who
filled the pores of their wooden statues, columns,
&c.,— to say nothing of the grand-mummies (I), —
with oils and bitumen,

Mr. Baulton states that Fir timber is capable of
taking up from (30 to 1 tO gallons of water to the
load of 50 cubic feet, he also states that he has
extracted 60 gallons of water from a load of railway
sleepers. In the process of creosoting the timber is
first made (juite dry and the extracted water is then
replaced under heavy pressure, by oil of tar. IMore
than one patent has been taken out for " creosoting,"
and the efficacy or otherwise of creosoted timber
depenils on the quality and constituents of the oil
of tar and the method of forcing it into the pores
of the timber.

The proper auHseptic treatment of wood is a sub-
ject of the highest importance when studied iu refer-
ence to the preservation of telegraph posts, railway
sleeper.?, piles for harbom's, ships' timbers, and to
cases where wood must of necessity be exposed to the
action of water, damp earth, or moist air, but in
buildings which arc designed to be constantly kept
dry uo creosoting i§ necessary. In horticultural

Jan. 1, 1887.J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

461

buiklings, however, where the contained air is always
moist, the dry rot fungus, or one or other of its
allies, often makes sad havoc- Tiles, iron, &c., are
now so much used in greenhouses that wood often
only occupies a minor place in their construction.

"Without some antiseptic treatment it is impossible
to prevent the decay of wood when as in ships it
is placed in water or as in posts, and piles, buried
in the ground, but tliere is no reason why our public
and private buildings should be so constantly destroyed
by the dry rot fungus. Without damp stagnant air
and wood saturated with moisture, Merulius lacry-
mans cannot exist; keep these evils away, and no
dry-rot will be seen.

It is very necessary that foundations should be
well built with cement on concrete or rock, that all
the basements should be thoroughly well ventilated,
so that currents of air may be able to pass through
windows or other openings. The tir,;)er used for
building purposes should be perfectly sound and dry.
All good builders are aware of the best methods
for preventing damp rising from basements, or passing
up or through walls ; and it is only by the culp-
able neglect of well-known commonsense precantious
that so many public and private buildings are destroyed
by the dry-rot fungus.

We are being constantly asked for a " cure " of dry-
rot, and we often find ourselves without patience
to write a reply. It is as impossible to "cure"
rotten timber as to " cure " a rotten animal ; when ad-
vanced in decay both are too far gone for cure, com-
monsense must be used in the prevention of the
attacks of the dry-rot fungus.

Dr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys says (British Conchology vol.
i., p. 130, under " Lima.x ") that slugs in cellars will
eat the dry-rot fungus. Wokthixgton G. Smith,
Dunstable. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

CULTIVATION OF TEA IN FORMOSA AND

CHEHKIANG.

Tea cultivation in North Formosa is chiefly con-
fined to the hills, and though a good supply is grown
within three miles of Tamsui, the main centre of
the production is in the hills some twenty miles to
the south. The soil there is generally a kind of
reddish yellow sticky clay, in wet weather resemb-
ling cream, and extremely slippery; this is on the
lower and middle slopes, that of the upper is in-
ferior, and these slopes are often so steep that it
is difficult to understand how it is possible to till
them. The Commissioner of Customs at Tamsui says
that everywhere one is struck by the amount of new
ground which is being broken up in order to set
more tea. The first thing is to clear away the long
grass and brushwood, cutting down the trees, dig-
ging up the roots, burning them, and planting indigo.
When this plant has run for some little time it is
replaced by tea, and in the matter of planting, the
plan adopted in Formosa differs very considerably
from that followed iu many of the other tea districts.
There a large quantity is produced by means of slips
or cuttings, as well as by seeds, and no manure is
used, while in the Ning^jo and Tientai districts seeds
alone are employed. In the latter district several
holes are made, and five or six seeds are dropped
into each and covered up, and liquid manure or wood
ash is then applied. During the following three years
the ground is carefully weeded and manured ; at the
end of this period the young plants ai'e separated
from the older ones. If carefully tended and pruned
of the old wood, a bush will last many years. The
first picking takes place generally iu February, and
the second in May. The soil is light and friable,
being composed of a mixture of sand and vegetable
mould. In the Ningpo district the most luxuriant tea
Is that of the alluvial plain, and is grown between
rows of mulberries. At Tientai, in the province of
Cliphkiang, Commissioner Hancock states that the
fineat tea is grown, the soil being light and sau.ly,
corresponding in a great measure to that of the Bohea
pjoiintains, The followiog is the methQcl of cultivation

practised: — Pieces of bamboo about six inches long
are placed in holes made in the ground, and about
fifteen seeds put into each tube, the tubes are then
filled up wi th earth ; this operation beinjj performed
in the month of September- In the following June
some of the seeds having germinated, appear as small
plants at the top of the bamboo which is then re-
moved. The gro wth is at the rate of about four inches
a year, and the first picking takes place four years
after planting. There is only one picking each year,
in April, but lower down on the mountains the first
takes place A'hen the plants are three years old,
and there are as many as three in the year. The
plants are not considered to have attained maturity
until they are ten years old ; they are never changed,
but from time to time the decayed wood is cut away.
In the Formosa tea plantations little attention appears
to be paid to drainage on the steepest slopes ; the
furrows, instead of being run in a slant, are gene-
rally carried horizontally, in consequence of which a
more direct barrier is placed against the descent of
water during heavy rains, so that in some places
where the soil is stilf, the water remains, while in
others the soil is swept away. The distance at which
the plants are set apart differs very considerably,
according to district— in some places they are placed
at intervals of thirty inches, which, allowing for the
spread of each bush and the necessary ploughing
between the rows, is as close as practicable. In For-
mosa the advantages of soil and climate are so great
that there are often no less than seve n pickings in the
coui'se of the year, the three first being the best,
while in the Ningpo district there are never more
than three. — Joi'nud of the tiociety of Arts.

NOXIOUS INSECTS.

Every person of observant habits who has had
opportunities of watching fruit trees during spring
and summer must have noticed that the benefits which
they afford are not at all confined to the service of
man, but extend also to the provision of homes and
nutriment for a great variety of insects, which as a
rule, are hatched from ova deposited in the flower
buds when these are scarcely formed, and devour the
fruit before it comes to maturity. Every schoolboy
who has gone in quest of black-berries or nuts, is
aware that the former are scarcely ever free from
maggots, and that the proportion of nuts spoiled in
like manner is very appreciable; but an adequate
conception of the importance of fruit-destroying insects,
of the numbers in which they exist, and of the extent,
measured by a pecuniary standard, of the damage
which they iutlict, is quite a recent addition to the
sum of human kuowledge. At the same time, it has
been made apparent that fruit-growing is an industry
which may become extremely helpful to the depressed
agricultural interest ; and many landowners, among
whom Lord Budeley holds a prominent place, are
endeavouring, alike by precept and example, to direct
the attention of their tenants to the profits which
may be thus obtained. The number and vitality of
living organisms will always be in proportion to the
abundance of their food supplies ; and hence it can
be no matter for surpri.se if fruit-growing, as it is
rendered a more and more imioortant branch of agri-
culture, should be more and more liable to the attacks
of creature whom we, in our cynical indift'ereuce to
their comfort and welfare, are wont to describe as
"pests;" while they, it may be hoped or imagined,
return good for evil to the extent of recognizing the
fruit-grower as a benefactor. However this may be,
it is at least certain that ravages, which may be only
annoying and disappointing when they are confined
to a pleasure-garden, or to one which, although
worked for profit, is little more than an ornamental
a])pendage to the serious business of a farm, may be-
come almost ruinous when the garden itself constitutes
the farm, and when the crops which the insects des-
troy are those on which the hopes oF the cultivator
are based. In view of these considerations, the Agri-
cultural Department of the Trivy Council, has acted

46i

tUE fROPtCAt AGRICULTURIST.

[]kU 1, 2887,

mmamaiemimmm

I i"i 'tfir

wisely iu devoting special atteutiou to the insects
■which arc injurious to crops, whether of hops, onru,
or fruit; and we have before us today the third of
a series of reports upon the subject, prepared for the
Privy Council by Mr. Whitehead, and dealing specially
with the enemies of fruit. We also pubHsh a letter
from the same eminent authority, in which he warns
farmers of the injury likely to be produced by the
attacks of the "Hessian fly" upon wheat. It is very
evident that the enemies to agriculture which are
thus described, although individually insignificant, are
really very formidable from their numbers, their vora-
city, and their power of reproducing their kind as
an affliction for future seasons; and that no care or
pains should be spared in the endeavour to compass
their destruction. In the attainment of this end, the
science of entomology is calculated to render most
important help ; since a knowledge of the aspects,
the habits, and the metamorphoses of the peccant
insects is plainly essentia] to the conduct of a cam-
paign against them.

In a general way, ib may be stated that the life
history of an insect destructive to fruit is, that the
adult female deposits an ovum in the young flower
bud, at such a time that the larva may emerge when
the germ of the fruit is in course of formation, and
fit to furnish a nutritive and succulent meal. The
larva pursues its depredations with great caution and
judgment, not killing the goose which lays for it the
golden eggs, but carefully abstaining from any attack
upon the actual germ, the vital portion of the im-
mature fruit, as long as there is anything else to be
consumed. When the germ itself is devoured, famine
may be said to impend over the larva, but by that
time it has attained a considerable growth and an
enlarged capacity for iudependent action, and it seeks
new worlds to conquer. When, as in the nut tree,
the once tender fruit husk has become hard, and en-
closes the magget in a shell, the maggot is provided
with jaws of corresponding strength and sharpness,
insomuch that it can gnaw a hole through the cover-
ing and thus make its escape. It is almost annoying
to read that, in the majority of cases, the creature
has become so fat as to experience some difficulty
in squeezing its body through the aperture which is
gauged by the diameter of its head ; but this diffi-
culty seems usually to be overcome. In fruits which
have the eatable portions unprotected and externa),
as in the raspberry, strawberry, and blackberry, the
satiated maggot has only to drop off when its larder
shows signs of exliaustion ; and in almost every case
it seems to reach the ground, sometimes having but
a short distance to fall, sometimes lowering itself
cautiously by the aid of a silken thread. On reach-
ing the ground, it seldom travels far, but usually
buries itself at the foot of the plant on which it ha3
been fed, and awaits the transformations which will
convert it into a winged insect, when it will rise
again, prepared either to deposit the ova which will
produce a fresh generation upon the same hapless
tree to which it was itself indebted for food and
ehelter, or to go further afield in search of another
victim. In some cases the larv;o do not reach the
ground at all, but take refuge in chinks of the bark,
and there undergo their changes ; and in some their
attacks are not directed to the fruit, but roots are
gnawed and iujured by larvte which have sprung from
ova originally deposited in the ground, and have al-
ways been subterranean in their habits. In every
case, however, it seems to bo the ground, and espe-
pially the ground close to the stem of the affected
plant, which affords the chief harbour for these in-
sidious and formidable enemies.

In order to minimize the evils produced by these
creatures, it is iu the first place necessary that fruit-
growers, and farmers generally, should learn what
ft is that insects do, and should no longer attribute to
unknown cause the mischief which they so constantly
produce. Not only the Privy Council, but also the
Koyal Agricultural Society, has taken much pains to
spread abroad the required information ; aud the
writings of Miss Ormerod, for the latter body, can-
uot be passed over without appreciative notice. Thanks

to her and to Mr. Whitehead, as well as to the
labours of American a^ul other entomologists, there
is now but little excuse for any faliure to recognize
the attacks of insects ; and considerable progress has
been made iu the direction of measures of preven-
tion. All authorities agree in attributing to certain
small birds, especially to titmice, an excellent appetite
for the destroyers, and a remarkable faculty for dis-
covering them ; and it is also said that they are a prey
to various other enemies, even to parasites, who live
upon their small bodies, and inflict upon them, it
may almost be hoped, something of the annoyance
which they cause to others. Agriculturists, however,
have but a restricted confidence in small birds of any
kind, and would generally be more disposed to apply
them to culinary uses than to preserve them in their
fields or gardens; and, in support of this almost in-
stinctive feeling, it must be admitted that even a
titmouse, when searching for a delicate morsel within
the folds of a half -expanded blossom, would be likely
to handle it with an amount of roughne.ss which
might well prove detrimental to its future prospects.
On the whole, the best hope of dealing successfully
with the "pests" seems to be derived from the
habitat of the larv» iu the earth, where they are
more or less accessible to mechanical and chemical
treatment. To this end it is recommended that they
should, as much as possible, be deprived of interven-
ing or neighbouring harbour — that is to say, that all
grass and herbage around the roots of trees or plants
should be kept closely cut, or, what is still better,
eaten down by sheep, and that no straw or farm lit-
ter should be placed upon the ground even in straw-
berry beds — to the abandonment of the custom, which
prevails in many places, of putting dowu straw to
preserve the berries from being soiled by contact
with the earth. On the same principle, cover for the
larvse is to be destroyed as far as possible by scraping
or almost grooming the trunks and larger branches
of trees so as to remove cracked and rugged bark ;
and, when these precautions have been adopted, the
ground at the foot of the trees should be loosened
and turned up by forks and the soil saturated with
various unsavoury mixtures, ranging from soap suds
to petroleum. Compounds destructive to insect life
or comfort may also be applied to the upper parts of
large trees by various mechanical means ; due care being
taken, in the use of hellebore or other active poisons,
as well as in the use of petroleum or other strongly
flavoured liquids or mixtures, that they are not
applied in such a manner as to adhere to the fruit
and to render it either hurtful or nauseous. By
such means as these, used with due care and circums-
pection, there seems to be no doubt but that much
good may be effected, of course not from the point
of view of the insects; and it is further probable
that great importance should be attached to the em-
ployment of all possible precautions in small gardens,
where all sorts of measures hostile to insects can bo
conducted more.eflSciently than is possible on a larger
scale, and from whence it may fairly be surmised,
fresh generations of destroyers may not unfrequetly
take their flight in order to extend their destructive-
ness to localities far beyond the narrow limits of their
original birthplace. — Loudon Times.

MANURING.

All attempts to improve the nature of a soil should
have for their object the hrinyimj it to a state of
loam, by the addition of those substances which are
deficient. A loamy soil requires less dung to keep it
in heart than either clay or saud ; for which it is
favourable to the process by which organic matter
buried deep in the soil is converted into in.-<uliible
humus; it also permits that part of it which is
nearer the surface, to attract oxygen from the air,
and thus it is converted into a soluble extract, which
is to the roots of plants what the milk of animals is
to their young, or ready-made food easily converted
into vegetable juices.

The mineral elements of soils become parts of plants,
Life modifies chemical laws, and converts inofganio
matter into organic.

Jam. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

463

The fertility of a soil is dependent on other things
besides its chemical composition. We must consider
the office it performs is twofold, namely, (1) to re-
tain the plant firmly in the position most favourable
to its growth, and (3) to supply a certain amount
of food. Hence mechanical texture becomes a matter
of great importance ; it must be firm enough to afford
the proper degree of support, and at the same time
loose enough to allow the delicate fibres of the root-
lets to extend themselves and also access of air to
take place, without which the plant cannot live. It
must be of such a texture as to retain, for a cosiderable
period, the water which falls on it au.l at the same
time porous enoMgh. to suffer the excess to drain away:
otherwise the roots of the plants will rot. It is for
these reasons that the nature of the solid substratum
at some depth beneath the soil must be borne in
mind. These and other things, such, for example, as
the condition of the surface with respect to its
absorbent power for heat, all tend greatly to complicate
the subject, and render decisions concerning the com-
parative value of different lands, founded on merely
chemical evidence, exceedingly prone to error.

The great essential principle to be sought for in
manures is this great law of nature, that substances
strengthen vegetation mainly by their contents of nitro-
gen.

In dung and in liquid manures, the nitrogenotis matter
is partly combined with hydrogen, and has thus become
ammonia. Farm-yard dung contains all the principles
withdrawn from the soil by the growth of plants : the
decomposed strata furnishes silica in a minute state
of division, still having with it a little potash and various
saline substances. The solid animal extrements contain
abundance of earthy phosphates, while the vj-ine gives
up by its putrefaction at once carbonate of ammonia
and more phosphate, besides smaller portions of other
principles. The only thing at all defective is potasli,
and that frequently exists plentifully in the soil, and
is gradually liberated by disintegration.

Solid animal manures should not be allowed to
putrefy in hea.-ps above ground, because a great portion
of the manuring matter, in that case, assumes the
state of yas and is wasted. In the heap, previous to
fermentation, the nitrogen, the essential element of
ammonia, and of supreme value to the planter, is
variously combined with carbon, oxygen and hydro-
gen; but when it leaves its former arrangement in
obedience to the action of decaying bodies, it uni-
formly adapts one and only one, new one. Every
nitrogenous compound exposed to air and moisture liber-
ates its nitrogen to unite ivith free hydrogen and form
ammonia. This is a principle of fermentation which
admits of no exception. The true economy of farm-
yard manure may be thus indicated; nothing must
be allowed to run away in the forin ef a fluid, or to fly
away in the disguise of a smell. Therefore, we must
store the dung daily in proper pits under shelter.
The cow-sheds, of whatever material the walls and
roof may consist, as long as ventilation is ensured,
must be floored with pucca terrace flooring, paving
stones, tiles, bricks, concrete, and Portland cement, or
planks, and must have a gentle slope towards a gutter
running down the centre. In this manner not a
particle of dung or drop of urine and washings can
run to waste. At a convenient distance, though as
close as possible, let the manure pits may be made.
The best plan is to have tbe manure shed parallel
to the cow-shed, on the slope of a hill immediately
above or below it. The pits, arranged side by side,
should if possible be floored and lined with masonry,
if not possible with hard moss, being previously well
puddled. They should be made as water-tight as
possible. The cowherds should daily collect the dung
and litter, and spread it evenly in a pit, also spread-
ing a few inches of dry earth, of which a heap
should be collected and stored in an adjoining shed
in dry weather, over the mass, then tread it well
down. The gutter running down the middle of the
cow-shed, should either be connected with the manure
shed or end in a spout, under which tubs, or large
earthen bowls should be placed. The urine and
washings, thus collected, should be poured over tlie

dung and litter previous to the dry earth being
stamped in. If no litter is used, any grass will do,
though paddy straw is the best. When one pit gets
filled up with these daily layers of dung, litter, aud
earth, corer all up with another good layer of earth
and turves, and commence filling up the nest pit.
These pits should be emptied in the .tame order they
are filed, and only wjoden rakes aud implements
should be used.

Every description of sweepings, stable litter, ele-
phant's dung and litter, and all the ashes from the
factory and cooly lines .should be carefully collected
and immured in the manure pits along with the dung
from the cow-sheds. Dead bodie.s of animals, and
excrements objectionable to the caste prejudices of
the coolies, can well be disposed of by being burned
anywhere about the plantation among the bushes with
a good sprinkling of lime if possible.

Ashes. — The really enormous amount of this valu-
able manure daily prepared in the factory, engine-
house, cook-room and, last but not least, cooly lines,
and generally wasted or frittered away, is lamentable
on most plantations. Every particle of ash should be
carefully collected, stored along with the charcoal
dust and sweepings of the charcoal godowns in a
convenient, water-tight shed, for manurial application
during the cold season. All the wood of the tea
prunings should be gathered and burnt in bare
patches all about the plantation, and applied to the
neighbouring bushes. This is really returning the actual
elements of which the tea bush is composed.

Lime is abundant and cheap in some tea districts as
Sylhet, Cachar, and the Darjeeling Terai, and is Ja
most valuable manure. Soils and sub-soils, far below
the reach of ordinary cultivation, always contain a
very sensible quantity of ammonia. The action of
lime, in the presence of water, is to set free from
the soil as nearly as possible one-half of the ammonia.
The application of lime on cold, spongy marshy soil
is most profitable. The chemical action of lime, and
the effect which it produces as a manure, appear to
be of two kinds. On the one hand it acts upon
vegetable mould, accelerating its decomposition and
rendering it soluble and then fits it to enter the
roots of plants. Lime deprives some mould of its
acidity, and renders it fertilizing. But, on the other
hand, there is every probability that, by means of its
carbonic acid, lime produces some other effect, and
furnishes the plants with so^iie nutritive matter. The
roots of certain plants, specially tap-rooted ones like
the tea plant, appear to have the faculty of depriv-
ing lime of its carbonic acid, which it immediately
re-absorbs in equal proportion from the atmosphere, — •
boring through limestone in its hunger for lime. —
Indian Tea Gazette.

DAVIDSON'S No. I AND T " SIROCCOS."
To the Editor of The Home and Colonial Mail.

Sir. — In the issue of The Indian Planters' Gazette
of I9th Oct. ult., there appears a letter signed " Oor,''
in wl.ich my No. 1 "Siroccos" are highly praised;
but in referring to the T shaped " Siroccos," " Cor "
says that, "although they (the T "Siroccos") ilo
more work, they do not do as good work as the
No. 1;" and he goes on to say thit he thinks the
causes for this are, that in the T " Sirocco " the top
row of trays being exposed to the air, their tem-
perature in consequence of this remains compara-
tively low, and, therefore, the damp leaf coming
freshly into the machine does not receive a suflliciently
sharp heat to promptly check fermentation.

Although I do not quite agree with " Cor " as to
the particular causes he assigns for the effects
described, probably those of your readers who have
an interest in the sul)ject, and who may have seen
his letter, will be further interested to know that
the objections to the T " Sirocco " therein cited are
now altogether disposed of in my present make of
the apparatus.

The top of the drying chamber is now closed in
with perforated plates, aud a portion of the fresh hot
air from the stove is, in the large size of the

4^4

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[jA»f, I, 1887.

apparatus, now delivered direct to the upper tier of
trays, without having to pass at all through the
lower trays, so that all the top trays receive a very
sharp heat indeed, and a prompt and eflfective cheek
to fermentation is given the moment the fresh tray
of leaf goes into the drier. In this respect the new
T " Sirocco " has a considerable advantage over the
original No. 1, for in them the whole of the air
has to pass through three trays before reaching the
wet roll on the last tray put in.

The perforated cover is so adjiisted that it regulates
effectively the passage of the hot air up through
the trays, and an exceedingly ecjual distribution of
the heat from end to end of the drying chamber is
the result. It required a series of carefully worked
experiments extending over several months to get
at the proper adjustment of this cover and its per-
forations, for no cover at all gives better results
than one wrongly placed or with an incorrect arrange-
ment and area of perforations.

When I at last got the cover correctly adjusted
it proved highly beneficial to the apparatus, not
only by increasing the evaporative power, but by
enabling the stove to keep up the requisite temper-
ature for the drying with about half the fuel that is
necessary when no cover is used, and as the stove
is constantly being worked at a greatly reduced
temperature, the castings in it suffer so little from
the effects of the fire, that they will wear three or
four times longer than formerly.

The perforated covers can, with great advantage,
be applied to existing No. 3 and T "Siroccos," as
well as to No. I's, altered to T shape; but for par-
ticulars of these, and the other very considerable
improvements made in the apparatus this season, I
must refer your readers to my new advertisements
and circulars, as this letter is only intended as a
reply to the particular objections raised by " Cor ''
to the T " Sirocco " of last and previous seasons'
make.— Yours faithfully, S. 0. Davidson, "Sirocco"
Works, Belfast, Nov. loth, 1886.

[In reference to the above letter, we would call
our readers' attention to Mr. Davidson's new adver-
tisement in this issue. A very perfect little work-
ing model of the new type is now on view at the
offices of the Planters' Stores Agency Company,
Limited, 1, Great Winchester Street, E. C, and will,
doutless, create quite a sensation among those interes-
ted, as the recent improvements, when added, are
said to double the outturn of the '• Siroccos " now
in use.]

BRICK TEA.
Elsewhere will be found an extract from the Eiifflish-
man of 24th November on the brick tea of Szechuen,
largely used in Thibet. The writer of the article
has nothing new to say regarding the brick tea:
in fact, he simply quotes Mr. E. Colborne Baber's
descrption of its manufacture, and does not quote
Mr. Baber's equally valuable account of how the
Thibetans prepare their tea, nor the very important
statement that Chinese brick tea prepared for use
by Thibetans is an infusion difficult to characterise.
Baber describes it as " like English tea with rich
milk, but without any sugar or tea," and " yet,'^
he adds, " nobody would mistake it for milk and
water ; for the tea principle affects the flavour, wlule
itself becoming modified into some un-tea-like astrin-
gent. It is evident that astringeucy is the property
desired, seeing that the many thousand Thibetans
who cannot afford tea use oak bark." The only
point of interest in the article is the statement that
Thibetan cooUes laden with tea from Szechuen are
disposing of their loads in the Darjeeling Bazaar " at
higher prices than the best Indian tea can command.'
The writer states that "i^. seems almost incredible
that our planters should allow such a state of things
to continue under their very noses,"' and, again,
the article goes on, " Meanwhile our planters, who
are now allowing the prunings of their gardens to
be taken away and used as fuel, might make a few
experiments, in brick tea manufacture, with the
immediate object of displacing the Chinese article

that is now consumed in the midst of their own
gardens; and with the further view of being in a
position, when the time arrives (safe reservation) to
supply the vast market north of the Himalayas with
Indian tea suited to the palate of the Thibetans." We
do not say that Darjeeling and Assam planters should
not, when time and means afford opportunity, ex-
periment in brick tea ; but the writer, in common
with others who at intervals urge the Indian planter
to plunge into this hypothetical brick tea trade
which is conveniently and clearly described as a
" vast market north of the Himalayas," does not seem
to realize that the manufacture, of brick tea by the
Indian planter practically implies a new process of
manufacture, new apparatus, new appliances, new
methods, in short everything new ; and that the
knowledge on which this new brick tea industry
is to be built up is of the vaguest and most
meagre kind. It seems to us that the immediate
business of the Indian tea planter is to avail
himself of the experience he has already gained
in growing and manufacturing tea for the European
and Colonial markets, to beat the inferior qualities
of the China article out of the field. In America
and the Colonies, and even in Great Britain, there
is considerable room for the displacement of China
tea by Indian ; and the Indian article is slowly gain-
ing acceptance everywhere. When Indian tea has
attained its true position in the markets of the
world, it will be time enough for tea planters to re-
construct their methods of culture and manufacture,
import new machines and appliances of sorts ami
bend their energies to the task of ousting China
brick tea from that delightfully well, defined tract
of Asia spoken of so familiarly by the writer in the
Englishman as " the vast market north of the Himala-
yas."— Indian Planters'' Gazette.

Tea of Assam.— The Bengal Hvrkaiu says that the
Assam Tea Compaay propose to send to England
samples of the indigenous and cultivated Tea of Assam,
in a raw state. The leaves to be packed as taken from
the trees, after being dried, and the subsequent pre-
parations of the tea for use, to be left entirely to
parties at home where, it is thought there would be
no difficulty in preparing it for consumption. The party
from whom our contemporary has derived his infor-
mation, seems confident that the experiment will prove
successful if acted upon : and among the advantages
which would follow its realizatiou the foremost are, —
India would in short time be able to supply the demand
of Great Britain for Tea — the leaf in its raw state might
be compressed into less bulk than at present, and by the
exclussion to a much greater extent of the atmo.^pherie
air, reach England with a higher and purer flavour.
And further, it is probable that the Tea introduced
into England in its raw form for manufacture would be
exempted from the duty imposed upon manufactured
Tea. We trust that the trial may be made, and
that the success, the attempt deserves, may result.

The Ush of Suoae in Cement,— On this subject
Dr. Wray writes to a contemporary as follows:—" The
combination of sugar with chuna, or lime, in mortar
has been used in India from time immemorable.
This mortar is so tenacious that when, in Calcutta,
the remains of the Old Fort (in which was the
site of the infamous Black Hole) had to be removed,
some thirty years ago to make room for the new
Post Office," the mortar proved to be as hard as the
bricks which it bound together, so that it was impos-
sible to separate them. The best chuna is made of
calcined sea-shells. Another remarkable cement used
in India for wood, called soojee, is made from dough
of fine flour, kneaded in water until gluten only
remains. To this gluten is added a small quantity of
Chvna the.se combine and when mixed together form
a cement (of the nature of bird-lime) as tenacious
for wood as the other for brick-work. This soojee
is used in India by the makers of musical instruments,
and resist damp, "he objection to its use for Euro-
pean viols is that hey could not be taken to pieces
but there must be many other uses to which it
might be applied instead of glue, which will not
stand damp."— P/anferA^' Gazette.

Jak. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

465

THE

ASSOCIATION
EXHIBITION.

AND

PLANTEES'

" COLIND "

Ceylon Ooiumission, Oolouial and Indian Exhibition,
South Kensington, S.W., 19th Nov. 1886.
The Secretarj-. Planters' Association ol Oeylon, Kandy,

Oeylon.

On 9th November I was askfd to attend a mpeting of
those interested in the coffee adulteration and ad-
niixtiiie question, and I was appointed one of a pro-
vi^^lllli•*l Counnittee the other members being Messrs.
Clifford and Pasti'Ur, and Dr. Watt (India) to draw up a
scheme f>ir the furmatinn of an Association. Ceylon
and the Planters' Associaticu have always been in the
van in the discussion of this question and though
it ia unfortunately now but of secondary import-
ance, I felt that I could not ignore it. My hope
is that as soon as coffee has been placed on
an equal footing with tea a joint Association
for the trade protection of boti^ articles may be
be formed. To those interested in the question, ttie
P. A. report for year ending 17th February 1883,
conveys much information and further analyses and
the reports of the local Government B'ard and the
Board of Customs have greatly strengthened our
case. The Mys ire P. A. have placed £1(^0 at the
disposal of their London representative towards the
expenses required, and I think a Bill will be intro-
duced during next session of Parliaaient. Should the
parent Association or any of the braiiehfs see its
way to contribute moral or pecuniary support, the
representation of the case and the chance of success
will be strellgthen^d thereby.

I attended by invitation an interestitig meeting of
the Pnai maceuiical Society on 17th instant, where a
paper was read upon the drugs in the Exhibi'ion by
Mr. Holmes. There were several references to Cey-
lon drugs but I wab. too late to hear what the speaker
had to say about cinchona. In remarks which 1 was
called upon to make, I pointed out how much the
growers suffered by the mainti nance of high price of
quiuine by retail dealers and how much consumption
must be checked in consequence.

The Bark market has risen a little lately, but there
are large stocks, and a broker lold me a few days
ago he had sold 2,000 bales of S. Americ-m at 9d per
lb. for which 5s per lb. had been refused two years
ago. Coffee is very firm and rising steailily, and a
continuation of good prices may be looked for. "Cey-
lon teas remain firm and are much wanted," is M'-s.srs.
Gow, Wilson and Stanton's repoit of Itjth. My firm
yesterday purchased Nahalma, Hardenhuislj, and
Avisawella teas: all good teas, and at prices which
must be pleasant to the seller. When I write to you
next I expect to be able to tell you that I have
wound up the Exhibition work. — Faithfully yours.

(Signed) J. L. Shand.

JP. S. — I enclose an explanatory letter from Messrs.
Davidson & Co. on the subject of ''The Tea Plucker,"
and 1 heard yesterday Irom the Patent Office that
my app.icaiion had been refused. Messrs. H. S. King
& Co. have converted the goo J wi 1 they gained at
th<- Exhibition into a Company for the sale of Indian
and Oe>lon teas and coffees, and have opened new pre-
iLises iu Gracechurch Street. Other new Companies
are springing up all round.— (It itialed) J. L. S.

Sirocco Works, Belfast, 8th Nov. 18SG.

J. L. Rhaud Esq., c/o the Ceylon Commission, Colonial
Exhibition, South Kensii gtion, London, S. W.

Dear Sir,— Your favour of Srd iuatiaut was not receive!
here before we left off business on Saturday, 6th instant.
We wrote you on that day to know if a letter addressed to
the Ceylon Court would find you a we wished to communi-
cate with you in reference to the subject of the "Leaf-
gatherer " trade mark. We are very .sorry that our having
adopted this mark lias in any way conflicted with the
interests of your Syndicate but we do nut see thai it is
possible to abandon ihe "Leaf atherer" as our mark (having
used it no.v in our extensive tea business for a year and a
half) while it is quite possible for your Syndicate to adopt an-
other one for theirs. We received the Photo from a friend
who arrived home from India in January 1885. It wa.s simply
one of a large cuUeution 6£ similar subj.'Ct purchased and
brought home by the gentleman in question. At this time
69

•ur retail tea business was just developing into pretty con-
siderable dimensions ; and as we considered a trademark,
which would be illustrative of some process in the manufacture
of tea desirable on our packets, we applied iu April 1885 to
the Patent Office to have registered as our trademark a
representation of a girl plucking leaf from a tea bush, and
the sketch which we handed in with our application was, iu
fact, copied from the photo above referred to. There wiis no
name, or description on the photograph as to where, when
or by whom it had been taken, and it had no intimation
whatever on it as to copyright or other reservations, so that we
considered ourspfves at perfest liberty to illustrate the subject
as our re^ristered design, by copying this photograph. Had we
had the slightest idea that it was private property, or yours in
particular, we would have com" unicated with you bo-
fore copying it for our illustration. > ur application,
however, was in the first instance refused by the Ex-
aminer at the Patent Office, owing to a Mr. John
Stalkart of Darjeelmg having previously register- d as
his trademark a "representation of tea plucking," and
as ours was a similar subject ; the Examiner informed
us it could not be allowed unless Mr. Stalkarfe consent
was obtained to our registration of this trade mark, and
provided ''r. Stalkart was not actually using his. We
thereupon communicated with Mr. Stalkart, and as he was
not using his mark, he kindly gave his consent to our
adopting the design submitted to the Examiner. Wemay
here mention that Mr. Stalkart's design was as unlike
our sketch as it well corld be (to be classed under the
same heading), bu' a difference in the delineation of the
picture was, the Examiner said, of no importance in the
matter. Having obtained and produced Mr. Stalkart's con-
sent our design was duly passed and registered m August
1886, and we have been using it ever since on our tea
packets."

We saw a picture in the Graphic some mouths back
entitled, we think, " Leaf gathering at Strathellie Tea
Estate, Ceylon" and at once saw the similarity between
it and our registered mark, but, until then we had no
idea as to what partion ar 1 lace the picture emanated
from. We are sorry that in this matter we should now
find ourselves in collision with the claims of any of our
plantmg friends, but trust the explanation above given
will be considered by you and the Ceylon Tea Planters'
Association as satisfactory.

Our Mr iJavidson hopes to be in London by end of
n^xt week and would be pleased to meet you if you
would kindly let us know at what address he would
find you there.— We are, dear sir, yours faithtully,

(Signed) Davidson & Co,

CorrES Adultebation :— Draft Report or Provisional
Co.MMlTTEE. — Tlie P^ovl^ional Committee appointed at a
meeting of Coffee Producers, Merchaut-s and others, held
at South Kensington, on Tuesday, November 9th 1886, beg
to submit the following recommendations: —

1. That an Association be formed to be called " The
Coffee A.ssocintion.''

2. That t 13 Assoi-iation be form^'d for no purpose of
trade whatsoever, and that nene of its members be allowed
to use its name, directly or indirectly, f«>r any such purp se,
but that it have for its sole end the protection of the coffee
producer and consumer.

3. That with a view to these objects the aim of the
As.sociatioQ be to prevent the sale of adulterated coffee or
coffee admixtures, promote the consumption of pure coffee,
and compel \ endors to sell separately any chicory or other
ingredients which may be required by consumers.

4. That having re^iard to the declining consumption of
coffee in the United Kingdom, and the consequent loss of
revenue a result attributed by the Board of Customs " iu
a great degree to notorious adulteration," such an Association
may properly claim the support of producers, merchants and
dealers; while the shameful frauds which are committed upon
consumers of coffee, especially among the poorer classes, make
the objects of this Association of public interest and ad-
vantage.

5. That according to the annual reports of the Local
Government Board and the Board of Customs, the existing
law has been found wholly ineffectual to protect either
the consumer or the revenue, and, therefore, stands in urgent
need of amendment.

6. That, besides endeavouring to amend the law in the
directions indicated, the efforts of the Association be
directed, through the various temperance organizations, or
otherwise, to stimulate the pu''lic taste for infusions from
pure coffee, and encourage attempts to supply cheap and easy
methods of coffee making.

7. That representatives of India and the Colonies
now in this coui.try he requested to commiuiicate with
Planters and their various Associations, and invite co-
operation and subscriptions.

8. That donations and subs.'riptions be also invited from
all other persons interested in the proposed Association,
All annual subscription of 1 guinea for each member,
and of 2 guineas for- each firm, or a donation of £0 54
to constitute membership.

466

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan. I, 1887.

THE NEW DIMBULA COMPANY, LIMITED.

DiEECTOEs' Report and Accounts, Season 1885-86.
Directors. — Herbert Brooks, Esq., Chairman, W. S,
Bennett, Esq., W. J. Carver, Esq., J. B. Blorpbew.
Esq. Manager in Ceylon — Mr. F. R. SabouacUere.
Agents in Colombo — Messrs. J. M. Robertson & Co.
Chief Estate Superintendent— Mr. J. E. A. Dick-
Ludcr. Solicitors — Messrs. R. S. Taylor, Son & Hum-
bert. Auditor — Mr. G. Sneath (Messrs. Price, Water-
house & Co.) Bankers— The Nt w Oriental Bank Cor-
poration, Limited. Secretary — Mr. J. Swan.

Tiie directors have pleasure in presenting their First
Annual Report for the season ending 30th June, 1886.
This comprises the period from the formation of the
Company on the 15th March, 18S5, to the above date.
Referring to their circular of the 11th January last,
they have to mention that no additional shares have
been issued, and that the list has been closed.

The prime cost of the estate has been £20,938 4s.
If to this is added the £64,120 of Bonus Shares, issued
in terms of the prospectus, the nominal cost of the
property will then be £85,058 4s. The " working ac-
count " for the season shows a balance at credit, trans-
ferred to " profit and loss account," of £1,610 Is 8d.
To the former has been debited all expenditure in
Ceylon on upkeep and crop, and charges in London ;
also all expenses incurred in the formation of the Com-
pany. It will be noticed that two-thirds of the value
of the Cinchona Bark have been deducted from the
proceeds and transferred to a " Tea Extension Fund,"
the Directors, after mature consideration, being of
opinion that the whole of the said proceeds could not
justly be considered as belonging to income, inasmuch
as the capital value of the Cinchona plantations has
been depreciated by somewhat extensive felling. This
balance of £1,610 Is 8d. will suffice to provide for the
full dividend of 8 per cent, per annum on the A Shares,
leaving a small balince to be carried forward to next
account. The Directors will propose a resolution to
this effect. An interim Dividend at the above rate for
the period ending 3l8t December last has already been
paid. The " Tea Extension Fund " has been created
for the purpose, mainly, of planting a considerable
portion of the estate with tea in place of Coffee. The
expenditure already incurred in this direction, amount-
ing to £3,545 2s Id., has been debited to this account.
The property now consists of 700 acres of coffee in
bearing ; 1,204 acres of Tea, of which 50 acres are already
in bearing ; 255 acres of Cinchona ; and 96G acres of
forest, &c. — Total 3,125 acres. The Directors are of
opinion that the considerable measure of success which
has attended the first year's operations of the Com-
pany is, to a large extent, due to the careful manner
in which their interests have been watched over by
their Manager, their Agents, and the Chief Estate Super-
intendent, and to the zeal and ability displayed by their
Secretary. The Director who retires by rotation is Mr.
W. S. Bennett, who, being eligible, offers himself for
re-election. By order of the Board, J. Swan, Secre- tarv.
52, Gracechurch Street, London E. 0. Nov. 5th 1886.
Working Account 1885-0, for the Season ending
30th June, 1886.
Dr.
To Expenditure in Ceylon —
Ordinary expenditure on Crop —

£ s. d. £ 3. d.

Coffee ... ... 5,039 6 7

Tea ... ... 612 16 5

Cinchona ... 1,875 11 11

7,527 14 11

„ Expenditure, including interest, in
Ceylon and London attending the
purchase of the Estate and the
formation of the Company ... 1,358 3 H

„ Expenditure in Loudon —
Directors' Fees, Secretary and Gen-
eral Office Expenses ... ()70 9 11
„ Balance carried to " Profit and Loss

Account ... ... 1,610 1 8

N. B. — The Expenditure in Ceylon is
for thirteen m®nths, and in London

for fifteen months

£11,166 10 0

Cr.'
Bvnet proceeds of produce sold in London —
Coffee ... ... 6,011 4 0

Tea ... .. 815 13 2

Cinchona Bark ... 10,1)40 0 8

17,766 17 10
Less two-thirds of value
of Bark transferred to
"Tea Extension Fund 7,293 7 1

,, net proceeds of produce
sold in Ceylon —
Coffee ... ... 48 12 6

Tea ... ... 12 11 3

Cinchona Bark ... 88 3 1

10,473 10 9

,, Commission on Sales of Produce &c.
„ Balance of Interest ...

Dr.

Tea Extension Fund.
To Expenditure in Ceylon, in replanting
and improving the Estate, viz. : —
Coffee ... ... -112 14 0

Tea ... ... 3,035 5 8

Cinchona ... 97 2 10

149 6 10

181 16 11

61 15 6

£11,166 10 0

Balance carried to next Account as
per Balance Sheet ...

Dr.

3,545
3,748

1

0

Balance Sheet, June 30th, 1886.
To Capital Unissued —

£ s. d. £ B. d.
1,792 A Shares 17,920 0 0
429 B „ 4,290 0 0

2,159 C „ 21,,590 0 0

43,800 0 0

,, Capital Subscribed —

2,208 A Shares 22,080 0 0
,, Bonus Capital —
5,571 B Shares 55,710 0 0
841 C „ 8,410 0 0

86,200 0 0

£7,293 7 1

In alll3,000 Shares. 86,200 0 0

Total Capital 130,000 0 0

To Sundry Creditors —

Acceptances outstanding 6,761 0 5
Accounts do 132 18 7

■ 6,893 19 0

,, Amount of Tea Extension Fund, as per

Account herewith ... ... 3,748 5 0

„ Balance (as per Profit and Loss Account; 900 8 11

£97,742 12 11
Note.— The Cumulative Dividend of 8
per cent per annum, payable to the B
Shareholders out of future profits, amounts
to £4 110 3s Id. Cr.

By Prime Cost of the Estate
including Coolies' Pay in
Arrear ... ... 20,938 4 0

„ Amount of Bonus Capital

as per Contra ... 64,120 0 0

Total Nominal Cost of the

Estate ... ,. 85,058 4 0

By Cash at Bankers —

Deposit and Current Ac-
counts ... ... 9,739 13 4

Amount of Petty Cash... 5 16 7

9,795 9 11

,, Office Furniture ... ... 35 0 0

„ Produce on hand and in transit, 30th

June, 1886, since realized ... 2,708 l9 0

„ Unpaid Calls, since paid ... 145 0 0

Dr. £97,742 12 11

To Interim Dividend at the rate of 8 per
cent p( r annum, for the half-year end-
ing 31at December, 1885, on A Shares 709 12 9
„ Balance carried to next Account as

per Balance Sheet ... ... 900 8 11

£1,B10 1 8

JaNi I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

467

TEA -BUYING BBOKEKAGE IN CALCUTTA.

The fol owing letter was addressed to the Calcutta
Englishman in September last, and attention is drawn
to it by a Calcutta correspondent, who thinks it
necessary to point out to Indian Tea importers anxious
to reduce the cost of their Teas, that the payment
of the Calcutta buying brokerage is quite optional
with themselves. It is to be supposed that in these
days of abolishing middlemen's charges, this payment
will be swept away if, as implied, no service is rend-
ered for it : —

To the Editor of the '' Eiuilishman."

Sib, — A committee is sitting with the laudable
jjurpjse of placing Tea brokerage on a satisfactory
looting. The committee has assumed a very respon-
sible task, and will doubtless be glad to be helped to
a wise conclusion. Under the present system the
seller entrusts his Tea confidentially to a broker for
sale at the highest obtainable price, and the buyer
enttusts hia order confidentially to the same broker
to be implemented at the lowest possible price. Clearly,
if the committee be men of commousense and if
they really mean to do honest work, this feature will
at once be disposed of. In support of the above in-
dicated system certain curious arguments have been
tvolved. To justify the payment of br<^kerage by the
buyer (who in nine cases out of ten does not want
a buying broker at ail, and is seriously hampered in
his purchases by having to employ him), the follow-
ing considerations are put forward : —

It is said that the buying broker guarantees the
seller against loss by failure of the buyer, so that the
seller takes the risk of the selhng broker, the selling
brokers guarantees the buying broker, and the buying
broker takes the risk of the buyer ; an ingenious chain
constructed to afford some kind of raison d'etre for
the buying broker.

It is said that the buying broker is to guarantee
the buyer against false packing, — another ii, stance of
the anxious search for some ground on which to justify
the buying broker's existence. Can any one divine
on what principle these two responsibilities are to be
taken from the selling broker, on whom (if not on
the seller himself) they naturally rest ?

Another benefit to be derived from the buying
broker is accommodation for a day of two for thu
packing, which is done in the selling brokers' godowns.
A nute of admiration is the only comment that is
here required.

It is alleged that the buying broker refuses orders
fi'om London for the benefit of the Calcutta buyers.
If this means restricted competition, it calls for in-
stant remedy. The trade wants the freest competi-
tion without fear or favour. If it is not a broker's
business to act as agent of a London house, to decline
so to act is no favour to the Calcutta buyers.

The fact is plain that the only duties which can
reasonably performed by a buying broker are to place
his valuations and his knowledge, his services in t'.ie sale-
room and possibly during delivery, at the disposal of
the buyer who pays him. The aggregate imagination
of the trade cannot add to these duties without dress-
ing the buying broker in plumes kindly lent by the
selling broker for the purpose of giving him an impos-
ing presence.

When the Port Commissioners' Tea warehouses are
completed, all the Tea that passes through Calcutta
will be accommodated there. The trade.will then want
a selling broker (or, brokers), whose duty will be to
taste garden musters, to value for sale, to give ad-
vice, to act as auctioneers, and to collect proceeds.
There need be no del credere, because an impecuni-
ous buyer would have no difficulty in getting for a
mere Bank commission the assistance of a good firm
to lather his purchases between the signing of a
delivery order and the bill of lading, If there be a
buyer so untrustworthy that even this cannot be done
the sojner the trade is rid of him the better.

IjRt buying brokers be paid by those who ask their
services, ^^'e want open auctions, with full publicity
and the widest competition, and we wish the present
brokers to bo relieved of the painful and embarrass-
ing double functions under which they now groan.

When the trade is put upon ai?. intelligible and self-
working basis, I expect to see the gardens avail more
freely than hitherto of the nearest market for their
reduce. A Prophietoe.

— Produce Review.

CEYLON UPCOUNTRY PLANTING REPORT.

CACAO CROP AND PERPAEATION— NKW VAEIETIKS — TEA
AND TRADE MARKS— HOW TO GAIN REPUTATION FOR
WISDOM WITH COOLIES.

6th December 1886.
The Cacao crop which is at present being gathered
still keeps up its fair promise of being a full one.

The new system of drying the beans unwashed is,
judging from Mr. Shand's letter and the reports of
some of the London brokers, not finding that favour
at home which some of us would like.

Still the sale of 50cwt. unwashed and unassorted,
which is reported to have got 78a would lead one to
conclude that the condemnation of the system may
have been somewhat hasty, and that the expression
of opinion against the new mode, might have been
modified with a fuller knowledge. Even if the price
were not so good for unwashed as for washed, it has
to be remembered that the former has a considerable
advantage in weight— as much as 20 per cent some
say, although that does seem an outside figuie— -and
then the ri-ik of damage to the bean is lessened, as
also that of moulding. For while the outside sl<in of
the nib remains uninjured, the chance of its getting
mouldy inside is reduced to almost nothing. The ex-
terior may mould, but a rub on a mat or sack will
remedy that, whereas if the mould gets into the
inside of the bean, it is hard then to know what to do.

While on this subject I may say that I saw a pod
taken from one of the new variety of cacai trees
growing in the Peradeniya Gardens which contained
as many as 40 nibs, and these too, large and plump.
To have a decent acreage planted with trees of that
variety and doing well, would give a handsome re-
turn and as far as I could learn it was quite as hardy a
variety as any of the others. So many of the strongei-
type of cacao certainly do not turn out the kind of
nib which fetches the big price in the London market,
the beans being flat instead of round, that v^hen there
is one to be found which comes up to required con-
ditions it is well to know of it. The cacao being
harvested just now seems to nie, from what I have
seen, to be fuller, rounder, and bigger than what
usually obtains, the result doubtless of the fine
season we have been having.

In these days when an effort is being made to
reach the consumers of Tea direct, the subject of Trade
Marks is not an unimportant one. A neat packet
which takes the eye has much to do with success, and
an attractive trade mark is not without its effect.

A friend suggested to me the other day " The Bish-
op's Brand"— a bishop in full canonicals,— holding that
Ceylon and her bishop were well-known at home,
and this more especially in rehgious circles where tea
drinking represented at times devotional feeHng. 1
think the suggestion is a valuable one, and might
make the fortune of a pushing Company, skill.- 1 in
the arranging of tea fights. As a motto for '• The
Bishop's Brand " what could be better than the off-
quoted hymn of Heber's, those two lines, at loast,
but slightly modified, which too often represent the
knowledge of the civilized world in regard to the island
and ourselves :—

" Where every product pleases
And only m;ui is vile."

To have a bishop in fnll war paint, in a trade mark
of pure Ceylon Teas, conAng before the British public
as a type of Heber's " man '" would certainly remove
all doubt as to our belief in the doctrine of general
depravity ; and our stron,', fine-flavoured teas as the
latest specimen of our newest " product," would in
time gain such favour as to call for a revision ot the
hymn books, and all new editions would eliminate

" Where every prospect pleases.
for the new reading of " The Bishop's Brand

468

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan I, 1887.

The story is told of a Planter who just return'^tl from
a trip hornp, incidentally letting out to his tea-makor
the extent of hib kno wledge of manufacturing tea.
Duriu« his absence, Lis property had come into bearing
and the tea-house was in full swing when he arrived
on the estate from his home trip. Hu had made up
his mind to go in for the kind of reputation which
can be won by silence: feel his way, and speak only
when he felt he knew what he was talking about.
Accordingly in his walk through the tea-house there
was a " cock in his beaver," a repose in his maonpr,
and a solemnity of silence which might have impos' d
on the most skilful, and have sat becomingly on the
highest authority. There was, however, a tray on
the fire, and when wilh a fine gravity he proceeded
to stir gently the tea therein, smell it, and look wise,
alas ! alas ! for his reputation, even the humblest cooly
in the firing squad, knew that "someone had blun-
dered."

Since then I hear he has recovered the good opinion
of his subordinates. He stuck up a thermometer in
the factory, hung up a slate with a pencil below it,
had a look at the degree of heat registered from time
to time, jotted them down en the slate, put on the
look of wisdom, and kept silence. This little game
I fancy he will keep up until he feels satisfied he
knows what is what, and then he will speak to the
purpose. It is strango how the cooly is so easily im-
posed upon in this way ! I had a kangani, the most
suspicious Tamil I ever had to do wi'h, but he told
me one day of a wonderful native doctor whom he
had consulted, and who had promised t^ cure him.
"Has he done you any good," I asteed him later on,
"that you should think so much of him?" "Well
no, but he's a good physician, for he sat for a whole
day turning over the leaves of his hooka to find what
ailed me and how I Lould be cured." He never cured
him, but yet the kangani never lost faith in th .• m m.

Peppercorn.

TEA ROLLERS AND DRYERS.

In the following article, which appears m their
advertising organ, Messrs. Davies & Co. combine
public information and indications of altered business
arrangements after a pleasant manner : —

The well-deserved and pronounced success of the
Roller of the day, "Barber's," bids fair to far ex-
ceed the expectations of its enterprising inventor.
The unavoidable delay in its introduction in the
Indian market, caused by Mr. Barber's absence in
England, is much to be regretted, but the reput-
ation it has established will speedily result in its
universal adoption in that country. That we are
justified in forming this opinion mast be admitted
when we state that last month, November, we wired to
the manufacturers in England confirming an order re-
ceived for India for no less than Sixty Barber's Rollers.
This, we think we may venture to assert, is the
largest order for Tea machinery ever secured.

Intending purchasers in Ceylon will do well to
order in sufficient time, to prevent disappointment,
as the execution of the above commission will neces-
sarily occupy the attention of manufacturers for a
considerable time. As the fortunate Agents of this
desirable machine, we cannot feel very much regret
at losing the Agency for Lyles's Roller. Last mouth,
in accordance with instructions from the proprietors
of Lyles's Patent, the Calcutta Planters' Stores and
Agency Coy., we formally transferred the Ceylon
Agency to Messrs. Mackwood & Co. From the fact
of our utter inability to dispose of any of the Ly'es'
rollers during the two years we have acted as Sub-
Agents in Ceylon, we must candidly admit the justice
of the proprietors' action in effecting a change, but
whether such change will prove of advantage to
them or their new Agents is very questionable. This
maohine necessitates the employment of bags, against
which system (so far as our e.xperience teaches)
there has been, and still is, the very strongest objec-
tion. The change, therefore, is required in the
ciachine itself. To ensure business by agents or priu-
palma it ie necessary to produce a durable machine,

simple in construction, giving the best description of
work in the shortest time, and easy of manipulation,
at a fair and reasonable price.

In anticipation of our becoming Agents for Barber's
New Dryer, and at the request of Messrs. Davidson
& Co., we have likewise transferred the Sirocco re-
newed parts to Messrs. Mackwood & Co. In this
Agency Messrs. Mackwood & Co. have more reason
for congratulation than in the case of Lyles's rollers,
for with the increasing number of Siroccos brought
into use, and the great susceptibility to wear and
tear of parts in the Sirocco, the constant demand
for the renewal of such parts must prove a source
of great profit alike to manufacturer and Agent. As
a Tea Dryer, however, there is no doubt Davidson's
Sirocco at present stands first on the list, and
knowing this we are fully alive to the task Mr.
Barber has before him in perfecting a Dryer to beat
the Irish Machine. Under the circumstances, it
would be somewhat premature for us to enter upon the
merits of Biirber's Dryer, but one leading feature
which has been kept constantly in view by the in-
ventor is that the annoyance, trouble and expense
to which Planters are now frequently put in provid-
ing new parts to the Dryer should be as much as
possible, if not altogether, avoided. Messrs. Ruston,
Proctor & Co.. of Lincoln, have had the Machine
in hand for some time past, and before this is pub-
lished we expect the first one will be on Blackstone
Estate for trial.

West India Produce.— A series of interesting arti-
cles Oil the West Indian pro lucts at the Colonial and
Indian Exhibition, which has lately appeared in the
Sugar cane magazine, conclu les with remnrking that,
on the whole, tuese attractive and nicely decorated
courts give one a very sati~f ictory idea of the products
aud c^pibilities of our West Indian coloaies. The survey
is', however, not altogether satisfactory at the present
moment. "These islands are certainiy not developed at all
as they might and ought to be. Much capital has, no
doubt, been spent upon them, and the results have
not been always satisfactory to tne investors Assur-
edly this is not becHUse the West Indian islands are
incapable of producing ample high returns. The
bulk of the land is at the present time purely waste,
and probably the main difiSculty is the actunl impos-
sibihty of procuring sufficient labour. The islands, we
, are tod, in spi'e of the large commerce in drugs,
fruits, &;c., are certainly now suffering, most of them,
from their e.<c'us ve dev tian to snarar culture. But
if the labour difficulty could be met, and a judicious
variety of pro iuots couM be iutroduced, there seems
little doubt that the return would be nearly as pro-
fi able as of old, if not sti'l more so. The pipers to
which we have ju-t Hllu.led conclude witii the follow-
ing:— "Since mo-t of then-, [the isaudsl are Crown
colonies, surely it behoves the Home Government to
stir in the mntt^r, and se^^ whether it cannot help
these once f-iviurite colonies to help themselves."

The Quinine Market. — A London Correspond-
ent who has been consulting a large dealer in quinine
and an authority who carefully watches the market,
sends us the following result of enquiry : —
" The general opinion in the trade is that this
article has touched the bottom. Its downward
course was determined by the following reasons : —
1. Larger exports of bark from Ceylen. 2. The
frantic efforts of the fraudulent Mi'an Factory
who made millons of ounces annually which they
deposited with Bankers to draw against, when the
crash came. This quinine was forced on the market,
lot after lot, as last as possible, prices falling
with every sale. 3. This affected the trade of
regular makers who bought less bark, the smaller
demand again brought bark (and quinine) down.
It will prob.ibly experience a steady rise for : —
1. Low prices have stimulated consumption. 2.
Makers are again at legitimate work and the
Mi an Factory has gone. 3. S.uiller (prob.ibly)
import of bark. The bark market is all ready

Jan. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

469

better, and (juinine has risen 4d per ounce, and
makers are selling carefully." A home journal
which refers to the correspondence and discussions
in the Observer says : —

" If the statement made by a leading firm of London
brokers that ' the price of cinchona bark depends
entirely on the shipments from Ceylon ' be well
founded, it certainly seems desirable that the Ceylon
planters should take suitable steps for regulating
their supply more in accordance with the natural
demand. "

Thk Quinological Laboeatoky established at Har-
lem (Holland in 1884 by the late Mr. 3. C. B.
Moens will be continued by Messrs. N. van def
Sleen and W. J. E. Hekmeyer, under the style or
Moens, van der Sleen and Hekmeyer. — Chemist <&
Drvgjist.

Quinine Manufacture. — An advertisement from
from Madras in our columns today ought to have
a special interest to gentlemen meditating experi-
ments in the local manufacture of quinine. If
the owners of cinchona clearings were able to
form a Syndicate for the purpose of establishing
such a manufactory or even one to secure th^ less
refined alkaloids, they would probably do more
to increase the valus of their bark than by any
other meeans.

Tea in DarjeElxng. — I hardly think I cau re-
member so many changes in the management of
gardens as have taken place this year. The season
has been simply disastrous for many estates especially
in the Terai, and Messrs. Lloyd and Co.'s failure will,
of course, not mend matters for the concerns which
were being financed by them. Some gardens have
done well, but I think if an average could be struck
it would be found that the season jast passed was
the worst on record for many years. Most hill
gardens have done very fairly well owing to beiug
able to maintain the "hill flavour." Given a bad
season, and the universal remedy — change of manage-
ment—is adopted. Foolishly I think in most in-
stauces, because a man who knows all the ins and
outs of a garden as well as all the coolies, so long as
he has a fairly good head onJiis shoulders and does
his work will arrive at much better results than a
stranger. The gardens which do best in this district
are those which have been under the same manage-
ment year after year. Local expenditure is being
heavily cut down, another mistake I think. It is in
Calcutta that the pruning knife should be applied, and
that not by any means sparingly. But there is little
chance of that step being taken as the "ring " always
takes very good care to command the majority of
votes at every shareholders' meeting. The " practical
gardener," with a Bible in one hand and a spade in
the other, seems to be the coming man. He can
live and grow fat on a salary that a gentleman would
starve on, and will put up with " midshipman's
allowance" — more kicks than half-pence. Pruning is
well in hand on nearly all the gardens now. By the
way, talking of pruning a friend of mine, who is an
old and very successful maniger, told me that he
was going to try what tome is a new departure on a
small scale. It is to prune early, and, as he hopes,
to get a small flush a week or two after. This of
course meant pruning before the sap had ceased to
c irculate. It will be interesting to hear what rdsalts
he has ohi&inadi.—Iiviian Planters' Gazette, Dec- 7th.

Co('\. Le.\f and Sir R. Chuisxison.— This
well-known Professor of Materia Medica in his 78fch
year in one of his many mountain climbs
experimented in the way of chewing the Peruvian
cuca or coca leaves. He took ong walks, and
finally ascended Ben Voirlich, where he experi-
mented with the leaves. In uis journal, he writes
thus of what took place on Ben Voirlich : —

'• I reached the top very tired. D.^t«r ni nation
alone carried me the last six liimired tV^r. As soon
as I arrived, I be^an to chew cuca leaves, and con-
sumed ninety grains during the half-hour spwnt on
the summit and the first half-hour of the descent
When I started for the descent, the son.sa of fatigue*

was entirely gone. I went strait down without a
stop in one hour and a qunrter to the road, not
much tired— able to walk comfortably a mile and a
half to meet the carriage. Although my limbs felt
rather heavy to mive, [ seeme 1 mt ti cire for this."
In a more formal report on the subject, he says :—

" The chewing of cuca removes extreme fatigue and
prevents it. Hunger and thirst are suspended ; but

eventually appetite and digestion are unaffected

It has no eftVct upcn the mental faculties, so

far aa my own trials and other observations go, ex-
cept liberating them from the <luluess and drowsiness
wbich follow great bodily fatigue."
Surely- -says ths London Spectator — this Peruvian
leaf ought to be better known than it is. What is
doing with it in Ceylon by planters ? At Peradeniya
Gardens the other day, Mr. Ferdinandus gave us
leaves to try " in the heat of the day," the
chewing of which was not unpleasant, though the
taste somewhat resembled that of grass. The
Garden authorities ought to experiment with their
collectors, getting them to use the coca leaves on
their long jungle journeys, and to report the results.

Tea Weights.— Al trial of some interest tn the tea
trade has recently been decided in the Court of Queen's
Bench in favor of the plaintiff, who sued the defen-
dants, their Calcutta Agents, for the value of differ-
ence in weight of 96 chests Indian tea bought by
them for the order of the said plaintiff. The differ-
ence was 587 lb on an invoice of 9,225 lb. being the
garden weight, and which their agents had accept'ed as
correct aad paid for as such. The cases were in good
order and the difference could not have been stolen,
lost or caused by driage. The defendants pleaded the
custom of paying for the garden weights and not
actual weight, and some evidence was called on this
point, which was, however, not very conclusive. The
Judge, in summing up, concurred in thinking that the
action was oue of some importance, b'-cause on the
one hand there was a sort of imputation that fraudulent
conduct had been pursued somewhere, and on the
other hand a custom had been set up which, if it ex-
isted, was a somewhat dangerous one — that where prin-
cipals ordered an agent to send them a certain quantity
of tea, hf! should have the power by custom to send
them a much smaller quantity, charging at the same
time for the larger quantity — a custom which required
a great deal of watching, inasmuch as customs often
arose in a trade which were very much to the detri-
ment of the public an 3 the customer. In this case
there were two issues— one being for the plaintiffs to
establish, and the other for the defendants. It was
for the jury to say, first, whether it had been made
out to their s itisfaction that the plaintiffs had giv^n
instructions to the defendants to buy so many chests
of tea for thera,that they paid for the chests on the basis
that the chests would contain a certiin weight of tea,
and that when the chests cime liome they were found
U'y be so much short of the invoice weight. The de-
fendants suggested that the short weight might have
been caused by pilfering, but the jury would not presume
frauds and rasca'ities unless there was strong ground
for supposing that such malpractices were the true
explanation af the deficiency of weight.' The jury
had been made aware bj' pl.^adiugs of the nature
of the custom which the defendants had set up as an
answer to thb claim. Such a custom must be certain
— so certain that if nothing wassai-hthe custom would
be assumed to be imported with the contract. It was
entirely fu- the jury to siy whether there was so iiui-
vorsal a custom that, if an agent sent home chests of
tea whieii were materiblly and substantially short
in weight the princip il was not entitled to receive in
respect of the deficiency. Could they say that a cus-
tom wis inipliol into the bargain, tint garden weights
should he accepted ? If that wad not mideout to their
satisfaction the defence of the custom failed ; and then
the only remaiHing question would be whether the
plaintitf^ had made out, in the a'^s-^noe of specific evi-
dence as to the breaking of the chest intrmsit, that
the invoice weight was in ex'-ess of the actual weight,
and that they had paid for the excess. — Loudon Cor.
Lo cal " Times."

470

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan I, 1887.

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF LIMING.
The value of lime for agricultural purposes has
beeu kiiowu from a very remote period. According
to Plmy, the Gauls applied lime with great success
to their corn lands, while the Romans found an oc-
casional dressing very beneficial to vine.s and olives.
In our own country the practice of liming — that is
to say, the use of kiln-burued limestone — is confined
to certain localities. Thus, in Scotland, in the north-
ern and western counties of England and in South
"NVnles, it is much esteemed by practical farmers ;
while in the southern and eastern counties, where the
soil is naturally m ire calcareous and associated with
the upper and lower chalk formations, and where the
ehmate is diier and the rainfall less, it is not cus-
tomary to apply caustic lime, though great benefit
results from the use of chalk marl once in nineteen
or twenty years. It is to be feared that, with the
disappearance of the summer fallow, the practice of
liming has been neglected, and too much reliance has
been placed upon artificial fertilisers. This, if true,
is gi-eatJy to be n-gretted, inasmuch as, in order to
get the full benefit from any manure, it is absolutely
necessary that the land should contain a sufficient
supply of avail ible lime. We should remember that
not only is lime a necessary constituent of the min-
eral portion of all plants and crops, but it prom )tes
the more rapid decomposition of those organic matters
which are present in the soil, or which may be added
as manure — converting th^m, in fact, into nitrates
and carbonates. Further, lime exerci.ses an important
solvent action on the insoluble silicates which are
dormant in the soil, but which may be decomposed
by caustic lime, and made to liberate their potash
and sodi. Again, lime neutra'ises, all vegetable acids,
and is therefore especially necessary in the reclamation
of peaty land ; while on stiff clays it innproves the
physical character as well as the chemical composi-
tion, and thus promotes a more healthy ami vigorous
growth in the future crops. Listiy, its judicious use
is considered a specific on those soils which produce
turnips affected by the disease known as '" fingers-
and-toes;" and where aciil manures have been used
year by year, a good dressing of lime cannot fail to
be specially useful, and to insure the complete utili-
sa^ion of the soluble phosphate contained in super-
phosphates and dissolved bones.

It is, therefore, evident that lime is a most important
element in aU fertile soils, and has been truly likened
to a key wirh which the stores of plant food may
be unlocked an) made available. Indeed, excessive
liming is most exhausting, and has given rise to the
old saying that lime is good for the father, but not
for the son. Liming should be followed, however, by
manuring, and then the full benefit will be obtained.
In the analyses of drainage waters from the Roth-
amsted experimental plots, made some years ago by
the late Dr. Voelcker, it was clearly shown that practi-
cally the whole of the nitrogen compounds which
were lost in the drainage water passed off in the form
of nitrates in combination with lime. Thus, from the
unmanured plot there were 687 grains of lime and
1'05 grains of nitric acid per gallon; while from the
])lot manured with farmyard dung the drainage water
contained I0'32 grains of lime and 434 grains of nitric
acil per gallon. From the plot where 6001b. of sul-
phate of ammonia was applied per acre, the water
contained as much as 13 81 grains of lime and 4-55
grains of nitric acid. Lime, therefore, furnishes the
most effective carrier or fixer of the nitric acid as
fast as it is formed in the soil ; and we have every
reason to believe tV^at the composition of drainage
water presents us with the best idea how and in
what form plants take up their nourishment — at least,
so far as their food is in a soluble form. It also
appears from these interesting analyses that sulphate
of ammonia becomes decomposed during its passage
through the soil, sulphuric acid uniting with lime
and passing off in th'j drainage, while the ammonia
is retained in the soil, a portion only being lost in
the form of nitrate of lime.

Having said so much respecting the value of lime,
let us briefly cousider the chief characteristics of the

best qualities. Usually the most suitable limestone
for agricultural ])urposes is that which yields, after
burning, the purest and finest powder on slaking,
also the whitest and lightest lime ; for the less weight
per bushel, the better the quality.

It is important that lime should slake readily and
break up into a fine powder, \s'hich can be easily and
uniformly scattered on the surface of the land, which,
if arable, should be subsequently harro;ved. Lime
should never be ploughed in, for it has a natural ten-
dency, as it becomes dissolved, to work downwards,
and beyond the reach of ordinary farm crops. Moun-
tain limestone yields excellent lime; as a rule,
1 ton should give on careful burning in the kiln,
about 11 cwt of caustic or quick lime. Great care
has to be taken not to overheat the kiln, for when
highly burned the lime will not slake readily. The
goodness or richness of different qualities of lime may
be noted by observing the quantity of water which
each sample will take up or absorb during the pro-
cess of slaking — the more the better, as the .superior
kinds swell out and increase in bulk from three to
four times their original size.

Quick lime is soluble in 770 parts of water, and
has a hot alkaline txste, as opposed to the mild taste
of powdered chalk, which is only soluble to the ex-
tent of about two grains per gallon, or 1 part in 3,500
parts of water.

It frequently happens that limestones from the
same district vary considerably, both in their physi-
cal properties and chemical composition, so that some-
times the less pure stone yields the better lim^, as
it slakes quicker and without water being specially
added ; moreover, it contains appreciable quantities
of phosphate of lime. In such cases, where any doubt
exists in the farmer's mind, it is desirable to have
the aid of chemical analysis before making a selec-
tion, especially where carting some distance has to be
considered.

In addition to the mountain or carboniferous lime-
stone, which occurs so extensively in South Wales,
Sotnersetshire, Devonshire, and other counties, there
are very fair lias limestones — as, for instance, that
found at Aberthaw in Glamorganshire, which has a
great local reputation, chiefly, however, for building
purposes, as it sets and does not swell much on
slaking, so that it is better adapted for cement-
making than for agricultural purposes.

In Pembrokeshire we find the Sulirian limestone,
also the Caradoc, which, although containing 80 per
cent of carbonate of lime, is regarded by geologists
as a sandstone, on account of its gritty formation.
Lastly, the oolitic limestones of Gloucestershire, and
the chalks of Kent and Sussex, form another
class which yields a great variety of caustic lime ;
but we have only space to observe that in most
cases, the softer the original rock, the poorer and
weaker is the lime.

Now a few words reg.arding the kind of soils that
are improved by liming. It may be truly said that
there are few soils which are not benefited by the
occasional application of lime in some of its numerous
forms.

On peaty land and heavy clays there can be no
doubt that slaked lime, applied at the rate of 4 or
5 tons per acre, will prove an economical dressing
every seven or eight years.

On light sandy or gravel soils, as well as those
formed from the decomposition of granitic rock,
which are naturally poor in humus and organic re-
mains, much suiriUer applications are advisable ; thus
not more than one ton, or about fifty bushels per
acre, are perhaps quite sufficieut. Indeed, on such
soils it is generally safer to apply lime in the form
of ground chalk, chalk marl, shell sand, or in some
cheap form of phosphate and carbntiato combined,
such as the recently introduced basic slag, which in
certain localities can bi' obtained in a finely ground
state on moderate terms. Those who are familiar
with Cornwall are aware that immense quantities of
shell sand are sent inland annually, for application
to the arable land. This sea sand varies in its rich-
ness in carbonate of lime, according to the amount

Jan. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURliST.

47 i

of finely ground shells present; thus at Padstow it
contains as luuch as 80 per cent, while further up
the Channel, at Bude, the proportion of carbonate
becomes reduced to r<0 per cent, and at Hartland
Point there is only 30 per cent, the remainder con-
sisting of siliceous sand, associated with some oxide
of iron.

Practical experience has taught the native farmers
which locality yields the sand richest in carbonate
of lime, and therefore the most economical for their
land, and it is interesting now to know the reason for
such selection, Furthei-, this local practice of dressing
light soils with finely-ground shells is a strong argument
in favour of the value of insoluble phosphate when
applied judiciously, in the form of ground bone ash
or Cambridge coprolite, on land naturally deficient
in lime and fairly rich in vegeta'sle matter. Of course,
these insoluble phosphates take longer to become
available than is the case with solvible phosphate,
which becomes at once precipiated when mixed with
the soil, and consequently is in a much finer condi-
tion than any ground raw phosphate. Hence, for
turnips superphosphate or dissolved bones will be
preferred, because they afford an immediate supply
of that food which the young plant requires in the
period of growth, so as to get quickly beyond the
reach of the ravages of the fly. On land poor in
lime we should either use a mixture of soluble and
insoluble phosphates, or we should apply a dressing
of chalk, sa3- 4 or 5 tons per acre, and see that it
is well spread over the surface before marking out
the turnip ridges and applying superphoppoate, as,
for instance, was done in one of the experiments
with swedes in Warren Field at Woburu, where the
application of 5 tons of chalk alone per acre caused
an increase of 2 tons of swedes over that obtained
on the unmanured plot.

On pasture, lime is best applied in the form of
composts made from ditch cleanings, heaped together
for some months and put on during frosty weather;
also road scrapings, if derived from limestone, make
an excellent dressing for grass land, for some of the
best and sweetest herbage is grown on old pasture
which has been well chalked or is naturally already
rich in carbonate of lime. Lime destroys the coarser
grasses, and favours the growth of the finer-flavoured
and more nutritious herbage.

In addition to turnips and swedes, the following are
crops specially requiring a liberal supply of lime : —
Clover, peas, beans, vetches, and sainfoin. On land
that has been properly limed, clover sickness is said
to be less known than where this old practice has
been neglected.

During the last twenty years the writer has had
numerous instances brought to his notice where judi-
cious liming has been attended with the most satis-
factory results, both on arable and pasture land. But
lime should be applied with caution and in moderate
doses, and, moreover, be followed with manure of
some kind, for crops require other constituents be-
sides lime. In these times of depression in agricul-
ture it is well to recall the attention of farmers to
some of the old practices of their predecessors, and to
remember that such were introduced into the category
of local customs as the result of many years' practical
experience.

There is, of course, judicious liming and injixdicious
liming, and there are certain districts where the
practice is carried to excess, while in other it seems
to be almost entirely neglected.

Further, it has been pointed out in this paper, there
are a great number of light sandy and gravelly soils
which will not stand the application of lime in its
fresh caustic state, but which would be greatly bene-
fited by a dressing in its original form of carbonate
of lime, such as we find in chalk, shell sand, or
ground coral.

In conclusion, there is one form in which lime can
always be applied with safety and without any fear
that the results will be vinsatisfactory, namely, as a
compost with vegetable refuse and soil. If the ditches
along many of our country roads were more fre-
quently cleaned out, and used in this form, a most

valuable dressing would be afforded for the neighbour-
ing fields, be they in pasture, corn, or roots, while
the reals would be drier, and less liable to get flooded
during wet weather. .John Hughes, F.O.S.,

Consulting Chemist to the Ceylon Planters' Associ-
ation, 79, Mark-lane, London E.G. — Field.

THE QUEENSLAND SUGAR INDUSTRY.

Brisbane, October 24th.
The sugar-cane growers and sugar manufacturers of
Qu-^ensland seem destined to meet with unexpected
troubles. Only a few years back they were nearly
swamped by reason of the " rust " disease ; then after
a brief period of prosperity a series of dry years
obtained, and the crops were very short, so much so
that it got to be commonly asserted that the lands
were exhausted ; on the top of this came the scarcity
of labour and political harassings, accompanied by a
fall of 100 per cent in the price of sugar. Last
year was a glorious season, and far more sugar was
manufactured than ever before, the total quantity
being 66,000 tons, but this year there comes the
singular trouble that a still more glorious season than
was that of I8S0 has prevailed, and so there is far
more sugar in the fields than can ever be gathered.
U.sually the tropical growth of vegetation in Queens-
land commences in December (about Christmas), and
ceases in May, and the rest of the year the charac-
teristics of the climate are decidedly nontropical, for
the winter, spring, and early summer are almost rain-
less, and dessicating westerly winds prevail. This is
the time the sugar manufacturer chooses for his
operations, for then the cane ceases in a great
measure to grow, the juice attains a high density,
and carting to the mill of the thousands of tons of
cane is easily accomplished through the ground being
hard. Now, this past winter and spring have been
abnormally wet and mild. Rain every week, and
heavy continuous rain every fortnight, would about
characterise the weather report. The temperature
has been mild, too, the drying winds having been
absent. Consequently the cane has never ceased
growing, and there is the grandest crop ever known
on the fields, even on the old cultivated lands, until
lately supposed to have been worked out. The plan-
ters have made several starts at crushing, and as
often have had to discontinue through the lowering
of the density of the juices, the dilBcuIties of keep-
ing the mill supplied, and getting the megass (crushed
cane) dry enough to use for fuel. The manufacturing
season is now well advanced, and the probability is
that the weather will continue showery, for the
thunderstorm season has set in ; that it will close
early is also likely, for the summer rains will begin
about Christmas. It is thus absolutely innpossible
that these fine crops can be gathered this year. This
is more or less the state of things at all the centres
of the industry, from the extreme north to south of
Brisbane, for even on these southern rivers the win-
ter passed without the slighest touch of frost ; the
cane kept green and growing, so that crops of the
south are almost as luxuriant as are those in the
north. From Mackay northwards, the rains have
l)een excessive. At Cairns and the Johnstone about
140 inches have falleti since Christmas last. At Mackay
thej' had 8 inches during September, which is usually
the best crushing month of the year. It is now night
and day, continuous work, at all the principal mills.
Nevetheless, it is certain that the gross returns will
be considerally less from that district than were those
of last season. The selectors who grow cane for
sale to the mills of course will feel this absence of
returns severely, for the mills will take but a limited
quantity of outside cane so long as their own is left
uncut. The quality of the sugar produced is quite
equal to that of last year, and which obtain such
general praise in all markets.

There is one district which this singularly wet sea-
son has suited exactly, and that is the Burdekin
delta lands. This locality has the least rainfall of
any of the sugar centres, and although an immense
expenditure of capital was incurred in establishing

472

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

rjAN. 1, 1837.

the industry, the returns so far have been disap-
poiuting, sokly in consequence of the non-growth of
the cane through -want of moisture. Coiisequently
the large Airdmiilan mill (whicb, by-the-by, I believe
mainly representrd Victorian capital), aftiran expen-
diture of over £100,000, was closed, and Arrange nientg
made for the cane to be cruslied at an adjoining
estate. The re.sult of the frequent raius is that the
cane crop on Airdmiilan is splendid, and it is doubt-
ful if the two Inrge mills, Seatorth and Pioneer, will
be able to take it off. Cane which had been left
to run out has astonished every one by its growth,
and second ratoons have yielded 30 cwt. sugar per
acre, thus proving the suitabdity of the delta Boil
if only it can be watered. The droughts of preceding
years led to extensive irrigation works being adopted,
and at the two plantations above-nanxed they have
pumps which throw 300,0(.i0 gal. an hour, there being
an inexhaustible supply of good water at a depth
of seldom more than 12ft. Irrigated land has been
found to yield four tons of sugar per acre.

The reports from the M'ide Bay and Burnett dis-
tricts are exceedingly favourable, and the return this
season promises to be what the local paper terms
" phenomenal." The outijut from millaquiu, on the
Burnett, is calculated by Messrs. dan and Company
to reach 10,000 tons, and the same firm consider that
their manufartory at Yengarie, ou the M*ry River,
will turn out 5 000 tons.

bane and Southern districts. Here there have always
The only places iu which there will be a notable
decrease of jield through the closure of mills and
the relinquishment of CHne culture will be the Bris-
beena number of small mills, aud every year makes
it more apparent that such cannot compete with the
larger establishments and there more perfect machi-
nery and organisation.

Of late there has been no difficulty about the lab-
our question. The supply of Kanakas has been ample,
and a great part of those now on the plantations
and that arrive from time to time are those who have
previously served a term of years, and who elect to
reengage for plantation life iu preference to ramaining
on their own island.

Mackay, Oct. 25th.

The first half of the crushing season 1886 has been
a continuous trial to the patience of sugar growers
in tropical Queensland. The spring months, the driest
of the twelve, according to records extending over 20
years, have this year been the most rainy, the fall
during September having exceeded that of any month
of tlie Wet season. As a consequence, instead of half
the crops being in at this stage, barely, one-third are
yet milled, and in place of the tich juice usually
supplied by canes cut in October a density of 9deg.
Beaume only has ruled utitd within the last fortnight
The quality of the liquor manipulated, accordingly,
involves an abnormal consumption of fuel, and as
such is gall and bitterness to the careful-minded
proprietor ; the quantity, however, measured per ton
of cane is above average, and, in this respect, has
seldom been excelled. If the curious reversal of
sea^on8 continues, and the late spring is followed
by an equally late summer, with January dry, the
harvesting will probably be completed, and the total
estimated output of 20,000 tons successfully attained.
Under less favourable cicumstances man> estates will
be compelled to leave fields to stand over until 1887.
In order to avoid this undesirable result the most
strenous efforts are being miide to recover lost ground,
and labour of all kinds is in brisk demand. Brisbane
has been opportunly lelived of some of its unem-
ployed by the ma igned planter, who, no doubt, re-
joices in thi-i -heaping political coals of fire on +ho
head.s of the Queen-street Government. It is a case of
the north to the rescue, and seldom has better labour
been offered mill ownf'rs than the young fellows who
have lately been iandeil here at Government expense
under agreements for three months at a wage of IDs.
to 12s. per week with rations.

The Javanese, on the other hand, introduced as a
sabstitute for the failing Kauaka supply, are con-

stantly in the Police Court on various charges, and
have disappointed expectations. In physical activity
they are deficient ss conipare i with the cheery I'oly-
nesian, but they endeavour in mental quicknes.<« to
atone for this hhortcorniug, being prolific in every
variety of deceit in order to escape work. These re-
marks are particulary apphcable to the town hands
from Batavia or Singapore. Tho<e agricultural labour-
ers from the interior of Java, who have recently
being indented with their families, are a quieter class,
from whom better results are anticipated. The Kanaka,
however, remains facile princeps in all the essentials
of a reliable nature. — Australasian.

Coffee Peospects in Kaduk.— Nov. The Koppa
side of the District has begun coffee picking, just
the first round of a little ripe here and there. The
general picking will most likely begin in abaut 15
days more. The season is later than last year by
nearly a mouth, in Koppa, and vrill be almost two
mouths later in the Chickmuglur and Mudgiri Talooks,
due wholly tn the lateness of the blossom showers which
fell at the close of April, instead of the usual middle
of March falls- The croi^s too will turn out a much
smaller average. I have not heard yet of any of one
estate with a full bearing crop. I have heard, though
the boast of two or more estates with a " spleudiu crop"
but the estates belong to persons whose words are
always taken with a very liberal pinch of salt. You
may rely on this ! The crops are not equal to the
usual aver:ige ; some have half, and others three-quar-
ters, and this is as close as it is possible to make to an
average.— B.S.—J/af/ra5 Weekly Mail.

Coffee-Drinking and its Effects.— New York has
a doctor of unusual brightness, who has busied him-
self lately writing pithy aud scholarly monograms on
some of the baptii^ed aud endorsed evils of society.
His latest manifesto is on "How Coffee Affects People; "
and the aim of the paper is to show that cofl[ee is
one of the most powerful drugs in the list of medicines.
The proof of its power as a drug is shown by the fact
that it is used to a greater extent than any other
as an antidote for poisons, both animal and vegetable.
He urges that he does not desire to reach the ear of
the public in general, but of thi se who have pains iu
the region of the heart, oppressed breathing, and an
irregalar pulse ; those who are exceedingly nervous aud
unable to sleep at night ; those who have a full feeling,
dizziness, aud pains of a neuialgic character in the head;
who have nausea and sourness of the stomach with-
out ; having transgressed the laws of life ; who have
pains in the liver, a yellow skin, with e5es of the same
sortd and lasily, who have hemorrhoids. If the doctor
supposes he has left out one or two of all creation from
this list he may be right, but he certainly is moving
a wide swath, and may honestly say he is after the
ear of the public. To these he offers one suggestion,
Omit coffee for a time, throw physic to the dogs, and
find out if the trouble after all is not in the drug used
as a beverage. In moderate doses coffee raises the lilood
pressure and accelerates the heart. Now, says the doctor,
heart disease is in the main an easily prevented disease,
and it is very frequently due to the excessive use of
coffee. He enumerates several instances where he had
been called to prescribe and had found his patients given
up to die, Wut there was really nothing- the matter but
the breakfast drug. He wisely suggests that in this
day of sudden deaths we are called upouto review our
methods of eating and living in order to get at the cause
or causes. " The heart and brain require rest as well
as other organs of the the body." If the ves.'sels in
the brain are kept distended we have as a warning
tUzziness aud pain, and, if the warnings are uuheeiied,
appoplexy. So with the lieart. So short are its intervals
of rest when beating at 72 to 84 that we e .11 hardly con-
ceive it. Add to this the stimulus that sends it up
to yO and we must produce disease. He concludes
that for our regular meals and at evening parties we
should substitute the simpler cocoa or bouillon and es-
cape danger. — Ht.Lovjs Globe-Democrat.

]>.s. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

473

CINCHONA CULTUEE IN JAVA AND

SOUTHERN INDIA.

We have received the annual Report in Dutch of M.
von Eomunde, Director of the Government Cinchona
plantations in Java, which we have had specially
translated, and also the Report of Mr.Law3on,Director
of Government Cinchona Plantations, Nilgiris, for
1886-6. We give them in detail in the pages of the
Tropical Agriculturist, see pages 479 et seq. There is
very much of interest to the practical cinchona cul-
tivator and especially to the Ceylon cinchona owner
at this time when anxiety is felt as to future bark
supply and condition of the bark market. In Java
there was no special extension of planting operations
in 1885, but preparations were being made for a good
deal of work in the current year and in 1887. More
particularly was attention being given to the planting
of a hybrid between Ledgeriana and Succirubra,
and to the increase of the grafted Ledgers on
Succirubra stems. These latter are said to be
flourishing so far, and as grafts are only taken
from trees tested up to 10 per cent of quinine, in
fact "from the richest known mother trees," it
is evident that the Ceylon proprietor has soma
cause for anxiety in this direction. As regards
private enterprise some idea may be formed^though
by no means a correct one — from the results
of the sales of seed which in that year amounted
to 13,471 florins (rupees we may say) and besides,
there were sold 2,730 florins' worth of grafts. We
are struck by the very careful and improved system
of cultivation employed by M. von Roraunde, in
clean weeding, thorough draining and digging all
over his fields. He speaks, too, of thorough digging
before replanting a field with ledgers on which cop-
picing and uprooting had taken place. Close
planting is very strongly recommended. Hehpeltis
continued to give annoyance occasionally. Shav-
ing old officinalis trees had been very success-
fully practised ; but in other cases the process
of shaving only half the circumference at a time
had done harm and a series of experiments in
shaving now going on are described. Close planted
Ledgeriana trees are said not to stand shaving at
all. The total Government harvest of bark in 1885 was
about 500,000 lb. As regards the ext'^nsion of cin-
chona planting by private owners, the Director says
there has been a decided check, but he affords
no estimate of the total area planted. There
is much more and detailed information, es-
pecially as to analyses, and official experi-
ments made at the instance of private planters,
anxious to save freight &c. by sending alkaloid
extracts in the rough to Europe; but the report
on this quiniiim experiment from Holland is not
given. It would appear as if 22 lb. of bark (10
kilogrammes) were reduced to 2 l-5th lb. (1 kilo.)
the latter (quinium) having 60 per cent alkaloid
against G per cent in the bark. It seems a pity that
M. von Romunde's Report was not available sooner,
for it contains a great deal of valuable inform-
ation. The common idea in Ceylon is that shaving
causes the bark to increase in thiclcness, and that
ihe renewed bark is much richer in alkaloids than
the original bark. This, among other tilings,
is apparently proved not to be the case in Java.
Turning now to the Nilgiris Report, we need
only noVicp. here that in connection with conpicing,
GO

Mr. Lawson considers after careful experiment,
it to be quite immaterial at what time of year
cinchona trees are cut down. Mr. Lawson gives
most encouraging information as regards the great
need for an extension of consumption, showing
on Dr. Bidie's figures, that Government will not
do its duty until 2 million lb. of bark averaging
6J per cent of total alkaloids are provided for
the people in the Madras Presidency alone ! At
this rate all the present season's crops in Ceylon
and India should be kept for the use of the
people in these countries. Mr. Hooper (the quino-
logist) gives valuable information as to shaving
and manuring of cinchona trees, the extraction
and preparation of cheap alkaloids, &c. Of Mr.
Hooper's further good work we have a specimea
in a separate Report which has reached us from
Madras giving the result of his investigations into
the inorganic constituents of cinchona bark. We give
this (see page 476) as well as all that is of practical
use in the Botanical Director's Report iu our
pages.

THE CLOUD LIFTED FROM QUININE.

The better feeling in the quinine market, which

has been noted in our regular reports for the past

few weeks, is not based on any speculative ideas,

but seems to be the result of natural ciioum-

! stances, with a solid foundation to work upon. The

! violent fluctuations and remarkably low prices which

! have marked the course of this alkaloid for a long

j period rather discouraged investors and consumers,

i and it became recognized as a dangerous specul-

i ative article. There were many persons who con-

I sidered quinine cheap at half a dollar per ounce,

1 but when it touched that figure they were not so

ready to invest ; consequently there is leas stock in the

hands of manufacturers and speculators than at

any previous period, as less bark was worked into

quinine.

The large shipments of Ceylon bark, from 1883
to 188G, rather mystified operators in quinine, and
they lost confidence in the market because of the
impression that increased area was under cultiv-
ation, and that this bearish element would continue
to influence values. The Reporter has previously
pointed out the fact that root bark had made its
appearance in the London market which was evid-
ence of the destruction of cinchona plantations, the
trees being uprooted instead of stripping the bark,
owing to the industry proving unprofitable. This
has undoubtedly accounted for the large receipts, a a
whole roots came to the market instead of strips
as heretofore. It is stated that the acreage under
cultivation in Ceylon is two-thirds less than dur-
ing 1883, which is a strong argument alone in favour
of a reaction.

But what of the Java and South American fields.
The latest information from Java was published in
these columns last week, and showed a decline in
the industry, according to a British consul, but
previous reports gave more encouraging prospects ;
still, that country is not yet recognized as an im-

Eortant factor in the situation. South American
arks received a bJick set from previous experience
which it will be difficult to recover from, but in
the event of a scarcity of Oeylon barks, followed
by extreme prices. South American barks will have
to be drawn upon, but the comparatively low per-
centage of quinine they contain prevents them from
being an equal substitute. Manufacturers are speak-
ing more hopefully of the future, and are firmly
inclined to the belief that the extreme low prices
will never be reached again. The ^rumor of a com-
bination among foreign manufacturers has no found-
ation in fact; such a thing is among the improba-
bilities, as their experience with the syndicate dis-
gusted some of them, and brought about a deter-
mination to oppose all pools. — Amencan Oil, Paint and
Drug BciJOiiir.

474

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan. I, 1887

JAEEAH AXD WHITE ANTS ; TANNIN

IN PINE ; STAECH IN PLANTS.

NOTES ON POPULAR SCIENCE.

By Db. J E. Taylor, f.l.s. ,f.g.s., Editor of " Science
Gossip," &c.

I understand that Mr. Bosisto, with cbaracteristic
energy and scientific aciniien, has been engaged in
investigating the reasons why the Jarrah wood (Euca-
lyptus marginata of Western Australia is enabled
to defy both the attacks of white ants on the land
and tliose of ship-worms, Ac, in the sea; and, fur-
ther, that he has discovered the chemical principle,
and is able to extract it. This is a most valuable
discovery, inasmuch as it will now doubtless be pos-
sible to "make a solution of the substance and im-
pregnate other woods with it, after the manner of
creosoting timber. Here is another new iudustrj for
Australia. By and by, in a ceutury or so, your des-
cendants will perhaps be sorry you have been in
such a hurry to ring-bark and destroy your cha-
racteristic gum-tree forests. How hopeless we are
to withstand the attacks of white ants is well in-
dicated by the reply of Professor Eiley, the well-
known American entomologist, who when asked for
a remedy against these insects, could only advise
his fiiuerist to "burn all the wood work above and
underground " in- his green-house.

A discovery has just been made which may indi-
rectly affect you in Australia, wliere the wattle is
grown for the sake of the usefulness of its bark in
tauning. For some time past attempts have been
made in Sweden to extract tannin from a native
species of pine. This species is nearly related to
the American hemlock (Pinus canadensis). Hither^-o
these attempts have all turned out failures. During
the present year a Swedish chemist (Dr. Laudinj
visited America for the purpose of experimenting on
the hemlock, and he appears to have succeeded, for,
on his return to Sweden, he obtained tannin from
the Swedish pines by a chemicaljprocess. The tannin
is said to be equal to the American, but the leather
produced by it is yellower in colour. The Swedes
are in hopes that this new discovery will have the
effect of causing a great tanning industry to spring
up in their country. The character of tannin in plants
is now better understood than formerly. It is no
longer regarded as a purely waste or excrement! -
tious material, hut under some circumstances may
be converted into good material.

It has been discovered that the leaves of plants
are able to form and store up starch, not only from
glucose and cane-sugar, but also from mannite,
and even glycerine. Potato-shoots growing in dark
rooms are also able to form starch out of glycerine,
as well as out. of glucose and saccharose. — .[uifrclasiaii.

GAMPOLA-KADrGA>rx.A.wA, 20th Dec. — A good deal of
rain fell yesterday and last night. This morning
showery, and it looks as if it was going to con-
tinue, so I have put a few coolies to supply my
tea field with others following them with fern and
other shade to place over the young plants. What
destructive little creatures rats are, thoy have been
amusing themselves running over my[clearing, and
nipping the small tea plants in half. If it was not
for the dense lantaua, what a gloiious district this
would be for pig-hunting.

The CcLTiviTioK of Tea in Albany, S. Africa.
--Lower Albany, which may be said to be a
suburb of Grahamstown, is anxious to make the
most of its resources, and has taken to the
cultivation of tea. This i.s an industry sure to
imy, because it gives little trouble, and tea is in
constant demand in the Colony, at good rates.
Moreover, the tea plant is well adapted to the
Climate, and is nothing dismayed at a stretch of
drought, or an occasional frost. As Mr. Cannell,
or Port Alfred, has seedling plants for sale, at a
small cost, it may be expected that many people
will take up this indvistry.— The Colonics and India.

Tea Packing.— a buyer writes (sending us
a newspaper extract) : — " Y-^u would be doing
the trade a service if you drew planters' atten-
tion to the enclosed hints on the packing of tea.
It would be very desirable if standard weights
were adopted for each description of package, 40
and 45 lb. half-chests are the most expensive weights
to work in the London warehouse, besides the
heavy percentage of loss in weights by draft and
trade customs in mode of weighing the gross and
tare." The extract is as follows : —

Packing. — It \touM seem from the vurioin net weights of
Ceylon packages received on this market that tlie reduc-
tion of freight and warehouse charges and loss iu weight
to the lowest possible point per lb. is not sufficiently
studied. I find on froing closely into the subject tliat the
most economicil weight for leaf tea to pack in a half-
chest is .o5 lb. of Broken tea and Dust tiO lb. might I
think be packed — care being taken that the tare of the latter
does not «xceed 19 lb.

ForehesU, of a handy size, 9.5 1b. net or even 100 lb. in
Japan would is the most economical weight. Chests,
when practicable, should always be used wlieu a sampling
break can be made up so packed, as besides effecting a
saving of about 20 per cent, on tlie item of Warehouse
charges alone, freight and loss in weight are both less .
Boxes should not be used except for very choicest teas as
besides Warehouse charges aud freight per lb. being about
double that of chests, the loss in weight is invariably
very excessive 7 per cent not being at all uncommou.
Boxes, unless those imported from Japan, should neve
contain more than l.i lb. of tea, care beiug taken to ser
that the Gross is not over 28 iD. As the market for tease
in boxes is somewhat of a fancy nature it is very doubt
ful if the extra price generally paid is equilized by the
extra working expenses and loss in weight incurred. Care
should be taken to get the tares of all packages slightly
under the lb. with Gross weight a good 5 of a lb. over the
pound, so as to guard against Colombo sampling reducing
the gross weights to uuder the lb. entailing a loss fre-
queutlv of a lb. on every package, not difficult of at-
taiument if a full i of of a lb. extra tea is given iu with
each package. It. hooping packages oii the estate for local
sale the lid should be left «(ihooped to admit of ready sam-
pling without breaking or cuttiug the hooping,

OoBEYPORE.— Mr. T. H. storey, the Superin-
tendent of the Gardens of the Maharana of
Oodeypore, forwards us a copy of his annual
report. Oodeypore is the only station in Eajpootana,
and one of the very few places in the native
states where the garden establishment is directed
by a professional gardener. Mr. Storey, we believe,
was trained in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden.
The following extract will suffice to shew the
different conditions under which gardeners in In-
dia have to work from what obtain here : —

"Flvi:*g I'oxes. — There has been a colony of
flying foxes, which had taken up their quarters here
for the past fifty years, aud were quite a nuisance.
They seemed to keep up all day a horrible scream-
ing noise. They were hanging ou to large Ficus, Mango,
aud other trees. There were also mauy swarms of
bees, aud the foxes had a very poor time of it.
The bees appeared to hate them, and used to chase
them all round the place. The trees were quite
leafless, and to all appearance half dead. On His
Highness coming one morning this waj', I took the
opportunity of speaking to him about them. He told
me, if possible, to have them hunted away, an under-
taking which, I am happy to say, was successful. I
collected all Biy men and boys, gave them old tiu
pots, tom-toms, &c., and made them get up ou the
trees to the very top. When they began beating
their tins, the whole of the foxes got on the wing,
and kept them for a few hours, when a few of
them took the lead, and the whole flock went off
three or four miles away. I expected them back
iu the morning, and I was not much disappointed, for
they were returning to their old place from their
night's feed ; they must have been disgusted at seeing
the men still perched in their quarters. The meu
went up the trees at '6 o'clock iu the moruiug, and
did not allow them to alight so off they went, aud
have not returned. The trees they were on are now
covered with leaves aud looking well." — Gardiner.^
Chronicle.

Jan. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

47i

«

To the Editor of the " Ceylon Observer."

THE VALUE OF LIME TO PLANTERS.

Analytical Laboratory, London E. C.Nov. 19th 1886.

Deae Sik, — I believe you see the Field every
mail and if so, you will notice an article on Lime,
on Nov. 13tL which may be of interest to the
readers of the T. A. You remember I recommended
the more extended use of lime, while in Ceylon
and have frequently referred to the subject in
letters from here. I have had so many practical
proofs of the great beneit from the judicious
use of lime in some of its numerous forms, that
I find the testing of soils as to the presence or
absence of a fair supply of lime one of the most
important points to be ascertained before consider-
ing the kind of- manure likely to be most suitable
for such soil. — Yours in haste, JOHN HUGHES.

[The paper in question by Mr. Hughes in the
Field, will be found on page 470. — Ed.]

COIR FIBRE REFUSE,

lOlh Dec. 1880.

Dear Sik,— The manurial value of fibre refuse
is, I see, again being discussed m your columns.
With all due deference to the veteran "C. S." and
his greater "inventive genius and mania for ex-
perimenting" than Mr. David Wilson's, I submit
that Mr. Wilson's allowing heaps or mounds of this
valuable refuse to accumulate on Horrekelle, is not
"a good excuse for his successors not doing more
than experiment with it." Mr. Wilson cannot be
allowed to have been anything more than an ama-
teur engineer. He was by no means an agricul-
turist. Very many people imagine that because
they' own properties and take an intelligent interest
in their cultivation, they are, therefore, competent
practical agriculturists. To say that because "such
a man came to the conclusion that " Horrekelle fibre
dust could not be beneficially used," therefore,
his conclusions are to be accepted as final, is
absurd in tlie extreme. If fibre dust is of no
manurial valuo, which I by no means admit, yet
it possesses a liigh agricultural value owing to its
absorbing properties and owing to its being so re-
tentive of mQi>ture. As a "vehicle" for all arti-
ficial mauuri^s these properties ought to make it
invaluable. It is wellknown that roots absorb
manure, and to do this moisture must be present,
or the manure will remain inert, therefore, a sub-
stance that can absorb "12-5 its weight of water"
and in which "evaporation proceeds much more
slowly" than in open vessels, must be of immense
value for application with manure, especially
in a dry climate and in a sandy soil through
which moisture passes as through a sieve. If a
cattle establishment, a sine qua non on a properly
cultivated coconut estate exists on Horrekelle,
what better bedding can be found to absorb all
the liquid deposits of cattle ?

No one suggested as " C, S."' imagines, fibre
dust to be used as a top-dressing by itself for
coconut plantations. Mixed with artificial manure
it can v.ilh advantage be deeply ploughed into the
" Hoi rekelle sand." it will, in decomposing, improve
the texture cf the soil and x^revent its too rapid
drying. I must join issue with "C. S." when he says
that put into holes the benefit is remote and is
reaped only when it becomes humus. I maintain
that if put round trees after the sand has been
scooped out, the benefit is immediate. Coconut
trees revel in moisture which when absent

cause tbe kpiv^s W turn ^'§11qw m^ droop.

The benefit which so much moisture, as say 15
baskets full of fibre dust represent is not to be
despised, especially in a period of drought. With
'a Decauville Portable Railway the "vast mounds"
a of valuable substance could in a short space of
time be placed in the right place.

If " C. S." has ever seen a heap of coconut husks
burnt, he will have observed that in the resulting
ashes there are cakes of potash salts. By asserting
that fibre dust is of "no value as a fertilizer,"
does he assert that potash is present only in the
fibre and not in the dust? The purity and strength
of these salts is so great, that in the villages the
husk-ash takes the place of soap with the Dhoby.
—Truly yours, A. W. B.

P.S.— " C. S." not growing brinjals successfully in
fibre dust proves nothing.

A New Planting Company.- The Mammoth and
Alpha Skull Estate Syndicate, Limited, was registered
on the 3rd iust., with a capital of £20,000, in £1 shares,
to take over lauds, estates and properties in India,
and iu particular the Mammoth and Alpha Skull Estate,
situate iu the South-East Wynaad in the Nilgiri District
of the Madras Fresidency, —Flanters' Gazette.

" Gallella Tea Estates Company Li.mited.
— Is the latest addition to local planting Companies
and we are glad to find that under the auspices of
Mr. C. H. Wilkinson,— a well-known planter with
about a dozen years' experience— this Company
brings in entirely fresh capital into the Colony,
The Gallella property of well-nigh .500 acres with
200 acres in tea from 4 years old downwards, about
100 acres good coffee and some cinchona, has been
purchased from Messrs. Cross and Ballardie for a
cash sum in sterling on behalf of a few capitalists,
who are associated with Mr, Wilkinson, belong-
ing to the Enghsh Midland counties, Gallella
teas have already made their mark in Mincing
Lane, averaging up to Is oid, Mr. Wilkinson
settles down as local manager, and the directors of
the Company hope to find a direct market for
their teas in the country commanded by Leicester,
Derby and Nottingham. We wish the Gallella
Estates Company all success,

N.iTivE Agkicultuke .an'd Ploughs in India. —
— Says the Pioneer : —

" The writer whom the Times, Las employed to de.-icribe
the Indo-Colonial Exhibition tells us that all attempts
to introduce improved agricultural implements iu India
have failed ; that as the hard soil below three inches is
completely sterile, deep ploughing would prove a dead
loss to the farmer for probably five years ; and that the
experiment farms and agricultural iustitutious of India
have had no eilect on Indian agriculture. These state-
ments are altogether too sweeping. If the writer had
taken the trouble to look at the list of implements and
machines "used with marked success in India during tho
years 18S2-83 to 1885-86 " he would have found 16 differ-
ent ploughs of an improved make iu use, one American,
several European, and some merely improvements on
the old country ploughs. Still less accurate is to say
that experimental farms have been a failure. To take
only one of many examples, the Cawnpore Experimental
Farm manufactures and sells two .sorts ot improved
ploughs, and imports another for distribution among the
cultivators. During thf years 1S83-S4 and 1SS4-85 some
400 of these ploughs were sold. It is no doubt true that
very much yet remains to be done to meet the wants
and overcome the prejudices of the native agriculturist
but a good start has been made by these experimental
farms. Without professing a knovvledge of agricultural
chemistry, we must beg leave to doubt the five years'
loss entailed by deep ploughing. Taking the average of
a]] the experiments at the Cawnjiore Farm in 1SS4-85
deep ploughing gave an increa-e over the ordinary
shallow Country ploughing of i53o per cent, when the
land was ploughed 9 inches deep, and 43-5 per cent,
when ploughed 5 inches deep, although the shallow

plougbiijp W6IQ twicQ as J[iequeut as the d^en,'

^1^

"tnm TROt*I<CAL AGfeiCULTORlSt.

[Jan I, 18&7,

INORGANIC CONSTITUENTS OF CINCHONA
BARK.

Dr. Hooper, the Madras Government Quinologist,
has reported as follows: — I have recently been enga-
ged in examiniug the inorganic constituents of cinchona
bark, and, considering the results would be of use
to all engaged in cultivating cinchona, I forward you
the results of my analyses. The dried bark always
contains from 2 to 4 per cent of a^h, the young bark
yielding more than old and renewed specimens. I
have analysed samples of bark from Cinchona offici-
nalis growing in the Dodabetta plantation, and also
from Cinchona succirubra growing at the lower eleva-
tion at Naduvatam ; and it will be seen that there
is a great similaritj' in the composition of the ash
derived from both these species: —

C. oflacinalis. 0. succirubra.

Silica 5-75 660

Soluble Silica ... 1-42 4-40

Alumina 2-70 4-24

Iron oxide 285 3-31

Lime 3270 3280

Magnesia ...

Potash

Soda

Carbonic acid ...

Sulphuric acid

Phosphoric acid ...

Chlorine

100-00 100-00

The chief constituent of the ash is the lime, which
forms nearly one-third of the whole. It probably
exists in the bark in the form of kiuate or oxalate
of lime, and when incinerated becomes carbonate of
lime. The next element of importance is the potash,
which amounts to one-sixth and one-eight part of the
whole ash respectively. The examination shows that
both lime and pota«h must be present in soils where
cinchona plants are grown.

5J07

2-52

16-35

1249

3-40

2-28

27-22

27-77

IIG

1-08

3-93

3-19

•45

•42

THE CEYLON TEA PLANTER'S MANUAL.

Mr. T. 0. Owen has issued a very useful little
hand-book, under the above title, which cannot fail
to be of much interest to Ceylon Tea planter.s.
There is a good deal of valuable data regarding
Building", and cost of working on Ceylon Tea Es-
tates. The author says that as a tea-producing
country Ceylon possesses many advantages over others.
The hills are eminently suited for Tea, the localities
are healthy, and the transport facilities are very great.
Labour is abundant, though not very cheap; rainfall
is well distributed and amply sfiBcieut, so that the
check of growth which causes the Tea to winter in
India, does not occur so markedly in the Island.
Although the harvesting of ripe seed is found to be
very difficult and expensive matter in Ceylon, great
progress has been made in this direction, and Ceylon
is now by no means so dependent on India as she
once was for her seed supply. The seasons differ so widely
in Ceylon from ours tbat, necessarily, the systems of
cultivation differ widely from ours, but the Indian
planter may nevertheless be interested in comparing
the twos and this the Book before us will enable him
to do. The figures given as to yield and cost of manu-
facture are particularly interesting. It is stated that
400 lb. per acre on the hills, and 600 lb. per acre in
the lowcountry, are easily obtainable, but these
figures have been in several cages considerably ex-
ceeded—in one instance enormously so, — the Maria-
watte estate having yielded 1,200 lb. per acre.

One great advantage which Ceylon Tea estates en-
joy is comparative freedom from bli^'ht. The worst
enemy in the Island for cocoa is the Mosquito Blight,
but it has not yet seriously attacked Tea, It is far
otherwise with us, unfortunately. "Whether, as Tei
cultivation in Ceylon extends, the present comparative
immuuity from Blight will continue, is a question.
Lately, it is said, a Caddis worm, or insect closely
i-eacrobling one, has proved destructive to the bark of

the tea-bushes, but this insect can easily be picked
off and destroyed. Reference is made to the jungle-
tree St/mplocas obtusa, whose decaying roots kill all
the tea-plants within their range, but as its evil
effects on Tea are so well known, it is not difficult
to avoid it, by extermination. Any who may think- of
trying their fortunes in Tea, in Ceylon, should obl.iin
the Work under review. — Indian Tea Gazette.

CHEMICAL IMPROVEMENT OF TEA SOILS.

"\V'e proceed now to consider the chemical require-
ments of what should be a good tea soil, and by
what means imperfect soils may be brought near the
standard of perfection.

It is well known that the soil is the source from
which the plant draws through the medium of the
root the mineral or inorganic portion of its plant-
food, tiie organic portion being derived through the
leaves from the atmospheric air.

In order to determine now what rriineral plant-food,
a would-be good tea soil must contain, and in what
proportion, we must base our remarks upon the tea
plant itself, and upon the inorganic substances we
find in it as revealed by an analysis of its ashes.

Mr. Schrottky gives the composition of the ashes
of young leaves of the Assam hybrid tea plant as
follows : —

In 100 parti.

Chloride of Sodium 2-247

Soda 8-94)

Potash 36-514

Magnesia ... ... 10-089

Lime ... ... 8-517

Oxide of Iron and Manganese . . . 3966

Phosphoric Acid ... 16214

Sulphric Acid ... 13-017

Silica 0-439

99-944
And states that old laaves and stems will contain
more lime and silica than here represented.

Now a soil, to be a first class tea soil, should con-
tain all these constituents in proportions which closely
approach the above percentage ; that is to say, the
rootlets of the tea plant should find distributed in the
soil, for every 36 parts of potash 10 parts of
magnesia, 8 parts of lime, 16 parts of phosphoric
acid, etc., etc. If we find, therefore, that any soil
contains these substances approximately in the above
proportions, not leaving out of sight that potash can
take the place of soda, and lime that of magnesia,
then indeed it would be impossible to further im-
prove its chemical constitution. But it must be re-
membered that the mineral plant-food in the soil
exists in two different states, which stand in very
different relations to the requirements of the plants
we refer to, — mineral plant-food in physical and in
chevncal combination. In the former state it is im-
mediately available for the purposes of the plant,
while in the latter it can only become so after the
prolonged action of climate and atmospheric influences
upon it-. At present we have only to do with the
former.

Let us assume now, that we find in a soil all the
different constituents of available mineral plant-food
to be present in proximate proportions to those
required by the plant, with the exception of phos-
phoric acid, of which, say, only 6 parts are available
for every 36 parts of potash, etc ; than every pound
of pho.sphoric acid added would render a correpond-
ing quantity of the remainder of mineral plant-food,
heretofore useless to the plant, available to it, and
consequently stimulate the fcrniation of new tissues ;
i.e., increase the outturn. We can distribute through
the soil 10 parts of phosphoric acid in addition to
the 6 parts already pre.sent, and we will thus make
up the 16 parts necessary to correspond with the
remainder of available inorganic plant-food. Every
pound of phosphoric acid added in excess of this
quantity is perfectly useless, as there is not the
corresponding quantity of potash, lime, &c., present

j(AN. i, mp'i

tut fHaiPfCAL AdRXdOLftJHlSt.

477

and if we wanted to further, increase the capabilities
of the 8oil we would have to add the >vlii)le of the
mineral plant-food iu the proportion indicated in Mr.
Schrottky's analysis. What has been said of phos-
phoric acid holds, of course, good for any of the
other substances : they have all certain functions
assigned to them; they are all jointly and separ-
ately indispensible to the plant ; an 1 there is not one
more important than any other, as far as the require-
ments of the plant are concerned. If we should
find that there is plenty of available phosphoric acid
and lime, &c., but that for every 16 parts of phosphoric
acid there are only 15 parts of potash present, we nnust
add 21 parts of it in order to bring the proportion of
available plant-food up to the standard required by
the plant and thus enable the soil to proch'.ce its maxi-
mvm with a minimutn outlay

In fact it is that ingrerlient of available mineral
plant-food which, if present in smsHer proportion
than required by the standard when 'jompared with
the rest, regulates the outturn of a tea garden ;
every additional pound of this substance added will
start, so to speak, into life the slumbering power
of the soil ; every pound added will have a marked
effect upon the outturn, until the quantity added
shall make up the proportion in which it is wanted
by the plant. It is, not always necessary to add the
exact mineral wanted, if, for instance, we find a
deficiency of available potash and phosphoric acid iu
a soil in which there is an abundance of these two
substances in chemical combination as insoluble.
Phosphate of lime and silicate of potash, and addition
of common salt and burnt lime, will have the effect
as the addition of potath and phosphoric acid. For
common salt will dissolve the phosphoric of lime,
and enable it to enter into physical combination with
the soil, whil« the caustic lime will decompose the
silicate of potash and set the alkali free to enter
into such combinations as are available to the plant.
It is, therefore, a most important point for the
tea planter to ascertain whether the availabe mineral
plant-food present in his soil comes np to the standard
required by the plant; or if not, whit constituent is
present in relatively minimum quantities. The deter-
mination of this point cannot be over-estimated in
its importance : it may save the planter hundreds
and thousands of rupeps, and it is the on'y way by
which he may know thoroughly the nature of the
capital he is working with. The knowledge of what
available plant-food there is in the soil, and in what
proportion, should be the basis of all agricultural
operations .- it should decide what manure is to be
applied, and in what manner. It falls, of curse,
within the province of the agricultural chemist to
supply the planter with the facts dilated upon, and
it is our opinion that any expense thus incurred will
be amply repaid by a judicious use of the knowledge
acquired. The first use of this knowledge should be
to supply to the soil the minimum constituent of
available plant-food, or if chemical analysis should
reveal that abundance of this minimum exists/in
chemical combination, to add to the soil such sSbs-
tances as will free it from its locked-up state, and
render it available for the purposes of the plant.
When the plant-food in the soil has by either of
these means been brought up to the standard, all
further manuring must have reference to what is
withdrawn fom the soil, and we cannot too much
recommend the plauter to bear in mind the Chinese
Axiom of agriculture that " without continuous manur-
ing there can be no continuous hoj'vest." — Indian Tea
Gazette,

THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION.

West Indies.

Vegetable products, as might be expected, formed
the bulk of the exhibits in this attractive Court,
which had an air of comfort and finish not excelled
iu any other part of the building. Entering the Oourt
from the northern end, the first hay on the left hand
TTRs deroted to

Trinidad, an island celebrated both for the quantity
and quality of the cocoa grown upon it which indeed
is the staple article of produce. The value of coooa
exported from Trinidad in 1885 is stated in the offi-
cial Hand-book to have amounted to 421,974^., and
in some "Notes on Trinidad Industries,," by Mr. John
McCarthy, F. C. s., the Assistant Commissioner for
Trinidad, recently published, it is stated that the
quantity of cocoa imported into England in 1885
amounted to 10,5^0 tons, against 10,120 tons in 1884
and 9986 in 1881. Numerous specimens of cocoa seeds
are exhibited, as well as prepared cocoa and chocolate.
Mr. JlcCarthy describes the cultivation of the coco-
nut (Cocos nvcifera) us a very profitable industry, though
the tree does not bear much before it is eight years
old. Experiments, he tells us, "are now being tried
in Trinidad to make it act as a shade tree to the
cocoa (Theobroma)" instead of planting the quick-
growing " Bois immortelle." The idea of this plant-
ing is to realise from the same land a. double crop,
namely, that from the Theohronia and that; from the
Cocos. It is estimated that seventy trees planted
upon an acre of land would, when in full bearing,
yield 5000 nuts per annum, which would net, on an
average, from 3^. to 4/. per thousand in Trinidad.
The annual import of nuts into London is said to be
about 12,000.000, besides which, New York imports
enormous (|uautities, and they are also used to a very
large extent for the expression of oil in Trinidad
itself. Coffee has also a prominent place in the pro-
ducts of Trinidad, and the plant is stated to thrive
well, although it has not yet produced even sufficient
coffee for home consumption. More attention has,
however, been directed of late to coffee culture in
the island, so that it is largely increasing. The cultiv-
ation of tobacco is also an industry that promises to
become of some importance, and the tobacco is de-
scribed as being second only to the finest Havana,
There is a good exhibit of cigars, which are said to
have met with general favour, so that a demand has
arisen for them,

Bahamas. — In the Oilicial Hand-book, Sir Augustus
Adderley gives a very readable sketch of the history
of these islands, and briefly refers to the natural pro-
ducts, foremost amongst which are corals and sponges.
He describes the "sponging and wrtcking vessels"
as fine models and fast sailers, built by the islanders
of native hard wood known as "horseflesh," and
planked with yellow pine obtained from North Caro-
lina. Couch shells are exported in large quantities to
the value of about 1200?. per annum, and the pale
pink pearls which are found in them to the extent
of 3000?. per annum. The sponge exports were esti-
mated at 60,000?. for 1885. Mention is made of the
abundance of plants valued a.s medicmes, many of
which might be further developed by systematic trial
of their effects in this country. Perhaps the two best
known medicinal plants are the Canella Bark (Canella
al a, Murr.) and the Sweet Bark or Oascarilla (Croton
Eleuteria, J. J. Benn.). The first has a bitter, acrid,
and pungent, taste, and a cinnamon-like smell. With
us it is used as an aromatic stimulant, and as a con-
diment in the West Indies. The sweet bark is a
bitter aromatic tonic, formerly used as a substitute
for Peruvian bark, but now chiefly as au ingredient
in pastilles and for mi.xing with tobacco for the sake
of its pleasant musky odour. The cultivation of per-
fume-yi Idmg plants is recommended as a probable
commercial success, demand for perfumes at the pre-
sent time being so great that it has even been pro-
posed to cultivate in Australia on a large scale such
plants as are now grown at Grasse, Nice and Cannes.

Jamaica.—Tiie contents of this Court were both
numerous and varied. Kum and sugar were fully
illustrated by a large number of samples. Coffee was
also well repres nted ; of this article the Oi3iciai
Catah'gue states that two distinct c]a,8ses are pro-
duced in the island, the total annual export being
about 84,000 cwt.. per annum, of which about 10,000
cwt, is Blue Mountain cutt'ee, a fine quality, consigned
almost entirely to the Liverpool market, Pimentoe or
allspice is » product exculsively of Jamaica, wbej-g

478

THE TROPICAL AGRlCtSttVtliBT, fjAN i, iSBf,

it is grown in plantations or gardt^ns known as " pimea-
to walk-." Tne coin o-rciai artic]'-: c )nsi*ts of the
dried berries, wliicli were exp •rted frotu Jarnaioa to
the valu-! of 53,8G7'.in 1885 It is very largelj' used
as a spice as vreil as m au'dicine, qu aucuunt of its
aromatic and stimulant properties. The fruits contain
a quantity of oil, which is obtained by distillation,
and is used in perfumery and for similar purposes
to which clove-oil is put. Piinento-sticliH are amongst
the strongest and best for walking-sticks and umbrella-
handles, on account of their strength, rigidity, and
non-liability to crack. The pimento-tree is of low
growth, and is known to botanists as Piiii.enta ofjiciwdis.

In this Court were shown .some remarkably fine
■amples of Annatto seeds (Bixa OieUana), noted for
their plumpness, as well as for their bright colour,
the waxy coating of tho seeds being highly valued
as a red colouriug-matter. A large and interesting
collection of fruits preserved in a salt-solution were
here shown; amongst others the following will attract
attention: — Sfar-Hpple {^Chrysophi/Unm Ccdnito), Cocaa-
plum (Chrijsobalamis Icaco), Blimbing {Averrhoa
Silimhi), Akee (Ctipania (didis, better known, ptrhips,
as BligliJa sapida). Many of these are the produce
of introduced plants, and the fruits are for the most
part fine examples. Amongst a number of specimens
of essential oils from well-known plants, most of
which are apparently of excellent quality, are some
that are but very little known, such, for instance, as
those from the Bermuda Cedar {Janiperv.s lenni'.diana),
the Mountain Cigar Bush [Hedi/osmum nutans). Moun-
tain Thyme (Jfioomeria ohovata), Cigar Bash ( Critoiiea
dalea), and the Sand Box-tree [Hura crepitans).

Barbados. — The exhibits from this island consisted
largely of similar produce to the islands alreadj'
referred to. As illustrating the extent of land
occupied by sugar cultivation, it is stated in the
introductory notice of Barbados in the Official Hand-
book, by the Hon. 0. 0. Kuoliys, that "out of a
total acreage of 106,470 acres, an area of 100,000
acres is devoted to canes.'' Tobacco is recommended
for extended cultivation, and root-crops such as
arrowroot and cassava give heavy returns.

British Hoaduras. — We take this dependency in this
order, as it occupied a position in the Exhibition next
that of Barbados. The importance of timber in the
produce of British Honduras is seen by a simple glance
at the exhibits, and to the future development of these
timber resources lies in a very great measure the future
prosperity of the colony. In the introductory notes to
these exhibits the following paragraph occurs: — "To its
timber and dye-woods the colony of British Honduras
owes its existence, and whatever measure of progress
and advancement it may have attained. To the
discovery, first of logwood, and subsequ'^ntly of
mahogany, its origiaal settlement must be ascribed.''

Notwithstanding the importance of the forest produce,
very few of the tim'>ers are yet known either to
commerce or to science, but many of them nre of
exceptional hardness and beauty. Mahogany is, of
course, the most important wood in the colony, and,
next to it, the cedar {Cedreli adorati), which is not
only exported to a very lage extent, but is also used
in the colony for light indoor work— cigar-boses,
trunks, packing-CHses, and for dug-oat canoes, several
of which were exhibited. Amongst a cjI lection of
lianes, or chmbing-plant.s. is a specimen if the chew-
Btick {Gouania domi>if/e)iesis),vfith the singular inform-
ation, besides that of its use as a tooth-brush and
tooth-powder, that " it is used in pla-ie of yeast to
Start fermentation in making ginger a-id spruce-beer,
&c." Probably the most striking object in this Court
is a large and beautifully figured slab of mihogany;
the dark wavy cross-markings are extreme'y beautiful
and very remarkable in this wood ; tha plank is
moreover, without a fliw.

Dominica. — The spice occupied by this island, as
well as by the remaining colonies, was small ; the
exhibits on the whole, however, were interesting, and
6ome were worth noting, such, for instance, as tho
husks or sheila of the Liberim codee, which are said
to be worth from 1 to 2 cents per pound in the

United State?, the fruits of Acacia Farnesi<^na, stated

to be used in tanning, and bark of Guava, the
Psidiuin Gaayava, which is rich in tannin, and is
used as an astringent. Raw lime-juice is exported
from Dominica in increasing quantities, but the greater
part of the juice i.? boiled down until ten or twelre
gallons are reduced to one, and is ihipped in thig
concentrated form to England and the United States .
for the manufacture of citric acid.

Montserrat. — Sugar and lime-juice are the principil
staples of this island, and these were the most
prominent exhibits.

St. Kitts and the Virgin Islands. — From these islands
the exhibits were but small, and without special
interest.

Antigua. — The chief product of this colony is sugar,
the average crop of which for the last twenty years is
stated to have been about 12,'tOO hogsheads. Yams,
potatoes, and Guinea corn are also grown in large
quantities for native consumption. The exhibits were
for the most part such as were shown in other
West Indian Courts.

Grenada. — Cocoa is the most important article grown
here, and some very fine fruits of good colour were
shown, as well as nutmeg (3Ii/'ristica frayrans)
custard apples, or bullock's heart {Anona reticulata),
papaws (Cu-'cn Papaya) Kola nuts (Cola acuminata).
These latter were remarkably fine specimens. A good
deal of attention, we are glad to see, has recently
beeu paid to its cultivation. The tree exists in all
parts of the island, and was introduced in years
past by the African slaves, who used to regard it as
a specific against intoxication

Tobago. — The productive resources of this small
islaud are varied, and were well exemplified in the
collection of fruits, seeds, fibres, &c. The collection
of preserved native fruits in syrup, and jellies prepared
from them, was a special feature in this Court, a
sample of preserved or candied papaw [Qarica Papaya)
being especially good.

St. Lucia. — Sugar, rum, and molasses are the chief
products; cocoa and log wood are also produced in
quantities, though the latter is stated to be at the
present time a drug in the market. Tobacco, it is
stated, has been tried in one district with most satis-
factory results, so that it is purposed to extend its
cultivation. Neither the individual exhibits in this
Court, nor in the remaining oue of St. Vincent, call
for any special remark. We cannot conclude our
notice of the West Indian exhibits without a reference
to the series of over 100 water-colour drawings, by
Mrs. Blake, illustrative of the flora of the West
Indian Islands. — Jihn R. Jacksox, Museum, Koyal
Gardens, Kew. — NaXure.

Openings for Capital in Ceylon: the 0. B. C.
Estates. — The long advertisement in local papers
of estates offered for safe in connection with
the 0. B. C. liquidation must have attracted
general attention. At first sight, we thought the
new Estates Company was parting with some
portion of the list of properties transferred to them
by the Liquidator. But ibis is not the case.
The Oriental Estates Company or whatever the
title is to be, bought altogether 20 estates from
the Liquidator, comprising about 11,000 acres, and
the Directors have no intention of selling any
of them. But it appears the Bank Liquidator
has still the properties advertised on hand, and
it must be acknowledged that some of these are
exceptionally desirable with reference to more than
one branch of cultivation in Ceylon. We would
instance Mahabiriatenne, Attabagie, Moorootie and
Ancoombra. The lirst-named, we are told, is
likely to give a profit this year of R20,000.
There is therefore much encouragement for capital-
ists looking after these properties, carefully
availing themselves of the advice of practicil men
of established local reputation in reference to the
values to be placed on them,

Jan. I, 1887.}

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

479

CINCHONA IN JAVA:

EEPOKT ON GOVERNMENT GARDENS

FOR 1885.

Translated from the "Medical Times'' of Netherlands
India, 26th Volume.)

Repobt ox the Government Ci\chon-a Enterprize

in the prean(4?,r-rtgencies fou the year 1885,

BY R. Van Romunde, Director of the Gov-

krnmext Cinchona Enteepbize.

1. — AVeather. — The year 1885 was remarkable for
the sudden change from a very rainy to an equally
dry east monsoon. The raius continued to about the
middle of the month of May, when a very severe
eaFt monsoon set in, during which hardly any rainy
days are recorded and which lasted to the beginning
of November. The mouth of November and the early
part of December were very wet, whilsh the rain
considerably diminished during the Seconal halt' of
December. At Nagrak, in the Tangkoebanprahoe rang:e
of momitains, there was a rainfall in the middle of
August, which in a few hours amounted to fully 100
milimeters accompanied by a fall of hail which caused
some damage to the plantations. Night frosts were
recorded during in the mouths of June, July and
September, but they caused little or bo injury to
the plantations ; the flat and hollow parts of the land
were most affected, these had suffered during the
previous year and are not intended to be replanted.

Storms were felt during the mouths of March and
December, and wrought some mischief to the plant-
ations, especially at the establishment Nagrak.

'1. Extension.— The number of plants put out into
the open ground amounted at the end of the year
to 1,567,000. Though a lower figure has to be given
for this year's planting than that for the previous year,
yet this is solely to be attributed to a more caieful
enumeration of the existiug plants, and not to a real
decrease. The number in the nurseries is estimated
at l,.'^9e,000 of which 1,165,000 are Le Igerianas and
225,000 suceirubras of which a great p^rt will be
planted out iu the field during the 1st quarter of
1886. Among the Ledgerianas are comprised + (plus-
minus) 35,000 grafts, which iu the 1st and 4th quarter
of 1886 will serve to extend the plantations at
Tirtasari which consist exclusively of grafts and suckers.
Every export has been made to extend the cultiv-
ation of Ledgeriana and Succirubra seed iugs. The
long continued drought was, however, unfavorable to
the development of the germinating beds and nur-
series and disappointed our hopes of having an enor-
mous number ot seedlings ready for supp ying and plant-
ing out during the last quarter of 1885. It will only
be in the first quarter of 1886 that the whole of the
ground, whir^h has been dtig over will be again planted
with Ledgerianas ami Succirubr--".. The comparatively
small number of plant.q raised from seed, which have
been transferred to the open grotmd is to be accounted
for by the fact, that only the very strongest; and
best developed plants were used for that purpose.
In large and hardy plants it is easy to recognize the
best sorts, so that all undesirable hybrids can be re-
jected, the upkeep of young plantations which have
been formed of hardy plants requires careful and
attentive supervision and much less supplying is
necessary. But the great advantage of the use of
well-developed plants for putting out, lies iu the
shortening of the period, during which the young
plants require very careful upkeep, by which an im-
portant reduction of cost is obtained.

For the replanting of certain gardens where tha
ground has been dug over across between 0. succi-
rubra and plants raised from hjbrids derived from
Ledgeriana seed has been exclusively used. Especi-
ally in the establishment at Tjibitoeng th;; plantation
of these hybrids was very considerJibly extended j^nd
from this a very important harvest may shortly be
expected. The cultivation of the grafts of Ledg'-riana
or Succirubra has been during the past ye^r pursued
with greater vigour than ever. At Tjinjiraepn two
germinating houses have been prepared, which are
completely successful, whilst about ten small buildings

of light materials hav'-j b>en constrn t ed for the eraft"!
which have already taken root. B-- sides the 35.000
grafts which will be ready to pun out in the op«n
grounil by the end of 1885, 'be nurseries contain about
an equal number of gro-iig gratt plants wbich will
be ready for pl-inting out iu the Utter part of 1886.
The graft nurseries are formed exclusively of the
richest known mothpr trees, of whicn mentio i is m»de
in the report for last y^'a.■. N^s. 25, 34, 38, 75, 94
and 120, the bark of which contains more than 10
per cent of quinine. The plantations of grafts from these
trees, was not however extended beyond what wa«
neccessary for the due completion of the gardens.
The grafting of the sorts richest in quinine obtained
from the mother trees Nos. 23 and 38, the bark of
which yielded at least 11 per cent at the age of 6 to 7
years was pushed forward with greater force. From these
grafts already planted and still to be planted great
hopes are entertained as regards the seed harvest.
The cultivation of the Ledgeriana seed plants is now
coming more to the front, since some analyse* of grafts
from known mother trees appear to shew the (bene-
ficial) effects which the suocrubra stem exeroises on
the constitution of the bark of the Ledgeriana grafts.

The extension of the cultivation of the hybrids of
0. Ledgeriana and C. Succirubra spoken of in the
report for last year, for want of the necessary graft
nurseries, has not been so great as was hoped for
and expected and the plantations thereof have only
been slightly increased. The original Ledgerianas pro-
duced iu the course of 1885 not only abundance of
seed for the Government enter-prize, but sufficient for
important public sal^s of succirubra and Ledger-
iana seed at stited times. There has always been a
great demand for seed produced by the graft and
sucker plantations at Tirtasari, which command good
prices.

Consequent on the large quantity of seed from
original trees, which from time to time was exposed
for sale, the demand for the typical Ledgeriana des-
cendants became so small that the collection and sale
of the seed was discontinued.

In the mouth of December 1,000 grafts were sold
by public auct on.

The proceeds of the sale of see-d
during 1885 amounted to / 131,471 25

That of grafts „ 2,730 00

Total guilders 16,2i)l 25

On the sa'e of eic'i lot of seed a portion of it was
set to germinate on the government's estiblishment,
for the purpose of having the means of forming a
judgment in respect to any ^ubseqiT^n': comp'aint that
might be made, as to the germinati-ig p.wci of the
seed sold.

All these trials gave favo irable result*, ad 1 no W- 11-
founded complaints res^arJing tne feed thus S' Id were
heard of. Thi^ demand f irsucciruh'-a seed made by Forest-
ers was fully m -r, but the culture of cinchona as a means
of forming forests does not seem 'o answ-r to former
expectations. The dem tnd for Ledgeriana and succi-
rubra seed by botanists or by the representatives of
scientific institutions under foreign governments has
been insi^niQcant during the past year. At the end of
D-cen.b-r 18 <5 the two and three year old gr»fts in the
plantations Tirtasari begnn to i lossom freely, thi* is
especidiv the c.-ise with the grafts from the mother
tree No. 25 of which a great portion of the Tirtasari
planta'ion consists.

These trees so rich in quinine promise to yield a
large quantity of valuable seed in 1886, but the abund-
ant blossoming and seeding must undoubtedly have an r
unfavourable influence on the development of the
plants.

Ouagrsat many of the gr fts the blossom is so
thick ihat the fear of their being ki 1 d the effects of
of it is by no means gtoun.iles-. Tnerefore every
effort is being made l.y m iimri.ng and by plentiful
turning uo of the soil, t.i force the tre^ s to form
leaves and to bring about a h irdy growth. The evil
of overblossoming would C' rt.uoly h ive been mucU
greater, had not the ground been w»ll worked daring

fTHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[Jam. 1, 1887.

the long dry monsoon, so as to maintain the unin-
terrupted growth of the plants as far as possible. "With
the exception of the graft plantations of No 23 which
is nataralU prone to excessive blossoming, the blossom
thrown out by the typical Ledgerianas even by the
mother trres is consilerably less than might have been
fxps-cted after such au unusually dry mousoou, which
fact must indisputably be attributed to the repeated
and deep upturning of the ground.

The harvest of Ledgeriana and Succirubra seed in
1886 will not only be amply sufficient for the require-
ments of the government establishments, but also
for holding numerous large public sales.

3.— Opening and upkeep.— The opening of new
ground has been limited to a few ba-oes of forest
land at Tirtasari, intended for the putting out of
graft plants.

On the old establishments both the plantations
which have alraady been dug over and those about to
be prepared offer most satisfactory opportunities for
replantiag the ground with 0. Ledgeriana and C. Succi-
rubra to which sorts the government cinchona enter-
prize is to be limited for the iuture with the ex-
ception of a few experimental gardens of otber kinds
of cinchona. On the upkeep of the plantations, still
greater care is now bestowed than used to be e.xer-
cised in former years. The young fields are kept
constantly clear of weeds, whilst besides this they are
forced into strong growth by a deep overturning of the
whole surface. All over the old fields the system of
deep drains is applied, which has also produced the
most favorable results, and has exercised a good
effect on the already gathered harvest, which will
be more perceptible in the next harvest. In spito
of the severe and long continued east monsoon the
plantations all over continued to develope well— whilst
soon after the .setting in of the November rains, a
most remarkably strong growth was to be observed
both in the old and young fields. By careful up-
keep of the receatly planted fi.t;lds the side branches
of the young plants were able at once to develop
their strength with disturbance and by clo.^a planting
4x4 Khineland feet, the surface of the ground soon
becomes shaded and the growth of weeds is checked.
Close planting is adhered to as much as po-sible not
only for furthering the rapid formation oi humus
out of the fallen leaves and thereby improving the
Boil chemically as well as phy.sically, but also to at-
tain the maximum produce at the lowest po-.sible
upkeep. The beneficial influence of close plant, ng for
the developement of cinchoni is particularly remark-
able in the replanted fields, where at first the growth
of the plants was slow, and where their develop-
ment became rapid as soon as the surface became
shaded by the branches and masses of leave's. Com-
bined with close planting, the greatest possible care
is taken in these fields with the harvesting, so that
by means of lopping and thinning out, everything is
done to aid the further developement of the plants.
The planting out in the open fields was continued
during the prolonged west monsoon which lastt-d to
the middle of May until the rains c»^ased. Before
the planting out in March , April and May, lar^'e and
deep holes were dug for the pUnts to provide against
the desiccation of the soil during the severe drmght
of the east monsoon. Not only did this precaution
prove justified in every respect, but the execution of
the work answered perfectly for the attainment of
the object.

The planting out of some fields with graft plants
had hardly been two days completed when a drought
set in, and notwithstanding its severity the plants
grew well and the supplies for these fields were of little
or no signification. The measuring of the Ledgt-ria-
na*! planted in 1879 was commenced. The mean height
of eight-year old plants at Tjibeureune reaches U'lw
4'53 metres and the cirr:umfprence of the stem is 029
metres. The maximum height is 5"G3 and the maxi-
mum measurement round the .stem is 0 38| metre.
At Tirtasari the measurement of six-year ol 1 grafts
and suckers gives a mean height respectively of 3v9
metres and 303 metres, and the mean circumfer-
ence round the stem is 035J and 0 ■'?S metre, whilst

the maxima of height and circumference of stem are
respectively 4 85 and 4 metres and O'SSg and -331.
The fact de.serves mention that the plantations to
be mea-'Ured, especially the seed plantations at Tji-
beureufie and the graft plantations at Tirtasari yielded
a not unimp)rtaMt harvest of branch bark. The Helo-
peltis A'ltoni coutiiiueil to shew itself during the
year now reported on — throughout all the establish-
ments, except that of Kawa Tjiwidei, but thanks to the
strict search after the insect and not less to the
lopping and bu'-ning of all the attacked portions of
the plants, the injury done was of little or no sig-
nification. At Nagrak in the commencement some
damage was caused to the plantations by caterpillars
and locusts against which the catching and destruc-
tion of the insects appeared to be the only remedy.
At Riveng-goenoeng the Western plantations and
specially the nurseries had again to suffer severely
from the larva of a certain beetle, known by the
name ku-uk (oeret).

The continual attacks to which the nurseries there
have been subject from this kind of larva, and
which have caused so much disappointment with re-
ference to these plantations have necessitated the
removal of the Ledgeriana nurseries to the neigh-
borhood of the establishment at Kawah Tjiwidei. The
damage done by blight and the larva of a beetle
(uter-oeter) was during the past year of little or no
importance. The topping Ledgerianas and oflBcinalis
plantations of which mention was made in last year's
report has not been continued, since the results of
shaving the bark for obtaining a rich produce in the
shavings does not appear to have come up to what
was expected.

4. Harvest of Cinchona. — The harvest of 1885,
amounted to 2i6j359 kilograms of bark, the whole of
which is intended for sale in Netherland. No demand
for bark has been made by the Military Medical de-
partment. The harvest was gathered by digging out
the roots of backward and diseased C. Josephiana on
about four gardens, by digging out the roots of a
plantation of C. Oalisaya, by thinning out and lop-
ping thickly planted Ledgeriana and Succirubra planta-
tions and by the removal of hybrids from young
Ledger fields, whilst a considerable quantity of pro-
duce was obtained from Ledgerianas which in conse-
quence of the extensive scraping practised in 1884,
had assumed an unhealthy appearance, and threatened
to die out.
The produce consisted of

Sort of Cinchona,

1°

« a

-^ a

§-2

= 3

0.2

^ a

0. Succirubra 170 21,094 325 f 0,703

„ C.ihsaya (Schuhkraft)770 8i,118 5b7 '. 4,3!)4

„ (Javanica) 39 4,527 15 2,324

„ (Anglica) 29 3,299 44 6,401

,; Ledg^riaaa ... - - 1,009 155,287

,. Oificinalis _ _ 44 6,273

„ Lull iiolia — — 2 298

Total 1,008 117,038 2,026 315,680

The last experiment in the application of he
:-haviiig method on old oflBcinalis trees at Kawah-
Tjiwidei, but the results of the trial since it was
carried out on a large scale in 1884 have appeared
so unfavourable, that this system of harvesting has
been given up for good. , . r , 1

All the shaved trees retained their fresh and
healthy app.>arance, those trees which had only yeilded
a single harvest by the shaving of the bark off one-
half of the circumference shelved one year after the
operation that the undisturbed portion of the bark
was much better developed than that on the shaved

portion. .,, . . 1 ^

Some careful experiments are still being made to
ascertain plainly with the help of figures the differ-
ence in the growth of the bark — both \fhen the

Jan. 1, my.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

482

ahaved portion has been covered, as well as without
that precaution.

■ The bad results, of the use of the shaving method
In ]8S4, by which at the end of a few mouths only
bne-half of the circumference of the tree was sub-
jected to the operation at a time, became apparent
at the beginning of the 2ud quarter of 1885 — when
at Tjibitoeug and Rioeug-goenoeng, and in a lees
degree at Tjibeureum, a very considerable number of
trees, first estimated at (plus or minus) 5,000, though
later en the number had to be doubled, shewed such
signs of decay, that it was thought advisable to root
out the injured trees.

The partial shaving of the whole circumference was
almost exclusively confined to Ledgeriauas of inferior
qualitj', and therefore the damage done by the sub-
sequent untimely harvesting of the trees, was of less
importance.

But iu the closely planted fields at Eioeng Goe-
noeng, from which only a single harvest of Leclge-
riaua shavings were obtained, the slaving system
was still more unfavourable in its results. Although
no dying trees were met with, yet the trees con-
tinued to droop for a long time, and during the
long-continued rains the exposed portions of the bark
began in some few instances to rot.

Should it appear that the trees in closely planted
fields cannot stand the operation without danger, then
the great advantage which such close planting affords
by yielding the maximum produce, at the minimum
cost of upkeep, and bj' the formation of a large
quantity of humns and its accompanying amelioration
of the surface soil, will cause the system of shaviug
to be entirely abandoned. If the application of the
Maclvor system by which regular strips of bark was
taken from the trees, has not in the long-run answered
expectations, the results of shaving off the bark have
been so detrimental that its continuance is not to be
deieidedcn. So that there is nothing left for us to
adopt but a systematic thinning out of the plantations,
with a carefully limited lopping of the trees, and
finally the complete uprooting of the plant.

The shaving system can only be of service, in ca«e
a sudden rise in the Cinchona market, should render
it desirable to obtain a large amount of produce,
and to preserve the plantations, or when the urgent
necessity for funds, forces the owner to sacrifice the
future to the present. The produce of the harvest
of 1881 was disposed of bj' two public sales, on the
4th March and 22nd September 18S5 held at Amsterdam.
The prices at the foimer sale were very inferior to
those realized subsequently in the 22!id September.
The gtoss amount obtained by both sales was
/372,57186.

The following prices were obtained for the half
kilograms: —

C. Succirubra

O. Oa'.isaya Javanica ..
0. do Schuhkraft
0. do Anyilica ..
0. do Hasskarlian;
O. Ledgerina

0. Oflaicinalis

0. Laucifolia

0. Papudiana ...

0. Caloptera

The average price obtained at both sales was /0944
per half kilogram.

The existing drying stoves at Nugrakand at Tjiujiroean
continued in damp weather to render good service
but iu prolonged rains they were found insutfi cient
for a large extent of produce.

The necessity for drying arrangements, made itself
felt more and more on other establishments.

Before preceding to construct drying arrangements
all over, the Director of the Government Cinchona
enterprize has been authorized to inspect some private
Undertakings in the Preanger Regencies, for the purpose
of ascertaining the adv»ntageoU3 system for drying
cinchona bark.

His visit to some tea estates in Salkavboeme and
^o^medang led biia to form the conclusion that
§1

1st Sale

2nd Sal

B

18 to 123 cts.

25 to 301

cts

22 to 72 „

30 to 106

?T

V-i to 86 .,

19 to 257

"

24 to 50 „

55 to 170

»»

23 to 31 „

19 to 172 „

87 to 295

f»

80 to 129 „

112 to 194

■n

42

11

27 to 121

n

46 to 163

n

Davidson's T Sirocco was in all respects the most
deserving of approval.

5. Establishment — Funds. — By theGovernmentiuinute
of COth December 1S85, No. 20, the establishment;
was increased by two pupil-overseers each on a
salary of /50 a month, and an arborist at /150 »
month, and a premium of one cent for every graft
or sucker of C. Ledgeriana suitable for planting out
prepared by him, or under his directions up to a
maximum to be fixed by the Director of the Govern-
ment Cinchona Enterprize.

G. Tockamp Lunmtrs was appointed arborist, he
having acted in that capacity for nearly four years.

The acting overseer of the 3rd Class A. Von Estaroff
was relieved with honor from his acting duties, and
his place was temporarily filled by W. Eurck. The
fixed native estabhsliments at the end of December
consisted of one carpenter, one storekeeper, a messenger,
20 overseers and 235 field laborers. The wives and
children of the field laborers earn low wages, and are
employed, as far as possible, in the nurseries, the up-
keep of the young plantations, the harvest and in the
destruction of injurious insects.

During nearly the whole year labor was abundant,
so much so, that in consultation with some Managers
in the districts of Bandoeng and Tjitjalangka wages
were reduced by 20 per cent.

This reiinctiou was only made in the wages of
temporary laborers and newly engaged fixed-laborers
and did not cause the .smallest complaint notwith-
standing this reduction of wages, and the numerous
demands for labor in the private neighboring estate."',
employment could not aUvaj's be given to laborers
who tendered their services. For payment of the
native establishment, constructing and restoring nursery
sheds, purchase and repair of tools and other expenses
the estimates of 1885 provided the sum of /46,000.

It was at once evident that this amount was
inadequate to cover the expenses of an abundant
harvest, and the introduction of high cultivation, so
that an additional sum /34,000 was placed at the ■
disposal of the Directior of this cultivation.

The outlay for the service of the enterprize
amounted to : —
Salaries of the Director, Assistant Director and other

Europeans on the Establishment. /29"(i75

Correspondence... ... ... ... ... 36D

Travftlling expenses ... 3,203-59

Salaries and wages for the natii^e establi.'h-

ment, construction and- restoration of

nurseryslieds, purchase and repair of tools

and instruments and other expenses ... 80,17380

Total... /113,4l2-39

being / 35,402*39 more than was contcm-
plattd in the estimate for 1885.

According to the report for 1884 the totnl
expenditure including the transport of
the produce to Batavia during the year wa3/107,80I-5 1

The total cost of transport of the produce
to Netherland together with that for its
sale kc. come to 40,533"55

Total. ../143,385 09

The gro?s proceeds of the sales at Amsterdam in
1885 was /372,571S6 so that the harvest of 1SS4
yielded a net profit of /■224, 187-77, cxcIumvo cf a
farther sum of /17,102, realized by the sale of cinchona
grafts and seed.

Tl;e whole of the outlay including that of trans'port
to Batavia., brings the cost of the 1 a f kilogra'n of
bark to the following sales.

The produce of 1SS4 fO-2mZ

„ „ 1885 /0-2621

showing a saving in 1885 of /0-0072 per half kilogram
of b.irk— which was effected notwith^-landing the
incrcisod expenditure connected with the purchase and
transport of three times the number of cases than in
the previous year.

The transport to Europe, sale &c. of the produce
of 1881 pome to /0-102?> per half Vilogram 80 that

fm It^PiCAL A^MCtitfmiB'^

/H

f|AN. 1, j^f;

the

to.

net profit per half kilogram of bark came
/0'94-l-(/02.693-i/0-10-2S) i.e. /0-5719
By (lovernmeut miuute dated 21st October lS8o
No. 2, the luanagemeut of the Government cinchona
undertaking was placed under the supervision of the
Eesident of the Treanger Kogencies, whilst the
inspection of the cinchona plantations and the nurseries
is to be performed by the Head Inspector of the
coffee cultivation.

6. Extension of CiacJtona.—The demand for waste
land on lease for the purpose of cinchona cultivation
continues to diminish, and little or nothing is heard
of new undertakings.*

It is true that on existing estates the cultivation
continues to be extended but confidence in cinchona
culture has felt such a shock by the steady falling
worth naming, is not to be had
of the kind.

future to decide whether this
well grounded or not ; the

of prices that capital

for new undertakings

It remains for the

■want of confidence

figures given in sections 4 and 5 of this report, it
satisfactorly appears, however, that the prices now paid
for cinchona bark, afford no ground for the increasing
want of confidence in this cultivation.

From these figures it appears at the same time,
that no regular correspondence exists as yet between
the cost of production and the prices which cinchona
bark commands in the European market, and with
absolute certainty a steady fall in cinchona prices may
before told a circumstance well worthy of consideration
with reference to nc.v undertakinjjs.

7. Knoniedc/r of the kind of Clnclioua Cidtixatioa
in Javu.—Th.& results obtained "from plants raised from
seed received from Heer Schuhkraft in 1880, have
not come up to what was expected, as was mentioned
in last year's report. Now that the plants blossom
more generally they display a relati^.-nship to very
diverging kinds. If some varieties approach the typo of
0. Josephiana others again come near the C. Ledgeriana.

Among those classed as fine and finest Calisaya
raised from Mapivi plants there are with them
striking varieties, of which the best seem as if they
ought to be classed with O. Ledgeriana, Var.
Ohuiidiuifera, and 0. Ledgeriana var Ginchonidinefera.
The plants raised from seed received in 1S83, through
the intervention of the Minister of Colonies under the
name of C. Verde (C. Calisaya oblongi folia) approach
still nearer to the type of C. Ledgeriana. The kind
planted at different elevations from 4,000 to 6,000 feet,
C. Triande CO. fetoyansis) continues to thrive all over.
A single plant has begun to put forth buds.

8. Chemical Researches.— A.s in former years the
analyses of the harvest of 1384, were carried
out in Europe by Heer Moens. The results
obtained appear in appendix B and B. The analyses
in the interest of the cultivation continue in the
charge of the Assistant Director of the Government
cinchona enterprize. Those analyses of which the
results are given in appendix C. were made in the
first place for the purpose of obtaining rich varieties
raised from seed of the richest mother trees, to the
eid that these might be multiplied artificially for the
creation of seed plantations.

It w.i.s not alone itmong the plants derived from
\he rich motliijr trees Ko. 2'6 and 33 that_ such plants
werj sought, bat also from a very, typical Ledger
planUtioii r 'ised from the seed of the mother tree
>fo. 3 1 a remarkably fine specimen was obtained for
chemical examination, It is remarkable as a pheno-
meuon that the bark of all these varieties, some of
Wb'ch are distinguished for C5;itaining a very large
proportion of quinine, show in a greater or less
den- e3 the presence of cinchonidine, an alkaloid of
which traces Jire found in the bark of the mother
tree. Blaiits thus derived were, therefore, notcousidered
fit for th':! formation of graft plantations for the
prjducti)U of .s. ed. A very imi) jrtant scries of analyses
of suf'^'rubra-b- >-id-: raised from Ledger seed gave
surprizing rest It', in so far, that hybrids greatly
r ■s>;mb.i..g the \M g.-riani in haMrAi.s, flowers and form
of leif, were h11 .sim larly distinguished by a v^ry
' *How about Heer Muudt'B 175,000 acres ?—(?k;>'//ou

y-u iiui\:l".toi:

large proportion of alkaloids. I*or the attainment of
more certainty respecting the influence of theSuccirubra
stem on the constitution of the bark of the Ledgeri-
ana graft ingrafted on it, the produce obtained by
shaving and by partial peeling of the ba^-k, has been
submitted to chemical research. A large percentage
of cinchonidine was fount both in the shavini^s as
well as in the bark removed in long strips. Whilst
two analyses of the bark of the two mother trees
gave the following results : —

MoTHEK Tree No. 75.

o .

a

O

^ cent V cent V cent ^ cent V cent V cent
in 1876 10-59 — — 0-31 0-43 11-33

in 1881 9-79 — 0-05 O'So O'SG ODSl

Mother Tree No. 89.
in 1876 10 79 — — 023 0-51 11 -53

in 1881 11-20 1-17 — 0-57 0-45 13-39
The analyses of stripe bark taken off 5 years old
graft plants of these mother trees show 3-30 per cent
and 1-40 per cent of cinchonidine- From these results
the influence of the succirubra stem on the bark of
the Ledgeriana grafted on it appears incontestable.
INIoreover the bark of a graft from the known mother
tree No. 23 was analysed; it contained 1-11 per cent
cinchonidine, whilst the b-^rk from the mother tree
by two analyses was shown to yield: —

1 . z. o

O O D .H .ij •

c =.'2 S -z^'" S « =<

0*0 0 <J H

^ cent V cent V cent ¥" cent f cent V cent
in 1874 9 97 — — traces I'PO 11-87

in 1881 1101 — — 0-50 013 ir73

Analysis No. 33 deserves particular attention. It
shows, that five years after the introduction of the Mac-
Ivor-system, and three years after the covering of the
barked stem was left off, the bark not only f-howed
no indication of a return to its original constitution
as Succirubra bark, but even the quantity of quinine
in the renewed bark was eflt *'Cted to a greater extent than
is harvested during the limited lifetime of three years.
At the request of private cinchona planters H. E.
the Governor-General of Netherlands India has caused
experiments to be made in the chemical Laboratory at
Bandoeng for obtaining a coarse extract of the cinchona
alcaloids solely for the purpose of saving the cost of
packing and transporting a useless mass of woody fibre.
For this experiment 10 kilograms of bark was selected
containing fuily 6 per cent of alkaloids; of this by
means of boiling with lime and spirts of wine, quininm
(a resiny substance) was produced, which by analysis
was found to contain about 60 per cent of alkaloids,
whilst the ascertained loss in preparation appeared to
be little or nothing.

To ansvver the (juestion as to whether this quiniuin
affor.ls a suitable m iterial for the preparation of
quinine and other su'phates, it was requested that
it should be sent to Nethorl^ad which has accordingly
been done,

Bandoeng, 23rd March 138(J.

Eecavitulatiok,

Oases. 13ale3, Conteutsi,
Kilog,

C. Succirubra 56 138 13,837

,, Calisaya Schuhkraft ... 185 379 3'.\793

„ Javanica ..< 10 26 2,52.^

„ „ Anglica ... l7 -t? 4Mi

„ Ledgeriana — 499 37,600

Oftici>alis 1 177 13,229

;; Calcp era H 23 2,228

„ Pahud ana 1 4 388

„ Lauci folia — 1 J 1

Total ... •■■ 2S1 1,204 114,2^-3
Thc! alkaloid is calculated o: reckoned ou air-driid
bark,

Jan. 1, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

A^S

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Appendix 0. — Review of the Alkaloid limits of Java Cin-
chona Bark ascertained during 1885.

6

3°

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d

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a 0
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T.iibeureum

3-18

0-17

0-55

4.43

8-33

:2

1 »

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noeng

8-74

—

—

0-47

9-21

3

f

U-ll

—

—

0-49

11-60

4

f

11-82

—

—

0-84

12-8«

5

>

6-98

2-97

—

1-10

11-05

6

9

8-08

1-68

—

0-63

10-29

7

Tjinjiroeau

4-Gl

4-75

—

1-93

11-29

8

»

6-32

6-83

—

102

1417

9

»

7-86

5-C6

—

1-37

14 89

10

»

4-77

3-94

—

3-61

12-3^

11

»

6-77

—

1-69

3-75

11-31

12

•

5-51

4-78

—

1-12

11-41

13

•

4-21

G-27

—

i-02

13-50

14

9

6-78

1-01

trace

1-87

9-66

15

6-.S5

.3-51

—

1-16

11-21

16

f

6-oa

4-96

—

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12-49

17

>

6-97

6-22

—

1-27

U-46

18

1

6-78

3-75

—

1-30

10-83

19

*

7-44

1-32

0-33

1-94

1103

20

t

*

5-00

4-21

—

1-90

1111

21

•

10-67

0-81

—

0-78

ia-26

22

9

3-42

6-53

—

2-10

11-05

2.J

*

5-11

3-69

—

1-80

10-60

24

Rioeug goe-

uoeng

11-90

—

—

0'73

12-63

25

*

U-HO

—

—

0-80

1340

2ti

1

11-50

—

— •

0-87

12-37

27

Tjibeureiim

ia-40

M4

—

ru

14-66

28

,

t

13-26

0-80

—

0-C6

14-72

29

1

9-20

0 .".G

—

0 43

9-99

«0

•

8-65

1-22

—

0-4

10-fll

ni

•

9-14

OT16

—

0-60

10-30

31'

1 »

>

4-09

4-00

trace

1-yl

9G0

n

0
0

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V

•^

fl

^

;*!

Sorts of

Place of

B

'0

n

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s

3

Cinchona

Growth

'3

0

a

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ii

12;

a

.g

0

0

33

, Succirubra

Lembauf?

4-36

1-05

0-33

4-18

992

34

, Itedgeriana

Rioeng goe-

noeng

4-36

trace

—

1-56

5-92

35

6-47

0-46

—

2-30

9-23

36

7'99

1-14

—

1-43

10- .5(5

37

5-62

trace

—

1-05

e-67

38 1

7-07

0-30

—

1-13

8-50

39 j

5-04

0-20

—

2-10

7-34

40

Tirtasari

8-21

1'62

—

0-70

10-53

41

1

815

1-87

—

0'75

10-77

42

»

7-10

1-40

—

0-64

9-14

43

,

7-20

3-56

—

0-86

11-62

44

»

7-50

3-52

—

0-93

11-95

45

1

5-88

3-30

—

051

9-69

46

Soekawaua

8-61

1-U

—

1-17

10 89

47

Lembang

4-01

a-13

—

1-06

7-20

Remarks. — No. 1, neither tree unknown, a; Nos. 2 to 6,
derived from No. 23, v to z ; Nos. 7 to 13, derived from
Succirubra-hybrid apjiarently, a to g ; Nos. 14 to 23, neither
tree uiikuowii, h tor; No. 24, derived from No. 23, d; Nos.
25 and 26, dertved from No. 38, b,c, No. 27, Succirubra.
hybrid apparently, d ; Nos. 28 to 32, derived from No. 34, a to e,

A New Tea. Dbier. — A gentleman with large
Assam experience as a practical planter has ar.
rived in Ceylon with a new patent tea drier which
he anticipates, will secure the favour of our planters
both on account of its good work and ecenomy
in price in proportion to efficiency.

Eucalypti in Arban. — I have been much interested
in the correspondence on the Eucalyptus as grown in
the island of Arran. I may state for your inform-
ation that several plants of the Eucalyptus are growing;
at Auchmanes, Portincross, AYest Kilbride, whicli is
thirteen miles east of Lamlash, and ten miles east
of Oorrie, in Arran. A seedling of 1881 was planted
outside in 1883, and is now 22 feet in height. Sev-
ral seedlings of 1885 were planted outside this sum-
mer, and are now 12 feet in height, having grown
this season C feet 6 inches. The plants are grown on
light soil sheltered from east and north-east winds, at
about 60 yards above high-water mark.— J. Macleax,
The Gardens, Auchmanes, near Kilbride. — Gardeners'
Chronicle.

New Products in West Indies. — Considerable in-
terest continues to be taken in the suggestions in
respect of new industries contained in a letter sent
to the West Indies by Mr. Morris. Certainly, the
subjects of which he treats are of such deep im-
portance to the people of those islands that they
have only to be mentioned in order to engage
their serious attention. One idea mentioned by
Mr. Morris is that tea will grow in Trinidad at
elevations above cacao, and that this is obviously
worthy of careful consideration. The cultivation of
the ground nut has much to recommend it, while
a great deal might be made out of fibres. The
Agricultural Society of Trinidad at the instance
of Mr. Lange, has been considering whether China
grass can be grown at a profit in that Colony.
The decision taken by the society to have pam-
phlets on " China Grass," translated and printed
for general information cannot be too highly
praised. It seems, however, that the society has
fallen into discredit in the past, since a contem-
porary ventures to suggest that the vacancy in
the presidentship of the society ofl'ers an opport-
unity, which may not again occur soon, to infuse
new life into it, by a respectful request to His
Excellency the Governor, to be in future not only
a tron but its president. No doubt, such a step,
successful, would rally round the society, the

five support of the best man in the Colony. —

olonies and India.

iH

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan: I, 1887,

TEA IN CHINA,

I have within the last few days, at a friend's
house, come across a curious Chinese book of
colored plates illustrative of the growth and
manufacture of tea in the Celestial Empire. The
book was sent to my friend by a relative in
Canton in 1844 and consists of 24 paintii^gs on rice-
paper, bound in colored silk, the whole folio volume
weighing only some 9 oz. The first plate represents
the holing of the ground, and the next the seed being
dibbled in ; while in the third the young plants
are shown above ground and a man is raking the
soil between the rows. In the next picture, the
plants are somewhat larger and are being watered
by a man with a small wooden pail at the end
of a bamboo. The next picture represents a woman
sittiiuj on a stool before three tea bushes, from which
she is picking the Hush. (I believe this is the
universal custom, but what would Ceylon tea-
planters think of their coolies indulging in such
luxury!) Next we see a lanky 'cooly taking the
green-leaf from a basket, and sifting or winnowing
it into two heaps ; and in the next picture an-
other man appears to be picking out coarse leaf,
d'c. The next scene is a strange one : it repra-
sents a cooly with a heavy pestle in his hands
j)ounding the green leaf in a large stone mortar,
preparatory to the rolling by hand in a flat bamboo
basket, which is shown on the next page. The
man employed in rolling seems to have discovsred
something in the laaf which ought not to be there,
and is holding it near his eyes and gazing at it
with an expression of disgust : what the object is, it
is impossible to say. In the next picture a woman
seated at a table appears to be engaged in picking out
stalks, d'O., from the rolled tea, and in the following
one the tea is shown in the form of round flat cakes
on a basket, where they have been left to ferment.
On the next page we see the balls broken up
and a lad with a bamboo whisk stirring the leaf
about and adding some liquid to it from a little
tub; and then we see the leaf in baskets, being
placed on a bench to ferment for a further period.
The next picture is the most remarkable of all,
it represents a man with a shaven head and a
long robe, the fold of which he is holding- out,
gazing up at a monkey who is seated on the
rocks above and is grasping with one hand
a tea bush which the man below is requesting
him to throw down ! Here is a valuable hint for
Ceylon tea planters as a settlement of the labor
difficulty! In the next picture we are shown
a man seated at a block on which he is
holding with his left hand a tea branch while
with a; cleaver _in_ his right he is stripping the
leaves off. This is a strange way of gathering
loaf certainly. In the next page we see the tea
grower sack on back and balances in hand on
his way to sell his leaf to the trader. Then we
see the green leaf being packed in stone jars
covered with bamboo wicker, and so transported
by boat to the factory, the operations in which
we are now introduced to. The first is the firing
in a furnace, and then comes the tasting, the
taster being a regular '"masher.' The next pic-
ture is not one for a lover of China tea to gaze
at ; it shows & nearly naked cooly trampling down
the made tea into large chests. The next picture
shows the chests being filled up by a cooly with
a long stick in his hands ; and then the boxes,
nailel up and papered, are having the familiar
hieroglyphics painted on th&ni; the last picture
representating a cooly carrying one such box on
his slio.ikler.— D, \\. r. in Observer,

NEW PRODUCTS IN OLD DISTRICTS.

We were not mistaken in seeing many a chena
field and many a big patch, row forlorn and ne-
glected, which we remembered to have seen in
full cultivation. But on the other hand we had
most cheering and quite wonderful expanses of
the new product— tea— as green, healthy and
vigorous as ever its predecessor looked. To a
stranger "without reminiscences" there would
be in fact little or no evidence in these Nor-
thern districts of the time of depression ; for
estate after estate has now its tea fields
covering areas rapidly approaching to those
formerly covered by coffee, and it is difficult
to say whether "the new Queen" flourishas
better on the old " King's " fields, or on pre-
viously unopened land. The young tea clearings
on the Hatale property seem as promising
as the most critical of old-school Visiting
Agents could desire and farther on we had
a look at fields planted on patana and chena
land from tea seed at stake, than which no
growth could be better at two and three years
old. In the middle of the Knuckles we came
on a new estate, planted with tea, cleared from
patana, with a lay of land and a promise in much
of the soil which may well justify the proprietors
in anticipating a second Mariawatte. But of all
the cheering sights we saw, commend us to
the picture of old Maousakelle and its two year
tea on patana soil. Anything better than this
we have nowhere heard of in Ceylon, not even
in the best of the chena clearings on the
side of old Hantane mountain range where
again tea is working a very wonderful change.
Indeed green flourishing fields predominate
throughout the Hantane, Hewaheta and Nilambe
districts as much as in the northern group of
Kelebokke, Knuckles and Rangala. We are there-
fore quite prepared now to welcome the original
planters of forty years ago, should any of them,
dead to the island for a generation, " revisit the
glimpses of the moon," to spy out the nakedness
of their old clearings. They would simply return,
as we have done, saying the half had not been
told them and that unless they had seen for
themselves no one could have made them
believe that tea could flourish so vigorously,
not to say luxuriantly on old coffee, patana,
and chena land. "Will it last?" may be the
cry ; but we have no doubt Ceylon Planters will
answer that question after a very practical fashion
as time rolls on. Meantime "tea" is not the only
"new product" that astonished us during our
brief passing visit. But of "cacao" in Panwila
and Dambara, we must have a separate notice.

CEYLON UPCOUNTRY PLANTING REPORT,

COFFEE AND GREEN BUG— WHAT IS PEOVlDENCE ABO0T f
TEA PROPERTIES AND BUYING AND SELLING — CLEABINQS
ALONG THE MATALE LINE.

20th December 1886.
Now that coj'ee 13 going to be trumps those in
these districts who b»ve any of it left regard the
presenc e of the bag — black or green as yon may
choose to call it — with increasing interest. Unlike
leaf disease, which resembles the poor in being always
with us : bug comes and goes. A bad attack of the
former, nay, nven a series of attacks, might be got
over, but a thorough inroad of bug is as near to
sudden death as anything I know of. A slight attack,
described by the innocent ae, "hero and there in
patches, but nothing to speak of you know," is like
the shadow of impeudin* doom to those who have

Jam. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

4S5

experienced with what virulence it cau sweep round
an estate, and have seen the wreckage it leaves in
its wake. Bug haa put the philosophy of many a
man to the test, and has formulated questions
which were hard to solve. Oiiu who was sufior-
ing mentally and financially from a bad attack
of bug, said in reference to it, and in serious
earnest : " I really don't know what Providence
can be thinking about ? " Poor fellow, he had a
hard nut to crack, but his attitude of mind was re-
verent enough, albeit his form of speech was not
devout. The other who saw in leaf-disease Providence
as having a controversy with the planters, and who
looked upon the invasion of bug as the last act in
which those who had survived the first visitation,
were to be ruined under the second, had made an
attempt to answer the query as to what Providence
was thinking about. But was it a good shot? I heard
the other day of a li-cturer in Melbourne impressing
on his audience that every insect pest has its use,
dwelling especially on the mosquito, the cloth moth,
and the garden snail. At the close of the lecture,
a gentleman got up and asked for something more
definite as to the snail. His garden, and indeed al-
most all the gardens in Melbourne, were over-run with
them ; his boys caught hundreds of them every night,
and it was with the greatest difficulty young plants
could be protected. The lecturer was a little non-
plussed, but said the snail was fulfilling the aim of
its existence, namely eating ! If it had been a planter's
estate which was being handed over to the destroyer
instead of the garden of an energetic colonist, there
would have been some one about " to point a moral "
and the snail would never have fulfilled the aim of its
existence until it had showed a decided partiality for
the belongings of reprobate planters.

But this is a long way from the bug on our coffee. To
return to it, it is a pleasure to notice that the pest
is dying out, evidently in the same way that it did
about the same time last year. The appearance is
as if a white fungus were growing on the insect. Will
it keep away ? Is it worth while in these parts to
prune, manure or cultivate, even if coffee is to go
very much higher in price? If we only knew what
Providence was thinking about, it would not be diificult
to make up cur minds as to what to do with what
remains of our coffee.

At present, I fancy, there are more sellers ef tea
estates than buyers ; but it is a happy token to hear
of a tea propertj- near Watagami for which £3,000
was refused. It is not a big place, and only ayear-and
a-half old.

There is the other side, however, of wanting to sell
and not being able, like what occurred the other dav,
a man in search of au investment, for the offer
of the property at a rattling big fis;ure. Stirling money
of course, and after reading the unsolicited letter
which contained the terms of thra proposal he said :
" Well, Ceylon is far from being worked out yet,
when people cau have the cheek to ask such a price.
There must be something in tea."

I understand that land suitable for tea lying near
the Matale line is being looked after, and that next
season should see more clearings there. — Peppercorn.

TEA, SUGAR, CINCHONA, AND COOLIES IN

NETHERLANDS INDIA.

{Iranslated foi the "Straits Times.")

Accordingr to the Samarang Locomotief, tea plant-
ations in Java, bid fair, this year, to turn out an en-
ormous yield. On one estate in particular, called
Sinagar Ohirohama,the tea produced is said to materially
excel the British India kind in quality. This heavy
outturn is generally ascribed to the dry East mon-
»oon in 1885, followed by a lack of destructive in-
sects. In spite of the promising future in store for
this branch of planting enterprise there, capitalists in
Java shrink from investment therein. For iustance,
two tea growing companies started in that island last
year, havato work with capital mostly drawn from
Britain, so it is said, What with the" depression of

trade and fall in prices, it is no wonder that they mis-
trust the paying nature of plantation undertakings under
present circumstances. Moreover, it is evident that the
enormous increase of the tea yield to be expected with-
in the next few years, might readily result in over-
production within, say, four or five years. Even were
years of ndversity sure to come, there is every sign of
prosperity for tea cultivation in Java, provided growers
be not borne down by fiscal burdens sure to ruin them
in times of crisis.

Of late, natives have been engaered in great numbers
in Java for labour purposes in British North Borneo,
Queensland, and Gprman New Guinea. The local author-
ities before authorising their emigration, had ascer-
tained that these recruits were fully aware of the
terms of their engagement, and had agreed to them.
The authorities also prpvailed upon the companies cun-
cerned to sive security for returning these labourers
free of charge to Java, should they wish to come back
at the expiration of their contracts. The Netherlands
India Government has not yet decided what other line
of action to take with regard to the recruiting of
natives for foreign countries, or whether special provi-
sion be made to protect more effectively the inter-
ests of coolies.

In the opinion of experts there is at present uo pros-
pect of any rise in the price of sugar which continues
to be low indeed in Java. The only remedy worth a
thought is that of striving to make the article pay
even at the discouraging quotations rulinsr, by calling
in the aid of science and carrying out improvements
wherever feasible to increase the outturn on less
expenditure.

Steam ploughs have turued out not to meet re-
quirements in Java. Trials have provad conclusively
their unremunprativenesB. In supervision alone, each
plough costs about 150 guilders. Another drawback is
that the plough had no steady work. Sometimes it
stood still for months It seems that among the many
steam appliances which have replaced manual labour
in agriculture the steam plough is one of those which
answers the worst.

Uncertain as are the prospects of Java Cinchona
planters from over-production of bark in Ceylon,
they hope to make head against competition, by re-
iving on the advantage, Java bark has over the Ceylon
kind in containing less cimhonidine. Sometimes
Indian and Ceylon barks show even 50 per cent
hieher percentage of cinchonidinc than of quinine.
The consequence is that their value has become de-
prpciated. For instance, out of 2.518 bales of Ceylon
bark put up for sale by auction at London, on the 28th
June last, 1,330 proved unsaleable. The 169 bales of
Java offered all found buyers readily. Under these
circumstancps, it is no wonder that the 21 millions of
cinchona trpes planted in Cejdou when coffee grow-
ing proved unremuuerative, are being rooted up to
make room for tea.

INDIAN HEMP: "BHANG."

An excellent paper was read by Dr. "Watt, the
Commissioner of the Indian Economic Court, on In-
dian Hemp wlfich we take the liberty to reproduce.

" He said that it was a common experience in thii
country that the extracts obtained from the drug
were of different strengths. This was due to the
use of different kinds of the drug. The drug which
was produced in Eastern Bengal was the best, and
there were two kinds of it-^the flat and the round
ganjah, as stated by Mr. Holmes. These differed
considerably in strength ; moreover, the round was
t»xed by the Government a fourth more than the
flat. The duty on the round was from 35^. to
40^. per maund, exclusive of the licence to fell it
either by wholesale or retail. In connection with
this taxation thprs was a curious anomaly existing
in India to which he wished briefly to refer, viz.
that the yearly returns in Bengal showed a con-
sumption amounting to 6,000 maunds with a tax of
2O,OO0L, whereas iu Bombay the consumption was

4S6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan. I, 1887,

9,000 roaunds with a taxatiou of 10,000Z. only. The
law which imposed the tax was passed about ten
years ago, and he was surprised that the difference
referred to had heen lost sight of. These quantities
did not represent the total produce of Indian lienip.
Two thousand luaunds were yearly exported from
Bombay to Liverpool and Loudon- duty free, the
result being that it could be bought in London at
oue-tweutieth the price at which it was sold in
Bombay, (Laughter.) The wouder was what became
of it, and he fearcl that it was re.shipped for con-
sumption in India after escaping the customs. Dr.
Watt next gave an interesting account of the cul-
tivation of the drug in India. He said that the
wild variety — known as Bhang — differs from the
cultivated ganjah. It is much weaker, and is used
for the preparation of an intoxicating liquor and
sweetmeats. The liquor is called Hasheesh, this wonl
being the source of oui: word assassin, a corrup-
tion of the native word " Uasheesheeu "' applied to the
intoxicated and homicidal persons who drink the liquor.
The sweetmeats are made by digesting the bhaug in
ghee, a kind of butter — the mixture being after-
wards made into a suitable mass. Ganjah is entirely
smoked, never eaten. The drug, Dr. Watt explained, is
placed in a pipe, ignited in a certain way, and
two or three whiffs arc all that is necessary
to make a man delightfully drunk. (Laughter.)
Bhang is smoked in a different way. It is placed
on a fire in the middle of a room in which a num-
ber of persons sit, and as the fumes fill the apart-
ment all in the room get drunk together. (Laughter).
After explaining that these details were not taken
from personal experience but from observation. Dr.
Watt proceeded to describe the collection of Churrus,
the resinous exudation from the stems of the plant.
For the purpose a number of men are employed.
They are stripped of the little clothing which they
wear, their bodies well oiled, and they are made to
run through the hemp fields in all directions. As
thpy press their way through the stems, their bodies
become covered with the resin. Tluy are then con-
veyed to head-quarters and scraped. Another sub-
stance, termed Mammia, is a much more nasty pre-
p-itration. This is referred to in the last edition of
Johnstoa's ' Ohemistry of Common Life.' The pre-
paration is made in Nepaul. A certain plant is ad-
ministered to miserable wretches, and it produces
upon them a loathsome eruption. It is this eruption
■which is scraped off their bodies and used like ghee
along with bhang. Incidentally Dr. Watt, remarked
that he did not consider that much was to be learnt
by associating with the native doctors. They knew
all about the many hundreds of drugs which were in
India, and there were not more than 40 or 50 of
them of any real use. Moreover, the natives kept
the drugs in their shops until they were perfectly
rotten and worm-eaten, and as they were dependent
upon them for many of them, that fat accounted
for numerous specimens in the Indian Court being
in a bad condition. Again 'referring to ganjah, he
said that it was essential for its production tiiat the
fields of it should be quite free from male flowers
otherwise a single male fii)Wer present in a fielrl would
by fertilisation, convert it into bhang. In cultivated
fields of the hemp the male flowers were separated
by native doctors, who are most proficient in their
work. When the plant consipts only of a short stem,
IJ feet high these doctors after striking a bnrg*in,
go through the fields, and, singling out every male plant
cut it down and Ipave not a single one stsndiug.
Dr. Watt had endeavoured to get at the bottom of
this wond'-'rful skill, but even with the help of a
Microscope he had failed to find any satisfactory
point of distinction between the male and female
plants at this point of growth. He described how
the heads are prepared for market. A hollow space
is made in the earth, and the freshly-pulled lifads
are placed in it; the workpeople thou roll it hbout
with a shuflfling motion of their bare feet the amount
of pressure which the heads are subjected to deter-
mining the form of the product and streugth." — Nil-
iri Express.

COFFEE ADULTERATION.

Not before it was time, an influential meeting has
been held of those interested in the growth of Indian
and Colonial Coffees, to concert measures for putting
a stop to the prevalent adulteration, which is slowly
but surely destrojiug the Coffee trade of this country.
Though i)eople are often unaware of the precise reason,
all articles of food and drink are consumed for some
useful part that they i)erform in the human frame.
They may bo nutritious or stimulative, or they may
prevent waste of tissue, and it is for the two latter
purposes, so physiologists say, that substances like Tea
or Coffee are used. These "effects depend upon the
alkaloids — Theiue in the case of Tea and Caffeine in
(loffee — which tiiose drinks contain. But if these
essential properties are ovt rwhelmed with a massof burnt
woody fibre, such :is Chicory consists of, the object of
Coffee-drinking is at an end. Nevertheless, in the
case of Coff(>e, if advertisements on tins and other-
wise are to be believed, the very thing that destroys
its efficacy, is vaunted to bo an improvement. This
would matter little if the public were not misled by
such statements, as they undoubtedly are. English
people, as a rule, through the long course of medi-
cinal Chicory they have undergone, are totally ignorant
of what true Coffee is like, and a degraded public
taste has been created which actually calls for a certain
amount of the bitterness and thickness which Chicory
gives to Coffee. But this is no reason for the public being
kept in ignorance of the proportion of Chicory they
are buying, and the present law, by which a simple
declaration of admixture, covers the addition, even of
80 p>-r cent of Chicory, simply leads to the grossest
abuse. No substance ought to be sold as Coffee unless
it contains at the very least 50 or CO per cent of the
substance by the name of which it is called ; and in
this, as in all other admixtures, the amount of foreign
matters added should be clearly declared to the
purchaser by a distinct printed label. The present
Government stamp ou mixtures of Chicory and
Coffee, with other things, simply puts the official sf al
of approval on what is som'-limes a fraud. A number
of samples of "Coffee" have recently been analysed
in London, and proportions of 60, 70, and in one
case 92 per cent of Chicory and the like substances,
have been found in them. Certainly no such compounds
should be allowed to be sold as Coffee at all. If the
word " French " be a recommendation to these
mixtures, it would equally recommend the word
'•Chicory," and the pr(>portion of Coffee could then
be declared. There is a sort of pnci^dent for dealing
with Coffee in the recent Spirit laws, which do not
allow Spirits of less than 25 degrees of alcoholic
streugth to be sold without a legible declaration on
the bottle of the exact amount of added water.
But this precedent dois not go far enough in the
case of Coffee. The addition of water in large
quantities is absolutely necessary in the case of pure
alcohol, which is simply a poison if undiluted. The
addition of Chicory to coffee is in no WHy essential
or desirable, and the purer a Coffee is, the better is
its effect upon the human frame. It would seem fair,
therefore, to go a ftep further than with Spirits,
and to say that the proportion of all Chicory, whether
much or little, added to ct.ffee, should be legilily
decUred. The planters in their proposals as reported
in The T'nnei of Wednes^day lact, went further than
this, and were inclined to ask that no adnjixture
whatever should be permitted, and that people who
want Chicory should be compelled to buy it separately,
and mix it themselves. Thi.s, however, has been
already tried in this country, and has been given np,
as it was found to bo unworkable. . Since the first
meeting of the Planters, it is understood that a
compromise may ba entertained, by which a certain
proportion of Chicory f-hould be allowed to be admixed,
without declaration. To admit this, however, would
be practically to defeat the object of the movement,
and if such a weak compromise be accepted, the agi-
tation would be better left alone. Those who like
Chicory in their Coffee, and tens of thousands do so,
would have uo objection, but the contrary, to th.
declaration of the proportion added, while those who

Jan. I, 1887,]

'THE TROPICAL Agriculturist.

48^

do not want Chioory, onght not to be supplied with
it without tlieir knowledge, a-ul under the protection
of the law.

In ilealing with this an^l similar matters, the puMic
press is too apt to p\it down abuses to tlie retail
Grocers, and with great injustice. In the present
case, the excessive admixture with Chicory, which is
doina: so much harm, is not due to the (Jrocers at
all, but to the pickers, who introduced a substance
with a taking t/tle at a time when Coffee was very
high in price. The Grocers had no knowledge or
means of knowing the constituents of the mixture
and the demand for it has since been endorsed by a
special Government stamp, in cases where constituents
besides Coflfee and Chicory are used. The further
step of obtaining a similar profit from the use of
Chicory for themselves, instead of for the packers,
is not one to be wondered at, but the Grocer* if
asked for Coffee free from Chicory will ol« nys supply
it, whether whole or ground. It is, indeed, quite a
mistake to suppose that the retail Grocers, as a bodj',
would object to a stringent law dealing with Coffee
adulteration, for they see as plainly as anyone else,
that, at the pitch which things have reached, the
destruction of the Coffee trade is a question of time.

Nor can those who vaunt the superiority of their
compounds to Coffee, as the latter is given us by
nature, object to their merits being no longer
hidden, under the vague general declaration of
of admixture with "improving" ingredients. On the
contrary, the philanthropic packers who improve upon
nature, should be thankful for any bw, which com-
pels them to emerge from their modest reticence,
and to say how much per cent the " Coffee " in
question is kindly "improved."' If, on the other hand,
they do object to sucli added fame, the public might
doubt the truth of the alleged improvement, and
insist-, on its own arcount, on the proportion of
admixture being declared. So far as the true home
Coifee trade are concerned, that is, the Importers,
Brokers, and wholesale and ret.iil Dealers, who sell
Coffee and not Chicory, they have for many years
past desired a stringment change in the law, which
may, perhaps, be carried now that our Indian and
Colonial Planters have taken the matter up, especially
as the question has a material bearing on the revenue
of the country. — Produce Markets' He view.

CEYLON PRODUCE IN 1880.

The different articles exported from Ceylon
to the various markets of the world have been
fairly remunerative to producers during the j^ast
year and Ave make the following netes regarding
the movements of them, and prospects for the
coming year.

Coffee.- — The high prices now prevailing in
Europe consequent upon the short supply from
Brazil have caused a similar advance here and
planters who still have coffee left, ought to be
congratulated on the prices obtainable. It is not
likely that more coffee will be planted but, what
there is, is being cultivated with more than ordi-
nary care, and, as the ravages of leaf -disease,
grub and bug, are now more modified, a fair
average export may be looked for.

Tea cultivation has been rapidly extended dur-
ing the past year and in 1887 we shall probably
see more than double the quantity exported that
was produced in 188(3. Towards the close of the
year quality improved very much, and there was
good competition at home for all fine teas possess-
ing point and good liquor. As the China Tea
Season will not commence till May and as the
Indian Export Season is about over, supplies will
not be brought into the London market in such
Vglume as they have been for some time. It may
therefore be fairly expected that prices for desir-
able qualities will be maintained during the next
few months, A number of Indian Tea Companies'
jiyer^gQ^ baye beeo very low this year, and this

must be regarded as a somewhat unfavourable
feature for Ceylon Planters, inasmuch as it may
result in the collapse of many companies, and the
acquirement of their concerns by others at ruinously
low prices, and fresh competition.

Coconut Oil.— The year 1885 having been a
comparatively dry one, the yield of coconuts in
188ti has in consequence been limited and the
production of copra and oil has been on a moderate
Bcalo. In the early part of the year the price
in Europe fell to an unprecedentedly low level ow-
ing chiefly to larger supplies of tallow, palm oil
and palm-nut kernels ; it has now however some-
what recovered, although it is still much below
the average of former years. There has been a
good Indian demand throughout the year for oil
and copra, but this has fallen off owing to the
larger supplies of copra to Indian ports from Zan-
zibar and the Straits. The manufacture of white
oil IS a new departure to be noted. It resembles
Cochin oil and fetches about E20 more than ordin-
ary Ceylon. As the rainfall in 1886 has been more
abundant than usual, the crops of coconuts in 1887
ought to be good after the hot months of the year
have been passed.

CiNcuoNA.— The large export of last year has
weighed heavily on the London market, but during
the last few months there has been a distinct
curtailment in the quantities sent forward, and
if this continues a recovery in the price of bark
will be brought about. It is to be feared however
that when the price improves shipments will be
again rushed home and the improvement will be
again lost. The quantity still in the country is
large; although not increasing, but in the course of
another year a great deal must come out to make
room for tea, and after that there will probably be
a marked falling-off in the production of cinchona
in Ceylon.

Cinnamon.— This article still suffers from over-
production, and there is more in the markets of
the world than can be freely disposed of
even at the low range of prices now ruling. The
reverting to quarterly sales has helped the market
m some degree, but what is required is curtail-
ment of export of the low common qualities
and chips which drag down the value of good
cinnamon. Arbitration as to the quality and allow-
ances have been very frequent latterly in the mar-
kets of Europe, indicating a want of sufficient care
in the making of cinnamon and the sorting of it.

Plumbago.— The demand for London has fallen
off during the past year to a remarkable extent,
but this has in some measure been made up by
the export to Continental perts. The enquiry for
America has been good as there has been a con-
eiderable revival in the steel trade there. Pricea
have been fairly remunerative to native producers,
but their endeavours are, as usual, hampered by
insufScient means of communication in the absence
of roads, which the Government do but little to
provide.

CoiJ! Yarn.— The home markets are borne down
by enormous stocks, and losses in the article have
been during the past year tolerably widespread;
nothing but the curtailment of production will restore
the nominal value. A good trade was done with
the Australian ports for a time in coir stuffs, but
it was overdone, and latterly seems to have been
almost snuffed out.

Kapok.— Ill this article for a time there was a
good business with Australia, but. whether owing to
a substitute having been found or some other
cause the trade has fallen away and this branch of
native industry has suddenly cea3od to yield a
profitable return,

Hip£s, HoK.Ns, Uoon, A'C— A more extensive bvjsj.

48?f

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan I, i89y,

ness could be done in these if the hides were bet-
ter cured, and if they were more free from brand
marks, and if more care was observed in the
keeping of tlie different descriptions of horns scioar-
ate, instead of mixing elk and deer together indis-
criminately.

Wlien we come to review the course of the Plant-
ing interests, both in the hills and so far as it affects
the welfare of Colombo, the retrospect of the past
year exhibits a very varied study. The rapid and un-
interruptedly steady extension of the enterprise in
tea contrasts in a very striking manner with the
almost equally steady and rapid decadence in coffee
and everything connected with it. It is doubt-
less true that some — and in perfect good faith we
may say many — of the estates in XJva are this
year giving handsome returns, aided by the rapid
and important rise in value of the produce which
has recently been established in the European
markets. It is also by no means an unimportant
fact that we may still find amongst the sale lists of
coffee in London, the names and distinguishing
markets of many estates in the other districts
which we have been led to suppose had long ago
been compelled to abandon the cultivation of the
berry altogether. The faet, however, is none the less
established that the acreage to be recorded as
"under coffee cultivation " has during the past year
been very materially reduced — in the majority of
cases the bushes have been rooted up and the
ground thoroughly cleared — whilst over a very con-
siderable area the tea plants have been planted in
the already established fields of coffee. Uva still
holds its own as the last stronghold of coffee culture,
but it is deplorable to note how even here the
devastating attacks of the most recently developed
pest have spread with marvellous rapidity during
the last twelve months. It had required a period
of three years, more or less, for the green bug to
work its desolating way all through the northern
districts, and from thence southward through Kot-
male and Hewaheta, spreading to the newer
districts around the Peak and Nuwara Eliya ;
but it has required but a brief 12-month3 to
make its appearance upon almost every estate
in Udapussellawa and the newly-created province of
Uva. Unless deterred by some climatic influence
which may induce the destruction of the insect
itself, or by the existence in the plant itself of
Bome recuperative energy with which we are at
present unacquainted, it does not need much fore-
sight to predict the ultimate fate of this the last
remaining stronghold of coffee cultivation in the
island. It must not be forgotten however that
coffee in Uva has withstood to a very great extent
the influence of leaf-disease which has proved so
fatal to remunerative cultivation in the other por-
tions of the island, and there consequently remains
to planters no little hope that after all it may not
be compelled to succumb to the attacks of the much
dreaded green bug. Tea cultivation, as we have
already remarked, has been rapidly extended in every
direction, land which has previously been under
cultivation as well as newly felled clearings have
been planted up, and the produce of earlier ex-
tensions has already begun to shew a very marked
increase in the figure exports — the figures for 1S8G
being about 7,800,000 lb. as against 4,37 1,000 in 1885.
Ihe buildings and establishments on old coffee estates
ate rapidly undergoing reconstruction to suit the
hew manufacture, and life and activity have once
more been restored to many an estate which of late
years had gradually fallen into decay and abandon-
ment. Following out the course of investigation
and review, we tind, to our regret, that the era of
revivification — whilst affecting in so marked a degree
be pUatiDg iaterests as a wliple— does not in loo

many instances follow the fortunes of the individual.
There are unfortunately very many whom the
future presents but little more than a continuation
of the toil and trouble with which in earlier life
— and for a long series of years — they had attained
a comfortable position during the more lucrative
years of coffee planting. Of the many to
whom the fragrant leaf will prove the means
of attaining wealth and position, there will
be but few who survive to tell the tale of the rise
and fall of the once important coffee interest in
Ceylon; and fewer still who will be able to
attain a fair share of the good things attendant
on the more modern product of the day. It would
be superfluous for us to dwell at any great length
upon the influence which this total revolution in
the planting industry of the island exerts upon
the mercantile houses of Colombo. The profits pre-
viously accruing from the manipulation of the berry
on the seaborde were lucrative to a high degree
in themselves as well as from many sources atten-
dant upon its shipment. The profits arising from
a Tea Agency are comparatively insignificant, and
to a great measure arise from the supply of
material and machinery, whilst the details require
b»t little less attention and outlay than was the
case with the old staple. The consequences of
this alteration in the course of business are be-
coming year by year more evident and the Agency
houses in our city would seem to be compelled in
time to give way to a very considerable extent to
tea brokers and tea buyers. There is no necessity
for us to dwell at greater length upon the revolution
that is so rapidly being effected in the commerce
and cultivation of the island ; but we must not
omit to note its effect as more especially concerns
the native populations more or less dependent upon
them. A very large proportion of the villagers
in the Kandyan provinces have for many years
past been directly interested in the cultivation
of the berry — being themselves cultivators and
proprietors of the coffee plant : many others were in
a variety of ways dependent upon or, at any rate,
interested in its cultivation upon the large estates
of Europeans. To both these classes of natives,
the decadence — we may almost say extinction of
the coffee plant — has proved disastrous in the ex-
treme. The facility with which the increased
value of their produce fead enabled them to hypo-
thecate their crops and to incur a variety of
monetary liabilities as a natural consequence, tended
to intensify the difficulty of the situation when the
produce was no longer forthcoming. Poverty and
distress have consequently during the past twelve-
months run riot throughout the hill country, aggra-
vated unfortunately by a very extensive failure
of the paddy crops, consequent on the ravages
of a minute fly, which has devastated the fields
over large areas of cultivation in the Central
Province, as well as in the low country. At the
present moment there is being exhibited the very
serious and harrowing spectacle of the original
inheritors of the soil being steadily dispossessed
of the lands which have been handed down to
them from time immemorial, the lands meanwhile
falling into the hands of strangers, and the few
more wealthy amongst the native proprietors. It
is difficult to conceive a more distressing, nay, we
may say dangerous position, than that which is
being established in the Kandyan Provinces, a
whole population of landowners and their families
being absolutely and literally dispossessed of their
native soil and habitations and forced to seek
subsistence as best they may from other somxes.
Nor are the consequences of the failure of coffee,
as regards a very large proportion of the native
population in and around Colombo, much l^se

Jan. 1, 1BS7.] ' f HE TROPICA?. AGKICUtTURiSf.

iHg

iiii—jia.T8a<

?*««

y'^ri'i^aarTiiaic 1 1 • nfr— -^

serious than to those in the hill country. The
numerous and extensive stores for tlie preparation
and shipment of coffee in the port of Colombo
afforded a means of subsistence to many thousands
of women and children who were thereby enabled
to earn a very substantial portion of the daily
expenditure of their households; indeed in many
instances they were entirely dependent upon sucli
earnings. The mills and machinery to a large
extent have been stopped altogether, and others
afford employment to a but a small proportion of
those who in former years had resort to them
for work. Few indeed are those who can oft'er
anything like permanent employment, and it is
needless for us to point out that no other means
of subsistence now exist for thousands of women
and children who are consequently a burden
rather than otherwise to their households. It
needs but little consideration to show how serious
a matter this is to the native population of Co-
lombo,—one that affects some 15,000 to 20,000 of
its inhabitants, and to these the industry which
is being substituted for coffee offers no help what-
ever now or in the future.

THE KOLA NUT.

Messrs. Christy & Co. uow publish an analysis of
Kola nut (by the Cousulting " Aaualyst of the Royal
OommisMouf rs for Materia, Fiji, .Mauritius, &c.), the
report of which reached them too late to be included
ill " New Commercial Plant,'' &c., No. 9.
Analysis ok Kola Nut,
Stercidia accmidnata.

Per Cent.
Alkaloids or Crystallizable Priucii^les :—

Caffeine 2-710

Theobromine -084

Bitter Priuciple -018

Total Alkaloids .

Fatty Matters:—
Sapouiflablo Fat or Oil
Essential Oil

' Total Oils

Resinoid Matter {sol. in abs, afcoho') .
Sugar : —
Glucose {llcJi'.ces Alkaline Cupram-

htoidnm) 3-312

Sucrose i* (Red. Alk. Ciipram. after

inversion)'' -GOJ

Total Sugar SOU

Starch, C4un), &c. : —

Gavx {soluble in II 0 atW=> F.) ... 4-876

. Starch 28-990

Amidinous matter [colouring tcitlilodine) 2-130

Totnl Gum and Fecula ... 35-996

Albuminoid Mattersf 8-642

Red aud other Colouring Matters]: ... 3-670

Kolat.annic AcidS .

•731

-OSL

2-812

•815
1-012

Kolatannic Acid§...
Mineral Matter: —

Potassa

Chloriae

Phosphoric Acid

Other Baits, &c.
Total Ash

Moisture

Ligneous Matter and loss

— British And Colonial Drugyist.

1-204

1-415
•70-2
•371

2-330

4 818

9-722

27-395

100-000

* Inverte 1 by boiling with a 2-25 per cent sohition
of nitric acid for 10 minutes.

t Containing nitrogen = 1-387.

\ Not definitely sopirable ; chiefly resembling some
oxidized resinoid matter, and the red-browu colour
very like that of the roasted cacao-bean.

§ Apparently one or more of the numerous modi-
fications of tauuic acid commou in the vegetable
klDgdotn,

Q2

A SUBSTITUTE FOE QUININE.

TO THE EDITOR OE THE " BPaTISH AND COLONIAL
DEUOaiST."

A Valuable Discovery, -Sib,— It may interest
^°J^^, °^ i •''',°'-"' ''^^'-^^'■s to kno-,y that Professor Fisher,
ot Alunich, has, after a .series of experiments, obtained
trom tar a special " carbure, " in the form of a
white crystalluie powder, possessing all the thprapeutic
properties of quinine. An application for a patent for
this discovery lias already been made in Garmauy.
Yours truly, K. M. J. TEiL.-Wolborough, Newton
Abbot, November llth. [There are now of course
several artificial base.s, f.jr.— kairine, thalliiie, autipyrinc,
antitebrme, &c.,— whose antipyretic properties cause
them to be recommended in place of quinine. We
do not profess to know precisely what may be intended
by " carbure."]

COFFEE AND ITS CUEERS.

We are indebted to Mr. H. C. Johnston, of the
Ouchterlony Works, Beypore, for the following
very mteresting letters .- —

A great deal of comment, and no little autagou-
nistic feeling, has of late arisen between planters
and coast agents on the subject of coffee cuiing
Doubts have been expressed, and an idea spread ab-
road that carers do not do justice to their part of
the busine.ss, an<l it has been assorted that what
httle they do, is charged for at extortionate rates
As I have not hitherto cured for the public, I hope
what I am about to say on the subject will'at least
be considered disinterested. The figures may, I think,
be relied on. I feel certain that if planters were
more acquainted with the details of the cott'ee trade,
their complaints would be less frequent.

One of the chief causes of irritation is the loss in
the curer's yard by drying. On this point, as on
others, I speak from the results of my own experience.
Eighteen bushels per thousand is a fair allowance
for drjage over a large quantity; I have knov/u
parcels lose sixty, and others that gain in the bushel
measurement ; small lots of 50 or 100 bushels which
do not get the turning over, in gathering and spread-
ing that 2,000 to 2,000 bushels do, almost invariably
gain. It seems to have escaped planters that when jjarch-
meut coffee has, by exposure to a co.ist sun, arrived
at dry point, any further exposure renders the
parchment so brittle that it pulverises when raking
up, measuring, and bagging. It is absurd to think
that the curer, whose work is compressed into a
limited space of time, can turn on and' off the labour
tap at will, any more than can the planter, wJiose
crop comes on with a rush. So a higher percentage
of loss by dryage is recorded in the curer's books.
A good curer can tell almost to an hour when a
particular lot will be dry, but it does not always
follow that labour is available at the ex-act tiuie.
In the season of 1884-1885 the estate that gave me
the largest percentage of dryage gave the best out-
turn. In the previous season this estate showed the
smallest percentage of dryage. In Ceylon yards
there are two degrees of dryness known as '• bone"
dry and " horn" dry ; the latter is when you can
indent the bean with your teeth, instead of cracking
it hke a nut. Coffee will peel in the " horn" dry
condition,, but no respectable curer would do so, and
it is only practised by cheap men. There is a curious
fact in drying coffoR which do.^s not S'em to be
general! • " ---^^g planter=. Parchment will lose

2 lb. to Zh. lb. the first day, and 4 to 4.L lb. the
second, that is for coffee arriving at 38 to 401b. per
bushel.

Another source of complaint is the ditferenco be-
tween the estate measurement and coast measurement.
I don't think there is much to growl about. The
difference over nearly half a million bushels comes
out at -Oio, which speaks well for My.sore cartmen.
The questiou of shade drying, aud tJie colour of

49U

fME I'ROPlCAL Aanictjtfijm^f.

[|an I, 1887,

coffee, has of late occupied the attention of some
planters. Shade drying on the estate is a resurrected
fad, that ended in a fiasco years ago. Unfortunately,
no advance has been made by recent experiments on
the conclusions arrived at sixteen or eighteen years
ago by the then generation of Wynaad and Coorg
planters. One plan'xr writes me, it takes twenty-five
days to dry to 35 lU. per bushel ; another that ho
hopes to get out of it with only £13 per ton loss.
One thing is certain that the curers can do no more
than fix the colour already in the bean when received
into their yards. It stands to reason that if the
desired colour does not exist in the berry, no curer
can put it there. It is equally certain that the
planter can do a great deal to conserve what colour
there is in his coffee by careful pulp-house work.
But after all, the true solution of the question lies
in the two words high cultivation. Mocha coffee can-
not be s:iid to have any colour at all, yet it fetches
high prices. The best colour I ever got, came from
a lot received at 47^ to 49^ lb. per bushel. It took
six days to dry to 29^1b. : dryage 2'26 per cent,
outturn 9I"5 bushels per ton. Outturns are discussed
by planters with great interest. They are looked
upon as a test of the curer's efficiency, or to call a
spade a spade, how much is not stolen from his
yard ! It seems almost unnecessary to attempt any
defence. You have a body of men managing large
concerns along the coast, controlling large sums of
money, some of whom have been planters themselves,
accused by implication of not being able to defend
property entrusted to their care. Most planters would
show fight at such an imputation ; still, the idea
prevails that regular and systematic robbery is per-
mitted in the curing yards. It is ridiculous on the
face of it. The best outturn I ever heard of was
79 odd decimals from Mr. Finlayson's. Duukeld Es-
tate in Ooorg. I know of more than one case
where 80 bushels to the ton was approached. These
are, I think, e.xceptio'jal. If a planter gets 95 all
round without any large percentage of clean, and no
undue proportion of dry cherry he will take no harm.
As a matter of fact I beat this last season by over
4J bushels.

It has lately been asked in the AVyuaad Planters'
Association what curers grant as to the maximum
waste of weight allowed on coffee shipped home?
Just nothing at all. These are the facts: —

Single bags net weight shipped 168 lb.

„ „ of bag 2| „

Trade tare on bags ... 8 lb.
Draft on do. ... 2 ,,

Gross ... 170| „

.. 168

Nett loR» to Planter ,

Nett Ooffee
iJouble bags the same; they weigh
And the London Trade exact ...

Draft the same.

daSe.'* take a 3 1b. draft, and anything over ;:! cwt.
a 5 lb. draft, I5ag.<-. of any weight under 112 lb.
c.irry a 1 lb, draft, liowever .small they may be. In
addition to the above, 3 lb. extra draft has to be al-
lowed on all bags sea damaged, A Broker writes.- —
' The r)uestion of draft allowed on b.igs has been
frequently raised, but dealers have persistently re-
fused to buy without customary allowances. Some
time back liags shipped from Jamaica were made
heavier. The trade objected to this, and insistotl
niK)n a 3 lb. draft on nil bags weighing 1 cwt. 3
<jr. and upwards.' So our fellow jilauters on the
other side of the world gained nothing by thi.s move.
I liave proved that coffee thoroughly dry will take
up moistui'e equal to 50 lb. ])er ton if exposed. The
question of draft is a serious one, and Ooast Agents
have, from time to time, attempted its reduction.
The ulanter, of course, is at liberty to impose on
the London Trade any conditions he thinks proper
Vibi'n selling his crop. I have, however, a slight

"uspicion that in the long run he will come off second
best.

Prices are all governed to some extent by certain
trade customs and allowances, with which it is im-
politic to attempt to interfere. The Yercaud Planters'
Association asked ^ome time ago how it was that
while they only netted £50 a ton, coffee was selling
retail in London at Is. a lb. or £112 per ton. The
following approximate memo will explain a good
deal of it- Out of the balance has to come the
London wholesale buyers' profit, often the provincial
wholesale dealers' profit, the cost of distribution, in-
cluding a provision against bad debts; insurance and
house-rent ; and an old curer reminds me of an an-
cient custom of the retail trade to make tea and
coffee pay for the loss on retailing sugar: —
Value nett per ton to Planter. ..£50 0 0"
Draft 14 bags at 2 lb.=28 lb. at £56 0 14 0
Discount 1 per cent ... p. ton... 0 11 2

Marine Insurance ... 1 10 0

Freight 45s p. ton of 18 cwts. ... 2 10 0

Dock rates

Fire Insurance, Interest on freight kc.

Public sale and petty expenses ... 0 7 6

Brokerage h per cent 0 6 7

Del Credere Commission ... ... 0 6 7

Merchant's Commission ... ... 1 8 1

Average time of holding before go-
ing into consumption 4 months;
interest 4 months at 5 per cent...£ 0 18 8
Dock rent 17 wks. at 6(1. per week 0 8 6
Duty at Ihd. p. lb 14 0 0

0 14 10 >• S

3 nios. credit to grocer at 5 p. cent 0 17 11
Cartage from dock to roasting estabt.

not including cartage to grocer's

shop ...
Charges for roasting 3s. per cwt.

0 15

3 0

o a,

O on

" ft

Loss in weight roasting avge. 18 p. ct. 13 14 2 J 2.

92 1 0

Note. — 20 per cent is the actual loss calculated for
low class coffee in roasting.

On the subject of curing charges I ani somewhat
reluctant to speak, lest my motives be misunderstood:
I will, however, give the conclusions I have arrived
at, and my opinions must be taken for what they
are worth. I am fully convinced that no curer can
put the projaer amount of honest work into the cur-
ing, or employ efficient supervision over the various
processes for 35*-. per ton, and leave a fair living
margin of profit for himself. In these days of leaf
disease the expenses of garbling have been enormously
increased. I have not had much experience of
Sheveroy Hills coffee, but what I have seen, con-
tained almost everything that a good sainijle of
Parchment coffee should not, and 1 have heard
curers complain dreadfully of its quality. "What does
the cheap curer's offer amount too, skinned ':*

Cuier loquitur : — " I offer to cure your coffee at a
reduced rate thereby effecting for you a visible sav-
ing of RIO per ton. It is not my business to tell
you that I cannot afford at that rate the necessary
labour, or supervision. It is not my business to tell
you that the coffee will be left spread out on the
barbacues all night, subject to the detrimental dew.«,
which I know fall all over India during December,
January and February. It is not my business to tell
you that I shall peel in the horn-dry condition, skimp
the garbling, and not be particular about measuring
the colfee from the barbacues, or weighing it from
the peelers ; that I shall pack in the cheapest bags
I can get, and, if possible stick you in the matter
of freight ; any mors than it is my business to tell
you that, while I am morally certain you will lose
2s. (id. per cwt. I am of opinion that it is more
than probable you will obtain 5.''-. per cwt. less than
if your coffee had been properly and honestly cured.
This is a point, however, you cannot very well bring
home to me. I defy any curer, no matter where he
comes from, to present to the London trade in its
best condition for sale a foxy mixed crop, with leaf
disease written on the face of it, for K35, or evey
K45, aud make a profit,''

Jam, I, i88 7.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

49'

To quote the words of •" Wyvern " on hi^ cook : —
"I doubt the policy of qutvrrellingwith your best friend."
If a curer of his owu free will offer a substantial
reduction, planters miy depend that the otfer means
slovenly work, and a loss to themselves by way of
prices realised. The recent failure on the Cioast
proves that coffee curing is not all " beer," although
there may be a good deal of "skittles" about it
sometimes; and even at K45, coffee-curing does not
always pay.

In connection with curing, freight is a subject
much discussed, and some little misunderstanding
appears to prevail. The enterprising agents of the
British India Company offer to contract for 355. per
ton, against 425. 6i. to 45s. of the coffee steamers,
and some planters cotract to ship apparently obli-
vious to the fact that the British India rate is for
12 cwt. (Bombay scale; or 52.-;. 6(/. for 18 cwt. (Coast
scale). So the planter pays at least 10s. per shipping
ton more to the British India Co., than he would
do to the coffee steamers. Last season the difference
was I2s. 6d. per ton in favor of the coffee steamer.
The shipper by the British India has, besides, the
above the benefit of transhipment in Bombay, a;id
sometimes the additional luxury of having his coffee
delivered in London in broken-up parcels, the cargo
being sent off from Bombay as it suits the P. and
O. Company to take it. There is an alternative line
of steamers, which is being patronised by most of
the large shippers on the coasc to whom the tone
assumed ky the British India for so many years
has become monotonous. I can speak to the fact
that the Asiatic Company and their agents are
most desirous of meeting the wishes of planters, and
no effort is spared in protecting shippers' interests.
An old custom still survives with a few planters of
shipping in cases. I cannot account for the reason
of it. There is most certainly no enhauced price
realised now-a-days, in comparison with bags. On
the contrary, the same coffee shipped in bags will
net about 4d. per cwt. more than in cases, and
there is besides a saving in freight, and R5 per ton
in curing charges. In conclusion, I may state, without
the slightest hesitation, that it would pay planters
hand over fist to spend more money on the pre-
paration of their coffee on the co&st.— Madras Mail.

"BELOW THE HORIZON:"

COFFEE AND CACAO 100 Years a«o in the West
Indies.

It is, perhaps, a little late in the day to write about
coffee and coffee estimates ; but yet there is some
interest in it even for many of us who, through
force of untoward circumstances, are now out
of touch of the fragrant berry. We can
all appreciate anyhow the present upward course
of the market even if we have but tea to sell ;
for if coffee is going to be scarce, and in time
become a beverage only for the wealthy, then,
we will have more?consumers for our tea, and thus
indirectly benefit it by the enhanced value of coffee.

I have lately been dipping into an old history
of the. West Indies in two volumes by Bryan
Edwards, published in 1794, an elaborate book
with maps and plates and bound in a way which
tells of honest work; for although now nearly a
hundred _ years since it left the hands of the
binder, it seems strcng enough still to outlive
another century. In the chapter on the products
of the islands there are two at least, which are
o^f interest to the Obserur's readers :— Coffee and
Cacao. Regarding the former the writer gives a very
clear and full account of the then style of cultiv-
ation and curing with an estimate for opening an
estate of 300 acres, worked by slave labour.

There is not much for the coffee planter of today
to learn from the old methods and it is more foj
the curiosity ol the thing than for ought else
that I seek to bring the system of these old

planters under the notice of your constitu-
ents. They planted 8 ft. by 8 ft., which few Ceylon
places could stand ; but wide as this was it was
found to be too close at times, and the planter of
those days " thought it advisable to cut down every
second row, within ten or twelve inches of the
ground, and by well moulding (? manuring) the
stump they will furnish a succession of hearty,
young trees while the rows which are left will bear
much better for the room which is given them."
The trees were topped at a height of five or six
feet, so as to have from thirty-six to forty-two
bearing branches. The average crop was about six
cwt. an acre, but individual trees had borne at
the rate of forty cwt ! The coffee was not picked
until the berry was "black red," and a negro
with a bag hung round his neck,- provided with
an iron hoop in the mouth to keep it open, could,
if he were industrious, bring in three bushels a day.

They had two ways of curing, drying in the
cherry, and pulping and then drying. By the former
method, if the weather was favourable, ceft'eo
could be cured in three weeks, the bean" weighing
four percent heavier than if cured without the pulp."

It was also considered a better quality of bean.
As to the pulper in use, it seems to have been
a simple crusher :— " The pulping mill consists of
a horizontal fiuted roller about eighteen inches
long and eight inches in diameter. The roller is
turned by a crank or handle, and acts against
a moveable breast-board, which being fitted close
to the grooves of the roller prevents the berries
from passing through." There was no means for
separating theparchment coffee from the skin, it
had to be taken out by wire sieves. A negro could
pulp a bushel a minute. The coffee was not
fermented, but put out to dry at once.

About the time the book under notice was published,
the duty on coffee which had been Is 6d a pound
had been reduced to 6^d, and the efforts of the
planters were being put'forth to meet the increased
demand at home which had arisen in consequence.
In the island of St. Domingo, which was a formid-
able rival to Jamaica, the slaves had rebelled and
destroyed over a thousand of the coffee estates :
the result was a greatly dimini.'5hed export and
a rise of prices in the European markets from
70s to 90s per cwt. There were, therefore, good times
before the Jamaica planters and they saw their
way to take advantage of them, provided
" labourers shall continue to be procured from
Africa at moderate prices." They hoped in time to
do away with the necessity of importing slaves,
through the natural increase of those already in
the island, as they would be much healthier on
hill estates than they had been in the low country.
By this means they would gradually abolish the
slave trade and this " without giving reason of
complaint to any body of men." This was the
state of things when the following estimate was
framed to encourage capital to embark in the
culture of coffee : —

" Estimate of the expense and return of a coffee
plantation in the mountains of Jamaica, fourteen
miles from the sea, calculated in the currency of
that island being forty ' per cent worse than
sterling : —
First cost of 300 acres mountain land of which

one-half is preserved for provision and pastur- £

age at £3 per acre. . , . , . 1)00

Ditto of 100 negroes at £70 per head . . 7,000

of 20 mules at £28 „ .. 500

Buildings, utensils, mills and negro tools, . 2,000

Expense of maintaining the negroes the first year

before provisions can be raised (exclusive of

other annual expenses charged below) £5 each 500

10,900

492

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan. I, 1887,

Compound iuterest for three years before any
return can be expected at 6 per cent . . 2,093

Annual expenses. .13,053

Wliite overseer and maintenance . . X'200

(3ne other white servant . . 70

ftledical attendance on the negroes 25
NeRTO-supplies, clothing, tools, salt

iish, &c. .. ,. t>00

Colonial taxes . . 100

Three years' expenditure
Compound interest

£595

1,785
221

2,006

Total expense. .15,059
Returns the fourth year at £i per cwt,
being the average price of coif ee for five years
previous to 1792 : —
From 150 acres of voung coffee may be
expected the fourth year 45,000 lb. .£1,800
Deduct annual charges for

the fourth year . . .t'595
Sftoks and saddles . . 40

635

Clear profit (being equal to £7 14s per
cent on the capital.)... ... 1,165

Returns the fifth and subsequent years
1.50 acres yielding 750 lb. per aero, 112,500 lb.
at £4 .. .. .. .. 4,500

Peduct annual charges

as before . . £595

Backs and saddles . . 80

Repairs of mills, &c. . 100

. 775

Clear profit (being equal to 24 3-5th per cent on
capital) . . . . . . £3,725

Peppercorn.

Sugar appears to be the one absorbing topic
throughout the West Indies. As in Jamaica,
British Guiana, and Trinidad, so in Barbados, it
is discussed and looked at all round, in the hope
that something may be done to improve its mar-
ketable value. A writer in the Barbados Herald
thinks the West Indies might help themselves
by the abandonment of obsolete modes of manu-
facture, the erection of modern improved mac-
liiuery, and their emancipation from many in-
veterate prejudices which, he alleges, impede, their
progress. With the abolition of the bounties, or
such readjustment of duties as will enable them to
compete on even terms with other manufacturers
the principal grievance would be removed, and if
then sugar cannot be produced at a profit he sug-
gests that it should be abandoned as a forlorn
hope. — Colonics and I)tdia.

Coffee : The Lakka Company and Coffee Cultiv-
ation.— Our London Correspondent was misin-
formed— though he named some one who sught to
know, as his authority — in saying that the Lanka
Company were rapidiy clearing out all their coffee in
order to replace it by tea. Such is by no means
the fact. The Company's Manager has, of course,
allowed certain fields never very favourable for
the old staple, to be cleared and planted with
tea ; but the main portion of the Company's
coffee in Haputale, Udapussellawa and Dikoya was
never more carefully conserved and cultivated
than at present and well it may be, seeing
that crops of from 4 to (> cwt. per acre are likely
to be gathered over a considerable area. Altogether
the Lanka Company is fortunate enough to own
from 1,000 to 1,200 acres of good coffee; 1,500
acres of tea chiefly young, but with enough in
^caring to give perhaps 50,000 to 70,000 lb. this

coming season ; besides 400 acres cacao in Mtaale,
doing well, and cinchona, cardamoms, &c. The
Company has not yet done much for its share-
holders in the way of dividends ; but certainly' it
has been making money when the Directors have
been enabled to plant so much tea without
calling in any additional capital. The dividends,
after the tea comes into full bearing, ought to be
satisfactory to the shareholders.

Cultivation IN Madkas.— The total area under cul-
tivatiou iu the Madras Presidency duriug the past official
year was 22,900,594 acres. No less than 24 per cent
was under paddy, 17 per cent under eholuni, ten per
cent under cambu, seven per cent under ragi, six per
cent under cotton, three per cent under castor oil seeds,
2 per cent uiuler general seeds, and one per cent under
iudigo. The quantity under sugarcane was only 0*2 of
the total area. Iu nearly all the districts the pro-
duce over half the area was either middliug or poor, and
only eight per cent, of the total area yielded a full
crop. It would be interesting to know whether tlie areas
here given are even approximately correct. — Pioneer.

Mr. Elphisstone ox Russian Teas, d'c. —
Mr. G. H. D. Elphinstone is good enough to write
to us with the Report and Valuation on the Tea
Samples referred to in his last. He says :— " As
promised in my previous letter, I herewith send
you copy of the London Report and Valuation on
the Russian Tea Samples I brought with me. I
have sent Mr. Rutherford the samples, I think you
will be satisfied on looking over the comparative
values that Russia is undoubtedly next to England
the best tea market. I know myself from ex-
perience in both the American and Australian
markets that neither market was as good as Russia,
and I trust by a gradual process we may be able
to introduce the Ceylon tea into Russia, and so
keep up the price for our teas when the yield of
the island has increased so as to exceed the English
demand,"

List of Russian Tea Samples : London Repost and
Valuation on Same.
Petersburg Samples.
No. Roubles, s. d. s. d.

1 8 @ 1 11 equal 15 4 Reddish' leaf not in

LoudonOoloug liquor
valueSd.

2 5 „ do 9 7 Flowery pekoe v.<i!ue

Is, not iu Loudon.

3 4 „ do 7 8 Moning with flowery

Tip-leaf, not in Lon-
don Liquor value 9d.

4 304 ,, do 5 9i Moning Pekoe Flavor

lOid.

5 2 04 „ do 5 0^ Moning, Ninchow

value 8Jd.

6 2-40 „ do 4 6 Mouiug value 7^d.

7 2-21 „ do 4 3i „ „ 7d.

8 2-00 „ do 3 10 „ ., 7d.

9 1-84 „ do 3 6J „ „ 7d.

10 1-60 „ do 3 Oi „ „ 6id.

11 Brick Tea Roubles 1-20. No value in Loudon.

12 Petersburg spurios Tea worthless, used for mixing

and adulteration.

Moscow Samples.
No. Roubles. 9. d.

1 268 equal to 5 IJ Ninchow Pekoe, 1b Id

to Is 2.

2 2-20 do 4 2 Pungent Ninchow Pekoe

Flavor Is 6d.

3 200 do 3 10 Ninchow Is Id.

4 2-00 do 3 10 do 10*d.

5 1-80 do 3 51 do lOd.

6 1-40 do 2 8i Moning Spautum Gid
Remarks. — You will note that on the whole

Moscow sells a better tea than St. Petersburg.
Duty amounts in English mouey to la tkl per lb.
Freight, lauding charges, etc. in English

money to St. Petersburg *. ..3d per lb.

Do do to Moscow . . 4d do

10th Dec. 1866. G. H. D.E

Jan. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

493

-♦-

To the Editor of the " Ceylon Observer."
COCONUTS AND THE COCO-DE-MER.

Mahe, Seyclielles, '22nd Nov". 1886.

Deak Sir, — The letter of your correspondent
" Latch" dated 25th August 1886, has come under my
notice through the medium of your invaluable work
the Tropical Af/ricultin-isf. Fn jiaRmnt, I may men-
tion that I hear that periodical highly commended
by all to whom I have had an opportunity of intro-
ducing it, but more than one has said " it savours
rather too much of tea." Knowing Ceylon as I do.
and the revolution that has taken place in its princ-
ipal culture, I am not surprized that much of the
space in the Tropical Agricahnriiit is devoted to the
Tea industry.*

With regard to the coco-de-mer, 1 think I may
safely say that the Island of Praslin is its home.
There are a few isolated specimens on Mahe 20 miles
from Praslin but these have been introduced. The
celebrated coco-de-mer groves, where the tree flour-
ishes in all its unique grandeur are on the afore-
mentioned island, and it is from these groves that
the nuts are sent into the market at RIahe. The
average price is about Rl per nut. The majority are
purchased for export to IMauritius. The few that cir-
culate in the country are used as measures for shell-
fish and native vegetables or as " balers" for pirogues
(native canoes) and a few are polished and sold to
visitori as curios. The inside of the nut is a whitish
pulp about the consistency of butter, it is edible
though not much appreciated. About three years ago
I took 'a few full mits to England and although
essays have been made to propagate them in some of
the principal Botanical Gardens there, I do not
think they have been attended with success.
Nuts that have commenced to germinate have
been forwarded to the Botanical Gardens at Pample-
mousses (Mauritius), with these the Director has
been successful. I will try and procure some for you
and forward them in a wardian. One peculiar feature
of the coco-de-mer is, that the plant may appear aljove
grovind twentj'or thirty feet from where the nut has been
stwn. The late General Gordon when here made some
very interesting sketches of the habits of the tree, as also
did Miss North. Those of the latter are to be seen
in that lady's gallery at Kew. I enclose you a photo-
graph showing the coco-de-mer nut and germ. I
am sorry, I am not well up in coconut lore, so can-
not say if those that grow here a^e the same kind as
in Oeylon. From what I remember, there is a great
similarity in both the appearance of nut and tree.
There is undoubtedly a small variety here, the most
noticeable being " the Nicobar, " which is almost a
sphere and of a pale red hue. I am not inclined to
think that " the larger the nut the greater its value"
for I find that many of my smallest nuta yield most; oil.
I am not. however, a professed coconut planter. Most
properties here represent »»«Z^«i» in parro : on the one
from which I am writing there are cacao, clove.«, nut-
megs, pepper, vanilla, pine-apples (about 50,000) sugar
cane, manioc, sweet potatoes and tropical fruits in
numbers ; here and there a tree or plant, a wilderness
of disorder and as great a variety of soil as there are
forms in a kaleidoscope, but everything grows or would
grow if properly cared for. So great is the fertility of
the soil and so propitious the climate, that it has been
said "you have only to plant your walking stick and
it will grow. " Vanilla is now all the rage and Seychelles
has become the largest vanilla-producing countrj- in
the world.

Hitherto but little known, Mahd is about to
become a large coalihg station ; it is to be the
\tefrde-Ucine of the Messagaries Marifimes in these
waters. The Orient Line contemplate coaling
here instead of at Diogo Garcia and in all

* A reference to the index of any of our T. A. volumes
will shew that there are very many papers on all
tropical products : in fact we omit uothjiig bearing on
tropical industry. — Ed;

probability it will shortly be made a Naval station.
We are woefully deficient in hotel accommodation
— wish you would send us a d'Silva — and thee is ar
capital opening for an English mercantile house
I am glad to read that there appears to be a
prosperous future for Ceylon, though many old and
valued friends have, since Ileft,gone to "that bourne"
from which no traveller returns. I too have travelled
far, seeking "crust or crumb" since dark clouds
o'er shadowed the pleasures, and at one time the
prosperity of a Ceylon coffee planter's life. Yet there
is ever a lingering desire to return to the country
where I spent nearly twenty not unhappy years.
May they who had the courage to stay be re-
warded.— Yours, very faithfully E. H. EDWARDS.

COCONUT FIBRE REFUSE, '

23rd Dec. 1886.
Dear Sir, — If further proof be wanting for my as-
sertion that , fibre refuse possesses an agricultural
value even if it does not possess amanurial value to
the tree that produces it, I have only to mention the
high agricultural value of sand for a certain description
of soils. Though sand is composed almost entirely of
siliaca, constituent that plays a minor part in the
vegetable economy, yet when applied to stiff, heavy
clays it increasa its porosity and therefore fertility.
Because sand is intrinsically valueless, will we ba
justified in saying that because when analysed it
gives very disappointing results, therefore it possesses
no value in agricuture? What "C. S. " who is but
Mr. Symons' champion says, will possess some weight
if the soil of Horekelle is a stiff clay very retentive of
moisture, though even there decaying vegetable matter
mixed with it will increase its porosity ; but " C. S."
tells us the soil is sandy. The defects of such soils are
its " extreme porosity or absence of retentivene,"
the cure for which is said to be the addition of
" clayey composts, or green manuring." Neither of
these is practicable, generally, on a propertyof over
1,000 acres, however well they may suit a few acres.
But as the" humus compound arising from the decay
of vegetable matter affords an absorbent for moisture in
the same manner as clay" I most unhesitatingly assert
that the Horekelle Company can put their "vast
mounds" of fibre refuse, allowed to accumulate from
the <;ime of the late David Wilson, to no better use
than to be sown broadcast in the estate and well
iploughed in. Mr. Sym -ns very (il) liberally offered
this valuable refuse to anyone who would cart it away.
Why ? Because Mr, Wilson subjected it to analyt-
ical tests and found it worthless. This may or may
not be the case but it only proves how little claim
that gentleman had to be reckoned as a com-
petent agriculturist and how pernicious a thing it
is for gentlemen with no agricultural training
to " direct " the working of a purely Agri-
cultural Company. In attempting to do this
they have blindly followed the lead of one who was
(agriculturally) blind himself and we know what
is the usual consequence of accepting lead of the
blind.— Truly yours, the A. W. B.

Tea in Kalut.\e.a. I880-I8S6. The Kalutara
Planters' Absociation First Annual Report,

Your Committee io presenting this its first Annual Re-
port, is happy to record that the past year has been one
of progress and good promise for planting interests. Sinee
the day the first lots of forest land were sold in the
district, many changes have come about. Liberian coffee,
cacao, citronella, rubber and cardamoms have all been ex-
tensively planted, but the past year has seen nearly all
these products superseded by tea. The year 1886 may be
said to commence the history of Kalutara as a tea district,
pure and simple, and your Committee is glad to note that
results both as to yield and price obtained are very satis-
factery. In proof of tliis, the following figures may be
adduced ; — Tea on CuUoden estate, now seven years old
Las yielded 740 lb. made tea per acre during the past
financial year ; while tea of about the same age on
tjikiyanakanda (mauurcd witli citronella grass refuse, lias
yielded in the past 2 years 900 and 1,100 lb. per 'acre
As regards young lea, results are equally satisfactory!
yield on Ambatenna estate, from tea 2 years and .3 months
old. being for the month of November last, at the rate
of tiOO lb. made tea per acre for taking these facts with
the average prices realized, your Committee congratulate you
ou the good prospects for the future,

494

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan, 1, 1887.

COFFEE COKRUPTION.
Mr. Frederick Clifford's letter to the London Times
brings into prominence the gross injustice permitted
in England in connection with the sale of coffee, an
article of produce which, here, and in Ceylon, has
had to struggle with numerous and often overwhelm-
ing natural difficulties briuging sorrow and ruin on
many a hapless Planter who has embarked capital
and spent years of hard and laborious toil in its
growth. The trials connected with its growth are
unfortunately inseparable from the euterprize, and with
these he must lay his account ; but it is hard, indeed,
that the laws of his parent country should be such
that the most worthless compound can be passed off
for the valuable product upon which he has toiled
80 hard, thereby baulking him of the full profit and
advantage from the same which are his due. It is
a mistake to suppose that the principles of free
trade justify this sort of thing. It is no part of the
free trader's doctrine that the merchant or dealer
should be allowed to sell goods of the true nature
of which the buyer is virtually ignorant; or that the
buyer, while believing he is receiving an article of a
certain kind, gets something quite different. Under
whatever Act the dealer claims to be justified, it is
wrong. The law presumes the buyer to know what
he is. buying; but as a matter of fact, in the case
of coffee, he does not, for are we to believe that
the average Englishman is such a fool as to give one
shiihng and eight pence a pound for a thing he could
buy in a different form for one shilling or less? If
so, then we may well concur with Cariyle in his opi-
nion of the British population that there are " thirty
miUions— mostly fools." It has been proved that
many of the samples of the article sold as coffee
contained no less than from 40 to 90 per cent, of
other ingredients of little comparative value ; there-
fore, notwithstanding the precautions provided by the
Act for the prevention of fraud, the fact remains
that the public are duped into buying daily such
mixtures as these, in the belief that they are getting
pure, or all but pure coffee ; and what is more, they
pay pure coffee prices for them.

In the cases which Mr. Clifford brings to the notice
of the public through the columns of the I'imes, that
of three grocers brought before the Stratford Magis-
trates and let off, although, the article offered for
sale as coffee contained 45 to 65 per cent, of foreign
ingredients surely makes the iueffloiency of the English
law glaringly apparent. Packages may bear the mark
showing that the contents are a mixture; but the
buyer, if he knows anything of it at all, knows
nothing of the e.-?tent of the mixture. It is quite
obvious he is duped, and so some more effectual
means are necessary to check the shameless imposi-
tion. It is clear that some alteration in the law
must be effected, such as will prevent the general
buyer being made the dupe of every town and vill-
age grocer in the country, and give those who toil
on our plantations a fair chance of earning their full
and legitimate share of profit. If there be some who
prefer a moderate mixture of chicory with their coffee,
either let the chicory be sold separately ; or, if a
mixture be permitted, let the law take care that
means are adopted for making the mixture and the
precise proportions known without doubt to the buyer.
Every consideration must be giren to the multitude
of ignorant people there are amongst the lower and
uneducated classes in England ; and the law should
guard with great care against their ignorance being
taken advantage of.

The Planters of India have no more than one occa-
sion moved the Home Government to deal with the
matter; but with no effect. The Indian Ooft'ee Plant-
ers' Committee at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition
is a good organization for working up the question,
but it would be well if the various Planters' Asso-
ciations on this side urged the Viceroy and the Indian
Government to bring the weight of their influence to
bear upon the Home authorities. They should also
get the Indian Members of Parliament, of whom
there are a good many now in the House, to take
up the subject. England is the chief customer for

Indian-grown coffees, foreign sorts being niDstly used
on the Continent; so the (juestiou affects our Plant-
era in a special degree. The proposal referred to by
Colonel J. A. Campbell, in an interesting paper read
at a meeting held under the auspicies of the above
Committee, namely that they should start shops for
the sale of their own produce, is probably a good one.
A Co-operative .Society, with branches, would, perhaps,
be better. "Why should they not also make arrange-
ments with existing Co-operative Societies, such as
the Army and the Civil Service, &c., for the sale of
their coffee? They could rely on these institutions
selling their produce unadulterated. Whatever means
are employed either to educate the public to appre-
ciate good coffee, to point out how they are being
imposed upon by the ordinary dealer, or to direct
Government attention to the inefficiency of the Adul-
teration Act, the general body of Planters and those
interested in the trade should not rest till the pre-
sent abuses are removed, and till knavery is no longer
permitted to interfere with their produce reaching
the consumer in a pure and unadulterated state. —
Dailp Fast.

COCONUT OIL.

An article so long in the market, so widely known,
and 80 extensively used for scores and even hundreds
of years, as Oil can hardly respond to what is known
as " pushing " in dealing with new products and new
brands. A larger consumption, save with refere.nce
to the increase of population, and new uses are
hardly to be expected ; but there is one point which
demands ami should have early attention— the price
of Ceylon Oil. A smaller supply is generally followed
by higher prices ; but the causes which have led to
the diminished exportation of Coconut Oil forbid the
hope of this de.sirable sequence. It is not, however
on the low prices ruHng in comparison with former
local prices that inquiry is needed— during the Crimean
War the price of Ceylon Oil was double the present
quotation and the normal price was between £40
and £50— but on the difference in price between
Cochin and Ceylon Oils. How is it that almost in
this article alone the Island is unable to secure the
pre-eminence it has won in almost all its products —
Coft'ee, Tea, Cocoa, Cinnamon, PlumbRgo, &c. ? What
is more remarkable is that the difference in prices
is growing wider to our disadvantage. Thus, whereas
in 1884 and 1885 Cochin Oil realized only £3 per ton
more than Ceylon, at the present time the difference
is £11 sterling, the prices being £37 10s. and £26
10-. respectively. One of the reasons we have heard
named for the higher price paid for Cochin is that
it is richer in stearine— that is the fatty or the more
solid principle in Oils, which is of special value in
the manufacture of candles, soap and lubricants. It
would be well to ascertain by analy.sis that this
poverty in stearine is a fact, and then to trace the
causes to which it m'ly be due. Two of the most
obvious causes would seem to be defects in cultiv-
ation and defects in manufacture. If it be the
former, the defects may probably be removed by
supplying the soil with the constituents in which it
may be deficient. If the latter, we rather think it
must be due to the quahty of the raw material
operated on than to defects in the manufacture itself.
The machinery in use in the Island is believed to be
the most finished and effective that can be devised,
and certainly leaves very little oleaginous substance
in the poonac residuum; but the Copperah which is
crushed is too often smoke-dried, and as often the
kernel of immature nuts. The same ignorance and
necessity which prompt the villager to pluck unnpe
fruits and send them to the market— including Areca-
nuts though our paternal Government knows naught
of it--induce them to pluck immature nuts and
hasten them into the market by exposure to a fire
on lathed shelves. The conversion of immature and
fresh-plucked nuts into Copperah, and the exposure
of the kernel to fire may have more to do with the
poverty in stearine of Ceylon Oil than anything el.se.

Jan. J, i-S8'7.] f HE TROPfCAL Aai^lCOLTURiSf

fi^

4gj

"What would seem to be needed are analyses of
Cochiu and Ceylon Oils ; and if a material difference
is established, it would be well to secure analyses of
the Ooppeiah produced in the two countries, and
also of the soils in which Coconuts are grown. Are
the higher prices paid for Kalpitiya and Marawila
Copperah due merely to the stuff being better dried
— sun-dried not smoke-dried — or to the nuts being
maturer, resulting in a thicker kernel more rich in
Oil, or to the soil yielding nuts richer in Oil? A
comparative analysis of local soils too would be usefu 1;
but a visit to Cochin Mills and plantations by a
competent observer would seem to be absolutely
necessary. It is worthy of note, as indicating that
the difference in price cannot be wholly due to
quality, that Ceylon Oil for India fetches higher
prices than for London. Can it be that our Oil is
used for mixing, or that it finds its way into Cochin
packages ? The subject is one that should be fully
investigated.

A Merchant who may be considered an
authority on this subject writes ■. — " The Ceylon
white Oil is a new departure, and not fully introduced
yet in Europe, prejudice being against it, as well as
the fact 'that the progress made in manufacture is
not sufficient to produce an even sample. No doubt,
in course of time, experience will teach us to over-
come that difficulty, and then our white Oil will have
a better chance of approaching Cochiu ' in price.
Cochin Oil is mostly used for the manufacture of
vhiie soap. Our white Oil has still a yellowish tinge,
and is therefore not quite suitable for white soap;
and soap-manufacturers Pay that if they have to colour
the soap, the ordinary Ceylon Oil is quite good
enough for the purpose. The difference in price
between Oeylon and C'ochin Oil is so great (£11)
only in London, not on the Continent, and Cochin
Oil can be bought cost freight in any Continental
market considerably below £37-10. There are additional
reasons, quite apart from quality, why Cochin is kept
so high in London. I have also reason to believe
that, the moist climate of Ceylon affects the chemical
composition of Oil, and that white Cochin (not
Monsoon-Oil) contains more steariue, than Ceylon."
It will be seen from the foregoing, that our inform-
ation is correct about Cochin Oil, being richer in
stearine, but is the cause suggested for Ceylon having
less stearine the true and only one ? The quality
alone too, as surmised by us, does not account for
the difference in price. As a matter of fact, Ceylon
parcels of good quality have sold beyond the price
quoted, while Cochin could always be had under its
published price. Is not the difficulty in securing
samples of Oil of even whiteness due to Copperah
being smoke-dried ? — Local " Examiner."

THE WILD DATE IN SOUTHERN INDIA.

Eead Letter from J. S. Gamble, Esq., Conservator
of Forests, Northern Circle, to the Secretary to the
Board of Revenue, dated Madras, 29th September
188(3.

In continuation of paragraph 2 of Mr. Feet's letter,
dated 16th February 1886, No. 2,156, I have the honor to
submit, for the information of the Board of Revenue,
the following extracts from the reports received from
Collectors in this circle regarding the growth, distri-
bution and habitat of the wild Aa,te {Phmiix si/lvestris)
as I find that some interesting information has been
coliested. The Collector of Gaiijaiii reports that the
wild date is abundant in Chicacole, less so in Ber-
hampore, and comparatively rare in Goomsur. He
says further that it is often found along roadsides,
but more frequently alorg stret. ^s where the bed is
Bandy. It also afftcts "kunkar'' ■'ils. The tree is
tapped for toddy and the fruit is --ten and can
occasionally be purchased in the baisaar. The Collec-
ter of Vizagapatam reports that it is common in the coast
taluks of the district, and especially so in Sarvasid-
dhi. Everywhere it is tapped for toddy, and the
fruit is regularly eaten and is taken to the bazaars
to exchange for grain. The imformatiou from
Qodavari is very slight ; from Kistna, the Collector

reports that the tree is found throughout the district
and best on sandy soil. He says the fruit is not
regularly used, but the poorer people sometimes eat
both the fresh, ripe fruits and cooked unripe ones.
When used for toddy the pot is coated with chunam
inside if sugar is being made, if not it ferments
The "cabbage," i.e., the tender young leaves inside
the crown of the tree, is sometimes eaten. The
Collector of Nellore write as follows: — "The date is
common all over the Nellore district, growing chiefly
on the banks of streams and nalas and in depressions
where water stands after heavy rain. The soils which
seem to suit it best are sandy loams and sand. It is a
common weed in all the mango topes, quite spoiling
them for camping purposes. It also comes up under
the shade of all other trees, except tamarind, where
they grow on fairly good soil. The frnit is not used
for food, but it ig sometimes collected and sold to chil-
dren for an equal measure of grain. But it is not a
regular article of food, being generally allowed to fall
unpicked. The tree has no value except for toddy
and for the good fibre obtained from its leaf stalks."
In the Ceded districts the wild date mostly occurs in
swampy places where the soil contains either salt-
earth or "kunkar." A characteristic locality may be
seen close to the old Guntakal .station on the Madras
Eailway. The Collector of Cuddajialk reports that it
is found in all taulks to some extent usually in groups
of 200 to 500 trees. He adds that the yield of toddy
is better in damp localities ; but that from trees in
dry places is more intoxicating. The fruits are eaten
and the seed is sometimes chewed like arecanut.

The Collector of Kurnool also states that it is found
all over the district and especially in Nandikotkur
taluk. The Conservator has seen it in abundance in
salt-earth swampy places in Ramallakot. The Collector
also remarks that it is eaten, but has very little pulp.
From Bellavii the Collector sends some interesting
remarks which are reproduced as follows : — He says
that there are about 19,000 acres covered with it in
the district, but chiefly in Adoni taulk : —

" The plant appears to be distributed throughout
the district and is found growing principally in the
vicinity of vankas (hill streams) in sandy soil impreg-
nated with salts. The plant also grows on regada
(black cotton) soil, but not so well as on the sandy
soil called ' mussabu.' The fruit is eaten, but not as
a regular article of diet. In the Bellary taulk the
plant covers an area of 583 acres and is found grow-
ing best near vankas on light sandy soil. In the
Ahir taluk the extent covered by the plant is 12
acres, a part of which is situated in the limits of the
village of Hollalagundi and a part in the village of
Nagarur. In this taluk the soil is nearly aU regada
on which account I suspect the area on which the
date is found growing is so small. In the Hosi)et
taluk, in the villages of Chilakanhatti and Autapur,
the growth of the plant is pretty thick, elsewhere
in the few other villages where it exists it is found
scattered. In this taluk also the plant is found
growing near venkas in mussabu soil; extent 37^
acres."

" RaijoAnirj. — In this taluk near the villages of
Kottapalli and Thalakerra the growth is pretty thick,
but elsewhere scattered. The soil is mussabu, and
the area over which the plant is found growing is
928 acres. In the Harpanahalli taluk the plant is
found growing thickly in Yeddahalli, Tellagi, Ragi-
mosalarada and Adavihalli villages and in a few
others scattered. The extent on which the plan
is found growing is 100 acres. In the Hadagall
taluk the extent over which the plant is found growing
is 38 acres. In this taluk also it is foimd growing
best in mussabu soil alongside vankas. In Kudligi
the plant covers an area of 1,295 acres and is found
growing in sandy saline soil near vankas. In the
Adoni taluk the plant appears to have spread a
good deal, as the area on which it is found growing
is 16,000 acres or five times as much as the total
area of the remaining seven taluks. The soil on
which it is found growing is a light reddish sand
impregnated with salts near vankas. From the fore'
going remarks it will be observed tjja^ tbe babitft^

496

tHE TROPICAL AOmcVLWRiBf,

fjAN. i, iBSf,

[t-fmt-i-wwttm--TT^^^^^

of the plant is near vankas where the soil is ulwajs
humid and that naturally it prefers a light sandy
soil impregnated with saliue matter. The fruit is not
used, because the use of the tree as a producer of
toddy is general, and it is valued for this purpose
alone. The sites favourable for the growth of the
date are indicated all over the country by the mounds
where salt modas once were situated. These mounds
and the land immediately adjoining them are in
almost all cases waste and at Government disposal,
for their use for the manufacture of salt or salt-
petre has been abandoned; the presence of an old
moda site implies existence of salt in the soil and
a supply of water handy, and the plantation of these
old sites with date would result in a distribution
of groves all over the country whose value to (lovern-
ment might be very great as their use under restric-
tions, if permitted, would greatly increase the value
of the toddy farms.'"

The Collector of Anantapur also remarks that it is
universally found, especially along streams, in a saline
or calcareous soil. In Madakasira it is sometimes
met with on black-cotton soil. The seed is regularly
neate and is procured by barter for paddy. The
tree doe.s not occur in the Nilyxri district. The
smaller wild dates are found ia all districts and of
several species. In the forests of the Oircars the
Fhanix acaulis is common and the fruit is also edible
and sweet, though it has but very little pulp. On
the higher hills, as at Maheudragiri, it 'grows into a
small tree 10 to 15 feet high, but this may
be the species Onselei^ana. On the Cuddapah
and other hills of the Ceded districts the Fhamx
farinifeya is found of very similar quahties, while the
species which covers such large extents of country
on the northern slopes of the Nilgiris aud affords
a pleasant fruit is probably Phmnix pcduuculata. But
all these species are diflficult to distinguish and may
prove to be mere varieties (as is the Arabian date
FhcBnix dactylifera) of Phcenix syhestris.

■■jmun.

TEA BLENDING.

The art of tea blending is one which cannot be
too thoroughly or too methodic:»lly studied by every
tea dealer who wishes to make a position for himself
jn his trade.

The man who has really mastered it can defy all
competition ; by careful tasting he can buy as well as
the large houses, and by making the characteristics
of the water of his locality his special study, he can
please his customers far better than any outsider can
possibly do, however extensive his operations may be,
and at the same time secure a good profit for himself.

The main principles of this art are easily laid down ;
their practical application must be a matter for the
personal consideration of each blender, guided by the
peculiar circumstances of eauh case.

It is of the utmost importance to select teas that
will mix well ; for instance, to put a flue flavory tea
to a coarse rasping tea will deteriorate both, while
to a dd it to a full rich liquoring tea will improve
both.

Desirable Indian teas may be used very freely to
give strength, point and flavor, but sour or acrid
Indians, or low Javas, should never under any cir-
cumstances be used.

Avoid unsound teas most rigorously ; a tea with the
least trace of mustiness or the lea.st mousey flavor
will spoil any blend.

Scented teas are often used most unwisely; for
ordinary purposes 1 lb. in 12, or even 1 lb. in 16
is quite sufficient to give the blend a distinctive flavor.
Fine Oolong or Foo Chow Pekoe are the most desirable
kinds.

Of course this applies to ordinary trade; in the
Caper districts people will sometimes drink a mixture
and one part Caper, one part pungent broken Assam
and one part Moning, and appear to like it.

When the mixture is made up, it should be allowed
to stand in air-tight canisters at least a week before
it ia sold; the Isvor of the component parts thus

assimilates. Remember— if your tea is. allowed to
stand near any strong smelling articles, it will absorb
their flavor; ths finest teas are af ten spoilt by contact,
with soap, cheese, or other items of a grocer's shop.

We would, in conclusion, repeat — be sure your blends
have some distinctive flavor ; let them always be the
same style and always kept up to a standard quality,
BO that people will learn to rely on them and come
for them again and again ; it is thus big businesses
are built up.

The following specimen blends are of the simplest
possible character, and are merely intended as a basis
or guide for those commencing the work of scientific
tea blending ; as the complexity of the blends increase,
the possible variations become so numerous that it
is obviously impracticable even to indicate them with-
in reasonable limits, but to a practical man keeping
pace with the times,' fresh dcvelopment.s and new
combinations growing out of these foundations will
constantly suggest themselves.

The following is a specimen :

SPECIMEN BLEND NO. 1.

Low-priced broken leaf. Principal ingredients: —
Kaisow sif tings.
Assam or Ceylon fannings.

Notes- — Moning siftings are preferable to Kalsows,
but are scarcer, and in consequence often cannot be
obtained at a low enough figure.

Where dust is not inadmissible an Assam Pekoe
dust should be added ; it is a marvellous improve-
ment to the liquor.

For flavouriug use Scented Orange Pekoe fannings ;
or, when prices will allow, Namuna broken Pekoe.

A fraction of a penny in buying low broken teas
will often make all the difference between a good
aud a common tea ; it is false economj' to inflict
nasty rubbish on j'our customers to save a farthing.

SPECIMEN BLEND NO, 2.

Low to medium priced tea. Principal ingredients :

Saryune.

Oonfaa.

Broken Assam.
Notes. — Above will make a strong thick tea, will come
out well in all waters ; as, even in soft-water dis-
tricts, buyers of low-priced teas look more for
strength than quality.

Scented Capjjer or scented Orange Pekoe can be
used where desired. — Tea and Tea Blending,

The Oocos Nucifera cm Coconut.— By W. Lascelles-
Scott, M. S. A. The following from recent analyses
of my own, shows the average percentage composition
of a Ceylon coconut: —

Exterior fibre (coir) 32 65 per cent.

Shell 17-30 „

Flesh or edible portion ... 26'40 ,,
"Milk" 23-65

100-Oe „
Of the "flesh," or edible portion of the nut, the
constituents are as under : —

Nitrogenous (albuminous) matter 6'48 per cent.

Fatty matter

. 67-11

Sugar and gum

. 5-89

Mineral matter

. 3-65

Cellulose and colour matter ..

. 076

Water and loss

. 7-11

10000
Lastly, the analysis of the interior fluid or, "milk "
gives these results : —

Nitrogenous matter

Gum and trace of fatty matter

Sugar

Mineral matter

Water

•712

i>

•305

4150

,t

•261

><

94 582

»i

BritUh ani- Colonial Druggiit,

100-000

Jau. I, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

40:/

COCONUrS IN CEYLON: LOWCOUNTHY
IL ANTING REPOllT.

COCONUTS AND COPRA— "THE VALLKY "— BULNING

WEATHER. , , . , .

Hapitigam KoaALE, Sul Jan. 1887.— iSbb has been a
good year for the stajile product of this district ;
theie has been no long dronglits— and ample of both
raiu and sunshine, the two chmatic wants of the
tree. A numerically average crop has thus been
well filled, and has resulted in more than an aver-
age weight of copra. Besides improving the quality
of the current crop, the fine season h:'s put a
crop on for 18S7, much above the numerical avtrage.
The proprietors have thus secured one good crop, and
have a fair expectation of a better coining.

A visitor to the valley has lately informed you that
all the estates are in excellent order. It is true tliat
within the past few years thi re has been progress,
but progress is magical in different cases, and all
the estates cannot justly be classed as excellent.

A fortnight of burning sun and dry acarclung wind
has had a sad effect on all ve;,etation ; tlie grass
is already withered down to the roots, and garden
stuffs are nowhere. Every thing is drooping, biown
and yellow leaves are falling in showers, with every
gust, as well as immature fruit of kinds ; and the
last planted coconuts are beginning to die. Fortun-
ately the drought has not yet affected the older trees,
but their time is coming if this weather continues
much longer.

CEYLON TEAS -"BULKED UNASSORTED.

We are heartily glad to see that our Circular of '21st
Oct. has at any rate attracted the attention of Messrs.
Wilson & Co., of Colombo, who favour us with some
comments upon it. With their permi.ssion we may state
broadly that though they do not altogether agree with
us, they go so far as to admit that Hulking unassorted
is in some cases beneficial. We i^hall show by and bye
they do not know when. We must be allowed to I-emind
their readers that we mo.st di.stinctly guarded against a
hasty conclusion being come to that " all planters are
advised to forward their Teas unassorted." On the
contiary, we stated emphatically, "it would be ab.surd
to lay down any hard and fast rule about it." Our
critics overlook this, and rather commit themselves to
a rule they immediately proceed to lay down. We
think it a little misleading to i-tatotbatwe were "only
able to point to one instance out cr the hundreds that
are sold in London." It is quite true that the parti-
cular case quoted by us, was the only iostaece we were
aware of in which the entire produce of an estate had
been divided and treated, as to one portion, by sub-
division into six breaks, and as to other by Bulking
unas.sorted, and sold side by side t^e same day; but
•we have repeatedly referred to the prices obtained for
unassorted parcels. We learn from an interesting
letter of Mr. Jas. W. Holt, of St. Leys, published in
the Ovcrhiiid Ceylon Obserrer, of November ISth, that
in his experience the figures were reversed, and the
assorted got Is 5jd, against the unassorted Is Id. ' Mr.
Holt, with the best intentions, publishes his letter for
our " benefit." We should doubtless profit mr>re by it
if ho had kindly taken the trouble to state the exact
proportions in which fine and common Teas entered
into his unassorted division. As it is, though his state-
ment is a fact, it benefits no one; we learn nothing
from it; not even from the Editor's foot-note: —
" Hear, hear ! It is evidently ridiculous to lay down
any hard and fast rule." Our own words to a tick.
We notice a differei co between the quantities when
divided in Mr. Holt's invoice. 1,.'J00 lb., he says, wore
assorted into five grades, and 1,000 lb. were blended.
The 1,.500 :h. f^dched Is ojd, and the unassorted Is Id.
We fear IMr. Holt's expeiience of blending Teas is of
little use to him if he cannot do belter tha's. that. U
he Were to try to write a Doctor's prescription con-
taining six ingredients he might achieve even more
startling rtsults not of course so easily expressed
in pt-nce. And here, in justice to out selves, we
may repeat what we said at the time we were
wriiing fully on this interesting subject. "Besides

we do not advocate treating the entire crop of
Ceylon in this way. It is quite open to the ex-
pert to decide how much of this Broken Pekoe he
will ship as It is, and how much return to the bulk
to assist in giving tip and appearance to the re-
mainder of the parcel. // /roi//d be obviou^hi ubsurd to
laji do/ni aiiij hard and fust rule aboiif if. Experience
and judgment must guide the planter, after all said
and done, as to how he is to get the best return in
money, and we trust we have indicated one direc-
tion m which he may look for a reward for thought and
skill. There is no reason to be disheartened and dis-
couraged if first efforts do not bring out a much higher
result. The secret of the success of blending is that
the finer Teas, owing to their greater strength and
flavour overmaster a much larger quantity of isome-
what inferior Teas, and rai.se the quantity of the
bulk, but the exact limits to which to go without
making the fine Tea resemble the proverbial needle
111 a bottle of hay, can only be arrrived at by ex-
periment and practice.' The thanks of all bis rea-
aers are due to tlie editor of the -'Overland Times"
of Ceylon for his able and exhaustive leading article
on the subject. He at any rate discerns our desire
to further the interest of the Ceylon planter. Sup-
posing we were absolutely wrong in our views, is it
not much better that the matter should be thoroughly
ventilated and all the arguments pro and eo/i dis-
cussed freely so that the best course for all parties
may be arrived tit? But we are no theorists on the
matter of Tea blending. Ours is practical experi-
ence extending over many years, and leading us to
certain conclusions, but it was a long time before
we could dictate a blend of seven or eight Teas, as
we do to dealers every day, to get the best result
with least nio:cey. The " Overland Time^ " savs we
appear to hold very strong views on the subject.
We do, and we are glad to say we have succeeded
in impressing them upon some others. Messrs.
\Vilson iV.' Co., in theirs of -ISi-d November, sum np
"in short. Gardens producing medium Teas such
as Broken Pekoes selling at Is Id to Is 2d per lb.
Pekoe Souchong 9Ad to lOAd, Broken Tea 8d should
bulk unassorteil, and (lardens producing fine Teas
should not." To what advantage? What is the average
of Is Id, Is, 9.Jd, and 8d ? Where does the improve-
ment of the bulk come in ? Do Messrs. Wilson & Co.,
or does any one suppose that by mixing Teas from 8d
to Is Id, they will get an average of., Is 21?—Ri(cker
l)' Bencraft, London, Dec. 17.

THE LANKA PLANTATIONS CO., LIMITED:
COFFEE, CACOA, CINCHONA, TEA.

DiKECTons. — R. P. Harding, Esq., Chairman, Geo.
Allen, Esq.. James Thomas White, Esq., Sir Herbert
Bruce Sandford, Horace George Hayes, Esq. Resid-
ent-Manager:— Sir. Edward Gonne Harding. Agents in
Colombo: — Messrs. J. M. Robertson & Co. Secretary:
— Mr. William Bois.

Authorised capital, £200,000 in 15,000 ordinary shares
of £10 each and 5,000 reference shares of £10 each.

REPORT
To be presented at the Sixth Ordinary General Meeting:
of the Lanka Plantations Company, Limited, to be held
at the offices of the Company, on the 30th Eecember,
188G, at 12 o'clock at noon.

1. The Directors submit their Eeport for the twelve
months ending 30tb June last, together with theBalance
Sheet and Accounts of the Company made up to that
date

2. The weather has again seriously affected
the coffee crop in all parts of Oeylou, the
outturn for the year in that Island being about
one-fourth of what it was a few years since. The
The Company has suffered with the rest. The cause
is to be fo„nd in deficiency of sun heat, superabund-
ai ce of rai[,^ kaf disease and new insect pests. Ex-
traordinary climatic efl'ects have occurred in most parts
of the worlH, and I ntil they cease and normal weather
returns giving well " ripened wood and go ■(! ripening
seasons, Coffee crc ps will continue to be short, ana
although short ciops result in better prices, such prices
do not c<),,iy,pnsate or short crojis.

498

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan. 1, 18874

3. The quantity of Coffee (estimated at 2,516 cwt.
sLipped home was 2,416 cwt. agaiust a crop of 5,499
cwt. last year, and the amount realised from Coffee
^ives a total of t'7,702 13s. The pi ice of the Com-
jany's Coffee during the past year las been better
than in 1884-85, having averaged 66s 8d per cwt. against
(JOs per cwt. last y^ ar.

4. The Cinehoua Lark harvesteil has been about
105,580 lb. (of which 30,402 lb. were sold in Ceylon:
Ihe greater part has letn realised and the wliole is
expected to produce i'4,'.i22 Us 5d.

"). In consequence of injury to the shade trees and
the consequent prevalence of insect pests the Cocoa
which was estimated at 500 cwt. has only produced
11)5 cwt., realising ,€528 15s (id, but additional shade
trees have been planted and the general appearance
of the Cocoa has greatly improved, and there is every
prospect of a good crop for the current year.

0. The plantations of Cardamoms have not pro-
duced the estimated quantity, only 893 lb. having
been received which realised f50 3s. The prospect,
however, is more promising for the present year.

7. The first plantings of Tea of Fordyce Estate
have fully answered expectations ; the estimate for
the year was 15,000 lb., but the shipments received
amount to 34,519 lb. realising .£1,770 5s 6d and show-
ing a net average of Is O.'fd per lb.

8. The Tea Factory a;t Gouagalla having been found
unequal to the proper manipulation of the largely
increased pickings of Tea leaf, a Jackson's Excelsior
Tea Roller has been purchased and shipped for
Ceylor. This will anablo the Manager to prepare
and send forward the greatly increased quantity of
Tea which the Estates are expected to produce. The
estimate for the current year is 120,0(JO lb. As the
Tea trees on the Company's 450 acres of Tea at
Foidjce and Gonagalla come into full bearing, they
will supply sufficient leaf for the Gonagalla Factory
and consequently our Colombo Agents concur with
the General Manager in recommending the erection
of a Tea Factory at Fruit Hill Estate, which is
ckse to the Railway and conveniently placed for the
purchase of leaf in the event of the 237 acres of Tea
there, not furnishing enough to keep it fully em-
ployed. The estimated cost of this factory is about
±'1,250 and there is ample water power at Fruit Hill
for working the factory.

9. Your Directors have pleasure in stating that of
the froposed issue of 2,000 six per cent £10 Preference
Shares (part of the authorised Capital of 5,000 Prefer-
ence Shares) of which 1,100 had been allotted at the
date of their last Rej)ort 230 shares in addition have
been since applied for and allotted, leaving 670 shares
still available for applicants.

10. The dividends on the Preference Shares issued
prior to the 30th June la.st, have been duly pai 1 out of
the profits shown by the Accounts.

11. No addition has l^eea made to the Company's
estates during the year under review, and the present
state of cultivation is sutEciently shown in the Tabular
Statement contained in paragraph 19 of the Report for
the year 1884-5.

12. Your Directors regret very much that they are
not in a position to pay any dividend on the Ordinary
Shares. Since of the formation the Corrpauy its manage-
ment has been a const;, nt source of anxiety and ri('-
sponsibility, but although the Directors have been well
nigh beaten by bad seasons, low prices, leaf disease and
other causes over which they have had no control, they
still consider that, with better .reasons, the Company will
before very long be in a better position than it has
been for some time past. The Directors have now four
products to rely on, coffee, tea, cinchona and cardaaioms
and they rely on each of them, coffee and tea as their
support, Chinchoua and Cardamoms as helps. Ceylon
-Coffee will shortly be if it is not now a luxury, and

many parcels have been lately sold at over 100 .shillings
a cwt., whilst Ceylon Tea ia making a most remark-'
able progress in the estimation of the Tea drinking
public. Although costing more, Ceylon Tea goes
much further than most other Teas, and in the opinion
of these ujost competent to judge there will always
b; a makct for it so long as it is carefully prepared.
On these po/pt«! the following Extract from" the Ctijlon

Ohei-ier of the 9th November latt may be iLter-
esting : —

"We think our home friends mav rest aBsured that
( eylon can compete with any other country in supply-
ing superior Teas at moderate prices, ;uia as the
h-URlish taste gets educated to the fine Indian and
Ceylon Jeas, clearly the bulk ofinferior ' China ' kinds will
not pay to export. A certain proporllou of line China Teas
will always find a good market in Kngland, but we
certainly expect to see inferior Teas snper.seded. Cey-
lon Agents are everyv.heie pushing our Teas in new
markets. As regards pliuitiiiK and cicps, the work of sup-
plying and even planting out Tea has been carried on
vigorously uiicoiiniry. ]ii<. crops of Cofifee are being
Kjithered lu Haputale and some other parts of Uva,
Tliere is Rreat activity still about Cinchona bark, but
iRter ( n a slackening here, simultaneons with a large
iucren.se in the export of Tea, is anticipated."

If the cultivation of Cinchona does slacken it will be
good for the Company, as great attention is being given
by the General Manager to the proper cultivation of
this product. The Directors acknowledge with plea
suie the zeal of their General Manager and of thei-
Colombo Agents. Mr. Henry Bois, the senior member
of their Agents' Firm has lately visited the Company'r
Estates, and has written a very interesting Repors
thereon. The Report was not intended for publict
ation, but as it will put the Shareholders in full posses--
sionof our Agents' views, the Directors have determined
to publish it as an Appendix to this Report. The
Shareholders may rely on the Directors continuing to
exercise the utmost care in the management of the
property. The very large share they hold in the capital
of the Company, to say nothing of that held by their
personal friends, is a sufficient guarantee that they will
do all they can for its benefit. The two Directors who
on this occasion retire are Mr. George Allen and Mr.
James Thomas White, and they both being eligible
offer themselves for re-election,

Mr. John Smith (a shareholder) the Auditor, also re-
tires and offers himself for re-election

By order, "\MLLIAM BOIS, Secret&ry

No. 8' Old Jewry, E.G., 10th Dec. 18f56.

APPENDIX.
REPORT ON ESTATES BY MR. HENRY" EOIS

Colombo, Ceylon, 7th Oct. 1886.

The Secretary, Lanka Plantations Company, Limited,
London.

Dear Sir, — Between the 7th and 18th ultimo, I
visited nearly all the Company's Estates, that is to
say. Fruit Hill, Gouagalla group, Rillamalle, Rap-
pahannock, Ampittiakande, Arnhall and Thotugalla.
Mr. Harding, who accompanied me, has sent you Re-
ports upon some of the Properties.

Speaking generally T found all the Estates in a
good state of cultivation, quite as good as we could
expect for the money spent upon them. I doubt if any
further material economies can be efl'ected or if any
changes could be profitably made anywhere in the
superintendence or management of the Properties.
The Tea is growing well nearly everywhere and the
Coffee did not appear to me to have gone back since my
lait visit. Gonagalla has a very fair crop upon it
and the Autumn crops in Haputale are also fairly
good. Spring crops will, however, certainly be short.
The season has been most unfavourable, constant rain
when sun was wanted. At the date of my visit the
weather was fine but rain has since fallen I believe,
and in anj' case it is now too late to expect anything
more than very small Spring crops from the Haputale
and Uva Properties.

As regard.'! Fruit Hill the tea is growing satisfactorily
but not so vigorously as on some places that I have
seen. The estate is, however, so conveniently situated
that it can be worked cheaply and the leaf can be
sold to great advantage, owing to the proximity of
the estate to the railway station, should it be found
impracticable to manufacture it all at Gonagalla as
at jn-esent. I do not tliiiik it iriU be adrisalile to j>iit up
a fticioy on tJiin projierli/, at all events not for some
time, i see no reason to doubt the estimate of 20.000
lb. of tea and "('0 bushels coffee for ltSO-7. A few
acres of coffee manured with refuse from the bazaars
has put ou a very large crop; I do not suppose,

]a^, I, 1S87.J

tHE TROPICAL AGPJCOWtJRlSt.

49iJ

Ijovvever, that this would be repeated a second season
pr that it can be taken as an indication of what
colfee would do if heavily manured,
,. GoxAtfALtA (Group)— Owin:^ to constant rain the
ferdund had a soddened appearance and the coffee
looked as if it wanted some sunshine. Assuming that
the bearing acreage of coffee is correctly estimated
I do not think the estimated crop more 1 ban* is on
the trees. The tea is combig on sat i<f actor i/i/ and
further provision will have to he made formanvfacture. the
present Rolling Machinery being inadequate. I be-
lieve Mr. Harding wrote to you about sending out
an Excelsior Roller, Jlr. Murray Robertson has just
purchased one for us direct from the manufacturers
and you will no doubt be able to do the same,
thereby saving the extra sums charged by Mr. Jack-
son's C"olombo Agents.

From Gonagalla I proceeded to Rillamallk and I wish
I could write more favourably than I can of
this Property. It is, in my opioion, the most un-
promising of the Company's Estates. The
Coffee Avhich was so fine when it was young is now
yellow and unhealthy, the wood wiry, and the general
appearance indicating but little prospect of crop. Mr.
Harding and Mr. Owen both insist that this is the result
of long coutiijued wet weather and that with normal
seasons the trees will recover and crop well. This
may be so to some extent but it is also true that
leaf disease, green and black bug, and, Mr. Owen
says, also grub are at work upon the Coffee, and it
i% probably the combination of all these adverse cir-
cumstances that is answerable for the unsatisfactory
appearance of the Property. So far there had been
little or no blossom and it is certain that the crop
will be very small, how small cannot be determined
just at the moment, for Mr. Owen was still hoping
that fine weather would force out a blossom. 'I here
being sufficient Tea Plants iu the nursery for the
purpose the 70 acres planted with Tea are to be in-
cic'dsed to 100 //li.a i/eur. I thoidd .•<top at that for the
present to see how it does. On the neighbouring
Estate the Tea planted some years ago shows a veiy
fair growth and Rillamalle will probably do the same.
There is, however, i/ixch against Tea cultivation at this
spot. The transport is very ditficult, everything hav-
ing to be carried ID miles, part of the way over a
very rough mountain road to Padiapelella on the
high road to Knndy. It (PadiapeluHa) is possible that
something may be done by Government to provide the
district with a proper outlet, in which case Tea cul-
tivation will be less handicapped, but there is no
immediate jirospect of any such work being under-
taken.

I should like to see Rillamalle again some months
hence— in the meantime I do not .see that anytliing
el.se car be done than what is proposed by Mr. Hard-
ing—the trees certainly want pruning. This means ex-
penditure; but the coffes has hardly a chance to do
much witii a lot of very bad wood upon the trees.

Kappaiiannock is another unsatisfactory property.
It has, iu common with nearly all T'va estates, missed
its blossom for .spiing, and crop will certainly be very
short. There is a large quantity of healthy "cinchona
on the estate, and a corrcspondiug large harvest of
bark can be secured ; but unfortunately prices are so
low tliat large shipmeut.s of bark do not mean very
much monty, I think that about 150 acres in the
centre of ibe estate should be kept and cultivated a.s
coffee, manure being applied whenever a set blossom
promises a fair crop. All the cinchona should be
cut out or uprooted in these fields, for it is a fact be-
yond all question that cinchona and coffee will not
grow toyctlier after the former is some years old. The
coffee almost invariably deteriorates, and ceases to be
productive. I agree with Mr. Hnrding that the 57
acres at the bottom of the estate shtaild be put into tea.

The fine coft'ee on Ampittiakande looks, I think, a.s
well as evef it did, an 1 it has the best crop on it
that I saw anywhere. The acreage of the fine coffee
however, is smaller than it used to be, and there is
not suflieient area to admit of the place giving very
large crops. I was agreeably surprised to see how
well the tea was growing wa this estate, ftud I see uo

ireason why it should not be a success. Transport
difficulties are no doubt against it, but they are not
really serious as is the case with Rillamalle. I think
when tea is manufactured in any quantity the factory
for both Ampittiakande and Arnhall shou'd be at the
latter place.

Arnhall has a very fair autumn crop upon it. The
coffee did not strike me as having gone back tiuce I
last saw it, and there is no doubt the rain has been
favourable to these low-lying places. The quality of
the coffee should be much better than it is when
picked in a pry season.

Tiiotulagalla /.-.■ ahoi't the finest sheet of coffee in
the coinpani/'s possession, and with fine weather I
believe it would have given a very satisfactory crop
this season. 4,000 bus. (parcht) are supposed' to be
on the trees ; how much more will be yielded can-
not yet be quite estimated. For the expenditure
incurred, I think the condition of this estate creiit-
able to Mr. W. Harding. Pruning is, perhaps a little
behindhand but it is not possible to do the work very
quickly on such large trees with the limited labour
force kept upon the property. Mr. W. Harding's
health seems to call for a change to England for a time.
I think during his absence the necessary work of the
estate might be carried on by Mr. Bouton, he drawing
his own pay and half IMr. Harding's. The latter gett-
ing leave on half pay.

The (/7-een bug to which Mr. E. G. Harding refers
is, in my opinion, not the old variety of cocus that wc
have known iu former years. Its attacks appear to
be of a more persistent character, and there is no
doubt that in many instances serious results have fol-
lowed upon its attacks. I saw it more or less every-
where on my travels, and I am not disposed to mini-
mise its importance. I am in hopes that fine vigor-
ous coffee will not be permanently affected by it, but,
on the other hand I am bound to saj' that I have
seen really fine trees almost killed by it. Thatching
the trees with Jlana grass and applying lime perhaps
do a little good, but in olden days we found that
there was no real cure for it until nature caused its
disappearance.

The railway to Haputale is still an unsettled ques-
tion. It is hoped that the Governor's stiong recom-
mendation of the work will induce the Colonial Office
authorities to agree to the commencement of the ex-
tension. Perso.nally, I have no faith in a 2-feet gauge
line to Uva. — I am, dear sirs, yours faithfully, HE>>RY
BOIS.

LANKA COMPANY, LIMITED.

Eal.\.nce Sheet, 30ih June, 188G.
Dr.

£ s. d. i s. t1.

To Capital paid up ... 1(32,000 0 U

l."i,000 Ordinary Shares
of £10 each ... 1.50,000 0 0

1,200 Preferance
Shares of £10 each ... 12,000 0 0

To Loan obtained on the pay-
ment of the Mortgages on
Arnhall & Ampittiakande ,,.
To Sundry Creditors

Bills Payable ... 7,898 2 10

Sundries ,., 4,445 lu 1

To Balance of Piolit and Loss
Account...

Cr.

M s d.
By Estate,^ ,..

Ampittiakande ... 2ii,2'Jo 5 U
Arnhall ... 18,.521 ti Si
Fruit Kill ... 10,232 14 0
Fordyce and IJarbawn lij,liV) 2 0
GonagiiHa and Para-
matta ... 18,1.«.T 12 11
Rappahannock ... 22,84ii 10 7
rvilhimalle ... 10,333 11 9
'1 hotulagalla ... ;'5,143 13 1
VaUawntte • 6,083 13 (J

9,030 0 0
12,311 12 11

02: 9 i

£183,869 2 .3

£ s, d.

16:{,721 10 4

Soo

fm ftOPICAL AGftldUtfUftigt,

[jAN, 1, 1887.

I?y Murliincry, Tools, &i'.

By Suiiilry Debtors

Ity Pnxliice Unsold on 3uth
.Iiiiie

Since Retailed .■■

Hark I'lisolJ ...

By Cash

At B.mkers— Dfposit

Account
At Bankers— Cuirent
Account
In Hand

By Suspense Account— Tea
Planting, &c.

Tea Planting, ■Sic, Ac-
count, ISSl-.'i
/.(■■is—lO \)er cent car-
ried to Prolit and
Lo'<5 Account

Tea Planting, also of
Cocoa & Cardamoms,
&c. Account Iss.Vli

By Pa\ments oi\ Accouiitof Vp-
keep for ls8ij-7

729
157

1 11
10 10

0,liii7
l,Slo

14
0

lu
u

8,572
2,3U5

11 lu

10 0

1 ,oOll

0

0

804

1

0
0

7

u

ti,313

5 8

4,0 14

r>

7

4.H

8

ti

4,1 ISO

17

1

2,22:1

8

J

2,iH5.S

10 2

X- s. d.

1,234 -2 9

1,53-2 1 9

2,22s 10 11

730 1() 0

2,3C>5 1 10

1,803 8 5

S38 1-2 3

1,099 15 10

2,115 10 2

829 18 3

±-18;3,8fi0 2 :',
TRADING ACCOUNTS, for the year ending 30tl] June
1880. To Cost of Cultivation in Ccvlon

Dr.
Airipittiakande
Aniliall

Forilyce and Garbawn . .
Fruit Hill

Gonagalla and Farauiatta
Ra])paliannock
llillaninlle
Thotulagalla
Ynttawatte
General Manager, Kuudry Expenses..

Lesn — Machinei'y . .

To Insurance
I, Balance carried down

Tj Loudon Expenses (less .f2 12s Gd
Transfer Fees) . •
Directors' Fees, Secretary, Law
Costs, Income Tax and General
Office Expenses. .
,, Interest on Loans . .
„ Balance carried to Profit and Loss
Acconnt

15,384 7
504 4

s
5

14,880 3

123 16

30 11

3

11

3

£15,034 11

5

1,051 11 0

(V27 17 0

574 11 10

i'2,2o3 19 10

(Jr.

By Net Proceeds of Coffee sold in London 7,702 i:> 0

ft

Bark

Cocoa .(

Ta .,

Crdanioiiis ,-

,, Net Proceeds of JBark sold iu Ceylon

,( Estimated value of Bark not yet
1 ealised

By Bilance brouijlit down
„ Amount carried to Suspense Account
b-iing part special expen iture o 1
±'liinting Tea, Cocoa, Cardamoms,
!vnd on Buildnigs . . ,.

2,838 8

5-iS 15 i;

1,770 5 G

50 3 0

12,950 5 7

'2m i-i 10

13,159 11 5

],875 0 0

] 5,034 11 5

30 11 3

2,223 8 7

PLAiNTING IN NETHERLANDS INDIA AND

JAA'A.
{Translated for lie Htraits Tivtf^.)

Tlie JaraJlodc asserts that in consequence of the
Supreme Government refusing to do anything per-
inanent and thoroughgoing, to relieve the planting
interests in Java from the disproportionate burden of
taxation weighing it down, the eyes of many enter-
prisnig individuals there are directed towards British
North Borneo where sounder economic priciples are
put in practice. So far as fertility goes, British North
Borneo is not one whit superior to many of the
latter, such as Celebes and Sumatra, and is in nowise
better off as to population, so that only fiscal [con-
ditions count in its favour. These differ so widely
from those predominant in Netherlands India, as not
to admit of comparison. xVlready a Netherlander,
Mr. Geloes d'Elsloo has applied for 30,000 acres of
land within the territory of the British North
Borneo Company At Batavia a syndicate has been
started for the purpose of turning that acreage to
account on adequate capital, which was being raised
by last advices. No wonder that British North Borneo
is coming into favour among the planting community in
.Java, considering the drift and scope of the Govern-
ment relief measures for their behoof in these hard
times. After beating long about the bush, the Second
Chamber of the States General hns finally decided to
abolish provisionally only the tax on the free cul-
tiyation of sugar, and to grant a delay of five years for
half payments to the Government by sugar growers
working under contract with the latter, and to abolish
the export duty for five years. However welcome
this instalment of justice has proved to the planters,
they regret that the Supreme Government cannot
break away from half measures, and make up its mind
to do away altogether with a form of taxation quite
unsuitable to changed circumstances, and free, once
for all, European planting industry there from crip-
pling burdens.

COFFEE ilEDIYIVUS IN CEYLON.

It is very satisfactory to hear anyone with long
planting experience say a good word for the coffee
tree on Ceylon plantations nowadays. But wc
have had such a good word spoken by a gentle-
man with practical experience in several districts.
He instances Koslanda estate, Haputale, run down
some two years ago and now very nourishing with a
big crop. Although our informant's interest in coffee
is now limited, he does not believe that " green
bug" cannot be successfully dri\en away. It has
disappeared from several places where once it
was bad. Yosiord, Dimbula, is giving 5,000 bushel?
of crop, and it was thought to be far gone ;
another mid Dimbula property, is giving 3,000
bushels ; Rtiil another 4,000 bushels ; and
farther west, where a Superintendent was
ordered to take out the coffee, and refused " the
Colombo orders,' because he expected a thousand
bushels, he is gathering 1,200 ;— all found money !
One of the best known planters in the country— -
xi'iih Uva, Deltotta and now Dimbula esperiencc— ■
calling on us today, expressed confidence in being
able to do something with coffee yet in Ceylon.
We suspect all over the country now, that every
coffee bush with a green leaf will have the
utmost care taken of it, and all manner of help
given to the tree in lighting against bug or any
other enemy. We trust, therefore, that,* where
still to the fore, our old friend, coffee, — especially
in the Uva and Udapussella*-a divisions — may
have a long career yet of crop-bearing to the
btnetit of the planters, the labourers and th?
Colony at large,

UN. I 1B87.I tHE TROPICAL AQmCVttmmfc _ 50i

IT'^-'-T-"- ""^ "

In thi^ connection we may attract attention to the
information on our back page in relcrcueo to the
Lanka Company's plantations, and we may add that
no greater treat met our eyes durmg a recent visit
to some of the north Kandy districts than the sight
of some 300 acres of vigorous young (three years old)
coffee in blossom on Pallekella, Doombara. Long

may it flourish and hear the bean which is likely to
become more precious, than ever before m its history

for the past forty or fifty years.

Cinchona in Java and Cevlon.— We had an
interesting visit today from Mr. Dinger of Batayia,
th3 very intelligent proprietor of extensive cultiva-
tion in Java and a gentleman thoroughly interested
in social and political as well as planting progress.
He has presented us with a copy of tlie pamphlet
written by Mr. Mundt (" Ceylon and Java") mainly
made up from our " Handbook and Directory
(but without acknowledgment !) in which Ceylon is
held up as a model to the Dutch Government in
respect of its planting enterprise. Mr. Dinger has
one cinchona plantation in East Java of about ;?yO
acres with trees tl by 6 feet or 2,000 to the acre
from 7 years old downwards. He has experimented
in harvesting by all plans, shaving, coppicing, up-
rooting, having no diOiculty in getting fresh trees to
grow over old ground. Mr. Dinger is evidently of
opinion that a large— very large deduction
—should be made from Mr. Mundt's calcu-
lation as to the area planted with cinchona alto-
gether in Java, although he agrees that the ex-
port thence is bound largely to increase. We
have told him that present appearances point to
Ceylon sending a3 much bark as last season. Mr.
Dinger being interested in laws and legislation, is
to send us a complete copy of the Java-Dutch
Code, more especially with reference to the admir-
able Law of Mortgages prevailing in Java. We shall
have the same looked into, on receipt.

Petkolkum .\.s a Fuel is thus noticed in the
Home Letter of the Indian Euijinter : — The other
day, a number of gentlemen visited the works of
Messrs. Priestman Brothers, Holderness Foundry,
Hull, to attend the trial of a patent engine, the
motive power of which is obtained from the use
of common petroleum. These engines are made under
Messrs. Eteve and Hume's patents, ani are ex-
tremely simple in their internal arrangements.
The petroleum is stored in a small tank contain-
ing one to two days' supply, as the case may be.
A small pressure of air is put into this tank, and
the petroleum is forced out of it into a vessel in
a vaporized condition, in which it is then drawn
into the cylinder by the outstroke of the piston,
and having been compressed on the instroke the
charge is ignited by means of a small electric
spark. This inmiediately explodes the contents in
the cylinder, and the 'piston is driven forward.
The engine, in which the highly retined petroleum
JB U3ed, is very similar to thrit in which the com-
mon petroleum is employed, the only ditference
being that in the latter engine the oil is taken into
the cylinder in a heated condition. Tlie cost of
the oil 19 estimated at a half'penny to three
farthings per indicated horse power per hour. Four
horizontal engines were at work, two with ben^o-
line and two with common petroleum. One of
about three and-a-half indicated hone-power, sup-
plied with benzoline, was driving easily four blasts
at which chain -makers were at work, besides a
a punching and a shearing machine. A vertical
engine of about four-horse power was driving a
namcar and doing work with ease. The tests were
etrcsidered ojost gatisfactorj'.

OOCA LhAVes show no itnproVement whatever. Four
bales, mostly bt-a-dau.agcd, huanoco leaves .sold at 8d
to S^d. per lb. FroQi Hamburg the article is reported
decidedly firmer, the stock at that port having within
the last foruight been diminished by 16,000 kilos,
partly for German and partly for American consump-
tiuu. — Chemitt and BrutjyMt.

Cinchona Bari:.— A correspondent writes :— Some
fifteen years ago ixperimeuts were made to grow
ciuchona at Singapore, but the young plants would
not flourish, and the attempt was abandoned. In
some of the protected States, for instance Perak,
cinchona is grOwn, but whether it will become %
profitable product is doubtful. Some of the planters
wuo have ground from the Sultan of .Johore have
also planted ciuchona. Of these places, Perak, which
is a protected State in the Malay Peninsula, is as
yet the only one which can have trees fit for barking.
The Hon. Sir Hugh Low has done much in promoting
cinchona cultivation in Peank. — C/nmi.H and Dniygist.
BOTANKAi. ExPLORATioN.s IN CosTA KiCA.— The dis-
trict of Chirigui in Costa JKica, whence the bulk of
the so-called Jamaica sarsaparilla come;', was lately
explored by an Engli.sh botauLst, who gives an interest-
iug account of his journey in The Gardeners Chronicle.
Among other things be mentions finding an anonaceous
plant, probably a Hylepia exhaling a perfume very
like that of Canauga odorata (ylang-ylang), and a
tree kuowu as the "samba gum tree," which yields
on incision a creamy-looking yellowish sap, which
»fter a time become.s hard and resinous and then
resembles the tenacious hog gum of Jamaica, the
produce of Si/mphonia 'jlobiilifera . He also met with
a thin-coated coconut one-third larger than the
ordinary kind, and which he thinks deserving of
cultivation. The natives ornament their cheeks with
paint made among other things from an oleoresin
resembling elemi, yielded by a tree called " pontapee."
This paint is prepared by burning the oleoresin and
collecting the lamp-black, a purpose for which it is
doubtless well adapted. — Chemist and Druqyist.

The Linnean Society, Dec. 2Nn.— Ceylon Plants.
—As a chapter in the history of East Lidian botany,
Dr. Henry Triinen gave a paper at the Linnean Society
meeting, on the above date, " Hermann's Ceylon Her-
barium and Liunasus' Flora Zei/lanica." The col-
lection of dried plants and the "drawings of living
ones made in Ceylon by i'aul Hermann in the later
half of the seventeenth century possess a special in-
terest as being the first important instalment of
material towards a knowledge of the botany of tha
East Indies ; but Hermann himself, who died in 1695
published very little of this material. Some of his
MSS. were subsequently printed by W. Sherard
including a catalogue of the herbarium as then exist-
ing, under the title of Maaaiin Zri/laniciim (1717).
This herbarium was lost sight of till 1744 when it
was recognised by Linnteus in a collection sent to him
from Copenhagen. After two years work at it, Lin-
nwus produced in 1747 his Flora Zci/lanica, in which
all the plants that he could determine are arranged
under his genera. At that date Linnaeus had not
initiated his binomial system of nomenclature, but
in his subsequent systematic works he quoted the
members of the Flora Zcylainca and thus Her-
mann's specimens became the types of a number of
Linnseus' species, for the most part additional to
thofte in his own herbarium now in the pos-
segsion of the Linnean bociety. Hermann's
herbarium is now in the botanical department of
the J^ritidh Museum, having been purchased by Sir
Joseph Banks from Prof. Treschow, of Copenhagen
the apecimeue are in very fine preservation, but soma
were origininally scanty or imperfect. The paper con-
sists of the results of a critical examination of the
whole of the collection, and a catalogue is given of
ail the Flora Zii/lanica species as named by Linnrous,
along with the determinations of Hermann's speciea
of each as now identified. Not a few difficulties,
ambiguities, and misapprehensions of Linntsus' spe-
cies have been thus recovered and cleared up, and'
the most important of these are discussed in a aeries
of short, critical notes which form the conclusion of
the paper.— 6ra/-£^c/(«r«' Chronicle,

ioi

fHE t'kOPtCAL AQmciMTvm^t.

fjAN, I, i88f,

THEINE AND CAFFEINE NOT IDENTICAL.

Kecent experiments by Dr. Thomas J. "iMajh, Tlirra-
pevtic Gazette, and summarized in the fHvff(/ist.s
Cireular, demonstrated tbat the theine of tea, and
the caffeine of coffee, were Lot identical, at least,
so far as their physiological action is concerned. Dis-
covering that the iheice and caffeine of commerce
are made " indiscriminately frcm tea, coffee, kolannt
or Paraguay tea," he took special pains to secure
alkaloid!* beyond suspicion and from two different
makers of high repute. The resulti of the use on
frogs of theine and caffeine from sources indicated by
their names are summed up as follows:— They agree
in (I) alfectirg the anterior extremities ; (2) in diminish-
ing respiration ; (3) in producing hypenesthesia during
the latter stage of the poisoning process. They differ
in the following particulars: — (1), Theine princii>ary
influences sensation, while caffeine does not ; (2), Tlieine
produces spontaneous spas-ms and convulsions, while
caffein* does not; (3), Theine imparts the nasal reflex
early in the poisoning process, while caffeine does not,
if at all, until the very last stage; (4), The lethal
dose of theine is larger than that of caffeine. Enough
evidence has now been adduced to show that theine
and caffeine, while they have properties in common,
also differ so widely in others that their separate
manufacture becomes imperative in order that they may
be more fully investigated both physiologically and
clinically ; and it further teaches that a knowledge
of the chemical constitution of a substance is a very
feeble and misleading guide to its physiological action
— Jmirican Grocer.

COFFEE PEEPABATION : DRYING AND CT^R

IN INDIA AND CEYLON.
(To the Editor |of the " Tropical Agriculturist.")

Mysore, Dec. 22nd, 1886.t

Deak Sir,^ — Last year there was considerable at-
tention paid bj' planters to the alleged deterioration -
of coffee sample. All sorts of theories were proraul
gated and a good deal of light was shed on the
question. My own idea from experience in Ceylon
and India is, that if the Ceylon method of rapid
drying and despatch were adopted and closer atten-
tion paid by the Coast curers, the trouble would
cease. Open sheds close to the barbacue, and a
liberal supply of coir-matting will asist {greatly to
improve the sample. From what I have been able
to learn, the Indian men dry their coffee very slowl^'.
The coffee is kept in the sun for 10 or 15 days when
by spreading more thinly and using coir-matting five
days are ample. I have already this season proved
this. When I first came here, I was puzzled at the
univtrsal system of raised platforms. I was told
that you must do so here as coffee would not dry
otherwise. I have proved that it dries on coir-matting
in less than half the time required for the raisfd
platforms. Men also speak of the cold wind interfer.
ing with proper fermentation, a.«: an excuse for badly
washed coffee. Old planters have told me that it is
no cold at night, that the cofTee mucilage will not
come off in the orthodo.x time (o(5 hours). I have
proved that that is all fudge. The coffee washes beauti-
fully when the coolies are made to tramp it thoroughly.
All sorts of theories are put forward. They say
that too ripe coffee makes it foxy ; under-ripe coffee
makes the colour pale, kc, kc. Evenly picked coffee
quickly dried on coit-matting after being well washed
and promptly despatched, ought to turn out a good
fample if the curers do their duty.

I cannot he!p thinking that many practices in
Togue in Ceylon have been adopted in India without
du'y coi:sidering whether these plans are absolutely
necpssnry under different conditions. My idea is that.
putpin'j, and ii-axhhig coffee was found useful in rainy
weather UpCountrJf in Ceylon because of the absence
6tj sufficient sunshine. In doubtful weather, parchment
is more ensily dealt with than cherry, liut in the
normal dry seasoh here, why should not planters dry
tljeJr cherry on coir jmats :' Then again mills Tv^re

erected and worked in Colombo because upcountry
fl) there was not f^.^t gnimd available for largo
barbecues, (2) there was not a sufficiency of cheap
labour, (3) there was no certainty of sunny weather,*
and (4) Colombo w^as the seat of eftate financial
arrangement and control through the agency firms. But
tere, curing works could i-urely be worked if Ihey
are worked ni Bangalore. Planters (especially pro-
prietors) would like to see what is going on at the
mills; but on the Coast everything is done in deep
mystery. With cloudless weather, flat country and
cheap labour, there is no reason why curing works
should not be started nearer the planting districts
especially, as we expect a railway soon. If we could
dry our cherry on mats and send our coffee to the
mills near by, to be peeled and despntched, I feel
sure much expense would be saved, and curers would
not be left in undisturbed quietness and profit-making.
The west coast surely is more humid than towards
the east. I myself cannot see the gain in sending
the coffee so far out of our sight. Were the curing
works brought nearer to us, then a local market would
arise and brokers would be attracted ; and these again
would attract capitalists to invest in coffee property.
Dried green coffee or strippings are universally
pouiidtcl ( n the estate as pounding is so cheap. But
how injurious is this pounding ! A large percentage
is broken by this crude and cruel method.

There is an idea here that, if you spread the parchment
thinly the parchment cover will break. Fudge again.
Surely it is injurious to allow the coffee to blister
in the sun in very thick layers, for say, 14 days;
whereas by a cjuicker method you have your heaps
sweet and cool (if properly turned and in open
ventilated sheds) with only five days' exposure to
sun.

Heaping coffee in the sun or in close rooms with-
out windows is very apt to taint the coffee.

If we could be sure that these curers gave their
strict attention to the care of the coffee entrusted
to their charge (for which they exact heavy costs)
then things would be more satisfactory. But how
much of this work is left to subordinates? There
is no sample sent down by post as in Ceylon ; and
men use new bags tnrucd inside out to keep the bag
clean for home despatch and send the coffee off
with the ."eiriiiij^ outside. Then each bag is carefully
sealed! What is the good of locking the door of
a room with the window left open ? Surely it
would pay to keep a stock of bags for country use,
and send the coffee home in bran new bags. Still
better would it be if casks (as in Ceylon) char^i d
in the inside were always used.

A Ceylon planter when visiting his neigti' our
during crop looked at the sample of parchme>.t and
commented thereon. Here youngsters of a few years'
experience discant learnedly on the proper weij-ht to
dry down to. They rub up a handful of parchment
and examine the colour with a knowing look when
really a planter who has proper appliances should
not look inside at all, but be satisfied with colour of
his parchment. Some day I must visit the curing
w orks at the Coast, and I will send you the result
of "a chiel's" notes.

ABERDONENSIS,

THE COFFEE INDUSTRY,

We have all heard the old saying about giving a
dog a bad name, and the consequences that would
be likely to ensue. The name may be given without
any reason, and the application is very general. For
instance, several industries in India have had a bad
name given tn them, and people are told to keep
clear of fhem. The industries may be sound, and
such as would pay, and pay Well, in any other
country ; but here we are told they are unprofitable.
The fault in most cases lies in the way they are

*' The 1 liiicij) il re i.'Oii : dr.\inf;' and packing roirplet®
were tried in Di m'); fa and Hantane, lut even ther*
was not conei ieied » i epouomical success. — Ed,

Jan. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

503

taken in hand, and not in the undertakings themselves
The latter may be everything that may be desired ;
the former may be all wrong- We have been told,
over and over again, that gold mining iu India will
not pay; that there is gold, but that the cost of
working will mote than eat up the money obtained
from the sale of the precious me'^al, and that only
milhouaires who can afford to lose money should
engage in the industry. Those who express this
view" of the case think only of the reckless manner
that companies went to work some years ago. Fine
houses were built for the Superintendents, co.^tly
machinery was brought out, and everything was con-
ducted on a most extravagant scale. The result might
have been seen from the beginning— the ruin of
many of the shareholders, and the collapse of the
whole undertaking. If gold could be dug up in the
same way as potatoes, it might be made to cost more
than it could be sold for. Hut, when economically
worked, there is no reason why the gold industry
ehould not pay. The shareholders have learnt a lesson
from previous failures, and they are doing now what
they ought to have done before— working the mines in a
sensible manner. Gold ha-, not yet had a fair trial
in this country, and it cannot be declared a failure
till it has. In the next place, we have the coffee
industry, and we are often told that it has gone to the
dogs, wherever the abode of those animals may be.
We are, however, of a different opinion, and believe
that the industry, if properly taken in hand, will pay
and pay well. The price of the berry is going up.
and, in a short time, it may touch a hundred rupees.
We will not undertake to say that the large fortunes;
that were made in former years can be matle now
but we hold — and with reason— that a fair amount
can be obtained from the cultivation of the coffee-
plant. If we ask the reason why so many have failed
who went into the industry, we shall be told that
leaf-disease, the borer, low prices, &c., have been the
cause of the mischief, and we are willing to make
all allowance for them. But we must not stop here.
There are other causes, and we will give them. In
the first place, men often engage in the industry who
cannot tell a coffee tree from a rose bush, they and
their friends are of opinion that no special knowledge
is required ; that a nnn has only to take up a piece
of land, plant the trees, and enjoy fhe proceeds of
the undertaking. Sir M. E.Grant Duff in his '' Review
Minute " gives an instance of the way young men
'•go into" coffee, and we have heard of many cases
like it. It is hardly the correct thing to lay the
blame on coffee when the fault lies in altogether
another direction. Then, again, men commence cotfee-
p]ant:inij without capital, or with very little, aitd the
intere^t on the capital eats up the whole profit.
Sooner or latter such men come to grief, and the
blame is luid on the industry — very erroneouslj', it
must be said. Capital is required iu this industrj' as
well as in others ; it is also ref|uired that it should
be judiciously employed, atid if these two necessary con-
ditions are neglected, it is unreasonable to expect that
coffee-pl nting should pay. No other industry wiiuld
pay under the circumstaices, and yet people wonder
that planters — or rather so-called planters — fail. P.ut we
have not yet come to the end of the list of the evils
th*t are adverse to coffee. Some of the planters are
absentees. As soon «s they have raised a good crop
they take a trip to England, and there spend the money
that they ought to have laid out on their estates.
They have to leave their estates in the charge of
others, and when they return they find them much
in the same state as Solomon described the garden
of the sluggard — the weeds higher than the trees, and
the whole having a most dilapidated, out-at-elbow
appearance. It is well known by all engaged in coffee
that an estate re(juires the most attention the year
after a good crop has bi en raised, and the neglect
of this has been the ruin of many a planter. Then,
again, the owners of estates -or some of them —
too often leaves them in charge of overseers, while
they enjoy themselves at the nearest large station.
We have heard it said that the Ootacamund Club
alls had more to do with getting coffee in the Nil-

.- L.

giris a bad name than the leaf-disease ; and though
there is exaggeration in this, it is not without truth.
The estates are left during the absence of the owners
in the charge of those who, too often, neglect them.
When the master is away enjoying himself, the ser-
vant see, no reason why he should not follow suit,
and this he does to the detriment of the property.
Till these mistakes have been remedied, it is wrong
to talk so much about the failure of coffee. The
old planters lived in a very different style from
their successors, and they succeeded and did not
complain- Their houses were not the palatial edifices
that are to be found here, and there in the planting
districts, neither did they think it their duty to be
always running home. They lived in the plainest
style ; dressed in the homeliest manner, and the
consequence was— they made money. If the planters
of the present day were to follow their example
their rupees would be more and their complaints less.—
Jfadnis Standard.

Aloe Fibre Kope.— We have been shown a sample
of rope made by hand from the fibre of the ordi-
nary aloe. The rope appeari to be very strong and
close, much more close than rope made from the
fibre of the New Zealand flax. If rope of equal quality
to that shown us can be turned out in any quantity,
there should be another enterprise open to those who
wish to see colonial produce utilisod.— iVa/r/^ Witnen.
Ringing Fruit Trees.— The eft'ect of ringing fruit
trees is a question of the flow and return of the sap.
If the branch i.s ringed below the fruit spur, the re-
sult will be that the fruit will attain extraordinary
size, and that the ripening will be accelerated. Some
of the peach growers at Montreuil, near Paris, have
practised ringing for some years; but they do not
publish their secrets.— T. Francis Rivers (Sawbridg-
worth). — Field.

Coconut Oil.— Veyangoda, 7fch January, 1887.— My
idea always was that the chief cause of the dis-
parity in price between Ceylon and Cochin Oil was
in the colour. I remember reading years ago in the
pages of the Ohscrvei; that some one interested in
Oil did enquire per.sonally as to the low price his
Oil fetched, and was told that ii was owing to its
colour. All that could be done in the Colombo Milk
with the wretchedly discoloured Oopperah they press,
is to clarify it. The colour of the Oil they cannot
change. Tiie remedy is in the hands of the Mill-
owners. If they make a stand against purchasing
discoloured Copperah, or pay, as a discouragement to
careless manufacture, low prices for it, it will be to
the interest of the Natives to bestow more care in
drying their Coconuts. The Mill-owners might also
press clean and dirty Copperah separately and classify
their oil. If better prices were obtainable for clear
Copperah, Estate proprietors and lessees of largo
Estates will devise means to dry their Coconuts, even
in wet weather, without contact with tire and smoke'
As it is, they sell their crops to regular dealers, who,
even in the best weather, resort to fires under lathed
platforms to dry the nuts, owing to a belief they
have that smoke and fire-dried Copperah is hearier
than that dried in the sun, and because the more
tardy and expensive process of sun-drying does not
give them appreciably better price.?. If such a de-
licate article as Tea is dried by heated air from a
furnace, it will not require much inventive skill in
Coconut planters, to devise a sheet iron room with
a furnace underneath to dry their nuts ; but, as I
said before, there is no inducement for it. It pays
better to sell our nuts on the spot. There is a great
deal in your surmise that the Oil from immature
nuts may account for paucity of stearine. It is notori-
ous that small landholders do not wait till their nuts
are mature to pick them. One reason is that if they
do, thieves will be before them. I wocder whether,
if Sir Arthur (Tordon receives as many petitions from
owners of (.'oconut land as he said he received from
owners of Arecanut plantations, to protect their pro-
duce, he will next year insert Coconuts amongst the
otlier product.s, in the clause, to possess which is fkH
offence !— Local " Examiner."

5H

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Jan. I, 1887,

MARKET RATES FOR OLD AND N rC VS/ PRODUGF^.

(From Lewix iD Peat's London Price (Uirrent, l)c ember lijt/i, 18S6.)

"{■BOM MALABAK

COAST, COCHIN,

CEYLON, MADRAS, &o.

QUALITY.

IQUOTATIONS,

I

FROil BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAK.

QUALITY

jQUOTTIAONS.

per I f Slightly softish to good,

\\ liard bright ...-£6 a £( 5s

Y'ellow ... Do. drossy & dark ditto. ..li-l 10s a £6

CINCH ONABAKK—Crowu.Kenewed lis a 3s

BEES' WAX, White,
cwt.

per lb.

Red

'Medium to fine Quill
Spoke shavings ...

Branch

Renew-d

'ls4da 2s 6d
itiii a Is 2,1
■2d a till
'3d a is 6d

CARDAMOMS Malabar
per lb.

' eppef
Tellieherry

Medium to good Quill ...|Gda2st;d

Spoke shavings I'iii a 7'-

Branch j2d a 4d

Twig W

^...„...™. Clipped, bold, bright, fiuelas a 3s M
and Ceylon Middling, stalky & lean ■^d a Is lid
Alepper Fair to line phira'pclipped; Is 3d a 2s .3d
Good to tine ...| 1-^ O'l '^ '^^ 2d

Brownish ...|6d a Is .Sd

Mangalore tiood & fine, washed, bgt.J^s 4d a 3s 4d
Long Ceylon Middling to good...
CINNAMON, per Ih. Ists Ord. to fine pale quill
2nds ,, ,, ,, >>

3rds >>

4thb Woody and hard ...
...;Fair to fine plant...
ewt... Bold to giiod bold
Medium

Triage to ordinary
COFFEKCeylon Plantation Bold to fine bold eolory... 88s a luOs

Middling to fine mid. ...M?* ^ 863
Low mid. and Low grjwn'^ns a 78s

Smalls

Good ordinary ...
Small to bold' ...
Bold to fine bold...
Medium to fine ...

Small

Natire [per ton Good to fine ordinary ..
COIRROPE,Ceylon&Cochin.Mid.coarsetofinestraight!i-'5 a ^17
FIBRE, Brush, per ton Ord. to fine long straight j-fil*-' ^^'^

Stuffing ...Coarse to fine i£8 a £17

YARN, Ceylon, per ton Ordinary to superior ... £12 a £30

Cochin ...Ordinary to fine i£lla£32

Do [cwt Roping fair to s;ood ...l^l* a £15
COLOMBO ROOT, iifted %> Middling worniv to fiue...ilOsa 28s
CROTON SEEDS, sifted ... Fair to fine freJh 23s a 3.38

Chips
COCOA, C»y]on, per

per cwt.

,, Native
Liberian

East Indian

;d a Is 4d

;'riaa i.ssi

|7d a Is 5,1
' oid a Is Id
'SJd a lid
,,4d a 7d
i.is 6d a 82s
;os a 7ts
iOOs a Bos

i66s a 753
J9.5s a 72s

•"iSs a 628 6d
■ 1 903 a UOs
■'73s a 88«
'|68s a 70s

65sa72»

GINGER, Cochin, Cut
per cTvt. ,,

Rough

GUM ARABIC, Madras.'!
KUX VOMICA, per cwt. ..

si-d a 8Jd

'lOd a 2s 6d
,j9s a 14s
73 a 10s

t>I.,<>VI':s. Zaa^.i b»r 1

»n.i P«iij',a, per lb. f

>. St"ms...

COCULUS INDICUS
G.-VLLS, Bussorah (blue

& Turkey i't>'c\vt.

Good and fine bright
Con;mon dull (o p lir

„ fresli
Fair

Fair to fine dark blue ...
PIT\r .vr^rr^x-r .r.rT,';'-'^*-'*^°"^ "*»'*'• ""'' green...

\ vl , -y^-^ V^S"^ -y '"■'■ "'"'■'<>■ t" '""^ ^■I'-a.. ...

A.M.MI, washed, «lcat.^l',ck.d fine pule iu sorts,

i inirt yellow and mixed

|Be;.n & Pea si/c ditto

lamber and dark bold

scraped... Medium & bold sorts

AR.4.BIC. E.I. & Aden .. Sjrts

pere\vt. (ihatti ...Fair to'iine p.le'

Amr.Kl fhaGood aud fine pale

Reildisli clean

ASSAFCKTIDA, per Clean fair to fine

,. ;'"',V . I'Slightly stony and fou

KINO, per cwt. fa. r to line bright

M\ RKH, [.icKed ,, |Fa:r to fine pafe

A^^'\\ sortsMiddUng to good

OLIBAXUM, irop Fair to tine white

per cwt. „ I Reddish to middling

packings... .Middling togoud i)ale

siftings ...Slightly I'oultotine

INDIARUBBER Moz-ambi'^ue, i led hard

per lb. Ball & sausjage ] white softigli

unripe root

liver

jllida ]2}d
,1' " Hid
2|d a .-jd
J12v lid

59s a t;.5s

'48s a 51s 6d
15s a 34s
£1310, a£1410/
£10 a £12 10s
:£4 10s a £7
£ 7 ICs
£5 a £8
6.5s a £5 12s 6d
38s a 8.=>s
80s a £()
31.S a 68s
35s a 40a
25.S a 308
33s a 40s
£6 a £7 lOs
70s a H7s 6d
45s a 553
32s a 44s
Ss tjd a lis
Us a 13s 6d
2s 2d a 2s 4d
Is ltd a 23
lOd a l.s Id
Is 8^d a 2i

FROM CALCUTTA AND
CAPE OF Gi)OD HOPE.

I

Good to fine bold i'>'J3 a 90s

!Small and medium ... 38s a GOs

iFair to good bold •"'Os a 5.=)S

'Small |22s 6d a 29« 6d

.Dark to good pile ...i^"s a 70s

jFair to fine bold fresh ...iTs a Hi
iSmall ordinaryand fair...[''s a 6s
MYRABOLANES.pale.periGood to fine picked ...\y a S-s 6d
cwt. ICommou to middling ....SsaosSd

(Fair Coast ns 9d a 63 3d

PickingslBurnt and defective ...l^s od a 43
OIL, CINNAMON, per oz... Good to fine heavy ...lis a 3s
CITRONELLE ,. iBright & good flavour ...'t ' a Id

LEMON GRASS „ „ „ 'fdalid

ORCHELLA WEED [I?" lb. 'Mid. to fine, not woody.. iOs a oSs
PEPPER,Malabarblk.sifted|Fair to bold heavy
Alleppee & Cochin „ \ ,, good ,,
Tellieherry, White ...' ,, ,, ,,
PLUMBAGO, Lump, ijl cwt. Fair to fine briglit bold
jMiddling to good small
Chips ...jSlight foul to fine bright 1^3 a lis

Dust ...Ordinary to fine bright ...1*8 a 10s '

REDWOOD, per ton.]Fair and fine bold ...'£5

SAP AN WOOD ,, iMiddling coated to good £0 a £7

SANDAL WOOD, logs „ IFair to good flavor ... £20 a £44

Do. chips ...jinferior to fine £0 10s a £10

SENNA, Tinuevelli, per Ib.jGood to fine bold green... Sd a Is
,Fair middling medium... Sd a 7d
[Common dark and small 2fd a 4id
TURMERIC, Madras,* cwtlFinger fair to fine bold Us a 12s

Do. ...'Mixed middling [bright lOs a 10- «d

Do. ...! Bulbs whole SsaQsfid

Cochin ..., Do split tts 3l1 a 7s .Jd

VANILLOES, Mauritius &,
p»r lb. Bourbon, Ists 'Fine crystalised 6 a 9inch 17s a 28s
2nds Foxy & reddish 5 a 8 ,, IDs a 16s
3rds ' / I-ean & dry to middling

I \ under 6 inches ... 7s a 128
4th Low, foxy, inferior and

[pickings Is a 8

CASTOR OIL, Ists per oz (Nearly waf.r wliite

2"'J3 Fair and good pale

3rds ,, ...Brown and brownish

INDIARUBBER Assam, per Good to fine .'.'.

'^- ^ Common foul anil mixed

Rangoon ...|Fair to good clean

iladagascar Good to fine pinky &whi"te
Fair to gpoil black
... Good to tine pinky

Middling to fair ...

rnferiorund jjickings ...
• • Mid. to fineft/nciuot stony
Stony and infi^rior

SAFFLOWER

TAM.A.RINDS

3i a 4 id
l2^d a 3d
2Jd a 2id
2s a 23 7d
8da Is lod
Is 6d a 2s 6d
2s 3d a 2s b^d
Is sd a 2s Id
£4 10s a £5 lOi
£3 5s a £4 2s 6d
£1 a £1 lOs
10s a 143
3s a G^

FROM
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

ALOES, Cape, per cwl. ..

Natal '.'.

ARROWKO'J 1" Natal per 11,

■ Fairilry to fine briglit ... 'i.'ts a 2i*<
Common & middling softH.s a 'i'i
Fair to tine ... 25s aS'.is

Middling to fine ... 3.1 a 4.U

FROM' ■'
TIIEL

■^ \. .lAI'AX &
■ ISl-ANDS.

white

pi

ite , 1
inkl/

ais R G»>rid

CAMPHuK, Ciiina. V cwt. Good, pure, & dry
Japan

GAMBTEK, Cu'jes, cwt. ..Ordinary to 'tine free" ... 323 a .3.3s
„, , ,, Pressed ... 293 a 30s

Block (.".Ib.Good ... 20s a 20s Gd

GUTTA PJ-.KCHA, genuine Fiue clean Banj & Macas- 2s 4d a3s .3d
Sumatra.. .'Barky to fair [.sar GJ a 2s3d

White Borneo

NUTMEGS, large, per 11

.Medium
Small
MACE, per lb.

Rel)oiled... Common to fine clean

RHUBARB, Sun drici,
lb.

High dried .

Gi;od to fine clean

Interior and barkv

fifs a 80's, garbled
• •• iS3's a 9.5 's
■ • IbO'sa IGO's
... Pale reddLsh to pale

'b-din.ary to red

Chips
per Good to fine sound

Darkordinary& middling 8d a Is Id

Good to fine ...Is a Is 3 I

Dark, rough & middling [MX a 9d

Ida ls4d
. Uda Is .3d
. Ida 8d
. 2s ,^,d a 3s 6d
.2s Id a 2s4d
.;Is4d a 2s
.lis Od a 2s lOd
.!ls 4da Is 6.1
• I Is 2d a Is 3d

Is 6cl a :is

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

ALOES, Soccotrine and Good and fine dry
per cwt. Hepatic.'Common and good

HtLLtES. Zauiibur ...iGood to fine bright

per cwt. Ordinary and middling.,

, £6 lOs a £8 slO
, £4 a £7 lus
, .30s a 31s
2')3 a 39s

SAGO, Pearl, large, ^ cwf. Fair to fine
medium ... ,, ,, ,,
small ... ,. „ „

Flour [per lb. Good pinky to white

TAPIOCA, Penang flake Fair to fine
Singapore ... ,, ,,

Flour ... ,,

Pearl ... UuUef.s, per cwt.

Vledium ,,
S««d , ,

6d

...1123 (id a \\%

• Us ijd a 12» 6d
.'I0sal2
.!8sa 9s
.|l'da2bl

.[l.M.alta

• 20s a 21(1
. lSn9£

.'18s W al9sCd

Tzb: 1, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGKiCULTURlil'.

SOS

■B!

NEW PEODUCTS IN OLD CEYLON DISTRICTS:
Cacao— Coffee— Ckoton-Oil— Tobacco.
" Better late than never," and now that the
accumulation of arrears created by holiday-making
in a busy office is in a fair way to be cleared
off we may give the continuation of our story of
a very brief visit to some of the old Kandy dis-
tricts and what we saw of new products. The
Pangwella or Watagama district is a comparatively
modern planting division, the nucleus of cultiv-
ation being in olden days part of the Hunasgiriya
district. Mr. Holloway may fairly claim credit
as the pioneer of a group of new plantations and
of new products in this direction, and, though
like all other experiments here and in other parts
of the country, there have been ups and downs, still
enough remains with a substantial show of pros-
perity, to warrant a good degree of pioneering
pride. We have but a look at some of the plantations
in passing, seeing a little more however of
" Maria,'' and there the appearance and the crop
on the cacao fields amply justify congratulations
to Mr. Eowland Boustead. Cacao everywhere in
the district is doing well this season, and we
are sanguine that proprietors of "cacao
walks " or gardens in sheltered situations and on
good average soil, and where the trees are from
seven years old and upwards, have now got over their
difficulties and may henceforth feel that they have
plantation property as free from risk almost as
coconuts. In Dutch Guiana an old cacao planter has
written that no cultivation has been more trouble-
some, variable or uncertain than cacao up to the
tenth year ; but, after that, there need be nothing
to do but to gather the crops, and provide such
cultivation as can be afforded, for a hundred
years ! Lucky proprietors of cacao walks in
Guiana, and, we beUeve we may add, in " Ceylon."

But before leaving Tangwella district, we may
refer to one or two other articles of experimental
eultivation, such as rubber, with which much has
not yet been done ; and the croton-oil seed plant
regarding which there was the extraordinary de-
velopment of caterpillars by millions some months
ago— these leaving every tree leafless. This enemy
has now again completely disappeared and the
trees are green and flourishing as ever; but in
answer to our enquiry as to information respect-
ing the cultivation of the shrub, a Haputale planter
who, we imagine, was the first to give this " new
product " a start, writes discouragingly as follows :—

lu reply to yours re croton-oil-seed, what good oau it
possibly do my trying to give instructions in the
cultivation of a product already almost overdone?
The market is already showing signs of being over-
stocked and unless other uses are found for the oil,
the sooner we begin to root out our croton trees the
better. What do you tliiuk of this for a fall in price
of the product';' In October 1884 9 cwt. sold for
82e per cwt. in Loudon. In October last 21 cwt. 2 lb.
Bold at 33s per cwt., and if you deduct fiay_ 23 per
cent tor discount and charges Colombo to JLoudon,
say 25s 2d per cwt. nett. Ceylon has evidently quite
enough acreage under crotons. In September 1883 my

first despatch was:—

lb. cwt. qr. lb.

601 equal to 5 1 13
iJarinff 18S4 despatched 1,971 „ 17 2 11
„ 1885 „ 10,616 „ 94 3 4

„ 18s6 to date 15,630 „ 139 2 6

Pangwella planters will not, therefore, make their
fortunes from croton-oil seed trees ; but with
limited cultivation there may be times still when ;
a crop of seed will find a very remunerative
mftrket. i

6i

But this is a small matter by the way, compared
with the Cacao industry. It was in the Dumbara
Valley and on the farfamed, extensive Pallekelle
plantation that we had the opportunity of leisurely
inspecting a large area under cacao. The Dum-
bara Valley with its rich soil and easy lay of
land was naturally one of the first scenes of European
planting in Ceylon. Indeed, long before the
British annexed Kandyan territory, Dumbara was
celebrated for its royal domains and gardens sur-
rounding royal palaces. The lowest point of the
Valley is 1,200 feet above sea-level, and cultivation
runs up to 2,000 feet. The soil, alluvial mould largely
impregnated with lime has always been regarded
as amongst the richest in Ceylon and but for pro-
longed droughts would be among the most pro-
ductive. This was, and is, true of coffee cultiva-
tion ; but fortunately cacao, with its deep feeding
roots and more robust habits (at least after at-
taining full growth) is much better fitted to stand
drought than coffee ; and there can be little doubt that
Dui'bara has now found the plantation product
best suited to its c'imate, soil, lay of land and
general conditions. Very curious have been the
different experiences of shade and no-shade cul-
tivation in Dumbara. At first all the coffee was
planted under shade, or rather large trees such as
" kekuna " and " jak " were cultivated to afford
shade ; but at the instance of the then youthful
Mr. E. B. Tytier, fresh from the West In-
dies, at the beginning of the "Forties" all the
big trees were rung and taken down and the west
Indian system of open clearings was universally
adopted. In the case of Cacao, the West Indian
system is that of shade, not so much for pro-
tection from the sun as from wind and Mr. Tytier
rightly began after the example he had seen in
^ after a time several Dumbara and

thought they woul d do better with-
the case of cacao as in that of coffee.
They very soon found their mistake, not only through
the effects of exposure to wind, but through continu-
ous attacks of Ilclopeltis. Very marked has been
the change since the renewal and growth of shade
trees in removing the bad effects of such enemies ;
and now Dumbara presents a scene of thoroughly
healthy vigorous cultivatioh. Mr. Vollar has a
good deal of coffee still intermixed with his cacao
on Pallakelly. and it is found that in such fields
the cacao prospers more than under the shade of
large trees. But there are all varieties of cultiv-
ation, as well as many experiments in preparation,
still being tried in Dumbara, where barbacue and
store room are not only in full request for large
crops of the dark red or brown pods, but also
for thousands of bushels of our old staple coffee.
For, Mr. Vollar has extensive clearings of younj^
coffee (and cacao) of the most refreshingly vigor-
ous appearance. Planted from Nakanaad (Myaore)
seed— said to be fungus proof, although that was
not the experience in some others of our districts
—in Dumbara so far, there has been no trouble
with enemies whether fungus or bug-insect, and the
season having been an exceptionally favourable
one for blossoms and fruiting, a handsome coffee
crop was expected to be gathered — the fields in
blossom being " a cure for sore eyes." Of cacao
too the gathering was expected to_ equal _6 cwt.
per acre over a large area. Cultivation is still
kept up on a handsome scale on Pallekelly and
well it may in view of the crops now being
harvested. fSlall-fed cattle for manure are keptin
large numbers, and what with the work of provid-
ing a supply of water from a large artificial tank ancl
a host of minor aqueducts, o£ supplying fuel in

Trinidad ; but
other planters
out shade in

5oG

fm f RoMCAL Amicijtfmtif. [Feb. i, m^

another direction for a steam engine, of cultiv-
ation, crop gathering and preparing, this fine old
Dumbara plantation -we were glad to find, affords
profitable employment to a far larger number of
hands — both Tamils and Sinhalese — than we had
at all anticipated. Blackman's Air Propeller — an
American fruit evaporating machine — Mr. Vollar
has found very useful in drying his cocoa.
Squirrels at one time so damaging to cacao pods in
Dumbara have now nearly disappeared. Rats do
a little injury and wild pigs occasionally are
troublesome; but on th» whole with the absence
of the dread hclopeltis, the cacao planter has no
enemy worth mentioning.

Nothing can be more pleasant and refreshing
than an early morning walk, ride or drive on a
Dumbara plantation. Pallakelly is so well roaded
and has such variety of cultivation that a new
and delightful sense of the reality of a good
basis for planting prosperity in modern Ceylon,
is speedily borne in upon the interested inspector.
Pallekelly ought to be called the "Philadelphia"
of Ceylon; for, the plan which William Penn
adopted in laying out his Quaker City across the
Atlantic of giving the names of trees to his
streets — pine, maple, elm, spruce and so on — has
been adopted with cheering effect on modern
Pallekelly. In this way,we have the Satinwood avenue,
this estate road being bordered with a row of
flourishing satinwood trees ; we have the Sapu-
wood tree avenue ; and the Halmillille, Grevillea
and Inga 8aman avenues or roads, and no better
distinguishing, interesting and let us trust profit-
able feature could be desired.

Of minor, but still very interesting cultivation,
we have on Pallekelly, the most careful piece of
Vanilla training we have yet seen in Ceylon and
the crops of pods averaging £100 a year in value
ought to be remunerative for what is" really a bit
of Garden culture. With Eubber not much has
yet been done, but the wonderful growth of the Ceara
trees (apart from their usefulness for shade) — some of
them a few years old being 30 feet high, 4^
in circumference — with ready gatherings of more
than ^ lb. of rubber per tree experimented on,
afford encouragement to look for profit when system-
atic tapping can be effected. In a slack year
with cocoa and coffee crops, attention could
well be given to tapping the rubber with
surplus labour. Again, 50 acres of compara-
tively waste ground put under Sapan ought, some
years hence, in their supply of dyewood, to go far
to make up for short crops when such may be
experienced.

More interesting was it to learn of a systematic ex-
periment in the culture of tobacco in the neighbour-
hood of Pallekelle. Dumbara has long been famous
for its tobacco ; but hitherto the culture of the
plant has, we believe, been confined to natives.
In this case, a piece of virgin forest land,
f'O acres in extent, was cleared, prepared and
planted with the greatest care, and the result in
a crop of 20 tons of very fine silky leaf, valued
at 'is i5d per lb. is regarded as very satisfactory
— the more so as it is felt that the proper time
to plant was not chosen. But tobacco is too ex-
hausting a crop to be profitably cultivated con-
tinuously, even in Dumbara.

In conclusion we can only mention in one word the
charming and almost unequalled mountain, wood-
laud and river scenery enjoyed by the visitor
to Dumbara. I'rom an elevation of 1,600 feet
(about the level of Kandy) at the Pallekelly bun-
galow— the same but much improved on good old
" R. B. T.'s" almost historical residence — one of
the finest panoramic viewa in Ceylon is obtain-
Mh «xt«&cliD5ir9n Y»kde$s»g«la abpys Kuruacgala,

past the bold EttapoHa and Asgeriya summits,
with Hunasgiriyakande and the Knuckles round by
Rangalla and the Medamahanuwara Gap to the far
south-east of Madulsima, if not of Badulla's
Namunukulakanda itself. How the panorama is
filled in with hill, dale, river, glistening paddy-
field and wide-extending jungle, or shade-covered
plantations, with all the wonderful effects of light
and shade visible in an upland tropical valley, no
words of ours could do justice in describing; and
our object in this imperfect notice of a brief visit has
not been to write about the scenery, but rather
to show how New Products in Old Districts are
laying a new and substantial foundation for an
approaching and, let us trust, comparatively per-
manent era of Planting Prosperity in Ceylon.

NOTES FROM UVA:— COFFEE PLANTING.

Haputale, 5th January 1887.— After wishing
yourselves and the "Old Rag" long life and
prosperity, with the New Year and many happy
returns of the season, I must apologise for my long
silence and explain that I was engaged on a small
job of planting a clearing icith cofec near a village
in the centre of the plains of Uva midway between
this and Wilson's Bimgalow, and not as from my
having lost the nib of my pen, as a friend surmised,
or because you sat upon me for my report of the
Ganiarala's murdering his wife in June last,
which case I shall allude to further on under the head
of crime in Uva and British justice as administered
in our petty Courts by sucking Magistrates. You will
see by the above that there are still believers in
the old product "King coffee," and while some are
planting tea and cinchona, as well as coffee, there
are not a few of us who believe in the revival of
the coffee enterprise in Uva, and some are turning
their attention to a better system ef cultivation, of
doing more justice to the coffee shrub by pruning,
handling and manuring, which necessary works for
some years back have been much neglected, owing to
the sad visitation of leaf-disease, financial difficulties,
grub, bug and other pests, such as Medical Inspector's
Registers, &c., but now with better prices for the
fragrant bean ruling in the markets of the world, sud-
denly, believers in the permanence and paying returns
of coffee cultivation, especially in Ut^a, are turningup,
while others are deploring that they dug up and
destroyed good young coffee fields to make room for
tea, cinchona, &c. Others are actually opening their
eyes to see that leaf -disease is not nearly so bad as
it used to be, and that it does less harm" to coffee
in Uva year by year ; in fact that leaf-disease is
wearing itself out, and " a consummation devoutly to
be wished ;" it will soon be a thing of the past, and
perhaps leave us for ever ; or like the potato-disease
and phyloxera on vines, rust on wheat, we will get
80 accustomed to it, and as "familiarity breeds con-
tempt " we will take little or no notice of leaf-disease
in the future and go on cultivating coffee "with n
heart for any fate still achieving, sHW pur.suing, learn
to labour and to wait," not at the same time put-
ting all our trust in the one product or like egers in
a basket making a head-long rush at T or D— T as
some wag wrote that some planters were afflicted with.
Green bug is another thing some young men of my
acquaintance have got on the brain, and fancy it
flying about with wings all over the estate up their
nostrils in (heir hair aud iu their boots ! I pity these
young men, but they will get cured of this 'mania
when they get older and are as familiar as I am with
bugs of all kinds, village bugs, black bug, white bug,
green bug, feted bug and jiggers of every variety.
Green bug is the new mania and " cholera morbus ;"
that is to suuff out all the remaining coffee buslies
in the Island according to some wiseacres, while few
persons take any measures to rid the coffee of this
Mst: they simply close their eyes and wait for the
Inevitable death aud extinction of the coffee tree;
tbe»e g9uts bowevtr dgu't »cll ao c>ld stager lik^

Feb. I, 1887,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

50/

myself so familiar with black bug in the " Forties and
Fifties," for hke Paddy I meet them with the query,
"Do you see any greea in my eye?"

INDIAN TEA COMPANIES AND THEIR

DIVIDENDS.
It is seldom that the financial papers have anything
to say about tea and tea compiuies, we, therefore, quote
the following from the Financial JVeirs on the subject ; —
" This has been an eventful year in the Indian tea
trade: it has witnessed the lowest prices ever recorded
in Mincing Lane, and has also known some of the very
highest. While some favoured companies may retain
and even improve on their average returns, the gener-
ality will fall behind. These different results are due to
the extremely variable qualities of the teas offered. Speci-
mens have been shown which were rarely equalled, but
the bulk of the lots were thin and poor. The coming
dividends of the Indian Tea Company will reflect the
fluctuations which have taken place in Mincing Lane.
.Some of them will be unexpectedly good, while others
are bound to be disappointing. Shareholders will await
with anxiety the announcements which now begin to
fall due and which will go on for five or six months to
come. Several interim declarations have already been
made. The Assam Company, which is understood
to have been very fortunate with its sales, announced
the other day a dividend of £1 per share, or at the
rate of ten per cent for the half-year. Interim re-
ports have also been issued to the shareholders of
the Jokai, the Panitola and the Jhanzie companies,
conveying the pleasant news that their usual ten per
eeut is to be maintained.

"These reports, in explaining the results of the
year so far as known, show that the loss in price
baa been largely compensated by advantages in other
directions. The Jokai crop has turned out 696,000 lb.,
an excess of 16,000 lb. over the manager's estimate.
About one-half has already been sold at an average
price of rather more than l-2|d per lb. The gain from
the increase of quantity is consequently over £800, and
through the fall in exchange, a considerable saving will
have been made in cost of production. It is a ques-
tion if the whole of the loss in price will not be re-
couped from this source. In the Jokai and other well-
managed gardens tea has been grown this season at a
very much lower cost than would have been thought
possible a few years ago. Not loag since a shilling per
lb. was considered the standard cost of tea delivered on
board steamer at Calcutta. The pioneer planters would
have been horrified at the thought of having to pay
their way no less, but this year a good many of them
will have run their gardens on not much over sixpence
per lb. Well for them that they have been able to
do so, for great quantities of Indian tea have been liter-
ally given away in Mincing Lane at 7d or 8d per lb.

" It is to be hoped that such another season will
not be seen again for a long while. In fact, it would
be difficult to conceive of such a convergence of ad-
verse circumstances happening again. The teas came
in very early, and in great quantities. They were
thrown precipitately on a dull and weak market. In
the first part of the season sales followed each other
so rapidly that brokers had hardly time to taste half
of the samples submitted to them. Many lots went
through a merely nominal show of bidding, and the
price received for them was no criterion whatever of
their value. Within the past week or two the situation
has in these respects greatly improved. The supply
of tea has been more moderate, and the sales better
regulated. At the same tim.e low prices have had
their natural effect on consumption. Last month the
deliveries of Indian tea for the first time in the history
of the trade exceeded those of China, and they are
still going on in greatly increased volume,

"China tea, which has always been inferior to
Indian in quality, had up to this year a great ad-
vantage over it in its lower price. It was always
taken for granted in Mincing Lane, that China tea
could be sold at 2d or 3d per lb. under Indian.
Hence it was the standard article for the cheap
grocers, who were able to put enormous quantities

of it into consumption. But this seasoa the re-
lation of the two teas has been entirely reversed,
India having been actually sold below China prices.
Two very important effects may be expected from
such a change. The importation of China tea will
probably suffer a check, while the use of Indian tea
in this country and in Europe generally will be ex-
tended. Low prices are therefore not without a re-
deeming feature ; they have done, aad are still doing,
much to expand the market for Indian teas ; they
have reduced comprttition with China to a level
where even Chinese cuteness cannot go much lower.
Altogether 1886 will be a memorable year in the
history of the tea trade. It ought to make a turn-
ing point in a long downhill course, and the next
year should see the tea market tending iu a different
direction."

JOKAI (ASSAM) TEA COMPANY, LIMITED.

The following interim report of the directors, for
season, 1886, has been issued: — Telegraphic advices
received, report that the season had closed with a
total crop of 696,0001b. of tea, against the manager's
estimate of 680,0001b. costing within the estimated
Indian expenditure of 11214,000, as given in detail iu
the last annual report. The above information is
subject to adjustment, eleven months being actuals
and one month, December, being estimated. Of the
season's crop, just over 300,0001b. have been sold in
Mincing Lane, averaging Is 0-60dper lb. gross. The
market for Indian teas has, during the greater portion
of the year, been depressed for all except the finest
grades, and the medium and common sorts are now
selling at much lower rates than have ever befora
been known. These very low prices will, beyond doubt,
lead to far greater consumption, and it is hoped
consequent recovery of values within a reasonable time.
The ascertained results of the season being ao far
satisfactory, the Board has resolved to pay the usual
interim dividend of 5 per cent on the paid up capital
of the Company, payable ou the 20th inst. — Home and
Colonial 3fa%t.

Thk Pboduction of the " Senegal " GUM ARABIC.
— The "Senegal" gum of commerce is found in the
territory of the tribes inhabiting several cases between
the Senegal and the Atlantic Ocean ; the largest
forest gum trees are those of Sabel-el-Tatack and El-
Hiebar ; the former produce the white gum, which is
most valued; the other the grey and red varieties.
The acacia trees which grow in the desert are inferior
to and have a more crooked appearance than those
growing near the river, where the soil is more favour-
able for vegetation. The acacia of the desert rarely
attains a height of more than 30 feet, and it has
the shrivelled appearance which is peculiar to vege-
tation in these regions, which are exposed to strong
winds. In Western Africa there are only two seasons,
the rainy and the dry one. The nearer to the
equator, the longer the duration of the rainy season.
In Senegambia it lasts two months and is preceded
and followed by a month of tempest. In November
the bark of the gum trees cracks in numerous
places and the gum exudes. About this time the
hot winds begin to blow and the burnt trees lose
their leaves, assuming the appearance they have
with us during the winter. The gum dries quickly,
outwardly it looks dull, but on breaking it is bril-
liant and shiny; it becomes very transparent if put
into the mouth for an instant. About a month is
required to make the tree produce its full crop. The
natives then prepare for the gathering in, and the
whole tribe, men, women, and children, some on
foot, others on horseback, proceed to the forests-
A camp is established for the duration of the crop,
and all set to work. The gum collected is pLiced
in sacks of tanned bullock hide, which are fastened by
twos to the backs of camels and bullocks. The work
is done slowly, there being no fear of rain ; when finished,
the whole tribe return, and proceed towards the banks
of the Senegal, which are at a great distance from
For\) Louis. The merchants come to Golam, a small

5<5S

tUE TROPICAL AGRICULTURrST.

[FfiB. I, 1887.

gtatiou situiite about 1,000 kilometres from St. Louis
on the Senegal, and there wait for the tribes and
their crop of gum, wliich is generally paid for in
printed calico, which the cnllectors resell in the in-
terior.— Chemist and Druguist.

Maiuawaxte Tea Gakih:n gave over the 1000
acres, 1,051) lb per acre from Jan. to Dec. 1886, we
learn from Mr. Rutherford. This ought tore-assure
sceptics in India about Ceylon tea continuing to
yield heavy returns.

"An iNEXHAUsriHLP; Mine of Wealtu." — Such is
the term which has oftentimes been applied to the
Pitch Lake of Trinidad ; and although in the past
the Government have made very little out of this
natural product, it may be hoped ia the future, now
that the " ring" has been broijen, that a very con-
siderable revenue will be derived by the issue of
licences " to dig." We learn from Trinidad that the
royalty has been fixed at 2s 6d per ton, which is the
sum named all through the legal proceedings. This
figure ought to prove remunerative to all concerned.
For the last four years tho« crude asphalte has been
valued at 1/ per ton, and the boiled {epv.rce) at ex-
actly double, and it is curious to note that while the
exports of the latter during the last three years have
slightly hicreased, the figures being 4,863^, 6,562, and
6,371 tons respectively for the years 1883-84-85, the
exports of the former have slightly decreased, being
31,277 tons for 1883, 33,383 tons for 1884, and 28,505
tons for 1885. Under the new regulation r however,
there is every reason to anticipate thaty' fvery much
larger trade will be done both in raw^^jjjg puree. West
Indian Colonists have cause to b^ ' ar*^'^"' ^'''^ small
mercies nowadays, and the opening ',,„ jf the Trinidad
Pitch Lake, which has hitherto/ ^jly been looked
upon simply as the island's chie'i natural curiosity is
certain ly a matter for general congratulation, — Colonies
and India.

Coconuts. — Maha Oya Valley. — After seven months
visited I this district and could see signs of improve-
ment in almost every estate that I have k' *'! and visit-
ed for the lust twenty years. I found the ^"Tii^jTpal road
from Negombo to Giriulla bridge at the latter end
almost choked up with lantana growing on both sides,
covering up the side drains and actually overtopping
the fences of the estates bordering the road. I was
surprized to learn that for the first time this year
a gang of coo lies have been busy clearing this road
in this district ; they are now busy about the 20th
mile-post. Robbery and pillage seem to be making
rapid advancement, a large brass bell and other
valuables belonging to a llomau Catholic church
having all been removed. Cattle stealing not so
rife, but illicit sale of arrack aud coconut stealing
Bteadily progressing. What has astonished me most is
to have witnessed the manner in which estates belong-
ing to native proprietors are now kept, as compired
with what was the practice say five years back. AVith-
out exception the estates are all in splendid order and
the valley is well worth a visit from taose who care
to see coconut planting well done. I send you herewith
the rainfall registered in one of the " crack " Maha
Oya Valley coconut estates, belonging to a wealthy
native gentleman. You can make any use of same. If
necessary, I could most likely procure the registered
quautitv for bst year as well. [Would C2rtainly be
interesting — Ed.]

Registere d rainfall in Mahaoya Valley for 1886 ending
10th December: —

January ... ... 3'41

February ... ... 2-53

March ... ... 1-26

April 8-95

May 10-78

June ... ... 15-1.5

July ... ... 4-o4

August ... ... 2-86

September ».. ... 3 55

October 12-53

November ... ... 10-90

December a-ic>) -71

Total

77-17

Andrew's Patent Metal Tea Chests.— The first
break packed in these chests is now bemg despatched
from Mariawatte estate. Tea planters will watch with
mterest the report from London brokers on these
packages. We understand there are two kinds being
sent: the full sized chests, of steel sheets lined with
paper inside to prevent rust coming in contact with
the tea; the half-chests are lead-coated steel
sheets and require no inner lining. Taking into con-
sideration that wooden boxes require lead linings,
hoop iron, solder, and nails, and that there is a saving
in freight of 15 per cent iu favor of the steel boxes,
we are not surprized to learn that the total cost of
the steel sheet is slightly under the wooden package.
Should they be approved by the trade aud be pre-
ferred to the wooden leaden package, the patentee
will h^ve a " good thing " on his hands. He had the
pleasure of seeing the packages being put together
at Mariawatte, and although the men were quite new
to the work, they were already fixing them up in an
expert manner under contract at 12 cents per chest.
The packages all tare exactly alike, and if they had
no other advantage but this, it would alone make them
more suitable than the uresent package. — Local"Times "

Cutting Rose Flowers.— Exhibitors of roses who
cut daily are said to have the most continuous dis-
play of blooms on their plants. This should be good
news for the inexperienced grower; there are many
who are afraid of weakening their plants by cutting
the flowers, but in practice this does not happen if
the blooms are taken singly. If with the first flower
that is cut several buds are also removed, the flower-
ing season will be short. My own experience is that
the more roses are cut, the better for those are left,
and this applies to all classes of roses, whether grown
under glass or in the open. I think cut roses for
room decoration never look better than when dis-
played in the Munsted glasses, or glasses of a similar
pattern. I like to have the glasses half filled with
water, and then a layer of green moss as a bed for
the flowers which, with sufiicient leaves, is capable
of making a very tasteful arrangement ; but in what-
ever way the flowers are arranged, there should be a
plentiful supply of their own foliage. Roses without
leaves never look well, however much taste may be
displayed in arranging them. Oheshunt Hybrid is
deficient in richness of colour, but its delightful
fragrance more than makes up for its lack of bright-
ness. Under glass, we have it here every ypar in the
middle of April very beautiful.— Taunton.— /('eZrf.

Testing Seeds.— When you want new seed Peas
put one from the stock into your mouth and bite it.
If it is very hard it is more than one year old. If the
teeth enter it with moderate ease it is new seed. New
Carrot seed always has a green shade on it. Old seed
loses this, and is of a dead pale brown, and less fragrant.
New Parsnip seed has a shade of green, which it loses
if more than one year old. Onion seed is more difticult to
prove than most other seeds, but if you take a single
seed at a time and carefully bite it you will find that
old seed has a tough dry skin, with a very white and
harsh keruel, while new seed has a more tender,
moist skin, and the kernel possesses a greater degree
of moisture, and is somewhat oily. The s.-ed may be
eut with a penknife instead of bitten. Onion seed
that has no vitality at all has no keruel, or one per-
fectly dry. Test this by pressing the seed on a piece
of white writipg-paper. If it leaves no moisture on
the paper it is of no use, and his been tampered
with, or has lost its vitality by age. New cabbage
and Broccoli seed possesses a pale green shade in the
kernel when pressed out or cut, and a tinge of green
in the brown skin also. But old seed loses this in
proportion to its age, becoming of a dull, dark brown.
Cabbage. Broccoli, Kales, &c., will retain their vitality
longer than any other seeds, and will grow well
when three years old, or even six years, if well kept.
Beet seed has a faint tinge of pale green if new,
but is a dull brown if old, and its vitality is very
doubtful if old. New Celery seed has a faint tinge
of green, and is very aromatic, but it loses the green
and becomes less fragrant if more than a year old,
and is doubtful.— J/;ier<ca/i llorticidturist.

Feb. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

50,

SOME OF THE DRUG EXHIBITS AT THE
COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION*

BY E. M. HOLMES, F. L. S.,

Curator of the Miiseum of the Pharmaccuticul Societt/.
la the first place the "quality of the prodwcts ex-
hibited indicated that the requiiriuents of the London
drug market are not well understood in the colonies.
I say advisedly the London drug market, because it
is generally acknowledged that London is the prin-
cipal market for drugs in the world. In the majority
of cases drugs had been evidently collected with the
least possible trouble and apparently in ignorance of
the fact that the price realised will depend in great
measure on the care bestowed in preparation for the
market. Thus the bitter orange peel exhibited in the
West Indian Court possessed neither the form nor
colour required in the drug trade. Cinnamon was
also shown from several colonies, which would not
compare in flavour or appearance with that from
Oeylon, with which it must compete if it is grown
for the drug or spice market. Beeswax affords
another instance in point. Although it is easily clari-
fied there was hardly a clean specimen of good colour
to be seen in the Exhibition.

In the second place, it was noticeable that the best
and most important of the drugs exhibited were those
prepared either by colonists who combined pharma-
ceutical and chemical knowledge with operative skill,
or by analytical chemists in the employ of the Colonial
Governments. I may instance the excellent samples
of essential oils and various pharmaceutical products
manufactured by Mr. Bosisto, of Victoria, and Mr.
Sharp, of the Seychelles, both of whom are members
of this Society, the very interesting preparations
sent by Dr. Bancroft, of Queensland ; and the fine
series of pharmaceutical products of essential oils
from Mr. Staiger, of the same colony, from Mr.
McCarthy, of Trinidad, Mr. J. J. Bowrey, of Jamaica,
and Mr. F. Bert, of Barbadoes, all of whom are
analytical chemists.

In' the third place, an ignorance of the physical
appearance by which drugs are distinguished was evi-
dent from the fact that several drugs were exhibited
under erroneous names. Thin the ipecacuanha shown
in the West Indian Court was not the true drug',
but that of Asclepias curassavict, which is locally
used under that name. The sarsaparilla exhibited in
several of the West Indian Courts was the root of
Bromelia Karatas, although the true drug was shown
in the Honduras and Barbadoes Court. This want
of accurate knowledge in the colonies has probably
often to be deplored by the drug merchants and
brokers in this country, to whom such drugs are
consigned for sale.

In the fourth place it seems remarkable that a
large number of colonial products which could be
obtained in almost unlimited quantity, are practically
unknown in commerce in this country. Thus the
oil of the purging nut, and even the seed itself. do»s
not appear to be known here, although about 300,000
bushels of the seed are annually sent from the Cape
de Verde Islands to Portugal for the expression of
the oil. Crab-nut oil, which thirty-five years ago
was awarded a prize medal at the International Ex-
hibition, and which could be procured in almost un-
limited quantity from both British Guiana and West
Africa, is not yet an imported article of trade in
this country, and many other instances could be
adduced. These facts suggest the importance to the
colonies of employing thoroughly competent chemists,
possessing not merely a knowledge of applied chemis-
try, but a familiarity with the appearance and
character of ordinary commercial products, whose busi-
ness it should be to investigate and report on the
native productions in such papers or publications
as come under the cognizance of cammcrcial men.
The lack of knowledge in the colonies of the re-
quirements of the home markets and the absence of
information in this country concerning valuable colonial

* Kead at an Evening Meeting of the Pharmaceutical
Society, Wednesday, November, ITth, 1386.

products indicate the necessity for a central building
in London and other large commercial towns where
samples of colonial products sufficiently large for ex-
amination and experiment could be obtained, together
with all published information concerning them. Such
an institution, containing series of samples from different
colonies, would prove doubly instructive : in the first
place by showing whence the finei^t (jualities of any pro-
duct could be most easily and cheaply obtained ; and,
secondly, as an educational department in commercial
knowledge for intending emigrants to the colonies,

I will now pass on to notice some of the drugs ex-
hibited at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition. For
our present purpose these may be grouped under the
following heads : — Mediciuial drugs, medicinal species,
essential oils aud camphor, fixed oils and fats , gums,
resins, and saccharine substances.

Of the official medicinal drugs, i.e., those recognized
in the British Pharmacopoeia, the following possessed
of tonic or febrifuge properties were shown, viz, cin-
chona, nux vomica, quassia, hops, bitter orange peel,
chirata, cascarilla, and b^beeru.

Tne most important exhibits of cinchona bark oc-
curred in the India, Ceylon, and Jamica Courts; the
principal barks shown being those of C. Ledgeriana,
C. rohusta, C. officinalis, C. Calisat/a, and C. succinibra.
The last-named was also exhibited from the Mauritus,
Perak and Fiji.

By far the larger proportion of cinchona bark is pur-
chased for the manufacture of quinine, and as each
bale is usually analysed before being sold the appear-
ance of the bark is to the quinine manufacturer but
of little consequence. To the pharamacist, however,
it is of importance to be able to distinguish between
the difftrent varieties by their physical appearance,
since one variety of bark is sometimes prescribed in
preference to another. Lately a great quantity of
cinchona bark in the form of shavings has been sent
to this country, which it would be almost impossible
to refer to any particular species. Fine bold quills for
druggists' purposes often fetch a higher price in the
market than they are intrinsically worth, i. e., judged
by the percentage of crystalline sulphate of quinine
they afford. In view of this fact, and of the low
price at present paid for cinchona bark, a careful
selection of well-marked varieties might prove as
advantageous to the planter as it would be welcome
to the pharmacist. The barks most suitable for this
purpose are the Calisaya bark from Madras, which
presents the same characteristic appearance as the
cultivated Boliviin bark, viz, a predominance of lougi-
tudinal fissures, with comparatively few nearly circular
transverse cracks ; the variety of C. ojicinalis, known
as C. crifpa, which yields a peculiarly corky bark of
good quality, and which is thus easily recognized from
other varieties ; aud the red bark of India and
Ceylon, having a peculiar warty appearaucf. But on
the other hand the hybrids between C. officinahs a.nd
C. succinilra cultivated in Ceylon and elsewhere, and
the variety of red bark chiefly grown in Jamaica, are
by no means easily recogoized. Eeuewed bark and
shavings are still more difficdt to assign to their res-
pective species. These are therefore less suitable for
the use of the pharmacist.

Nux vomica seeds were shown from Trinidad and
Ceylon. It may be interesting to exporters of these
seeds to direct attention to the fact lately demon-
strated by Messrs. Dunstan and Short (Fharm. Journ.,
[3], XV., p. G), that the seeds grown in Ceylon are
much richer in strychnine than those either of Bom-
bay, Madras or Cochin China, and that as the principal
use of these seeds is for the preparation of strych-
nine the Oeylon variety would best repay cultiva-
tion.

The spncimens of quassia exhibited in the Tobago
and British Guiana Courts were derived from Qitas.iiti
amara, and not from the oflBcial tree, Picnvna excdsa.
The hops exhibited in the Canadian Court were
of very good colour and aroma, and the specimen in
the New Zealand Court was of fairly good quality.
Bitter orange peel, which was exhibited by several
colonies, was badly dried, and consisted of quarter
sections, instead o£ carefully dried strips of good

Si(3

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[Feb. 1, 1887,

colour as sold ia this country, Chirata, bebeeru and
cascarilla did not present any feature worthy of
special notice, except that the latter was shown in
very slender quills, as if derived from the twigs or
small branches only.

Of sedative or anodyne medicinal drugs the fol-
lowing were exhibited :— Opium and pnppyheads,
coca leaves, Indian hemp and aconite. With these
Oalabar beans may be classed for the sake of conve-
nience. Opium was, of course, well represented in
the Indian Court, but elsewhere was observed only
in the Victoria Court, where excellent specimens
were exhibited by Mr. Bosisto. These have been shown
by analysis to yield 10 per cent of morphine in the
crude state, and 11^ per cent when dried. The Victo-
rian-grown opium is protected by a duly of 20s. per
pound on imported opium, but the quantity produced
in the colony is not at present sufficient to meet
the local demand for it- Indeed it appears doubtful,
owing to the high price of labour in the colony,
whether it could be produced at a sufficiently low
price to compete with Turkish opium. It is a sugges-
tive fact that the great bulk of the official or medi-
cinal opium used in the world is supplied by Turkey,
although there can be little doubt that opium of
quite as good quality could be prepared in India.
As at present made in the latter country opium
usually conta ns more narcotine and morphine than
Turkish opium. This may be due to the tedious
process cf prepiration of the drug for the Chinese
market, or to the particular variety of poppy em-
ployed (var. V albi'.m) which ditfers from that used
in Turkey (/3 g'almcm). In view of the immense increase
of opium prod iction in China during the last few
years, and the probable growth of a taste for the
home-made article in that country, the suggestion
naturally occurs, whether the preparation of medicinal
opium in India might not yield an important addition
to the rfvenue of that country, and at the same
time, render this country independent of the Turkish
product.

The poppy heids exhibited in the Victoria Court
were born on stems more than six feet in height,
which shows the luxuriance with which the plant
grows in thit colony.

Ooca leaves were exhibited from Jamaica and Domi-
nica, but as yet are probably grown there only as an
experiment. The alkaloid contained in the leaves so
readily undergoes decomposition that the greatest care
will be necessary in drying and preserving the leaves,
if they are intended to compete with the South
American drug as recently imported.

Aconite root and Cannabis iadica were exhibited
only from India. Concerning the latter it is impor-
tant to note that the strength of the drug appears
to vary greatly, according to the distri-it in which
it grows. According to Dr. Watt, the flowering tops
which are more or less cylindrical are possessed of
much greater medicinal activity, and fetch a con-
siderably higher price in India, than those which are
simply compressed. The tincture made from the
former is likely to produce alarming symptoms if
given in the same dose as that prepared from the
latter. This difference does not appear to be recog-
nized in the British Pharmacopoeia.

The aconite root did not appear to be sufficiently
uniform in character for use in medicine in this
country, although some good specimens from Nepal,
collected by Dr. Grimblett, were exhibited.

Fine specimens of Calabar beau were shown in the
Ceylon Court and also from Lagos and Gambia. It
may be here pointed out that a variety of this lipan
which contained more alkaloid than the ordinary kind
was imported into England a few years ago. It was
more oblong in shape and had a longer hilum or
scar. In the case of many drugs, and especially
poisonous drugs of which a limited quantity is used,
the market is often spoiled, so far as the interests of
the colonies are concerned, by an over supply being
sent at one time, so that the price.«i realized hardly
pay for collection, or may even entail a loss.

Of purgative drugs, aloes, jalap, Cassia Fistula and
senna were exhibited. Aloes was very poorly repre-
sented, a solitary gourd of Barbadoes aloes, apparently
of inferior quality, being shown in that Court, while
in those of Natal aud the Cape of Good Hope no spe-
cimens were noticeable. It may be here mentioned
that the botanical source of the opaque aloes known
in commerce as "Natal" or " Hepatic Cape" has not
been accurately determined aud that the cause of
its opacity is also unknown. Barbadoes or Cura^oa
aloes is sometimes translucent at lirst and becomes
opaque on keeping, but there is no evidence that
this is the case with Natal aloes. Fine pods of the
Cassia FistuJa were shown in the St. Lucia Court,
Senna leaves were shown in the India Court and
in that of the Cape of Good Hope. That from the
Cape had beeu collected in the Hopetown district,
where the plant is exceedingly abundant. The
leaves appeared to be those of Cassia obovata, a
species the leaves of which were formerly mixed
with those of C. acutifolia in Alexandrian senna,
but are now rarely found in it. This kind of senna
is stated to be less active than the leaflets of C.
acutifolia and G. anyustifolia. Some very large leaflets
from plants cultivated at Barcelona were offered in
the London market a year or two since and some
has this year been sent from Tinnevelly, but neither,
I believe, were purcha,sed; nevertheless, comparative
experiments concerning the relative strength of these
species might be useful to confirm or otherwise pre-
vious statements ; iu any case it might serve as a
substitute for senua at the Cape. Indiau bael is
intermediate in character between the purgatives and
astringents and may be mentioned here as occurring
iu the Indian Court. The fresh fruit has so delicate
aud pleasant a flavour that a conserve or syrup of
the fruit might possibly meet with acceptance as a
laxative in this country.

Of astringent official drugs there were exhibited
catechu, kino, logwood, galls, and arecanuts.

Pale catechu was shown in the Straits Settlements
Court iu two or three forms, viz., in large and small
cubical pieces and in the form of flattened discs ;
the latter were of a pale colour and intended for
chewing with betel nut. In this connection it may
be useful to recall the fact noticed by Dr. Haygarth
Addison that pale catechu produces a tonic effect on
the nervous system entirely apart from its astringent
action {Pharm. Joum., [3,] xvi., p. 720.) It has not
yet beeu determined whether this action is due to
quercetin or to catechin, or to some other constituent
of the drug. Kino was represented by several dif-
fernent preparations. The official drug was exhibited
only in the Indian Court. From the .Seychelles an
elegant product ob1»ined from Pterocarpus indicus was
sho^vn by Dr. Brooks, and iu the Victoria Court Mr.
Bosisto exhibited an Australian kino, entirely and
readily soluble in cold water, side by side with the
crude insoluble product obtained from the red gum
tree, E. roxtrata. Iu the Queensland Court several
products of the kino class obtained from various
species of eucalyptus were shown by Dr. Bancroft ;
of these I have been unable to obtain specimens from
tlie Executive Commissioner.

It is remarkable that the original kino, which is
a product of gambler and which affords a satisfactory
tincture, is not represented in the West African
Court, although the tree that yields it (Pterocarpus
erinaceuA, Poir.) is a native of West Africa, from
Senegambia to Angola. A product intermediate in
character between kino and catechu was shown by
Mr. Bosisto in the Victoria Court. It resembled kino
in appearance, but was styled Australian catechu.
It was an extract made from the waste chips of wattle
bark, and could doubtless be made on a scale suffi-
ciently large for tanning purposes if required.

Logwood may be noticed under the head of astrin-
gents, beiug used in medicine for that purpose. It
is of interest also on account of its use for staining
microscopical preparations. It does not appear to be
generally known that microscopists distinguish differ-
ent varieties pf logwood, one of which gives a bluish
and another a purplish -red stain; whether thisdue is

J*£B. I, 1887.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

S^i

to inherent; differences in the wood or to more or
less exposure to light and air is not clear. It ap-
pears, however, from the Official Catalogue of British
Honduras that there are two varieties of the tree, of
which the broad-leaved one is considered the most
valuable, on account of the solidity of the timber
and of its yielding a larger <iuantity of the dye, whilst
the smaller-leaved tree is said to yield the better
([uality. Specimens from Jamaica, British Honduras,
Dominica and Tobago are shown in the Exhibition.
The varieties recognized in the London market are,
I believe, the following, which are here placed ac-
cording to their relative values: — Oampeachy, Honduras,
St. Domingo and Jamaica.

Galls and arecanuts were shown in variety in the
Indian Court. Of the former I may observe in pass-
ing, that the galls of the Tamarix articidata and of
Terminalia Ghehida appear likely to prove of con-
siderable value for tanning purposes, on account of
the richness in tannic acid and the pile cjlour of
their extract. Pomegranate bark was shown in the
Jamaica Court, of a quality much superior to that
ordinarily met with in commerce.

Of demulcent medicinal drugs, linseed is the most
important, and was shown in great variety in the
Indian Court. It is worthy of note that the culti-
vation has commenced in Canada, and that samples
were exhibited in the Court of that colony. Hitherto
nearly the whole, if not all the linseed used for flax
growing has been derived from Russian-ports, the
product of a cold climate being apparently more
suitable for growing purposes. It may be hoped that
Canadian linseed, or that from the northern parts of
India, will in future years replace that of Russia for
this purpose. Indian linseed frequently contains
numerous seeds of eruciferous weeds, particulary of
species of L'rassica, which by reason of their con-
taining a sweet or non-drying oil render the linseed
oil obtained by pressure of a less drying character,
and therefore of less value commercially. The only
other otticial drug conveniently referable to this class,
worthy of notice, is buchu, concerning which it may
be observed that certain varieties of these leaves,
which are more highly esteemed to the Cape of
Good Hope than those official in the British Phar-
macopreia are frequently sent to this country to the
loss both of the shipper and of the consignee. Such
varieties are always rejected by English druggists.

Of alternative drugs sarsaparilla was exhibited from
British Honduras and Jamaica. The latter, however,
was not the article known in commerce as Jamaica
sarsaparilla (which really comes from Panama,) but
resembled the Honduras sort in having a thick and
mealy bark, while it differed from it in the orange-
red colour of the bark. The Panama drug, which
fetches the highest price in the market, and is the
most esteemed, has a thin vvrinkled brownish bark.

The sarsaparilla exhibited by the other West Indian
colonies was the root olBromelia Karatas, and would
not be recognized in this country as sarsaparilla.

Several colonial remedies that have recently been
introduced iuto Europe and America were shown in
various Courts. The pretty scarlet and black seeds
of Ah-v.s precatorit'.s formed a conspicuous object in
several of the West Indian Courts and also in that
of British Guiaua. Alstonia constricta bark, Duhoisia
and Euphorbia pilvHfera were shown in the Queens-
land Court, Piscidia erythrina in the Jamaica, and
papa'ne in the Seychelles and Dominica exhibits.

With respect to the non-ofiicial medicinal products
of the Exhibition it is possible to regard them from
two points of view: the one being that of Colonial
Governments, which are naturally anxious to obtain
indigenous substitutes of equal value for expensive
drugs imported from the mother country ; the other
is that of the pharmacists of Europe and America
who may be desirous of ascertaining if any of the
colonial drugs possess medicinal properties which
are worthy of careful investigation or are superior
in quality or value to others at present in use. The
latter point of view is the only one which falls
within my province to-night, the former may safely
be left to the medical profeseiou in tb? colonies.

/

T he following list includes the colonial drugs
which were accompanied by statements indicating that
they possess medicinal properties worthy of closer
investigation both by the chemist and the medical
profession.

As an alterative SiegeslecMa orientalis is highly
recommended by Dr. Daruty, of Mauritius, in infan-
tile cachexia and as an application to gangrenous
wounds. The active principle, darutyne, was shown
in the Mauritius Court. The root of Arctopus echinaUs
has long been used at the Cape of Good Hope for
cutaneous eruptions; Rourea fuhjcns is used for
leprosy in the Straits Settlements,' and lukrubau seeds
at Hong Kong. For skin diseases, henna leaves are
employed in the Straits Settlements and henna seeds
in Gambia, and the bark of Acacia falcata in New
South Wales, and Jfelianthus major at the Cape.
For ringworm the yellow juice of Haronga mada-
gascariensts is employed in the Mauritius, and that
of Bocconia fndescens in Jamaica, and the sap of
Laplacea ITamatoxi/lon in St. Vincent ; also the leaves
of Cassia alata in India, and the seeds of J'atairea
guiunensis in British Guiana.

For a,sthTa& Gijmphocarjnis fniticotiv.s 3.ndi Gleichema
dichotoma are used in the Mauritius, and Euphorbia
laaceidata in St. Vincent. Atherosperma moschatmn
is highly spoken of by Mr. Bosisto as giving relief
in asthma and bronchitis and Phytolacca striata is
used at the Cape for pulmonary diseases.

As antiperiodics the bark of Michelta Champaccb
is used in Mauritius, Tlicvetia Neri i folia \nt\xG Straits
Settlements, and proteacin, prepared from a species
of LeiccadendroH, at the Cape, the latter drug being
recommended by Dr. J. H. Meiring Beck. As a tonic
ill flatulent indigestion boiari root seems to find
general acceptance in British Guiana.

As anthelmintics, Quisqualis indica is used in
Mauritius, and Leucas linifoUa, in the Straits Settle-
ments.

As resolvents, Coleus atrspurpureus and Plumhago
rosea are employed in the Straits Settlements.

As nervine tonics, Eryngium fntidum is considered
useful in .Jamaica, and keng root in Gambia.

Emmenagogue properties are attributed to Poinciana
pidcherrima in Mauritius. Cissus capensfs and Sanse-
viera thyrsifiora are stated in the Cape of Good
Hope Catalogue to give relief in hccmorrhoidal com-
plaints.

Antiseptic properties appear to be present in
Ceyperus articulatus, used in Jamaica to stop vomit-
ing: in Lichtensteinia interrupta, Teucrium africanum
and Cluytia hirsitta, used at the Cape of Good Hope,
the two former being employed in splenic fever. The
following, from their poisonous properties, also seem
worthy of chemical investigation : aromata, coroo-
coroo and moraballi bark, divildora root, haiari
root {Lonchocarpus densijlorv.s) and the seeds of
CncoKcii cocciiiea, from British Guiana : tuba root
{Derris elliptica) from the Straits Settlements; Toxi-
cophlosa Phunbergii and Hycfnanche glohosa from
the Cape of Good Hope ; poison-wood from British
Honduras, and Elaodendron orientole from the
Mauritius.

Jfedicinal Spices.

The best exhibit of cinnamon was that of CeyloU,
the specimens from Jamaica, Barbadoes, Fiji and
Sierra Leone being all inferior in aroma as well ag
in appearance ; that from St. Lucia was by no means
deficient in aroma, but consisted of thick bark, and
would only be marketable for making the powdered
drug or for distillation of the essential oil.

The cardamoms from Ceylon were the finest in the
E.^hibition, but official cardamoms were also shown
from Jamaica and Grenada, and round cardamoms
from the Straits Settlements. The seeds of the latter
are hardly distiuguishable by taste from the official
kind. The long grey cardamoms, known in commerce
as Ceylon cardamoms, were also shown. These are
said to be obtained always from wild plants by the
natives. The seeds possess less aroma than the
official kind and arc 9i a slightly different charactffr ,

gtfn t Mil ju-imi fr\ntm

THE TROPICAL AGKICULTUKlSf.

[fEB. I, J887.

nevertheless they appear frequently in the London
drug market.

Nutmegs were shown in the Ceylon Court and also
in tliose of Jamaica, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia
and Dominicn, the Grenada specimens preserved in
brine being particularly fine. The nutmegs and mace
in the Fiji Court were valueless as spice, being
entirely deficient in aroma,

Cloves were exhibited from the Seychelles, Ceylon,
St. Lucia and Dominica, the two first-named being
the finest.

Ginger was shown by Jamaica, Barbadoes, St. Lucia
Dominica, Montserrat, British Honduras, the Gold
Coast, and Sierra Leone. None of the exhibits pre-
sented a very good appearance, and some being in
the growing state it was diflScult to pronounce any
opinion upon them.

Pepper was shown by Ceylon, North Borneo, and
the Straits Settlements, but none of the specimens
appeared to be particularly fine.

Allspice was shown by Jamaica and Ceylon, and
the berries of the nearly-allied Fimenta acris in the
St. Lucia Court.

Dill and fennel fruits were observed in the "West
Indian Court, and coriander fruit in that of Natal,

Mustard was exhibited in variety from India and
sparingly from Natal and the West Indies.

Excellent specimens of chillies were exhibited from
Natal, and both chillies and capsicum in great
variety in nearly all the West ladian Courts and
in British Guiana.

Canella bark was shown from Jamaica, Trinidad
and the Bahamas, but none of the specimens were
equal to those frequently obtainable in the London
market.

Of non-ofiicial spices, vanilla was well represented
in the Exhibition ; the finest specimens were those
from the Seychelles and Mauritius. Tonka beans, as
fine as those of Para, were shown in the British
Guiana Court.

Esseniial Oils.

Comparatively few of the essential oils used in
medicine were shown, but there were many others
that should possess considerable value in perfumery.

Oil of cloves was represented by some excellent
specimens in the Seychelles Court. These had
been prepared respectively from green cloves, dried
cloves and clove stalks.

The oils of cinnamon bark and leaf were shown
both from Ceylon and from Seychelles. The oil from
the leaf possesses an odour different from that of
the bark, resembling a mixture of cloves and cinna-
mon, and is, I believe, chiefly used for scenting soaps.
Oil of cassia distilled from the leaves and twigs
was shown in the Hong Kong Court, and oil of
cajuput only from the Straits Settlements. An oil
prepared from the fresh leaves of Melaleuca Leiccaden-
dron,\a.r. Lancifolia, Bail., exhibited in the Queens-
land Court, and supposed to be " similar, if not
identical with cajupat," differs in having a much
more disagreeable odour; that of Eucalyptus pomli-
folia does, however, close'y resemble cajuput in odour.

Oil of lavender was shown only by Mr. Bo^isto,
as a product of Victoria. Although not equil to Mit-
cham oi], there is little doubt that this able and
energetic pharmacist will succeed ultimately in having
an cxcelleut article prepared from Victori,m flowers.

Oil of peppermint of excellent quality, prep'ired
from plants grown in Victoria, was also exhibited
by Mr. Boisto. Some years ago it was offered in this
country, but the price obtained (25,<. per lb.) was
not sufficiently remunerative to lead to a repetition
of the experiment. Peppermint oil and menthol were
also exhibited in the Hong Kong Court by Messrs.
A. H. Watson and Co. According to information
furnished by these gentlemen the oil is distilled from
several kinds of mint, and is used in neuralgia and
indigestion.

Oil of saudal-wood was exhibited in the India Cjurt
and also in that of Victoria {see Fharm. Jou.rn., [3],
xvi.. p. 820). The oil importid from India is generally
so adulterated with fixed oil, and is 60 opaque, that
English dealers prefer to distil the oil from the im-

ported wood. There can be no reason, however, why
the pure oil should not be imported direct for medicinal
use, if carefidly prepared in Myson^ under' the super-
intendence of a qualified chemist. Some fine logs of
sandal-wood [Santahan Vasi) were .shown in the Fiji
Court, but no sample of the oil. A specimen pre-
par(!d from Australian sandal-wood was shown by Mr.
Bosisto. Besides the above official oils there were a
large number of others deserving of notice, as capable
of being used as flavoriug agents, or in perfumery.
Ods prepared from the rind of the lemon, lime, orange,
shaddock and citron formed prominent feature* in
several of the West India Courts. A sample of oil
of limes in the Trinidad Court, prepared from what
seems to be a hybrid between a lemon and a lime,
was shown, together with the fruit from which it was
obtained ; it resembles a very fine specimen of essence
of lemon in flavour and odour, but gives chemical
reactions like oil of limes. The ecuelled oils both of
limes and lemons were far superior in point of odour
to those prepared by distillation. The ecuelled oil of
lemons from the A\'est Indies might well compete in
the European market with much that is now derived
from Sicily. Other essential oils that might be em-
ployed as flavouring agents are the oil of sweet basil,
exhibited by the Montserrat Company and by Dr.
Hollings in the Montserrat Court, the oils of pepper
and mace from the Straits Settlements, and the oil of
pimento from Jamaica and St. Lucia.

Some of the oils which might be made available in
perfumery are the following. In the Indian Court,
oil of Fandanus odoratissimiis, having an ordour like
honey; oil of henna flowers, resembling in odour a
tea rose ; and the aromatic oil of champaca flowers.
In the Straits Settlements Court, oil of balsam of
Peru pods, resembling the perfume of bean flowers
in odour; and the oils of Canella o.lha und cascarilla.
In the Montserrat Court the Montserrat Company
exhibited a specimen of oil of lime leaves, which had
a peculiar fragrance of its own, quite distinct from
that of neroli. Apparently the only specimen of oil
of bergamot in the Exhibition was shown by the same
firm. An oil of wild ginger (Eenealmia sp .\ ) was shown
in the Dominica Court that possessed a peculiar frag-
rance of its own. In the Jamaica Court several
novelties in essential oils were exhibited, including
those of Critonea Dalea, which has an odour of new-
mown hay; IJedi/osmiim nutans and Jfisromeria obovata,
which are not especially attractive in odour, and the oil
of Juniperus Berinudiana wnich has a perfume resem-
bling that of oil of cedar. The oil of bay leaves
{Fimenta acris), used in making bay rum, was exhi-
bited in several of the West Indian courts; it appears
to be chiefly sent to the United States.

In the Queensland Court several oils derived from
different species of ecualyptus were shown. Of these
the oils of B. Plnuchoniana and E. dealhata resemble citro«
wWe, and these Oi E. Staigeriajia, E. citriodora and of
Backhousia citriodora resemble the oil of lemon grass.

It is remarkable that there appears to be a much
larger demand for oil of citronelle than for that of
lemon grass, or verbena as it is commonly called, the
former being probably more largely used for per-
fuming soaps- The oil of ^ithercspermo moschatum,
exhibited in the Victoria Court, and that of yesod'
aphne ohtusifolioi\u the Queensland Court, both resembles
sassafras in odour; the former, however, in a dose
of a very few drop-;, is, according to IMr. Bosisto,
quite poisonous, producing steppage of the lieart's action.
Other essential oils worthy of notice are the fine
specimens exhibited in the Victoria Court of the oils,
of Ei'.calp2'tv.s ami/f/dalina, L. dnmosa, E- oleosa, and
E. (/hlu'Jns. These oils, particularly E- oleosa, possess
a remarkably solvent action on many resins that are not
soluble or only partially so in alcohol, but on account
of their high price could only be used for varnishes
employed by artists, for which purpose they are said
to have the advantage of rendering the colours brighter.
According to Mr. Bosisto the oil of Eucalyptus
i/lol'u.lus soon darkens m colour and becomes oxidized
and resinified when exposed to light. A very fragrant
eesence of the flowers of Acacia pi/oiantlui, prepared
by enfleurage, was shown in the Victoria Court. It

Vt3, I, 18S7.3 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

J-£3

^eemed quite equal in fragrance to the pommade cle
catsie prepared iu the South of France. In the North
Borneo Court the oil derived from the Borneo camphor
tree was exhibited. This also might possibly be useful
in dissolving some resius or in rendering them soluble
in alcohol.

This oil does not appear to be so well known as the
Chinese camphor oil, of which as much as 94,500 lb.
is said to have been imported into the United States
during the past sixteen months. Chinese camphor
Was shown only in the India and Hong Kong Courts,
and specimens of Borneo camphor in that of North
Borneo. Under the supposition that Borneo camphor
is probably not preferred by the Chinese without rea-
son, I forwarded seme specimens kindly supplied by
the Acting Commissioner at the North Borneo Court
to Mr. R. Btockman of Edinburgh University. The
taste is not so unpleasant as that of Chinese camphor.

Before leaving the subject of essential oils it may
be pointed out that nearly all the essential oils
obtained from flowers in India are spoiled by mixing
them with sandal-wood oil and after with fixed oils.
Until prepared in a state of purity they are not
likely to come into the demand that might other-
wise arise on account of the exquisite fragrance of
many of them.

Fixed Oils and Fats.

The principal official oils exhibited were castor oil
and olive oil. The former was shown from nearly all
the Weht Indian Courts, British Guiana, South Aus-
tralia, Ceylon, Fiji, and the Seychelles, but only that
from the last-named colony possessed the clearness
and brilliancy to which we are accustomed in this
coun try. Olive oil was shewn from South Australia
and New South Wales, but as yet it is only pre-
pared in South Australia in commercial quantities.
There appears to be no reason why this colony, as
well as the Cape and Natal, should not in tuture
years supply a better and purer oil than the too
often adulterated product now obtained from the
shores of the Mediterranean, especially if the best
varieties of the olive be cultivated for the purpose.

Oroton oil was shown in the Hong Kong Court, and
some very fine specimens of the seeds were notice-
able iu that of Ceylon. Of the official fats cacao
butter occured in the Trinidad Court, but was not
of superior quality. Beeswax, obtaiued either from
dome>ticated or wild bees, was exhibited in nearly
every Court, but for the most part the specimens ex-
hibited were very di;-ty and inferior, some flat circular
cakes exhibited by Mr. Fabien in the Trinidad Court
being the oitiy presentable specimens that were
noticed. A large number of non-official oils were ex-
hibited in the different Courts, some of them being
obtainable in large quantities from more than one
colony. This was the case with carapa or crab oil,
which was shown in the British Guiana and Trinidad
Courts, and is a product also of Western Africa. It
has a bitter taste, and is used by the natives as an
insecticide, a pi-operty which, if retained when the
oil is saponified, might be turned to useful account.

The oil of Jatropha Curcas appear.s to be largely
used in some parts of the Continent. It yields a pur-
gative sweet oil of pale colour, and of a consistence
much thinner than castor oil. Probably it might prove
valuable as a stimulant hair oil, possessing the ad-
vantage over castor oil of being free from anj disagree-
able odour. It could be obtained in sufficient quantity
for soap making and illuminating purposes, the plant
being comnion in all semi-tropical countries.

The oil of various species of Aleiwites was shown
in several Courts, that from Queensland and the Sey-
chelles being almost colourless and quite clear. This
oil could be obtained in unlimited quantity, and niiglit
also be useful as an illuminating oil or in soap making,
being compfiratively inexpensive. The oil of Aleuritcs
cordata, exhibited by Messrs. A. S. Watson and Co.
in the Hong Kong Court under the name of wood oil,
is remarkable for its drying properties, which have
already been described in the Pliarinacei'Ucal Jovrnal
{[3], XV., p. 636, 637). Other Chinese oils exhibited by the
eame firm were those of tea seed {Camellia oleifera), ■■
65

which IS used by the Chinese as a substitute for olive oi'.
and also as a lamp oil, oil of cabbage seed, oil of peach
and apricot kernels, and oil of soy beans, used both for
cooking and illuminating purposes, ail of the above
being obtainable in large quantities. A very pale,
sweet and bland oil is obtained both in China and
West Africa from the seeds of several varieties of a
melon, which yield on an average about .30 per cent
t°,-; J^?d<=^ t^e name of "egusi " these seeds are
exhibited in the West African Court.
_ Numerous specimens of coconut oil were shown
m several Courts, that from Seychelles being very
white, and a specimen in the British Guiana Court
was not only very white but unusally soli. I, and was
pronounced by experts to be the best in the exhibi-
tion. The yellowish oil of the King coconut wns
shown in the Ceylon Court. This is remarkable f o •
being free from the odour of the coconut, and is
therefore more suitable for use in peifumery.

In the Tobago Court the oils derived from the
seeds of the grugru {AcrQcomia .yderocarpa) and coke-
rite {Maximiliana insiym^) palms; in the Bri i»h Gui^i a
Court, that of the acuyuru palm {Adrocciri/um Tucuma);
and m the British Honduras Court a whi,^ semi-s^lid
fat from the seeds of Attalea Cahune, known as
Cahoon oil, were shown.

In the India Court a large number of oils were
exhibited, but many of these from exposure to light
had become rancid. The white semi-solid oil derived
from the kernels ot Anacavdiuni occidentah was, how-
ever, noticed to be still sweet.

The oil of Bassia lonyifolia, exhibited in the
Mauritius Court, is a sweet od having the colour and
consistence of butter, but has a peculiar fi^vour, al-
though almost free from odour. Another sohd oil
in the India Court, obtained from the seeds of
Qardnia indica, is used in India as a substitute for
spermaceti ointment, and having hardly any odour a,nd
a pleasant bland taste deserves more attention than
it has hitherto received.

Myrtle wax, obtained from the berries of Myrica covdi'
folia and other species, was shown in the Cape of
Good Hope Court. It is hard but brittle wax.
Oleoresins and Eesins.
Of those official in the British Pharmacopceia
copaiba was exhibited in the British Guiana Court.
The specimens were of a pale colour and good con-
sistence, but it is remarkable that it does not appear
to be recognized as a commercial variety in this
country. Gamboge was exhibited in the Ceylon
Court ; guaiacum in that nf the West Indies ; ben-
zion, of very inferior quality, was but poorly repre-
sented in the Straits Settlements Court; and Cbian
turpentine in the Cyprus Court. The Ceylon gamboge
is not as yet well known iu this country ; a con-
signment sent to England three years ago fetched
£14 5s. per cwt.

A kind of elemi was shown in the British Guiana and
West African Coiu-ts, but in both cases of too hard
a consistence to replace the Manila drug. There was
also in several of the West Indian Courts a product
resembling elemi in appearance and consistence, but
having a more terebinthinate odour that in the St. Lucia
Court having a pleasant oiour more resembling 0 i-
banum. These products are used as incense, the oirty
and inferior pieces being made into torches.

Kesins suitable for making varnishes were shown
by several colonies. Fine specimens of Kauri resin
were observed in the New Zealau.l Court. In the
British Guiana Court there was a very hard resin,
known as Demerara or Brazilian copal ; of this there
were two varieties, one pale in colour and evidently
of more recent production than the other, which was
more yellow and harder. This resin appears to be
but little known in Euglish commerce as yet, but I
am informed that those who know how to dissolve
it find tba*^^ it makes an e.xceliont copal varnish. I
may remark in passing that the oil of Iiv.cah/pti's ofeom
dissolves it perfectly and in consiilerabie qiianti ty.
A very white and tolerably hard resin, whicu said 10
form an excellent picture vtiniish, was shown by Dr,

bi4

THE TROPICAL AGRtCVLTVmST,

[Tes. 2, jdB/,

Ondaatje in the Ceylou Court. It is the product of
Doona zeylanica. A very white specimen of copal
resin was shown in the West African Court. But
there were many other resins in the Straits Settlements,
India, and other Courts that may be worthy of atten-
tion, a particularly fine specimen being shown in the
North Uorneo Court of a yellowish hard copal, soluble
in eucalyptus oil.

A remarkable substance shown in the British Guiana
Court, called karamanni is deserving of notice on
account of its low melting point and its great tenacity.
It appears to be a mixture of the yellowish resin
known as hog gum, the product of Moronobea coccinea
and beeswax, and may be compared to marine glue
for its usefulne.ss.

Gtrms.

The India Court was undoubtedly the richest in
gums, but many of these are collected so carelessly
that their commercial value is much reduced thereby.
Only one of them, that of Anogeissus latifolia, at all
approaches gum arable in character, but none of
those as yet examined appear to be capable of entirely
replacing the Soudan gum. For this purpose the
gum should be easily soluble in cold water, give a
clear mucilage of an adhesive character, should not
be darkened by iron salts, and the froth formed in
dissolving it should quickly disappear.

A very good sample of gum was shown from Gam-
bia, which bore a strong resemblance to the Soudan
gum. From the Cape of Good Hope the gum of
Acacia horridUt, was shown. This resembles gum
arabic in appearance, but is somewhat yellower and
gives a weaker mucilage. A much better gum has,
however, recently been sent from the Cape than the
Bort generally received from that colony.

The Gums shown in the Australian Courts were
of the usual dark-coloured characteristic appearance.
In the "West Indian Court were two gums worthy of
notice. One of these, the gum of Anacardium occU
dentale, dissolves but slowly, but makes an adhesive
mucilage which is used in Jamaica as a substitute
for gum arabic. It is obtainable in large quantities.
The other was that described under the name of white
cedar gum. It does not possess adhesiveness, but a
small piece gives a thick mucilage with a large
quantity of water, a quality which if the gum proves
to be harmless in character might prove very useful for
suspending powders in mixtures, or for sizing purposes.
Saccharine and JJietetic Substances.

Of the official substances of the character, honey
Vras exhibited by the majority of the colonies, but the
finest display was that made by Canada, which exhibited
two varieties, called clover and linden honey, which
in point of colour and flavour left nothing to be desired.

Tamarinds were exhibited in several Courts, those
from the West Indian Court being particularly fiiie.

Lime juice was largely represented by the exhibits
of the Montserrat Company, and good specimens were
also observed in the Dominica and Trinidad Courts.

In connection with lime juice, a specimen of citrate
of calcium shown in the Trinidad Court may be
jneiitioued. It is well known that both lime juice and
citrate of calcium gradually lose citric acid, probably
through decomposition caused by fungoid growths.
Wr. McCarthy claims to have succeeded in preparing
the citrate so that it will keep, if not exposed to air
and moisture, without loss of the acid.

There were doubtless many food products in the
Exhibition, that might be employed either as diets
for invalids or in the manufacture of palatable lax-
atives. I will only mention a few of them. Cassava
root, dried and used like arrowroot, has already been
experimented with in the National Training School
for Cookery at the request of Mr. G. H. Hawtayue,
and the Lady Superintendent has reported very highly
of its value as a variety for invalid or infant diet.
Certain it is that the natives who feed on cassava
rapidly put on fat. The curious preparation known
as cassareep in British Guiana and the West Indian
Islands also deserves notice as a harmless addition to
food, possessing at the same time valuable antiseptic
properties. Cassareep is prepared by evaporating the

'0)t>&»uut» }wti of t))6 bitter «ut)e»v»i vilfic)^ \ot9>

r

during evaporation the prussic acid it contains as
well as a volatile poison described by Dr. Peckolt
{Pharm. Journ,, [3], xvii., p. 267) under the name of
manihotoxin ; but the antiseptic properties, due t® a
substance with Dr. Peckolt has named sepsicolytin,
or fermentation hinderer, is retained in the cassareep.
Albumen to which a small quantity of sepsicolytin
had been added is stated to have been kept without
deterioration for six months. The value of a harm-
less antiseptic for preserving food can hardly be over-
estimated. The advantages of cassareep as an adju-
vant to diet is also worthy of investigation.

In conclusion it only remains for me to express
my regret that it has been possible to allude to so
few of the many very interesting exhibits related
directly or indirectly to pharmacy.

I gladly take this opportunity also to thank the
several Commissioners for the Colonies, who have
so kindly lent a number of valuable specimens for
this occasion, without which the remarks that I have
made would have been almost valueless.

I desire also to record my most cordial thanks for
the courtesy that I have received at the hands of these
gentlemen during frequent visits to the Exhibition,
in allowing me to examine specimens, and In afford-
ing all the information in their power concerning them .

DiSCDSSION.

His Excellency 0. A. MotONE7, c. M. G., Gover-
nor of Lagos and President of the Gambia Commission,
said his only knowledge of pharmacy was that derived
from taking cinchona, which, or the quinine derived
from it, was a necessity of life in West Africa.

The economic botany of West Africa was compara-
tively unknown, and its agricultural development was
in its infancy ; its growth would be mainly depend-
ent on the establishment of either agricultural
branches of the Government nursery gardens or some
allied institutions in Government hands. Private enter-
prise had been tried, but it had, it was to be much
regretted, signally failed, and the results were compara-
tively nil. In reference to allusions in the lecture,
he would say that Calabar beans could be supplied
in any quantity if required. With regard to kino,
he himself sent to the Forestry Exhibition in Scotland
two years ago a very fair specimen of the extract,
but he heard nothing further of it, and therefore
presumed it was not wanted. The Jatropha Ourcas,
was grown largely in the Cape Verde I.slands, and
it grew wild in West Africa, but no particular
attention was paid to it, although in the Cape
Verde Islands the export of its seed was about
300,000 bushels a year. The melon seeds were use 1 not
only for extracting oil from, but also largely as food ;
he presumed the lecturer referred to egusi seed. The
trade in gum was quite in its infancy. For some
years there had been a considerable export of it
from Sierra Leone, and to a small extent from the
Gold Coast, and he was rather surprised, when he
was Governor of the Gambia, to find to the right and
left of that enormous river the export of gum from
Senegal represented by millions of money annually,
and that a little further south, at Sierra Leone, there
was also a large export ; but none from that parti-
cular district. From the Gold Coast, further south,
the export had been very limited, but the field was
very extensive and deserved every encouragement.
Now, South of Lagos, his present Government, there
was an immense field for the export of a fossil
gum, known as Ogea. He had diiected attention
to this for some time past, but it had had no commercial
result as yet. About two-and-a-half years ago he
had a few hundredweights sent to Eugland, which was
passed through a prominent manufactory, and when
he inquired the result, he was told that it was very diffi-
cult to introduce a new article, but after some questions
he found that it might prove worth from £80 to £120 a
ton, and that large quantities could be readily taken.

The two prenous speakers had referred to the
advisability of investigating the native practice of
medicine ; as a medical man he had given some
attention to that su)»ject, and he fouad that in India

tbe^e m» v&cj jittie to imrft. X ^^Mfe tsftoy «(

Fbb, 1, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

51^

the preparations used were very much of the type
of mummia, and were in fact the most loathsome
things that could be imagined. There were in India
some two thousand plants of a medicinal nature more
OP less used by the people, but not more than forty or
fifty were worth the least attention. It had been
said that many of the specimens in the India Court
were very imperfect, and no doubt they were ; many
were of no interest to anyone but the native doctors
who never by any chance used drugs until they were
eaten through and through with insects. They stored
them until they were perfectly rotten, and in many
cases it was impossible to get drugs in any other
way than by going to these people. He had forgotten
to mention one or two facts with regard to ganja.
It was made from the female flower-heads of the
plant, and it was a most remarkable thing that if
you left one single male flower in a whole field cul-
tivated for ganja not a single particle would be produced.
The bhang was obtained entirely from the wild plant,
but ganja could not be made from it because in that
state the male plants grew with the female ; of course
by male and female he meai t plants with pistillate
and staminate flowers. Long before the flowers were
produced the native ganja doctor came round to the
cultivator, and having agreed on his fee, crawled away
underneath the tiny little plants, and with a knife
slipped every male plant out of the field. He had often
followed the ganja doctor, though without being able to
discover, even with a microscope, how he distinguished
the plants, but it was marvellous how successful he was,
and it was rarely necessary to go after him to remove a
male plant. The female plants were allowed to reach
maturity, when they were cut down and taken to the
ma^iufdctory, where they were trodden under foot
to produce the flat and round forms. The earth
was hollowed out and the plants were all laid
with their heads in the hollow and rolled with
the feet ; he believed that in some way the rolling
shook out something in the round form which made it
much stronger than the flat ; it was more condensed,
and a given weight contained more of the extract. Mr.
H olmes had referred to pale catechu, meaning he sup-
posed, gambler, which was eaten all over India; but
t here was another substance which was also used, real
pale catechu, or acacia catechu. They had also a form
of cutch which was quite as pale as that shown obtained
from the acacia catechu, and that also was more exten-
sively eaten than that exhibited. The red cutch was never
eaten at all. He did not know exactly the chemical
difference, not having examined them with sufficient
accuracy to determine, but there was a difference, and
the process of preparing the two kinds was quite
different. In Pegu the tree was cut down, the bark
removed and the hard wood split up into little
fragments ; these were put into large iron caldrons
and boiled down until a thick decoction was obtained ;
this was then thrown into moulds made of the teak
wood leaf and allowed to harden. A layer of leaves
was put over the top and another coating thrown
on, and thus the ordinary red cutch was obtained. In
Northern India, another preparation was made. The
plaijt was treated in the same way, but it was boiled
in earthen caldrons and to about one half the extent ;
the pots were then taken off the fire and a number of
twigs put into each, on which the substance crystallized
much in the same way as sugar candy on a thread. The
twigs were then removed, the crystals shaken off, again
put into hot water and made into a sort of mucilage ; it
was then thrown into moulds and made into cakes like
gambler, only larger. This was a more carefully prepared
article. The pale cutch of Northern India was in fact
very much like gambler and took the same place in
pharmacy and as an article of food. Cardamoms were
also largely grown in India. The seeds of melons were
also used for making oils to a large extent, and so were
tea seeds. With reference to the gums, he might say
there was a resin in India which was used for a curious
purpose. It was from the Shorea rohtsta, known as the
saal tree, and was extensively used for soldering broken |
pots. Any metal pot that got cracked was joined to-
gether again with saal resin, and he had seen such vessels
in use on a roaring fire years after they had been mended

in this way. He should think this resin was worthy of
attention.

Mr. BosiSTO, President of the Victorian Commission,
said:— It would take too much time to mention all
the medicinal plants of Australia, but it bad not
such a grand field of medical products as India and
some other countries. There were the eucalypti, a
number of acacias, and some melaleucas, particularly
the M. Leucadendron, which gave an oil resembling
cajuput oil. There were also a great many whic^
yielded aromatizing oils, but he did not think they
were of any great value in commerce. Then there
was the Atherosperma moschatum bark, in common
language called the native sassafras bark, but it was
■not a sassafras. It contained a very fine bitter, and
also a^ volatile oil of high specific gravity, two drops
of which would almost stay the action of the heart,
and this was well worth attention, and should be
brought before the medical men of Great Britain. Many
years ago he brought it under the notice of some of
the leading medical men in this country, who reported
well of its action on diseases of the heart, but it
seemed to have been lost sight of again. There were
150 species of Eucalyptus, which yielded a vast variety
of essential oils that contained many aromas, more
particularly one, a native of Queensland, and which was
also grown in Victoria, E. citriodora. He thought if the
colonists would pay more attention to it, it would yield
a good profit. There were many other aromas, but they
were too far away from population to be brought into
commerce. People in England would always speak prin-
cipally of the E. globulus, but the fact was that was
considered in Australia to be the worst of the whole
lot. E. dumost and E. amygdcdina were the chief species
of value for medicinal purposes. He had had the plea-
sure of presenting to the Society some essential oils of
the ordour, Myrtaecm which he guaranteed were true
to species, and therefore when any of the young men
present examined them he hoped they would pay
attention to the labels, and not look upon them all
as E. (/lobulus.

Mr. Shand, Oflacial Representative of the Ceylon
Planters' Association, said he was not a scientific man,
but a practical agriculturist, and the drug in which he was
principally interested as a producer was cinchona bark.
He wished the honorable representatives from "West
Africa and British Guiana, who laid stress on the utility
of this bark, could, without any prejudice to themselves,
consume a great deal more of it, because so much was
now produced in Ceylon that the markets of the world
were completely glutted. Cinchona seed was first
brought into Ceylon in 1861 as an experiment, and fortu-
nately it fell into the hands of an excellent scientific
man, the late Dr. Thwaites, head of the Royal Botanic
Garrlens, who from the first recognized the adaptation
of the plant to Ceylon, and urged on the planters the
desirability of cultivating it. They were all so wedded to
coffee at that time that to a great extent they neglected
this matter, and for several ye^irs the cinchona culti-
vation was only carried on experimentally. In the years
1874 and 1875 they exported 4,000 lb. of bark, and in the
two following years only 15,000 or 16,000 lb. ; what led to
the great rush of cinchona cultivation was a little enter-
prise with which he himself was connected. In 1874 he
was manager of a group of estates, a small portion of
which had been accidentally, devoted to cinchona for the
following reason. In Ceylon they suffered periodically
from the ravages of rats. There was a jungle tree, the
nelu, which periodically died down, and when it did so
the rats which had been in the habit of feeding on the
pith came into the clearings and attacked the coffee.
Almost the first cultivation of cinchona in Ceylon was on
a small plot of about two and a half acres where the coffee
had been completely spoilt by the ravages of rats.
In 1874 the cinchona trees were eight years old, and it
fell to his lot to harvest it. The result was most wonder-
ful ; from that two and a half acres he reaped 15,000 lb,
of good cinchona bark. Not much was known then about
the preparation of it, and the only process they knew
that was likely to render it marketable was the quilling
process, which had now to a great extent been super-
seded. He took great pains in that matter, geiting cin.
namon peelers, who formed a special caste in Oeylon, an d

5i6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Feb. I, 1887.

the result was a fact almost unprecedented in anj' agri-
cultural enterprise, for that oue harvest resulted in a yield
of £000 sterliug per acre. That uaturally led to what was
commonly called a "boom ' iocinchona agriculture. He
himself came home the following year and telegraphed
out at once to his brother to purchase 1,000 acres suitable
for ciacboua. The history of the cultivation was like
that of many others, accompaiued by disappointments,
for although Oeylon planters had flooded the markets of
the world, they had not all been successful. If all the
ciuchouds planted iu Ceylon had reache t maturity there
would be ten times the quantity iu the market, and all
present would allow there was quite enough, because the
unit of ciuchoua for which wheu he began he used to get
2s. had now fallen to 2^d., aud did not show much pros-
pect ol lisiug. Wuat he complained of was that though
he had to suffer very severely in the prices realized for
the bark, when he went into a chemist's »hop in London
to buy a quarter of an ounce of quinine he had to pay an
en irmous price for it. He did not know if anything so
commerci^il were within the rauge of the Society,
but if it were he wished they would pay a little
atteution to it, because it was held out as a
great inducement iu the beginning. — Nevermind how
mucli you send, there will be the giand result of couf er-
ring an iuesti uableboou on humanity, because you will
place cheap quinine within the reach of the very poorest
people. He nuped for the sake, at any rate, of the cin-
chona growers in the East, that every effort would be
ma le to disseminate the use of it throughout Great
Britiiu. Oardamoms h id been mentioned, and he was
sorrj' to .say tbit they also in Ceylon had been so com-
pletely sacuesjful that their success led to failure, the
price having come down to oue-third of what it was two
years agi. This would shjw that they were a go-ahead
people in Ceylon, and what he wanted to know was what
othr-r drugs they could supply the Ejglish markets with.
Tui-y had suff -red very much in the cultivation of
eoliee from having ah their eggs in one basket, and he
WAS Very much afraid they were inclined to go to the
same extent in tea. He was quite sure that there were
many drugs which could be profitably carried out as ad-
juncts to other enterprises. On one point he was a little
in opposition to Dr. Watt, for he must say he attached
great value to the native remedies which were in the
bauds of native doctors. He had derived benefit from
them himself, and had thought that the scientific gentle-
men who came out from medical colleges to the East
made a great mistake iu not exchangi'ig ideas with their
native brethren, aud in looking down upon them too
much. In the use of vegetable oils, especially iu rheu-
matic affections, he had derived great benefit. Vey often
natives possessed remedies and secrets which were still
unknown to the Pharmacopoeia. Mr. Holmes had been
described by Mr. McCarthy as a persistent beggar, but
he must say that if so he had deceived him because
he came to him a day or two ago in the guise of a
borrower. Still he must say, after the privilege he
had had of being there that evening, he should be most
happy to present to the Museum the samples which were
to have returned, and as long as his connection with the
Ceylon Court lasted, if there were anything else Mr.
Holmes would like to beg or borrow he should be most
happy to present it to the Museum.

Mr. Umxey drew atteution to the very fine samples
on the table of vanilla which came from the Seychelles,
aud it mi:5ht be interesting to inform the meeting
that Dr. Brook, whose name had been so favourably
referred to in the pajJer, had much benefited in the
harvesting and curing of his vanillas by a report which
appeared in the Pharmaceutical Journal some years ago.
It would seem, therefore, that even on this side they
could be of great service to gentlemen in the colonies.
"What made the Seychelles exhibit of more interest, also
was, that gome two or three years since he sent out a phar-
-maceutical chemist, who for many years was with the
old firm of Jacob Bell, and it was through him, under
Dr. Brook's direction, that these essential oils had been
placed on the table, and when in the Museum he felt
.sure they would be well worthy of examination. There
•were essential oils of geen cloves, dried cloves, green
tStems and dried stems, aud chemically there was very
jiittle difference between them. He was sorry to say tha

in the drug market they did not always appreciate
these goods when they came in, for only last week a
large parcel of essential oil of cloves was offered at the
drag auction in Mincing Lane, and with very great
difficulty a purchaser was found, because it was thought
to be adulterated, coming from abroad. Another exhibit
was that of turtle oil, which he lookt^d upon as one of
the most nauseating things which could be taken. Dr.
Brook assured him that the natives took it in the place
of cod liver oil, but its power of repeating probably could
not be equalled. He had tried to introduce it, but no
one would take it up.

Mr. David Howaud said, there were on the table some
of the most beautiful specimens of cinchona barks he
had ever seen, and they were interesting in two opposite
ways. One was about the most typical specimen of what
wa"* the very fiuest calisaya quill baik of his younger
days; another was calisaya bark, no doubt of a similar
strain, from Perak ; but you could hardly have two things
less resembling oue another, and after a great many
years' experience he shoul i have called it a very inferior
sample of red bark. Yet he had very little doubt that
the analy.sis would be very satisfactory. One could by no
means judge entirely by the eye. Again, there were two
samples from Jamaica; they were very familiar to him,
one of the very finest strains of succirubra bark he had
ever met with, and a very fine specimen of calisaya bark.
But in appearance the calisaya bark looked like a
Very nice sample of red bark, and the succirubra looked
like a very fair sample of calisaya. Yet botanically, and
as far as tests went, there was no doubt they were each
a most excellent strain of its own kind. Mr. Holmes
had mentioned the very high prices given for fine quill
barks for pharmaceutical purposes, and it was not entirely
a mistake to do so. Of course to the manufacturer any-
thing which would give quinine was valuable. He did
not much mind how much cinchotannic acid or resin
he had to deal with if he could get rid of it ; but on
the other hand for galenical preparations there was no
doubt that fine quills were infinitely better than barks
that might be much richer in alkaloid. He did not see any
specimens of succirubra, which was now the official bark,
but there was the renewed bark, a most interesting and
valuable specimen. With regard to the crispa he might
say that the knotty appearance was not essential to the
true crispa. In some varieties it grew with an exceedingly
thin epidermis. This knotty tendency was noticed by
Jussieu a good many years ago, but so far as it went it
was a disadvantage. The cork did not contain any
quinine, as far as could be discovered ; only mere traces
were found, and he believed they were derived from
small portions of the real bark, which it was difficult to
remove. The crispa with a fine thin epidermis was really
the best- Having forsaken his hereditary pharmacy for
chemistry he might put iu a word iu favour of applying
chemistry to some of these new drugs. There was a
beautiful sample of coca leaves, and there could not be
a better example of how chemistry and pharmacy should
work together than the history of cocoa and cocaine.
When it was first brought over it was on account of the
great value the natives attached to it, and the great
benefits they found to arise from it; but curiously enough
its first iutroluction into English therapeutics wa* com-
paratively a failure, and it did not appear to have the
merits ascribed to ii;- He believed it was simply because
they had hardly discovered what its merits were. It
was assumed it was simply a beneficial drug to stay
hunger, without having any idea how it was. Then
chemistry came in and cocaine was extracted. It was at
first a curiosity, but then its anjesthetic property was
noticed. He would point out, therefore, that it was en-
tirely owing to chemistry that it had become possible to
utilize this property, since a heavy dose of cocoa leaves
in the eye would not be wholly desirable before an
operatation. It appeared to him that many of these
comparatively unknown drugs should not be merely
dealt with galeiiically, but chem'cally also. If you
ccudd get a defiuite principle from them to operate
with you might, as in the case of coca leaves, tr.xca
the actual cause of the value which had been dis-
covered by the natives by long practice, and having got
the real cause of the value it might be applied far
better to pharmacy under altered circumstances than

f EE. I, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRrCULTTJPTST.

Sty

by merely trusting to the iuformation of native doctors.
They were no tools, an i ha i found out b_v long expfiri-
ence and wonderful skill a great deal more than we
gave them credit for, but by taking their experience,
and bringing modern science to bear upv)u it, the
best results would be obtained, ai'd it would thus
become possible to dispense with some of the elegaat
forms of pharmacy of which they had heard. The
question of new drugs waut«^d a great deal of stuiiy,
and a great deal of hard work, but like all other
things you never got any good results without hard
work, and you never did hard work without some
results.

Mr. Ohaeles Ohristy said, that recently some remark-
able specimens of gums had been received from India,
but up to the present time there as no gum which had
come under his notice which would supersede that frum
the Soudan, Known in Commerce under the name of
"Tuikey sorts." This pold, before the breaking out of
the Soudan war, with difficulty at 35s. to 40^'. a hundred-
weight, but at the present moment it was worth £10
to £11. What was wanted was some gum to replace
it, audit seemed a very strange thing that they had not
yet been able to find one. What was wanted was a sweet
gum, which could be used medicinally as a mucilage.
The gums hitherto brought forward were more or Jess
of a bitter nature, containing a large amount of
tannin, and the consequence wis when used for dyeing
purposes, if the dye coutaiued any mixture of iron it
turned black. He hoped the gentlemen from thedifferent
colonies would bear this in mmd. They were getting
gums from Australia, but none of them that
he knew of were of the sweet character which could
be used in pharmacy. The nearest thing to it was the
produce of Senegal. The vanillas from Seychelles were
much finer than were generally seen in commerce.
Mr. Stockman said he had been carrying on some
investigation on the Borneo camphor which Jlr. Holmes
kindly sent him two or three months ago, but he could
only speak at present in a very general way of its action,
chiefly in comparing it with ordinary laurel camphor.
There was no doubt that the earliest camphor brougt to
this country was Borneo camphor, and the earliest ex-
periments about one hundred and fifty years ago were
probably carried out with this substance, but they had
got 80 mixed up that at the present time it was quire
impossible to say which kind was used. Lately, owing
to the difficulty of getting Borneo camphor, some experi-
ments which were made in Germany were made with an
artificially prepared substance, as it only required two
atoms of hydrogen to bo a Idcd to ordinary camphor
to make Borneo camphor. But these experiments were
few in number and incomplete, and he believed the
investigation he was now CMrrying on was the first
which had been made with Borneo camphor. Physio-
logists visually began with frogs, and with them the
action was very much the same as that of common
camphor.

Mr. Kemp (Bombay) said he had been much in-
terested by the remarks on Indian drugs, but the
science of modern therapeutics he really believed
was in a very early stage, although the materia
. medica of India vvas very ancient; many articles had
dropped out of U'^e, and might be taken up with
great profit for modern investigation. It was said
that sandal-woo I oil as imported from India was much
adulterated. He was not aware that sandal-wood oil
was exported from India in any quantity, but it was
ce) tiinly produced in considerable purity, the only
adulterant being moisture. It could be obtained in
considerable quantities snd good quality, if care were
taken in selecting specimens. It was principally di -
tilled in the Mysore territory. In Australia it was
preferred in many cases, whether from its superior
cheapness or from its quality he could not say. It
was not exported in the cjudc state in which it canie
into the market, but was either re-(li-tili<d o- care-
fully filtered. \Vith regard to the Cnnnabis mdica
hd had no kuowle:ige, buo when in India he had had
repeatei! applications from persons in this country
for it, as he understood to apply the Cooly mirkets
of the West Indies, and other colonies where it was
used ia largQ quantities, and he understood that was

ts destination. The kind in demand v.t'j the rouni
top, generally imported iu bundles jf 1 itj. each, wh ch
was exported from Calcutta and possioly through
Bombay from B.-i>gal. The Bombay c<naabi8. Dr.
Watt h&i said, was of the flat kind, which abounded
in stalks and probably that was one reason for its
inferiority. Mr. Holmes had also mentioned oil from
melon seeds, and he might remark that although
melon seeds were obtainable only in small quantities
in India, they yielded about 25 per cent of oil
and were very good for ' feeding purpos-es. The
Jatropha Curcas was used to a considerable extent in
India, and he should like to see it come mjre into the
maiket. Another drug not mentioned was the Ipomea
ccerulea, one of the cunvolvu.us family, the seeds
produced a resin resembling that of the jalap, if not
identical with it, an i it yielded about four or five per
cent. He imagined it would be a profitable source
of jalapiu. Ho hoped the scheme of the Institute
would be taken up and thoroughly carried out, for
really, London being the central market of the world
for drugs, there was a better opportunity for studying
the Indian materia- medica here, both in a theoretical
and practical form than there was to any ordinary
person in India, and this would be still more the
case if the Institute were established. The difficulty
in India was to communicate with the deposi-
taries of the native medicines owing to the multifarious
languages they spoke, and the different accounts they
gave of the different drugs, and the way in which they
locked up their medical knowledge in their own
breasts. Dr. Dymock, in his recent work, had done
a great deal to overcome these difficulties, and his
was one of the most accurate and interesting books
published on the subject. He had often heard him
refer to the great assistance he had derived at various
times from Mr. Holmes.

Mr. Thomas Christy said it was very interesting to
see these valuable exhibits, but after all Mr. Howard had
really touched the vital point: — How were they to be
turned to account ? On an occasion like the present he
might be allowed to say that although the young men
coming on might be able to work at these things, the
next thing was to get them used.

Mr. Leopold Field said there was only one point
which came within his ken as a practical soap and
candle maker, and that was the remark made by Mr.
Bosisto with regard to the eucalyptus. For the last
two years his firm had been trying to get hold of
something besides the globulus, but found the Austra-
lians unwilling to let them have any, and he did
not believe there was one gallon of the dumosa oil
to be obtained in the market.

Mr. BnsisTO said they never sent a pound weight
of E. globulus oil into the market.

Mr. FiKLD said it was labelled so at any rate.
Mr. Bosisto said he must emphatically contradict
that. He had only one label, and that label, was
rigistered.

Mr. Field said he did not allude to Mr. Bosisto per-
sonally at all. The oil they obtained always came
to them in iron tins holding about fifty-six pounds,
and it was labelled E. globu'us, and sometimes by
way of change E. ainygdalitia, for the two things
seemed exactly the same. They bad had one
sample of E. dumosa, which was vastly superior, and
they had tried to get it, again and again, but they
had never been able to obtain a similar oil. They
had now sent out an extensive order hoping it would
induce the di.stillation of this oil. Naturally their
only knowledge was derived from those standards
which came under their notice, and if they were
supplied with the wrong article, how could their
knowledge be correct? With regard to the various
scents which the eucalyptus and its isomers were
Citp.ihle of assuming, tiny weie of the gr. ati st value
and iiiierest to the soap maker. The i<jiuoii-.scented
II on burk, whicli iie believed was the 'iniudorn, was
to him a roost interesting substance, and no tloubt
might if worked into soup give the public very great
satisfaction, i.iasrauch as the odour appeared to be
pleasauter than lemon grass, and not so sickly as
that of citronelle. All the odours the various eucalypti

5i8

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Feb. I, 1887.

were capable of assanaing had the peculiar property
common to camphoraceous odours, aad no doui.t the
soap maker would be able to utilize them largely.
But it all pointed to the necessity there was for some
competeut authority in these subjects, and especially
of having a Museum where these things shoald be
distinctly and correctly labelled. He was not aware
that they derived their samples from Mr. Bosisto's
firm ; they had got them through the London broker.^,
and did not know where they came from. He knew
they had got very different things under the same
name, and that what they really wanted they could
not obtain at all.

Mr. Hall (of Messrs, Edward Cook and Son) remark
that essential oils were of great interest to soap makers.
He was also interested in the beautiful specimens of
white coconut oil from Trinidad. It would be very
desirable to have a cocoaut oil without any scent, but
at the same time it should be of a wiiite colour. Most
of those oils could be used by soap makers, but they
only came into their hands when produced in such
large quantities as to be cheap.

Mr. Holmes, in reply, said .he thought the gums
referred to by Captain Molony were resins, thoutrh
they were called gum in commerce. The gum Mr.
Christy alluded to was a gum soluble in water, and
thit was much wanted at present — one which possessed
adhesive properties and which would not darken when
a little iron of salt was added to it. There was no
question that the resins or gums to which Captain
Molony alluded were much more largely used than
adhesive gums, and were very important articles.
Mr. Shand had greatly excited his curiosity with
regard to the oils that cured him of rheumatism,
and he should be very glad to know what they were.
"With reference to the cinchona crispa, there was a
specimen in the Museum, sent from Madras and ana-
lysed by Dr. Paul, which gave very good results,
quite within the requirements of Pharmacopceia. He
merely alluded to that variety as exhibited to pharma-
cists because no one could make any mistake about
it. Mr. Howard's remark that sometimes specimens
came over without that peculiar corkiness interested
him very much from a botanical point of view;
because auynne who ha I ob-ierved the commnu birch
tree wo dd know that when youug it bad one of the
smoothest barks, though later on it dev. loped cork
abundantlj'. The same might be the case with the
cinchona crispa. At ail eveuts the corky form was
easily recognized, and there cou d be no mistake
about it, because no other cinchona was at hU like
it. With regard to thi^ coci leavts not being valued
when they first came over, he thought it arose in a
great degree io.a the fact that the leaves were of a
very bad quality. "When the price went up very
much bet er leaves came over. He would direct Mr.
Charles Christy's attention to the guras from
Wrtst Africa in the G.im )i* Court, which had very
much '^n;^ appHnfAnr-e "I i^mu ^^rubi!;, nud hiso to
some "f thosa from M xicj. Wi'.h re>peet to the
E. yldbii'tis he should be glad to show Mr. F.eld at
any iime the specimens uameil true to speci s which
Mr. Bosisto had kiudly presented to the Museum,
and he wouid be then able to ju I^e oi' the kiuil re-
quired. He believed that the E. glolndus \a theEig-
lish market had come to a certain extent from Nice,
and also from San Franci->do, but where else he did
not know .—Phannacttiticil Journal,

WHAT THEY SAY IN "THE LANE."

That thpy don't want such heavy sales of Indian tea
three days before Chiistmas.

That since the 1st of June the-e have been about
100,000 packages more Indian and Ceylon tea printed
for public sale than in 1885.

That according to reliable estimates this extra
quantity sold to date represents nearly the whole in-
crease in the crop over last season.

That the necessary tasting and valuirg of such a
largely increased quantity has been extremely trying
and laborious to both brokers and dealers.

That two weeks cessation of business in the markets
whilst travellers were off work, and grocers too busy
to lo)k at tea, woa'd have afforded the overworked tea
tasters of Mincing Lane a chance of recruiting their
energies for the heavy trade of January and February.

That the importers and the selling brokers in forcing
on such heavy sales, and thereby curtailing the holi-
days, have raised up a very unfriendly feeling which far
more than counterbalances any supposed gains.

That in consequence of such heavy sales having taken
place just on the eve of the holidays, all the buying
brokers and dealers are full of stock ; and as they have
no chance of selling it till the second or third week ia
January, the new year bids fair to open flatly.

That unless Ceylon planters pack their tea in larger
breaks there will soon come a deadlock in Mincing
Lane, and a considerable decline in value of Ceylon
tea by reason of buyers being unable to see all the
little lots.

That those who divide up fairly large-seized breaks
in Cilcutta into three or four divisions, thereby neces-
sitating fourfold labour on the Loudon tasters when
the separate divisions have to be valued in Mincing
Lane, deserve condign punishment.

That if the practice he not discontinued, a com-
mittee of buyers will be formed to trace all such
divided lots and refuse to bid for them.

That the old motto of "Live and let live" has been
changed to " Every man for himself and devil take
the hindmost,"—^, # C. MaU, Dec. Slst.

Tea in the Andaman's. — Ten years ago the
Government tea garden in the Andaman Islands
started with an area of 3§ acres, which last year
had extended to 288^ acres. The out-turn of tea
during the year amounted to 26,600 lb. and of
this quantity 23,273 lb. were sold. — Madras Mail.

Granadilla and Tree Tomato.— In Covent Garden
Market may now he seen frui'S of the tre« Tomato,
C.vphomandra betacea, labelled as Granadilla, which
is an error, as that name applies to the fruit of the
Passion-fl >wer. The fruit of the tree Tomato is cooked
and made into a ki id of jelly. It was highly recom-
mended by Mr. Morris when in the West Indies
but it dots not find so much favour in In ia. We
believe 'he market is supplied from the Azores. — Gard-
eners^ Chronicle.

Pearl Fishixg by Electric Light.— The steam
yacht " Chic," belonging to Messrs. Alley and Mc-
Lellan, engineers, Glasgow, which has been berthed
in the Greenock harbour for the past few weeks,
has b^en fitted up with a Brush dynamo for the
purpose of suiting her for the pearl fishing in
South Australian waters. The "Chic" left on Satur-
day for the Gareloch, where she will remain unlil
the arrangements are complete for fitting up the
electric lamp. — electrical Mevitw.

Another Ceylon Tea Company. — Companies in-
terested directly or indirectly in Ceylon tea are
becoming numerous. The Ceyion Tea Growers
Limiied, is the name of a new undertaking regis-
tered a few days since, with a capital of £6,000,
divided into 600 shares of £10 each. It is formed
to carry on as principals, consignees, agents, or
otherwise, the business of importing and dealing
in tea, coffee, cocoa, cinchona, and spice, and other
produce grown in the island of Ceylon, and other
places, and to acquire the busine-s of Messrs. Del-
mege, Collinson and Whitham, of No. 1, St. Mic-
hael's House, Church Alley, E. C, and to acquire
certain trade marks. The first subscribers are :—
H. Whitham, planter, Ceylon, 1 share ; A. Delmege
17, St. Helens-place, E C, 1 ; J. B. Collinson,
planter, Ceylon, 1; R. Godfrey, planter, Ceylon,
1; A. H. Eeid. clerk, 17, St. Helens Place, E.G.,
1 ; W. Hollick, 28, Barnsbury Park, N., 1 ; A.
Hntchinson, merchant, Chiugford, 1. — Home and
Colonial Mail

I Fes/'I, 18H7.J f His fROPICAt AOniCULTVPMT.

§t9

HOW TO USE GAS-LIME.

This substance should be freely exposed to the air
for two or three months before applying to auy soil
on which is a growing crop, becpaise, besides many
sulphides, it contains a comp luud of sulphur and
cyanogen, that is very deadly to plants. lu anticip-
ation of a Turnip crop, it may be applied to the
fallow up till, say, February, which would allow suflScieiit
time for oxidation to alter the poisonous qualities of
the cyanogen. It is, perhaps, best to shghily harrow
it into the stubbles after they have been ploughed
because in this case the ammonia — or a poitiou of
it — resulting on the conversion of the cyanogen will
be retained in the soil if there is in it lime, salt,
kainit, or substances containing bases on which the
ammonia can form as nitrates. This simple view of
it may be borue in mind in making it into composts,
for unless there are substances on which the ammonia
can form, it will combine with carbonic acid and
escape into the air. The compost should therefore
contain a little snperphosphate, salt, or kainit, or even
a small portion of old lime. But in making a compost
heap it must be kept well away from a growing fence
or the roots of valuable trees, or it will kill them.

I may add that in my experience it is the most
effective substance that is to be had for the destruction
of fungoid and insect pests in the soils, and applied to
the fallow as above, at the rate of about 5 tons per
acre, there need be little ftar of finger-and-toe. —
" Fabmeb," in the " IVorth British Agricultmist."

COCONUT OIL,

Keferring to the recent discussion on this subject in
our columns, a Merchant who has had longer experience
perhaps, than any one in the IsUnd in the Oil
trade, informs us that Cochin Oil h^s always been
considered richer in stearine than Ceylon Oil. The
fact must, therefore, have been ascertained by analysis
in England, where Cochin, we are told, has been
mainly used in the manufacture of candles. Ceylon
being chiefly used for soaps. Even for the latter
purpose, Cochin beats Oeylou owing to its white-
ness, which we are now emulating and which, we
fancy, can easily be attained by the rejection of
smoke-dried and blackened Copperah, Wether this
is worth striving for is another matter, the decision
on which must depend on results. If it pays the
manufacturer better to purchase black and inferior
stulf, which generally goes by the name of cart
Copperah, at R4 or 5 a candy less than clean white
boat Copperah fetches, he will continue to use it in
his Mills. The question is whether the difference in
price between white Oil and ordinary Oil is sufiBcient
to compen.sate for the higher rate demande<l for clean
6un-dritd Coppprah, for which there is a good ii q-
uiry both in cominental Europe and in India. The
distinction of being first in the list of Oil-producing
countries will hardly be sought for by mill-owners at
the expense of their pocket.

The question of stearne is different from that of
the whiteness of Oil, and it is in respect of the
former that the Agricultural Association should institute
inquirits. Is tne poverty of stearine dun to defi-
ciencies in the soil, or to the mode of preparation ? If to
the former, how can the soil best be enriched in
the constituents it needs ; if to the latter, what
changes in the mode of dryin.T the kernel and ex-
tractmg the Oil arc called for? The services of an
Agricultural ('hemist are in any case nee led, and
should be put into requisition, so that by analyses
of soils, Oil and Oopp'-rali. a solution of the difficulty
may be suggested. Even to 1h" unprofessional mini it
must seem reasonable that ripe nuts should be richer
in stearine than immature ones; but do s the mode
of drying them also affect the fatty substance in Od
which gives it its special value ? If the temperature
at which Oil congeals is a test of its richness iu
stearine, it is worthy of note that cold drawn Oil,
or Oil extracted from the kernel slightly dried con-
geals sooner than ordinary cbekkoo or Mill Oih This

would f>£6]B t& iM^§»§llt ibat too mucb be^t^ vrb^tber

in drying' the kernel or ext^racting the Oil reduces
the stearine. The inquiry is au interesting one, and
may beneficialy affect our trade iu Oil, and as such
deserves the attention of the Association. The nor-
mal difference in price between Cochin Oil and
Oevlon is, we are assured, ouly from £3 to £4— the
difference of £11 .per ton recently reported being
confined to London, and due to some juj-'glery am'ing
speculators. Still, a difference of £3 to £4 is not im-
material, and is worth striving for.— Local " Examiner.''

AGRICULTUEE ON THE CONTINENT OF
EUROPE,

{Special Letter.)

Paris, Nov. 27th.

The Marquis de St. Aigan finds fattening calves
remunerative. He depends for nis success on a spe-
cial part — substitute for milk, composed of 132 lb.
white maize flour, 22 lb. linced meal, 64 lb. cooked
pea meal, 2\ lb. beetroot sugar, 2J lb. phosphate of
lime, — at a cost of 44 frs. The flour is blended in cold
WHter, then cooked in a hain marie, and given to his
calves daily during their fiist month at the rate of
six ounces in two-thirds of a gallon of water, mixed
with the same quantity of milk. From the thirtieth
to the forty-fifth day the milk is diminished and
discontinued at the latter date, when the meal-mix*
ture is doubled, and given iu Ij gallon of water. Ihe
following twenty days the mixture is raised to 18
ounces and the water to two gallons. Following the
season, the calves have always within their reach
tender herbage, or cut mangolds dusted with barley
meal. After the 75th day, the calves receive no more
of the compound ; they are given | lb. of maize fiour,
and the feed of grass or roots is increased. If the
season permits they are turned into a meadow. When
aged six months the calves are treated as ordinary
stock. The Marquis buys the calves in his neighbour-
hood and they are always the progeny of good Nor-
mandy cattle. With four milch cows and the sub-
stitute milk diet, he rears 80 calves yearly. He
attributes much of his success to his good pasture
laud. Phosphate of lime is gradually creeping into
use as an aliment, the average dose being quarter of
an ounce daily. It is best given when mixed with
some wetted meal or cooked roots ; for poultry, the
grain is first moistened and then dusted with the
phosphate. The same process for horses.

Some persons maintain that the exuded sap from
vines when pruned is not a loss of strength and so
not debilitatmg for the plant. Others view the exud-
ation as a hign of health and strength. Hales proved
that the sap which overflows can ascend in a glass
tube as high as 21 feet, and could raise a column of
mercury to the height of 32 inches. Now when the
leaves unfold this sap, ascension diminishes. In prun-
ing the vines the large wounds are often covered
with putty, the smaller cicatrise themselves. The
development of the roots can diminish the flow of
the sap and the Southern exposure of the stems
can augment it ; but temperature, humidity and rain,
exercise an important influence, Sachs lai I down
that ihb development of tbe rootf, the capillary force
of the cavities of the wood and the changes of tf mp-
erature act-, and differently on the ascent of the sap.
However when the 1 aves commence to function, the
roots c»^ase to devel'^p while serving to maintain as well
as capillary action, the ascending column of sap. The
liquids imbibed flow out at the cut sections when
the heat dilates the fluids and gases in the plant.

It is not then a matter of indifference in Spring
to judge beforehand ■.vijeii ttie sap will flow most
abuudai-tly. One day nine times more sap will exude
than on another. Hence, if the soil permit, prune
vines early; it it be necessary to perform the opera-
tiou later, select a cool day, commencing with
those varieties which develop leaves and roots most
rapidly. Late cutting tends to produce irregular
development, late flowering and hence late ripening.

Plants have two marked and different functions:

(be ]»a.i»ov^m» by tb^ gro^n wfttter wbea »cte4

po

THE TRdMCAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Fe», If iBBfi

upon by the sun decompose carbonic acid and give
off oxygen. This is a process of nutrition since by
that decomposition the plant assimilates the carbon
for its tissue. On the other hand tho branches,
flowers, fruits and seeds absorb oxygen and emit
carbonic acid. Respecting the roots de Saussure has
laid down in a general manner that oxygen is
indispensable to them. Messrs. Vesgue and Dc-heraih
have concluded their experiments showing that the
roots must find in the atmosphere of the soil, oxygen,
just as the leaves obtain it in the air. The root
however disengages but little carbonic acid ; thus little,
is not due to any decomposition of the plant's organs,
but to the regular circulation of the gas in the plant.

How to obtain heavy crops from the soil and at
the same time secure for them a good market price,
are the problems engrossing all attention. French-
farmers have been leaning to the raising of cereals,
as the road to remunerative culture, but were all
to do likewise, France would be a granary of abund-
ance, and excess would reduce profits below zero,
then it is never prudent to put one's eggs in a
single basket. These considerations lead to the new
departure of keeping cattle simultaneously with grain
raising, falling back, where required on the market
for a supplement of fertilizers.

The question of the exciting property of oats as
a measure of their feeding value, is again being dis-
cussed. It is admitted that this stimulating or ex-
citing virtue resides in the pericarp of the grain and
is highly nitrogenous. It acts powerfully on the motor-
nerves. It exists in oats in a different degree vary-
ing with the soil on which it grown. Black possess
a greater percentage of this stimulating substance
than white oats ; crushins the grain lessens its stim-
ulating action. The duration of the influence of this
exciting influence is estimated to be one-half hour
per each pound of whole grain.

Dr. L. Hecht, has tried to produce a cereal by
crossing wheat with rye, and thus obtain a grain
with a tendency to ripen earlier and perhaps in
suiting poor soils might thereby enhance their value.
The flower of wheat is hermaphrodite, that is capable
of impregnating itself like an oyster. The male and
female organs are so enclosed in a capsule _ that it
is extrpniH-Jy difficult for the pollen of any neighbour-
ing ear to penetrate, and still less that of any diff-
erent plant. Hence it was necessary to artificially
impregnate, by opening carefully the flower capsule
and remove the stamina when green. AYhen the
pistels — left alone— were deemed fit for fecundation
the pollen of an ear of rye was shaken on them,
the capsule carefully closed, and protected by a
papering. The experiment upon ear yielded ten
grains of wiieat. These were sown in autumn, nine
germinated. Tne sowings were continued. Results :
some of the years naked ; others bearded— the original
wheat was the bearded Armstrong variety — ''ut ail
resembled more the wheat than tho rye. The seed
6tooled well. The expeinient never cau rank higher
than a curiosity.

Gum Arabic. — The Soudan rebellion, threatening
ae far as Wady-Halfa, and thus preventing com-
munication on all the caravan routes, has put a
complete stop to exports of gum arable. The stocks
at Cairo, Trieste, Marseilles, and England being
nearly exhausted, there is no doubt that the real
article will eventually disappear from the general
market. From the annual report for 1885 of the
Breslau Chamber of Commerce it seems that even
if order were re-established (an event which is not
likely to happen for a long time) they could not
yet rely upon arrivals of any importance, since the
small accumulations of gum in the Soudan have
partly been used as food and partly destroyed.—
Das Handch- Museum. [This ought to encourage
the collectors of gum from our cadjunut
trees in the Cinuauioii Gardens and lowcowntry
genexftUy.— El?.]

Cactus Spieit.— Ik Spain Don Fernando de la
Camara recommends the employment of the fruit of
the Prickly Peai — Opuntia vulgaris— for the manu-
facture of alcohol. As this plant is very common in
m'Any of our tropical and subtropical dependencies it
may be worth the consideration of some of our Colo-
nial iriends.— Gardeners' Chronicle.

NovA-ScoTiAN Apples.— Some idea of the immense
consumption of Apples from across the Atlantic may
be gathered from the fact that frequently in a
single day one auctioneer in Covent Garden Market
sells under the hammer 10,000 or more barrels of
fruits from Nova Scotia. And the same may be
said of other salesmen.— G'ai-cte-Hers' Chronicle.

Fruit Development.— The cause of the fertility pro-
duced in fruit trees by bending the twigs at an acute
angle has been investigated by Professor Sorauer. He
finds that the bark on the lower surface of the twig be-
low the bend is thrown into transver>e folds, here and
there detached from the wood. In these cavities new
woody tissue is formed, filled with starch grains and
afterwards new woody tissue of a normal character, but
always thicker there than elsewhere, and especially
on the convex upper surface. The mass of woody
tissue checks the flow of water towards the tip of
the branch to the great advantage of the bud imme-
diately beneath, which is thus more likely to deve-
lop as a fruit bud. Pressor Sorauer does not appear
{Gard. CiLroii., Dec. 18, p. 785) to have taken mto
cosideration the obstruction to circulation of the sap
caused by the partially broken or compressed wood
cells at the bent portion. In bending poppy head
stems to ripen the heads, this is probably the chief
factor in the case, by arre^iting more or less the
upward flow of the s&^.— Pharmaceutical Journal.

AsiMiNE. — The " North American papaw," or 'custard
apple "(Asimina triloba, Dunal.) is an anonaceous
shrub that occurs on the banks of streams in the
middle, southern and western states of North America,
and probably received one of its names on account
of its edible fruit, from negroes who were acquainted
with the papaw of the tropics {Carica Papaj/a). The
plant is not at present used in medicine, but as the
bark and leaves have a disagreeable smell and bitter
taste different parts of it have bsen submitted to
examination by Messrs. Lloyd {Pliarm. Bunds., Dec,
p. 269). Only the ordinary constituents were found
in all the parts except the seeds, from which an
alkaloid was isolated that has been named "asimine."'
The pure alkaloid is described as being colourless,
odourless and tasteless, insoluble in water, readily
soluble in alcohol and ether, and less soluble in
chloroform or benzol. It could not be obtained in
the crystalline form, but the hydrochlorate and some
other salts were easily crystallizable. In some of its
reactions asimine closely resembles morphine, and it-
will probably b" made the su'^jesfc of physiological
experiments. — Pharmaceutical Journal.

A New Medicinal Plant. — A new medicinal plant
is referred to in a recent number of the Tlierajpeutic
Gazette under the name of Cacur, and is said to be used
by the Kaffirs in Southern Atrica as an emetic. The
plant is said to be Cucumis myriocampe, and the
green or yellowish-green fruits are the parts used.
The form of administration, as pursued by the Kaffi a^
is to heat the fruits, and squirting the contents intc
their mouths, to swallow them. The contents of two'
fruits are coiisidf'red a dose for an adult, aud one for a
child. The plant grows lar*;ely in gardens as a weed,
especially where Melons and Pumpkins are cultivated,
and it produces its fruits very abundantlj'. These fruits
are about the size of a large Gooseberry, at first green
but turning yellow on ripeniuij, and covered sparsely
with short soft prickles. The soft viscid pulp has a
faint odour of Cucumbers and a decidedly bitter taste.
From experime its ma<le with the pulp of the fruit it
seems to be decidedly emetic in its action and 2Hirgativo
in non-emetic doses. The chemistry of the plant has
not yet been satisfactorily ascertained ; so far as it has
been done there seems to be "no trace of any alkaloid,
the activity seeming to depend upon a bitter neutral
principle readily soluble iu water or. in 80 per cent
alcohol."— G^w^ff ners' Chronicle,

Fes. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

S^f

CINCHONA IN JAVA.

[The following Eeporfc shews that Mr. Van Ro -
munde is a worthy successor to Mr. Moens, for the
interest he takes in his work, and the experiments
he carries on, of the results of which we shall hear
in future Reports. Mr. Van Romunde's full Report
for 1885 covers five pages of the January num-
ber of the 7'ropical Agriculturist, and contains much
very suggestive information. — Ed.]

Report on the Government Cinchona Gardens

FOR the 3rd Quarter of 1886.

{Translated for the " Ce;/lon Olmerver.")

The weather during the past quarter has been pretty
dry, though it was occasionally varied by slight
showers of rain, which were very beneficial to the
young plantations and nurseries. J'rosts at nights,
which generally take place during severe droughts
and strong East winds, werj nowhere observed.

In the beginning of this quarter some thousands
of stronsr grafts were put out in the open ground,
and are thriving as well as could be wished.

The harvest of 1886 up to the end of September
amounted to 300,000 Amsterdam pounds of bark, of
which 260,288 pounds were sent to Batavia.

This produce was obtained by thinning out closely
planted Ledgeriana and Succirubra plantations, whilst
a not unimportant quantity of pharmaceutical bark
was harvested by rooting out some old succirubra and
Josephiana gardens.

Much care and expense were bestowed on the
nurseries of Ledgeriana and Succirubra seedlings for
the purpose of replanting the old gardens, which have
been uprooted as well as those remaining to be
uprooted.

A vigorous commencement has been made in the
preparation of the ground for this planting out, as
also in the clearing of wooded ground for extending
the plintations of the graft planting at Tirtasari, which
graft planting will be increased during the coming
West monsoon to the extent of SObouws.

During the past quarter only a few public sales of
cinchona seed were held, the gross proceeds of which
amounted only to /165-25. The greatest quantity of
seed did not begin to ripen till the month of September.
At toe sale of the 5th October a considerable amount
of soed waa announced, of which a portion was
obtained from grafts of selected mother trees, the
bark of which yielded over 10 percent of quinine. In
consequence of combination among private planters,
this sale only realized f20'5'50.

Advices have been received of the sale of the second
half of the produce of the harvest of 1885 on the 29th
September last. The results of the sale are not yet
known here.

At the request of parties interested in the cinchona
trade, and in concert with the Netherland trading
Society, the Minister for the Colonies has decided
that as a trial eight sales of cinchona bark, each year,
shall be held during 1887 and 1888.

The researches made for ascertaining the influence
which the Succirubra stem has on the constitution of
the bark of the Ledgeriana grafted thereon, have
been carried on during the past quarter, but have
not yet been completed, so that the results will not
be made known until the next quarterly report shall
be sent in.

(Signed) Van Romunde,

Director of the Government Cinchona Undertaking.
Bandoeng, 7th October, 1886.

statement showing the position of the govern-
ment cinchona plantations in JAVA FOlt THE 3UD
QUARTER 1886.

(8 plantations from 1,2.50 to 1,900 feet above sea level.)
Plants in the Nurseries :— Total of different kinds.—
Ledgeriana. 1,249,000(1, Succirubra 560,000.

Plants in the Open Ground :— Total of different
kinds.— Ledgeriana 755,7006, Calisaya en Hasskaiiliana
(iC

74,000, Succirubra en Caloptera 536,000, Officinalis
234,000, Lancifolia 8.000.

Plants in the Nurseries. — Total of all kmds
1,809,000.

Plants in the Open Ground. — Total of all kinds,
1,627,700.

General total number of plants 3,436,700.

a Including grafts.

h Including cuttings and grafts.

(Exclusive of more or less 3,500 original Ledgerianas),
Translated /or the ^^ Observer" from the Extra Supple-
ment 0/ the Jarasche Co7traiit, {^^ Government Qa;;ette'')
issued Dec 18th, 1886.

IMPORTANT TEA DELIVERY CA.SE,

A case of some importance has recently been tried
in London in the Queen's Bench, in whicli the ques -
tion of short weight was concerned. The plaintiffs,
Messrs. Lister and Biggs, purchased of Messrs. Barry
& Co, 96 chests of Tea of the declared nett weight
of 9,2251t). "When the Tea came to be weighed at
the London wharf it was found to be 587 lb short.
The defence was that the sellers acted simply as
agents and were not responsible for the declared
garden weights. Although the amount in dispute was
only 25 lb, the case is necessarily of considerable
importance to owners and Agents here, and it is to
be hoped that it may induce more care being exercised
as to Garden weighments in future. It would seri-
ously tend to a want of confidence in the home mar-
ket if such cases were to become at all common.
In this case the chests are reported to have been in
good condition. The only conclusion that can be
come to, therefore, is that the scales at the garden
must have been defective, for, of course, intentional
fraud in such a matter is quite out of the question.
Managers would do well to have their scales period-
ically tested, as they are liable, of course, to get
out of order, and during weighment a European as -
sistant should invariably check the native weighman,
with whom, perhaps, inaccuracy of weight sometimes
lies. The judge, in summing up, dwelt on the great
importance of this case to Tea owners, because, aa
he remarked, on the one hand there was a sort of
imputation that fraudulent conduct had been pursued
somewhere, and on the other hand a custom had been
set up which was a dangerous one, — a custom which
required a great deal of watching. He held that a
man buying a given quantity was entitled to receive
that quantity, custom or no custom notwithstanding.
The jury naturally enough concurred in this view,
and found for the plaintiffs witli costs and a certi-
ficate in a special jury. So that by the time all
charges are paid, the expense will not be trifling.
That, however, is of less account than the injury
which such a case is likely to do to the reputation
of Indian shippers. Fortunately, publicity m such
matters, is as a rule, avoided, and we think Messrs.
Barry & Co. showed an unv?ise discretion in disput-
ing the claim. Whenever a claim in respect to short
weight is made at home, it is almost invariably at
once allowed by the wholesale seller, and we think
it is only fair that this should be so, even though
the loss may have occured through pilfering
at the Bonded Warehouse, because the pur-
chaser has nothing to do with this. It is the owner
or his agent alone whose business it is to protect his
own property, or, if he is unable to do so, to hold
himself liable for the loss. That a good deal of pil-
fering goes on in the bonded warehouses we fully
believe, and it is strange that so little heed is paid
to the matter. It is not very long ago that a prose-
cution of some employees of the Bonded Warehouse
revealed the fact that tea stealing was constantly
carried on there, and wholesale sellers, as we say,
were frequently in the habit of allowing, without ques-
tion, for such deficiencies. We think, however, in
justice to their friends on this side, they should not
take the matter so easily, but should induce the
authorities at the Bonded Warehouse to look a little
better after their employees. — Indian Tea Gazette.

52

52

THE TROPICAL AGRlCULTUKrST,

[FC8. f, 1887c

>r»s

TEJt YELLING SHOW OF AGRICULTUBAL
IMPLEMENTS IN SOUTHERN INDIA.

The following Resolution of the Madras Board of
Revenue, is dated 13th November :—

" The Director's report on the operations of the
Travellint; Acricultural Show, sanctioned in G. ().,
dated 10th June 1880, will be submitted to Gov-
vernment. The show, under the superintendence
of the Assistant Director, Mr. Benson, travelled for
two months, July and August, along the line of
the South Indian Railway tln-ough the districts of
South Arcot, Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Madura and
Tinnevelly ; it visited some twenty of the more
important towns of those districts, and at each
place the working of improved ploui^hs, seed drills,
harrows, rice hullers and other appliances was ex-
hibited with success, and, as a result, some 300
ploughs cf an improved type were sold by the
agent whom Messrs. Massey & Co. had deputed
to accompany the expedition. What its cost was
does not appear, but, under the orders of (tov-
ernmsnt sanctioning it, that cost will have been
met from the allotment provided for the plough-
ing matches, whose place it takes. The Director
recommends that these tours should be continued
and the Board support him ; he proposes the
permanent deputation of a trained student to take
charge of them, and the employment of a com-
petent blacksmith, the time of both to be given
wholly to the work. The former proposal has
the Board's support, the latter has not ; it is not
desirable that the people should be taught to be
dependent on a itinerant Government blacksmith
to the discouragement of the local smith, nor,
in any case, would it be fair to the latter that
the former's work and material should be given
gratis, It riiust be brought home to the people
that it is to their profit to buy spare shares,
which should be readily available ; and, if it
cannot be shown that it is to their profit to do
BO, then the plough stands condemned and the
fact should be honestly admitted ; if the ploughs
cannot command themselves to the public on their
own intrinsic merits, without the assistance of
gratuitious repairs by Government, then any tem-
poraiy advance that they may make must be
looked on as a mere paper advance, and not as a
permanent fact. The Director suggests also that
the exhibitions should be limited to the working
of ploughs, but this does not appear to the
Board to be necessary ; the exhibition of ploughs
should certainly be the main object of the expedi-
tion, but it will not be possible to be ploughing
always, and the spare hours may usefully be spent
in the exhibition of other appliances, to the existence
of which, if not to their use, the native mind
will gradually become accustomed." — Madras
Mail.

NATIVE AGRICULTURE AND AGRICUL-
TURAL EDUCATION IN CEYLON.

From one of the most estimable and intelligent
of Sinhalese country gentlemen we are acquainted
with — Mudaliyar D. C. Ameresekere of Hanwella,
u friend of Sir C. P. Layard— we have received
the copy of a letter which he sent to the Public
Instruction Office so far back as October 1884.
!No acknowledgment has been received, but very
probably some of the ]\Iudaliyar's ideas have been
acted on. We quote as follows : —

1. That the children of tlie agricultural classes now
sittondii'.g the village schools stay iu school for a very
!limitofl period and leave it in a helpless conditioi). The
yiittle leaining which is not very often more thao aQ i

imperfect knowledge of reading and writing is of no
avail for them to get a permanent livelihood, nor are
they accustomed to do any trade that their parents
have hitherto doue. Moreover, most of the lads at the
present day thiuk it a disgrace to work in a field or
garden after having been in school for sometime. These
lads when they are grown ap try to earn food and cloth-
ing in various trilling and inclfectual ways and failing
to attain their object, they resort to vicious and uu-
lawfiil means, loatking \v»rk and those who work. It
is, therefore, percuptiljle to all, and to nie particularly,
(being a resident in the interior) that iu this manner
the island is gradually going down iu wealth and
civilization.

2. That my opinion as regards the establishment of
village schools is summarised as follows : — An allotment
of jungle land of the extent of ten acres or more, a
sulhcient supply of agricultural in)plemeuts, and a
teacher should be given for each school by Government.
The parents of the children should fell down the jungle
and put up a school bungalow with accommodation for
the teacher to reside in. The school should be kept fer
six hours, three of which should be spent in learning
readujg, writiug and aiithmetic (of the native language)
and the remaining three for garden vpork. The land in
this case may be divided among the pupils of the
school, and be planted with coconut, jak, arecauut and
other fruit-bearing trees, together with yams and veget-
ables of different kinds according to the nature of the
soil. "When the school is in existence for five
years the entire land allotted for the school will
in this way be planted and the greater uunaber
of the trees will be bearing. An acre of the land will
then be worth about R30U, the same acre in its wasteful
state would not have been disposed of by Government
for more than KIO. One -halt of the planted land should
be given to the pupils of the school, the other half to
Government. By this means a considerable *um may
be added to the revenue also. The schoolmasttr
should be entitltd to half the yams and vegetables
grown on the land, and the pupils to the other half. The
teacher is here able to raise a considerable sum, hence a
schoolmaster who is now working for K20 per mensem
will be wiihng to work for RI5, as he will be able to
raise over E5 a month by his share of vegetables, ,S:c.

'6. When the land has been fully planted, the school
may be shifted to alike piece of ground and the same
operations being carried on, like results may be obtained.
A child who attends school at the age of five will be
able to cultivate three pieces of laud before he reaches
20. At this age he can leave school as a civiUzed and
experienced cultivator with a ceitain amount of property
which is probably worth more than R500, and with a
thorough knowledge of reaHiug, writing, and arithmetic.
The descendants of tliese refined agriculturists will
then have reason to thiuk that these two (cultivation
and learning) are the natural courses that children have
to take up, and will i.o more entertain that erroneous
idea that work is a disgrace.

4. When village agricultural schools are established
iu the manner I have indicated, the parents of the
childicn iu the interior will be too glad to give a help-
ing hand to education for its dissemiiiatioa. I am of
opinion, therefore, that this method will be one of the
best plans by moans of which the wealth and civiliz-
ation of the island may be raised to a higher standard.
— I remain, dear sir, yours obediently, D. Ajierissekkhe.

CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA.
We call attention to the letter of Mr. J.
McCombie Murray on this subject, (page 521,) which
may be taken as addressed to " The Ceylon Tea
Syndicate " — if such a body is still in existence —
per favour of the press. We have from the out-
set maintained that America — the United States
and Canada — presented the most favourable field
of operations for a Tea Syndicate. Far more so,
in our opinion, than the Australasian Coloniea
with their limited population, less all told than

Ptu, 1, 1S87.J f HE TIROP^CAL AQiaiCOLTUmSf*

.m

aam*ieaaamiaala

mfyn f TTiiiigriaiiii

is contained in many single States of the Western
Pepublic. The United Kingdom is even now
effectually worked and private enterprise is likely to
)io all that is required there in the way of extension.
There may be room on the Continent of Europe
to make Ceylon teas better known and to endeavour
to encourage consumption — to create a demand, now
that cotfee is getting so dear. laut it is surely
among the 60 millions of English-speaking people,
between the Atlantic and Pacitic, most of them
tea-drinkers or the descendants of tea-drinkers
from our common mother-country, that we may
look for encouragement and success from the
working of a Tea Syndicate, in placing good sound
Teas before the consumers, without the interference
of New York buyers or mixers. There may be
technical objections to some parts of the scheme
of Messrs. Pineo* and Murray ; but in its broad
outlines, it seems to present a feasible plan of
working and one by no means unfavourable to the
Ceylon producer. We trust it will be taken _ into
the careful consideration of the Planters' Association
and the Syndicate Committee. If all large pro-
prietors promised a few thousand lb. of tea each,
in support of the experiment, there would not be
much dilHculty in guaranteeing a suflicient quantity
to try the American market thoroughly for a year
at least. Perhaps Mr. Rutherford would consent
to make the schedule he originally drew up, form
the basis of a new guarantee in favour of Messrs
Pinoe and Murray. Both these gentlemen are too
well-known in Ceylon, and have too close a
connection with the island, to be otherwise than
sincerely and wholeheartedly anxious to do their
best for our produce. Indeed, there would be the
best of guarantees to this effect, namely, that their
own interests would be indentical with those of
the Ceylon planters. We trust, therefore, that the
present opportunity of getting a fair trial for our
teas on the Continent of North America, and
especially in the middle and Western States, may
not be slighted, but that through the good offices
of the Planters' Association and its Committee,
steps towr.rds the establishment of a Syndicate
for this purpose, may shortly be taken.

CEYLON UPCOUNTRY PLANTING EEPORT :

CUKIKG 01' TKA IX COLOJIUO — EAMASAMl'S IDEA OF
PUNCTl'AI,ITY.

17th .Jan. 1887.
Is the curing of tea in Colombo which is
already being tried, the beginning of a big thing
or an expiring effort of the old system ? If fuel
is going to become expensive and hard for estates
to get, the sending of green leaf by train to
Colombo, may be one way to yet over the
difficulties. Anyhow, thirteen cents a lb, which
I understand is paid at present, should suit some
of the low-country places, and with a cheap freight
and a night train even some that are higher up.
If fuel has to be imported, it may become a ques-
tion whether it Vioulcl not be cheaper to have large
factories in Colombo for the manufacture of tea.
To meet the freight of the leaf, there would be
the saving on the carriage of lead, fuel and manufac-
tured tea. Of course it would be only estates near
a railway which could avail themselves of this plan.
There would require also to be special trucks for
tho carriage of the leaf to allow a man to pass
through them, who might Btir up the leaf to
prevent its heating ; and the factory to take
delivery from the planter at the railway station.
By this means one man travelling with the train
might look after the pluckings of a good many places,
and land them in good condition at tlie terminus.

^ew tkali tUe cool/ is ksliag tliat he is »gaiu

becoming of some importftnCe in Ceylon, he ig
waking up to a sense of his rights, and is evidently
not to be trifled with. A striking illustration of
this I heard the other day. A head kangani pre-
sented his " durai " with a ^Yaterbury watch so
that he might blow the horn regularly at four !

PEPJPERCOEN.

COFFEE DISEASE IN THE PROVINCE OF
RIO DE JANEIRO.

On the 18th Nov. the president of the proviuce
addressed a circular to the various muuicipal cham-
bers calling attention to the report of Sr. Glaziou, in
which he cliims to have discovered the origin of tho
coffee disease. «r. Ulaziou's report is of sufficient
interest to warrant our translating it in full.

To the Coffee Planters:—

After repeated invcstigafious I have had I he fortUna
to discover, on the plantations of "Boa Esperanca"
belonging to Jlajor Belieni and " Serra Vermlha"
beloiigiug to Sr. Francisco Dias Ferreira, in the muui-
ciprdify of C!_antag:illo, on October 22ud and 'iSrd ulto.
the manner iu which arises the propagation of and
the inoeulalion by the parasitic insect coustitutiuj
the present disease of the coffee trees in Brazil; and,
wliat is better, a positive and practical manner to
destroy it in little time. The cause of so lamentable
a damage is a microscopic insect which lives and grows
in the filiforiu roots of tho coffee tree, introducing
itself into its radical spongioles where it destroys the
cellular structure of tlie plant in search of fouil, and
when adult it creates in these same roots its nests,
formed into knots, which reach a diameter of one
to three uiilliinetres. In these knots, or nests, the
insect deposits its thousands of eggs. Ooncurreutlj'
the small radical fibres attacked by the iusec t rot
away, dropjnng into the surrounding ground the thou-
sands of eggs deposited by the insect and which may
be compared to the .■iporidia of a certain group of
mushrooms, as well from the exterior appearance
as from their incalculable number.

It is in consequence of this pest that one sees tho
coffee plant wither, assume a yellowish color, lose its
new leaves at the extremities of the branches and
drop its fruit, already blighted by the deviation of
the sap which the nutritive organs had condensed
from the soil for the benefit of the normal life of
the tree. Thus attacked the plant quickly dies,
bequeathing to the soil the totality of the evil
which has caused its destruction.

Such cases have occupied my attention for some
five years, and even more the manner in which planters
might free themselves of them, and this I have
positively discovered. It is this : examining with my
own eyes through a microscope, excavating the soil
myself in the coifee plantations, I recognized that
the cause ®f this lamentable disease exists in the
heaps of weeds hoed up, and nearly always drawn
around the coffee shrub. There these weeds rot,
forming little heaps of humus very ligiit and very
fertile, which attract the newer roots of the coffee
plant, and as there they are more tender
and more vigorous than in any other place,
they are immediately invaded by the pest up* to
the very smallest fibres in a most disheartening manner.
The heaps of humus formed by the residuum of
decomposition of these weeds are later on dissipated
by the rain and scattered in all the depressions of the
soil, and thence their animal contents penetrate so
much deeper into the porous soil, as this is proportion-
ately fertile. The penetration is less frequent in com-
pact, argilaceous and dry soils.

Convinced of this fact, I hasten to recommerd to
interested planters never to heap the weeds and leave
them to rot around the coffee trees, but to fcatter them
between the rows, where there is sufficient sun, that
they may be dried as speedily as possible, and once
dried to collect them into heaps and burn Ihem, leaving
the soil of the coffee orchards perfectly c:can. It"
there be any difficulty in burning the weeds, it is ab-
solutely necessary to carry tbew out of the orchards

5^4

I'HE rmmCAh AGRICULTURIST.

[Feb. 1, 1BS7,

and i)Iace them ia uncultivated spots, far from the
plantations, and alsove all from orange trees, for these
latter are also liable to attacks, from and destruction
by this same pest which so miserably destroys the
coffee plants; the same thing occurs with thepawpaw
(maiiwetro) where I have also discovered the pest. By
following these indications, I am convinced that, in less
than two j't^FS, 1;he coffee orchards of the municipality
of Cantagallo and of others will return to their pristine
condition, maintaining a favorable position and repaying
to planters and to the State a return for tlieir labors.
— AiKjusto Francisco Maria Glaziou. — '' Rio News."

Aktificial Fuel for Tea Curing. — We regret
to learn that the result of enquiries is to shew
that although crude Kerosene oil could be applied
as an efficient heating agent, the cost of carriage
would bring the cost up to double the price of coals,
while coals seem to be in most cases twice the
cost of wood fuel. Our own hope is in the resi-
duum of coal wells, compressed into bricks, the
freight of which, as ballast for ships, might be very

ow. In any case we cannot doubt that a cheap
Artificial fuel will, ere long, be discovered.

CoFFiiE Disease in Bhazil. — We call atten-
tion to an interesting extract on our last page, from
the Bio Ncics by which it will be seen that a Brazilian
attributes the coffee disease which has ravaged the
province of Eio, to a minute insect, fostered by
heaps of decaying weeds. We suppose this is the
Cciniostoma referred to by the late Mr. Cruwell in
his letters to us from Brazil, although no scientific
name is given by M. Glaziou. We doubt very
much whether this gentleman's remedy will be as
successful as he anticipates.

Cheap Quinine : A Pkactical Question. — Can
any of our readers find out through relatives
or friends, whether the people in the Fen
districts of England or away down in Essex and
Kent about Gravesend and the mouth of the Thames,
have benefited at all by the cheapness of quinine ?
Quinine is of as much consequence to thom as to
the people in the Southern States of America. Do
the resident clergymen, and other ministers and
philanthropic people generally, know that quinine
can be got for 2s 6d or 3s per ounce ? Who
will enquire ?

The Advance in Kowrie Gum. — For a number of
years past statements regarding the growing difficulty
of gathering kowrie gum h;ive reached this market
at different times, almost invariably with the result
of causing a stififening of prices here. Recently similar
reports have been received, with the added inform-
ation that the diggers have now to seek for the gum
so far from the settlements that the expense of
transportstioD adds materially to the cost of the
article when put upon the market. The long depres-
(sion in trade in New Zealand has induced a large
number of people who engage in the occupation only
as a last re.iort to go to work at digging for the
.gun). Still, notwithstanding the increased number of
diggers, siipplie.1 come iu very ,vla\yly from the interior.
^^yc": Fiild Drug I<eporter, (Gums of all kinds are
Advancing in price,- -EO.]

K.AFOK. — Under this Malayan u;tnie the Silk-cotton
tfee of India and the Archipelago, and which is indeed
Common throughout the tropics, is known. Botanic-
ftllyit is the Eriodendron anfractuosum, a plant well
known to botanists, and, when collecting seed-vessels
Was in vogue some forty years ago, to amateurs also.
It was always a mystery why the .'<ilky fibres attached
to the seeds of this plant in such profusion, were not
utilised, Certainly it was from no fault of the
botanists. Now we learn that it forms a large item
in Australian trade, Melbourne being now supplied
from India and Ceylon. It is chiefly used for up-
holstery purposes. In 18S6, 7,995 bales, worth between
X26,000 and £27.000, were imported, principally from
Java, where special care is taken iu cleangiug aud
»pckjug the 6brc.—<?*rdff««w' Chronicle,

-♦- —

To the Edilor of the " Ceylon Observer."

CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA.

Philadelphia, Pa., 12th Dec. 1886,
Dear Sir,— Your editorial " re The Ceylon Tea
Syndicate " appearing in the Overland issue of
the 29th October has been read with interest.
That " it is to a Syndicate of the main body of
those interested in tea-growing in the Colony that
we look for the full realization of our desire " is,
perhaps, a matter of fact more easily understood
than fully realized, that is if any dependence i&
to be placed by the Ceylon growers upon the
American market as a fall-back. Before advanc-
ing any arguments, let me mention that I am
indebted to the invaluable information afforded
me by Mr. Pineo (with whom I am about to co-
operate) for a more or less intimate knowledge of
the tea trade as carried on in America. You refer
in your editorial to the practices of " unscrupulous
parties " in Britain to the unscrupulous means
used for trade purposes in dealing with our Ceylon
teas. A passing glance at the American tea market
v.'0uld turn the renjcst abuses in England into
the most honest trade. I speak of what I see and
what I see, I believe. There are two classes of people
who are identified with the tea trade — -the seller
and the buyer, or, I may say, the seller and the
sold. It is difficult to understand how a people,
proverbially sharp in business and oftimes un-
scrupulous, can themselves be so easily swindled
in their turn, but so it is. Fortunately for us,
we are yet in the position of power. We might
be deceivers if we would, but to be so there is
no call, and we cannot be deceived ourselves 80
long as we act with wisdom and forethought.

Our Indian rivals, as I intend showing, were un-
fortunate inasmuch as they failed to liuhl their
position by throwing their produce en Moc upon the
American market. The value of the same was,
from that moment, a matter for the Americans
to decide, the result as may be expected a heavy
loss to the members of the Indian Syndicate, and
a marked improvement in the Japan teas without
the shadow of benefit to the name of India as a
tea-producing country.

It surprized me to hear from as interested and
acute an observer as Mr. Pineo, that to his know-
ledge there has not been a pound of Indian or
Ceylon tea retailed in the country, save what came
through his hands. Is not this sufficient proof
that the means used by the Indian Syndicate
were inadequate to serve the real interests of the
Indian tea trade, or to meet the requirements which
a proper iiUrodiictioit calls for ? As the result has
proved, the energies of the Indian Tea. Syndicate
have been most successfully devoted to raising the
value of Japan teas in the opinion of the American
people and nothing more. If 1 might make so bold
a surmise, I should say another cause of the
failure of the Indian Tea Syndicate might have
been a very half-hearted interest, in, if not actual
discouragement of the business on the part of the
Calcutta Agents, who uatuarally enough, would take
no favourable interest in a scheme which took busi-
ness past their portals.

Do I hear the Ceylon producer say : " The more
reason why the Ceylon Tea Syndicate should die
a natural death — we'd better let well alone ! As
for myself I'll send mij tea to the London market
as long as I get prices that pay." Just so! Every
seller is at perfect liberty to Eell in the market
of his choice, but that in no way interferes with
tb9 abuse oi your tea iu America. Your tea is bought

Feb. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

525

today by Americans for mixing purpases, but
that in no way assists in the introduction of your
produce into America. It merely aids in placing
the rubbishy Japan teas o« a higher level. Is
this the end for which you work? Be assured of
this, 0 proprietor, (and you can jjlace this letter
in a safe place for reference about three years
hence) that should you find prices go down in
England, you will have considerable difficulty in
disposing of your produce profitably when you find
that you are obliged to sell your tea, unintroduced
to the consumer, in the open American market or
sell as best you can in Mincing Lane.

Unless Ceylon tea is very soon placed before
the American people as a spccialtg ; unless the
taste of the American people is educated to it, and
thereby a demand for it created, it will yet have
to play second fiddle to Indian tea as a medium
for mixing, and share with it the honour of rais-
ing Japan tea to a higher standard and securing
for it the monopoly in the country. We have
considered the fate of Indian tea, as also the
probable fate of our Ceylon teas in this country.
If I am right in what I say, it behoves us to
consider how best to avoid such a fate for the
produce in which we are all so deeply interested.
My ideas and opinions have already appeared in
your columns, and I fear I must repeat myself
to a certain extent ; —

First. — Interested agents must be appointed in
America, whose business will be to sell pure Ceylon
tea in registered packets only.

Why interested agents? Because no tea-dealer
in America would undertake to push a tea which
affords him less profit than the tea he deals in.
The profits on Japan teas are larger than can
be made on Ceylons. Why should the jobber
disorganize his usual trade to please the Ceylon
producer ? It would entail talk, trouble and energy
to no profitable end. His trade would be less, his
profits would not and could not be increased one
whit. On the contrary, they would be diminished.

Second. — The Syndicate, if formed at all, must
provide itself with a certain amount of capital like
any other business ; and, moreover, it must be so
organized that tea can be collected when called
for, bulked, sifted, packed and dispatched at regular
intervals, and in such quantities as may be de-
manded by the consignees. Any Syndicate formed
on a basis of a less business-like nature will, to
my mind, prove a failure if indeed anyone xould
be found on this side to take it up at alH It
remains for the planting community to decide what
they are to do in the matter. Personally, I have
no pecuniary interest in the result as Mr. Pineo
and myself have arranged to work on an independ-
ent basis. I do not mean to infer that we would
not be willing to farther the, scheme. Nay, even
devote our entire energies to further the ends of
the Ceylon Tea Syndicate, but we could only do
so on such terms as would prove remunerative to
us as well as a reliable business to undertake,

That we could serve the interests of our own
brand simultaneously with those of the Syndicate
teas is impossible.

On the other hand we would be willing to lend, so
to speak, the entire privilege of using our brand
free of any charge, we ourselves looking for remu-
neration which will accrue from the advertisement of
the same, and the benefit we derive therefrom when
the Syndicate shall have ceased to exist.

Our brand I may say has been got up at consider-
able expense. The trade mark is a representation of
the ubiquitous " Kootco " plucking a tea bush.

Let me here say that this subject was selected by
Mr. Pineo some eighteen months ago and acted upon
liQme s'u months back, so thut there has been uo

piratical actio 1 in the matter. Neither party can be
effected in any way by the coincidence, so there is
no call for regret. As a guarantee that no loss will
be sustained by the members of the Syndicate, we
are willing to pay 10 per cent over the London
valuation of tea consigned to us provided : —

First. — That the valuators be nominated with the
common consent of both parties.

Second. — That the charges on such valuation be
paid by the Syndicate.

Third. — That freight and all shipping charges to
Philadelphia be pre-paid.

Fourth. — -That the members of the Syndicate agree
to wait for returns for each consignment until such
consignment be sold out.

Fifth. — That we have the Sole Agency in America,
with power to appoint sub-Agents wherever we may
deem it advisable.

Sixth. — That the Syndicate guarantee to provide
us with tea at regular intervals in such qualities as
may be required by us, and that the quality of the
same be kept up to their original standard.

We on the other hand agree to protect in
every way the tea consigned to us. To push the
sales of the same in our registered packets
through our own retail trade, and that
of all respectable grocers in the United States
and Canada. To expedite in every way the sale
of your tea, and pay in full the value of the
same with the addition of 10 per cent on the
valuation, on each consignment being disposed of

In conclusi on let me add, that we know our.
selves to be in a position, by the foregoing means,
to dispose of almost an unlimited amount of
Ceylon tea, and that the extent of business done will
only be limited by the members of the Syndicate them-
selves. At the same time the aforesaid provisions
would have to be rigorously enforced, especially
Prov. No. 6, as any shortcoming on the part of
the Syndicate would be a deathblow to the success
of the undertaking.

I have already given you reasons why, with the ex-
ception of ourselves, no one will take in hand to
push your interests. In corroboration of the asser-
tion let me quote the expression of the principals
of the well-known firm of Acker, Merril & Condit,
when conversing with Mr. Pineo : — " We would not
be bothered, or try to introduce Ceylon tea ; nor
would we even look at it unless a demand was created.
Then, and then only would we handle it." In
making the foregoing proposal to the members of the
Syndicate, we are influenced not so much by the
expectation of great pecuniary remuneration at
first, but by a strong desire that Ceylon tea should
be properly introduced into America ; that it
should be placed in the position of standing
on its own merits and cventuallij, prove as it
must if properly treated, remunerative to all who
handle it and ultimately take its place as the
nonpareil tea of the world ! The teas required
here would be of three grades (1) a Pekoe about
Is 5d to Is. 6d, (2) a Pekoe Souchong about Is. Id*
to Is. 2d. and (3) a Souchong about lOd. to lid.
London valuation. All teas would have to be shipped
to Philadelphia until further notice. It may
not be generally known that our fine jjlantation
coffee has yet to be introduced into America.
Grocery are very much struck with the very regular
and handsome appearance of the same when a
sample is shewn them. We would like to have the
assistance of the Syndicate in this line also, aa
we are sure we could do good business in it.

The matter may now be left in the hands of
the Syndicate for consideration.— Yours faithfully,
J. McCOMBIE MUBRAY.

P. iS'.— I enclose a table shewing how every mem-
ber ol tho 3yadic»t@ Qm get bis due according to

5^6

fUE fiaOPlCAL AGI^tCULTURlSf.

[Fes. I, i88';.

the valuation of exports in Ceylon. I expressed
my views on this subject in a previous letter to
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PLA.NTATIONS AND INSECT VISITOES.
Lawrence, Dikoya, Dec 1886.

Deak Sik,— Teday's post takes you a tea tree
branch, on the leaves of which you will perceive
a yellowish bug-like insect. Can you tell what it
is, or refer it to some one who can V — I am, dear sir,
yours faithfully, WALTER AGAR.

[Our referee's report : " I'Jth Jan. 1887.— The
males of a scale bug, species unknown to me.
After being kept for about ten days, they became
winged insects." — Ed.]

"Coffee and insects in haputale.

HaldummuUa, 31st Dec. 1886.

Dear Sib,— I send you by this post an insect
I found on a cotfee tree. I don't remember see-
ing one like it before. It was on a coffee tree
which had a bad attack of " green " bug, and I
can't help thinking, it may have something to do
with that terrible pest. Perhaps your entomologist
will tell us if it is the queen green bug or not !
It much resembles the bug in form and colour,
though, of course, much larger. I tear I killed
the insect in catching it. Wishing you all a very
happy New Year. HAPUTALE PL.\NTEE.

[Our entomologist referee says :— " 17th Jan.
1887 :— The larva of an insect belonging to the
order Honioptera, family Oerespidcc, and allied to
tke ' frog-hopper.' It lives on the juices of plants,
and can do no harm to coffee or tea, being
seldom found in large numbers." — Ed ]

THE HIGHEST PRICE OF COFFEE.

Colombo, 5th January 1887.
tiLk-R Sir,— Since 1870 the highest price paid in
Colombo for coffee per bushel is 27s (R13-50) : this
for " Amunamulla" and " Rahalungoda." I am not
quite sure about the f. o. b. price, but think a Uttle
over 1253 (R62-50) was realized.— Yours faithfully,
E. JOHN, per REGINALD JOHN.

" BULKED UNASSORTED TEAS" : MESSRS.
RUCKER AND BENCRAFT KINDLY RE-
QUESTED TO EXPLAIN MORE FULLY

St. Leys, Dikoya, January 10th 1887.
Dear Sir, — I read Messrs. Ruoker and Bencraft's
remarks regarding the break of te"a referred to in
my former letter, with much interest. The funny
simile of the Doctor's prescription, is, I fear, wasted
this time — for there was no attempt at special
" Blending" with the lot of " Unassorted" in
question. It was simply the hulk, minus red
leaf and dust, broken up, and thoroughly mixed.
So the " exact proportions of tine and common
teas" would be precisely the same as in the
assorted lot, both being from the same bulk. A
new light is evidently about to dawn on us — for
I do not think I was alone, in having understood
the meaning of "Bulked Unassorted" to be what
the words imply. [ hope, however, that Messrs.
Rucker and Bencraft will act on your suggestion
and more fully explain what they mean by it, and
then we can try again. — Yours truly,

J AS.' W. HOLT.

THE RELIEF OF THE "GOYAS:" LAGALLA
DISTRICT AND SOME PRACTICAL ACTION.
Hoolankande, Madulkele, 16th Jan. 1887.

Dkar Sir, — I read with interest A. G. K. B's. sug-
gestions for the relief of the " goya " in the out-
lying and poorer villages.

I have for some time past been in communic-
ation with the Government on this subject more
especially, with a view to obtain measures of relief
for the villagers of the Lagalla and Tamankaduwa
and Gongala districts.

It will interest you to know that the Government
has already offered a grant of land for the estab-
lishment of an Experimental Garden ; and as far as
my experience goes, the officials — from the Col.
Secretary to the Assistant Agent — seem to be de-
sirous of carrying out any reasonable and practical
measures for the furtherance of the object in ques-
tion. The Wesleyan Mission has a fairly successful
establishment in Lagalla, and I have no doubt that
their aid would be freely extended to any under-
taking, having for its object the relief of the poorer
Sinhalese or their mental and moral improvement.

It is not ditiicult to propose measures of relief,
without number ; the difficulty lies in persuading
the native to take advantage of them ; experimental
gardens hitherto have not met with much success ;
pepper, oranges, vanilla etc., are pretty things to
see growing in a garden; but the native i.s of an
enquiring mind and would like to see some one grow-
ing them to pay.

Nevertheless, as far as it is possible to see, an
advance of cultiv:;tion and industry is the only remedy
tor poverty and its natural concomitants and to
this alone must we look for a solution of the diffi-
culty.

Besides the growing of economic products, the
native should be encouraged to engage in minor in-
dustries, such as basket-making, carving in wood, roi^e-
making etc. ; carpentry above all should be encou-
raged. A man with a good house over his head,
is altogether more of a man than his neighbour
in the hovel. All these industries would require
teachers, and the teachers would require pay, and
a responsible person would be indispensable to
watch the work, who would also require pay — alto-
gether a good deal of money must be shelled
out ; but the work is worth tlic doing. Those
interested should now communicate and obtain
touch. You, sir, will doubtles.-; use your influence
on keeping the subject under discussion, — YourfS
faithfully E. G. B.

Fbb. t, mr.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

527

EFFECTS OF TOBACCO ON LAND.

There may be great profits ia growing Tobacco
(for a while), but I do not think wo can keep it up
long uuless we are willing to speud a good share of
the proceeds of sales in the purchase of manure and
fertilisers to keep the yield up. So far as my ob-
servation and experience goes, I find Tobacco very
exhausting to the soil. A heavy coat of manure is
needed for every crop, and that is something- that
can hardly be said of any other farm product. We
often read and hear it said that any soil that will
grow a good fair crop of corn is all right for Tobacco.
I do not find this to be the case. A very good crop
of corn can be grown where Tobacco would be a com-
parative failure. Not only does the crop require an
immense amount of fertilising material, but it seems
to have a bad eflfect on the land for succeeding crops.
As " Uncle .Totham Sparrow-grass '' used to say through
" Tim Banker's" papers, " it seems to pizeu the
land." One of my neighbours raised last year an acre
of Tobacco, putting on the laud after it was ploughed
a very heavy coat of fine manure, hauled at consider-
able expense from a neighbouring village. This was
cultivated and dragged in thoroughly, so that there
could have been no loss to speak of from evaporation
or washing. That acre is the corner of a field which
he has planted this year to corn — last year's Tobacco
land and all. He told me several times that he ex-
pected a big crop of corn on that acre. I have seen
the field almost daily during the season, and if any-
thing, the Ecre corner is under the average of the field,
notwithstanding it received so heavy a coat of manure
while the balance of the field received noup. It hardly
seems possible that the one crop of Tobacco could
have absorbed the manure applied. Until I find a more
scientific and satisfactory explanation, I must fall in
with "Uncle Jotham" when he says "it pizens the
land." Unless the farmer makes a speciality of it,
and buy8 manures constantly to keep his land up, I
think the less he has to do with Tobacco the better
off will his land be. It is no fit factor in ordinary
farm operations with regard to rotation or aught else.
While it is no doubt of a more permanent nature
it is something like the Hop craze that went through
the country a few years ago — every one is rushing
into Tobacco growing. Even away up north of the
44th degree, where a crop is never safe from frost,
people are expending thousands of dollars for outfits!
The business will not wear long under these unfavour-
able conditions.— W, D. Boyntov, iu ^^Farmer/i'
Review," Oct. 23,

^

BEICK TEA.

(By "Peripatetic Planter.")
I hear that enquiries are afloat in London among
the makers of tea-compressing machinery for a press
for a firm in India. Now this is a matter requiring
special information, or a well conceived idea may be
shipwrecked by being directed along the wrong course.
Compressed-tea, it is as well to make clear at once,
ia quite a different thing from brick-tea. Oompressed-
tea will do for the Russian market, and for certain
colonies, and for the mercantile marine, but it will
not do for Thibet. I am personally acquainted with
the different kinds of tea-compre.ssing machinery, and
I know the traps that exist, in the path of the un-
wary, or indeed of the wary but uninitiated, here.
If the enquiry, mentioned above from India, is with
a view to making brick-tea for Thibet, none of the
existing machinery for making " compres.sed " tea will
be of thf. least use, and for reasou.-i which it would
take too much space to give in detail here. There are
two or three tjrpe.s of hydraulic machinery for com-
pressing/ tea and one mechanical press, all capable of
exerting 60 tons pressure on the cake of tea, one
of these I know to be admirable, another useless as
deficient in speed, and in cost of the dies— these cost-
ing £70 the set alone — as to the mechanical pre.ss
only one I believe has ever been constructed ex-
pressly for tea, and that was sent out to China, and
no report has been received here as to its work. An-
other press, not included iu the above remarks, was

forwarded to India through the India office here,
ostensibly for the Russian trade, but in reality I un-
derstand for commissariat purposes. I have only re-
cently got upon its track, but shall soon have all the
facts concerning it too; at present I know nothing
except the makers' name. Compressing tea improves
its quality at the cost of setting free additional tannin.
The tea is compressed simply by the tremendous pres-
sure to which it is exposed for a second, nothing what-
ever is mixed with it. It is as pure as when it leaves
the tea-house, and is as hard as leather. It takes a
green appearance as all the calcined black surface is
pressed into the bulk of the leaf. Tea thus pressed
is in an excellent condition for withstanding a damp
climate or for campaigning or for use at sea, as the
damp has only a small surface to act upon, which can
be scraped off. But this, as I have .said, is not brick-
tea, uor is it what the Russians have been accustomed
to, though prejudice with them would not be the bar-
rier that it would be in the case of the Thibetans,
the size of whose bricks of tea has become established
with all the force which protects an article that is
used as currency in place of money. In the case of
Russia, too, it would doubtless pay to study custom
and to offer a brick of the usual size. To make sucli
bricks as well for Thibet as for Russia requires a
special press. No such press exists, though specific-
ations for such a press exist, and bricks of tea,
one being in my possession, have been made on the
principle involved in that specification merely as sam-
ples by an adapted press just to prove the process,
but not as a commercial venture, as of course in an
adapted press arranged merely for sampling purposes
speed of outturn was no object. To make such bricks
at a remunerative speed requires the application of
heat, for which no existing presses are conNtructed.
I have gone into this matter very thoroughly, and I
have been induced by that inquiry from India, and
from other signs of a movement being on foot in this
direction to dwell on this subject here, and I may
return to it again hereafter, as it is an important one.
There is doubtless a great future for brick-tea before
Indian planters, and it would be a pity to find that
money was being wasted by a start being made in a
wrong direction, especially as the machinery being
somewhat costly, failure might frighten others and
nip the new enterprise in the bud. Should any firm
be thinking seriously of going into this matter, I
should be very pleased to show their n presentatives
here the brick i hold, which cannot be beaten for
Russia— other shapes would be required for Thibet,
which is merely a detail in the construction of the
moulds. This brick will surprise anybody who sees it
for the first time. I should also be very glad to give
the necessary piirticulars, if the applicant really
means business. The firm to whom I should have
to send such applicant to see trials, &«., being a
busy one, I cannot presume upon their time by send-
ing people whose only object is the gratification of
a pardonablei curiosity. The time may come when
Indian planters will find a market for their prunings.
— Indian Planters' Gazette.

[Note. — We shall be glad to forward any couimunic-
tions addressed to "Peripatetic Planter'' on this
subject.— Ed. L P. G.]

Prixting by Electricity. — The American Inven-
tor, of Cincinnati, a large monthly journal, says :
— "We print this month's issue for the first time
by means of electricity. The Sprague motor ie
used and is an immense advance on any other
kind of power. We are running four presses with
a single motor, and it is quite a novelty in action.
The motor is built in a very substantial manner,
and there are no parts that wear rapidly even
with ordinary care. The expense for repairs can-
not amount to 10 per cent, of that required for
either steam, gas, or hot-air engines, and we now
see no reason why it will not give, for many years
to come, as good lesulta as Ht present."

52S

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

[Feb. 1, 1887,

"FRUGES CONSUMERE NATL"
[A Vegetarian Restaurant has been opened in the

Strand opposite the Royal Courts of Justice.]
I have always loved a vegetable dinner, I delight
In the Cr6cy soup or Oontie on the menu of the night ;
The Potato needs no praises, there is rapture too I ween
On the face of every c/oicnnet at the mention of the Bean ;
And, likewise Sir Henry Thompson, I can feel my heait

aglow
At the thought of all the merits of the pleasant Haricot.

I am very fond of Cabbage, and the tender Spinach
begs,

Though it isn't quite en regie, to be served up with
poached eggs ;

Then the Cauliflower is charming, and the Celery when
viewed

Fresh and crisp from out the garden, or artistically
stewed.

While surely on one esculent we're all unanimous,

Is there aught that's more entrancing than thy taste-
Asparagus !

All must love the lively Lettuce ; we have reason too

to bless
Cruciferte for sending us the piquant Watercress ;
Upon any list of salads let the true Tomato stand.
With the Endive and the Beetroot as supporters of

each hand ;
There the Cucumber awaits us, and we fain would

keep aliee
Both the Tarragon and Chervil and insinuating Chive.

There is poetry in Mushrooms, and the Leutil too

can please,
And a thrill goes through my midriff at the thought

of early Peas ;
I am grateful to the Turnip and the Parsnip looking

pale :
There's the Salsify seductive and the delicate Seakale ;
But the bard shrinks back from one task, for no

mortal ever can
Do full justice to the comfort that the Onion is to

man ;

Then we'll hasten to the Griffin, for a little way be-
yond

Are the Vegetarian dining-rooms of Messrs. Spiers and
Pond;

And the Doctors too are with us, men of note in
London town,

Risdon Bennet, Milner Fothergill, and also Crichton-
Browne ;

They have told us very plainly that of health we should
be winners,

If we ate less meat, indulging in more vegetable
dinners.

—"Punch," Noxtmher 20.

SOURCES OF NITROGEN AS PLANT FOOD.

A correspondent (" P. T. I.") in asking the follow-
ing questions opens up a wide and an important en-
quiry : —

1. Nitrate of ammonia being the chief compound
from which the roots of plants absorb nitrogen, is the
greater amount of it formed in the air (and carried to
the earth by rain) or in the earth Y

2. In reference to the nitrate of ammonia formed in
the soil, how is its nitric acid formed, and how is its
ammonia formed? Is its ammonia chiefly produced
by the decay of organic substances, or absorbed from
the air, or brought down by rain?

3. Do the roots of plants absorb ammonia uncom-
bined with any other substances, but merely dissolved
in water ?

4. Do the roots of plants absorb sulphates, carbon-
ates and phosphates of animouia in a state of Nature ?

5.' Is ammonia, uncombiued with auy other sub-
stances, brought down to the earth by rain ?

6. In reference to the ammonia present in the soil,
is the chief amount of it (a) brought down to the
earth by rain, (i) absorbed from the air by the soil,

or (c) produced by the decay of organic substances in
the soil H

Plants obtain the elements of which they are built
up partly from the atmosphere and partly from the
soil. The water and most of the organic matter,
making on an average from 90 to 95 per cent of the
total weight of the plant, comes from the atmosphere,
either directly through the leaves or indirectly from
the soil by rain, and then to the plant through its roots.
Nitrogen exists in soil.s in three combinations— with
carbon, with hydrogen, and with oxygen. When ia
combination with carbon it is very insoluble in water,
and it is in this form that we find by far the greater
part of the nitrogen that exists in soils. The nitrogenous
organic matter of the soil has been derived either
entirely from the decay of vegetable dibris left in the
land by preceding generations of plants, or pos.sibly
to some extent from past applications of farmyard or
of other organic manures. It is also a fact that
besides the residues of crops soils receive certain amounts
of nitrogen from the atmosphere in the form of ammonia
and nitric acid, but the quantity of these substances
contributed annually by rain varies in different years
and places. The average of many experiments on the
Continent gives 10 23 lb. of nitrogen per acre. The
average of some English experiments is but 7'2f) lb.
Rain also furnishes small quantities of alkaliu'i chlorides,
especially in the neighbourhood of the sea, and about
18 lb. per acre per annum of sulphuric acid. Although
the amount of ammonia directly absorbed by the soil
from the atmosphere may in some soils be much larger
than is shown by the analysis of the rain, yet the
total nitrogen acquired, though most important as
tending to counterbalance the losses of plant-food
which the soil annually suffers, will have little effect
on the present fertility in comparison with the large
accumulation of nitrogenous matter resulting from
previous crop residues, and decay of animal refuse.
In all kinds of soils there exist very minute under-
ground organisms, called " bacteria," invisible to the
eye, the function of which is to separate the carbon
and hydrogen from the nitrogen, and to unite it with
oxygen. But to effect this lime must be present in
the soil, and the compound so formed is called nitrate
of lime. Nitrogen in combination with hydrogen forms
ammonia, and the substance with which most gardeners
are acquainted as ammonia-salts is obtained from an
extinct vegetation. Nitrogen in combinaticm with oxj'gcn
forms nitric acid, these combine under the influence
of the electric discharges in the atmosphere, nitrous
acid being formed; this is converted into nitiic acid
by the action of ozone, or peroxide of hydrogen, and
is brought down bj' rain. Ammonia cannot exist as
such for any length of time in the soil, neither is it
taken up by plants in that form. The facility with
which ammonia and other nitrogenous substances are
converted into nitric acid by the oxygen of the soil
is so great, that nitrates become by far the most im-
portant source of plant food. The uncombiued nitro-
gen of the atmospliere is not appropriated by
plants. Plant roots take up all the dilTusible sub-
stances which are present in the water which they
draw from the soil; but the feeding power of roots
is by no means confined to the taking up of ready
formed solutions, for they are also capable of attacking
some of the solid ingredients of the soil which they
render soluble and thela ajjpropriate, for the building
up of their vegetable fabric. The best of all manurial
applications are those which supply both phosphates
and ammonia or nitrogen. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

Gow'g Te.\ Witherixcv Machine has been erected
on Mariawatte and, as telegraphed yesterday,
pirvate trial was made of it yesterday, to be followed
by a public exhibition of its capacities tomorrow.
According, to one account, it is claimed for this
machine that, by its means, perfectly cured tea
can be packed within four hours of the green
flush having been taken from the trees. If so, the
machine will turn all existing ideas of fermenting
and manufacture upside dewa.

Feb. I, 18S7.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

529

TEA WITHERING AND MANUFACTURE:

THE PBESENT PRACTICE TO BE REVOLUTIONISED BY
OOW'a PATENT TEA LEAF WITHERI.N'O AND FERMENTINa

MACHINE.

We call special attention to the very full and
interesting report supplied by the Manager of
Mariawatte estate on page 527, on the trial of
Mr. Gow's new Machine on Saturday last. We
have been waiting for an authentic statement of
this kind before referring again to an invention
which, from all we have been hearing of it lately,
Seems to possess " the promise and potency " of
an entire revolution in the work of tea preparation.
It cannot be denied that a good deal of scepticism
lias attended Mr. Gow's patient and prolonged
experimental work in Ceylon, albeit he came amongst
U3 with the highest recommendations of practical
experience as a planter in India, as a tea-broker
and merchant in London, and as one who has
given special attention, in conjunction with home
scientists to the chemistry of tea preparation, the
changes wrought in the process of fermentation
more particularly. The expectation that Mr. Gow
would work out a machine capable of placing the
tea-maker in a better position even than if the
weather for withering was all that he could desire

a machine that would save a great deal of the

time, labour and space now required for . the
withering process — and, moreover, that would
ensure as good, nay better results in manufacture,
— was generally received with a smile of incredulity
both in Colombo and upcountry. And we must
confess that the first specimen of the machine
erected at the Colombo Ironworks and the trial
that took place with tea-leaf from Kalutara — even
though the resulting samples of tea were well
reported on — did not appear to have much "promise
and potency" about it. It was regarded by some
as clumsy, inconvenient, expensive and doubtful
in results. With Mr. Jamiessn's letter before the
public and in the face of the many practical
tea-planters present at Saturday's trial, Mr. Gow
and his Agents, Messrs. -John Walker & Co., may,
however, now well sa,y Nous avons change tout cehi.
But before any experiment was made in Ceylon,
the new Patent had been tested in the planting
districts of India with results which may best be
judged from the following testimonials: —

Extract from a letter from J. H. Warren Esq. Manager
Teeadarii tea estate, Darjeeliug district, who was
present at a trial of the " Monarch " Withering
Machine.

1. The machine can keep two rolling machines go-
ing with withered leaf, whereas to do this on the old
system of witheriug lofts would entail great expense in
the erection of withering godowns. Gow's machine only
cccupi^s a very nominal space,

2. With wet leaf Gow's machine caa give good with-
erisg in a very Utile longer time than with dry leaf,
whereas under old system, wet leaf sometimes lies for
days before it can bd properly withered, and then all
flavour has vanished.

3. By the evaporation of the excessive moisture in
the leaf iu Gow's machine, the constituent parts which
give good flavour are not carried off in the rolling pro-
cess as under the o'd system they were, again the roll
in Gow's machine comes from the roiling machine in
a sticky and half dry condition and can be more rapidly
dried, this gives briskness to the out-turn not to men-
tion the saving in fuel to dry the roll with. Under the
old system the roll comes out very wet and the expense
in drying intopucca tea is very considerably augmented.

4. Lastly in old tea concerns where there is any
amount of withering accommodation, Gow's macliine

might not be so much required, but in continual rainy
weather, even in such places, they would be invaluable
in so far that they place you in a position of independ-
ence of climate, and manufacture can always be carried
on without a hitch. In new concerns where large
factories have not been built nor withering godowns
erected, expense might be avoided in the matter of
building by purchasing Gow's withering machine, as
they fit into a small space.
KJpringside Tea Co., Ld. Kurseong, 4th June, 188G.

Messrs. Mitchell & Co. Calcutta, Dear Sirs, — I am
in receipt of your Mr. Mitchell's Ittter of the 1st. The
agents of this Company were good enough to allow Mr.
Gow 10 erect a small I\Iodel of his withering'iind fer-
menting machine at this factory last year, ami I worked
it steadily for nearly two months. %.fter this a full
sized one 8' by 8' was put up at Mohurgoug in the
Terai, and was worked there for some little time with
great success.

The results v/ere good, and I think the machine im-
proves the Teas very much. Mr. Gow in his pamphlet
has stated what the machine will do, and I can only say
that the statements he has made are perfectly correct.

I expect you will have a large and increasing sale for
the " Monarch " when known. I regret very much
tliat the first one has been removed from Moliurgong,
as no doubt the Teas were much improved when passed
thrriugh the machine. I found the vvfithering done well
and fermentation perfect, and also the percentage of
fine Teas was larger. — Yours faithfully,

Alfred H. Wathen, Manager.

Apart from the satisfactory result obtained in
the appearance and quality of the Mariawatto
tea — and the tent of the home market is aloue
required to establish this result — the importance
of the Withering and Fermenting Machine is best
realized from the great saving of labour and of
withering space it will effect in average factories.
In these respects alone the cost of a machine
ought very soon to be repaid, to judge by Mr.
Jamieson's letter. But the true value of the
Machine can scarcely be judged in a factory like
that of Mariawatte where, we suppose already,
there is every convenience for tea preparation which
a first-class garden can possess. And in Gampola
and our lower districts generally the weather is
seldom of such a character as to interfere with
the process of withering. Very different is the
experience incur wet seasons in the higher districts,
and it is from Ambagamuwa up to Nuwcra Eliya
and again in Kellebokka, the Knuckles and Eangalla
districts, that Mr. Gow's invention ought to
be specially appreciated. It comes just in time
too, for a large number of plant??rs who are planning
or have yet to plan, their factory arrangements
and the direct economy offered in respect of ordiU'
ary withering arrangements should go far in
turning tlie scale in favour of the inclusion of
one of the new Machines in the Factory requisites
of such gentlemen. Nothing could be more
satisfactory in appearance and flavour to the ordinary
lay judgment, than the tea samples Mr. Gov/ laid
before us in the Ohfcrver Office two days ago,
and W8 suppose jsrofessional reports will substan"
tiate the general opinion. A trial of a .Monarch
Machine has been suggested on Abbotsford — as a
typical high estate on which due "withering"
during the monsoon months is attended with some
uncertainty, — and we feel sui-e the proprietors would
welcome such a trial ar.d that they vail not br
behind in availing themselves of the help now
offered by Mr. Gow in overcoming one of the fe^v
obstacles'in the way of tea planters in high districta
in Ceylon, so soon as they have batisfied them-
selves by examination of the working of the
machine.

"The Withering and Fermenting Machine" ifi
not to be Mr. (tow's only patent; he has already

S5C

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

*rt

[Feb. I, 1887,

■^■B^BM^— M^^W^— ^^i^M^lMMWBaaBBiaai— BBS

I find my coffee costs me within a fraction of
20s per tierce from the time it is thrown into the
piilper loft to. the time it is ready for the tierce ; the
tierce costs (inchiding nails) 5s ; cartage to railway 13
miles off, 10s ; and the railway freight at 22s 7d per ton
(gross), another lOs making a total for pulping, drying,
grinding, fanning , sizing, hand-picking, tiercing and
sending to the Wharf at Kingston of 45s per tierce of
850 lb.

All the weeding is done by tasks, which vary from
» to 8 or 9 rows for a shilling; the rows are comited from
the head of the acre, thus : —

The prunintr is done by task at an average cost of 59
per acre. The management consists of a manager
(Busha,* he is called by the natives) three rangers or
headmen and myself. The climate is an excellent one,
the mean temperature being 79 ' in the shade. All the
flowers and most of the vegetables of Europe grow
readily. There is plenty of fine timber still left such
as cedar, bullet tree, mastic, bloodwood and bitter-
wood, the latter an excellent wood for indoor work as
no insects will attack it and one nil)ble is quite enough
for our friends, the rats. Mandeville, the nearest post-
town and principal place in these mountains, is a charm-
ing spot very much like an Eaglish village. Church,
school, stores all round the green^ there are fine Muni-
cipal offices too, a good stone Court House, a Consta-
bulary Barrack, &c., and a Post and Telegraph Office.
The post is tri-weekly, eastward and westward alternate
days and a fortnightly packet. Mandeville has become
quite a fashionable health resort, every year an increas-
ing number of Europeans and Americans come for the
winter. There are Club, Lawn Tennis and Cricket Clubs
and a Race course and the roads are excellent.

[The cost of work as shown by our correspondent
is not high ; but nothing is said about draining which
with a liability to 50 inches of rain a month (36 inches
in 2 or 3 days !) ought to be an important work. Coffee
yielding up to 3^ to 4 cwt. an acre is certainly not
heavy bearing, more especially as the prices differ so
widely from those paid for the famous " Blue Mountain
Coffee." Our correspondent should tell us something
about his Pimento cultivation and market. — Ed.]

entered another, in company with Mr. H. C. Harrison
of Awisawella, for a Sifting and Sorting machine
to cost from E350 to E400 which ought to effect
a further marked saving in factory labour besides
Ee«uring better work. This is to be called "The
Elston Patent Tea Sifting Machine."

Mr. Govt leares for England by the S. S. " India"
on Monday, Jany. 24, but he hopes to return erelong
to Ceylon in whieh as a tea country he has taken
so much interest, and with which, through his
patents and other circumstances, we trust he will,
in the future, become still more closely identified.

PLANTING AND COFFEE IN JAMAICA.

A gentleman who is pleased to give a very
high character for information and usefulness, to
our Tropical Agriculturist, affords some interesting
information respecting his experience past and pre-
sent as a coffee planter in Jamaica. He has, of
course, never been in Cejlon ; but his estimates
and mode of working will interest many of our
readers : —

I have a coffee plantation here. Crops have been
poor for the last two years, only fiftyfour tierces 1885-6
and about the same this year, 1886-7. In 1884-5 we
made eighty tierces of 850 lb. each, not much of a
return, seeing I weed 180 acres and " bill out " several
patches of old coffee.

I have just planted 60 acres of virgin woodland with
coffee, and found it no small undertaking. The prac-
tice in this part of the island (Manchester Hills) is to
give out the land to the Negros rent free for three
years, they undertaking to cut down and clean up and
get the land in order for lining and pegging; after the
pegging they are allowed to plant their provisions,
yams, bananas etc., and when the coffee is planted,
keep it free from weeds and give it up at the end of the
three years, quite clean. The fencing is done by the
Neg'ros and very well done too as the estate's horses,
mules and cattle would, if once they got into the
coffee piece, make short work of the provisions.

I append the expenses of planting the 60 acres: —
Surveying, and planting pimento trees at

the acre poles .,. ... „. £12 0 0

Lining and pegging ... ... ... 7 6 lOJ

Planting and pulling suckers ... ... 22 7 9

Cutting pegs, making coffee lines &c. ,,. 5 13 0

Making intervals (roads) ... .. 3 9 6

£50 16 li

Tiie trees are planted 6 feet apart and topped at 4' 6."
We are about 2,200 feet above the sea with a
normal rainfall of 80 inches. I have found it
considerably less till the last two vears, 1888 not
quite 10 inches ; 1884 mm ; 1885 80-06 ; and to the
end of October this year we have liad 142 inches
(nearly 50 of it fell in June, 36 inches between the
nth and 11th )

My coffee is fair plantation, the imlk of it realiz-
ing aboHt COs per cwt.; this year the peaberry sold
for 788. My separator (Gordon's) gave me 6 per cent
peaberry, the machinery is of the " old time " sort and
worked by mule-power 2, (there are no rivers in
this part of tlie island) and it has the advantage, ic
these times of low prices, of being inexpensive, I can
pnlp 60 boxes an hour, our box holds 96 quarts j we
calculate that 40 boxes of cherry give a tierce of good
Coffee plus the triage.

The barbecues are a flight of 25 each, 40 feet
square. All my fields are quite a mile and-a-half from
the works, but I pick quite 80 per cent of my coffee
at Is a box and the balance at Is .Sd and Is 6d, the
rat coffee at 2s : the latter amounts to about 4 per
cent of the crop. Labor is plentiful enough. I manage
to weed the wliole of my fields in four weeks and
at a heavy ripening have had 250 hands in the fields
and have picked in over 400 boxes equal to 10 tierces
ill a week, that is up to Thursday afternoon. Quashie
objects to work on Friday ; they take that day for
working their own grounds a»d on Saturday they go
^9 QiarBetf

Five chains.

w

ft

1

p

ON THE EMPLOYMENT OP THE SEDI-
MENT OF COFFEE FOR STRENGTHENING
THE PRODUCING POWER OF THE

COFFEE TREES.

A (xernian correspondent, formerly in Ceylon,
writing from London by a recent mail, propounds
rather an interesting idea in reference to the use
of coffee grounds for restoring fertility to coffee trees
and enough might be collected in Ceylon to try an
experiment. As a manure, a substance containing
2-73 per cent of ammonia, could not but be help-
ful, but phosphate of lime is low and no potash
is indicated. As an ordinary manure, we fear so
great a bulk of inert matter would scarcely pay
the cost of local carriage and application far less
its collection in Europe and transmission here,
Eut an experiment might be tried. Our correspond-
ent's letter is as follows: —
To the Editor, Ceylon Observer.

I have the honor to submit for youi information
my ideas laid down in the enclosed treatise sug-
gesting reimportation and the use of coffee grounds
for the amelioration and the restitution of the coffee

Feb. I, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

53^

growth. It would give me great satisfaction, if
my endeavours for the supply in the Colonies with
coffee grounds as fertihzing substitutes shall bring
me in a beneficial connexion again with your
fine island, the connexion with which will always
be considered by me as a source of life and in-
telligence.—S. Bensinger.

London, 20th December, 1886.
When intelligence of the deplorable effects of leaf
disease and parasitical dama-e had been received
Bome years ago, it was already tried by those
interested in the growing of the valuable produce,
coffee, to find out a remedy by which the weak-
ened condition of the estates could be ameliorated.
The continued deficiencies in the crops and their
confining influence on trade now more sternly urge
that means have to be found to restore the cul-
ture to its former healthy state and appearance,
supplying it at moderate expenses with manuring
matter, collected in the consuming countries
and supplying it to those fields, where the indis-
pensable fructiferous nourishment cannot sufficiently
be derived from the soil.

It is obvious that the impoverishment of the
coffee soil, which its alternate owners more or
less caused by exhaustion of its properties, cannot
be continued without proving still more fatal, and
it is intended herewith to draw attention to that
stuff, which, (after the roasted beans having been
made use of for the preparation of the favorite
stimulating drink)— becomes unfit for direct food-
giving, but still possesses a great deal of reproductive
qualities, hardly contained in any other fructi-
fying application.

It will be understood, that it is not meant to
promote forcibly the growth of the trees direct
and solely by the material, a proceeding which
was to be regarded not less offensive to produc-
tion as the alluded exaction. It is left to the
discernment of the planters to deeide when
and how those grounds may be applied as
a manure, and if properly used they will prove
a "merestone" in the coffee cultivation, by which
future enterprises will find a hold especially in
those tracts of ancient producing countries, where
in the last decennium such great disappointment
had to be endured for want of such means. Where
the mischief has gone too far, the reposition of
the fields with a lighter culture and with strength-
ening the ground for the later re-production of the
coffee berry will be the mode applied with most suc-
cess. Wherever the state of culture has not been too
much affected and injured, the introduction of the
sediment of coffee in its natural or prepared quality as
a manure besides those being already in use, will surely
repay its cost and when properly applied, it will
not only store nourishment for the trees own
requirements, but also support and restrain its
parasite and nibbling enemies, rats, insects, etc., to
which in its weak and unprotected state the
plants could off'er no resistance.

It may be hoped that the parties most nearly in-
terested with the cultivation of coffee will consider
the value, the great manuring strength and re-
productive power to be derived from those many
hundred thousands hundred-weights of coffee
grounds obtainable every year and make use of
them to the best advantage of their plantations.

S. Bensinger.
Analytic composition of dry coffee grounds.
Organic matter 91^ 54

containing: Nitrogen 2-25*

Mineral matter
containing :

Sihca -10

Phosphate of Lime '42

* Equal to Ammonia 2'73,

Carbonate of Lime "23

Alkalies and Magnesia 'Tl

1 46
100

" NEW GALWAY " DISTEIGT REVISITED :

Coffee — Tea — Cinchona — Wattles — Hakgala,
The name being derived from Ireland,— (a Scotch-
man suggested it in compihng the " Ceylon Direc-
tory" for 1875 in honour of the Irish Governor,
Sir Wm. Gregory,) — something in the nature of a
bull is permissible, and as a matter of fact we
could not revisit "New Galway," as that desig-
nation was not given to the group of estates of
which The Ambawella Valley is the centre and
the grand Hakgalla mountain the presiding mon-
arch, until many years subsequent to our
original visit in 18G5 (22 years ago). We went
under the auspices of good old Mark Kellow, a
"Cornish" boy, true to the traditions of the
twenty thousand who in the reign of James the
Seventh were determined, if a Trelawney was to
die, that they should "know the reason why."
Mr. Kellow saw no reason why he should not
open a coffee estate in the Ambawella Valley and
call it "New Cornwall." The compiler of Fer-
guson's Ceylon Directory was surely as heedless
of geography as the characters in "The Jackdaw
of Rheims" were of grammar, when he included
"New Cornwall" and "Warwick" in "New Galway."
But "what's in a name?" as Shakespeare, (who •
by the way knew something of Warwick,) made
one of his characters pertinently ask, especially
when those chiefly interested take kindly to that
name ? Of one thing there can be no doubt : that
the scenery and productions of "New Galway" as
closely resemble what is to be seen on the ocean
shores of old Galway, as they do the cliff's of
Cornwall and the battlements of the castle of
Guy of Warwick and their Tegetation. It is a
pleasant characteristic of the British race, Celtic
as well as Saxon, to revive, in the far-off scenes
of their migration and sojourn, names associated
with pleasant remembrances of the old country,
with "its white cliffs, its "brown heath and
shaggy wood," its fat pasture and exquisitely
beautiful green sward, dotted with buttercups
and daisies, and though last not least its
dear old lanes, shaded by elms and brightened
by hawthorn, woodbine and wild-rose. The trad-
itions and the associations connected with the im-
ported names given to estates in Ceylon, traverse
the whole domain of the history and topography
of the British Is'es, " from the Land's End to John
O' Groats,— and more especially Aberdeenshire and
the Channel Islands, with their contrasted dialects
of most ancient Saxon and Norman French patois
respectively. [Of course EngUsh is spoken by one
here and there even in "Aberdeen Awa," and since
Victor Hugo's enforced residence in the Channel
Islands, some of the inhabitants have learned pure
French,— as pure as a language can be in which the
people " call their mothers mares and their sisters
fillies." N.B.— This note is meant to be concilia-
tory, but, of course it will give great offence to
people who believe they speak the best English and
the best French in the world. The best English
and the best Gaelic (which is really the best French)
are, of course, spoken at Inverness and the adjacent
northern parts of Iloss-shire !J

But " to return to our muttons " as the eminently
pastoral French say and to our visit to the
Ambawella Valley in 18G5. En route from Nuwara
Eliya we then called in at the scene, below the
1,500 feet sheer precipice of Hakgala (the jaw
mountain,) which, from the resemblance of the
licmate and country to whp-t he had seen and ex.

bi^

THE TROPI'CAL AGRICULTURIST.

[FSB. I, 1887.

perienced in the American homes of the fever
plants (fever-curing, rather,) had been chosen by Mr.
Clements Markham, for the introduction and cultiv-
ation of the cinchona trees in Ceylon. There we
found poor, thin, delicate MacNicol liard at work
propagating the precious plants by bedded cuttings,
the commencement of a process which covered the
mountains of Ceylon with more millions of C. Sued-
rubra and C. Officinalis, and hybrids between the
two and between them and the Calisayas than ever
existed in the native habitat of the plants amidst
the forests of the Andes,— the ultimate results being
the swamping of the bark market and the cheapen-
ing of the most valuable febribuge and _ tonic in
the vegetable kingdom, so as to place it within
reach of the millions of poor and suffering human
beings. The work which MacNicol began, was
well°and efficiently carried on by Edward Thwaites,
v.hose title to be remembered in connection with
Hakgala is mainly connected with the work, remuner-
ative to the Government and profitable to the country
to which he was compelled to devote most of his time
and of the money placed at liis disposal. Even
in his time, with what he was enabled to do under
the direction of his accomplished brother, in in-
troducing rare trees, flowers and fruits, Hakgala
was an attractive resort to residents at and visitors
to the neighbouring sanitarium. But to compare
the Gardens of even a few years ago, to what
Mr. Nock has now made them, (the changes
and improvements in even in the past six months
being wonderful,) would be to compare an ordin-
ary garden plot to Paradise. The 14th of Jan.
1887, the day on which we staitsd from
Upper Dimbula, for our re-visit, was un-
mistakeably a rainy day. We met the rain
and the cold wind which had accompa-
nied it down the gorges from Nuwara Eliya
soon after we commenced the magniricent ascent
of Longden Boad, but neither on our upward jour-
ney, in skiiting the Lake, which is beautiful
even in its shorn proportions out of regard for
the race course, nor in the steep descent from
'•Baker's Farm" to Hakgala, did the ueather
prevent us from enjoying and admiring the beau-
lifal mountam woodland, dressed in the tints of
spring. Those tints, which by March will have
passed into brilliant reds and crimsons, now pre-
sent a soft, lovely plum colour, which contrasts
exquisitely with the light green of the Jfi-
chaelias and the orange and copper colours of
individual trees, the blossoming iiiln still
brightening the jungle undergrowth. iSoon after
leaving the top of the pass near Baker's
Earm we could not help wondering why fire, as it
api.eared to us, had been applied to the ferns, the
balsams, the " Cahfornian daisies" and other
way-side plants, but we were more especially con-
cerned at the blackened and apparently dead ap-
pearance of the cinchona plants on the edge of a fine
plot about a mile below Nuwara Eliya. Tea at a
higher elevation showed no sign of having suffered
from the frost which was the real agency that had
applied " decay's effacing fingers." Later in the
day we noticed, that while cinchonas amidst coffee
had portions of their foliage blackened, (this was
a full mile below Hakgala, with an elevatisn of
probably 4,700 feet,) the .sheltered coffee under-
neath had escaped. It is cold, tearing wind
and not frost, from which coffee suffers, as
we had fresh opportunity of noticing in the Amba-
wela Valley, where the contrast between cul-
tivation in places sheltered from the cold, fierce
winds which swept over Ceylon in December, and
tha,t in exposed positions was most striking. There
Can be no question that while celd wind undoubtedly
4 ffects tea, especially when the plants are putting

forth their tender flush after pruning, yet the power
of the full grown, vigorous tea plant, to resist cold
winds and even frost (the latter practically un-
known on the western side of the Nuwara Eliya
range) is far superior to that of coffee and cin-
chonas. En route to New Galway we could not
resist the tein]5tation of turning in to have
a look at Mr. Nock's revolutionary dealings
with the Hakgala Gardens, and our exclam-
ations of admiration and delight were loud
and frequent as we found ourselves api^roacbing
the bungalow by a new drive, the raised embank-
ments of which were beautifully turfed. A second
lakelet has also been added to reflect ferns and
other plants, as well as the stupendous precipice
of the mountain face. We had scarcely got into the
shelter of Mr. Nock's hospitable bungalow, rendered
cheerful by the presence of children as fresh and
healthy looking as their parents, when down came
a regular rainstorm, lasting nearly an hour.
We kept hoping that at least the ghost of the
rainfall had crossed the range to Dimbula
and our hopes were not disappointed, as
we found on our return. During our enforced
but pleasant stay, we learned from Mr. Nock that
his experience leads him to look for at least ten
rainy days after Christinas. As a rule it is not
an over-plus, but a paucity of rain which is the
trouble at Hakgala with its genial Uva climate,
and the multiplication of little lakelets in the
Gardens is desirable, not only on lesthetic principles,
but for the storage of water. As soon as the
rain had abated, we spent another delightful
hour un(,iej.' Mr. Nock's guidance, examining hts
improve/jients and admiring next to the green
sward embankments, the borders and beds of
vari-coloured plants and flowers which were con-
trasted against them. I cannot dwell on details,
but I have no hesitation in affirming that when
all the improvements projected and in progress
are carried out to completion, the Hakgala
Gardens with their combination of mountain,
valley, forest, ornamental plant, fern and flower
scenery, will, for grandeur and beauty, vie with
any in the eastern world. Nuwara Eliya, as a
health resort, has attractions of its own, but
extraneous to it and yet easily attainable are
amongst other pleasant places, these gardens
''beautiful exceedingly" in themselves, and add-
itionally attractive from the views they command
of the grand mountain on whose bosom they rest
and of the forested ranges which close in the
vast-stretching grass lands and rice fields of the
vale of Uva.

I suppose it is the hope of placing the Forest
Department on a complete footing which has so
long delayed a grant being placed at Mr. Nock's
disposal for experiments calculated to prove which
are the best' trees to grow on the patanas that
adjoin and stretch away on every side from
Hakgala. Meantime private enterprise has inter-
posed and on Albion estate, about l^ mile below
the Gardens, has obtained some very striking results.
Here amongst the limestone formations, there is a
small coffee estate in full bearing, which we found
laden with " cherries " after the fashion common
when coffee was really monarch, unaff'ected or
but inappreciably aft'ected by the fatal fungus.
There was but little sign of leaf-disease on this
coffee, which is at the foot of the property
and close to the road side. Up the patana-
covered hillsides above, stretch, at pretty
close intervals, shelter belts of Acacia dealbata,
the so-called '• silver wattle," from its silvery foliage,
The growth of those trees, in height and density,
in the fuur years of their existence, is somethin

Feb. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

533

marvellous ; in density more especially. Aa most
of our readers are aware, the marked characteristic
of this species of acacia is to send up shoots,
which in their turn become trees, from every hori-
zontal root, and the roots are many and stretch
to great distances. All that is wantpd in growing
these trees on the patanas, to encourage their ten-
dency to form dense groves, is to clear away the
grass from the surface soil in their neighbourhood.
The tendency to send up innumerable shoots, in-
deed, is embarassing where paths are a necessity.
In going down the sides of the belts on Albion
we literally trod on a earpetting of young acacia
shoots. Trom Mr. Wm. Cotton, who, with Mr. W. A.
T. Kellow, accompanied us, we learned, as the result
of his experience, that as a t'nwher txee, Acacia deal-
lata, is excellent for all such purposes as hoe and
axe handles, while nothing is better for charcoal.
The bearing of these facts and of the rapid ori-
ginal growth and recuperative powers of the tree
when coppiced, on the future supply of fuel for
the tea enterprise, has an importance which can
scarcely be exaggerated. Failing the discovery, ,or
pending it, of a cheap artiticial fuel, firewood or
charcoal from hundreds of square miles of Aracia
dexlbata groves might be supplied! Of course other
tress can be grown on the mountain prairies of
Ceylon, and in Mr. Kellow's case the success of the
black wattle, Acacia Melanoxylon, has been such,
during the four years, that he has indented on
Australia for large supplies of seed. This species
of wattle grows into a tine, tall i^yramidal
tree, the tendency to send up shoots in its case
being slight and easily repressed. So much is the
"blackwood" timber of this tree valued in Aus-
tralia, that when the eucalypts are "ringed" and
destroyed, these acacias are carefully preserved.
Nor need the selection of trees for the patanas be
confined to natives of Australia, for amongst the
wattles we saw, growing luxuriantly, numerous
specimens of the European cherry tree which we
were interested to find, grows readily from cuttings.
Cherry tree wood is much valued in Britain. There
can be little doubt the Cryptomerio Japonica and
other pines, with Toona cedrela, and many other
plants of various species and from different regions
of the world, would flourish on and render profit-
able the at present vast expanses of waste patanas
in Uva and elsewhere amidst the mountains of
Ceylon.

(Continued on page 537.)

THE BRAZIL COFFEE PEOSPECTS.

It is very perplexing to find Ceylon coffee falling,
even though it be only one shilling per cwt., at
the very time we expected it to rise. We refer
to the following report published in the latest
Public Ledger to hand, from 'a firm that evidently
claims to be an authority on the subject of Bra-
aii crops, to shew what we mean. It will be observed
that the report winds up by saying that prices are
bJund to rise rapidly iu January and to advance until
the rates of 1873-1-5 are reached : —

(From the '' Public Ledyer'" Dee. 2Sth.)
(From Messrs. Lacerda & Co.'a Report.)

We think it advisable, under present circumstances
to supplement the remarks we had tho honor of laying
before you in our circular of 7tli inst., with some fur-
ther observations in reference to more recent occur-
rences ; and iu doing this we rely' as we did iu our
earlier reports, on the knowledge and experience we
possess of the cultivation of coffee in Brazil.

At the date above referred to we showed that o
accovmt of the circumstances being entirely differ e ot

there was no reason at all for expecting this year a
late flowering in December-January, aa happened in
January, 18S0, attributable to the drought which pre-
vailed from May-June to October, 1879. Since the
month oi May last the rains have been regular and
occasionally excessive. We propose submitting to you
certain considerations which may afford you means of
arriving at sound conclusions iu spite of contradictory
reports and rumours more or less unreliable, professing
to gives estimates of the Brazilian crops.

After so many over-confident assertions, we think
that a few observations concerning the method and con-
ditions of production in Brazil may not be aut of place
here.

And, as a commencement, it may be of assistance to
point out the order of the seasons in the Southern hem-
isphere where Spring commeaces on the 24th Sep-
tember, and does not end until 21st December, when
it gives place to summer, which terminates on the
20th March, followed by Autumn, which holds sway
until 21st June, which date marks the advent of winter.

It will be worth while also to recall the fact that
coffee crops are alternately heavy and short, aa is
well known, at least to all those who understand the
difference between cultivation by means of periodical
sowings, and cultivation by plantation ; m the former
case the soil only is exhausted by production, whilst in
the latter the exhaustion of the plant is added to that
of the soil, which has a direct and sometimes long-
continued influence on a production invariably of the
same nature,

It will be equally to the point if we introduce here a
few remarks on the subject of the influence of age on
coffee plants in connection with their power to bear
fruit.

Considerable time is required to bring a coffee plant
into condition to bear fruit, and this period is generally
calculated at from four to five years. From four to
eighteen years of age the plant gives a regular yearly
product and remunerates the planter.

From eighteen to thirty years of age the production
becomes alternately good and poor, that is to say a
year in which the plant gives a satisfactory return is
followed by one in which the production is small.

When once this latter period is passed, the crops
from such trees become more and more irregular and
according to the geological and climatic conditions of
the plantations, the productive power of the coffee
plants goes on diminishing, and finally almost or entirely
disappears.

It would be wrong also to omit any reference to what
has been described as the disease of coft'ee plant.
On this subject the Jonial do Coinviercio of Rio Ja-
neiro, in its issue of 4th June last published the fol-
lowing:—

" Disease iu the Coffee Plant. — The Minister of Agri-
culture despatched the day before yesterday the fol-
lowing notification to the Director-General of the Na-
tional Museum.

" As it is desirable to obtain precise information re-
specting *^he cause of tho disease which is devastating;
the coffee plants throughout a large extent of the pro-
vince of Rio Janeiro, chiefly in the municipalities of
Sauta Maria Magdalena, S. Fidelis and Cantagallo, I
have determined to charge Professor Etnilio Goldi,
sub-director of your museum, with the duty of follow-
ing up this matter in the districts named, and after
ah necessary investigations, I wish him to present a
detailed report on the subject, indicating at the same
time the measures which he may judge to be expedient
in order to diminish the effects of the disease, to arrest
its further development, as well as to attack it in its
very origin.

" The Professor alluded to will receive from you
such instructions as you may deem useful, and you
will please to demand of this department «uoh facilities
as may secure the success of the commission herein
indicated."

The disease which is here alluded to is "ot attribut-
able in our opinion to anything more than the advan-
ced age of the Coffee plants, and to the fact that the

oil is worn out, for it. is to be observed that the muni-

ipahties to which reference is made are especially

hose iu which the cultivation of Oottee was first deveU

su

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Fes. I, 1887.

oped, after the primitive culture in the Serra abaixo,
which was generally abandoned on account of the fail-
ure in the production.

In addition it may be remarked that this state of
things is not confined to Brazil, for the diminution of
the production in Oeylon must be in like manner at-
tributed to the same cause.

These plantations, infected alike in Oeylon as well
as in Brazil, give undeniable proof that the Coffee
plant does i;ot bear fruit for an unlimited period and
that in this branch of cultivation after a certain period
has elapsed, the soil becomes worn out, and as the
plants become old and give a return continually dim-
inishing the planters find that they can no longer get
any result worth having, and are obliged to abandon
the plantations.

In Java the production has also fallen off, a fact
which calls for similar comment, and we cannot but
believe that there also a like effect is being produced
by a similar cause.

It is this also which should induce us to give due
consideration to the statistics respecting the produc-
tion of Coffee iu Asia, that i.s to say, in Java, Ceylon,
in Briti.sh East India, &c.

In effect we see, on looking over these statistics,
that in Asia the average production which duiino- the
quinquennial period from 1872-73 to 1876-77 was
2,519,400 bags, had fallen to 2,383,000 bags during the
succeeding quiiiquenijial period — 1877-78 to 1881-82 —
preparatory to a further diminution during the trien-
nial period from 1882-83 to 1885-86, as regards which
the disastrous result of the last season leaves no doubt
whatever.

The falling-off iu the production, as given by these
figures, is a fact beyond all dispute. The recurrence
of heavy crops in Brazil takes place about every
three years, whilst between these come crops of only
medium size.

But in addition, there are also to be taken into ac-
count meteorological occurrenc- s, which, as regar Js the
plantations, may produci' coustr-queiic s of the highest
importance, and which are nearly always entirely un-
foreseen, as, for iustauce, rain, hail, frost, or drought.

It is possible*, therefore, for any one acquainted with
the facts to determine in advance, with more or le'<s
exactness, what the crops will produce, and this even
before the period 01 flowering.

It IS clear that unless there is a wish to hazard estim-
ates, at once capricious and badly supported, tliere
can be no great differences of opinion iu regard to
our crops; it is of course expedient to employ iu such
a matter very great prudence, and to watch the course
of events in oider thereby to modify iu case of need,
the opinion one may have formed. This is certainly
the course which we ourselves follow.

Let us now examine the actual position of things,
and in order to illustrate by example what we have
previously stated, let us go back to what happened last
year. In 1885 the season of bk)st;oming was full of
promise, but the drought, which continued until the
autumn, spoilt everything. Nevertheless, in the pro-
vince of San Paulo, whose rich uplands are covered
with plantations of recent growth and considerably
exposed, where vegation is relatively more vigorous,
the fears which at first were entertained were only par-
tially realised.

If then for this last crop the plants have had to
suffer from the drought, which was prolonged from
spring to autumn, and if this drought has exhausted
them to such an extent as to involve a partial failure
in the fructification ; if these plants, weakened already,
have been unable tei recover themselves iu the rigorous,
season which has followed, for indeed vegetation
suffers a period of suspension during winter, how can
it be maintained that we can have a good flower-
ing this year, and consequently a good crop.

It is for these reasons, and after insprcting the
plantations, that all persons who are authorities on
this question of coffee cultivation in Brazil have ar-
rived at the conclusion that this year the croj) will
be email, and that this opinion, which is also our
own, is now shared by the ino8t influential and most

experienced of the houses engaged in the export trade
from Brazil.

In effect, in response toi ur inquiries on the same
subject, our friends in Brazil, Messrs. J, F. de
Lacerda and Co., have communicated to us the
following telegraphic reports, upon which comment
is needless.

From Kio Janeiro : However favorable circumstances
may turn out, we do not think the crop can exceed
3,000,000 bags.

From Santos : Advices iu regard to the crop are
generally unfavorable, the damage is serious, and we
estimate the coming crop at 1,500,000 bags.

Summing up these arguments then, we may state
as a fact establishi-d very clearly now that the pro-
duction m Brazil, which sufficed to make up for
the deficiencies caused by the diminished produc-
tion in Asia, cannot any longer do this in view of
the bad seasons of 1885-G and 1886-7, which fact
indeed is rendered sufficently evident by the general
diminution in the stocks in the consuming countries.
In addition to this, the reduced volume of the next
crop will render the statistical position of the article
yet more favorable, by making clearer than ever
the progressive diminution already indicated in the
production of Coffee.

It is therefore with very good reason that we re-
affirm our entire confidence, and maintain what we
stated in our recent circular, repeating strongly our
advice to our friends to make continued purchases
at the very fountain head, seeing that during this
season those who, up to the present, have made
direct importations of Brazil Coffees, cost and freight,
have done extremely well, and because, in the course
of next January, every one will have to admit the
force of our arguments, and the rise will be so rapid
that there will be little opportunity of making ready
for it. It is necessary therefore "that our own im-
mediate connection should take every precaution to
protect their interests, by making direct purchases,
cost and freight.

In our judgment there is no reason to trouble our-
selves about speculative fluctuations; as we said re-
cently, we are convinced that the rise v,ill carry us to
the prices of 1873, 1874 and 1875.

Bullock Geahi.ng for Tea Eollebs.— Hearing that
Mr. Alfred t?covell of Bitterne. Maskeliya, was .using
Bullock gearing for driving a Barber's Tea Roller, we
wrote to him asking for some information about it/i
and received the following reply : — " In ai>swer to your
enquiry, I have been working a Barber's roller (con-
verted Thompson'.s) by means of a cattle mill, during
the last few weeks, and quite successfully. " The mill
takes 8 cattle at a time, and I have been getting
through 250 lb. withered leaf per hour on an average,
and very good work at the same time ; revolutions of
the di-c-^ being about 35 per minute. ' No doubt on
estates where water and fuel are scarce, provided
fai;ilities fur keeping up a fairly good cattle estab-
lishment are pre^^ent, a cattle mill would prove to be
an economic motor. The bullocks require some train-
ing and must be shod," We are very pleased to find
ilr. Scovell has made .such progress in the training of
his bullocks as to enable him to obtain an outturn of
250 lb. per hour from liis machine. We should, how-
ever, like to know how many bullocks are used at game
time to drive the mil In India only two are worked
at one time, and after two hours' work they are re-
placed by others. Seeing the ver}' low cost of bullock
mills, we anticipate they will be more generally used
in Ceylon than at present, more particularly for
Barber's Boilers which require so little power to drive
them. For the guidance of Planters we give the fol-
lowing appioximate prices for bullock gearing in
Colombo : —

Light one Bullock or horse gear with

doubled speed ... ... E225'00

Two bullocks gear, double speed ... 20000

Two bullock gear extra strong ... 275-00

Above arranged for three bullocks ... 300,00

Four bullock gear, exceedingly strong .,. 476,00
— " Local Advertiser,

Feb. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

535

!^H!!

-♦- -

To the Editor of the " Ceylon Observer."

THE APPLICATION OF LIME TO CEYLON
PLANTATIONS.

Watagama, Jan. 20th.
Deab Sir,— I have to thank you for kind notice
of my favorite district in which I have worked the
last 28 years with such good success, Panwila and
Watagama. I am glad Mr. Hughes has brought for-
ward the great benefit to be derived from the applic-
ation of lime, for I can without fear of contradiction
say it has baen more by the application of coun-
try-burnt coarse lime with small quantities of
manare when wanted, and forking now and again,
close draining at 1 in 30, not 1 in 15, using the
soil* out of drains with the manure when forking,
that Maria first and now Raxawa (a tine tea and
cinchona estate near Panwila) have been made
valuable and paying properties. I propose for the
6oil that is hard or stiff in coffee, tea, cinchona
or cacao, to use burnt country-lime which as a
rule is coarse, in preference to the finely burnt
coral lime ; as I found in practice the former proved
the most beneficial and acting on the soil much
longer. In working up soil with Hme for grain cul-
ture no doubt, Mr. Hughes' recommendation of fine
lime is best. In Ceylon, and in the low-country
particularly, it is well once every five years to sow
kurakkan seed and when 6 inches high to give
a lime dressing and then fork it in. This I have
proved a great success and not very expensive ;
this here takes the place of clover in England. I
also find that 20 bushels per acre is quite sufiicient
to act on the soil to be repeated after two years.
Yon must, however, either apply compost manure
or fork in young kurakkan when required.— Yours
truly, J- HOLLOWAY.

GOW'S PATENT TEA MANUFACTUEING
MACHINE, "THE MONARCH."

Mariawatte, Gampola, Jan. 21st, 1887.

DE.iE SiK, — The above machine has been erected
in Mariawatte factory by permission of Mr.
Rutherford, and was tried under Mr. Gow's per-
sonal supervision, on the 15th and 16th instant,
with satisfactory results, the work on the 15th
being done in the presence of the following gen-
tlemen amongst others : — Messrs. Megginson, David-
son (Kalutara), W. D. Bosanquet, Blackett, T. N.
Orchard, J. Drumniond, T. C. Owen, J. Anderson
(Matale),S Hayes, Carry, Gibbon, J. C. Ferguson, &c.

Notes having been more carefully taken on the
16th than on the loth, it will be best to give
particulars of that day's work. The leaf plucked
on the 15th amounted to 1,0:0 lb., and a com-
mencement was made at 9 o'clock a.m. on the
16th, with a charge of 350 lb. about a quarter
withered, which, after being worked in the "Monarch"
for -15 minutes was ready for rolling. The whole
of the leaf was worked oil in charges increasing
from 350 to 628 lb., according to tiie progress of
the natural wither, the last charge (628 lb.
of nearly full-withered leaf) being ready for roll-
ing at o o'clock p.m., after being 30 minutes in
the "Monarch."

The leaf was rolled heavily, and, when taken out
of the rollers, broken up, sifted Sec, was ready
for the dryer, the usual time taken to ferment
being thus saved.

The first charge consisted of part of the pre-

* Soils were not considered good by some, but I
kaow the soil and what I could do with it in our
district,

vious afternoon's leaf, the last charge being part
of the raorning leaf, so that the last of the leaf
was put into the rollers about the time when,
according to the ordinary system of manufacture,
the first of it would have been only fully withered.
As there seems to be an impression that leaf can
be brought in from the field and manufactured
at once by means of this machine, it may be
well to mention that it must be partially withered
on the tats before the work can be begun. Green
tea can, by means of the " Monarch," be made
from newly plucked leaf.

The consumption of fuel to make 1,0001b. tea
was as follows : — For the boiler 3 cubic yards, for
the " Monarch " 4 cubic feet, for the " Victoria "
2-J' cubic yards. It took only 10 to 15 minutes
to get the heat in the " Monarch" up to 180°,
and it was kept at 140 ° to 1 80 ° during the work
with the above quantity of wood.

The machine takes about 2 horse-power to drive it.

The tea made was of a good black colour, with
a fine show of bright tip, and the liquor was pung-
ent and flavoury, and creamed down well, while
the fermentation was bright and even. Some
of the advantages claimed for this machine,
which in this trial seem to be borne out by the
results, are : — That it perfects the withering and
fermentation by artificial means, and thus saves
time in manufacture, obviating the necessity, in
wet weather, of keeping the leaf on the withering
tats for more than one day ; that it gives a good,
even fermentation within a given time ; that, after
commencing manufacture, the leaf can be worked
straight through all the other processes without any
intermediate delay ; that, with the machinery used
here, a great saving can be effected in fuel for
the boiler and " Victoria " dryer, owing to the
continuity of the manufacture ; and that night
work can, to a great entent, be avoided.

Mr. Gow also contends that the leaf, in con-
sequence of its gummy condition on leaving the
" Monarch," rolls better, and that this advantage is
apparent in the sorting ; that the tips are multiplied
by the opening of the convoluted buds in the fer-
menting process in the " Monarch."

The great test that remains to complete the
success of the machine is the London Market, and
if teas made on this system pass muster 'favour-
ably there, I think Mr. Gow may well be con-
gratulated, and will deserve the thanks oC tea
planters for having conferred such a boon on them.
—Yours faithfully, GEO. D. JAMIESON.

Notes on Coi'eee and Tea (cy a Tea Plantek). —
Have been for a long trip upcountry and was sur-
prised to see a lot of coffee looking Al over Dira-
bula and Dikoya. Tea ideas are again being turned
topsy-turvy : Mr. Gow says he will make as good
tea as can be made, in a few hours from plucking
and certainly his experiment was " feai'fully
and wonderfully made" according to old ideas.
Some men are discarding the spheroid in Barber's
Roller and two men told me that it rolled better
without spheroid.

Tka. — It is curious to note that, in spite of the
rivalry of Indian gardens, the Chinese find it pro-
fitable to export a by no means inconsiderable
quantity of tea to Calcutta. During the last offi-
cial year they sent us 52,123 lb. The trade is said
to owe its existence solely to the very inferior
quality of the tea, which is sold at a correspond-
ingly low price ; a principal consideration with
many who from choice or necessity regard its
cheapness as the first essential of a purchase.
The trade, however, is steadily declining, and ten
years ago the importation amounted to 692,852 lb,
—Tmcs of India,

536

THE TiROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[Feb. I, 1887.

THE UNIVERSAL FIBRE DECORTICATOR.

The want of a thoroughly adaptable fibre-cleaning
machine has long been felt in India. Handsome re-
wards have, from time to time, been offered for the
best decorticator, and it was only iu December ISSi,
that the Bengal Government awarded the prize of
E2,000 to Messrti. Death and EUwood of Leicester,
for their Universal Fibre-cleaning Machine, invented
by a Mr. H. C. Smith, as being the best out of nine
machines tried at Calcutta, under the management of
two gentlemen appointed by tho Government of India
to carry out the experiments with these machines.
When this award was made, it was thought that per-
fection had been reached a.s far as it was possible to
attain that distinction, and it was confidently expected
that Messrs. Death and Elwood's machine would hold
the foremost place among decorticators. But the New
Orleans World's Exposition has taxed tho inventive
genius of the American nation, and there is every
reason to believe that a powerful rival 1 1 Death and
EUwood's invention has been on exhibition at the
New Orleans Exposition. The American papers are
full of descriptions of this macliine, which are so flat-
tering to its general usefulness and adaptability that
we have from time to time noticed it in these pages ;
but as it promises to excel all other fibre-cleaning
machines, our readers will perhaps wish to know
something iu detail about it.

Mr. Jules Juvenal, who recently lectured at the New
Orleans Exposition on ramie, or rhea, describes this
machine, which is called the Universal Fibre Decor-
ticator, as consisting essentially of three pairs of rolls
and a pair of endless aprons. The machines are of
two styles. One is designed so as to enable the feeder
to deliver the stalks. The other requires a workman
at the rear end of the machine to take the cleaned fibre,
tho feeder being constantly employed in supplying the
machine with material. In the first style the front
rolls are smooth : the second are fluted, running about
seventeen revolutions per minute. The third pair are
armed with scraping blades, rigidly fixed to their
periphery and winding spirally around the rolls. These
rolls are also hollow, with perforations through their
shell, through which water is allowed to flow for the
purpose of keeping blades clean from gum ; also to
wash the fibre, running 300 revolutions per minute.
The material is placed on the table, and is passed
half-way or more into the machine, then run back on
the table, reversed, and the other end cleaned in the
same manner. The second style of machine has scrap-
ing rolls in place of the smooth rolls, as iu the first
style. These rolls perform the oflice of feeding rolls,
and also of cleaning the passing ends of the jnateria!
by reversing the pairs of rolls, instead of the material
being operated on.

This gentleman does not pay a high compliment to
the experiments conducted at Calcutta under the
auspices of the Government of India in 1884, which
awarded the prize of R2,C90 to Death and EUwood
for their Fibre-cleaning machine; nor does he liold
this machine in very hig!i estimation. He says: —

Tho competition at Calcutta, made under impos-
sible conditions, retarded the invention of a practical
machine ; for, befides the difficulties presented by dis-
tance and the absence of materia! for experiment, the
European mechanics were asked to produce machinery
which could accomplish the delicate and tedious hand
labor of the Chinese workmen, who made a pound of
ramie a day by scraping witb a wooden knite a part
of the gummy and resinous matters. If experiments
bad been made in London instead of Calcutta on green
stalks coming from Jersey, the absurdity would have
been quickly ascertained of asking of practical ma-
chinery more than the mere separation of the fibre,
which in the green state is easily accomplished, leaving
for chemical agents the task of eliminating the gum-
my and resinous matter adhering to the bark. There
lies the whole secret. If all inventors of decorticat-
ing machines some of whom are very clever, have
heretofore failed, it is because they have aimed at
filling the conditions imposed for the Calcutta com-
petition ; that is, to make a macliine capable of pro-

ducing directly the China grass, This, nevertheless!
cnme near being accomplished last yeir at Calcutta '<
but with what paltry results ! The Smith machine,
of London, which obtained a prize of 2,000 rupees,
or (£1,000) (£200?) produces, with two men and a
three-horse power, sixty pounds a day.

Under such conditions ramie would be twice as
high as silk. AVhat is needed is a combination by
which production, cleaning and fabrication will give
a silky fibre ready for the loom at a cost from twenty
to twenty.five cents, about the price of first rate flax.
— Indian ArjricHlturist.

Cinchona Seed fro.m J.wa.— No apology ia needed
for calling attention to Mr. du Perron's consign-
ment—which is becoming an annual institution —
of some of his finest cinchona seed for sale here.
Some enterprising Ceylon Planters should after a
similar fashion try the Java market, for there can be
no dowbt that an interchange of seed is calculated
to be beneficial to both countries. We do not sup-
pose that discouraging as recent prices for bark may
be, the cultivation of cinchona will be given up in
Ceylon and there can be no question of the adtantage
of using not only foreign seed, but seed from high-
class trees such as Mr. du Perron sends for sale by
Messrs. Sonierville <fe Co., next Tuesday, Jany. 25.

A New Withbrer.— Mr. Gibbons has devised a
simpler form of his Tea Witherer. He says "these
machines are so constructed as to combine strength
and economy, and are provided with shelves placed
at such an angle as just suffices to move the leaves
gently without lifting or bruising them. The leaves
being fed in at one end pass out at the other ready
for the tea rollers. These revolving Witherers can
be packed iu very compact form for shipment, and
are easily put together on arrival, and can be sup-
plied at the most moderate cost. For example, a
small one for use with the baud fan, suitable for
the smallest gardens, could be shipped f. o. b. at
£25, and from that price upwards they will range
from £40 to £200. The larger sizes being calculated
to save an enormous amount both in labour, delay,
and waste." -Indian Tea Gazette.

DiPHTHEitiA AND Kerosine. — A Contemporary says :
— " The latest discovery in the etiology of disease is
rather startling. It is nothing less than that kerosine
oil is one of the causes of diptheria. Owing to the pre-
valence of the disease iu Connecticut, an enquiry was
instituted by the State Board of Health, and the result
is that the iusiduous enemy has been detected. The
observations were conducted at Meriden, where diphth-
eria was rite, and it was found that not a single case
occurred in any house that was lighted with gas or
caudle. The Board maintains that the discovery is
fully established, and if so, there can be no doubt that
it is a matter of great importance. .Kerosine oil has
come as a boon and a blessing to India, but it has
probably never been suspected of promoting illness,
What with salicated Pilsener and deleterious kerosine,
a new terror is added to Indian life, and the respong-
bility rests with the medical faculty." — Pioneer,

Rot Pkonin-g.— In the Saharunpur Botanic Garden
an experiment was tried in root-pruning upon young
and over -vigorous Peach trees. A plantation of these
was formed three years ago in a vary rich piece of
ground formerly used for vegetable cultivation. The
trees were of astonishing size for their age, but their
vigour all went to stimulate the production of vy-ood
rather than fruit : thus " they were fit subjects for
the experiment. A trench 2 feet v/ide, 2 feet deep,
and 3 feet frona the trunk of the trees, was dug around
thorn in December, and every root met with was cut
by the spade. The soil was thrown back liberally
mixed with manure, and frequent waterings were
given for sometime afterwards ; at the same time the
branches were thinned out and shortened where
necessary for symmetry, but not in any way severely
pruned, as native gardener-s are in the habit of doing.
The treatment giveu has been (juite successful, as
every branch and twig is now kdou with fruit,
— Gardeners' Chronicle.

FtiJ. h iSSj',]

tME THOPXCAL AiiUiCUVl'VUlBf,

h^

" NEW GALWAY " DISTEICT EE VISIT ED.

(Concluded from page 533.)

Before leaving Albion I must notice the
limestone formations which crop out here so ab-
undantly and from the " white cliffs" of which,
the estate probably derives its name ? On the soil
which is doubtless largely impregnated by decayed
caloai'eous matter, the natives cultivate consider-
able quantities of onions (the small species which
subdivides, identical with that which is so largely
produced on the recent lime formations of the
Jaffna Peninsula,) and garlic. Mr. Alexander Dixon
was of opinion that the Uva dolomite, passing under
the Nuwara Eliyaand Dimbula ranges, crops out again
opposite Gongalla in the shape of the Meddecombra
cliffs. The limestone formation is valuable wherever
it occurs, beirg better we were told as a mortar
than coral lime, although the latter is superior
for finishing off and for whitewashing. The coral
limestone, too, (almost pure carbonate of lime, with
no admixture of magnesia,) is superior as a ferti-
lizer, were the carriage not so expensive. But the
great interest to us of the limestone on Albion
was the presence in it, not of gold coloured u'on
pyrites as is usual, but of a wealth of beautiful
sapphire-blue crystals of spinel. We spent a con-
siderable time in selecting and loading a cooly
with a basket of exquisite specimens, in which the
deep blue of the spinel contrasted beautifully with
the white of the limestone and the bright-glanc-
ing mirror-like crystals of mica. As ornaments for a
drawing-room mantlepiece, or a boudoir or as cabinet
specimens, there are few things so beautiful and
interesting, and we were not surprised to find
that Mr. Kellow has many requests for
specimens. Our previous attempts to get pieces
polished into paper weights at the Colombo ceme-
tery works, were not a success, the limestone
taking a dark colour in the process of smoothing;
but persons obtaining specimens of the spinel
limestone will be interested to learn that the in-
tensity of the blue of the spinel crystals and the
brilliancy ot the mica can be greatly heightened
by smartly rubbing a piece of clean chamois
leather, over the rough specimens, as blasted or
hammered. As yet Mr. Kellow has blasted only
one large boulder, we believe, but the probability
is, judging by analogy, that the spinel permeates
much of the limestone and that regular spinel
sapphires have been found or can be found in the
detritus below. It does net seem likely that a
people so much given to gem -digging as the Sin-
halese, have neglected search in this formation,
but there can be equally little doubt tha.t the supply,
especially in the rock matrix, cannot be exhausted.
The intrinsic value of sapphires and rubies found
in limestone is low in comparison with the prices
jjaid for crystallized and coloured clay, but spinel
gems if large and flawless, have a value of their
own. Not long ago, when Mr. Kellow showed us
his first apecimens, we gave full and detailed
information on the subject, including the alleged
facts that very large and pure spinel sapphires
and rubies from Burma had sold in the Europ-
ean market at prices equal to those realized
by the gems derived from the crystallization
of argillaceous matter. Mr Kellow has bad
door-weights made of the Albion spinel lime-
stone, and flower-pots cemented over with small
fragments look very beautiful, hung in the verandah
of his bungalow. It would be preferable, how-
ever, we think, to form vases thus ornamented in
which to place ordinary porous flower pots. But
for the weight of the material, (our collec-
tion severely tried two coolies), a good market
<)8

for the beautiful blue-crystalled mountain lime-
stone might thus be opened up. It is possible,
too, notwithstanding the failure of our ex-
periment, that slabs for tables may yet be sawn
and successfully polished. Contrasted specimens
of masses of red garnets which we collected on
the Blackwater slip, and the blue-crystalled
limestone which we took from the vein below
Hakgala, on Albion estate, have excited great ad-
miration, each being beautiful in its own way.
While on the subject of mineralogical specimens
I must not forget to mention that on the occasion
of my original visit to New Cornwall, under the
auspices of the late Mr. Mark Kellow, he led me
down through the bottom of the valley, by a path
long since disused, to a formation near the out-
let of the stream, known then and still known
as " the plum-pudding rock." Some conglomerate,
no doubt, but whether ironstone, as is probable,
or some form of quartz or limestone, I cannot say as,
on this latter occasion, I was not able to get to the
position of the plum-pudding rock. A curious pecu-
liarity of the specially rich soil of this limestone re-
gion is its very dark chocolate colour. This
dark shade must indicate the presence of fer-
tilizing substances specially favourable to the
growth of cofl'ee, for the stems which we saw as
we descended the steep sides of the cup-like Valley
of Ambawella, thick as a stout man's thigh, were
wonderful contrasts to the best growths we had
ever seen in Dimbula.* Produce in the prime of
this secluded district, (reminding me strongly of
the scene of the richest gold mine in the world, the
Walhalla in Gipps Land, Victoria,) was in proportion,
and Messrs. Cotton and Kellow, still shew splendid
coffee, Mr. Kellow indeed adhering to his first love,
coffee, and not yet " going in " for tea. Mr. Cotton,
however, has gone on the two-string theory, while the
proprietors of Ambawella are scattering tea in all
directions : in the valley ; on its rim and down
outside of it, until the high road below Hakgala
is reached. There can be no doubt that where
coffee grew so well tea will also flourish. Look-
ing at the soil, I said to my companion, " We
have soil over the range quite as deep, quite as free ;
the difference with us is the lighter colour, brown
inclining to yellow, in which coffee, but for
leaf disease, would have done fairly and in which
tea luxuriates." I had just been reading Dr.
Griffith's account of the expedition of Dr. Wallich
and himself to the habitat of the indigenous tea in
Assam, nearly sixty years ago, and I did not fail
to note that where a group of tea trees was found
growing in the Assam and Upper Burma jungles, the
almost invariable description of the colour of the soil
was "yellow. " The fact seems to be that tea, with ity
powerful tap-root, rejoices in a pretty stiff clayey

* At the distance of nearly twenty-two years, I havy
the most distinct and vivid recollection of the exquisite
scene which greeted two of my sense.", as I rose on the
morning of the second day of iny visit in April 16dh,
The vvbole expaose of cofft-e spread over the vaDcy ap"
peared as if during tlie night fairy agencies had bem

I at work, showering over the treea a dense covering
of jasmin-scented snow-flakes. As I walked through this
scene of amazing beauty and powerful perfume, I
gathered specimens of a small, indolent bee-like bVetkv
which, in immense numbers, was feeding ou the nectar
of the iiowers. I .«ent Ihe insects to the late Mr,
Neitner (Author of " Enemies of the Coffee Tree,")
who assured me, that the beetles were innocuous. Alas,
that a similar verdict could not apply to the fungus
which four years subsequently developed with such
fatal fecundity and destructive energy, over similar
vast expanses of once profitable but then doomed coffee

j culture, the contemptible pest, breaking not meirH^
f-jrtunes but humau hearts ;

55'^

fKE T^OPiCAL AGRICULTURIST,

[Feb. 1, 1887,

soil with a proportion of iron in it which coffee did
not like. Outside the Ambawella Valley I saw tea
growing well in patana soil and learned from my
good friend, Mr. Cotton, that although there is
some difficulty at first in reconciling the plants
to the grass-land soil, they seem at once to be
at home whoa the tap-root gets well down into
the Bubsoil. Unless Mr. Kellow resolves to devote
his patana land on Albion to timber tree growth,
I cannot doubt that tea will do well between his
shelter belts of wattle, and the result of my re-
visit to New Galway and its neighbourhood and
what I saw, is to convince me more strongly
than ever that a very considerable proportion of the
better patana lands of Uva are calculated to grow,
not only timber trees but tea, well and profitably.
All Ceylon knows about the splendid fruit, peaches
and especially plums grown by Mr. W. Cotton on
Warwick. The large Ootacamund plums are espe-
cially famous and Mr. Nock is grafting this kind
on the smaller plum, which has about as great
a tendency to send up shoots as has the silver
wattle. Here, as at Hakgala, we were struck with
the magnificent foliage of the tree tomato. As an
ornamental plant, it is worth growing; but the
fruits are really nice (much like gooseberries) when
ripe and eaten for dessert ; while as a stew or jam,
it is most difficult to distinguish them from apricot.
The tree tomato and the cho-cho are great suocesses
with Mensrs. Cotton and Kellow (whose bungalows
are in close proximity, while the stores of the three
estates are also close together at the bottom of
the valley) ; indeed the cho-cho, (the cooked
fruit of which closely resembles vegetable mar-
row,) is so prolific that the surplus fruits are
already used to feed pigs. The tree tomato,
the eho-cho and the edible passion fruit, are
great acquisitions on estates and seem
to flourish everywhere at high altitudes. A
gentleman from Assam tells us that there the
gigantic passion flower, the grenadilla of the
West Indies is common and the fruit largely used. We
do not know why this fruit has gone out of view
in Ceylon. We remember its introduction, (by Mr.
David Baird Lindsay of Kajawella* we think,) more
than iO years ago, and it used to be grown at
Colombo, climbing up jak trees. For many years
we have seen it only as an escape in the
Holnicot jungle above Nawalapittiya. From New
Galway we brought a gigantic citron, weighing 3 lb
which may for this week be seen (and scented, the
smell being delicate lemon) at the Ohnerver Office.
—Although we could not revisit the plum-pudding
rock in the depths of the Ambawella Valley, Mr.
Kellow led us to " View Toint" at the mouth of
the Valley, whence we looked out upon the
larger portion of Haputale, the Church and some
of the stores gleaming white in the sunlight.
Up above the deep Ambawella Valley we got a
glimpse of the patana on which the Ambawella
station of the long delayed Uva railway is to be
placed, and from "View Point" we saw well into
the Idulgashena Gap, through Avhich the line will
pass on to the shelving grassy range along which it
will seek its present terminus on the Haputale
pass. Here and in our journey to Albion we enjoyed
views of the difi'erent divisions of Uva, which, in
the fine weather which followed the rain, were
inexpressibly grand and beautiful ; while in passing
upwards between the massive Hakgala and the
beautiful wooded and patana ridges opposite it,
the scenery was in some places sublime. But from
"View Point" it was sad to look down on the
remains ef the first and second Ambawella bungalows :
there is now a third in quite a different position.

* It i» &oi.isU3}io§ «3 F&lUk9ll« stillf

In the earliest built of all, in April 1865, my
brother Highlander, Mr. Allister MacLellan, " in
the dress of old Gaul " entertained me to pipe
music, — music which is heard to chief advantage
amidst the echoings of mountain valleys. I fancy
I appreciated Mr. MacLellan's music more than the
late Mr. Cruwell is said to have done. " That
will do! that will do! that is beautiful! that is
enough I " the musical German is described as ex-
claiming in ill-concealed agony, while MaoLellan
responded, " Man, I have not yet begun the
claine ! That is only the over— c/iure ! " The
Highlander probably did not think the Ger-
man "capable of giving an opeenyon" on the
music so dear to the sons of the Gael. Alas !
Cruwell and MacLellan, and my original host and
guide the elder Kellow, and so many more, are all
gone, so that " the place which once knew them,
shall know them no more for ever." I heard of a
roll of names including about a score of Superin-
tendents on Ambawella, the larger proportion being
dead. I, close on my 71st birthday, paid a pathetic
visit to the el(^er Cotton, bed-ridden from an ac-
cident in his 77th year. Here on Warwick, besides
the kindest hospitality, I thus met three suc-
cessive generations of Europeans connected with
Ceylon. Old Mr. Cotton came to the island in
1844, never again leaving it, I believe. His
son William born in Ceylon, I imagine, mar-
ried a Scotch lady from Aberdeenshire, and they
have children in Ceylon and " at home." To one
of them, a young lady just returned from " Home,';
we were indebted for " low and sweet " strains
of song and piano music, the most complete possible
contrasts to poor Allister MacLellan's " skirling"
pibrochs of twentj-two years ago. With this pleas-
ing reminiscence it is fitting and congenial I should
close my record of "New Galway Eevisited."

BRITISH INDUSTRY IN CENTRAL AFRICA.

A telegram in ?'Ae Timeg of Tuesday informs us
that the German East African Company mean to start
plantations of coffee, sugar, and other cultures in
the immense territory (70,000 square miles) recently
acquired by them from the Sultan of Zanzibar. la
this connextiou it will be of interest to give some
account of what has been done further south in the
Lake Nyassa region by an English company, the
" African Lakes Company," who have been working
quietly for eight years, with very marked success —
a success, indeed, which seldom accompjinies enter-
prise in Africa.

Those familiar with Livingstone's later explorations
will remember that this investigations resulted in the
discovery of the great Lake Nyassa, which empties
its waters into the Zambesi, the Shird serving as a
conduit. The dream of his life was to utilize the
extensive waterway for the introduction of com-
merce, in order that the tribes which furnish by far
the largest quota of human chatties to the slave-
trader of East Africa might have a chance in turu'
ing the natural wealth of their country to good
account, and not be dependent on a bloodthirsty set
of half-eastes for every yard of calico or string of
beads. But Livingstone's purse was a very short
one as African expenditure goes nowadays. He
nevertheless sank nearly his whole means of de'
volopnig this idea, which had but one result —
his failure showed to those who were to come
after just what should be avoided in the future,
and what insisted upon. As a reconnoissauce it
was all valuable ; but it sorely crippled him. In
common with all African rivers the Shire has
its staircase of cataracts, and thus a clear run from
the Indian Ocean up from the Zambesi to Lake
Nyassa is impossible. A "portage" of 75 miles
half-way between the lake and the Zambesi is a
necessity. However, there were plentj' of Livings
stone's couDtrymt'u north of the Tweed who had such
faith in tiui doctor's bard'headed wisUoa tbat>witl3

fun, I. 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

53(^

jsgaiMl

the help of some of his old comrades, a new attempt wa8
resolved upon in the jear 1878. Mr, E. D. Young a
gunner in the Royal Navy and Livingstone's factotum
had seen just where the breaking point lay previously
and when he was invited to assist in resuscitating
plans all tending to relieve the natives of the Shire
highlands from the incubus which lay upon them, he
rendered invaluable service. Sent out by the Royal
Geographical Society to investigate the story of Living-
stone's reported murder in 1866, he was able to try
tho oughly the experiment of transporting boats in
sections. "Mild steel" was then in jts infancy, and, if
we are not mistaken, Mr. Young's boat, the "Search,"
was the first vessel of any kind constructed of this
material. She was put together at Chatham under
the supervision of the Admiralty authorities, and
proved a perfect success during Mr. Young's well-
known and most successful adventure. With the
experience of this last trip in hand Mr. Young
received a commission from the Established and Free
Churches of Scotland to provide them with a steam
vessel made of the same -material. Mr. Yarrow built
the Ilala under Mr. Young's immediate directions, and
agciin with undaunted perseverance he placed her on
Lake Nyassa at the service of the missionaries who
accompanied him. It is right to mention this because
we now hear of steam vessels on most of the great
inland seas of Africa, and notably the Congo river, but
to Mr. Young's energy is due the fact that the llala led
the way in 1876, Sir Samuel Baker's steamers were
second in order on the Albert Nyanza in General
Gordon's service. It speaks well for the future when
we now learn that Emin Pasha has tlie abovenamed
vessel still afloat. The Ilala is reported "tight as a
bottle " after ten years of amateur and professional
seamanship, during which she had to weather many a
heavy gale and many a bump.

The African Lakes Company took shape in 187S,
not as a mere trading venture, but to assist the
various missions which were then established, and to
work out Livingstone's schemes. It had its ups and
downs, its days of small things and its successes. Now
it can boast of steady development through all.
Twenty-five Europeans are dotted about at trading
stations stretching from Quillimane on the coast to
a point half-way between the Lakes Nyassa and
Tanganyika. These stations are 12 in number, and
three steamers ply on lake and river with very great
regularity. At a pinch the company has shown itself
equal to conveying a steam vessel in sections across
from Lake Nyassa by the Stevenson road (of the
eompany's engineering), and she is now on Lake
Tanganyika with the staff ot the London Missionary
Society. But the point which the compauy lias settled
is this : — During the eight years in which it has ex-
tended the ramification of its trade over this immense
distance, it has proved that it is possible to trade in
indiarubbe>-, wax, oilseeds, and in ivory to an enormous
amount, without defiling the list of their barter goods
with a single keg of trade rum, or the all-representative
" square face" of the West Coast trade. It is some-
thing to have established proof before us that it is ncft
necessary to carry ruin and desolation headed up in
Hamburg casks and Dutch gin bottles to a new
country before you can hope to see tusks and dividends.
The Messrs. Moir, who are intrusted with the concerns
of the company, testify that they have alrea^ly ex-
ported (Decamber, 1885j 40,815 lb. of ivory, and not
imported a glass of spirits. We can only trust that
when some of the ventures which are in the air take
form and shape, either on the Congo or in the Soudan,
this invaluable precedent may encourage or shame as
occasion may require.

Little short of romfvntic arc some of the incidents
connected, with the company's progress. Making very
bad weather of it for many years, two little stunted
coffee plants led a miserable existence in the Edin-
burgh Botanical Gardens. It was a happy and kindly
thought a ways when the Curator asked Mr.
John Moir to tnke them away with hiui to the
Shire liighlands. In due time they arrived;
the fittest survived. Too much happiness, perhaps,
killed tlio olhev. 'f'lio survivor took a new lease of

life, struck deep roots into the warm, red soil of
the hills, and hurst out with berries and cuttings
in the glorious air of the highlands. Photographs
lie before us in which plantations filled with heavy-
laden coffee trees are depicted. The gardens on
Mount Zomba, of the Buchanan Brothers, are a
thing to see, and it was stated in The Times some
years since that samples of their produce had been
priced very highly in Mincing-lane. But to this
old patriarch of the Edinburgh Gardens is every
berry traceable. It is computed that 100,000 trees
claim direct descent from him, and Scotland may
claim to have put Some of her own energy and
pluck into his fibre. Nothing seems to be such a
favourite article of barter with the natives as

occasion, the Lakes Company
both soap and candles for

already exists. They express
it is from
But the com-

soap. Equal to the

contemplate making

the market which

abundant oil for their steamers as

ground-nuts, which do not pay to export

pany pride themselves on the alteration they are bring- .
ing about in the ivory trade of the interior. Hitherto it
has been the custom of the Arabs to buy, or more often
to seize, such stores of ivory as they know of in the
country. The tusks are generally borne to the coast by
unfortunate slaves, who after a tramp of several hund-
red miles are got rid of for what they will fetch. The
burden tho man has carried may bring in from £25 to
£30 ; the bearer may change hands for $5. Now the
trading stations of the Lakes Company " cut " this
traflSc balf-way ; the Arabs are glad to dispose of their
ivory midway at the lake. We much regret that it is not
in our power to report any diminution in the traffic
in slaves across Lake Nyassa, coastwards bound. On
the contrary, it seems that it is increasing largely. The
slave trade is in the hands of Arab agents and powerful
lake chiefs, with whom the company has no licence,
even if it had the power, to interfere.

The very existence of the large mission stations of
the Scotch Churches and the Church of England on and
around the lake depends on communication with tho
outer world, and this becomes only a second charii:e on
the company's exertions. To keep up with requirements
under this heading a large sternwheel steamer is just
being put together on the Zambesi, whither she has
been borne in sections from the Clyde. It would be
very interesting to point to the work, both industrial
and evangelical, which is being carried out in these regi-
ons, but it hardly comes within bounds, nor can we do
more than mention again the fact that, with the com-
pany's operations as a basis, some very excellent
Scotch farmers and engineers have founded a flourish-
ing settlement on Mount Zomba — perhaps one of the
healthiestand most picturesque spots in Central Africa.
With abundant streams and a network of irrigation,
not only do they dispose of their coffee, sugar, and oil
seeds to the Company, but some of the rarer drugs
and spices are being Ijrought under hand. Surely the
very spirit of Livingstone must wander now and
again through those regular lines of coffee trees ^ He
dared to dream and to talk of such possibilities in his
lifetime; his bard-headed, energetic countrymen have
indeed given a backbone to his visions since he died
on the shores of the neighbouring lake. But a
great deal too much harm has been done already
by picturing tropical Africa as the coming colony
fur Europeans of all classes. It is murderous
folly to entice men on to its alluvial lands and
swamps to dig and delve, to plough and sow. Only
here and there can such things be done ; even
then the white man must manage and direct alone.
But, rightly understood, this very fact tells in favour
of the natives. Born cultivators are they; no new dis-
covery this, as Cuba, Brazil, and the Southern States
of old can tell ; but heads for such details as the mer-
chant's ledger requires will not ache over figures for a
generation or two. Then there is no prospect of the
African being elbowed off his own land by the incoming
settler, be he of the '' Ma Dutchi " tribe (as the na-
tives already call tho Germans) or from Ireland,
England, or Sweden. The natives must conunaud
their own price ; they do now at the company's
stations and on Mount Zomba, but it is Tiot in rum, wi-
repeat.

54«

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURlSf. [Feb. i, iSSy.

Pleasant would it be to round off such a story of brave
expeiiment; and, let us add, monetary success, without
dropping a hint of care and embarrassment, but then
it would not be Africa. Nothing goes right in
Africa," is a proverb from Cape Town to Cairo,
and the L:ikts Company has its troubles. Ever
siuce Lord Palmer.'-ton's day the Portuguese have
ciidi avoured to claim evirythiug an.1 everybody situated
behind their seaboard o» the east coast, and so
across the continent to the western side of Africa —
a pretension which has been as often contested. It
will be seen that the country in which the company's
operations lie falls within this section. The recent
" scramble for Africa'' has made the dry bones of these
old disputes have their say. Germany has treated
them in her own off-hand way. It was enough, surely,
that poor Livingstone discovered with chagrin that he
had only been exploring for the purposes of convicts
and slavedealers at Senna, Mette, and Quillimane ; it
would be too much now to witness any attempt made
to nullify ibis true-hearted effort to emancipate the
natives from their wrongs, and the countrymen of
Livingstone must look to it and see that it does not
take shape to the detriment of the new industries.

[We have the impression that the late British Consul,
Captain Moore, R.N., indented on Ceylon not only
for cinahona seed, but for coffee, and we can only hope
that the fungus was not carried with the coffee. —
Ed.]

■ — » ■ --■ '

CUPS THAT CHEER.

Botaiic beer can hardly be erased from the list
of our national beverages without a struggle. The
Exjise has lately declared against it, with the support
of the Courts, but surely some effort will be made
to reverse the judgment. We know nothing of the
compound more specially in question; and of "herb
beer" we cau say no more than that we believe it
to be well meant. It is understood to be teetotal in its
tendency, and in the nature of .a pious fraud. It has
something to the colour of the lighter beer, and well
shaken, it evolves a lather, which enthusiasm may
call a head. With a pipe of herb tobacco it com-
pletes the outfit of the blameless, iutent on "going
it " without a headache. It may be all very well,
yet, it ought uot to represent the final effort of in-
vention to improve the quality of our nou-iotoxicat-
ing drinks. There is no more reason why a certain
person should have all the nice beverages to him-
self thau why he should have all the nice tunes.
The coffee palaces are, no doubt, admirable institu-
tions, but the coffee they sell leaves much to be de-
sired. The sam« thing may be said of their tea. If
they only brewed with half the scientific care of the
brewer tliey might sooner drive him out of the
field. They would certainly confer a great boon on
all of us, for where they led, the kitchen might follow,
and in time we should have tea and coffee fit to
drink. As it is, people make both of these beverages
with an appalling lightness of heart. Some own .
to a sense of responsibility as to coffee, but it is a
common belief that anybody can make a cup of
good t>a. Sages have not been of that opinion. The
late Mr. vVyrton, who had better claims to that title
than it is now the fashion to admit, made tea as se-
riously as he audited a public balance-sheet. He had
thought it all out, as he had thought out Indian ad-
ministratiou. and the result was a certain solemnity of
preparation not unsuggestive of a Hindu rite. He made
tea with awe ; and those who denied him the quality
of reverence had never called on him in the afternoon.
He made only just as much tea as he wanted — no more
-and he had a rich variety of teapots to enable him
to take the measure of every need. He allowed the
ton to stand for five minutes, and then drank it all
up, or at least poured it all out, at once. It was de-
licious. If he could have made tea for Sir .1. Hooker
they might have been friends for ever. The poor man's
1 lip, an 1 especially the poor womtn's, often stews on
I he hob for hours, and it is really not much more
Ihan a decoction of tannic acid wJien all is doue 'J'ea

should never be a decoction, but only an infusion.
Even the tea of the drawing-room usually stands too
long. The replenishing of the teapot with fresh water,
common both to the mansion and the cottage, is a
positive abuse of the gifts of nature. There can be
no good gossip on the stimulus of drink so made.
The finest talk must degenerate into tattle when the
tea has stood for more than seven minutes at the
outside.

With oui: tea a comparative failure*, our coffee is, of
course, almost past praying for. Our very pretensions
go no further than tea. We lose a good deal by the
meanness of our ambition, flood coffee is the finest
drink in the world, and it would surely defeat half
the intoxicants on their own ground. It is the
niost generous of stimulants, and it induces acti-
vity and alertness of brain without the faintest trace of
elevation. Should any further recommendation be
wanted, we may add that, like pure water, it will
kill, if you take enough of it, or, rather, too much.
Murger died of excessive coffee — not uuflavoured with
cognac — but far more people have to thank it for the
prolongation of their lives. It is far beyond tea as a
dietetic, though perhaps nobody but Merlatti could
wisely venture to make it his sole support. Indeed,
high authorities say that it should never be taken with-
out something sohd, as an accompaniment. Anything
will do — a piece of bread, or. failing that, even a waist-
coat button, according to the Oriental proverb quoted
in an admirable lecture on the subject at the Parkei
Museum. It improves with age like the other gener-
ous drinks, though not of course when it is iu
the state of infusion. The green berry may be
kept for fifteen or twenty years, and it will gain
in flavour every day. Brown Java, which leaves
Mocha far in the shade, is supposed to owo a good
deal to its long sojourn in the island before export-
ation. It lies in store sometimes for t-eveu years.*
The roasting should always be deferred to the very
last moment. Pvoast, and brew at once is the golden
rule. First get your Brown Java— for that matter,
one of half a dozen other kinds will do. Then make
a smokeless fire, of coal, or gas ; toss your green
berries into an earthenware pipkin, if you have no-
thing better at hand, and there need 'be nothing
better ; hold it over the flame for fifteen or twenty
minutes, to dry it merely, not to burn it. stirring
it all the time, and your task ig done. Grind or
pound in a mortar— pounding, they say, is better.
The Turks find that the pestles improve with use,
as the coffee improves with age, and they sell the
old ones at a high figure. Two ounces of coffee to
the pint of water is the happy mean, and those who
want it weaker had better weaken it after the brew.
A common jug and a strainer are all you need for
the final rite, but people who like to part with their
money often insist on more.

Coffee is best with absolutely no adulteration, but
some plead for chicory with it, owing to vices in their
bringing up. Dandelion root, roasted acorns, dried
cabbage stumps, " or any other form of vegetabl*
offal," ought certainly to be left out of the pot. And,
if there must be chicory, let us have it pure. There
is often an adulteration of the adulteration, in the
shape of an admixture of Venetian red, roasted pulse,
damaged wheat, mangel wurzel, oak-bark tan, logwood,
dog biscuit, or baked liver of horse. But for the
grf*ater facihty of adulteration, coffee might be ak
largely used in this country as tea. Tea is better pro-
tected because it is easier to protect. We seem to
drink less and less coffee everj- year. >Some go so
far as to say that the adulteration is systematically
encouraged by the Government, but this seems un-
fair. It does appear to be systematically endured.
The Customs have been known to advise their officers
not to attempt to di.^tinguisii dan<ielion roots from
chicory " on their own responsibility." They ought
not to let themselves oft' so easily. A people that had once
tasted really good cott'ee could never afford to forget
that joy. It is much rarer in England than almost

* If this were true, which we do not believe,
twico the ordinal y price would not pay the producer
— Ep,

Fbb. 1, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

S4f

any other delicacy. The exporters, no doubt, send
U8 of their best, but we do not know what to do
with it when we have it. The Turks might send us
a coffee mission, or even, if this unhappy business iu
Egypt were settled, the French. The taste is ready,
and it only awaits the means of gr itification. The
only proprietor cf an English coffee-house who knew
how to make coffee as it is drunk m favoured local-
ities abroad soon realised a fortune. If the French
would but teach us how to make coffee we might
teach them to improve their make of tea, on the
principle of an exchange of lessons. They are wofuliy
benighted in this matter, even in the centre of civili-
zation. In the outlying districts they h;ive a rooted
idea that tea is physic, and they have been known
to offer it, pending the arrival of the doctor, for the
relief of a broken limb. They never make it strong
ecough ; their tea is emphatically h'it hot water be-
witched. And the instrument of witchery is apparently
the old familiar one of a birch-broom, — Daily News.

INDIAN COFFEE CULTUEE.

BY AN EX-PLANTER.

Though the cultivation of coft'ee by Englishmen is
of no great antiquity, yet for the last 50 or 60 years,
it has had a peculiar fascination for our ambitious
"younger sols," and that this charm still hoids good
the captains of outward-bound passenger stearanrs
know full well. It is for those whose thoughts have
thus turned down this new and curious road to fortune
that these notes are put together. For them we
attempt a f«uggestive and 6uffii;ient sketch of this
attractive labour, as well as profitable enterprise ;
while others, whose connection with coffee i* coufined
to the refreshing matutinal draught or after-dinner
digestive sip, may be curious to see how their son-*
or brothers defy malaria and fevcr, livinj a life of
hardship and adventure imperfectly pictured by those at
home.

Coffee thrives in many parts of the world. A map
coloured to show the regions where its cultivation is
profitably carried out would exhibit a broad zone of
habitation on both sides of the Equator completely
circling the globe. One or two districts thus included,
by some happy combination of climite and soil, have
attained to fame through this proJuct alone. There
is Brazil, in South America, where scores of hundreds
of miles of admirable volcanic soil are clo'hed with
bushes, and the revenue of an empire fluctuates with
its good or bad seasons. In -Jamaica, under the
British flag, this mild beverage has almost ec'ipsed
the profitable production of a stronger diink for which
the island has been famous. On the opposite African
coast, again, the negro state of Liberia rears a low-
land species named after the locality, and indigenous.
Caft'a, on the Abyssinian tablelands, is held by many
to be the native home of coffee, and it is still grown
th^re in a rongh-and-ready way. But from sandy
Syrian terraces above Mocha comes perhaps the most
famous growth of coffee — that variety which made the
beverage famous in Oonstantinople and Europe more
than two hundred years ago. Its superlative strength
and aroma are due lai'g^ly to the care exercised by
Arab cultivators in marketing only the ripest and
choicest cherries. Mmy of the lesser Pacific islands
grow coffee, but in a scattered, careless fashion,
amongst those teeming jungles where the sunbirds
flash and parrots nest, so brilliant in feather that one
might well believe nature had used them to wipe
her most lavish paint box out with.

Fiji, since the annexation, has become prosperous.
Its coffee is rising in estimation, but there crops up
in an acute form the labour difficultj', perhaps the
most serious question of all those which can vex a
planter.* Home labour in this delightful island is
instinctively lazy, and, moreover, pampered by a well-
meaning hut " grandmotherly " Ooverumeut. Con-
sequently, resource is had to labour ships, which scour
the Pacific picking up every man or boy who is
willing to apprentice himself for three years. But
for this single matter we should say to the hesitating

* More serious in the case of coffee is the introduc-
tion in its very infancy of the fatal leaf fungus. — En.

novice, " Try Fiji 1 " The climate is pleasant and the
land is unquestioBably of wonderful fertiUty,

But it is to Ceylon and India that most young
men's eyes turn when they think of seeking this
manner of fortune iu new land». Oejlon, *'the
brighte-t jewel iu the English Crown," has been a
very Garden of E leu to th e tropical adventurer :
in our opinion its soil is to-day as unexhausted as it
ever has been. True, the island is not just now so
vividly prosperous as some years ago, but this in
great measure is the result of overdoing the coffee
enterprise, and flooding the high-class labour market
with an endless stream of " chick dorees," all
willing enough to work, only without a particle of prac-
tical knowledge. But the great shadow that has been
upon Ceyion is that of the drea led leaf disease.
Tbis terrible little fungus spots coffee leaves with
yellow, finally stripping and killing the bushes over
wiiole mountain ranges. It has sent down the value
of estates 50 per cent all over the island. Before
the disease appeared you could hardly grow coffoe
in any style without realizing something of a profit.
On certain estates — "on Patnasoil" — 40 per cent for
moiiej invested has been returned year after year ;
and now — well, some cynical proprietors, well qualified
to speak, say the only way to make coffe'- pay in
Oey'ou is to pull every bush up, planting tea in its stead.

Good coffee is grown in Southern India. Here labour
is generally fairly abundant, and very good in quality.
In most districts the climate is healthy: "jungle fever"
may be reduced to a minimum by a cautious planter,
snd there is geuerally some sport to be had near at
tim-8.

It is with a by no means unpleasant sense of free-
dom the wanderer goes up to his jungles, his last
link wi'h home broken when the big ship that has
borne him over seas went down on the horizon, and
all the rich fumre opening before him. He goes up-
country as far as the railway will tane him, and then
has to rely upon country carts, the muichml or hammock
suspended from a pole, or horseback if he can get a
mount.

The first evening alone in his Traveller's Bungalow
is the pause before the curtain rises to-morrow, and
he sees those hills and gorges in which he mus: live
and work for the next 10 or 20 years — which perhaps,
indeed, he may never quit; but he puts awiy this
Utter thought if he be of stuff stout enough for a
pioneer, aud gives himself up keenly to the novelty
of his surroundings. Blase indeed must be the wanderer
who has forgotten how dai-k was that Indian evening
under the fig trees of the little English station, how
obsequious the native attendants seemed, how the mul-
titudinous voices of the night, the jackals yelping on
themiidan, the squirrels chirruping overhead amongst
the rafters, bats and owls outsiJe, and a world of
insects in the brushwood, combined in one continu-
ous concert. Fiie-flies hovered ab jut the trellis of the
verandah, and inside the heavy mouotonous flap of
the punkah overhead lulled him to repose; for the
rest, all he remembers of his first evenitig ia
that it seemed he had hardly sought the slielter
of sheets and mosquito curtains when his servant
shook him gently by the shoulder and thrust a suggestive
cup of hot coft'ee upon his attention.

Making a start by moonlight — that wonderful silve
radiance that floods a tropical landscape with mellow
light— or, perhaps, at very earliest dawn, he has
turned his face to the blue hills that tower before
him long ere the sun is due in the East. Through
slumbering hamlets, in their heavy green shrouding of
bananas, he passes, disturbing a cooly or two asleep
before the doorstep of some better-housedcountrymim,
and the peasants start up to stare, or salaam — if
they can get their wits about thetni in time— as the
sahib canters by, his heavy baggage in country carts,
drawn V>y amiable white oicen, trundling after him.
Broad rivers are crossed, all black and silver in the
moonlight, wln-re 'he car's tro into the tlo .d up to
their aisles or higher, snd the cattle drink as they
plunge auii sniff tnrough their sparkling bath, while
each driver shouts and twists their tails until they may

542

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Fbb. i, 1887.

be h<^ard to crack aalibly. Deep groves of figs are
passe 1, where shad -ws are so deuse we caauot see our
hor.oes' i-arsor th*- fir^t inau, "ho chants moQotonously
as he staggers under our himinock pole, and the t-xit
at the end of the aveuue tunnel shines wi'h a
dazzling brilliancy, aud then dawn comfS as the foot
hills are reached ; the thia curls of aromatic blue
smoke go up from the linfeU of wayside huts, parroquets
rush tumultuously screeching from palm tope to palm
tope, the hum of the nighr-time dront-s into nilence ;
and while the sky ov^erhead of laveuder is shot with
fiery yellows and crimsous, the day comes, the bee-eaters
take up their perches, the great black and crimson
swallow-lail butterflies feover amongst the yellow cactus
flowers, and the " gorgeous East " i-; awake again.

The best cuff'-e lands Jie for the most part above
the bamboo reg'on, which rings the hiils, and to reach
it we have to pass through a waving forest of that
giant grass. Zigzaging up the Ghaut road, we
come at list to a plateau, three or four thousand
feet above the sea ; and here, all around us, in these
undulating glens and corries, clothed in dense and
gigantic jungle, is the chosen soil and congenial
home of the coffee bush. Lonely, indeed, will be the
lot for a time of him who goes to a really brand-new
region, where the foot of man has never before pene-
trated. But, to tell the tru'h, such places are
scarce nowadays, and we may safely suppose there is
a friendly, though strange, hand to welcome the
newcomer to the woods, and give him shelter and food
until he shall have had a chance to estahli-,h himself.
This previous settler will put the " Griffia " up in
the local regulations, aud smoke a cheroot or two over
the best spot for a new garden, and the formalities
attending its purchase.

Much the same method of taking up land holds
good on all Crown forests. The would-be purch<ser,
if he is bent on opening forest for himself, " pros-
pects" until be finds what he thinks will be a like'y
bit. This is notified to the local authorities, who fix
a day and put the hillside up to public auction at a
reserve price of from 10s. to 21. per acre. The hardship
of this arrangement is that occasi'inally the man who
has been to all the trouble of making a selection is
outbidilen by some weiltht-ir rival, who carries off
the p^ize. But suppo-e it falls to the prospector
proper, at a price which will vary infinitely with soil,
climate, aspect, accessibility, neiahbourhfiod, &c., but
may approsimitely be put at 21. to 3^. per acre;
then the owner pays down 10 or 12 per cent, and
enters into practi.-al possession. A Government
surveyor oraes up and marlfs out the limits of the
land by clearing a broad path or "blaz-^" through
the forest all round, and for this about 4i (R2.)
per acre is char^jed.

Th'-n the Englishman sets to work. If there is
another planter within a mile or two of the jungles
which are going to blossom with coffee an arrange-
ment is generally male by which the new chum stays
with him f . r a time, g»ing to i.nd fro everv day;
but if the district is quite unse+t ed. the '-Giiffiu"
Itmst establish himself. The first nect.ssity is some
labourers. To obtain 'hese reccairse is gaierally had
to miistr.es or headmen — gangers we call tiieiu hfre
in England — wbo are well k. own on the out-kirts of
all agricultural districts. They wait upon tiie sa-db,
and. W'th much salaaming, hear how many men he
want*, and when. For eich man, woman and child
they promise to produce by a stipulated date in the
future gnrden an advance of three or four rupees has
to be male. Much of this goes straight into their
own pockets, no d'-ubt, but th'^ rnst enables the coulie
labourers to provide a few necessaries for their migr-
ation. It. is an eventful dav when they come stream-
ing up the roeky hill roads, 50 or 60 of them, perhaps,
in Inilian file, carrNmg on their heads and shoulders
an infitiite variety of biggage and movable property,
with bags of rice j-lung across the backs of bullocks,
a choice assortment of little bUck and brown native
sheep, and bunches of miserable cock- and hens hung
in festoons, heads downwards, from bamb'os. They
encamp, and, under the energetic supervision of their
maistrisi, set to work erecting long rows of low

shed-", or lin-s, as they are locally called. These are
V'try roughly m ide for the time of strong uprights
fixrd in the gr.tun I, walls of matting made of split rattan
cane, aud heavy roots comiog low dowu to the ground
of lemon-grass or fan-palm leaves. The Englishman's
first hut is a few score yards away, and only a little
more carefully finished than the natives.' Round it
are the stables for his pony, the tool sheds and store
houses. The site for s-uch a settlement should be
carefully chosen. Hollows must be unconditionally
avoided, so should windy gaps too high up. The best
place is a spot on the open grass hillside, by the
side of a good stream, with natural drainage, and
well above the level of the tree tops in the valley
below. The planter cannot take too much care of
his men, or treat them with too much consideration
and justice. They are no more •' niggers" than they
are Esquimaux ! And he might remember with ad-
vantage how many of them belong to races distin-
guished for valor and culture when his own ancestors
were still in the barbarism of woad and wolf skins.
It is, besides, wise policy to cultivate a good repute
with them, for they are great gossips, canvassing their
chief's peculiarities an! habits very keenly over their
evening fires, and transferring their alliance and labour
to other quarters very readily when they are ill-used.
Himself and his men hutted, his provisions and his
tojls arrived, the Eoglishman commences the inter-
esting part of his enterprize — an adventure in which
we hardly know whether to say the pleasures or the
pains are on the average, in the ascendant, but one
certainly wi»h no lack of picturesqueness about it.

Perhaps it will give a better idea of a coffee garden
if we say that as a general rule it may be taken
that there is no level ground in a district where the
plants flourish ; everywhere the ground undulates with
more or less steepness. The typical plantation is one
clothing a rugged hidside, where the rich soil lies in
pockets between rocks, or the hollows between ridgei,
and the plants cover the rise and falls with their
glossy leaves, between which show up stones and
tho.se scattered logs and stumps one-; forming the
primeval forest. Of course, this " jungle '' while it
stands, is a considerable obstacle to any sort of culti-
vation, and has to be brought down in whole or in
part. The great trees — the teak", the sa's, the cedars,
or yellow-wooded " Jack " — are by nature sown close
together, and consequently reach a great height befort
they branch, then making a canopy overhead often
almost impenetrable even by an Indian sun. Thfn
creepers form festoons from br.anch to branch, and
curious orchids, with star-likf- white and yellow flowers
blossom, after the rains, far out of reach overtiead.
In the nullahs or waterc.iurses wild sago grows in
waving beds, and a little higher up the banks white-
rooted ginger and the tall sticks of broad-leafed, plea-
saot-baiked cmusraon flourish. This is the kind of
land to grow coffee and m«ke our fortun'^s ! A good,
deep, p-^aty soil of choc date colour, generally charac-
terised b.' .such veaeta'ion as the above, and an
aspect neither too much exposed to winds or the mid-
day sun, are the gre-it desiderata.

P -rhaps the first 'hing to be done is to make a nursery
plot for young p'ants, to be subsequently put out into
the open. A nice pi ce of groun I is chosen somewhere
about the mid. He of the estate, and w thin a few yards
of a perenual water supply. All uu It-rwood and litter
is then put back from a space of about an acre or .so,
scmie of th-^ trees taken down, aud the ground very care-
fully dug up, befoi-e being iliviiled into lo g nnrrow rows
parallel with each other. In these we sow, whtn the
annual wet weather is expected, the little coffee beans in
the parchment or thin silver skn covering them. In a
few weeks they are up and raaki g little glossy leaves,
but they are not properly ready to plant until their pri-
maries or first branches have been formed. Constant
watering in dry weather, careful weeding, and artificial
protection from a meridian sun, are requisite here,
repaying th- active planter by a stock of strong, healthy
young plants, which it will be a ple<sure for him to plant
out. "while these are growing he has to get his
clearings ready. With a compass, a surveyor's theodo-
lite, and a long cord divided by coloured rags at

Feb, 1, 1887,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

S43

regular intervals, according to the distance apart his
future bushes are to be, he laboriously, day after
day, marks out in the still standing forest long parallel
lines, puiictuattd at regular ii.tt-rvals with IS-iuch
bamboo pegs. In a nngle clearing, if wo are going
to have the coffee 5 feet by 4 feet apart, there may
be room for 22,000 of these pegs. When this " p. gging"
is done comes the " pittmg,' i.e., holes 18 mches
•quare being made where every peg stands, and the
good top soil of vegetable pjould hidden away from
the conflagration that follows.

Many a long day have we spent in the green
arcades of the forest superintending these ant-like
labours of our men, or armed with compass and
theodolite, enjoyed the broaching of quiet vallejs
that no foot but the sdeut sambours had ever trodden
before, and the pioneering of shady holiows that had
kept their repose unbroken since the beginning. Such
a wealth of tree, fern, and pendant deeper swings
overhead, and casts a shifting pa rub work of light
and shadow on the ground as the light breezes swmg
them. But, ala?, our errand was. generally one of
destruction. We came not to admire and withdraw,
but wage remorselessi war with fire aud steel. A
belt having been drawn round the jungle, the work
of clearing commences. The first trees cut are along
the line of the lowest ground, and then another
tier above them is deeply notched, but none of these
are cut through completely. Half a clearing will be
thus treated on a still and windless day. "When all
is ready the first axeman goes above the higbest rank
of forest giants, and, with a few vigorous blows,
topples over a medium-sized sapling. In its fall it
brings two others with it. These are matted to-
gether by rattans with others, wbich give way uu-
der the sudden strain, and so tier after tier rocks
and swings as the stress spreads, the bamboo clumps
splinter and crackle like a winter fire, the big trees
toss their arms aloft, the great yellow rents fly up
the bark of the " Jacks," and you can bear the inner-
most sinews of the cedars cracking like pistol shots
—and then suddenly, with a mightly ro«r, the hill-
side is unlaced, and a thousand years of timber go
to perdition with one huge, tar-resounding crash that
startles the ruminating sambour to his feet a mile
down the glen, aud sends the wild sheep flying over
the grass ledges of those blue crags away in the
dist-jnce that catch and echo the gigantic disaster !
For six long hot Indian weeks the prone timber
lies baking, and then comes a period of animation.
Choosing a warm morning, with a steady breeze bloiving,
the planter goes to a windward corner, aud striking
a match, drops it into a cluster of withered leaves.
The first thin blue smoke curls up to the sky in a
delicate blue spiral laced with flame, and then, as
the wind bends it down, the twigs sparkle and the
sparks fly, the flame seething out into the open, gather-
ing strength as it goes, and, advancing in line of
battle, storms ami carries every log-encumbered hillock,
and runs across giant stems that briilge the streams,
until the whole "clearing" is a witch< s' caldron, and
from the I'eighbour ng heights looks like the fia'y
crater of Etna. But, fierce as the conflagration is by
day, it is infinitely more startling and grand in the
night time, when the standing juuglf — ebony in the
shadows and copper where the light catcbf-s clilf
and trunk—surruunds such another rocking "pillar of
smoke and fire " as that one which rested before
the Israelites at " Elim in the dcert."

Planting out the tender green cofft-e buabes after the
burn, when we hunt for and draw those deposits
of leaf mould we have made in the unfelled wood-
lands, is pleasant and grateful work, the long lines
of greenness winding in our track across the hills,
and the weather being at this "planting season " mill
and showery. Staking the plants, making roads, open-
ing new forests, building bungalows and " lines " for
the natives, with elaborate and costly pulping houses,
drying sheds, "godowns," and cattle houses, occupy
the planter's time very fully, until he has been at
work three long years, and his first maiden crop—
Ibo earliest reward he can look to for laboitr and money
espeudecl— is at hand,

He wakes up one morning duiiug the third spring
to B pleasant sight. From the sreps of his verandah
to the sal trees half a mile away, the rows of bushes
on which he depends for fortune are loaded with
white blossoms, jasmine-like and strongly scented,
crowning the bushes with their stars, near by and
extending in the distance like long lines of breakers
upon a sandy shore. The planter breakfasts at his
window, and prays for sunshine. It pU goes well,
in a month or two a rich crop of fruit, resembling
cherries, has succeeded to the brief floral display, and-
he watches them change in the hot sunshine through
green and yellow to crimson and purple.

By the time they have reached the latter stage,
the increasing attacks of animals and birds suggest
to their owner it would be as well to get them into
safety. Big black monkeys come down from the
hill tops in organised gangs, under leadership of an
experienced white-bearded patriarch ; delicate little
squirrels, who still bear the four stripes oa their
backs which Vishnu's caressing fingers left, chirrup
and scamper down the fallen logs with "cherries"
in their mouths; jackals aud sambour deer stroll
along the rows under the moonlight, pillaging the
ruddy crop while the planter is safely enveloped in
his mosquito curtains. Even elephants like, coffee
thus au naturel : so for a busy month we put it be-
yond their reach, and all day long the encouraging
shout of the maistries echoes over the clearings, the
white-turb»ned coolies sing as they send down an
endless stream of crimson berries to the pulping
mills, and at night there goes up with the smoke of
their wood fires shouting and laughter, and the clash
of wild music as they grow cheerful over their ac-
cumulating " extra pay." Two more operations, and
that ever memorable and delightful first cheque for
" crop received " comes to hand from our agents in
the lowlands. The soft fruit we have brought in to
our store*— it may be some fifteen or twenty tons
for a maiden crop — is soaked in great vats, then
"pulped "-i.e., the flesh separated from the kernel
by pressure between gigantic revolving niitmeg-grateps
—dried again, and finally peeled in a stone mill worked
by steam or water, when the parchment, a thin
brittle skin, is cracked off, and our merchandise — the
uuroasted coffee of our shops— is ready 1 after a final
winnowing) for the bags and shipboard.

If our lonely friend gives a sigh of relief as the
long file of white bullocks paces off down the Ghaut
road to the plains, it is hardly to be wondered at-
He has worked hard enough in all truth for that
precious grey freight they carry. Up every morning
at (5 a.m., he is off to "the good greenwood " while
the shadows are still purple in the hollows, and the
lower grounds are hidden in a silver sea of mistj
through which rock pinnacle and bamboo stump pierce,
like islands in some strange pearly ocean. The forest
paths are cool enough while the day is young; jungle
fowl crow and scratch in the undergrowth, little hog
deer trip timidly home through the long grass,
spiders of ex raordinary colours shine amongst the
dewdrops and cozen incautious flies, orchids bloom
overhead, and ground thrushes in lavender and green,
epauletted with sky-blue, chuckle on the stumps. But
the sun of the hot w. ather "wipes out " this pleasant
morning interlude. By mid-day the planter's world
grasps, forbreaib, and breakfast at noon is an effort
with "the sky as brass and the earth as iron." The
"tub" preceding the meal is a p'easant item, it
must be owned; so is the ruining pis'nian, who
generally appears jogging down the path as we sit
with slippers and lightest coat in the verandah await-
ing his arrival and breakfa8\

With good health we may do all the hard work—
the planning, the overseeing and the conceiving of
an estate in its earli r years — without any great dis.
comfort. It is when the malaria rises in May or
June, and fever lays hold upon us, that we groan
at the sultry length of the Indian days ; and as we
toss restlessly to and fro on our charpoys, consumed
with a purgatorial thirst there is no quenching, aro
tempted to curse those giant creepers that ewing 90
, nionotnnoiisly from the branch^, and thoift vilUncijf

544

tH'E tROPieAL AGKIC0LT0KiS1?, [I^Et. u i^H

insects of the sunshine that keep the grove all tre-
mulous with their eternal hum —

. . . and the day has a sun
That shall make thee wish it done.
But evening brings relief to the fietcer stages of
"junge fever" as to the ordinary work of a plant-
ation. At sundown a stalwart coolie exerci«ies his
vigour in oscillating the clapper of a heavy bell that
hangs between two posts at a central spot, and from
all quarters converge the ready coolies, who have
been squatting on their heels and waiting for this
sound for some time. Jinn, women and children,
they file in, collecting in a great circle round the
rough backwoods desk, where the owner is ready
with his day book, and everyone's work is entered
against his name as he answers to it. If it be pay
day, then a glittering heap of silver coin p'^rcolates
from the log counter to the dusky hands of the
labourers — two-pance a day for the men,* a ])enny for
the women, and a "retaining salary" for the little
children, who come up in turn, and duck their shaven
heads in comical homage to the great white sahib
as they hold out small brown hands for the price
those same hands are supposed to have earned at a
halfpenny a day. When he has seen his horse fed,
has locked up his stores and sheds, counted back
his tools, and doctored, perhaps, a dozen of co)lies,
who come up to his verandah steps to be cured of
every sort of ailment of which Asiatic nature is
capable, the planter has a spell of well-earned re-
pose.

The hardest part of his life is this first part- As soon
as his prosperity is assured his way Ues amongst, pleasant
places. His permanent bungalow crowns some palm-
fringed hilltop, and courts the winds of Heaven to play
amongst the cuacus-grass mats that serve instead of
doors : perhaps it is his good fortune to have a wife
there with him, and half the sting of exile vanishes
in the glamour of her presence. He will enjoy more
time, too, for sport when the laud is planted up~
ridding the district of a rogue elephant, on whose vindic-
tive tusks perhaps half a dozen men have been spitted,
and following such a beast through the mazes of the
forest on foot is as thrilling a sport as could be desired.
Or a tiger may work havoc amongst our herds of
tame cattle, and then we sit over a recent " kill " and
watch while the stars describe a pirabola overhead,
for the soundless approach of the lordly beast, who
dies forthwith upon the body of his victim. Deer are
generally abundant in new regions. In India there is
the sambonr, a noble example of his kind, given to
stealing at twilight into the coffee— moreover, generally
coming down to drink at the same stream night after
uight. A successful shot at a " stag " often will stock
the district for a week or more, utterly discomfiting
the native butcher, and respiting his flock of tough,
meagre, brown shearlings. The spotted deer lives a
peaceful life amongst the bamboo thickets. While
the *' ibex" or hill-sheep of the planter, tempts him up
to the breezy crags, where lemon gi-ass waves in end-
less savannas, and the climate resembles that of an
English April. This is about all the big trame he
sees though "bison" — the exile's nomenclature is
very careless — of glossy black hide, brown hill-bears
and wild pig share the jungles with larger species
For lighter amusement there are abundant jungle fowl —
ao bad imitation of pheasants, but hard to bag, owing
to dense cover — 'pigeons of gorgeous hue, a dozen of
which %ve htve often tumbled out of one fig tree which
without quitting our verandah, and plenty of lesser
birds for the amusement of him who is blessed with
a solacing love of natural history.

His chances of social relaxation depend much on
where he may be located. But he inust h ive got very
deep indeed into the wilderness if he does not manage
to bestride his hill pony every other Sunday, anl,
with his rifle across his knees, to trot down to some
country-man's shanty, where the news of the day is
to bo heard, and an hour or two whiled away in friendly
gossip and discussion of crops and ])rospects. To
" the hills, " where Eugli>h society congregates in the

A long obsolete rate of wages,— Ed,

scorching summer, he looks throuehout eleven months
of tlie year with longing and aft'ection. It is there
those tender children of his go to .school and cultivate
a little colour on their pale cheeks in an air ap-
proaching taat to which they were born. It is there
his club i< — that elysium of good fellowship — and the
church where he can slip a gold mohur into the
alms big to condone fitty enforce I absences. Saxon
girls, it may be added, never seem so fair as after
a long dwelling amongst those whose complexion is
" the swarthy livery of the burnished sun, " and his
countrywomen, whether in ball room, tennis court, or
galioping after jackal across the rolling hill jiastures,
are not the least pleasant of the memories which 'he
bachelor squatter takes back to his lonely hut from
Ooty, Simla, or whert-ver he may have spent a delight-
ful mmth in touch with civilisation.

In this brief chapter we may not enter into the
technical details of the curious art of coffie planting —
a tortuous but ( if carefully followed ) promising road
to fortune. Those who would know more should con-
sult some modern hau^ibook on the subject, such as
the well-known firm of Whittingham, in Gracechurch
Strnet, can supply, and study at their leisure all the
de+ails of the craft. In these few lines we have only
attempted to show that there is more romance and
" adventure by fie d and flood " represented in such
a fragrant cup t.f coffee as that we sip at breakfast
or after dinner than is perhaps generally known. How
htr<i our "younger suns" (and some older ones too)
work for it, is often little su-pecied ; and to touch in,
though hastily, the lights and shadows of their rough
life, and to show how they cut a way, against over-
whelming difficulties, to an honourable ambition, has
been the purpose of this little sketch.— Co^ewie* and
India.

Sugar and Fkuit in Fiji. — Amid the surround-
ing depression, the sugar output continues most
satisfactory, The mill managens, shareholders, and
proprietors speak with hopeful confidence of the future,
and they have evidently derived a very considerable
accession of this confidence from the perusal of the
article on "The Position of the Sugar Industry,"
which appeared in the Australasian of September
26th. Oil the Rewa, even the crushing power of the
Colonial Sugar Kefinery Company's michinery, which
collectively constitutes the largest mill in the world,
is found to be insulfioient for requirements, and the
erection of what will virtually be th« fourth mill under
the one roof, is to be proceeded with almost immedi-
ately. The works at Koronivia and at Ba are progress-
ing slowly, but in both cases there is a very large area
planted up, which will be fit for the rollers when the
new mills are ready. On the Dreketi River, "^'auua
Levu, the collapse of the little old worn-out Pioneer
mill did not long suspend operations. Another mill
has already been erected in its place, and it is reported
that it commenced crushing last week with admirable
results. Unlike the sugar growers and manufacturers the
fiuit cultivators and shippers are still experiencing the
cold shadow of adversity. The banana disease is spread*
ing. It smites the tree as with a curse. The leaveb
put forth half deve'oped, with a wrinkled and un-
matured appearance; The calyx bnr.sts prematurely. The
flower comes out blighted. The fruit forms black and
blasted, and never approaches maturity. The trunk,
swells half-way down, and from it bursts an untimely
growth of puny leaves in tuft, which never attaiuto
one-twentieth of normal dimensions. The tree is in*
every part of it as brittle as a dry twig, and its whole
aspect is that of an unprofitable deformity. The Suva
Chamber of Commerce has taken the matter in hand,
and it has forwarded diseased and healthy trees, with
respective soils, for examination and report by cnnipe-
tent authorities. Tho immediatf cross for the frui'-ship-
per is the quarantine of the Sydney boai at th send,
which has spoiled every ca.se and bunch ot fruit b.ougut
in for her. By the aw- of compensation there should
be a very bright future in store for Fiji, for it would
certainly seem as if lor the past few years even the
stars in their courses have been fighting against
)i9t.~-Av.itralasinn .

Feb. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

545

CEYLON AND ITS PLANTING INDUSTRIES.
(to the editor, "the economist.")
SiK, — The Ceylon commercial season closes on the
30th September each year, and the Colombo Chamber
of Commerce tables are made up as soon after as
possible.

The actual results arrived at for our staple export
trade cannot fail to be of miich interest to those
who have watched the gradual development of other
planting industries since appearance of the leaf
fungus, which so wofuUy affected our coffee. Having
drawn the attention of West Indian planters, through
the columns of the London Times, in August, 1884,
to the way in which Ceylon planters had developed
"new products," to make up for the failure in coffee,
I would again venture to trouble the home Press
with a few figures, in support and illustration of the
position I then took up.

Tea is rapidly becoming the main staple of the
planters of Ceylon, and everything points to our
export of this important new product rivalling that
of India in about ten years time. So far, it is com-
paratively the day of small things, but the follow-
ing figures show the beginnnig of an important
enterprise. It will be observed that the export pro-
gresses more nearly in a geometrical than an arith-
metical ratio. The Ceylon exports of tea have
developed as follows : —

Tea.

lb.

Total exports from Ist Oct. 1885 to .30th Sept. 1886... 7,170,329

do do 1884 do 1885... 3,796,684

do do 1883 do 1884... 2,262,.539

do do 1882 do 1883 .. 1,522,882

do do 1881 do 1882... 623,2^2

do do 1880 do 1881... 277, &90

do do 1879 do 1880... 103,624

do do 1878 do 1879.. 81,59.5

do do 1877 do 1878... 3,515

do do 1876 do 1877... 1,775

Cinchona bark shows the next chief development

among now products, as the foUowmg figures will

show : —

Cinchona.

Branch and
Trunk
lb.
Total exports from 1st Oct. 1885 to 30th Sept. 1886... 15,364,912
do do 1884 do 1885... 11,678,360

do do 1883 do 1884... 11,492,947

do do 1882 do 1883.. 6,P2.5,-595

do do 1881 do 1882... 3,099.895

do do 1880 do 1881.. 1,207,720

do do 1879 do 1880... 1,203,518

do do 1878 do 1879... 373,511

do do 1877 do 1878... 173,497

do do 1876 do 1877 .. 56,589

For a medicinal bark, and the preparations there-
from, there is no such scope for demand and con-
sumption as in the case of tea. But to a fairly re-
munerative market it is believed that Ceylon can
supply 7 to 10 million lb. of cinchona bark annually
without any difficulty ; while if there were only the
Market, the export of the past season could probably
be maintained for some years to come.

Cacao, or the cocoa or chocolate-yielding plant,
has not succeeded quite so widely as was expected
in Ceylon, but there are certain districts in which
the cultivation has proved very successful. Some
mistakes were made at first in the mode of planting
but these are mow generally rectified and there is the
fair promise of increasing returns. This is especially
the case during the present year, the weather having
been very favourable to cacao. The annual exports
- have been as follows : —

Cacao.

Cwts.

Total exports from 1st Oct. 1885 to 30th Sept. 1886 ... 13,347

do do 1884 do 1885 ... 6,758

do do 1883 do 1884 ... 9,863

do do 1882 do 1883 ... 3,588

do do 1881 do 1882 ... 1,018

do do 1880 do 1881 ... 479

do do 1879 do 1880 ... _ 122

Cardamoms had been for many years quite a minor

article among our products, but since the European

planter has given his attention to this spice, the

colonv ha3 taken the foremost rank for its export —

(ill

Ceylon, in fact, now ruling the European market for
cardamoms as well as for cinchona bark. The ex-
ports of this spice have risen as follows: —
Cardamoms.

lb.
Total exports from 1st Oct. 1885 to 30th Sept 1888 ... 2.3«,056
do do 1884 do 1885 ... l.?2,405

do do 18-'3 do 1884 ... 66,319

do do 1882 do 1883 ... 21,655

do do 1881 do 1882 ... 23,127

do do 1880 do 1881 ... 16,069

In contrast with these evidences of steady, continu-
ous progress, with what may be called " new pro-
ducts," I have to place the return for our old staple,
coffee, showing an equally steady decline, consequent
on the weakening effects of the fatal leaf fungus.
The export figures are as follows : —
Coffee.

Plant-
ation Natives Total
Total export.s from - Cwt. Cwt. Cwt

1st Oet. 18S5 to .30th Sept. 1886 ... 215,576 8,117 223,693
do 1884 do 1885 ... 294,508 20,305 314,811

do 1883 do 1884 ... 312,4.'i8 11,483 323,941

do 1882 do 1883 ... 245,631 14 422 260,053

do 1881 do 1882 ... 522,949 41,897 564,84»

do 18^0 do 1881 ... 415,456 38 302 4.53,7.58

do 1879 do 1880 ... 622,306 47,308 669,614

do 1878 do 1879 ... 767,293 57,216 824,509

do 1877 do 1878 ... 651,046 69,246 620,292

do 1876 do 1877 ... 851,201 91,845 943.047

It is satisfactory to know that tea is so fully taking
the place of coffee, over, 130,000 acres being now
planted with this product, which grows well, not only
within the limits of climate suited to coffee, namely,
from 1,500 to 5,000 feet above sea-level, but from a
few score of feet above, or almost at sea-level, to
our plateau, at nearly 7,000 feet altitude. The tea
plant IS, in fact, one of the hardiest on the long list
of the sub-tropical planter, and nowhere has it found
a more congenial home than in moist hot Ceylon.
The cry of overproduction has, indeed, of late been
raised in reference to tea, but if English-speaking
folk in America take to drinking tea in place of their
favourite coffee (now likely year by year to decrease
in supply) there will be a wide demand added to the
present one. Moreover, so far as Ceylon is concerned,
it has been shown that through the great advant-
ages possessed by the colony, tea of a superior quality
can be produced more cheaply here than in its great
rival India, so that the remote districts in the latter
country must first suffer.

The exports in which the Ceylonese people are
chiefly interested— i.e., cinnamon, plumbago (our only
commercial mineral), essential grass oils, and the
products of the coconut palm, i.e., oil, copra, and
coir fibres, keep well up, although the crop of coco-
nuts is liable to alternate, according to the season.
In a favourable season, the number of nuts gathered
in Ceylon is n»w estimated at a thousand millions,
the greater portion, however, being stilised lo3ally
for the food of the people.

Briefly, the total value of our staple exports for
the past season may be put at 2,400,000 lb. sterling,
while for the current commercial year — October, 1880,
to September 1887— the following estimate, framed
for the Oeiiloii Observer, from district returns, indic-
ates a very considerable advance: —
Season 1886-7.— Probable Shipment of Staple Ex-

P^'*«=- Value

Quantity £

185,000 *cwt. at 758 693,750

14,000,000 lb. at Is id 787,500

12,000,000 lb. at 8d 400,000

22,000 cwt at 80s 88,000

300,000 lb. at 2» 30,000

280,000 cwt at 27a 6d 385,000

150,000 cwt. at 14s 105,000

.50,000 cwt. at 7s 17,500

1,.500,0U0 lb. at Is 3d 93,750

500.000 lb. atSd 10,418

200,000 cwt at 8.S 80,000

"„ 110,000 cwt. at 1.58 84,000

Coffee ... •

Tea

Cinchona Bark

Cocoa

Cardamoms ...

Coconut Oil ...

Copra

Cocoinit poonac

Cimiamou

Do Chips ...
Piumljago ...
Coir of all kinds _.

* Rather too Hgh we fear now, seeing that up to
20th January we have only sent away 32,294 cwt.
af,ainst 78,54.5 cwt. at the same date last season.—
Ed.

54<5

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[Feb. I, 1887

Ebony

Deer Horns „,

Sapau wood ...

Kitul fibre ...

SsteutialOils...

Value

Quantity

£

7,500 tons at lOOs

37,500

2,000 cwt. at nOs

5,000

2,500 cwt. lit 40s

5,000

1,800 cwt. at 50s

4,500

,500,000 0/. at Id

27,000

2,85.3,716

Tothl _ ...

— 1 am, sir, yours faithfully,

J. FERGUSON
Of the CeyloA Observer and Tropical Aj/ricultitrist,
Colombo, 26th'NoTomber, 1«86.

EAST AFRICAN DRUGS.

Of curative drugs, the East African manifests but
little kuowledge. Near Lake Ugombo, a small wild
aloe, when the green skin ha» bet-u peeled off, forms
an ice-cold »nd healing application to burns ; and
in the neiglibourhood of Dar-es-Salaam, a highly
aromatic plant, with hairy purple stalks, called
arcazamudi, is reputed a good native cure for pains
in the stomach. The Somalis occasionally eat the
local variety of dragon's blood, a resiu of acidulous
flavour obtained from the moli tree {Dracaena
schizuntha). Between Zanzibar and Dar-es-Salaam
occurs a creeper with bean-like, bairy, S-shaped
pods having severe stinging powers ; it is about four
inches long, of yellowish brown colour, and is called
njiapu. The pain yields to cowdung and wood ashes.
In the same region, a broad-bladed grass, called
■mwanya mwitu, enjoys some fame as a .styptic.

Arrow-poisons come much more prominently within
the range of native study, and most tribes use some
description of vegetable poison for anointing their
spe.irs and arrows. The most important is a species
of Strophantlius, either S. hispidus S. Komhi, which
will probably prove to be the sole source of this
class of poison used on the eastern coast, from
Zanzibar to Somali-land, and even far into the interior.
The plant is a runner, bearing large, rough-ribbed
leaves, arranged in clusters of three or four together
Each shoot consists of three branches, of which one
bears the seed and the other two the leaves. The
flower is yellow, with curiously tailed petals. The
seed has the form of a huge military frog-button,
with lobes nine inches long, and is the direct source
of the poison. This, according to St. Vincent Erskine,
is called umtsuli in Gaza or Southern Mozambique,
and is 10 energetic that men wounded by arrows in
the fleshy part of the leg have been known to die
within three hours, and with small bucks the poison
takes effect before they can run out of sight. He
likens the active principle to strychnine. These facts
quite accord with the description given by R. W. Felkin
and A, W. Gerrard {Pharmaceutical Journal, April 9,
1881, p. 833) of the poison used by the Wanika and
Wakamba tribes, west of Mombasa, except that several
roots are supposed to contribute to the deadly effect.
These authors mention an antidote composed of
sundry roots reduced to charcoal, which, however,
proved a failure on trial. Careful investigation of
the umtsuli reveals the fact that it is a powerful
cardiac poison, as powerful as digitalin, and more
powerful than veratria, when injected under the skin.
But it causes only nausea, vomiting, and some weak-
ness when taken by the mouth. The flesh of animals
killed by this poison is eaten by the blacks without
ill effects. Probably identical with this is the ''poison
tree," from the roots of which the natives of
Somaliland extract a black and pithy substance for
poisoning their arrows. Perhaps, also, the pitch-like
poison obtained from the boiled-down bark of a treo
used on the Rufiji river for application to arrows,
lances, and even bullets; and the muaix", or poisonous
decoction of the bark of a tree, employed in the
trial by ordeal of the natives of the Nyassa and
Zambesi valley, is the same article under another
guise.

Indulgence in narcotics appears to be confined to
tobacco, which is very commonly grown u>ider culti-
vation. It is a special product of tho Hendei district,
whence considerable quantiti.p.s of the sun-dried leaf

beaten into little round flat cakes about two inches
in diameter, are sent down to Pangani for export.
The tobacco is coarse and strong, but of fairly good
flavour. The Kiswahili use water-pipes {kilio), made
of gourds of various shapes. They swallow the fumes
in smoking, and seem to enjoy the paroxysm of
coughing which results. — Journal of the Societij of
Arts.

THE LONGEVITY OF MATTER.

In your September number is a very interesting
paper on the above caption— the leading idea being
that the germs of plants are infinitesimally small
and comparatively iudestructible. I have given this
subject more thought and experiment than any other
in agriculture.

1st. My attention was first called to it by the fact
that lands once in forest and cultivated, when fenced
up and left fallow, produced the original growth of
trees.

2il. When I was a boy, tobacco was cultivated by
my father ; this was put into a tall building to cure,
and the basement was used to feed tho woi k-horses,
being far off from the home-stabies. Probably twenty
years afterwards, I pulled down the house, having
no use for it so far off, and spread the manure, which
was several feet deep, over the adjoining grass fields.
The result was a luxurious growth of red clover on
all the manured spots. Tbis set me to speculate
upon the vitality of seeds. I do not believe that
the forest growth was an original growth and renewal
of the old trees; still less could we believe that in
a few days red clover was made anew by natural
laws. Nor shall I discuss here the question whether
God or long centuries of Nature's forces made all
the Fauna and Flora.

3d. The vitality of seeds is proven beyond cavil.
Now if the clover germ lasted, say twenty years, tiU
favorable surroundings, sunlight, moisture and plant
food burst it into the living plant, why not so lie
dormant for centuries?

4th. The Irish potato, up to my times, was be-
lieved to be and called by scientists a tuler, like
turnips or beets. But I proved by the microscope
and logic, that it is in facta bulb; that is like the
onion or tulip, having many "germs" or ''ova,"
instead of one. From Northern seedsmen, rare potatoes
were cut very closelj^, the eyes of the seed end being
so near each other that they had to be set into slips
of carrots ; but they, when planted, produced as
large potatoes as any.

5th. I found out also that tho old theory of the
surroundings of seeds yiourishiitff the plants is a fallacy.
Like the germs of other plants, the " eyes" of the
potato are a perfect "ovum" by which nature, forc-
ing itself into the soil, and failing to reach it, dies,
notwithstanding the starch, water, &c., which com-
pose the edible part of the potato, are in reserve.
This is proved by the experiment, when potatoes
were laid upon the soil, they at once took root in
the Fod, the potato remaining comparatively whole
and unchanged. When the potato was put in the same
cold frame not touching the ground, the plant shoots
put out feebly and then periehtd, the potato being a
little nhrivelled only. Now if the potato meat nourished
the "ovum" shoots, it should have been used up
before the plant peri.shed. What, then, were the
agents of the temporary plant growth ? They were
the water in the potato and the elements of the
air — no more — which, being supplied elsewhere, do not
need the food of the potato meat at all.

6th. Now, then, we are prepared to answer whence
came the " germs" or " ova" of the second growth
pines or oak^, or other trees F They came from their
invisible germs, which, having the ordinary covering,
decayed, yet remained vital in the soil, to spring anew
into plants when the needed forces ensued. All of
this is to my mind as lofiical as any demonstration
in Euclid- I use.l the term " ova" as the most in-
telligible term for the Faun* and Flora.

7th. One more experimental proof : AVhen the
McAdam road was made from Richmond to Lexington,

Peb. 1, 1887.3

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

547

at the " Waluut Hill" the grade was cut about twelve
feet deep through a red clay. la the succeeding spring,
mullftia, poke and dock plants and others grew in
great size and thickness. Now, whence came they
but from ancient germs? The rag-weed only comes
on my farm in very wet summers ; now but veiy
tparsely. On the neighboring farm an immense crop,
because I cut them before the seed ripened, and they
are nearly extinct near the surface. Hence comes
the foolish idea that wheat grows from the seed, but
" chess" from abortive wheat. The truth is, the season
unfavorable to wheat just suits " chess," and nature
is ready for all contingencies. So you see much nonsense
is based on so-called "evolution." I have read all the
modern scientists, and I see no reason to discard the
Mosaic theory. For even, if the Fauna and Flora
arose successively in different climes and long eras,
the language of the Bible is generic enough to cover
the facts. — 0. M. OhkY. Southern Planter.

COFFEE.

A breakfast should always consist of a good cup
of coffee. I'he simple thing of makintj coffee has to
be done three hundred and sixty-five times yearly in
almost every family, yet how lew know how to do
it, and fewer still know how to order it done. Break-
fast is a meal which should be lightly partaken of,
its very name implyirg the breaking of the fast, so
all such little things as coffee must be made nice
and appetizing, so hs to tempt the dainty appetite of
the raoriiiug. Speaking of coffee reminds me of a
story of a young married couple. During six weeks
of matrimony did the young husband at breakfast
table make up hard facet over his coffc^e. At last
his pitience gave out, and one morning after tasting
what he denominated duck puddle coffee he relieved
his overcharged mind by saying: " Well, Minnie, 1
don't know how it is that our coffee is always so
bad ? You know mother's never was so. There is not
a bit of taste to this !'' " Well, my dear, I don't
know I am sure. I buy the best Government Java;
at least it ought to he the best, for I pay the highest
price for it." " That may be so, Minnie, and yet
it tastes lik-^ anything else thair that mother used to
give us." " Well, Walter," replies the young wife who
by the by was a graduate from some seminary, " I
made that coffee myself, exactly as Mrs. Thomson
told me, and you know she thinks nobody can equal
her in rooking anything. I took two spoonsful of
Java and poured a quart of hot water on it, and then
let it boil for fifteen minutes as hard as it could.
Mrs. Thomp,-on says it is the simplest way. " O,
yes," said Walter, "the way is simple enough, I dare
say, but not half so simple as my dear little wife is
to try it." So Walter told his nife he would not be
home to tea, but would meet her at his mother's, and
asked her tj go over and spend the day, and learn
from his mother the secret of making coffee. Minnie
was well up in mathematics, but a beverage she had
breakfasted on fer twenty years she knew not how
to brew. The fact is, like many of our young house-
keepers, she needed a few lessons in a cooking school.
Two human beings, chained by love and strong ties
of matrimony, were both sickening for a comfortable
meal, and so after Walter had gone Minnie got her
work done, and went over to Mrs. Powers, and told
her the whole story. Mrs. Powers laughed at the
girl arrd and said : "Never mind, dear, it is never
too late to learn," ar.d so she told her her way of
niiking coffee, and gave her the family cook book ;
and now Minne is a splendid oook, and they are
a very happy couple. Minnie will give you her way of
making coffee for breakfast, whic ' I think is a good one :
Take one-half cup Government Java, pour over enough
cold wat"r to cover it ; let it stand over night covered
with a damp cloth, stir in in the morning one egg
and shell ; put this in your coffee pot, in three pints
of hot water ; let it simmer a minute on the stove,
but not come to a boil; then set on the back of
the stove, and it is ready for use. The beautiful
aroma which arises from boiliug coft'ee is what you

nuiit save. Wbeu you heat yuuc bu&bauil eay in tlie

morning, " How good the coffee smells !" you may know
that the aroma which makes it delicious has gone
out through the kitchen window. — The Household.

[As a matter of fact we believe excellent coffee
cau be made by pouring boiling water on well roasted
and recently ground beans, the hot water being allowed
to percolate through the coffee. — Ed.]

POETABLE FOREST TRAMWAYS.

By D. Bhandis, late Ins^ector-Oeneral of Forests
and Majok F. Bailey, E.E., Conservator of the School
Forests.

The Decauville portable tramway was invented in
1876 by a French gentleman of that name, for u«e
in his business ; but he very soon began to manufacture
the rails and trucks for sale. He Exhibited his in-
ven'ion at various agricultural and other shows in
France and also in Belgium and Norwaj', obtaining
gold medals and other prizes. In 1877 the tramway
was shown in Euglamtand Ireland and as orders began to
come in rapidly he was obliged in January 1878 to in-
crease the number of men empl«yed upon its manufac-
ture from 35 to 100. Since then the development of
the use of the tramway has been extraordinarily
rapkl, and the number of workna>?n employed by
M. Decauville had, by the middle of 1884 risen
to the large number of 900, a railway staiion on the
Paris-Lj'ons railway having been built near the works.
Between 1878 and 1884 the invention was exhibi-
ted in Austria, Itnly, Buenos Ayres, Calcutta and
Japan, orders having been received from the Kussian
Government who required the tramway for use in
Turkestan, from the French Government for use
in Tunis, from England and Australia and many
other countrif's. It is at the presi^nt time, almost
without doubt, the largest establishmaut of the kind
in the world. * « #

Two portable forest tramways have already, we un-
derstand, been laid down in the Nellore district of
the Madras Presidency, and others have piobably ere
this been established at other places. We assume
that the construction of such tramways is generally
well understood in India, and that it will suffice to
mention a few points relating to the one we have
mentioned. The gauge is 0*60 metre, or about 2 feet.
The ground is almost level, here and there with very
slight undulations. The main line may for the present be
regarded as permanent, the positiou of the branches
being changed from time to time to follow the pro-
gress of the cuttings. The main line is laid in lengths
or section.s of 7 metres, on sleepers of woo 1 or iron.
The rails, both of the main line and the branches,
are of steel, their weight is between 6 and 8 kilog-
rammes per running metre. The sleepers are at one
metre apart, and the rails are rivetted into the iron
or spiked down into the wood. The seventh sleeper
supports the joint. The sleepers are laid in ballast
at the side of the central metalled portion of the
road. The joints are made with fish-plates.

The branch lines are laid npon the natural surface
of the ground, which is not levelled in any way. They
consist of sections, 2 meters long, supported at each
end by a woolen sleeper. These seetious weigh 3S kilog-
rammes {M lb.), and are, therefore, easily carried by
one man. In the system here used the sleepers of
the branch lines are always made of wood, which from
its greater rigidity is found to be more suitable than
iron for laying upon an uneven surface. The .sleepers
being nearly 2 meters apart, the rails used are stouter,
and they weigh ab )ut 8 kilogrammes per ruuuing
metre, There is sufficient play iu the joint to admit
the line being curved to some extent, in order to
avoid stumps of trees and other obstacles. For greater
curves spinal sections with curved rails are used. The
essence of this arrangement is, that the branch line
ie brought alongside of the logs as they lie, and that
the logs are loaded upon the trucks without having
to be previously moved from the place where they
fell. Thi.s of course leads to the line being carried
over broken ground, small ditches and pools of water
In such cases the sleepers are supported by rough
pieces o£ wood oi tu£f| hatiiily laid. la this ^laune?

^4^

fUM fROPiCAt AQmCtSLTXJniBf,

[FkB. 1, iBBy

2 kilometres of branch line were laid in two days by
two men, and trains of heavily laden trucks pass
over it without accident. One kind of truck serves
for the carriage of material of all kinds.

When used for the carriage of logs a horizontal
revolving plate is fixed on the top, furnished either
with an iron crescent-shaped support or a horizontal
bed on which the ends of the log i-est between
movable vertical arms. The revolving plates admit
of a pair of trucks with the log loaded upon them
being taken round curves.

For lifting the logs on to the trucks, numerous
devices have beeu invented. The two in use in the
Kottenforat, consist of a double crane, which raises
up the log vertically, and an inclined plane, up which it
is rolled.

The crane, which is capable of lifting 9,900 lb. is
placed astride the log. It consists of two uprights
joined at the top by a movable pin. The uprights
are made of wood, strengthened with iron, and they
are hinged into horizontal pieces, which rest upon the
ground. The log which has been previously rolled
on the rails, is gripped by a powerful iron pincers,
and is then raised by chains and pulley worked by
two hand levers. By this ajjparatus logs of consider-
able size are easily raised to the required height by
two men, working at the two levers. The log having
been raised high enough to clear the top of the
truck (2i-3 feet) the two trucks are passed under-
neath, and the log is gently lowered upon them. It
is then secured by chains terminating in conveniently
shaped wedges which are driven into the log to
make all fast. An oak log measuring about 36 cubic
feet was raised upon the trucks and secured in four
minutes. Each half of the apparatus is easily carried
by one man.

The inclined plane is formed by two bars or beams
built of iron and wood, resting partly on the ground
and partly on the truck. To each beam is attached
a chain which is passed round the log and over a
wheel, and the chains are then hauled in by means
f hand levers similar to those used with the crane
previously described. The log is thus rolled up over
the trucks, when the beams are removed and the
log is allowed to lie between the rests on the revolving
plates. This arrangement is regarded as safer for
the workmen than the crane.

A third arrangement, which from its easy construc-
tion may perhaps be more suitable for work iu India,
but which is not in use in the Kottenforst, consists
of a tripod. From the apex a set of pulleys is sus-
pended, by means of which the log is raised.

When a sufficient number of logs have been loaded
up, the trucks are coupled together, a coupling pole
being put in when the logs project, so that the
ordinary chains and hooks are too short. The horse
is attached by a chain to the last truck, so that the
driver is able to see the whole train before him.
It is said that on level ground one horse will draw a
train loaded with about five tons of timber. The
short train on which we travelled, was formed of
three pairs of trucks with logs aggregating about
110 eubic feet of oak timbor, and it was dragged
along on the main line at a sharp trot without slack-
ing speed at the curves, not the ^slightest difficulty
being experienced. The trucks are provided with brakes
to be used in case of necessity.

In order to carry fuel, a platform about 12 feet
long and 4 feet wide, is laid on a pair of trucks.
When earth or gravel has to be carried, an ingeniously
arranged tip cart is substituted for the platform:

The cost of the wbole line laid down, including
rolling stock and all apparatus, was 25,000 Marks
paid to the manufacturer, plus 800 Marks expended
on the earthwork for the main line. This corresponds
to an average cost of .£252 per running mile, and
it is estimated that the plant will last 15 years. — Indian
Forester.

[It is possible that a similar tramway might be
profitably used in some of the forests io the North-
past portions of Ceylon.— Ed,J

Dispersion of Plants by Birds. — In an interesting
article iu Nature (Dec. 16, p. 151) on the dispersion of
plants by birds, Mr. D. Morris points out that the pi-
mento industry in Jamaica depends entirely for its ex-
istence on the offices of frugivorus birds. It is thought
by the planters in the island that the seeds in passing
through the birds undergo some fermentation which fits
them better for vegetation than those gathered im-
mediately from the tree, and that no other plan is likely
to produce good pimento walks, although it has been
shown in the Botanical Garden there that young
plants can be raised otherwise if carefully treated.
— I'liarmaceutical Journal.

Firming the Soil. — Considering that the best far-
mers so long knew the advantage of rolling their
fields after seed sowing, it was always a matter of
surprise that the practice had never become part of
good gardening, and still more of a surprise when Mr.
Henderson's paper on firming the soil appeared in
our columns, at the objections some made agains it.
Yet the evidences of the value of such a practice
could be stumbled against almost any day. The
American Agriculturist recently gives an illustrattion
of this, which is worth repeating here. " Peter
Henderson, the author of ' Gardening for Profit,' iu
insisting upon the great importance of firming the
soil over seeds and plants, writes us: 'It was rather
an amusing incident that first brought to the attention
of a truck farmer, of Charleston, S. 0., the importance
of firming the soil. It seems that a gentleman of
color, having the constitutional weakness for chickens
peculiar to some of his race, got into a hen-roost
and helped himself bountifully. In evading a high-
road, he struck a bee-line through a newly sown
turnip field, where he left tracks that led to his detec-
tion. But these tracks did more. They showed to
Squire Buncombe, whose chickens had sufifered, that
wherever the foot of the colored citizen had fallen,
there he had a "stand" of turnips and nowhere
else (for they had been loosely sown and the weather
was dry). The lesson was heeded, and has been worth
tens of thousands of dollars to the farmers of South
Carolina, who, it seems, were never before sufficiently
alive to the importance of firming the soil until the
unfortunate negro showed them the way,' " — Gardeners'
MoptMt/.

Fiji and its Industries : Opium, Bang, and Gdn-
JAH. — The Governor of Fiji gave his official consent
on July 28 to two Ordiances affecting these drugs.
Ordiance XI. 1886 is "To prohibit the growth and use
of bang or gunjah. Bang consists of the dried leaf of
the Indian hemp, and gunjah or gunja of the flower-
ing tops of the female plant. They are favourite nar-
cotics of the coolies from Hindustan. Indian hemp,
Cannabis Sativa is the same species as that grown in
Europe for fibi-e, but it does not excrete its narcotic
resin in cold climates. A penalty is now imposed in
Fiji on everyone proved to be growing bang or gunja for
private use or otherwise, or found in possession of or
selling or giving to any person either of these arti-
cles, £25 or imprisonment for three months for the
first offence, and £60 or six months imprisonment for
the second. Kegistered medical practitioners and
registered licensed chemists and druggists may sell
bang or gunjah for purely medical purposes, but the
burden of proof rests on the vendor. Police officers
may visit suspected places and seize all the prohibited
articles found ; owners or managers may destroy any
found growing on their plantations ; and part of the
fine paid into court may be awarded to informers. Or-
dinance XIV. 1886, " to amend Ordinance VI. of 1878
with regard to Indian Immigrants, " by section 6
imposes a penalty of £20 or three months imprison-
ment on any Indian immigrant found in possession of
opium or any preparation coqtaining opium or any of
its ingredients, and the same punishment on any person
selling or giving the same to an immigrant. Any
opium or its preparations found iu possession of an
immigrant may be seized by plantation managers
or the police. The manufacture of copra has been
utterly abandoned in some quarters, by Europeans
and natives alike, for more remunerative enterpriees,
^Ohmiit and Druggist,

Feb. 1, J8S7.]

THE TROPrCAt AGEICULTURiSl'.

549

VEGETABLE PRODUCTS IN CRETE.
In a report on the trade of Crete for the year
1885, dated Crete, October, 1886, referrir.g to the
Olive crop, it is stated as a rule, that a year of
abundant Olives— which is the staple product of the
island— alternates with one, very seldom with two, of
failure. The value of the Olive oil manufactured
therefrom varies in the former case from £600,000
to £800,000 ; in the second, from £60,000 to £80,000 ;
but there are years when it does not reach to £40,000,
and exceptionally bad seasons when it hardly attains
half that sum. Allowing for all irregularities, the
yearly average may be set down at £450,000. It
being reckoned that the 86,000 families forming the
population of the islam 1 consume yearly about 100,000
cwt., which represent £150,000, there remains a balance
of £300,000 for exportation in kind or in manufac-
tured soap. The vegetable products o: Crete which
find their way to the United Kingdcm are Olive oil.
Locust Beans or Carobs (Ceratonia siliqua), Valonia,
and a few raisins. The quantity of Olive oil forwarded
to Great Britain in 1886 was 800 tons, representing, at
£31 10s, per ton, £25,200, agiiust 1,159 tons, at £30
per ton- -£34,770— iu 1884. The exp rtation to other
countries was 5,192 ton!^, of a value of £150. 817. Only
1,000 tons of Oarobf=, of the value ot £3,120, were
forwarded to this country ; the only other countries to
which Locust. Beans were shipped for much higher
values were Italy and Russia, amounting together to
£17,000. Valonia is only shipped at Rethymo, which
is the central district where it is produced. Raisins
have begun to be forwarded to Great Britain within
thg last two or three years, and represent as yet an
insignificant value, but it is probable that as they
become better known in the British markets the trade
may attain a considerable importance. They are
grown and prepared on an increased t^cale from year to
year and represented, iu 1885, 133,000 cwt., of the
value of £22,365.— J. R. J.— Gardeners' Chronicle.

WHAT IS GINGER ?

As usually seen ginger is in the form of a grayish-
yeliow powder, but if you go to a drug-store and ask
f or " race " ginger, you will be served with the article
unground, and you will see that it is the dried root-
stock (often called root) of some plant. Race — as ap-
plied to whole ginger in commerce — is from the Spanish
rais, " a root. " The botanical name of the ginger plant.
Zingiber, is from a very similar old Sanskrit name. It
was formerly placed in the same family with the banana,
but botanists at present give it a family by itself.
The fleshy root-stock throws up reed- like stems three
or four feet high ; these bear long and narrow leaves.
The flowers are borne upon a separate, leafless stem.
This bears a cone-like spike, between the scales of which
the flowers appear. The flowers are yellowish-white in
colour, with purple markings. Ginger is supposed to
be a native of Asia, in the warmer parts of which it is
generally cultivated, but it is not known in the wild
state. It has been introduced and is now cultivated
in nearly every warm country, especially in the West
Indies, from which ginger was exported to Europe as
early as 1547.

In cities there is sold, in autumn, at drug and grocery
stores, fresh or green ginger root. This is the root-
stock, just as it comes from the ground, and is used
for flavouring preserves. The pieces have one or more
green buds attached to them, and if planted in a pot
and kept in a sufliciently warm place, will grow. But
a very small share of the crop is sold in this state ;
the ginger, after it is dug, is washed and then exposed
to the sun until perfectly dry. This is the orttiuary
*' race ginger " of commerce, a'ld is the kind ground
for use. What is called Jamaica ginger is prepared
by scraping the rhizome when fresh to remove the outer
portion ; these are then bleached by placing them m a
solution of chloride of lime. Considerable lime adheres
to the surface, and the pieces look as if they had
been whitewashed. On account of its nicer appearance
Jamaica ginger is preferred for medicinal uses, and is
used by «ome families, There is still another form in

which ginger is imported — preserved ginger — which

comes from China iu porcelain jars. The young and

tender " roots " are preserved in sugar. — Ame can

Aqricul urist.
^ ^

VARIATION IN PLANTS.

In spite of the assertion, by De Oandolle and other
authors, that " a cultivated t^pecies varies chiefly iu
those parts for which it is cultivated," we find ^reat
degrees of variation affecting different organs, and
often extending to other parts of the plant structure.
This statement applies both to plants in a wild state
and to those under the care of man, when in the
latter case the conditions may be considered more or
less artificial. The reasons for this similarity of vari-
ation, both in a wild and cultivated state, will be obvious
when we consider that a plant must originally vary
spontaneously, before man can in any way affect it,
at least by selection. This is especially the case where
we have obtained by selection in the course of many
generations a number of distinct races, des-ci ndants
of one species, as in the Apple, Pear, Chrysanthemum,
and others. It simply comes to this, that man
canuot so far alter the conditions, as to ciune plants
to abandon their natural tendencies, nor to vary ex-
cept in accordance with natural laws. Therefore iu
spite of the fact that man de-'ires to select seedlings
presenting the requisite variation in one organ or set
of organs only, it very frequently happens that there
is a correlation between the homologous parts of plants
causing them all to vary more or less evidently in
a similar manner. Cases of albinism will serve to
illustrate this point.

Plants producing red, pink, purple, yellow, or even
blue flowers normally, often both in a wild or culti-
vated state, give birth to seedlings with pure white
flowers. Some authors would describe this as a case
of revei-sion. The converse more rarely happens, but
Lychnis vespertina, sometimes producing red flowers,
and Primulas belonging to different species, are cases
in point, both in a state of Nature and under cul-
tivation. In connection with albinos amongst plants,
not only are the flowers white, but the fohage and
the whole aspect of the plant bears an unmistakably
pallid hue, and such plants can often be recognised
in the absence of flowers. This paleness in the
colour of the foliage does not owe its existence to man's
selections, but is more often an undesirable feature
than otherwise. This correlation of homologous parts
is exemplified in white-flowered varieties of Lychnis
chalcedonica, L. diurna, Silene armeria, Linaria cym-
balaria. Campanula rotundifolia, Thymus Serpyllum
and Dianthus deltoides. The same may be said of
Impatiens flaccida, which has dark foliage and stems
more or less striped with purple, but in the white-
flowered variety has pale foliage and pale green un-
striped stems. White-flowered varieties of Primula
sinensis have pale foliage and dark-flowered forms are
characterised by foliage of a similar tint, more especi-
ally evident in the petioles, the midrib, principal
nerves, and the underside of the leaf generally.
There is also a correlation between the colours of the
underside of the leaf and that of the flowers iu
Senecio cruentus and other species.

The tuberous roots of the Dahlia afford another
striking instance of the variability of plants even in
the parts that are not specially selected either for the
benefit or pleasure of man. Some have large, or even
short, thick and very succulent tubers, while iu other
cases the individual tubers are elongated and spindle-
shaped, or long, slender, gradually tapering to a point,
and radiating or projecting iu all directions- Nor is
this variation confined to form, but in a collection of
any extent, considerable variety of colouring is found
to prevail, such as yellow, white and purple, or violet.
This is frequently unnoticed because of no interest
to the general cultivator, nor presenting anything
valuable either for economical or ornamental purposes.
There is also a more or less evident correlation bet-
ween these colours uud that of the flowers. Uncared

or and generally uuimportant though frequent and

onsiclerable variation extends to the foliage stem?

ud flower* of different iudividu»l«,

550

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Feb. I, 18S7.

What applies to the Dahlia applies still more for-
cibly to ttie Potato, notWithstaQilia^ the fact that
the tubers form the only part specially selected. Tain
is the more remarkable, coQsideriasj the number of
varieties iu cultivatiou at an early period of their
history even in this country. In the northern parts
of Britain, before the ravages of the Potato murrain
became so severe, numerous favourita and valuable
sorts enjoyed an extensive cult'vation, rangiog over
wide districts. Now these sorts were so distinct both
in the subterreuean and aerial parts, that anyone
possessed to an ordinary degree of the faculties of
observation, could tell to a nicety by the stems and
leaves alone what particular variety would be found
on digging up the plant. Of the twelve to eighteen
varieties coming under my observation, and mostly
cultivated in the field, I could readily distinguish at
sight all, except those which were mere sports from
other varieties, differing in the stripes, flakes or mark-
ings of the tubers, but having stems and foliage per-
fectly similar. This fact amply testifies to the amount
of variation in the aerial parts of Potatos, uotwith-
gtauding that they have not been selected on that ac-
count, nor particularly desired for such. Between the
stems and tubers there was generally a more or less
pronounced correlation in colour. This is the less re-
markable when we consider that stems and tubers
in this instance consist of homologous parts modifif^d
to perform each their own particular functions. Ex-
cepting chlorophyll, or the green colouring matter of
plants, the other colours are much less affected by
light or its absence, so that the relation between
stems and tubers of Potatos becomes more apparent,
rendering their correlative variation a matter of com-
mon and expected occurence. li striking contrast to
the deep purple, almost black, tubers and purplish
stems of some varieties may be mentioned their white
flowers, while other sorts with white tubers have pink
or purple flowers. — J. F. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

OFFICIAL REPORTS ON CEYLON TOBACCO
AND OILS.

{From the " Times of Ceylon:')

No one can read the reports we publish to-day
without being struck with the possibilities they open
up for the future. "We give them in detail (See
Supplement a-hj, that our readers may note what is
said of other products than those to which Euro-
pean planters have as yet given any attention. It
IS as well, however, not to be led away by the
favorable nature of the report of the Committee on
Ceylon tobacco, for no product is more fickle in
its'financial results, and none requires greater personal
care and attention than this one. Speaking generally,
nothing but loss has resulted from the many at-
tempts made by European planters to cultivate to-
bacco in Jaffna, Tangalla, and other suitable
localities, though it seems hard to believe that the
care and foresight of intelligent Europeans are
unable to compete with the haphazard and waste-
ful system of natives. But such is the verdict of
the past. TheCoramite^, which inspected the samples
of tobacco s-'ut from Ceylon, report, as will be seen,
very favourably upon them, but, though many
tropical countries in the eastern and western hemi-
spheres are noted for the excellence of their to-
bacco, and though the industry m America and
Java may be said to be exceedingly prosperous,
yet, with all our natural advantages for the growth
of such a product, Ceylon has not as yet been a
coit-petitor in the production of the fragrant weed.
However this may be, we expect our rexders will
be surprized to hear that as much as 6,645,129 lb.
of tobacco were raised in Ceylon during 1885. But so
says the Government Blue Book for that year. We
subjoin the acreage estimated to be under tobacco
in 1885. the quantity raised, and the rate per acre
in each province of the island, which we have com-
piled with some little trouble from the Government
iplue Book, as follows;—

Quantity.

Average

Province.

Acres.

ft.

^ acre.

Northern

. . 5,897

6,013,667

1,019

North- Western

.. 1,67T

283,600

169

Eastern

.. 716

260,565

364

Western

456

67,670

148

Central

93

14,490

156

Southern

85

3,787

44

North-Central

7

1,350
6,645,129

194

8,931

av. 744

The previous Blue Book gave 16,910 acres as under
tobacco in Ceylon (1884), but it is quite evident from
th« above table that no reliance whatever is to be
placed upon the Blue Book returns. We have the
yield per acre in the N irthern Pravinca and Jaffna
set down at 1,019 lb , whilst that of the Central Pro-
Tince it iaid to be 156 lb. per acre, and of the
Southern Province 44 lb. per acre I Such returns
show the carelessness with which Provincial Agents
compile their returns, and reflect the greatest discredit
upon the Government. We will, however, leave the
inaccuracies of the Blue Book and its incompleteness
to be dealt with on another occasion, for that is a
subject to which we intend to invite the attention
of the public and the Government as soon as possible.
We think that it cannot be denied that the cultiv-
ation of tobacco, not merely amongst EuropoRns but
amongst natives also, is declining in popularity in
Ceylon. But a few years ago and Uva tobacco was
well known as even more fragrant in the form of
cigars than the Dumbera leaf, but who ever hears
now of Ruch a thing as Uva cigars? We imagine,
with regard to the above figures, that the only items
of any accuracy in them are the figures for the Cen-
tral Province, the greater portion of which acreage
lies in or near the Dumbera Valley. A prnctical
planter, writing in the Handbook and Directory for
1877-78, said that "t >bacco cultivation is not suited to
European colonists. The necessary skill can only be
acquired through a series of blunders, and, when it is
acquired, it can only be applied as far as one pair of
eyes can reach." But surely this dictum is capable of
modification. What is possible of accomplishment by
Dutch planters in Java and by American landowners
in Virginia is surely not beyond tha abilities of Ceylon
men, given a climate suitable to the phnt — a climate
which is to be found iu the Northern, North- Western
and parts of the Eastern Provinces. It seems strange,
therefore, not only that failure should hitherto have
attended all the efforts of Europeans to cultivate the
leaf m those localities, but stranger still that these
few failures should have prevented many other at-
tempts being made by enterpriziug planters, who could
easily acquaint themselves with the most profitable
methods of cultivation and curing. If the question
had been put to a representative coffee planter
ten or fifteen years ago -" Why do you not grow tea
instead of coffee?" — his only answer would have
been that nothing could possibly pay better than
coffee, an' that he knew nothing of tea which was very
difficult to manipulate. In fact, it was generally
thouEcht that the manufacture of tea was a secret art of
the Chinese, unknown to Ruropeans, so complicated and
intricate as to necessitate the employment of a large
number of skilled hands. As these did not exist in
Ceylon, it was thought quite imjiossible to introduce
the cultivation of tea as a European enterprize, though
th'^ fact that the shrub would groic, and that tea could
be made in Ceylon, had bei-n demonstrated many yearei
before that. Is it not probable, we would ask, that a
similar result may await U3 in the mitter of to-
bacco cultivation? That it will (//•oc, and that it is
even possible to cure it, and smoke it, is known to all
of us, but because the pi-ocess of manipulation and cur-
ing is said to be difficult, the cultivation is neglected
by Kurope ins. In such cases as this the Government
should give every possible encouragement to planters,
both here and elsewhere, by the free grant of land to
commence operations. If Deli planters and others'
with a full knowledge of tobacco cultivation were
induced to make a commencement in suitable
localitieis ia Ceylon, the reault might be fiatisfactorj*

Feb. r, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

551^

Spider Silk. — Mr, Dutliie, SuperiuUndant of the
Saharunpur Botauic Gardeu, repuns that he cau.sed
to be collected spider's web to be used for weaving
purposes. The total weight collected in the se ison
was ouly 10 1b., aud the cost of collectiou will pro-
bab y prove too great to render the material of any
coiULutrcial importance. — Gardenera' Chronicle.

The German Potash Trade. — The production of
chloride of potash for 1886 is announced at 1.923,9!i4
centners, to which stocks at the beginning of the yi-ar
must be added, viz., 103,737 CfUtners, in order to get
at the quantity open for tale, viz.. 2,027,731 centmrs.
The saies amounted to 2,041,849 centners up to
November 30 (though, of courNe all had not been
dflivered) so that thu sales of 1885 will be c< n-iderably
exceetied this year. The improved condition of the
river Elbe has been of great service to the chloride of
putafih trade lately. Orders for about 300,000 centners
of goods of high percentage have arrived from
America this month, and a large spring demand may
be counted on f r( m that country. The industry is at
present in a very gratifying position. --C/ifwu'a? ^Dntgyist.
The NiLGiEi Nettle. - From recent advices troin
Madras we learn that there ha.s been formed at
Ootacamund a society for furthering the acquirement
of more intimate knowledge of the botany, geology,
and ornithology of the district. The society hits been
named the Nilgiri Natural History Society. Mr.
Lawson is the first president, and Mr. David Hooper,
the Government quinolojiist, acts as Secretary. At
present, meetings are held fortnightly and excursions
are also made. It is contemplated to form a museum
of the specimens which are collected on these excur-
sions. .At the last meetings of the society Mr. Hooper
read a note on the sting of the Nilgiri nett e {iHrardinia
ralmata). This nettle yields a useful fibre, but from
the number of stings that clothe all parts it is very
difficult to collect it. The stings, or glandular hairs,
resemble in shape those of the common nettle (Urtica
dioica). They leave no abrasure of the skin or
dangerous symptoms the next day. The re.sult of Mr.
Hooper's examination of the secreting flaid of the
sting is that he has found it to contain formic acid,
thebody to which is due the irritating effects of the
sting of such insects as red ants, bees, and mosquitoes
As the nature of the sting of nettles has been a point of
uncertainty, Mr. Hooper's observation is of considerable
interest. — Chemist and Dmgyiet.

SotTB PoMKLLOK. — A notice appeared in a recent
number of the Society's Proceedirgs under the ab(>ve
heading and in reference to it, Mr. B irtlett writes as
follows: — " I observe in your published Report of Pro-
ceedings for the month of October, that mention is matle
of a iS'OHr P«mel/oe. Dr. Boiiavia writing about this lime
expresses a wish to know the history of its introduction
into Calcutta, and you add that no information is
traceable in the records of the Society on the subject.
I am giad to be able to throw some light on the
matter. Some 40 years ago a relative of mine, who
was then residing at Augurtollah, in Independent
Tipperah, found the lime in qu- stion growing wild at
that place, and he sent me a plsn', which he des gnated,
in default of a better name as the ''Family Lime,"
probably in allusion to the circumstance of the fruit
yielding an abnorinal quautity of juice; but.un'ortu-
nately he did not give me the native name of the plant.
On its fruiting in my garden, several of my friends
asked me for grafts, and I obtained a large number and
distributed them tij the ex'ent I was able ; at the s.iuie
time I sent one to the late Secretary for the Society's
garden, which no doubt is the identicul lime you speak
of. It is a free cropper, bearing from 50 to 60 fruit every
season. From each of 'he larger fruits I have obt»ined
a quart of juice. I always found seeds in the fruit.
No ill effects were produced from the use of the juice,
though intensely acid, and more stiarp than that found
in any of the others of the family that I know. I also
found the rind, with the thick coating of pi h attached,
excellent candied. No doubt Dr. li onavia must b ve
seen the fruit in the Lucknow gardens, to which pluce
I sent a plant some years back, as a M mber of the
Eumsian Association of Mysore met wiht it at that
gardeu, and, learn'Dg from whence it was obtained,
wrote to me for s^ads, with tv vi«w to the introductioa

of the plant in the farms they were then establishing,
accoriliiigly I forward ed about one hundred seeds.
— From th Proceedings of the Agriculttiral and Horti-
cultural Socii^ti/ of India.

(JocoNUTS.— Veyangoda, 21st January. — Yesterday's
fall gauged 25 of an inch, and more seems in store
for us. The result of the raio is that coconuts are
droppintf freely. This, I suppose, is owing to a process
of fermentaliou or heating of the sap being induced
by its being partially cooled by a small shower of rain.
Observation shows tint a good heavy plump of rain
after a rainless period is not followed by such disast-rous
effects as a slight shower is, when the effect is almost
immediate. Re coconut Oil, what if analysis should
prove that our Oil is poorer ttian Cochin oil in stearine,
aud a ch"mi8t sugi^est remedies ? How many pro jrie-
tors will adopt improved or rational cultivation ?
Unlike Coffee, Tea, and other products in the hands of
Europeans, the bu k of our Copperah is produced by
small peasant-properietors. If improved methods of
cultivation be adopted by enlighreaed Proprietors
resulting in an increase of stearine in the Copperah
aud therefore oil — apart from its whiteness, the value
of each lot of Copperah will have to be tested by an-
alysis, as in the case of Cinchona. This will hardly pay
unless the test be easy and inexpeniive. — " Examiner ".
Puddling Clay. — It is stated in the Aberdeen Fret
Press that Mr. Thomas Praser of King Street,
Aberdeen, has discovered a new method of preparing
clay for preventing leakage in reservoirs, water tanks,
&c. an I has taken the necessary steps to have his
invention patented. Hitherto it has been the general
practice, wheu clay has been used in conne 'tiou with
the construction of waterworks, and for other simi-
lar purposes, to apply it in a thoroughly wet and
plastic condition. From a series of scientifically-
conducted experiments, Mr. Fraser has come to the
conclusion that far better results can be obtained by
drying the clay, and reducing it to a fine powder, before
applying it to the bed of a reservoir or to anything
which it is desired to render watertight. A long con-
nection with the brick and tile busiiiesa led him to
study closely the properties of clay, especially when
used as a preparation, out of which a variety of articles '
had to be manufactured. He learned from observ-
ation that in a wet state, clay had reached its extreme
point of expansion, and that water would then filter
through it. Having ascertained this fact, he concluded
that if clay were used for puddling in a dry com-,
pressed state, it would absorb a certain percentage of
water, expansion naturally following and rendering
the layer water tight. The greater the pressure of
water, the more satisfactory the results are said to
be. Mr. Fraser began hia experiments by selecting
hia clay from a special bed, out of which be cut a
square. The specimen was carefully measured and
weighed. After it was thoroughly dried, its dimen-
sions aud weight were again taken, when it was found
that the clay had lost 25 percent in weight, whil«
the shrinkage was 10 per ceMt. Clay in this dry state
is extremely hard aud compact, and if put into water
and not allowed to expand, it woald require a lon^
time before water would penetrate to the centre of
a Bin. tube. Another specimen of clay, from the same
bed as the former one, was dried, and reduceil to a
fine powder- In this loose condition it absorbed about
75 per cent of the water, which filtered through it.
Wheu the clay was prevented from expanding, it was
found to absorb 50 per cent of water, which filtered
a little. Powdered clay to the depth of 6 in. waa
pressed into a tube 8 ft. long by 3 in. in diameter, and
having 2 in. of perforated zinc at the bottom. Th«
tube was then fill«d with water, with the result that
the clay absorbed 35 p«r cent., but there were no
traces of filtration. Mr. Fraser is confident that the
method he has hit upon, besides being more efficient
ia also more economical in every way than the man-
ner of using pu Idled clay now iu vogue. He ia
aanguiue that it could be beneficially applied iu
covering arches, in preparing a perfect bed for street
cause-wayiiig, or, in fact, for the prevention of
leakage in any description of work that has to be
made waterproof from interuAl or extornal preianrs.
— Indian Eng%n»«r.

S5^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Feb. I, 1887

Inclined Riilboad for Chk^a.— At Hong Koa^
a cable tramway is constructed from the towu to the
Peak a range of very steep hills, on which are fine villa
residences, and v?here the climite is more salubrious,
than near the harbour. The incline where they have
to work is 4,800 feet long, and the line, which is
partly single and partly double, is laid with 35-pound
steel rails on steel sleepers. The gradients vary be-
tween 1 in 2 and 1 in 10, closely following the natural
contour of the ground. The total height to which the
carriages have to be raised is 1,300 feet, and the ropes,
of which one is the working rope and the oMier the
safety rope, ran on sepu-ate sets of friction-rollers.
The carriages are attached to each end of the ropes,
and as one pair of carriages ascends the inclin'^, the
other pair descends. Each car is to contain 60 passen-
gers, the maximum load being 7^ tons at each end
of the ropes. The working rope is passed over a pair
of drums 8 feet in diameter, and the safety rope over
one drum, the drums being fixed at the top of the
incline and driven by two compound steam-engines,
40 nominal horsepower each. The speed of the cars
ia ^> be six miles an hour. — Indian Fn/meer.

TKoPiCAii Dew. — Having Had occasion to lay out a
large quantity of iron hoes and picks without handles,
on the hard ground of an open inclosure in one of the
driest districts in India (Bellary) , where in fact these
implements had been collected in the face of a
scar.iity, it was found, after they had lain a couple
of months, that a thick, weedy, but luxuriant
veg'^tation had sprung up, enough, though there
had been no rain, to almost hide the tools. The
effect depositing tools on grass haa bad in stimulat-
ing its growing the writer has observed in the
tropics before, but was at a loss to account for it,
except upon some irresolvable theory of radiation
or magnetism. The whole phenomenon is cleared up
by Mr. Aitkeu's paper on " Dew " in " Nature" of
January 14 (page 256), dew being proved deposited,
not as generally, thought, from the air above, but
rising and condensing from the soil below ; and
the ground in India is always hygroscopic. The
outer surfaces of the iron tools radiate of
course quickly at night, and the stratum of air
inclosed between the metal imder surfaces and
the earth is, therefore, saturated with condensing
moisture. That iron gratings laid on bare ground
will raise a rank vegetation in places with only
10 or 15 inches of annual rainfall, and exposed
• to tropical heat, is a not unimportant fact, as
being a readily available substitute for irrigation
watwr, worth further investigation. — Nature.

Double Manure Salt. — The market for double
manure salt or sulphate of potash, is now lower
than ever before known, and as recent heavy
arrivals have unsettled values, a lower range of
prices may prevail. The easy position of the
article is not owing to decreased consumption, but
to over production, and consequent larger ship-
ments, and unlesp some arrangement is made at
the source of supply whereby exports are curtailed,
the future will be anything but promising. We
hear rumors of a probable combination abroad,
but there is no reliable information upon which
to base an opinion as to what action if any
will be taken to remedy the present depressed
feeling in the market. For five or six years,
double manure salt remained on a steady basis at
one and a quarter cents per pound ; then the price
broke to one dollar and seven cents per one hun-
dred pounds, and the feeling gradually _ weakened
until ninety cents was reached, which is the pre-
sent nominal value for lots on dock, with some
parcels in store limited to one dollar and ten
cents. Low prices have stimulated trade to some
extent and we understand that the salt has been
ubstituted for muriate of potash, bat not in important
quantities.

[The above from the Drnr/ Feportrr would seem
to shew that now is the tim9 for purcln; in? potash
salts to mix with cattle m anu as an appliation
to tea.— Ed.]

Quebnsland (Calophj/Uv.m IiicphyUt(m).~Dnri'\g the
debate on the Pearl Fisheries' Bill in the Assembly on
July 23, a clause was specially inserted to protect traes of

the species Cdophyllum inophyllutn on Thursday Island,
on the motion of Mr. Palmer. A fiae of £10 is inflicted on
any person who cuts dowu or injures either one of these
species, or a coconut tree, or any other tree bearing
edible fruit. Mr. Palmar said that the oil was valuable,
worth £90 a ton, the woo 1 u.seful, and the bark a good
tanning material. Mr. S. "W.Brooks and Mr. Sheridan
both supported the motion, the former gentleman re-
marking that the tree was known in Tahiti as tamano
or delo, and the oil was a specific for rheumatism. The
Bill was passed by the Legislative Council on August
19, and now awaits royal consent. [Bai-on Ferdin ind
vDii Mueller writi s to us on this subject as follows: —
Concerning the Calophyllum inophi/llum, as early as
1855, 1 found the tree on one of th'^ i'ilands of Hawick's
group, on the north-eastern coast of Queensland. Other
localities of this species as recorded in my Fraginenta
phytoloii- Austral, ix., 185, are Adam's Bny, Owpe York,
Rockingham's Bay. Edgecomb's Bay, Fitzroy's Island,
and Goode Island ; but I have no specimen from
Thursday Island. Still I should think it most likely
to exist there, as the tree has a wide range along the
coasts of tropical A^ia, extending to eastern Africa and
to Polynesia. My collection of Thursday Island plants is
not complete, so the mere absence of the plant from
there is no proof of the tree not occuring in the locality.
I may incidentally remark that a second specii?s of Cal-
opKullum occurs in north-eastern Australia, namely,
C. tomentosum, but it is as yet only known from near
Eockiughim's Bay and Johnstone's River ; its fruits
are considerably smaller than those of C. inophyllum. "
— Chemist and Drnagist.

Sweet Gibl Graduates in Prussia. — The Journal
de Pharmacie <i' Anvevs states that the Prussian
Minister of Education has prohibited the admission
of ladies to the Prussian universities, either as students
or to lectures. — Chemist andDruggist.

The Museum op the Pharmaceutical Society has
been greatly enriched during the past year bj- many large
find valuable donations. Some of these have been re-
ceived from well-known wholesale firms, or from private
individuals, but the most extensive additions have
been made through the liberality of the Commisson-
ers of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, and of
several of the exhibitors, some of the latter having handed
over their entire exhibits to the Society. Among the
last-named are the valu-ib'e exhibits of Dr. Ho Kai
and Messrs. A. S. Watson and Oo. in the Hong Kong
Court, the former including over four hundered speci-
mens of Chinese drugs, and the latter, several valuable
models. Not less important are the exhibits of Dr.
Brooks, including vanilla and valuable specimens of
essential oil, from the Seychelles, and that of Mr.
Fersson, of Demerara. The Indian Court contributed
a most useful series of sections of the trunks of the
ciuchoua trei s cultivated in that country, which show
the mode of renewing the bark. The whole of the
collection of Ceylon drugs fthree hundred and fifty
specimens) has been acquired by the Society, as well
as the collection of Chinese drugs in the Straits Settle-
ments Court, the latter having been presented by the
Executive Commissioner. Valuable contributions to the
Museum have also been received from the Executive
CommLsioners of the British Guiana, West Indian,
Victoria and Fiji Courts. The materia medica of the
Cape of Good Hope is now represented in the Museum
by an entire series of the drugs exhiliited in that
Court, presented by Mr. Sidney Oowper. In addition
to these, a very extensive and valuable collection of
essential oils, many of them of great rarity, has been
presented by Messrs. Schimmel and Co., of Liepzig. Dr.
Aitchison has handed to the Society a collection of the
drugs obtained by him in Afghanistan, and specimens of
considerable interest have been received from the Direc-
tor of the Kew Gardens, fr.>m Dr. Dymock of Bombay,
Di-. Oudaatje, of Ceylon, Mr. Mnrai, of Japan, and
many othprs. The large contributinis to the Museum
during the last few years .have raised it to the first rank
as a Museum of Materia Medio; so that it has lately been
classed in a well-known periodical [Nineteenth Ce7it2ay)
with the National Musem of Natural History at Kew
and thi British Museum. — Pharmaceutical Joxrnal.

Peb. 7, :§87.;f

fHE TROPICAL AGRiCOLTaRiST,

55S

CEYLON UPCOUNTEY PLANTINU EEPORT.

ADVERTISING TEA AT HOME — ABSURDITY OF DELAYING
THE SALE OF GOVERNMENT FOREST LAND AT KALUTARA
— SMALL BREAKS OF TEA — CULTIVATION OF COCA IN
CEYLON — COFFEE AND CACAO CROP PROSPHCTS

31st Jan. 1887.

Judging from the tea advertisements which have
appeared at homo, by parties desirous of pushing
the Ceylon tea trade, and which have from time
to time been copied into the Observer columns
that portion of the public which receive their
knowledge of Ceylon and its teas from such sources,
have had for mental food rather " confused
feeding." It is a pity that this educational agency
cannot be rendered more effective, and that when
knowledge is being imparted it should not be more
exact. The article which calls it forth is good,
and it were well that the information were also
as good. Still as long as the teas sell, and get
into general use we need Hot perhaps be too
particular on this scors. Besides, there seems to
be a demand on the part of the public for in-
formation regarding Ceylon and its teas, which is
spreading even to the provincial towns and those
who supply it evidently do the best they can,
dr wing pretty much on their imagination for the'r
facts. A friend of mine writing from one of the
towns in Scotland says that a grocer there has a
bill in his window stating "that the finest tea
that comes to Europe is grown in Ceylon on mount
ains 7,000 feet high!" This high class article
was sold at the moderate price of 2s (id a pound.
" We got some of it," says my correspondent,
" and found it good."

Begarding the forest land at Kalutara — the 5,000
acres which you referred to the other day — it does
seem absurd that the G-overnment should delay the
Belling of it, or indeed that they should not put
it up in smaller blocks. If it be the case as is
generally supposed, that all this land is to be put
up at once, the I'esult will be an unfortunate one
for the Government. Why should not, say the half
of it have been sold before now, instead of
delaying ? Better prices would certainly have been
got for this than can possibly be secured if the
limited demand for land is to be glutted by this ex-
tensive area thrown in the market all at once.
I suppose that it is hopeless to expect that the
principles which regulate ordinary business, can
be found operating in such things as the sale of
Crown lauds. Even yet, although the surveys
have been for some time completed, no plans
can be got, whereas if the Government had
gone in for a 2,000 acre lot, the work might
have been all finished, plans issued, land
Bold, and in all likelihood at better rates than
will be got later on if the whole be put up at
once. I suppose it must be known to some of
the officials that the S.-W. monsoon is generally
considered to be the best for planting ; but the
knowledge of this fact does not seem to stir them
any in regard to the Kalutara lands, indeed one
might question whether they were aware of it.

The combination among tea buyers to neglect
the small breaks is not likely to lead to much
good. Indeed, I suppose, it has even now come to
nothing. I already know of some who say that
If they ar3 forced to store their teas until they
have what may be termed a good break, that
they will ship it, rather than oft'er it locally. If
they cannot get fair value in the local market
for such breaks as they can send, they will adopt
the other course. One of the chief advantages of
the weekly sales in Colombo has been that the
planter has been able to turn his lU'oduce into
pioney at once, and get a fair value even although
70

the breaks were small, but if he is to be kept out of
this advantage, by any kind of combination, he may
as well have a trial of the Ijondon market at first
hand. A parcel of tea was reported on lately by
some Colombo authorities, and the result was a very
poor report. It was a pleasant surprise to the
shipper when the break was sold in London to
find that it realized Is Id a lb. !

The cultivation of coca in Ceylon is not ex-
tending very rapidly, nor likely to. And yet you
do hear of it growing here and there, and the
plants which were for sale at the Peradeniya
Gardens, at 12i cents each, all found buyers. I
understand that its use as a local anaesthetic,
is bringing it more and more under the attention
of scientists, who are studying its nature and will
in all probability extend its use. It is quite
within the range of possibility that this concen-
trated attention, may lead to some important dis-
covery regarding it, which will induce a demand
for the coca leaf such as does not exist at present.
Even as it is, I have heard of one who has beon
promised a shilling a pound for all he can send
home, a price, I understand, which will pay well
enough.

Last week's rain did a lot of good, and brought
out a scattered blossom on what coffee was in
heart. There remains a promise for something
better later on.

The cacao crop is winding up, and it has been
a very good one. The new blossom for the next
crop is somewhat tardy in parts, but there is plenty
of time yet. The trees are particularly heallhy,
most of the pests which plague and worry are in
abeyance, and long may they so continue.

Peppekcokn.

TEA.

The following is the annual report of the tea trade by
Messrs. W. J. and H. Thompson.

The past year has again been unsatisfactory to tbe
importer, while statistically for the first time for nuiny
years the total dtiliveries show only a fractional increase,
the most serious feature being the falling off in horiK;
consumption, a decrease of Ig million compared with
last year.

This possibly may be accounted for by some dis-
arrangement with regard to the deliveries in 1885, con-
sequen: upon the expectation of an increased duty or to
the largely increased use of Indian and Ceylon teas,
which possess much more strength than those from
China, and at the present mome'it contribute to the
extent of one-half of the total cousumption. The export
is satisfactory, being two millions in excess of last year.
China: Prices early in the year were well maintained
in prospect of reduced stocks, and the commoner gr..des
advanced in value. On the receipt of n^ws of hu-ried
and heavy shipments, combined with the large incicase
from India and Ceylon, a general decline took place.
The new crop met with little attention, and the finer
qualities showed a reduction of 4d to 8d per lb as cou)-
pared with the current prices of former years. The
medium grades were not eipially affected, an I the cjffi-
mon kinds maintained compar.itively a high ringe,
owiu^toa moderate supply. The lowest point reached
was in October, but since that period there has been
some slightrally. The total exportfrom China isexpedel
to be about the same as last year. Indim t^a: the
year opened with stocks of high aver/ige value and
only a small supply of low-priced Tea, the effect of
which was to restrict business and cause a decided
decline. When the new crop arrived in the autumn,
the market being in a sound position, a good busi-
ness at steady prices resulted, until it became ap-
parent that the crop would be a heavy one and con-
sist largely of low grades, when rates began to fall
for all but the best qualities, and at last reached
a lower range than has ever been Ijuown, Thig full

S§4

fifE tuopicAL A^mctsfftsmif,

[Feb. I, i8§7.

has greatly stimulated consumption, which for the
past three months has risen to the rate of 80 millions
per annum, while in December Indian and Ceylon
deliveries together for the first time amounted to one-
half the entire home consumption. The season's
supply of Indian is estimated at 75 millions, eight
millions more than the previous crop. At the present
rate of delivery the consumption would be equal to 75
millions, showing an increase of 13 millions. To the
growers the result may prove better than present prices
indicate, as the reduced cost accompanying a large
yield forms some compensation for the lessened values
of inferior grades, while for those who made fine
teas the market has been favourable throughout.
Ceylon Tea : This branch of the trade is begin-
ning to assume large proportions, the imports and
deliveries being double those of 1885, while the
demand has been sufficient to maintain an
average for some time past of Is 2d per lb.
due to the success of planters in keeping up
a high standard of quality, for in the spring
when the average value of other teas was higher
than now, Ceylon fell as low as lOJJ per lb., the
portion of the crop then arriving being of inferior
quality. Java Tea : The quality has been of an aver-
age class, and the deliveries have been about the same
as last year.

Mfcssrs. Lay ton and Oo.'s Circular says: — Looking
back upon the last year two unfavourable features are
noticeable, viz., (1) the continued fall in the value of
fine Tea, and (2) the increasing temitncy of Indian
to drive China Tea out of consumption in this couutry.
As to the first of these, it is probable that we have now
arrived at a pitch when some reaction must take
place and indeed prices wf really Rood Kaisow or
Mouing are decidedly firmer already than a month
since, although no great advance can as yet be quoted.
As regards the second of these facts, we believe that
it must continue for some time lo come, and until
the low prices current for Indian debcriptions stop
the production of increased supplies year by yt-ar.
This is hardly likely to occur at present, because the
extensive use of improved machineiy in ludi^i has
more and more reduced the cost of mauufacture until
an average price of only 8d per lb., wbich a few
years ago would have been considered quite an ab-
surd quotation, is found to leave growers a margin
of profit. It seems probable, thtrefoie, that un-
less China can send an improved aiticle to compete
on better terms with the more pungent liquor and more
even leaf of India, no permanent change can be hoped from
the present very unfortunate state of things, and the
downward course of the China Tt-a trade for so many
years can hardly be arrested. During the past year the
total deliveries of China Tea for home trade showed a
falling off of 5,881,000 lb. compared with 1884, while
the consumption of Indian showed an increase of
5,770,0001b.; it is startling to find that whereas the
deliveries ot China Congou are less thati in 1871) those
of Indian Tea have risen from 13,600,000 lb. to over
70,000.0001b. in the same period. The landings of
Indian Tea in December were on a larger scale than
ever previously, amounting to 14,113,590 lb. against
t),227,394 lb. in 1885, and though the deliveries were ex-
ceedingly heavy for the time of year, being 6,594,546 lb,
against 5,^41,228, the stock on the olst ult. was
further increased to 32,887,308 lb. as compared with
24,751,920 lb. in the previous year. The general favour
in wbich Ceylon Tea has gradually risen continues
and all grades have brought comparatively high rates
the style and liquor of several invoices being highly
approved.

The market for Indian Tea wbich closed on the

22nd ultimo was reopened on the ;<rd instant with a

small sale, and during the week 18,000 packages have

been offered. Prices at first were irregular, but since

then there has been more competition for Pekoe

Souchongs at from 7d. to lOd., and Pekoes from 9d,

to Is Id. per lb., quotations for which show a

advance, especially for the latter. Common Broken

Pekoes under Is are lower, but medium and goond

medium have sold briskly at luny previous lates. The

4^pja&d for 6n9st UesniptioQs keeps limited The de-

liveries for December were 6* millions, wbich is satis-
factory, and for the past six months they show an
increase of fully six millii.ns as compared with last year.
Owing to the excessive arrivals in Uecember the stock
appears unusually heavy, Ceylon : The sales compris-
ing 1,700 packages passed with a little more animation
as compared with the closing sales of 1886. Java :
Partly due to the limited quantity brought forward
lately, the 460 packages offered this week met with
attention, and for the useful parcels there was fair
competition. The figures for the past six months, as
compared with previous years, are as follows : —

1886 Imports. 1885

Indian ... 52,038,000 lb. ... 42,681,0 0 lb.

Ceylon ... 3,83<,0()0 lb. ... 2,320 000 1b.

Java ... 1,788,000 lb, ... 1,605,0001b.

Deliveries.

Indian ... 35,670,0001b. ... 29,472.0001b.

Ceylon ... 4,092,000 ib. ... 2,110,0001b,

Java ... 1,860.000 lb. ... 1,841,000 1b.

Stocks Dec. 31.

Indian ... 32,887,0001b. ... 24,752,0001b.

Ceylon ... 1,660,1 00 lb. .. 1,028.000 lb.

Java .., 944.0001b. ... 676,000 1b.

Messrs. Beebe's New York Circular of Dec. 23rd
says : — A large business has been done in most des-
criptions of Tea at improving prices. The .'■pefnl-
ativc feeling indicated by the transactions referred to
in our last became more pronounced early in Decem-
ber, and large sales and resales of Formosa and
Amoy Oolongs here and to arrive, followed, leading
to an advance in values of about two cents per lb.
all around. But little of either class remain in first
hands, dealers and speculntors holding at the close
most of the stock. Considerable sales of Foochowa
have also been made, mainly of cargo grades, and
the advance on them is fully equal to that on For-
mosas and Amoys. Greens have been in more de-
maud. Country packed as well as Pingsueys, and chop
values for them mav be quoted one to two cents higher
than when we wrote last. Japans, other than Com-
mon to Good Medium, are comparatively unchanged.
These grades close at an advance of one to two cents.
Sales and resales reported at private and made under
the hammer foot 200,700 packages, including 20,200
Country Greens, 17,000 Pingsueys, 18,800 Japans,
62,300 Formosas, 54,000 Amoys and 25,000 Foochow
Oolongs, and 3,400 Congou. 29,700 of these were
made in the auction room. Green Teas have met
with more inquiry during the past three weeks, and
values at the close show an advance of about two
cents average on the better chops of Moynne and
Teenki, and one or two on Pingsueys and the lower
grades of Country packed. Holders are less inclined
to press sales either at public or private, and a fur-
ther improvement in value seems probable in the
near future. Japan.s find some increase in the demand,
but mainly for Common to Good Medium. These
grades are realising one to two cents more in the
auction room, while Fine to Choice show little or
no improvement over last month's values. Oolongs
have been very freely taken both in the regular way
and on speculation, with sales and resales aggregat-
ing about 140,000 packages. Of these Formosa kinds
cover 62,000 ; Amoys, 54,000 and Foochows, 25,000.
An average advance of fully two cents is established
on all grades other than Finest to Choice, and the
market closes firm at the improvement. Congous
are practically unchanged, with but little inquiry for
other than Common Cargo. — L. A C. Express.

CINCHONA IN BENGAL.
The report on the working of the Cinchona Plant-
ations in Bengal during 1885-86 shows that there were
upwards of five million trees in various stages of
growth on these plantation. The major portions of
these trees comprise the red and yellow species (fucci'
rubra and calisai/a ledgeriana). The most important
feature of the year's operations was that the plant-
ing out was exclusively confined to yellow bark trees,
of which 187,000 were of the hybrid variety, and
239,000 of ledgeriana. The crop was not a large one,
and amounted to 205,410 lb, of dry bark, ino!t ©f

Feb. I, 1887.]

The tropical agriculturist.

555

which was red. The bulk of the crop was as usual
made over to the febrifuge factory.

The dem in^l for the febrifuge was not as great
as in previous years, and this is ascribed to the
presence at the three presidency depots of a large
quantity (7,000 lb.) of L 'ndon-made febrifuge, sent
for sale under instructions from the Secretary of
State. Until, therefore, this large supply has been
ab'^orbed, the demand for the Bengal febrifuge must
necessarily be limited. Why the Secretary of State
should send out London-m-ide febrifuge for sale to
India,* when it can be as well manufactured here,
is not quite clear. It cannot have auy other than
a deterring eifect on the ludiau industry, which at
present is very largely ia the hanis of the Govern-
ment of In lia, not to speak of private enterprise.
The out'urn of febrifusre fron the factiry is regulated
by the d -mand, which fell from 6,464 lb. in 1834-35
to 4.743 lb. during 1885-86. This "demand" was
limited owing to the 7000 lb. of febrifuge having
been sent out by the Secretary of Srate, and thus
the connection between the two is esta'ilished. The
Indian revenue from this source has, therefore, suff-red.
The cost of manufacture was also more than in pre-
ceding years, owing to the introduction of an improved
method of working the factory. So that although
the cost of manufacture increased by five annas per
lb. in the case of ordinary, and eight annas per lb.
in the case of crystalline febrifuge, the pprcentage
of febrifuge, obtained from the bark was raised by
three per cent by the new method. The increase in
cost of manufacture is also ascribed to the smaller
quantity manufactured. It will thus bo seen thit
the Secretary of State's venture has not proved a
very paying one. The issues during the year de-
creased by 1,653 lb. as compared with the preceding
year, having been respectively 5,499 lb. and 7,152 lb.
Duriug the past year there was a heavy fall in
the market price of quinine ; the ruling price having
been only K2-1 0 per ounce. To this cause is attri-
buted the decrease in the sale of the febrifuge to the
pub ic. It is, however, anticipated by the Govern-
ment that the depression in the price of quinine,
which_ is ascribed to special causes, will not last.
In this connection it may be as well to state that
there has recently been an enquiry into th^ prevailing
high leXRil prices of quinine, and that there is every
likelihood of the present I'jw prices being maintained.
So that unless the Government see their way to
reducing the prices charged for their febrifuge very
much belou) that prevailiug in the market for quinine
prepared by London manufacturers, the falling off in
the sales to the public may be expected to continue.
The total expen'liture on the Bengal phntations
amounted to R79,728, which is E18,077 below the
budget allotment. Of this the sum of R12,052 repre-
sents the capital expenditure on the young traus-
Teesta plantation at Rungjung, which has not yet
come into bearing ; and the balance, R67,675, the working
expenses of the old plantations at Mungpoo, including
Rungbee and Sittong. Thus the capital account is
now brouglit up to Rl,096,255. It is, however, ex-
p'ained that this has been recouped by the saving
effected by the substitution of cinchona febrifuge for
quinine in Governmeot medical institutions. The gross
revenue derived from the sale of febrifuge, seed,
plants ami bark amounte 1 to R93,476, again'^t R124 225
in the previous year. The actual profit on the vear's
working is stated to have amounted to R30,221 ;
but with the expenditure at R79,72S, and the revenue
at R93,476, the net profit would amount to R13,648.
It is, therefore, not clear how the above figures are
arrived at. In addition to the "actual profit." Dr.
King points out that 2,054 lb. of febrifuge, supplied to
Government medical institutions, and valued at R33,000,
should be taken into account. The thanks of the
Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal are very properly
accorded to Dr. King for his continued eflScient manage-
ment of the department, and to Mr. Gammie, who
held executive charge of the plantations and factory. —
India" y^ffriruHvriat.

* E.' f^eii; out febrifuge m mufactur d in Louuon
from Goverbment bark, as an •xperiment.— Ed,

ASH OF CINCHONA BARK.

BY DAVID HOOPEB, GOVERNMENT QUIN0L0GI9T.'

I have recently been engaged in examining the
inorganic constituents of cinchona bark, and the
analvsis has been communicated to the Government
of Madras for information of the cinchona planters
of the Presidency. As the chemistry of this drug
will alwavs be of interest to pharmacists, I send
S'lme notes relating; to the amount of ash and the
quality of the ash occurring in barks cultivated in
India.

In Fliickiger and Hanbury's ' Pharmacographia ' the
following statement is nude: — "The cinchona barks
yield hut a scanty percentage of ash, not exceedina 3
per cent, a fact well accordin? with the small amount
thev contain of oxalate and kinate of calcium."

With r-^gard to the quantity of ash, my experience
is that cultivated barks yield over 3 per cent ; the
average of three hundrel estimations made on sam-
ples from this countrv was calculated at 3'42 per
cent. Renewed and old natural barks are the poorer
in mineral constituents, but they never fall below
2 per cent. On the other hand, young and branch
liark gives as much as 4 per cent, and it is interest-
ing to notiee that the leaves afford as much as 5, and
sometimes 6 per cent. With regard to the specieB
of cinchona, there is a marked difference in the
amount of ash yielded by each, provided that natural
bark is operated upon. The crown bark is richer in ash
thin that of the red, and the red richer than
that of the Ledger; and knowing that crown bark
erows at an elevation of 7000 to 8000 ft. the red at
5000 to_ 6000 ft., and the Ledger at 3000 to 5000 ft.,
the altituie may have something to do with this
gr 'dation of ash in the different species.

When gently incinerated at a low red heat, cinchona
bark should ulways leave a greyish-white ash. If
it is at all reddish, it points to the presence of dust
or dirt adhering mechanically to the sample, if w-ighed,
it will be found much in excess of that obtained
from clean bark. The two most dirty samples of
bark I have met with came from Cey'on, leaving
when burnt a reddish residue of 18-8 and 19-5 per
cent respectively, but as they were both labelled
''dust," neither the vendor would be blamed for the
impurity, nor could the purchaser rave on account
of its poverty in alkaloids.

A complete analysis was made of the ashes of the
two species of cinchona grown on the Nilgiris, the C.
officinalis growing in the Dodabetta plantation, and
the C. succiruhra from the lower elevation at .^aduva-
tam. Notwithstanding th'i barks were from different
species and localities, the result of the examination
shows that there is a great similarity in the compos-
ition of the ash.

a.

Ofieinalis.

C. suceirulra

Soluble in water

...

• • •

27 33

24-46

Soluble in acid

...

•••

66-92

69 94

Residue

...

5 75

560

100-00

100-00

Insoluble silica

5-75

5-60

Soluble silica ...

...

«•»

1-42

4-40

Alumina

•••

• •■

2 70

4-24

Iron oxide

• a.

• ••

2-85

321

Manganese

*••

• «•

trace

Lime

«••

• ••

3270

32-80

Magnesia

...

• *•

207

2-62

Potash

...

...

16 35

12-49

Soda

...

. 1 •

3-40

2-28

Carbonic acid ...

• • ■

• •■

27-22

27 77

Sulphuric acid...

• • •

•••

118

1-08

Phosphoric acid

• ••

«••

393

3-19

Chlorine

«••

•••

•45

•42

100-00

100-00

The chief constituent is the lime which forms
nearly one third of the whole, and exists in the ash
in the form of carbonate. The next element of im-

55^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Feb. I, 1887.

portance is the potash, which amounts to one-sixth
and one-' ightb of the whole ash respectively.

About fourteen years ago P. Carles wrote a paper
DM the •' Complete Analysis of Cinchona Barks," in the
Jicpeitoire de I'hari/iacie (new series), vol. i., p. 6U
(which appeared iu the Phartii. Journ., March 15, lSi73),
anil a complete analysis is given of the ash of
Hiiaiiuco, calisaya and succirubra barks from South
America. His examinations agree on the whole with
the above, but he finds traces of copper and appreciable
quantities of manganese present. Although there was
i|'airtz present iu most of my samples, weighed as
insoluble silica, yet there was no trace of copper;
and the absence of more than traces of manganese is
iu accordnnce with the nature of the Nilgiri soils. I
can confirm Cares in showing what a small quantity
of chlorine is present. As to barks rich iu quinine
associ tevl with abuudauce of lime salts, I cannot agree
that there !s any rt- latioa between the alkaloids aud the
niineial elements. The cinchonas of South America
wero poorer in quinine then than the India barks are
now, ard they yielded about half the amount of ash.
On the other hand the Ledger barks, which are richer
iu quinine thau succirubras, always contain less ash,
aud consequently a less amount of lime. There is not
much lime in the Nilgiri soil, yet it seems an essen-
tial ingredient in cinchona bark, and is taken up in
large quantities whether the cinchona is grown in
India or America. However different the soils of
these two countries may be, a comparison of the
analyses of Mr. Carles and myself will show that
cinchona bark appropriated to itself a peculiar arrange-
ment of chemical elements. If the arrangement of
the inorganic constituents of plants were at all con-
stant, it would be a means whereby the chemist could
assist the botanist in discriminating betweea differ-
ent natural orders, genera, if not species of plants.
— Pharmaceutical Journal.

THE BEVERAGES IN COMMON USE.-

BY PKOFESSOR DUJARDIN-liEAUMETZ.

Under the head of aromatic beverages I propose
to speak exclusively of such as contain a certain
alkaloid, with the formula C^HipN^Oj, which Eunge,
in 1820, found in coffee, and to which he gave the
name caffeine, which Oudry, in 1827, found in tea,
and which he called theine which Martins discovered
in the FauUinia sorbilis, and which finally HaecKel
and Schlagdeuhauffen have isolated, along with theo-
bromine, from kola nuts.

In order to simplify the exposition into which I
am about to enter, I will admit that all these alkaloids
are identical, although I know very well that it is
by no means demonstrable that isomeric bodies have
absolutely the £ame physiological action. I shall not
' tKjuch upon the ditt'erent hypotheses which have been
put forth relative to the atomic composition of this
body. I have already called attention to this point
in » recent study on the derivatives of caffeine.+ I
have shown that if, according to Strecker, caffeine
is only the methyltheobromine, according to Fischer,
on the other hand, caffeine aud theobromine are
derivatives of xanthine ; theobromine is the bimethyl-
xanthine, while caffeine is the trimethylxanthine.
But I cannot now take up your time with these
chemical researches.

All the aromatic beverages containing caffeine (or
the isomeric alkaloids above mentioned) for their
hases are used in immense quantities all over our
globe, and their employmout is much more extensive
than that of alcoholic beverages.

Many opinions have been put forth as to the

physiological and hygienic action of coffee. These

may be reduced to three hypotheses. Coffee diminishes

the excretion of urea and is a waste-restraiuer ; it

. does not modify the urea excretion, aud is a force-

* A lecture on Hygienic Therapeutic, delivered in
Cociiiu Hospital. From a translatiuu iu the Therapeu-
c Gazette.

t Dujardiu-Beaumetz, " On the Physiological and
Therapei-itic Propeitiesof the Derivatives of Caffeine."
(Bi'.n. (le Tiler., 1866, t. ex., p. 241).

producer; or lastly, it acts as a food, supplying ele-
ments of nutrition.

The fir-it view is supported by Schultz, Gasparin,
Broker, Lehman, Frolish, Trousseau and Pidoux, Kabu-
teau, Mirvaux, otc, who claim tbat coffee diniiuishea
the quantity of urea excreted ; that it does not
nourish, but that it prevents deiiutrition. This is the
waste-restraining- iliment theory.

But to facts advanceil by these physiologists other
facts are oppjsed, aud we see Rous and Giraud in
Frame, Biuz iu Germany, Braokenridge in Eagla id,
maintain that coffee, as well as caffeine, in no respects
luo'lifies the figure of urea. Hence Gubler, basing
himself on the researches of these auth jrities, af£rms
that coffee has no actioa on nutrition, but that it
is a tonic, or, rather, a force pro lucer.

Lastly, Payen has shown that coft'ee contains nitrogen,
and this in quite notable proportion, since in green
coffee this essential element exists in the proportion
of 4'43 per cent, and in roi.sted coffee in the pro-
portion of 1'75 per cent. He shows, moreover, that
the admixture of eoff'ee with milk, in ordinary usage
iu many parts of the world as a breakfast beverage,
is one of the most nutritious of all drink.s, a mixture
of 500 grams of infusion of coffee, 500 grams of milk,
and 75 grams of of sugar contaiuiug, aocjrdiag to
his estimate, 49 grams of nitrogenous substance aud
100 grams of hydrocarbon and salts.

This view has been adopted by I''leury, Bouchardat
and Jomaud, and is supported by facts being in, accord-
ance with the experience of entire populations (in
England, Germany, Switzerland and the United States),
who find sustenance in their breakfast dish of coffee.

Coffee is, then, by virtue of the nitrogen which it
contains, a fond, aud you remember that in the
primordial alimentary principles I included caffeine
among the azotized substances. Moreover, recent
experiments of Guiraaraes show positively that aug-
mentation of urea follows the administration of coffee.*

But is coffee anything but an aliment? It possesses
special tonic properties on the circulation aud
nervous system. All experimenters are agreed in the
fact that under the influence of coft'ee the beatings
of the heart become more rapid and more euergetic,
the circulation more active, and the urine more
abumiant. Leblond's study has given us in this regard
tracings of high importance. Moreover, whether by
the activity which it impresses on the circulation,
or by a direct action on the nervous elements, coffee
directly affects the brain, aud may be called " a
cheering and thought-iuspiring beverage."

This threefold action, on nutrition, on the circulation,
and on the nervous system, makes coffee an admirable
tonic, and we are justified in saying that it is largely
by reason of the strong coffee, which habitually forms
a' part of their diet, that our troops have been enabled
in the burning of climate of Algiers to endure
the most exhausting campaigns.

It is also •wing largely to the coft'ee, which is be-
coming more aud moro an article of daily consumption
among the farmers iu the country, that we see this
class of people ablo to endure the great increase of
toil to which they are subjeotetl in haying and har-
vesting seasons.

Coft'ee, in order to be fit for nutrition, must first
be torrefied. Payen has made a special study on th«
modifications which coffee undergoes by roasting, and
has shown that during the process there is a breaking
up sf the chlorogenate of potassium and caffeine, and
a setting free of a part of the caffeine held in
combination.

I cannot here touch upon the different modes of
preparing coffee, modes by which the properties of
roasted coffee are doubtless more or less modified.
"While iu Em-ope it is the infusion which is drunk
almost exclusively, the inhabitants of the East prefer
the decoction, and, if we may b.4ieve their statement,
the decoction, while preserving the tonic and alimentary
properties of the coffee, is quite devoid of the ex-
citing properties which characterize the infusion.

* Guimaraes, " On the Physiological and Hygienic Ac-
tion of Coffee" (Arch, fia Fhi/s., 1684, t. iv., p. 253).

Feb . I, 1887,]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

SS7

The different phvs'o^ogical properties of coffeft have
caused this food meil.cine, an. I its congeners, tea, Para-
guayan mat6, guarana and k'la, to be applied to the
treatment of a great number of affeotions. Its tonic
action on the circulation has led to its usb in the
treatment of diseases of the hear'', niid Gubl.r, Li'piue
and Huchard have shown us all the advauta^jes deriv-
able therefrom. Its diuretic properties have led to
its being recommended in ih-op-ias, uri lary gravel
and gout ; its cerebral tonic acriou has rendered io
useful in the treatment 01 migraine and cephalalgia.
Lastly, we see its utility recognized in intestinal
strangulations and opium poisoning.

I have finished what 1 wished to say concerning
coffee, leaving aside what appertains to infusions made
from roasti-d acorns ami chicory, which contain
nitrogen, and probably h-ivc some food value, but are
deTi>id of Cdtfeiiie, and therefore of the tonic and
excitant properties of coffee. — Ph'irmaceutieal Juurnal.

REPORTS ON INSECTS INJURIOUS TO
FRUIT .CROPS

{Prepared for the Agricultardl Department, Pnvy
Council Office.)

We have already notice! iwo previous issues of
these (roverument Reports, relaiiuij respectively to the
insects affecting the bop and corn crops. The new
publication is likely to be the one most generally
popular, as private persons all over the country as
well as fruit farmers are concerned ah lut the insects
which ravage Iruit-trees. The Privy Council h,ive tione
useful service in having this w rk prepared. In it
Mr. Whitehead has compiled in a fairly popular st>le
as much as has been ascertained concf rning the nature
and life histories of the weevils moths, bugs, and
hies which are so ruinous to our various fruit-trees.
The pamphlet is obtainable for so little cost that it
is not ueces.sary to analyse its contents at great length.
AVe may, however, state that about thirty of the
most familiar garden insf-cts a e fi.iured and discussed.
These include the chief devastators of the apple, pe^ir,
cherry, currant, raspberry, strawberry, and cooseburry
leaves and b os>oa38. The details given under the
heads, Prevention and Remedies, show that n > royal
means have yet been discovered for btttling with
these foes without a great deil of trouble. Some
different details of treatment are suggested for each
insect, but generally it is recommended that the trees
or bushes infected should be well syringed with a
mixture of soft soap (7 lb.) and quassia (6 lb.) to
100 gallons of water. After an attack the ground
round the roots is generally to h& well hood, quick-
limed, or sawdust with parafBne, or soot, or ast.es
well mixed in with the earth, and all cuttings from
the tree to be p'rfecty cleared away. Hellebore
is said to be an ' ft'ectual dressing in soma cases, but
its poisoiious natu'e forbids its use when any fruit,
however small, is forming. It is much the fashion
to attribute the attacks of ins cts to the east wind,
as if it in some mysterious manner were the actual
generator of sundry of the species which sp jil the
crops and destroy vegetation, or as if th>»y literally
came on the wings of the wind. Mr. Whitehead
notices this old-fashioned theory, and attributes it to
the fact th*.t after a cold aad variable sping, during
which there has been an unusual amount of oast
wifld, all plants, trees, and herbs appear to be more
liable to attacks from insects, in consequence of certain
chemical changes and the disorganisation of tissues
rendering tiiem m )re gratiful to the 'astes of their
ordinary parasites. — Chemid and Druygisi.

THE BHEL FRUIT, OR BENGAL QUINCE.
Mr. E. Jamfs, Ipswifh, writes as follows :—" Raid-
ing in your valuable paper an account of the Exhi-
bition, my atenti in was aitracted to the Bael fruit
(misspelt Bahl), which does not seem to have any
attraction for joii correspondent. It gives me great
pleasure to diaw iho attention of Quf^enslanders to
this valuable fruit, from an edib e and mcdicii al point
of view. The fruit is obtained from the jEijUhiut-

mdos, and belongs to the mo.st valuable natural order,
Legnniinosae. The fruit is about the size of a large
orange, with a h ird W)-)ly rind. Tt^ fruit is hi,'hly
valued by the natives of India, which is its natural
habitat, as an astringent in severe Ci-;es of dyse itery,
diarrhoea, &?. I have always taken it daring my five
years' residence in Oeylon, wher^ it grows abundantly,
and is considered by medical men in I idia. -to be a
mo>t vtluahle medicine, a pr^'paratiou of which is
official both in the B itish and Indian Pharmacoproia.
The preparation as in the B. P., is known as fluid
extract of Bael fruit, but it is not equal ti the fresh
fnnt. For further information see Fluckegar and
Hanbury's Pharmceographia, which ought to be la
the hands of every one who takes an interest in
fruit growing."

Lindley gives a different spelling; to either of the
two abov* referred t)— n<mdy, '• Bhel." The "Dic-
tionary of Girdening" calls this fruit tXxa ^g e mar-
melos. Order Rutaceaj (not L^guminoste). It is
described as "an evergreen tree producing Vcjry large
fruit, which much resembles an orange in gen^^ral
appearmee, very delicious to the taste and exquisitely
fragrant- This genus dift'ers from Ci'rus principally
by its numerous disunited stamens. The pulp of the
fruit is an ap-rieut, and a valuab'e remedy in dysentery ;
the thick rind and dried unripe fruit are astringent.
It thrives best in a rich loamy soi', and is propag-ited
by lipn cuttiiiffs, which, if not deprived of any of
their leaves, will root in sand umler a hind glass, in
heat. It grows to a height of 10 ft." We have to
thank Mr. .Tames for calling attention to a fruit hkely
to suit the cl'maf.e of t lis colony, and also to be an
addition to oitr horticultural resources. We shall
also be g'ad to publish pirttculars of its growth and
cultivation in this colony. Mr. Bernays, in his
" Cultural Industries," says that a specimen at Bowen
Park has flovered profusely, but not yet fruited, but
that he has seen good fruiting specimens in the
Gardens on the coast from Bowen northwards. —
Queenslander .

♦

TRVDE AND COMMERCE OF SANTTOS.
{From the Report by Gonnul Cowper for the Year 183 5.)

There is no new fr-atur.- in the production of this
province. Goff e stil' ontinues to ba its staple and
only article of export. Former reports hive treated
exhaust vely this sibjeet, and th -re is n ithina; to ad i
to it, except the face tint the production of coffee
shows a tendency ta iuorea-<e, n itvithstindng the very
groat depreci-ition in its value during the last fe<v
years — a d p-eciatien which barely leaves a marsjin
for profits, and has redueeci the revenue derived from
it by several millions of p 'Uads.

Coffee, as already 8rat.-;<l, is the only article of
exp re, and the shipments during the past year wer« *
larger than tnose of a ly of the previous cues, in
consequence 01 the extension of tti*^ crop*. Great
BriCiuu coiisu.nes but little of the San Paulo, or
"Santos" coffee, as it is commonly called, heucp the
shipments thither are fimall and of no great con-
sequence. New York, H'^rve, and Hamburg arj the
prnciual markets of the staple produce of this pr ivince.

The import trade of thi- province, carried on through
th? port of San;.)S, still continues to be of growing
inip.irrance, and as l®ng a^ the province develo|js its
resources at the rate of past ye irs, the import trad«
will increase in direct ratio to the same. There has
been no diversion or n^-w feature in the import branch
of trade here. Great Brita n. as heretofore, supplies
the greater portion, both in bu'k and value, of the
imported goods, and entirely monopolises the trade in
railroad and tram plant, and rolliug stock, gas and
wat.rwork materials, agricultural implements, hardware
and machinery of every description, and coal. Although
(4 rmany endeavours to compete in cotton go )ds,
British inakf-s are preferred and command the market.
Unfortunately no stat'stical information as to tha
volume itnd value of the importation from different
c juntries can bo given, ihasmuch as the custom-house
has never yet published statistical matter on the
subject. Thera was agrsat falling off in number 0

5S8

THE TROPI.CAL AGRICULTURIST.

[Feb. I, 1887.

British sbios pnterin»the porh of S^nt-l<^ in ISS.i. as
conm<re1 witb oth-r years. Tw) vear-< Wvc.k B-tixli
shippin<?, whether sxPo's or s'^eim'^-s, f "■ HXde ' ••!
that of any ooe nati )n hat- la'st. vp-ir 8t.^a n >rs u^'d >•
the Gerrnan flisr, a'l'l sai'in? vflsapls mler the Nir-
wes'an fliiT, consi l-^raWv pxf»e^'1'»d th i-e udIt tht»
Bnti-ih flaff. Th" cameof th's aop-'a-s ♦•■) 1t» th" mich
lower race's at which the G-rmns a 'd NT^f^T'ios
can pqiiip and sail thnir vissrIs. Th ^ l^w frfti^h^,
which now rules through px'5='R'»'v» corap'^ti'ion, aona-
rent'y leaves no nitr^in for profi'-s, aid th"^ £;°n-^ral
cry of the shiomister is tViat '^h^i'" vf».s-?e's are sailina
at a Io<!'!. This, in ri^a'd '•o B-i'i^h ve'^'^ls, app-a^a
to he actua'lv the fact i-i mo't oa^^e-!, inasnri tch a» the
sailing exo^dses of a R-i*^i<h vi^ss"! are a'^o'it twice as
jfreat as that, say, of a No-w^Efian ve-i«el. Fo • inst-anop,
in the fi'st place, the N-rw^giin me'-cantile raarinf
consists of Drivioa'lv Eng'i-h vssplsHoa rhtiio cheaply ;
second, the Nirwesfi^ns virittiJil their v^sads at a
much low^r rate than the E i^'ish ; and Ihs'^Iv, 'h^'
wa?es paid to Norwesfian cews, wh^thT 'Tias'er. mate
or s-='amen, avcra-re ha'f the wi^s paid to British
ieamen of the ^aiie class. B'-itish sh^po'n? caino^
CO Tioete under such advantij-s, an! if the yo-'viTian
mercanti'e manne was suffi -iently larare th"y wiuld.
under circaaistances note 1, do th^ entire carrying
trade.

Und«»r the heading of expo^-ts it was seated fhat
Great Bnt dn cousam -d but Ui-Me o" the ■iofT»'^ pxo >rt^d
from Sintn;!; henc" this branch of the trade, catn^opr-
cially sp^akin?, does not jater'^st the iila^trias or
trade of G-eat Bi'ain. It is oth°rwi^e ho vev°r with
the inriort tnde, imsrujch as with the f-xcpp*-ion of
farm h>useanl ma'-k 't orard?T? prtl'ic, everv com-
modity u-ed by a civ'lised com-'n'iaitv, pissessed of
no Dro hict'ye indnst^ries >>f i*s own, is imported from
such conn'rios as on suo"!'-' the deman ! for them
to hpst idyatitage. Th*^ damaTid for Foreisrn commo litVs
and industrial prohiction iaer«'-s 's everv year in this
province with the expansi m of its popu'atir)n and thp
dey°)opBient of its vast territo-ies. The demand c'>m-
prises hoii«t^l)->]cl rurulture, utt-osils and commoditii s,
hos-'-rw, r-»ndv-mad« male and female attire, boots
a"d t.ho .-R, CO' ton, woolen, and linen materials, j-^wellerv,
wiue":, beprs. erocpries, flou'', nil. kpi'ospne, preserve^'
mpft'a snd frn'ts. shationery, medicines, chiua and
por.^elaip, hardwure. cutlery, g'assware, earthenware-,
agrii'u'tnral implpinente, railroad stock and plant,
watPi-work plant, tram car stocV anl p'ant, and every
de-criptinn of mac'n'n'^ry and iron w">rk.

Great, B-i*ain, by r-ason of h°r practically inexhaust-
ible "tock of in lusfcriil produces, u-dim'te 1 pr iductiyc
power, aid posse■^ied of the facilities of c*pi*al,
material, entern-isp, sea transport, ^c, ought to supply
the non-industrial countries with her nrorluction*
Fithout fpar of comp -t tion from countriss le-s
fayour-^tily situated. Snchis, in point of fact, the case
in th's province. The importa'iois from Great
Britain alone amount to nearly half the value of the
total import trade. Other c mntries, notably France,
Germany, and America, are attempting competition,
but wi'h no mirke ' siccess at present; the lon?-
■tan 'i ig me'-dalities of British industries always
obtain preference.

In those oses where the productions of foreign
industries comp'^te succpKsfully with, or are supersedintj
thosp of Great Brit-.in, the cause or fault is genera'ly
traceable to the British manu'acturers themsidves,
who, often too conservative in style and design,
obstinfttftly ignore the tastes, wishes, an 1 rpqnTom-'nts
of consuming markets; whpreas, on the che' hand,
competitors in Germany, France, and America, with
a keener pye to business and moi-e mobile in disposition,
spare no pains to adapt an 1 snppiy goods La accorilaace
wi»h the wants end p'cnh'arities of e-ch country.

Ti exemolify this assert 0 1, mention may be m^de
of the earthenware and glass trade of this proviacn
to wit.hin ^ery recnfly «nppli;'»d from B-i'ish industrial
sources alonp, but «o v aim 1st entir^dy suopr^^d^d by
the intr >d(iction of G--ma'i earthpn 'inJ glasswar-.
Tne diversion of this tra 'p '^ soIp'v due to th-
persisteoca with w dch ti ) Q:iris'\ W"-k»rs, in *he
fata of w*raiug* from their eorreiipondents here,

suDolied ohsolet'? ware, li^avv in wai^htanl un»vl I'y
o tie si'h". ; wi-^r^as t'n G^rnvn i^^p1l^J■il an
a'ticle o"^ l"ss r 'J n , an I alw.ys of "^^h^ latest m)d^rn
dpsi ;n, th 13 at im^ c mooting a Ivi it i^jo isly with
the !? '"i'h wi'-es in s-^^^ril psseitiils, viz, m<l^ra
''or OS an! patterns to m?}!; th^ 7ia'"xilv diTmd
Itiiire f >r '"novety" an 1 ligntness if weight, to
p ! i;io n'se c >sfc of oro ' is ion, t'-aisn'-t f •■^ig'i', ai 1
.5 ^st^m luties, paid by weight. By not giving tho i;ht
to these simo'^ m itt-^rs aliiraMve trtlehas bee » lo«t
to British inlistries in this province; an 1 whit has
hapomel tithe earhh=!nvare trile mi7 alsn h<poea
to other b-amhes of t-a le if B-iHsh miU'ifacturers
t'lroigh remissu'^ss alloy the'r fo>i°rn cimi^ititors to
steal a march on 'h vn. — S>>(t'i An'r-i-an Journal.

SILK COTTON.

Kapok, an article wh'ch at preierit does not fi^nre
largely amon» exports of Sir sits produce is now draw-
ing great attention in Aiistr-ilia. Notwithstanding the
steady inquiry foi- it thee, this product is so little
known that, doubtless, fuHer particulars regarding
th-" articlp will not be without interest. Kan 'k is the
'Tiby and -Tavanese name for the Eriod end 'o An/rac-
fuo^Jim and the Gofitamt^inus Alba. It belo gs to the
^ombacese family which comprises the Baobab the
largest tree yet known, the trunk being sometimes
90 feet in girth, ani tho Dirim tne. K^nok also
known by the name of silk cotton, was imoorted for
the first time into P'jurope in 13.51 for the Exhibition
held in London, that year, where, however, little
notice was taken of it. In Holland more notice was
tak m and that country continue to be the only
market for the article, until its value began to be
h-^tter known in the .Australian colonies. At the
Amsterdam "Exhibition held a few years ago. greater
interest was taken in it than in IS.ol, but yet the
results so far as its importation into Europe was
concer-'ied, Holland excepted, proved discouraging.
Tnis i^ the ra >re extraordinary now that the article
has with a wonderful success secured a commanding
nosition in the Australian mwket. The first c >nsigu-
ment of Java. Kpok arrived in Austradia, fifteen
years ago. Owing to the trade being then in the
bauds of Hollanders luJ natives, supplies were ir-
regular, and insignificant, the results being that sales
were confined to small quantities only In 1S31 on
occasion of the Exhibition at Melbourne, there came
tb'^her the first shioments of Kapok from British
India and Cevdon. The article met with a ready
sale from its fitness for beddme and upholstery pur-
Doses. Since then it has been imported into that
port increasingly, but a lively demand did not soring
un until the firm of Catherwood Welby & Co. of
that city with praiseworthy perseverance and re-
markable good frtnne, impc-tedand disnosed of the
firticle in large quantiti"s. This took place in 1834,
owing to Mr. Catherwood, when passing through Cey-
Im, becoming attracted by the Kapok he saw. He
at once perceived its economic uses and the future
there must be in store for it. This imnrovement
with respect to Kapok, was not without influence on
the market in Holland where, in December 1884, not
less than 12,000 bales of it were stored up in ware-
houses at the prompting of a ring to keep up prices,
while dealers on their part were firmly determined
to stmd out against them in the hope that further
shipments would compel merchants to ease down
stocks. They reckoned without their host, for unex-
pectedly the said firm secured two-thirds of the
whole crop. These circumstarcea will have a material
effect in raising the prica of kapok in this part of
th° world ^y ^he ooeration of the well known
economic rule that whenever the demand becomes
greater, prices are bound to rise. The ranid increase
of importations of kapok into Melbourne may be
jnd^elof from the fact that they rose from barley
1001 bales in 1834 to upwards of 8.000 in 1836. of
which 7.99.J w-.re fi-om Java valued at /■22,600. These
fig ires sh '^v theloi-ding p >sition of J1V.1 iming kapok-
expirtlng countries. From Ceylin so little of it is
pxp orted as to be almost inappreciable. Cjnparison
between Indian and Jaya kapok i»rin2a out the fact tbt^t

tts. I, my.] fHE TOPICAL AGRICULTUKlSf.

55^-

the former stands immeasurably inferior. In bales
imported from British India, good and bad kapok is
intermixed, and as if tbi> is not enough, all sorts
of foreign substances, such as sand and othtr heavy
mhteri»l8, are added to increase the weight, so that
the bales require to be opened as a stcurity ugaiost
fraud. Mori over the packing leaves much to be desired.
The kapok packed by means ot hjdraulic presses
loses that peculiar elasticity which lenders it so va u-
able. Moreover, by hard packing uucleantd stuff, a
dark coloured oil la expressed trom the seeds which
is suffused over the kapok and consequently sistinsit.
From these disadvantages, Java kapok is free, it is
always well packed, brilliantly white in coloir, and
■pringy. Judging from the particulars available so far,
there is every prospect of kapok having a briglit
future before it, and there is litte doubt that, with
ihc invention of proper carding and spinning machinery,
it will be used in the fabricatioii of articles of
clothing, and pruve a formidable rival to its allied
substances. It has already tieen used for making
gun-cotton, a substitute for beaver fur, converted into
half stuff for paper-mak ng, making silk buttons and
fringes, and by the Indians, who make beautitul
fabrics of it. In Bombay, the fibre at the bark is
used as a substitute for flax, and in Bengal the natives
collect the milkj juice «B a substitute for shellac and
gutta-percha. Tlie seeds have almost the same value
as cotton seeds, being exported to Jbiuiope to extract
the oil and fetch from £3 to £5 per ton.

Such is the opinion i>f experts Should their 'anti-
cipations be Foon realised, a new and remunerative
industry will be called into being which cannot but be
welcome in these hard times. Kapok being an in-
digenous article, plantation enterpri.-<e may be better
directed to its cultivation than to that of foreign pro-
ducts requiring acclimatisation before they can thrive.
— Straits 'Times.

♦

PAPEE.
The following inter estng article has been forwarded
to us by a corri spon lent : — We livi' in an age ut paper.
There is not p' rhaps any manufactured article laat
is in more universal u.se ; trai'e, finance, art«,
literature, science — everywhere paper occupies the
fiist rank. For us, journalists, it is a must vaiu<ib]e
servant; we cor fide to it our impre^8lOlle, »h>ch tUeu
pass, in the f'Tm of newsi^aper, reviews, pamphle>,
book.", etc., from the hands or the priuier imo tbai
of the pubic. Never has the paper tade rect^ived
such an impetus, ami mad'- such progress, as in the
la^t few yi ars. It is a common thii.g uov \o >peak
of paper hottlps, paper collars, culfa and 8Uiri trojjt.-,
paper napkins ano towel.-^ ; paper wheels, rai.s, < arriages,
roofs ; paper soles, hais ; paper chiu.tiey &t<ick-, and
innumerable other objecis and C'-mmo.litie> mane of
paper. Have we not seen, within the last few years
a paper-buat gaily cruising over the wattrs of mauy
European ciuntries? Have we not now lumii.ous waU
papers? The United States are now org.;n.z.. jr fesive
cekbralions in remembraiice of the iutiuJucl on of
printing in America ; this seems to us a fit opportu-
nity to glance at the manuiaciure of paper — this all
importai t fbctor in printing — and at somcot tha mo^t
important l<-8tures in ci'nnectiou therewiMi. Leaving
asidi:- the continents of Asia, Africa PUd Oceanica,
in regard of which our information is extremely im-
perfect, we >-hall cursorily look at the imporiauce of
the paper trade in En ope and the United States.
Europe produces a million tons of paper per annuin.
In France alone, the animal productiou is 178. t85
tons, representing a value of £4,83:2,400 and employing
in her 516 f-iciories no less 'S'6,'67l bauds, of which
17,816 fire men, 11,596 women, and 3,5S0 children.
Great Britain, whicn in 1688 oaiy mjiuufactured a
coarsH wrapping paper, and purchased all her better
papers in France, produces more than 200,000 to s,
■ of paper per annum. The first American paper mill
was established in 1690 ii PliiUdelphia, and the United
Sta*es, which at the be^inuing ot this century scarc' !y
produced sny paper at all, nowmik-s over 500.000
tons per an. um. The paper trade consumes 8ji-',OlO
tone of lags per annum. Water paper, straw, wooUj

old rope, etc., are employed for making paper to at
least the same extent. The money valu--, of these in-
gredients may be estimated as follow a: —

£

Rags 15.200,000

St: aw and Wood ... 8' 0,000

Waste Paper, Esparto, etc., 4,000,000

Total ... 20,0j0,0n0 p'r annum.
These materials produce about 1,500,000 >o"» of
paper, costijg forty millioms sterlint, or at out the
s.me figure as the amount of capita! inv- sfei i.. paper
m«kiug paufc, m.-ichinery and works iu Eijr0|>e and tho
United St.ites. Of these one-and-a-halr midions of
tuns of paper, 120,000 ions are used as .vritiui's, valued
about B x-aud-a-lialf millious steriing; 300,000 tons
serve for news, peiiodicals, «tc. , 80,000 t.,n-> for books
120 000 tons for a-minisTative, official and tr»de
purp ses. Including ink and labour, three above
categories of printii;g reach a total value of rixty-
niue-a-aiid-a-half millions ste ling. Card anil mill-
board roaches approximately 6! 1,000 tons per annum,
wall pape s 60,000 tons, and another 60,000 tons for
other description^, such as biottings, silk paper,
filtering p-per, . tc, of a total value of twent>-four
millions sterling. To blacken so much paper we use
anuu^y £80i),(i00 worth of ste' 1 pens, costing on an
av.-iage at the works about sixpence pe'-g-oss, about
the same value in printing type; 8,000,000 lead pen-
cils, costing at ttie works about three shillings and
four pence per gross. For every hundredweight of
p^per ic takes one pound of printing ink: and more
th-m 3,000,000 blocks and engraved p ates are used
aiinuailv for illustrations. If we take into consid»ration
all the various brai ches of commerce depending
from and consequent upon the paper trade we arrive
at an amazing noml.er of people to whom it affords
a means of livehhooil an.1 entitles paper to the rank
of a " uoiver>al provider." Nor is it only for the
requirements of tiade, writing, printing, packing,
wall covering, tobicco, etc., that p<per is employed
for, we have now paper chimneys which we were
wont to build of bricks and of a height of as much
as tbrity vards and upwards. We here refer to such
a chimney erecte i at Breslau and made from paper
blocks comprissed under high pressure and inter-
ceinented by mrans of a silicious mortar. It has
been observed that p<per pulp compressed resistj fire,
and as a result we find paper doors recommeuded
wh'-re there is danger of fire. Tho tests made at
B es au on the aoove named paper chimney have
given higlily satisfactory resu ts in respect of solidity,
elasticity and iiicjmbustibility, whilf in point of cost
it compares most fava'-ab!y with brick constructions.
Even gas retorts are being made of pap>ir, but gas
itself may some day find itself encroached upon by-
paper. We will in conclusion and apropos of gas^
S' y a few words on the su.'jeut of lum'nou.t papfft',
which is, unquestionably one of the most striking in-
ventions of tne age. Tuere is no particular novelty
in its manufacture; it is made in the usual mannerj
and no mystery whatever exists iu the after procesg.
It is composed or. —

Water ... ... .. 10 partj.

Pulp 40

Phosphorescent powder ... 10

Gelatine ... ... ... 1

Bichromate of potash.,. ... 1 „

Thanks to this bichromate of potash it becomes
w.iterproof ; the phosphorescent po-vder, consisting of
sulphates of l>me, baryuin and stro itium furnishes
luminous properties lasting for mon'hs ia succession,
and we have only to bang our walls with this lumi-
rous paper to strike a severe blow at gas, candles,
lamps, etc. — I'apcr Makers' Circular.

^

BOMBAY MANGOS AND OTHEES.

BY DE. E. BONAVIA.

A short timo ago I was given som'i real Bombay
mangos- which had just come fr-'m that pUcp. I wag
ftsked wh ther I had ever tast d a reol Bombay
mi' go. They were yellow with a red cheek. Of
cuiusel do.oot kucw ffhetber tbej were (be best; qs

»

S6a

THE TUoPiCAL AOmdjLTvmsr,

[Feb. i^ 1 f J^

only inferior Bjmbajs. The pre-umptinu is they were
the fotmer, as no one iu his seu.es would thiuk of
sendiug inferior Boiubay uia-igi s all the way from
that capital. IcinfLSsI was di-aprjoiuied. They were
not bad, but str iigy, wnd i i erior in flavour to scores
of varieiieb we tiave ii' Upi>t=r ludia. One has heard
so much of Mazaf,'oiis and Aiphjuses, that 6ne may
perhaps have lear.it to limk upo.i them with a sort
of awe. The noiou ihat B .mbay's surpassed all the
mangos of the rest nf India may hav-- been true in
the days of Clive, when commui icatioti betueen the
coast and the interior may have been difEculf, owing to
want of ro-tds, aud the presence of tbu^s, dacoits,
tigers, &c. And it is not imp.js-ible that by repeti-
tion over a hundred years that they icere the best,
this notion may have stuik to them, and that every-
thing else out of B'imbay was jungle-manc/o. If our
up-country Bombays were reall> orgmally brought fioni
that place, it would appear that the flavour aud tex-
ture of the children have far surpassed those of their
parents. Anjhow there are so m^ny choice varieties
now iu cultivation up-country that they can hardly
all have owed their oiij,iii to the Western Presidency.
If the people of Bomt.ay were m<ide aware of tlie
wealth of varieties which are to be had iu the Upp -r
Provinces, and of the superiority of many of them,
it is alm-jst certain that a bri>k mmgo trade woula
result between Upper India and Bomoay.

"When pears are being sent to Covent Garden from
the Oape iu capital condition, and when both pears
and apples are bei 'g sent to the Colonial Exhibition
from AustraUa over 14,000 miles of sea it is a great
pity that uo one has thought of making some arrange-
ment to send over to the Exhibition samples of the
ehoicest mangos of India — fruits, which, iu the esti-
mation of many, are far superior to the pears aud
apples of any part of the world. The mango bears
being plucked under-ripe, and by refrigeration, could
easily be sent to England tale quale, and there ripened
to perfection, within a week. N<iy more, it could be
sent to New York, a sea voyage of only six days
further. The voyage from Melbourne to Colombo takes
now about 19 days, and from Colombo to L )ndon the
voyage is longer than from Bombay to Ljndon. Ro
that mangos could he carried from Bombay to New
York in a shorter time than apples and pears cau
be carried fiom Mell ourne to Lon oa. Of course at
these places, an Indian, up iu ttie art of mango
ripening, which is simple enough, might be employed
to bring them to maturity after arrival. If England
and America were made acquainted with the choice
varieties of this unique frui', there is no kiiowiug what
stimulus a trade in mangos between Bombay and tuose
countries would give to their cultivaiionall over
India. There are positively scores of superb varieties.
Leaving, however, foreign trade out of the question,
there seems room for an extensive trade between
Upper ludia aud Bombay. Someone recently returned
from Bombay, told me that mangos there were sell-
ing at R6 a dozen. It in true the octroi duties may
be high in Bombay, and it may be true that high
rent if paid for fruit stalls in the Crawford Market :
still R6 a dozen for mangos in Bombay is an enorm-
ous price, when up-country the choicest, in favourable
seasons, sell for 20 or 25 for one rupee. It would be
interesting to have it settled oiice for all whether
the "Lingra' of Beuarec, or the " Tikari '' of Faruk-
habad, or a dozen of so-called Bombay mango varie-
ties grown in these Provinces, are not i'lfinitely superior
both in flavour and texture to any native BomV.ay or
Alphonse mangos. If not, those g-owu in Boiubay
mu^t be simply anyelic as many varieties grown iu
these Provinces are simpb/ perfect. Alphonse De Can-
doUe, in his Origin of Cultivated Plants, sa\s that
" in the new world the mango was fi st introduced
into Brazil, for the seeds were brouglit thence to
Barbadoes in the middle of the last century. In Jama-
ica it was introduced about the year 1782. It is culti-
vated at the present day in tropical At'nca, aud even
in Mauritius aud the Seychtllcs, where it his become

to some extent naturalized iu the woods It was

not cultiv»ted in Cayenne in the time of Aublet at
tbe end of the IStb century, but now there are maogO0

of the finest kind in this co'ony. They are grafted,
and it is observed tha* their stones liroduce better fruit
than that »f the ovljind .itock."

If the latter stat-meut be tru», it should be written
in large letters in every village and to«Tn iu India,
where mango hac/hs of tbe fine kinds exist. I have
preached for many that it is a grave mistake to throw
away the thiatnand* of stones of superb maugos that
are consumed every year. Natives still believe that
there is no other way of obtaining good maugo trees
exc- pting by taking f/rafts. This is s.O; if the iden-
tical sort of mango fruit is wanted, but it does not at
all follow that a stone of a good mingo will not
give a httter fruit than that of its parent. A little
reflection must teach them that all the choice varie-
ties they now possess could not have come about
except through the seed of interi r sort«, and these
again from sorts interior to them and so on until we
reach the wild mango of the jungles. Very rarely
new varieties of any sort of fruit can be raised in any
part of the world, excepting by means of the seeds
which may give nn inferior, an equal, or a better va'iety.
All J body who came across a fine mango would do
a good service if he either planted the stone himself,
or gave it to some one who would plant it. The
Caual Department aud public gardens, and j lil gardens
might do a great deal in this w>>y by letting it be
known that they would be glad to collect seeds of
fine mangos for sowing. If some of the trees turned
out inferior kmds and not worth keeping, very little
would be lost, as sucli trees might be sold for fire-
wood, while the good ones might be propagated by
grafting.

Although India has n^issed the opportunity this year
of showing the world at the Coh^nial Exhibition what
sort of a thing a good mango is, aud how many scores
of choice varieties she might send to London and
new York, there will be yet another opportunity of
doing so shortly. It is proposed to hold either next
year, or the one after, an International Horticultural
Exhibition in London, and under any circumstances
that opportunity should not be again missed. The
Maharaja of Durbhunga and the M-ihiraja of Benares,
who are great collectors of choice mango trees from
all parts of India, and mmy other Eajas, Nawabs,
and native gen'lemen could easily Rend a represent-
ative collection of one of th*' finest fruits in tlie world.
And if the supjjly could be kept up, as is being now
dime with apples and pears from Australia, so much
better, i^lready Jam^iica sends mangos to New York,
but an American in luHia who k'lows them, told me
they are not good. No couotry for many years could
compete with India to- the supply of choice fiuit.
She has had centuries in which to pprfect her mangos,
aud if they took the fancy uf the Englsli and Ameri-
can people, a gooi business might be nade of it.

It is stated that '• in London there are restaurants
to-day, where over a thousand dinners dail- are served,
wholly of cereals, vegetables, aud fruits:" the vege-
tal iau mania is still on the increase. What would
not a vegetarian give fur a breakfast of iced mangos
and to<st? Tnose who have not tried it had better
do so, aud see how delicious and satisfactory it is.
— Pioneer.— [In Ceylon, where grafting is practically
unknown, a good proportion of the mangos, are ex-
ce'le-t.— Ed.l

A coNTEMPOTtAET uoticcw tuat IU the agricultural
class book for use in schools about to be revised by Mr,
Ilot)ertsou, th-re is a chai^ter on insectivorous birds
which that at le ornithologist, Mr. \\ . Davison, of
Shoreham, has contributed. Tiie birds described iu
the w ;rk are figured in colors ou separate charts to
be used to illustrate the book. The ignorance of
natural history among school -going children of the
present day is profound, and some satisfaction is felt in
learning that at last the Educational Department is
alive to the importr.nce of the sttbject. It is not only
those who are trained to agri ulture who should
distinguish one bird from another, ami be able to tell
the proclivities of eacli, but young children generally
should acquire early a taste for such knowledge,

which is both elevatiug and moraliziug Indian Ayrl'

cultwUt,

Feb. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

56r

$orr^spnnd6no6.

To the Editor of the " Ceylofi Observer. "

NEW TEA ROLLERS.

Maskeliya, 2'2nd Jan.
" Mercy o'me what a multitude are here —
They grow still too, from all parts they are coming."

Shakspeare, Henri/ viii.
Dear Sik, — The divine William is ever equal
to the occasion, and on reading recently " Notes
and Comments" the quotation heading this rushed
through my brain.

But I do not think B 's roller has continuity

of I'oll, as however good it is, I don't think the
inventor even claims that a? one of its merits, as
a certain break most occur between discharging
and filling. Another new roller does its work con-
tinuously without the smallest iota of a break

until all available leaf is finished. B 's does

not do so, the seller's to the contrary notwith-
standing.— Yours,

THE MORE THE MERRIER.

TEA IN HAPUTALE : WELL DONE.

Dear Sir, — I have no permission to use names,
but I think an extract from a report of a well-
known Colombo tea-taster and broker will show that
the Kandapola side will prove second to no district in
the quality of its tea, which ma,y be of interest
to some of your readers: — "I must congratulate
you on the stride made in the manufacture. No.
1 is really a handsome tea, full of golden tips,
very brght, good aroma &c. d'C, may safely value
it at 23 per lb. and No. 2, pekoe souchong
leaf, bright tiavory clean brisk liquor, value Is 2d
to Is 3d per lb.'"

This is promising. I may add the break was a
small one, but No. 1 was 4-")ths of the whole,
and the plucking was an usual one. The proprietor
will soon have near a hundred acres of the same
jat to pluck from. -Yours, PLANTER.

THE^DHOLL plant!

The Colombo School of Agriculture, 1st Feb. 1887.

Dear Sir, — I have learnt with great pleasure that
some of our goyas have made arrangements for cultiv-
ating dhoU extensively and with a view to giving
them an idea of how the cultivation can be best
carried on, I send you for publication the following

Earticulars about the plant. I may also mention
ere that this letter has already appeared in Sinha-
lese in the "Dinakaraprakashaya," a leading native
newspaper : —

The dhoU plant or rata-tora of the Sinhalese is
not very uncommon in some parts of the island, al-
though it is very seldom cultivated by our goyas.
The botanical name of the plant is Cajanus Iiidisus
and the common English name is Indian peas or
dholl. The following account of this plant appears
in the " Catalogue of the most interesting forest
trees" &c. prepared by Mr. D. Morris, m.a.. Assistant
Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon : —
"There are two varieties of this species. Both are
cultivated in various parts of the tropics for the sake
of their seed or pulse. In India the pulse is called
dhal or dhol and forms a large part of the food of
all classes of natives. In the West Indies the seeds
are called Pigeon Peas and are highly esteemed as
food. Horses and cattle are very fond of the young
branches and leaves, either in a fresh or dried state.
There are few tropical plants so valuable. It grows
luxuriantly in the parched Savannah and mountam
declivity, as well as in the more fertile and season-
able districts.'

Dholl is a most nutritious and agreeable food and
the seeds are said to contain more nutritious matter,
bulk for bulk than meat. The seeds are also said
to possess the jjroperty of counteracting ic\ev and I
have the authority of the Chaivniau of the Agvicul-
71

] tnral Association of Ceylon for this statement. In

one of his letters addressed to the Colombo School of

1 Agriculture, he had stated this fact and asked for a

, supply of dholl seeds so that he may distribute
them among the inhabitants of those districts of the
island which are subject to frequent attacks of fever,
A large quantity of dholl has been grown in the
Agricultural School compound. It takes about six

I months for the plant to grow and flower. The cultiv-

, atiou of dholl is carried on to such a large ex-

j tent in India that a large quantity of the de-
corticated seed is also exported annually. The
decorticated seeds which are sold in our boutiques
under tlie name of "parippu" are generally dholl.

I The " parippu " is a Tamil name for any kind of de-
corticated grain, such as dholl, gram, &c. The roots
and the seeds of dholl are used medicinally by the
Sinhalese and it appears that the few plants which are

; to be found in some parts of the island are also
chiefly grown for this purpose. It can be readily
seen that dholl is a most suitable food for those

j who never take any kind of meat either by habit
or by principle.

Oil the occa'iion of the prize distribution at the

1 School of Agriculture by H. E. the Governor, I heard

I Mr. A. M. Fergusiin, c. m. g., speaking about dholl
cultivation end alluding to the ''grand physique of
the men of Northern Inilia as a result of living on
dholl porridjfe, dholl being largely cultivated iu that
part of India." Dholl will grow in almost any soil,
cowdung is a good manure for the plant. A top
dressing of lime will be found most beneficial for
obtaining a heavy crop. I here describe for the
information of our goyas the method in which
this plant is cultivated in India and the seeds
prepared for the market. First of all, the land
is prepared just as our goyas prepare their lands for
sowing giugelly, kurakkan &c., and the seeds are sown
broadcast — about five seers of seeds are required for
an acre. If the land is hard and unfertile it should
be loosened either by ploughing or by digging and
manured. In about three days the seeds will germ-
inate. The plants are very tender when yauug. After
the plants have grown for about ax months, they
blossom and when the pods get quite dry the trees are
cut down to within a foot of the ground and carried
to a suitable place where the grain is thrashed out
with the aid of cattle. The seeds are afterwards
soaked in cold water for a whole night and dried in
the hot sun, which cause the testa or the husk to split
and the cotyledons to separate. The husks are very
easily separated by means of winnows. Dholl can be
cooked just as the natives cook green gram or mun-eta.
A little ghee added when cooked will make it an ex-
cellent curry. Excellent soup can also be prepared
from the seeds.

The stumps which are left shoot up again and give
a second crop. After the second crop is gathered the
plants are pulled up by the roots and some other
kind of vegetable is grown on the laud, or it is allowed to
lie fallow for a few months and dholl seeds sown again.
As dholl is such a nutritious article of food and is
so easily grown as tie above account shows, I hope
that our goyas would be induced to take up the
cultivation of this valuable food -plant in every part of
the island. — I remain, yours faithfully,

H. D. LEWIS.
[The writer of this interesting and useful com-
munication is Assistant Master of the Agricultural
School, ColoKibo. — Ed.]

Coconuts. — A Coconut plantation in the West
Indies, well established and in full bearing (siy at
the end of eight years), with sixty trees to the acre,
may, says Mr. Morris, in his annual report ou the
publif! gardens of .Taroaica, be safely assumed to be
of the mnual value of £10 per acre. The expense
of maintaining a Coconut plantation, when (nice
established, is practically nothing ; hence the thou-
sands of acres of land bordciing the sea-coast of oar
AVest India possessions are capable of immense
development.— <Tfr-v/f,(^,s' Chrnpicle-

S63

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST*.

[Feb. I, 1887.

TEA AVERAGES.

The following are some of the averages realised
during the month, according to the circular of
Messrs. Walker, Lambe & Co., our list for December,
1885, ranged from Is *d to 2s per lb.

:!^

H
d
o

d o

03X1

^ o
iios
□ o
ocn

*« aj
s o

41

o

t3 _ .

-dT3
■■0^3,

,00

HIM ■»-' T3 '^

. _( _j 00 r-l , rH

t3 -!»—,
=0 -iS

•73 •».

-WT3 x!

•o -e 01 .H -!»

■♦-»

i-H =J • i-H ^J3 ■*-•

•O ,— ( CB CD "^

'" ' * ^-1 '-^ ^^ 05 . , _< tr I

o .-;

.-!«

L.<V,-

■« o o 2 2 3 S ■■■■■ = - ^2 o S

QO

CO .-. CC

s

. n

EC

cn

• O O O "-I "*^

d -I N

OD 09 cn

o)

c3

:p

03

o

.j; d V M

: c : : :

t- d "- .
. OS o o o

13

SJ3 O'fi. ol o>,a «.~2
« O O P SM -< W (-] M fl

■ c
: o

• >.a

O ^^ X

O > o

»j 5 o

03 3
OH

SIR M. E. GRANT DUFF'S REVIEW

MINUTE.*

In a Minute written on the principle of the paper
before us there was sure to be plenty of reference
to Sir M. Grant Duff'a favourite tastes and studies,
and readers of his former publications would ex-
pect a great deal in it on the subject of botany.
This part of the " Review Minute " is exceedingly
interesting. The hilly country surrounding Ootaca-
mund, the Simla of Madras, its alternative capital,
is especisilly favourable to the cultivation of the
new and now very numerous plants introduced of
late years into India. South America sends most
of them, and, as is beginning to be known in this
country, almost all the tecent additions to the
pharmacopoeia come from South America. It is
now long since the cinchona began to be cultivated
on the Neilgherries, and Sir M. Grant Duff speaks
strongly of the success of the Government officials
both in raising the tree and extracting the healing
alkaloids from the bark. There is, however, some

• " Review Minute." By his Escellency the Right
Hon. the Goveruor. Madras, Printed by R. Hill, at the
Government Press, 1SP6.

mystery about the matter. The price of quinine
has not fallen in Europe nearly to the extent
which might be expected from the great quantity
of bark added by Ceylon, India, and the Dutch
colonies to the old supplies from South America.
There is probably some commercial reason for
this unsatisfactory phenomenon.* It appears, how-
ever, from this Minute that the Madras official
quinologists have been highly successful in pro-
ducing a preparation of the inferior alkaloids of
cinchona which is an energetic febrifuge and
extremely cheap. It may be suspected of not
being very palatable, but the extraordinary numbers
of the vast Indian populations who suffer from
ague would not reject even the most nauseous
medicine if the reward of swallowing it were a
cure. Another South American plant, producing
a medicine of which the extreme value is beginning
to be recognized in England, the coca, grows
readily on the Madras hills, and so do various new
food plants, also of South American origin. Among
industrial importations, there are the two species
of rhus which produce the Japan lacquer and the
Japan wax, and the quillaia, or vegetable soap,
from Chili. It would appear, moreover, that some
curious experiments are bemg tried on the Neilgherry
Hills not only in respect of new trees and plants
and new modes of cultivation but in regard to
new methods of making hitherto useless vegetable
productions available for food. The silo appears
to have a considerable future before it in India.
A mischievous weed, the bideiis glabra, which o'ver-
runs the slopes of the Neilgherries, is found, after
being treated in a silo, to be devoured greedily by
cattle ; and Sir M. Grant Duff tells us that the
Madras Commander-in-Chief (presumably Sir
Frederick Roberts) was of opinion that the prickly
pear, the most intractable of vegetables to all
outward appearance, can by treatment in the silo
be made most acceptable to animals.— Lo?ido)i Times.

new Palm in
but sufficiently

Weadlaud pro-
Poeudo-Phcenix
diameter [near

Tobacco Culture. — We are reminded by Mr. Wor»
thiugtou Smith ( prophet of evil ! ) that it is quite
within the buuudsof pobsibility that living Tobacco plants
may, iu this country, fall a prey to the Potato fungus —
Perouospora iufcstaus. It has been recorded iu Eng-
land amongst the Nicotianese. A New Palm. — Profes-
sor Sargent has reseutly detected a
Florida, not only new as a species,
distinct to constitute a new genus. Dr.
posing to call the plant provisionally
Sargemii. The trunk is 10-12 inches in
the base i' ], and 20-25 feet in height. The leaves
are 4-5 feet long, piunately divided ; piunae lauceclate,
12-16 inches long. No flowers, and only immature
fruit was found, so that the plant cauuot be fuUy
described. At present only six individuals have been
fuund. We extract these particulars from the Botanical
Gazette, vol. xi., No. 11. — Gardeners^ Chronicle.

"Bouquets under water" reads a little far-fetched,
but the tollowing description of the process from J'ick's
Magazine, by which a boquetof flowers cm be pre.served
fresh for a long time may prove interesting to our read-
ers : — " A vessel of water is required, the vessel should
be large enough to allow the submersion in it of a plate
or dish holding the bouquet to be jereserved, and a bell
glass, to cover the bouquet. The dish or plate should
contain no moss or other material ; the water should be
limpid and quite pure. Place the plate at the bottom of
the water, and on the jjlate, submerging it, place the
bouquet, which is maintaiued iu »n up-right position by
a weighed base previously attached to it. This being
done, the bouquet is covered withthe bell-glass, the rim
of which ought to fit exactly to the flat part of the
plate; the beil-glass should be entirely filled with water,

* The phenomenon exists only iu the imagination of
the writer. Quinine has gone down about two-thirds iu
price, since Ceylon flooded the bark market. — Ed.

Feb. I, 1887.J tME TROPICAL AG^ICtJLirtJRiS'r.

565

and without the least air-bubble. Then all are raised
together, plate, bouquet, and bell-glass filled with water,
and placed on a table, carefully wiping the exterior, but
leaving on the plate, around the base of the bell-glass,
a little provision of water which prevents the entrance
of air. The flowers in this condition will be preserved
in all their freshness for several weeks, and their
beauty is iucreased by a great number of bubbles of
gas produced by the respiration of the leaTes, and
which attach themselves to the petals appearing like
pearls. The edge of the plate and the water that it
contains should be concealed by a light bed of moss in
which are set some other flowers. In the evening by
artificial light, a bouquet thus arranged produces a
charming effect." — Jndtan Agiiciduirist.

Fair Pat kor Ocean Mail Sektice. — Although
Oougress failed to make fair provision for American
vesseis carrying freight mails, it is mtt resting to
kno^v that the bnsiuess men of this city are in
favour of fair play for ocean mail service. The
following is a memorial sent to Congress on the
question :-"It is applying the same principle to carry-
ing the mails between the United States and neighbour-
ing countries that is applied to our coastwise
steamship lines and to our entire postal system, and
which has given other nations Jhe world's trade.
Steamships build up their respective countries just
as trunk lines of rail road do their respective termini.
We have only about 6 per cent of the Spanish-American
trade, which for contiguity and natural laws of tr^de
would, with proper steam communication, naturally
come to us. We are now carrying only 14 61-100
per cent of our own products, against 75 per cent
in 1859. Our country needs an outlet for her products.
The last steamer in the South American line took
out merchandise manufactured in twenty-six different
States. This is no party question. It is business
common sense that if we would obtain our share of
the world's trade, we must do as our competitors,
do to obtain it. A cry of 'anti-subsidy' cannot fairly
be applied to a proposition to pay American steamers
a fair price for a necessary service. The same cry,
if heeded, would stop three-quarters of the mail
routes in the United States." This memorial was
signed by the leading busmess men of New Yoixi,
and particularly by houses interested in foreign trade.
The number included eight bank presidents and 189
prominent in^porting and manufacturing firms. —
American Exporter.

Thb Wobld's Sugar Pkoduction.— The statistics
of the world's production of sugar .■'how that there
is a steady and large annual increase. The amount
of cane sugar produced in the season of 1885-l> was
2,905,000 tons, an increase of 733,000 tons over that
of 1884-5 and 1,078,583 tons over that of 1875 6. Cuba
led the list with (500,000 tons this season, which was
a falling off' of 27,000 tons from the year before and
61,058 tons less than in 1875 6. There was also a
decrease in the product of Java, the nest greatest
source of supply, of 60,000 tons from the yield of
1884-5. But in the production of almost all other
cane growing countries there has been, as shown by
the totals, a marked advance. The yield of beet-
root sugar (2,014,000 this season) has fallen off 501,000
tons from the last annual report, but comparison
with the statistics of 1K75 6 show a growth of 702,689
toi)8 in ten years. These reports do not recognize
glucose and grape sugar, or sorghum sugar or maple
sugar, and, are evidently made up from the basis of
of commercial statistics concerning the sugar that
has entered the market. Beyond this there are
vast quantities of cane sugar produced for domestic
■ nse in all tropical countries and consumed by the
producers and their immediate neighbours, which do
not enter into the computation. The most notable
increase in any country is in the beet root sugar
yield of Russia, which has grown from 222,000 tons
in the sea,son of 1875-6 and 386,000 tons in 1884-5 up
to 525,000 tons in 1885-6. — AmtrKaii Exporter.

I'oiiESTKY AND BoTANv IN Ceylon, are thus noticed
ju ai) article on Indian Forestnj by Surgeon-General
Eiward Balfour : — Cejlon has been equally progress^ive
and though not politically forming part of Britibh
India, it may bo meatioaed, as it bae n Forest De-

partment of its own, and its Flora and Timber trees
h.ave been well described by Dr. Thwaites and Mr.
W. Ferguson. In climate and flora it assimilates with
the Peninsula. Dr. Balfour adds : — It is 50 years since
Indian Forestry had a beginniug,in the nomination of Dr.
Gibson to the superitendence of the Bombay forests,
and there is now needed from them one book bringing
their knowledge of the forests and their trees up to
the present time, and another as a handbook of Indian
Forestry, arranged in parts, to admit of the region
of British India being worthily described. The in-
formation in Drs. Stewart and Cleghorn's works on
the trees of the Punjab Himalaya ; in Stewart and
Brandis' Forest Flora of IV.- W. and Central la dki. ;
in Mr. Kurz's volumes on the trees of Burma; in
Mr. Gamblers Trees of India; in the third edition
of Surgeon-General Balfour's Timher Trees of India
and of Eastern e.nd Southern A tia ; and iu Colonel
Beddome's Flora Sylmtica, need all to be brought
together in compact volumes. The financial results
from establishing a Forest; Department in India justify
liberality in making its trees and forests belter known.
Its revenue has been coutiimously on the increase.
Twenty years ago, in 1867-68, the gross receipts were
stated at £334,000, but iu 1883-84 they amounted to
£1,052,190, and the clear profit in that year was
£403,816.

The Swallow's nest has always been a delicacy high-
ly prized by the Chinese ; but from an interesting report
recently submitted by Mr. Portman, in charge of the
Andamanese it appears that the high estimation in
which these nests are held is not confined to the Celes-
tials. It is not generally kuown that the Government
derive a revenue from this source, of which they have
a monopoly, as we learn that Mr. Portman was directed
to " take charge of the monopoly of edible birds-nests
and trepang, " and he now furnishes some interest-
ing particulars on the subject not generally known. The
nests are as a rule found in caves, and as many as
four crops may be gathered in a year, although
three only were gathered by Mr. Portman. The birds
begin to build in February, and the nests can be
collected up to June, after which the birds are allowed
to build for breeding. Each collection takes about a
month's time, and the swallows rebuild iu six weeks
or so. The collections averaged about 52 lb of nests
each. It i.s a regular industry in the Andamans, and
many caves are known to the people of the islands.
The Chinese obtain the most highly-prized nests, how-
ever, from Borneo, where they are also fouud in cives
in the interior of the island in crystalliue limestone
rocks. Mr. Portman thinks that when the interior of
the Andamans is explored, similar caves will be found,as
this crystalline formation is common throughout these
islands. There are many theories as to the competition
of the nests, one being that the glutinous matter is
extracted by the swallows from a species of sea weed
somewhat similar to Iceland moss ; another, that it is
secreted from the throat of the bird ; but Mr. Portman
is unable to give any opinion in the matter. There
are three kinds of nests found in the markets. The
most highly prized are pure white, and fetch from
KUO to 150 per viss of Zh lb; another is slightly dis-
coloured, an 1 fetches froni RlOO to 140 per viss; the
third is more discoloured and dirty, fetching from
K75 to 115 per viss, The refuse also sells at from Ro to 15
per seer. The financial resul'u of the edible birds-nest
industry for the past season, shows a net profit oi
R4,000 paid into the treasury; the total expenditure
ha\it)g been R791. The manner of cooking these
nests is thut described by Mr. Portman : — " They are
first foaked in cold water for two hours', when they
swell ujj and become soft. They are then easily picked
to pieces and cleaned. After this they are boiled iu
clear chicken broth untill dissolved, a process occupying
about two liours king r. The usual allowance is one
nest ( value one rupee ) to a tea-cupful of s-oup. Any
clear soup may be used." Mr. Portman adds that the
nest is absolutely tasteless and flavourless, and he ha»
not found that it is particularly strengthening or useful
in anyway. We therefore conclude that it is not at all
likely to lecome a favourite dish with European?,— r
Indim Agriculturist,

j6.

4

fim fi^oi^fcAL A6m6(Jtfvmif»

[fuB. i, ib^y,

COLLYEK, DAVIES & CO.'S REPOBT ON

FIBRES, FOR 1ST JANUARY, 1887.

The introtluction of new or little known fibres has
made but small progress during the past year ; causes,
however, are at work which will probably lead to an
important increase in this department within a com-
paratively short period. Further improv meuts have
been made iu machinery for extracting, wl ioh can now
be bad to suit the requirements of any loi;ality at very
modt rate prices. The greatest practical difficulty seems
to be the necessity in most cases of cultivatiug the
plants rt quired for treatment ; g'uerally .-peaking, the
plants are too widely separated when growing wild for
economical extraction on a large .scale. As the average
yield of fibre is only about three to five per cent of
the weight of the green material when cut, the carriage
of the latter to the machines is iu many cases too costly,
and therefore the concentration becomes a necessity.
The most promising varieties of plants for cultivation
are as follows : —

ivHEA OK Rajhe ( C'rtica Nirva, 'raaciiM'tna i.jc.J — The
China Grass of commerce, for tex»ile uses, grows, or
can be grown in most subtropical and warm temperate
climates where there is suliicient rainfall. Value of
China CIrass £36 to £38 p^r ton.

MooRVA (Sansaviera Zfi/huica, 4-r.)— For fine twines
for netting and cordage. ' This plant is al.so very widely
distributed in Asia. Africa and West Indies, of several
varietie.". Value £25 to £o5 per ton.

Wild Pine Apple {Bromefia Silre^tris, Jr.)— The
\'arietics growing in "West Indies and Central America
yield a remarkably good fibre for cordage, and some of
the edible kinds yield a fibre a iapted for textiles.
Sooner or later pine apple fibre will become an article
of ccn.'-iderable importance. Good saniijles have also
been received from Southern India. Value £20 per ton
and upwarf's.

Calotropis Gigantea (or Jfudar) yield.s a fine fibre,
but it is very difficult of extraction. The flo-s (or seed
covering in the pod) whiMi gathered at maturity is in
good demand. Value, .vhen free from seed, about 6d
per lb.

Manila Hejih. — This iinpiotant staple has been in
steady demand throughout the year. Opening prices
in .January were — for good roping £31 10s to £32. fair
£29 10.*. Market opened dul', Jind values d( cliued
during Febiuary and March to £28 to £-'9 (or good
and £25 10s to £26 for fair. In April and till about
the middle of May prices advanced to £31 10s to £32
for good and £30 to £31 for fair, but fell away again
towards end of the month, and in June quotations fell
to £29 10s to £30 lOs for good and £28 to £28 10s for
fair. The world's consumption January to June was
fully equal to the production, say about 200,000 bales,
London stocks facing iu the same period from 18,68(i
ball's on 1st January to 15.285 bales on 1st July. From
July to December inclu>ive fluctuations have been
small, rarely exceeding lO-* to £0i per ton, and clo.se at
£32 lOs for' good and €: 0 M* to €31 for fair, with a
linner tendcn:},

'rhs flac!n.Hlion.s in a.'rival valu'-s have been mach
jIiCr« impoitaiit. this l.i n p ijc-'og a favourite medium
iui" ipiciialive opeiaiii-ii.s. .*?l!ij n ents to (nited
Tviiij,'iIom to l3th iJccnnlier, li;2,OC0 bales, against
177,000 hst Jfar; to T'liitnl states to 13th December,
laljCOi) bales, against lP0,C(i0 last yir,

c:cusumpt;on for 13 moi 'hs 174,0'' bales.

Sisal Hoip (Mexico), Thi« h rnp has shown a
grealer change iu value thai, any oth' r fibre during 1886.
Prices were unduly depre scd for a considerable time,
and continued to decline iuitil the middle of March,
when London value ivas ^Jl7 5s. t" £17 IDs. per ton;
from this date prices gni lually a^.vanced till end of
June, being thou £l.s 10s to £10.

Ill July, owmg to the largely increased consumption
in America, where, by improved processes of manu-
factuie, this fibre is now used in.stead of the finer and
more expennve kinds of Manila hemp, prices rapidly
advanced £3 to £4 per ton, and this advance, with a
few unimportant fluctuations, has been maintaintd and

increased, the price in December, £27 to £27 10s
being the highest of the j'ear.

Stock on 1st June, 1886, were 5,300 bales.
„ 1st Dec, „ „ 1,470 ,,

New Zealand Hemp. — There has been much less
variation in the price of this hemp than might have
been expected from the advance in Sisal. Import
restricted l)y the high cost production — the year opened
with small stocks, 142 tons against 583 tons in previous
year, following a reduced consumption in 1885 of 700
toHs against 1000 tons in 1884. Value in January of
fair to good £20 to £24, and common £18 10s. to £19
I9s., prices fluctuated very slightly during the year,
closing about £1 higher, consumption for 11 months
estimated at about 545 tons. Stock on Ist December
about 44 tons against 157 tons last year. Consumption
in 1886, 565 tons.

Maueitius Hemp.— The supply during the year has
been fairly regular without any great fluctation iu
prices closing with a firmer teuilency. Stocks small
good wliite about £23, fair £26 17s., common £21.

East India Hemp. — Calcutta Sunn. — Supplies have
been very small, and prices high all through tbe year
until December, when the new crop arrive! iu bulk.
Shipments being ample, and quality unsatisfactory,
prices have receded to about £17 15s. and still lower
prices are probable.

GoDAVEEY Hemp of good quality has been iu steady
demand at full prices, closing at £i.'5 to £27 per ton.

GoPAULPOBE Hemp.— Supplies have been fair, and
prices well maintained. New crop offering at £19 to
arrive.

OocoNADA Hemp. — Very little change during the j'ear
Prices about £17 to £1S per ton.

Consumption of all kinds of east India hemp in 1886,
1,826 tons.

Jl'Te. — The year opened with stocks on spot and
afloat to the United Kingdom of 92,000 tons against
119,300 iu 1884, and with a dull and drooping tendency,
prices ranging from £11 to £12 los for medium to
£13 10s to £15 10s for fine; but shortly after market
improved, owing to greater firmness in "Calcutta, fully
10s per ton, aud remained fairly steady with slight
fluctuations till Jlay, when uuremunerative trade led
to the closing of several factories — aud with increasing
stocks prices fell fully 10s per ton, and continued weak
during July and uutil the latter end of August, when
a slight improvement took place, which was maintainsd
during September and October. Prices were rather
easier iu November ; but during first half of December,
market became firmer, and closes with a better prospect.
Srocks here and afloat on 1st December, 78,880 tons of
jute and 2,110 tons of cuttings. — Collyer, D.wies & Co.,
Fibre and Colonial Brokers, 141, Fenchurch Street,
London.

CORAL FISHING.

Though Naples, or at least Torre del Greco, is one
of the great centres of the coral trade, the material
found in the gulf is both small i:i quantity and poor iu
qualit}'. Tbey are hubmauEe rocks, well known to the
fishermen, thjugh they are laid down on no chart^
where a peace or two may almost always be found;
but they are so few, and their yield is so precarious
and meagie, that by a private agreement am )ng the
boat-owners each of them is only fished once in every
three year.--. There can be little doubt that other
and more fruitful fishing-grounds are still undiscovered <
In the opmion of many who ought to be well in-
formed, wherever a rock rises above the sediment
which forms the ground of a great part of the bay
at a depth of about three hudred feet or more from
the surface, the chances are that coral will be found
upon it. The discovery of .'^uch banks has hitherto
been almost entirel}' the work of chance. When a
deep-sea fisher found a brai eh among the refu.se of
his nets, he gave information to the proper authorities,
and received a reward proportionate to the value of
his find. It was thus that the great bank of Sciacca,
OD the co.ist of Sicily, w.is discovered, of which we
shall have to speak further on. But, though new
fishing-grounds may be found Id the Bay of Naples

Tun. I, iBSf.]

THE TUQPtCAt AQmcvLwnmf,

5%

itself, it is uot likely that they will hare any great
importance.

The value of coral depends on its colour and its
size. The white or rose-tinted variety stands highest
in popular esteem, perhai)schietly because it is the rarest.
It is mostly found in the Straits of Messina, and on
some parts of the African and Sardiuiau co.vst.s. The
bright red coral, in which the polyps are still living
when it is fished up, stands nest iu value. Dead
coral has a duller tint, and is conseciueiitly sold at
a lower price. Two entirely different substances bear
the name of black coral. One of theui is uot, pro-
perly sppakiug, coral at all, and it is commercially
worthless, as it breaks into flakes instead of yielding
to the knife, though it is often sold as a costly
curiosity to foreiguers. The other is the common
red coral which has undergone a sea change, probably
throagh the decompo.'itiou of the living beings that
once built and inhabited it. It is not ninth admired
in Europe, but in India it commands high prices, so
that large quantities of it are exported every year.
These are the four important distinctions of colour,
though they of course include intermediate tints which
rank according to their clearness and brilliancy.

The size is a still more important matter. The thick-
ness of the stem of the coral plant — we use the
commercial and entirely unscientific expression — deter-
mines its price, and many a branch of red coral is
valued more highly on account of its thickness than
a smaller piece of the choicer rose colour. The reason
for this is clear. A large straight piece of material
affords an opportunity to the artificer ; a crooked
one, if it is only bulky enough, can at least be turned
into large beads; mere points and fragments can only
be used for smaller ones, or made into those horns
which are said to be invaluable against the evil eye,
but which do not command a high price in the market,
perhaps because it is overstocked.

The coral fishery of Naples has cow for the most
part, fallen into the hands of a few wealthy firms.
Formerly fishermen would club together and try
their fortune on co-operative principles, but this
•ystem has almost entirely died out. A few single
padroni still remain, but their exertions are entirely
confined to the gulf. They are usually men of ex-
perience who can decide how the net is to be laid
and drawn, and who hold the guiding rope in their
own hands. The boat and the nets are theirs, and
they pay their subordinates a fixed sum to serve under
them for one or two days. The whole yield, under
these circumstances, of course belongs to the padrone.
The larger firms could make an end of these boat-
men easily enough, but it is uot worth their while
to do so. The yield of the gulf is comparatively
small, and houses that possess from ten to thirty large
boats of their own find it more advantageous to pur-
chase the rough material from the local fishermen
than to crush them by a cruel and irresistible com-
petition, as they train the men, who are afterwards
employed ia expeditious to a distance.

The instrument with which the coral is taken con-
sists of two strong beams of hard wood, which are
fastened together iu the form of a cross by metal
claspiugs, to which a weight is added. Strong hempen
nets ai e fastened to the arms. When a bank is reached
tliii primitive instalment is lowered, and moved up
nnd down against the submarine rocks by means of
a capstan turned by the whole of the boat's crew,
except the padrone, who directs the movement of the
apparatus by means of a second rope which is attached
to the chief one some feet above the psint where the
latter is secured to the centre of the cross. The coral
branches are caught in thie meshes of the nets, and
remain hanging in them. Those that are broken off
by the wood work and arc u.sually lost. In some
places, especially on the cost of Sardinia, the end of
the arms is surmounted by a circle of curved iron
teeth, like tho«e of a garden rake, but larger and
stionger, below which open nets are suspemled. In
this case the beams are nearly double the length of
those generally used by the largest boats, as they
often measure six or seven meters — that is, nearly
eight yards from end to end. It is only by thi'5 toeans

that coral car. be oStaiued from the lower surfaces of
shelving rocks ; but the teeth are apt to fracture the
stems in such a way as to render them almost
worthless ; and so this form of the instrument
is rarely used where the other cau be employed;

The banks, or rather rocks, that are most frequently
visited lie at a depth of from 250 to 450 feet beloW
the surface of the water ; it is very rarely that an
attempt is made to reach those which are lower than
600 feet- Indeed, it lies in the very nature of the
ca=e that, even if they exist, they should remain un-
kno>vu, and that, if they were known, they would
hardly repay the cost of fishing while it is conducted
on the present system. They are scattered all along
the coasts of the Mediterranean, sometimes close to
the shore, and sometimes at twenty-four, or even
thirty hours' hard rowing from it. At many stations
there is a small lo;al fi,^he^y ; but the bulk of the
trade, at least in Italy, is in the hands of large firms,
which, for the most part, have their centres iu Genoa,
Leghorn, or the Bay of Naples. These firms both
supply and equip the boats, which, according to
their size, are manned by five or ten fishermen. In
addition to these a padrone is alloted to each, who
exercises large disciplinary powers. He is a man of
knowledge and experience, aud usually receives a
a percentage on the value of the season's take, as
well as his regular pay. The selection of the crew
ot his boat is of ten left en'irely to him ; he is always
consulted with respect to it, aud enjoys a right of veto.
The men are hired for the season, by agreement, for
from sixty to seventy francs a month, a large part
of which is usually paid beforehand, aud their food,
which is of the coarsest kind. As a rule, the season
lasts from April to the end of September, but it depends
greatly on the weather, as fishing is impossible in
mist or when the sea is high.

The labour is exceedingly hard. At dawn the pad-
rone calls his men and, after a short prayer, the net
is lowered ; from then till sunset the work continues
almost without interruption. The exertion required to let
down and wind up the net under a blazing summer
sun is extreme, and it has to be done on ship-biscuit
of the coarsest kind, and water that on the more dis-
tant stations has often become foul by long keeping.
In the evening a sort of soup is made. Garlic and
peperoni, the pungent fruit of a southern plant, are
boiled in water ; olive-oil is added, and this is poured
over biscuits which have been broken and placed in
the dish. For months this diat is hardly varied, and
yet the men retain their good spirits. After the even-
ing meal has been taken, they indulge in guitar-play-
ing and singing, aud on the more frequented banks
the boats answer and vie with each other.

In 1878 the discovery of the Sciacca bank, which
lies at a considerable distance off the southern coast
of Sicily, roughly speaking between Girgenti and the
island of Pantellaria, caused a crisis in the coral trade.
At one time nearly a thoasand boats might be found
fishing there, aud seeming to form a city in bhe
midst of the sea. Each of these is said to have taken
between one and two hundredweight of coral a day
It is certain that within three years 88,000 German
centners were taken from this bank alone, A great
part of this coral was dead, aud much of it was of
the black colour that only finds purchasers in the
East, The large firms did everything in their power
to prevent the market being overflooded. Many of
them still retain hundreds and some thousands of
cases which have never been placed in the hands of
the artificers. Still the price fell, and it is only at a
considerable sacrifice that the greater houses still keep
their boats at sea and the workshops open ; but they
know that, if they let them fall, the fate of their old
competitors in Marseilles awaits them, for both the fishing
for coral and its treatment by the artificers depend
upon traditious which, when they have once beeu lost,
it is difiicult to revive. One of the matters of gen-
eral interest which the bank of Sciacca placed clearly
before those who were interested iu it from other
than a mercantile point of view was the tact that
uot only were dead aud live coral there found side
by side, but that iu many ca?es the latter was growl

3(

^ME TROPtCAL AGFJeULTURlSfa

[l^EB. I, iBBy.

ing on the former. Signer Lo Bianco spent several
dftys on one of the boats for the purpose of inquiring
into this and other scientific matters. Few men possess
a keener eye for such sides of nature, or have enjoyed
80 good an opportunity of training and regulaiing
it as his connexion with the Zoological station at
Naples has afforded him. In his opinion the original
bank was submerged by volcanic action, and the mud
killed the mature polyps. The germs and larval forms,
which still existed in the water, settled upon such
branches of dead coral as still rose above the sedi-
ment, and so began life anew. If he is right, the
Sciacca is a kind of submarine Herculaneum. There
is not likely to be any immediate improvement in the
coral trade. As soon as prices rise, the large tirms
will be tempted to sell a part at least of the stock
they have hitherto reserved in the hope of better
times. If he depression lasts, they may be compelled
to do so, which would lead to a further fall. This
can have but a small interest for the general public,
but the sight of the boats whose crew.s sail or row
for long distances without the aid of a compass, guided
only by the stars or the glimpse of some distant
headland, and in their fishing employ instruments
which are said to have been hardly modified since the
days of the first Roman Emperors, may suggest a
summer afternoon reverie. — Saivrday Eevicw.

ANOTHER INSECT SCOURGE.
The following has been addressed to the editor of

The A rgics : —

Sir,^-1 desire to call attention to a species of coccus
known as dorthesia. This destructive pest was first
observed in the island of Bourbon. Thence it spread to
Mauritius, about 25 years since. In Mauritius it de-
stroyed the orange and lemon trees, many of tht
ortamental shrubs and acacias, and wrecked most of
the beautiful plantations and shrubberies. At Port
Louis it still exists in loathsome masses on the hand-
some Talipot palms.

About 12 years ago in was noticed for the first
time in the Botanical-gardens, Cape Town, and most
probably arrived there from Mauritius with piants
sent to the Botanical-gardens. During the first sum-
mer it spread about three miles into the suburbs alung
the railway. Its fearfully destructive character now
became evident, for the orange trees, the Australian
wattles, the pittc sporums, and the blackwoods became
loaded with this disgusting parasite, and the trees
slowly but surely succumbed to its attacks.

Its vast powers of ii crease and its peculiar struc-
ture rendered all attempts to check its progress unavail-
ing. The adult female dorthesia is about one-third
of an inch long, and is fm'uished with a pair of white
fluttd wings, similar in form to those of the cicada.
Underneath these wings the body appears to be one
mass of ova, comprising hundreds of individuals. Syr-
inging, &c. , failed to reach this ova, and although the
adult dorthesia was sometimes reached and killed, the
young escaped, and they are so light that a breeze
scatters thtm far and wide.

All trees of the orange kind, such as lemon, citron,
ehaddock, &c., proved especially suitable food for the
dorthesia, and once a tree became infested no amount of
syringing or washing prevented its destruction. The
disastrous results of its arrival at the Cape are all too
evident.

Formerly in Cape Town itself, and throughout
the suburbs, the orange tree lent a charm to the gardens
that no other tree could give, and in the Westetn
Province orange-growing form a most important source
of wealth, many farmers netting several liundreds a
year from their orange groves. Some of these groves,
planted by the Huguenots and their descendants, wtre
of great age, and besides being profitable, were objects
of great beauty. Those of the Pearl, French Hock,
and Wagenmaker's Valley were especially famous.

To-day this is all changed, and except for a few
dead stumps these fragrant groves and this valuable
asset in the country's wealth have disappeared.

Not 80 the dorthesia ; it is still advancing steadily,
aud leaving deetructioa in its wake, and will continue

to do so as long as suitable food is within reach.
This plague appears to enjoy a wide range of food,
for I have seen medlars, pear trees, oaks, quinces,
and many other trees smothered with it. It crowds
the stems and leaf-ribs of the pittosporum, the wattles^
the Cape plumbago, aud the pomegranate. Strawberry
plants become so covered that the fruit cannot be
eaten. French beans and many vegetables also suffer
from its ravages, besides roses and many garden flowers,
Vines are slightly affected.

Now, sir, thi« dorthesia has appeared in Melbourne.
Yesterday, at Mr. Guilfoyle's request, I accompanied
him to the Customhouse, and indentified the coccus
covering the two pittosporums at the entrance as
dorthesia. I wrote some weeks ago to the Agricul-
tural department, urging that every precaution should
be taken to prevent its introduction, as there was
great risk of its being brought from Mauritius.

As it is already here, and it has proved so des-
tructive elsewhere, I think it the duty of the autho-
rities and of the public to use the most strenuous
efforts to cope with it before the advent of warm
weather. Every jjarticle of vegetation affected by this
scourge should be destroyed by burning. It i.s also
desirable that a short bill should be introduced to
deal with this and similar noxious insects that may
reach these shores.

The shrubs of Melbourne are beautified by trees
and shrubs that are particularly liable to attack, and
the total extermination of the orange, pittosporum, wattle,
and other trees is certain to ensue in a very short
period, unless the dorthesia is stamped out.
—I am, &c. E. J. DUNN.

Referring to Mr. Dunn's letter Mr. A. N. Pearson,
the Government agricultural chemist, who has had
much experience as an entomologist, writes ; —

" Some cuttings of the pittosporum trees in front
of the Custom-house were shown to me about a
month ago by a gentleman who was experimenting
with some fluid which he hoped would kill certain
insects thbt were found on the plant, and I was asked
by the secretary of agriculture to state whether or
not the insects were dead. I had not previously
seen these insects. They were, however, of the coccus
family and from the description given in Mr. Dunn's
letter I should say they were the dorthtsia he
speaks of. There se^i^ms to be some mistake, how-
ever, in Jlr. Dunn's description. The mature fe-
ma es of all the coccidaj, so far as I know, are
wiufiless; the males have wings similar to those of
the cicadas (the insects commonly called locusts) ;
but in Victoria the body of the female becomes a
mass of eggs in nearly all cases, little remaining of
the original icsfct beyond a mere shell or skin covering
the eggs beneath. In the dorthesia known in Eng-
land, however, the mother does not become so com-
pletely absorbed into her offspring as is case with
most of the other members of the family. All members
of the family of the cocciilse which are likely to vifit
the shores of Australia may, with very little risk of
error, be set down as noxious and warranting imme-
diate destruction, even at the cost of some-what drastic
measures. All who have anything to do with orchards
know what a pest the scale iusect^s; and many in-
sects commonly called " blights " are members of the
coccus family. I have not heard of this particular
dorthesia before ; but species of dorthesia are known
in England, and one member of the coccidae family,
if I remember rightly, was the cause of the destruction
some years ago of all the orange trees in one of
the Azores, «here the growth of oranges was the
main occupation of the inhabitants. The surest way
of destroying these insects is to burn the branches
on which they are found, and I learnt this evening
that the two pitto-.sporum trees in front of the cus-
tom-house, on which these insects had been found,
were saturated with kerosene aud compleleiy burnt,
so that unless the dorthesia has spread from those
two trees it no longer exists in Melbourne. The in-
sect which was .shown to me was boat-shaped, varying
in size from a micrcscopic object to one-third of a a
iucb io length; dirty grey on (b9 back, red uud^r

Feb. I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

567

neath, with little nearly black legs, almost hidden
under the body. The whole insect is covered over
with a thick cottouy excretion. It adheres to the
younger branches and twigs, from which it sucks the
juice- I think that from this rough description any-
one else who should happen to meet with the prst
may be able to recognise it. "With regard to Mr.
Dunn's suggestion that a short bill should be intro-
duced for dealing with the in'roduction of noxious
insects, were a Government entomolngist appoiuted,
as suggested in the articles on " E ■onumic Entomology "
which you published, it cjuld ha his duty to attend
to the inspection of all plants and seeds passed through
the Custom-house. Bat any action in this direction
on the part of Victoria would be of little use unless
there were united action by all the colonies. The
matter is undoubtedly one of great importance.

A TRIP TO OHILA^^^
The bank pongol holidays with two other additional
days, enabled me last month to visit Chilaw where I
have some precious possessions. We left by the morn-
ing coach to Negombo, a road in which there is nothing
particular to note, save a coconut tree in bearing, the
trunk of which has grown in the shape of the letter O,
and a double-headed arecanut tree, both on the road-
side near about the town. An engraving of this extra-
ordinary coconut tree appeared in the "Ceylon Miscel-
lany," ' which has ceased to exist, not for want of suppor-
ters but for want of contributors. Such has been the fate
of every ephemeral production in Ceylon that depended
upon unpaid help from the public.*

The road to Chilaw is lined by teak and Banyan
trees, and is kept in good order ; we skirted the canal
as far as Madampe.

All rouad the town of Ohilaw, tjbacco was being
transplanted from nurseries into gardens. This plant is
cultivated, first by heavily manuring the ground, and
then watering it twice a day during the dry months
of the year. It is harvested about April and when
cured becomes a valuable commodity, 50 leaves of the
first quality being worth from R4 to E5. The leaf is
exceedingly brittle when green and cracks on a slight
touch, which is, therefore, carefully guarded agaiust
and the roots are so sensitive that if they encounter a
stone or a stump, the whole tree withers and die.

The cattle here are miserably lean, there being no
pasturage; but the cocouuD trees in this districc are
par excelttncf the best iu the island, both from their
size as well as their tertiiity, although I was told that
some years ago thousands of treea were killed by
drought.

The friiiud who accompanied me is a coconut plan-
ter of the Colombo district, who grew quite enthusias-
tic on tlie subject, comparing the worst Chilaw tree
with the best in his plantation.

There is plenty of water communication inland, and
splendid opportunities for boating and sniliog &c.
An adventurous proctor was about to order an English
boat from Colombo for his own use.

Nephthvtis Ubeeica. — At present this rare Aroid is
somewuat attractive in the Aroid-tiouse at Kew. The
heads of bright yellow frui s — each ot whioU is about
the sizrf and shape of a small Ootfee berry — are uorne
on erect scapes nearly as loag as the peiioies of tLie
triangularly sagittate green leaves. Ttie species was
introduced from Liberia halt-a-dozen yenrs ago, —
Gardener^i' Chronicle.

The " Pio.SEER " ox the Ceylo.\ Tea Industry. —
Returns for I836 published iu last mail's Economist
show that tea is rapidly taking the place of cotfee as
the main expert staple of Ceyiou. Since the appear-
ance of the leaf fungus the cultivation of coffee has
steadily dechned, and last year the exports fell by
over 90,000 cwts. On the other band tUe exports of

* Yes, but where were our corrcispou.leat's eyt-s wlieu
he failed to admire tlie many bsau.itul reaches on
the road to Negombo, with coconut pa.ms aud other
trees meeting overhead. Tliere are also ciunamon
gardens, rivers, pretty native cottages, fee, — Ed.

tea rose last year by over three million pounds, or
more than 50 per cent., and an equal nroportionate
increase is estimated for the current commercial year.
These facts are of cou-siderable interest to Indian tea-
growers. The Oeylun exports are, of course, at pre-
sent a mere fraction of the ainouut shipped annually
from Calcutta ; but when we remember that the Ceylon
tra ie is in its infancy compared with the Indian,
that the former's annual advanc° is at the rate of
50 per cent while for yea's the latter has been creep-
ing ou with 7 or S per cent, and that the natural ad-
vantages of Ceyiou enable it to produce tea of a stated
quality more cheaply than can be done on the Indian
plantations, there is abundant reason for believing that
in ten years or so Ceylon will prove a serious com-
petitor to India in the European market.

Wattle and Tannin. — Some few months ago we
mentioned the discovery, by Messrs. Borrow and
Haycraft, of South Australia, of a method of extract-
ing the tannin x^rinciple not alone from the wattle-
tree bark, but also from the leaves, twigs, aud small
branches of 2 in. diameter. The cultivation of the
wattle is now a recognised industry iu that colony,
aud also in Victoria, fully 10,000 tons of the dried
bark being annually exported from Adelaide to Europe.
In another column we give au account of the process
of manufacture, as reported in the Eegister. It ie
interesting for the success of the process is so complete
that there is no doubt it will ultimately develop
an extensive export trade of a purely Australian
product. Of the two sorts of wattle commonly used
for tanning purposes, the Acacia pycnaatha will grow
on the poorest soil, sandy or stony land, that is fit for
nothing else, but the black wattle {A. decurrens)
requires a deep rich soil. This latter species contains
30 per cent to 40 per cent of tanage in the dried bark,
and l^lb. of this bark is equal to tanning 1 lb. of
leather, whilst it requires but 1 lb. pound of bark oak
for the same purpose. One ton of black wattle bark
will tan from twenty-five to thirty hides, and it has
been found best suited for tanning sole leather and
Ojher heavy goods. The disadvantage of this bark ia
that it gives a red colour to the leather, which is not
the case with leather made by the use of oak bark'
myrabolans, valonia, and sumach, &c. The leather i.s
quite as good and durable as when oak bark is used.
The mature bark of our golden wattle yields about
30 per cent of catechu (taunic principal), about one-
half of which is mimosa-tannic acid. The fresh leases
contain only 5 per cent of tanage, and when well dried
give from 10 per cent to fifteen per cent. It has
been estimated that the waste in stripping a wattle
forest amounts to four times the quantity obtained, for
in stripping as now practised the bark is only taken
from the trunk and a few of the main branches. The
Register calculates that at this rate this waste if con-
verted into " tanage " would represent some 5000 to
6000 tons, worth five or six times the same weight of
wattle-bark. " Tanage " is the name given by the
raanufacturers to their new product, so as to distinguish
it from similar products known to tanners as "cutch"
catechu, kc- Being a new industry, it is necessary
first of all to find an outlet for the product, and the
makers have discovered that in the tanners' business
theie is as much conservatism as in other trades. In
the colonies the tauuers are used to wattle-bark,aud
it. is within the mn,rk to say that it wdl be exceed-
ingly difficult CO iu<iuce them to give up their prejudices
and a'lopt the extract. In Earope, however, the tanners
are acquainted with a hundred or so of materials for
tanning leather, and tht?re will be no diflBculty in
inducing them to adopt another — especially since the
imports of oakbark, hemlock-spruce, &c., are decreas-
ing, and those of garabir, terra japouica, sumach, cutch,
&n., do not inc-ease, widlst the detuand has more
than d iubled with the past few years. In 1823 a fluid
extract of black wattle (Acacia decurrens) was sent
to England, and was 3 )ld at £50 per ton. — Queendander.
Alcohol from Sweet Potatoes. — Frr>uch chemists
have bi^en at wo'k in the F-euch Antilles m.ikiUrf a
3 -ries of successful experiments, showin,,' that the sweet
potato can he made to yield nearly four gallons of al-
cohol to 22.7 pounds of sweet potatoes. — Oil, Paint aixd
Druy Reporter.

568

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

MARKET RATES FOR OLD AND NEW PRODUCTS.

(From Lewis <£• Peat's London Price Current, Jaimary 20th, 1887.)

[Feb. I, 1887.

FBOM MALABAR

COAST, COCHIN,
CEYLON, MADRAS, &c.

UEES' WAX, White, per

ewt.

Yellow
CINCHONA BARK— Crown

per Ih.

QUALITY.

f Slislitly softish to good
\ hard bright

Do. drossy & dark ditto
Renewed ...
Medium to fine Quill

Spoke shavings

Branch

iRenew^d

iVtedium to good Quill ...

ISpoke shavings

[Branch

Twig

, i.iuiti..... Clipped, bold, bright, fine

and Ceylon Middling, stalky & lean

Aleppee ' Fair to tine plump clipped

TellicherrylGrOod to fine

Brownish

Mangalore jtrood & fine, washed, bgl.

Long Ceylon Middling to good... ...

CINNAMON, per lb, Ists jOrd. to tine pale quill ...
2nd3! ,, ft »» »»
3rds| ,, ,, >> >>

4ths Woody and hard

Chips ...iFair to fine plant

COCOA, Ceylon, per owt... Bold to good bold

Medium

QUOTATIONS.

Bed

CARDAMOMS Malabar
per lb.

£6 a £7 5s
£4 10^ a £6
. Is a 33
Is 4d a'2s 6d
6d a Is 2il
•3d a 6(1
8d a 2s 6d
Gd a -is lid
M a 7.1
■3d a 4d
Id

2s a .3s Id
Ma Is lid
Is 3d a 2^ 3d
Is Gd a 2s 2d
Gd a Is 3d
I s 4d a 3s 4d
8d a Is 4d

COFFEE Ceylon Plantation
per fwt.

,, Native
Liberian
East Indian

" Triage to ordinary
I Bold to fine boldcolory...
Middling to fine mid. ...
Low mid. and Low grjwn

Smalls

iGrOod ordinary

.ISmall to bold

.JBold to fine bold

iMedinm to tine

Small

Native [per ton'Good to fine ordinary ...

COIRROPE,Ceylon&Cochinl.VHd.coarsetofinestraigh

FIBRE, Brush, per ton'Ord. to fine long straighi

Stuffing ...jCoarse to fine

Y^ARN, Ceylon, per toii;Ordin,iry to superior ...

Cochin ... Ordinary to fine ,

Do [cwt .Roping fair to good

COLOMBO ROOT, sifted ilj.Middlingwormy to fine...

CROTON SEEDS, sifted ...'Fair to fine fresh

GINGER, Cochin, Cut 'Good to fine bold

per cwt. ,, ;Smalland medium

Rough 'Fair to good bold

...ISmall

GUM AP. ABIC, Ma(lras...'Daik to good pile
NUX VOMICA, per cwt. ...|Fair to fine bold fresh ...

Small ordinaryand fair...
MYRABOLANES, pale, per Good to fine picked

f^vt. Common to middling. ...

Fair Coast

PickingslBurnt and defective
OIL, CINNAMON, per oz...iGood to fine heavy

CITRONELLE ,, iRright & good flavour ...
LEMON GRASS ,, 1 ,, ,, ,, ,,
ORCHELLA WEED [f'lb.|Mid. to fine, not woody..
PEPPER,Malabar blk.sif tedjEair to bold heavy
AUeppee & Cochin „ i ,, good ,,
Tellioherry, White ...1 ,, ,, ,,

PLUMBAGO, Lump, Vcwt. 'Fair to fine bright bold...,

Middling to good small... 7s a 10s
Chips ...'slight foul to fine bright jSa 9d a HM

Bust ...{Ordinary to fine bright ...i39 a 9s

;id a Is Sd
rd a Is 5d
Hda Is Id
.5id a lid

id a 7d
SJs a 8:^s Gd
;4s a 78s

Os a fi.is
.05s a luis
S3s a 90s
?8s a .Sis
?4s a 77s 6d
G'lS a 72s
58s a 64s
95s a UOs
30s a 90s

63s a 72s
tr, a £17
eiOa £?,ri
esa £17
£12 a £:M
£11 a£H2
£13 a £1.5
10s a 28s
lOs a 25s
•lis a 80s
S2s 6d a 5.5s
•30s a 4i5s
22s 6d a 25s
30s a 90s
7s a lis
3s a 6s
is a 8s 6d
5s a 6s 3d
5s 6d a 6s
.3s 3d a 4s
Is a 3s
|1 a Id
Ifd a Ud
409 a oos

8d a S^d

lOd a 2s 6d

lOs a 14s

per ton.

RED WOOD,
.SAPAN WOOD
SANDAL WOOD, logs
Do. chips

Fair and fine bold ...•£«'

Middling coated togood!£6a£7
Fair to good flavor ..,£20 a £44

1/.J. i...^.:, ... Inferior to fine £5 10s a £10

SENNA, Tinnevelli, per lb. i Good to fine bold green... Sd a Is

Fair Tniddling medium... ;5d a 7d
(Common dark and small 2fd a 4Jil
TURMERIC, Madra.9,Wowt;Finger fair to fine bold 9s 6d a Ids
Do. ...[Mixed middling rK,.;™i,t h., rt.l « 9,.

Do. ...Bulbs whole

Cochin ..., Do split
VANILLOES, Mauritius &
per lb Bourbon, Ists Fine cry.stalised 6 a 9inch|17s a 29s

3nds,Foxy & reddish ."S a 8 „;10sal(is
., , f Lean & dry to middling'
•' l\ under G inches ...7s a 12s
4th |Low, foxy, inferior and

[picking3[4s a 8d

[bright, Ss 6d a 9s

7s6da8s6d

:6s 3d a 7s

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

ALOES, Socootrine and
per cwt. Hepatic.

CHILLIES, Zanzibar
per cwt.

! FROM BOMBAY

1 AND ZANZIBAR.

I CLOVES. Zan/.ibar 1

and P«mtia, per lb. 1

; ,, stems...

I COCULUS INDICUS
GALLS, Bussorah 1 blue

&T\irkey J^cwt.
i [cwt.

I GUM AMMONIACUM per
I ANIMI, washed, Tacwt.

I scraped...

ARABIC. E.I. & Aden ..

per cwt. Ghatti ...

Amrad cha

' ASSAFCETIDA, per

cwt.
KINO, per cwt.

MYRRH, picked „

Aden sorts
' OLIBANUM, irop

per cwt. „

pickings...'
I ' sittings ...

, INDIARUBBER Mozambil
' per lb. Ball & saus

QUALITY

iQUOTTIAONS.

Ooodanil fine dry
'Common and good
(Good to fine bright
Ordinary aadniiddlinir,,

, £6 lOs a £8 10s
£4 a £7 Ills
'34s a .35s
.•!23 a 33s

Good and fine briarht
Common dull to fair

„ fr.'.sh
Fair

Fair to fine dark blue

Good white and green...
Biocky to fine clean
Picked fine pale in sorts,
part yellow and mixed
Bean & Pea size ditto ...
amber and dark bold
Medium & bold ,sorts

S,>rts

Fair to fine pile
Good and tine pile
Reddish (dean
Clean fair to Wnp ....

Slightly stony and foul ...|
Fa.r to line bright
Fair to lino pale
Middling to good
Fair to fine white
Reddish to middling
Middling togO(jdpale
,Slightly foul fo fine
ijue, 1 red li,ard
age j white softish
unripe root
liver

FROM CALCUTTA AND
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

CASTOR OIL, Ists pi^r oz -Vearly water white
2nds ,, ... I Fair and good pale
3rds ,, ...,Bruwn and brownish

INDIARUBBF.RAssam,periGood to fine

lb. ICommon foul and mixed!

Rangoon ...IFair to good clean
MadagascariGood to fine pinky & white
iFair to good black
SAFFLOWER ...Good to fine pinky

Middling to fair
Inferior and pickings ...
TAMARINDS ...|Mid.to fineJ/ai^/.-uot stony

Stony and inferior

12.^d a 13d

ga I « 12d
2Jd a 3d
128 a 6d

59s a 65s

48s a 5l3 Cd
15s a 34s
£1310'a£1410/
£10 a £12 10s
£4 109a£7
£7 10s
£5 a £8
Cos a £5 123 t>d
38s a 8.5s
80s a £ti
34sa688
35s a 40s
35s a 309
35s a 409
£6 a £7 lOs
70s a 97s 6d
45s a 55s
32s a 449
Hs 6d a lis
Us a 139 6d
2s i^a a 23 e^d
2s a 2s 3d
lOd a Is 2Jd
IslO'fda 2fl 0}d

31 a 41(1
2ld a 3d
■2%A a 2Jd
2s a 2s 7d
8d a Is lOd
Is (id a 28 6d
2s 4d a 2s fi^d
IsUd a 2s 2d
£4 10s a £5 lOs
£3 .5s a £4 2s 6d
£1 a £1 10s
10s a 149
3s a 6s

FROM
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

ALOES, Cape, per cwt. ...iFairdry to tine bright ..W"^ a 2«s
,, ...Common & middling softies a ^2i\

Natal ...Fairtofine ... 25sa30s

ARROWROOT Natal per lb Middling to fine ...'3d

FROM CHINA, .JAPAN &
THE eastern: ISLANDS.,

CAMPHOR, China, f cwt.JGood, pure, & dry white
.Japan ...I ,, ,, pink

GAMBIER, Cubes, cwt. ...lOrdinary to fine free ...
'Pressed
Block [perlb.JGood
OUTTA PRRCHA, genuine' Fine clean Banj&Macas-
Sumatra...!Barky to fair [sar

Reboiled... Common to fine clean ...
I White Borneo ...{Good to fine clean

I ilnferior and barky

I NUTxMEGS, large, per lb...i61's a 80's, garbled

Medium ...|83's a 95's

I Small ...|100'sal60's . ...

I MACE, per lb. ... Pale reddish to pale

I 'Ordinary to red

' Chips

I RHUBARB, Sun .tried, per Good to tine sound
I 11, I).irkordin!iry& middling

High dried ... Good to line

Dark, rough & middling
I SAGO, Pearl, large, 1^ ewt. Fair to fine
medium ... ,, ,. ,,
.small ... ,. ,, ,,

Flour " [per lb. Good pinky to white ...

TAPIOCA, Penang Flake Fairtofine
; Singapore ... ,, ,,

' Flour ...I ,,

Pearl ...! Bullets, per ewt.

Uedium ,,
.Sae4 ,.

^6.3s a 64s

.32s a 323 fid
29s a 303
21s 3d a 21s fid
23 4d a 33 3d
fid a 2s 3d
Ida Is 4d
lid a Is .3d
Id a8d

2i 7d a 3s lOd
2s 4d a 2s 6Jd
Is .5d a 2s 3d
2s 3d a 3s
Is 9d a 2s
Is .5d a Is 6d
IsBJ a 3»
Sd a Is 4d
Is a Is 3d
3d a 9d
Us a 14s 6d
Us 6dal2s6d
10s a 12
8s a 9s
2ida 2Jd
3'da2M
10s a 179 Cd
•25s a 2Gs
20^ a 21s
i20s a21s

March i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

5^0

THE TEA MAEKET FOR 1886.
We devote large space in our present issue to
the elaborate review of the course of the British
market for teas during the past year. The year
was notable for the collapse of tine China teas,
notwithstanding an improvement on the past season
which is described as "vast." This seems to es-
tablish the fact that, even with the most careful
preparation possible, China teas cannot compete
in intrinsic value with those from India and
especially those the produce of Ceylon. The figures
for consumption now that, they are brought up to
the end of 1886, prove more strongly than ever
the large and increasing extent to which Indian
teas are superseding those from China in public
favour and in the markets, while Ceylon teas, so
far as the comparatively small quantity yet produced
shews, are ahead of all in the market. Looking,
however, at the figures for total consumption in
Britain, they are not so encouraging as could be
wished. From 139J millions of pounds in 1874,
there was an advance to 174 millions in 1883,
but the average for the succeeding three years has
but slightly advanced. The highest figure ever
attained was 175,203,000 in 1885, but the quantity
recorded against 1886, shews only 174,665,000. Owing
no doubt to the prevailing depression, the con-
sumption of tea in Britain has been nearly station-
ary for four years. If war can be averted and
trade improves, we may expect to see an increased
demand. The great facts for planters in India and
Ceylon are that whereas the percentage which
their teas bore to the whole consumption in 1874
was only 12J it rose to 42f in 1886, and that in
the 5 years between 1882 and 1886, while China
shewed a decrease of 11 per cent, Indian and
Ceylon increased by 48 per cent. The actual
figures will give a more vivid idea of the great
and rapid increase the consumption of Indian
kinds, viz. from 17| millions of pounds in 1874
to 74,665,000 in 1886. This process seems likely
to proceed at an increased ratio, so that before
a total consumption of 200,000,000 lb. is attained
one-half will be Indian and Ceylon. The deli-
veries of Indian teas (excluding Ceylon) are now
up to an average of 7 millions per mensem. The
average for Ceylon was a little over half-a-million
for 1886, but the actual deliveries had increased
from 285,000 in January, to 471,000 in December,
the highest ligure yet, 818,000 having been attained
in August. There can be little doubt, we think,
that for 1887 the average monthly deliveries of
Ceylon tea will rise to 750,000 lb. The prices
for our teas have, we regret to notice, decreased
from Is 2|d and Is 3Jd to Is Id; but the latter
figure will pay well and with increasing care in
preparation here and increasing prosperity at home
we may hope for keener competition and higher
prices for our tea^, which now take the highest
position in Britain and are finding favour on the
Continent of Europe. They will ultimately make
their way in America.

STENNING INSIKPP & CO.'S INDIAN &

CEYLON TEA MARKET REVIEW FOR 1886.

London:— 29, Mincing Lane, Jan. 1887.

The Couuse of the Maeket. — The steady tone that

pre\ailed at the closing sales of 1885 soon gave place

to duluess and lower values. Common kinds attracted

soiiH attention foi- a time, but prices foil again in April

dan medium sorts likewise showed a decline. Broken
Pekoes had been difficult to sell even at very low prices
since the beginning of the year, but in May their posi-
tion improved. Just prior to the arrival of the New
Crop, fine Teas, being scarce, commanded more money,
whilst low and common grades went weaker. New
Darjeeliugs proved of poor quality and obtained low
prices ; a parcel here and there having flavour sold
well, but Ceylon Teas again affected the value of Indian
growths. Late in August, owing to some improvement
in quality, more attention was given to New Indians,
and also to Teas for price at a slight advance, which
was maintained for a short time, but on heavy arrivals
of poor quality taking place at end of Se^jtember, a
decided fall occurred, and only very low prices for all
but fine and finest could be obtained. October opened
with a steadier feeling, but inferior Teas being offered,
the month closed with a further fall, whilst good
liquoring Tea from Assam sold at high rates. Heavy
auctions then occurred, and values, chiefly for Broken
kinds, again fell, whilst former prices were with
some diSiculty obtained for the finer grades. After-
wards, for a time, less pressure to sell was shown,
but towards the close of business for the year consider-
able sales took place, and with the exception of com-
mon to medium whole leaf, which sold firmly, all Teas
marked a giving way, Broken Pekoes being quoted at
a decided fall from the highest point.

Present Prices are much below those ruling at
end of 1885 : common to the extent of about 3d per
lb. ; medium, about 4d ; fine and finest, a little below
to par.

The season has been generally unfavourable for
the grower, except in the case of some Assam Gar-
dens, which were able to produce a fair quantity of
desirable liquoring tea, but in other gardens in this
district, as well as in Cachar and Sylhet, the mis-
take has, apparently, been made of aimmg too much
at quantity, notwithstanding the repeated warnings
from this side. In our Annual Review of 1885, and
again in our Circular of 25th March, 1886, we par-
ticularly drew attention to this point, viz. : "Season
1886 87. A word of caution to planters at this time
may not be out of place, and we would urge, as we
have often done before, the advisability of adhering
to a moderateli/ fine susteui of pluchin/j. The compar-
atively high prices that have ruled for the commoner
classes throughout the past season (f. e. 1885-86) have
been mainly due to better quality, the result of a
careful method of plucking, and not so much to
short supply. Moreover, it is probable that the
improved position of common China Congou will
lead to a large export from that quarter next
season, in which case common grades of Indian
" if of poor quality resulting from coarse plucking,
will only realize low prices." Not only as produc-
tion increases will it be more than ever necessary
to avoid coarse plucking, that is, producing inferior
Teas, as buyers here find much difficulty in dispos-
ing of them, but Ceylon as a competitor can no
longer be ignored.

FiGUUKS. — In no previous season has the con-
sumption responded so slowly to the fall in values ;
the low prices ruling in September failed to influ-
ence the Deliveries in October, and it was not until
the following month that any expansion could be
said to have taken place. Current low values should

cause a great increase in
Teas being now so much
latter should be largely
possible to sell them at

consumption, and Indian
cheaper than China, the
supplanted, unless it be
still lower than present

prices. So largely has the use of Teas other than
China increased that their consumption in November
amounted to 7,965,000 lb., against 12,035,000 lb. (in-
cluding 4,250,000 lb. taken for export) of China.

The quantity shipped on Garden Account shows
a slight increase over that of last year. The same
causes as last season have again been in operation,
namely, the low exchange, the low average selling
price in Calcutta, and the increasing attention paid
by buyers in London to successive complete Garden
Invoices.

57<5

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1887.

The quantities compare as follows : —
July to December.
1886. 1885. 1884. 1883.

Packages. Packages. Packages. Packages.
Oil Garden

Account.. 271,374 226,972 192,183 160,394
Oil Paicbase

Ac :ount.. 198,983 170.260 212,566 233,525
or 57| per or 57 per or 47^ per or 40i per
cent oil Garden cent. cent. cent.

Account.

QUALITY FKOM THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS.

Assam. — The improved standard of quality noted last
season has been fully sustained, and the high averages,
together with a fairly good, and in some instances, large
yield must have amply rejiaid managers for their skill
and labour.

Oachae. — The quality has not been good, and has
shown a falling off from the moderate standard of last
sea on. and some of the well known marks have not
attained such a high standard. The inducement held
out by the market for common grades in 1885-86 has
in many quarters been too strong to be resisted. Where
teas have had quality, good prices were readily obtain-
able.

Sylhet.— TLe slight improvement noted a year ago
has not been maintained ; it is to be hoped that the
rapidly increasing supplies from this district will soon
show good quality, when a ready sale may be looked for.

Dar.ieeling and Teeai. — We have again to record a
disappointing season, so far, for these growths; very few
invoices have afforded any real quality, and the good
prices realized ought to stimulate growers to do their
utmost to produce teas with flavour. Dull or thin
flavour. ess Darjeeling teas invariably meet with very
poor support.

DooARs. — With the largely increasing yield in this
district, it is surprising that excepting on one or two
gardens, that so few good liquoring teas are manu-
factured : the promise of a few years ago of fine quality
has not been borne out.

Ohiftagong has produced some excellent teas, and
the very satisfactory prices obtained should be an en-
couragement to persevere in keeping up a good standard.

Kangea Valley and Kumaon. — Almost all the tea
from these districts has been of indifferent character,
owing, we believe, to an unfavourable manufacturing
season.

Dehra Doon. — Very few teas have come forward,
and these were perhaps as good as are possible to be
made in this district.

Neilgherry. — Fewer flavoury Teas have been re-
ceived this season, and prices, consequently, have not
been so good.

Travancore. — Judging from a few small invoices,
there seems no reason why this district should not
turn out very good Tea. A few such have sold well
at very satisfactory prices ; the character of the Teas
much resembles Ceylon makes.

Java. — In the early part of the year arrivals were
large, and the quality being quite up to the average, the
Teas found ready buyers. Lately, the low prices of
Indian have checked Imports. 57,423 packages have
been offered during the 12 months.

Sorting. — As a rule four, or at most five, breaks
in an invoice are all that are really needed, viz.: Orange
Pekoe or Broken Orange Pekoe, Pekoe, Broken Pekoe,
Broken Tea, and Pekoe Souchong, with an occasional
lot of Faunings and Dust. Such an assortment should
be practicable;if the leaf be plucked moderately fine.
When a garden is producing but a small quantity,,
there should be as few different kinds as possible,
with a view to avoiding small or non-sampling breaks.

With the yearly increasing quantities at auction
the necessity of making larger breaks becomes greater,
in order to diminish the number of samples, often
more than 300, to be tasted each sale day before
12 o'clock, and so enable buyers to give proper at-
tention to the Teas, and thus ensure a full compe-
tition for them. This cannot be the case when Teas
go to auction hastily valued or perhaps untasted, and
to obviate this, in several instances lately, invoices
arriviuiT by the same ship from the same garden have
been bulked together here, thercbj^ reducing the num-

ber of breaks, and also effecting a saving in time,
trouble and to some extent in expense, to all concerned.
As time goes on this course will no doubt be more
generally adopted, and buyers will be enabled to pay
fuller attention to the Teas when offered in large
and attractive breaks.

Bulking in India. — Whilst this operation has on the
whole been well carried out with an equal quantity
of Tea packed in each chest, cases have occurred in
which these all-important conditions have not been ful-
filled, thas causing much dissatisfaction to the buyers.
Offing to this the Wholesale Tea Dealers' Association
have threatened after the present season ouly to buy
teas weighed gross and tare as formerly. This will not
ouly cause delay in selling, but expense to growers, be-
sides necessitating the additional cost of, and risk of
damage by, bulking here. It is to be hoped that the
Association may be induced to reconsider and modify
their intention, as much disappointment will otherwise
be caused to those growers who are successfully carry-
ing out the conditions by which separate weights and
bulking here are avoided.

Unless the teas are thoToughly bulked and an eqxial
quantity packed in each chest of the ijvaA-, an extra ex-
pense of not less than Is Ifd "per chest will be incurred,
which has to come out of the Planter's pocket.

Weighing Net. — This system has made fair pro-
gress, but there is still a want of accuracy in some
quarters, the variation often much exceeding the limit
of 2 lb. either way, i. e. above or below.

Weighing Indian Tea. — The following are the
amended regulations which came into force Novem-
ber, 1885.

The weight of Indian Tea for duty may, if desired
by the Importers, be ascertained under the following
regulations : —

1. — The packages on arrival to be weighed to ascer-
tain the gross weight of each package.

2. — The importers to give with each entry a state-
ment that the Teas in each break have been bulked in
India, and that the chests of each break contain even
net weights.

3. — In order to test the accuracy of this .statement,
10 per cent, of each break to be turned out and
weighed net, but in no case are less than 3 chests to
be turned out.

4. — If the variation in weight of the test packages,
from each other, be found to exceed 2 lb., the whole
parcel is to be tared. For instance, if the test pack-
ages weigh net 79, 80 and 81 lb. respectively, the vari-
ations would not exceed two pounds, but if one package
be found to weigh 79 lb., and any other 82 lb, or more,
then the whole break to be tared; unless the im-
porter and surveyor consider that an everage tare can
equitably be given, in which case the tarers must not
vary more than two pounds, as in the case of net
weights.

5. — Duty is to be charged on the average weight of
the packages weighed net, provided that, when the
average of the packages weighed net amounts to so
many pounds and a half or more, the half or more
will be charged as a full pound ; when the fraction is
less than a half, it may be disregarded.

6.— All Indian Teas bulked in this country are to be
weighed gross, and each chest tared.

Marks on Chests.— Nothing .is wanted, or is of any
service here beyond (1st) garden mark, (2ud) descrip-
tion of Tea, (3rd) garden numbers, and (4th) bulked
(if such be the case). Gross, tare or net, are not of
the least use, and should be discontinued.

Small Breaks.— Under eight chests or eight half-
chests, or twenty boxes, are called "small breaks,"
and in order to save the time of the majority of buyers
such breaks, although catalogued, are passed over
until the conclusion of the day's auctions.

Size of Breaks.— Progress can be reported on this
head ; but as quantities increase the number of chests
should be larger, buyers here paying greater atten-
tion to large breaks.

Weight of Packages.— When a gross weight of 129
lb. is exceeded there is an additional charge of 53
per ehest up to 159 lb.; the following scale o f
charges fully explains this and deserves attention.

Makch I, my,] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

§7t

> 1

Management rate, per package, subject to 5 per cent
discount atj Warehouses other than those at the

Gross 160 to 199 lb. 2s 9d ; 130 to 159 lb. 2s Sd; 90
to 129 lb. Is lOd ; 80 to 89 lb. Is 8d ; 60 to 79 lb Is 5d ;
45 to .59 lb. Is 2d ; 35 to 41 lb. Is ; 17 to 31 lb. 7d ;
under 16 lb. 4d,

HOME CONSUMPTION OF INDIAN,

Indian and China.
Oeylon.

1886.. 74,065,000 100,000,000
1885.. 68,894,000 106,309,000
1884.. 63,038,000 106,918,000
1883.. 59,097,000 114,953,000
1882. .50,497,000 115,569,000
1881.. 48,836,000 112,156,000
1880.. 43,807,000 111,307,000
1879.. 35,243,000 125,576,000
1878.. 36,776,000 120,192,000
1877.. 28,013,000 123,012,000
1876.. 26,735,000 126,004,000
1875.. 23,275,000 126,-508,000
1874.. 17,756,000 121,622,000

Compared with 1882 (4 years ago), the consumption
of China Tea has decreased fully 11 per cent where-
as that of Indian and Ceylon has increased close
upon 48 per cent

The total quantity of tea, Indian and Oeylon, offered
at Auction, was during : —

CEYLON AND CHINA.

Percent-

Total, age of In-

dian and

Cevlon.

174,665,000

42a

175,203 000

394

169,956,000

37

174,050,000

3-1

166,066,000

30§

160,992,000

304

155,114,000

28i-

160,819,000

22

156,968,000

23i

151,025,000

18s

152,739,000

174

149,783,000

15^

139,378,000

VH

January to March...
April to June
July to September...
October to December

1886.
Chests.
245,441
156,447
220,919
325,513

1885.

Chests.

261,645

99,558
179,860
282,785

1884.
Chests.
221,010
142,583
162,947
242,802

948,320 823,848 769,342

The total quantity of tea, Indian and Ceylon, offered
at Auction was, during : —

January to March ...
April to June
July tc September...
October to December

1883.
Chests.
199,671
136,984
148,160
245,759

1882,
Chests.
151,347
112,356
149,948
205,828

1881.

Chests.

127,532

80,052
125,187
160,710

730,574 619,479 538,481

CEYLON.
The year commenced with good quality on offer,
bringing high rates ; afterwards, arrivals being poor,
the enquiry fell off and prices showed in favour of
buyers, and it was not until the middle of the year
that any decided improvement in quality took place
when values soon became better and the Tea continued
in demand to the close of business for the year. It
is satisfactory to note that growers in Oeylon have
not, as a rule, been led away to go in for quantity
we think a steady adherence to the principle of nio-
derately fine plucking throughout the Season, with
the Tea packed in not more than four or five breaks
or less if the out-turn is small, will prove the most
profitable course for growers. The quality, owing we
believe to unavoidable circumstances, lias not been so
uniformly good as during 18S5. The Teas find favour
amongst buyers and a large and increasing quantity
is consumed without any mixture of other growths.
For some time past Ceylon Teas have been taken or
the Continent, a very satisfactory feature in the deve-
lopment of the Trade. The quantities offered and
the average price throughout the year have been as
follows —
1886 ... 101,145
1885 ... 58,921 „ „
18&i ... 15,701
ust to 31st December only).

We would direct attention to the remarks on the
1st and 2nd pages under the heads of Sorting, Bulk-
ing, Weighing, Marks, and Size of Breaks, kc.
JANUABY,— The quality was good and in aome cases

Pkgs. Avr. Is Id. per lb

» )> Is
,, ,, -^s

3id

(Ist Aug-

very fine ; prices for all makes were maintained at a
high level until the end of the month, when, the
selection beiag poor. Teas were less inquired for.

Public Sales contained 4,472 packages, against
2,364 in 1885.

February.— Commenced with a better inquiry, as
the quality showed better, although poor invoices
continued to be represented. Desirable Teas were sup-
ported at previous prices.

Public Sales contained 5,361 packages, against 2,456
in 1885.

Makch. — The quality throughout was disappointing
and except for common grades, values, in sympathy
with Indian makes, were not so firm.

Public Sales contained 7,789 packages, against 3,114
in 1885.

April. — The (juality continued unattractive, and
prices, especially for the higher grades, went decidedly
in favour of buyers, Broken Pekoe being especially
depressed.

Public Sales contained 4,677 packages, against 3,865
in 1885.

May'. — Arrivals were heavy and a few invoices of
attractive quality commanded attention at an advance,
but inferior Teas were irregular at lower prices.

Public Sales contained 12,329 packages, against
3,871 in 1885.

juxE. — The large offerings contained but a small
proportion of desirable Teas, and consequently the
averages obtained were low.

Public Sales contained 11,264 packages, against
5,901 in 1S85.

July. — Towards the end of the month better liquor-
ing Teas appeared, which attracted attention at
firmer rates, especially for the higher grades.

Public Sales contained 11,743 packages, against
7,673 in 1885.

August. — The improvement in quality continued,
and prices further hardened all round. Broken Pekoes
commanding a decided advance. Inferior Teas were
difficult to sell at low and irregular quotations.

Public Sales contained 15,884 packages,
7,642 in 1885.

September. — The position as regards both quality
and demand remained unchanged throughout the
month.

Public Sales contained 10,529 packages, against
7,522 in 1885.

October.— Imports showed a falling off, but the
offenngs contained some choice liquoring Teas, which
commanded very full rates. Teas without point wero
slow of sale.

Public Sales contained 6,61(; packages, against 4,134
in 1885.

November. — The selection was satisfactory, and
Teas found a ready sale at prices which compared
favourably with Indian growths ; common kinds, how-
ever, were a little affected by cheapness of Indian.

Public Sales contained 6,689 packages gainst 5, 511
in 1885.

December.— The quality continued to show im-
provement and high prices were obtained. The figures
to end of November excited attention by reason of
the great advance in consumption.

PubliclSales contained 6,077 packages, against 4,868

in 1885.

CE YLON TE A.

against

188G 1885

Import Delivery Stock Import Delivery

January 226,000 235,000 PSO.noO 144,000

February ... ;»4,000 235,000 1,1:30,000 146,000

March . ,3m»,000 .317,000 1,213,000 1.56,000

April 70.1,000 316,000 1,602,000 3i?4,C00

May " ". 693,000 429,0ou l,S65,0oo 2nl,000

June '" ... 624,000 570,000 1.919,000 323,000

July 881,000 766,000 2,033,000 628,000

AuKu./t " . .. 814,000 818,000 2,030,000 362.000

September . .. 681,000 787,000 1,924,000 402,000

October . .. 427,000 684,000 1,668,000 368,000

November 500,000 566,030 l,60],o(i(» 260,000

December . 530,000 471,000 1,660,000 300,000

139,000
122,000
168,000
191,000-
246,000'
239,00(>
S-iLOOOi
493,000
416,0001
315,000
266,000
266,000

o,8H,ooo ^;m,m

a.Wl.OOO 3,133,01)9

S1^

f'ME TROPICAL AGRICCfLTtfRISir. [Makch i, 1887

OEYLON TEA

1885

Stock Import

1884
Delivery

Stock

January 550,000

Tebruary 574,000

March 562,000

April 738,000

May 738,000

June 820,000

July 1,124,000

August 993,000

September 978,000

October l,001,ouo

November 994,000

December 1,028,000

a

9 r- ' ■"

^S

♦3 f^.r-

177,000
257.000
3©3,000
193,000
167,000
180,000
143,000

66,000
183,000
210,000
251,000
190,000
146,000
133,000

IstJime to 31st May 1884—85
Do do 1885—86

1st June to Slat Dec. oiily,1884
Do do do 1885

Do do do 1886

1,420,000 1,179,000

Import

lb.
2,482,000
5,060,1100
1,421,000
2,642,000
4,457,000

JAVA TEA.

Ist June to 31st May 1883—84
Do do 1884-85

Do do 1885—86

1st June to 31st Dec only,1884
Do do do 1885

Do do do 1186

Import

lb.
3,501,000
3,256,000-
3,849,000
1,800,000
1,888,000
1,985,000

414,000

489,000
582,000
523,000
500,000
535,000
545,000

Delivery

lb.
2,047,000
3.933.000
1,179,000
2,350,000
4,662,000

Delivery

10.
3,452,000
3,545,000
3,565,000
2,168,000
2,159.000
2,271,000

PLANTING IN FIJI.

Levuka, Dec. 10th. — The weather of this year has
been very remarkable. The first three months furnished
three hurricanes. The next six tlareatened the islands
with all the evils of a severe drought, and the last
quarter promises to be unpleasantly remarkable for its
rainfall. Over all the group heavy rains have been
general, and the prospect is still very watery. In some
parts more than enough has already fallen, and evil
effects are following. Especially has this been felt at
Taviuni. While from other parts of the group com-
plaints were heard of the long spell of too fine weather
which followed the hurricane, Taviuni continued to
receive more than its average rainfall. Latterly, to
this had been added an equal share of the copious
general downpour, and the island has been deluged.
The growth of jungle and weeds has been something
extraordinary, but the root crops, yams, kumalas, &c.,
have rotted in the ground, and there is a scarcity of
these kinds of food which will yet be more severely
felt before it is relieved. From the above and other
causes the cane on the Holmhurst estate has suflrered
severely, and the yield of sugar will be very poor. The
mill commenced working late, and it is now continuing
in a spasmodic fashion, crushing a few hours a day, as
the labourers engaged are not sufficient to get cane
to the rollers in quantity sufficient to keep them in
full work. A considerable acreage has been planted up.
It is reported that when crushing is over all but very few
of the European fwf^j/oyc.s will be ilischarged until next
season for tlie purpose of i educing working expenses. At
Sella Levu there is a large acreage ot .splendid cane to be
crushed ; but here, al.so, they are very backward, through
the delay caused by substituting water for steam power.
At Mango the rainfall has been heavy, but it has
done only good. It has given a wonderful impetus
to the growing crops and coconuts but as a
matter of course the sudden excess of mois-
ture reduced the density of the cane ready
for the rollers, and after a few weeks's crushing it
was considered advisable to stop the mill for a while.
From the other parts of the Lau province the reports
are to the effect that the country is looking splendid,
and there is the i^romise of a heavy coconut crop for
next season. At I3a and Ea, which are two of the
driest districts in the colony, the heavy rains did not
Bet in until the crushing was nearly over. The yield
row the New Zealand Asgocjation Company's Raiawai j

Estate in the first-named district has largely exceeded
all expectations. This was set at 1,200 tons. Already
600 tone have been shipped away. A fortnight ago
1,200 tons were ready for shipment, and it was ex-
pected that the general yield would not be far short
of 2,000 tons. The average of the cane crop has been
light, not more than 38 tons to the acre ; but it is the
splendid density which has given the high return, and
it is said that the average output has been at the
rate of one ton of sugar to eight tons of cane. On
this point millers are always very reticent, but the
statement will bear a liberal discount, and then be a
good one. At any rate there is no doubt that the re-
turns are very satisfactory and prospects most en-
couraging.

Another step is to be taken which will have the
effect of putting labour matters on a better footing.
Legislation on this general subject ranged under three
heads — Fijian, Indian, and Polynesian. The Ordinances
have to a large extent been of a tentative character,
and have been so multiplied by amending Ordinance
and Ordinances to amend the amending Ordinances,
that their name is legion. There are between 15 and
20 different laws in force affecting the relations of
master and indentured servant, and it was found that
to keep the run of them it would be necessary to re-
tain standing counsel, not for, but on each estate.
With a view to remedy this, the Hon. John Hill gave
notice of his intention, at the last meeting of the
Legislative Council, to move for the codifying of these
numerous enactments, but withdrew the notice on being
informed that the Attorney-General was already half
way through the work. — Argus.

THE TEA MAEKET : POSITION OF CEYLON
ESTATES AND DISTRICTS.
We do not know why the returns should differ
go greatly, but appended to the interesting an-
nual review by Messrs. Wilson, Smithett & Co.,
we find the Board of Trade figures for Home con-
sumption of tea, and we are glad to notice that
they are far more encouraging than those we
quoted from Messrs. Stenning, Inskipp & Co.'s
Report. The quantities now given are : —

1884 . . 176,000,000 lb.

1885 .. 182,456,000 „

1886 „. 178,894,000 „

The average for the three years is thus
179,000,000 lb. These are the deliveries for Home
consumption. For export they have been : —

1884 . . 44,611,000 lb.

1885 .. 42,036,000 „

1886 .. 44,413,000 „

The average export has, therefore, been almost
exactly 44 millions of pounds, which added to the
average for Home consumption give an average
of total deliveries equal to 223 millions of pounds.
The stock of all kinds at the end of 1886 was
109,727,000 pounds, of which 1,660,460 were Cey-
on teas.

Messrs. Wilson, Smithett append to their review
details, (which we shall reprint tomorrow,) in which
Ceylon estates are ranged according to the aver-
age prices of their teas in 1886. Blackstone, owing
to Mr. Barber's fine plucking, hard-rolling and
generally careful manufacture, stands first with an
average of Is 9:id for 20,000 1b. Agarsland, where
also much importance is attached to hard-rolling,
comes close behind with 12,000 lb. at Is 9d.
Loolcondura, many will be surprised to hear, who
know how fine the plucking is, stands only third,
with 34,000 lb. at Is C|d. The vast majority of
the estates range over Is and prices between
that sum and Is 2fd, " sundry marks " realiz-
ing an average of Is Old for 650,000 lb. The largest
quantity against any name is opposite KAW, (three
estates besides large quantities of purchased leaf,)
the figures being 300,0001b. at Is 3Ad. This is a
result of which the Manager, Mr. Meggiosoo, Oifty

March 2, 2887.J fHE TROPICAL AGRlCULTVUmf,

B7^

well be proud. The next highest figures for quan-
tity are opposite Vellaioya, 187,500 at Is, Then
we get 15J:,000 for Dunedin at Is IJd and exactly
the same quantity for Kandaloya at Is 0*d. Maria-
watte sold 137,000 lb. at an average of Is 2§d,
Dewalakanda 136,000 at Is Id, and Imboolpittiya
135,000 at Is 2d, Hope 100,000 at Is OJd,
Campden Hill 102,000 at Is 0|d and Windsor
Forest 100,000 at Is 3d. Gallamudena sold 92,000
at the fine average of Is 3Jd, and Elston 76,000
at is 2d.

Messrs. Wilson, Smithett & Co. have also at-
tempted to range the various tea producing dis-
tricts, according to the averages realized by their
produce. In this list (from which arc excluded
650,000 lb. as " untraceable,") the comparatively
young district of Bogawantalawa takes first rank
with 76,000 lb. at about Is 4d ; Puiululoya comes
next with 5-1,000 at Is 3d, while Ambagamuwa
with Lower Dikoya, shows 1,130,000 at Is 2d.
Maskeliya will be put on her mettle to find her-
self No. 10, sharing the average of Is IJd with
Upper Dikoya, Dimbula and Dolosbage. Badulla
and Haputale begin well with Is 2d, the same
figure being against Hewahette, while Kadugan-
nawa shows Is l|d. As the years advance it is
more than probable that the relative rank of dis-
tricts may be altered, but as a first attempt to
classify, the list is interesting and useful.

We have no doubt planters and others interested
will have criticisms to offer, when we publish the
full details.

Wilson, Smithett dj Co's Ceylon Tea Memmoranda
for 1SS6.)
London, January 21st 1887.

Although the average price realised for Ceylon Tea,
which we estimate at Is IJd during the past year
as against Is 3Jd for 1885, shows a considerable de-
cline, yet those interested in the industry may well
be congratulated on the firm hold the article has
now obtained upon popular favor. The Colonial and
Indian Exhibition afforded an excellent opportunity
for bringing Ceylon Tea more prominently under public
notice, and it is now readily admitted that the public
were thus enabled to taste and appreciate the deli-
cious flavor of absolutely pure Ceylon Tea — the
majority of them, undoubtedly for the first time. This
gave a great impetus to the demand for the article,
and a glance at our table of Deliveries on the last
page, will show how well this demand has been main-
tained. But that the article may not fall in the esti-
mation of consumers, we trust that some means may
be found to stop the wholesale traffic in spurious
Ceylon Tea which many small and unscrupulous
dealers do not hesitate to promote. The names of
sundry " crack " gardens are pirated in the most
shameless fashion to farther the sale of the commonest
China Tea, and we think it is worthy of the consi-
deration of the Planters' Association in Ceylon to
try and devise some measures to counteract this.

Complaints of loss in weight continue to be frequent;
in order to avoid this, care should be taken at the factory
to fill every package in a break with exactly the
same amount of Tea — nominally a certain number of
full pounds, but actually a | lb. more to allow for
any evaporation that may take place, and in order
to ensure the scale being well turned. If this be
carefully done the importer can guarantee that every
package in eacla break is of an equal net weight
and he will enter the goods at the warehouse for,
" net-weighment ; " this means that 10 per cent, only
of each break will be turned out to test the accu-
racy of the merchant's statement, and on this proving
correct the invoice weights are accepted, are so en-
tered in the books of the warehouse, and cannot be
delivered except at these weights. Should, however,
a majority of the 10 per cent., in proportion to the
size of the parcel, prove the given weights to vary,
the whole of the invoice will be turned out, and
tbe tarea i&keu ; iu this process weight may be eftsily

lost, for, should the package scale an ounce over a
certain number of pounds, an extra pound is counted,
and thus almost a pound a package may be lost ; it
is also advisable so to arrange that the weights of
every chest, lead-lining, &c. may be equal and just
under a certain number of pounds. We may observe
that there are also frequent occurrences of gain in
weight, however, and this;suggests the enquiry whether
planters have their scales tested and adjusted, a precau-
tion which is continually being taken, under the super-
intendence of the Customs, at the London ware-
house, and which would be still more necessary in
a climate like that of Ceylon. In conclusion, we
give an instance where a loss of nearly 21b. a pack-
age is made under the system of "average taring."
Suppose the gross weight of a chest to be 1 cwt.
20 lb. 15 oz. and the tare 19lb. 1 oz. the net weight
will then actually be 113 lb. 11 oz.; the warehouse
weights, will stand— gross 1 cwt. 201b. (for in weigh-
ing gross the importer is not credited with the odd
ounces) and tare 201b., giving the net weight as 1121b.
thus leaving an actual loss of lib. 14 oz.

A great many " Factory Bulked " Teas still arrive
in a condition requiring re-bulking here. We only
advocate factory-bulking on estates where ample space
is available. Machine-packed invoices from Kintyre
have come under our notice where the appearance,
size and color of the leaf was perfectly even, and bear-
ing unmi<^takeable evidence that a thoroughly even
pressure had been exerted in the process of filling.

Invoices have been much more satisfactorily graded
of late. Small parcels are now frequently sent home
in an unassorted shape, instead of being split up
into several small breaks. We do not, however, ad-
vocate the wholesale manufacture^offcUnassorted Teas on
large yielding estates, but we think that the pro-
portion of Broken Pekoe should be comparatively
small, and that of the thickest and finest description.

Summary of Ceylon Tea sold at public auction in London
between January 1st and December 31st, 188(3, Estimated
amount in lb. and average prices realised : —

Blackstone

Agarsland

Loolcondura

Elbedde

Mooloya

Chapelton

St Leys

Tillyrie

Gorthie

KAW

Agrakauda

Gallamudena

HardenJuiish

Meanagalla

Calsay

Deaiistone

Errol

Gallebodde

Giugrauoya

Ovoca

Kookwood

St. JoTin Del Key

Windsor Forest

Boguliawatte

Dedugalla

Duusiuaue

Glassaugh

Hayes

Heeloya

May field

Wallaba

Alton

Barcaple

Mariawatte

Norton

New Caledonia

Pundaloya

Tunisgalla

Venture

Barnagalla

Leangapella

Lankapura

Peradeuia

Adams Peak

Bunyan

Dalleagles

Darrawella

Diagama

About

About

lb.

per

lb.

8

d

20000

9i

12000

9

34000

6k

20000

5-

17500

4

15000

4

8000

4

11500

4

8000

3J

300000

34

5000

92,00

32500

3|

30000

25000

3

16500

3

11000

3

78000

3

8000

3

45000

3

20o00

3

9500

3

lOOOOO

3

9000

2|

14000

4

24000

2|

6000

24
2t

37000

11000

13500

II

6000

15500

a^

40000

2

137000

i:

13000 •

2

7000

2'
2-
2

19000

8500

5000

2 ■
2-
2:

|:

43500

21500

6000

5500

r.9000

2

31000

2

14500

2

31000

2

22500

S

Sf4

tME TMOPtCAt AGRICULf 01RIST, immcn i, 18S7.

Elston

Fordyce

Glentilt

Great Western

Goatfell

Havilland

Imboolpittia

Lindoola

Mipitiakande

Morar

Mottingham

Panmure

Penrhos

Strathellie

St. Vigens

Torwood

Arapolakande

Conou

Downside

D KE

Longford

St. Helens

Anningkanda

AEW

Craigie Lea

Culloden

Doronakande

Erlsmere

Glencairn

Glengariffe

Kintyre

KE W

Loonoogalla

New Forest

Penylan

St. Leonards

Tommagong

Tippany

Udabage

Ythaiiside

Atbertield

Dunedin

Helbodde

Indurana

Kabragalla

Norwood

Paruselle

Summerville

Warwick

Abbotaford

Avisawella

Becherton

Bitterne

Crurie

Cyprus

Dewalakauda

Eaatlaud

Ernan

Goorookoya

Gneiss Koek

Ivies

J, CC in triangle

Kellie

Luccombe

Laxapana

Middleton

Sheen

Scarborough

Templestowe

Theberton

Waltrim

Abbotsleigh

Ardross

Binoya

Campden Hill

Elkadua

Kaluganga

Massena

Moray

Rangbodde

Wayveltalawa

Bellougella

Beaumont

Comer

Emelina

Epplewatte

Ferndale

Gangwaril^

Hoolankanda

Kandnloya

Labookellie

Liavant

Meddecombra

Mukeloya

Nilloomally

Oliphant

About
lb.

76000

29000

34000

33500

16500

31000

13o000

46000

62000

8000

13000

12000

100(10

6700(J

11500

26O0O

56500

5000

14500

7500

7500

41000

35500

12.300

8000

50000

32500

11000

8000

20500

66500

16500

6500

5500

75000

5000

8000

8500

7000

9000

30000

1541100

47000

53000

17500

11000

14500

35500

6000

53000

21500

IIOOO

16000

9000

10000

136000

15000

20000

31000

30000

13000

7000

37000

45500

30000

9000

12000

31000

7000

22500

20000

7000

45000

14000

102000

39000

13000

11000

37000

18500

42000

6000

8000

26000

26500

7000

7500

8000

7500

154000

41500

57000

35000

7000

16500

About
per lb.
s d

01

ol

Of

of
ol

04

o|

0|
0-1
Oi

0^

OJ
OJ
OJ
OJ
OJ

oJ

OJ
OJ

About
lb.

About
per lb.

s d

Orwell

3S500

OJ

Penrith

...

9000

00

Taprobaue

...

5000

0-

Woodstock

...

27000

oi

Wattekelle

5000

0

YeHaugowry

...

2S5I)0

Oi

Castlemilk

11000

ft-

0,

Columbia

11000

DamblagoUa

..."

i:i50o

0

Eliindale

...

3or>oo

0

0;

Gavatenno

...

6000

Haddington

...

11000

0,

o'

0.

ol

Hope

...

... IIOOOO

Hunasgeria

...

16500

Kowlah ene

...

13(1110

Laxaijanggalla

...

l(5.'i(XI

o|
oi

Mahacudagalla

...

115U0

Ooonoouagalla

...

07000

Dalhousie

...

9500

—

Earn ham

...

10000

Frogniore

...

7000

Glenalla

...

32000

Hatherleigh

...

5000

Mahalla

...

6000

Morton

...

25500

New Peradeniya

...

16000

Pooprassie

...

18500

—

Parragalla

...

7500

Sogama

...

83000

Semba watte

...

96000

Upcot

...

7000

...

Vellaioya

...

... 187500

Yaha Ella

...

7000

Elchico

...

7000

iif

Sinnapittia

...

31000

ii-J

Springwood

...

21500

m

Amblakanda

...

8500

0

Hi

Delta

,,.

6500

0 11}

Kelani

...

30500

0

11^

Oodewelle

...

9000

0

111

Raugwell

...

7000

0

iij

Broad Oak

.'.*

6500

0

Hi

Coolbawn

...

18000

0 11|

Koladenia

...

25000

on'

Lauderdale

...

20000

0 u

Cheitsey

...

6C00

0

m
io|

Doteloya

...

35000

0

Lebanon, Middleton

and

LeaugoUa

• •*

30000

0 lOJ

Tymawr

• *•

6000

0 lOJ

Kurulugalla

• ••

13500

0 101

Morningside

..<

5000

0 10^

Hangrauoya

• •■

10000

0 10

Ha/ipwootl

...

12000

0

10

Koorooooodie

...

6000

0

10

' Sundry Marks

...

... 650000

1

oj

Estimated Yield and average Price realized on

the cliflerent Ceylon

Tea Districts, comp

led

from

the PubHc Auctions

held in

London between Jan.

1st and Dec. 31st, 1886 :—

lb.

Ai

•. price

about.

per lb.
about,

A

Bogawantalawa...

... 76,000

* u.

1 4

Pundaloya

...

... 54,000

1 3

Ambegamuwa, with Lower Dikoya

...1,130,000

1 2

Badulla and Haputale

•..

... 7,000

1 2

Hewahetta (Upper & Lower)

... 285,000

1 3

Kaduganawa

...

... 177,0"00

1 IJ

Dikoya (Upper)...

...

... 273,000

1 1

Dimbulla (Upper and Lower

... 350,000

1 1

Dolosbage

•.1

... 506,000

1 1

Maskeliya

•.#

... 594,000

1 1

Yacdessa

..(

... 457,000

1 1

Kahitara

...

... 203,000

1 1:

Kelaui Valley ...

...

... 886,000

1 1

Nuwara Eliya with Uda Pussellawa

and Maturata...

...

... 101,000

1 1

Saberagamua

■•>

... 304,000

1 1

Matale with Huuasgeria

Kellebokka,

Knuckles, &c. ...

...

... 200,000

1 0?

1 oj

Pussalawa and Kotmale

...

... 270,000

Kamboda

...

... 61,000

1 OJ

1 oi

Hantana and Nilambe

... 51,000

N.B. — Untraceable marks to the

extent of about 650,000 lb,

ai

e not included in the above estimate.

A

TEA MACHINEBY AND PATENTS.

Of course no man whose rig^hts are invaded or
his interests injured should be debarred from his
legal remedy, but one is naturally inclined to ask
what patents are good for and tl}e iuvestigatioQB on

March i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

575

which patents are granted, if they leave the door
for litigation as wide open as ever. Tlie process
with regard to tea rollers has been curious, if the
facts as we apprehend them are correct. Messrs.
Kinmond and Jackson were rival inventors in
India and the High Court of Calcutta decided that Mr.
Jackson had invaded Mr. Kinmond's patent. Mr
Jackson compromised the matter with Mr. Kinmond
by a money payment, and went ahead, until he gave
tea planters the "Excelsior" roller. Then by a kind
of poetic justice Mr. Jackson had to take action
against invasion of his patent rights, being in this
case successful. Then, we are told that Mr. Thomp-
son's "most peculiar" Challenge Roller embodied a
principle which Mr. Kindmond invented but did
not patent here. What Mr. Thompson took over from
Mr. Kinmond, Mr. Barber transferred from Mr.
Thompson's Challenge, and challenges Mr. Thomp-
son to follow up his advertisement by an action.
Like a man who was recently shot dead in
America, Mr. Thompson has "made no remark."
While Mr. Jackson was prosecuting an invader of
his rights, Messrs. Law and Davidson actually ob-
tained a patent for a new roller and as proof of their
good faith the fact is mentioned that they re-
quested Mr. Jackson's agents to manufacture their
machines They found they had gone into the lion's
den, for tJtey also are to be prosecuted for invading
Mr. Jackson's patent. Finally and lastly Mr. Kin-
mond has again, in defiance of the proverb that
" a rolling stone gathers no moss " gone in for
another roller, which we trust will not generate
such fearful heat as his former machine did,
when we witnessed its performances on Dunedin,
There is a full but not quite accurate descrip-
tion of the new Kinmond roller in the local
" Times." We have been told that there is incor-
rectness in the addition of the words " or rolling
surface " to the following passage :—

It seems to differ from the present Jackson's roller
principally in the motion imparted to both upper and
under rolling surfaces. This motion is not transverse,
but rotatory, the pressure being obtained, as in Jack-
son's, by means of a loose weight in the upper jacket.
We are also told that ignorance of engineering
principles is evident in the following passage : —

One would suppose that, when full power was applied,
the rolling surfaces would move out at a greater rate
than there was any necessity for, since a reduction in
power to half still generates sufficient pace to give the
leaf a good roll.

The errors in the local " Times " description do not
of course affect the merits of Kinmond's new roller,
regarding which our contemporary has been told
that

The patentees are sanguine that they have hit
upon a roller destined to eclipse all others at present
in use here or elsewhere, and this can ouly be proved
by time and experiment. We believe Mr. Hardengue
is about to erect another of these machines on some
estate in Dikoya, [one being at work on Lebanon. —
Ed. C. O,] the name of which has not reached us, placing
it alongside another of Jackson's rollers. The fact
seems to us to be that Messrs. Marshall & Sons, the
makers of Mr. Jackson's machines, and Messrs. Robey
& Co., the makers of Mr. Kinmond's machines, com-
pete keenly with one another, and the latter are
anxious to show that they can turn out as well devised
and well executed machines as the first-named firm
have undoubtedly done. Of Mr. Jackson's machines
tea planters in Ceylon have now had a lengthened
experience iu practical working, and, if the patentees
of the Kinmond-Richardson intend to beat either the
Excelsior, or the Universal rollers iu puV>lic estim-
ation, they have a task indeed bufore them.
So far for the contest as between the giants. As
to the case of Jackson against Law and David-
son we are assured that the defendants feel as-
sured they can .successfully resist the claim made.

It is added that Mr. Jackson must inevitably
bring a fellow case against the patentees of the
Kinmond-Richardson roller, as it appears to embody
the very feature Messrs. Law and Davidson are accus-
ed of taking over, but which accusation they hold is
groundless. Such seem to be the facts and while
we, on behalf of the public appreciate the in-
genuity devoted to improved tea machinery, by
so many ingenious men, we can only trust that
the right may prevail and that good profits to
patentees and manufacturers may be found to be
compatible with moderate prices.

CEYLON PLANTERS' ASSOCIATION : GIN.

CHONA STATISTICS OF JAVA,

Planters' Association of Oeylon,
Kandy, 8th February, 1887.
The Editors, the " Cei/lon Observer," Colombo.
Sirs, — I beg to enclose tor publication, and to invite
attention to, copy of further letters received from
Government on the subject of Cinchona Statistics and
Cultivation in Java. I am, sirs, yours faithfully,

A. PHILIP, Secretary.

Colonial Secretary's Office,

Colombo, 20th Jan. 1887.
The Secretary Planters' Association, Kandy.
Sir, — With reference to my letter of the 13th ult., I am
directed by the Governor to forward for yeur inform-
ation the annexed copy of a letter from the Governor
General of the Netherlands India. — I am, &c ,

(Signed) H. C. P. Bell,
for Colonial Secretary.

Batavia, 14th Dec. 1886
No. 24, Enclosure 1.
To His Excellency the Governor of Ceylon.

Sir, — ^With reference to your Excellency's letter of
the 2()th August last, I beg to enclose a report on
cinchona cultivation in Java, which, whilst treating
upon the different questions put by your Excellency
contains some further informations regarding cin-
chona planting in these parts, which I venture to
believe will likewise prove of interest. — I have, &c.,

(Signed) C. Van Rees.
Governor General of Netherlands India.
Report on Cinchona Cultivation in Java.

I. — Which kinds of cinchona appear to have the best
chance of success and which descriptions are chiefly
grown ? For cinchona cultivation only the following
species deserve consideration: —

(a) C. Ledr/eriana. — In regard to type, this species
stands foremost as it contains the highest proportion
of quinine (ripe barks contain from 6 to 12 per cent
quiuine) and iu the bark of which no cinchonidine or even
traces of it are to be found. In comparison with
the C. Succiruhra the C. Ledgeriana is of an ex-
trimely slow growth and therefore more particularly
adopted to fertile and specially to virgin forests' soils.
The altitude at which C. Ledgeriana is being cultivated
with success, varies from 3,500 to 5,000 Rhynland feet
above the sea level. An elevation of some 4,000 feet
is deemed the most favourable to cultivation, unless in
very moist climates in which at an altitude of about
3,500 feet the growth is strongest.

(B) C. Succiruhra from which highly valuable barks,
best fitted for chemists' purposes are obtained.
The ripe barks only contain a limited proportion of
quinine, averaging about 1 per cent against 4 per cent
of cinchonidine. These barks, therefore, are not so
much used for sulphate of quinine manufacture, unless
the Mclvor process has been adopted, by wliich a new
bark containing from It to 4| per cent quinine is
generated. JMcIvor's method, however, is gradually
finding more and more antagonists, and does not answe**
expectations because: istly, its application (partial
stripjjing of the tree) requires a good deal of labor and
most minute superintendence ; 2udly, it is highly in-
juriouR to the development of the tree ; Srdly, mossing
the partially stripped tree attracts all kind of insects
causing much damage and sometimes the trees to die.

57.6

THE TROPI'CAL AGRICULTURIST. [March 1, 1BS7,

The value of succirubra barks is not determined by
the proportion of alkaloids they contain, but ex-
clusively by their outward appearance. Undamaged
thick quill barks, doubly rolled, if possible 1 meter in
length, of a silver-white colour and covered with all kinds
of moss and inside of a dark-red colour deemed the
best. It requires from 15 to 20 years to obtain such
barks and tliis leads to the conclusion that they will
always cemmand good prices on the European mar-
kets. It is true that their quill-barks of less length
and also root-bark of 0. Succirubra yield an article
still highly valued by druggists, but it is obvious that
owing to the rapid growth of the 0. Succirubra the
market will soon get overstocked with inferior bark
of this kind.

(C) Hybrids of O. Ledgeriana and C. Succirubra. —
These hybrids differ from 0. Ledgeriaua by their
growth, which, if not fully equal to that of 0. Succi-
rubra, at least comes very near to it. Among these
hybrids, some specimens may be found containing
10 per cent quinine with more or less cinchonidine.
Great extension is given to the cultivation of these
hybrids and there is good reason for it as they yield
an important quantity of bark for the manufacturers'
market within a comparatively short time. And if it
might appear that owing to their composition they were
less fit for manufacturing purposes, they will always
prove valuable to chemists.

II. What is the area under cinchona cultiva-
tion and the average production of bark per acre r*
— No accurate information is to be obtained
as to the acreage of cinchona. At all events the
number of cinchona plantations is not likely to
increase, confidence in cinchona cultivation being
shaken by the constant fall in prices. Existing plant-
ations, however, will scarcely fail to bring all the
land granted in hereditary lease under cultivation.
According to incomplete and rather untrustworthy
information supplied by planters the yield of private
plantations in Java for 1883, 1884 and 1885 is set
down at 379,728, 667,894 and 659,492 Amsterdam
pounds respectively. (125 Amsterdam lb. equal to 136 lb.
English.) The Government plantations extend over
about IjOuO Bahoes or about 1,750 acres, and now
yield a| product of nearly 500,000 Amsterdam lb,,
which may be gradually increased to about one
million, without any noteworthy extension of the present
acreage but merely by the high culture being resorted
to. As to the yield per bahoe or per acre the follow-
ing remarks in regard to the cultivation of both
C. Ledgeriana and 0. Succiruba may prove of use: —
The price of manufacturer's baiks is determined
by the yield in quinine. Barks containing 1 per cent
quinine (calculated for air dried bark) yield
1'346 per cent sulphate of quinine. The accessory
alkaloids being of but little value are left out of ac-
count. In the trade the price of manufacturers' bark is
calculated per unit viz., per pound and per cent of
sulphate of quinine, which may be extracted there-
from. If that unit (as according to the latest market
reports) be c. 0'15, barks with I per cent quinine will
realize 1x1, 346 x 0,15 c 020 per pound or half kilogram.
Now c 0'20 per half kilogram is already very near
to the limit at which bark can be supplied to home
markets as it covers the coat of harvesting, drying,
packing, shipping and sale in Eurojie, or in one word,
the expenses of laying out plantation, however, of man-
agement, taxes and keeping up the estate in general, are
left out of account. It is evident that with a rising
market inferior barks may cover the collecting expen-
ses, whereas they will be left on the plantations on
prices falling, and this will make it clear that the
production per bahoe or per acre is chiefly gov-
erned by the market value or the price per unit
assumed. If it falls, the yield decreases, whereas
on its rising crops at once become more plentiful.
This also shows that there is no very marked differ-
ence between barks for the manufacture of sulphate of
quinine and those for chemists' use. For if the latter
are no more up to the mark owing to superabundant
production, they may still be perfectly suited for whole-
sale manufacture of sulphate of quinine, as for instance
damaged succirubra quill barks of unequal lengths with-

out lichens and without silver white colour containing
about 1^ to 2 per cent, quinine and succirubra root,
bark yielding 1 per cent quinine. As to barks for the
druggists' market. their production per bahoe or per acre
is determined by constantly increasing requirements.
With a falling market the collection of branches, twigs
and of the upper parts of the stem does not cover cost.
These] will, therefore, he abandoned on the plantations
and only the finer barks selected for shipment. The
following figures may be considered as minima
of production : — Virgin soils subjected to high
culture may yield per bahoe in Ledgeriaua bark,
after 3 years 300 lb. averaging ^ per cent in Quinine

yield,
„ 4 400 „ „ 2

„ 5 500 „ „ 2i

,, 6 600 „ „ 3 „ „

» 7 703 „ „ 3| „ „

„ 8 800 „ „ 4 „ „

„ 9 900 „ „ 4^ „ „

„ 0 1000 „ „ 5

per acre (taking the acre at 6-lOths of a bahoe) after
from 3 to 10 years 180 to 600 lb, averaging from IJ
to 5 per cent quinine, such productions may be ob-
tained merely by clearing and thinning out no more
than absolutely necessary without injury to the den-
sity of the plantations which, after felling and up-
rooting still may yield a return of at least 4,000 lb.
pe r bahoe or 2,400 per acre containing 5 per cent
quinine after ten years. It is to be observed that no
accurate information is to be obtained as to the pro-
duction of Ledgeriana bark, the collection of twig barks
having considerably decreased under the influence of
low prices, whereas fulling type Ledgeriana plantations
on the Government estate is still out of the question.
It is even more diifi.cult to procure information as
to the return per bahoe or per acre of succirubra
barks. Production is entirely ruled by the magnitude
of supplies to home markets and in connection
herewith by the increasing difficulty in meeting
requirements. In addition to this the jn-ice of the
unit for manufacturers bark has also to be taken into
consideration, because as stated above, in certain cases,
also a portion of succirubra barks is also taken for
making sulphate of quinine. A couple of years ago
the yield of succirubra plantations after the third
year already was not an unimportant one. Actually
harvesting has been postponed till the 5th or 6th year
and even then the crop is a small one. Under favour-
able circumstances the following figures may be
assumed as minima of succirubra production : —
After the 5th year 300 Amsterdamlb. per bahoe
„ 6th „ 400 „ „ „

„ 7th „ 500 „ „ „

8th „ 600
9th „ 700 „

10th „ 800

or after from 5 to 10 years from 180 to 480 lb. per
acre and this result may be secured merely by uproot-
ing stiled and not suiBciently developed trees. The
object is to retain robust trees in order to obtain
those thick and long quill barks of a fine appearance
which are always in such good request. The production
to be obtained by felling plantation from 15 to 20 years
old is not to be stated with accuracy but may be
safely set down at 5,000 lb. per bahoe or 3,000 per
acre. Planting hybrids of C. Ledgeriana and C. Sue
cirubra has only been recently introduced and there-
fore no figures of production can be given.

III. — Is the yearly product regularly exported or
stored in anticipation of an improved demand ? —
As far as known it is customary in Java immediately
to ship oif the bark to Europe and have it sold as
quickly as uossible.

IV. What will be the quantities for export dur-
ing the next years ?— The crop at the Government
plantation is estimated at fully 450,000 lb. in 1886,
500,0001b. in 1887 and 550,000 in 1888. It is very
difficult to frame an estimate of private produc-
tion, but it may be sately assumed as constantly
increasing. The course adopted at the Government
estate of promoting as much as possible the growth
of robust cinchona trees, by the application of

March i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

577

high culture is universally imitated. Much import-
ance is attached to obtmiing dense plantation so
as to check weeds as much as possible. To ae-
cure this end the trees are planted at very small
distances into the unbroken soil 4x4. Rhynlaud
teet may be taken as minimum distance. The
plantations havmg densely grown up, thiunmg out
is commenced witli by uprooting stifled trees and trees
about to be stifled, or merely by cutting twigs if it might
appeir that the open space left by the tree being
felled would be too large. " Early, frequent and
moderate harvesting " may be taken as a rule. This
mode of working has proved in the long run to be the
most profitable one to .planters, because it requires
but little care in keeping up plantations and leaves
the trees to develop powerfully and undisturbedly.
On production falling off by thmning out, felling
of the whole plantation will have to be resorted
do. Barks are generally sun-dried, owing, however,
to the damp climate in which estates are situated,
drying kilns are gradually getting into use.

Gdm Leaves fok Diseased Fowls. — A correspondent
writes to the Toini and Country Journal that tht-re is a
remedy for the ills of the pou, try-yard always at hand
in the gum trees around it. He says : — "For diarrhcea,
dysentery, aud cholera in fowls, get a quantity of
eucalyptus leaves (whits or blue gum ; I havf usel both)
Dry the leaves sufficiently to make them brittle,
crush, and make into pills with the aid of a little bread
or dough. Put as much of the powdf-r (i. e., crushed
or powdered leaves) as you can lif- with a shilliug into
each pill. Give one to each fowl afifec'ed, and if neces-
sary repeat the dose next day. I have not had a single
death amongst my fowls since I used the foregoing
remedy. I lost seventeen in two days with cholera,
and the four I saved out of the twenty-cme I had, could
not stand when I gave them the pills. They are now
fine healthy birds. I have recommended the remedy to
several people, and in no case has th^re been a si gle
failure. I lost at the same time a collection of Ausira-
liau parrots from the same complaint, and it was by
observing a flock of pirrot.s on the white gum trr e that
I found out the remedy. I have not lost a single parrot
since. I give any pirrot Riling a little powdert^d leaf
in a tube, inserting one end into the throat of the
bird and blowing the powder into it. Put a few leaves
into the cage for them tn eat. Finally I may add that
1 have taken a large pill, composed of the blue gum
for a very severe attack of dysentery, which proved
effectual, and the best remedy I have ever used. I
have been a severe s^ufferer. I think the eucaljptus
is iSature's remedy for the foregoing complaints, aud
is worth try'\ag."—QueensIander.

Ageicultcre axd Planting in Kwala Lumpue and
Kla.ng— Quite close to the town lies the prop, rty of the
" Selaugnr Sago and Paddy Company," a block of land
six thousand acres in extent ; the land appears to be
suitable in every respect for the cultivation propo-ed,
but it is no ^ecret that the estate has been dreadfully
mismanaged, and that its pro-pects are not very brisi^ht.
Arab gentlemen in general have many adm rabie
characteristics, but they have yet to make their ranrk
as successful managing directors of public companies.
There appears to be a good deal of young sago on
this plantation, but I saw no paddy. Another enter-
prise under native management is the plantation of
about a thousand acres belonging to the Datu Dagang
who conducts his business on truly oriental and
patriarchal principles. He has attracted some hundreds
of Javanese to settle on his laud by offering them each
a house and a plot of land plus forty dollars per
annum in hard cash, in return for which they have
to plant up his estate, all crops, except those grown
iu their own vegetable gardens, being the property of
the Datu; the sjrtem seems to work very well, the
.Javanese, who did not appear to me to be working any
harder than was good fur them, are quite contented,
and as for the Da'u, although he does not expect to
see any speedy return for his money, as he thinks it
will pay best to principally plant fruit trees which
r>

will have to be in the ground for some years before
they bear a crop, ye' he is convinced that in the long
run it will become a very valuable property, and says
that if he does not live to get his money back, it will
make a very good proviion for his children. I greatly
regret that I had not time to visit Mr. Stephenson's
pepper plantation which has frequently been described
to me as being a very successful and profitable enter-
prise ; I rode over Rlr. .J. G. Davidson's gambler plant-
ation, about which, however, it is difficult to say any-
thing of much value, as the plants are very young and
the place is terribly overgrown with lalang and weeds of
all kinds, but for plants less than a year old, grown
under such circumstances they looked very well ; and
clearing foi- pepper planting is in progress on this
estate. I forgot to mention that there is a steam saw
mill a little way out of Klaug, belonging to the ubi-
quitous firm of Hill and Rathboue. Th« revenue for
the district of Klang during the first half year of 18S5
was S62,803, and since then the duties on oil, rice,
and tobacco have been abolished, in spite of which
judicious concessions the revenue for the first six
months of the present year was 878,736 or an increase
of S15,935, a most gratifying result which clearly
shows what progress the country is making. Mr.
Turney, like Mr. Syers, has acquired the art of
managing the natives and getting them to do what
is wanted of them without any bother or trouble.
— iS( raits Times.

Ceylon Tea Advertising. — A planter writes:
— "I send you a circular being distributed in Aber-
deen. The "■unleashed Mongolian'' is very fetch-
ing!" The main parts of the circular are as fol-
lows : —

Ceylon Tea ! Ceylon Tea ! ! Ceylon Tea ! ! !—
Having just arrived from Ceylon, where I was for
several years superintending the cultivation and man-
ufacturing of Tea, I have decided to open a business
solely for the sale of Pure Ceylon Tea, importing it
direct from the factories, so as to enable me to put
before the public the pure article at lowest possible
price. In Ceylon, Tea grows from an elevation a
httle above sea level up to 6,000 feet, and according
to the height where the leaf is grown and manufact-
ured so is its strength and flavour. Knowing the
altitude of most of the estates in the island, I will
be able to buy Teas so as to make a blend compris-
ing both Strength and Flavour. Ceylon.— In the minds
of the British public, the name has been chiefly asso-
ciated with the p-oduction of Coffee, but now that
Coffee in many districts has almost entirely collapsed
the Planters have turned theirattention to the cultiv-
ation of Tea, and, with their characterstic per.se ver-
ancp, are turning out an article, such as their Coffee
was. The Finest iu the World.

All Ceylon Teas are cultivated and manufactuied
under personal European supervision, and with the
highest-class machinery to be had, packed on and
shipped direct from the estates, which insnres con-
sumers getting the pure, cle.an article. China and
Japan Teas are mostly cultivated in small patches
by peasantry, who gather the leaves and prepare the
Tea iu their huts in a very unfastidious manner. Petty
dealers hawk the country, buying up these small
quantities, and selling to larger dealers, whom^inipu-
late and sell to merchants. Did the people thoroughly
understand the difference between British-grown Tea
— such as Ceylon and that of China or Japan, it is
certain that those who could get the pure, clean
machine-prepared leaf, which is turned out from the
Planters' factory, would never touch the far from pure
article prepared by the hands aud feet of the unwashed
Mongnhan. Ceylon Tea is the most economical (in so
far that one pound will go as far as 1| pounds of
China), Pure, Wholesome, and Pleasant.' Purchasers
are cautioned to sre that they get the genuine arti-
cle. Every lb. sold by me is guaranteed Pure Cetlon
Tea. .

The outside pages of th<^ circular show a very fair
engraving of "a Ceylon Tea Estate and Factory"
and " The Interior of a Ceylon Taa Factory."

57^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, i88

MANILA NEWS.

(Translated for the Straits Times.)
The devising of a machine for preparing Manila
hemp, which has fruitlessly been ext^rcising the wits
of successive jovertors, has apparenHy been solved
by D )n Abelardo Guesta, The invention since it was
first hit upon, has been improved upon materially,
and is based on a principle which only needs to be
fully applied to command success. To admit of the
Phiiippines progressing satisfactorily, the present method
of preparing hemp must he discontinued within a few
years. It is destructive to the article under notic*,
and turns out an unsightly product. In these dayi
of machinery to economise labour, it is certainly high
time to improve the prep<iration of hemp, which,
hitherto, has not shared in the march ot industrial
advancement.

The Comercio quotes from a Cuban newspaper H
paragraph announcing that a scientific trial was about
to be made there of an apparatus invented hy Senor
Aycart, who, so it is said, has solved the tough pro-
blem of perpetual motion, which has hitherto defied
the ingenuity of many aspirants for inventive fame.
It is said the invention took forty years to reach
perfection, and can develop power equivalent to that of
ten horses. The simpleuess of its constrnction and me-
chanism is wonderful &c., &c. The etceteras cannot
fail to strike one as evidences of mistrust. The dis-
covery of perpetual motion would indeed be a wonder.
It would prove to be the most thoroughgoing revo-
lution ever carried out. The world would become in that
case quite transformed. Businesses now yielding high
profits would prove ruinous altogether. Others now
unprofitable would turn out to be inexhaustible mines
of wealth. Probably, however, this invention will go
the way of all previous attempts to solve this knotty
problem.

COMMERICAL SULPHATE OF QUININE.

It a]^pear.s to be the fate of pharmacist.*^ that th^y
should occasionally be startled into wakefulness regard-
ing the purity of the drugs they handle. Fortunately
the rude a-vakening seldom proceeds from without, it
generally beiug the case that dwellers within the r.\mp
cause the commotion. Quite recently we have had a
ca^e in point in reference to the quality of European
sulphate of quinine. Dr. de Vrij, the veteran quino-
logist, in a paper published in this Jour.nal (May 1,
page 378), stated that the quinine sulphate prepared
by English. Dutch, F^eQch. and Germin manufacturers
contained cinchonidi le sulphate varying in extent from
4-7-'{ to 12-448 per cent. In this respect English quinine
was placed in a bad position undoubtedly, but in
respect of the feet that onr hnme-msde (juinine contains
much less water than that which comes from the
Continent, its actual quinine content is greater than
that of any other production. So far we take Dr. de
Vrij's figures as th^y pre given, for it is ; ot our object
in this note eithpr to contradict or to defend them. A
few days after the publication of the paper in question,
Dr. de Yrij ^rave a ritumc of it before the Paris
Pharmaceutical Society (The Chemist and Druggist,
May 8, p. 404), and, as a result thereof, the Society at
a s ibseqiieut meeting appoinied a committee lo ( xpcri-
ment with the Codex test, which was impugned, and to
check as far as po.ssible Dr. de Vrij's alarming state-
aif-nts. The French Codex text is a modification of
Kerner's test, a modificatiou in su far as the exact
temperature at which the test is to be performed has
been unintentionally omitted. This test of Kerner's
ii >tn ol-i one, comparatively, and has beeu adopteii in
the Ge-man as well as in the French Pharmacpoeia, and
with, ilight modifications in the United States Ph rma-
copoeia. Its application in simple; 2 gramwes of the qui-
nine under (xamination are agitated and macerated in 20
CO. of distilled water at 15° 0. for balf-an-hour ; 5 c.c.
of the solution are then filtered off and cautiously
mixed with 7. c.c. of 10 per cent solution of ammonia,
wnnn a clear solution should be obtained. The
j.rinciple of the test i« also simple ; fir.stlv, the
► ulphate of quinine alone givt 8 a precipitate soluble in

excess of ammonia, or, more correctly speaking, in the
ammonia and ammonium sulphate which is formed,
and no other salt of quinine responds to the test.
St condly, cinchouidine sulphate — the body which the
test is mainly designed to detect — is about six times
more soluble in plain water than is quinine sulphate,
consequently a small proportion is made apparent, and
its hydrate, or ammonia precipitate, is quite insoluble
in excess of the re-agent ; therefore by suitable means
the insoluble alkaloid may be separated, weighed, and
the percentage of cinehonidioe so determined approxi-
mately. The French committee, in addition to working
with this test, repeated tli*e polarisoopic tCbt used by
Dr. de Vrij, with th.e result, as stated in our last
wO'-k's issue, that they reported through their convener,
M. Jungdfisch, that commercial quiuine sulphate con-
taius 8, 10, 12, aud sometimes as much as 16 per
cent of sulphate of ciuchonidine. They also corioborate
Dr. de Vrij in his stateint-nt t'lat the light or bulky
quinines contain most cinchonidine.

Theae facts are by no means new, and have been
pointed out lepeatedly by quiiiologists. Our own
Pharmacopoeia permits 5 per cent of impurity io sul-
phate of quuiine, aud gives an excelleut test whereby
that, or less or largei, amount may be detected aud
separated. Absolute purity, thou.i^h obtainable, is not
advisable or practicable, owing to the cost of producing
a salt of the kind.

In the the course of his statement before the Paris
Society, Dr. de Vrij mentioned another simple test,
which is due to him, aud which may be readily applied
according to Mr. Divid Howard's modification. It is
as follows : —Dissolve 10 parts of quinine sulphate in 9
parts of acid, sulph. dil. B.P., and 15 parts of water.
Allow the acid and sulphate of quinine to crystalise
and drain ofi' the mother liquor; wash the crystals
with a little water, and then shake the liquor with
ether and ammonia. It is necessary to keep in mind
when a(jplying these tests that cinchonidine will be
found; it is only as to its amount that a question
arises, and on this pjint we have sufficient faith in our
mauufacturers to feel that retailers will be sati.sfied.
— Ch'inisi and Druggist.

SOME FACTS ABOUT TODDY.

The correspondent who has been supplying us with
accounts of the peculiar temperance movement in this
Presidency sends the follovviug facts about toddy from
Gujerat : —

Toddy comes from nearly every kind of palm tree,
and is simply the extracted juice or sap. In these
districts it is chiefly derived from the coconut, date,
and brab palms. The coconut is supposed to yield
the best., but is usually tapped only every second
year. The fruit and flower stalk is first well bruisf-d
and then cut, and the toddy exudes freely. The
same process is carried on with respect to the brab
tree also. As to the dat« tree, an incision is deeply-
cut into the trunk of the tree close into the tuft
of leaves at the top, from whence the juice flows.
Fastened to the top are small earthen chattiea or
jars to hold the liquid. These are usually emptied
morning aud evening. The usual yield from a brab
tree is from sixty to one hundred and twenty gallons.
It seems almost incredible tliat such a large amount
of liquid should flow through the trunk of one of
these trees, and that after all this has been taken
away, the tree should seem to thrive as well as if it
had not been toucheil. The fruit of the brab tree is
a glutinous substance of little or no value. The date
tree in this country yields no marketable fruit. The
coconut is very valuable, even if it yields no toddy,
on account of the fruit .

The men who collect the toddy are called Bund-
aries. The same man however, will not usually tap,
or collect from different kinds of tree.s. Besides this,
each caste, if they may be called castes, has a different
manner of climbing the tree. The coconut bundarie,
for instance, has notches cut in the tree from bottom
to top, to assist him in his ascent. With a strap
jiround his body and the tree he fearlessly walks up
the most slender jind lofty, apparently as easily A9

March i. 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

)79

up a ladder. "While in Rangoon a few years ago, we
watched one climb a tree growing out of the base
of the great Pagoda and leaning for over the edge,
■0 that had he made a slip he would have fallen
hundreds of feet to the bottom of a precipice. His
danger almost oau-ed our blood to chill, and for days
the sight was deeply impressed on our minds. The
risk was exceedingly gnat for the small amount of
ralue received in the little toddy procured. The date
tree climbers have no need of notcho3 as the cast
off branches of the tree leave it sufficiently rough to
hold their feet. But we have often wondered how
one could possibly reach the little chattie fastened
many feet high in the green top of the smooth barked
brab tiee. "We have been in this country over ten
yearji, and only the other day was our curiosity on
this matter satisfied. It was simplicity itself, yet
very curious. The bundarie takes a small coil of rope
Ihe strands of which are lot much thicker than rope
yarn, and makes it into a short loop of many strands.
This IS not more than eighteen inches long. In this
loop' he places his ankles. It serves to hold his feet
togethtr as he places them against Ihe trunk of the
tree. A similar loop, a little longer, he places around
the tree awd around each wrist. Tke arrangement
allows him ths fullest use of his hands, and enables
him to firmly h»id the tree. Thus ho is equipped
for a joarncy to the top of ihe tallest and smoothest.
As he ascends he appears like a huge frog .spring-
gni up the tree. To descend, he has only to loeseii
his grip, and he conies sliding rapidlj' to bottom.
His feet are worn thick and hard in great ridges.
Of course tlieir knives and other implements, and a
large chattie, are fastened to a strap around their
wa.st.

This toddy, fresh from the tree, has a sweet, plea-
sant, nnd slightly aromatic taste. It is said to be
healthful and non-inti .\icating. It soon ferments, how-
ever, when it becomes slightly intuxicatiug. Most of
the natives prefer the fevmented toddy, but even this
is go little impregnated with alcohol that it takes
from a quarttr to half a gallon to make a man top-
heavy. If it were not for the formation of an ap-
petite, that toddy cannot satisfy, and the waste of
money in i's use, th^re could be little said against
it; but thes'^ are sufficient reasons, we think, for any
people to wholly abstain from this the least harm-
ful of into.'ccanti. — Madras Mail.

SUGAR-PLANTING IN FIJI.

The New Zealand Sugar Company's new mill on the
Ba River m-.de its first start en Monday, the 12^h inst.
The concern is an offshoot from the Colonial Sugar
Rf-fining Ccmpany, which has its Fijian headquarters
at Nausori, on the Eewa River. But in the Ba venture
there is also a large amount of New Zealand capital
invest'^d by shareholders having an interest in it alone.
The prosecution of this enterprise has opened np for
cane culture one of the most important districts of the
colony. The river itself, the mouth of which i.s on Viti
LtTu, about SO miles fomLevuka and 120 from Suva,
is the second largest in the group. It is infe'ior only
to the Rewa, and it has the advantage of greater depth.
At half-tide the passage is open for craft ranging up to
SO ton"-, and once over the flats the river offers an open
course for l."- miles. The stream holds its way between
banks of rich chocolate soil rising from 7 ft. to ]0 ft.
above oidiniry level, and on either hand stretches back
rich country.

The attraction of soil and easy means of water transit
ware not overlooked in the eailier settlement of the
CLiintry, In the days when cotton wa.i inore largely
grown the river banks were dotted with the homesteads
of pioneer planters. Cultivation was carried on with
vigovir and perseverrnce, and the Ba was one of the
busiest centres of European population outside of
Lefuka. But the settlers seemed to have fai'ed to
agree with the natives. The mutual relations were
always those of an armed truce, often breaking out into

opea bostiiitiee^ aud, with the £ai Colo especiallj, tbere

was carried on a constant war of reprisals. The two
saddest results of this were the murder of Messri.
Spires and M'Intosh in 1871, and the massacre of th«
Burns family, father, mother and childern, and
labourers, in 1873. This led to the interposition of the
Government forces between the snttlers and the moun-
taineers. But as the former had long b«en in riolent
opposition to the authorities oonstituted under King
Oakobau, they hot'y »esented this interferenee. One by
one the settVrs succumbed to the influeace of the
cotton failure, and the cultivators dwindled to a few,
who still clung to the old location.

Upon this state of things the New Zealand Company
broke in during 1883 by purchasing the Rarawai plant*
ation. The purchase of other contiguous blocks
followed, until about 3,000 acres were available for
immediate cultivation. There are now about 1,600
acres undtr crop, and the cane, young and old, kai a
splendid appearance. About half the abort) aereafe
is rf-ady for crushing, and it is expected to put through
1,000 acres this s ason.

The Ba flats are more open for cultivation than the
Rewa laod^, and because of the rainfall being much
lighter the tillage must be more thorough and system-
atic. Steam and gang ploughs have been employed,
and the land has been thoroughly subsoiled, so that
the cane may strike deep into the moisture. But it is
recognised that recour.ce must eventually be had to
irrigation, and a f cheme has been already plotted, the
cost of which, it is ssid, will approach £25,000. Until
recently the labourers emplcyed on the estate numbered
about 450 coolies and nearly 200 Polynesiana. To
th^se 500 more coolies have recently been added.
Fijians are only employed as casuals. It is intended
to add to this crushing and manufacturing power as
cultivation increases. The bnildinjf* at headquarters
form quite a small town in themselves, and there are
besides man)' blocks erected for working convenience
in other parts of the estate. Lsn 1 tran.'it, as regards
the carriage of cane to the mill, is provided for by
about 15 miles of tramway, and for water transit the
company has its large iron punts and a powerful
steamer of 80 tons.

Good as the harvest promises to be throughout the
colony, grave doubts are entertained as to the richnesa
of the reward, and in view of the low prices ruling the
market, one of the largest planters and millowners, Mr.
Jas. Muray, of the Navua Company, has written to a
local paper sketching future prospects in very dreary
tints. It is the effect of beet competition that he
dreads; and until this shall have been placed on a
different footing he anticipates anything but pro-
fitable results from the manufacture of cane sugor.
Nevertheless, it is significant that the Ba enterprise
has been entered upon chiefly by the old cstabli-'hed
Sugar Refining Company, who^e experience h<t.s 'lern
gathered in other thaJi Fijian field.=, and after it had
spent over a quarter of a million of money in testing
the capabilities of the colony. Had the result been
other than encouraging it is scarcely lik«!y that it
would have so largely increased its investment. — Atii'
tralinian.

PLANTERS ANl:) COOLIE BROKERS,

In Deli, Chinese craft and persistent comlnnatiort
have once more scored a remarkable tiiumph over
European disregard of the axiom that -'Union is
strength." For a long while, coolie biokera in the
Straits, as is the way with monopolist', h«.d tn ken ad-»
vantage of their position as such, to exact higher
and higher commissions on concluding labour con: racts
with planters in that colony, until their exactions
so outwent all boutMls that the planters, losine patience,
determined in 1585 to free theuifelve^ from su-^h
galling thraldom, when the broker charge on each
cooli«» delivered rose in amount to $60 8n<l even more,
of which the labourer only got one half. The plan-
ters formed a ring and decided upon giving no more;
than 550 as advance on each coolie. Tho brokers h< re,
being taken ([uite aback by thi« unlocked for show
of that unity which alone gives itrength, disiemblsd,

aud Oftde bcliere t& assent to tbon?^ arrniigcjuep&f

\5<J

^U^ 'TROPiCAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, i88;

The planters in bringing the brokers to put up with
a fixed maximum amount for coolies engaged through
them, met with cordial co-operation from the Protector
of Chinese in the Straits, on that official finding that
it was indeed high time to check the r^ipaci^y of the
Chinese recruitf-rs. The Protector in an annual re-
port announced his readiness to back up employers
against the exorbitant demands of the broke s, but he
warned the planters that it was only by the clost-st
co-operation, and the strictest observance of the agree-
ment come to, that they could make head against
the crafty Chinese who earn a living by the coolie
trade. In Deli, too, there was no lack of voices
raised to urge the planters to stick together and
present an unbroken front to the brokers as their only
chance of bearing up against them, and that, rather
than yield, they should strive to bring about direct
immigration from China. It was too evident that the
powerful brokers' ring would never rest until it had
brought the planters upon their knees, unless the
latter remained firm and united. As usual, European
disunion proved no match for Chinese crat'tiness and
artfulness. The final result was a call for a meet-
ing of planters in Deli to be held on the 14ih in-
st:int. The object of holding the meeting was to
regi-ter submission to the demands of the brokers.
That is the outcome of a contest begun with
such a flourish of trumpets and determination
never to give way to rapacious monopolists. The plan-
ters had, however, no other alternative. Those among
them who had made up their minds to resist, were
boycotted by the brokers, and could get no ccolies.
Their less scrupulous fellows got as many as they
wanted. Xo doubt self-preservation prompted them
to this step. Still had they stood out unitedly and
braved the wr.nth of the brokers, the triumph of
the monopolists might have been less assured. As
Lord Randolph Churchill puts it they " have chucked
up the sponge," for the same reason that brought
on the break down here of every combination among
European firms to check adulteration and fraud among
Asiatic dealers. The lesson, hard as it is, will doubt-
less be thrown away and prove barren of beneficial
results, — Sii'aits Timts.

DELI. NEWS.

(Tra7idated for the Stj'aits Times.)
The Deli Courant in its retrospect for 18S6, calls
attention to the striking circumstance of that colony's
steady prosperity throughout last year. Elsewhere in
IJfetherlfnids India, in Java especially, the past year
has proved to be a period of unbroken disaster and
adv'ersity to the commercial and planning interests.
In Deli, on the contrary tobacco cultivation spread
■wellbeing and contentment abundantly. Although the
crop of 1885 estimated at 12-5,000 bales did not prove
superior to preceding ones in unusual fineness of qua-
lity, and though there was no immediate prospect
of prices rising, confidence in the future of Sumatra
tobacco continued as great as ever both among
planters aud cigar makers. Prices, especially for the
finer and better cured kind, rose materially. But, far
too much of inferior qualities have been brought to
market to arouse complaint iu Hollatul and (Germany,
The best testimony to the iudifpeu'ablen' -ss of Sumatra
leaf notwithstanding this drawback; arises from the
fact of the average prices continuing so high in lySG.
Satisfactory as is the outlook, f.ir-secing people find
ample grounds for uneasiness in the distant future.
The principle that the price of every article hangs
upon the supply, works undeviatingly enough to admit
of the anticipation that, as sooa as the supply of
leaf tobacco exceeds the demand, prices will assuredly
fall. At present. Deli has no formidable competitor
iu the European market. The yield of tobacco from
other districts under cultivation brought forward
during the year, did not turn out encouraging enough
to justify basing any alarming forecast of the future
upon the result of experimental planting there. A
better outcome befell a consignment of tobacco from
North Borneo where, by last advices, this satisfactory
ei'sult had led to a larger area of land being put

under crop "ith the utmost vigour. Next season,
that colony will probably yield a larger quantity of
tobacco. Another quarter where competition looms
iu the distance is the island of Bacham in the Moluccas.
Trial plmting there has resulted satisfactorily, judg-
ing from the samples produced. These circumstances
prove that the success attending tobacco growing in
Deli, has stirred up competing enterprise in the same
direction elsewhere. Deli planters have every reason
to keep awake and look out sharp. They would do
well not to depend upon the high reputation of their
produce, but to strain every nerve to improve still
more both the quantity and the quality of the out-
turn they send to market. On the spot, high ex-
pectations are entertained regarding this year's crop.
Its outturn is estimated at about 140,000 bales. Should
the rainy season not set in too early and damage
the crop, which usudly looks its best in June and
July the quantity may prt)ve to be 15,000 bales more.
From the coast estate*, the imformation to hand is
less satisfactory. On the average, the results attained
there have fallen far below the mark. New comers
in that quarter have still to plod along to reach the
goal. To them, the struggle is the harder from
too many of them starting rashly with an insufficient
command of capital. It is very doubtful whether
these pioneers can stand one or two more bad sea-
sons. Other articles of produce have not come under
cultivation in any way worth particular mention.
Several planters did not experiment wiih coffee, cocoa,
and rameh but their praiseworthy efforts did not result
in proving that any of these articles would thrive there.
Their cultivation indeed cannot make any appreciable
headway owing to scarcity of labour. Even for the to-
bacco estates, it was bard to get labourers throughout
the year. Towards the close of the year it became almost
impossible to secure the required number of Chinese
coolies from the Straits. As matters now stand un-
less a remedy for this evil be found, resort will be
had to foul means to get hold of latjourers at any
cost as used to be the case in bygone years. Jav-
anese coolies were obtainable iu sufficient numbers,
the only objection to them being their unsaHsfactory
quality. Trade and navigation during 1886 were brisk
and lively enough. The chief port, Labuan by name,
lies under the disadvantage of an inadequate supply
of good drinking water. The Government looks upon
the privations of the unfortunate inhabitants with
indifference, although the Sultan of Deli had offered
to meet the want in some measure by sinking artesian
wells at his own expense.

The beaconing of the entrances into that port under-
went no improvement. Communication on land was
materially facilitated bj^ the opening of the first sec-
tion of the Deli Eailway, which has indeed been
worked at a high profit.

A meeting of planters was announced to be held on
the 14th January to take into consideration the diffi-
culties in the way of engaging coolies in the Straits,
at rates fixed by the Deli planters mutually. The
Straits coolie brokers refuse to abide by these rates.

PLANTS THAT EAT.
Among the many rare aud interesting plants form-
ing the collection in the Botanical Garden at Washing-
ton 1', S, there has recently been got together an
almost complete set of insectivorous plants, so called
from their being so constructed as to attract insects,
capture them in various ways aud feed upon them,
A few of these plants have been gathered from their
native habitats in the swamps of North Carolina and
California, and others have been sent from India,
Australia and Madagascar. Perhaps the best known
of the group, and certainly the most wonderful plant
in the whole^vegetable kingdom, is Dionao. i/ii'.scipula,
commonly known as "N'euus Flytrap. The leaves vary
from one to six inches long, and at the extremities
are placed two blades or claspers, the shape of which
may be said to resemble two hands placed together
between the jialms and the wrists, and the fingers
held backward. The palms of the hands represent the
^ iuner walls of the trap, while the fingers represent

IMakch 1, i£>S>,j l^HE f ROPfCAL AGRICULTURlSf.

^61

the marginal hair oi- teeth. Ou the inner walls of
these claspers there are placed six irritable hairs, any
one of which receiving the slightest touch from an
insect is suthcieut to bring the two blades together
with such rapidity as to preclude any possiblity of
the fly escaping. A correct idea of how the trap
closes on its victim may be obtained by bringing
the two hands rapidly together, the fingers of the
one being Hrmly pressed between those of the other.
This plant readily discriminates between animal and
other matter ; thus, if a small stone or piece of wood
be dropped into the trap it will instantly close, but
as soon as it has found out its mistake, and it only
takes a, few minutes, it begins to unfold its trap and
the piece of wood or stone falls out. On the other
hand, should a piece of beef or a bluebottle fly be
placed in it, it will remain firmly closed until every
particle of organic matter is absorbed through the
leaf. It will then unfold itself i»nd is ready for another
meal.

Next in interest comes Sarracenia purpurea. This
species is popularly and most appropriately called
" The .Vegetable Whisky Shop," as it captures its
victims by intoxication. Here is a most excellent
theme for temperance advocates. The entire shop is
shaped after the manner of a house, with the en-
trance projecting a little over the rim. Half way
round the brim of the cavity there are an immense
number of honey glands, which the influence of the sun
brings into active operation. This sweet secretion
acts as a lure to passing insects, and they are pretty
sure, should they come within its influence, to alight
on the outside edge and tap the nectar. They how-
ever, remain there but a britf period, as there is
something more substantial inside the cavity in the
shape of an intoxicating liquid, which is distilled by
the plant. The way down to this beverage is straight,
there is no crossing over, as the entrance is paved
with innumerable fine hairs all pointing to the bottom,
and should the fly walk crooked, its feet become
entangled in them. When the fly has had its first
nip, it does not btop and fly right out, as it could
do, but indulges until it is more than " half seas
over " ; it then come staggering up, atid reaches that
portion where the hairs begin ; here its progress outward
is stopped owing to the points of the hairs being
placed against it. The fly is now in a pitiable plight ;
it attempts to use its wings, but in doing so, only
hastens its own destruciion. It inevitably reaches j
the bottom, gets immersed in the liquid and dies j
drank. j

Another apecies ui the iast-meutioned genus, Sari'ftcc- i
ida j)sittacina, also distils an intoxicant of its own ;
but owing to the peculiarly complicated formation of
the entrance to its inner parts, it excludes the great
majority of insects and admits but a select few. In
Europe it is known as the '• city club insecticide."
The mdividual pitchers somewhat resemble an inver-
ted parrot's bill, with a narrovv leaf-like expansion
running along the top. The color is light green, beauti-
fully shaded with crimson. The inside of the pitcher
is divided into three parts, the first, nearest the
entrance, is studded with minute honey glands, and
is called the attractive surface; a little further down
the in.side, very minute hairs are situated, with their
extremities all pointing to the other chamber. This
is the conducting surface. Lastly, the small hairs
give place to the longer ones, amid which are placed
secreting pores, which give forth the intoxicating
nectar ; this is termed the detentive surface. When
the pitcher has caught a sufhcient number of insects
the nectar gives place to a substance which has
been ascertained to be identical with gastric juice
in its constituents. This is evidently to enable the
plant more readily to digest its food.

Another species which, were it plentiful, would
prove a boon and a blessing to man, is Drosera
dichotoma, the mosquito catcher. It grows about one
foot high, and as its specific name implies, the leaves,
after vi'.achitig a certain height, bifiux-ate into long
nariow spathes, which are densely covered with club
tipptdf rjse colored hairs, each of which is coated
vritb a bright gummy subetauct;, TMs during suy* ^

shine, gives to the plant a most magnificent appear-
ance. This curious plant would seem to have great
attractions for the mosquito, for if a plant be placed
in a room where they abound, all of the trouble-
.«ome pests, will in a brief period, be in its deadly
embrace, at first struggling to disentangle a leg or
wing, anon finding itself more and more within its
toils. It is most interesting to watch the method
by which it secures its prey. Immediately the fly
alights on the leaf, it may be that only one of its
six legs stick to the sweet, viscid substance at the extre-
mity of the hairs, but in struggling to free itself it in-
variably touches with its legs or wings, the contiguous
hairs, and is immediately fixed. The hairs meantime
are not idle ; being sensitive, they slowly but surely curl
round and draw their victim on the very centre of the
leaf, thus bringing it into contact with the very short
hairs which are placed there in order to facilitate
the process of sucking the life blood from the body.
This interesting plant is besides a few others, very •
diiBcult to cultivate. Even after imitating nature as
closely as possible, the plants thrive but indifferently. —
JFashiiiffio/i Go. N. Y. Mail and Express.

THE EAISING OF PLANTS FROM SEED.

Mr. J. Hart, Superintendent of the Government Cin-
chona Plantations, writing in the JFest Indian Field,
says: —

When a seed is sown, certain chemical changes have
to take place before it can develope its parts and
grow. The agencies which bring about this change
are heat and moisture. A certain proportion of mois*
ture must be absorbed, but not too much, or the
result is, that unless it belongs to aquatic or semi-
aquatic orders, the seed will speedily perish. Great
care is therefore necessary — especially with the smaller
and more delicate seeds — to place them in soil which
contains a suitable amount of moisture. If the seeds
are known to be such as soon lose their vitality or
hive been kept so long that it is evident a loss of
growing power has taken place, a more delicate system
of treatment is required than for those which are
known to be fresh and recently matured. The best
practice with such, is first of all to place them in
earth which contains only a very small, or scarcely per-
ceptible quantity of moisture, and to let them remain
in it until they commence to show that a sufficient
amount has been absorbed to give rise to the act,
or process of germination. When this is seen by
examination to have taken place water may then be
given in daily increasing quantities until the plants"
are sufficiently strong to stand the application of water
in larger quantities.

As a rule seeds should only be covered with earth
to the depth represented by the average diameter of
the particular kind sown, but many seeds possess a
vital principle so strong, that to scatter them on the
surface of the soil is sufficient to ensure a speedy
development of their germinating powers. Some have
the power of burying themselves in the earth by an
inherent property possessed either by themselves, or
the plant producing them; a familiar instance being
that of the earthnut or Pindar, Arachis, hypogea,
many others could also be mentioned, but this in-
stance is sufficient to call to mind the peculiar pro-
perties possessed by some plants to further the re-
production of the species, and to maintain themselves
in the "battle for life."

The covering of soil serves the purpose i)f sur-
rounding the seed with an equable but slightly varying
temperature, provides for the absorption of the neces-
sary moisture, and preserves them against the effect
of light and too rapid evaporation, all of which liave
prejudicial effects upon germination; but is not essen-
tially necessary to allow the process of germination
to take place, as can be shown by keeping seeds by
other means in a state, in which the conditions sup-
plied by the soil are fairly represented, if such are
provided germination takes place in most instances,
very freely. An opinion is sometimes entertained that
seeds should be deeply buried, that they may have
a good liold of the grouud, but tlii§ is i|uito uuueces«

SSn

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1887.

•ary, aad even injurious, for the root, of its own
power, plunges i^st If downwards, and the stem pro-
gresses upwards trom a common atartiug point, which
IS the seed itself, henco the re-ult ot burying a seed
too deeply is, te ct'ver a portion of tlie lower pari
of stem ot the plant, which we know from experience
to be inimical to its future welfare.

Some objection may be taken to this, when taking
into account the gt-rmiuauou of the Leguixiiuo>oe and
other plants which r-»i.-e the.r cotyleiOns or seed-kave*
about the grouud, but such will be found to be
groundl<"SS, when it is considered, that although the
•eed-leaves are raist d above the surface, they are so
raised from the exnct spot at which germination took
place, and it is at this point that the differentiation
between stem and root commeucee.

Seeds germinate also very unwillingly and slowly if
buried too deep, for it is necessary that a certain
communication with the atmosphere should be pro-
Tided, if the process is to be maintained in hf-althy
state, they are known to possess a large proportion
of carbon, in proportion to their weigkt, than any
other part of a plant, while they r.-main charged to
a full extent with this element, they are not in posi-
tion to put forth their dormant germinative powers.
To rid themselves of this principal, a supply of oxygen
is necessary to convert the carbon into carbonic acid,
and thus enable the seed to grow, the necessary
amount of oxygen being principally obtained from
water, and the surrounding atmosphere.

There are noticeable instances, especially in the
tropics, of seeds taking a very long time to germinate,
and these are mostly found to possess a very harii
outer coating, which requires to be partially removed
to procure speedy germination. In a natural state
this is accomplished, by various agencies, but principally
by the action of water, which softens it and enables
the embryo to attract a proportion to itself sufficient
for the purpose, development. lb is well however,
when seeds of this kind are to be raised, to uss
artificial means to allow of this absorption of moisture
by the inner portion of the seed and this may usually
be accomplished by removing a part of the testa or
outer covering with a knife or file. During my ex-
perience in Jamaica I ^^had certain native seeds under
my care, which were sown in the usual way, but after
waiting for some twelve months, they had failed to
germinate and I determined to try the process of
removing a portion of their outer covering. I found
on trying to cut it, that it resisted the efforts of a
strong knife, and I therefore procured a file and with
it removed a suitable portion taking care not to cut
deep enough to injure the dormant embryo. Though
it had laid in moist earth for the many previous
months without growing, in about fourteen days after
the operation they had developed into plants. In
numerous instances since, I have followed the same
practice and with similar results. When seeds are
■own thickly the plants are apt to become " drawn."
In their search for light, the plants have a tendency
to unduly develope their stem in a perpendicular
direction, instead of becoming sturdy and 8tiong,^aad
the same action takes place when seeds are sown in
■n undulyishaded position. In such cases they are
rendered very susceptible to the attacks of Microscopic
Fuugii, and are also very easily injured when water
is applied, unless the process is conducted with the
greatest care. It is always best therefore if the
room can be spared, to sow the seed very thinly, so
as to avert these contingent disadvantages, but in
case we are restricted in regard to room they may
be thickly sown if, as soon as they are Inrge enough
to handle, the plants are ' pnck^d off' into other soil
at wider distances apart. 'Pricking off' consists in
carefully raising the plants, one by one, by pUciiig
a small stick or other instrument beneath the rootK,
carefully raising them, and then dibbling them into
holes at proper distances, shading them for a few
days uiitil they recover from the check due to the
transplanting.

Seedlings should always be 'pricked off' at some
•tage or other, and not left to dcvelope thi^msplve.s ia
(be ori^iual eeod bed uutil large enough for final

potting or transplanting, for if this operation is per-
formed they will become much more sturdy, and more
easily lifted, than if left with their roots straggling
and iotertwiuing in their first position — until required
to be placed iu their permaueut quarters. The oper-
ation tends to develop, a larger quai.tity of fibrous
roots, than would otherwise be ihe case, and these
are the feeders which supply nutrimcRt to plants in
greater proportion, than the single and larger roots
which would be developed if the operation was not
performid. In Briti^h nurseries where plants have to
be kept in large quantities from year to year, it is
the pr«ctice to regulirly transplant at certain intervals
— dependent upon the nature of the plant — all kinds
of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, and this is
done, so that the loss of plants consequent upon re-
moval may be reduced to a minimum. Tnat it does
retard and prevent growth is well understood, and is au
advantage in the cultivation of certain classes of plants
and fruit trees; but when planted in their permanent
quarters it h>iS, otherwise, no prejudicial effect. Oul-
tivdtors, therefore, need not fear periodic transplant-
ing, if the operation is performed with care, and
with suflicient frequency, as it will enable them to
maintain a stock of young plants such as oranges,
etc., until times when the ground they are intended
to permanently occupy ia fully prepared for them.
If the system of frequent transplanting when in their
younger stage of growth, be followed with such plants as
the orange, they can be finally planted with gre.iter dis-
regard for seasons, than could possibly be the case, when
other systems are followed.

Although it is the general nature of a seed to re-
produce the species to which it belongs, it cannot be
railed upon in ordinary cases, to renew a particular
variety, yet there is always a tendency to produce a
plant more like the parent, than any other form of
the species. For instance the seed of a Number
Eleven Mango cannot always be relied to produce a
Number Eleven, but it will produce a mango of some
kind. The special property of producing a particular
variety is confined to leaf buds, and seems to be owing to
the seed not being specially organised after the ex-
act plan of the branch on which it grew, but merely
possessing the elements of such organisation. Hence
cultivators should not rely upon seeds for the pro-
duction pf special varieties, but should have recourse
to the simple operations of budding and grafting, or
propagat'ion by cuttings if they wish to perpetuate
any special variety. — Planter and Farmer.

THE USE OF LIME IN AGEIOULTURE.

During the past week the Government agricultural
chemist has suggested that the market gardeners about
Caulfield, Brighton and that neighbourhood, who have
for many years past been in the habit of applying to
their laud heavy dressings of stable manure, might
find it advantageous to stop the supply of manure for
some years, and use instead a small quantity of lime.
He basts his suggestion on the fact that the soils of
many of the rparket gardens have, owing to the
practice of heavy manuring, accumulated a great
amount of fertile material during the past years, and
that if the fertile ingredients could by any means be
rendered uiore accesstijle to the plants it might be un-
ucc ssary for some time to add to the store already
acciimuiateii. Lime, it is known, possesses the power
of liberating the ingredieLts locked up in the foil and
rendering them available for the immediate use of
plants. Hence it may be supposed that if lime were
added in a suitable manner to these soils, now so rich
iu manurial matter, a sufficient amount could be set
free year by year to serve for the growth of crops
without a furt*li'*r use of fresh manure.

ThTe is undoubtedly reason iu the suggestion; an!
if good crops can be grown for a period without the
heavy cost of manuring, and without injury to ihi
soil, the gain will be very great. Nevertheless the
abundant use of manure is such an o!d established
practice amung.st the market gardeners of Victoria,
especially am 'ngst thos-^ who cuitivate the naturally
poor fandjr foils lying to the south of Melbourne, tbn

MaKCH 1, 1S87.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

5S3

it has come to be regarded amongst them as a cardinal
necessity of successful cultivation, and the proposal
that they should use no manure at all for a time will
doubtless seem to some a very stiikiug aud railical
change, aud its very novelty might detei them from
putting it to a practical test. It may be useful, there-
fore, to look more closely into the proposal.

The use of lime for agricultural ]) irposes is no new
thiug. It is as old as the history of agriculture
itself. The beneficial effects of lime when applied to
certain soils were known centuriei^ before the nature of
its action was understood. Indeed it is only within the
last half century that men have leirnt why the addition
of lime is frequently of so great advantage- In all the
old civilised countries, aud now in many parts of
America, lime is regularly added to certain kinds of
soils. In England it has passed into a saying — too
general, no doubt, as such sayings usually are — that
" the use of lime is the foundation of good husbandry."
In Victoria, where many, probably the mMJority, of
tbe cultivators of the soil have commenced their work
without the advantage of the many sound traditions
founded on gf^uerations of experience which serve as a
guide to farming men in the old world, anl have had to
take things as they found them and work out methods
of practice for themselves, it is not surprising that the
proper use of lime, an 1 indeed tln^ rational use of all
manures, should not have been clearly undfrstood.

Lime, when applied to the soil, has a fourfold action.
Firstly, it serves, like all other manures, as food for
the plants themselves ; secondly, it alters the texture
of the soils, stiffening sandy ones,* aud loosening clays ;
thirdly, it assists in the decomposition of the soils,
more especially of the vegetable atcumulatious con-
tained in them, and thereby sets free and acceasihie to
plants those substances needful for Vfge'.able growth ;
aud fimrthly, it neutralises the acidity of >onr soils, and
renders them sweet and healthy. We ni'iy still add a
fifth benefit which results from the use of lime, namely,
tbat it discourages the growth of raany kiu'ls of woi^ds,
and drives away several injurious grubs, notably the
wire worm

As regards the necessity of lime as a plant food, it is
only necessary to point to the raany instances of sods
poor in lime bi-ing of very low fertility, and the good
effects ohtainrd in hunh cases by the ;^ldition of "manures
containing lime. For purely manurial purpos'S the
most usual way of applyuig lime is in the form of
gypsum, or sulphate of lime. Some comparative ex-
periments conducted by Ville, in France, gave, the
following results : —

Wheat. Beetroot. Potatoes.
Bushels Tons Tons

per acre, per acre, per acre.
Without lime 41 18| 8 l-5th

With lime (gypsum) 43 201 11 l-7th

In another case clover was experimented upon by a
German experimenter, Korte. The clover was top
dressed with gypsum ; and in this case the effect varied
considerably according to the time at which the dress-
ing was applied, this variation being of course due to
the effects of the season. Thn yield from each small
experimental plot was as follows : —

The undressed plot yie'ded 100 lb.

The plot dressed on the 30th March yielded 132 lb.
The plot dressed on the 13th April yielded 140 lb.
The plot dressed on the 27 rh April yielded 1.50 lb.
Of the effect of lime in the form of gypsum on peas
and beans there are several recorded instances; with
weak and sickly plants people have described its
action as simply "magical;" such effects being pro-
duced, however, as it is necessary to bear in mind,
only in such soils as are absolutely deficient in lime.
It has also been observed that lime, in its action
simply as a manure, hastens the development of crops
and brings them to early maturity.

As regards the action of lime on the texture of soils,
it is to be remarked that whilst slaked linne or marl
may always be added with good results to clay soils, it
must be used spoaringly and with canMon to light sandy
ones. Five, ten, and even twenty tons to the acre, may
be worked into a clay field ; the clay will be loosened,

* Is this a fact ?— Bd7~

and be less liable to harden during droughts, and its
fertile qualities improved. But such a quantity added
to a sandy soil would be likely to have disastrous results,
rendering it so light and porous* that it would retain no
moisture. But small doses of lime may be applied to
light soils with advantage, the effect beinjf frequently
to bind them together.

It is the third and fourth effects, above mentioned,
of the use of lime with which we are most concerned
at present. Sandy soils, such as those at Caulfield
aud Brighton, coutaiu in their natural condition only
a small proportion of vegetable detritus, or, as it if
called, humous matter; and as they are light and
porous, their fertility is readily washed away by the
rain, after they have been cleared of tbeir native pro-
tection of verdure. But their couditiou becomes
entirely changed after several years of cultivation with
heavy ma,nuriug. The composition of stable ,or farm-
yard manure is very variable, but a good sample may
be taken to contain 70 per cent moisture, 25 per cent
vegetable matter without nitrogen, 3 per cent sand and
other useless mineral matter, and 2 per cent of useful
fertilising ingredients. The mointure of course counts
for nothing, and has little effect one way or another
upon the manure beyond iucreasing its weight. The
really valuable substance for which the farmer or
gardener pays when he buys farm yard manure is the
2 per cent of fertilising matter. The 25 per cent of
nonfertilising vegetable matter is not, however, to be
left out of account in calculating the value of the
manure, for it has this effect, that it locks up that 2
per cent of really valuable fertilising matter so that
the plants cannot get at it. And until the vegetable
matter of the manure is decooiposed and the fertilising
matters liberated, the buy-T of farmyard and stable
manure can get no return for his outlay, he, in fact,
locks up his capital in the manure ; and it t'skes a long
time for the ilecomposition of the manure to tnka
place, 80 that for the first y^^ar, not more than 1-10 th
to l-5'..h of the total value of the manure can be realised.
The remaining 4-5ths becomes stor«d up in the soil,
except what is washed out by the rain.

So f.ar, therefore, it may be considered that this
vegetable mitter containi-d in the manure is not only
useles.s, but ab'-olutely liisadvauuigeous, since it prevents
the farmer from gniiiing a fuii return fo- his capital
laid out. But it is not Hl.Dge'b'r useless, fur (his vege-
lable substance is n ^t r a^lily w.i he>l away by tcie rain ;
it it were so then the 4-5fhs of unused ff-rtilijini; iugre-
dients would be wholly lost ; but inasoauch as they are
locked up in the vegetable matter, which in its turn is
not readily vvashed out by the rain, then they also for
fhe most part are retained in the soil. It results
therefore, that after several years of heavy dressings
of farmyard or stable manure, a soil accumalates a large
quantity of vegetable, or as it is called, organic matter,
together with its contiiaed fertile ingredients. And the
soil esp"cially if it be a sandy one, is greatly benefitted
bj' this accuinulation, since it is prevented from having
its fertility wash-d away with the drainage waters.

This accumulation in time becomes verj' great.
Lawes and Gilbert, to whose work we have had occa-
sion of late to make frequent reference, found that a
plot of land on which they grew wheat for 40 years
consecutively, and .vhicli they manured i^very year
with 14 tons of farmyard manure, had accamulited
5000 lb. nitrogen to the acre, a result very noteworthy
when it is borne in mind that wheat is very exhausting
to the nitrogen of the soil.

But there is n. degree beyond which this accumulation
cannot be allowed to proceed without injury to the
condition of the soil. For the organic matter in the
siiil after a time generates vegetable acids which render
the land sour, and everyone knows that a sour soil,
will not grow satisfactory crops. When this stage
has been reached it is absolutely necessary to add lime.

If then a certain amount of lime is addeil, it will
sweet(!n the .soil, an! it will do no more. But if still
more lime be ailde.l, it will set those fertile ingredients
free for the nourishment of the crops. In other words,
the lime renders active those substances which hitherto

* E'ltirely inconsistent with the previous statement
about stiffening. — Ed,

5^4

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1887.

were lying latent; it puts into circulation the capital
which had been lying iHle,

It needs no illustration, however, to show that the
continued use or lime on this principle would sooner or
later exhiust the soil unless more manure were adde'l
Indeed, it is au old saying that lime "enriches the
father and impoverishes the son." There seems no
reason to suppose, however, that it could not be safely
used until the crops grown under its influence began to
indicate that the surplus of the soil's accumulation was
at an end, and that a further continuance of this
treatment would be drawing upon the soil's necessary
fertility. When that stage was reached, the u«e of
lime — always in moderation — need not necessarily be
discontinued — but stable manure should also be used.
Or the use of the lime could be discontiuued, and
artificial manures, with occasional applicatioas of
stable manure, substituted.

We have thus presented the theory of the use of
lime, and of its application to soils rich in accumulated
manures. The general theory is reasonable enough,
and will, we should think, commend it<elf. But its
successful application in practice depends no doubt
upon a variety of conditions. Fortunately, we are not
altogether in the dark in the matter; for the action of
lime in a manner similar to that suggested has we l^arn
been already tried by a market ganlener at Balaclava,
and the results, we are giveu to understand, are very
favorable, there being a marked superiority in the
vegetables grown with lime as compared with those
growing in an adjoining plot in the same garden, and
which have been treated with the usual heavy dressing
of manure.

It will be readily understood, from what we above
stated, that lime will have a similar action upon stible
manure that it has upon a soil ricn in manurial
accumulxtions. It does, in fact, liberate and render
immediately accessible to plants much of the remaining
4-5ths of fertile matt-^r which we stitad could not,
under ordinary conditions, be used for some years.
Hence, when lime is used together with sta'de manure
a much smaller quantity of the latt-^r is required thin
when lime is not used. So that in any case the
judicious use of lime is likely to prove very profitable
ito those concerned. And we would suggest that
some market gardeners, whose ground ha-; b en heavily
manured for years, should grow some vejjetables on,
say three adjoining plots, treating one with a small
qua-itity of lime only, another with lime aad a small
quantity of stable manure, aud the third with stable
manure only. It is necessary to point out that much
depends upon the proper application of the lime,
and as this is a matter of importance, we will recur
to it in a subsequent iss«e. — Melboin-ne Leader.

Borneo Tobacco. — Shareholders in the Chinese Sabah
Land Farming Company will feel interested in the
following extract from the November number of To-
bacco : — On Thursday, October 14, there was great
excitement in the narrow footway called Fenchurch
Buildings, which connects Feuchurch St. and Leaden-
hall St. At No. 8 — the smartest house in the passage;
— is the firm of Messrs, Horatio N. D^vis and Co.,
who, a year <>r two since, removed from their old
quarters at 107, Fenchurch St. The firm was founded
in 1722, and are the oldest tobacco-brokers. In the
capacity of tobacco-brokers for the British North Bor-
neo Company, they had offered for sale by public
tender the first shipment of tobacco to England from
that colony. The tobacco was divided into two lots,
i.e., 35 bales 1884 crop and 293 bales 1885 crop.
On the day of the sale and the three prece ling days,
samples of the tobacco, together with cigars made
from the several marks were on view. They were
keenly examined by experts of London ; Liverpool,
the tobacco centres of the Continent, aud even thp
United States. Opinion agreed that the tobacco was
equal in all respects to the valuable cigar tobacco
produced in the neighbouring island of Sumatra. At
two o'clock the tenders were opene t and the 'winners'
announced. So great was the excitement that the
prpsence of the police was required. The bulk of the

tenderers were present, and some were full of con-
fidence. One was ,so full that he ha 1 ijone to the ex-
pense of rt-printing the marks of tobacco, so that he
might be ready to sell immediately he was announced
as the happy man. "When the tenders were opened,
Messrs. J. Siemss^n and Co. were found to be the
highe.st for the 293 biles, and Messrs. G. W. Brangwin
and Co. for the 35 bales. Dutch firms had been confid-
ent that no English house would be in a position
to secure the tender, an 1 it is, therefore, satisfactory
to see that they are beaten in Loudon in price for
the descriptiou of tobacco in which they thought they
had a monopoly. — Straits Times.

The KiNMO.MD-KicHARDsoN Roller. — When we
touched on this subj -ct the other day, we did so
with diffidence, and w Juld not have done so at all
but that we desired to give our planting readers in-
formation concerning this new roiler which claims to
eclipse even Jackson's machine. We seem likely in
the not distant future to witness a veritable war
of tei-roller patents, an Armageddon, which, if it
should establish who has a right to a particular con-
trivance, will not be without its uses. But as the
remarks we made the other day regarding the Kin-
mond-Richardsou roller appear in one or two respects
to be inaccurate, we are desirous of correcting the
mistakes. We learn, from a letter received from
Mr. J. C. Kinmond for publication, that " although
he assisted in the design and construction of the
roder," as stated by us, he in no way introduces it
to the Ceylon public. " M-ssrs. Robey & Co. finance
mike and sell the Machines," we understand from
Mr. KiumOnd, and his visit to the island is not con-
nected with the introduction of the roller in any
way. In regard to the statement mide by us, on
the authority of a correspondent, that it took 50 per
cent, less power to drive one of these machines than
one of Jackson's of equal capacity — a statement for
which we were unable to account except on the
supposition the new machine was lighter and more
simply geared — Mr. Kinmond says that the rollers
are about equal weight, and adds " that the only
reason why the Kinmond- Richardson can be driven
with so little motive power is that the motive power
is applied direct to roll the leaf with the minimum
of loss in friction." We certainly shou' I like to see ono ol
these maehiops at work, for ocular demonstration is
very mucti more satisfactory than any other, und we
ire anxious to see a roller which p-^ofesses to work
with less friction and with hilf the motive power
required for the Excelsior. Mr. Kinmond's letter,
explaining the difiiculty we had in accoun'iug for this
we think it better not to publish, for such facts as
he has to give us, other than the correction of the
mistake we fell into, come with better grace from one
unconnected with the machine in any way. We have
seen a woodcut of the roller together with the ex-
planatory letter press. Its most noticeable feature
appears to be the circular motion of the lower roll-
iug surface which has a hitching action between each
stroke of the upper plate, the necessary pressure for
the roll being obtained by means of a weight in the
upper rolling surface a Ijusted by a screw as in .Tack-
son's. The whole business of and iiiterestin the roller
belongs to Messrs. Robey & Co. of Lincoln who intend
to push its sale in India and Ceylon. — Local "Timts."
[If the latter statement is correct the reticence and
difiidence of Messrs. R >bey k Co's local Agent are quite
phenomenal. He does not seem to have been our con-
temporary's informant, or so many inaccuracies regard-
ing the new roller would not have required correc-
tion amongst others from i\Ir. Kinmond, whose repu-
diation of direct interest in his own child is what
Mr. Thompson would term " most peculiar." The
Observer we may venture to assert, is read by the vast
majority of the planters of Ceylon, but neither in
person, by letter nor by advertisement has any com-
munication been made to our office, by an Agent
said to have come hither for the express purpose of
pushing the sale of a machine used only by planters.
The Agent is probably waiting until trial has es-
tablished the merits of the new competitor for the
favour of tea,raannfactnrers, — a wiserPRolve, — En.]

Ma^ch

,j fHE TROPICAL AGRiCtJLTURiST,

5^5

4^-

To the Ed! for of the " Ce])lo7t Observer."

THE SILO PEOCESS APPLIED TO THE

COAESE PATANA GEASSES OF CEYLON.

Feb. 5th 1887.

SiK, — In reading your report of Sir E.M.Grant
Duff's " Eeview Minute" I noticed that he speaks of
a weed " bidens glabra " which after treatment in
the silo is suitable for feeding cattle. Would it be
possible to convert our coarse patana grass into
nourishing food by silo? We are surrounded by
patana grass here, but of so coarse and rank a
nature, that except after a burn — when the young
shoots first appear, our cattle can scarcely find
pasturage on a run of several acres, and in the
dry weather get to resemble the thin and ill-fa-
vored kind of Pharoh's vision. If by means of
ensilage they can be made " fat, flushed and well
favored," 1 think it would pay well the trouble
of making silos. Probably the idea has been al-
ready mooted or is not feasible, but as I am
rather a recent importation and have only lately
entered upon the pleasure and privilege of studying
such subjects under the able guidance of such
aids to knowledge as the Tropical Agriculturist, I
must plead my rawness as an excuse for troubling
you.— Yours, GEEEN HOEN.

[This is a good idea which ought to be prac-
tically tested. The question has a strong bearing
on the subject of milk giving catile, treated of in
our editorial columns today. — Ed]

^putupaula~"teaT '

Putupaula, Kalutara, 6th Feb. 1887.

Deak Sir,— In your paragraph relating to Ceylon
tea sales you mention Putupaula as coming after
Lindula in its average of only Is 4d.

Kindly allow me to say the Putupaula teas were
a complete break including dust and the exact
average was Is 5d.26. — Y'ours obediently,

H. A. TIPPLE.

lWc give the teas and the prices just as they
are reported. — Ed]

DELICATE AND HAEDY VAEIETIES OF
INDIGENOUS TEA.
" Sana " estate, Eatnapura, 8th Feb. 1887.

Dkab Observer, — I send today something to show
what this side can produce in the way of my dark-
leaved indigenous. You will observe the difference
between the ordinary delicate, too delicate for z'ery
Jtigh, and also too delicate against low-country
tspiders, *c., "Singlo," while my dark-leaved in-
digenous is hardy enough to defy these natural
causes. T believe mine (and crossed, perhaps, with
Assam Hybrid) will be "the jat of the future?"
With salaams.— Yours truly, Wm. G. SANDISON.

P. .S'.—- 1 think you will find one of the leaves
quite a foot long.

[We are simply at a loss for .superlatives where-
with to describe the tea leaves Mr. Sandison has
sent us. If the English language permitted of such
a form, we should say they were the most magnijl-
centcst we have ever seen, especially those of the
dark and hardy variety. The leaves can be seen
at our office.— Ed. J

EUNG OE EINGED.

10th February, 1H87.
Dear Sir, — In your para anent the ringing of
the gum trees on the Udapussellewa road your
correspondent uses the word ' rung' as the past tense
of ring. Ought it not to be ringed

74

AN INQUIBEE.

[We should think so. In Australia they always
say " ringed " in regard to a process at the
desolating effects of which lovers of forest trees
have icrung their hands. It is at marriages that
hands get ringed. — Ed.]

ME. JAMES SINCL.ilE AND CINCHONA

STATISTICS.

Bearwell, Talawakele.
Dear Sir, — The letter appearing in your columns
from the Chairman of the Maskeliya Planters'
Association, disavowing non-compliance with the
desire for cinchona statistics, also Mr. Wickham's
letter in the local " Times " and other circumstances
compel me as the originator of the idea, to ask
space for the following. At the last meeting of
our local Association it was stated that several
District Associations, including the Committee of
the Parent body, had refused to co-operate with us
in collecting these. I forget who was responsible
for this statement, but had the Secretary or late
Chairman, who should have known the facts, not
acquisced in allowing these to gain currency un-
contradicted, my action at the meeting would have
been different, for I should not have allowed the
matter to drop ; I only did so under the impres-
sion that several Associations had declined to
assist us nor would I have accepted the decision
of the Central Cemmittee, for I intended to have
brought it before the general meeting next week.
I am throwing no blame on our Secretary, I
dare say he was so pre-occupied thinking how best
to dispose of his repleted treasury, that he
did not hear all that passed. It now appears
that the Badulla Association is the only one
that stops the way, but surely the men of Uva
will reconsider the matter ! I happen to know that
their present worthy Chairman was not averse to
co-operation, but even if they refuse, sufficiently
accurate figures for our purpose could be got even
from Badulla.

With reference to Mr. Wickham's opinion that
it would be impracticable to get accurate figures,
I must repeat I do not see where the difficulty
lies. It is different to five or six years ago, when
there were thousands of acres only just laid out
in cinchona, and whether these would reach a
harvestable age or not, no one could say. Now
we know better what we are doing, there is but
little under three years, we are more accustomed
to such estimates and could, I am sure, give fairly
accurate figures of the total quantity now growing.
I do not think it of vital importance that a cor-
rect estimate of the output for the next three
years should be arrived at, so much depends on
the ruling prices and the death-rate (some years
being more disastrous than others in the latter
respect) but most people have intentions on the
subject of the quantity tli«y will harvest during
the period proposed, therefore if they gave in their
return to that effect, it would be sufiicient for our
purpose. What in my opinion is o[ vital import-
ance, is to have some idea whether we have at
this moment growing in Ceylon 40 million or 200
million pounds. Could we as we stand, disprove
that either figure is not within ten mil-lion
pounds of the total ? I say, no. It is the
* feeling that Ceylon may ship more this season than
last and that she will for an indefinite period
yearly increase the output, which keeps prices so low.
The statistics I propose, although 1 am well aware
that only an a^^proximate estimate can be procured,
would suffice to dispel the existing uncertainty in
London, and also tend to cause those who could
do so, to hold off the market, knowing that later
on bettei- prices would be going, ami thus give ^

586

TtiU TMOPI.CAL AGHlCULTUmST. [Maucu i, 1887.

better chance to those who must perforce continue
harvesting. I am too late for a resolution on he
subject for the coming meeting, but I hope he
matter may not be allowed to fall to the ground,
for apart from every other reason, it will be a
little ungracious to Government, to say nothing of
the Java Association, whom we asked to procure
information for us. — Yours faithfully,

JAMES SINCLAIR.
[The conditions of cinchona cultivation are such
that only a very distant approximation can be ob-
tained and we believe the compiler of the Ceylon
Handbook will come as near the mark as is possible.
It would be to the interest of planters, no doubt, that
a low estimate should be given, but all who have
travelled and used their eyes must feel that there
is much cinchona culture still in Ceylon. — Ed.]

PETROLEUM AS FUEL.
Colombo, Iron Works, 14th February 1887.

Dear Sik, — The question of petroleum as a fuel
for use on tea estates is one which from time to
time has engaged the attention of your correspond-
ents. As the day cannot be very far off when
firewood will be at a premium in Ceylon, there
will be room for some other fuel and realizing
this fact we have for a considerable time been
collecting what reliable data we could get re-
garding petroleum fuel and the appliances for
using it. In August last year our Mr. Frank
Walker, accompanied by Mr. J. L. Shand, inspected
a boiler fitted with a patent liquid fuel apparatus
for the consumption of petroleum. It is claimed
for this fuel that a ton of crude petroleum will
get up as much steam as 2^ tons of coal
and there is no smoke dust or stoking. The
apparatus can readily be put into existing fur-
naces and taken out if the oil sh-iuld run out
of stock. There is no doubt about the working
and getting up steam, and so far as Ceylon is
concerned the whole question hinges on the price
of the unrefined oil in Colombo.

Now this question of price is our difticulty
and we fear that for the present all thought
of using this liquid fuel in our tea factories
must be abandoned.

The nearest oil wells are in Burmah and we
have for some time been in correspondence with
the proprietors of these wells regarding the im-
portation of the crude oil into Ceylon.

The result of our enquiries is that we estimate
the cost of this oil at R1'20 per ton (say 6
casks of about iO gallons each to the ion) de-
livered in Colombo. Coal costs say R24 per ton
and '2k tons coal costing RGO are required to
develop" as much steam as one ton crude oil costing
E.120. That is to say, the oil is just double the
price of coal, The oil is cheap enough at Ran-
goon where it only costs 25 cts. per gallon. The
chafges to Coloinbg double the original cost, The
f.mkfi coHt Ri each fliul wo cannot get a freight
HUotation by Hleamer undei' IX'-^M pel' caak.

WiUi regald (o the method of Using oil as
fuel tttld tlie resulta to be obtained from it as
compared with CD<il the following extracts from a
letter from the iiaMgeon Oil Company may be
of- interest to your readefri ',-'--

" We may say that we use steatti iiijeetoi-s and
we have also recently jiuade trial of a seller of
of troughs placed one above another in the fine
of the boiler. The oil runs first into the top
trough and overflows into the second and so on
according to the number of troughs used. This
latter plan has an advantage over the cteam
injector in as much as it is necessary to get up
steam on the boiler before the injector can be used.
With regard to results as compared with coal
there seei;is to be a great difereqce of opinion

and probably very much depends upon the kind of
work which has to be done. We notice from the
report of a lecture delivered at Bombay by
a Mr. F. Wallace that the heat producing
power of a pound of coal compared with
a pound of petroleum is roughly as 12
to 19, but that experiments conducted on a
large scale have given results much more
favourable to petroleum. He adds that a good
ordinary boiler such as may be found in many
of the mills in Bombay will evaporate 6J pounds
of water per pound of coal burnt and taking this
as a basis of comparison, results have been ob-
tained from petroleum as follows : —

By Richard at the Cotton Mills in TiHis, lb.

Caucasus ... .. 10.83

,, Nobel Bras at Baku . . . . 14.

,, Government Exporters at Moscow 14.

,, Karl Ludigat Baku .. ,. 16.

,, Brandt on Locomotives, Baku .. 16.

,, Hydon at Woolwich Arsenal 19.5

He takes the average at 16 lb. or 146 per cent,
beyond the effect of coal."

The patentee of the apparatus inspected by
Mr. J. L. Shand and Mr. F. Walker states that
"weight for weight or bulk for bulk, the liquid
fuel will do from twice to two and-a-half times
the work of coal." Any way we regret to say our
enquiries have 'satistied us that nothing can be
done at present in this colony with petroleum as
a substitute for firewood, but it is impossible to
say what changes may be brought about in the
course of a few years. The fuel is cheap enough
at the seat of its production, the mechanical ap-
pliances for using it are satisfactory and the only
question now remaining to be solved is how to
overcome the difficulty and cost of transport. — We
are, dear sir, yours faithfully,

JOHN WALKER & Co.

A Forage Plant. — The eastern districts of the
Cape are indebted to Jlr. J. B. Hellier, who brought
with him from Cape Town a plant of a recently-in-
troduced cactus from Mauritius, which is like the
ordi^Dary prickly pear in appearance, except for the
important difference that it has not a single thorn
or hair upon it. It is used in Mauritius as a forage
plant, and it is expected that it will prove a most
valuable boon to colonial farmers, as furnishing food
for their stock in the dry season without the hindrance
ot damaging the mouths of the cattle as the prickly
pear does. — Colonii-s and India. [Might be found
useful in the north and east of Ceylou i' — Ed.]

The British Borneo Trading & Planting Co. (Ltd.)
is being circulated privately for subscription at the
present time. It has a capital of £100,000 in £1 shares.
Of these the present issue is £30,000. The Company
has been formed for the purpose of carrying on the
business of merchants, agents, and planters, in and
with British North Borneo, and of acquiring a con-
cession of 1^0,000 ftcre? of land granted b^ the Gov-
ernment of that territory, and conveniently Bitu=
ated in tha neighbourhood of Sdndakan. It is pro=
poned to carry on trading find planting, the profits of
the company being derived from the following soUrce8|
viz;-~Ths Bale of the timb^'r, forest and other produce
on its estates, and the cultivation and sale of agri-
cultural produce. Advances to natives or planters
for agricultural purposes, and purchase and sale of
the produce. The business of laud agents, acquiring
building land, advances on property, erecting houses, &Ci
From royalties on fibre ttl ichiues, for which the Com-
pany have made arrangements with Mr. Death for the
exclusive rights to use and let on royalty in the terri-
tory his patent fibre extracling machine. The payment
to be made for the concession and the rights over
Death's machine has been fixed at £3,500 in cash, £1,500
fully paid ordinary shares, and £10,000 in fully paid
deferred shares. '£]xQ (ioiipimmiaire is Mr. J. J. Duuo.

March i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

5S7

The Phylloxeea Pest in France.— The average
yield of the French vintage for the four years from
1875 to 1878, inclusive, was 1,275,000,000 gallons.
The last three vintages have decreased at a greater
rate than 100,000,000 gallons per year, and now
it is reported that in the vintage of 188G more
than one -fifth of the yield was produced from dry
raisins and dregs of the first and second press.
Although it is beginning to be the fashion to as-
cribe this decrease chiefly to mildew and other
causes, the presence of the phylloxera must be re-
garded as one of its principal causes. After a
variety of researches only one method has been
found to effectually kill this in.^ect, and that is by
inundation, begun in November and continued for
forty days. The vineyard on which this experi-
ment was tried was one of the first to be attacked.
In 1867 the wine produced was 925 hectolitres ; in
1868, 40 ; in 1869, 35 ; in 1870, the first year of
submersion, 120 hectolitres. Since that year the
quantity produced has gradually increased, until it
has nearly reached its normal figure, and the vines
have regained their vigour. The commission ap-
pointed in France, which publish every year such
a heavy report, have chiedy studied methods for
killing the insect underground, and but little pract-
ical benefit has attended their action. Had they
directed their energies to a policy of extermination
above ground very different results might have been
attained. — Colonies and India.

A Tour throuhh the Brazilian Coffee Dis-
tricts.—By permission of Messrs. Behrens & Lands-
berg, the following interesting Santos report, dated 1st
September, was reprinted in INIessrs. Oarey & Browne's
weekly circular of the 21th October. — "We have lately
visited Campinas and around as far as Sao Carlos do
Pinhal and Belera do Descalvado. The impression
received ou the spot may interest our friends. Brazil
is an undeveloped mine of wealth, and, whatever may
have been said or written against it, there are many
bright highlights perceptible. The labour (juestion is
by far more serious than we dreamt of. It should not
be lost sight of, being a great factor in the reckonings
with coffee tor the next six years. There are yet vast
territories suitable for the cultivation of coffee ; but
without bands to harvest it, it is no use thinking of
extension. Even with improved machinery, which
replaces a great deal of manual labour, we have seen
planters in despair, unable to get hands for gathering
in the crop, although offering higher wages — and this
with a medium of 1886-87 crop, which in all likeli-
hood will not prove beyond 2,000,000 bags. Of course,
as long as there are no statistical bureaux, all crop-
estimates must be more or less guesswork. The balance
of the 18S5-S(! crop left in the interior has surely been
over-estimated ; wherever we came, no more old coffee
was to be seen. What is wanted here are hands ! Many
attemps have been made to attract colonists, but, we
are afraid, without the proper understanding of the
situation. Planters offer colonists, a neatly built house
and garden, against which they have to engage them-
selves to work for 3,000 reis per day as long as planters
require their labour for the harvest. Gernaans, in fact
the Saxon race, are the preferred colonists. Now, con-
sidering that Brazil wants colonists who stay, found
a home, marry and intermarry — unlike the Latin race,
which conies here to earn a scanty amount in order to
retire on rice and com to their mountains — this doe.s
not seem to us to be the way to persuade Cxermaus,
Scandinavians, or Crofters. L^fortunately, the large
landowners here are disinclined to selling laud, which
must sooner or later not only prove shortsightedness
but to their detriment. Lookingatthe f^tates — Canada
and Australia — where land is given to colonists, it is
evident that some inducement must be held out to
get out of the dileinma. {_'hurch marriage being too
■expensive, civil-mairiage, so far illegal, ought to be
recognised at once. Not until such radical changes
are made. ;ind only then, will the labour problem
have a chance (if being solved. If not enforced, we

may see in the next future crop yields go down for a
time. The 1886-87 crop has suffered from two causes —
from frost in some parts, from drought in others. We
have seen plantations where two to three feet of the
branches have died.joff, and to recoup such damage,
means one to two years. The incessant rains during
the last month produce another anxiety ; plenty of
coffee on the terreiros is mildewing and much under the
trees is washed away." — Grocer.

Manurino Cinchonas. — From the Madras
(Tovernment we have received the following cor-
respondence. Messrs. Arbuthnot and Co., ad-
dressed Government on 2nd December 1886, thus : —

A\^e have the honor to acknowledge with thanks
receipt of the Director's very interesting report on
the (rovernment Cinchona Plantations for 1885-86,
furnished us in accordance with G. O., dated 20th
November 1886, No. 7,034. 2. We observe that the
expernnents in manuring cinchonas in order to as-
certain the effect upon the alkaloids were on a very
small scale, and that the Government, in its order of
15th instant, express the desire that investigations
should be continued with trees of other varieties. 3,
We venture to suggest that experiments should be
conducted upon a far larger number of trees, and if
no selection of any particular varieties is to be made
for the purpose that it shall include C. fiiiccimhra
and C. Rohuata. We propose ourselves to experiment
upon C. Ledyeriana, both with cattle and other man-
ures. 4. It occurs to us that since the date of the
Director's report further experiments in manuring
may have beeu conducted and the results ascertained
and if so, we should be very glad to receive particu-
lars. We may mention that mainly influenced by the
advices of the Director's letter of 9th November
1885 to the Collector of Malabar, we have abstained
from manuring our cinchonas (though recommended
by planters to do so), as according to that letter ex-
periments made up to that date had shown that the
yield of alkaloids per pound of bark was not increased,
by manuring. 5. We therefore have the honor to
request that Government will obtain from the Dir-
ector or the Quinologist, as the case may be, and
communicate to us the expression of his opinion
whether, taking into consideration the views held in
November of last year, and the result of the experi-
ments conducted in the past season, he would recom-
mend manuring of cinchonas from a commercial point
fo view, and if so, whether cattle or artiiicial man-
ure would be the more beneficial. If he be of opin-
ion that the latter is the more desirable, we should
be glad to know his views as to what components
would be the best. Possibly the investigations of the
Government Quinologist into tke inorganic constitu-
ents of cinchona bark may have arrived at a suflScie-
ntly forward stage to indicate the class of manure
that would have the greatest effect in increasing the
quantity of alkaloids.

Dk. M. A. Lawson replied as follows : —
I am at the present time carrying on the extended
experiments as to the value of different kinds of man-
ure, and the iirst harvesting of the manured plots
will take place next April, after which the bark will
be analysed and any information will then be com-
municated to you. 2, Mr. Hooper's report on the in-
organic constituents of cinchona bark, printed in G.O.
No. 1,032, of the 24th November 1886, is the first of
a series of analyses which he is engaged upon the
result of which will be communicated to Government
in due course.

We are surprised that after the resuHs obtained
by Maclver and noticed by Broughton any doubt
of the effect of manuring should be entertained,
although we can well understand hesitation to
apply manure to a production the market value
of which has gone so low. Those who manure
now, however, may have their reward a few years
hence. We should suppose that a very large pro-
portion of the bark sent from Ceylon was from
trees growing amongst colfee and so manured
equally with the primary cnltivation.

5^3

^HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Mauch i, 1887.

THE ANALYST'S EEPORT OF rRODUOE.

We have received a copy of the aunual report of the
public aualyst for the parish of Kensingtou ( Mr. Charles
E.Cassal, f. i, c, f. c. s. ), which contains some inter-
esting information, and from it we extract the follow-
ing ; — During the year ended March 25, 188(3, a total of
524 samples of food were submitted for analysis by the
inspectors appointed under the Act. Two out of the
three samples of China tea were of very inferior
quality, containing exhausted leaves. The adulterated
samples of cocoa examined contained added starch and
cane t^ugar, as follows : —

Added starch, Cane sugar,
per cent. per cent.

At least At least

55 30

50 30 ( 2 samples )

40 35

40 30 ( 2 samples )

40 25

35 30

25 30

20 16 ( labelled " Epps' Cocoa ")

15 20

Of the 44 samples of coffee there were 75 per cent
genuine, and 25 per cent adulterated. Of the 11
adulterated samples one contained at least 45 per cent
of chicory, one 20 per cent, and nine 5 per cent.
The black pepper, of which 27 samples were examined,
showed the proportion of 22'2 per cent genuine, and
77"7 per cent adulterated. Samples of genuine com-
mercial black pepper should not yield more than 5
or 5-") per cent of total mineral matter. Any sample
yiehling more than 7 per cent must be considered
within the meaning of the Act. — Home and Colonial
Mail.

♦

MANUFACTURE OF LIME JUICE IN TRINIDAD.

EEPORT OF CONSUL TOWLER. — The lime tree grows
wild in Trinidad, and when I came here three years
ago, the fruit was not exported. I recommended a
gentleman of enterprising disposition to ship a few
barrels of limes to America as an experiment. The
fruit decayed in the transit, and the attempt was a
failure. Another plan was resorted to, namely, the
neutralization of the acid juice with chalk ; but this
plan has been abandoned, and the expressed juice
itself is now exported either in the simple state as
obtained by pressure, or after evaporation to about
one-tenth its volume. The simple juice finds a market
in America, and the condensed juice in England.

Cultivation of the Like. — There are only two
parties here on this island that cultivate the lime for
exportation. From one of these I have received the
following information: — Lime trees grow and bear
in any soil, but the better the soil the larger
the fruit. They are planted from 12 to 16 feet
apart. When young they have to be pruned and
trained to assume the shape of an umbrella. When
about to form a lime plantation it is be.st to form
a nureery a year beforehand, and then to trans-
plant the young trees, pulling them up from the soil,
cuttinf; off the end of the pivot root, and then placing
them in the ground where they are to grow. A lime
tree yields on an average 10 gallons of juice. The fruit
is allowed to drop off, and is then collected and con-
veyed to the works, where, the limes are pa.ssed first
through the cutter which rips them open, and then
through rollers and the press to separate the juice.
These cutters, rollers and press are constructed in a
very simple and primitive way, and admit of very
great improvement. The juice is then, as before re-
marked, exported either in this condition or it is con-
densed by boiling. A barrel of limes yields 7 gallons
of juice.

COST OF JUICE.

Cents.

The cost of collecting a barrel of limes is 10

Carting a barrel to the works 3

Cutting and pressing , 3

Cost prr barrel 16

The cost of lime juice, including packages, should
not exceed 12 cents per gallon ; lime juice is generally
sold at a price varying from 36 cents to 60 cents per
gallon.

The essential oil of limes is extracted from the rind
before crushing by grating on rasps with the hands ;
the oil thus extracted is called the hand made-oil,
which is obtained from the crushed limes and by dis-
tillation. A hundered gallons of juice will yield by
distillation about three quarts of the esssential oil.
This branch ofiulustryis capable of great expansion
by means of capital and intelligence : the soil is
always ready to do its duty. — Oil, Paint and Drug
Reporter.

♦

CLIMATE AND VEGETATION.

Many of our readers will recall with pleasure the
interesting series of articles published in this journal
on the climate and vegetation of the Riviera, and on
horticulture as practised by Dr. Bennet at Mentone.
Those articles form part of Dr. Rennet's delightful
book, Winter and Sp'iny on the Shores of the Medi-
terranean. Of the general correctness of Dr. Rennet's
views there can be no doubt, and it is certain that
for the physician's purposes an investigation into the
effects of climatal changes on plants at various
stages of their growth affords more trustworthy in-
formation than the mere study of thermometric re-
cords. Mr. Charles Roberts, to whom we owe various
interesting and useful publications relating to " pheno-
logy," is following up this question of the combined
and continuous eft'ect of various meteorological factors
on plant life. " A meteorological instrument," he
says, " records a momentary atmospheric condition.
A plant does this, and much more ; it records the
current conditions, and sums up or registers all the
past meteorological and geological conditions to which
it has been exposed. Phenologists cannot accept
mere inferences, however probable they may appear
to b'', and nothing short of simultaneous records will
satisfy them."

Pursuing these ideas, Mr. Roberts selects for obser-
vation in the Riviera the plants mentioned in the
accompanying list: —

"The plants and trees included in the schedule are
well known in our winter health resorts, and require
not botanical skill for their identification ; but obser-
vations should not be recorded when there is any
doubt on this head. The plants are arranged iu
three groups, to indicate roughly the chief varieties
of climate of the Mediterranean basin. The first
group indicates a hot, arid, sandy or rocky soil, and
a dry, sunny atmosphere, like those of the south-east
coast of Spain, Upper Egypt, and the borders of the
African Desert. The second group characterises the
coMer and damper climate and soil of the Riviera,
Southern Italy, Sicily, Malta, Algeria, and Lower
Eijypt ; and the third group the still colder and damper
climates of the Italian lakes, the West Coast
of France, Spain and Portugal, end the South of
England. This last group brings the ordinary climate
of England into relation with that of the Mediterra-
nean, and will connect this schedule with the one
which I have specially prepared for differentiating
local climates iu the British Isles.

" It would be de.sirable to make concurrent obser-
vations on the maximum and minimum shade-tem-
perature at each station (by means of verified regis-
tering thermometers, exposed in Stevenson's stands),
to ascertain the extreme range of temperature, and
the lowest which each plant will survive. We know,
for instance, that the Lemon tree is killed by a tem-
perature of 24°. Fahr., and the Orange by 21"^ Fahr. ;
while the Olive tree will bear W^ Fahr., although
its young shoots are killed by a temperature no
lower than 25'^ Fahr. ; and we gather from tbese
facts that, at stations where these trees flourish, the
temperature never falls so low as these figures imli-
cate, even for a night or two, during many consecu-
tive years. As observations on the rainfall cannot
be carried on all the year, the relative dampness or
dryness of different stations cannot be determined

March i, 1887.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST-

5S9

by the raUi-gauge ; and we must rely on the known
habits of plants, in their relation to moisture of air
and soil, to help us iu this respect. Any one who
has passed quickly between Nice, Palermo, and
Algiers, cannot but have noticed the ilifferenee in
the general aspect of the vey;etation at each place ;
its greater activity at the latter station indicating a
greater amount of moisture in the air and soil than
at Nice, while PaJermo holds an intermediate position.
"The following observations' should be recorded of
each plant in the list. Does the plant or tree grow
at the station ':* Is it protected from the cold, sun,
or wind r" Does it blossom ? and at what date does the
first blossom appear? Do its fruit or seeds ripen and
at what dato do they arrive at maturity ? With respect
to the deciduous trees (Pomegranate, Vine, Fig,
Almonds, and Horse Ohestiiut), at what date do the
leaves open (first leaf -surface visible); ihe first blos-
soms open ; and the first fruit or seeds ripen ?

(1) Carob or Locust-Bean
(Ceratonia Siliqua)

Prickly Fear or .Indian
Fig (Oactas Opuntia)

American Aloe (Agave
Americana)

liamboo (Bambusa vul-
garis ?)

Dwarf European Palm
(Ohatna'rops humilis)

Oleander (Nerium Ole-
ander)

Date Palin (Phoenix dac- (.1) Magnolia (M. Grandi-
tylifern ) flora)

(2) Pomegranate (Punica Camellia (0. japonica)
Granatnm) Myrtle (Myrtus commu-

Banana (Musa sapien- nis)

turn) Vine (Vitis vinifera)

Lemom tree (Oitrus Li- Common Fig (Ficus ca-

monuni ) rica)

Swett Orange (Cauran- Adam's Needle (Yucca

tium) gloriosa)

Olive (Ulea europsea) Almond (Amygdalus

Australian Blue Gum commitnis)

tree (Eucalyptus globu- Horse Chestnut (^Escu-

lus) lus hippocastanum)

"By means of simultaneous observation on these
plants, or a small number of them, it will be easy to
lay down on a map isophenal Hues similar to, but
by no means identical with, the isothermal lines
laid down by meteorologists ; and thus produce a
diagrammatic representation of corresponding climates,
and the difference of one station from another."

Following up this subject Mr. Roberts discusses, in
the Transactions of the Sanitan/ Institute of Great
Britain, the evidence afforded by plants as to the
relative degree of purity of the air in large towns,
and he gives a diagram representing a series of squares
one within the other. Thus, in his illustration it is
shown that in the outermost square the Larch, the
Scotch, Fir, and the Heather, will grow and lichens
may be found on the trees In the succeeding square,
supposed to represent a rnore deteriorated atmospheric
state, the plants included in the outer square will
not grow, but the Sycamore, the Horse Chestnut, the
Yew, the Deodar, the Arbutus, the Laurustinus, and
various fruit trees will still thrive, which they
will not do in the next square, and so on, till we
come to the central space, in which — doleful spot — no
plants at all are mentioned ; but even here Poa annua,
and Polygonum aviculare, and Docks will grow, as
every one who will visit the courts and alleys of
Loudon can see for himself.

Some quarter of a century ago and more there was
a tradition that evergreens would not grow in London,
and, therefore, the squares were planted with Privets,
and Lilacs, the deplorable aspect of which in the
winter months was but too familiar. People are begin-
ning to fiud out, however, that many evergreens do
relatively well in the most confined places, especially
those with thick leathery leaves like the Holly or
Yuci-a, and which are well provided with chlorophyll
and consecjuently proportionately vigorous. Conifers,
as a rule, do not do well iti such place-, indeed one of
the best rough tests of the purity of the air may be
obtained by the observation of the common Arbor-
vita;, Thuia or Biota orientalis. If the reader will wend
his way froiii the suburbs, say at a distance of 4 or
5 miles frow the Tha.mes on cither side towards th„

banks of the river, he will have ample opportunity
of noting how the lower branches of this shrub
gradually become denuded of leaves, till at length the
wretched plant resembles a disorganised Birch-broom
with a few lo;ives at the top, and then it disappears
entirely. Much to our surprise, however, we kuovv of
cases in which Pinus excelsa grows in localities where
the Biota will no longer do so.

As a matter of practice much depends upon the
care bestowed by those in charge. Frequent cleansing
with a syringe or garden-engine will enable plants to
grow in the most unlikely places, and in the cases
we have in view this demands so little time and at-
tention that we can but press it on the attention of
the Society over which Lord Brabazon presides. We
know from our own experience of a garden where
Eoses had long since ceased to blow, but where now
not only a large assortment of choice evergreens may
be found, but where also an occasional Moss Rose may
now be plucked ; and this we attribute, not to any
improvement in the atmosphere, which is probably
more smoky if not fouler ihan formerly, but to in-
creased attention to syringing.

It is obvious that the sources of fallacy and ex-
ception are so numerous that it will be long before
we can speak with any degree of statistical precision.
Such an amount of precision is, however, quite within
the bounds of probability, and it must be attiined
by extended comparative observations on plants under
all conditions and circumstances, such as IMr. Roberts
advocates from the point of view of hygiene, — Gardenern'
Chronicle.

THE

PKOCESS OF LIMING.
No. II.

Last week we drew attention to the many good
effects which may result from the proper application
of lime to the soil, and recommended the more ex-
tended use of this material in Victorian agriculture.
It is well to bear in mind, however, that these good
effects are to be expected only from the proper use
of lime. When used improperly there may, on the
one hand, be no results whatever, either good or bad,
in which case the time and labor and money spent
will have been thrown away; or, on the other hand,
the soil may receive absolute injury, the rectification
of which will involve a further expenditure of labor.

There is one case in which lime may always be
used without fear of injury, iu which, indeed, it must
be used if the soil is to be brought into a thoroughly
healthy condition. We refer to the case of the land
being sour. There is no doubt that very many, pro-
bably the majority, of Victorian soils are sour. Most
newly cleared lands are sour, and it is a frequent
custom to let such lands remain ioif a year or more
uncultivated, in order to sweeten. The sweetening
could be effected at once by a dressing of lime.
When these newly cleared lands are exceptionally rich,
their fertility may be, and indeed often is, such as
to mask the effects of their sourness, and abundant
crops can be obtained, even though the soil has nob
been sweetened. But where the soil is of poor or
only medium quality, it is useless to expect large
returns without the use of lime.

We may here remark that it is often regarded as
unnecessary to add lime to soils in limestone country.
Yet several iustances are known of soils actually rest-
ing on a limestone bed which yet are almost ilestitute
of lime ; and in many other cases the amount of
lime is so small that it is not sufficient to neutralise
the natural sourness of the soil. The reason for this
apparently contradictory condition of things is not far
to seek. The lime is washed away from the surface
by the rain, and either runs off with the drainage
waters, or forms a layer at the bottom of the soil-
Sometimes this layer forms a hardened cake, and is
then one of the many forms of "hard pan," being
then known as a lime pan. Iu these esses of lime-
less soils in limestone; country subsoil ploughing should
be resorted to ; or if the limestone is too deep, then
trtmches may be dug along the fields and the lime-
stone or marl thrown up from these and spread over
the surface.

590

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1887.

Every farmer may find out for himself if his land
is sour or not in a very simple manner. There can
be purchased of all chemists, for a few pence, some
small slips of blue paper, called " blue lirmus paper."
This paper is turned red by acids, so that if a small
()uantity of a damp, sour soil be pressed with the
finger and thumb against a slip of this blue paper,
wherever the soil touches the paper it will produce
a red color, and if this red color remains after the
paper has been exposed to the air for a few minutes,
it is a sure sign that the soil needs lime. If the soil
is very sour it will produce a bright red color, but
if it be only slightly sour it will cause only a bluish
pink or purple color ; and by this means a rough
idea of the amount of lime required can be formed.
For a purple color only two or three hundredweights
of lime to the acre may be necessary ; but for a bright
red, half a ton or a ton may be required ; it being
always borne in mintl, however, that a strong clay
soil will require, and can bear, a heavier dressing than
a loose sandy one.

Liming will do no good if the soil contains suflS-
cient lime already. And here again is a^ case in which
the farmer can apply a simple test sufficient for most
purposes. If vinegar be poured on to a piece of lime-
stone or a piece of old lime, it will cause a bubbling
up or effervescence similar to, but less than, that
which takes place when water is poured on a mixture
of carbonate of soda and tartaric acid, or when car-
bonate of soda is put into a mixture of vinegar and
water, as is sometimes done for making a cheap drink
in the bush. If then a little soil be placed in a
tumbler or wine glass, and sufficient water be poured
on to cover the soil and to allow ail the bubbles of
air to rise out of it, and if then vinegar be poured
into the glass, those soils which contain lime will
bubble up ; and the more lime there is the more will
be the bubbling up. If this effervescence should occur,
it ma3' be certain that it would be a waste of money
to add lime to such a soil. But, if this effervescence
should not take place, and if also it has been found
that the soil is not sour, then the only way to ascer-
tain whether the soil is deficient in lime or not is
by having it analysed.

Liming may injure the soil in three ways — first, by
rendering it too open and loose, so that it will re-
tain no moisture ; secondly, by forming a mortar, and
so hardening the land that neither water nor roots
can penetrate it ; and thirdly, by exhausting the land.
But all these dangers can be readily avoided. As
pointed out previouslv, lime should be used very sparingly
on light, sandy or gravelly soils. If it is found neces-
sary to add it to such soils, then it should -be put on
in the form of a compost of one part of lime with
.six or eight of fine earth, the compost being allowed
to stand some time before using; or, if marl cm be
had readily, the lime may be put on as marl, about
half a ton or a ton to the acre. Or, if the sand rests
on a clay subsoil, then the clay may be dug up in
trenches, as is done in the fen country in England,
and spread over the soil, the clay being afterwards
ploughed in, and then the lime sprinkled over the
surface ; or, if neither marl nor clay can be had, then
an abundance of vegetable matter should be given in
the form of farm yard or stable manure, or in the
form of green crops, particularly root crops, ploughed
in the lime being added afterwards. All sandy soils, it
should be borne in mind, are greatly improved by an
admixture of clay, and it is exceedingly likely that
a process of claying, similar to that adopted in the
fens in England, would greatly improve the sandy
soils lying to the south-east of Melbourne.

The setting of the lime into a mortar can only
take place in heavy wet soils, and it may be taken
as a general rule that all wet clay soils and swamps
should be drained and ploughed before they are limed.
But at the same time no fear may be entertained of
the hardening of the land unless very heavy dress-
ings of lime, such as 20 and 30 tons to the acre are
used.

We have, on a pre\'ious occasion, referred to the
exhausting action of lime. It is this very quality,
however, which, when rightly applied, renders the use

of lime so specially advantageous in many cases.
The lime liberates for the immediate use of plants
the various ingredients of the soil and manures which
are ordinarily locked up in an inaccessible form, and
by so doing it greatly increases the returns. In fact
it enables the farmer to turn over his capital quickly.
But if he thereby gets more out of his soil, he must
return more to it in the form of manure. Exhaustive
farming in any case is bad ; it is just as bad to
exhaust a naturally fertile soil as to exhaust one
rendered fertile by lime. The object of the farmer
in any case should be to improve the land if it be
poor, or to maintain it at a good level if it be rich.
And the preventive of the exhausting action of lime
is just the same as the preventive of the exhaustion
of a good soil, namely the proper use of manures.
The forms in which lime may be used are marl, crushed
limestone shells, and shell sand, and quick and
slacked lime. All the forms are best strewn, over
the surface, the more evenly the better, the dres-
sing being put on some months before seed time.
Quicklime acts most rapidly, slacked lime the
next, shells and shell sand the next, and crushed
limestone and marl act the most slowly. Limestone,
shells, and shell sand may be converted into quicklime
by burning ; but it is generally most convenient to
buy quicklime of the lime burners. Quicklime is only
used for sweetening heavy and very sour lands, such
as recently drained swamps. Of all forms of lime, the
slacked lime is the most useful ; it is made by the
farmer himself, by sprinkling quicklime with water,
when the lime becomes hot, gives off steam, and
if good, falls into an exceedingly fine powder. If it
does not fall into this powder, either the lime is not
good, and is of less value, or too much water has
been added, with the result of ciusiug the lime to
chill. The great point to be aimed at is to get the
lime into this fine powder, for it is theu much more
effective in its action, and a small quantity of it goes
a great way.

We last week referred to the action of lime in in-
creasing the immediate effectiveness of stable and farm
yard manure. It is well to bear in mind, however,
that the lime should not be mixed with the decom-
posing manure heap ; but should only be mixed with
it in the form of a compost immediately before using.
If mixed with the decomposing manure heap, it causes
the escape of ammonia, and thus a valuable part of
the manure is lost.

The action of shell sand on the soil may be seen,
near many of the fresh water lakes of Victoria, as
for instance along the margin of Lake Corangamite,
where fine shells blown up yearly by the winds and
strewn over the ground, induce a surprising degree of
fertility. Similar cases are known in almost all coun-
tries. An instructive case may be cjuoted which oc-
curred in France, where a sandy soil, similarly com-
posed, was every other year laid an inch thick over
land which producecr only a threefold crop of rye,
and caused it to yield an eightfold crop of wheat
for several years ; but — and this is the point to be
borne in mind — after 40 years of this treatment,
without any other manure being added, the land would
produce only a fourfold crop of wheat. — Leader.

AGEICULTUKE IN ECUADOR.
Consul Beach, of Guayaquil, says that Ecuador
covers an area of 150,000 square miles, and has a soil
and climate scarcely equalled by any other country in
the world. About one-fourth of the extent is of tide
water level, and the remaining three-fourths of
various altitudes embracing hills, mountains, and
mountaiu valleys, the highest altitude being thit of
Ghimborazo, 21,220 feet. There are about twenty
mountain summits that are more than 10,000 feet in
height. The great diflference in altitude wi I serve as
an explanation of the wide iliversity of ciini'\te and
variety of soil productions, both of which are much
greater than would be conidered po.ssible in the
equatorial region. The mountains, though all of
volcanic orgiu, are yet somewhat varied in their
elements, but each has the characteristic of quite

March i, 1887.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST*

59^

rapid decomposition, which decompositiou provides
a soil more or less fertile for all of tlu^ mountain sur-
faces, aud atfords abundant material to be carried
down by the streams to the mountain valleys, aud to
the level lauds adjacent, to the numerous rivers in the
lower sections. Ecuador, en both sides of the Andes,
abounds in rivers and smaller streams, which greatly
enhance the productions of the country, and the
rivers themselves provide a water communication
with the markets. The climate is exceedingly diversi-
fied, having the wide range from an average temper-
ature of 75° Fahrenheit on the Pacific Coast and
upper tributaries of the Amazon to that of the
summits of the Andeau range, where there is per-
petual snow and ice. Between these extremes there
are all the degrees of variation from the tropical to
the arctic. The difference of temperature resuhing
from the difference of altitude permits the grow-
ing in Ecuador of nearly all the fruits and varieties
of grain and vegetables grown in all other parts of
the world. Everything pertaining to the tropics is
produced in profusion, and in addition, wheat, oats,
barley, apples, pears, peaches, cherries, stiawberries,
and vegetables of every kind. Consul Beach says
that Ecuador has many natural advantages that might
be rendered a great blessing, but the people appear
to be wanting in the main essentials of industrial
progress, and the country makes but trifling advance-
ment, as may be seen by an examination of the
agricultural implements now in use. The implements
of most varied uses is the Machete, a heavy blade
about two inches in width, two feet long, with a
handle about five inches long. Most of the blades
are straight, but some of them have a slight upward
curve. A field is prepared for rice by cutting down
all the weeds and bushes with a machete ; an opening
for the seed is then made with a broad-ended bar,
and the seed dropped in. When the rice comes up,
the grass and weeds between the rows are cut with
machetes, which operation is repeated at intervals.
For Indian corn and sugar cane the land is prepared
in the same manner, and the planting and cultivating
is performed with the same tools, and in the same
manner as previously described. The rice is cut with
sheath knives, and the corn and cane with machetes.
The rice, after being cut and cured, is first trodden
out by peons or labourers, and then put into large
wooden mortars, and milled by the use of large
wooden pounders wielded by peons. Ploughing is done
in the interior, for grain and potatoes, with ploughs
made by pointing round sticks with iron — these im-
plement* being very similar to those in use in many
parts of Italy. There are no harrows, field rollers,
cultivators, reaping and mowing machines, drills or
horse rakes. In the cultivation of potatoes and other
vegetables large hoes are used. Timber-cutting and
hewing are done with broad axes, and the timber
sold is drawn to the rivers by oxen, having yokes
strapped to their horns, and a pole strapped to the
yoke. Chains are not used, the logs being attached
to the ox-pole by raw hid^s. The small wood, from
three inchea iu diameter downwards, is cut with raache-
tes, On the plantation no saws arc used, but the
tools chiefly iu use are machetes, hoes, iron-pointed
stick ploughs, bars (wedge-shaped at one end), sheath
knives, and broad Rxes.—JoUrnal of the Society of Arts,

FORESTRY.

A Select Committee of the House of Commons was
atjpointed on Friday, May 15th, "to consider whether,
by the establishment of a Forest ychool, or otherwise,
our woodlands could be rendered more remunerative,"

The committee held three nleetings, with Sir John
liubbock as chairman. The following draft report was
agreed to bn July 24th :-^"Your Committee are of
opinion that at this late period of the session it will
not be in their power to conclude their investigation ;
they have therefore agreed to report the evidence al-
ready taken to the House, and to recommend that a
Committee on the same subject should be appointed
in the next session of Parliament." The evidence has
now been printed and issued to the public. The first
wituess examiaed was Mr, William G. Pedder, bead yf

he Eevfiuie Department of the India-office. The
orest organisation m India, he said, originated in 184(3;
and in 1863, further steps were taken to secure the
scientific training of Indian forest ofhcials. Last year
the gross revenue had risen to nearly £1,000,000, and
the net revenue to nearly £400,000. But the improve-
ment which has taken place in the forests was a much
more important element than the mere increase of net
revenue. The forests were iu course of being so com-
pletely destroyed iu the various parts of India that the
duty of the Forest Department had been rather to
conserve them. He thought that, by the improvement
of the education of our forest officials, we might produce
somewhat similar improvements in England to those
which have resulted in India. Forest schools existed
in Germany, France, Russia, Italy, and Switzerland.
Believing there might be some improvements effected
in training the forest officials, we requested the French
Government to send over an experienced officer to
examine and report upon the state of uhe English wood-
lands, and the authorities sent over Professor Boppe,
who made a tour of inspection of some of our forests,
accompanied by Colonel Pearson, then forest officer at
Nancy, and some of the students. He made a report,
which witness handed in. In this report the Inspector
of French Forests says that were it only for the purpose
of replanting the five or six millions of moor and
wasteland which cover one-third of the Highlands," he
should consider there was a sufficient reason for the
formation of a Forest School. He recommended that a
National Forest School be founded in Great Britain,
and that Professorships of Sylviculture be instituted at
Cooper's Hill and at Edinburgh. Mr. Pedder expressed
an opinion that in twenty or thirty years hence, when
the result of what is now done has become apparent
the net returns of the revenue from the Indian forests,
will become very much larger. The Indian Government
established their school at Dehra Dun because it was-
desirable that officers, even of the lower grade, should
have some special training. It had only been established
for five years, so that they could not tell yet what the
result of it might be. There was nothing of the same
kind in Great Britain at present. At Kew there was a
magnificent school of botany, but not of forestry. He
belived the establishment in England of a similar school
to that of Dehra Dun would be advantageous.

Colonel James Michael, who was at the inception of
the Forest Service in India, said he concurred with
the foregoing evidence. He thought the management
of our woodlands, in England, might be improved, and
that a forest school in this country would have very
beneficial effects. There was a good deal of land in
England aud Scotland which would bear planting.
Timber in this country would always pay for its carriage.
Dr. Hugh Cleghorn, who was for twelve years conser-
vator of tde Madras forests, said he also concurred in
Mr. Pedder's view. It was unquestionable that, if we
had more trained officials, our woodlands would be
rendered more remunerative ; and it was marvellous
that we should not at an earlier date have begun to
adopt some means to preserve them. The establish*
mentof a Forest School in each of the three kingdoms
would be a great advantage to this country, Tlie sup«
plies of timber coming from abroad were rapidly dimiu-
ishiuy, aud it was of great consequence that we should
endeavour to increase our own production. There
were many places in this country exceedingly suitable
for planting, but it would be necessary to exclude
sheep for perhaps thirty years.

Colonel Pearson, who represented the Indian Govern-
ment lor eleven years at the Forest School at JSTancy,
said he had the general charge of the forest students,
and had been through most of the principal French
forests. He had also been through the British forests
with the French professors. Several English colonists
had applied to him for officials to take the management
of forests, and, being unable to find any qualified
Englishmen; he had been obliged to recommend Frgach
officials. The school at Nancy was an admirable one,
aud had done great service by instructing a very able
body of men, wbo were now carrying on good work in
India. He was in favour of supplementing the general
education given iu this country by givjug a special

192

THE TKOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1887.

forest education in some convenient place, where there
should be a museum supplied, with an insM-uctor iu
forestry, who might give lectures on the subject, and
conduct the pupils from time to time into difficult forests
with the view of enforci?ig the instruction of the lecture-
room. A forest school might be set up in this country
for an expenditure of £G00, per annum in salaries.
He did not know one mature forest in England or
Scotland at present, and, therefore, for an important
part of the instruction relating to the removal of the
crop, the students would have to go abroad. It would
be desirable to interest in this subject persons con-
cerned in the education of land agents. We should
suffer in the future if this matter were not taken up
now. He would give three courses — elementary, for
the wood manager ; more advanced for the land agent ;
and a higher course for the mau who wanted a
thorough education but for the complete course men
ought to go to the Continent. There was one spot
iu the Forest of Dean especially suitable for instruction;
but neither there nor in the New Forest could any-
thing be shown regarding the management of conifers.

Mr W. T. Thiselton Dyer, Assistant Director of
the Royal Gardens, Kew, said Kew performed, to a
large extent, the part of a botanical authority to the
Government, and when the Colonies applied for in-
formation, the Government sent to Kew for as«;ist-
ance. It had been found impossible to recommend
to 'the Colonial-office properly qualified persons either
to report upon or to manage colonial woods. Apart
from the trained officials of the Indian Forest De-
partment, it was practically impossible to meet the
requirements of the Colonies; and that department
had only spared men temporarily, which had caused
great inconvenience. A good many of our Colonies
had now come to that state of things that there
will probably be a demand for persons who under-
stood the management of forests. He would make
the demand for India a kind of nucleus of a school
which should be utilised for the education of such
gentlemen as wished to undertake colonial service,
and for the instruction of land agents and persons
competent to give advice as to our own woods.

Mr. Julian 0. Kogers, secretary to the Surveyors'
Institute, said he agreed with the previous witnesses
as to the general advisableness of instituting a Forest
School, both for this country and for the Colonies.

The report of M. Boppe on a visit to the English
and Scotch Forest's, by the professors and students
from Nancy Forest School (see Journal, vol. xxx.
p. 772) is printed as an appendix to the report of
the committee. — Journal of the Society of Arts.

CINCHONA STATISTICS.

From the following documents it would appear
that the number of cinchona trees of all ages
planted on 21,000 acres of private land in Java,
is thirty millions, or close on 2J:,000 per acre. It
will be a good many years yet before the bark
from these will closely affect the markets.
Colonial Becretray'g Office, Colombo, 12th Feb. 1887.

The Honorary Secretary, Planters' Association,
Dimbula,

Sir,— With reference to your letter of the 7th
July last, I am directed to transmit to you the
enclosed copy of a letter from the British Consul
at Batavia,— I am, sir, your obdt, servant.

H. C. P. BELL,
for Colonial Secretary.

No. 18. British Consulate, Batavia 18th Jan. 1887.

yir, — I beg to acknowledge receipt of your despatch
of the 34th August last handing me copy of a letter
received by you from the Secretary of the Dimbula
Planters' Association, asking for information regard-
ing the cinchona cultivation of Java, on receipt of
which I addressed the Planters Association here on the
subject and have only just now received its reply,
which accounts for the delay which has occurred
in my forwarding you the information. According
to the estimate of the Association, the area privately
plauted is 21,000 acres ; the uambpr of trees plantecl |

30,000,000, (of which 14.000,009 C. succirubra ;) and the

crop for 1887 l,43:-!.250 lb.; and I believe these

figures may be taken as practically correct, or ass

nearly so, as it is possible to come. The average

proportion of sulphate extracted from the bark is

estimated by the Association to be about 3 percent.

At the end of September 188(5, the statistics of the

Government estates were as follows. —

Plai-ifc, ,-,, fi,« „„,.o„,.;„c 1 1-249,000 Ledgeriana
i^iants in tne nurseries i ^r-nr.nn o • u

( obO.OOO Succirubra

755,700 Ledgeriana
74,000 Calisaya & Hasska.li-
ana

Plants iu open ground ■{ 556,000 Succirubra and Cal-

optera
234,000 Officinalis
8,000 Lancifolia
In 1883, the last year for which returns are avail-
able of the area of land planted by the GoTcrn-
ment it was 1,778 acres.

CINCHONA STATISTICS.

du

1 £_i ■

<D O a

CO

0)

o

a (B

s

-t> «

"^ "S

.S 3

CO

u
cS

a

> ?

a)

O N >
r-* ..H O

0)

» 6D

a a

<0

o"

f-4

^■30

=3 »

lb.

lb.

£.

1881

. . 179,520

25,290

18,204

7.36,600

2,036,480

1882

. . 275,264

35,259

28,036

1,205,800

2,099,400

1883

. . 453.424

172,733

28,915

1,533,000

1,966,500

1884

. . 380,800

275,762

30,000

1,516,500

1,753,900

1885

. . 458,728

—

—

1,390,000

1,567,000

Trusting the above information may prove of use
to the planters of your island. — I am, etc.,

(Signed) N. W. Neill,

H. B. M.'s Consul.

♦

Manubes and Manuring. — It is well to bear in
mind that no cast iron rule can be laid down on the
subject, different factors having to be considered be-
fore it can be settled what manure is best. It has
been truly said that " the essential ingredients that
must come from the soil are potash, lime, magnesia,
iron, phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, a small amount
of chlorine, perhaps a minute quantity of silica, and,
finally, considerable nitrogen. Consequently, in order
that plants may grow and thrive, they must have at
the disposal of their roots in the soil a sufficient
quantity of each of these ingredients of their food.
If any oue of the more important constituents — potash,
lime, phosphoric acid, or nitrogen — be deficient, the
whole plant suffers." — Planter and. Farmer.

We note in the Batavia Handelshlacl of the 11th
January that a concession, formerly held by the Kali
Anam Company at Langkat on the East coast of
Sumatra, comprising about 26,600 acres of jungle laud,
has been taken over by Mr. O. Ecsels, owner of the
Mabar tobacco estate in Deli, and Baron P. de Lapeyrie
agent for the firm of Dpcauville in Netherlands India
and the Straits Settlements. These gentlemen intend
to start a company with a capital of $00,000 or so,
half of which has already .been taken up, in order,
on a large scale, to set about growing pepper, cubebs,
nipnh, and India Rubber, The market value of these
products has risen high enough of late to warrant con-
fidence in this first experimental venture in that line
set on foot by a European settled in Sumatra. The
land formerly owned by the Kali Anam Company,
is especially suitable for pepper growing. At the
head of this enterprise, which will bear the name of
the "Sumatra Pepper Company,'' Baron P. de Lapeyrie
will be put in the capacity of manager. The head
quarters of the company will be at Taiijoiig Kobia
between Sunghy Tuugkan and Sunghy H^tlaban. The
promoters of this novel enterprise deserve every success.
They intend to turn Siamese laborers to account,
above all, for pepper cultivation. Siam is certainly a
new quarter upon which to indent for plantation
coolies in this part of the world. We are informed
that the conces,sionaries will begia work in IMay next,
and as this will be the first European enterprise of
the kind in Sumatra, we wish the Baron aud bis
partnw every bwcws^.-'Straits Timet!.

Maach I, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

S9S

CEYLON UPCOUNTEY PLANTING EEPOET.

THE WELCOME KAIN — COFFEE BLOSSOMS AND CKOP PROS-
PECTS— MR. COCHKAn's ANALYSIS OF COCA LEAVES —
FUNGUS IN TEA — THE SAU TREE.

14tli Feb. 1887.

The welcome rain which we had last week has
made us all jubilant. Even the depressed and
despised coffee has responded to the genial show-
ers, and it is quite a sight to see how the shuck-
est trees are putting on blossom. Where the
bushes are in any kind of heart at all, be it
native or otherwise, every branch and twig is full
of spike, and in a few days more they will be
clothed in a clustering magnificence of white. This
promise, and the prospect of good prices, are
stirring the inert native. The little patch of native
coffee which still remains after the inroads of neg-
lect, leaf disease and bug — a relic of an all but
vanished past — is being seen to ; the weeds are
scuffled off, the jungle stuff cut down, and hopes
built up, which are likely to be discounted to the
wily Moorman at a ruinous rate, long before the
harvest can be reaped. If the blossom will but
set— and one that was out about a fortnight ago
has already done so— those who have any coffee
remaining, may have cause for satisfaction in that
they spared it. We will be having erelong some
man going in lor a new clearing of Arabian coffee ;
as it is I have heard of an enquiry for Liberian
plants so hopeful is the Ceylon planter, prepared
even to double back if there seem but a poss-
ibility of success. From Mr. Michael Cochran, m.
A., F. c. s., our local chemist, I have been favoured
with a report of a chemical examination of coca
leaves, which, as being interesting to the readers
of the Observer, I now enclose. I was indebted
to Mr. J. A. Ferdinandus, of the Eoyal Botanic
Gardens, Peradeniya, for the sun-dried leaves which
formed the basis of the report, and I would like
when mentioning that gentleman's name, to bear
my testimony to his unfailing courtesy, and his
readiness to oblige en all occasions. Indeed this
willingness to serve the public is the distinguish-
ing feature of all the officials connected with the
gardens. Mr. Cochran's report is a valuable and
exhaustive one. Whether coca will yet be a much
cultivated article in Ceylon remains to be seen :
any how those who do try to grow it, will find that
the harvest of leaves is very much increased if the
plant be grown in the shade. In the open it is
more apt to produce seed. As to the profitable-
ness of the culture, there are many opinions current.
But experience in the matter is very limited and
while you hear a good deal which tends to its dis-
advantage, still there is an under current of be-
lief in its future.

The dying out of tea trees, in threes, and fours,
which is a common enough thing in most new
clearings, is now traced to a fungus on the roots.
After having destroyed the rootlets, it attacks the
tap-root, and then, what before seemed a flourish-
ing bush, withers and dies. I understand that it
is not a thing likely to spread. The fungus is
caused from the rotting of the soft wood jungle
trees,* and with the decay of that useless stuff there
will die out tJiat which starts the fungus into life.
The Sau tree, which is favourably regarded as
a shade tree for tea, and a general opener of the
soil, is being pretty extensively planted out in
nurseries. I learn that there is a considerable de-
mand for the seed at present, the dry weather we
have come through lately, giving many the idea

* We were the first to notice it, and we have never
traced the fatal fungus to any tree but one, a species
p( eymplocos,— Ep.
75

that a light flickering shade such as is thrown by
the graceful foliage of the sau, would prove bene-
ficial to the tea plant in the dry months, and not
be altogether an objection in the rains. By and.
bye we will know more of this. Peppercorn.

PLANTEES' ASSOCIATION OF CEYLON.

The. following are extracts from the 33rd annual
report for 1886-7 of the Ceylon Planters' Associatioa
read at the annual meeting on 17th February, 1887: —

planting products.

2. Coffee. — The acreage under this product has beea
reduced during the past year, and, notwithstanding the
satisfactory prices now olitaiaable, your Committee
believes that in some localities a further arta now
under Coffee will in the comiag year give place to tea.

The Exports for 1886 were 179,210 cwt. ag-aiust
315,649 cwt. in 1885.

r^a.— Satisfactory progress in connection with this
product, which is rapidly becomiug the staple of the Is-
land has to be recorded. The acreage uuder cultivation
is constantly being extended both in 'Supercessiou of
other products and in fresh land. The season,
so far, has not been altogether favourf.ble to an
abundant yield, as the excessive damp of the South-
West Monsoon has been followed in many Districts
by a failure of the North-East rains. The unaccount-
able fall in price which took place early in the year,
was soon succeeded by a firm market. Further ad-
vances have been made in the improvement and cheap-
ening of machinery, but in the latter respect much
remains to be desired.

The Exports for 1886 were 7,849,888 lb. against
4,372,721 lb. in 1885.

Cinchona. — Tiie same causes which led to the large
export during 1885 have occasioned a similar export
during IbStJ, and consequently prices have fallen to a
barely profitable point. It is impossible to say for
how many months this export may continue; but it
is unlikely to be for long, and it is maintained entirely
at the expense of the future. Your Committee while
fully alive to the desirability of obtaining the statis-
tics connected with tha probable export of bark, as
suggested by the Dimbula Planters' Association, has
felt that it would not be possible, at the present
moment, to obtain figures which would be even
fairly reliable.

The exports for 1886 were 14,675,663 lb. against
13,736,171 lb. in 1885.

Cacoa. — This valuable product has asserted for itsel'

a position of no mean importance among exports,

I while high and remunerative prices have been maiat-

aiiied. The increased production has been very marked

during the past year, and bids fair in the current

year to exceed that of aLy previous year. The

" Helopeltis scare,' is practically at an end, aad tha

attention of those who have hitherto held aloof from

cacoa cultivation is being di-awn to it by ihe vtry

encouraging results obtained on the o'd>^r plautations.

That its successful and profitable cultivation will e

I confined to certain localities is no doubt true, but

' your Committee believes that, with patience and per-

sev, ranee, a larger acreage can be advantageously mado

available.

The exports for 1886 were 13,056 cwt. against 7,193
cwt. in 1885.

Minor rivrh(cf><. — Of these crdamoms remain the
most important, and the crop for the past year hat?
been an abundant onp.

The exports for 1886 were 238,947 lb. against
184,1421b in 1885.

Liberian Colf'ee — is at present the only other minof
product deserving of notice, but it is being gradually
cleared out to make way for tea, and may probably
soon c ase to be an article of (Xport.

The expor s for 18S6 wero 3,83i Cwt. sgainsi
. 5,?2& cwt, iu im,

^94

fun fmPtCAL AGRIC0LTUHIS1'. [MAftcii i, imy.

INDIAN AND CEYLON TEAS IN 1886.

The rapid advance in public favour made by Indian
aud Ceylon teas is the feature of the last year's trade.
The Grocer commentiug on this and the past aud
futuie of the trade generally, makes the following
■ comment.^, which show a distinct prejudice, on the
part of the writer, against Indian tea :— " Now, with
ref( rence to quality, we are sorry to see that it is
being sacrificed in order to produce quantity. India
says, ' The Grocer, can't do without us, therefore let
us compete with China, produce the quantity, and
knock down the price,' They have knocked down the
price of the bulk of the Indian tea, and they are
now on a level with China, viz. 6|d to 9d per lb. ;
but, after uU this is done, what will be the result, aud
will Indian planters benefit themselves ? We decidedly
say, 'No.' The gardens may be, and we beheve are, able
to produce now even at present value, and still leave a
profit, but there is a limit to their consumption, as the
India teas are so raw and pungent that no retailer will
keep his trade long if he uses only Indian tea —
even now we believe it will be found that the home
consumption of Indian and Ceylon tea is on a par
with China congou, or say, half-and-half ; and it is
much to be feared that in time this striving to pro-
duce the quantity will have such an effect on Indian
and Ceylon teas that the public will turn against them.
The public like something pungent and flavoury,
hence the reason of the ever-increasing demand for
Indian teas instead of China teas, but if they are
only to be given a bitter nauseous compound and
no flavour (which the lower grades of Indian tea are
quickly coming to,) there will soon be a reaction in
favour of the more delicate and refreshing China
growths, and wlrch only require to be made properly
to be appreciated." It then goes on to say— " Indian
and Ceylon teas are fast becoming the principal
market in the trade. Dealers will neglect China sales
but the greatest attention has to be paid to Indian
growths. As fast as they are bought they seem
to be sold again in the country, and consumption
goes on increasing yearly. As regards Indian tea,
the results to the dealer cannot be so satisfactory
as would be imagined, owing to their increase in con-
sumption and favour with the public, for several
reasons. Firstly, owing to high firing, the teas taste
well on arrival^ but if they arc kept they soon lose
their quality and freshness, and become coarse and
bitter, . . The bulk of the teas that have come in
this season consist of teas under lOd. per lb., and under
the very heavy weight of sales each week prices have
fallen 2d. to 3d. per lb. within the last two months
for these grades; it can therefore be well understood
that dealers must be left with some bad stock. All
these teas have a good leaf and very fair liquor, con-
sequently the increase in the deliveries of Indian tea
for the last two or three months of the year has been
very large, as they now can more than compete with
the low China growths, and of course are taken in
preference. When fair grades of Indian souchong
and pekoe cost 9d to is, per lb. they could not be used
fio freely in cheap mixtures, but now that they are
jictualty cheaper, than common China ^.-rowths price
for price, an euormous trade in them is the result, a.s
"they have more point «nd (?trei)gth in a low-priced
miatufe," As regards Ceylon teas; they continue grow-
ing in great favour. The reasons for it are many,
Viz., that they have kept Up their quality this season,
*pbich both India and China have failed to do; again,
they draw a dark liquor, and posBess a beautiful soft
flavour, thus enabling them to be drunk alone without
&ny mixing.— 27ie Grocer.

^ ^

COFFEE CURING.

gif jMr. W.A. Lyrtle's rejoinder to Mr. Johnstone's

letter in your paper, re the above subject, calls for a few
remarks from one, who was a Ceylon, and is now an
Indian coffee planter, of, 1 believe, of longer standing,
aud of greater experience in the " Spicy Isle " than Mr.
Lyrtle's letter leads me to think he has gained there,
Mr. W, A. L. writes about the exorbitant charges for
cming ou tUe part oftUe Colombo ageuts. Agaio te

forgets, if ever he knew, that most estates were heavily
mortgaged from their very earliest infancy to, or through
their several agents, and that, consequently, the
proverb of" charity begins at home" might have been
not inaptly applied to the non-reduction of the agents'
curiug charges. I admit that when times were bad
the big curing firms did not respond, as they should
have done, to the proprietors of the vanishing coflfee.
It is possible to cure coffee at a lower rate than was
usually charged in Ceylon by the big curing firms,
who at the same time usually acted as financial agents
to the estates whose coffee they cured. The ordinary
rate wasR2-4-0per cwt. whilst Baker and Hall's rate
was 111-12-0, still I maintain these prices offer no
parallel. The big firms were mixed up in financial
estate transactions, and the latter firm were
merely curers pur et simpJr. Mr. W. A. L's. ideas
about sending down coffee to the coast at a ton a cart;
are absurd, in view of the state of the roads down the
ghats. He evidently has just woke Hp from a dream
of the Spicy Isle, and fancies that the peerless roads we
had there are duplicated in this or any of Her Majesty's
Dominions. There is one grain of wheat in W. A.
L's letter and I would strongly advise my planting
brethren to sift it for themselves, aud this grain re-
solves itself into " when once the color is established
in the bean, dry the latter no further, keep it turned
over in the store daily till despatch." He is perfectly
right when he says that long exposure will result in a
loss of color ; and with good sun, color, if there is any
in the bean will come out in five days ; but your cor-
respondent does not say that leaf disease effects the
color of the bean, as it undoubtedly does ; or, did he
reach Ceylon when leaf was at its height, and is the
color of the beau, under these circumstances his beau
ideal of what the color of a coffee bean should be?

Salawakiellie.

Sir, — For the information of your correspondent who
replies to my letter on coffee curing I may state that
I had ten years' experience in Ceylon, and though that
may not seem much beside the assumed hoary anti-
quity of this veteran, yet I submit that it is long
enough to enable one to understand what he writes
about with reference to coffee. Will your correspond-
ent kindly re.spond, aud state how long his "'stand-
ing " was ? I do not see thot the fact that our friend
of the strange signature is " acquainted with Mr.
Johuston " is made use of as an argument, or in sup-
port of an argument. I am glad that he supports ray
argument so well when he says " The latter firm (B
and H) were merely curers pur et simple." Yes, merehj
so. Hence their success. As for the difficulty in
sending a ton downtime ghats, I maintain that it is an
easy matter with the dry weather and dry roads during
crop in India. In Ceylon this load is almost universal
in rainy weather ; so the advantage gained by the
metal is counteracted by the weather, I may also in-
form the gentleman whose letter is under reply, that
I have procured a cart from Ceylon, which, with the
exception of extreme length of pole, forms a tremend-
ously favourable contrast to the Mysore jimcrack affair.
It is not because of inferiority of the roads but
rather because of inferiority of carts that makes_ a
ton seem a preposterous load, This leads me to point
out that your correspondent, while admitting the in«
feriority of the roads here, yet fails to notice what 1
8aid about the needlesi9ness of sending coffee down the
ghats. If leaf disease affects the colour of the beaH
then there was no call for Blr. Johnston's letter. I
merely stated what I considered to be the extent of
the planter's duty. I may now in addition state that
good cultivation in an Indian climate seems to coun-
teract to a great extent the evil effects of leaf-disease,
Hcmilcia vastatri.v, being a fungus, never ceased from
its deadly ravages on the food cells of the leaves in
the moist hot climate of Ceylon. In India the pro-
longed drought, as well as the sunless, ceaseless, drip
of the mousooD,— checks the reproduction and activity
of the pest, and gives the weary planter some respite,
some breathing space to prolong the heavy fight. Your
Cdrrespondent flippantly refers to mortgages, and ad-
mits he waa not alway.^ used to " Mysore Curry»" I,

March i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

59^

have had heavy and early acquaintance with the for-
mer, which makes me thaukful if I can get the
latter. W. A. Lyktle,

—3Iadras Mail.

CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF COCA
LEAVES.
I have much pleasure in reporting to you the
results of my first attempt at the chemical examin-
ation of the leaves of Coca Erythroxylon, which
you were good enough to obtain for me. One
portion of the sun-dried leaves yielded -514 per
cent of crude cocaine alkaloid ; another smaller
portion of the sample, which I treated with fully
one and-a-half times the proportion of solvent
used in the first case, yielded -648 per cent of
crude alkaloid. These results are good, but the
total amount of alkaloid obtained from the quan-
tities of leaves operated on seemed to me too
small, viz., 4*2 and 2-6 grains respectively, to admit
of an accurate determination of the pure alkaloid
being made by the process followed. In assaying
the leaves by this process, indeed, it is not custom-
ary to proceed further than the actual determin-
ation of the crude alkaloid. Determinations on
the large scale shew the proportion of impurities
(another alkaloid called hygrine and decompos-
ition products,) which usually accompany the crude
cocaine, and a corresponding deduction being made
from the impure alkaloid obtained by assay, the
difference is regarded as a close approximation to
the amount of pure alkaloid. I should like to
obtain a larger supply of leaves, both for the
purpose of trying other methods of extracting
the alkaloid, and also to determine for myself
the amount of purified alkaloid obtainable from
the crude alkaloid. I have before me two
leading chemical journals, in both of which the
process I used is given, yet the one authority
states (giving instances from actual working) that
the crude alkaloid usually contains from 20 to 25
per cent of impurities, while the other authority
gives no examples, but states that the crude al-
kaloid " contains on an average 20 per cent of
alkaloid with much impurity." The crude alkaloid
which I obtained was a clear, almost colourless
substance, resembling varnish, which by and bye
crystallized, the crystals spreading out from star-
shaped nuclei. The crystals even after long drying
remained somewhat viscous to the touch. A small
portion when laid upon the tongue and pressed
against the roof of the mouth had a slightly
bitter taste, and about a minute, there was ex-
perienced an increasing feeling of numbness. The
effect, which was not very strong, but quite marked,
passed completely away in a few minutes. A
portion of the alkaloid obtained was dissolved in
hydrochloric acid to a clear and neutral solution,
and evaporated to the consistency of varnish. After
standing for some time and being stirred it changed
its physical condition to what looked like a moist
nearly white amorphous powder, but, under the
microscope, its structure was revealed as a mass of
clear, but very r^inute, prismatic crystals. This is
the cocaine hydrochlorate, the use of which as a local
an:esthetic is now fairly established. A little of it
placed upon the tongue soon produced a sensation
(or want of sensation ) resembling that of a painless
blister. I dissolved the salt in water, adding a
minute quantity of salicylic acid, to prevent the
growth of low organisms in the solution. I have
ent you a portion of this solution, which is clear
and but slightly tinged with colour. A good way
to test the effect of it on the mucous membrane
of the mouth, is to put a drop of it on a small
piece ot blottmg paper, which is then pressed

between the tongue and the roof of the mouth.
A comparatively short time ago, the crystallized
hydrochlorate of cocaine was retailed in Colombo
at E2-.50 per grain, now it may be had for 25 cts.
per grain.

As I have not in the course of my reading seen
any analysis of the ash of coca leaves, I used a
portion of the sample of leaves to make an analysis
of the mineral ingredients left after burning the
Leaves. This is interesting, as showing the in-
organic matter removed from the soil by a crop
of coca leaves.

The sun-dried leaves gave off 10*8 per cent of
moisture, when dried at 212° Fahr., and when burned,
yielded fully 6 per cent of ash, including carbonic
acid, which is not an ingredient of the leaf, but
a product of combustion. The following are the
detailed results : —

Oomposition of the ash of coca leaves.
Silica ... ... ... ... 306

Oxide of iron &c., ... ... 338

Lime ... ... ... ... 27-86

Magnesia ... ... ... 8*50

Sodium chloride ... ... ... 574

Postassium chloride ... ... 1'26

Potash... ... ... ..: 13-94

Phosphoric acid ... ... ... 16.81

Sulphuric acid ... ... ... 4'61

Carbonic acid ... ... ... 14'84

lOO'OO
Since writing the above, I have come upon and
interesting research into the composition of tea
leaves, in the January number of the Journal
of the Chemical Society, which, by analogy,
may throw some light on the discrepancy of the
two authorities referred to on the matter of the
amount of pure cocaine obtainable from the
crude alkaloid. 0. Kellner has made systematic
analyses of fresh tea leaves plucked from May to
November, and it would appear from his tables
of analyses that the amount of ethereal extract
and of the alkaloid theine are variable, and in
something like inverse proportion to each
other. In May the amount of ethereal extract
was 6"48 per cent, and the theine 2-85 per ct. calcu-
lated on the dry leaf, while, in November the
figures were 22"19 and 1.00 respectively The
constituents of the ash shew similar changes.
The potash e, g. in May constitutes 49 06 per cent,
of the ash, and it gradually decreases, till, at the
end of November, it is only 17'31 per cent.
Conversely the lime in May is 11-95 per cent, an
at the end of November 30.46 per cent.

M. COCHRAN.
Colombo, 7th Feb. 1887.

Substitute fok Coffee amongst the Natives. —
A ]Dlanter has sent us pods of a leguminous plant,
asking, — " Have you heard of the new coffee that is
now sold at the kaddiea on the road side called
To@r attaV Having submitted the question to
Mr. W. Ferguson, he writes : — These fruits (pods)
are those of the Sesbania J^gyptiaca Persona. The
plant is common about cosly lines all over Ceylon
and has been grown in the island for several
centuries. It is given as a native in Dr. Trimen's list,
but though known to the Tamils as Karum-chembai,
it has no Sinhalese name and it is not one of 'the
Toras, (Cassias, or Cajanus). The leaves are used
as poultices, and the wood makes excellent charcoal
for gunpowder, but I do not believe the seeds are
used for any purpose.* Those of a species of
Cassia, had quite a run as a substitute for coffee
sometime ago."

* Our correspondent distinctly states that they are
now used as a substitute for coffee. — En.

$5^

fnt fROPrCAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1887.

INDIAN FIBRES SUITABLE FOR
PAPER MAKING.

We have been favoured with a copy of the follow-
ing official Report of a Conference held in the
Oonjmercial Room of the Imperial Indian Court of
the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 2nd July 1886.

Present :— Sir E. C. Buck, i.l. d.. Dr. G. Watt,
C. I. H., Mr, John AVilson, Mr. F. G. Lloyd, Mr.
E. H. Joynson, Mr. E. Bevan, Mr. ClaytOQ Beadle,
Sir. J. Buchanan, Mr. T. Christy, Mr. W. E. Death,
Mr. F. P. Banlow, Mr. Routledge, Mr. Lascelles-Scott,
]Mr. B. Doukin, juu., and Mr. T. A. Archer.

On the tables were displayed, a large assortment of
fibres suitable for paper-making, as also Indian power
and hand manufactured papers. The following may
be mentioned as the more importaut fibres shown : —

Pollinia eriopoda. Rice straw and roots.

Saccharum Munja. Dhup and other wild grasses.

Also bamboo half stutf and paper, prepared by Mr.
Routledge, of Sunderland, and a number of the cheaper
bark fibres of which those of Bcnihinia vahlii were
deemed the most hopeful. Opuntia dillenii, the
cactus which has overrun large tracts of the drier
regions of South India, was pronounced useless, but
plantain fibre and half stuff was viewed as most hope-
ful. Jute waste and rags, and other waste materials
used in India for paper-making, were also placed on
the tables, but as these are articles of established trade
they received only a passing remark.

It was admitted by the gentlemen present that
paper might be made from almost anything; the
question was one of price. It would never, for ex-
ample, pay to cultivate any fibre for paper, and
especially a fibre that required to be put through a
preparatory process before being thrown into the paper-
makers' vats.

Mr. Death said that, in his opinion, the most promis-
ing fibre in India for paper-making was the common
edible plantain, but the great difficulty in utilizing it
was the cost of carriage. What was therefore
■wanted was a machine that would strip the fibre on
the spot, reducing the stems and leaf-stalks to a con-
dition in which they would be baled economically.
Experiments were being tried, with this object, in
Costa Kica, and he expected to receive a report in a
few days, which, he believed, would be favourable.
He very kindly promised to communicate this for the
information of Government in case it might be desired
to have the same experiments repeated in India.
Should his anticipations be realized he felt sure the
fibre would come into general use in papermakiug, and
there was no doubt very good paper could be made
from plantain stems, in fact this had been proved by
practical test, and he would be glad to furnish
samples of plantain paper.

D . Watt explained that this fibre had received con-
side i able attention in India, and that the Bally Paper
Mill, showed in their case, samples of plantain paper.
The difficulty that, in his opinion, would always stand
in the way of a great development of plantain fibre
was the collection of the stems. It was all very well
to talk about a machine that could be used on the
spot, but for whatever cost such a machiue might be
had, the owner of half a dozen plantain stems was not
likely to purchase it. There are few plautations of
plantains, and the supply would have ultimately to
comi; from the hundred peasant homes within every
square mile, since the plantain did not exist in suffi-
cient abundance as a wild product in accessible regions.

It was stated to be indispensably necessary in a
fibre intended for paper to reduce the bulk to a
minimum so as to lessen the cost of freight to Europe,
provided that this reduction did not entail any elaborate
or costly process. Simple methods for doing so are
known, such, for example, as beating to remove dirt,
hydraulic baling of the fibre into conveniently sized
packages.

It was urged that it was essential that information
should be afforded respecting the quantity available
and the probable cost of any proposed new fibre.
Quantities of 10 tons were needed for reliable experi-
ment, and the material sent should be as much freed
as possible from all useless matter, provided the doing
K«) did not increase the cost of the fibre too much.

Sir E. C. Buck suggested, that it would be well if
the gentlemen present who were interested in paper
making would go through the fibres shown in the
Economic Court, and make a list of those which
appeared most hopeful as future paper fibres, in order
that samples of these might be sent from India beaten
out and prepared in the desired manner. This propos-
ition met with general approval, and it was again
urged that to be useful to paper makers a fibre must
be cheap, since all that the paper maker could pay
for was waste from the fabric industries, or a fibre that,
like esparto, might without any preparation be thrown
direct into the vats. Esparto could be purchased at £4
a ton at the present moment in Loudon, and wood pulp
had so revolutionised the paper industry that, unless
for special merit, the paper-maker could not pay more
than £10 or £12 a ton.

The gentlemen present agreed that, while the bhabar
and munj grasses were very good for paper it would
never pay to import them in that condition, the more
so since esparto was obtainable at a price far below
what would be charged in freight alone from India.
Unlese these grasses could profitably he shipped ia
the form of half stuff they were out of the question.
The only Indian fibres that seemed hopeful were bam-
boo, plantain, jute, and sunn waste, and the long
stems of the Baiihinia creeper. Since the Conference
perhaps some dozen paper-makers and textile manu-
facturers have asked and obtained samples of the last
mentioned fibre, and it seems highly likely that as a
'direct outcome of the present Exhibition this creeper
will come to be extensively used for a number of
purposes. Everyone who has seen it has gone away
pleased, and fortunately anticipating some such result;
steps were taken to send to the Exhibition a large
supply, and it has thus been possible to meet all
demands for samples.

The practical result of the Conference may be briefly
stated to be that fibres that are good enough for textiles
are too good for paper-making. Bamboo has been
tried, and may be viewed in as forward a position as
it is possible to press a new material.* The gentlemen
wlio attended the Conference agreed that the Govern-
ment had best concentrate its energies on developing
the plantain and Bauhinia fibres.

It was asked if the GoVf-rnment would grant any
inducement to paper manufacturers who would be
willing to undertake the necessary experiments, which,
to be useful, must include technical trials as well as
scientific analyses.

Sir E. C. Buck feared that there was no fund
available for such purpose ; but the fibres selected by
any person desirous of experimenting, might be sent
from India in the form of "stock," cleaned by the natives
as near as possible in the desired manner.

After the usual acknowledgment to Sir E. C. Buck
and Dr. Watt for the kind manner in which they had
assisted at the Conference, the company separated.
— Planters' Gazette.

THE VALUE OF MULCHING.

One of the greatest difficulties with which our New
England farmers have to contend is the long and severe
droughts with which our seasons are almost always
accompanied, the cause being the peculiarities of our
climate and the construction of our soils.

Water is continually passing from the soil into the
atmosphere during the Summer months, either through
vegetation, by the process of growth or through the
soil, caused by the absorption of heat, which rapidly
evaporates the moisture as it ascends to the surface
through the capillary tubes of the earth.

The escape of moisture through vegetation, the intel-
ligent cultivator would not check if he could, for upon
this depends the quantity of our crops at harvest time.
To prevent or check the escape of moisture on fallow
lands, however, is one of the important labors of the
agriculturist. This may be accomplished in two ways.
One by repeatedly stirring the soil, by which means
the continuity of the capillary tubes is served or bro-

* Young shoots and not well-grown stems being
desiderated, we donbt if bamboo will ever be largely
used for paper-making. — Ed,

March i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURISTo

597

ken, 80 that the water does not ascend so rapidly to
the surface. Anothtr aud more efficient method of
preventing tiie escape of moisture is by mulching. This
not only prevents ev poration, but also acts as a fertili-
zer to a certain ex ent.

When the ground is mulched the water ascends to
the surface and brings with it fertilizing salts from,
and even below, the subsoil. When the fallow ia
naked this water is, by the heat of the soil, converted
into vapor before it reaches the surface, aud the salts
above referred to are left lower down in the soil, not
infrequently below the reach of the plant-roots.

Mulching means shading, since both produce the
same results. Evaporation progresses slowly where
there is shade. The ground is kt-pt cooler, and where
such is not the case the intervening shade prevents
evaporation. This latter is not so rapid on cloudy
days as on bright ones, though there may be little oi no
difference in the temperature of the soil. Moisture
accumulates under and about the stones, and we were
once told that the stones drew water, but the truth
is they prevent evaporation, or in other words, they
mulch the ground.

The foliage of the trees in woods shades the ground,
thus retarding evaporation, but the fallen leaves mulch
tlie ground and retain the moisture ; in such places
the roots are found nearer the surface, and yet the
foliage shows less effects of drought than the foliage of
trees out in the open i asture, where the roots run deeper.

There are many crops grown which cannot be con-
sidered as mulching the ground, although they cover
it, simply because they carry off more water by the
way of their roots and leaves than would be evapor-
ated from a naked fallow. Of such crops we may
mention clover, grass and the cereals. On the other
hand, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, squashes and the like
act as mulches, because they shade the ground in the
vicinity of their place of growth.

When corn first comes up it is cultivated and hoed
to break the capillary tubes in the earth, so that
evaporation may be checked, and the growing crop have
the benefit of the moisture. When the corn has grown
to a certain height, it then shades the ground, aud
in this way checks evaporation, preserving the mois-
ture, to a certain extent, for its own growth. The
same is true of potatoes and tomatoes, while squashes
shade the ground more than any crop grown. They
are perfect mulches. The roots of all the.-se plants run
out into the ground so shaded to obtain that moisture
which their foliage retains for their use.

Great benefit is found from the practice of mulching
in young orchards. The first season after setting out
young trees is generally severe upon them. The young
rootlets, not having secured good hold upon the soil,
require the adoption of some means for retaining mois-
ture in the soil. If not secured in some way, or applied
by artificifll means, many of the young trees are likely
to die. The easiest way to effect this is to retain the
moi.'sture by mulching with matted hay, straw leaves
or tan bark. These mulches will keep the ground moist
and mellow. In the Fall they should be forked into
the soil to prevent mice from harboring in them.

Continuous mulching is a great benefit to peach trees,
resulting in finer and larger fruit than can be secured
in any other way. Mulching currants tends to increase
their size, while raspberries aud blackberries should
always be mulched. This latter process not only tends
to supply moisture, but also assists iu keeping down
weeds. Through mulching, strawberries may be grown
on much drier land than they would otherwise suc-
ceed in. In addition to keeping down the weeds, the
fruit is kept clean and clear of grit, which latter is
often thrown upon the fruit by rains.

There are some exceptions to the beneficial practice of
mulching. Thus grape vines are considered better for
not being mulched. The grape vine delights in a
warm soil and the roots are generally very near the
surface. While orchardists and raisprs of small fruits
are all agreed upon the value of mulching, yet, growers
of grapes, as a rule, are equally certain that grapes do
better if not mulched. ■

The question of mulching is an important one to
(ftrmers and of immense practical value. However,

the science of evaporation, which embraces hte retention
of moisture in the ground as well as the evaporation,
of water through the foliage of plants, is one of the
most interesting studies connected with the art of
agriculture, and one which should be exprimented upon
by every cultivator of the soil. — American Cultivator.

THE CULTIVATION AND MANUPACTUEE OF
STJGAK IN BRITISH GUIANA.

BY MR. B. HOWELL JONES.

The cultivation and manufacture of sugar occupied
the attention of the early Dutch settlers in British
Guiana, but the present system of cultivation of the
low lands lying near the sea does not appear to have
been adopted until the settlers found that the land in
the interior was not so productive as the alluvial de-
posits on the sea border, as iu the year 1766 the
entry in the records of the Colony mentions that
'• the settlers, not finding the upper lands of the
rivers so productive, are returning to the coast." It
was, perhaps, as well for the Colony that the Dutch
were the first settlers, as from the experience .lerived
from the cultivation of the low-lying lands of Holland
they were singularly adapted for establishing a similar
system of drainage and navigation in a land of which a
large portion lies some 3 feet below sea level ; aiid the re-
mains of old brick sluices and kokers tell us of the in-
domitable perseverance, courage, and knowledge they
bad in handling such difficult operations; and
that they were right I think has been amply proved
by the system having been carried on uninterruptedly
since they established it. The cultivation of sugar did
not absorb the whole attention of the population, as
it does at present, until after the abolition of slavery,
when the price of wages rose so considerably that it
was found impossible to continue to cultivate cotton
and coffee ; these estates were consequently abandoned,
whilst the sugar crop was reduced to one-half, and
nearly all the estates changed hands. It was not
until 25 years afterwards, with an importation of
45,000 immigrants from India, China, and Maderia,
at an enormous cost to the planters, that the Colony
once more regained its position as a sugar-producing
country of any importance. The sugar estates are
situated along the alluvial deposits bordering on the
sea, and run in parallelograms at right angles, either
from the sea or rivers, and extend four or five miles
into the savanna which forms, in most instances, their
other boundary. A line of dams is thrown up along
the sea front, to protect it from incursions of the
sea, and aback a line of damsi to prevent inundation
from the savanna, which in wet seasons gets flooded
with rain water.

The estates are generally laid out with two centre-
trenches, with a dam between them, known as the
middle walk and middle-walk trenches, from which
at right angles extend the cro.ss canals which separate
the fields from each other, and are used, as well as
the middle-walk trenches, for the transportation of
canes. At each side of the estate the side-line tren-
ches, or main-drainage trenches are dug, and extend
the full length of cultivation, and into these tren-
ches the small open arterial drains, or small drains
as they are generally called, discharge themselves.
The main-drainage trenches either drain through
sluices at low tide direct into the sea, when natural
drainage is obtainable, or are united into one main
trench, and artificial drainage by means of powertul
pumps, is a,dopted. It is not the least important
part of a planter's duties to see that both series of
trenches, with their sluices, pumps, &c., are kept in
thorough order, the importance of good drainage in
a low-lying country such as British Guiana being a
sine quA non.

Keeping in mind the description, as just • read, of
how an estate is laid out, 1 will now describe the
method adopted for planting and reaping a crop of
canes. The cane plants, as a rule, are planted iu rows
running from cross canal to cross canal, and at right
angles to the small or arterial drains of the field.
I say as a rule, as in some instances, becoming
rarer as time goes on, they are planted from middle-

598

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1887

walk trench to side-liue, aud pa-allel to small drains,
ami called Dutch rows— but this plan is not now
generally adopted. The first operation when a field
has to be planted is for the cane rows to be lined
out, the distance apart depending on the opinion of
the individual planter ; but the plan generally in use
is known as three by three — that is, pins are placed
across the field 3 feet apart, the space next the
middle-walk trench being left generally a foot wider,
and is called the parapet. Tiien a cane row 3 feet
wide is dug, a small portion of earth thrown out, the
space carefully ploughed, and the earth levelled off
— in fact, a seel bed is prepared. The next space is
left untouched, then another cane row, and so on
across the field, the space between the cane rows
being known as the " bank." In the centre of these
cane rows the plants are put in, sometimes a .single
row, sometimes a double row, the cane plant con-
sisting of the last few joints of the cane, which is
green and contains very little saccharine matter, or
else they are shoots sprung from old cane stocks and
known as " stumps," several of these shoots, with a
portion of old cane from which they shoot, forming
a stu'np. The plants are carefully selected and put
into the ground at an angle of 45 deg.s., about 9 inches
apart, care being taken that the eyes of the top
are placed on the side, so that all spring; if
otherwise, those placed below would not grow. In
planting stumps care s'lould be taken to see they are
well and firmly set, all decayed matter having been
first removed, so that no water lodges at their roots.
A field thus planted is left until the eyes spring,
and the tender shoots are seen above the ground,
which in fair weather takes place in nine to fourteen
days. When fairly on their way the first weeding
and moulding tikes place, and the field generally cleaned
up of all loose trash, pieces of cane, &c. : this,
with the grass from the weeding, is placed tidily on one
of the banks which for the time becomes the
trash bank — the alternate bank, which _is kept clean,
being known as the clean bank. In moulding up the
young shoots, the fine earth from the surface should
be carefully spread over the head of the top, so as
to protect it from the scorching influence of the sun.
During the progress of the first weeding it is gene-
rally the custom — and I think advisable— to send in
a gang of men, according to the quantity of work to
be done, and carefully to put in new plants in place
of any that may not have grown. This operation is
called supplying. I think this should be done as early
as possible; if not, the plants growing on either .side,
the new plants overshadow them, so much that they
often die, or do not come away with the vigor desir-
able. As soon after the first weeding and moulding
has been done it is desirable, if weather permits, to
commence ploughing what is known as the clean bank;
and often, when the first weeding has not been a heavy
one. or if there has not been much trash left from
the last crop of canes, both banks are ploughed to-
gether. This keeps down the grass, which in our
climate is a serious matter, as it grows with wonder-
ful rapidity, and would soon affect the growth of
canes if left too long ; and it is essential when canes
are young to see they are kept from weeds. This
work accompHshed, manuring the young canes next
occupies the attention, and this is done as soon as
possible, generally six weeks or two mouths after
planting. Various manures are used, according to the
opinion of the manager of the estate, who judges
what is required from the nature of the soil he has
to contend with. Ammonia, nitrate of soda, Ohleu-
dorff's guano, Lawes' cane manure, are all well known
to us, besides many others made especially to meet
the views of individuals; but, as a rule, misetl manures
are shuuned, except those that have stuod a long test
and have proved to be up to the standard at which
they have been bought. AVith the assistance of chemists
much has been leaint, aud it may su- prise some of
ray hearers to learn that on some estates an analysis
has been made of the soil of every field, and in one
instance that I know of an analysis of the first 3
feet has been taken, so as to arrive at the value of
the subsoil, In a climate such as ours, with an ex-

cessive rainfall at one period and severe droughts
with which we are periodically troubled with, the
value of manure much depends on the season which
follows its application.

Afield cultivated up to this po'nb, with both banks p'ough-
ed, drains well and neatly dug, and a vigorous growth
of young cane, is a very pretty sight; and, a planter
delights to show a fellow agriculturist a strip of young
canes in this condition, or to hear from him the exclamat-
ion, " Ah ! thatV afine young strip." Once a field is well es-
tablished like this little more has to be done but to see
it is kept clean, and it is not such an easy matter as
an English agriculturist would imagine. At least one
more weeding and moulding has to be done ; some-
times a third is needed ; but if not, and the canes
are advanced enough, then the field has to be weeded
and the canes trashed. Of course, the canes and
the previous weedings have in a great measure kept
down the grass, but care is needed to trash the cane,
or, in other words, to pull off all dried leaves, and
carefully pack them away on the trash bank. The
cane stool must be freed from all rotten trash, and
blighted canes picked out ; this admits light and air
to the canes, materially assisting their growth, aud
bringing the cane, with its crystallisable juice, to per-
fection. Care is required in trashing not in any way
to injure the cane or to strip off those leaves which,
from not being quite dry, might bleed the cane. The
operation of trashing is generally performed three
times, the last operation taking place a few weeks
before the canes are cut ; this not only assists in
ripening the juice, but helps the cane cutter when
cutting canes, they being always more ready and wil-
ling to cut when a field is well trashed and clean.
The age when canes come to maturity differs in
Demerara according to season and locality ; the aver-
age of a plant field such as I have described is about
14 months. On the river districts 15 and 16 months
are often required to ripen canes ; whilst on some of
the coast lauds 12 to 13 months often suffices, and
I have known in dry seasons canes 10 and 1 months
quite fit for the cutlass.

Such is briefly an account of cultivating a field of
plant canes in British Guiana. I say plant canes, as
that is the term generally used for canes grown on
new land for first time ; if planted on old laud from
which canes have been reaped they are termed re-
plants. The second year of growth is termed 1st
ratoons, the third 2nd ratoons, and so on until the
field is again replenished. I have known fields to
continue to yield well up to 25 year.s ; but it is a
question if any of the old stools remained, the sup-
plies which from year to year have been put in having
entirely sujsplanted them. As a rule, the stools are
allowed to go on until they have become 4th ratoons
when replanting takes place. The plant canes having
been cut off and conveyed to mill by punts, a method
hereafter to be described, it is necessary to prepare
for the next crop, and as the cultivation is slightly
different it will be found convenient to give and ac-
count of it here. The canes having been taken from
the field, and the cane cutters, during the process of
cutting, having removed the trash from the trash
bank on to the clean bank, the trash is found lying
loosely about the field and covering up the small
drains. The first operation is to send in a gang of
workers to clear up the field and to put straight the
trash ; this is called relieving, the workers taking the
bands or leaves which form the head of the cane and
tying round the trash, cleaning out all the drains,
clearing the cane rows and weeding. Last year's
clean bank now becomes the trash bank. The field
is now left until the canes begin to spring ; the first
weeding and moulding is given as soon as they are
established, and supplies put in where necessary. Some-
times iluriug this la.st woi'k the cane row is carefully
ploughed, making it level aud avoiding holes for water
to lodge in. Then comes the working of the bank:
sometimes it is ploughed as in plant canes ; other
times, especially if the land is stiff clay, or that the
weather has been very heavy and canes suffering
from over moisture, the bank is drilled, an operation
which may be fitly termed surface drainage, and cou-

Ua^cU h im-i THE TROi^iCAL AGRICOLTUKIST.

S9^

sists iu digging a drain, generally 2 feet wide by 1
foot deep, at right angles to.the ordinary field drains.
Some planters prefer 1 foot 6 inches by 1 foot 6 inches,
but this is a matter of opinion, and the quality of
the soil has to be considered : the earth which comes
out of the drill is used for covering over the trash,
which is allowed to rot under it. Should a field not
require drilling, then as a rule the bank is ploughed
as in plant canes, and the operation of burying trash
on the other bank is usually carried out : this con-
sists of turning in the trash with the fork or shovel.
I may mention that all our ploughing is done with
a four-pronged agricultural fork. The trash is com-
pletely buried, and allowed to rot. After whatever
delving work has been done, weeding and moulding
and weeding and trashing are carried on as in plant
canes. In 2nd ratoons very similar work is done, only
the trash is buried on the other bank to what it was
last year, or the other bank is dri'kd; but, like
everything else I know of in agriculture, no hard-
and-fast rule can be laid down — so much depends on
the soil and climatic influence, and in a tropical country
with extremes of wet and heat, it is especially so.
AVe will now go back to the ripe cane field des-
cribed as plants. We will imagine the arrow, or
flower, of the cane blown. The cane cutter uses a
sharp cutlass, or long knife, 20 to 22 inches long,
cutting the cane as close to the ground as possible,
with a clean cut, catches the cane by the middle,
strikes off the upper leaves, which make the band
mentioned when speaking of relieving, and with a
.second cut knocks off the top or plant. If the cine is too
long the cane is then cut into two or three pieces,
and put in bundles on the bank : these bundles are
carried out to the cross-navigation trenches, or to the
middle walk. Here they are picked up by the punt
loaders, and put into punts. ThcNO punts are large
flat-bottomed barges, 24 feet long by 8 feet wide and
3 feet deep, and, when full, contain about 3k tons
of cane, and are hauled by mules to the mill dock,
to be dealt with in the factory. The foregoing does
not pretend to be more than a general outline of
cane cultivation in Demerara. Like everything in agri-
culture, opinions differ as to the best methods to em-
ploy to obtain the best results, and each may be right,
as the position of estates, condition of soil, and effect
of weather all have to be taken into consideration ;
but I venture to think that many agriculturists in
England would be astonished to see the knowledge,
care, and attention shown by the leading planters in
British Guiana.

Manufacture. — The canes, once in the mill dock —
and thiey are brought there as quickly as pos-
sible after cutting — are brought alongside the cane
carrier, which consists of two endless bands joined
together by cross-pieces of wood to form a table
• on whicli the canes rest, and are thus conveyed to the
mill. The mills used by us are generally 3-roller
mills, and vary in size from 5 feet by 24 inches to
6 feet 6 inches by 4B inches and the crushing varies,
of course, considerably ou different estates, and also
according to the quality of cane which is being
crushed, but I do not think more than 65 per cent
is usually extracted. On some estates double crushing
hae been restored to==-that is pa.ssing the canes through
a second three-roller mill; and Mr. Kussell's patent
of maceration has also its strong advocates. This latter
consists of passing the megass or crushed cane from
the first mill through an iron chamber 30 feet long,
the megass resting on an endless band of wire web :
during its passage through, steam and hot water is
turned ou, and the megass absorbs as much as pos-
sible or whatever proportion is desired ; it is then de-
livered into a second mill and re-pressed, of course
the juice being of poorer quality than from first mill.
By this method it is claimed as much as 77 per cent
of original juice has been extracted. A five-roller
mill, by McOnie, has recently been put up in the
Colony, and the extraction hitherto recorded has been
about 72 per cent, but it was during a season when
canes contained a large percentage of woody fibre,
and better results are expected. A large portion of
(1)6 aill^ ftr« oow fitted Jvitb bydraulic pow«r, wJjicJj j

enables the pla.itoi- to set his rolls as close as he
likes, and to put ou any pressure he may think de-
sirable, and is a very great improvement ou tho old
set screw, as, no matter what the feed is, an equal
pressure is given to one cane as to a hundred, and.
thus a loss occasioned by an unjust or careless feed
is avoided. The canes having been crushed, the megass
passes away on a carrier, either to be burnt directly
under the boilers, or is conveyed by trucks to the
megass house, or logie, and there allowed to dry until
fit for fuel.

The juice is first strained, then passed through a
chamber where it is impregnated with sulphurous acid
gas, which both bleaches and assists to coagulate some
of the vegetable matter. It is then pumped into
clarifiers, and milk of lime is added until nearly the
neutral point is arrived at, a slight acid reaction with
litmus paper being generally the point aimed at.
Heat i« turned ou whilst the clarifler is being filled,
and the temperature of the juice raised 190 ^ to 200®
F. When this point is reached the vegetable im-
purities have risen to the surface in forin of a thick
scum : this is carefully removed, and the dear liquor,
which should bd bright amber colour, is let down on
to an open battery or into a triple effet which is
gradually superseding and will in the future entirely
take the place of the former ; but whatever method
is used the liquor is concentrated to the density
required.

If the open battery or cropper wall, as it is called,
is used, the liquor is passed from one trench to another
as quickly as is consistent with the cleaning of
the liquor, as, as the density increases, scum rises on
the surface and has to be carefully brushed or skimmed
off until it has had all the impurities removed ; it
is then gravitated, or pumped by a Monte-jus, into
receivers, ready for crystallising in vacuum pan. Should
the triple effet have been adopted the liquor from
the clarifiers is run into open pans, or defecators,
where it is quickly brought to the boiling point, and,
as on the copper wall, the scum as it rises is re-
moved; but concentration is not aimed at, and the
liquor is run quickly into the triple effet, where the
density is raised as required, and from there passed
to the vacuum pan. Another method adopted when
using the triple effet is to pass the liquor from the
clarifiers straight into tripple effet, and when it is
concentrated to run the syrup through bag filters
to remove the impurities. Both methods have their
advocates.

The syrup once in the vacuum pan is boiled in vacuo,
as the name implies, at a low temperature, and gradually,
grain is formed. More syrup is added until the pan is full
of crystallised sugar ; the pan is then struck out, the
mass of hot sugar, with that portion of syrup not
crystallised, or molasses, forming what is called the
massecuite. This is either allowed to cool or is taken
to the centrifugiil machines. These machines consist
of an inner case with sides of fine woven brass wire,
or finely perforated copper, and an outer case of gua-
metal; the inner basket is suspended from above on
a spindle, which is made to revolve from 1,100 to
1,200 revolutions a minute. The centrifugal force thus
set up, forces all the molasses and moisture from the
massecuite into the outer easing, leaving the dry
crystallised sugar on tho 'inside of the basket. Thia
is then taken out through an opening in the basket, and
carried to sugar s*ore, ready for packing into whatever
packages it is considered most desirable.

We must go back a little in the process of manu-
facture, to where the scum is removed from the clari.
fierg, and from the copper wall. This is by no means
wasted, but is received into tanks and brought to .the
boiling point: it is then allowed to gravitate through
bag filters or is forced through filter presses of the
Reaumur or Kroogs type, the clear liquor being either
drawn straight into vacuum pans or used to mix
with the molasses from the centrifugals to make a
second quality of sugar. All the sugar which it pays
to extract from the molasses having been taken out,
the refuse is sent away to the distillery for making
rum. This is briefly, and within the limit of tho time
allpted to me, a description of sugar cultivating Aa4

'Jo

6oo

THE TROPICAL AGmcVLTVmST, [March i, i88^.

manufacturing as carried out in Demerara. It may
differ in details in the practice adopted on different
estates, but it contains the general principles usually
employed.

It has been said by people in England, and reported in
the newspapers, that the reason why we do not succeed
with sugar in the West Indies is that we do not employ the
best means to extract the sugar from the cane, that our
machinery is antiquated and not powerful enough —
in fact, that we have stood still. Such, at all events,
cannot be said of the planters of Demerara, unless,
indeed, the English engineers have also stood still, as
machinery of the newest design, without reference
to cost, is, and has been for many years past, impor-
ted into the Colony from the best firms in England
and America, and all that the planters and their
agents can do is done to keep pace with the times.
That this has been recognised is fully borne out by
the constant visits of agents of engineering firms
from Englai d and the continental nations, and the
adoption of their inventions, often the reverse of im-
provements, that have been palmed off on us.

I have been gibed at that ive have not yet adop-
ted "Diffusion," which, according to some, is to be
the panacea of all our troubles. All I can say to
that is, the matter is receiving the fullest attention
and our leading proprietors will not .«pare their capital
when they have before them such figures which will,
warrant their destroying their present plant of
machinery and in spending so large a sum of money-
These have yet to be forthcoming, and it is as much
the business of engineers who are com ooted with
the sugar trade, and whose business is, according to
their own showing, very bad, to try and obtain
figures which would justify their making a diffusion
plant, and, even if it does one-half that is claimed
for it, orders would soon pour in. I will confess to
one thing that we were, and still are, deficient in,
and that is, employment of trained chemists in our
works : it is fast being remedied, and men well train-
ed, with a knowledge of sugar manufacturing, can
now easily obtain employment with us — not boys
from school and laboratory, but those who have made
it a study, and will lay themselves out for original
observation and research. I can only trust and hope
that snch improvements will be made as will enable
us to fight with success against the odds of bounty-
fed continental sugar, which the Eoglish Government
unfairly assists under the taking garb of free trade.

TJSINE SnOAR.

The usine .system of sugar production takes its
name from the French word " usine," owing to the
fact of the system having been first introduced and
worked by the French in the Colonies of Martinique
and Guadeloupe. The system owes its origin to the
late M. Cail, head of the celebrated firm of Paris
engineers, Messrs. Oail & Oo. The essential feature
of the system is the complete separation of the in-
dustry of cane growing from that of sugar manufac-
ture; but the success of the system is more to be
attributed to the fact that the usines which were
established under the auspices of Messrs. Oail & Co.
were supplied with the improved machinery which the
development of the beet-sugar industry on the conti-
nent had brought about. Previous to the adoption
tJf the usine systerUj the cultivation and the manufac-
ture of the cane had been carried on generally on
small estates making from 100 to 500 tons of sugar,
the manufacture being of the simplest character.
The canes were crushed by mills similar to those
still employed, but in a rougb-and ready manner, the
extraction of juice being probably at least 10 per
cent less than that now obtained, and the evaporation
was conducted on what is known as the copper wall,
i.e., in open pans with a naked fire underneath. The
concentrated cane juice was struck into shallow
vessels called coolers, where crystallisation took place :
from these coolers the sugar was dug out and placed
in hogsheads, in which it remained until the greater
part of the molasses was drained out ; the hogsheads
were then headed up and ready for shipment. There
is no doubt that this process is one which fails to
•Stoin as much eu^ar from the jmee a» caa be ob

tained by more scientific mean-, At the same time,'
the process has much to recommend it when it is
considered that a very sinill outlay of capital is'
requirecl, and that it is so simple that there is no
difficulty in working it with the ordinary uneducated
black labour of the tropics. — Colonies and India.

Insects and Frost. — The writer of the interesting
Agricultural Notes in the Daily Newsoi Saturday last,
referring to the weather, stated that frost was useful
in keeping down insects, the larva perishing during
prolonged frost. It would be useful to learn from some
experienced entomologist how far that assertion is true
[not true]. I am disposed to think it belongs to the
category of popular errors, or, if not, needs more proof
than has yet been given. The previous winter was
decidedly a severe one, and we had much intense frost,
and yet it will be remembered that rarely have queen
or breeder wa>ps been more abundant than they were
last spring, although most of them seem to have perished
later. Then the writer specially mentions Daddy Long-
legs as being more plentiful after a mild winter, and
yet I never saw them so abundant as last autumn,
indeed, it seemed as if the wasps had for the time
been metamorphosed into these comparatively harm-
less insects. Is it not really the case, that whilst
mild winters keep insects lively and thus exposes them
to the attacks of birds, severe winters keep the larva
not only quiescent, but also find it deeply buried?
Has a severe frost, for instance, any destructive effect
upon the eggs of insects deposited on trees or in wall
crevices, or even in the soil ? — and equally, does it
really destroy comatose larva? Any entomological in-
structions to gardeners should make these matters
clear. The recent frost, although at times intense,,
did not penetrate so deeply into the soil as in some
previous years, because of the snow. "With me, just
now, insect larva is more in danger of destruction by
drowning than by frost. — A. D. — Gardeners' Chronicle,

Quantity of Water per acre required to Irri-
gate Rice. — The Indian. Agriculturist states: — A cor-
respondent of one of the mofussil papers settles the
question of the quantity of water required to raise »
rice crop — a question to which Mr. C. Benson of the
Madras Agricultural Dep?rtm"nt drew particular at-
tention recently — in the following simple manner: — In
your editorial notice of the report of the Madras Agri-
cultural Department published in your issue of the 10th
instant, you refer to " A suggestion made by Mr.
Benson, Agricultural Reporter, that an elaborate
series of expriments should be undertaken with the
view of ascertaining the proper amount of irrigation
required to raise a crop of rice." I beg to state that
when I was in the N zam's State between the years
1865-71 repairing tanks and cutting channels from
rivers for the purpose of feeding these tanks, I found
it necessary to ascertain first, before determining the
bank sections, &c., what quantity of water the tank
would be required to hold in order that it should be
capable of irrigating the land under it. To enable me
to obt'in some correct and precise inforraHtion for
my own daily use, I invariably consulted the zemindar
putwari and head ryot of every village I visited prior
to commencing with the levelling and survey operations,
and arrived at the following couclusions : — From a
series of notes and observations I found that it took
on an average about 72 days.

Days days days days days."
59 + G7 -I- 90 216 72

I

to raise one crop of rice ; and that the land required
as much water as would cover it all over to the
depth of 1 inch, i. e.

72 X 1 =72 6

— = — = 2 yards,
13 3
So, therefore, to irrigate one acre of land — namely,
4,840 square yards-— a tank should hold—

4,840 X 2=9,680 cubic yardf of water.

^lARCil 1, i3S7.] i'HE TROPICAL AORICULTURISI^.

6oft

HOW TO MAKE POTASH.

Baron Ferd. Von Mueller, k. c. m.c, of Victoria,
writes as follows how to make potash : — The wood,
bark, branches, and foliage are burnt in pits sunk 3
feet or 4 feet in the ground ; the incineration is con-
tinued until the pit is almost filled with ashes. Young
branches and leaves are usually much richer in potash
than the stem-wood, hence they should not be rejected.
The ashes thus obtained are placed in tubs or casks
on straw over a false bottom. Cold water, in moderate
quantities, is poured over the ashes, and the first
strong potash liquid removed for evaporation in flat
iron vessels, while the weaker fluid is used for the
lixiviation of fresh ashes. While the evaporation pro-
ceeds, fresh portions of strong liquid are added
until the concentrated boiling fluid assumes a rather
thick consistence. At last, with mild heat and final
constant stirring, the whole is evaporated to dryness.
This dried mass represents crude potash, more or less
impure, according to the nature of the wood em-
ployed. A final heating in rough furnaces is needed
to expel sulphur combinations, water, and empyreu-
matic substances; also, to decompose colouring prin-
ciples. Thus pearlash is obtained. Pure carbonate of
potassa in crude potash varies from 40 to 80 per
cent. Experiments, so far as they were instituted in
the laboratory, have given the following approximate
result with respect to the contents of potash m some
of our most common trees : — The woods of the casuarinas,
or she-oaks, as well as that of the black or silver
wattle, are somewhat richer than the wood of the
British oak, but far richer than the ordinary pine
woods. The stems of the Victorian blue gum and
the so-called swamp tea-tree {Melaleuca ericifolia)
yield about as much potash as European beech. The
foliage of the blue gum proved particularly rich in
this alkali, and as it is heavy and easily collected
at the sawmills, it might be turned there to auxiliary
profitable account, and, indeed, in many other spots
of the ranges. In the Queensland coast country the
mangrove could be made to yield potash in immense
quantities, as it is richer in this alkali than almost
any other native tree or shrub ; and even if the man-
grove were not used for the manufacture of potash,
the ash being rich in this valuable fertilizer, could
be easily and economically applied for manurial
purposes. Of course, British woodmen are aware
that it is hopeless to compete with the exteiisive
mineral deposits in Germany whence most of the
potash of commerce is now made. — Journal of Forestry.

THE NATIVES OF INDIA AND WILD BEASTS.

The Jounial of Forestry contains an interesting article
on the Indian Forest Survey, from which wc take an ex-
tract : — The wild animals which inhabit the Indian forest
afford excellent sport for those who have the time to en-
gage in it, which the surveyors have not, for the
outturn of good work of this sort is in direct pro-
portion to the time spent on it, and arrears of survey-
ing and mapping cannot be brought up by a stroke
of genius; but to the unarmed native surveyor the
presence of dangerous wild beasts in the forest in
which he is called upon to work affords no attrac-
tloii, and cases have occurred in which they have caused
the most serious inconvenience. On one occasion a
native surveyor, having seen a wild elephant, de-
Camped and could not be persuaded to re-enter that
part of the forest, while his accounts of the terrors
of the locality spread among the other men, and for
a long time the ground could not be surveyed. On
another occasion three native surveyors having seen
a tiger, climbed a rock and remained there all night.
In the morning they managed to convey an appeal
to the oflactr in charge to come to their relief, which
he did, but without seeing anything of the tiger.
This place was also in disfavour for some time after-
wards. But a much worse case was that of the
itarhwal man-eater; this tiger had killed a very large
number, some 300 or 400 it was said, of woodcutters
within thg area which had to be surveyed, The
76

superintendent was aware that if he lost one of hi
men he would probably be obliged to abandon the
work, and he took all means in his power to ac-
complish its destruction; but although the trail was
twice followed, and the bodies of men who had
been carried off were discovered, the tiger was not
bagged. At last, as none of the survey party were
touched, an idea gained ground among the men that
the tiger bore them no ill-will, and they considered
themselves perfectly safe if they could satisfy him
of their identity, which they were content to do by
carrying aloft in a cleft bamboo an old envelope from
the superintendent's wastepaper basket ! The natives
present a strange mixture of bravery and cowardice ;
they do not hesitate to express fear when they feel
it, and do not seem to think that to be afraid is
anything to be ashamed of, but at the .same time
they freiiueiitly perform acts that appear recklessly
brave. An old man of seventy, armed with a tulwar,
has been seen hunting about in the tall grass for a
wounded tiger which was lying concealed close by
him, and he had ultimately to be forced into a
position of safety on the back of an elephant. On
another occasion a bear had taken up his quarters iii
a dense part of the forest, and had killed several
bamboo-cutters who had unwittingly invaded his re-
treat; a man who had just been mauled by him in-
sisted in joining a passing Englishman who sent in
search of the bear, and could not be persuaded to
keep behind the rifle, but advanced boldly into the
beast's lair, anxious to take a leading part in the re-
tribution which shortly overtook him. The servant of
a noted sportsman in the North- Western Provinces
once proposed to his master that he should walk
past a dense piece of cover in which a wounded tiger
was lying, in order that the animal might be induced
to spring out into the open and thus afford a good
shot !

THE TIMBER TREES OF CEYLON.

Under the title " TimJier Trees of Ceylon, by
Mudaliyar Mendis, with Notes on them by W.
Ferguson, F.L.S.," a pamphlet of twenty-three pages
has been issued from the Ceyloii Ohserver press in
Colombo. This little book is valuable as throwing
some light not only on the botanical source of the
trees, but on the character of the woods and the
uses to which they are put in Ceylon. The timber
trees of Ceylon are interesting in consequence of
the general hardness of their woods and the fine
colour of figure of many of them ; but notwith.stand-
ing this, Ceylon woods, with the exception of a few
such as ebony and calamander, [Surely satin wood
ought to be added as far as Europe is concerned,

: while palmyra, halinilila, and several other Ceylon tim-
bers are valued in India. — Ed.] are scarcely known

I out of their own country. Many of the species,
however, are common to various parts of India. It
is a fact that though most of the dependencies of
the British Crown have at some time made a dis-
play of their timber resources by exhibiting large
and striking slabs at some of the Interntitioaal ex-

I hibitions, the exhibits of Ceylon have always been
of a more diminutive character. An excellent col>

I lection of Ceylon woods, however, was .shown at the

; International Exhibition at South Kensington in 1S62,

i It consisted of about IGO specimens each about 21
inches long, 3 inches wide, and 1 inch thick, They

! were all well seasoned and polished ; but though
well selected, aud many of them finely-figured pieces,
they were too narrow to give a good general idea
of what the woods would be like in bulk. And
here we may perhaps say a few words upon selecting
and preparing woods for exhibition purposes. Dead
wood should in all cases be rejected, and a fair
average sample taken from properly-felled timber :
the section should be cut in the case of large
slabs through the centre of the tree, so as to show
the sapwood as well as the heart-wood, so that the
proportion of each may be seen at a glance ; thr
bark showid al?o be left on the edge's. For sm^U

6o

^

fHE

TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Makch i, 1887.

and handy specimens where a large collection is got
together, no size can be better than that adopted
by the Indian Forest Department in the fine set
of^woods sent by them to the Paris Exhibition in
1878, a duplicate set of which is now in the Kew
Museum. These measure 9 inches high by 6 inches
wide and 2 inches thick: they lend themselves
wonderfully well for any kind of arrangement. On
a staging, for instance, they can be placed one above
another without loss of space ; and in the glazed
cases of a museum, they suit almost any shelf;
moreover, they are convenient for handling for ex-
amination. AYith regard to numbering, woods should
always be stamped on the backs, and never on their
faces. It often takes a considerable amount of
planing to remove them. But to return to the Ceylon
woods. In not''cing the little work which has given
rise to these remarks, a fitting opportunity seems
also to occur to bring to more general notice some few
of the most striking, or important out of the
ninety-six different kinds mentioned in the book.
[Then follow notices of our chief timbers.— Ed.]

The few woods here indicated recommend them-
selves to notice on account of their fine colour or
figure. From specimens of all of them contained
in the Kew Museum, they would appear to be well
worthy of a more extended application. They are
referred to here as only a few instances of the
general character of Cingalese woods which require
to be more known to be appreciated.— /ojo-ftrtZ of
Forestri/,

■ 4,

MAIZE OIL.

A paper on this oil was read by Dr. C. O. Curtman
before the Missouri State Pharmaceutical Association,
in which we have further particulars. The oil is
made largely by the Woodchande MilliuR Company,
St. Louis. The amount of oil obtained by pressure
from the embryo varies from 1.3 to 15 per cent.
The following notes by Dr. Curtman, which we abstract
from the Pharmaceutical Record, though agreeing
generally with the conclusion of Mr. Shuttleworth
(published in this Journal, p. 47 of current volume)
differ in some respects, while fuller particulars are
given on other points : —

The crude oil, as first expressed, is somewhat turbid
and of a pa'e browaish yellow colour. It is easily
rendered clear by filtration, or by letting it stand at
rest for some weeks, and drawing off the clear oil
on top from the impurities which have subsided.

Its average specific gravity is 0916. The extremes,
thus far observed, were 0-915 and 0017. Maize oil
has the peculiar flavour of freshly ground corn meal.
This becopes fainter by age and may be removed
to a considerable extent by rectification processes. Its
taste _ is bland and of agreeable sweetness, with a
bitterish after-taste, which increases somewhat with
jige, but may be entirely removed by purification. It
does not very readily become rancid, when carefully
kept, in this respect resembling benne oil. It does
Mot dry like linseed oil. Portions left adhering to the
outside of the vessel, from which it ha.§ been poured,
have not becotne pasty nor rancid ia twelve months.

In some of its general propertips it stands inter-
iljtid iatfi between ollv'e oil and oil of sweet almonds
lut approaches nearest to the olivs oil. It contains
a large proportion of oleine^ a ooirlpouad of oleic
acid and glycerine,

With Pontet'e reagent (strong nitric acid in which
a little mercU.ry has been dissolved), it forms an
abundance of elaiditie, so as to become nearly as
soUd as olive oil. Treated f^itti^ mercuric nitrate in
the usual way, it yields a fine citrlno ointment. With
strong nitric acid it speedily turns a dark reddish
brown, a reaction which is obtained still more rapidly
and intensely by using a mixture of strong sulphuric
and nitric acids. This reaction is, however, limited to
a much paler colour after the oil has been rectified by
treatment with sulphuric acid.

With alkaline dyes it saponifies promptly, forming a
beautiful white soap, fully equal ia appearance to the
))os(. C''v«til5 so^p frero q\\vq oil. With aqua ammonia

a liniment is formed, which remains sufficiently fluid
at ordinary temperatures. Boiled with litharge the
oil yields lead plaster and glycerine.

One of the most remarkable properties ef the oil,
by means of which it may be distinguished from similar
oils, is its low congealing point. Olive oil begins
to congeal and become turbid at + 10^ C. (50 ° F.)
Cotton seed oil at + 2 <= 0. ( + 35 6 F). Oil of
benne at— 5° C. (+ 23 <= F.) Almond oil at— 20® C.

Maize oil is intermediate between the two last. It
remains entirely clear down to— 8 ® C (+ 17-6° F.);
below that it begins to get slightly turbid, but is not,
fully congealed at— 10® 0 (+ 14 op.).

The properties above stated render it a valuable substi-
tute for olive oil in pharmaceutical preparations. Its
odour being but slight and not very penetrating, is
easily overcome by essential oils, and on this account
the oil may be used for toilet preparations. — Chemist
and Drugqist.

♦

AN INTERESTING AGRICULTURAL

EXPERIMENT.

Of the two explanations as to the meaning of the
word "Dirt," the scientist's that it is "matter out of
place" and the sharp child's that it is "mud with the
wet squeezed out," the former is about to receive a
practical exemplification, as far as Bombay is concerned
in the proposed utilisation of the city sweepings for the
manufacture of artificial manure. The invention is the
idea of Dr. S. Cooke of the College of Science, Poona,
who has secured a patent for his system. I have had
an opportunity of inspecting the article which is put up
in large or small blocks as desired. It is a grey porous
substance somewhat resembling pumice-stone, but is
much more friable; in fact one of its inventors claims
is that it can be very easily reduced to powder and
drilled into the ground with seed at the time of sow-
ing. Dr. Cooke has a convincing proof of the efficacy
of his invention in his garden. Five plots of ground
of equal area have been planted with the same quantity
of nachnee. The first plot has been left unmanured,
with the result that the weeds have decidedly the
upper hand. Plot 2 was dressed with wood ashes, the
result not being very satisfactory. Plot 3 was fertilised
by the ordinary process of rab, two experienced hill
men coming especially to do the work. The result of
this treatment of the soil was an average crop such
as may be seen on the ordinary Hill Farm. Plot 4
was worked with partially burnt horse manure,
the result being that too much heat was generated
which destroyed part of the seed, leaving what did
come up very good, however. Plot 5 was the patent
fertiliser drilled in with the seed, and the result is
simply astonishing. Whereas the average height of
the plants on the other beds was about fourteen inches,
and the colour of the stems varj'ing from light to
medium green, the stems and leaves in this plot were
of the darkest and richest green and of a height of
about two feet with magnificent heads of seed, Aa
far ii5 can be judged from an experimental growth
under favourable conditions, the result is nicst am*
elusive, and there should be, if not "miilioiis/'at least
"thoii.«ands" in the invention, As regards the uiaotl'
facture on a large scale of this fertilizer, it is to be
encouraged irrespective of its agrlculturtil aspect,
because it furnishes a means of solving what is becom«
ing daily a most serious problem : namely, the disposal
of street sweepings which in large cities and even in
small towns in hot climates necessitates much thought
and care, to render the operation of removal harm^
less and unnoticeable, a result not yet obtained ia
Bombay, where the Municipality have to grapple with
the serious problem of removing the enormous quantity
of nearly 400 tons daily. Eight hundred cubic yards
of refuse are daily Carted from Bombay, and the
question is coming prominently forward, "What are
we going to do with it P" At this moment Dr. Cooke
comes to the front and proposes that a company be
formed to take over the entire sweepings and convert
them into a useful and powerful agent for good. The
company, if formed, would thus stand in that are

March i, 1S87.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

60$

but enviable position of Public Benefactors, while at
the same time having the monopoly of a very money-
making speculation. The method of manufacture and
the results of the experimental crops have been seen
by most of the principal Revenue and Forest officials,
and both the simplicity of the former operation and
the results of the latter have drawn forth the unquali-
fied approval of the many experienced gentlemen
who have visited the scene of operations. For the
manufacture is required a furnace for reducing the
sweepings to ashes, a kiln for obtaining lime, and a
mill for roughly grinding bones.

The three materials thus obtained are then put
into pits in layers of ashes, lime and bones, wat"r is
then poured into the pit, and layers of fresh material
introduced as the contents sink, and in about two
weeks the result is a pasty mass, consisting almost
entirely of salts best adapted for replacing the pro-
ductive power of poor soils. By mixing charcoal with
the raw materials a fertilizer can be produced espe-
cially adapted for gardens. As a proof of the com-
mercial success of an undertaking of this kind it is
known that the sweepings of Manchester, Birmingham,
and other towns in England are readily disposed of
at prices varying from £4 to £6 a ton. Chemical
Manure is exported in enormous quantities from Liver-
pool at £12 10 a ton. Taking into consideration the
cheapness of the raw materials here, a company should
make a large profit at R20 per ton, and above all it
would be a great blessing to Bombay to have the mass
of refuse innocently converted into a harmless inodo-
rous compound instead of being a source of danger
and unpleasantness to every one. — Times of India.

[Worthy the attention of the Colombo Municipality,
the great desideratum being the removal of sweepings
and sewage in a form useful and innoxious. — Ed.]

NOTES ON TEA.

[By Peecy Swinburne, late of Sylhet, Cacbar,

and Assam.]

ManufaHure — Withering. — The old method of wither-
ing was to spread the leaf 2 to 3 inches thick on a
machan, and to turn it over several times during the
night to prevent its heating too much. In wet and
cold weather it was placed in small quantities at one
time, on a machan, csver the firing dhools, where the
heat quickly softened and prepared it for rolling. But
now great improvements have been made in the
factory buildings and accommodation. It is generally
recognised that the leaf must be thinly spread out,
and the withering process most carefully conducted
to turn out good tea. Withering sheds admitting air
and light freely, and fitted with tier upon tier of
bamboo trays, are made. Large pucka iron roofed
tea houses are fitted with lofts for withering, and
arrangements are made for regulating the heat and
admitting or shutting out the air.

Natural withering, as generally understood, means
that the leaf is placed in open or closed houses in
which the draught of air may be regulated ; while
artificial withering includes the use of heated air, or
of machinery.

A large proportion of the best tea which is sent
to the market is now made from artificially withered
leaf, that is to say, from leaf which has been withered
by heated air. The lofts of the pucka tea houses are
heated by the sun, to a temperature of over 100
degrees, and are often intolerably and suffocatingly
warm. In dull and wet weather also, the temperature
in these places is still considerably higher than that
of the surrounding atmosphere as they are heated by
Siroccos or other firing machines, the chimneys of
which pass through them.

There has for a long time been a strong prejudice
against artificial withering. Closed hot houses were
used because the withering, under favourable circum-
stances, is always supposed to give the best results.

In natural withering, the fiister the process the
better the results, so we may conclude that perfect
withering would consist in removing all superfluous
water i'riim the leaf instantaneously, without disturbing
the oils, juices, &:c,, while bufiicient beat was applied

to reduce the fibre to the soft conditioa required for
rolling.

A series of careful experiments have been made in
a small house heated by smoke flues, with one maund
of leaf spread on about 15 square feet to a pound.
It was found still, that the faster the operation the
better the result. That the greater the heat, the
thinner the leaf must be spread, and the more care
and nicety required.

The finest tea was made from leaf withered in 3
hours, at a temperature of 140 degrees. The tea
was on several occasions carefully assorted, and true
samples of the bulk were sent down to Calcutta to
be valued, and the quality of the liquor as well as
the appearance were pronounced e.xcellent. The
average valuations were about 14 annas, and the leaf
was good, but not finer than that plucked on most
estates, in Darjeeling, or Sylhet, or Cachar, being two
leaves and a bud. The market at the time was
depressed, and the average price of the teas of the
districts named was, at that time, between 9 and 10 annas.
In 1883 the entire crop of the Kainagar Estate,
Sylhet, just under 900 mds. was withered in hot-houses,
heated by smoke flues, and realised 11 annas per lb.
average. The houses were "kutchee" ones built of
bamboo and plastered ekur. They were 14 feet high
in the roof, 7 feet high walls, breadth 20 feet. Two
four-feet wide, passages and 4 rows of chalnies 3
feet wide.

The pipes were 9 inches in diameter, and | inch
thick, and ran along both sides of the house under-
neath the outer row of chalnies. The heat was much
greater near the furnaces than at a distance from
them, and the house gets thoroughly heated for a
distance of about 15 to 20 feet only from the furnace.
The heat is also uneven, and the greater it is the
more difficult it becomes to equalize the withering.
The leaf must be thinly spread and carefully watched.
One part of the house withers much more quickly
than another, and if the leaf is left for an hour only,
after it has reached the right stage, much quality is lost.
These houses, defective as they are, are preferred
to those of the old style.

When the men have learnt how to arrange the
leaf, and work the fires, the rolling can be commenced
at 5 A. M., every day, in all weathers.

The leaf does not turn red unless it is bruised in
some way during the withering process, and its juices
become exposed to the air. This may happen from
the leaf being gathered up a second time, and removed
from one place to another.

If it is once established beyond dispute that the
best tea can be made from artificially withered leaf,
there should be no difficulty in making a hot chamber
in which the leaf could be very thinly spread out
and the heat equalized and regulated, and the moisture
removed.

One of the great disadvantages of open houses is
that the damp cold air which checks the withering is
admitted, as well as the warm air which favours it.
Withered leaf absorbs moisture, and is refreshed by
it — as a bouquet of faded flowers is revived by sprinkled
water. But when the leaf has withered a second
time, it loses its freshness, and when the flowers
have again faded, they begin to give out an offensive
smell ; the first stages of decomposition having set in
in both cases. Leaf which has once lost its volatile
freshness and delicacy, never recovers it, and can
never be converted into fine tea.

The fine qualities in the leaf may be chemically
altered in the hot withering process, but they are
not lo-tt altogether as is proved by the (juality of the
tea produced by it.

In the same way, however, as the flavour of the
tea \i afft'cted by different firing processes, so it is
probably also aft'ected by the degree of the heat applied
in the witliering, as well as by the manner in which
it is applied.

Good tea can be maiie of leaf which is carefully
withered, rolled, fermented, and finally baked out;
although strong, it is peculiar, and has not the dtlicate
flavour and smell of Lea, which is roasted over
charcoal in the usual way, and this again is not so

^4

THE TROPfCAL AGRrdULTtJRrST. [March i, mj.

aromatic in flavour as thab which ia dried by the
rapid hot-air draught of the " Sirocco."

It would appear that the best withering would be
accomplished by strong draughts of moderately warm
and quite dry air j^assing over the whole surface of
the leaf.

If the juices can be kept uninjured, the more the
leaf is withered, the better the quality of the tea.
The presence of water in the rolled leaf appears to
affect the fermentation injuriously. It is not accurately
known at present what chemical changes take place
in the various systems of manufacture, but we know
that we are more or less dependent on the weather,
and that the changes which take place satisfactorily
one day, will not do so on another, under apparently
exactly the same condition. Lightly withered leaf
makes tea without strength or body, and this is
probably due to the presence of too much water in
the rolled leaf which causes an injurious fermentation.
On the other hand, over withering, or bad withering,
by which the juice have been injured or destroyed
have the same effect ond produce weak pale liquored
tea. — Planters' Gazette.

TEA, COFFEE, AND CINCHONA INSECT
PESTS.

The ravages of insects on tea, coffee, and cinchona
p'ants of late years have been so widespread as to
threaten serious consequences to those who own large
plantations. It is, however, a curious fact that few
have deemed the subject of sufficient importance to
devote their time and attention to an intelligent
investigation of these insect pests, their ways, habits,
methods of attack, propagation, &c. ; and it is there-
fire with sincere pleasure we have perused an
interesting paper on pests of the homopterous family
of Coccid;e, which attack tea, cinchona, and coffee
plants, read by Mr. E. T. Atkinson, c. s., at a recent
meeting of the Bengal Asiatic Society. Mr. Atkinson
is not unknown in this branch of science, and his
paper will doubtless give rise to a proper discussion
of this subject. The author stated that he sought
to give such an account of this important family of
insects as will induce observers to take up its study
seriously. He went on to say that it comprises those
insects known as scale-injects, or gall-insects, which
are so hurtful to the coft'ee, cinchona, tea, and fruit
trees generally. Nothing of value has yet been written
regarding the species of this family that occur in
India, with the exception of the Carieria lacca that
furnishes the lac and lac-dye which form such valuable
articles of e.xport form Calcutta. The family is dis-
tributed amongst the sub-families Viagpia, Braclu/.-icelina,
Lecanina and Coccitui, of which some hundreds of
species have been described, but very few of which
are recorded from India. The larval form of these
in.sects, he said, has six legs, many jointed anteunte
and a rostrum, or sucking apparatus ; the adult female
as a rule has neither wings, legs, nor antennte, but
only a rostrum, while the adult male has two wings,
legs, and antenrje, but no rostrum, or mouth. Their
forms vary from flat to spherical, many are covered
with a white farinose filamentary substance, others
with a felted, waxy, nacreous, and even calcareous
substance. All are minute, and require much care in
their manipulation and preservation. The author
di.'^claimed all idea of purely scientific aims in this
popular introduction to the study of a much neglected
group of great economical importance to residents in
the East. His object was to collect facts on which
hereafter to base a scientific examination of the species
of these insects occurring in India.

After Mr. Atkinson's paper, the President of the
Society brought to the notice of the meeting letters
addressed to him by Mr. Green of Punduloya in
Ceylon, regarding a new pest belonging to the
Homopterous family Coccidcf, which is now committing
great ravages on the coffee plantations there, and in
some cases compelling the abandonment of its culti-
vation.

Mr. Green writes: — "I have been led to pay some
attention to the Homoptera of Ceylon, chiefly by
reasoi of the fearful dcslnictjon caqsed by many of

their number to agricultural products. I am now
sending you under separate cover a few specimens of
these insects. The parcel contains: —

"(«) A glass tube with coffee leaves, on the under
surface of which you will find a species of Lecanium.
This has only lately appeared in Ceylon, but has
already spread in an astonishing manner, and has
caused inconceivable destruction in the coffee districts.
It is entirely distinct from L. coffeea and L.Hniqrum
noticed by Mr. Neitner in his " pamphlet on ' The
Coffee Tree and its Enemies.' Both these species I
am familiarly acquainted with, though their ravages
are now very slight compared to the work of the
green insect now forwarded. I have not been able
to obtain the male form, though both sexes of the
other two are fairly common.

''{6) Cinchona twigs with a species of Coccus,
lying apparently beneath the cuticle of the bark,
which is raised in the form of small blisters. This
is a most extraordinary insect, and with closely aUied
species, which are numerous on other plants, has
considerably perplexed me, especially as to the nature
of the integument which covers it. In the specimens
from cinchona, this would seem to be actually the
cuticle of the bark, many of the incipient cracks
extending right across the integument of the insect.
Those now sent are all females. The male form
closely resembles those in the tube containing spirits
of wine. The larvos and pupa are very similar to the
species found on tea-leaves. The adult female has
neither legs, antennas, nor eyes, the only external
member being a fine sucking bristle (rostrum) which
proceeds from a spot near the middle of the under
surface. In the young all the members are complete.
'•(c) Lorantlius leaves with allied species of Coccus
also apparently lying beneath the cuticle of the leaf ;
but on examining the integument under the microscope
with transmitted light, one finds no traces of cellular
formation, nor any stomata, all of which, however,
are complete in the tissues of the leaf immediately
below the insect. Adhering to this integument, or
forming part of it, are always one or more of the
characteristic scale of the Coccidce, which would seem
to be the cast skins of the insoct. The young larva,
after fixing itself to the leaf, soon exhibits the scaly
covering on its posterior half, leaving the anterior
part free. The scale is then shed, remaining in its
place, and the iusect lies freely beneath and loses all
its external members, except the sucking bristle. The
integument, under a high magnifying pover, appears
to be composed of an irregular network of sinuous,
intersecting filaments, with no trace of cellular
formation.

"(rf) A tube containing both sexes of another
species, affecting the leaves of the Ij)ra>ithus. The
integument of the female is continuous with the
woolly covering of the leaf. The males are minute
red flies with one pair of two-veined semi-hyaline
wings, which at rest are folded straight down the
back, completely overlapping each other; the antennae
are very long and setaceous ; anal extremity without
filaments, but with a long central point. Both the
upper and the under surface of the head appear to
be furnished with a pair of eyes, and I can find no
ocelli. The lower pair of eyes correspond to what is
described by Neitner in his Pseudo$ocus as ' two
black knobs resembling blunted mandibles, representing
the external mouth.' These two spots are present
in the males of all this family, and I cannot help
thinking that they have been erroneously described
as mandibles, the external mouth, in my opinion,
being present only as a minute spot between the
anterior pair of legs, in the same position in which
it is situate in the female. [Mr. Green is right in
regarding these knobs as other than mandibles;
they are eyes ] If the head of the insect be macerated
in water and examined with transmitted light, all four
spots appear as colourless globules with two concentric
dark rings, an appearance which would be given by
the cornea of the eye."

Unfortunately most of these specimens suffered so
much from damp in transit that they were useless
fnr examination. In a subsequent letter from Mr. Green

March i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

605

it 18 stated that " the greenLecanium has spread at
an extraordinary rate, aud we have in consequence been
compelled to abandon a large acreage of coffee aud
replant the ground with tea. This species is vastly
more destructive than anything of the kind that has
previously been experieuced. The ravages of L. coffeea,
were nothing in comparisou. It is curious that though
they have been increasing so rapiiily, there has been
apparently no generation of male insects."

The foregoing facts are of sufficient importance to
owners of plantations to induce them to devote more
attention to the subject than hitherto appears to have
been done, and by investigation, to hit upou remedies
in view to protecting their plantations from the
ravages of these insect pests. — Indian AyricultHriat ,

THE CULTIVATION OF POTATOS ON THE

NILGIRIS.
The cultivation of potatos on the Hills dates from
the earliest settlement of Europeans. Analogy of
climate si:ggeeted its introduction to the first settlers,
and experimental efforts were crowned with uniform
success, for it took kindly to the soil and became in
time a valuable addition to the food production of
the district. In the early days of European occup-
ation Government were disposed to assist settlers of
energy and enterprise with advances of money for
general farming purposes, the acclimatization oi new
products being one of the n.ost important. The Kaity
valley and Kulhutti were originally selected for ex-
periments with potatos, and to this day these places
retain a reputation for growing the finest tubers in
the greatest abundance. Thence are derived the best
potatos locally consumed and despatched to the plains.
Their elevation ranges above 6,000 feet, an altitude
below which this vegetable will not thrive, though
we are acquainted with two experiments at 3,000 and
4,000 feet in the extreme North and South of the
Nilgiris which were not quite failures. Up to within
the last fifteen or twenty years the cultivation had
not gone beyond the range of experiment, but each
year the limits were enlarged with satisfactory re-
sults. Since then the strides have been rapid, and
now it is well establislied among the agricultural
classes, who find in it a lucrative and permanent
livelihood.

The extent of land under potatos is estimated at
1,000 acres, including large areas of semi-drained
swamps within the town of Ootacamund. For these
swamps growers pay at the high rate of twenty or
twenty-five rupees an acre, and cultivate expensively.
Though remunerative crops are obtained on such
lands, without much trouble the quality of the out-
turn is inferior. The potato when boiled is found to
be wet, hard and waxy. Grown on the hill sides in
the favorite localities to which we have alluded they
boil dry and mealy, and possess good keeping qualities.

Two crops are raised annually, if the season is
favourable, the one sown in February and lifted in
July, the other sown in August and lifted in Decem-
ber. Although the climate of the Nilgiris is admir-
ably adapted for sowing and reaping throughout the
year and thus securing a regular succession of new
potatos, the natives adhere to the periods indicated
and accordingly the market fluctuates considerably,
ranging very high just before crop time, and falling
below remunerative prices just after, when it is
glutted. Indeed so great is the scarcity in the local
market at times that it pays speculators to obtain
a supply from Poona and Bangalore. The imported
Poena and Bangalore potatos are inferior and innu-
tritious, the eyes are deep set, and on arrival the
sprouts are well advanced.

The mode of cultivation is simple. The soil is
forked up before the fr^st sets in, in order that the
sods may be thoroughly loosened and ajrated by the
action of the atmosphere. A week or so before
planting it is pulverized and raked over, the furrows
are drawn and the seed dropped, with a handful of
manure for each to rest upou. Weeding is carefully
attended to, and when the plants are six inches
above the ground, the first hilling takes place fol-
lowed by two or three similar processes before lift-

ing. The yield averages two hundred maunds per
acre, which at 8 annas a maund pays the rent of
the land, cost of cultivation and a return of from 20
to 50 per cent on the capital outlay according to tha
character of the season.

All field operations for potatos are manual and
therefore expensive. The plough is never used either
in the preparation of the soil or in process of culture,
probably because the implement does not turn up the
soil sufficiently deep for a root crop.

The potato disease which prevailed in Europe with
such virulence between 1875 and 1878 extended to this
country and temporarily extinguished the cultivation
in the swamp lands in and around Ootacamund.
Crop after crop was so extensively affected that the
produce was not worth the cost of lifting. Growers
preferred to allow it to rot in the ground, rather
than incur the expense of removal. In the garden
assessed lands surrounding the villages of the Hill
ryots, the disease prevailed in a milder form, and
growers were kept in countenance by the high prices
obtained for the partial outturn. Science in England
exhausted itself in trying to find a remedy for the
disease which amounted almost to a national disaster.
In this country not an effort was made either of
prevention or of cure. The swamps were allowed to
lie fallow in order that the disease-spores might
die out. As good seed as could be procured was
purcbased and sown, but beyond this nothing was
done, and the disease was allowed to run its course,
and, if possible, to exterminate itself, which as might
have been expected it failed to do. The season in
the current year, when perhaps the largest area
ever put under the tuber was sown, has been most
unfavorable. The incessant wet weather that pre-
vailed during the most vigorous period of growth
developing the disease afresh in its worst form. To
save the affected crops, growers lift as soon as the
tubers are of moderate size though immature. They
are no sooner out of the ground than disease at once
sets in and a few weeks suffice to render them fit
to be consigned to the manure heap. It is unfor-
tunate for this cultivation on the Hills, that the
period when the disease is known to be most active
is the period of sowing and reaping. This is in July
and August when the spring crop is lifted and autumn
crop sown. A change in the present system of cul-
tivation would under these circumstances offer some
prospect of minimising the effect of the disease.
There is also in this country, to some degree an
absence of that noticeable folly in England, so potent
for the propagation of disease of trying to grow
potatos of abnormal size, though it is encouraging
to learn that Judges at Exhibitions and Agricult-
ural Shows, at home are, by the awards recently
made marking their appreciation of quality as dis-
tinguished from mere bulk. The features now com-
mended at potato exhibitions are beauty of form,
elegance of proportion, evenness, color, and mark-
ings, clearness of skin and polish, but above all,
superierity as an article of diet in the matter of
nutriment. These qualities are hardly yet brought
home to the mind and experience of Indian growers,
because the spirit of competition in agricultural
produce is absent or awakened only at such long
intervals that there is no sustained impulse given to
improvement and the attainment of excellence. The
opportunities for bringing together specimens of pro-
duce and comparing them one with the other are
few and far between. The spirit of emulation is
wanting, and year after year the dead level of medio-
crity maintained with change, if at all, by way of
retrogression and deterioration.

The most injurious practise in this husbandry on
the Hills is that of cultivating, year after year, on
the same soil, without an attempt at rotation. Mis-
management in this respect is universal. Mere re-
munerative crops would undoubtedly be obtained if
alternated with other garden produce or with cereals.
Until the ryot takes up potato cultivation more
generally this can hardly be expected. Native spe-
culators are not the class to look to for progress.
As soon as the crop is ready to lift they dispose
of it, and leave the rest to the dealer who removeg,

6o6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1887.

it in carts and despatches it to meet a demand, at present
in its infancy, either on the Railway or in some of
the towns with a considerable European population.
Natives are rapidly acquiring a taste for potatos,
and as soon as they are cheap enough to become an
article of daily consumption in every Hindu house-
hold the cultivation will reach proportions of great
magnitude. There are hundreds of square miles of
arable land that the hill tribes cannot profitably
cultivate with their ordinary grains, but wliich put
under this vegetable would maintain their owners
in comfort. A rich soil is not indispensable, though
liberal-treatment with manure, other circumstances
being favorable, would be well rewarded. The Eng-
lish cultivator raises from three to four times the
crop that the native in this country does, but the
latter is well satisfied with present results, and so
long as high prices are maintained he will not be
disposed to tax the soil to its utmost limit of pro-
ductiveness. Natives appreciate the potato as an
article of food, but its prohibitive price interferes
to prevent increase of consumption. A rupee a maund
places it beyond the reach of all but the well-to-do.
Should the price fall to a third of this figure, at
which it will yet pay the grower well, a stimulus
to production will be given that will treble and
quadruple the extent of land brought under contri-
bution.— South of India Observer.

KAURI RESIN.

The following paper was read by Mr. Gellatly,
Curator of the Edinburgh ]Mu.seum of Science, on
January 13, at the last meeting of the Edinburgh
Botanical Society : —

The Dammara australis which yields these Kauri
resin is the largest of the New Zealand trees. It is
confiaed to the northern portion of the North Island,
and grows on all soils up to the height of 1500 feet,
but is said to prefer the dry and sterile clays of the
hilly districts. It reaches a height varying from 100
to 140 feet — some few growing as high as 170 feet
or rather more. The tree is usually bare of branches
for about 50 feet from the ground. A trunk has
been occasionally but rarely seen as much as 35 feet
in circumference. Laslett fiaw two exceptionally large
trees- — one at Wangaroa (a little to the northward of
the Bay of Islands), that measured 48 feet in circum-
ference at three feet from the ground, and another
near Mercury Bay, which was 72 feet in circumference
and 80 feet to the branches. As the tree, which is
of slow growth, does not add more than an inch to
its diameter in six or seven years, Mr. Laslett com-
puted the ages of these two giants to be respectively
about 1,300 and 2,000 years.

The timber i* so useful that it is employed in the
construction of most of the houses and for nearly all
the boats in the North Island. There is a little diff-
erence of opinion about its quality. Mr. Laslett says
that the timber is generally sound and free from
defects common to many other descriptions of wood ;
that it shrinks very little and stands well after season-
ing. Further, that it is remarkably solid, and may
be considered one of the best woods for working that
the carpenter can take in hand. Some of the colon-
ists, however, state that it has a strong tendency
to shrink and contract in length as well as in breadth,
and that it often does this when freshly planed, no
matter how well it is seasoned. It seems, however,
to be unrivalled for the masts and spars of ships,
possessing the requisite dimensions, lightness, elasticity
and strength ; and being more durable than any other
Pine. Its specific gravity averages about '530, some-
what less than the density of the timber of Pinus
sylvestris brought from the Baltic ports.

The so-called Kauri gum — really a resin — exudes
spontaneously from every part of the tree, and hardens
upon the surface by exposure to the air, immen.so
masses of the resin being often seen on old trees,
suspended from the stem at the forked part of the
branches. It is believed that the bark, branches,
stumps, roots, and even the leaves of the Kauri Pine
would yield a large amount of resin under proper
raanageraent. When au incision is made in the bark

of the Kauri tree the resin exudes freely, so that
here, in the course of a few weeks, a large mass of
half-dried resin will have accumulated. This new
gum takes about three months to harden properly.
All except a verj- smill portion of the Kauri resin
so largely exported from New Zealand is however,
dug out of the ground in a fossil or semi-fossil state,
but there is not much of it found more than 10 inches
below the surface ; that is, it occurs in the present
soil. Occasionally it is found at a depth of '6 feet,
and it is fished up in bogs or swamps, as well as dug
out of dry ground. The resin is found either in small
detached lumps, or in considerable quantities deposited
in oue whole. When dug up its surface is found to
be partially decayed, and this portion requires to be
scraped off. It is curious that where the buried gum
is obtained there are now no remains of Kauri trees
except the resin itself. Nevertheless, it is believed
that forests of this Pine must have formerly grown
over the areas where it is found.

The only tools used in procuring the resin are a
spear and a spade. The spear is a pointed steel rod,
with which the digger pierces the ground, and by this
means, after he becomes sufHcieatly expert, he can
tell whether he is touching a stone or a piece of
resin. If the latter, it is dug up with his spade.
Between 1,000 and 2,000 Maories are usually engaged
in digging for the resin, but although from habit and
local experience they are more adroit at obtaining it
than the settlers, they are said not to care for the
work, and only continue at it when pressed by want.
Many Europeans are also engaged ; these, however,
are chiefly men impatient of regular occupation— vaga-
bonds, dare-devils, or persons fond of gipsy life. I
see that an American Consul, in a report to his State
Department, points out with manifest glee, that
amongst this nomadic class are a number of the degen-
erated sons of the aristocracy of Great Britain.

A few years ago an industrious man could dig out
about 2 cwt. per day ; now he will hardly obtain
one-third of that quantity in the same time. The
total annual yield is, however, not yet falling off,
owing to the additional number of diggers employed.
This quantity is very large for a substance of this
kind, amounting to fully 5,000 tons, of which 3,000 are
sent, to America, and 2,000 to England. The average
vahie of the fossil resin is now about £60 per ton.
There are several qualities of it, however, varying in
price from £45 to £170 according to its purity. The
resin obtained from growing trees of which, as already
remarked, very little has yet been exported — is not
worth more than £25 per ton.

Although many specimens of Kauri resin are as beauti-
ful as amber, the Maories, notwithstanding that they
have the artistic faculty in a high degree, do not
appear to have ever applied the resin in any way as
an ornament. As we see by objects handed down to
us, amber for this purpose must have been highly
prized by the ancient Greeks, the l^omans, the Vik-
ings or Norsemen, and the early Celts. _ The only
uses the Maories have made of Kauri resin have been
to kindle fires and as a masticatory. In recent years
lockets, brooches, and other small ornaments have been
made of it by settlers at Auckland and other places in the
North Island. They have the serious drawback of
being not nearly so hard as amber ornaments.

The important uses of Kauri resin are— first, in the
making of varui.shes ; second, in the manufacture of
linoleum— a floorcloth now largely made— in which this
resin is advantageously mixed with common resin and
oxidised linseed-oil ; and, third, in the dressing of silk
fabrics. [It is also used by dentists for taking moulds
or casts. — Ed.]

Unfortunately it is yearly becoming more difficult
to keep up the supply of this highly useful vegetable
product. The resin first appeared in any quantity as
an article of export from New Zealand about the
year 1850. Mr. lieynolds, of Auckland, who has been
engaged in collecting it for export for twenty years,
estimates that the fossil Kauri resin will be completely
exhausted in twenty years hence. Probably in the
meantime the discovery in quantity of some equally
valuable resin in another part of the world may render

Mauch I, 1887,3 '^HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

607

this calculatiou to sonio extent iuaccnrate, hut accord-
ing to several authorities the supply cannot last much
longer.

The recent gum is not so serviceable as the fossil
kind, owing to its softness, though it has a more
pleasant odour when heated. But neither can along-
continued supply of the new resin be hoped for. I
hear from persons acquainted with the country, and
I also see by remarks in papers published in the
Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, that the
existing forests of the Kauri Pine itself will more
than likely be wholly cut down in another fifty years.
— Gardeners^ Chronicle.

KINMOND AND EICHARDSON'S PATENT
MULTIPLE ACTION TEA ROLLING MACHINE.

This tea rolling machine differs from all other tea
rolling machines in that at each stroke or revolution
of the rolling surfaces the tea leaf is presented to
the rolling surfaces at a, different angle, and no two
points in the upper rolling surface give the same roll-
ing action to the leaf.

The under plate which turns on its centre, has a
hitching action between each stroke of the upper plate,
and so presents the leaf to the surface of the upper
plate at a different angle each revolution. The action
of the machine is simple, but the tea leaf when being
rolled is subjected to a multiple action, thoi conse-
quence of which variety of action is a harder twisted
leaf, and a total absence of all flat leaves.

The machine has been made very strong, and the
moving parts are few and simple. Owing to the direct
application of the motive power, 3 h.-p. is sufficient to
work the machine, and comparing this with other tea
rolling machines, a saving in motive power of about
50 per cent has been effected.

The machine should be driven at a speed of 60 re-
volutions per minute, at which speed it will roll 12
maunds of green leaf per hour.

The belt pulley of the machine is 2 feet 6 inches
diameter.

Price, £100.

Packing in cases for shipment, 5 per cent extra.

The lower plate can be supplied with its surface made
of end wood, at an extra price of £15.

The above is the description given of the new roller
by the manufacturers. As a general rule machinery
in action comes short of promise, and we venture to
doubt a performance equal to 960 lb. green leaf per
hour. The testimony borne by Mr. Dickson of Leba-
non is that the roller took in 400 lb. and finished that
quantity in 40 minutes, the roll being as good, but no
better than that obtained by Jackson's excelsior. When
960 lb. of green leaf per hour are rolled with a speci-
ally hard twist at an expenditure of force equal to
only 3 horse-power, we shall be glad, in the interests
of tea planters to record the fact,

A Ngw Use For WooD.—The application of wood
fei" stuffing beds seems, at first sight, an anomaly, never-
theless, a patent exists which moreover appears to bs
quite practicable, for disintegrating the wood of var^
ious kinds of Piue, so that it becomes as light aud
elastic as hair, The resinous properties of the wood
cause it to be very healthy, and to act ha a preventive
against vernlin. It is producible at a price far below
that liossible for any other material, except straw and
seaweed, in quantities as low as 4s. per cwt. — Indian
Gardener.

. The Collection of Minok Fokest Produce. —
The system inaugurated last year, in the South
Canara District, of establishing depots at diiferent
points for the receipt and purchase, at certain fixed
rates, of minor forest produce, such as myrabolams,
wax, honey, &c., collected in the forests and brought
to the depot, bids fair to becoine in time an extensive
industry, as it has already developed to a considerable
extent, so much so that it has been fouad necessary
to employ au additional establishment of clerks to
feeep account of the quality of produw brought iu

by the gathrrers. Satisfactory as the Undertaking
promises to be from a revenue point of view, it is
also found to serve as a check on forest fires, the
gatherers of such produce being naturally anxious
to protect from fire, as much as possible, the trees
from the produce of which they earn a livelihood.
Wanton damage to trees, so common, is also to a
great degree prevented. The system will probably
be extended in time to other districts, the Conser-
vator being anxious to do so. — Madras Times.

The German Colonial Verein and the Binue
River. — As is well known the Deutsche Colonial-
Verein is at present taking active measures in the
region of the rivers Niger and Beuue. It is proposed
to establish a series of observation stations in this
territory, as, for instance, at Timbuctoo and in the
land behind Sierra Leone. There is no intention to
establish stations on the Niger, but only on the Binue
so far as it is not under English protection, that is,
east from Ibi and in the land south of the Upper
Benue, which is generally called Adamana. The
Deutsche Colouial-Verein is said to take its stand
upon the assumption that the Upper Benuii and
Adamana must one day be a German colony, even
if not so in mere name. The society cannot colon-
ise itself, but it desires to take steps to further colon-
isation. In the Upper Benue and Adamana lands many
raw products very important for German idustries are
to be found, as jjalm oil, palm kernels, coconuts,
sesame, earthnuts, ivory, caoutchouk, potash, tobacco,
coffee, cocoa, vegetable ivory, black pepper, red pep-
per, cubebs, ginger, many valuable spices, dye-stuffs,
woods, resins, as well as minerals and other useful
products, and animals. The Colonial Verein has
decided to forward Flegel the sum of 15,000 Mk.
by the quickest means possible. The Africanischo
Gesellschaft has put its steamer " Heinrich Barth "
at the disposal of the Colonial Verein for use on
the Benue. Herren Handert and Staudinger are to
join Flegel's party in the place of two members whe
have returned to Europe invalided. — Kuhlow's German
Trade lie vie tv and Exporter.

Royal Gardens, Kew. — "It is proposed to issue
from time to time, as an occa.sional publication, notes
too detailed for the annual report, on economic jjro-
ducts and plants to which the attention of the staff
of the Royal Gardens has been drawn in the course
of ordinary correspondence, or which have been made
the subject of particular study at Kew. It is hoped
that while these notes will serve the purpose of au
expeditious mode of communication to the numerous
correspondents of Kew in distant parts of the Empire,
they may also be of service to members of the general
public interested in planting or agricultural business
in India and the colonies, W. T. Thiselton Dyer,
Director," Such is the announcement which precedes
the first Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information. By
way of Illustration two subjects are mentioned in
this Bulletin— H&fi, and oil of Ben. Teft is a cereal
largely grown in the mountains of Abyssinia, and is
the produce of a grass, Eragrostis abysinuica. lu
answer to inquiries the Director publishes e-^tractn
from the works of Richard and Bruce giving parti-
culars of the nature and mode of cultivation of the plant,
and also extracts from correspondence with the
Foreign office, various Consuls, &c. As a result of
these inquiries seed have been sent to Kew and ana-
'lyses made by Professor Church, who notes that the
grain contains 8'2 per cent of albuminoids (flesh-
forming food), and 681 per cent of starch (or force-
producing food. Oil of Ben appears from documents
before us to be a sort of Botanical " Mrs.'Ai-ris."
" El Ben," we are told, is the Arabic or Persian iiatBe
for Moringa pterygosperma, but the oil prepared from
the seed of this plant in the West Indies is of no
value, perhaps on account of some defect in its pre-
paration. The Bulletin before us affords an indication
of one phase of work done at Kew, of which the
general public knows little or nothing, but which,
nevertheless, is of first-rate importance. In a subse-
quent issue it may be found desirable to curtail the
space given to mere formal official correspondence,—
Giirdmers' Chronicle.

1*ME Tropical AGRicuLTUHiSf. [MA^c^i i, 1BS7.

Castor-oil mixed with au equal weight of tallow or
other oil, i?, according to the Chtmist and Bnigc/ist,
an excellent dressing lor leather. Besides this, neither
rats, cockroaches, nor other vermin will attack leather
so prepared.— Inc/ifln Gardener.

Slow Tbee Geowth. — At a recent meeting of the
St. Louis Academy of Science, Dr. Englemann exhi-
bited a section of the trunk of Juniperus califoruica,
•which was not quite 4 in. in diameter, and yet showed
au unmistakeable age of 127 years, each ring being on
an average about one-fifth of a line wide. The largest
growth in ten years had been about 4 lines, the smallest
during a similar period about 1 ^ line. — Indian Gardener.

Teee Fungus in Kussia. — According to the Bulletin
of the Society of Naturalists of Moscow, the hitherto
unaccountable destruction of pine forests is caused by
the ravages of a species of mushroom which takes
growth on the surface of the wood, and afterwards
penetrates and destroys the tree. Maps are given in
which the path of the destroying fungus is traced
through the pine woods of RussIh. — Journal of Forestry.

Britain's Future. — England is the largest importer
of wood in Earope, requiring, 280,000,000 feet per
annum more than she produces. Inasmuch as neither
Canada nor the United States can much longer spare
large quantities, and since no European country can
HOW produce much more than is required for home
consumption, while most of them are importers, Great
Britain must ere long depend on her own resources.
There are extensive tracts of land in Ireland and Scot-
land that might be profitably devoted to forest culture.
— Mississippi Valley Lumberman.

The Wages of Human Labour in Japan are far
lower than' we had any conception. The figures are given
iu an article in the Journal of Forestry, shewing why
superior farm implements are not used. The writer
states : — Farm labour is so cheap that it is practically im-
possible to overbid it with labour-saving marchiney. Male
field hands work twelve hours per day, have five holidays
in each month, and receive their food, lodging, and wages,
ranging from 10 to 15 yen (£1 14s. to £2 10s.) per annum.
Female labourers work the same hours, are not
entitled to holidays, and receive, besides their food
and lodging, about 7 yen (£1 4s.) per annum.

Tab in the Poultky House.— Poultry breeders seem
to have failed to discover the value of tar. It is very
useful and valuable in many ways. Some breeders
tar their poultry-yard fences, in preference to white-
washing them, though we do not like to see it done,
for it gives the surroundings such a gloomy, and
forbidden look. It undovibtedly contributes largely to
the durability of the wood, protecting it from the
ravages of storm and time. It is in the poultry house,
however, that the value of tar is the greatest, for it
conduces greatly towards healthfuluess. When that
scourge of the poultry man, chicken cholera, makes its
appearance, we would advise, first, a thorough clean-
ing of the bouse; next, a generous application of
Carolina tar on all the joints, cracks and crevices of
the inside of the building, and then plenty of fresh
whitewash properly applied. The tar absorbs or drives
away the taint of disease, and makes the premises
wholesome. The smell is not very offensive, iu fact,
many people like it, and it is directly the opposite
of unhealthy. To vermin, lice, etc., the smell of tar
is very repulsive and but few will remain after you
have tarred the cracks, etc. A friend of ours iu
Maryland was once troubled with chickeu_ cholera, and
by adopting the above, in connection with removing
affected fowls, he soon put a stop to its ravages. A
small lump of tar in the drinking water supplied to
the fowls will be found beneficial, provided it is^ the
Carolina tar, which is very different.— Po«^/'V/ World.

Bamboo Seeding— Some bamboos of the Katang
tariety (Bambusa arundinacea. Ret:.), having fldwered
in Ghazipore, N. W^ Provinces, Mr. Nichols, c.s.,
had the seed collected for distribution. I venture to
advise sowing in shallow pans or in seed beds under
shelter. Transplant to a nursery bed wheu the
seedlings are about two inches high. Again transplant
when about seven inches high, and keep till finally
located in a place where they can be f rerjuently watered.
The Kfttapg likes a ratber eaudy alluvial eoU, though

it will do well on 'regur,' or black cotton soil. At
Jubbulpore, where they are planted mostly for orna-
ment, the plan which seems to have succeeded best
of all was to plant in a circle as shown below, each
dot representing a single seedling of, say, 1| foot
high. So far as I can see, there will probably be no
chance of getting more seed for some forty years.
This variety is believed to have a life period of about
55 years. It often attains the height of sixty feet
under favourable circumstances. In 1836 Captain
Sleeman recorded in this Society's Journal (Transactions,
Vol. Ill) the flowering and death of all the bamboos
in Dehra Doou, and states that it is a characteristic of
the bamboo that all the produce of the same seed will
run to seed and die in the same season without reference
to the season in which they may have been transplanted
from original stock. Dr. Brandis seems to confirm this
in his Forest Flora, and says isolated clumps may be
met occasionally; "but, as a rule, all clumps in one
district come into flower simultaneously, a few
clumps flowering in the previous and some in the
succeeding years." So it is probable that there will be
a widespread flowering next season. — Pioneer.

Wood Ashes have long been known to possess pecu-
liarly valuable qualities as a manure. In India large
tracts of land, covered with grass and brushwood, are
systematically set on fire for the ashes they yield. The
following, however, which we quote from one of our
American exchanges on this subject, will be read with
interest :—" Among the most common and most valu-
able of special manures, I place wood ashes, says Prof.
Kedzie. The amount of ash and its relative composition
vary with the kind or part of vegetable burned, but
we may safely take the ash of the body of a beech tree
as representing the average composition of wood ashes.
One bushel of ashes represents about two-and-a-half
tons of dry body wood. Wood ashes contain all the
required elements of plant nutrition except nitrogen.
One' hundred pounds of wood ashes contains 16 pounds
of potash worth SO cents, 3| pounds soda worth 2 cents,
67 pounds of lime and magnesia worth 8 cents, and
5 J pounds of phosphoric acid worth 26 cents. If we
had to buy in market the cheapest form the manurial
materials contained iu 100 pounds of ashes, the cost
would be Sl'lO. Can you afford to throw away such
valuable materials, or sell them for sixpence a bushel
to the soap-boiler ? No argument is needed ; here
is the value and there is the selling price. Draw your
own conclusions. " The eft'eot of a handful of wood
ashes upon a withering plant is wonderful. We have
ourselves often tried the experiment of resuscitating weak,
unhealthy, and yellow-looking plants with the aid of
wood ashes, and always with uniform and remarkable
success. — Indian Agriculturist. [ N. B. — That the ashes
from tea furnaces ought to be carefully utlized. — Ed. ]

The Wood of the Casuarina. — Mr. J. Steavenson
Secretary of the Madras Agii-Horticultural Society, has
written to the Journal of Forestry as follows: — There are
to the north and south of Madras thousands of acres
of sand-dunes which, within the last five-and-twenty
years, I and others have covered with thriving forests
of Casuarina muricata, Roxb. The tree in favourable
parts of the sands grows to a noble size, and that
very rapidly. I have many 40 to GO inches in girth
at 5 feet from the ground, and tapering up probably
90 or 100 feet as straight as, and very like a larch
planted in 1871. A few trees are cut for piles,
shed-building, rails, and such-like uses, but hundred
of acres go down in a very immature state every
year for firewood. The wood is very hard, of great
density and specific gravity, and bears a gfeat stfain^
but is so liable to warp, perhaps from ignorance of
the proper method of Seasoning it, that it is very little
used for other purposes. I have seen the wood take a very
high polish, and some good tables and other articles of fur-
niture made of it. It appears tome absolutely sinful
to waste the well-grown trees for firewood, and it has
occurred to me that there might be a market for them
at home for paving blocks, even if the wood will not
season to prevent warping. The logs could. I believe,
bo profitably put'on board ship at from £1 to £2 per ton,
[But why not utilize them locally for the priocipal
streets; of MaJras.—Ep.]

March i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

609

THE SAGO PALM,

Sago is nearly pure afcarcb, obtained from various
species of Indian Palms. In the Indian Archipelago
it is procured from Sagus Rumphii, Sagus lasvis, and
Sagus genuina ; on the Coromandel coast from Phoenix
farinifera; in Ceylon from Corypha umbraculifera ;
and in Assam from Caryota urens. These trees are
cut down, and from the pith filling their stems the
sago is extracted. The pith is thoroughly washed,
and from the washing, when allowed to rest, the
fecula or starch subsides ; this is the sago flour of
commerce, of which large quantities are used in the
manufacture of calico. When used as food it is granu-
lated, and known as pearl sago. Tapioca is really
sago in lumps,* and was so called merely because
the French, who introduced it from India named it
Sagoa-tapioca. About eight thousand tons of sago
are annually imported.

Sagus Rumphii is a small tree, comparatively
speaking, not above 30 feet high. It is a native of
the Indian Archipelago, particularly of Malacca,
Borneo, Sumatra, Celebes, and the Moluccas. Before
the tree has arrived at maturity the stem consists
of a mere shell, about 2 inches thick, with a great
mass of spongy pith, becoming gradually absorbed,
and ultimately the stem remains hollow. At the
time when the pith is fully developed, and before it
has begun to diminish, which is indicated by the
superior loaves being covered with a sort of farina
or white dust, the tree is felled, and the trunk cut
into lengths of 6 or 7 feet long, which are split to
admit of the pith being more easily removed. The
pith is in the state of a coarse powder, and is mixed
with water in a trough having a sieve at one end ;
the water, loaded with farina, passes through the
sieve, and is received in convenient vessels, where it
is allowed to stand till the insoluble matter has
subsided. The water is then strained off, and the
farina which is left may be dried into a kind of
meal, or moulded into whatever shape may be de-
sired. Sago, as it comes to this country, is pre-
pared by forming the meal into a paste with water,
and rubbing it into grains ; it is produced in the
greatest abundance in the Moluccas, but of the finest
quality on the eastern coast of Sumatra. The Chinese
of Malacca refine it, so as to give it a tine pearly
lustre, and large quantities are also prepared at Sin-
gapore. It is said that a single tree will yield from
500 to GOO lb. of sago. Sago forms the principal
food of the natives of the Moluccas. A decoction of
sago fermented yields alcohol by distillation, and
by ascescence it forms vinegar. The fruit of this
Palm is the size of a hen's egg. The base of the
leafstalks is covered with long fibrous filaments that
serve to make cordage and sacking. — Journal of Hor-
ticulture.

♦

TEA FIRING IN N. FORMOSA.
Each tea packing hong has a large firing room
attached. Small hongs have 50 to 100 fires and large
hongs have about 200 to 300 fires, and even more.
The fire places are simply circular holes, about two
feet in diameter, surrounded by brick facings. They are
arranged in rows, and are not much more than eighteen
inches above the floor of the room. The fire holes
are apart about half a foot, and on the top of these
circular holes or receptacles for live charcoal are
placed the baskets containing tea. The fires are pre-
pared in a simple way ; a large pile of charcoal is
lighted and allowed to burn till all the combustible
matter contained therein has disappeared, and then
the red hot particles are placed by the circular fire
places. For several hours the fires are allowed to
flare up and cast forth a flame and glow that few
men can stand for any length of time. If you enter
a large firing room at the time the fires are being
lighted it is like going into an oven, and the return
to the open air reminds you forcibly of the heated
atmosphere of Montreal hotels, where inside the
temperature is perhaps over 70 ° , and on going out
of the front door suddenly find yourself in an

* No: it is the starch of Casmva Manioc-
77

-Ed.

atmosphere several degrees below zero. This is putting
it very mildly, for in a room with 300 fires the heat
is far more intense. It takes time for the fires to
settle down, and the red hot charcoal has to be broken
up with iron implements ; the red heat has to pene-
trate to the very core of the charred branches or
portions of trees, and when no smoke whatever issues
from the fire holes, the firing men place on top of
the embers a thick covering of ashes of paddy husk,
which deadens and tempers the heat to such an extent
that in the course of 12 or 15 hours from the time
the blazing lumps of charcoal were placed in the fire
holes it is safe to place the baskets containing tea
leaves over them. The baskets are cylindrical in shape,
about 2 feet in diameter and about 3 feet high ;
they are divided in two by a sieve partition and on
top of this sieve the tea is placed. The teas brought
down from the hills and tea districts have undergone
the sun-drying and absorbing process, have been fired
in an iron pan, have been twisted by hand after
passing through the rapid frying process and on occa-
sions are basket fired up-country. But the up-country
process of preparation is insufficient to permit of the
leaf being shipped away to a foreign country; it has,
therefore, after you have purchased it, to be "cured"
properly and finally at Twatutia. Every particle of
moisture has to be extracted in the final process,
previous to packing the leaf in lead-lined chests. — Indian
TeJ> Oazette.

GHAUT FORESTS OP THE NILGIRIS.

Tbere can be no doubt that Castilloa ela-stica
would thrive in the lower Ghaut valleys. The
climate, soil, and general surroundings of the forest
in which the caoutchouc tree is iudigenous are
exactly similar to that of the lower Ghaut range.
The point, however, which nothing but experience on
the spot can determine, is whether in this tract of teem-
ing fertility and bewildering wealth of species it caa
so far intrude on the closely fitting vegetative economy
as to conquer an independent position in the forest
flora. Most probably it would require some artificial
aid to maintain itself. Only to a limited extent could
we afford the latter, for the same poisonous climate
exists in the tracts, under discussion as in the
tree's new world habitat. The region is permanently
inhabited by aboriginal tribes, who sometimes settle
down into villages in healthy localities ; at other times
retire to the most lonely aud malarious portions of the
belt were they seem to be dying out. They cannot be
relied upon for general work, but abundant labour
for a portion of the year may be procured. Villages
with surplus labor exists on spurs of the Ghauts almost
overhangiug the low couotry in a cool and nonmalarious
climate, two or three thousand feet above the sea.
On such a spot the hut of the supervising officer could
be erected and feverstricken coolies located for change
of air. The whole forest region below is now pierced
by easy Ghaut roads at intervals of about fifty miles
and bridle-paths run up the accessible passes along
which the produce of the hills is taken to the sea.
In the lower Ghaut forests Oastilloa elastica would
find a habitat quite as suitable and unhealthy as its
own in America, and with a little care and culture
there is no doubt, it would yield at least twice the
amount of rubber which it now produces in its normal
state. Planters might do worse than turn their atten-
tion to this cultivation. In these tracts may be seen
towering trees such as grow nowhere else between the
two seas : ebony slowly rotting ; cardamoms, gamboge,
woodsoil, cinuHmon oil, resins, gums, &c. going to waste
and untouched. True it is diffioult to work some
parts of these belts; to drag heavy timber, slides
would have to be constructed or elephants employed.
Though the latter exist in large numbers in an un-
regeaerate state on the spot, yet in- most of the
acclivities, no elephant could work on a crumbling
foothold dropping down at an angle of 10°. Wn fail to
see, however, why a portion of the yvergreecn forests
should not be put in working order. If money for
forest purposes is to continuo rs scarce as it has

6l6

THE fROPXCAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1887.

been it should in preference be spent where it will
yie'd the quickest return, i, e., in a rational working
of the Ghaut forests . . . Considering the inaccess-
ibility and unhealthiuess of the lower Ghaut forests, we
have here a case of what is termed a 'providential adapt-
ation of wayg to means' in the fact that the locaUty isso
well fitted to produce an article so necessary in the
arts and of such a growing application as Caoutchouc.
— South of India Observer,

RED SPIDEK.

A Darjeeling correspondent writes, in the Cachar
Notes, published in the Englishman of the 3rd instant: —
" For the last fortnight we have had an almost incessant
fall of rain, which, together with the cold, has brought
on red spider in many gardens. However, the hot
weather of the last few days may choke off this
unpleasant little visitor." Xow, this sentence repre-
sents the very opposite opinion to what Darjeeling
tea-planters entertain on the subject. They credit
the hot weather with bringing on the pest, and look
hopefully to the heavy rain to clear it away. It says
little for the devotion of tea planters to their business
that they are still quite in the dark as to the nature
and habits of the red spider, although they have for
many years been suffering, and still continue to
suffer, very highly from its ravages. They do not
even seem to have arrived at unanimity in regard
to the times and circumstances of its actual presence
or _ absence, — primary facts which surely might be
easily set at rest, and placed beyond doubt by the
most ordinary care and observation. Can it be possible
that the Cachar and Darjeeling men are both right,
and that as regards the red spider, the atmospheric
influences in these two districts produce diametrically
opposite effects. It is a pity that the red spider
nuisance is not properly and promptly taken up and
thoroughly investigated by competent persons without
further delay. Although planters themselves may not,
perhaps, have the necessary leisure or scientific
accomplishments, they might easily engage some one
with both and at no very ruinous expenditure either,
for if every planter whose property is affected
subscribed even a rupee for the purpose, .an ample
fundwould be available. A few months ago, whilst
they were probably suffering from the bad prices of
last season, the tea boards and bigwigs at Home
were going to have the chemistry of tea manufacture
thoroughly enquired into ; but the good prices this
year seem to have evaporated their ardour. And so
we go blundering on from year to year without under-
standing the first principles of an Industry, the
magnitude and importance of which, though obviously
great, would be immensely increased if we only
understood and guided ourselves by its correct prin-
ciples, as is done in every other important Industry
except Tea. Red spider and fermentation are two
of the most vitally important matters, regarding
which information is wanted, but there are many
others regarding which we are equally ignorant ; and
if a committee of investigation were once started, the
width of their field of operations would be very great.
Let me ask a simple question. I will suppose that
a sample of tea having just the proper colour, strength,
and flavour most approved by the brokers be sent
to a tea planter, with instructions to make all his
tea exactly like the sample, putting quantity entirely
on one side for the occasion — is there a planter in
India who could do this ? And if not, who not ? All
trades and professions work by sample, and as we
can get bread, beer, wine, food, and condiments of
any and every sort made exactly to our taste, why
not tea ? I shall be glad, if some one who is competent
to answer the question, will do so. — Cor. Indian
Daily News.

— z ^

WITHEEING MACHINES : A REPLY.
To your Dehra Dun correspondent, as per Indian
Tia Gazette of 21st July, which has just reached us.
"When will a good Witherer be introduced:"' he ex-
claims ! And again — " Who will come to the front
with a goo J Witherer'":' I quite agree with all he

says of the diflSculties and the manifold conditions
by present methods in getting fresh or wet leaf,
quickly, equally, and properly withered during all
kinds of weather, .«o that it will ferment well and
equally, and on which depends the making of first-
rate Tea. But, Sir, what surprises us moat in our
frequent intercourse with most Planters, their Agents,
and Directors, is the ignorance of what is going on
in the Tea industry throughout the world, and pai-ti-
cularly of its latest economic inventions around them.
Your correspondent cannot be, surely, a reader of
your Gazette or an inquirer, otherwise he might
have seen our advertisements there, and in many
other papers, duruig more than 12 months, having
an Indian circulation, that there is a Witherer in
existence for which we claim, and can now prove
beyond doubt, that the XL- ALL Tea Drying and
Withering Machine is the first and only perfect Wither-
er, and, from actual results in Oeylon, withering
and drying tea daily. But perhaps he is one of those
thoughtful and far-seeing men who does not believe
in fire heat, "i.e." warm air, or hot if you choose,
properly applied as a means of artificially and rapidly
withering tea leaf: therefore we take an interest
in him, as he speaks of a fortune certain to accrue
to the inventor of such a Machine that will fulfil
all the conditions, and which must necessarily apply
fire-heated air. I need not mention how the pre-
judice against fire-heat for withering has arisen, as
the haphazard system of withering over Dhols in
wet or foggy weather is well known to almost
every planter, and also the results obtained from it.
Some years ago I observed, by actual experiments
with fire-heated air on fresh tea leaf in the country,
though small, but sufficient to show when properly
applied to the air and leaf together, that the after
fermentation, so named, was quite equal to the best
natural (tray) withering, and believing, as I do,
that the after colouring of the roll is due to the
oxidation of the tannin in the leaf, and not to
fermentation, properly so called, I resolved to bide
my time, until I could cautiously, step by step, design and
carry out properly a Machine that would obviate the
necessity of the tedious handling of Tea on trays,
for either drying or withering, and giving greatest
effect, together with simplicity, highest class work-
manship, and cheapness. The XL-ALL Drier and
Witherer is now complete, and together with a whole
set of simple and economic Machines are now at
work in Natal fXL-ALL and factory-shafting lately
sent there) besides single Machines in nearly every
district ; also a whole set for every stage at Messrs.
Jas. Brown & Co., Hatton, Dikoya, Ceylon, who
have lately sent a report on the Withering and
Drying by XL-ALL, together with samples of tea
from the bulk and unassorted, just as it was dropped
out of Machine.

Report says, actual results of first attempt, without
practice, gave, as a self-acting Drier, 130 lb. dried
perfectly in 20 minutes. All the samples are marked
leaf withered (while in a wet state) and dried
by XL-ALL, withering a maund each fill of Machine,
in a few minutes. A note in Report states that
we find that the leaf that was withered by Machine,
and after rolling same by our Link and Lever
Machine, takes exactly the same time to ferment as
leaf irithered naturally by the ordinary means. I now
come to the report on the bulk and unassorted sam-
ples of this same tea by Messrs. Geo. "White and
Co. of London. "Ceylon tea, black Greyish curly,
bright infused leaf, brisk and pungent flavor, prices up
to 1-lOd. per lb. in bond."

The point here in evidence of its being, as your
correspondent, like many other imprejudiced and
thoughtful planters ardently desire, is the character
of all the 5 samples Bright infused leaf ; there is also
the verbal evidence of the taster of the Civil Ser-
vice Stores, London, that he never saw a more rtgiilar
fermentation or a brighter liquor. What does this show,
but the most perfect withering (by fire heat^ and
more rapidly and without labor than a nything else
in existence. From the fact of 130 lb. dried in 20
minutes, and with practice, Messrs. Browa say, they

Maucu 1, iBBf.] ffie f J^OPiCAL AamCtfLf U^iSf.

6ti

3 ill be able shortly to declare better results; it
lows by the character, brisk, and pungent flavor, a
first-class Drying Machine. But they say as a "Wither-
ing Machine alone it ought to take.

It enables planters to make first-class tea during
any kind of weather, be it rain, fog, or sunshine, as
air of any degree of heat can be used accordingly,
and they can time the withering to the rolling, and
save all chalonies, lofts, large sheds, their annual
repairs, labor, and worry infinite.

It is a rapid Drying Machine one minute, and a
splendid AVithering Machine the next. Any degree
of withering can be given to prevent frothing and
loss of watery juice, particularly at the first of the
Assam season ; concentrates the mucilageuous matter
in the leaf, and holds the roll; rolls up (juicker,
gives bright flowery or orange nibs, enhances the
price of the tea.

I apologize for this long letter, but your corres-
pondent's exclamation — " who will come to the front
with a good Witherer," has prompted it; and as
a duty to ourselves and the Tea industry, and but
for that I would have remained quiescent until the
promised still more surprising results, with the staff
in thorough trim and practice in Ceylon, where my
system of fresh leaf equalizing (making first-rate
equalized Pekoe Souchong, or all the classes, without
sifting or otherwise, and without broken tea and dust)
is being carried out by my several inventions, and
by instructions given during 12 months in our Works
to a young Engineer who is now there. — Yours
faithfully, John Greig, Jk., For John Greig & Oo. —
Indian Tea Gazette.

[The surprising thing is that we, in Ceylon, know
so little, in fact scarcely anything of what is said
to be done amongst us. — Ed.]

THE AUSTRALIAN BLUB GUMS
are rather inconsistently described in an article on
firewood '\ni\\e South of India Observer : — At the pre-
sent selling price of grass land outside of Ootacamund,
and considering the unique rapidity of the growth of
the eucalyptus aud the enormous proportions it attains, it
is proved to demonstration that the great quantity of
fuel yielded by an acre would amply recoup the outlay
of a producer, even if the latter sold his wood at half
the rate now charged by the Department for a thou-
sand pounds. The Forest Department charges a seigni-
orage of Rl-4-it for this weight of wood delivered
at the forest, and the average rate of cart hire to and
from the latter is Rl-8-0. Thus a cart load of wood
deposited on a purchaser's premises costs' R2-12-0
( more than half of which is for carriage ) anything but
a light price, we submit, when we take into consider-
ation the excessive and necessary consumption of wood
in this climate for domestic purposes more especially
during the mousoon ami frosty months. Moreover
Government denies to the native town population the
privilege of taking their wood out of the forests, which
is conceded to villagers. A cheaper supply of fuel in
a damp climate like ours to a scantily clad and badly
housed native community would be of incalculable
benefit indirectly. It would improve the health of the
town, and lower the death rate, to say nothing of the
mere comfort of domestic life. On Esthetic and Agri-
cultural grounds we deprecate the promiscuous cultiva-
tion of eucalyptus within the precincts of the cantonment.
Viewed in the former light of the prim formal, stiff,
sombre looking blue gum is anything but an embellish-
ment to the lauscape, and when in addition, its towering
height, effectually shuts out from view the pretty
tasteful English dwellings which since recently adorn
our Sanitarium we think any ^Esthete will support our
contention that the disfigurement in question should be
removed or at least not permitted to be extended.
Unless one strains one's sinews to clamber up Dodabet's
Summit it is impossible to get a view of Ooty, ov.'iug to
this thick growth of eucalyptus, which envelope it ou
all sides, and the natural beauties of our pretty Sanitarium
are effectually effaced by this giant of the Antipodes.
If the cheapening of fuel should fail to demolish our
urban forests, for we bold that the factors, which cou-

fribi;ite to «siiRBO« tb« {>ric9 of fi(«wo9id ir« ctiitan?*

of the source of supply and cart hire, we should like to

see a bye-law introduced prohibiting the planting of the

tree within the limits of the cantonment, though such

a bye law cau only be justified except by a very liberal

construction of the Sections of the Municipal Act.

Agriculturally considered it is an indisputable fact, that

eucalyptus dries up streams and springs, destroys

pasture and generally impoverishes the soil and it has

been observed, particularly in Australia, that grass

and undergrowth perish beneath its baleful shade and

no green ttiing grows therein. In a word the Ecuaylp-

tus Globulus is so select in its habit that it will tolerate

no rival in the vegetable world in its vicinity and thrives

rankly in solitary luxuriance or exclusive community

like Robinson Crusoe, Monarch of all it surveys.
^

OUTDOOR CULTIVATION OF

THE STRAWBERRY.

There is no tteubt that mauy Strawberry plantations
are relied on annually for the crop, when it ought not
to be counted on as profitable for more than two or
three years. As the time will soon arrive when there
will be abundance of runners, it will not be inopportune
to give a few notes regarding the outdoor cultivation
of the Strawberry. Many gardeners make their new
Strawberry plantations iu the autumn, others leave it
until the .spring ; but we think a full crop ought to be
procured the first season after planting. Therefore we
will recommend the runners to be planted in their
permanent quarters from the last week in July until
the end of August. The sooner the runners are
planted the stronger will be the plants, consequently
there will be a larger crop of fruit. This system
of Strawberry culture is well carried out by Mr. Douglas,
Great Gearies, Uford, and better results could not be
obtained. Preparing the runners and preparing the
ground for their reception ought to be attended to at
about the same time, for as soon as the 'runners are
well rooted they should be planted out.

Pkeparing the Gbound. — The ground should be
well trenched to the depth of 30 inches, placing a
good layer of decayed manure iu the bottom of the
trench, and another layer within a foot of the surface.
If the sub.soil is not in very good condition it must
not be brought to the surface but be kept underneath.
It must be well worked up with some manure. After
the ground has settled down it will be ready for the
prepared runners.

Peepabino the Runners. — As soon as runners are
obtainable they should be layered into GO-sizs pots,
filled with a compost of four parts loam and one part
decayed manure. The loam should be well divided
and the manure sifted. If it is not convenient to use
small pots pieces of turf 4 inches square are good
substitutes. Pinch the points off the runners before
layering, as it will strengthen the remaining runners.
Press the base of the runner ou the surface of the
soil or tuif, and peg it in position. Afterbeing layered
they must be kept well supplied with moisture.
When well rooted sever them from the parent plants,
stand them together in a sheltered place, and keep
them well supplied with water. In a week they will be
in good condition for planting out.

Plantiso out the Runners. — Two feet apart in
the rows and the same between the rows is a good
distance. To every plant give a good shovelful of soil,
as was used for layering, only it may be in
rougher state. Press the soil well round
and form a shallow basin round them,
runners removed as soon as they appear^
aud well water them every alternate night, or accord-
ing to the weather. They will soon commence grow-
ing, when the Dutch hoe should be used frequently
amongst them. As the season advances and the
autumn rains come on discontinue watering.

AftKr-treatMENt. — If the winter is likely to be
severe mulch with some short dry manure. If it is
likely to be an open winter do not mulch them, but
use the Dutch hoe freely. After the fruit has set, and if it
is dry weather, a good soaking of sewage or liquid manure
should be given, afterwards well mulching them with
long stable litter, which will eooa become bleached
HB-f J9« ft good proteotJQn for the fruit, otberwie^

the same
a slightly
the rojts,
Keep all

■JJL ^

fM2 fUOPlCAL AOmCUt'tUmBT. [UAmi i, mi,

clean straw can be used. It; will well repay the culti-
vator if time can be spared to support the fruit witli
Birch branches. This is the best protection from
slugs, and the fruit is kept clean.

Second Year's Treatment. — A.fter the fruit is
gathered and all runners taken off that are required,
remove the runners that are left with the old mulch-
ing. Well hoe and clean the plantation, and give
a thorough dressing of well-decayed manure. This
is all the treatment they will require beyoud hand-
weeding and cutting off any runners which may
appear until the fruiting period arrives, when the
protection of the fruit must be seen to.

If a new plantation is made every year it will be
much the best system, as then there will be a one-
year and two-year-old plantation in full bearing ;
but the one-year-old plantation will produce much
the finer fruit.

Varieties. — Most gardeners have their favourite
sorts, but I give a short list for succession : — Vicomtesse
Hericart de Thury, Keens' Seedling, Sir Joseph Paxton,
President, Sir Charles Napier, British Queen (in some
soils), Unser Fritz, Loxford Hall, Reedliug, Frogmore,
Late Pine, and Oxonian. — A. Young. — Journal of
Horticulture.

In the production of Rose B'ooms for Otto of
Roses no less than 145 towns and villages are con-
cerned. Under favourable circumstances 2,000 lb.
of Rose leaves will yield 1 lb. of the otto, where-
as at other times it will take no less than 5,000 lb.
weight of leaves to produce the same quantity.
The area required to grow the Rose trees to produce
such innumerable quantities of flowers covers large
tracts of country, and in order to save loss by evapor-
ation after picking, small stills are erected in the open
fields. It is the more necessary to have the appar-
atus close at hand, as all the flowers for the same
reason are picked if possible before sunrise. — Journal
of Horticulture.

■\VoHMs ON Lawns ((7. i?.).— There is no simpler re-
medy for expelling worms from lawns and borders
than clear lime water. Get some lumps of lime fresh
from the kiln and place them in water, stirring well,
then allowing the lime to settle and the water be-
come clear. If there is any sediment at the bottom
of the vessel the water will be as strong as you can
make it, and perfectly safe. About a pound of lime
will suffice for ten gallons of water. It is best to
apply it during mild showery weather, when the
worms are near the surface. If there is no sediment
at the bottom of the vessel the lime water will not
be strong enough. An ounce of corrosive sublimate
dissolved in a little boiling water, then mixed with
forty gallons of clear water and applied through a
rose, has also been found to expel worms from lawns.
—'Journal of Horticidture.

Alleged insecticide char.^cteb of tomatoes. — A
curious statement, deserving the examination of
botanists at home, comes from C;ipe Colony, where
it is alleged that insects are observed to shun land
ou which tomatoes are grown ; and the culture of
the fji/coj'pr^icon egnUentum is accor.lingly recom-
meniied in all ••ase*? where it i.s po.''.'>ib!e to grow it—
under fruit trees, for instance, since the tomato
will thrive in the ihadc of other trees, which few
Other plants will do— for the aalte of the virtues at-
tributed to it as a prophylactic agr-inst the inroads
of insect pests. The popularity of the tomato as an
esculent is sufficiently great to repay the trouble of
planting ou a large scale, even if its supposed virtues
proved to be a myth ; and any surplus supplies might
easily be preserved in tins, and shipped to this country.
It will be interesting to know whether the tomato
has been ob.served to exercise any such effect on in-
sects elsewhere— in Canada, for instance, where the
fruit is 80 pjpular — or whether it is only in warmer
climates, like that of the Cape, that its peculiar
powers are brought into play. Much the same power
was once attributed, we believe, to the common broad
bean, but we are afraid this plant does not " live up
(O '' its character. — Colonic:! and India,

Existence of Manganese in Plarts. — Manganese
is tolerably abundant in nature, large deposits of the
oxide occurring in Scandinavia and elsewhere, but it
is almost exclusively confined to the mineral kingdom.
It is true that traces of manganese have been long
known to exist in the vegetable tissues of a few plants,
but whether accidental, or essential for the growth
of certain species of plants, botanists could not tell.
Professor Fluckiger. of Strassburg, has during the last
few years brought forward additional evidence that
manganese is widely distributed, as it is to be found
in the ash of many plants belonging to different families,
but the quantities are comparatively minute, and any-
thing but uniform. From experiments made by
Fluckiger in 1872, it transpired that manganese per-
vaded nearly every plant of the zinyiberaca. This can
be demonstrated in the case of cardamoms by fusing
the ash of one seed or capsule with nitre and sodium
carbonate when the distinct green re-action characteris-
tic of manganese is observable. Recently the same
investigator has shown that the genus trapa contains
throughout many species a distinct quantity of man-
ganese. The fruits of these plants give evidence of
a liking for this metal, or at least they have peculiar
susceptibility for its assimilation. From this pre-
dilection or affinity for manganese such plants are
appropriately denominated many ana phatjous or more
simply manganophile. — Chemist and Druggist of Austra-
la^ia.

Planting Experiments.— Mr. J. Aitken Middleton
of Tinkong, wrote as to his experiments at Tipling : —
'^ ya.nilla. — I think I told you that I had planted it in
virgin jungle with only the undergrowth cut down. It
came on splendidly, but I regret to say that the squirrels
took a liking to it and ate off the shoots as they came
out. I have removed it to a more open space and have
planted artificial shade over it, and I am glad to say it
is now doing very well. Of course this transplanting
has checked growth considerably, and will, I fear, cause
delay in blossoming and fruiting, but I have little fear
for it now. Ceara Rubber. — Last lot has germinated
fairly well : after it is germinated it seems to have only
one enemy namely, the mole-cricket. This fellow des-
troys them when they are 3 to 4 inches high. I had 40
plants destroyed in one night. The only tree that came
to any size here ( Tinkong ), out of the very first lot of
seed you sent me, has begun to flower. I regret to
tell you, however, that during a thunderstorm some
two nights ago the flowering branch was broken off.
This branch I have cut in pieces and planted to see if
they will grow. In March one of the trees planted at
Tipling was blown down in a gale. I had it cut in pieces
and planted at once, and am glad to say that all the
cuttings are doing well. I should now be obliged by
your giving me some information as to when, where,
and how the trees ought to be tapped. Divi-Divi. —
As I told you some time ago the tree grows very freely
here. Nearly every seed you sent me has germinated.
The few trees I have here have not grown much in
length lately, but have thicked about the roots and
have spread out on top. They seem to like the sun
as all are turned towards the south and south-west.
Two are specially noticeable in that way, being spread
out like trained plum trees facing south-west; not a
leaf on the other sides, There is no shade anywhere
near them, so I cannot account for this way of grow*
iug, jRhea, — I regret having forgot to watch this plant
at seeding time (end of April and May) as I wished
to send you seed. I was busy with a lot of new
machinery and building at the time, and the bunga-
low garden was rather neglected. I shall be very
glad to send you a lot of cuttings if you wish them,
and shall try and remember seed next year. Vegetable
Seech . — When distributing the seeds I should like you
to send all " Buists " (American grown seed) if possible.
I find they do best in Assam. For eleven years I
have never had a failure with them, whereas, even
the best English seeds have never been a gre^t success
either with self or neighbours. Xeem. — This tree re-
quires great care ; I have been able to save three trees
nly, and would be glad of a few more seeds if you
an spare them." .—Madras Moil,

MAfleii i, mj.] THE T^OFiCAL AQRiCULTUKIST,

THE DROUGHT; NATIVE CATTLE AS
DRAFT ANIMALS AND MILKERS.

Hapitigama Korale, 16th Feb. 1887.

AVe had a mere sprinkling of rain on the 9th and
10th ; uo sign of any since. The sua blazes and the
wind blows, and everything is suffering more or less
according to its nature; man, beast, and plant. After
all we have no right to complain as it is the only
weather we have to expect at this season, and though
the heat and the cold, and the wind are disagree-
able, I hear of no sickness out of the common, either
on the estates or in the villages, and for certain kinds
of work nothing could be better. Coconuts on dry
gravelly ridges or sun-baked clay suffer sadly both
in the loss of leaves and fruit, but we must, take
the bite with the buffet and make the best of our
situation.

In my own case my cattle are my gre^itrst trouble,
the herbage is utterly burned up and day by day
they become more lean and wretched. "With refer-
ence to your recent article on our breed of cattle,
it does not appear to me that in the low-country
anything would be gained by crossing the breed
with anything larger or less hardy. The native breed
is admirably suited to the country and the habits of
the people. Left to shift for itself the Ceylonese
bullock is supple and enterprising, he holds in con-
tempt all ordinary fencing and ranges far in search
of a succulent mouthful; cunning and watchful, he
dashes off like the wind whenever he smells danger
in his marauding expeditions. He has great strength in
proportion to his size and weight, and when trained to
work is patient and docile in the hands of those
he knows. Indeed both his vices and his virtues
suit him exactly to his lot in life, but when well
fed and tended he becomes a very perfect animal
and will accomplish a run of six miles in a light
hackery, in three quarters of an hour. As the cows
are never milked* the lacteal glands are never pro-
perly developed but get a young cow with her first
calf, feed her well, and milk her dry twice a day,
and she will give as good a return for the food
she eats as any other breed.

Cattle keeping is not a paying business in Ceylon,
either breeding or fattening, anything except milking
oows, and draught bullocks' are kept at a loss.
The value of an 18 months calf is E5 and if kept till
it is three years old, a handsome young one may
be as high as E15, but a quey of that age will
not sell for more than seven or eight, and if you go
to the cost and trouble of fattening a barren cow
or a young bullock that proves unfit for draught
the butchers will give no more than for a wild animal
from the jungle. There are more or less cattle kept
on most coconut estates, but I think most proprietors
of experience will agree with me that they are kept
without profit, if not at a loss when they pay a keeper.
If the manure is conserved that is something, but
manure of equal value may be bought for less than
it costs. "Where cattle are kept on an estate, how-
ever, there is some gain in the cost of weeding,
because even rank grafts is injurious to coconut trees
and the cattle droppings are of some service to the
aoil. I pay my cattle-keeper K90 per annum and my
returns, the milk and butter of the year, would be
worth a like 3um if there were a market, but as it
is all consumed on the premises, that may be written
oft' as balanced, then I have my bullocks for cart and
hackery work and 20 cubic yards of manure worth
R40 and I could sell three head annually for R30, so
that I am a gainer of about R70. Mine, however,
is a special ca.se; none of my neighbours milk their
cows and few of them turn their manure to good
purpose, and as mj' chief profit is in the milk, theirs
must be a loss. None but a Scotchman can make a
good breakfast on milk parritch with milk, and only

* Our Correspondent does not seem to have the fear
of the " Examiner " and its Correspondents before his
eyes. For asserting that the natives .seldom milked
their cattle, we were severely reprehended, but there
is our Correspondent, with his long experience mak-
ipj[ tlic aseertioQ in a etroagcr form,— Sd,

he who takes all the milk he can get from his cows,
can make from KoO to RIO in a year from ghee
prepared from his spare butter.

We, coconut planters, are fortunate in being outside
the Medical Wants Ordinance and with no personal
interest in railway extension. Of course, my sympathies
are with my mountain brethren «n both questions and
were I a member of the Association, I would vote
for the most violent and outspoken of the iiroposed
notions on the medical question.

INTERESTING ADMINISTRATION REPORTS.
{iVom ticport of Assistant Government Agent Keyalle.)

Coconuts and Plantains. — There is a considerable
area under coconuts and plantains ; indeed, there is
a large export trade in the latter in the districts
bordering on the railway, the quantity sent away
from Rambukkana alone lu 1885 being 661 tons. On
the whole, there is an abundant supply of food for
the people, and it is only in the case of the estates,
and to some extent the floating bazaar population,
that imported rice is used.

Cost of I'roduction. — The cost of the production of
rice is shown in the tabulated replies to the following
series of questions. I havejtaken a pela {i.e., about half
an acre) as representing the extent owned by the
ordinary villager : —

If hire of buffaloes and Government tax is included,
the value of each day's labour' comes to (from 3 to
5 cents 1)

Xotcs. — (1) There is scarcely any sale for straw
in the Four Korales and Lower Bulatgama, and only
a very limited sale in the Three Korales, where »
pela's production of straw can sometimes . be sold for
from El-50 to R2.

Other Products. — ^'ea.— The cultivation of tea haa
increased on a large scale during the year. Thera
are now over 100 estates in the District, and the
out-turn during the year from them all must have
been close upon a million pounds. Land is going
up in value, and is being eagerly sought after by
investors, and the average price has risen to £3, £4t,
and even -t'5 an acre.

There can be Httle doubt that the Kelani Valley is des-
tined to become the finest tea district in the Island.
The soil may not be so good as in some up-country
places, but in point of climate for tea and cheapness of
production it beats them all. It has a navigable river
within easy distance of every estate, that only requires
a little money spent on it to be suitable during a con-
siderable portion of the year for steam traffic ; it has an
unlimited labour supply in the village population, who
are readily taking to estate work ; and it has extensive
tracts of Government jungle suitable for cultivation. I
annex a table of the average rainfall, and of the number
of days in which rain fell during the year, that may be
of interest as showing the suitability of the District ia
point of climate for ttie cultivation of tea : —

Average of five years, tj t-.

Inches. ^°^ "'^"y Day»-

Kegalla ,., 117 to 120 ... 174

Ruanwella ... 130 to 187 ... 149 to 160

Kitulgala ,,, 188 to 239 ,.. 200 (about)

Yatiyautota ... 145 to 150 ... 2uO ( ,, )

Dehiowita ... 135 to 155 ... 240 ( ' )

Avisawclla ... 125 to 168 ... 164-228

Indurana ...120 to 168 ... 168-179

Rambukkana ... 72 ... 175

Western Dolosbage ... 180 ... 223

Panawal Korale ... 148 to 171 ... 217 to 243

The lowest rainfall is at Rambukkana, but even
here there are the compensating advantages of a heavy
dew at nights during the dry season, and the rich
loose soil of the Mabaoya valley.

Cacao. — The cultivation of cacao has not been on
so large a scale as in former years. Much of that
already grown is dying out. I do not think that the
soil and wet chmate of the Distict are particularly
suited to it.

Cardamoms. — The cultivation of cardamoms has ex-
tended in every directian. The soil and climate of
the Western Dolosbage range and in the Kelani Valley
appear to be very well adapted to it,

d'H

tUE TmPtCAL AQmQULWm$f. [MAfteii i, my,

Cinchona.— There is a little cinchoua etill remain'
ing in Westeru Dolosbage, but it will soon become,
like coffee, a thing of the past.

Annatto, croton, rubber, African palm, coca eryth-
rosylon, are being tried here and there, but these
are as yet in the experimental stage only.

Akecanuts. — The cultivation of the arecanut palm
is perhaps the most important native industry in the
district. The finest nuts are grown here, and they
are produced in the largest quantity. It is estimated
that tliere are over 120,000 acres in bearing of this
product. The arecanut serves in place of money to
the native. By its means he pays his road and paddy
tax, and obtains his salt, tobacco, betel, dry fish, &c.
It is therefore an index of the prosperity of the vill-
agers, and I have made it my constant object to ex-
tend the area under its cultivation.

Experi7nental Gardens.— A. number of experimental
gardens were opened during the year at ditfereat
points in the District, i. c, at Kegalla and Ambuan-
gala, and on a smaller scale at Kambukkaua, Dehi-
owita, Pindeniya, and Euanwella, and various products
have been tried at each. We have some excellent
Gansabhawa rules to compel people to plant up their
gardens, and these have been put in force in every
District, with the result that palms and plantains are
now being extensively grown. I think myself that
one of the chief objects in our experimental gardens
should be to grow native products of really good kinds j
and we.shall, I believe, do far better work in im-
proving what the natives have already, than in forc-
ing them to grow new ones. Take plantains and
papaws for instance. They cultivate in many cases
the poorest kinds, because they cannot get at their
hands the best. The native papaw is a wretched
fruit, while the West Indian, which grows here even
better is a delicious one, and some of the Straits
plantains are as superior to the ordinary Ceylon kind
as English hothouse grapes are to those of Jaffna.
Cacao is the only European product that a native can
grow round his house with a chance of its being
remunerative, and for this we can only supply seeds,
as it will seldom bear transplanting. Tea will not, I
think, suit the ordinary villager, but it would be well
to give him the chance of growing it, if he likes.
With the exception of these two, I think, we should
spend our money and energy on improving their palms,
their breadfruits, yams, plantains, papaws, pepper,
cardamoms, and, if possible, their cereals.

It is significant how seldom one sees young palms
(except arecanuts, which are self-grown) of from
two to three years old, and I myself believe that
the fresh planting of these is becoming less and less
and that when the old ones die or become exhausted
the people will feel their loss very much. As it is,
many have nothing in their gardens but a few old
jack or worn-out coconut trees, and when their rice
crop fails, they are often brought to the verge of
starvation. We should, therefore, I think, apply our
new and most useful Gansabhawa rules more in the
direction of forcing them to replant their gardens
aod high lauds, than in making them take to new
and thereore distasteful products.

New Floughs.— The new ploughs introduced by
Mr. Green, the Director of Public Instruction, have
been at work in this District during the year in
several places. So far the results have been satis-
factory. AVattagama Rateniahatmaya, of the Bella
Korale, used the Sewdish plough on a field of his
of three pelas. Last year the field gave ten amunams,
equal to thirteen-fold ; this year he cultivated half
by using the Swedish plough and half by the native
plough, and kept the accounts separate. Result :—
By native plough thirteen-fold as before ; by Swedish
plough twenty-one-fold. The Otara Pattu Korala used
the same plough on a field of three pelas, and the
native plough on an adjoining portion of the same field
of two pelas. Result :— With the native plough on the
two pelas, crop six amunams, equal to twelve-fold;
with .Swedish plough on three pelas, crop fifteen
amunams, two pelas and five kurunies, equal to twenty-
one-fold, or much the same result as in Wattagama's
experiment. The great objection to tbi.': plough is that
it it too heavy for (b« buffAloei to vrork, but tb« fam9

objection does not equally apply to Howard's new
" Oingalee " plough, nineteen of which I have now at
work in the District, and the result of which will be
shown in this coming maha and yala crops.

MR. J. TYNDALL on CEYLON TEA.

Your readers may care to peruse copy of a letter ad-
dressed by Mr. J. Tyndall in October last to liord
Randolph Churchill, and the reply thereto of the Pri-
vate Secretary of His Lordship : —

" Thomanean, Milnathort, 5th October, 1886 —To the
Right Hou'ble Lord Randolph Churchill, &c.,&c., &c.
My Lord,— In justice to the island of Ceylon, mention
of which you make in your late comprehensive and
significant speech delivered at Dartford on Saturday
last, I would beg most respectfully to point out
to you that in your reference to the rise in price in
the value of the coffee produced in that island, and
from which staple in former years the chief basis of
its prosperity was derived, you made no allusion to the
ind»stry which is now rapidly becoming a more im-
portant industry— namely tea. The accession of the
Conservative Government to power has had the most
marked effect in the tea market. Ceylon produces
a very high qnality of tea, which is now forcing its
way into the home market, and has especially taken
hold of the Irish taste. The effect of Mr. Gladstone's
Irish policy was such as to produce an utter demora-
lization of the tea market there. Dealers would neither
give credit, nor hold stocks, and the result was a marked
fall in Ceylon tea. Happily, now a rapid recovery
under a more stable and firm Government is already
perceptible. Having lived and labored for upwards of
thirty years in Ceylon, I am naturally anxious that
this new product, tea, which is bringing back prosperity
to the island, should not be lost sight of by the Govern-
ment even in these tryisg times, and I would beg to
bring under your Lordship's notice that the rise of the
tea industry in Ceylon is, I venture to pronounce, one
of the most striking examples of the British planters'
pluck ; for, after being ruined by leaf -disease in coffee
and again struck down by the failure of cinchona, dis-
heartened but not dismayed, the same men have planted
up the same land with tea, which, as far as human
foresight will allow, now promises a great future, the
export of tea having risen from nothing in 1878 to
seven millions of pounds this year, and by 1890 will
bring into the market 30 million of lb. per annum !
Trust that your Lordship will pardon the liberty I have
taken in thus bringing forward to your notice so strik-
ing an example of what certainly may be classed with-
in the category of the satisfactory revival in trade
referred to by you, I beg to subscribe myself your
Lordship's Most Obedient Servant,— John Tyndall."

To the above the following reply was received : —

" Treasury Chambers, Whitehall, S, W., October 11.
1886. Dear sir,— Lord Randolph Churchill desires me
to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of your letter
of the 5th instant which he has read with great interest.
—I am, dear Sir, yours faithfully,— Fbank D. Tho-
mas."— London Cor. Local "Times."

[The grand joke is that the accession of a Tory
government, by giving peace to Ireland, (which it
certainly has not done,) is the real cause of the
great increase in the value of Ceylon teal "Jack
Tyndall" could never resist the chance of poking
fun,— Ei>.]

^

COiTEE, CINCHONA, TEA, ETC, IN
BADULLA.

[Extracts from BaduUa Flanters' Association Annual
Report.)

CoKFEE. — Your Committee are still able to state that
notwithstanding the reports that coffee has more or
less, in other districts, succumbed to the effects of
leaf disease, bug and climatic influences, in many parts
of Uva coffee is not only still vigorous and healthy,
but during the current season is bearing a good crop
with every promise of bearing a fairly good crop in
the succeeding year. It is also a matter to be noted
with regard to this product, that hitherto, coffee
from this part of tho island fetched a much lower
price tbau that from other dietriotf, bot Utterly tb*

MAItCB t, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

615

prices obtained for Uva coflfee have not only been
equal to, but sometimes exceeded those obtained for
coffee from the other districts. It is matter for satis-
faction that the market for this product has improved
so much lately.

Leaf-disease Bug, &c. — It is satisfactory to note
the past year has been one of comparative freedom
from leaf disease, which seems to have run its course
and while this is matter for thankfulness, your Com-
mittee cannot but view with concern the appearance
of green bug, and it is with sincere regret and ap-
prehension that your Committee have to report its
general appearance in the district, and they would
strongly urge every member of the Association to
do all in his power to check this pest and would
point out that wliile it is only here and there in small
patches is the time for energetic action. Your Com-
mittee sincerely hope that our genial climate, good
soil and vigorous coffee may render the attacks of
this pest abortive.

Cinchona. — Your Committee are glad to be able to
report a considerable improvement in the condition
of this product in the district. There is a marked
decrease in canker, and Uva has proved itself to be
probably better suited to the growth of this product
than any other part of the island. It is to be hoped
that the low prices at present ruling for bark wiU
shortly improve.- Some important information was
elicited from a series of questions issued to members
re-harvesting bark ; a proposal to send a Commissioner
to Java was also discussed but was not carried out.
A request was made by the Dimbula Association to
collect statistics of cinchona, with the probable yieid
for some years, but owing to the difhculty of getting
reliable information on this subject this request was
not acceded to.

Tea. — The growth of tea in these districts is mat-
ter for sincere congratulation, and there is no longer
any doubt but that our estates are eminently suited to
the growth of this product, while sales from the district
in the London and local markets have been most en-
couraging.

Cocoa and Oabdamoms. — These products have both
proved a success in our district more particularly in
Moneragalla, and are showing excellent results.

THE TEA ENTERPRISE.

an 18 months' PRUNING, EECOMMENDED FOR CEYLON T^A
— THE GREEN TEA TRADE WITH CENTRAL ASIA, PRO-
BABLE CAUSE OF ITS DECLINE — LOCAL CONSUMP-
TION OF TEA IN INDIA, AND THE CHANCES OP
GREATLY EXTENDING IT.

Yatiyantota.

Dear Sir, — Having made more than one careful ex-
periment I am now convinced that tea bushes in Cey-
lon will go on yielding lat'ge flushes tor eighteen months
(and even longer) without pruning if alight topping
(that is cutting away crowsfeet, and any straggling
shoots) be given in the meantime and this latter oper-
ation scarcely interfere witli, the jl"sh.

It is absurd, therefore, to go on punishing our bushes
unnecessarily by a heavy yearly pruning, especially when
that is done at the expense of quality, and possibly
the premature exhaustion of the plants for this con-
stant cutting away all old wood, and forcing the roots
to throw up a continual supply of new wood as well
as young leaves must be very trying to the bushes in
a forcing climate like Ceylon where the bushes have
literally no rest.

The following is the system of pruning I would re-
commend Ceylon planters to adopt viz., prune half
the estate in June and the remaining half in Nov-
ember ; these halves would then be alternately pruned
in November and June : for instance that pruned in
June 1886 would be pruned again in November 1887,
and the tea pruned in Novemner 1886 would run to
June 1888, thus the seasons for pruning would not be
changed though each half would have a run of 18 months
from pruning to pruning.

No set time can be given for the intermediate top-
ping, as that would depend greatly on the style of pluck-
ing, soil and other circumstances and the Superintend-

ent must use his own judgment as to the best time
for giving this, which might be 8, 10, or 12 months
after the pruning. Some patches where the soil was good,
and plucking had been carefully performed might pro-
bably be left to run the full 18 months without topping
with advantage, both as regards quality and quantity
of leaf. True the experiments mentioned above were
carried on at an elevation of only 600 feet and the
plan might not, therefore, suit all elevation in Ceylon,
but anyone doubting if it would suit his own parti-'
cular totum could easily see for himself by lightly top-
ping a piece of tea he was about to prune, and then
wash the flush for the next six months.

The advantages to be gained by such a system of
pruning apart from the health of the bushes are many
and obvious : —

1st. — The quantity of new and inferior leaf would
be much less in proportion to the good leaf.

2nd. — This leaf^'could be so evenly mixed with the
good that no one' break of tea would contain enough
to materially interfere with the strength and quality
of the tea, and hardly a break need be sent away without
some new leaf in it ; hence a uniform quality could be
thoroughly maintained.

3rd. — The time for pruning being divided would en-
able us to estimate the labour force required with greater
certainty, and avoid any ffreat rush of leaf or any slack
time. In short such a system of pruning would almost
anwer the purpose I had in view in recommending a
portion of our leaf being turned into green tea.

Apropofi of this and your foot-note to my letter
of the 19th June regarding the decline of the green
tea-trade with Central Asia, as I was one of the first
who had a finger in the pie, I may be able to throw
some light on this subject that will interest you and
your readers, and, perhaps, be of use to those more
directly concerned .

My own candid opinion is that the planters of Nor-
thern India have no one hut themselves to blame for
the decline of this very remunerative trade, in fact
it was a clear case of " killing the goose," etc., etc.

We were on our la.st legs finding it almost impossible
to sell black tea for cost of production (owing partly
to the depression of trade and partly to our isolated
position and heavy transport as compared with Assam
and other more favoured tea district and still more to
the cold climate, and consequent small yield per acre)
when some wealthy Calcutta merchants made their ap-
pearance, and not only offered to buy up all our teas
on the spot, but also gave us better prices than we
could get for our black teas after hundreds of miles
of transport, and lead-lined boxes had been added to
the cost of production. But these welcome customers
required us to make nothing but green tea, colour
it well with soap-stone and pack in sacks which they
themselves supplied.

Now when it is considered that this tea (packed in
a manner in which Ceylon planters would hesitate to
despatch parchment coffee) had to be conveyed over a
long and tedious journey of upwards of 2,000 miles on
the backs of camels, and was probably months before
it reached its final distinction somewhere in the domi-
nions of the Shah of Persia, I believe, it may well
be imagined in what condition it reached the consumer's
hands. But what was this to us ; the Afghans would
have nothing to say to our lead boxes, they were buy-
ing the tea with their eyes open and we ran no risk
in making green tea as stamped agreements were drawn
up at the begining of the season for the whole year's
outturn. After samples had been sealed and price agreed
upon, and so if they eventually lost heavily on their
purchases that was their look out. You may call it
short-sighted policy on our part, but the fact was we
saw a way out of present difficulties and in the mean-
time the market for black tea might improve, at least
that was my own opinion, and I don't suppose a dozen
planters expected the trade to last more than two or
three years, though as it went on year after year and the
demand seemed to increase it really seemed as if we
had established a permanent trade with Central Asia.
Perhaps the people rather liked the musty flavour our
teas must have had acquired by the time that reached
them, never having tasted tea that was not musty

6 i6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1887.

and after all the real cause of the decline may be found
in the unsettled state of the country between Afghanis-
tan and Persia, through which the tea had to pass owing
to the action of Russia, and now I come to think of it
I remember that our owu little war with Cabal in 1878-98
nearly put a stop to the trade, the Afghans saying it was
unsafe to try and pass through. This trade may, there-
fore, revive now that the Russian difficulty has been satis-
factorily settled, but if it does I would strongly advise
the planters interested to take care of the goose, and by
sacrificing a fraction of their profits provide airtight
and waterproof bags so as to insure their teas reach-
ing the consumer's hands in good condition, and free
from mildew and rot, and if they could send the tea
in small air-tight packets (such as are now being sold
in Ceylon) to suit the retail trade I am certain they
would be gainers in the end.

Talking of small packets remind me of what a vast
field for the profitable disposal of their teas the In-
dian planters are neglecting at their doors. If we de-
duct the teas consumed by the troops [and Europeans
the consumption of tea in India is almost nil ; yet
the natives are fond of tea, and thousands of them
would become habitual tea-drinkers if they could always
procure it in a fresh state and in suitable sized
•packtii.

At present it is only in certain large cities, that the
natives can purchase tea at all, and then it is either of
the coarsest description, (Eohea) in paper-packers and
of course musty as souchong taken from a box that has
probably lain open in the Buaiah's shop for more than
a month, and, which, besides being musty has become
impregnated with the smell of fish and all the other
various strong smelling articles with which the shop
is filled. Besides these China tea (so called being sticks
and bits of flat leaf) can be had in some of the prin-
cipal towns in J and \ lb. packets which are retailed at
the rate of one rupee per lb. If some of the managers
anil assistants of tea estates would only combine busi-
ness with pleasure, especially those who are fend of
shooting and devote some of their spare time to hawk-
ing tea about the country and introducing it into the
bazaars of small native towns and outlying districts, I
am convinced we should hear no more about the scare
of overproduction for years to come. The people of India
are capable of consuming every ounce of tea at present
produced by India, and two trips which I made with
the above object in view, convinced me that very little
care and trouble on the part of the planters to intro-
duce their tea would secure them a very extensive and
profitable market.

As the OhserveT is a widely circulated paper, and
anything appearing in its columns affecting the interests
of Indian tea planters would probably find its way into
the Indian papers, a short account of the two trips
mentioned above and the experience gained by them
(of which my subsequently leaving India prevented me
reaping the benefit) might not be out of place here.

1st — Each trip occupied nearly four Dionths,but as they
were accomplished during the cold weather, when there
is nothing to be done on a tea estate in India, it could
hardly be considered that any time was lost, and as
a good part of the journey lay through thinly populated
districts swarming with game of every description. I
was more than compensated for the loss of the usual
cold weather leave which was usually spent on a shoot-
ing expedition, but now for the experience gained, and
which'may be useful to any enterprising planter who
may wish to try the experiment.

(1) — I found it easy to dispose of i and I lb. packets
at a profitable rate, but 2 lb. packets could only be
disposed of at a reduction in price, and 10 and 20 lb.
boxes were almost unsaleable.

(2) Rich and even middle class natives frequently

bought the highest priced teas preferring to pay K2
per lb. for good B. P. to buying souchong at 12 annas or
Boheaat 8 annas ; this shows the great mistake planters
make in thinking that natives are too poor or too stingy
to buy anything but the cheapest tea, hence they usually
reserve nothing, but the cheapest and worst teas for
the local markets, and this is either sold loo.se or in
rough paper packets. It is this mistaken idea of the
planters that has kept back the local sale of tea in

India more than anything else. They could sell their
finest teas in the Indian bazaars for better prices than
they can ever hope to get for them in London ; only
they must be packed to suit the trade, i. e., in 1 and
J and even :| lb. packets lined with lead tinfoils or
other waterproof material.

(3) — Although a good quantity of tea can be .sold to
individual consumers the hawker has to look chiefly
to small Bunnias of the native bazaars for the disposal
of his tea, and with these it is often advisable to barter
rather than stipulate for cash payments. As a casein
point, I may mention that one of these bargained with
me for 1001b. tea at 15 annas per lb., but offered to
take 600 lb. at Rl per lb., if I would take R150 cash
and the balance of R450 in goods from his shop. To this
I consented, and soon found myself the possessor of
two gnns, 100 cooly-blankets and other articles worth
for more to me than R450, as I intended to take them
to a district where such things are scarce and dear.

(4) — Many of these native tea-drinkers asked me for
green tea, as they have a theory that green tea is
less heating to the system than black tea. Some
of them told me they drink tea regularly during the
cold weather, but have to give it up in the hot weather
as it is too heating, but if they could get green tea they
would drink it all the year round. I cannot pretend
to say how far this theory is founded on fact. Personally
I prefer black tea to green in the hottest weather, but
such being the belief of the natives of India, the planters
of the North-Western Province, who cannot now sell
their green tea to the Afghans, might take advantage
of the native belief and drive a good trade in the
plain of India, now that Asia seems closed against
them.— Yours faithfully, OLD PLANTER.

The Society of Arts Journal records the largest Vine
in the World is one growing at Oys (Portugal), which
has been in bearing since 1802. Its maximum yield
was in 1SC4, in which year it produced a sufficient
quantity of Grapes to make 750 litres (165 gals.) of
wine; in 1874, 665 litres (146* gals.); and in 1884,
only 3t)0 litres (79j gals,). It covers an area of 494
square metres (5315 square feet), and the stem at
the base measures 2 metres in circumference.

Extensive Tree Planting in Mexico is now being
undertaken by the Government, and a contract has been
made with Mr. Oscar A. Droege to plant 2,1)00,000
trees in the valley of Mexico within four years. The
respective numbers are — 80,000 Ash, 35,000 Willows,
120,000 Poplars, 60,000 E.icalyptus Trees, 60,000 Trcenos
japones, 60.000 Mountain Cypress Cedars, 60,000 Aca-
cias, and 120,000 of miscellaneous varieties. The trees
are to be in plantations of from 50,000 to 100,000 each.
— Jounwl of Horticu/ture.

An American paper gives the following upon Sun-
flowers as fuel. A correspondent having tried " turf,"
coal wood, and Sunflowers has settled upon the last
named as the cheapest and best for treeless D.ikota.
He says : " I grow one acre of them every year, and
have plenty of fuel for one stove the whole year
round, and use some in another stove besides. I
plant them iu hills the same as corn (only three seeds
to the hill), and cultivate same as corn. 1 cut them
when the leader or top flower is ripe, and let them
lay on the ground top for three days; in that time
I cut off all the seed-heads, which are put into an
open sbed with a floor in it, the same as a corn-crib ;
the stalks are then hauled home and packed in a com-
mon shed with a good roof on. Wlien cut in the
right time the stalks when dry are as hard as oak,
and make a good hot fire, while the seed-hc.ads with
seeds in make a better fire th.an the best hard coal.
The seed being very rich in oil it will warm better
and burn longer, bu'ihel for bu.«hel, than hard coal.
The Sunflower is very hard on land. The piece of
ground selected to plant on should be highly enriched
with manures. In the great steppes (prairie region
in the interior of Russia and in Tartary), where the
winters are more severe than here in Dakota, the
Sunflowers are, and have been for centuries past, the
only kind of fuel used."— Journal of Horticulture.

Makch I, 1887.] l^HE TROPICAL AGRiCULTURlS'T.

6xf

li'i'Wi'l|-~li 11

THE EUBBEK-TEEE PLANTING INDUSTRY
IN CEYLON.

The result of a considerable amount of inquiry
into the present condition of the rubber industry in
Ceylon has led us somewhat unwillingly to the con-
clusion that for a time at least, the pursuit may
be considered to be in abeyance — if not altogether
abandoned by the majority of the planters who
were so keen about it a few years ago, There
are, it is true, scattered over the island a great
number of properties on which are now growing
Indian rubbei trees of various kinds, more especially
the " Ceara" kind, and on the selected estates
from ^Yhich we have authentic returns we find an
aggregate of 150 acres under this cultivation. But
if every patch of rubber trees in the country were
counted, a much greater area would be made up.
Generally speaking the age of the trees under re-
ference is from four to five years, and the growth
would appear to be in nearly all cases satisfactory,
say from 15 to 40 feet. From but one property
is there any statement to the contrary, and here
we find some five acres planted on poor soil at
an elevation of only 30 feet above sea level. The
growth is reported " poor and scanty." The low-
ness of elevation in this case has probably but
little to do with the unsatisfactory growth of the
tree, as is evidenced by the flourishing condition
of specimens in Colombo at even less elev-
ation than 30 feet above sea-level. The experi-
ments that have hitherto been attempted in
extracting the gum from the trees have so far
resulted in disappointment. There is, however, a
general concensus of opinion that the trees on
which these experiments have been tried are too
young to produce satisfactory results. Should
such be the case it only requires time to effect
a cure, and if the rubber can be grown in other-
wise unprofitable portions of ground it would be
well to conUnue cultivation with a view to pay-
ing results at some future day. There are one
or two points w-hich must be taken into consider-
ation in noticing the experiments which have been
made in tapping the young tree=:. As a rule the
test has been so much per cooly at so much
value. It must not be lost sight of that coolies
unaccustomed to any particular kind of work - no
matter what it may be — cannot do nearly so much
in a day when new to the employment as they will
after a time when they have got their hands ac-
customed to it. Moreover, in a new industry like
that under reference, the master is no more
acquainted with the proper modua operandi than the
cooly, and is unable to task the cooUes employed
in the work.

The cultivation should not be condemned off-
hand, because the coolies employed in collecting
are unable at first attempts to bring in more than
J to 2 lb. of rubber. Methods, no doubt, would be
discovered after a time of causing the cuts or
punctures in the bark to bleed more freely, in
the same way as the natives induce the spathes
of the jaggery (kittool) to give out a greater amount
of palm juice than they would by a simple cut with
a knife.

Though we cannot but take into account the
exaggerated tone which pervades the whole of a
letter we append which a native firm has received
from Java, we may without fear of being
misled take it for granted that the tapping of
old trees may without harm be carried on
76

from day to day for some months at a time, a
process which, so far as we can learn, has never
been attempted in Ceylon, — probably for want of
some older trees on which to experiment. The result
mentioned from Java of 25 lb. per three-year old
tree in five months we look upon as altogether
apochryphal, though it might be credible did
the experience refer to large forest trees like our own
Ficus FAastica. The fact mentioned by one writer of
his collecting the rubber from the abrasions caused
by blowi of a heavy stick on the bark of the Ceara tree
remind one of the traditions of the old Royal
College boys in Colombo who used to break the
bark of the protruding and tortuous roots of the
common indigenous trees and wind off the rubber
as it exuded from the abrasions until they got
elastic balls nearly the size of those ordinarily
used for cricket. It has been urged with some
show of plausibility that our local Government
should encourage the growth of this common
wild India rubber on the otherwise profitless banks
of the low-country rivers, in view of the possibility
oi' its being able at some future date to issue
licenses for the collection of the produce, or at any
rate to create a value for land, which at present
is altogether unproductive. One of the lessons
learnt during the few years in which Ceara
rubber has been established in the island, has
caused an entire revolution in the inake of rubber
nurseries. When first introduced into the island
the seeds were sold at so much a hundred — ger-
minated seeds, or seeds with the ends filed to facilitate
germination — and in spite of all precautions a very
large proportion of the seeds were failures while
in contradistinction to this experience the seeds 0
the Ceara falling naturally on the surface of the
ground and left to their own sweet will, sprang
up like weeds under the parent trees and became
rather a nuisance than otherwise. Observation of
this fact led nursery-makers to merely turn up and
soften the soil, throwing the seed on the surface
and just covering with dead leaves, and a sprink-
ling of soil sufficient to hide the seed from the
direct rays of the sun. Under these conditions the
seeds seldom fail to germinate quickly even after
having been left for months, even years, without
any special care being taken of them. Of the rubber
creepers such as come under the variety LandoIpJtia,
we can get but little information from our planting
correspondents : no results further than ascertain-
ing the capability of a few localities for their
growth have as yet been attainable, though we hope
in a short time to be able to learn something more
about them, especially from low, hot, moist districts.
It is impossible to observe without regret the very pre-
valent disregard by the planters in Ceylon of what
at one time, it was hoped would eventually prove a
very lucrative industry, and the produce of which
is becoming daily more valuable for a number of
processes connected with electricity and telegraphy.
The fact of the matter, no doubt, is that facilty of
production and resulting profits were at first so
grossly exaggerated, that v/hen actual results we fa
ascertained by experiment on a fairly large sca/e,
the disappointment was correspondingly great — and
with rather unusual precipitancy discredit was thrown
upon the whole concern, and it is no longer thought
worthy of being followed up by cultivation on a
large scale. However, we still hope at some future
day to be able to number rubber amongst our
valuable exports, though we must confess that
at the present time there is not much to
lend encouragement to our aspirations. We
need ha.rdly say that however i^leased we
may all be to welcome the enterprising — though
, somewhat exaggerating— gentleman from Java;

btQ

f ME f ^OPt'CAL AOHICULTURIST. iUAmi i, my.

— see letter below — there is no chance of his re-
ceiving any remuneration for the time and trouble
involved in a journey from Batavia to Ceylon
for the purpose of teaching us the art of extract-
ing the milk from the rubber tree.

We now proceed to reproduce some of the re-
ports from different planting districts in the island,
with which we have been favoured in answer to
our enquiries, and first from Matale, we learn
from the proprietor of Wiharagama estate as
follows : —

Wiharagama estate has about 25 acres Oeara rub-
ber and specimens of other varieties. Age seven to four
years but priucipally four years old. No harvesting has
been attempted as the trees for the most part are not
considered old enough to tap without deterioration, and
the older trees are Dot numerous enough to offer in-
ducement for systematic tapping.

The Manager of Kandanuwara, in the same district,
writes : —

Kandanuwara estate has nine acres or about 6,000
trees of Ceara India-rubber ; growth in years equal five;
in robust healthy condition and in a variety of soils.
Milking was attempted in 1886 to the extent of about
20 lb and gave from J to h lb per cooly, but my opi-
nion is that at this early stage of its growth, whatever
it may do later on, possibly nothing much greater,
it does not pay to grow this variety for rubber. I am
told Ceara rubber trees have been found suitable for
ciicao shade in Dumhara and I have planted car-
damoms under them here, but have not found them
by any means equal to the natural jungle shade.
We can vouch for the success of Ceara rubber
shade for cacao in Dumbara, by what we saw on
Pallekelly, where, we believe, Mr. Vollar has a high
opinion of the tree, both for its rapid growth and
favourable shade. Mr. Vollar had also made some
highly successful experiments in harvesting rubber,
to judge by the quantity he was able to gather off
individual trees without giving much attention to
the matter. The rapid growth of the Ceara tree in
the Dumbara valley is very remarkable.

From Mr. Charles Gibbon of the Panwila dis-
trict we have the following report, but Mr. Gibbon
says valuable results should be got during the pre-
sent month : —

Goonambil estate has some 15 acres of India-rubber
Harvesting, tapping has been attempted on two or three
occasions but the result as to quantity did not justify it
being continued. The quality of rubber has been
very good. Experiments will be made in January
and February (which will be the best harvesting month
probably,) and I will communicate them to you. Some
of the trees are eight years old, but the larger propor-
tion are half that age.
From Hantanne district, we learn that, —

Galoya estate has ten acres of Ceara trees of India
rubber growth in years equal four years, but the cultiv-
ation has been abandoned and weeds allowed to grow.
Some of the trees are very tine.
Fafther south, we have reports as follows; —

Ambalawa, estate fin Dolosbage) hn8 yO lo 40 acres
of trees of India»rubber, growth in years equal from
three to five yeiuas old ; growth good, I have not tried
any regular system of harvesting j have tapped several
trees and found the quantity of rubber insufficient to
)pay cost of collecting.

Sauquhar estate, Pussellawa, has 11 acres clearing,
ktia also about 500 trees plauted here and there about
the estate. The 11 acres is four years old having
been pJimted in 18S2, the other trees a year older.
The trees in 11 acres are pretty regular, but have
forked rather low. No harvesting has been done
nor has any record been kept of any particular tree's
growth.

Kanapediwatte estate, Pussellawa, has about three
Acres of India-rubber, three years old. No harvesting
has been attempted owiug to the failures of ot'.iers
in obtaining satisfactory results.

Our puly report ixom ibe high d^gtrict^, is txoxa

Mr. Mackie of Great Western, who wrote ; —

We tried rubber-trees on the Rathnillokelly division
of the group four years ago— elevation 4,000 to
4,200 ft.— only a few came up in the sheltered parts.
Some are now 10 to 15 ft. high, but I cannot speak
of them as a success. I do not know that the
cultivation of this tree has been tried much above
(say) Nawalapitiya on this side, at any rate I have
not seen any lave our own growing in this part of
Dimbula,

Crossing to Uva, we learn from Mr. Hoseason
that, —

Kottagodde estate has here and there trees of
India-rubber, growth in four years, equal to 15 to 25 ft.,
but nothing has been done to them nor are they in
any way cultivated, nor is any gum taken from them.
But the most complete report is that for which
we are indebted to Mr. Philby of Cocoawatte
estate, Lunugalla, as follows:—

Cocoawatte, 27th Nov. 1886.
To the Editor of the Ceylon Observer,

Deae Sib, — I now send you a few remarks on the
cultivation of rubber on above estate.

-Extent. — I have 30 acres of Ceara rubber planted
from three to five years old ; the growth appears to
be satisfactory and there is no appearance of disease.

Wintering. — The trees winter regularly every year
about June and July, as all the leaves drop off and
the tree looks as if it was dead, but in a very short
time the young buds appear and the foliage becomes
as luxuriaut as ever.

Seed. — About the third year the trees begin to" flower
and bear heavy crops of seed, which drops on the
ground when ripe and germinates readily.

Harvesting. — I have not yet arrived at any satisfac-
tory process of extracting the rubber. I have suc-
ceeded in getting a quarter of a lb, per cooly but this
will not pay. There is no doubt, that the rubber is
there and the question is how to get Jit ? Do the
rubber gatherers of Brazil fell the trees before tapping
them ? From a tree which had been felled a fort-
night or more I got two ounces of rubber in about a
quarter of an hour. Passing it in the morning I
knocked it about with a big stick aud in the after-
noou I found lumps of congealed milk where each
blow had fallen and easily picked them off.

Enciiiies. — Pigs asd porcupines are the chief enemies
of the rubber tree and they are very fond of the
potato-like bulbs at the end of the roots. However,
they do not do much harm here and it takes a good
deal to kill a rubber tree when once established.

I should very much like to know at what age it would
be considered right to begin tapping aud also any
known process of extracting the rubber in paying
quantities. I annex a table of measurements of trees
from one to five years old, some are larger and some
are smaller, but these figures represent a fair average
of the growth on this estate. — Yours faithfully,

H. MONTAGUE PHILBY.

Table ov Measurements ov Rubber Trees.
1 Year Old.— 18 feet high ; 10 inches round bast; ;
6i inches round 6 feet from ground,
"2 Years Old. —26 feet high; branched out 14 fret'
from ground ; 22 inches round base ; 14 inches round
G feet above ground.

3 Years Old. —37 feet high; branched out 16 feet
from grouud • 30 inches round base ; 24 inches round
0 feet from ground.

4 Years Old. — 43 feet high ; branched out 17 feet
from ground ; 42 inches rouud base ; 25 inches round
just under branches.

5 Years Old. — 48 feet high ; 45 inches round base ;
branched out 22 feet from ground ; 33 inches round
just under branches. H. M. P,
We are much obliged to Mr, Philby and think
his trees on Cocoawatte must equal those we saw
in Dumbara in size for age. As to the questions
asked about Braf^il and felling operations there,
we shall have pleasure in sending Mr. Philby a
copy of the second edition of our "Rubber Manual'
now ill the presg, in wbicli lie will tiud the latest

MAfteu f, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

6t^

available information from all parts of the world.
Tapping and also felling and stripping are both
practised in South America.

We now turn to the lowcountry of the Western
Province and from Kelani Valley we have the
following : —

From Manager Mahalla, Muraloya and Dambuloya-
Those estates have neither acres nor trees of India-
rubber. I may mention that there are two or three
in Mahalla and Muraloya, but nothing is being done
to them.

Pleasure Ground estate has 500 trees (? creepers) of
Landolphia Kirkiei India-rubber, eqaal four years'
growth. These are kept as show trees and are
very large, the largest was somewhat destroyed in
cutting thick stem for "Indian and Colonial Exhib-
ition.' They are being kept to see if they will seed.
[But why not send us raeasuiements'r' — Ed. 0. O.]

More satisfactory is the following report of his
experience at Heneratgoda and Mirigama by Mr.
W. B. Lament : —

Having reared about 100 plants of Ceara rubber
up to their fifth year and having given a good
deal of attention to them, I arrived through a long
course of experiments at the following practical re-
sults. One half of the plants turn out useless, either
from the inferior quality or small quantity
of their yield; that all such trees should be
eliminated as soon as their character is ascertained,
and replaced by others ; that no satisfactory result
will follow any attempt to obtain produce before
the tree is at least four years old ; that no system
of cutting or piercing the bark will give a satisfac-
tory yield ; that it is only iu the dry season, when
the tree is leafless, and the growth at a stand, that
a satisfactory result can be obtained, in the way of
harvesting. The plan of obtaining the rubber, that
my experiments led up to, was, as soon as the
leaves Degin to fall, remove the outer bark in vertical
strips of not more than two inches wide, and not
less than four inches apart. The tender inner bark
thus exposed to the sun breaks out, in something
like running sores, fiom which the rubber slowly
exudes and drips on the surface as fast as discharged.
In this process, the strip of exposed bark is des-
troyed, but a vigorous tree working from both sides
will close in on the bared part in the course of
the year, if the width is not more than two inches.
Ceara rubber planted at 100 trees per acre will,
after the second year, require hardly any expense in
cultivation, and for the harvesting I collected 301b.
last January and February, by one boy at 15 cents
a day, or say, 23 cents per pound, the local value
being about 80 cents. Supposing each tree equal to
an average yield of one pound per annum, and allow-
ing .SO cents for cultivation and collecting, 50 cents
would remain as profit, or R.50 per acre. It
is well to have the plant m the island, but
it is not likely to be largely planted so long
as there are other products that pay better,
or that are better understood, but a tune
may come when it will Irep a strait.

"Fifty rupees an acre" is a return notto be des-
pised : indeed we doubt if the average from coco-
nuts for all cultivated plantations in the island
is so good, and, therefore, there ought to be plenty
of room for a systematic Ceara rubber industry
in Ceylon; but what is the use of speaking of
such returns as can be got here if we are to
accept the statement of a Java planter (already
referred to) conveyed to us by Messrs. J. P.
William & Bros, as follows: —

The Editors Ceylon Observer.
Dear Sirs, — Many planters from different countries
had written us from time to time enquiring as to the
best mode of tapping the Ceara Rubber tree, and
we are glad to place before the planting community
the following letter sent us by a Ceara Rubber planter
in Java, dated 30th November 1836. We shall be
happy to give the name amd addrej^s of the planter iu

question to gentlemen who may be willing to comma,
nicate with him. Newspapers please copy, — Yours
obediently,

J. P. William & Bros.

New Product Growers, Seedsmen. &c.,
7th Jan. 1887. Heneratgoda, Ceylon.

Letter referred to : — "■ From different papers I got
the knowledge that the tapping of the Ceara Rubber
tree (Manihot Glasioii) is very expensive and do not
give much results. I now beg to inform you that
by my manner of tapping even trees of nearly three
years age by once carving, produce four till five ounces
of guttah each, and this manipulation can be repeated
every two days during five or six months without
doing any harm to the carved tree, also supposing
every tree is carved 15 days a month, about five
months the production of every tree at, the end of five
months will be 300 ounces or 25 pounds. Besides that
my manner is not expensive, and the production is
of the first quality. If the different planters of the
Ceara Rubber tree hke to be acknowledged with my
manner of tapping I am ready to go to Ceylon in
order to show the manipulation if all costs of trans-
port and staying will be paid by the plant«rs, and a re-
munerntion according to the number of trees of every
plantation. As I do not know the planters of Ceara
Rubber and their number at Ceylon I cannot apply
to each of them directly, and therefore, call on your
kind assistance in this affair being ready to part with
you the remunerations the planters should like to
give for my manner of carving and tapping the above-
mentioned trees. Hoping to be favoured with any
answer of you."

Messrs. William Bros., had better tell their corre-
spondent to patent his process for Ceylon and
then come here and lease the Ceara rubber groves
already fit for harvesting, while planting on his
own account.

From the Southern Province we have two brief
reports : —

Hurst-Pierpoint estate has five acres or 5,000 trees of
India-rubber, equal four years old. Nothing has been
done with them and no results can therefore be sent.
Trees are growing on bad soil at |an elevation of say
30 feet and are poor and scanty in growth.

In Udugama district Rubber cultivation has been
dropped entirely. I asked some of the neighbours and
no one seems to have curried on experiments since
Mr. Dobree left the district, and I think he sent
you the result and particulars of his -experiment.

We trust the above recapitulation of the present
stage of the Bubber Planting Industry in our
midst will have one good effect, namely, in stirring
up our planters to renewed interest in the subject,
and to experiments with the trees already available.

JAVA AS A TEA COUNTKY.

Java was, and notwithstanding the very con-
siderable ravages of leaf-disease, still is the second
coffee country in the world. Before the sudden
and mysterious outbreak of leaf -disease in 1869,
Ceylon promised to run the great Dutch Colony
rather hard for second place. As a tea country
Ceylon is, already far ahead of Java, although in
this enterprise, the latter had the start by a good
many years. Our export of tea in the past year
must have been close up to that of Java, while
there can be no question that in 1887, we shall
take rank as the fourth tea-producing country in
the world, in the following order : —

Ist China ; 2nd India ; 3rd Japan ; ith Ceylon ;
5th Java.

From a summary of statistics of Java tea issued
by Messrs. Gow, Wilson and Stanton, we observe
that against our hundreds of plantations only
thirty-three are shewn for all Java, a considerable
proportion of which sent little or no tea into the
London market. The leading estate is Mr. Kerk-

6^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i. 1887

hoven's fine, model . property of Sinagar, which
sent 9,526 chests and 17 boxes to London in 3 886.
Next comes Dramaga with 2,405 chests and 4,545
boxes. Nangoeng has opposite it 1,289 chests and
4,547 boxes, while Bagelen sent 4,711 chests and
no boxes. The differences are curious. The total
packages sent to London in 188(1 consisted of
45,190 chests; 94 half-chests and 11,206 boxes.
The contents seem to have been 3,94(),000 pounds ;
the deliveries being 3,676,000 against 6,245,000
pounds Cejlon. The brokers seem to think that
the jat of the tea grown, principally China, is
responsible for the low value of Java tea, but we
suspect soil, and even more than soil, manipulation
must be at fault. In any case, the fact remains
that, while considerable improvement in Java teas
have taken place in recent years, their average price
in the London market last year, was little more
than two-thirds of our Ceylon average, 9fd against
Is Id, the figure for Java having gone down to
8^d for the last half of the year. Whatever may
be the case in Holland, and in such foreign countries
as Persia, Java tea does not seem to be a favourite
in England. From the circular, however, we learn,
that in Ireland not merely Indian but Java tea
is used, or was used to a considerable extent. The
advice given to the Java planters to plant India
tea has been largely anticipated, and no doubt
there will be improvement in preparation and
bulking, but all the evidence seems in favour of
Ceylon not only keeping ahead of Java, as a tea
country, but of speedily supplanting Japan as
No. 3 and taking rank immediately after India.
A very considerable proportion of the tea grown
in China and Japan is locally consumed (although
the quantity used in China has been greatly ex-
aggerated) ; and we suppose some of the Java tea
also is used in Java. India and Ceylon send all
but fractional parts of their tea to the London
market and thu proportions of teas delivered in
1886 was as loUows : —

China, Japan, Ac.
India
Ceylon . .
Java

142,547,000 lb.

68,420,000 „

6,245,000 „

3,946,000 .,

Total.. .. 220,880,000 lb.

We suspect that before this century is over the
figures will be altered in some proportions like the
following : —

India 150,000,000 lb.

China, Japan, &,c. ... 75,000,000 „

Oeylon 50,000,000 „

Java 10,000,000 „

Total... 285,000,000 lb.
There is a very interesting coloured diagram
showing the hi&tory of Java teas for tne pa.st seven
years. From this we gather that Java pekoe,
" tippy, with fair liquor," which begun at Is 6d
and very nearly touched Is 8d at the end of 1881,
went down to Is 4^d last year. " I'ekoe medium "
commencing at Is 2d went down in 1881 below
lid ; rose in 1882 to Is 3|d, and then, with some
variations went steadily down to 9^d. " Pekoe
souchong, medium to fair " was close on Is Id in
1880, was at Is in 1882 and then went gradually
down to 7Jd. Finally " souchong, medium to
fair," commencing at Is ended at O^d. Except
for the very highest quality the decrease has been
striking, no doubt largely owing to the influence
of Indian and Ceylon tea of better quality, or, at
any rate, of more acceptable flavour, being obtain-
able at moderate prices. With special exceptions
the Java teas are of poor average quality. A trial
of the Australian market with those teas was such
a dead failure, that we believe the experiment haa

never been repeated. No doubt the introduction of
better jat and improved machinery will effect im-
provement m Java teas, but as a competitor in
providing the world with tea, Ceylon seems to have
little to fear from the Dutch colony. The following
are the remarks of the brokers: —

Movements of Java Tea in London — iu English pounds
— during the past six years : —

1881. 1882. 1883.

Imports 1,216,000 2,158.000 3,057,000

Deliveries 1,315,000 1,786,000 2,893,000

Stock 411,000 751,000 914,760

1884. 1885. 1886.

Imports 3,586,000 3,344,000 3,946,000

Deliveries 3,709,000 3,537,000 3,676,000

Stock 875,560 676,000 944,000

Our diagram shows a marked increase in the ar-
rivals of Java Tea in London during the second and
third quarters of 1886. The above figures are interest-
ing as showing a gradual development of the tra^e,
the deliveries keeping pace pretty evenly with the
arrivals.

The direct imports from Java to London during 1886
were the heaviest yet recorded. As large quantities
have also been shipped from Java to other countries
besides England, it is probable that the yield per acre
during the past year shows an increase over recent sea-
sons ; it is to be hoped that growers have by this means
been to some extent compensated for the low range of
prices current.

The coutractiou iu value of Java Tea, however, has
not been so great as in Teas from some other places.
Java Teas are consumsd in so many different markets
that the demand from one quarter or another will ge-
nerally retard a serious and sudden decline in prices,
when caused by a drop in similar grades of Teas from
other countries. This cause has for some time past
maintained the value of Java Pekoes at a comparatively
higher range of prices than Indian growths ; it has
also frequently retarded, — and at a certain period
checked — a decline in the value of Congous and Sou-
chongs which might otherwise have been more pro-
nounced.

The wide area over which Java Tea is distributed
thus acts as a great and continuous safeguard.

The value of broken pekoes has been greatly interfered,
with by the unsettled state of affairs iu Ireland, where
they were at one time largely consumed, and this class
of tea being taken in fewer foreign markets than whole
leaf descriptions has probably suffered to as great an
extent as Indian growths. Broken pekoes, however,
are now becoming more used in some of the continental
markets.

Quality. — Looking back over the past 12 months
we note with some regret the poor average quality
of a large proportion of the offerings ; this is specially
unfortunate at a time when a super-abundance of
weak liquoring Teas had been arriving from other
localities, and had already seriously depressed the
market for the lower grades.

FuTUKE Prospects. — The brightest spot in the year
is noticed in a few consignments which have stood
out pre-eminently over the rest as being uuquestion-
ably grown from good Indian seed, and being manu-
factured with the greatest attention to quality,
accompanied by skilled and careful manipulation.
The future of the Java Tea trade must be largely
influenced by the liquoring character of the Tea,
and now that imports from India have so largely
increased, and that there is every reason to anticipate
a still greater addition to the Tea harvest in Ceylon,
this matter of quality may become one of ritul im-
portance to proprietors of Tea Estates.

We would, therefore, again impress upon owners the
advisability of planting good Indian seed, and neglect-
ing no opportunity of utilising every ap|>liance for
efhcient manufacture, and for greater economy, which
the most recent scientific researches have placed w ithiu
their reach.

Bulking in Java, has perhaps, shown some improve-
ment during the past year, but still requires additional
attention in many factories. The subject is of greater
importance jjow than ever, as an additional chargfe has

March i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

521

been imposed for the performance of this operation in
England.

Average Price. — The 56,490 packages of directim-
port sold in public auction during the year realized
an average ot d^d; the average for the 31,473 pack-
ages sold during the first si,K months of the year
being O^d, and of the 25,017 packages sold during the
last si.\ mouths being 8|d.

In 1885,45,272 packages of Java Tea of direct import
were printed for public auction ; the equivalent in cliests
being 39,418. In 1886 the quantity h-itl increased
to 56,490 packages, the equivalent in chests being
48,038.

Imports and Delivering of Tea in London from 1st
January to 31st December 1885 and 188G, with Stocks
on 31st December in each year.

Imports
1885 1886

China, &c l.Se.SHS.OOO 140,667,000

Indian 6.3,160,000 76,,585,000

Ceylou .3,703,000 6,875 000

Java 3,.344,000 3,946,000

Total... 206,803,000 228,073,000

Deliveries

188.=) 1886

China, &c 148,.338,000 142,547,000

Indian 65,678,000 68,420,000

Ceylon 3,218,000 6,245,000

.Tava 3,537,000 .3,676,000

Total... 220,771,000 220,888,000
Stock

188.1 1886

China, &e 69,759,000 67,665,000

Indian 24,752,000 32,887,000

Ceylon 1,028,000 1.661,000

Java . 676,000 944,000

Total... 96,215,000 103,157,000
♦

THE SENSITIVE PLANT.

The singular phenomenon exhibited by this well
known exotic has long been the admiration of the
curious, a puzzle to the botanist, and a standing
marvel in the vegetable kingdom. The plant has the
property of contracting certain parts of its structure
when touched, and is not only sensible to the applic-
ation of force, but appears to be influenced by the
surrounding elements. Sudden degrees of heat or
cold, steam from boiling water, sulpher-fumes, the
odour of volatile liquids, in fact anything that atfects
the nerves of animals, appears also to alfect the
sensitive plant. It is in the highest degree a nerv-
ous subject, and, like that species of the genus homo,
is in this country a thorough hothouse habitant.
The subject of our present consideration was originally
introduced from Brazil, and along with other variet-
ies possessing the same faculty in different degrees,
is common to other parts of South America. The
stem of the plant is cylindrical, and of a green or pur-

Elish colour, with two spines at the base of each leaf,
esides a few others scattered about the branches.
The leaves aru pinnatified, divided into pairs, sup-
ported on long footstalks, and each pinnule is furn-
ished with lifteen or twenty pairs of oblong, narrow,
and shining leaflets. From the base of the leaf-
stalks proceed the peduncles or flower-stalks, each
of which supports a bunch of very small white or
fresh-coloured flowers. The seed-vessels are united in
packets of twelve or fifteen each, and are edged with
minute spines, each husk containing three little seeds.
Dr Hook, Dufay, Duhamel, and other naturalists,
have studied this plant with equal attention, and
from their observations we learn that it is difficult
to touch a leaf of a healthy mimosa — under which
name the sensitive plant is also known— even in the
most delicate manner without causing it to close.
The great nerve which passes along the centre of
the leaf serves as a hinge for the sides to close
upon, and this they do with great exactness, the two
aides exactly opposing each other. If the pressure
is made with considerable force, the opposite leaf
of the same pair will be affected at the same time
aud moved in the same manuer. Upon squeezing

the leaf still harder, all the leaflets on the same
side close immediately, as if resenting the affront.
The effect may be even carried so far that the
leaf-stalk will bend to the branch from which it
issues, and the whole plant collect itself as it were
into a bundle.

As soon as evening approaches, the sensitive plant
begins to lower its leaves, till at length they rest
upon the stem. With the morning light, they o-radu-
ally re-open. When the leaves have even "faded
and turned yellow, the plant still continues this
action, and retains its sensibility when agitated by
external influences. A tine rain will not disturb
the mimosa at all; but should the rain fall heavily,
and be accompanied by wind, the plant becomes
immediately affected. When irritated and made to
close by force, the time necessary for the leaves
to recover their usual position varies from ten to
twenty minutes, according to the season and the
hour of the day.

Though heat and cold contribute greatly towards its
alternate motion, yet the plant is more sluggish in its
movements and less sensitive ia winter than in summer.
After a branch has been separated from the shrub the
leaves still retain their sensibility, and will shut oi,
being touched. If the end of the detatched branch is
kept in water, the leaves will continue to act for some
time.

If the .sensitive plant be plunged inta cold water, the
leaves will close, but will afterwards re-open ; and if
touched in this state, will again shut themselves, as if
in the open air, but not so quickly. This experiment
does not seem to injure the plant. If the extremity
of a leaf exposed to the rays of the sun is burned with a
lens or a match, it closes instantly ; and at the same
moment, not only the leaflet which is opposite to it
follows its example, but all that are upon the same
stalk. If a drop of sulphuric acid is placed upon a leaf
so as to remain stationary, the plant is not immedi-
ttely affected ; but when it begins to spread, the irrit-
ation is communicated from one leaflet to another, till
the whole of them on the affected stalk are clo.sed.
Although a branch of this wonderful plant be cut
through three-fourths of its diameter, yet the leaves
belonging to it retain the same degree of sensibility, and
open and shut with their usual freedom. The vapour
of boiling water affects the leaves in the same manner
as if they were burned, and for several hours they ap-
pear benumbed— in fact, seldom recovering during the
remainder of the day.

These are some of the principal phenomena connected
with this very singular plant. No doubt, other experi-
ments have been made ; but these will serve to show
how much akin is the delicate organisation of this
plant to that of the animal kingdom.

Many CO u.iectures have been formed and many theo
ries raised to account satisfactorily for the working of
this exqui.site machine ; but the mainspring is still hid-
den, and has, as far as we know, eluded thest^arch of
the naturalist. It has been supposed by some that the
mimosa is endued with a power of perception which
actuates all its motions, and is the connecting link be-
tween the animal and vegetable kingdoms. But at
least an equally rational theory is, that its movements
are purely mechanical. To enter into a discussion as to
the relative merits of these and other theories would ex-
ceed the limits of this article. We can only contem-
plate the plant as one of those nat'iral wonders
which add to our admiration of mother Nature and her
products. — Chambers' Journal.

THE GOVEENMENT CINCHONA IN JAVA.

van ivomuncie, ine jJireccor, nas answered some ques-
tions which have been troubling them during the past
year. In the matter of extensions the work done has
principally con.sisted in replanting fields from which, as
we some months ago recorded, the l«ss valuable varieties

622

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1887.

had bpen extirpated. The uumber of trees of all ages
now existing in the various plautations is estimated at
1,567,000 as agaiust l,96ti,500 in 1883. The decrease is,
we are told, more apparent than real, and is due to a
careful census having been taken. It must, however,
be borne in mind, that vast numbers of the trees exist-
ing in the former year have been uprooted, and that a
large proportion of those that have taken their place,
as yet are only a year or two old. The number of plants
in the nurseries at the time of the report was 1,390,000,
over a million being ledgers, and the greater part of
these it was intended, to put out daring the first
quarter of 1886, so that a notable addition has been
made ere now. Amongst them 3J,000 are ledgers,
grafted on succirubras. Besides these there were in the
graft nurseries about the same number which would have
been ready to put out at the end of last year. These
grafts, which form one of the most interesting features of
the Java Cinchona enterprise, have all been taken from
the very richest trees known to exist, the bark of which
has been analysed, and given in some cases over 13 per
cent of quinine. The result of these experiments has not
yet had time to fully develop itself. Two unfavorable
features, are however, noticed, one being the tendency
to early blossoming and seeding. We believe that the
Madras Director is of opinion that this is not likely to
harm the trees, but Mr. Van Komunde thinks that it
"must undoubtedly have an unfavorable influence on
the development of the plants." Efforts have been
made to check this tendency, and by manuring and-
constantly turning up the soil, to force the trees to
form leaves, and bring about a hardy growth. The
other objection to the grafting process is that the succi-
rubra stem appears to influence the bark of the ledger
graft, and it was hoped that by selecting particularly
pure trees the grafts would yield nearly as good a result
as ledgers. The analyses of one of the parent trees was
1079 of quinine out of 11'53 total alkaloids, cinchoni
dine being entirely absent; but a strip taken from the
graft at five years old showed only 3 30 of quinine and
1-40 of cinchonidine, this being the predominant succi-
rubra alkaloid. Other experiments, however, show that
the hardness of the succirubra stem is transmitted to the
ledgers ; at any rate the system will be carried on for
some time longer.

The only new land that was opened was a few
acres for grafted plants. The gardens appear to
be worked ou the best principles as understood in
India and Ceylon ; they are kept clean weeded, and
are frequently dug over, while on the older fields
deep draining has been carried out, and is found to
act beneflciany. Close planting has been adhered
to as much as possible "not only for furthering the
rapid lorraation of humus out of the fallen leaves,
and thereby improving the soil chemically, but also
to attain the maximum produce at the lowest possible
up-keep. The beneficial influence of close planting
for the development of cinchona is particularly
noticeable ou the replanted fields, where at first
the growth of the plants was slow, and where it
became rapid as soon as the surface became shaded by
the branches tind masses of leaves." This statement
should be made a note of by planters in this
country, amongst whom it is sometimes maintained
that tiie wider apart cinchona is planted the better
for its future prospects. In addition to the census,
the growth of the trees was ascertained by actual
measurements, and the average height of eight year
old lodgers was found to be about 11 feet with a
circumference of 10 inches ; this result does not
strike ua as praticularly good, but we think that
the year's growth in the nurseries is counted, which
is not the custom elsewhere. The average height of
six year old grafts is given as 12 feet ti inches
with a circumference of 10 inches. The gardens
were subjected to attacks from Ihlopf-llis A n/oul 3,nd
other insects, but the damage done was insignific-
ant; the only remedy was to collect and destroy
the pests. It was suppostd at one time that the
formation of alkaloids was increased by topping
cinchona; but Mr. Van Roinunde ascertained that
this is not the case, and discontinued the practice.
The yield of bark from the various plantations
amounted to about half a million pounds ; part was

obtained by rooting out inferior varieties, but it
was also found necessary to cut down a number of
ledgers which had been shaved in 1834. It may be
remembered by some of our readers that in re-
viewing an account given by Mr. Brady of his visit
to Java, we mentioned that while in India it
had not been found profitable to shave ledgers,
the Dutch planters had been able to da so with
excellent results. It would now seem that this
writer's statement was erroneous, or that at least
the process had not been long enough in vogue when
he saw the plantatisns to prove its eflncacy or there-
verse. We now learn that the bad results of the shav-
ing in 1884 became apparent in the second quarter of
1885 on three estates, where some 10,000 trees showed
such signs of decay that they had to be rooted out.
But on another of the estates, with more valuable
ledgers, and where the trees had only been shaved
once, the result was still more unfavorable ; " the
trees continued to droop for a long time, and during
the long-continued rains the bark began in some few
instances to rot." The prices realised for the shavings
appear pIso to have been much inferior. In concluding
his remarks under this head, the Director says " if
the application of the Maclvor system, by which
regular strips of bark were taken from the trees, has
not in the long run answered expectations, the re-
sult of shaving off the bark have been so detrimental
that its continuaace is not to be depended ou, so
that there is nothing left for us to adopt but a sys-
tematic thinning out of the plantations, with a care-
fudy limited lopping of the trees, and finally, com-
plete uprooting."

The drying houses were found insufficient for
the large amount of bark harvested, and
enquiries were made as to how they could be improved.
This is a matter that interests planters in India, and
it may be mentioned that Davidson's " T " .Sirocco
was recommended as the most suitable machine for the
purpose. We have some doubts on this subject ; the
largest size Sirocco costing £90 f. o. b., in Liverpool,
only takes about 400 lb. of leaf. In addition to this a
building would have to be erected to hold it. The
estates were worked at a profit of florins 224,187 (say
rupees), but of vjourse the harvest was unusually large
owing to the uprootiug which took place. No account
is given of the amount of cinchona grotrn by private
iudividuals, but we showed some time ago that the
stories told in Ceylon of the existence of an enormous
acreage under cultivation were unfounded. Mr. Van
Romunde says that "the demand for waste land ou
lease for the purpose of cinchona cultivation continues
to diminish, and little or nothing- is heard of new un-
dertakings. It is true that on existing estates the cul-
tivation continues to be extended, but confidence in
cinchona culture has felt such a shock by the
steady fall in prices, that capital worth nam-
ing is not to be had for new undertakings
of the kind." The Director, however, thinks that this
want of confidence is not well groauded| and that
there is no reason to fear that prices will cease to
be remunerative. The most interesting result of the
analyses made during 1885 has been noted above in
connection with the question of grafting. With a
view to save the cost of transport, experiments were
made to obtain a coarse extract of the cinchona
alkaloids. Some 6 per cent bark was selected for
this purpose, and by means of boiling with lime and
spirits of wine, a substance called fjuiniam was pro-
duced, which was fouad to contain about GO per
cent, of alkaloids, with very little total loss from
preparation. We have yet to learn if this will
prove a commercial success. To sum up the inform-
ation to be derived from this very able report we
may say that it would not seem as if Ind'an planters
need have any fear of Javan bark flooding the
market in the same way as the Ceylon export has.
Tlio stamp bark from the Irovernment estates
will na doubt always command better prices than
can be expected from the average run of the Indian
exports, but the quantity sent is not likely to be
very lifge, as large shipments are counted novy-a-days,
— Madras Mail.

Makcm I, ib87.] THE TROPICAL AGRICCLTORIST.

623

THE JUNGLE PEODUCTS OF BORNEO.
Consul-General Leys, wriiiug ou the trade, com-
merce, and productious of North-West Borneo, says
that the chief articles of jungle produce, in which a
large export trade is earned ou, are gutta-percha,
india-rubber, rattans, and bird's nests. Gutta-percha
is the inspissated juice of tall forest trees belonging
to the natural order ISapetaceiV. Various kinds and
qualities of gutta are aff'trded by various sapotaceous
ta:ees, but the pure red Bornean gutta is yielded by
the species Bichopsis gutta. Other species of the genus
Dichopsis, however, yield guttas, which, being of in-
ferior quality, are frequently mixed by the native
collectors with the more valuable red variety. Tbis
red variety is obtained from red and rough-stemmed
trees, which are generally found growing among old
jungle on hill-sides to a height of from 100 to 150
feet. The following is the method employ t'd by the
natives in collecting the raw product : — On finding a
tree old enough to be cut, one having a diameter of
about twelve inches, they fell it, cut off the top,
and ring the bark at distances of about a foot. The
sap for two or three days gradually drains away, and
as it does so is collected in any convenient vessels,
such as leaves, coconut-shells, &c., from which re-
ceptacles it is transferred to a pot and boiled for the
space of half-an-hour with a little water. The milk
is boiled to prevent it from hardening on exposure to
the air, as if allowed to do so it becomes compara-
tively valueless. It is difhcult to estimate the average
yield of each tree, as the quantity varies according
to the size of the tree and time of the year, the
flow of sap being greatest when the tree is produc-
ing most leaves; but a small tree will generally yield
a quarter of a picul,i the picul being ecjuivalent to 133 lb.
avoirdupois, while the largest may yield as much as
three quarters of a picul each. The value of the red
gutta varies, according to its purity, from 40 dollars
to 80 dollars per picul. Another ^pecies of Dichopsis
yields an inferior gutta of a white colour. This
species has a smaller growth, attaining a height of
from 50 to 60 feet, and a slightly different foliage.
It yields • proportionately less gutta, only about
twenty-six pounds per tree. India-rubber, or caout-
chouc, is obtained from three varieties of rough-
stemmed woody climbers or manungann, which attain
a length of over 100 feet, and a thickness of about
eight inches. The juice is obtained in much the same
way as gutta, and is prepared either by boiling like
gutta, or by steeping in a solution of salt. The
wasteful method of collecting guttas and rubbers has
naturally caused an exhaustion of the supply from
the more accessible districts; the rubber trees are not,
however, so thoroughly exterminated as the gutta
trees, owing to the greater tendency of the former
to be reproduced from suckers, from cuttings of the
stem taking root accidentally, and from the fruit
which, being edible, is much sought after by monkeys,
birds, wild pigs, &c. Rattans, or canes, are the stems
of various species of Calami, which are found in
profusion througout the whole of North-West Borneo.
Birds' nests, well-known as the edible production of
the Indian swallows, are found principally iu the
Water-worn limestone and sandstone caves that exist
in considerable numbers all over the districts of
North-West Borneo, Consul-General Leys says, "al-
thoug highly esteemed by the Chinese as a luxury
in health, and as having curative qualities iu sick-
ness, I believe that these birds' nests have no more
nutritive or medicinal value than so much wholesome
isinglass, which substance they strongly resemble in
every way. Many very absurd theories have been
ttiooted as to the way in which the substance form-
ing the nest is procured by the bird. I am strongly
inclined to believe that it is formed from the saliva
of the birds — an opinion founded chiefly on the fact
that the saliva-producing glands are, during the nest-
ing season, always immcLsly enlarged, and evidently
in very unusual functional activity. When it is re-
membered that a viscid secretion usually found cover-
ing the inside of the mouth and the throat of birds
— living as the swallow does, on small insects caught
fvbile ou ih^ wiug^aoti tbat ib€ nature of tbeir food

is peculiarly fitted to supply the .substance of which
the ue^t is chemically composed, and that the nest,
though strong, is very small, thin, and light, such a
theory is more probable than one would suppose.''
It appears from the import and export returns of
Borneo for the year 1882, that the value of gutta-
percha and indiarubber exported during that year
amounted to £62,600, of rattans £21,500, and of
bird.s' nests £10,000. — Journal of the Society of Arts,

SCIENTIFIC TEA MANUFACTURE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE "HOME AND COLONIAL MAIL."

Sib, — One of those strange coincidences has occurred,
by reason of which George Eliot was prompted to
suggest that vre might almost infer that at certain
periods new thoughts float about in the world's at-
mosphere and are attracted by brains favourable to
their reception in countries wide apart. The idea of
withering tea by means of cool dry air, and of em-
ploying comparatively cool dry air for drying tea, may
not be quite so novel as some interested are inclined
to believe. The practical application of the idea is, how-
ever, distinctly a novelty, and all credit is due to those
now attempting to introduce it to our factories. The
coincidence I have referred to consists in the fact
that two methods of arriving at the same end have
been launched upon as at precisely the same time,
one hailing from Boston, U.S.A., and the other from
Glasgow. That from Boston comes to tea planters
more by accident than intent ; whereas that from
Glasgow has been from its first conception devoted
to tea manufacture before all things.

Mr. Jennings of Boston having found that the
" hot-air methods and the drying kiln have been tried
and given up as failures," that they " warped timber,
made the grain of leather harsh and rough, spoiled
the flavour of tea (!) and the colour of coffee, turned
rice yellow, and failed to save the farmers' grain"
in wet seasons, determined to discover a process which
should meet the requirements of dryers of all such
substances. He found the solution of his problem in
a "Cool Dry-air Process." The name completely ex-
plains the principle of his system.

Mr. Jennings places the materials to be dried in a
chamber, through which a current of moderately warm
dry air is passed continuously, and he claims that
" the test of experience shows that air so deprived
of moisture acts as an absorbent in a manner that,
without such a test, would have been deemed im-
possible." In the first instance, the current is drawn
through a small furnace, in which it is heated to
about 600 degrees Fahr. At this temperature the at-
mosphere is said to be without trace of vapour. This, I
think, must depend upon whether the air has been
passed through a suflicient body of live fire to ensure
decomposition of the moisture, and upon this point
I have no information at present as regards Mr. Jen-
nings's system. After being heated, the desiccated air
" is cooled by a vigorous circulation of external air,"
which lowers the temperature to between 80 degrees
and 90 degrees, and in this condition the desiccated
air is propelled by fans, driven by steam, through the
drying chambers, Within these chambers the tem-
perature is that of a hot summer's day, but the air
is said to be to " greedy " of moisture that every-
thing within its penetrative influence is desiccated,
I must assume, as I do not know for a fact, that
the " vigorous circulation of external air " is applied
without its being allowed to mix or come into absolute
contact with the heated air, otherwise the latter would
naturally again commence absorbing moisture from the
external air, and thus entail a waste. A machine
erected on this principle is working at Messrs. Smith's
extensive saw-mills, Commercial Road, Pimlico, and
there the practical operation of the system has shown
some results which are, if as reported, equally re-
markable from a scientific as from a commercial point
of view. I have seen it stated that at these saw-
mills a package of wool 1 lb. in weight was saturated
with water ; it then weighed oj lb., and in this
condition was placed in the dryingroom, and in
twenty minutes the moisture was found to be almobt
Virbolly extracted, Timber, as everybody knows, talseg

6^4

THE THOPiCAL AGRICULTURIST. tMASCH i, 1887.

years to season, and it has a perfectly surprising
power of absorbing and retaining moisture. Thius 44
cwt. 2qr. ot birch were subjected to the test for ninety-
four hours, and then examined, when it was found
to be completely " seasoned, free from cheeking, rents,
or warpiug, and it had given off in the operation 10
cwt. 2 qr. 24 lb. weight of water !" Wool so treated,
even tested by the microscope, " shows no evidence
of any change beyond the dryness of its substance,
and this appears uniform throughout," " the fibre and
cells seem to be unchanged ; they are as close, but no
closer, th»n before, and there is no perceptible shrink-
age ot dimension. Some lengths of ash gave still more
striking results. Out of 47 cwt. 3 qr. no legs than 21 cwt.
1 qr. of moisture was extracted ; 22 cwt. of maho-
gany yielded 6 cwt. of moisture in ninty-six hours,
whereas to obtain the same result by ordinary
exposure would have taken years to accomplish.
British oak is a very stubborn wood to reason. Some
logs, two inches thick, were finished in nine days,
which by natural drying would have required three
or four years. These effects were accomplished with
a current of 6,200 cubic feet per minute ; and the
great lesson they teach is that ail the mischiefs hither-
to produced by drying systems accrued from the
excessive heat. In this process the temperature never
exceeds blood heat ; and as a consequence, delicate
fibres, fabrics and chemicals are uninjured. The in-
dustrial value of this important discovery can scarcely
be over-estimated. A technical journal computes that
in the matter of Indian tea alone cool-air drying would
probably give it such an advantage as to increase its
saleable value £200,000 a year." ('.) So much for Mr.
Jennings's process.

Oomiug now to the Glasgow one, introduced by
Messrs. Main and Dick, the former of the well-known
firm of A. and J. JNIain and Oo., I cannot ask you
for space in this, and the further communication I
propose to send you next week, to do more than com-
pare its priuciples with those of Mr. Jennings's system,
leaving a description of the application of the prin-
ciples to a luture occasion. Mr. Main, your readers,
will remember, visited India during the Calcutta Ex-
hibition, and during his visit travelled considerably
among the Tea Gardens, with a view to obtaining a
practical insight into the class of iron house.s most
suited to the wants af Plaaters, and also to inspect
the various applianct-s used in tea manufacture, in
the hope of being able to improve upon one or other
of these. By conversation with planters he soon
learned that in the matter of withering wet leaf in
bad weather there was a field practically untouched
by inventors. He claims now to have succeeded in the
efforts he has been strenuously making since his return
to provide the loag-lookeJ for withering appliance,
and, whilst engaged upon his research in this direc-
tion, to have done even more than he had orginaily
sought to do, inasmuch as a modification of the prin-
ciple he has adopted for withering, assisted by means
of a different appliance and different temperature,
has shown him that he can not only wither but " dry "
tea also. From start to finish Mr. Main has consulted
eminent chemists and practical planters, and has
spared no pains or expense in prosecuting his ex-
periments, which have been conducted over two
years. His process is based upon thoroughly
seieutific grounds, and worked out on scientific
principles, with every regard for obtainable scien-
tific data ; and it is indeed remarkable how
identical the resulting principle is with that of Mr.
Jennings, although it it true the method of desic-
cation varies. The point of difference may bo briefly
Stated as follows : — Mr. Jennings desiccates his air by
means of heat and then cools his air again ; Mr.
• Main desiccates his air by means of an almost ever-
lasting absorbant, and saves both the cooling process
and certain other disadvantages.

In considering this matter of rapid and effectual
withering and drying, it is as well to seek the fund-
amental principles. To solve the problem, IMr. .le.u-
nings and Mr. Main, if asked, would probably both
refer us to desiccated air, but when asked ho w b est
to obtain desiccated air with which to conjure, Mr.

Jennings would probably reply, by means of super-
heating it — I have not asked him — and Mr. Main
would answer, by means of an absorbent — I have asked
him and cangive his reasons. Possibly Mr. Jennings
might be converted to Mr. Main's opinion were the
latter's arguments brought to his attention ; but
that is surmi.se. Knowing Mr. Main, and being al-
ready acquainted with his interest in this subject, in
my search after " more light," I brought Mr. Jenning's
process to his notice, and it will afford some insight
into the thorough and extremely careful manner in
which he has conducted his labours if I give the gist
of some of his comments upon Mr. Jenning's process
as compared with his own. He forwarded me the
subjoined table which shows the amount of moisture
or water-vapour in the air, per 1,000 cubic feet, at the '
point of saturation, at various temperatures, and he
tells me that from such facts as these he was led to
wonder, how a delicate substance like tea, could ever
be quickly or effectively dried during the rainy sea-
son, with so much moisture in the air. Finally he
came to the conclusion that the whole of the diffi-
cultie s of the process lay in the presence of the ex-
cessive moisture in the air — a fact already too well
known to planters — and he then felt sure that the
reason why so many failures had occurred in machines
constructed for drying tea, lay in the fact that moist
air — hot though it undeniably was — was used. As soon
as he experimented with desiccated air, astounding results
were obtained. In drying (not withering) he found that
when employing desiccated air a large reduction in the
temperature showed more effective results as regards
the time occupied, than a high temperature showed
when uudesiccated air was used. Thus at a tempera-
ture of 200 degree Fahr. rolled leaf was perfectly
dried in fifteen minutes ! To practical planters it is
unnecessary for me to draw any comparison from
this. Mr. Main rightly refuses to express any opinion
upon the quality of tea produced at a low temperature,
as he is most careful in testing every detail before
committing himself to any statement as to its value ;
and, as he says, the question of quality cannot be
properly settled except by actual experiment with tea-
leaf, which cannot be effected in this country. At
the snme time, if there be anything in the views I
have previously expressed in your columns, I, for one,
look forward to improved tea being produced, when
rapid firing at low temperatures i> introduced.

Having taken up so much of your space this week
I will, w ith your permission, continue my remarks
upon the pnnciple.i of the new process next week.—
I am, &c., Aetkmus.

Table of weights of water in form of vapour capable
of being held in suspension by atmospheric air at
different te mperatures, the same being dew point or
point of greatest saturation: —

Temp. Fahr. Weight in lb. per 1,000 cubic feet.
70 deg. l'li»7 equal, say, 1 lb. 3 oz.
1-204 „ 1 lb. Hoz.

„ 1-275 „ 1 lb. 4|oz.

71

72
73
74
75
78
77
76
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
02
93
94
95

1-314
1-354
1-397
1*447
1-487
1-528
1-574
1-619
1-666
1-715
1-765
1-802
1-868
1-902
1-982
2031
2-087
2144
2-205
2-255
2-312
2-370
2-430

lib.

5 oz.

lib.

5Joz.

lib.

6ioz.

lib.

7ioz.

"|oz.

bare

lib.

lib.

8*oz.

bare

lib.

Hoz.

lib.

lO oz.

bare

lib.

lOfoz.

lib.

lUoz.

bare

lib.

12ioz.

bare

lib.

13 oz.

lib.

13Joz.

lib.

l4|oz.

lib.

l5ioz.

3 lb.

OJoz.

2 lb.

lioz.

a lb.

2 oz.

2 1b

3 0/.

2 lb.

■I o-/.

2 1b.

5 oz.

3 1b.

6 oz.

21b.

7 02,

MAfecji I, iB87.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

6i$

PLANTING IN PERAK.

The great backbone of revenue and prosperity of
the State has been thi, and this metal will probably
continue for some years to be the chief attraction.
Chinese have had almost a monopoly of this miaing
until a year or two ago, when oue or two Europeans
and European Oempauies came into the field. Generally
speaking, as is commonly known, these companies
have not been a success. Thoy too frequently started
with millstones, in the shape of largo quantities of
very expensive machinery, and European managers,
assistants, engineers, &c., at salaries which only an
El Dorado could paj', and still have something for a
dividend. That money can be made at tin mining,
ani\ by Europeans, I feel convinced. The Chinaman
has, of course, a great advantage in his store account,
for he supplies everything to his coolies at an enormous
profit to himself. Cases occur every month where a
Chinaman is an apparent loaer by working the tin,
and his books will probably show a loss of S5,000 to
$10,000 on a six months' working. In reality, how-
ever, he is a gainej: probably to that extent, his store
account having covered any deficiency, and likewise
left him with a profit. Europeans cannot, of course,
go' iuto this system, but if they would be a little
more ready to profit by tho Chinaman's experience
in actual mining I am convinced that much useful
information could be gleaned ; and most of these
Chinese are ready at all times to give the intelligence.
The idea seems to be to make a grand start ; if they .
would be content with small beginnings and proceed
slowly, only getting expensive machinery where such
is shown to be an undoubted economy, I think there
is money to be made. At present, this may be termed
the ouly money-making concern in the country, but
there is also rich agricultural land in mauy parts, the
district for instance round Kwala Kangsa being of
rich soil and suitable for the growth of many products.
Arabian coffee and tea (Assam hybrid) are doing well
on estates in both Perak and Sunghie Ujoag, though
at present the extent is not very great. Liberian
coffee is also doing well in low countries. Sugar like-
wise, on the Shanghai Company's Gula estate on
the banks of the Korean River, is doing well. About
seven hundred acres are now under cultivation, and
more is being got into order. — London and China Kxprr,<is.

PRODUCTION OF ALFA IN ALGERIA.

Consul General Playfair, in his last report issued
at the commencement of the year, on the commerce
and agriculture of Algeria, says that alfa is of great
and increasing importance, both to Algeria and
England, where nearly the whole of the exports are
consigned, and he gives the following account of the
plant taken from the report of a commission recently
sent to the high plateaux by the Governor-General,
to study the subject in the great upland plaius where
alone it is found. Alfa or haifa is a plant which is
found in calcareous soil or silicious clay, but not in
compact clay or pure sand, unless, at a short depth
below them, silicious clay is found, or soil unimpreg-
nated with sea salt. In the high plateaux of the
south of Gran it is fouad in calcareous soil of the
formation cretaeee superieure (compact calcareous
rock, in horizontal bauds, the decomposition of which
produces stones and finely powdered eirth coloured
dark red by the oxide of iron), and in sand mixed
with clay or quaternary alluvium. The thin circular
and shallow roots of the plant require air and a
little moisture, thus the alfa is never found in the
white sand near the Chotts, nor in the depressions of
compact soil scattered about the high plateaux.
The surface of the high plateaux in Oran may be
compared to a carpet, the ground of which is alfa,
picked out with innumerable ramifications of sennarct
and artemisia. The tuft of alfa presents at its base
the appearance of a central axis arouuil which at a
short distance proceed horizontal ramifications. These
spring up vertically and produce bunches of flowers,
sheathpd in iiiirrow falling leaves. After the first
T9

year's growth, each ramification sends out from its
base a shoot, which decends iuto the ground, pro-
ducing a small root ; other ramifications are then
produced at the base of previous ones, and become
rooted in their turn. The tuft thus increases from
the centre U> circumference, each addition being
united to the central mass, but forming gradually
its own root, so as to be able to live when the
central part dies and disappears. It is only in the
third year from the sprouting of the ramification that
the flower appears to be developed. If the plant is
allowed to grow unchecked, its flowers and leaves
vegetate during the spring, they ripen in summer,
and they commence to decompose from the point*
downwards, uikUt the action of the autumnal rains,
fading progressively during the winter. In propor-
tion as the sap of spring developes new leaves, those
of the previous year fall over inert and partly dried
up without ceasing to adhere to the stem on which
they continue to decompose during the following
years. After several years the dead leaves form a
thick central mass, impenetrable to the shoots at
their base, and around this mass the new leaves pierce
through, and the small roots continue to develop
outside the circle. Alfa grows abundantly in Algeria,
and a large population, both of Spaniards and Arabs,
is engaged in collecting it. The workman generally
twists round his hand, or round a small stick, the
upper part of the leaves, which he tears out by a
sudden jerk, and puts under his left arm, and
this he continues to do until he has made a
small sheaf which he ties up. A number of
these small sheaves are made into a larger one,
and the.se are placed upright to dry. To preserve
this plant as much as possible, an ordinance of the
Governor-General was published on the 13th Marchj
1884, prohibiting the collecting of it during a close
period of about four months every year, varying
according to the climatic conditions of the district
where it occurs. A large quantity of the best alfa
is exported to Spain, where it is mixed with tho
esparto grass of the country ; the ordinary quality ia
almost all sent to England for the mauufaoture of
paper, Of^ late the exportation has greatly diminished,
owing partly to the competition in Spain, Morocco,
and Tunis, hut partly to its excessive price and the
introduction of woo i pulp in the paper trade. The
extent over which the alfa is found in Algeria is
about 4,441,000 acres, and it is estimated that
upwards of 16,000,000 cwt. were collected during the
year 1883. — Join-nal of the Society of Arts.

JAPANESE LABOUR IN THE SANDWICH
ISLANDS.
The Planters of Hawaii are not unanimous as to
the value of Japanese labour. Some appraise it very
highly ; others place it below that of Portuguese or
Ohint'se, From the report presented at the Planters'
Labour and Supply Association, we learn that on a
majority of the esfates where they were employed the
Japanese had given satisfaction, though in a few
cases their labour was rated very low. This is perhaps
as much as could have been expected. It has been
already pointed out in the-iecoloumns that the Japanese
who went to the Sandwich Islands were a very mixed
lot. The first batch consisted of ex-soldiers, vagrants,
needy fishermen, and, in general, persons not at all
likely to settle down to steady work. Curiously enough
fishermen, though capable of enduring hardship and
toil of the severest description, frequently fail where
persistent effort is required. Trained to a life of fitful
exertion with intervals of almost absolute indolence,
they find great difficulty in reconciling themselves to
the monotony of unvaried labour. Even fishermen,
however, would have answered the purpose of the
Hawaiian planters better than ex-soldiers and vagrants
who emigrated under the delusion that their sojourn
in the sugar islands was to be a long spell of sun-
basking, relieved by the busiues.s of eating and sleeping.
It might have been foreseen that men of this class
would not prove a succes.s. But the task of selection,

6i6

f HE -rROPf'CAL AGRlCULTURfSf* [Marck i, iSSp

difficult and invidious enough under any circumstances,
was, we believe, complicated at the outset by unavoidable
obstructions, i'he emigrants chosen later on v?ere
adapted to the duties awaiting them, and have given
universal satisfaction. Accordingly we find that at the
last annual meeting ot the Planters' Labour and supply
Association, the following resolution was adopted : —
" That we heartily approve the acts of our Govecnment
aud what they have accomplished since our last annual
meeting in bringing and permitting labourers to come
to these Islands, and that we urge upon our Govern-
ment, by this resolution and otherwise, that they put
forth like exertions for supplying labourers during the
coming twelve months, not only in bringing in Portu-
guese and Japanese as heretofore, but permit the
influx of free labour from all countries so far as
it can be done without injury to other national
interests." So far as the Japanese are concerned,
despite the resolute attempts made some months ago
to scare intending emigrants by fabricated or grossly
exaggerated pictures of the hardships and cruelties
their predeces£oi-s had undergone, we learn that when
a notice inviting applications was recently issued in
the prefectures of Yamaguchi and Hiroshima, no less
than 1,400 applicants presented themselves during the
course of the first two days. Nor is this to be wondered
at. For certainly from a financial point of view, the
record of the emigrants is well calculated to tempt
their countrymen. The total number now in Hawaii
is 1,780, of whom 845 arrived at the plantations on
March 1st of this year, and 935 on August 1st. The
savings of these people up to November Isfc had ex-
ceeded S50,000, being an average of about $8'62 each
per month, and this after paying for food, clothes,
and other necessaries. They are apparently quite con-
tented with their lot, and the nature of the letters
they send to their friends in Japan may be gathered
from the eagerness shown to follow their example.
VT e learn that another batch will be sent to Hawai
by the •' City of Peking," on Janury 28th, aud that it
will consist of 650 men and 275 women. They will
be accompanied by nine Japanese inspectors and inter-
preters, aud hy seven Japanese physicians, all of whom
have been selected by Dr. Nagayo Sensai, Chief
Director of the JSanitary Bureau. The salaries of the
inspectors and interpreters vary from $lbO to S33 per
month, and the physicians will receive S108. These
officials will also be furnished not only with passages
to Honolulu, but also with return passages after three
years. The Inspectors, who will be Hawaiian Govern-
ment officials, are to be under the direction of Mr.
Nahayama Jogo, who will be in direct communication
with the Hawaiian Minister of the interior. The
interpreters will also act officially in the Hawaiian
courts in all cases where Japanese are concerned.
— Japan Weekly Mail.

SERICULTUBE IN INDIA.

At Calcutta, on the 18th December, there was
a large gathering of ladies and gentlemen at the
Dalhousie Institute, they having been invited by the
Honorary Secretary to see a splendid collection of
insects made by Mr. Mowis in Sikkim. The cases
containicg the collection had been laid out in the
institute, and almost formed an exhibition of them-
selves, though they are intended for the Indo-Oolonial
Exhibition in Loudon. Every class of insects was
represented, and the gorgeous colours of some of the
butterflies and beetles baffle description. Shortly after
9 o'clock, the Honorary Secretary introduced Mr.
Mowis to the audience, aud the lecture which followed
was listened to with the utmost attention. Free from
all technicalities and abounding in amusing stories
out of the history of insect life, Mr. Mowis's
comparisons of the different powers and faculties only
to be met with in insects, made up a concise and
able disquisition that kept his audience thoroughly in-
terested. In addition to its interest as a lecture,
there were facts made known of real importance aud
great practical value. We quote the part relating to
silk and sericulture of India, and only wish we could
give it in extenso. Describing the three greai silk-

producing families of moths, the lecturer said that.
I he first family contained all those cultivated and
domesticated by men : secondly, those that are left
to themselves to weave their silk in the jungle, and
are called wild silk-worms; and thirdly, those silk-
worms which spin a cocoon, but have no commercial
value at present. In former years, he said, India
had a very large silk industry, but owing to prevailing
diseases of the silk-worms and years of drought, it is
now scarcely one-hundredth part of what it ouce was.
Government had made many efforts to revive it. and
tried hard and incurred heavy expense to give a new
impulse to this industry, but though land and labour
is cheaper here than in any other part of the world,
the lecturer was doubtful whether the mulberry silk
will ever regain its former footing in India. It takes,
we learn, three years to make a plantation fit to
feed the worms to make good marketable silk,
so that it is impo.ssible to attempt any large scheme ;
but as the lecturer remarked, if we are uuable to
obtain the best silk except at a loss, get the next
best that pays — and pays well. Therefore every
encouragement should be given to the tusser industry
in this country. Mr. Thomas Wardle has just reached
this country, having been sent out by the Home
Government to investigate our silk industries. He
was the British delegate at the late Paris Exhibition,
and has demonstrated the fact that tusser silk can
now be reeled and spun, bleached, and dyed, in splen-
did colours, aud be used in almost any material where
formerly the best silks only were employed. A demand
"has, therefore, sprung up where there is at present
but a limited supply. The tusser cocoons are found
in every part of India, aud the worms feed on almost
every plant. They are very hardy, and little liable
to disease, and if Government would only take the
matter earnestly in hand, we should have a most
extensive industry in the space of a very few years.
This new industrj' would almost equal the waning
cotton one, and prove much more remunerative,
while giving employment to thousands of the poorer
classes to whom this work would be particularly well
suited, thus adding already to our revenues. Lakhs of
rupees' worth of these cocoons are shipped home
every year, taking up great space on board ship.
These cocoons have to be reeled at home on spindles
which cost £75 each, and by labourers who demand
20^'. a week. The same result could be obtained here
with labour at 5 rupees per month. The great draw-
back in all native-reeled silk has always been the
uuevenuess and lumpiness of the thread, but with
very little trouble, an improved reel could be intro-
duced here, which would give all the desired evenness.
The lecturer exhibited a model reel, which has been
constructed by him, and which combined to a certain
extent both the European and native methods, and
still remained simple enough to suit unskilled labour.
The cost of this reel is so low as to be within the
reach of the poorest coolie of the country, and by
a general adoption of such a reel or a similar one,
Indian-reeled tusser silks could be laid down in the
European markets at about 10s. per pound, and thus
give 100 per cent profit on the outlay ! In explaining
this reel, it was shown that it reeled evenly, and
distributed the silk regularly on the real, from which
it can be removed by a very simple contrivance,
without distributing the layers of the silk, which is
very essential. It could be worked by hand or foot,
and also be adapted to machinery ; and any child
could learn to work it in a short time. A case of
sample silk was exhibited, which had been reeled on
this model, and a small quantity was also reeled
before the audience in the lecture hall. — Statesman.

PLANT-BEDS.

It is usual at this period of the year for planters
of tobacco to be contemplating their arrangements
for a supply of plants for the next crop. These
arrangements must be conclu.led on, and the actual
work done, between the 15th December and the 16th
March. About a year ago we asked the attention
of the readers of the Planter to the old and new

Mamcu 1, iBSf.j ifUM tMOPIdAL A(J,kiCiJtfVKiUf,

6^9

methods of mauaging plant-beds. The old method
involved the burning of large surfaces of forest land
at a heavy cost of labor and firewood, and then leaving
the surfaces exposed to the ravages of the flies, which
destroy the young plants. Every Spring since the
settlement of America the cry, to a greater or less
extent, comes up from the planter that his plants
are seriously injured by the fly ; and in our experience
we have known the planting of crops to be entirely
abandoned from this cause.

Tkinkivg farmers have put their heads to work on
this matter, and in the past four or five years they
have one after another tried the plan of covering the
beds with cloth, and always with success when the
work was properly done. The methods pursued by
different persons were, of course, in many cases different
and more or less thoroughly executed. In this matter,
as in all practical operations of the farm, careful
execution always pays the best. The most usual method
in the new plan is to burn in the woods about oue-f ourth
of the surface what would be required if the beds are
left uncovered, and to cover with thin and cheap cotton
cloth. The bed is frequently square, or nearly so,
and necessarily the cloth will sag in the centre unless
supported in some way. It is also inconvenient for
the cloth to be removed in mild weather to admit
air, and moisture from dews and rains ; and more than
all, if not saturated with oil, or otherwise gummed
over, to render it valueless for under-clothing, the
first passing rogue will appropriate it. It is best,
however, to use the cloth covering and take all such
risks.

We wish now to suggest to our readers a plan which
will save l>io-nin[i the bed, and also make the covering
with cloth more conveaieut and efficient. Select a
spot of naturally drained land — that is, a porous subsoil
through which water will pass — and as near to your
stables as possible, with a south or south-eastern
exposure; dig a trench one Toot deep, eight feet wide,
and as long as may be needed, bj one or more beds,
to hold one-third more plants than will be required.
This work should be done in a good spell of weather
in January, or early in February. After the trench
is dug, fill it with fresh stable manure to the depth
of a foot after it is firmly tramped down. The haul
from the forest fresh mold sufficient to cover the
manure six inches, or even eight inches, deep. Kake
out all roots, sticks, leaves and other coarse matter.
Boards a foot in width are then placed edgewise all
around the pit, supported on the inside with jjegs
driven into the ground, and the earth on the outside
is then banked up to the top of the boards. The
bed may be left open until the weather gets cold, or
frosty, but before the job is completed eight-penny
nails should be driven two feet apart near the top
edge of the planks, and their heads left projecting
about half the length of the nail, and to these are
to be tied the strings which are to be attached to
the cloth covering of the bed at distances on its
edges corresponding with the nails. The knots in the
tying should be such as can be easily unloosened when
it is necessary to do so, for air or moisture to the
plants. Care should be taken that the twine used for
attaching the cover to tho frame is well sewed on
with a lap of several inches to prevent a tearing of
the cloth, which would be the case if the fastening
was confined to one point.

In a week or two after the bed has been completed,
some of the grass seeds which may be in the mold
which covers it will vegetate, and then the bed should
be hand-raked to destroy this grass ; a week or ten
days later other seeds may vegetate, when another
raking is necessary ; and possibly then all seeds have
felt the influence of the warmth generated by the
underlying stable manure, and the tobacco seed may
then be sown. Care is to be taken that the plants
are not too much forced, and with this view air is
to be admitted freely when necessary. If a bed so
constructed does not get the required moisture from
rain, it will be seen how convenient it is to water it,
passing along the sides with a fine-nozzle watering-pot.
If the plants should need any cleansing of spires of
gnuRs, it cao bo baadily doae from the eidee without

stepping on the bed ; and so, when the plants are to
be drawn, there is no occasion to place the foot on
the bed and damage by bruising. As a substitute
for the ashes which tho plants get by the common
method of burning, save up from house fires, dry,
hard-wood ashes, and give the bed a liberal dressing,
to be thoroughly raked in before the tobacco seed
are sown, and the ashes will supply all the potash
needed for the plants. After the plants are up they
may be lightly dusted by the sweepings from the
floor of the barn in which the previous crop was
handled, and the.se dustings may be increased with
the growth of the plants.

In this issue of the Planter will be seen an advertise-
ment of the U. S. Water-Proofing Fibre Company,
who claim to have the best material for covering tobacco
and vegetable beds ; and we see it recommended by
our friend, IMaj. Ragland, of Halifax, who is good
authority with the tobacco planters of Virginia, and
it is also much approved of by other planters of
Virginia, North Carolina, and all the states where
tobacco is grown. — Southern Planter.

THE ORGANIC ELEMENTS OF PLANTS :

THE SOURCES OF CARBON.

By B. PuRYEAR, LL.D., Profcssor of Chemistry in

Richmond College.
All plants when perfectly deprived of moisture
contain of Carbon about 50 per cent.
Oxygen „ 3ti „
Hydrogen „ 6 „
Nitrogen ,, .S .,

95

The remaining 5 per cent consists of ash (the in-
organic part), which comes exclusively from the soil,
and returns to the soil upon the decomposition of
the plant. The amount of inorganic matter in plants
is frequently less than 5 per cent, and as often more.
We simply give 5 per cent as an average statement.
As the atmosphere is the primary source of all the
organic elements of plants, it will be well, in con-
sidering the forms in which plants obtain their
organic elements, to notice the composition of the
atmosphere. 100 volumes of air contain
7916 Nitrogen
20-80 Oxygen
•04 Carbonic Acid.

100

The foregoing table is valuable, showing, at a
glance, the relative volumes of the three gases which
as a mechanical mixture constitute the atmosphere.
There are always present in the atmosphere, how-
ever, in small and variable proportions, other gase-
ous substances, to which attention will be invited
hereafter ; but, for the present, it will be best to
limit our attention to the three gases already men-
tioned, namely, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbonic acid,
which exist in the atmosphere everywhere in the
proportions given.

In what form and from what sources do plants
obtain their carbon'.' Evidently, they do not get
their carbon in the form of carbon. As an element,
carbon does not exist in the atmosphere; and, for
a reason as obvious, it cannot come as an element
from the soil. Carbon is absolutely insoluble in
water, and hence it cannot get into the circulation
of the plant in a state of solution. Solids get into
plants, but not as solids. The capillary tubes of
plants are too small to allow the passage of any
solid, however small. When a solid is dissolved it
is no longer a solid ; it is as liquid as the water, or
other liquid, which has dissolved it. Potash, soda,
lime, silica, all solids, are found in the ash of plants :
they enter, however, not in the form of solids, but
when, and only when, they have been dissolved by
the water of the soil. Carbon, being entirely insol-
uble, cannot enter in this way. We are safe then
in the conclusion that plants do not obtain their
carbon, as carbon, either from the atmosphere or
i£9iu the ^il'

6^b

^HU 'MOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, my,

Dr. Priestley, the great discoverer of oxygen gas,
■afterwards made the equally important discovery
that the leaves of plants have the power, under the
influence of sunlight, of absorbing carbonic acid by
their under surfaces, holding the carbon in the form-
ation of vegetable compounds, and emitting from tbe
npper surfaces the oxygen gas set free by the de-
composition of the carbonic acid. The demonstra-
tion is so simple that anybody can repeat it. No
cumbrous and complicated apparatus is required. A
bell glass or candy jar and a bucket of water is all
the apparatus needed for the splendid demonstra-
tion. We have our bell glass full of water, the rim
dipping an inch or so beneath the surface of the
water lu the bucket. A blade of rapidly grow'ing
corn is bent over, and inserted into the bell glass.
At once, bubbles of gas collect on the upper surface
of the blade and rise through the water, displacing
the water and driving it down into the bucket. In
this way, wg may collect, in a few minutes, enough
of the gas for experiment. The gas is oxygen, for
an extinguished taper containing the slightest spark,
when introduced into the gas, flares up immediately.
Now what has happened V To make the explanation
perfectly clear, two preliminary explanations are
required. (1.) Carbonic acid is a compound of car-
bon and oxygen, in the proportion of one atom of
ca bon to tvio atoms of oxygen. Hence it is written
CO 2- ("2) Water, under ordinary pressure, absorbs
its own volume of carbonic acid, so that all water
contains this gas.

Under the influence of solar light, the under sur-
face of the leaves have sucked in or absorbed the
carbonic acid present in the water, the carbon has
been held to form the vegetable skeleton, and the
oxygen evolved from the upper leaf surfaces. And
as carbonic acid contains its own volume of oxygen,
the volume of oxygen evolved from the upper leaf
surfaces is equal to the volume of carbonic acid
absorbed by the under leaf surfaces.

We may vary the experiment as following: — Let
us have a trough of water furnished with a shelf.
On this shelf we place a pot containing a vigorous
geranium. Let down a bell glass over the geranium
pot, so that the water will be a little above the
mouth of the bell glass. The air is confined. Water
prevents tbe access of the outer air. Place the whole
arrangement in the sunlight. In an hour or so, the
air of the bell glass is found to be utterly destitute
of carbonic acid.

There can be no mistake. Nothing is more easily
detected in the atmosphere than carbonic acid (CO^.)
When lime water is exposed in an atmosphere con-
taining carbonic acid, immediately a thin crust, re-
sembling' ice, begins to be formed on the surface of
the water. This film or crust is carbonate of lime,
formed by the combination of carbonic acid with lime.
If touched with any acid it will effervesce, the effer-
vescence being due to the liberation of carbonic acid.

The leaves of plants then suck in carbonic acid,
decompose it, fixing the solid carbon in building
up its compounds and evolving the oxygen gas.
Now, the great pros-imate compounds of plants, as
starch, sugar, f^uni, woody fibre, are simply carbon
combined with the ekments of water. AH <.if them
may be easily resolved into carbon and water. We
arc now prepared to understand how simply they
arc formed m the vegetable economy. They are all
formed by the union of carbon, set free in the de-
composition of carbonic acid, with the elements of
water introduced from the earth by the roots of
f^rowins plants.

We cou'jider then the carbonic acid of the atmo-
siphere the primary source of all the carbon of plants.
Plants sometimes i^row under circumstaiires wjiich
Utterly exclude any other source of supply,

If wc plant a griiiu of wheat— the experiment has
been tried- in pulverized silica, and keep it properly
moistened with rain water, it will swell and sprout
and germinate. A true stalk is formed, which grows
enough to contain three times as much carbon as
the planted grain. Whence this excess of carbon?

Evidently and necessarily the carbonic acid of the
atmosphere, for there was no carbon in any form
ju tUv Hitiijcia! soil wliicli grt^v, tbe plaut, Wc

witness the same thing, on a larger scale, when
clay, containing no carbon in any form, is dug up
from great depths, and exposed to the atmosphere.
Seeds are dropped upon the clay; they germinate
and grow to a greater or less extent. The carbon
obtained by vegetation growing under such circum-
stances must come exclusively from the atmosphere,
for the soil contains none.

Let us consider how plants grow upon a purely
mineral foundation. Consider an acre of granite.
Granite is composed of three minerals : quartz, felds-
par, and mica, and none of these minerals contain
carbon. Seeds dropped by birds or wafted by the
winds are deposited upon this acre of granite. Under
the necessary conditions of warmth, moisture, and
access of air they germinate, and develop into scant
and stinted vegetation, which contains, say, three
times as much carbon as the seeds whi«h produced
it. The atmosphere by its carbonic acid necessarily
furnished the whole of this excess of carbon. But
the vegetation of the second year will be more
vigorous and heavy for two reasons. First, the roots
have penetrated somewhat into the hard granite in
search of food, and to a small extent have commi-
nuted it, and this comminution will be still greater
from the freezes of the coming winter. As the roots
decay, water will fill up the little channels they
made in the rock, and in freezing will expand and
so split and peel off the surface of the gramte. The
vegetation of the first year will be mixed with this
reduced and disintegrated granite, and now the pro-
cess of soil formation begins. The crop of the second
year will be more vigorous, having the advantage
of pulverized mineral matter, from which it will
more easily and abundantly obtain its mineral con-
stituents, and the advantage also of rotting veget-
ation, which yields carbonic acid, to say nothing of
the other products of its decomposition. Carbonic
acid being freely absorbable by water is carried by
the sap, as it ascends to the leaf where it ia de-
composed under the influence of sunlight, just the
same as if it had been observed directly by the under
surfaces of the leaf. The crop therefore gets a part
of its carbon in the form of carbonic acid directly
from the atmosphere by the agency of its leaves,
and the remainder in the same form from the soil
by the agency of the roots. But it is obvious that
the carbon obtained by the second crop from the
soil was obtained by the first crop from the atmo-
sphere, so that the primary and original source of
all the carbon of the jilants is the atmosphere. By
exact parity of reasoning we will be able, even when
a century has elapsed, and a true soil has been
formed on the underlying granite, to trace back all
the carbon of each succeeding crop to the carbonic
acid of the atmosphere as its primary source, though
■A'lth each successive year, the amount obtained from
the soil has been increasing, from the admixture
with it of the dead vegetation of preceding years.
Our co'ichision then is that plants, as they grow
under ordinary circumstances, obtain their carbon
partly from the atmosphere and partly from the soil,
but that the carbonic acid of the atmosphere is thfi
primary and original source of supply.

The exhaustive e?cperiments of Bouseingault, con=
ducted through a series of seven years, show that
plants, as they ordinarily grow obtain § of their
carbon directly from the atmosphere, and J from
the soil, This experiment, perhaps unsuited for our
pnges is very simple, is easily understood, and irre-
sistibly carries the foregoing conclusion.

If it be objected that the amount of carbonic acid
in the atmosphere seems too small to furnish to all
plants growing on the globe 3 of their carbon, the
objection will vanish as soon as we calculate the
absolute w'eight of the carbonic acid of the entire
atmosphere. The amount of carbonic acid in the
atmospliere is exceedingly small; the amoimt of
carbonic acid in the atmosphere is enormously large,
A word explains the seeming contradiction; relat=
ively small, absolutely large.

One hundred gallons of air contain 4-100 of a gal-
lon of carbonic acid. One gallon of air then contains
1-2500 of a gallon of carbonic acid. But as carbonic
acid in oun and a half timet as Ueavy tis air, ^9

MaScji h 288^-3 THE TKOFlv-At AORlCULTU^lif .

625

find the relative amount by weight of carbonic acid
in the atmosphere by multiplying l-'2500 by 3-2 which
gives three five- thousandths. We can now easily
calculate the amount of carbonic acid in the atmo-
sphere over an acre of land. An acre contains
6,272,640 square inches, and the weight of the atmo-
sphere on a square inch is 15 lb. The product of
6,272,640 by 15 is 94,089,600, which expresses the
weight in pounds of the atmosphere over an acre,
and three five-thousandths of this product is 56,453
pounds or 28 tons, and this expresses the weight of
the carbonic acid in the atmosphere resting upon an
acre. But three-elevenths of the weight of carbonic
acid is carbon, and three-elevenths of 27 tons is
seven and seven-elevenths tons, the amount of carbon
in the form of carbonic acid in the atmosphere of
an acre's surface.

Now, the yield of an acre in dry vegetable matter
may be put down at one and one-half tons, half of
wnich (three-fourths of a ton) is carbon. An acre
then demands per annum three-fourths of a ton of
carbon and two-thirds of this, or one-half ton, must
come from the atmosphere. The amount of carbon
in the form of carbonic acid in the atmosphere of
an acre is seven and seven-elevenths, say seven and
one-half tons ; the demand upon the atmosphere of
an acre in vigorous vegetation is one-half ton. The
supply is fifteen times the demand ; and this would
be the relative supply and demand if every acre of
the earth's surface supported vegetation. But three-
fourths of the earth's surface, and more, is covered
with water, and vast areas are barren sauds and
burning deserts. Perhaps we shall not be very far
from the truth, if we say that only one-hundredth
part of the earth's surface supports vegetation. If
this be so, then the supply of carbon is 1,500 times
the annual demand. — American Farmer.

Tee British colonies include the richest and largest
forests in the World, extending over millions of square
acres. In India alone about 60,000 square miles are
afforested, and the forests of Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, and Cape Colony are second to none in size
and the variety and value of their proiluctious. The
acreage under timber in France, Germany, and Great
Brit-iin is small and constantly decreasing. Of the
20,000,000 square acres of Scotland only about 700,000
to 800,000 acres are woodland. — Journal of Horticulture.
A Dressbng for Pe.^ch and Nectarine Trees. —
I have used the following composition for many years:
it destroys all insects, mildew, and disease, &c., without
injury to the birds in any way : — 2 lb. of tobacco-
powder, 1 lb. of flowers of sulpher, 1 oz. of nux vomica
powder, 2 lb. of clay, J lb. of soft soap, with sufficient
boiling water to make it the thickness of paint ; well
mix and stir up before using, then paint the Yiiies and
trees all over. — Wm. SiirTHB, Basing Park, Alton,
Hants. — Gardeners' Chan cle.

WiNE-GKOwiNO IN Italy. — Italy, with an area of
296,322 square kilometres, and a population of 27i
millions, has 1,879,109 hectires (4.64I,400acre8) ot
vineyards, which produce annually 2/,10d,674 hectolitres
(596,344,628 gallons') of wine, which, calculated at an
average price of 25 lire per hectolitre (nearlv 11 1.
per gallouj, would amount in value to (i77,664,350 lire,
or £27,100,674 sterling: In Europe, Italy ranks third
in importance as a winegrowing country, folloiving
immediately after France and Spain. — Journal of the
Society of Arts.

Cultivation of Flax in Kussia. — The Central
Blatt fur Textlc Industrie reports that the complaints
of the inferior quality and defective yield of Russian
flax within She last few years, have led buyers in
other countries to represent to their various Govern-
ments the advisability of stimulating domestic fltx
culture by means of subsidies. The sale of Ku8^'ia^
flax has bi.«n to some extent prejudiced in foreign
countries by the importations of Indian and Italian
flax. Efforts are now being made, however, in Russia
to place this important branch of national industry
upon a better footing, by or^'auised measures for
promoting the improvement of the quality, and the
general development of flax culture. — Journal of the
Society of Arti,

The Select Committee of the House of Commons,
appointed on the motion of Sir J ihii Lubbock to
inq are into the de>irabiiity of establishing a Forest
School in England, recently tonk the ev dence of
Mr. W. G. Pedder, Revenue Secretary of the India
OflBce, who stated that a Forestnl Department was
authorised in Bombay in 1846. About that time the
revenue of the Indian forests was £40,080. Since then
it had risen to a gross revenue of nearly £1,000,000,
and a nett revenue of over £4ii0,000, and thai, he
considered, was undoubtedly due to the increased
education of forest officials. Instructors were obtained
from France and Gerrna ly, but latterly chiefly from
France, because it was found that the woodlands of
England and Scotland were not so well mana;^ed at
to enable the managers to give instruction. — Journal
of Horticulture.

Eaethwo SMS— Mildew. — Earthworms in the pots are
another trou )lesome pest, especially waere the extra
precaution has not been taken to grow the plants on
boards or tiles throughout the summer. Taese dis*
turb the roots and cause the flowers to be thin and
weak. A good n )b of fresh unslacked lime put into
a two-gal'oa watering can and left to settle will make
suffioi-nt lime water for a goxl number of plants,
which is the best thing to use to kill the worm-, in
the pots. Mildew will appear more especially on high-
fed plants. Tne best rem-^dy is sulphur, which shouLl
be dusted over at the first sig'i of it. Some v ri-
eties seem more su^.-eptiblo to this than others. Val
d'Andorre of the Japanese, and Trio nphe du Nurd,
and also Dick i'urpiu amongst the Pompons, are the
only varieties that have given me any trouble this
sea.son. — Journal of Horticulture.

Sub-Thopical plants in Small Gardens. — These,
of course, are named as best sites, but the owner ot
a small villa garden, who — as a matter of course—-
has no choice of sites, nee 1 not despair. If he only
has shelter, he may, if so inclined, have a fiist-rate
sub-tropical bed. Say, for instance, he has a large
circular bed, and wishes it planted effectively after
the sub-tropical fashion ; here is thd arrangement.
In the middle plant a large clu up of the hardy bamboo
(Bambusi Metake), or else of New Z^alani flax(P'^onnittw
tenaz) ; then three plants, equal in size, of seedii ig
Aacia lophantha ; and next six plants of Grevillea
j'ofiusia ; tne outer row of all being twelve pl»nts of
variegated abutilon ; the e iging to be the hardy
variegated plantain lilv {Funkia ovata variegata). All
thei(fa plants can be bought at the pric ■- usuaUy paid
for common geraniums, and are therefore within the
reach of all. The bed can be filled out either with
flowering or foliage plants ; considering the position,
we should advice the former, the kinds to be either
geraniums or fuchsias, or both in mixture. Should
foliage plants be preferred, variegated thyme, go den
feather pyrethrum, or any of the mossy selecti 'O of
sedums would be appropriate. — Cassell's Popular
Gardening.

Acclimatisation of Chinese Plants in India.— ^
We are informed that Monsieur Re.\naud, Professor of
Agrimony at Pondicherry, has raised some strong
healthy plants from the seed of th< Chinese "milk
plant" {de soya). It is a native of Japan Yunu Ton,
The Chinese use it largely, expressing the milk, which
is used in its liquid state, and is also manufactured
into cheese ; it has not yet however, found favour
among Europeans, the flavour being unpleasant. The
Chinese bam^^oo, Katang, has also been raised from
seeds by M. Reynaud ; this particular bamboo grows
to an enormous size, and is valuable for a variety of
purposes ; all kinds of utensils are made of it — casks,
tubs, buckets, troughs, &c. The Angola henna (C^tism
Cazan) sown a short time ago are thriving: satis-
factorily, and a good gathering is expected. They are
by far thn best beans for haricot and many other
French dishes ; a great recommendation is their easy
digesting qualities and pleasant taste. The plant
continues to bear for seven years, and is greatly
prized in the Antilles for its economical usefulness;
jt requires little or no tQad^inf. —Planters' OazetU,

6^6

tMB l^nOPiCAL AGmCVLTVmSt, [UAtcn i, my.

QUININE BARK.

6, Mincing Lane, London, 31st Jan. 1887.

Gentlemen, — At the commencement of the past year
prices for both bark aud sulphate of quinine had fallen
to a point low beyond all previous precedent.

Tbey were, however, nevertheless, doomed to suffer
a still further and heavy fall in the course of the year.
The fall cannot be put at less than 25 per ceat on
bark, and 20 per cent on quinine. This unparalleled dep-
ression has, on the one hand, been accompanied by a
very extended consumption of quinine: and, on the
other hand, the extremely unremunerative price of bark
has not, so far, had the effect of at all diminishing
our supply. On the contrary our receipts from Oeylon
— at present the main source of our supply — were again
larger than ever last year.

January. — The new year opened as the old one
closed, with a quiet m irket at previous very moder-
ate prices— 4|d a 5d per unit — business limi'ed.

Fkbruaby was without any improvement either in
demand o'- value.

March witnessed a little more animation ; volume of
business somewhdt large ; previous prices firmly main-
tained.

April saw much the same condition of things. No
diminution in the quantity of business accomplished,
and, although with some little fluctuations, no quotable
alteration in terms.

May WAS a bad month; th; supply of Oeylon became
very heavy ; the demand fell off very much,-aud prices
went down to 4d a 4| 1 per unit.

June opened very heavily for South American Bark ;
but busii^ess to some extent was done in Oeylon upon
previous terms.

July was a most unfavourable month for Importers,
especially of the South American varieties, which were
entirely neglected ; rates for Oeylon also ruling de-
cidedly in favoar of the buyer.

August was without recovery in value ; business to a
tolerable extent accomplished.

September proved the worst month of the year, the
unit having fallen to 3d ; demand very slow.

October was, if anything, rather better in general
tone, but without any quotable advance in currency.
A fair amount of transactions.

November was decidedly better all round; manufac-
turers apparently operating with more confidence.
Large business done, and prices quite gd a Id per unit
higher.

December passed without any noticeable change :
and so ended a year most discouraging to all concerned
in the cultivation of and trade in Baik ! As regards
the supplies of last year, it will be observed that from
Oeylon there has been again a considerable increase;
the total receipts having reached 15,365,0001b,

Against
Against
Against
Against
Against

11,678,360

11,500,000

7.<iOO,000

3,100 000

1,200,000

in
in
in
in
in

1884-5
1883-4
1882-3
1^81-2
1880-1

The supplies of Java Bark shew some, though not
material, increase upon the receipts of the previous
season.

1883 they were

1884 „

1885 „
1886

In

1882
1883
1884
1885

There has

to
to
to
to

been

73.';,3R1 lb.

989,158 „
1,321,509 „
1,771,420 „

some little

augmentation of our
but it may ueverthe-»

supplies from youth America ,

less be assumed that, except in the case of Calisaya,
actual cutting has altogether ceased, prices being so
utterly unremunerative.
The following are the imports of the last six years : —

South Ceylon

American, and India. Total.

1881

pkgg

99,970

15,390

115,360

1882

95,940

21,630

117,!370

1883

63,780

31,330

85,110

1884

21,075

37,300

58,375

1885

5,290

50,410

55,700

1886

10,600

59,700

70,200

Last year, contrary to the two preceding years, our
deliveries fell just a little short of our receipts. The
oflicial dock and wharf returns of bark actually ware-
housed between the 1st January aud the 31st December
render the following : —

landed delivered.

18S4 59,287 78,532 19,245 more dlvd. than imptd.

1885 55,343 74,094 18,751 do. do. do.

1886 70,195 68,986 1,209 less dlvd. than imported

The said docks and wharves return the stock of all
sorts of medicinal bark, at the end of each of the last
three years, as follows : —

1884 ... ... ... 80,500 packages.

1885 ... ... ... 62,117 „

1886 ... (stock corrected)... 62,350 „

We commenced the past year with a steady market
at the following prices for fine qualities, viz. : —

(say 5 per cent. Bark) 28 Od per lb.

2s 6d „ *

Is 6d „

Is 2d „

Is 3d „1

Os 4|d a Os 5d

t Quite nominal.

+

no

Is 2d „
Os lOd „
Os Ud „t
Os Bid „ X

Oalisaya Quill
New Granadian

Soft Columbian

Cuprea ... ...

Carthagena

Ceylon

* Quite nominal, no supply,
supply. X Per unit.

"We closed the year at the following disastrously low

quotations for fine qualities : —

Calisaya Qull ... (say 5 per cent. Bark) Is 6d per lb.

New Granadian ... ... — ,. *

Soft Columbian
Cuprea ...
Carthagena
Ceylon ...

* No quotation in the continued absence of supply,
t Practically no supply. 1 Per unit.

Sulphate of Quinine. — Low as were the prices at
which we commenced the year, they continued to
fall with scarcely any interruption for ten months :
and although there was some liitle recovery in Novem-
ber and December, they closed at an average dec-
line of 8d per oz. for the year. German Quinine has
fluctuated more than that of any other country ;
speculation in that manufacture being the most rife.
The consumption of Sulphate of Quinine must have
been verj- large, especially in America.

Fluctuations were as follows : —

English — Highest — 3s 2d per oz. in bulk,

Lowest 2s 4d per oz. in bulk
French — Highest— Ss Od per oz. in bulk.

Lowest 2s 2d per oz. in bulk.
German — Highest — 2s lOd per oz. in bulk.

Lowest Is lid per oz. in bulk.
Italian — Highest — 2s 9d per oz. iu bulk.

Lowest 2s Od per oz. in bulk.
The following table shews the fluctusitions for the
month — in bulk: 2d per oz. more in bottles: —

English. French. German. Italian/
per oz, per oz. per oz.

3/ 2 9 to 2, 10 2 9

2/10 to 2/11 2/8 to 2 9 2 9

per oz
January... 3 2
February 3,1
March

April

May

June

July

August

September 2 4

October... 2,4

November 2,4

December 2/6

2/10
2,10

2/8
28

. 3, 1 to 3/
. 3

. 2 10
. 2 10

. 2/10 to 2 8 2, 8

. 2, 8 to 2/6 2 3

2/2

2;2

to 2/6 2/2
2/3

to 2/4

to 2,'4

to 2/4

2 8 to 2 9
2,8 to 2 9
2/7i to 2 6
2,5 to 2 3
23 to 2/
2'1 to 2/

2/

1/11 to 2/

2/1 to 2/3

3/S

2,9
2 9

2/7

2 4 to 2 3

2 3 to 2 1

21

2/

2/

2/2 to 2/3

8/3

March i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURlfST.

63 J

2«

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00 m

. o
as 05

t- r-H

O CO
00 .0

3«

--3 §

00 CO

CO t^

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00 «o

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00

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'XI

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00 05.

t^ in

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O lO

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o o

tH 00

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T3

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m

00

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O

cc

o

o

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00

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Ift

CO

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O 00
O (N

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CO

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■^ O

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o

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i

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00

10

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in

co"

o o

S o

CO o

CO 2

■* CO
CC CO

i-J 00

t3

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00

a

M
<I>

■73
■©

a

o

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3

o
o

o

"5.

CO

o

05
><5

ca

S a

. «

M ■

o =* «

.« 00 O

2 00

Sum

S^ OJ (D

: a

eg

d

tH

' > d £ ^--^

".2 -^ ""-3 2-:^M ra-w-r

'^

>>c3 *> >^ a

J-.2 S ® S ^-.2 § o

CO

* c/3

Our imports for the past seven years were thus made

up—

Calisaya

Soft Columbian "|

New Gran'idian and >

Hard^ttayo ... J

Oarthagena

Oeylonf and East

1886. 1885. 1884. 1883. 1882.

4,000 2,600 2,600 2,770 6 310

6,500 2,690 16,960 49,830* 84,150

nil nil 1,510 1,180 .5,470

Indiaa

Oalisaya ...
Soft Tolombian...
New Granadian and
Hard Pitayo ...

59,700 50,410 37,300 31,330 21,630
1881. 1880.
... 7,020 6,580 serons and cases

}

87,200 44,500

and bales.

* These totals for 1885, 1884, 1883. 18S3 and 1881 also
include Cuprea, the imports of which were, in 1885,
about 440 packaees against in 1834 about 11,600 pack-
ages against in 1883 about 40,000 packages againg^ in
1882, about 67,000 packages, and in 1881. about 60,000
packages.

Oarthagena 5,750 6.480 „ „

CeyloD* & East Indian... 15,400 20,690 packages.

The receipts in Amprica have become very unim-
portant. In the following table the quantities for
1885-^6 are without rejections, i.e., bark worthle.ss f or
the manufacture of Sulphate "f Quinine.

1886. 1885. 1884. 1883. 1882. 1881.
Packages... 2,700 3,900 8,150 11,250 28,000 81,400
1880. 1879. 1878. 1877. 1876. 1875
Packages 32,800 46,700 41,000 23,400 32,400 35,150
Stocks at the end of the year without rejections
1886. 1885. 1884. 1883.
Packages ... 930 1,500 2,600 6,200

Imports into France continue to be very small; they
were, last year, of a'l sorts.
About pkgs.
2 272
in 1885... 2!417
1884... 9 270
1883... 39,660

!Oali»ava,& ) Columbian,
about pkg<. V New Grana-

Asainst
do
do

do

&

do

1881..

9.915

do

18f<0 .

8,590

do

1879..

8,030

do

1878..

7,120

do

1877.

4.800

&c.

28.977*; dian,
16.650 „

H.-^SO „

7.960 „

4 829

3 100 „

* Of tht^se iiuports about 12.0h0 were Onprea.
The stocks in France on the 31tt December were as
follows :

1886. 1885. 1884. 1883. 1882. 18SI. 1830
pkgs. pkifs. pkg'«. pk?s. pkis. pk^s. pksrs
7,403 8,567 11,200 18,280 15,780 8,010 8,400
Your obedient servants, Lewts & Peat,

Brokers.

TEA IN LONDON.

(Special teharam for the '^Observer " )

This morning we received the following details
in a telegram which was despatched from London
yesterday at 3-35 p.m. : —

The quantity of Ceylon tea offered during the
week was 2,741 packages, of which 2,199 sold at
an average of thirteen pence. The tone of the
market is duller.

To the above we add the following, for whioh
we are indebted to a leading merchant : —

" I regret to say a telegram from London
reports the tea market not so good ; that
quality is falling off, and that prices are down
lid a lb.

" Probably teas are getting home from bushes
pruned towards the end of last year."

Our correspondent may possibly be correct as to
the cause of the falling off, but mere season, apart
from pruning it would seem to affect the quality
of tea, as was shewn in the quotations made by
Mr. Cochran in his paper on Coca leaves and
their alkaloids.

On turning to the paper referred to by Mr
Cochran, we find that it is stated in the Journal
of the Chemical Society, with reference to a paper
on the Composition of Tea-leaves, by 0. Kellner
{LanduK Versuchs-Stat., 1886, 370—380). "—The
chief interest in this research lies in the fact that
it is almost the only case in which an evergreen
plant has been systematically examined throughout
the year."

Then come the purely technical details of the
drying and chemical treatment so as to obtain the
proportions of theine, tannic acid, &q. We quote
the conclusion of the paragraph : —

"The fluctuation in the percentage of water is
less than that observed in leaves of deciduous trees;
the percentage of ash lies betweeH that found in the
needles of pines and in ordinary leaves. It will be

* The imports from Ceylon in 1886 as in 1885 and
1884 contain many very large pacljages.

632

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1 B87,

noticed that the non-albumonoid nitrogen is almost
wholly absent during the l-iter stages of growth, being
found as theine. Connecting this with the fact that
albumin has increased, and that no theine is found
in the seeds, the author believes that positive proof
is afiforded that the aliialoid, lilte glutamine and
asparagine, is a decomposition product of albumin,
and ia capable of again forming albumin.

" As regards tbe ash, we have here a regular in-
crease, whilst I a deciduous trees is found both
diminution and increase."

Tables are given showing the constituents of
the leaves gathered at different seasons of the
year, from which we gather that the preceutages
in dry leaves vary largely at different dates.
For instance, theine give in May 2'85 and 2-80,
going down steadily to 1 30 and l-OO in November.
Tannin, on the other hand, which showed only
9-67 and 8-3 in Mdy ro^e to 11-34 and 12 16 in
November. The am mnt of ash rose from 4 69 in
May to 5'11 in September, going down to 5-00 in
November. "Etaereal Extract," on which, probably,
the aroma of tea chiefly depends, varied so enor-
miu-ily as from 6-42 in Miy to 2 .'■19 in November.
— Tae water in fre^h leaves, went doivn from 7(i"83
in May to n-dA6 in November. " Old ieav-s " (fresh)
gave 60'03 of water, in May against 76 83 in young
leaves (flmh, of course). Theine in the olJ leaves
was only 0-84 and tannin 11-11. Ash gave 514
and ethereal extract 14' 18.

In 100 parts of ash, excluding carbonic acid,
potash showed 4906 in May, going gradually down
to 17"3l in November. Lime, on the other hand,
rose from 11-95 in May to 30-37 in November,
Magnesia likewise rose from 869 in May to 17-99
in November. Soda went up from 1*07 in May
to 2-76 in November. Peroxide of iron rose from
3-80 in May to 11-37 in November. On the other
hand phosphoric acid sunk from 15-63 in May to
10-70 in November. Sulphuric acid varied only
from 3-75 in May to 4-02 in November. Oxide of
manganese, silica and chlorine, we need not quote.
It is striking to note that the ash of old leave' in
May gave only 14-20 potash against 49-Ot) in young ;
lime in old leaves was nearly double ; magnesia more
than double ; peroxide of iron much more than
double, but phosphoric acid only 10-64 against 16-67 ;
sulphuric acid being 4-41 against 3-75.

It thus appears that in the two important
constituents of potash and phosphoric acid, young
leaves (of ^hich we make tea) are far in advance
of old leaves while the latter contain a far larger
proportion of lime.

But the changes in the constituents of the young
leaves from the hot summer month of May down
to the winter month of November (the experiments
having been, we presume, conducted in India),
are the most interesting results. Of course the
extremes of heat and cold in Ceylon are but slight
as compared with India ; but stiU they must
be operative, and we cannot doubt that much
of the tea now selling at low prices in London
was most injuriously affected by the bitterly cold
winds which swept over Ceylon in December.

LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND.

{By an ev-Ceijlnn Colonist )

South Eiverton, 1st Jan, 1887.
This is a quiet spot in the very South of New
Zealand where I have come from Invercargill to
spend a holiday. I have now been pretty well all
over the country and am quite a diit'erent man
in health to what I was latterly in Ceylon. The
question as to what one should eat and drin
never troubles one here, tbe food being goo

and wholesome and stimulants not being required.
No flannel belts now ! You will be expecting an
account of the country and my d'fficulty is
where to begin. So for the moment I shall
try to imagine myself in Ceylon and then write
to you about the things a Ceylon man would
like to know about.

Climate. — For health the climate of New Zealand
is very good. For comfort it is not so admir-
able, as taken all round it is much windier than
the Old Country and in some places — notably the
Canterbury Plains, hot winds come occasionally.
It can be very dusty too in dry weather. There
are great varieties of climate from wet Southland
and Otago to dry Hawkes Bay in the North
Island. Upon the whole it is warmer than the
British Isles.

Soil is generally of a light clayey appearance,
and a stranger is astonished to see some of it
yield 20 tons of potatoes to the acre, and 75
bushels of oats to the acre. But it varies very
much in fertility. Hawkes Bay, the Canterbury
Plains, the Taen Plains near Dunedin and some
of the Southland Province, are considered the
crack districts, but there are many other places of
smaller extent that can cope with them. There
is plenty land yet to be taken up as good as any
now in cultivation. The South Island has been
most opened up. owing to the Maori troubles in the
north, and were I coming here to farm I think I
should select a spot in the North Island. Land can
be got there now that will by-and-bye carry 10 sheep
to the acre.

ScENEKY. — The mountains and bays of the west
coast in the South Island are magnificent, but
as few people go there they are lost to view.
There are some views of bold scenery about
Dunedin, and lovely places of a quieter kind at
Auckland, but altogether the inhabited parts of
New Zealand are somewhat tame. As th« country
gets older, and English trees grow up it will look
better. The bush hfs the same appearance all
over the islands and it is so vast and dense that
no pretty peeps of waterfalls and glades can be
obtained as in Ceylon.

Plants &c. --Despite the great variety of plants
there is monotony to the eye owing to the pre-
dominance of the Tea* tree so called, the fern,
and in the South Island the Tussack grass. At
the Bluff in Southland there is tea tree and fern,
and at the north of the North Island there ia tea
tree and fern. The stunted-looking palm called
the cabbage tree grows all over New Zealand, but
in the north there are several other palms and
the celebrated Kauri pine which does not grow in
the south. If a railway is anywhere made through
the densest bush, clover and English thistles at once
spring up on it sides. I was astonished to discover
in thick bush the homely old Musk which has
found here a congenial home. Docks and sorrel
abound, perhaps owing to careless fanning.

Fecxt-growing in Kent. — In consequence of the
ruinously low prices obtained for last season's
fruit crop, a large number of growers in Kent
have grubbed their orchards. This has been done
even in casei where the crop of 1886 was the
most prolific on record, the growers stating that it
would not be worth their while to grow fruit and
Fcil it at the prices of last season, which, in hun-
dreds of instances, did not pay the cost of picking
and carriage. — St. James's Budget.

* Properly Ti.— Ed.

March, i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

633

CEZL3S[ U?JOJirili' PLVNriN'J EEPORT.j

COFFEK CROPS IX THE KAN'DVAN DISTRICT— THE NEW TEA j
ROLLEB OF KIXMOXD AND RICHARDSOX — KiXDY AGRI- I
HOUTfCULTUU-VLSHOW— SUCCESSFUL FLOATING OF A LOW
COUNTRY TEA COMPAN'y — TEA CLEAUINQS BUHXF Oi'F O.V i
SU.VDAVS— CABDAJfOM PLAN TINt) — CllBAF LAIiOUll.

28th Feb. 18,S7.
In all the Kandvan districts and especially in
Dumbara there has been a tine blossom on the
coffee. It has been very magniticent in Dumbara,
as much as eight cwt. an acre said to have been
out. The rain which followed a few days later
must have given it every chance to set, and although
a set blossom in that part is not by any means a
harbinger of a sure crop, still it is so far on the way.
There is more blossom still to come, so that the
trees will have enough to do to carry it.

The new roller of Kinmond and Richardson is
doing gook work, I learned. One who has seen
it at work speaks o£ it as " a stylish machine,"
being " neatly made, nicely fitted and very corns-
pact." He adds : " We put in 3i)01b. of leaf for a
roll, although it will take up to 4501b. and the
work was splendidly done. The leaf was well withered
and the machine had every chance of showing
what it could do, and I must say it prove;! to
us all present that it was able to do good work."
At the Agri-Horticultural Show which is to be
held in Kandy if each maker would forward a
specimen roller there would be a tine opportunity
for the public seeing the different michines, aad
especially if they were in motion, which ought to
be arranged. A reward for the best tea rolled on
the spot might well tind a place in the prize list,
and what would hinder the firing off" of the samples
in one of the driers which might ba on exhib-
ition ? An opportunity would then be given of com-
paring the merits of the diff'erent makers, such as
otherwise would be impossible. The made teas
might also be judged. I incline to think, that for
planters at any rate this part of the exhibition,
if carried out, would be as popular as any and
not without value in an educational light.

One of the lowcountry tea Companies — which was
held to be bound to come to grief from the number of
V. A.'s which had shares — is doing very well and
full of much promise. It is said that they ex-
pect to declare a dividend of 20 per cent next
year! Happy shareholders I If this tine return does
come how these V. A.'s will open their eyes? As
to the croakers who saw in the accumulated wis-
dom of the V. A.'s a source of danger which
might wreck an-y enterprise, even the most promis-
ing, they may safely be left to come to a better
state of mind, and recognize somehow that the
Company has been mercifully preserved.

It is strange how such things at times come about.
I know a tea clearing which was burnt off' on a
Sunday, the Sinhalese contractor deeming that a
lucky day — and which immediately became the sub-
ject of prophecy. With a fine sense of justice, it was
sure by those who took up their parable that the
eff'ectof this supposed breach of the fourth command-
ment, would bring with it disaster, not on the Sinha-
lese sinner nor on the European manager, but
on the innocent proprietors in England, who had
no say in the matter. The clearing would never
thrive, it was said, and from its earliest date it
inherited a curse. But like threatened men, who
live long, cursed estates don't do badly, and the
clearing in question can today be favourably com-
pared with any I know. I am very glad it is so : j
otherwise one's sense of what is right would have
been confused past all hope. i

In a quiet way in different districts there is
land being prepared for the planting of cardamoms
during the next S.-W. monsoon. Those who pre-
tend to know say " Now's the time," and hold
out prospects of a good return.

Group of coolies are on the move, and kanganie<?
seek employment for them at moderate advances.
Many estates have men at the Coast recruiting
and more are going. This is really the way to
solve the la'jour difficulty, and not go on buying
up gangs here at enhanced rates.

Pei'I'eucoux.

PEARL.

Pearl. — A peculiar product of certain marine and
fresh water molluscs or shell fish. Most of the mollus-
cous auimils w-.ich are aquatic and reside in shells are
proviile.l with a fluid secretion with which they line
their shells, and give to the otherwise harsh granular
material, of which the shell is formed, a beautifully
smooth surface, which prevents any unpleasant friction
upon the extremely tender body of the animal. This
secretion is evidently laiJ iu extremely thiu semi-trans-
parent films, which, in consequence of such au arrange-
meut, have generally a beautiful irridesceuce, and form
in some sp-.ciea a sufficient thickuess to be cut into
useful and ornamental articles. The material itself ia
its hardened condition is called nacre by zoologists,
a,nd by dealers Mother-of-Pearl. Besides the pearly
lining of the shells, detached and generally spherical
or rouiided portions of the nacre ard often found on
opening the shells, and there is great reason to sup-
pose these are the result of accidental causes, such as
tha intrusion of a grain of sand or other substance, which,
by irritating the tender body of the animal, obliges
it iu self-lefence to cover the cause of offence, which
it has is na power to remove; and as the secretion
g03s on regularly to sujjply the growth and wear of
the shell, the included body c )ustantly gets its share,
an 1 thereby continues to iuorease iu size until it be-
I comes a pearl. The Chinese avail themselves of the
I knowledge of this fact to compel one species of fresh-
water mussel, Unio Hyria, to produce pearls. Iu order
to do this, they keep the Unios in tanks, and in-
sert between the shcil and the mantle of the animal
either small leaden siiot or little spherical pieces of
mother-of-pearl. These are sure to receive regular
coatings of the nacreous secretion ; and after a time
look like p ^arls formed under ordinary circumstances.
These curious people also practise another trick upon
these animals; they insert small images of the Buddha
stamped out of metal, which soon become coated witli
the pearl secretion, and are cemented by it to the
shells; to those ignorant of its origin, the phenome-
non is a supernatural testimony to the truth of Bud-
dhism. Examples of these curiosities are to be found
in many of our museums.

A plan of making pearls was suggested to the Swed-
ish Government by Linnceus. It consisted in boring
a small hole through the shell of the river njussel, and
inserting a grain of sand, so as to afford a nucleus for
a pearl. The plan at first succeeded sufficiently well
to prove its practicability, and he was rewarded by a
sum of monej' (£150) but it failed as a profitable specu-
lation, and was abandoned.

The exact nature of the secretion has never been
satisfactorily determined ; it is, however, ascertained
that it is deposited in thiu films ; wliich overlie each other
irregularly, au 1 to this peculiar disposition of the
plates, the beautiful irridesceuce of common pearls is
attributed. This formation was a great puzzle to the
ancients, amongst whom they were highly prized. Dio-
scorides and Pliny mention the belief that they were
drops of dew or rain which feii into the shells when
opened by the animals, and were then altered by some
power of the animal into pearls. This opinion which,
obtained all over the east, is thus charmingly alluded
to by Moore : —

^34

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [UAttdit f, m^c

" And preciou3 the tear as that raiu from the sL-y,
"Which turns into pearls as it falls in the sea."
The most famous peirls are those from the cast;
the coast of Ceylon, or Taprobaae as it was called
by the Greeks, having from the earliest times been
the chief locality for pearl fishing. They arc, how-
ever, obtained no,v of nearly the same quality in
other parts of the world, as Panama in youth Amer-
ica, St. Magavita in the West Indies, the Coromandel
Coast, the shores o£ the iSulu Islands, the Bahrim
Islands, and the islands of Karak and Corgs in the
I'ersian Gulf. The pearls of the Bahrim fisiiery are
Haid to be evt-n finer than those of Ceylon, and
they form an important part of the trade' of Bas-
Bora. These, and indeed all the foreign pearls used in
jewellery, la- j produced by the pearl oyster. The shells
of the molluscs which yield the Ceylon, Indian and
Persian ones, are sometimes as much as a foot in diam-
eter, and are us-ua'ly ab )ut nine iniihes. Those of the
New World, although the shells are sma'ler aid tliicker,
are believed to be the same species. The chief locality of
the Ceylon pearl iis'iery is a bank about 20 miles long,
10 or 13 miles from shore, opposite to the villages of
Condatchy and Arippo on the uorbheru coast. The sea-
sou of ths fishery lasts about three mouths, commencing
at the beginning of February, and is carried on under
Government regulations. The boats employed are opeu,
and vary iu size from 10 to 15 tons burden ; they put
out at night, usually at 10 o'c'ook, on a signal gun being
fired from the fort of Arippo, and mike for the Govern-
ment guard vessel, which is moo.ed on the bank, and
serves the double purpose of a guard aad a lighter-ship.
The divers are under the direction of a manager, who is
cilled the Adapaniar, and they are cjiefly Tamils and
Moors from India. For each diver there is provided
a diving stone, wciighiug about 30 pound--, which is
fastened to the end of a rope long enough to reach
the bottom, and having a loop made for tlie man's
foot; and in addition to this, a large network basket,
in wliich to place the pearl oysters as h^ collects
them. These are hung over the sides of the boat ;
and the diver placing his foot in the loop attached
to the stone, liberates the coils of the ropo, and
wit'i his net basket rapidly decends to th^ bottom.
To each boat there is usually allotted a crew of
13 men and 10 divers, 5 of whom are descending
whilst the others are resting. This work is done very
rapidly ; for, notwithstanding the stories to the con-
trary, the best divers cannot remain longer than 80
seconds below, and few are able to exceed GO.
The greatest depth they descend is 13 fathoms!
When the diver gives the signal by pulling the
rope, he is quickly hauled up with his net and its
contents. Accidents rarely happen; aad as the men
are very superstitious, their safety is attributed to
the incantations of their shark-charmers, paifoi-aie } at
the commencement of the fishing. .Sir E. Tennent,
however, attributes the rarity of accidents from sharks]
usually SJ abundant iu tropical .seas, t > the bustle and'
to the excitement of the waters during tlie fishery
frightening away the dreaded ere ituresT The divers
are sometimes paid fixed w.iges : others agree for one-
fourth of the produce. When a boat-load of oysters
has been obtained, it returns to shore, and the cargo
sometimes amounting to 20,000 or 30,000 is landed
and piltd on th=^ sh >re to die and putrefy, in order
that the pearls may be easi'y found. The' heaps are
formed in small v»'led compartments, the wall sur-
rounding each being about one or two feet in height.
Several of these cimpartm^nts surround a small cen-
tral enclosure, in which is a bath, ami they slope to-
wards this bath, and are e ich connected with it by a
small channel, so that any pearls washed out from tlie
putrefying mass by the rain may be carried into the bath
When the animals in the shell are sufficiently decom-
posed, the washing commences, and great care is taken

the clippers, who, with pinchers or hammer, skilfully
remove them. Such pearls are used only for settin/-
whi St the former, being usually quite round, are
ariUed and strung and can bo used for beads, &c. Tl

le

workmen who are employed to drill the pearls, also
round the irregular ones, and polish them with great
skill. The method of holding the pearls during these
operations is very curious ; they make a number of
h jles of small depth in a piece of dry wood, and into
these they fit the pearls, so thut they are only partly
below the surface of the wood, which they then place
iu water. As it soaks up the water and swells, the
pearls become tightly fixed, and are then perforated,
&c. These operations are all carried on, on the spot.

Formanymi'e? along the Condatchy shure, the ac-
cumulation of shells is enormous, and averages at least
four feet in thickness. This is not ti bo wondered at,
when it is remembered that this fishery has been in ac-
tive operation for at least 2,000 years. The place itself
is exceedingly barren and dreary, and, except daring the
fishing season, is almoit deserted ; but at that time it
presents an exceeding animfl,ted spectacle ; thousands of
people of various countries and castes, are liere drawn
together, some for the fishery, others to buy pearls, and
others to feed the multitude. They chiefly reside in tents
so that it appears a vast encampment.

The pearls, vary much in size ; those as large as a
pea, and of good colour and form, are the best, except
unusually large specimens, which rarely occur, the most
extraordinary one known being the pearl owned by the
late Mr. Hope, which measured two iucbes in length,
and four in circumference, and weighel 1,800 grains.
The smaller ones are sorted into sizes, the very smallest
being called seed-pearls. A considerable quantity of
these last are sent to China, where they are said to be
calcined, and use in Chinese pharmacy. Amongst the
Romans the pearl was a great favorite, and enormous
prices were paid for fine ones. One author gives the
value of a string of pearls at 1,000,000 sesterces, or
about £8,000 sterling. The single pearl which Cleopatra
is said to have dissolved and swallowed was valued at
£80,729, and one of the same value was cut into two
pieces for earrings for the statue of Venus in the Pan-
theon at Rome. Coming to latter times, we read of a
pearl, in (jueen Elizabeth's reign, belonging to Sir
Thomas Gresham, which was valued at £15,000 and
which he is said to have treated after the fashion of
Cleopatra ; for he powdered it and drank it in a glass of
wine to the health of the Queen, in order to astoni.sh the
ambassador ofSpiin, with whom he had laid a wager
that he would give a more costly dinner than could the
Spaniards.

During the occupation of Britain by the Romans
this country became famous for its pearls, which were
found in the fresh water mussel of our rivers. Gener-
ally the pearls of these molluscs are small, badly coloured,
and often valueless ; but occasionally they occur of such
beauty as to rival those of the psarl oyster. Some years
ago, in the Scutch rivers, the search for pearls was pro-
secuted vigorously, especially bj^ a merchant named lin-
ger, of E.iinburgh, who had brought Scotch pearls into
great repute. He collected specimens ranging, as was
stated, from £5 to £90 each and formed a necklace said
to be worth £350. In Scotch pearls of the highest qual-
ity, there is a pleasing pinkish tint, which is very per-
manent. The fishing for pearl mussels is by no means
so dangerous or troublesome as for pearl oysters ; usually
they are found in the beds of streams, shallow enough
to wade in, and so clear that they can see the bottom.
If too deep to remove with the hand, they are easily
captured by putting a stick between their gaping shells,
which instantly close upon it, and can be drawn out with
it. So profitable did this pursuit become, that a great
many persons engaged in it.

Very fine river pearls, known on the continent as
Bohemian pearls, are found in the rivers Moldan and
Wottawa. There is also a fresh- water pearl fishery in
Bavaria, where the river Iltz yields at times very fine
S))ecimens. Even the most inferior pearls can only be
properly polished with poarldust, and the inferior pearls
are powdered for the purpose of polishing and rounding
the finer ones.

False pearls are very admirable imitations, mado by
blowing very thin beads or bulbs of glass, and pouring
into then a mixture of liquid ammonia, and the white
matter from the scales of the Bleak and sometimes of
the Roach and Dace, The proper way to prepare the

March i, 1887.] THE TEOPICAL AaRlCULTURIST.

^3S

pearl-matter is first to remove the scale of the lower
part of the fish ; these must then be very carefully
washed, after which they are put to soak in water,
when the pearly film falls off and forms a sediment at
the bottom of the vessel, which is removed and placed
in liquid ammonia for future use. This pearl mixture,
when of the best quality, is very costly, being as much
as £4 or £5 per ounce. For use, it is diluted with
ammqnia, and injected into the glass beads, so as to
thinly coat them inside; afterwards the better kinds
have melted white wax poured in, which renders them
more durable. The French and Germans produce in
this way imitations of the finest oriental pearls of such
beauty, that the most practised eye can hardly detect
the difference. The bleak is procured in considerable
quantities for this purpose from the Thames and other
rivers in England.

The invention of artificial pearls is due to a French-
man, named Jaquin, in the time of Catherine d'Medici,
and the manufacture is now chiefly carried on in the de-
partment of the Seine, where great improvements have
lately been made, especially in the art of giving the
irregular forms of large pearls to the glass-bulbs, and
thus increasing the resemblance, and in removing the
glassy appearance caused by the exterior glass coat-
ing, by exposing it for a short period to the action
of the vapour of hydrofluoric acid. Mucilage of fine
gum-arabic is also used instead of wax, which in-
creases the translucency, gives greater weight, and
is not liable to melt with the heat of the wearer's
body — a defect to which those filled with wax are
very liable.

Eoman pearls differ from other artificial pearls,
by having the coating of pearly matter on the out-
side, to which it is attached by an adhesive subs-
tance. The art of making these was derived from
the Chinese.

Motiieu-of-Pearl, the shells of the large bivalve
mollusc, Mdcajrina mariinrifcra, which also produces
the precious pearls.* These shells are collected in
vast numbers in the tropical seas, chiefly oii^ the
coast of Ceylon, Manila, Cuba, Panama, and the South
Sea Islands. Those from Panama arc small and
thick, and are known in commerce as "bullock"'
shells; those from Manila are finest in quality, often
as much as a foot in diameter, round and flat. There
are two varieties— the white or silver lipped and
the black lipped. So enormous is the trade in these
shells, that the imports of this country alone amounted
to 3,000 tons per annum, the value of which is nearly
£100,000. Although large quantities of these shells
are consumed in inlaying fancy wood-work, papier-
mache and in making knife-haudles and other small
ornamental o'ljects, by far the greater portion is re-
quired for making buttons, chiefly in Birmingham.—
The British Xortk Borneo Herald.

To the Editor of the " British Xorth Borneo IleralJ.''
Silt, — Without wishing any criticism to be implied
on the Early Notices of North Borneo and Sulu from
Chinese Sources which were printed in your issue of the
Ist instant, I should like to remark that I was especially
struck by the weight of the pearl mcutioned in the follow-
ing passage :— " In the year 1421 (a.d. is supposed to be
Understood) the mother of the Eastern King (King of
Suiu) sent to Oourta brother of her late husband, called
Paduka Suli ; he presented as tribute a large pearl weigh-
ing more than seven taeh." Kow seven Chinese taels
are equal i.V67 2 5 grains Troy, which if valued at
the prest nt valuation of pearls, presuming the pearl in
question to have been of the first quality, would give the
grand sum of £41,374. In the estimation of the Chinese
it may have possessed a still higher value, seeing the
fabulous prices they sometimes put on pearls. That
which Julius Cassar presented to the mother of Marcus
Brutus was valued at £48,417 10s; and the one which
Cleopatra, in her desire to expend in one feast a larger
sum than Mark Amhony had done in his most sump-
tuous feasts, swallowed with a draught of vinegar ; cost

« This is a curious error. I\[other-o'-pearl is pro-
cured chiefly from large ehellg of (juite a different
epecies,— Ep,

about £30,729 35s 4a. The pearl obtained by Philip II
of Spain in ir)87 from the island of Margarita off the
Columbian Coast which weighed 250 carats or 800 grains
was valued at $150,000.

To those celebrated pearls just noted must now be
added (if credence is to be placed in theEirly Notices
of Borneo and Sulu from Chinese Sources) the above
remarkable one presented by a Queen of Sulu to the
H6ng-Te of the Kingdom. — Yours, &c. Oiim-Cnu.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Gree.v Tea.—" C " is right in saying that more
green tea is sold in this country than in Europe. The
reason for its popularity here is, no doubt, as a re-
cent English writer has observed, in a great measure
due to our intercourse with .Tapan, where green tea
alone is manufactured. In the making of tea, as in
everj^thing which this curious people do, the Japanese
have a waj' of their own. It would startle an Assam
planter to see them in picking time squatting down be-
fore the trees and stripping the branches of the leaves,
instead of scientifically selecting only the young, undevel-
oped leaf, the first leaf below that, and half tlie second,
from which would be evolved respectively " Broken
Tips " or " Orange Pekoe," " Pekoe " and " Souchong."
Any one accustomed to the elaborate machines for
" rolling " and " firing '' the leaves which are in use
on European plant^itions might be amused at the
•Japanese methccl, where the workers roll and squeeze
and twist the leaves in their hands on parchment stretched
over a charcoal fire. Very fine teas are, neverthe-
less, manufactured by the Japanese, and in the cele-
brated district of Uji rumour tells of tea worth i^iir. per
pound, though it is not definitely slated whether that
price has ever actually been paid for i*-. Moreover, in
the case of teas intended for export, only so much work
is done upon them as will enable them to be sent to the
"tea-firing godown" of Yokohama, where they are worked
up for the market before being shipped. As is now
well known, the difference between green tea and black
liesin the fact that in the former iermentatiou has been
arrested by " firing," the color of the leaf being in this
■;vay partially preserved and fixed ; with the latter, by a
much longer process, fermentation up to a certain
point is permitted, and the leaves are not " fired" until
they have become cxidi^'^d by exposure to the air. In
Japan the leaves, after being pick •d and " wliithered "
by a short exposure, are fired in the way described
above sufticiently to stop fermertition, and in this
partially-cured state are sent to the European tea
merchants, by whom they are again '• fii-^d." In the
" godowns ' of Yokohama hundreds of women can be
seen at work turning the leaves over and over and
round and round in large basins built ever a charcoal
fire. The coloring or " painting ' is also done at this
period by means of a spoonful of indigo and powdered
aoapstone put into each basin, and thus disseminated
through its contents. But in Japan tea is not grown
for export only, but is the chi^jf article of home con-
sumption ; and these domestic teas as procured in the
country are probably the only samples of unadulter-
ated green tea which foreigners are likely ti meet with.
Thev produce a beverage which is refreshing, quite
harmless, and which, notwithstandmg the way in which
it is prepared, can, after only a short residence in the
country, be readily distinguished from hot water.—
Anierioaii Cultivator.

A\EW''everlastiug"Vrood Pavement has been brought
out in Fr.-xnce. The v/ood bliicks are boiled in a solu-
tion of sulphate of copper, sulphate of zinc and chloride
of sodium, mixed with a heavy mineral oil, linseed oil
and tallow. The blocivs are afterward compre-^sed to
a.bout one-tenth their original volume. In this state
they are said to practically defy wear and tear.— Joi';"c«
of rurc-itry. [Our Municipal Councillors ought to "put
their heads together"' in order to supply wooden pave-
ment to some of the principal streets or Colombo,— En ]
Fn TEEN years ago, the net forest revenue of British
India was £50,000. Now it is £100,000. Forest culture
has brought about tbu Qha,uge.— Journal of Forestry.

flit fRd^WAL A6MttLfiikm» [ivL

I,

\ii

SjB^BI

FBATER'S PATENT DUPLEX TEA ROLLER.
Writing from Aberdeen under date 1st February,
Mr. Frater says : — "I am sending you by this mail
a set of three photos of my Tea Eoller, made at
home. The first consignment was shipped about a
month ago to Messrs. Brown, Rae & Co., Hatton,
and a second lot is being pushed rapidly on. No. 1
card shows the machine with gear to drive by belts ;
No. 2 showing the machine without driving gear ;
No. 3 showing the machine open. This last photo
shows the entire principle of the machine, which (as,
of course, you know) is 8 discs, the centre one
going the opposite way to that of the two outer.
The machine should really be called the ' Duplex'
Tea Roller. You will see from the photos that the
design is thoroughly substantial throughout. The
cylinder is of cast-iron, lined with brass, and the
discs the same. On the faces of l he latter arc fixed
teakwood battens. The pressure is applied to the
leaf by means of a worm screw and quadrant lever
fixed to outer discs. The machines now being
sent out are a great improvement on those of the
same made in Ceylon. I have bestowed a great
deal of thought on them, and, having the advantage
of fine machinery here for their manufacture, I hope
to have a share of Ceylon's demand. . . . Ceylon
tea is rapidly getting into favour in the north
here, and is well advertised in the newspapers
and shop-windows. China tea will soon have no
place at all !''— The photographs referred to are now
for inspection at our office.

THE PLANTING " MOLES WOETPP."

"The Planter's Note-book" which is intended
for the pocket of the trojiical planter is a start
in the right direction. The model on which the
lines are laid, of this new venture of the Observer
Pres?, and from which it takes part of its name —
'The Planting Molesworth" — is so good, and so
likely to lead to good, that I am reminded of the
Scotch proverb, " He'll shoot higher that shoots
at the moon, than he that shoots at the midden,
e'en though he may miss the mark "

For a first, or even a second or third edition of
a "Planting Molesworth" to attain to the excel-
lence of the famous original, although not a hope-
less aim, is certainly a high end : and it is mani-
festly clear that the publishers, Messrs. A. M. & J.
Ferguson, intend to put " their best foot foremost,"
and do all in their power to make '-The Planter's
Note-book" a grand success, when they have taken
the engineering "Molesworth" as their model, and
invited comparison by adopting its name.

The planters will have to remember, however,
that ere this— the latest heir of a noble name —
can resemble even in part the high qualities of
its eminent predecessor, their help will be needed ;
for the practical information which must be sup-
plied to bring this desir9,,ble likeness out, is to be
found, not so much al /^"^^ ofltce of the compilers,
as in the field and faclgj' , and among the every-
day work of an estate. ^o-i^ren-ly it is pleasing to
see, that suggestions are appearing in the Observer
columnti, hy selecting and adopting the best of
which the value of the next edition of the "Planting
Molesworth" will be materially increased.

As to the present edition, the t'tle-page gives
a fair idea of the comprehensivencsB of the public
catered for. It runs as follows; — "The Planters'
Notebook with everyday information for the tea
planter, and also for planters of colfee, cinchona,
cacao, rubber, cardamoms, coconuts, cinnamon &c.,
with useful hints on machinery, buildings, &c.,
also manuscript note-book for field and factory or
store." And in the 52 pages of letter-press with

* Tropical Planters' Note«book, pubjicbed by A, M,
^ jT Fergus VI), ColQBibO; }bB7.

which the "notebook" opens, the grower of any
of the above products will find in a highly-con-
densed form, figures and facta to refresh the
memory of the old hand, or to guide the ways
of the beginner. As an example take: " Cardamoms
100 lb. green=:about'2-l lb. dry.

Per Day:
A cooly can cut about 12 lb. Malabar
„ pick ,, 18 ,, Mysore

n clip ,, 5 ,, Dry Malabar

Average cost of production ;-Ju to -10 cents per lb.
Frieght and home charges 3d to -id per lb.
Chests could contain 100 lb. nett."

Now this information useful as far as it goes
is not all which might be given under the heading
of cardamoms. The cost of planting and curing,
and the best methods of carrying out the latter,
not to mention aught else might well have been
added.

Indeed the leading fault .of this first edition is
its want of plan. Why was the cost of work in
planting cacao given, and similar information in
regard to cardamoms withheld '? Why are we told
how to cure colfee, and not a word given about
the manner of curing tea ? In compiling a
book of this kind there ought to have been pre-
pared first of all a carefully drawn up series of
questions on the points where the culture of all
Eastern products touch, and then after that que-
ries on the special ones. By this means there
would have been less chance of such omissions
as I have referred to. This was mere especially
called for as " The Planting Molesworth" aims at
supplying a general want in the East, a tropical
planter's vade viecum, in fact.

The information under tlie heading of " tea" is
very full and of an exceedingly varied chax'acter.
You can learn all about tea seed, the average
task of a cooly at the different works in a tea
garden, the cost of opening, detailed price of
curing : facts and figure regarding choolas, hoop
iron, bins, firewood, tea-boxes, tea lead, solder,
nails etc., etc. But comprehensive as the list is
there is much a-wanting, and which ought to
find a place in a future edition. There should for
example be a series of tea-house notes, regarding
the manipulation and curing, and also guides to
tea-tasting.

It is a very easy matter, however, to go on sug-
gesting, and in works of this kind one is apt to
overlook and undervalue the really useful and
comprehensive nature of the information which
is already suijplied. But I have no desire to do
this, for I feel sure that to all planters ex-
perienced or inexperienced alike, " The Planter's
Notebook" will commend itself, by its own inherent
worth. It will afterwards become more and more
precious, as the blank page* get filled with " tips"
and •' wrinkles" supplied by neighbours or
wjrked out and discovered by the individual writer.
As it is, the practical knowledge which has been
compressed into tho r>2 pages of letter-press, would
if written out in long-hand have more than tilled
the ■ft'hole note-book had it all been available, and
anyone who had been in possession of such a note-
book would have been inclined to look upon it as
invaluable. Such a source of information could
only have been in the hands of the experienced,
whereas a beginner can now leap as it were into
the wisdom of the tried, and save himself a world
of worry by a reference to the notes in " The
Planting Molesworth,"

In the preface the publishers " apologize for the
rather rough aiipearance of the blank paper and bind-
ing as arranged by nalive workmen," but although we
live in a refined ajge, and even wish one's attention
drawn to these detects, I feel inclined to eay " nq

MAiKfi i, m^,] ^HU f'ROPiCAt AdRlCULTUklSt,

^3/

■^.^— ^^^..^..-j.^'w^^^gv.^.aaJtfV^.^Tj-:,

!■! liW'i'B— ''— f— --B^^aa

need for any apology." There is, however, a uant
of a pencil, or a place to hold one, which is some-
what noticeable. I don't know that there is any
need to add more on this new venture. The pub-
lishers seem to have somewhat lacked confidence
in it when tlae introductory note was being drawn
up, for they say " In now issuing tlie little work we
are conscious of many imperfections — to be re-
medied perhapx in a second edition should such
be called for." I have a great deal more faith in
its future than that ; for, although to Mr. li. B.
Arthur of Dikoya has been awarded the honour
of suggesting the work, I incline to dispute his
right as it has been a pet project of mine for a
long time, and early in May last year I suggested
in your own columns' that in the series of plant-
ing manuals issued by the Observer press there was
an unoccupied niche for " a Plantmg Moleswortli."
"He kens his ain groats amang other folks' kail"
you will be inclined to say after this httle bit of
purely personal matter. Peppekcoen.

[To " Peppercorn " certainly belongs the sug^
gestion of the title "Planting ^Jolesu■orth''\ and-
we are sorry to find we omitted to make acknow
lodgement for this and aid generally. — Ed.]

Grass under Trees. — When difficulty is experienced
in keeping grass green under trees in optn woods, parti-
cularly pine woods where the shade is continuous the
year round, sow a little nitrate of soda occasionally
throughout the growing season when the weather is moist.
This will bring a fine crop of verdure pleasing to the
eye and agreeable to cattle. — Jocriml of Forcslri/. [A
hint for owners of coconut plantations?— Ed.]

Liquid Manuue. — Topreja e a strong liquid manure,
fill a tub with water, iutj which throw fresh cow
manure, pigeon's or fowl's manure, guano, bone-dust,
&c. , either one or more of these matters may be used.
The vessel should not be covered, but the air should
have free acf-e^s to the liquid. It should also be
stirred up from time to time. As soon as fermentation
sets in, it is ready for use. It should be poured through
a sieve into the watering can, and applied to the plants
in the morning or eveuinj:. It is advisable to dilute
this with water if it sh( uld be too concentrated, as
then it is injurious. Experience and observation of its
effects will soon teach wbtther it is too strong or not.
— Rural Australian.

P.U)DY Cultivation in the Galle Distkict, —
Some time ago we mentioned that Mr. William
Jansz obtained some seed paddy from Batticaloa
with the object of improving the cultivation of
the grain in the Southern Province. The result
of his experiment has just been communicated
to us. In November last one bushel was sown
in a field at Halpatotte near Baddegamraa, under
the supervision of Mr, L. Christie, the Superin-
tendent of Gordon tea estate. The land selected
was not very advantageou.^. A crop had been
taken from it scarcely sis weeks before, and there
was no time for it to be fallow. In addition to
this, there -svere other adverse circumstancea, A
portion of the crop was destroyed by cattle, and
the seed which had been sent from Batticaloa
had got mixed, as when a portion of the i^addy
had ripened, it >ya3 observed that a second and
more luxuriant crop was coming up. It was
decided not to cut the first crop with the view
rf preserving the second, >Yith the result that the
former, as also a third crop, were wasted, show-
ing that three kinds of seed maturing in three
periods had got intermixed. The second crop yielded
llli bushels to one bushel, while not one of the
neighbouring fields sown with ordinary grain gave
half the quantity. Mr. Jansz is now assured

hat but iox tbe adyerse civcumstances above

referred to, ho would have obtained 25 to 30
bushels to the bushel. The experiment wac
closely watched by the Sinhalese agriculturists
of the neighbourhood, who were very doubtful of
its success and did not therefore care to try it
on their own account. They have now spontaneously
come forward in praise of the new cultivation,
as several letters addressed to Mr. Jansz in Sin-
halese will show. We may add that the paddy
thus grown has no beard like the ordinary Sin-
halese paddy. It closely resembles the grain im-
ported from Rangoon and Chittagong, and its
increased cultivation will, no doubt, tend to benefit
a large section of the native population in the
South. Mr. Elliott, the experienced Government
Agent of this Province, was the first to recognize
the utility and encourage the adoption of Mr.
Jansz's scheme. He at once ordered a supply of
the seed to be7;distributed amongst some of the
District Mudaliyars, and the result of the trials
made by them will, no doubt, be reported in due
course. In the present instance Mr. Jansz was
careful to avoid high manuring, only the ordinary
methods of cultivating the grain were adopted.

Preparation of Parchment Coffee in Europe.
— We quote as follows from the Singapore Free
Press .—38, Mincing Lane, E. C. 13th Nov. 1886.— Dear
Sir, — Kefm-iiug to the conversation I have had the
pleasure of having with you a few days ago, there are
two bonded wharves in L' ndon where suitable machin-
ery has been put up for ppeling and sizing coffee in
parchment, viz., " Red Lion Wharf" and "Metropo-
litan Wharf." I have had several opportunities of seeing
coffee worked at both places, and have no hesitation
in saying that both do their work exceedingly well. In
addition to the experiments I mentioned to you, where
E. Indian coffee has realized 4s to 5s per cwt. nett more,
when prepared in London, Costa Kica, New Grenada,
and Guatemala, from 8s to 12s per cwt more, I have
had a parcel of Liberian imported in parchment from
Johore treated at Red Lion Wharf and the result has
been a pale yellowish coftVe much better looking than
the ordinary dull brown and greenish Liberian and I
have sold the same in public auction at 57s 6d for the
large size and 5'2s 6d for the bulk, instead of 49s to
50s the price of ordinary Liberian. I would not, how-
ever, recommend sending Liberian in parchment to be
worked in London, as the parchment is very coarse and
heavy and there mu-t be a much greater loss from the
weight of the parchment, than with the Ceylon Libe«
rian, for instance. For plantation coft'ee, such as is ex-
hibited from the Perak Experimental Hills, smne of
which appears to have suffered from damp or in pre-
paration, I cannot help thinking that it would be of
great advantage to seuil the parchment to London.
I assume, of course, that the coffee has been picked at
the right time, that it has been pulped at once and
carefully, and that the clean parchment has been
properly dried ; tho^c conditions are absolutely necec'
sary, and, if they are observed,! h.ive little doubt that
the parchment will hiive been found to have preserved
the colour and quality of the berry in a remarkablu
manner, and that the result will prove to be very satis ^
factory to the planter. The extra freight to be paid
on the parchment may perhapj be Is per cwt. whilst the
cofftewill probably realise oa or more in excess of
what it would have done ctherwise, I may add thai
the whole of the plantation Java crop (from 250 tu
300,000 bags) cornea now to Holland regularly in parch-
ment ; some of our Dutch friends have tried London
lately with a few parcels of parchment and have ex-
pressed themselves as highly pleased with the wiy
their coffee has been treated. Should you wish 'osee
the working of coff>'e, I shall be happy to arn n^e to
take you to one of the wharves on any day which may
suit you. I should have been glad to have sent you
a copy of one of my reports on coffee, but the report
belongs to tie Royal Commissioners and the (Society
of Arts, and, uutil it has been published by them, I
am precluded from making any use of it. I remaiy
<S.'c., IT, .P\gTKU«,

Y, A, Swetteuhauj, Esc^.

6sB

tUE THOPtdAL AGHICULTUmSf. [March I, 1^87.

To the Editor of the " Ceylon Observer'"
ELECTRICITY FOR TEA MACHINERY.

SiK, — With reference to Mr. Grigg's letter of
Oetober 25tb upou the above subject, I should like
to give with your permission, some practical iuform-
alioU concerning the transmission of power by means
of electricity. It is a moFt interesting question and
when thoroughly understood, will, I have no doubt,
be of the greatest importance to employers of
machine-power within reasonable distance of
water-power.

Until recently, one of the chief stumbling blocks
to the employment of electricity was the dilficulty
of obtaining a cheap and efficient electric motor for
converting the electric current into mechanical
power; this has now been entirely overcome and
motors can easily be obtained having an efficiency
of at least 80 per cent and higher according to
their power. The dynamo for generating the elect-
ricity has also been considerably improved especially
as regards regulation, and, therefore, this part of
the question may be dismissed as having been
practically solved.

The remaining question now is that occasioned
by the wires conveying the electric current, this
unfortunately is the prohibitive factor whei-e power
has to be conveyed over great distances. Of course
where waterpower is used, this loss does not matter
so much if there is an abundance, as the working
cost is in no way increased, though the first cost
is owing to a larger generating machine being
i-equired. It is impossible to give a fixed rule for
determining the loss of power per mile in the
conductors, because this is dependent upou their
size and, therefore, cost. It is a question for tbe
employer of the power to decide according to the
circumstances of the case, weather he increases the
first cost of the conductors and therefore decreases
the loss of power or the converse.

Now as regards the first cost, I will give some
figures showing the approximate cost of an elect-
rical plant (in London packed) for transmitting
10 horsepower 1, 2, 3 and i miles. The plant
includes the generating dynamo, motor and neces-
sary length of copper conducting wire : —

a

to

s
o
a

<o xit

•-rg

Id
U2
O

Per cent.,
i ,, 15

2 ,. 30

3 .. 30
i .. 10

hi ^

Ph OjD

2'^

<'|

H, P.
IG

18
18
20

u

3

a
o

xn
O

a;

32
64

158
300

Added to this must be added the loss in the motor
say 15 per cent and also that of the generating
dynamo say 10 p'-r cent.

The figures given in the column of " loss in con-
ductors" may be very considerably reduced by
using currents of much greater tension, but as
these become dangerous 1 have not thought it
worth while to go into that part of the question,
seeing that what is required is a practical
solution of the problem for employers of mo-
tive power oot having any special knowledge of
electricity.

Among the important advantages that electricity
offers as a motive power is that the current can
be used for lighting any buildings ,oft the estate
when not used for the machinery. As an example
the above would work 10 arc lamps of 2,000 can-
dle-power each or UO incandescent lamps of 20
caudle -power each, and finally store the electricity
in accumulators when not required either for
lighting or power.

The maintenance of the plant when once erected
would be very small indeed. I do not think that
the damp climate would affect the dynamos as
suggested by Mr. Griggs as the wires are made of
copper and covered with insulating material.

Apologizing for the length of the letter,— Yours dc,
F. GEEKE HOWARD, Electrical Engineer.

36 Cleveland Street, London W.

ABRUS PRECATORIOUS. '

Minuwangoda, 21st Feb. 1887.

yiE, — While perusing the current number of the
r. J, today, I came across that the seeds of the
Ahrus rrecatoyions are an official drug recently
introduced to Ceylon and America.

The Abrus Precatoriuiis called olinda in Sinha-
lese is a creeper which I have seen growing abun-
dantly in the low-country. The leaves have a
peculiar sweet taste and the seeds are scarlet with
black spots. The seed of this may be collected if
there is any market value. Kindly, Mr. Editor, see
whether there is any market value for it, if so, it
will become a good minor industry for the poor
interior goyas — and perhaps it may be cultivated to
a large extent with profit. — Yours faithfully,

W. A. D. S.

The Jiiiericait Grocer says, that a French savant
claims to have discovered in cotton-tree seed a nutritious
matter, presenting some most remarkable features in
its composition. An analysis of the seed of Cotton
trees, of which several varieties are cultivated in Bolivia,
shows that this is the richest of all known grains
in nitrogenous substances. He is convinced that Cotton-
tree seed will make a flour destined to fake an im-
portant place as a food for man.

A\ American paper has apparently become very
philosophical, and puts forward the following remark-
able observation; — "A life devoted to the extermin-
ation of cockroaches is nobler spent than a life de-
voted to the gathering of Orchids." This will perhaps
prove an alarming discovery to some similarly thought-
ful readers, but we do not anticipate that many will
be induced thereby to undertake the "nobler'' em>
plojment. — Jeurnal of Horticulture

Novel Method of Podltby Raistxg. — A French
correspondent of the Fhenix A<]nculturist gives the
following novel methods with poultry in one of the
departments of France. He says : — The farmers in
the department of the Tarn laise large quantities of
fow's which they sell at considerable profit in the
neighboring towns, Their hens are carefully chosen
with .special reference to their laying qualities, for
lot' g before artificial hatching was generally practiced,
these managing people had found a way to hatch
chickens without bens. One turkey hen can cover
thirty eggs and can be made to hatch three sets
of eggs the fame season, But if she can hatch
three sets of eggs she c.innot raise three sets of
chickens at the sar^^e time. To obviate this difhculty
a fat capon is shut in a basket with four or five
little chickens, the baskets covered with a cloth and
placed in a dark spot from twenty-four to forty-eight
hours, iiccordiug to the tractability of the capon.
Whtn turned out with his chickers and othtrs added,
for he can take care of twenty-five, he is a better
nurse and provider than the hen herself. He is larger
and covers them better, is stronger and better able
to defend them against birds of prey and other enemies,
— Soidkern ^lo.nter.

March:!, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

^35

Scientific Notes.— The deepest boriug yet made is
at the vilJage of Sc ladebach, Prussia. It has been
made by the Governmeut to est for the presence of
coal and was bored with diamond drills. Is depth
is 4o('.0 feet, its breadth at the bottom two inches,
and at the top 11 inches. It has oceap ed '^^ years
to bore, and cost a iittle over £vOiiO. The temperature
at the bottom is 118° Fah.— >oi'/A m riant"}:

(Substitutes fob Boxwood — SirVilliers Lister calls
attent on to the following passage in Mr H Komilly s
" We tern Pacific and New Gui ea" ^Mu ray , p. 166.

"The Trisbauds are esceecii gly rich isl;inds, and

I,roduje various sorts of woo ' not met wi h elsewh-re,
unless perhaps it be on the mainland of NfW Guinea
There is an extremely hard white-wood which I have
never seen except from the Trisbands. It looks a most
like ivory when polished, and should be of service for
cabinet-making." — Journal tf the f^ocietij of Arts.

Ffnce Posts. — a writer in The Mnine Farmer thus
expresses himse'f in regard to seitinj fence posts: —
It has crmmonly been stated that posts set top end
in the ground would :ast longer th n when set with
the Lutt end down. We recently had occasion to re-
move a fence which had been set eighteen years, and
to our surprise the posts set top down wtre still sound
and strong, while many of those set the reverse were
rotted entirely off. We have before found evidences
of the greater durability of posts set in this way. If
general experience corroborates our own, it is a matter
well worthy of wide attention. — Indian Gardener.

The Planting Molesworth. — This, the latest addi-
tion t® the long list of useful publieations issued by
Meesrs. A. M. «S: J. Ferguson f t the tropical plant r, is
not the least valuable. Wheiher to the old experienced
planter or to the tyro, the jlanting Molesworth will
be very handy owing to the many useful tables it con-
taing, and to its .size permitting of insertion in the
pocket and ready reference. Whether f or f actorj' or
field work, the little volume will afford all young plan-
ters more instruction than years of practice, and every
Superintendent would do well to provide his Assistant
or Conductor witli a copy of this handy and useful
compilation. As is to be expected, the bulk of the
" Notes" relate to tea. We leave the criticism of the
figures to those most competent to deal with them—
pra tical tea planters. All tea planters are not neces-
sarily engineers, although many engineers are tea
planters, and the " Memoranda for the economical
working of Machinery" will be specially useful for
those, and their name is Legion, who have to work
machinery, the deterioration of which is generally due
more to ignorance in working it than to inevitable
wear and tear. There are a few hints on coffee, which
will not be found to be new to those actually engaged
in the culture of the old king. We believe there are
at present no new hands on coffee plantations, tea
estates absorbing all the new arrivals. Cinchona,
cocoa, cardamoms, castor oil, coconuts and cinnamon
receive as scant attention as c.ffce. Strange, that
with the exception of tea, all the principal
products of the Island, like its name and its capital,
begin with a 0. We have not the space to comment
criticiUy on all this useful little book contains; but
we may remark that cinnamnn must be giving little
or no returns to those engaged in its cultivation, for,
according to the information supplied by an " old
Planter," the yiell of an acre is a bale of 100 lb.,
which at present market rates^^R28. The cost of
weeding .in acre per annum is RIO. Pruning R6. The
cast of cutting and peeling is not given, but averages,
with Cangany's wages, about R16 per bale, total R32,
shewing a loss of K4 per acre, without taking into
consideration the cost of supervision, transport, build-
ings &c., and yet many are still engaged in its culti-
vation, and make a profit out of it too ! How is this
managed? Those whose cinnamon fetches R28 per
bale do not cultivate it, and gradual extinction of these
places is going on, while those who cultivate their
estates and pay particular attention to manufacture,
manage to nett something more than R28 for a bale of
their cinnamon ; but the profit, if any, is cut very fine
uow.a-days.— Local " Examiner."

PitODucTioN OF Cream of Tartar at Messina.—
According to the annual report of tha Chamber of
Commerce of Messina, it will be seen that a marked
increase in the exports of cream of tartar from that
port has taken place during the last three years, being
as follows :— 1S83, 3, 500,000 kilogs. ; 1884, 4, 155,671
kdogs. ; 1835, 5,721,597 kilogs.— c/o»nirt/ of the Society
of Arts.

ExpoRTATio.v OF FowLS FiiOM Italv.— Formerly the
greater part of the fowls sent to Marseilles was
furnished by Gascouy and Languedoc ; now Italy sup-
plies the greatest number, and chiefly Lombardy.
Italian fowls also are sent to Spain. Every Friday
a specially constructed live poultry truck arrives at
the Marseilles railway station. It, is of similar dimen-
>ion8 to an ordinary covered goods truck, and
contains about 3,000 fowls in 108 hencoops. The truck
consists of nine tiers of cages, twelve to each tier, and
each capable of holding thirty fowls. Being well
ventilated and kept scrupulously clean, and supplied
with an abundance of fre.'^h water and millet-seed,
the fowls from Milan and even Yenine, arrive at
Marseilles in the best possible condition of health,
and large numbers are likewise forwarded to Spain
— Journal of ike Society of Arts.

There has been a collee famine in Eangooii iu
the past few weeks, occasioned, it is supposed, by
the large quantities sent upcountry for the troops.
Anyhow, says a correspondent, the price for several
days rose from one rupee per viss (3| lb.) to R2-4
and E2-8 per viss. And yet excellent co£fee grows
in tho vicinity of the town, and the climate of most
of the Lower Burma stations seems excellently ad-
apted for the production of any quantity. It is
strange that in a large city like this, with so many
stores where every description of English and In-
dian supplies can generally be got, they allow them-
selves to run out of an article in such general use
with ali classes of the community. Yet such has
been the case in Rangoon with co&ei.— Madras Times.

Uses of Hovs.— The hop is not only known as an
ingredient in beer-brewing. Its tender tops sei ve the
Belgians for asparagus, an infusion of its flowers yields
a well-known yellow dye for wool, its stalks yield a
flax that in Sweden is woven into cloth, and a bag
of hops is often used in medicine to allay inflam-
mation. The strong bitter odour of the ripened bloom
has a strangely exhilarating effect in cases of des-
pondency, and the dried hop itself has curious sleep-
beguiling properties occasionally taken advantage of
in critical cases. When the Prince of Wales was so
seriously ill ab Sandringham, a pillow of hops was used
for him to sleep on. When his great grandfather
George III. lay sick almost to death in 1787, a hop pillow
was also used. And in each case the recovery is claimed
as a triumph for the Humlus lupuhts. — Lei.itcre Hour.

TnE Flora of Australia.— Barou F. Von Miiller,
K. 0. M. G., has just completed and isiued under the
auspices of the Victorian Government a second supple-
ment to his Systematic Oansua of Australian Plants.
From the information now publi-*hed it appears that
while the known plants of Anstrtlia and Tasmania
are about 9,000, they occur in the following propor-
tions in the respective colonies : Western Australia,
.S,455; Queesland, 3,457; New South Wale.s, 3,154;
Northern Australia, 1,829 ; Victoria, 1,820 ; South Aus-
tralia, 1,810, and Tasmania, 1,016. the progress of
Botanical discovery in Australia within the last quarter
of a century has been very marked, says the Colonies
and India, and the Colonies are mainly indebted to
Baron Von Miiller for this result. At the beginning
of the century (1805) Robert Brown, who may be
styled the father of Australian Botany, returned to
England with between 3,000 and 4,000 species of plants,
and there in subsequent years he described in his
"Prodromus Flora Novtr- Hollandire et Insula^ Van
Diemen." Since Brown's work no systematic arhlition
was m.ide to his labours until Baron F. '^^on Miiller,
considering that the time had arrived for the public-
ation of a general flora of Australia, prepared in
conjunction with Bentham, the seven volumes of th»
" Flora Australiensis," — Indian Garlener.

640

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[March J, 1887.

MARKET Ri\TES

(From Lfwis cfc Peat's

FOR OJLD AND NEW PRODUCTS.

London Price Current, February 3rd, 1887.)

FROM MALABAR

COAST, COCHIN,

CEYLOX, JIADRAS, &c.

BEES' WAX, White, per

(Wt.

Yellow
CINCHONA EARK— Crown
per lb.

QUALITY.

f Slightly softish to good

QUOTATIONS.

\

Red

CARDAMOMS Malabar
per lb .

\ hard bright

Do. drossy & dark ditto

Reuewed ...

Medium to fine Quill

Spoke shavings ...

Branch

Renewed

Medium to good Quill ,

Spoke shavings ...

Branch

Twig

Clipped, bold, bright, fine 2s a lis Id
and Ceylon Middling, stalky & lean'sd a Is lid
Aleppee -Fair to tineplumpclipped is ;3d a 2s 3d

£G a £7 5s
£1 lOi a £6
Is a 3s
Is Id a 2s 6d
i5d a Is 2d
•2d a 6d
3d a 2s 6d
6d a 23 6d
3d a 7d
•2d a 4d
id

Tellicherry Good to fine
I Brownish
Maugalore jGood & fine, washed, bgt.

Long Ceylon Middling to good

CINNAMON, per lb. Ists jOrd. to tine pale quill ...
2nds ,, ,, ,, ,,
3rds ,, ,, ,, ,,

"Iths Woody and hard

Chips ...IFair to tine plant...

COCOA, Ceylon, per cwt...jBold to good bold
...1 Medium

Triage to ordinary
COFFEECeylouPlantatiou Boldto fine boldcolory

QUM ARABIC, Madras .
NUX VOMICA, per cwt. .

per ewt. ' j Middling to fine mid

JLow mid. and Low grown

.Smalls

,, Native Good ordinary

Llberian ...Small to bold

East Indian ... Bold to fine bold

Medium to fine

Small

Native [per ton Good to fine ordinary ...

COIRROPE,Ceylon&Cochin'Mid.coarse to finestraight

FIBRE, Brush, per ton Ord. to fine long straight

Stuffing ...Coarse to fine

YARN, Ceylon, per toj) Ordinary to superior

Cochin ...Ordinary to fiue

Do [ewt Roping fair to good

COLOMBO ROOT, sifted ^ Middling wormy to fiue...

CROTON SEEDS, sifted ... Fair to fine fresh

GINGER, Cochin, Cut Good to fine bold

per cwt, ,, .Small and medium

Rough IFair to good bold...

iSmall

Dirk to good pile
IFair to fine bold fresh .
Small ordinary and fair.
MrRABOLANES,pale,per|Good to fine picked
cwt. iCommon to middling .

;Fair Coast

Pickings Burnt and defective
OIL, CINNAIMON, per oz... Good to fine heavy

CITRONELLE ,. | Bright & good flavour .
LEMON GRASS „ „ „ „ ,,

ORCHELLA WEED [Flb.'Mid. to fiue, not woody.
PEPPER, Malabarblk.sifted.Fair to bold heavy
AUeppee & Cochin ,, ,, good ,,

Tellicherry, White ...; ,, ,, ,,
PLUMBAGO, Lump, ^ cwt. Fair to fine bright bold..
JMiddling to good small..
Chips ... Slight foul to fine bright

Dust ...jOrdinary to fine bright ..,

REDWOOD, per ton. ;Fair and fine bold

SAPAN WOOD ,, \Iiddling coated to good fi-i a £7

SANDAL WOOD, logs ,, ; Fair to good flavor ... e20a£'4t

Do. chips ...Inferior to fine e.Tl0sa£l6

SENNA, Tinnevelli, jier lb. Good to fine bold green... Sd a Is

Fair middling medium... "id a 7d
{Common dark and small 2vd a 4.M
TURMERIC, Madras.'ni cwt Finger fair to fine bold 9s 6d a" I (Is
Do. ... Mixed middling [liright Hi 6d a iU

Do. ... Bulbs whole ... ... 73 6daSsfid

(.'ochin ..., Do split li* .'id a 7s

VANILLOES, Mauritius &
per lb. Bourbon, Ists Fine crystalised fl a Sinch'Ws a 2',N
2nds Foxy & r(>ddish .'') a 8 ,, lOs a liis
3rd3 i Leau & dry to middling

A under 6 inches ...]7sal2s
4th ILow, foxy, inferior and '

j [pickings Is a 8d

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

Is Gd a 2s 2d
6d a Is 3d
Is 4d a 33 4d
!8d a Is 4d
Ufla Is 81
i7d a Is -Jd
\*i^A a Is Id
'.5,id a lid
.4d a 7d
7S^ a 81s
70s a 76a
iOs a 6o3
9-5s a 103s
S2i a 92s
79* a 82s
74s a 783
65s a 72s
o8s a 64s
95s a H03
80s a 90s

33

65s a 723
£5 a £17
£10 a £35
£8 a £17
£12 a £30
£11 a £32
£13 a £15
10s a 28s
10s a 258
63s a 843
3-2s 6d A .553
30s a 45g
•22s 6d a 253
20s a 80s
7s a lis
3s a 63
.. lis a 8s 6d
5s a 6s 3d
OS 6cl a 69
3s 3d a 43
Is a 33
Jia Id
Ifd a lid
40s a 55s

7sd a 8d

lOd a 2s 6d
93 a 14s
7s a 10s
3^ 9d a 10s
39 a 9s
£1103 a £5

ALOES, .Soecotrine and iGood and fine dry
per cwt. Hepatic... Common and good

CHILLIES, Zanzibar ...lOood to fine bright
P*r i-Wt OfJiuaTV *itil ttiidiUiii

.. £6 10s a £8 10s
..£4 a £7 10s
...■WsaSls

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

QUALITY

QUOTTIAONS

Good and fine bright
Common dull to fair

I „ fresh

.Fair

Fair to fine dark blue

M^VES. Zauzibir
aiiH Pfl nf>a, per lb.
,, St-^ms.

COCULUS INDICUS
GALLS, Bussorah Iblue

& Turkey il>'cwt.

[cwt. Good white and green.
GUM AMMONIACUM per Blocky to fiue clean ...
ANIMI, washed, ^ cwt. Picked fiue pale in sorti,
part yellow and mixed
Bean & Pea size ditto ...
lamber and dark bold
scraped... jMedium & bold sorts

& Aden ..ISorts

Fair to fine pale
Good and fiue pale
Reddisli clean
Clean fair to fine
Slightly stony and foul ...
Fa;rto fine bright
Fair to fine pale

ARABIC, E.I

per cwt. Ghatti ...

Amrad eha

ASSAFCETIDA, per

cwt.
KINO, per cwt

MYRRH, picked ,, ,

Adeu sorts Middling to good
OLIBANUM, drop JFair to fine white
perc-wt. ,, j Reddish to middling

p-'ckings... 'Middling togood pale
siftings .. .[Slightly foul to fine
INDIABUBBER Mozambijque, ) red hard
per lb. Ball & sans age J white softish

unripe root
liver

FROM CALCUTTA AND
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

Nearly water white
Fair and good pale
Brown aud brownish

CASTOR OIL, Ists per oz
2nds ,, ...
3rds ,, ..
INDIARUBBER Assam, per] Good to fine
lb. Common foul and mixed

Rangoon ...|Fair to good clean
Madagascar] Good to fine pinky & white
Fair to gooii black
SAFFLOWER ...Good to fine pinky

[Middling to fair
Inferior aud pickings .
TAMARINDS ...'Mid. to fine?)?ac;.not stony

iStonv and inferior

,illjdal2jd

S'l a Hid
, 2id a 2Jd
,il23 6d

,593 a 658

483 a 51s Gd
15s a 34s
'£1310/a£l410/
£10 a £12 IDs
£4 103 a £7
£7 IDs
£5 a £8
65s a £5 12s 6d
■38s a 853
903 a £7
34s a 68s
353 a 40s
253 a 30s
353 a 40s
£6 a £7 103
70s a 97s 6d
45s a 553
32s a 443
123 a 173
10s a 133 6d
23 4id a 2s ejd
2s a 2s 3d
lOd a Is 2|d
Is lO^d a 2s Oid

3i a 4id
2^d a .3d
2^d a 2|d
23 a 23 7d
8d a Is lOd
ls6d a 2s 6d
23 4d a 2s ^A
Is lid a 23 2d
£4 10s a £5 IDs
£3 5s a £4 23 6d
£1 a £1 lOs
lOs a 14s
3s a 63

FROM
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

ALOES, Cape, per cwt.

Natal ...'Fair to fine

ARROWROOT Natal per lb IMiddlingto fine

Fair dry to fine bright ... 233 a 283
.'Common & middling soft,^3 a 22s

:253 a HOs
3d

FROM CHINA, . I APAN & ,
THE EASTERN ISLANDS.

CAMPHOR, China, f cwt.iGood, pure, & dry white \\cn. ^ n

Japan ...j „ . „ pinki P'"' '^ ^^'^

GAMBIER, Cubes, cwt. ...(Ordinary to fine free ...i32s a 323 6d
I Pressed ...'29s a 303

Block [per lb. Good ...'21s 6d a 21s 9d

GUTTA PERCHA, genuine! Fine clean Bauj& Macas-'Ss 4d a 3s 3d
Sumatra. ..iBarky to fair [sar'ed a 2s 3d

Reboiled.
White Borneo

NUTMEGS, large, per
Medium
Small

MACE, per lb.

RHUBARB, Sun dried,

lb.

'ommon to fine clean

Good to fine clean

Inferior and barky
lb... Gl's a 80's, garbled

83'3 a 95's

lOO's a 160's

Pale reddish to pale

Ordinary to red
iChips
perlGood to fine sound

Dark ord iuary& middling

High dried ...iGood to fine

Dark, rough & middling
SAGO, Pearl, large, 10 owt.JFair to fine
medium ...J ,, „ „
small ...I „ „ „

Flour [per lb, 'Good pinky to white ..,

TAPIOCA, Penang Flake Fair to fiue

Singapore

Flour

Pearl

BuUeta, per ewt.
Medium ,,

1lie4 ,,

lid a Is 4d
lid a Is 3d
IdaSd
|23 7d a 3s 9d
23 3d a 23 6d
Is 4d a 29 2d
23 :id a 3s
Is lOd a 23
Is 5d a Is 6d
Is Cd a .-^9
a Is 4d
Is a Is .3d
3d a 9d
lis a 143 6d
Us 6d a 1.3s

103al2

83.3d a 99 3d

23d a 23d

•2id a 2\i.

12s 6d a 17s 6d

268 a 27s

218 6d a 223 Rd

nn a 223 tjd

April h i^^7>\ 1?ME TROPICAL AGRICULTURIS'T.

641

COCONUT CULTIVATION AND lEEIGATION.
We have received through Mr. W. H. Wright
some particulars of a very interesting experiment
made by Mr. Akbar in irrigating coconut-palms
on an extensive scale. Mr. Akbar is proprietor of the
Siramgapata and Tuisava estates, covering 614 acres
in the Katukenda division of the Negombo district,
Alutkuru-korale. His average yearly crop has been
from 900,000 to 1,000,000 nuts. On this pro-
perty he has expended about £1,000 in ma-
chinery, chiefly powerful force-pumps, with
some 15,000. feet of cast-iron piping, 4 inches
diameter, besides 12,000 feet of other spout-
ing. The property being some 150 feet above
the Maha-oya, which forms its boundary, the water

of the river is pumped up and distributed in
channels among the coconut-palms, with a result
which, after personal inspection, has aston-
ished so old a cultivator and planter as
Mr. Wright is himself. During the first day's work
some 20 acres of very dry land were irrigated, and
the effect on the drooping palm-trees was almost
immediate and very striking. The coconut-palm is
a very thirsty plant, and has the faculty of very
quickly appropriating liquid brought within its
reach, so that, on this occasion, it seemed to
drink up the irrigating water at once. Mr. Wright
has no doubt that the experiment will prove a
thorough financial success in giving bigger crops
cf nuts, steadily, season by season, while main-
taining the trees in full vigour.

Mr. Akbar also shows an example of capacity
and enterprise, we learn, by manufacturing his
own oil and coir, while, we suppose, he is the first
Ceylonese to lead the way with an experiment on
an extensive scale, such as above-described, in
irrigating coconut land with river water, drawn and
distributed by force-pumps.

As regards coconut cultivation generally, Mr.
W. H. Wright is now experimenting on his own
account in the Mirigama valley, and he is likely
to show what can be done through manuring
and high cultivation. Although a cempar-
atively dry region, Mr. Wright says, the palms
flourish in the good deep soil, sending their tap-
roots far down. By judicious clearing of his land,
leaving the large trees for shade for a year or
two, by making large holes and burning dchrh
to ashes therein, he is also able to plant his coco-
nuts at almost any time of the year with satis-
factory results. As to what may be done by
manuring, Mr. Wright has already proved in his
garden at " Wilhelmsruhe," Turret Road, where
by careful planting, good soil and manuring, he
has succeeded in bringing coconut-palms into bear'
iu't, in tliree years ! Six to eight years have
been considered the minimum hitherto under
the most favourable circumstances, and, of
course, an exceptional garden experiment can-
not be taken to regulate a plantation. But
it is evident that, granted good soil and
careful planting with the means and opportunity
for manuring, there is no reason why coconuts
should not begin to repay in erops after five and
six years. This, in fact, is the term given by Mr. D.
Morris for bringing coconut plantatious into bear-
ing on the littoral of the West Indian islands,
where, Mr. Morris says, there is great scope for
the extension of the cultivation with the prospect
of a clear return of Ho or £6 per acre per annum.
In the favourite Madampe district, in Ceylon,
where coconuts are being widely planted, seven

to eight years is the term allowed for trees to
come into bearing, and, meantime, a European
gentleman who has gone in for coconut cultivation
there, gets a fair return by cultivating plantains
between his young coconuts.

TEA SEASONS IN INDIA AND CEYLON.

Although here in Ceylon, within 7 ® of the equator,
we have no winter such as the Darjiling and
Assam tea planters experience in 20® farther
north ; yet, as our readers are aware, there are two
periods of the year, when, over a large portion of
Ceylon growth is checked, and flushing, — though it
never entirely ceases, — is coHsiderably diminished.
One of such periods extends from January to March
and is distinguished, especially in the hill country
by cold temperature at night and in the mornings
and by north-east winds which are occasionally
parching. Such winds have been especially pre-
valent from December of last year until now.
This period is, so far, our winter, — from about the
middle of December to the end of March, — although
when rain falls freely, as it sometimes does in
January, tea is harvested in quantity in this sea-
son. Then a second check to the luxuriant growth
of tea occurs, on places exposed to the full force
of the South-West monsoon, in the months of
June and July. The rain alone, which falls so
copiously in those two months would promote,
rather than check growth, but for the fact that it
is attended by chilling winds and obscuring cloud.
Some hold the opinion that pruning ought to be
performed in those months, — months in which our
neighbours in India pluck their heaviest crops
of leaf.

Looking over the series of valuable tables which
Mr. Sumner Hogarth has placed at our disposal,
we find that in the large proportion of Indian tea
districts, December, January and February are
blank months, while March and April do not count
for much. The tea harvest extends from May to
November, the bulk being gathered in the live
months, June to October. In the richest bearing
district, Luckimpur, the bulk is really gathered in
three months, July to September ; 40 per cent of
the whole being on some estates gathered in August
and September. We have often remarked how
tolerant tea is of heavy rain, how it rejoices in
moisture and now we find that the tea harvest is
synchronous with the rainy season and not only
so, but as a very general rule the quantity of tea
gathered is, month by month, in proportion to the
rain which falls. August is, we believe, the hottest
month in Assam and it is one of the rainiest.
The absence of strong cold wind is doubtless the
great reason for overflowing crop in the rainy
months. There is the inconvenience that the con-
ditions most favourable for growth should be the
least favourable for withering, and no doubt this
is the reason why artificial heat is so much re-
sorted to and good "withering" machines so much
desiderated. In most parts of the tea districts of
India some seventy per cent or more of Ihs rain-
fall occurs in the four months, June to September,
and about a sniiilar proportion of the crop is harv-
ested in those months. As was the case formerly
with our coffee planters who had a rush of work
in crop time and then a lull, so it seems to be
with the tea planters of India. For the live months,
June to October, they must often be driven to theii
wits' end to secure the harvest, while Decamber
ty April aye couipavatively, holidays, Here in Cej'«

04^

*rM fmPtCAL AdlnCtJtTXSm^f. [April i, 1887.

Ion there is no absolute cessation of growth and
consequently no intermission of work. Only twice
a year, in most years, will there be less to do — in
the dryNorth-East and the wet Bouth-West months,- —
and tlie question may be raised, whether both planters
and plants might not be benefited were " flush "
allowed to pass into " bangy leaf " during one
month of each monsoon.

In a future issue we shall compare Ceylon figures
with Indian, on this interesting subject.

— — -^

WONDERFUL DISCOVERIES : INDIARUBBER

IN WOUNDS.

The medical journals for the past ten years have
given accounts of wonderful discoveries in surgical
science, and of their application in practice — the
filling of large, deep wounds with sponge, and the
organization and assimilation of the latter ; skin-
grafting, bone-grafting, and the successful adjust-
ment and regrowth of fingers. Recently two other
wonderful discoveries have been reported. One is
the organization of rubber within the animal
tissues ; the other, the organization of blood-clots,
their formation into new tissue, and the application of
them to the surer and better healing of surgical wounds.
As to the first, it appears that Professor Vanlair,
of France, had, in a certain case, inserted a drain-
age-tube, of ordinary gray vulcanized rubber, one'
and one-fourth inches in length and one-fifth in
diameter, and that this, at the end of seven months,
seemed to have undergone partial absorption. But,
on examining it with a microscope, it was
found that the substance of the rubber had become
truly organized ; that the lower end of the tube had
become fully assimilated to the surrounding tissue,
and had wholly lost its original form ; that the part
of the tube next above this had lost its original
shapeless appearance, and had acquired a complex
structure, showing fine connecting tissue fibres with
eel's of various forms between them, and very
numerous capillary blood-ve.ssels.

Says the Medical Eecord : — " That Indiarubber
can thus become organized is the moi'e remarkable
when we consider that it is a pure vegetable exud-
ation, devoid of all structure, and seemingly more
oalculated to act as a foreign body and so prevent
the union of the wounded surfaces, than to under,
go organization to and become thus and integral
part of the animal tissue." — Companion.

COFIEE IN THE STRAITS.
A French newspaper, the Uniz'ers Commercial,
thus sets forth the advantages of Johore and
Singapore, for coffee gr.^wing :— Judging from the
latest and most trustworthy advices in cofi'ee
estates in all lands where the article is grown,
fhere prevails a disease which, according to many
is nothing more or less than the blight which seizes
upon the vine plant, It bears the name of IJemileia
i'emtatri.r, Ceylon, where formerly coffee was largely
cultivated, grows now but little. The plantations
In British India are in danger of going the same way.
Those in Java are alst imperiled, and the Brazilian
ones fare no better. We must draw attention to the
circumstance that it is only the Arabian varifty
which becomes stricken in this fashion. But an-
other kind, called Liberian, brought from the
west coast of Africa, which, in the fertile soil of
Brazil, reaches sometimes the height of forty feet,
does withstand the disease, at least so it is re-
ported. Mr. Tj. E. Chassereau one of the most
experienced planters in the East Indies writes
as follows regarding this subject : Now that
coflee growing has in general fallen oH in con-
fpquence Of this disease, which has gained 9

firm foothold in all lands producing that article,
it would be worth while to set up a company
for starting large plantations of Liberian Coffee
in the island of Singapore and in the State
of .Tohore. These plantations are expected to
take up 3,000 hectares (about 7, ">00 acres.) An under-
taking like this may be successfully set on foot in
the abovementioned countries where coolie labour
never falls short of the demand. The climate of
Singapore and that of the whole Malay Peninsula,
as well as the composition of the soil, are admir-
ably adapted to the coffee tree. In time of drought
Arabian coffee trees lie under a serious disadvantage
owing to their roots not going down deep enough.
The roots of the Liberian variety, on the contrary,
strike out so vigorously that they easily find their
way to a great depth in search of the moisture
they need. A plantation taking in 1,000 hectares
would require a capital of about 900,000
francs. It is undoubtedly pretty well known
that the production of coffee which begins
when the tree attains its third year of
of growth, reaches its utmost limit in the sixth
year. But, so says Mr. L. E. Chasseriau, a planta-
tion of the above mentioned acreage at that period
represents a value amounting to a couple of mil-
lions of francs. The island of Singapore is one
of the healthiest spots on the globe. The larger
of the plantations could be utilised as a nursery
of young planters who, in two or three years, would
lay in a stock of experience and knowledge suffici-
ent to admit of their setting up for themselves
in this difficult line of business. These young
planters would do well in that case to betake them-
selves to Cochin China, Cambodia, Annam, and
Tonquin. In these countries both climate and
temperature are highly suitable for the coffee plant.
France, which has extensive colonies in that quarter
of the world, might materially profit by this advice
from Mr. L. E. Chasseriau. In Tonquin and the
other countries named, cofi'ee might flourish free
from leaf disease.

Tka in Fiji.— The reports for tea from the
plantations still continue very encouraging, and the
reports of exports upon the product could not
well be more favourable. One sample of flowery
orange pekoe is marked as worth from 7s to 8s
per lb. in London,— Cor., Sydney Morning Herald,
Jan, ith.

J. K. Aemsbv ox Coffee. — The following
characteristic paragraph is from the American
Grocer : Mr, J. K, Armsby has been looking into
the coffee question. This is what he finds : —

Coffees are just humping themselves; you could
not keep them down with a pile-driver. Arbuckle,
who has been on the bear aide and has been
trying to sit on our boys who have been on the
other side, has paid for his mistake and has con-
fessed his sins, and is now singing just as high notes
in the coffee chorus as anybody. They think that
the market 's going up because the crop is short,
but while the stock is short now, yet the crop was
reported a large one, and that is what fooled Arbuc-
kle. He couldn't tell what had become of the coffee,
but the writer has found out. Al.AVhyJaud knew all
the time, but he kept the thing quiet, but last week
he sent a can of his Momaja coffee, and the secret
was out. The blarraed stuff is so good that every-
body takes three cups instead of one, and are drink-
ing it three times a day. Nobody wants tea — every-
body wants Moiuaja. Look at the tea market, and
then .Tt colfee 1 What makes the difference ".' Momaja.
Oh, Whyland is a twister I If he has a customer
come in that is a little hard bitted he gives him a
dose of iS'atrolithic Water to take the old brown
taste out of his month and then gives him a cup of
Momaja, and the fellow wants to buyj everything iij
sight.

April i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

64}

PREPARATION OF HIDES IN SOUTH AMERICA.

A Buenos Ayres newspaper calls the attention of
stock breeders to the fact that the hides of cattle in
many cases lose a great part of their value on ac-
count of the careless way in which they are stripped
from the slaughtered aoimal. Calf skins and sheep
pelts are often reduced one-half in value by being
gashed and improperly stretched. When a hide is
stripped off, it should be stretched at once and
pegged out to dry, with the flesh side upward. If it
is rolled up, thrown into a heap, and left to dry in
that shape, it is so mean looking that a buyer will
only offer half its real value. A few hints as to
taking off a hide will be useful. The skiu is slit
from the chin down the brisket in a straight line to
the tail ; it is then cut round each hoof, the hind legs
are slit behind over the gambrel, but the front ones
are slit up in front OTer the knees. This leaves the
■kin in a good shape for finishing the leather. The
head and legs are first carefully skinned, taking care
to avoid cutting the skin. The skin is then easily
drawn off, by taking hold of it firmly and pulling it
steadily. It is then spread out evenly on a floor, and
sprinkled with fine salt. If there is but one, it is
best to take it out as soon as the salt has taken, and
dry at once in a cool shady place. If there are more
than one, then they are laid upon each other, and
salted freely, and afterwards thoroughly dried. If
the skins are to be kept, they should be closely watched
for moths or grubs. — Journal of the Society of Arts.

WILD MANGOES.

(BT C. MARIES.)

Th»jungli dm, which is the original stock of all our
fine mangoes, is not often met with in its native habitat,
and les« frequently in fruit. I have just received a few
fine specimens of several varieties of jungli mangoes.
From the fruits, it appears they vary quite as
much as our cultivated ones; and as to shape, they are
the exact counterpart in miniature of many of our best
varieties. My specimens came from the Kangra valley,
and were collected by a gentleman much interested
in the fruit. I once saw the true jungli mango in
the Dooars, and again afterwards growing at an
elevation of about 2,000 feet in Sikkiui. It is very
unlike the cultivated sort, having generally a straight
trunk, whitish, smooth bark, and thin leaves, forming
a fine, round-headed tree. The fruit rarely weighs
2 oz. ; often only 1 oz. The common country mango
palled " Beju " or " Desi," in Tirhoot, is really an
inferior kind of cultivated mango, and not the proper
wild mango of the forests.

AS'ild mangoes are found from India through Malay
to Manilla and some of the Pacific islands, and it is
not really known if there is more than one species.
The wild and cultivated sorts are so widely different
in shape of fruit, that they could almost be called
distinct species, but every intermediate connecting
stage may be found to bring them under one head.
The flowers of the wild and cultivated mango are
exactly the same in structure, except that in the wild
one there are often more stamens fertile.

It may not be known to most people that generally
in a mango flower there is only one stamen out of
the lot fertile ; this one is curved round just over the
pistil in a peculiar way, to facilitate the fertilization.
The so called " nak," or nose of the m?ngo, is the
place the pistil adhered to in the flower. All this
can be plainly seen with a moderately powerful reading
glass or lens when the mangoes are in flower.
Peotbcting Mango Fbuit.

A very good way to protect mangoes from the
attacks of birds and insects is, get a lot of very finely-
woven, round bamboo baskets made, say 4 inches wide
at top, 5 inches at the bottom, and as long as may
be required for the fruit; see that there is not room
for a fly to get in through the basket-work. Then
put the mango inside as it hangs on the tree, push
a long thin peg through the top of the basket by the
side of the stallc of the fruit on one side, and another
similar peg on the other side, and the mango will

hold the basket up itself ; then tie a little calico over
the top of the basket, taking care not to tie the
mango stalk, and also to completely shut up the top
of the basket. The mango stalk must be quite free,
because when the fruit is ripe, or nearly so, it will
fall of its own accord, and will be found to 'be just
fit to gather. If a net be suspended under the tree
then all danger of bruising the fruit will be avoided!
Then shake the tree to gather only the ripe ones.
These should be kept on a " machan " for a few days
till quite ripe, as a'l mangoes improve by keeping a
little, and should never be eaten perfectly fresh from
the tree. — Indian Agricultunst.

LICHENS INJURIOUS TO FRUIT TREES.

The following from the American Gardeners' Monthlu
has a bearing on the treatment of tea bushes infested
with lichens. Rubbing off the foreign growth is
no doubt expensive, but it certainly must be bene
ficial :— A New Jersey correspondent says : "Will you
please give me the name of the inclosed moss, which
I find growing in company with unlimited quantities
of lichen on a lot of old cedars on the river bank in
front of my cottage. As these trees, knarled and
twisted as they are, are very necessary to me, I have
amused myself for a week past, scraping the lichen
off.

"I know that the lichen is not regarded among
botanists as a true parasite but as an epiphyte.
But I am satisfied from my own observations the past
week, that the lichen is almost as deadly in its embraces
as the mistletoe or the fabled Upas tree itself— though
possibly longer about it.

"Small limbs, twigs, and sometimes the entire tree,
if fairly girdled with the lichen, are dead in most
cases or dying. The lichen has a strong aflinity
for moisture and very retentive thereof— trees on the
river bank, more or less damp from exhalations from
the river, have much lichen upon them— while the
same tree (cedars) a hundred yards back have little
or none.

"On lifting a piece of lichen from the tree I find
the spot beneath invariably damp or even wet and
the bark discolored, and generally more or less rotten
or doted, penetrating in some cases to the wood.
'Tis, in my opinion, this wetting process that destroy*
the twig, limb or tree. But whether the lichen does
it with 'malice prepense,' as a lawyer would put it,
I am not botanist enough to determine.

"Will you please enlighten me on this point, for I
am not a little interested in the lichen."

[The old gardeners— whose practice was often better
than their reasonings — always insisted on the advantages
of scraping lichens from the bark of fruit trees. But
modern gardeners teach that if fruit trees are properly
cared for they will throw off lichens themselves. In
other words, the existence of lichens is a sign of bad
health. Scraping the bark or any other thing that
"injures or closes the pores," as these good people say,
is regarded as an evil. We have, however, seen so
much good result from slitting the bark of hide-
bound trees,— lime washing those covered by lichen
or moss, — and soap cleaning trees that were even ia
fair health, that, though our natural tendencies are
with scientific progress, we are compelled to admit
that the practice is good, and therefore to believe
that mosses and lichens may have, as our corres-
pondent believes, some injurious tendency, quite a.side
from the general belief that they, feed wholly on dead
bark or other meterial. — Ed. G. M. I

HOW TO GLEAN A BOOK WITHOUT INJURY.

All adept in the art of washing or cleansing dirty
books sends to the Fublisliers' Circular a few plain
directions to be followed by those who wish to cleanse
their soiled volumes. The amateur boolc cleanser had
better begin to practise on some worthlei^s volume
until he acquires the necessary skill. All traces of Itnie,
acid, etc. used in the cleaning proce^^s must be re-
moved from the book, else in time it may be entirely
destroyed.

644

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April r, 1887.

The first tbing to be done in a book that wants
washing is to cut the stitches and separate the work
into sheets. Then a glance may be taken for the
separation of those leaves or sheets which have stains
of ink or oil. The dirty leaves are now placed in
a bath composed of a quarter of a pound of chloride
of lime and the same quantity of soda to about a
quart of water. These are left to soak until the
paper has regained its proper tint. The pages are
now lifted out tenderly into a second bath of cold,
if possible running water, where they are left at least
six hours. This removes all traces of lime. The paper,
when thoroughly dried by exposure, must be dipped
into a third bath of size and water, and again laid
out to dry. This restores the consistency of the paper.
Pressure between printers' glazed boards will then
restore smoothness to the leaves.

The toning of the washed leaves in accordance vnth
the rest of the book is a delicate process, which re-
quires some experience. Some shag tobacco steeped
in hot water will usually give the necessary coloring
matter, and a bath in this liquid, the necessary tone.

The process described above may do for water
stains; but if the pages are dirtied by grease, oil,
coffee, candle drippings, or ink, different treatment
will be required. Dilute spirit of salt with five times
its bulk of water, and let the oil-stained pages lie in the
liquid for four minutes, not longer, then remove and
wash, as before, in cold water. To remove ink, a
solution of oxalic, citric, or tartaric acid should be
used, but care must be taken in the washing and
sizing. If the grease is a spot in the middle of a
page, place between two sheets of blotting paper
or cover it with powdered French chalk (the blotting
paper is preferable), and pass a hot iron over the
place. This will melt the grease, which is imme-
diately soaked up by the chalk or paper.

For dirty finger marks, the following is recommended:
— Cover the mark with a piece of clean, yellow
soap for two or three hours, then wash with a sponge
jind hot water, and dip the page in weak acid and
water. Give another bath of hot water and then
thoroughly cleanse with cold water.

To remove ink stains: Dip the page in a strong
solution of oxalic acid, then in a solution of one part
hydrochloric acid and six parts of water, after which
bathe in cold water and allow to dry slowly. Vellum
covers which require cleaning may be made almost
equal to new by washing with weak salts of lemon ;
or, if not much soiled, warm soap and water. Grease
may be removed from the covers of bound books by
•craping a little pipe clay, French chalk or magnesia
OTer the place, and then ironing with an iron not
too hot, else it will discolor the leather. — Chambers'
Journal.

SUGAE-EEFINING BY ELECTEICITY.

In the March Siigar Cane, page 116, we called at-
tention to a Company which had just been started
in Now Yoik for refining sugar by electricity ; and we
also gave a report, taken from a contemporary, of some
sugar.s which had arrived in this country, and which,
it was stated, had been refined by this process. We
gave the account as a curio'^ity — no more believing it,
than if we had been told th it some one had arrived
in Liverpool that morning having left New York the
previous day in a balloon.

Experiments with this new process have continued
to be made, with results, as reported, which are simply
astounding.

Within the last few days we have seen Mr. Robert-
son, of Liverpool, who is interested in this company,
and represents it in Euglaud. No one, we think, can
converse with this gentleman, without being persuaded
that he most thoroughly believes in this invention,
and that it really does what is reported of it.

He told us that a gentleman in New York, in order
to test the matter, had 3 cwt. of raw sugar taken
to the inventor's room, for the purpose of beiug re-
fined; he satisfied himself that there was no other
sugar in the room except that which he had brought
with him, and that there was no way by wliich the

sugar could be replaced, except through the door, which
he had securely fastened and sealed upon leaving.
Within two hours he re-entered the room — during his
absence the raw sugar had been passed through the
machine by the inventor, and converted into refined
sugar, the weight returned being within 1 per cent
of the saccharine contents of the raw sugar.

An experiment upon a much larger scale has within
the past three weeks been made under conditions set
forth in Mr. Robertson's Circular, dated July 17, which
we give at page 439, together with the report of the
five gentlemen who were selected to certify to its
genuineness; we notice that two out of the five gentle-
men are the president and vice-president of the com-
pany. Assuming, as we do, that all is perfectly square,
we think the company would have done better to have
obtained the services of five well-known gentlemsn.
who were perfectly disinterested.

The quantity of raw sugar to be refined was 80 bags
— producing 40 barrels of refined sugar of " 12 differ-
ent sizes, from the finest granulated up to about the
size of a small bird's egg;" the time occupied in the
process was seven hours. These gentlemen did not
witness the operation itself, but they conclude their
report as follows : — '' We have no reason whatever to
doubt that the aforesaid refined sugar was produced
by the said (Professor) Friend by his said process on
the said 14th July from the aforesaid raw sugar."
The conclusion that one is driven to, with this in-
formation before us, is, that it is either a great fact or
it is a great fraud. The company are about starting
some works to refine, by this process, 500 tons per day.
We shall therefore know in a little while which of
these conclusions is the correct one.

If it is a fact, it means that we are on the eve of a
revolution in sugar refining, without a parallel in its
history; it means that planters in all parts of the
world can, if they choose, and have the capital, refine
their own sugars on the spot. It opens up besides,
a market for refined sugar with millions of people
in India, who, from religious belief, are now debarred
from its use on account of the animal charcoai employed
in refining under the old system.

The particulars of the invention may be stated to
be as follows: —

" The process is an electro-chemical one which is
worked by a machine, automatic in its action to a
very great extent. Boiling and animal charcoal are
entirely dispensed with. No syrups nor soft sugars
of different grades are produced, the entire product
being hard sugars in whatever forms of sizes which
may be desirable to produce, that is, from finest
powdered up to and including cut and pressed loaf.
One valuable feature in this mode of manufacture is,
that all the saccharine matter in raw sugar, whether
crystallisable or uncrystallisable, under the old system
of boiling and filtering, is by this .system rendered
into hard sugar, with a small fraction of a loss, — less
than one per cent of the whole (juantity. The cost
of refining by this process is 2s. 4d. per ton (2d. per
cwt.), and the time occupied not more than four hours."
By the favour of Mr. Robertson we have been fur-
nished with samples of sugar refined by this process,
and which are at our office, 57, Market-street, Man-
cliester, for inspection. — Si'gar Cane.

aUGARCANE CULTIVATION IN INDIA.

[The nativps of Ceylon might take profitable hints
from thin article. — Ed.]

The following extract from a letter received from
Mr. Burrow.s, of Behea, has been courteously placed
at our disposal by the Director of Agriculture, Bengal,
and we publish it, as it will be found very useful at
the pre^ent time : —

The usual Indian method of cane culture may be
called broadcast as opposed to jilanti/iff, as the term
is understood by European and American planters.
The difference in results may bo approximately ol)tained
by asking any ryot the differenc<i in produce between
cheetiva and reap diuin (broadcast and planted.)

The root of the sugarcane is a small collection of
thin fibres or rootlets, there is no tap root. On these

April I, 188;,] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST/

645

depeacl the health and vigour of the plant with its
long succulent stem and succession ot long broad
leaves ; it should, therefore, be placed in ihe best
possible condition to enable it effectually to meet the
heavy demand on it.

By the native method the root is on or near the
surtace of the ground. The hold gets 12 oi- 14 surface
ploughiugs giving a seed bed only lour or five inches
deep. Tne little manure (if any is given) is scattered
irregularly over the surtace, a plough goes ruuud tUe
fiekl in a continually decreasing u.rcle, and the cuttings
are drojjped iuto the shallow track so made. Tnere
may be a little manure wbere they fall, or there may
not be any. The cuttings are covered wiih about tUiee
inches of earth by a piece of wood drawn over the
surface, a man or two standing ou it, eacn .supporting
hiciiself by holding the tail of the buliock in front
of him. This surtace covering soon dries ; the surface
is then louseueJ a little by the hoe, tlie loots being
carefully avoided. A little manure may now be placed
round each plant by hand, and water is let on
till the field is sumberged or water-logged, thus sealing
up the roots from air in plastic clay or isam compressed
by the downward couise of the water, and hardening
as it dries. As ttie hoe avoids the roots, the compression
of the soil around thera increases just wUeie it
should be most friable. The hoein_ is repeated about
three times, followed by a melwanee wateriug, that is,
till the ground is water-logged each lime. When the
plants reach a certain height, and the leaves begin
to shade the field, hoeing is stopped, and as they
grow, being close together with no regularity, a thick
jungle is the result excluding sun and tree circulation
of air. Considering the nature of the plant and the
work its root has to do, this treatment of it is most
irrational

In Mauritius, West Indies, and other places where
cane cultivation is under European supervision, the
cuttings or seedlings are laid at least nine inches
under the surface of the ground, either in careluUy-
made rectangular oblong holes in rows three and-a-half
or four feet apart, or in continuous channels or furrows
made by hoe; or double mould board plough, the
bottom being flat, and eight or nine inches wide,
that is, wide enough to receive three cuttings placed
some distance from each other. A field planted in
this way will take as many cuttings as are usuallj'
put in by the native method. Tbe space between ttie
rows need not be ploughed, only cleaned of weeds
by hoe, these are left on the ground, and are covered
by the earth from the channels or holes.

Previous to planting the cuttings, manure in proper

quantity is spread over the bottom of the channels

and mixed with a little earth. On, or in this, the

cuttings are laid end to end either in single, double,

or triple rows as the width of the bottom may allow,

and covered by hand with about three inches ot

earth. The "hole" system is used in Mauritius, the

ground is hilly and undulating, rain is frequei^t, and

each hole retains what may fall into it. In India

where irrigation is necessary, the channel or deep

furrow metliod is best. After some days the surface

of the soil in the bottom of the channels is loosened

by hand. This may be done by women or children,

whereas the hoeiug of the rioc's field has to be done

by men. If water is now necessary, a little is allowed

to flo.v from one end of the channel to the other,

and then shut off. As the plants rise, more earth

is filled in around them with a little manure where

it may be needed ; the loosening of the surtace, watering

and filling in is repeated till the channel is filled ;

after which, as the plants grow, the earth is drawn

from the spaces between the rows and heaped round

the roots till a ridge is formed at least nine inches

high over the original surface. Subsequent irrigation

is given in the hollows between the ridges, the water

not being allowed to reach the top of the ridges by

four or five inches, which are thus left friable, and

open for the action of the air and expansion of the

roots.

Our ryots have for years seen and acknowledge the
considerable economy of labour, wat«r, and manure in
this method as compared with their own. They have

al>o seen the commou mongoo cane in the district so
improved that tUey tiad to oe assured it was norhing
else, yet none of them have htd the enterprise to
adopt it, th jugh several among tuem have been at work
on the cane fields of tbe West Indies and Mauritius, and
know the method aud its results.

Cane culture should be more of the nature of garden
than field cultivation, aud if doutj with a resoaible
coQbideratiou of the nature aud necessities of the
plant, a third of tbe laud, uow yearly devoied to cane,
could be put under other crops with no falling off m
the weight of sugar produced.

The iudu-.try, as a who e, aud in its details, from the
preparation ot tne laud till tUo crude produce is ready
for the market, IS iu iivery uackvvar>l and wasteful cou-
tlitiou ; th-^re is no reasou except tue inertia of the ryot
why this shouid be sj. This might be uveicome, and a
better rut op^netl out by .some sustained effort on ttie
part 01 Governuienc, probaoiy a gra mated set of prizes
lor tbe best caue fields cuitiv ited wita refei euce t J tne
nature and requirements of tne piant. We k.iow by.
experience tuey under.stand wUat this meaus when ex-
plained tj them terms witli winch they are familiar.
— Indian Ayricidtarist.

SOURCES OF SALTPETRE.

BY C. G. WAENFOBU LOCK.

Whilst evtry miner is aitraciei by mineral veins
which prooiise to yield metals, the majority over-
look a class of earthy products which, nevertheless,
pos.sess consideraole commercial value. Foremost
amongst these is saltpetre, or potassium nitrate. The
following notes on this itseful salt have been collected
by the writer at various times, and in various localities,
and will probably be intert sting to many readers of
the Journal, as accessible iuiormatioii on the subject
is not abuudaut, aud ^ome of the deposits alluded to,
seem worthy ot better development. The generally
accepted conditions necessary for the formation of
Saltpetre are (1) the presence of decaying organic
matter, whose decomposition affords a supply of
nitrogen; (i!) accessor atmosperic air to oxidiae the
nitrogen into nitiic acid ; (3) sutticient potash in aa avail-
able form (such as wood ashes or decomposed felspathic
rocks) for the nitric acid to combine with as fast as it is
liberated. (Jiven these conditions, the formation of
the salt will take place in very varieu situations, being
most commonly observed in countries where a tropical
climate favours the decomposition of organic matters.

With this introduction, we may proceed to indicate
the chief localities ot production.

India. — Some saltpetre is obtained from the slimy
mud deposited by the Eiver Gauges during the flood
season. Analysis of a nitrous earth from Tirhut, in
Bengal, gave 83 per cent of potassium nitrate, and
'61 of calcium nitrate, or 12 per cent of total nitrates.
The soil around old buildings iu the Punjaub is very
productive ot nitre, which appears as an effljresceiice,
not to be confouuued with the sodium suiphate crust
occurring on the 1 eh, or barren lands. The depjsit is
scraped up as often as it is renewed, aud submitted
to simple treatment for the separation of the nitre
from ttie accompanying dirt by the agency of water
and filtration. A small spade is used in collecting the
earth, which is taken off to a depth of one or two inches,
and pded in heaps two to four feet high, where it is left
without taking harm till an opportunity arises for
trau-poriing it to a spot where water and fuel are
available. In the upper part of the Punjaub, the
extraction process is conducted m a series of wide-
mouthed earthen pots, with an aperture iu the
base, supported ou earthenware stands, so as to
admit of placing cups beneath the pots. On
the bottom of each pot is spread a bed of straw,
covered with a layer of wood ashes; above this, the
nitrous earth is .idded till it reaches nearly to
the top of the pot. Then water is applied till all
soluble salts contained in the earth have been dissolved
and carried in solutions into the cups below. The straw
bed acts mechanically ws a filter to hold back insoluble
matters; the wood ashes act chemically, affording
potash in ati available form, so that any calcium

6/^6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April i, 1887.

nitrate present may be converted into potassium
nitrate, the nitric acid in the calcium nitrate ex-
changing bases with the carbonic acid united to
the potash in the wood ahhes. The very weak
nitrous solution thus obtained is used instead of
fresh water for washing through the contents of
another series of pots, and thus becomes grauually
charged with saltpetre to the extent of 2 or 3 per
cent. The next process is the removal of the
water and crystallisation of the salt. This is con-
ducted in elliptical iron dishes, measuring cue or
two feet across and si.x to nine inches deep, heated
from beneath ; as evaportation proceeds, frcsh liquor
is added, during a period of twelve to eighteen hours.
The scum which rises is skimmed off, and at a certain
point of concentration the crude potassium nitrate,
with accompanying saline impurities, is abundantly
precipifated. This product in some districts is termed
dhouah, and contains 45 to 70 per cent of potassium
nitrate. The small pans used in the Upper Punjaub
give 8 to 16 lb. of crude nitre per shift of thirty to
thirty-six hours. Over 4,000 pans are kept working in
the Punjaub, paying an anuual tax of two rupees. In
addition, there are over a dozen large shallow basins,
called agar, where sun-heat is utilised for evapor-
ation ; these jsay eight rupees yearly.

In the different districts, slight modifications of
the process described above are in vogue. Thus, in
Mooltan, the liquor, after twenty to twenty-four
hours boiling, is often run into a vat to cool for a
night, and next morning the crystals are raked out
and washed in a woollen cloth, being then tied up in
it, and exposed to the sun till the moisture has been
dissipated. Sometimes the filter is made on the
ground in an inclined situation being formed with
mud walls lined with stiff" clay on three sides, the
remaining sides being left open for escape of the
liquid, but provided with reeds or closely-woven
grass mats, with or without a bamboo false bottom ;
the liquid passes into a reservoir made of pucka
musonry. In Guzerat, the nitrous solution is passed
through a cloth filter ; it is evaporated to about one-
fourth its bulk, and on cooling affords an impure
crystalline product {dhouah) worth about three rupees
per maund (say, 8s. per cwt.). When re-dissolved,
filtered, and re-crystallised, forming kahnee, it is worth
eight rupees per maund. The following table of the
average cost per ton of Indian saltpetre is instruc-
tive:—

£ s. d.
Prime cost of crude material at the factory 4 2 0

Salaries, bigs, packing, &c ,!. 1 14 2

Freights and expenses from factory to

Bombay 5 17 3

Interest on outlay at 9 per cent 0 13 8

Government license 0 2 7

Insurance at 7 per cent 0 17 1

Profit per ton

13 6
1 0.

Selling price at a brisk demand at Bombay £14 7 0
Indian exports of saltpetre reach something like
25,000 tons annuallj', with a value of over half a
million sterling.

Ceylon. — The nitrates of j^otash and lime are of
frequent occurrence in Ceylon. Some thirty places
might be enumerated where saltpetre is produced and
has been prepared fwr market. The formation of the
mineral is apparently confined to caves in dolomitic
rocks, the felspar iu which contributes the potash
base. The caves are generally remote from inhabited
places, being situated in desolate and not easily
accessible regions. Future explorations in the in-
terior will probably add to the number already known.
While some of the caves are the resort of vast
numbers of bats, whose dung accumulate.s in them,
others are quite untenanted.

An analysis of the most productive nitre rock near
Doouibera, iu an unfrequented cave, showed 2 4 per
cent potassium nitrate, and 0'7 per cent of mag-
nesium nitrate- The nitre earth from the great cave
in Lower Ouva, ne^r Wellaway, yields 35 per cent

of calcium nitrate, and 33 of potassium nitrate. The
nitre crop is harvested during six months of the year
by chipping off the incrusted portions of the walls of
the caverns ; the fragments are reduced to powder,
mixed with an equal portion of wood ashes, and
dosed with water. The potas.sium nitrate present,
as well as that produced from other nitrates by the
action of the wood ashes, is dissolved by the water,
and the solution is evaporated first in pits e.'cposed
to the sun's rays, and then to the crystallising point
in fire-heated pans.

Burma. — Some of the caves contain accumulations
of nitrous earth, and the preparation of the salt is
carried on extensively between Pugan and Ava, on
the Irawadi.

Thibet. — In the government of Rudokh, saltpetre is
obtained . by digging up the soil, which is put into brass
vessels, and treated with hot water. The solution thus
formed is decanted into another vessel, and there allowed
to cool, that the nitre may crystallise out. By the
crude native method, no man can prepare a sheep load
(say 20 lb.) in three weeks.

Sumatra. — The nitre caves in the county of Caltown,
near the land of the Duni river, are filled with nests of
innumerable birds of the swallow kind, which abound
the more the further the caves are penetrated. It is
their dung, forming a deposit in many places 4 to 15
feet thick, which forms the saltpetre. A cubic foot of
this earth, on boiling, will afford something like 8 lb.
of nitre. — Journal of the Society of Arts.

AGEICULTURE IN JAPAN.

Field farming in Japan is unknown, the tillage
being realiy gardening, but of the most thorough
character. Oonsul-General Van Buren says that
fully one-half of the population are farmers, and of
the day labourer or coolie class a large number is
employed iu the cultivation of the .soil. The average
size of the garden farms is about half an acre. The
fee simple of the soil, formerly in the feudal lord, is
now held bj' the farmer. The area under cultivation
has been extended fully one-fifth within the past ten
years. The Japanese Archipelago extends north and
south through fifteen degrees of latitude, and the
cultivated areas are at all altitudes, from the sea level
to 10,000 feet above, with the climate of the tem-
jjerate or sub-tropical zones. Of the 50,000,000
acres of tillable land, a little less than one-fourth, or
about 12,000,000 acres, are under cultivation. This
is owing to the absence of good roads and proper
means of tran.»portation ; most of the carrying in
the farming districts is done upon the backs ot
men and animals. Kice is the staple product of
the country, growing in all districts of the empire ;
about 6,800,000 acres, or more than half of all the
area under tillage, is, during the summer, devoted
to it3 cultivation. Wheat is grown in all parts of
the empire, and it is estimated that the yield averages
twenty bushels to the acre. It is mostly eaten in the
form of cakes, cooked without any process of fer-
mentation. The wheat flour is ground in a small
stone mill, and is bolted by hand in a small box
about two feet wide and three feet long. The up-
lands are preferred for wheat growing, and the soil
is thoroughly dug up and pulverised with a long
bladed mattock. It is then divided into small plots,
each of which is then furrowed by the same instru-
ment into rows, three or four inches deep and twelve
or fifteen inches apart. Into these furrows, ashes
and a thoroughly decomposed compost is scattered,
and in October, seed is dropped by hand, about
one to one bushel and a quarter to the acre, and
covered by the mattock to the depth of about one
inch and a half. The ground is turned up two or
three limes a month, and liquid manure is applied
three or four times during the winter and spring to
the roots. In the autumn some hirdy vegetables are
planted between the rows of wheat. The wheat
ripens in May, and is cut by a knife and bound into
small bundles, which are either hung up on tree3 or
bamboo poles, or laid on hard ground to dry, when it
is carried to the farmhouse, where it is tUraslied.

APftiL J, iSSf.] TME TROPICAL AaMCi^twmBf.

64y

■MS

The threshing process consists of first pulling off all I
the kernels of grain and the husks by means of a row
of iron teeth, long and saw-like, closely set in a stick
of wood. Between these teeth a few heads of
■wheat are rapidly drawn, tearing off the kernels
and their coverings. The grain is separated b,\
threshing on mats with a flail, and the chaff is sepa-
rated by one person slowly pouring the grain from a
•coop-shaped basket held four or five feet from the
ground, while another person stirs the air with a
large fan. The wheat is then put into straw sacks
and carried either on hand-carts or on the backs of
horses to market. Barley is a much more important
product than wheat, and is more universally eaten ;
and it is also used for making saki, a liquor largely
•oniumed in Japan, That which is made into flour
is ground and bolted in the same manner as wheat,
and is also cooked without fermentation. The mode
of cultivation, harvesting, and threshing are the same
as with wheat. The sugar of Japan is made from
that species of the sorghum plant known as the
Chinese sorghum. It grows luxuriantly in the
southern parts of the empire. For three or four hun-
dred years the processes of granulating and refining
sugars have been known and practised. Sorghum is
grown from cuttings and not from seed. In Septem-
ber selected stalks are cut and buried in trenches
a foot deep. Through the winter, from each joint of
the stalks sprouts shoot out, and in the spring these
joints are cut off and set out in rows fifteen or
eighteen inches apart, and about the same distance from
aech other in the rows. The ground has previously
been dug up and pulverised by a long-bladed mattock.
The fertilisers used are ashes, fish, decomposed hay,
straw, and seaweed, and the plants are thoroughly
hoed and irrigated . In October and November the
leaves are stripped off, and the stalks are then cut,
and the hard outer covering removed ; the remaining
portion is then ground between rollers of stone on
hard wood. The cane juice is then boiled in iron
kettles till the granulation takes place, when it is
placed in bags and pressed dry, the expressed syrup
being used as molasses. Dry, upland soils are re-
quired for the successful growth of the cane, and the
expenditure in labour and fertilisers is greater than
for any other crop. Tobacco is also an important
product, about 90,000,000 pounds being produced in
one year, and amountiug in value to £1,500,000. It
is grown on uplands, and the seed is planted at the
end of March, or beginiug of April, in rows about
15 inches apart. In September the lower leaves are
picked, at the begining of October the middle ones,
and the upper ones at the end of October. The
leaves so picked are dried and packed in small bales.
Beans, peas, and other leguminous plants are exten-
sively cultivated in Japan, and Consul van Buren
says that there is probably no country in the world
where this class of food-plants enters so largely in
the diet of a people as in Japan. The cultivation of
tea is one of the most important branches, of Japanese
agriculture, the total production for the year 1880
amounting to as much as 90,000,000 pounds. As
regards textile fabrics, silk is the most important,
the mulberry tree growing on nearly all parts of the
islands south of Yesso. The principal provinces in
which it is cultivated are Iwate, Miyagi, Yamagata,
Fukushiraa, Gunba, Tocbigi, Chiba, Iberaki, Kana-
gawa, Nagano, Yamanashi, Shidyuoka, Gifu, Ishi-
kawa, Shiga, and Kioto Fu. The variety of the
mulberry most in use is the lilorv.s iiif/ra, and it
grows from five to ten feet in height. Hemp is
grown on tho lower and richer soils, in drills sixteen
inches apart, It is sown in March or April, and
receives the same careful garden tillage as all other
products of the soil in Japan. The soil is carefully
prepared by the small Chinese plough, or the long-
bladed mattock, and well manured in the drills where
the seed is sown. During the summer it is frequently
hoed, and fertilisers are applied to the root of the
plants. All hemp lauds are flooded three or four
times in the season, from the irrigating ditches. The
stalk, usually ready for harvest in August, grows
from four to seven feet high, and is pulled and spread

on the ground, where it is allowed to rot, and the
fibre is easily separated. This is done by beating
with a bamboo stick. The resinous substance is
removed by hand-scraping, with a sharp-edged
bamboo knife, and the fibre is of great length,
strength, and lustre. Flax is not grown in the
couQtry. Consul van Buren says he cannot render
too warm a tribute to the thoroughness of the present
tillage by the Japanese farmers, the value of which
is proved by its immense results. When the mattock
or broad-edged pick is alone used, the whole surface
of the ground is dug up and turned over to the depth
of eight to ten inches, and then the whole of tho soil
is pulverised and raked over, until not a lump of
earth is left. When the small Chinese plough is
used, the soil is ploughed and re-ploughed from four
to eight times. — Journal of the Society of Arts,

Manures for Vines and Peaches. — For Vines
and Peach trees I mix the following materials in the
fo'lowing proportions: — 4 bushels of fiesh lime, 10
bushels of good fresh soot, 20 bushels of wood
ashes, 2 cwt. of guano, or 6 cwt. of night-soil. Put
water on the lime to slack it, then carefully mix all
the materials well together, and as soon as it has
got well heated, turn it over three or four times,
when it is tit for use. Put the mixture about 1 inch
thick all over the Vine borders, both inside and out,
and then lightly fork it in. After this operation give
the inside a good watering with diluted liijuid manure.
I give my Vme borders a dressing every year with
this manure as soon as the Grapes are cut, and have
used this first-class fertiliser for many years with the
best results. It destroys insects in the soil and pre-
vents mildew, — W. SirrxHE, Basing Park. — Gardeners'
Chronicle.

NoN -Germination of Skeds. — The seedsmen of the
present are beginning to realise that if they would have
their trade grow, they must supply their customers
with fresh seed, without any attempt to get rid of
the old stock by mixing with the new. Hence, now,
the fault of non-germination is the purchaser's more
commonly than the seedsman's. It is a great mistake
to cover small seeds too deeply, and to sow in ground
but freshly broken up, or too loose open will largely
promote failure. Ground sufficiently firm to retain an
even moisture, is a condition of the first imjiortance,
for open ground may contain just sufficient moisture
to start the seed, and then *or want of it to let it
perish. Very light and open soil should be trodden
down firmly with the foot and raked level, before and
after sowing the seed. — Rural Australian.

Hot Water as an Insecticide. — Hot water is a clean,
safe, and effective means of destroying green fly on
pot plants. To the amateur whose stock of plants
might be small, or who might not have accommoda-
tion for fumigating, it would be found a convenient
remedy. There is a margin of many degrees between
the lowest temprature that will destroy this insect,
and the highest that a plant will stand with impunity,
130 degrees i,s a good medium, or as hot as the hand
can be held in two seconds. The plant should be
plunged into and withdrawn from the water instant-
aneously. The smaller body and more delicate skin
of the insect is more quickly acted upon than that of
the plaut. Should anj'one be afraid to employ the
remedy, let him, if he has several plants ett'ected, try it
on one first, and the next day, when he sees that it
has suffered no injury, he will have no misgivings about
treating the rest in the same way. — Rural Auistralian.

Dr. Watt, writing in Nature, says that Manipur is
a small vallej' surrounded by mountain ranges, and in this
valley the rainfall WdS found to be only about 39 inches ;
but seventeen miles off, in the mountains which formed
the north-east ranges, the rainfall was as much as 120
inches, and towards the Naga country to the north it
became greater and greater in certain limited tracts.
In the Khasia Hills 600 inches might fall in one place,
and twenty miles off only 50 inches. Nothing in
Manipur struck Dr. Watt so much, as a botanist, as the
remarkable transitions of vegetation in that small
region. Dr. Watt gathered twelve or more species of
Oaks, many of which were new to gcieoce, and tea tm

648

THE TmPtCAL AGmcVtfVmBf. [APRtL i, 2887,

twelve species of Rholodendrons, in Manipur alone.
The Rhododeodion F<ilconeri foun I in the Naga Hills
by Sir Joseph Hooker is nowhere met with in the
immense tract bptween the Naga His and Sikkim.
This and the epiphytic R. Da!housiaD, which throws on
a hill thirty miles north of Darjeeling, Dr. Watt
found in the Xaga Hills at an altitule of 6000 to 8000
feet, but these Rhododendrons never occur in Sikkim
below 10,000 to 13,000 feet. There were many instances
of plants falling in their altitude as the traveller passed
to the ea.st and south-east from Sikkim, until at
Moulmein a Rhododendron was found growing near the
sea — a circumstance which was not met with in any
other part of Asia. — Gardeners' Chroniclt'.

Formation of Dew.— From a paper read before the
American Association for the Advancement of Science,
in August, 1886, by Prof. H. E. Alvord, on the
" Formation of Dew," we learn that the facts established
by repeated observations are, that the lower stratum of
air rapidly increases in cold as we descend towards the
ground, until checked by the radiation of heat stored up
there during the day. Ihe height of this critical
stratum, where the two temperatures just counteract
each other, varies under different conditions. On bare
soil it is usually very near the surface, and even
may be slightly below it. Grass or other thick
growths of vegetntioa behavps like the soil in retaining
a considerable des^ree of heat in the air entangled among
its foliage, so that its presence restrains the cold
stratum of air at a still greater height. There is,
therefore, on the occasions when dew is formed most
copious'y a stratum of air of markedly low temperature
lymg close down 1 1 the surface of the ground, with its
lower limit sharply defined, but above gradually
increasing in heat. Above this stratum is the com-
paratively warm atmosphere, bea'ing watery vapour;
below it a thin layer of air supphed with heat and
moisture from the soil. The result is the formation
of dew by condensation of watery vapour within the
cold stratum. JMost of the moisrure seen upon many
plants in the ni Tning, in the course of a season, is
transpired by the plants themselves, and this trans-
piration is sufficient in quantity to supply an appreci-
able portion of the atmospheric vanour subsequently
deposited as dew. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

An Easy Method of Mbas' ring the Height of a
Growing Tree. — Stveral methods of metsuring grow-
ing trees have appeared in your columns at various
times, but all requiring a more or less complicated
calculation, and consequently can only be worked out
by those who have a fairly good education, and in some
case.«, probably, expensive instruments. An accurate
measurement may be quickly taken without either, as
any one may make all necessary apparatus in a very
short time, and at a cost of not more than sixpence.
Take a straight piece of common slater's lath, say, for
convenience in measuring, 10 feet long, plane smooth,
and mark it in feet and inches ; also a small piece of
board, half an inch thick and 6 inches square will do
very well (it must be perfectly square) ; draw a line
diagonally across one side of the board, and on the
other side screw two square staples sufficiently large to
admit the la' h to slide closely through ; these must be
exactly opposite each other. At from 5 feet to 6 i iches
above bore holes in the lath to admit a peg to hold the
board in position, to suit the height of different persons
(a stout wire nail makes a good pe;;); ajardof fine
string, with a loop at one end and small weight at the
other for a plumb-line, and that is all th it is required.
To_ measure the tree put the peg in a hole to suit your
height, slide the board on to the lath to the peg, and
hang the plumb-line on the peg, then walk to a
distance from the tree, so that when holding the
lath perfectly upright, which the plumb-line will
show on looking up the diagonal line across the
board it is exactly straight to the top of the tree,
the corner of the board nearest you will be exactly the
same dist ince from the tree that the tree is high from
that level, which can at once be measured by the 10
feet lath ; add to that the height the board was from
the ground, and you have the exact height of the tree.
It is simply two sides of a square which must be equal
This can be done by any one, and certainly will not take
$Vf wiuutes.— Thos. WooDroRD, The Nurserjesj AtUer-

stone. (This method is accurate enough if the ground be
level, but it sometimes happens that it is not so, or the
b.ase line is inaccessible, owing to water or other trees
or objects of some kind. Ed. Gardeners' Chroidcle.]

Fruit trees Cankering (An Old Gar deiier).— While
it is not wise to be prejudiced against what you call
" new notions," we think you are right in considering
that the truth of the "insect theory" is not yet es-
tablished beyond dispute. But this is not such a " new
notion " as you appear to imagine. We have heard
of it years ago, and seen the insects alluded to after
the canker appeared, not before. Insects cause ulcer
atioii, as in the case of the Aphis lanigera, or American
blight, but that is not canker as the term is generally
understool. The following remarks cited from the
" Cottage Gardener's Dictionary " are pertinent to your
inquiry, and we have not a doubt there is a consider-
able amount of truth in them: — "This disease is
accompanied by different symptoms, according to the
species of the tree which it infects. In some of those
whose true sap contains a considerable quantity of free
acid, as in the genus Pyrus, it is rarely accompanied
by any discharge. To "this dry form of the disease
it would be well to confine the term canker. In other
trees, with sap abounding in astringent or gummy
constituents, it is usually attended by a discharge. In
such instances it might strictly be designated ulcer. This
disease has a considerable resemblance to the tendency
to ossification, which appears in most aged animals,
arising from their marked tendency to secrete the
calcareous saline compounds that chiefly constitute
their skeletons. Tlie consequence is an enlargement
of the joints and ossification of the circulatory vessels
and other parts — phenomena very analogous to those
attending the cankering of trees. As in animals, this
tendency is general throughout their system ; but, as
is observed by Mr. Knight, 'like the mortification in
the limbs of elderly people,' it may be determined,
as to its point of attack, by the irritability of that
part of the system. This disease commences with an
enlargement cf the vessels of the bark of a branch or
of the stem. This swelling invariably attends the
disease when it attacks the Apple tree. In the Pear,
the enlargement is less, yet is always present. In the
Elm and the Oak sometimes no swelling occurs ; and
in the Peach we do not recollect to have seen any.
The swelling is soon communicated to the wood, which,
if laid open to view on its first appearance by the
removal of the bark, exhibits no marks of disease
beyond the mere unnatural enlargement. In the
course of a few years, less in number in propoi-tion to
the advanced age of the tree and the unfavourable
circumstances under which it is vegetat'ng, the swel-
ling is greatly increased in size, and Ihe alburnum
has become extensively dead ; the bark above it cracks,
rises in discoloured scales, and decays even more
rapidly than the wood beneath. If the canker is
upon at moderately sized branch, the decay soon com-
pletely encircles it, extending through the whole
alburnum and bark. The circulation of the sap being
thus entirely prevented, all the parts above the
disease perish. Trees injudiciously pruned, or growing
upon an ungenial soil, are more frequently attacked
than those which are advancing under contrary circum-
stances. The soil has a very considerable influence
in inducing the disease. If the subsoil be an irony
giavel, or if it is not well drained, the canker is almost
certain to make its appearance amongst the trees they
sustain, however young and vigorous t'ley were when
first planted. All the.'c facts before ns unite in assur-
ing us that the canker arises from the tree's weak-
ness, from a deficiency in its vital energy, and con-
sequent inability to imbibe and elaborate the nourish-
ment necessary to sustain its frame in vigour, and
much less to supply the healthy development of new
I)arts. It is (juite true that over -luxuriant trees arc
particularly liable to this disease ; but over-luxuriance
is really a demonstration that the tree does not digest
and secrete its juices healthily." We do not consider
that canker arises from either weakness or exuberance
only, but both are contributory causes, and when they
exist remedial measures should be adopted accordingly.
_ Journal of Horticidtare.

htiit it 28S^]

*!' M

mofiCkh Aome0LT0iixsf.

64^

INDIAN AND CEYLON TEA STATISTICS.

Messrs. Gow, Wilson & Stanton's Circular which
we publish below, goes largely over the same ground
as, and puts forward many of the conclusions arrived
at in Messrs. Stenning, Innskip & Co.'s, which we
lately dealt with. On the one hand, we see, that the
deliveries of Indian and Ceylon teas had increased
by more than fourteen millions of pounds in five
years. On the other large imports, and, unfortun-
ately, the inferior quality of some of the tea had
sent down prices to an unprecedented extent. The
fall in prices would be alarming, but for the re-
flection that low prices have always led to largely
increased consumption, and that a subsequent re-
action to higher prices has not lowered deliveries.
If, therefore, the prices of last year were the
lowest ever reached, comfort is to be derived from
the fact that never were the deliveries of Indian
and Ceylon kindslarger. Ceylon contributed a
considerable proportion of the increase of thirteen
millions of Indian kinds imported in 188G over
1885, and it is time that Ceylon teas were
separately dealt with, rather than included
in the Statistics of Indian teas. They
stand apart as much as Java, and in a far more
favourable position.

Nevertheless, for all the producing countries,
the figures showing exports and transhipments
to places on the Continent of Europe and
elsewhere, are very interesting and suggestive,
Of the estimated deliveries equal to seven millions
of pounds per mensem in 1887, we may take it
for granted that over 10. probably 12 per cent
will be Ceylon teas, which, although they also
have gone down ic value, still continue to hold
the first place in the London market, as they
will in other markets, when their quality becomes
known in such markets. It is satisfactory to learn
that, in the face of largely increasing production
especially in Ceylon, not only is home consumption
increasing, but also deliveries for export ;
it is well to observe the advice tendered to us
to pay attention to new markets and to the
sustaining of quality. In the latter respect
however, we are far more dependent on seasonal
influences, — the effect of local weather,— than our
friends at home, may be ready to admit. Certain
it is that never were science, skill and care more
fully applied to the jDreparation of tea in India
and Ceylon, and yet at this moment, lowered
prices are attributed to a falling-off in quality !
The great hope of the Indian and Ceylon tea-
producer as regards " new markets " must be
based on the United States and Canada, while a
steady increase in consumption of good teas in
Britain may bo anticipated.

The first of these is the increase of over 13 miliioa
pounds in the arrivals from ludia.

The second, the unusually large proportion of infe-
rior liquoring Teas contained in the Indian crop.

The third is the rapid increase in the imports from
Oey on.

These three causes have resulted in a serious de-
preciation in the value of Tea generally — particularly
the lower grades — and in an unusually heavy accum-
ulation of stock ' t the close of the year.

The pressure of the increasing imports from Ceylon
was first seriously felt about May to July, when ar-
rivals from Ceylon were heaviest, and the trade was
at its slackest point, — a position which may be in-
tensified diuring the coming season. These unusual
arrivals thus exercised con iderable influence aLd tem-
poi'arily depreciated values.

The Indiaa crop then beginning to arrive proved
most disappointing in quality, and thus caused a demand
for the few finer desciiptions. The crop soou assumed
larger proportions than the trade couJd absorb, and
prices g.-rierally commenced to recede. The flood of
common teas, of which the arrivals chiefly consisted,
also told seriously upon the market, and during the
last quarter of the year quotations for the lower (des-
criptions fell to a point never previously reacted;
Although ihis redurtion in values soon caus<d an in-
crease iu the deliveries of Indian and Ceylon teisand
hfted them higher during the last qu rter than any
previous record — as depicted on the chart— Iha diop
occurred too near the close of the year to prevent an
accumulation of stock, nearly 9 millions in excess of
that on 31st December, 1885.

1883. 1884. 1885. 1886.

a Imports of

Indian and

Ceylon tea 61,667,000 67,152,000 66.863,000 83,460,080
h Delivery of

Indian and

Ceylon tea 59,09«,000 64,217,000 68,895,000 74,6G5,O0O

Stock of

Indian and

Ceylon tea 24,116 000 27,076 000 25,780,000 34,o48,000

INDIAN TEA STATISTICS.

London, E.C, 11th Feb. 1887.

The lower quotations chronicled last year were not
confiued to the grades shown in the accompanying
diagram ; they extended to all descriptions except
the finest Pekoes and Broken Pekoes. The supply
of these kinds was unusually limited ; hence they
alone have maintained their Values. The fall in prices
Was heaviest during the last few months of the year,
and had the eifect of raising the deliveries for the last
cjuarter to the highest figure ever yet reached.

"Without giving a detailed review of the many varia-
tions in price which have occurred, aud which are
common to most seasons, there are a few points which
render the year 1886 remarkable, and which from
their importance deserve more than passing comment,
83

a Import of Indian Tea 1885, 6 ',160,000 1886,
70..'i85,000. Import of Ceylon Tea 1885 3,703,000 ; 1886;
6,876.000.

h Delivery of Indian Tea 1885, 65,678,000; 1886
68,420,000. Delivery of Ceylon Tea 1885, 3,218,000
1886., 6,245,000.

The Home consumption of Indian and Ceylon Tea
has increased from 38 per cent of the whole in 1885 to
nearly 42 per cent in 1886 ; still the Home consumption
of all tea was less than iu 1885 — hence the increase
in these sorts was gained entirely at the expense of
China Tea, the Home consumption of which fell 9 mil-
lion p( uuds during the year.
Home Con-
sumption. 1882. 1883. 1884.

China Tea, &c 114,461,000 111,685,000 110,843,000

Ii.di.in aud

Ceylon Tea 50,497,000 59,096,000 64.217,000

All Tea 164,958,000 170,781,000 175.060,000

1885. 1886.

China Tea, &c., 113,514,000 104,2-26,000

Indian & Cejlon Tea C8,895,(i00 74,665,0u0

AU Tea 182,409000 178,891.000

Export.— One effect of the low range otpnces has
been to draw the attention of various foreign markets
to the lower i;rades of whole leaf Indian Tea. The
export of the>e has been large, aud shows distinct
signs of extension. Another and very imp.rtivnt
cause of t'lis export demand is to be found in the
larger size of bn aks arrived during the present
season, — a matter which is of great import-
ance to shippers. It is probable that the small
breaks into which Indian Tea was until very re-
cently divided, had much to do with the slow pro-
gress of the export trade in previous years. The
exact quantity of ludiaa Tea exported cannot b©

6

3^

f KCPfCAL A(S6ldt/Lf tJKlSt*. [AvRii I, my,

ascertained, as Indian Tea is included with China in
the export figures published by the Cnstomf? Autho-
rities. The separation of the descriptions might be
an ad'-autage to the trade.

Prospects of I>diax Tea to end of June.—
Having now considered the subjects of both Home
consumption and export, let us glance at the prob-
able position of the Indian Tea trade during the
next six months.

The amount of the Indian crop available for
London is generally estimated at about 75,000,000 lb.
Of this amount 52,500,000 had arrived to 31st Decem-
ber, thus leaving 22,500,000 lb. to ccme forward. Es-
timating the arrivals from Ceylon to the end of June
as 6,000,000 lb., we get a total import of 28,500,000 lb.
This quantity added to the stock on 31st December
of 34,500,000, gives us a total of 63,(JOO,000 lb. to deal
with. Calculating the deliveries of Indian and Ceylon
Tea at as high a figure as 7,000,000 lb. per month
— which the lower range of prices may warrant us in
doing — we get a total delivery of 12 000,000 lb. for
the six months, thus leaving a stock at the end of
June of 21,000,000 lb.— as against 18,345,000 lb. at the
same time last year.

However, as the December stock would thus be
reduced by nearly 14,000,000 lbs., there is ample ground
for the hope ef some re-action from the unsatisfac-
tory averages now being obtained. Periods of the
most rapid increase in the consumption of Indian tea
have usually been the effect of low prices ; but after
prices had again advanced, deliveries have seldom
materially receded, aud even then have soon re-attained
the higher rate.

ISEw Maekets. — Still, looking at deliveries even in
the most favorable light it is more than doubtful
•whether they can long keep pace with the rapid iu^
creases taking place in production not only in India,
but especially in Ceylon, — unless indeed new outlets
can speedily be found, or existing foreign markets can
be considerably extended.

CoNscLAE Eepokts. — The published Consular Reports
contain information of a specially useful character to
those interested in tbu development of an export Tea
trade. lu addition to instancing various foreign markets
recently opened, or largely extended tor Tea, they
throw much light upon the condition of Briti.sh ent<^r-
prise in many important locahties as compar- d with
more pushing commercial nations on the Continent.
It may be mentioned that for every one British
commercial traveller in the Levant, there are . wenfi/
representatives of Mercantile Houses owned by two only
out of the many foreign nations competing against us.

The subject of New Markets is of great import-
ance to us, as a nation bestowing considerable atten-
tion upon the cultivation (f Tea. We therefore
append a table showing the quantity of Tea exported
from England to various countries during recent years.

Table showiiig the average amount of Tea in
pounds exported from Great Britain to the following
countries during l8b2-83. and 1884-85 :—

Arenige Exports during

1882 & 1833 18S4 & IfcSo

lb. lb.

17,671,000 17,879,000

6,031,090 !i,2->9,000

1,601,W0 tf,775,000

3,873,000 3,432.000

3,361,000 3,617,000

S70,oo<J 991,000

ai3,000 791000

«44,000 771,000

tWj7,00O 744,0uO

612.000 664.000

„, 444,000 043,000

689,000 631,000

616.000 542,(00

406,000 393,000

21,000 2*1,000

... (DO returns) 1885 207,000

276,000 195,000

150,000 144,000

114,000 141.(100

162,000 120,000

106,000 lUU.OOO

96,000 98,000

122,000 87,000

84,000 77,000

,., iS/m 6DM9

Couolries

iifTinsDy ...

CiTjiada „.

United State^ ,„

Soil. lid

5u»ta

Turk?)'

Dentrierk

iSewfouodlsnd ,,,

Chile ,1,

Channel Islaiida .,,

Morocco

Portugal

f-'rance

Brazil ...

Victoria

Be'.d m

Ar^ei line Republic

Gibraltar

Cape of Good Hope

Austrian Territories

Malta and Gozo ...

British West Indies

Xatal ...

t'rugcay

48,000

40,006

84,000

48,000

29,000

40,000

36,000

28,000

14,000

32,000

19.000

14,000

13,000

13,000

14,«00

13,090

7,»0t

4,«00

S.OOO

4,00*

Spain
Eg.vpt
Boliria
Koumania
A/ores
Bermuda
Maderia
St. Helena
Danish West Indies
British Guiaaa ...
It is necessary to mention that only a small' por-
tion of the large amount exported to Germany is
consumed in that country, the greater part beinf
re-exported. In addition to the abore exports from
Great Britain large quantities of tea are trau>hippedl
to various places. In 1885 the principal traaship-
meuts were as follows : —

United States... ... .. 6,012,000

Germany.. ... ... 2,880,000

Holland ... ... ... 895,(.>0O

Russia ... ... ... 262,000

Turkish Dominions .. ... 225,000

British North America ... 13t*,000

ArgeHtine Republic ... ... 68o'00G

Austrian Territories ... ... i^QjOOO

qraguay ... ... 78,(00

Norway ... ... 91,000

Cannot Indian and Ceylon tea be introduced in
some of these numerous markets V There is a large
field for enterprise in the extensive markets of the
United States of America, where some 70 million
pounds of tea are annually consumed ; and there, the
proportion of Indian and Ceylon tea used is at present
infinitesimal.

In order more fully to elucidate this important
subject, we intend issuing in a circular upon Ceylon
tea, a list giving the quautity of tea consumed in vari-
ous couutrie — together with the different rates of duty
charged upon the article.

Peoduction.— In view of the rapidly increasing im-
ports we venture again to draw attention to the subject
of " Plucking," upon which we have frequently com-
mented on former occasion.^ ; we would strongly
urge the advisability of pursuing a medium course, and
above all, of avoidmg the dangerous policy tif flooding
the market with an enormous quantity of inferior
liquoring tea. The gi-eat point to be aimed at in the
future is quality not qvantity. Ttie need for utihzing
every facility for improvement in manufacture, and for
systematic economy is becoming more urgent every year.
Bonded Wabbhouse Eettjexs do not unfortunately
show the movements in the different grades of Indian
Tea; this is a matter in which we believe an alter*
ation would be of advantage to the trade, as it would
often be useful to know in what particular sorts the
deliveries were most extensive.

GOW, ^VILSON k STANTON,
Tea Brokers, 13, Rood Lane, London, E. C.

PLANTING IN NETHEELANDS INDIA
TOBACCO.
(Translated for the Straits I'imes.)
In Java, encouraging signs are not wanting, evi*
dancing a determination on the part of the inter-
ests sulYering from the prevalent depression, to
put their shoulders to the wheel, and help them,
selves in place of relying upon the aid of the Go-
vernment, which indeed shows no disposition to
move out of old fashicued grooves. The planters
there who have already taken the pioneer lead to
protect themselves more than once have again be-
stirred themselves to set an example to their
fellow colonists. The lava iBode s&ys that, with a
rare spirit of co-operation, they reoently decided
upon setting up experimental stations for the
behoof of sugar growers. Now they have
laid the foundations of another station of the kind
for the cultivation of hill produce articles. There
is every prospect of the scheme coming to maturity.
Under influence of the thought that the only way
for Java planters to carry on the struggle for ex
iiitcuce witli auy lippe of success io the future

April i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

65 1

would be for them to take every advantage of
scientific improvements in the direction of reduc-
ing the cost of production, the members of a plant-
ing association in the Preanger Regencies, have
taken the first step for the purpose, by sending
round to their fellow planters a circular request-
ing their cooperation in gaining the desirable end
in view. The Government has also been applied
to for part of the money required in the shape of
a subsidy.

A gentleman named Carst who intends starting
a tobacco estate in Cotie on the East Coast of
Borneo, writes to a Batavia journal pointing out
that the British North Borneo Company has com-
mitted a blunder in failing to forward its tobacco
to Amsterdam or Rotterdam instead of to London.
In these Dutch cities, there is better chance of
securing higher prices, owing to the greater de-
mand for the article, in consequence of the
hundreds of dealers from Germany and America,
who carry on a brisk competition there. At
London, adequate competition is wanting from so
few dealers having the means to travel there for
th« purpose of buying tobacco. In fact, the con-
sumption of tobacco is so limited in Britain that
the latter country has no chance of becommg
a market or emporium for leaf, coming up to
the kinds produced in British North Borneo.

MANURING FRUIT TREES.

We have often noticed great waste of material and
labour expended on fruit trees, and because no visible
reward — by finer or more abundant produce — was ex-
perienced, the practice of surface-dressing was de-
nounced as useless, and then abanduned. But the mi»-
take wai in the application of the manure, the feed-
ing roots being far distant from the stems of the trees,
and I neeii not «ay that these roots had no assistance
rendered them whatever. In a large A\'est of England
orchard which we visited during last summer, manure
in abundance was placed over t he hard dry surface, in
circular form 1^ foot wide, by the trunks of the large
treei. The advice was copied from some horticultural
iournal, but certainly not to the letter, and it is because
•uch work ii often performed in such an unintelligent
manner that the instructions so well given have been
treated with contempt. Often manures scientifically
prepared to meet the wants of fruit trees, vegetables,
and flowers are denouuced as being worthless because
they bare been misapplied.

Vines are frequently victims to barbarous treatment
in the manner indicated. Borders which may have been
well prepared with the best of material are long since
vacated by the feeding roots, which may have gone out
into the vegetable quarters, or into a hard road if such
were near by. Cultivators may sometimes be seeu treat-
ing such borders to their animal dose, or biennial supply
of choice manure, solid and liquid, and at the same time
all was waste — none could reach the feeders. The Vines
gradually failed, disease became prevalent, and failure
wa« certain. We have more than one such case in our
mind's eye at present, where valuable applications are
given which is utter waste. The hint given regarding
the renovation of the Madresfield Vines may be taken
by many who have long been helping (in vain) the roots
of their Vines, Trace the feeders to their utmost limit,
and good service may be then done by feeding them
whsre they can consume their food.

Shrivelling is much complained of this season (we
haTe a little of it), but attribute it to absence of
moisture at the roots, or to a dry, hot atmosphere,
or both at the same time. Our shrivelling is easily
accoui.t-d for. The roots of some two Vines had
grown up into the surfacing of manure in the inside
border,»nd when damping the house was discontinued
these _ roots were dried up.— Oaiedonmn.— G'ar.
'Irncf-i Cliroiiirlfl.

CULTIVATION OF CHAVICA BETEL.

)tY ME. S. RAIIASAWMI lYAH OF CHINGLBPUT.

{From Journal of the Agricultural Students' Association,
Saidapet, Madras.)

I purpose to give you a detailed report on the cul-
tivation of Chavica Betle as practised in this part of
the District (Ohingleput). The subject is one of much
interest, and it is hoped that it will secure the atten-
tion it deserves.

T'arieties. — there are two important varities, viz.,
the white, and the black. The former is sub-diviiied
into " Karpuram " and "Goulipathrum," whereas
the latter, into "Kammaram" and "Kalizeru."

Kdrpurinu. — Small, fine, and agreeable to the taste.

Goulipatliru'in.— 'La.rge, thick, agreeable to the taste,
and ammatic.

Kavtntiram. — Larre, thick, pungent, and aromatic.

Kalizeni.—^maU, not very thick, and bitter to the
taste.

Extent. — The white variety is cultivated largely in
this District to the extent of 1,842 acres, whereai the
latter occupies only 398 acres.

Selection of land.—'Red loams and clayey soils are
bestfitced. Sandy soils are objectionable. As a rule,
the land selected should contain a fair amount of
organic matter. The crop requires a very copious
supply of water, and, therefore, it is desirable that
the land be freely irri8:able by gravitation.

Preparatitn of land. — Land which has recently been
cropped with paddy is fallowed for three months.
In the beginning of June, straight furrows are made
by a plough 6 feet apart. Trenches are then dug in
the field ( 1 foot 3 inches deep by 2 feet broad )
along the furrows. The soil removed from the tren-
ches is heaped in the interspaces, leaving a margin
of 9 inches on either side, to a height of I foot. The
length of these trenches depends upon the extent
of the field : the trenches referred to throughout my
report were 280 feet in length.

Artatld Planting. — As a rule, the betle crop is planted
along with Agathi albiflora. The advantages of grow-
ing them together are as follows : — 1. — that the
gardener may have free and full control over each
plant. 2. — that the creeper may be trained on the
agathi plant. 3. — that the creeper may be protected
from high winds. The method of sowing the seeds of
the agathi is as follows : — Seeds are placed in water;
those that float are rejected, and those that sink are
taken for sowing. About 5-1 Madras measures of seed
are necessary for sowing au acre. Under favourable
circumstances and careful manatremeut a less quantity
may suflice. Four rows of agathi seeds are sown on
either side of the trenches, 4 inches apart between
the rows and 9 inches in the rows. By the end of
a week after sowing, the whole field is covered with
young agathi plants in regular drills. These plants
require no shade when they are young, but regular
watering is necessary. When the whole field is well
covered and the plants attain to a height of 7 feet
to 9 feet, preparations are made to plant betle creep-
ers.

J-ences. — Fences are absolutely necessary for this crop.
There are two fences, t.#., the outer and the inner.
The outer is generally a live fence while the inner is
a dead fence.

Planting plantain shoots. — Plantain shoots are planted
at the rate of 200 to an acre. The plautaiu re-
quires no cultivation besides what is usually done for
the betle crop.

Selection of Betle creepers. — Creepers (with leaves)
specially selected, are the tops of healthy plants
whose leaves possess superior qualities. Each of
these tops, or creepers, must contain 9 nodes ; 150
bundles to an acre are required.

When planted. — In the beginning of December, when
•uflicient shade is att'orded by the Agathi planti«, the
oreepeis are planted.

How p^a'attd. — The creepers are arranged in sets of
two c! c'l. Two such sets are placed horizontally op-
posite to each other in the soil between every two
Agathi plant'? of the second row. Puddle taken from

652

tK'E TieOPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [April 1, 1887.

the trenches, is then placed over the creepers so as
to cover the cut mrf^ces but no manure is applied
Three mouths after plaDting, i.e., iu the beginning
of March the creepers strike root, when new leaves
appear on the main stems. These, as they grow, are
fastened to the agathi plant.

Irriyotion. — As a rule, these betle fields are irrigated
from tanks aud but seldom or never from wells.
Water is distributed in the trenches by gravitation.
When tbe trenches are full, a cooly is employed to throw
water on the ridges. Regular watering is usually neces-
sary for the betle crop throughout its duration of
growth. It may be remarked that the trenches are
always filled with water which becomes stagnant and
ultimately a nursery for injurious insects that feed upon
the plants. Excess of water turns the plants pale
in colour, and weakens them.

Diseases of the plant. — The betle leaf gets blanched
aud sickly, if deprived of hght. Wht-n the evaporat-
ion is impeded, they suffer, while on the other hand
when it is excessive, leaves dry and fall off. Rot, a dis-
ease in which the lower branches begin to decompose, is
also seen when there is no free circulation of
air. A fungus, characterised by small bandies of
white globules, is also seen among them. It first
attacks the roots and then the stem. The plant
attacked by it, turns yellow, and the leases fall off;
the section of an internode exhi' its a dark ling around
the pith, and ultimately becomes rotten. "When plants
are affected in the abovementioned ways, the agathi
plants are stripped off their leaves and the diseased
plants are removed.

"Serva" operation. — In the beginning af April, the
operation of arbouring the stems of Agathi plants
known in Tamil as "serva" operation takes place.
This is as follows : — A plant in the first row along the
margin is tied up with the corresponding one iu the
adjacent row on the sam«^ r.dge. When the whole
field has thus been dealt with, a pair of agathi on the
ridge is fastened to the opposite pair on the other.
Bamboos are at tho same time placed all along the
interior angle formed by the junction of two pairs of
agathi, facing the trenches. 600 bamboos of 2 inches
iu diameter, on the average, are required to each acre.
This operation engages the labour of 50 meu to com-
plete an acre in a day.

Harvesting leaves —No leaves are plucked until the
plants are about 6 months old from the time of planting.
The gardener never plucks leaves from the main creeper,
but removes them from the branches. From the
heginnirg of June, 25 1 undies of 4r0 leaves each, may
be coKected from an acre per day till the first pruning
takes place. The plmts are atforded ;j months' rest
between the succpssive prunings.

Pruning o;)e>'fl?io?t.— When the creepers reach the
full height of the af;atbi plants, the ties are removed,
and the whole creeper is shorieaed to 3 feet and the
ties are replaced. Ihe fibre used in binding is obtained
from the stem of Cypress bu'bosa.

Jfanuvr 7'eq%died, —At each time of pruning or lower-
ing, 50 cart loads of compost are required for each acre.

Lahour required. — One cooly takes 10 minutes to do
all the msiuiptilations necessary for one creeper. As
there are 560 creepers in a ridge he will take 96 hours
to finish the work. Considering that 8 hours= 1 work-
ing day, a ridge will be finished in 12 days by a cooly,
in other words, 12 coo ies are required to finish a ridge
in one day or 300 cojlies to an acre iu a day.

I)uration ofgrcncth. — Under favourable circumstances
and good management, the crop will live for a period
of not less than 6 yi ars.

Labour diffi-ultg. — The chief diflBculty which the
cultivator experiences in the cultivation of this crop is
securing a .'uflBcient number of coolies at the proper
time, notwithstanding the enormous expense that he
is prepared to incur.

^

PEODUCTS OF DOMINICA.

Oacao.

Dominica ought to make a fine display of cacao,

as on its increased cultivation unquestionably rests,

in no small degree, the future po^perity of the

island. Two or three specimens will only show that

cacao can he produced here, but a large variety of
exhibits— say specimens from thirty or forty of the
principal growers— will give visitors to the Exhibi-
tion some idea of the island's capabilities in regard to
this staple.

The following are the classes under which our cacao
and its products can be sent .—

1. Dominica plantation cacao— fermented.

2. Dominica plantation cacao— fermented and clayed.

3. Dominica settlers' cacao.

4. Prepared cacao.

5. Chocolate.

Three quarts of cacao should be sent, put up
neatly m shallow boxes about 14 inches square, but
two pounds of prepared cacao and chocolate will be
sufficient.

The plantation cacao should of course have the
name of the estate and the exhibitor as well as the
ordinary marks that are placed on the bags before
they are sent to tho market. The cacao can easily
be "clayed" by rubbing over the beans finely-powdered
red earth or clay as soon as the fermentation (or
"sweating") is completed. Clayed cacao fetches a
better price than the ordinary article and it is usually
bought by the French for their celebrated chocolate.
In fome instances red ochre is substituted for clay,
and we know of an instance where it was so em-
ployed in this island.

Settlers' cacao forms the greater part of our crops;
it is the cacao purchased by the merchants from the
peasant proprietors, and unfortunately it is to this
imperfectly fermented and sometimes unripe article
that we owe the prevailing low prices for tbe Domi-
nica cacao. To our m'='rchants we must turn for re-
presentation in this class, and we sincerely trust that
each cacao broker will send on a sample of " settler's
cacao" with the name of the firm and the usual
mark. This will really be an important exhibit, for
if it be demonstrated to tbe trade that we have plant-
ation and sett'ers' cacao, it will at once cause extra
scrutiny amongst buyers, and rai«e the price of the
former article to the great " benefit of all concerned."

Cur prepared cacao and chocolate will also make
important exhibits; aud it would be a good commercial
speculation for one of our merchants to consign these
articles in quantity to the Executive Commissioner
for the use of the refreshment bars and pavilions in
the Exhibition grounds. A cup of pure Dominica
cocoa or chocolate will be a surprising treat to those
accustomed to the villainous decoctions usually sold
in such places, and it cannot but tend to draw at-
tention to our island.

Coffee.

Under this head we make the following divisions:—

1. Arabian or " Creole " plantation cofl:'ee.

2. Arabian or " Creole" settlers' coffee.

3. Mocha coffee.

4. Liberian coffee.

Years ago Dominica was one of the chief coffee
producing countries in the Western Hemisphere, and
capital enterprise alone are wanting to make itE name
known again in the great markets. Libeiiau coffee
grows well in the lowland-* ; and, in spite of the
'white fly" blight, the .so called " Creole" variety
f.'ives remunerative crops in lands situated over 1000
feet above the sea. It is to be hoped, therefore,
that th( re will be a good coffee exhibit at the forth-
coming ex'iihition. Three quarts of each kind of coffee
is the miniinnm quantity required, and the exhibit
should be packed in tint boxes about 14 inches stjuare,
and about H iiich deep. The labels .should have the
name of the exhibitor and the estate.

We may here impress on every exhibitor to attend
carefully to neatness in getting up his exhibit, for
any article will look much better in a tastily made
box than it would in a rough receptacle hastily knocked
up out of an old packing case. ]\Ir. Jemmott, the
carpenter, made the most of the boxes sent to the
Demerara exhibition, and the neatness of the Domi-
nica exhibits at that show was the subject of much
public and private commendation. Two shillings each
were charged for the boxes.

AniL X, 1887.] TOE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST*

^53

SPiCES.

We can send eght kind.-, of spices as will be seen by
the 1 olio wing eiiUmeration: —

1, Nutmegs.

2. Mace,
a. Cloves.

4. Cinnamon.

5. Ginger — «. Unscraped.

b. Scraped and cleaned.

6. Vanilla.

7. Biack-pepper.

8. Pimento.

Thus we see we have nearly' all the known spices
glowing in the island, and tnis will be a ujost im-
portant fact to impress on the vi.-icora to the txhibi-
tion — lor the bulk of the spices used come from ihc
EaSt Indies, and therefore tiiey cost more to piac
in the English and American markets. Nutmegs tiave
done much to heip on the p:o>peritj 01 Gienada,
and it is to be hoped that in a few years the bame
thing may be said of Dominica. Alrtady two of Lur
planters have commenced the cu.tivation in real
earnest, and other doubtless will soon follow in their
wake.

Pimento, allspice, or .Jamacia pepper, is the fruit of
our " Bois d'lude " picked green and dried in the sui,.
It is a very important article of export from Jamaica.
Other Food Peoducts.

Of these we have a large variety, and possibly our
readers will be able to add to ttie following, fiiteen
classes which we have made in the division : —

1. Farine manioc.

2. Frtrine s'.arch.
'3. Arrowroot.

4. Tous-les-mois,

5. Plantain starch.

6. Yam starch.

7. Tauia search.

8. Bread-fruit starch.

9. Sweet-potato starch.

10. Tapiocii starch.

11. Plantain meal.

12. Dried shced plantain.

13. Eice,

14. Dried peppers (or capsicum) whole.

15. Ground peppers, (or Cayenne pepper).

]\Iost of the above articles can be exhibited by the
ladies, and we take this opportunity of pointing out
that the sterner sex are 1101, expected to carry off all
the honours. The Exhibition Committee will be very
glad to receive ad the help the ladies can give ii
making the Dominica Court at the Exhibition worthy
of the island, and their Honorary Secretary will only
be too happy to assist a(( intending exhibitors to the
best of his ability.

AYe may remark that the true Cayenne pepper is
made from the bird pepper — a common Domiuica
wayside p ant of two kinds. One kind bears sma 1
round red berries, and the other has elongated pyra-
midal ones.

Three quarts is the quantity fixed on for the meals
and starches, and the article may be exhibited in
boxes similar to those described above. It will be as
well to line the boxes with blue or white paper. —
H. A. A. N. — Dominica Dial.

CINCHONA IN MEXICO.
Notwithstanding the discouraging state of the
Cinchona market fresh competitors in the industry
are entering the field, and the latest of these is
the Mexican Government. Cinchona was first intro-
duced in Mexico by the Emperor Maximilian, in
1866, upon the advice of Mr. Maury, a scientist and
lieutenant in the United States Nttvy, who had been
making a tour through the South American Andes,
and Was struck with the climatic similarity of those
regions to certain parts of Mexico. The Emperor
Maximilian applied for cinchona seed to Mr. Waltham,
who had introduced the plant in the East Indies,
and received from him a supply of three diflfeient
species, together with instructions regarding the treat-
ment of t' e seed. By the Emperor's orders the seeds
were handed to the Geographical and Statistical

Society of Mex CO, who in turn, commissioned a
Mr. Jose A^jclint Nidto, of Oorduba, to plant them,
and supplied him witn the necessary funds for the
experiments. A German named Fiuck, c-irried on an
experiment with some Sied of the C condaminea
vaueiy, which planted and produced good seed at
the eud of four years. He afterwards planted a
number of seedlings on an estate at a height of
between 1,8.0 and 2,000 feet above the sea-ievel.
But the mean temperature of these plantarians 75°
F. was found too warm, and the plauts did' not
succeed, alth 'Ugii ihej' attained a height of thirteen to
s.xieeuieet. lu 1873 ^.nl^ 115 ot ihe trees survived. Dr.
Fiuck, noL^vitn&tandiug this ci.-appoiutiug result, re-
mained a fi.m believer in the fi-asibility of sue^es-iful
cinchona-growiug in Mexico. In 1874 he male a
fiesn attempt, tnis time on a " raucho " about 2,900
icet above sea. eve), and had the satisfaction to see
nis efforts Ciowued with complete success and to
fiud other p.aniers fallowing ms example. At pre-
.•<ent 12,000 trees are tlourishiug on Dr. Fiuck's pla'uta-
ion, and it is ^ald that the to al uuaib-!r on the
plantations arv^und Cordoba is neany 2(>,0j0. A great
m.ny varieties have in course of time sprung up
tiom the original three species, and the alkaloidal
peicentage 01 tne Mexican cinchona is equal to that
of the best Bolivian bark. Nevertheless it would
seem that lor tne next few years, at any rare, there
is no probability ot cijchona being exported from
Mexico. All the bark which is grown in the republic
is cotisumed in the country, local wholesale druggists
buying it at prices ranging from 56Jc. to 75c. (2s.
4d. to 3s. Id.; per lb. It is not, tnerefore, worth
the while of growers to export their cinchona to
markets where, most likely, it Would realize less
than at home. Foreign cinchona has to pay aa
import duty of about 2d. per Jb. in Mexico, and
quiuine about l§d. per oz., wbile the shipping and
carrying expenses are very heavy. — Local " Times."

RHEA IN MEXICO.
I notice from time to time an expression of opinion by
correspondents in jour columustothc eff ■ ct that, success-
ful as te^ has be< ome, Oeyion planters will do well to see
that they be not ag.iu caught, as was the case with coffee,
with all their eggs in one basket. With this in mind and
remeuj bering the nature of your climate m the low coun-
try, and iii mid-region bet ween it and the hill-ranges, I
have Ltely been taking notes in regard to the growth
of the rhea plant, trom which is made the well-kuo-va
and valuable China grass, aa well as ot its manufac-
ture into a great variety of fabrics. There is a Khea
Manufacturing Company in London with a fact iry
on the River Lea, a id a large extent of land in the
Madras teiritory, where the plant is being grown and
treated for handy shipment. During the currency of
the Oi-louial Exhibition, 1 had frequent opportunities
of examining the beautiful fibres and cloths shown
by the Company in the Indian Court. They have
already indeed manufacturers to take up the article,
but what IS wanted is a larger supply, for there is
very little doubt that many tuousands of tons of the
prep red fibre would be taken at paying prices.
Having had, whilst in India, some exp. rience in the
growth of the rhea plant, I do not hesitate to say
that it is most readily cultivatable in a moderately
good and light soil, in a climate such as exists in
the Ceylon maritime districts, and, even as high up
as Gampola and Kaduganuawa. In many parts of
India it is successluliy grown, but hitherto
the diflBculty has been in separating the fine long
fibres from the woody stalk, covered as it is with
resinuits matter. This, the Compmy declare, can be
easily and economically carried out by adopting a
very simple process which they have patented.
They are pr. pared to enter into engagements with
any ptrs /ns who will grow the pUnt and supply
them with the fibre in the raw sia e under their
patent. Ill placing beore you, for the lulorm tion
of your readors, a lew extracts from the Coaiptuy's
ia ely publishea pamphlet, I have in vie>v the pjssi-
bliity that the cultivation may find someone willing
to give it a, trial oft a small scale in soma moderately

654

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Afril x, 1887,

moist district, Siflfragam, Kurunegala, the Kelani
Valley, Kalutara, Ualle, Matara, and doubtless other
localities would be suitable. The pamphlet iu question
sajs: — '* The Khea Manufacturing Company will sujiply
seeds aud plants and cuttings, and will either buy
the crop, or, in certain cases, accept drafts against
consignments intended for treatment and cell thntn
to the best advantage of the consignor. The Rhea
Manufacturing Company is prepared to con.sider pro-
positions for its s:)le agency in such of the British
Colonies and dependencies as are not alrea iy occupied
by its lict;us>-es ; the principal duties of such ageiits
being to facilitate the cultivation of rhea by even
the smallest landholder. The patent processes of M.
Favier and Professors Fremy and Urbain, of which
this Compa.iy holds the exclusive rights, render it
po-isible to convert into " ribbans " on tbe ground
where grown the whole crop so soon as cut. As
th 8 is done without breaking or beaMng the stems,
alii the "nature" and valuable quallti-s of the fibie
are preserved. The preparation of the raw material
so obtained is completed at the Company's extensive
works on the Kiver Lea, near London. Growers,
therefore, de ling with the Khea Manufacturing
Company, Limited, will produce at the smallest cost,
and will receive the highe.-t market rates. Rhea
varies in its yield ai,d quality according to the lati-
tude in which it is grown, the land in which it is
planteil, the time of year iu which it is cut, the
rain-fall of the locality or facility obtainable for
artificial irrigation. A consideratiou of paramount
imporiauce is that the outlay, diligence and care in-
di^pensable for a rhea plantation cease (so far as the
area planted is coucerned) with the end of the second
year. After the second year the agriculturist has an
increasirig and perpetual income and a minimum ex-
penditure. Rhea is an evergreen, and once properly
planted fills every vacrint spot of ground, leaving no
room for weeds. The normal crops really begin on^y
after the second year of plantii g; from that lime the
crops obtainable thiougout India and latitudes fr.>m
0° to 20° may be calculated as from 3 to 6 p^r annum,
each crop giving in tLe third year about 200,000 stems
per acre. This number, however, as well as the weight
of each stem and of the fibre in each stem, will vary
according to the conditions mentioned above. Taking
an ave-age of four crops a year or 800,0('0 stem.s per
acre pr year, and 10 green stems (stripped iff their
leaves and with the tops cut off) to the pound, and
taking it hIso that the ribbons, when decorticated,
will weigh one-tenth of the gross weight of the green
stem (Stripped off its leaves and minus its top) the
800.000 green stems will weigh 80,000 lb. aud should
yield 8,0<;0 lb. of dy ribbons. As-umiug the selling
price of these ribb ms to be £10 per ton on the
ground there would be in tbe first and second years
enough top.s for thd nursery, plants for transplanting,
and i-tems cut f' r ribbons to cover all costs incurred
except the ori in il outlay for preparing the ground
and purchase of p ants. According to the statements
of the mannger of the Company it will require about
two millions of matured sterns to yield a tonof m-tiket-
able fibre woi th £-30. The preparation of the ribbons
for working int'j the fibre is, I am assurei^, of the
simpl' 8t and most inexpensive kind, by a patented
process which the Company will place at the disposal
of unyone working them. I furnish these outlines in
the belief that someone or more with spare land ou his
hand may care to try this new cultivation. — Local
«'Time»."

BRITISH NORTH BORNEO: ITS PEOPLE AND

PRODUCTIONS.

The island of Borneo and the surrounding; de&a
are exceptionally ri-jh in natural products, many of
which, are, as yet hardly, if at all, collected or
utilized. The m;.iii reason why these resources have
been so little takeu advatitage of hitherto, la, that
matters have been in .Ruch a disorganized and anar-
chial state, that it was impos.^ible to store up the
slightest wealth, without some one more powerfu
than tbe poasessor coming and seizing it, by force

of arms, if need be. It was useless, therefore, up
to quite lately, for any one to attempt to do more
than provide for his immediate wants, and bo much
has this grown to be a habit, added to the natural
laziness of the Malay character, that the bulk of
the people simply have, even now, no thought for
the morrow. A remarkable illustration of this is
found in the undoubted fact, that it has been known
that Bajau boats having brought some "find" of a
rather higher importance than usual to market,
aud bartered it for the only article they attach any
value to, rice, have afterwards thrown the greater
part of the remainder into the sea, rather than be
at the trouble of taking it about witii them. It
will thus be understood that the people of these
parts have come to regard it as but a ma.tural state
of affairs that they should be surrounded by wild
produce of a valuable character, which they hav«
only to stretch out their arms to gather, and, in
fact, as a Bank upon which they simply have to
draw, whenever the need arises.

Sea Produce. — Beche-de-mer, scientific name, Holo-
tkui-ta, or Sea-cucumber : Malay, trepang : Bajau, bart.
These repulsive looking echinoderms occur in quant-
ities all round the coast, and are collected princip-
ally by the Bajaus, or sea-gipsies, who cure and
dry them, and bring them to market, where they
are bought by Chinese traders, and sent ultimately
to China, where they are much appreciated, being
used principally to make soup of. They vary csin-
siderably iu price. Some of them have no value at
all, aud go uncollected ; others fetch as much as
S25 a picul, but the usual price is from §10 to S15
per picul. Along our own coast they are rather
fully collected, but amongst the i.=ilands, and on the
coast line down to the south there are immense
quantities left undisturbed from year to year. The
exports of this curious produce during the years
1882, 1883, and 1884, were valued at S6,739, S9>057
and 7,373 respectively.

Keema is a large mollusc, resembling an enormona
cockle or clam. Their shells may occasionally be
seen in museums in England, and are much used
in France as vessels for Holy Water at tUe entrances
to churches ; these shells are sometimes found six
feet in width, and the natives aver that they grow
very much larger, and state that on the coast of
Tawi-Tawi, there is one as big "as a house." It
may be mentioned, however, that fifteen feet broad
for a Bajau house, would be quite a respectable
size. Kecma is usually found on a coral bottom,
and it requires the keen and practised eye of a
Bajau, to distinguish between them and the sur-
rounding lumps of coral, etc., they usually present
tlie appearance of an indigo-blue streak, the partly
opened month being all that is visible, the shell
being too much covered by sea-weed, anemonies, &c.,
to be seen, and when the Bajau distinguishes one
from amongst the quantities of other creatures and
colours, with which the bottom abounds, he thrusta
a three-pronged spear into the aperture, whereupon
the two sheila close with a firm grasp, which enables
the fisherman to bring it to the top without further
trouble. The price of Keema is usually so low, that
it is despised by the gatherers, though however low
the price might be, §2 to S3 a day, could always
be earned by collecting it. During the war between
France and China the prices of Keema rose con-
siderably, owing, I was told, to its being more easily
prepared for culinary purposes than trepanri, and
therefore more adapted for soldiers on the march.
There are places on the coast where boat loads can
be got in a very few days, and its collection was
being largely expanded, when the end of the war
came, and prices showed a disposition to fall.

Agar-agar, an edible sea-weed grows freely enough
in many places at the bottom of the sea, and is to
be had for the collecting.

Mother-of-Pearl Shell is the produce of a very large
oyster, known locally as trpai. Beds of this oyster
are found in the seas all the way from Borneo to
Australia, more or less; they would soem to termin-
ate, however, about Lat. 6, North. There is a tra-
dition of a large bed being situated outside Balhalla,
Isomewhere between the islands of Nunuyan svnd

Amt It iUf4 iHm fnopit At A6mcistfijti§t,

ywrninnBaMrromim

BTinaiwiwwMiMi

mmtia

am

Taganac, and in confirmation of his report, occasional
single specimens have been obtained. A bed also
exists, without much doubt, on the 'Rene" shoal
off Tambesan, but the mouth of Darvel Bay has
to be crossed to the southwards before ground is
reached, where they are constantly found. Inform-
ation apparently trustworthy has been received of
an in'portaut bed, extending from Port Elphiustoue
to some sixty miles to the southward, called the Ada
Bank, so named after the wife of Mr. Fryer, the
Resident of the East Coast. Shells from this bank
are sent in occasionally, and some pearls are said
to have been found. The price of shell is usually
about $ib a picul. Exports hitherto in this article
have principally been composed of a few shells that
have, from time to time, found their way over from
the Sooloo islands to Sandakau.

Pearls. — These are found in the above-mentioned
mother-of-pearl or tepai oysters. Hitherto but very
few have been found on our own coast, and those
which are offered for sale in our market have come
principally from the islands of Tawi-Tawi, Skobong,
Ubian, &c., in the Sooloo Archipelago. Pearls of
very high price are not unfrequently to be bought
in Sandakan. The largest one that has been seen
was valued at $8,000. The diving powers of the
people who bring up these shells is something extra-
ordinary, and is probably not to be exceeded any-
where in the world ; without any stone or weight
they turn over on the surface of the water and
swim down head foremost to the bottom, collect
shells, and bring them up, each one weighing six
or seven catties. In this manner they will descend
to an ascertained depth of twelve fathoms, and claim
to be able to go down much greater depths. In
waters much infested by sharks, a sort of plough
shaped trawl, here called " baujer " is used.

Seed-pearls. — These are found in a thin flat pinkish-
shelled oyster, known locally as Selisiep, which occurs
usually in shallow water on the mud at the mouth of
rivers. This oyster is somewhat peculiar in character,
the water in which alone it can thrive must be
slightly brackish, as it cannot live in entirely salt
water, while ©n the other hand, an admixture of
too much fresh water kills it at once. There used
to be large beds of it in Sandakan and Lakuk Bays,
but very heavy rains in the year 1879, so thoroughly
destroyed the oysters, that they have never properly
recovered yet, (December, 1885.) On several occa-
sions it has been said that the oyster was beginning
to be found again, and that minute pearls were
forming in them, but rains always came at the
critical moment and destroyed them. In Maroap
Bay, a certain amount of collecting has been in
progress for the past two years, and there are
places in Darvel Bay, where these oysters are
abundant, but other natural produce, more easily
collected, is so plentiful in its neighbourhood, that
they are never touched. Seed-pearl collecting is
great fun. It is always necessary for several boats
to rendezvous, at the same time and place for the
purpose of frightening away the crocodiles and
sharks, and for the same reason, as much shouting
and splashing about as possible, is indulged in.
The consequence is that there are rarely less than
fronx twenty to thirty persons m the water at one
time, all diving, splashing, laughing and shouting
at once, and rarely bringing up less than three to
four sheila at a dive, whilst extra yells from all
hands salute a rather larger find than usual. The
mode of obtaining the pearls is by opening the
oysters and throwing their contents into some ves-
sel, and there leaving them to decompose, stirring
them up daily during the process, until at last the
liquid putridity being poured off, the pearls are found
at the bottom. Very few of them are large enough
to be of any value individually, but they are sent
to China where they are pounded up and made into
powder and there swallowed by ladies who desire
to improve their complexion, at least so we are told.
Another and rather larger kind of oyster known as
beloong, found in somewhat deeper water than selisiep,
also always contains seed-pearle. Exports 1682 fi7i,
J983 »m, and 188i «3,101,

Tortoise Shell. — The name applied to this article of
commerce is somewhat of a misnomer, as it is sup-
plied by a turtle; these turtles are fairly common
in our seas, and are usually obtained by means of
spearing as they lie asleep on the surface of tho
water. It is averred that the turtle-egg collectors,
if they find a lay of eggs, less than one hundred
and thirty in number, return to that spot twelve
nights afterwards when the same turtle comes again,
and, being secured, is always found to be of a good
kind. (The ordinary turtle is not interfered with.)
The usual price of tortoise shell is about §6 to $12
for the produce of one turtle, but occasionally,
single shells are valued at extraordinarily high prices.
Seme short time since one was secured by Panglima
Ypel, which was said to have been sold for §500,
and more recently, we have heard that $2,000 was
asked for a single specimen brought to Sandakan.
No people but Chinese, would pay such prices for
such an article.

Turtle Eggs. — Some of the sandy shores of the
islands about the East Coast, aboundf with turtle eggs,
which are collected by boats which go in search of
them, and quite a large trade is the result, baskets'
full always oeing exposed for sale during th^ season
in the shops at Sandakan. The island of Bergoan
is the one most favoured by the turtles, and tho
season is during the continuance of the southern
monsoon, viz., fron April to October.

Sharks' i-'iTis.— Sharks abound in these seas, and
are caught chiefly by the Bajaus, in a variety
of ways, sometimes by hook and line, sometimes in
keelontjs (fish-stakes or fish-weirs they would be better
known as in England), and sometimes by spearing,
but by none of these methods cam the very largest
be captured, and they sometimes are seen of immense
size. A Bajau boat however rarely returns from a
trip of any duration, without bringing a bunch of
tails and fins, usually cut off from nsh four to seven
feet in length. The quantity in the sea may be de-
scribed as inexhaustible, and the larger our sea*
population grows the more sharks fins are likely to
be brought to market. Our sharks are, to a certain
extent, dangerous, but not so very much so; an occa-
sional mother-of-pearl shell diver is carried off, but
otherwise accidents happening to persons going into
the sea are rarely heard of, not by any means so
often, as from crocodiles up the rivers. I have seen
a canoe pass over the spot, where, a few minutes
before, the two back fias of a shark had been visible,
and between which the canoe (a, very small one)
could almost have been placed lengthways. A cro-
codile of similar s ze i^if such a thing were possible)
would almost certainly have tried to upset it, Dr at
any rate knock the man overboard. The trade in
sharks' fins, like most of the other articles hitherto
mentioned, is carried on exclusively with China.
Prices range from §8 to §25 a picul, and Exports
were in 1882 §837, 1883 §1,105, and 1884 $1,516.

Sponges.— ThesQ are frequently washed ashore all
along our coast line, wherever there exists much
coral. I have seen one or two pretty fair specimens,
but if sponges of any real value could be obtained
by systematic searching or by a slight amount of
culture, remainti yet to be seen.

Edible Oysters. — In some places these abound to
such an extent, that there are as many lying on the
rocky shores as there are stones, and at first sight
it is difficult to distinguish one from the other, boat
loads could be obtained without any trouble. They
are very good eating and quite innoxious so long,
that ia as the rock variety iu procured. There is
another kind found adhering in masses to the roots
and branches of the mangrove trees, which ought
to be carefully avoided, for, if eaten, this oyster
occasionally produces an attack very much resembling
colic, and even more dangerous. When dried, how-
ever, its harmful qualities are, I believe, to some
extent destroyed. It is expected that a certain amount
of export business will in time be developed in both
these kinds of oysters.

Fisk. — Nowhere in tho world, probably, is there
such a guantity and variety of good eatable fisb,
Kawarming in tb9 seas, as on the ast Coast of Hcxii)

656

THE

fi^,^i ii-i .^v

tCAt, AGitiCULTUKlSf. (April i, iB8p

Borneo. This is mainly owing to the wide extent
of shallow seas (up to one hundred and fifty fathoms
in depth) and to the numerous islands. Various of
these fish resemble cod, rock-cod huge perch, whiting,
herrings, &c.. mcnungin is like haddock; pila-pila,
soles ; ikan-inirah reii garnet ; ikanparey is a general
term for all sorts of flat fish, skate, flounders, (fee. ;
ikan-tumbib'i is nothing other than sardines; ikan-
Uannak, mullet. A large silvery-scaled fish has the
appearance of salmon, but there the resemblance
ceases. A great variety of others have no synotypes,
in our English waters, hut ai"e excellent eating.
Several methods are employed in their capture.
Keelortg, f'fishstakes) ; hook and line ; scramhau,
(dip-net,) nets; casting-nets; spearing with and
without torches, and bubut (a sort of trap sunk in
the water) are the principal. Of these keelong fishing
is the favourite when it is intended to take away
a quantity. The principal, upon which the keclonr/
is designed, is that of the wire mouse-trap, which
being once entered it is impossible afterwards to
escape out of. A fence, or barrier, extends from the
shore to the required distance out at sea ; the fish
encountering this, skirt along it, and thus find their
way through two outer chambers, till in time, they
arrive in the end compartment. When once the fish
have gone into the first chamber, there remains
little chance of escape for them, the sides being
curled inwards in a heart-shape at its entrance, so
that though very easy to pass in by. t is a difficult
matter to return. The compartm nt at the end is
nsnally round, and about seven to nine feet across.
The keehug is made of split bamboo, driven into
the sand, and lashed together by split rattans. The
total length of the split bamboo, at the end of the
kee/oiff being usually from twelve to fifteen feet.
Low tide is naturally the time the fish are captured,
a canoe paddling up from the shore frightens as
many as possible from the first and second chambers
into the end one, the narrow entrance or door-way
into which is then closed altogether for the time
by men who descend into the water, and put through
the catching operations, with some little assistance
from above. A curious sight may be seen when all
is ready by anyone getting upon the slender scaf-
folding which surrounds and surmounts the end
chamber, the water below being thick with fish of
all sorts and sizes. The next proceeding is to lash
a loose piece of kclong or bamboo-matting stick or
Bcreon kept for the purpose to the inside of the
chamber (most of these operations, it will be under-
stood being conducted under water), and being un-
folded gradually, the fish are driven into a central
fold of it till there is almost a solid heap of them.
A basket is then let down from the scaffolding on
top, and the fish are simply bailed out by the basket-
ful and thrown into the canoe alongside. Many of
the tish manage to get by or under the loose piece
of keelong, as it is being folded around them, and
this process has to be repeated three or even four
times before all are taken, and even then there are
frequently one or two so large that they cannot be
got" with the basket, and have to be speared. From
three to five picnls of fish is not an uncommon take
from one keelong a day ; and four kedongs have been
known to yield nearly thirty piculs a day between
them for a week together. There is an absence of
mental strain or physical exertion in working a
keelong, which much commends it to the Malay char-
acter, for, as soon as the fish are caught, they are
taken to market and sold in one lot to the stall-
keepers, and there remains nothirg else to be done
during the rest of the day. This industry is cap-
able of being indefinitely increased. II our population
•were larger and more pressed for means of subsist-
ence, the fishermen would make larger and deeper
kccloiujg, and would no doubt catch many more fish
aliii a large export trade in salted fish would soon
be inaugurated. In the south of Borneo, and in
Java, there is a large inland population, salt fish
being one of their staple articles of consumption, and
their own seas being unable to supply all they want
tbey would come to us for the balance.

Kcelongs are a snre method for capturing croco-
^B, should 0Q6 appear in the ueigoboutbood of a,

keelong, it is certain to be found inside it dtiring the
course of the next day or two. No matter hcv; large
they happen to be, they but very rarely succeed in
forcing their way through the fencing, as the bamboo
is very tough and yielding, and, owing to its being
partly curled round, the creature cannot exert its
full strength. When once caught, they are easily
despatched by a rifle shot through the head, fired
from the scaffolding above. The next most important
method of catching fish, in any quantity, is by sein-
ing. This mode hitherto on our coast can scarcely
be described as successful, the takes, by its means,
not affording an adequate return for the capital in-
vested in the seine and the labour involved. Seining
has been principally practised by Chinese fishermen
from Hongkong, and there is no charge to be brought
against them for lack of energy, but it has been
almost painful to notice the disappointing results
they have brought to market after a hard day's toil,
with expensive apparatus as compared with the boat
loads of fish brought in by Sooloo men who have
simply bailed them out of their keelongs, the con-
struction of which costs but little money. The Chin-
ese however are very loth to adopt new ideas, and
sooner than practice what is clearly the best mode
of obtaining a good catch in these waters, they give
up tLe whole thing in disgust and return to Hong-
kong. Far too many yoimg fish are captured m the
seine, a matter which will require legislature in the
future. All the other methods, by which fish are
caught, may be described, as hand-to-mouth, ones,
or at all events, suitable for the supply of the local
market only. Hook-and-line fishing, is, perhaps the
principal. When owing to want of rain, the water
is very clear, tlie fish avoid the keelongs, and the
supply in the market falls short, a canoe with two
men, lying inside the harbour, can always capture
from sixty to eighty catties of fish, in a few hours,
which being in request, they can easily obtain S3 or
S4 for, in the market. Seyambau, or dip-net fishing
sumetimes results in large takes, but it is only had
recourse to in the off season: it is usually over
twenty feet in width and is managed by a man
sitting in an elevated position, who when he sees a
shoal of fish passing over the net, lifts it and cap-
tures them. The fish thus caught are nearly always
mullet :, eighty catties a day is by no means an unusual
take. The casting net is usually employed as a
mean.s for providmg fish for single households. The
correct way of handling it is a small art soon
acquired, and it affords good amusement when
fishing for shrimps and ikan fumbun (sardines.)
These latter fish are very abundant in the Omaddal
district, shoals of enormoiis size being always
visible. The .■^pearing of fish is practised from boats
when opportunities offer ; large skate and other flat
fish which have a habit of sleeping on the surface
being frequently taken by this means, and at night
a bright light, either carried by hand or in a canoe
attracts fish which are then easOy speared, but no
great quantity is taken in this way. Up to the
present time 'the export of salt fish, has been very
small, the upcountry demand being large enough to
take all that is salted, but with an increased popu-
lation, and cheaper labour a very large and important-
business may be expected. — Isorth Borneo Herald.

CtJTTiXG Back Peach Tuees.— A "Maryland corre^
spondent " says: "Some weeks since a very intelligent
gardener insisted with me that cutting back budded
Ijeach trees was one source of weakened power that
led to disease. The budded peach is, as you know,
operated on near the ground. The next winter or
>priug the plant, perhaps four or five feet high, in
cut down to the bud. Numerous sprouts come, and
one only lett to form the tree. This check, he says,
affects the constitution of the tree. The .-needling U-ee
is not cut back, and for this reason it is always a
ht-aithier tree. Is there anj thing in this doctrine i"'
[We tniuk there is a little theoretically— but prac-
tically it is we think so little ot an injury as not to
iutertere seriously with the health. But it is worthy
further tbought,"ED.— 6flr<ienf;'i' Montlihj.

April i, 1887.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST*

657

falling

to 30 per cent. To make both ends

meet, they had to set about growing tobacco.
When ripe they gathered and cured the tobacco
at home for sale in the neighbourhood. The
money earned thereby, however small, proved wel-
come additions to the budget of the overburdened
cultivators. Nowadays they have to take out
licenses before they can plant tobacco at all. The
bother and expense of taking out licenses have
turned out so great as to deter the simple villagers
from growing any more tobacco. No wonder the
license tax has become hateful, detested, and vex-
atious.

The Battaks go on merrily burning down tobacco
storehouses on estates. Sometimes they act on
one pretence and sometimes on another. In one
instance incendiarism was resorted to for the pur- !
pose of recovering alive a Battak killed by a cer-
tain headman. The authorities are too busily en-
gaged in other matters to admit of their grappling '
lirmly with this evil, no matter how hard it may \
prove upon the planters.
83

CONSUMPTION OF TEA.

Those who are afraid of tea being overdone, may
derive encouragement from the fact that in the seven-
teen years between 1870 and 1885, the consumption in
Britain has increased by 60^ millions of lb., or by
about one-half of what the consumption in 1870 was.
The average rate of increase per annum was very
nearly 3^ millions of pounds, a rate which, if
peace is preserved and prosperity prevails, is likely
largely to increase with the increase of population.
There is every reason to believe that the present
depression in India and Ceylon tea is only tem-
porary.

♦ ' — •

PLANTING IN DELI.

(Translated for the Straits Tunes.)

A novelty in the commercial line is coming into
vogue in Deli. Efforts are being made by certain
parties there to buy up cover-leaf tobacco on the
spot by Europeans. Their intention is to secure
all the leaf available, so that none can be sent
to the Amsterdam market. The local Courant is
dead against the continuance of this practice, on
the ground of its trenching on the virtual mono-
poly of the Amsterdam tobacco dealers which, so
far, has worked advantageously in the interest of
planters, importers, and traders generally. The
rise of Deli as a tobacco producer, and the high |
position taken up in the market by that article, '.
are said to be mainly due to the present state of
things in this regard. The novelty, if allowed
free play, will result in Sumatra tobacco being for-
warded direct to smaller markets in different parts
of the globe instead of to one central market at
Amsterdam, where the multitude of dealers con-
gregating in the busy season, ensure competition
resulting in higher prices than can be secured
under other circumstances.

Tobacco growing in Deli bids fair to distance
that branch of cultivation as carried on in Java,
owing to the crushing fiscal burdens weighing
upon growers in the latter. To bolster up the
failing revenue, a license tax has been imposed in
Java, which has proved so heavy and oppressive
as to be intolerable to the long suffering Java-
nese. The land tax is pitilessly exacted from the
latter in spite of the circumstance that their means
of meeting it are crippled by the price of rice

FISH-BREEDING: THE HISTOEY
HOWIETOUN.

OP

The History of Howi. toan. Part I. Bv Sir J. Ram-
say Gibf OQ M itlaud, Bart. (Stirling, N. B. : J. B, Guy,
Secretary Howietoun Fis lery 1887.)

In vi w of th: receat successful iotroduction of trout

ova to the Nuwara Eliya Lake, our readers will be

interested in the foUowiDg extract from a review in

Nature : —

P robably every one at all interested in fish-breeding
has heard the name of Howietoun, and a great many
people, especially in Scotland, have some knowledge
of the character of the establishment and the oper-
ations there carried on. Occasional paragraphs iu
scientific periodicals, as well as in daily papers, an-
nounce some experiment in the artificial stocking of
borne waters with some kinds of trout or with salmon
fry, or some successful exportation of salmonoid ova
to America or to the colonies at the Antipodes. The
name of Sir James Maitland or of Howietoun very
often occurs iu such announcements. Those who have
given attention to the subject will find much to in-
terest them in the account of the development of his
fish-farm, and in the description of its present con-
dition, which Sir James Maitland is now placing before
the public. * * * *

In Chapter III. an elaborate account is given of the
methods of packing ova. The first operation is to trans-
fer the ova which are to be packed from the (jrilles
to peach netting stretched on square wooden frames.
This step is carried out in a specially constructed sink,
through which water is kept running. The ova are emp-
tied from Xh^arille into a wooden box, from which they
pass into a leaden basiu with a narrow bottom. One of
the frames is then floated m the sink,aud a glass measure
containing 1,100 eggs is used to measure the eggs from
the basin on to the frame. The frames are pUced
in the packing-room iu piles, one pile for each box.
Next morning the frames are examined, so that any
egg with an ill-developed embryo may be picked out.
'J'hen a square of swan's-down, contained in a special
tray, is placed over the eggs on the frame, and, the
two being suddenly reversed, the eggs rest on the
swan's-dowii without altering their relative position ;
thus each egg lies separately on the swan's-down. The
frame is removed, and the square of swan's-down with
its burden placed in o!ie of the travelling trays.
Above the eggs is next placed a square of felted
moss (Sphuf/num). Above the moss is placed another
layer of swan's-down carrying layer of eggs, and then
another layer of moss, and so on, till the travelling,
tray is filled. The bottom of the travelling-tray is
made of perforated zinc, and before any eggs are placed
in it, the bottom is coverved with a thia layer of'moss.
The eggs thus rest on swan's-down, and are covered
with felted moss, a layer of which also forms the
lowest and uppermost layer of the tray when full. For
journeys to the Oontiuent or America, unbleached lino
is substituted for the swan's-down, because swan's-down
retains so much carbonic acid tliat advanced embryos
are asphyziated. For the Antipodes, an extra precau-
tion has to be taken : a thin layer of moss is inserted
between the layer of unbleached linen and the eggs, so
that the latter are in contact with the moss above
and below. The travelling-tray is 10 inches square and
25 inches deep. The trays packer! in an inuer box onlj'
I inch larger than themselves, and this is placed in
an outer box 4 inches deeper and 3 inches wider than
the inner. Between the two is a layer of sawdust.
The outer box or case measures 1 foot 4 inches square,
by 1 foot 10 inches deep. This is the method of pack-
ing for short journi^ys within the United Kingdom.
The boxes for foreign consignments are larger, and
oblong in shape ; there is a sawdust space as iu the
boxes already described, but the trays are separated
by meaus of charred fillets, so that an air-space sur-
rounds each tray : above the pile of trays is a birge
ice-tray, which occupies the whole of the top of the
box. Ova can be safely kept in one of these boxes
during a period of sixtj- days.

6sfl

THE tROfTCAL AGRICULTURIST. [April i, $887.

Coffee-crop PKOsrEcis — We hear that in con-
sequence of the showers we mentioned a fortnight
ago iv. the Ouchterlouy Valley and Gudalur. there
is now a fine display of vigorous blossom which,
with a continuation of a favourable weather, should
lesu in large crops. — .S. 1. Ob.<t-ri-,T.

Brazilian Evisiser Expokts— during ISSO (ac-
cording to the American OroccrJ were *-'8,157,2i);t
pounds, of which IT.lll.tUVi pounds were to the
United States and ll,01."),t)37 pounds to Europe.
The stock in Brazil, Jan. Isi 1SS6, was •2.:13">,100
pounds, and at the close of the year, Dec. ;>lst
1886, 1,541,375 pounds.

TuK Eecexx " Peitkrktte " disclosures, which
prove that a great deal of what is commonly culled
pepper is really ground olive stones, will not sur-
prise people acquainted with the tasteless powder
usually to be found in restaurant pepper-casters.
The only way to defend oneself against the adul-
teration of coffee is to grind it oneself, and the
same applies to pepper. — Globe.

Tea : Bonded Goods. — The monthly account of
the quantities of bonded goods remaining in the
Customs and Excise warehouses of the United
Kingdoiu on January 31st as publislied in the B.
Bill of Entry, shows a stock of tea amounting to
100, 38(5. 3751b., against 108,151,0011b. in 1880 and
llt>,310,t)77lb. in 1885 ; cocoa. S,931.9i181b., against
(5,1(54, 3031b. in 1886 and 0,875.895 in 1885 ; coffee,
283.327 cwt., against 3r_',735cwt. and 372,523cwt.
respectively.

Gold in Borneo. — We have been shewn by Hadji
Braliim a sample of coarse gold from the Bole
river got a short distance above its junction with
the Segama river, one piece is half quartz, and
evidently not traveled from the matrix. In the
opinion of the diggers in Sandakan the quartz reefs
containing the gold are not far to seek. The dry wea-
ther and the search of experienced miners will
doubtless bring them to light. — BritUh North Borneo
Merald.

Vanilla Ccltivation. — Mr. W. H. Wright's
culture of Vanilla — an orchid be it remembered-^
is likely to be most successful. On his two
brickwork circles of trellis work at Wilhelmsruhe,
Mr. Wright has up to date artilicially fertilised
no less than 3,000 tlowers. He is also' trying ex-
periments with gum arable and with ants in modes
of fructification. It must be remembered that to
Mr. Wright — in the old Peradeniya days of 30
years ago — belongs the credit of being perhaps
the lirst in Ceylon to cultivate Vanilla for the
European market. Some pods sent by Mr. Wright
to an Exhibition in Sir Henry Ward's time were
valued at 5 guinea! the pound. A portion of the same
Vanilla was sold at that rate in London through
Messrs. Baring Brothers." On .that occasion the
Committee, (.Messrs. Kawdon-Power, Layard. Ac.)
red-tape-like, decided that Mr. Wright's small
assortment could not be sent on. So also
said other big-wig officials when applied to. Mr.
Wright asked to see the Governor. Mr.
John Bailey and others in attendance said :
" Impossible — Sir Henry is deeply engaged
with the mail." But " Mr. Wright persisted
and finally got an interview, with the result
that like the heai-ty. manly English gentle-
man he was. Sir Henry entered into the Pera-
deniya Assistant's experiment with the greatest
interest. " Stop the mail'" was the Governor's
cry ;— but it was too late. " Well then prepare a
runner express at once " was the order and all
this for Mr. Wright's Vanilla ! No wonder though
Sir Henry Ward endeared himself at every turn
in his Government of Ceylon. — Mr. Wright's ex-
periment at Wilhelmsruhe is merely preliminary
to cultivation at Mirigame where about 10 acres

are being devoted to Vanilla— Dr. Triuien has
pronounced Mr. Wright's garden Vanilla the finest
he has ever seen.

CoiKEE AND Caffeine. — Some interesting ex-
pcriiueuts have recently been made by Dr. B. H. Paul
and Mr. A. J. Cowuley on coffee berrie.s iu the un-
roasted state, and the results as published by them have
revealed several important facts hitherto imperfectly
understood or erroneously recorded in chemical liter-
ature. Many varieties of raw colfee, it is well-known,
come into our markets, and their value varies so greatly
that it is natural to suppose that their quality, eo far
as caffeine content is concerned, may vary proportion-
ately, and a semblance of reality is given to th's sup-
po>iitiou by the published data,* which put down the
percentage of caftVine in raw coffee as from a fraction
of 1 per cent, to as much as 3-64 per cent. Dr. Paul
and his coadjutor have examined altogether about a
dozen different kinds of cotfee, r.nd find that, instead
of the percentage of alkaloid being variable, it is won-
derfully constant; for example, Oeorp coffee beans
yielded M per cent, (the minimum), while the maxi-
mum. 1-3S per cent., was shown by Liberian coffee,
the variety which has been found to withstand climatic
iutluences under which all others succumb. Continued
experiments corroborate the first results, and it is fairly
established that pure coffee may be judged by the
amount of c:iffeiue which it contaius, about 1-3 per cent.
being taken as the standard for roasted coffee. Con-
sequently, the fraudulent sale ot mixtures of coffee
with chicory or other less valuable substances is now
rendered ea^y of detection by Paul and Oowuley's dis-
covery, and they have rendered important service to
chemical analyses by it. Another statement which they
.sppear to liave disproved is that caffeine is volatilised
from coffee beans during the roasting process, for they
find that the roasted beaus contain proportionately
the same amount of alkaloid as the raw beans. —
Chemist and ftruritji.it.

Coffee in Africa. — A planter writes : -
•' Have you seen the annexed from the ' Free
Church of Scotland Monthly Eecord' for January
re coffee planting in Central Africa. I remem-
ber going in company with the late Professor
Balfour of Edinburgh, through the . Edinburgh
Botanic Ciardens, and if I mistake not seeing the
very coffee trees from which the seed sent out
was derived, and at that time they had a quantity
of white bug, the common white coffee bug of
Ceylon, on them. No attempt had been made to
take off" the bug, though I daresay there being only
one or two trees, it might easily Iiave been done :^
' 2. African Missionary Coffee : — We have re-
ceived from Mr. Ewring, Secretary of the African
Lake Company, a sample of coffee dra.vn from the
Company's tirst shipment of African coffee. Its
history is noteworthy. Of three plants sent out to
Shire Hills from the Edinburgh Botanic (i.ardeus
one survived. That plant has, in eight years, by
the careful culture of the Messrs. Moir,' (sons of
the well known Dr. Moir of Edinburgh) 'and their
assistants, produced seventy bags of many hundred-
vveiuhts, of the finest coff'ee. The culture is a coui-
miiviil success, and should result iu time in the
covering of all the hills and plateaus around the
lakes with the best foe of the slave trade and
substitute for fast disappearing ivory.' Note. — I
fear, however, tbey are reckoning without another
foe viz. leaf disease. It will, indeed, be strange if
this coffee should be without it.'' i Africa is. of
course, the home of coffee : and in Abyssinia on the
east, as in Liberia on the west, and no doubt in
other parts, the shrub or trees can be found growing
wild. But to get over the difficulties of securing
steady labour, tra>ti>port d'c, will take many years,
and it will be long before an appreciable effect is
made on the exports and world's supply. Taking
coffee plants from Edinburgh to Africa seems like
taking coals to Newcastle. — Ed,]

April t, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUKlSTo

659

Mexic.vn Ixtle.— The United States Consul of
Mexico writes that the ixtle fibre, which comes from
the lechuguilla, is becoming more widely known
in Europe and America. Ii is used largely in the
manufacture of brushes, sacks, mats, ropes, cordage,
ladies' coi-sets, carpets and coarse cloths. It is
also employed with success in the fabrication of
imitation Brussels carpet, and in the imitation of
hog bristles for brushes. Ixtle is exported from
Mexico only as raw fibre. There are no factories
in Mexico for the manufacture of goods from the
fibre. The fibre is extracted from the lechuguilla
plant, which grows wild in certain mountainous
regions. — B)-adstrcet\<i.

Ceylon Peppek. — Pepper has been one of the
oldest of Ceylon exports ; the Dutch paid atten-
tion to it, but since then, it has become of little
importance, save in its growth by natives for
consumption m their local markets. Among " new
products," however, which have of late years beea
claiming the attention of European planters i?
p=pper, and we are glad to learn that a favor-
able report has been obiained on tli« North-
Matale--4rown article which has been valued in
quaut-ty at Sd to ."•^■d per lb. The report goes
on to say : — " It is highly charged with the natural
oil, i. e. pepperiue, on which account it would
be valuable for mixing purposes." Seeing that
the treatment cf the product in preparation, in
the case referred to, was that of beginners, the
report should, we think, be considered eminently
eatisfactory.

Tea at High Elevation in Cevlon.— The actual
yield last year of six different estates of varying alti-
tude from 4,200 to 6,700 ft. The yield of each field
had throughout the year been kept separate, so that
on!}' the results of tea five years and upwards was
taken. The highest yield from a 20 acre field was
631 lb. and the altitucfe almost as high as any others
5,800 ft. The lowest was 320 lb. and the altitude
4,960ft. All the tea was grown on old coffee land, though
the coffee was not very old and not a bit worn out
when removed to make way for the new product and
realized good prices in London, none selling under an
average of Is 2^1 so that the financial results were
capital. The real significance of this result c^n only
be understood when I say that three-fourths the laud
likely to l»e in tea two } ears from now will be old coft'ee-
land and very much more than (half will be over
3,500 ft. altitude. — Cor. — Indian Planters' Gazette.
Feb. 22nd.

The Samples of Cinnabar found up the Segama
river in the vicinity of Pulo Itok Batu, mentioned
in a previous number as having been sent home
for assay have proved to be of a most satisfact-
ory character. Messrs. Johnstone and Mathey re-
port the average assay of the two samples to be
53 per cent, one sample averaging considerably
better than the other at 75 per cent. This assay
Ib decisive as to the fact of the Segama country
containing payable Cinnabar lodes and a system-
atic search for the lodes should be set on foot.
There are Sarawak men engaged in digging for
gold in the Segama, men who have also v/orked
for Cinnabar at Sarawak, These men should be
only too glad to prospect for the sake of the
Government reward. Mr. Sun Knong Lung on
being shown samples of Cinnabar at a meeting of
the Gold Committee on the 27th January at once
Recognized them as identical with stones he had
got in washing in the Bole river, but not know-
ing their value had thrown them away. Some of
his coolies also indentified the samples. As those
assayed came out of th*^ main river some con-
siderable distance above the junction with the Bole,
it is evident the Bole deposits are distinct from
these found in the main Segaitia. —North Borneo
Merald.

Potvtoe Disease.— Some highly interesting experi
ments have recently been made by Messrs. Jensen and
Nobbe to protest potatoes from disease. The main
thing m the system experimented upon is to earth
the stalks as high as possible. Mr. Nobbe has con-
structed and used a special plough for the purpose ;
and he reports that all his experimental fields were
free from di.sease, although tiie latter prevailed in the
district. The experiments were continued for three
years, and in all cases the potatoes were free from
disease. It was found, however, that the total yield
of the protected crops was less than those which were
unprotected in the above manner. It is thought that
the loss is due to the injury caused to the leaves and
stalks by ploughing.— ^!4,5^rrt^asta/i.

Snake Poison.— A German chemist has been experi-
menting with snake poisons, and the following are the
the conclusions he has arrived at :— In the Indian
cobra the venom is not due to living germs, as some
people have stated : nor even the so-called " cobric
acid." All the alkaloids are entirely absent from the
venom. The " cobric acid " crystals are in reality com-
posed of sulphate of lime. ]\Ir. Wolfenden says that
the poisonous properties of the snake poison are due
to its proteid constituents as follows— Globulin, which
is always present, and kills by causing asphyxia; syn-
tonin, very similar in its action to globulin, but less
intense, and serum albanum, also poisonous, which
produces ].;aralysis. Again, in the venom of the Indian
viper, Mr. Wolfenden found no germs, toxic anids, nor
alkaloids, only three of the proteids above mentioned.—
Australasian.

Sawdust.- Some of our best cultivators have lately
been advocating the use of this for propagating, and
it posse.sse.-? all the qualities claimed for it, but,' as a
rule, I think it rather light and open for some things
rooting freely when used by itself. "When, however,
a hnlf-and-half mixture of it and sea or silver sand
is made up, cuttings in it then root both quicker and
better. Further, as the time is now upon us when our
fresh Cauliflower, Cabbage, &c., will be planted out,
and will offer tempting meals to snails, many will
be at their wit's end as to how to prevent loss, and
I may tell them that nothing proves a ^afer remedy
than eawdust. If a good handful in placed around
the stem of each plant it acts as a mulching to the
roots in dry weather, and wheiher wet or dry a snail
will hardly ever attempt a passage across its surface.—
G. D . ia The Garden.

Getting EiD of ^Tmiva— The Scientific American,
gives the following important informition to those
who desire to get rid of stumps on their farms : — " In
the autumn or early winter bore a hole one or two
inches in diameter according to the girth of the stump,
and about eight inches deep. Put into it one or two
ounces of saltpetre, fill the hole with water, and
plug it close. In the ensuing spring take out the plug,
and pour in about a gill of kerosene oil and ignite it.
The stump will sm ulder away to the very extremity
of the roots, without blazing,leaving nothing but
ashes. — Rural Australian.

EisH F.vKMiNG is an industry that will yet
find scope in Queensland. A great success has been
realised with carp, perch, tench and other
British ^ and Continental fresh water fishes in
Lake Wendouree, on Ballarat, Victoria '■ and ar! ex-
ample furnished us (^ueenslanderg to go and do
likewise. Very deep tanks or waterholes are not
best adapted for fish of this description, V/ater
three feet deep, if shaded and permanent, is
better than if ten feet in depth, We have very
little confidence in the success of the experiment
of letting fish— carp, perch, etc., loose in the Gold
Creek Beservoir for that very reason. The best carp
ponds in the old country are very little more than
two feet deep ; and there are plenty of fish farma
now in America where the water is always shallow
and often warm. There is no reason whatever —
save lack of enterprise — to hinder Qupensland be-
coming well stocked with this welcome addition to her
bill of fare. Fanners, gardeners, and squatters could
easily farm ihais owu Hdh.'^i'lantcr anU k'armcf

f Ml fmncAi AQmcisifum^f. tAi>^t i, mi.

TW.'I '• TJina4rK1ii!Va

^gjijw^^nwHfwmirru-T- Tinr-nTTangni

STiWOTUn

THE tiaE OF THE ORANGE.

(Translated from the French of Louis Figuer.)

The orange is extensively cultivated in order to ex-
tract from its flowers and leaves the essential oil
which they contain. In the south of Italy, about
Sorren o, whole forests of oranges exist, thf fruit of
which is carefully harvested, of which liamartine
sings : —
" On the Sonorous Shore where the sea of Sorrento
At the foot of the Orange unrolls its hlue wave. "
The orange sometimes attains great age and dimen-
sions. In the orangery of Versailles a magnificent
bitter orange ( C. Bigaradier ) familiarly called the
"Great Constable. " is known to be 150 years old.
Its trunk is 30 inches in circumference. It was plan-
ted in 14il by the gardener of the Queen of Navarre.
The orange tree at the Convent of St. Sabina, at
Kome, dates from the year 1200. It is about 33 feet
in height. At Nice, there was in 1789, a tree which
usually bore upwards of 5000 oranges, was more than
fifty feet high, with a trunk which it took two men to
grasp.

The substance to which odoriferous plants owe the
qualities which render them so useful at the toilets
is_ a volatile oil. It happens sometimes that distinct
oils exist in the same plant. The orange furnishe,
an example. The essence drawn from the flowers of
the orange is very different to that furnished by the
leave.s, and the latter differs from that furui.shed by
the fruit. The mode of extracting these essences
varies according to their nature and condition. Some
of them may be extracted by simple pressure . But
the greater part of the essences are obtajne.l by
distillation but even this practice is being sup erseded.
The essential oils obtained by distillation dissolve
readily iu fatty oils or alcohol, but very imperfectly
in water. The condensed water, however, which
passes over with the oil is a true watery solution of
the essences, in fact, orange flower water. A large
proportion of the essences used by the perfumer are
not made by distillation at ali, they are extracted
from plants by the agency of fat.

At the season when the flowers are in bloom,
clarified fat, generally lard, is " melted in a watei
bath, " such as a " double glue-pot, •' and as many
flowers, such as jasmine, orange or rose, are put into
it. These are allowed to remain commingled about
24 hours, at a temperature just sufheieut to keep the
f&t liqud; the fat is then strained off. It is strongly
scented ; the flowers have lost their perfume. The
same fat is melted again and further flowers are added.
The process is repeated in all " seven times, " and
is then very highly scented, and is ready for
use or exportation as pomade : to obtain the
spirituous essence or tincture, suitable as a perfume
for the handkerchief, the pomade is macerated in
spirits of wine, which dissolves the greater portion of
its perfumed oil, what remains, however, is sufficient
to render the grease a rich pomatum for the hair,
— Rural Auilralian,

OEANCtE AND LEMON CULTIVATION IN

SICILY,

Consul Woodcock, of Catania, atatss that oraugee
and lemona are designated, In S cily^ nuirina and
inontano, the former growing in the fower altitudes
lieir the sea, and the latter on the mountains, The
moutano, or mountain fruit, is the choicest, and com-
mands the best prices in the market, but the crop is
hot so sure, owing to the frost. The marina orchards
bear more abundantly, and the crop is more certain,
tn Commencing an orange or lemon orchard, the
following is the method adopted :— Fir^t, the seed of
the bitter orange is planted, an! when the young
plants are a year old, they are transplanted. Vhen
they have grown to be about one inch in diameter,
that is, when they have attained the age of three
to four years, they are again transplanted, and placed
in the orchard where they are intended to remain.
Jhe tpp5 of the young trees are then cut off about

four feet above the ground, and when they haVe
taken firm root, the best varieties of the orange and
lemon are budded upon the stock. Two buds are
generally inserted, and upon opposite sides of the
plant. From these buds, branches shoot out, and
when a quarter of an inch in thickness, become of a
reddish colour. The distance to be maintained
between the lemon trees in the orchards depends
upon the situation of the ground, and conditions of
soil and climate; usually it varies from thirteen to
nineteen feet. When the soil is loose, rich, and
easily cultivated, the lemon trees are planted at least
nineteen feet apart, as they will then grow luxu-
riantly and attain considerable size. The distance
maintained between the orange trees is from
thirteen to fourteen feet, and this varies in accord-
ance with the situation and quality of the soil,
as in tne case of the lemon. The ground in the
orchards between the trees is always cultivated, and
great care is taken to keep it scrupulously clean.
The soil is worked at least five times a year, com-
mencing in March and ending in October. When
the trees are young and small it is not considered
necessary to work the soil, as it is believed that the
vegetable growth protects the young plants from the
too powerful rays of the sun. The annual cost of
cultivation in the best orchards per hectare (the
hectare being equivalent to 247 acres) is estim-
ated at about £80, but where extraodinary out-
la3's are necessary, such, for instance, as is incurred
when there are streets running through the orchards,
as is often the case in the lava covered soil of
Sicily, or through the necessity of obtaining steam
power for irrigation, the cost per annum is sometimes
as much as £80 per hectare. On the average,
a lemon tree produces in Sicily one thousand
lemons annually, and an orange tree six hundred
oranges, and cases have been known where trees have
produced ten times this amount of fruit. The trees
are subject to various diseases. A parasite growth
of a fungus nature frequently apppears upon the bark,
and the lemon tree is more subject to this thanthe
orange. This growth, after a heavy rain, or after
being soaked in water, can be removed by scraping.
The fruit of both the orange and lemon tree is also
sometimes injured by a small insect which makes
its appearance at the beginning of summer, and
commences its work of devastation by depositing
its eggs in the fruit itself, and these develop into
grubs, which entirely destroy it. As a preventative,
tar water and water slightly tinctured with kerosene,
are used to wash the leaves and fruit, and soda
ash is also frequently employed. In picking the
fruit for exportation, which is usually done by hand
iu the month of November, the greatest care is
taken to avoid bruising or injuring it in any way by
rough handling, and it is then placed very gently in
baskets lined with cloth. The stem is left on the
fruit, cutting it about a quarter of an inch from
the surface of the fruit. Before placing the fruit
in tho boxes, all insects and other injurious matter
are removed. The boxes generally used are capable
of holding from two hundred and fifty to three
hundred and sixty oranges or lemons, and are made
with a partition iu the centre. They are lined with
common silk paper, and each orange or lemon is
encased in the same kind of paper before being
placed iu tbera. The bo.\es are not made air tight,
but interstices are left between the boards for
ventilation- Lemons gathered in the month of Novem-
ber, and tluvs packed, are supposed to keep without
spoiling for si.x months, but oranges will not keep
so long. — Journal of the Society/ of Arts.

QUESTIONS IN AGEICULTUEE.

liY PROFESSOR JOHN" SCOTT.

[We commend this valuable epitome of soil ocfence
to the attention of our readers.— Ed.]
L — Soil?,

1. F'Xplaiu the origin and formation of .soils.

2. Name the chief elements of plant growth fouad
iu all fertile soils,

Ami I, m^.j fm f^QPitAt A5KietJtWRI8f,

66 f

^f!tt=^is(iiBi

3. In what respects do soil and subsoil differ?

4. Explain the tollowing terms: — Weathering, Denu-
dation. Alluvium, Drift, Nitrification.

5. (Jive a brief statement of the physical proper-
ties of soils.

6. What are the physical properties of (a) clay
soils, (/') chalk soils, {cj sandy soil?, (d) peat soils?

7. How is fertility of soil influenced by (1) mech-
anical texture, (2) climate and local conditions?

8. What practically determines fertility of soil ?
9- Distinguish (1) between a barren soil and a soil

exhausted and (2) between natural a.nd acquired fev-
tiiity.

10. How are soils classified?

11. What soils and conditions of soils possess the
power of capillary attraction in the highest degree; and
what is its importance as regards drainage, the retention
of moisture, and the supply of that moisture, to the
growing p'ants?

12. State some of the principal causes uf infer tiiity
iu soils.

13. Is there a ready test for ascertaining the pre-
sence of injurious constituents in soils?

14. Give instructions for a rough mechanical ana-
lysis of a soil.

15. What is meant by exhaustion of soil, and what
causes it ?

IG. Mention (a) the surface distribution, and (b)
the agricultural characters of (1) silurian, (2) old and
new Red Sandstone, and (3) Greensand soils.
ANSWEKS.
1.— Soils.

1. The mineral and organic matters forming the
crust of the earth are the origin of all soils. The
inorganic or mineral portion of the soil is derived
from the crumbling down of the solid rocks, by the natu-
ral process of weathering or disintegration, which is fa-
voured by warmth, and the presence of moisture and
organic matter. All rocks, however, are not acted upon
with the same ease : but the hardest of them are
surely though slowly crumbling into dust under the
mighty but invisible agency of the carbonic acid and
oxygen of the air. The union of decaying vegetable
matter in the soil with the oxygen of the air
also helps to promote the decomposition of rocks, —
as do frosts, rain, wind, and other kindred forces.
These disintegrating agents are further aided by the
root-growth of plants, by the burrowing of worms
and other earth-dwelling creatures, and in no small
degree by the acids generated by organic decay. The
organic portion of the soil is derived from the remains
of plants and of animals and insects of various kinds.
In some cases the soils are purely organic in their
origin. These are both plant and animal formations —
the former comprising vegetable mould and peat mos-
ses ; the latter, beds of chalk and limestione, &;c.

2. The inorganic or mineral constituents found in
all fertile soils are — silica, alumina, calcic carbonate,
potash, soda, magnesia, phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid,
chlorine, and oxide of iron. The first three— sand,
clay, lime— represent perhaps 90 per cent or more of
the substance of most soils. The others vary from a
mere trace to at most 2 per cent. The organic matter is
formed of 0. H. O., and a series of organic acids —
humic, ulmic, geic. Sandy soils are generally defi-
cient in this ingredient. Cold clays are also poor in
organic matter. _ In fertile loams it is more abundant ;
and in peaty soils it is usually in excess. Altogether
the organic matter in soil varies from 1 to upwards of
90 per cent.

3. In a majority of cases the soil is merely rotted sub^
soil, and differs from the latter chiefly in tlie greater
amount of oraganic matter it contains, end in being
less compact, and darker in colour.

4. " Weathering " is the term used to denote the
natural disintegration or breaking up of rocks as ex-
plained in answer to the first question. " Denudation "
is the wasting or carrying away of soils from the
place of their original formation by rainfall or sur-
face water. " Alluvium " is soil deposit which has
been transported from higher to lower levels by the
agencies of rivers or tides. " Drift " or botdder clay
ii> a wide-ipread surface detritus of tbe diffcrcut for*

mations, which is affributed to glacial action. "Nitri-
fication " is the oxidation of nitrogenous bodies iu
soil — humus and ammonia — and their conversion into
nitric acid.

5. The physical properties of soils which may be
supposed to exert a grea,ter or less influence on fer-
tility have been well stated by Schubler as follows: —
(1) The weight of the soil, its specific gravity as
well as the absolute weight of a given bulk in a dry
and moist state. (2) Its power of containing water,
according to its weight and bulk. (3) The firmness
and consistence of a soil in its dry and in its moist
state. (4) Its different capability of becoming dry
on exposure to the air. (5) Its diminution in bulk
on drying. (6) Its absorption of humidity from tho
atmosphere, (7) Its absorption of oxygen from the
atmosphere. (8) Its power of retaining heat. (9)
Its capability of becoming more or less warmer by
the sun's rays. (10) Its capability of developing
heat on being moistened. (11) Its electric polarity
and capability of conducting electricity,

6. A clay soil differs from all others by being
tough, wet, and cold. In wet winter weather it sticks
to the plough, like mortar, and in dry summer weather
it is hard and cloddy, and the surface covered
with chinks or cracks. A sandy soil is subject to
defects of an opposite description. A chalky or cal-
careous soil contains a great deal of carbonate of lime
and when wet is of a soapy nature, but is marked by
the freedom with which it admits of natural drainage,
and warm and productive though white in colour. A
peat soil if light and spongy in texture, dark in colour ,
and very absorbent and retentive of both heat and
moisture.

7. Mechanical texture inliucnces fertility of soil iu
a great degree for tho conditions of air moisture, and
warmth which are essential to the development of the
changes which occur in the process of germination,
have little or nothing to do with the chemical qualities
of the soil, but are all dependent upon its mechai.ical
relations. This influence is not confined to the first
stage of vegetation- Climate also exercises a great
influence on fertility, and disregard of local condi-
tions sometimes leads to very erroneous estimates of
the value of soils which may be similar in composi-
tion, and texture.

8. Fertility of soil is practically determined by
the minimum of any one essential ingredient and
not by the maximum of the others, but intrinsic
value depends on the depth of the soil; its mechani-
cal texture, situation, altitude, and sorroundiugs, quite as
much as on its chemical composition.

9. The difference between an exhausted soil and
a barren soil is this : the former will recover its ferti-
lity or be renovated by nature in the course of
time if, meanwhile nothinj,' more is carried away from
it; whereas a barren soil will continue barren, if
the operating causes remain as before. A soil which
has once been fertile can never be completely ex-
hausted by the cultivator, and the deeper the soil
the more superficial will have been its partial ex-
haustion. The distinction between natural and ac-
qiiired fertility is that the former is a permanent
quality and the latter is not. An examination of
the soil and subsoil is the only reliable test. The
appearance of the crops on arable land is often very
misleading, and even in the case of grass land the
herbage is not altogether a criterion of the quality
of the soil ; if the herbage is poor it may be the
result of years of bad management; while^ on the
other hand, a splendid pasture may owe more to good
farming than to the natural fertility of the soil.

10. — Soils are usually arranged in four classes — clay,
sandy, calcareous, and organic soils — according to the
dominant ingredient. A soil consisting of nearly
equal parts of sand and clay is termed a loam ;
if two parts sand and one part clay, a sandi/ loam;
and if two parts clay and one part sand, & clay loam.
A soil consisting of nearly equal parts of clay and
lime is termed a marl ; if two of clay to one of
lime, it is a clay marl : and if two of lime to one
of clay, it i.s a calcareous marl.

11,— The soils wbicb have their particlee iu th?

r

66 i

I'HE rRQPlCAL AGRICULTURIST.

LfKiL I,

finest state of snb-division possess the power of capil-
lary attraction in the greatest degree. Its imijortance
to plant growth in dry seasons and on dry soils can
Scarcely be over-estimated. It will be referred to
again in connection with land drainage.

12. As regards the principal causes of infertility
in soils the following are the conclusions arrived at
under this head by the late Dr. Voelcker as set forth
in his paper on the subject in the Journal of the
Royal Agricultural Society : — Soil appear to be barren
or more or less unproductive — (aj When they conta"u
something inimical to vegetation, f'bj When they are
deficient iu one or more important constituents which
enter into the organisation of the living plant, (cj
When they contain too large a preponderance even of
a valuable ingredient, such as organic matter, sand,
lime, and even clay, fd) When there is but a thin
layer of soil resting on the bare rock, fej When the
land is thin, and rests on an impervious and verj' thick,
clay subsoil, or on subsoils containing something iujurious
to vegetation, (f) When they are badly drained. (;/)
When they are affected by a bad climate. The soil
constituents which are injurious to vegetation briefly
are — («) Superabundance of organic(humic) acids, (b)
Sulphate of iron (green vitriol), even when present in
the soil in small quantities, ('.j Sulphate of iron (iron
pyrites), and especially finely-divided black sulphide of
iron which in the smallest proportion, is most perni-
cious to plants, (d) Abundance of protoxide of iron,
and absence of pero.xide, indicating a bad physical
condition of the land, (e) Chloride of sodium (commou
salt) in proj)ortions of 1-lOtb per cent and upwards.
(/■) Nitrates, and all soluble saline matter, in quantities
exceeding small fractions of 1 per cent of the whole
mass of soil,

13. The presence of injurious constituents in soils
can be readily ascertained by bringing a strip of litmus-
paper iu contact with wet soil. If the blue colour
of the test paper turns rapidly red, the soil is certain
to contain something injurious to plant life. All good
and fertile soils either have no effect upon red or
blue litmus-paper, or show a slight alkaline reaction;
that is to say, in wet condition they restore the blue
colour to reddened litmus paper.

14. Put a given quantity of soil into a large glass
jar of water; then shake well, and allow to stand.
The ingredients settle and the following order, and
their proportions can then be estimated : — (1) Sand or
gravel ; (2) clay ; (3) organic matter.

15. A soil is said to be exhausted for a pirticular
crop when it will no longer grow that crop — or, prac-
tically speaking, will no longer grow enough of the crop
to afford the cultivator a profit. This can only be
brought about by a continued course of cropping
without manuring. But when a soil will no loager
grow a certain crop, it may still have all the elements
requisite for the growth of some other crop.

16- The Silurian soils are for the most part high-
lying, cold, and poor. Where limestone predominates
the soil is better, but as a whole they are deficient
in lime. Even where the soil is naturally good on tl is
formation, the climate and position are generally un-
favourable for the cultivation of wheat and the high"r
vegetables. Finger-and-toe in turnips and louping-ill
in sheep are very prevalent diseases on these soils.
The old red sandstone furnishes some of our best
soils, but these, too, are generally deficient in lime.
The old red-sandstone formation may be called the home
of the Hereford breed of cattle, and of the old Ry-
land breed of sheep. The new red sandstone soils
are light and moderately fertile. The greensands are
light soils of great adaptability and productiveness. Want
of space prevents a full reply to this and some of
the other questions, but discussion is invited. — Scottish
Agricultural Gazette.

WnifETVASH. — The following recipe for whitewashing
hde been found by experience to answer on wood,
t)rick, and stone, nearly as well as oil paint, and is
ittuch cheaper : Recipe. — Shake half a bushel of un-
elacked lime with boiling water, keeping it covered
dutitij; tb& poaer^'. Strain it aud add n. peck; of salt,

dissolved in ^trtrm water; three pounds of ground rice
put iu boiliug water, and boiled to a thin paste ; half
a pound of powderc 1 Spanish whiting, and a pound
of c"ear glue, dissolved iu warm water ; mix these
well together, and let the mixture stand for several
days. Keep the wash thus prepared in a kettle
o- portable furnace, and when used put it on as hot
r : possible, with painters, or whitewash brushes,
—Uural Australian.— iThis whitewash might be useful
in adding to the amount of light iu the interior of tea
houses. — Ed.]

AVoOD Pulp vou making liAHKELs.— The latest
novelty m the application of wood pulp comes to us
from America, namely, for making barrels for holding
both solids and liquids. The following account of this
manufacture is given in a recently issued report from
America:— "Wood pulp, so conspicuous of late years
as a material for the manufacture of paper, has been
found to afford one of the best means of making
light, cheap, and durable barrels, adapted for all
purposes for which these useful packages are de-
manded. The barre' is made in one piece of coarse
wood pulp, subjected to a pressure of 400 tons. The
heads are made in the .same way, giving a degree of
compac ness of grain that is sufficient for every use.
When the barrels are put together they are very
light, very strong, and very satisfactory in every way.
Two kinds of barrels are made— one for fruit, fiour,
and other dry substances; the other for oil. lard,
beef, pork, and liquids of all kinds. These latter are made
impervious to the infiltration of oil and other liijuids
by a simple process. The (lour barrels are so strong
that when filled they cau be dropped from a waggon
without injury, and fruit packed iu them keeps along
while, being exc.uded from all contact with the air.
Thf-se packages can be made for half the cost of
ordinary barrels." — Indiua Gardner. — [If cheap barrels,
why not cheap tea boxes ^ Wood not suitable for eat-
ing into dials could he converted into pulp aud then
solidified. — Ed.]

The Drying up of Rivees.— Though the belief
that forests increase the i-ainfall has been given up
everywhere, except in Forestry Conventions, there is
still a clinging to the belief that they regulate the
How of springs, I| would be of great value to
hydraulic science if 'eme exact facts and figui-es could
be given — facts collected by men trained in geological
observation. Unfortunately, the only "science" that
we have in the matter is furnished by "some of the
oldest inhabitants" in variojs places, whose verdant
memories tell them that "something has gone wrong
since they were boys." It is pitiable to see a govern-
ment report on American forestry sent forth with such
"facts" and quoted abroad as if it were the work of
an intelligent investigation of the facts involved. If
we were to take the view.s of the "oldest inhabitants'
on many other questions, besides those on forestry
the only wonder would be that the world altogether
had not come to an end long ago. Some of the "younger
inhabitants " have, however, some tales to tell. Only
"six years ago" an "intelligent " observer at Berlin,
New Hampshire, had an "unfailing brook that ran
three hundred gallons an hour." Now it is "cut short
in summer and in winter by drouth." Another speci-
men is this ; "At Richmond, ..Sew Hampshire, in 1865,
there was water power for four saw mills all the
year. Now the water has wholly disappeared."
Now, everyone conversant with geology knows that
these things are liable to occur anywhere, even in
countries that never had a tree at all. The writer
knows of a tract of country in which every well went
dry last year, and numberless springs failed. But it
was not referred to the cutting away of forests, but to
a huge railroad whi'h cut oflt all the supplies from the
spring. Now nature herself often does just what this
railroad did, opens new avenues under ground for the
hidden streams, and turns them away in other directions.
It would be very important to ascertain just what
influence forests have on our water supplies, but to
give iu a government document mere .street corner
gossip as forest science is putting Bcieoce ia a degrad-'
ing febape.— ffa/'f^ewri' Monthly,

April i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

663

THE MADRAS AGRI-HORTICULTURAL

SOCIETY

is the subject of correspondence, for a copy of
■which we are indebted to the Madras Government.
It will be seen that in tbe fifty yt-ars of its existence
the Society has done a large amount of good and useful
work : —

Read — the following letter from Joseph Steaven-
son, Esq., Honorary Secretary, Agri-Horticultural
Society Madras, to the Chief Secretary to Government,
dated 16th October 1886, No, 1781 :—

With reference to the Proceedings of Government,
dated '22nd September 1886, No. 5589, I have the
honor, by desire of the Committee of the Agri-Horti-
cultural Society of Madras, to report for the inform-
ation of the Eight Honorable the Governor in Council
and of the Government of India, as follows.

The facts set forth in the last triennial report to
Government, dated 12th January 1883, No. 28, being
true now as then, the Committee think that as this
report must necessarily contain much repetition, I
cannot do better, for the .sake of brevity and con-
venience, than follow the form then used.

2. Since the report above referred to, which related
to the period 1879 to 1882, inclusive, the Society so
far from relaxing its efforts to carry out its self-
imposed task has materially increased them, as appears
from its enhanced receipts in all branches, and more
especially from its growing correspondence. The letters
recorded in the office books, which may be taken as
a fair criterion of the Society's business, have increased
from 955 in 1877, when the present Honorary Secretary
took charge, to 1,734 in 1885, and promise a still higber
increase in the current year.

3. During the years 1883, 188-1, and 1885 the Society
has introduced, experimented with or distributed
large numbers of the pla^its referred to and

particularised in paragraph 2 of the last special
report, including many interesting for their curious,
ornamental, botanical or economic value, and amongst
them two which call for special mention, namely,
(hiphomavdra betacea and Erifthrorj/lort coca. Seed of
Cyphoinanclra hetacea,^^ the tree Tomato," was received
from Mr. Morris of Kew, then head of the Botanical
Department, Jamaica, and the plant has been estab-
lished amongst the society's correspoadeuts on the
hills and plateaus of Southern India, lirt/throxylon,
coca was largely propagated from a single specimen
in the gardens as soon as the merits of Cocaine
attracted public attention, and has been widely
distributed amongst planters aud others in various
parts of the country.

4. The extensive growing and distribution, of fibre
plants, valuable timber and fruit trees, rubber, drug
and tan producers has continued and increased. In
1883-85 the Society raised and sent out II7,G10 rooted
plants of Fourcroya (jigaiitca. alone for fibre-growing
experiments.

5. Besides specimens of new and rare plants for
garden cultivation, large numbers of young trees and
other plants of indi;jenous or established kinds have
been supplied to Municipal Commissions, Local Fund
Boards, and other authorities for plantation, avenue
aud hedging purposes, being often sent long distances
where facilities of rail or water carriage sufficiently
reduced the cost of conveyance.

(!. The implements mentioned in paragraph 3 of
the last report continue to be distributed ; gardeners
are obtained for members of the Society and others
in Madras and elsewhere, while boys trained in the
gardens easily find places ; aud the services of the
Superintendent have several times been lent to lay
out the grounds of public institutions in Madras.

7. The magnificent botanical collection belonging
to the Society continues to be added to by the

liberality of correspondents in many parts of the
world, and by the Society's own collectors. The
scientifically-arranged botanical garden \n in good order
and is largely resorted to by students aud others.

8. The efforts of the Societj' to diffuse information
have been sustained, the correspondence, as stated
fibove. having largely increased and the monthly proceed-

ings of the committee couti uing to be regularly
printed and more aa-l more widely distributtd to
members, to the pres<, to kindred societies and bodies,
and to persons interested in the various subjects to
which they refer.

9. In 18S4 a complete aud useful list of plants to
be found in the gardens aud neighbourhood was compiled
by the superintendent of the gardens, printed and
largely circulated.

10. The Society's library has, with the assistance
of a liberal grant from Government, been much im-
proved by the addition of miny valuable works of
reference, and is consulted by visitors, who are freely
admitted, whether members of the Society or not.

11. The gardens are open to the public from sun-
rise to sunset ; botanical specimens are given when-
ever asked, to local professors and lecturers and to
scientific visitors; and the library and botanical garden
are believed to be of great service to the students of
the various botanical classes.

12. The Society continues to act and be largely
employed as an agency through which persons at a
distance obtain supplies of fruit, avenue, shade and
other trees, plants and seeds; and annually obtains
and forwards to all parts of India, and often abroad,
large numbers of grafted mango and other trees and
seeds of useful plants, such as Inrja, dulcis, casuarina,
cotton, tobacco, senna, forage plants, fibres and
cereals. In the last number of ttie " .Tournal of the
Agricultural aud Hjrticultural Society of India, " page
3"i5, it is stated by ilr. Maries, a recognised authority
on the mango, that " The ' grafts ' made by the Madras
Horticultural Society are the best I have seen in this
country. "

13. The Society is often honored by references
from Government and the Board of Rerenue for in-
formation on horticultural and kindred subjects, and
is frequently able to be of use to Commissioners,
Collectors, and other authorities in this presidency
and distant provinces.

14. On ISth July 1885 the Society completed the
fiftieth year of its labours; and to quote from the

last annual report "The half century nobody

familiar with the Society's gardens and their very
great wealth in exotic plants collected from every
quarter of the globe would suggest has been spent in
sloth. Horticulturists in Madras are apt to forget,
and those who are net horticulturists are probably
ignorant, that for many, possibly most, of their
handsomest barbaceous plants, trees and shrubs they
are indebted to the Agri-Horticultural Society; and
that for that reason, as well as others, the Society
deserves their support in both subscriptions and con-
tributions. Observers, not scientific botanists, are
now so accustomed to the great variety of vegetable
life which beautifies Madras and its suburbs, and
makes gardens and roadsides interesting, that the
time, labor, and money expended in their collection
from every country within the tropics, and many
without, escape their memories, as do the nursing and
propagation by skilled hands in, and liberal distribu-
tion from, the Society's gardens. Many of the most
useful and commonest plants of the hedgerow now
annually sowing themselves and reproducing their
kind in spite of never-ceasing croppiug and browsing
by voracious goats and their hungry owners, but for
the Society and its correspondents, would not have
wandered here from their distant homes in other
parts of India, in Africa, America, or Australia. The
Committee think that the past and present members
of the Sjciery m ly look around and congratulate
themselves that their first fifty years of association
h-ive been well spent. "

15. The monthly p-oc^fdings of the Committee,
which are regularly forwarded to several departments
of Goi-ernaifiit, detail the more important work djue;
the whoh- work of each year is briefly stated in the
reports annually laid before the general mpeting of
the Society, the last three of which are submitted
herewith.

16. The following table shows the income and expen-
diture oi the Society since the last triennial report to

664

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURrST. [April i, 1887.

Government up to the end of last year : —

■sasaadxa jejox

•s^diaoej i^^oj^

"3^ 'B^nBjd 'spaas jo ajBg

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e-i

i-H

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•aoi'jdriosqns sigqtnaj^i

•ifjBjqii oq'j
joj 93{ooq jB0inB;oq ^nq
n'^ inamujOAOQ aiojj;a8Jf3

•^naranioAOf)
raojj aoneMOjis v^x"^

•spnpojd [Bioads jo_;
saztjd JO} "^aaoiajaAoj^
rnnj| ')nBjfi pioadg

•^namnjaAo;)
ruoij aonBAiojiB jfyq^aojij

•SJtraj^

17, The i~iociety continues to liave the benefit of the
long experience of 1be Honorary Secretary who lias
managed its affairs since 1877, and has now, in addition
the able assistance, as Superintendent of the gardens
of a professional gardener who was sent out to Govern-
ment from Kew in 1870 to conduct experiments in
the cultivation of cotton in the Central I'rovinces; and
the Committee believes that its usefulness and the
import mce and extent of its work is limited only by the
funds at its disposal and the small amount of time
which the Honorary Secretary is able to devote to it
from his other duties.

Read — the following letter from J. Grose, Esq ,
Acting Director of Revenue Settlement and Agriculture,
to the Secretary to Government, Revenue Department
dated Madras, 8th December 1886, No. 2291 :—

With reference to G.O., daiad 20th November last,
No. 7036, I have the honor to state that the Agri-
Horticultural Society of Madras have, on all occasions
on which they have been applied to, readily favored
this department with their co-operation, and that this
department has, whenever possible, freely utilised their
services in the matter of procuring, raising, and distri-
buting «eeds and plants of great economic value.
Besides supplying seeds of Keana luxvrians, Dili Jivi,
and of varieties of well-known foreign lobacco, the
Committee of the Society have procured shoots of the
edible Cactus from Malta, planted them first in their
own gariiens, and distributed them to the districts after
they had become well estiblishe'l. The Society has
also furnishpd valuable informalim and sngsestions
to this department on the subject of grafting the
edible Cactus on the common variety and on that of
jndiffenous salt plants for the reclamation of salt .soils.

2. All that is stated in the report as to the utility of
the Society to the general public of this presidency
seems to me well warranted.

Oedeh— dated 22ad December 1886, No. 1119
Revenue. The report read above, together with the
letter from the Acting Director of Revenue Settlement
and Agriculture, will be forwarded for the information
of the Government of India with reference to their
letter, No 711— 1201 -A (Revenue and Agricultural
Department) of 9th September 1886. Copies of the
Society's annual reports for the years 1882—85 will be
transmitted at the same time.

2. Throughout the period ander review the Society
has been in receipt of a contribution of R4,000 from
Provincial funds, the former grant-in-aid of R3,.500
having been increased by R500 under G.O., dated 8th
March 1883, No. 538, Financial. It is satisfactory to
learn from paragraph 16 of the report that the receipts
of the Society from other sources have also increased
considerably during the same period.

The ratio between the amount of the grant-in-aid and
the t otal income of the Society is considerably less than
the maximum prescribed by the Government of India
in their resolution, No. 7 — 274-278, of 17th September
1879. In recognition of the flattering testimony
borne by the Kew authorities to the good work of the
Society, a special grant of R1,000 was, in G.O., dated
Ifich September 1884, No. 1045 Financial, made to
their funds. This sum has been utilised for the pro-
vision of a botanical library, which, it is stated, is
freely and widely consulted.

a. In hi.i letter read with the above, the Director of
Revenue Settlement and Agriculture bears testimony
both to the general public utility of the Society and its
ready co-operation with the Agricultural Department.
Cfovernment note with satisfaction that the Society's
library and botanical collections are extensively utilised
by students and lecturers, and are thus the means of
diff asing a knowledge of botany throughout Southern
India. Altogether, the period under review seems to
have been one of increased activity and usefulness, and
Government desire to place on record their sense of
obligation to the Honorary Secretary and the members
of the Committee, to whose exertions this desirable
result is mainly due.

Tomatoes. — An American contemporary states that
during the past season there were put up 48,508.248
cans of Tomatoes in the United States, being one-
third less than the pack of 1883, the decrease in
acreage being heaviest in the eastern States. It is
said that a farmer in Salem Country, New Jersey, last
season raised 83 tons of Toma oes on 6 acres of land.
The crop was sold in the canning establishment for
7 dollars (nearly 30s.) per ton. — /ournal of HorticvJture.
Forests and Rainfall. --Prof. Cleveland Abbe in
a recent lecture before the Franklin Institute of
Philadelphia, attacked the " popular error " that forests
had any influence on rainfall. He showed that in
eastern Pennsylvania during the past one hundred years
there had been a slight increase in rainfall, though the
forests had almost wholly disappeared. He explained
that the increases or decreases in earth elevations in-
fluenced the annual r;iinfall, and not forests. It is too
bad, however, to charge this error to the " popular "
siele. It is an error propagated by so-called men of
science, and has been a pet theme with many a science
association, — and it has been the work chiefly of this
magazine to show that there was no foundation for the
notion that was worthy of the name of science. We
have protested against the error with considerable
earnestness, because of its injurious influence on practical
forestry. It has led to the waste of hundreds of
thousand of dollars in fruitless " commissions " and
legislative blundering, and prevented the forestry
question from standing ou its profit and loss foundation,
as a commercial undertaking should be— which by this
time might have led to profitable results.— (rarrfeners'
Monthly and HorticuUunst . [This comes to us from tie
United States. It is commmsease and truth. Run
depends on trade-winds, monsoaus and miuatains,
Forfsts are the effect not the cause of r«in.— -Ed,]

Avtit h jS^.1 T^S f I^OPIdAt AGHlCJUtf t^ftiSf.

^66J

LED SEEDS: ABBUS PEECATOEIUS.

A writer in Science Gossip gives some very interest-
i)g iutormation concerning a plant very commou in
the neigbibourhood of Townsville (Queensland, and in
Colombo. — Ed.) and which will be readily recognised from
his description. He maiies a mistake in saying that the
root of th« aorus pi ecaiorius is poisonous. It has a de-
cided flavour of liquorice, and may be unwholesome if
any great quantity be chewed; but practically speaking
it i^ not iujurious to the human subject : — "Those who
have visited the Indian and Colonial Exhibition, or, as
it is barbarously called, the Colinderies, will no doubt have
noticed m a number of liifferent courts, a curious pea-like
seed of a light red colour with a black patch ; in our court
I noticed a number of caps and ornaments made entirely
out of the seed of mimosa glauca and this red seed,
which has for its scientific name that of abrus pre-
catorius. But this is not the only name which will
be found in the different specimens ; some have the
name of reglion sauvage, cascarella, jequirity seed,
suabre's-eyes — and in fact the names are legion, but
they are all applied to the one seed, abrus precatorius,
called precatorius because it is much used for Roman
Catholic rosaries in some parts of the world. This
seed is that of a plant which once had the name for
curing certain diseases of the eye, but there is not
mu;;h foundation for this reputation. The plant is a
deciduous climber, and has pea-like flowers of a red-
dish-purple. A specimen two years old may be seen
at Kew, but it has nob yet flowered. On chewing
the leaves, which are composite and much like those
of the acacia, a sweetish liquorice taste will be noticed ;
it is in fact called the wild liquorice, but must not
be confounded in any way with the liquorice plant
(Glyc^rrhiza) of the British Pharmacopceia, though
they both belong to the same group of plants.
Curiously, the root ot this plant is poisonous and has
often been used by the convicts in Mauritius, both
by rubbing it on their eyes and chewing it, to in-
duce illness. Another most interesting fact about
this plant — or rather the seed — is that the natives of
the country in which it lives found out that all the
seeds weighed precisely the same (about five grains,
I should say), so, as they had no other standard
weights, they instituted these seeds as a standard
weight, and called each seed in their own language a
carat : and this carat is in fact the origin of our carat
weii<ht of gold. This fact alone made the seed one of
interest tome, and, combining it with the fact, that
it bjlongs to one of, if not the most important
order of plants of economic value, makes me think
that there may be others like myself, who, ignorant
of the above facts, will be glad to know them.
—Townsville Herald.

JAFFNA CIGAES.

Somehow the trade in Jaffna cigars has received
an additional stinmlus lately, so that the business in
the Cigar Boutiques is unusually brisk as one could
B-e on passing One cause is swid to be the short
production of those varieties of Jaffna Tobacco which
chiefly enter into the making of what is called a real
"Jaffna." During the month of December 1885, the
weather appears to have been rather unfavourable to
the lives of the young plants which were then being
removed from the nurseries and transplanted in beds.
Some thousands of young plants transplanted during
a day were found the next morning withnred and
dried — not indeed by the heat of the Sun's rays; but
by some unknown cause. Some few who have tried
in various ways to trace the cause of this wholesale
destruction seem to have discovered a small worm,
which they call " Uluvan " literally the plouffher,
which gnaws away the plant at its root— a single
worm going through a whole bed of planis during a
night. In this way were the nurseries so thoroughly
exhausted, that plantations were not as fully planted
as usual. This accounts for the comparative shortness
of the Tobacco crop of this year, But the whole To-
h»ceo has gq^ suffered 9P tnucb, as it is Gs«ally growe
SI

on higher ground and in harder soil than the one in
which the Cigar-Tobacco is cultivated. Good prices
are now realized by Cigar Boutiques as well as by the
hawkers of what are called street cigars. But there
is yet a good deal that can be done to stimulate the
trade and make the Jaffna Cigars the real luxury
they ought to be, if properly made and tastefully
served up. What are Cigarettes as compared with a
good genuine J^iftua Cigar? Of course the dealers
in Cigars should first have a taste themselves before
they caa provide for the taste of others. But ,they
generally calculate ou deriving their customers from
the general population rather than from the upper
classes or even the middle class.

Of Cigars there are 4 sizes.
The 1st size, 12 pkts. to a lb sells for 10 cts. the pkt.

2nd do 16 do do „ 6 „

3rd do 24 do do „ 5 „

4th do 30 do do „ 4 „

The price per thousand is as follows : —

1st size R7 50 per thousand ^

2nd do 6 00 do

3rd do 5 00 do

4th do 3 75 do

Of course there is an allowance or abatement or
discount or whatever you may call it to those who
buy Boxes or in wholesale, as it were.

The Strett Cigars do not come under any of the
above rates, they being made of Tobacco of inferior
kinds: and generally they have no fixed prices; but
they sell for whatever they can get, whether it be
high or low. Most of the cigars selliag in Colombo
are of the Street Cigar kind, and they serve in gen-
eral to bring Jaffna cigars into disrepute. The real
Jaffna cigars could be had only at about 10 principal
boutiques in Colombo, not any where else. These
boutiques profess to supply Negombo, Kaltura, Kaody,
Eatnapura, Chilaw, Puttalam and Anuradhapura ; but
in none of these places is a real " Jaffna " to be had
" for love or for money." Another fact in connection
with Jaft'na cigars deserves to be noted. Each of
the 10 Cigar boutiques of Colombo employs about
150 men in Jaffna in the manufacture of the cigars :
and about as many more are hawking cigars in and
around Colombo. Including the growers of Tobacco,
every boutique may be said to maintain about a
thousand families, being altogether ten thousand
families depending on the trade in Jaffna cigars.
Oow.— "Ceylon Patriot."

SUGAR SOILS IN BRITISH BUEMAH.

Dr. Romanis says : —

"These soils are evidently produced by the decom-
position of granite or some other primitive rock. In
the sample of E I found fragments of decomposing
felspar, the constituent of granite that supplies potash
to the soil. There is no doubt that this is the secret
of the fertility of these soils. Another thing i.« that
soluble potash is higher than usual. They will yield
several crops before they show signs of exhaustion."

Canes had been cut on the land from which
soil selections were made, the juice tested, and the
amount of kyantaga (gur) obtained had been ascer-
tained with the following results;—

Percentage of Percentage of coarse

sugar in juice sugar (gur) in juica

Name of soil, according to according to

saccharo meter. experiment.

{ A 25-71 15-27

B 20-00 12-52

„., . „ IE 25-71 15-27

Bilm vallye ^^ j^ 22 '85 1431

I 0 ... ...Notcultifated,

I^H 22'85 14-31

_,, ., „ ♦ K 27'14 1700

Thebyu valley I j^j , ..Not cultivated.

The percentage of juice was, however, taken from
the different places at different times and there was
a month's interval between the testing of H and
tbat qI K, Tbs cultjrators tbemsslyes #tatei(S tbat tb9

f Mi fmpiCAL AUki^iiUtijmm. lAPmt h iUj^

mmm

^''^^^"I ' "1 1— 11

best kyautaga (gur) was produced by soils A and E'
theu by H, tbeu D and K, and finally B. They
stated that the kyantaga (gur) of B was bad owing
to the land being flooded, and that the sugar of K
would improve as the land was regularly cultivated
year after year.

Comparing the result of the soil analyses with
those of the testings of the juice and kyautaga (gurj
Dr. Romanis remarks: —

" The order of the productiveness seems to be that
of the amount of pho-iphoric acid the soil contains.
Leaving K out of account, as it was more mature
when cut, it will be observed that the mgar obtained
is very nearly proportional to i he percentage of phos-
phoric acid. According to Ville the phosphate of lime
is the predominant constituent in sugur manure, but
he gives no experiments to prove it. H is the third
in order of pLiosphoric acid and third in order of
productiveness. The great excess of potash cannot be
utilized by the plant for want of a sufficient propor-
tion of phosphoric acid. K, according to the natives,
comes after D; but D is new land and, theretore,
for a year or two many yield good crops ; but, if
the analysis fairly represents its composition, it can-
not last long.

"H is no doubt beginning to be exhausted of its
soluble ingredients. Wnat is extracted by hydrochloric
acid does exactly coiTespond to what the plant can
extract from the soil. 1 should say it wants a fallow
or change of crop.

" The soil should not deteriorate if nothing is removed
from it but pure sugar, the constituents of which
are entirely obtained from the air. If the crushed
canes are restored to the land in any form, there is
no loss, or very little, of mineral matter. "

SHALL WE GROW MILLET.

My success with millet haf? been so marked that
I have practically abandoned my meadows as a source
of hay supply, and with millet in place of oats, and
clover in rotation, depend upon these for my forage;
and after ten years' or more esperience, have I never
been without an ample hay supply, I am, taking
one year with another, convincpd that oats never paid
me as well as the same land would in either corn
or millet. Possibly I may yet go to speculating in
Bohemain oats, not in feeding them, but raising them
to sell to neighbours who go crazy over oats worth (?)
ten dollars per bushel. Mem.: Who ever heard of
a farmer selling his crop of Bohemain oats for S400
per acre?

For several year.s I sowed Hungarian grass, but
became convinced that German millet was far superior,
and now sow it exclusively. Some winter.*! I have fed
no other hay, but usually feed clover and cornstalks
along with it ; but, so far as I can see, I would
quite as soon take exclusively millet ; for winters I
have fed nothing else, not even grain, until the cows
began to calve m the spring. No one could ask for
stock to do better than did mine on thin, early-citt
asillet.

The chief objectiono to millet are that it is thought
io be a great exhauster of land, and that it ia a hard
frop to cure. It is probably more taxing on land
than timothy; for millet^ besides its great mass of
foliage, develops at least forty bushels of grain to
ibo acre, 2*fow millet is what is known as a gross
feeder, and needs to be sown on soil filled with vegetable
ttiattsr, and will attain its greatest perfection on fresh
turned clover sod^ or a crop of fallow corn, or de-
cayed sod.

Mll:et shotild cot be allowed to mature its seed to
obtain best results as a hay supph •■ and in avoiding
this a great draft upon the soil is prevented ; for, if
cut just as the heads are developed, and the seeds
are forming, the final demand upon fertility to mature
this heavy crop of grain is avoided. And I now place
mil, fit, when sown in its proper rotation, as one of
the medium crops in its demand for fertility. Then
its growth is remarkable. In favorable seasons it is
T ady to cut in seventy day< from sowmg, and there-

idt» ioQB not ''dr»T?'' u;)!.y t^ mil U]^ cora^ oAt^,

or wheat, that need far longer time, and must of
necessity develop their grain.

As a crop to precede wheat, it has no superior;
for its dense growth completely shades the soil. It
is, therefore, a cleaning crop. And, lastly, it leaves
the land mellow, and exceedingly easy fitted for wheat.
In fact, with the improved spring harrows, it is often
quite as well to prepare the land for wheat without
ploughing; but usually it is better to invert the soil,
and plough under the great mass of roots and stubble,
that upon an acre must aggregate tons in weight, and
must, therefore, have a great fertilizing value. Wheat
upon millet-stubble often shows superior growth,
possibly from the fact that the dense shade during the
hot months increases the nitrification of the surface soil.

Millet delights in a dryish summer, and only needs
an occasional shower to give it luxurious growth. Last
season my millet only had what could be called two
lains upon it, and yet its growth was astonishing —
nearly six feet in height for the entire fields, and
yielded at least four and a half tons of cured hay
per acre. This season we have had rains and rains,
and invervals of cold cloudy weather, and the yield
will not probably exceed three tons per acre the
smallest crop in years.

Millet is a tropical plant in its nature, and should
not be sown until the hot June days guarantee high
and somewhat uniform temperature. This year's seed-
ing chanced to be followed by ten days of cold, rainy
weather, and as a result, the millet did not come up
evenly; part was, as afterwards proved, drowned out.
On the 6th day of July a small field was sown, and,
when the fields were cut last week, this piece, sown
twenty-five days after the others, was in many respects
the finest millet.

In sowing millet a full bushel per acre should be
used. Then the hay is fine and choice ; an 1 if cut
just as the heads are all out in bloom, and cured in
the cock — the larger the better— and then stored in
the big bay of the barn, it will come down upon the tioor
in the winter bright and greeu, and with that attrac-
tive fragrance that will cause cattle to eat it in
preference to any other hay that may at the time
be placed before them.

For years I have fed my work-team upon early-cut
millet — not all they would eat, but in proper ajiounts,
and have never noticed any ill effects ; but on the
contrary, have regarded it as a most excellent ration.
For milch-cows it has no superior as a hay ration.
With a proper feeding of milk-feed, the March and
April messes of milk will fully equal to June flow
maintained from the pastures, and in texture and
quality leaves nothing to be desired.

The question is, with the advent of ensilage and the
demonstrated great growth of German millet, can
farmers afford to feed hay grown upon high-priced
land, when from a half ton to a ton of inferior hay is
the average? But, on the contrary, are not the profits
to be rather found in croppiug for abundant rations,
and thus securing them at the lowest possible cost ? —
Jason Jones ia the National Stockman.

THE BANANA.

TO THE EDITOR OF "THE AUSTEALASIAH."

Sir, — " A species of the genus musa, a tropical tfce
clearly allied to the plantain. The fruit is Sin. or Sin.
long, and 1 in. thick, gro^n in clusters, is very nutri-
tious, and, in some parts, forms a mostimportant article
of food," ao say.s the Standard Pronouncing Dictionary.
Few colonists now but have seen and tasted the banana,
and I have, no doubt, endorse the pithy description
given of it of being nutritious. The trade between the
colonies and the islands is perhaps more than the
generality of your rea'iers is aware of ; the S. S, " Rock-
ton," bavins on board 19,000 bunches in one trip to
Sydney. This is a larger cargo than is usually brought,
but the average will certainly be not less than 9,000,
and as there are steamers to New Zealand, Sydney,
and Melbourne constantly running and bringing them
up there must be, in any case, as many as 366,000
bunches of bananas exported from Fiji every year to

Au^trftlia »oi IJ^v 2oal6u4; ist I am told tbat <}uastr

April i, 1887,] IHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

667

Ities find their way to Brisbane, although bananas
grow there. I have counted as many as 370 of the
fruit on one bunch, quite a load for two men to carry
on a pole. A Suva paper of last year writing of a
Fiji plantation, of 80 acres, the property of ]\Iessrs.
Armstrong and Huon, part of the article, writing of
the culture of the banana, says: — '-The superiority
of the fruit is attributed to careful cultivation, deep
digging, constant weeding, and atteutioa to and careful
strippiug of each bunch wheu ready to burst from the
blob^om, as this exposes the young fruit to the sun,
and, besides assisting its development, deprives a grub
which iufests these plants, and is otherwise the cause
of the destruction of thousands of bunches, of a lurking
place." To keep these 80 acres in ord^r is the work
of 30 Polynesians and two Europeans. Hosv the banana
known as the sugar banana got to the South Seas is,
perhaps, not generally known, so that 1 have much
pleasure in giving the incident as it occurred.

Many years ago (in 1838) theEev. Jno. Williamsjwho
was then a missionary in the South Seas, as an agent
to the London Missionary Society, left Raiatea, one
of the Society Group, for England for the purpose
of collecting mon*!y to purchase a vessel for missionary
purposes, instead of chartering small craft, hitherto done
by the Society, to visit the various stations in the South
Pacific.

On Mr. Williams's arrival in England he was selected
by the Society to travel through England with another
Missionary as a deputation to address meetings and
collect funds on behalf of the London Missionary
Society. Of the great success attending their labours
history has already made public, in the :jliape of a very
readable book, entitled South Sea Missionan/ Enterprises.
The vessel was* purchased principally by the coutribu-
tions of Suuday-school children, who were limited to
penny subscriptions,and she was known as the "Camden"
brig, lying in the London Docks. A thorough overhaul
was made, and alterations to suit the extra number
she had to carry out, as a staff of young men had ex-
pressed their intention of accompanying Mr. Williams
as missionaries to the Pacific.

The movements of Mr. Williams in England had been
watched with great interest by men generally outside
the influence of the London Missionary Society. At
an interview he had with the Corporation of the City
of Loudoa, he so convinced them that religion aud
commerce should go hand in hand *;hat they unaQimously
votsd him £500, on behalf of the Society he repre-
sented— a thmg unheard of previously. Others, too,
took a deep interest in what was being done, and
one, probably His Grace the Duke of Devonshire, at
Chatsworth, more than the rest.

When Mr. Wdliams went to England his son John,
then a youth of 14, accompanied him, whom the Duke
took charge of whUe Mr. Williams was making the
.tour of the British Isles. The youth was taken by
the Duke tj Chatsworth, and these were to be con-
sidered the youth's head-quarters. The change was
remarkable, from the modest dwelling of the South
Sea Islands to one of England's stately mansions.
Every comfort was provided for him, and youths about
his own age invited to meet him. After a pleasant
stay of some months the time came for young Wil-
liams to take his departure, and prepare for the voy-
age. In conversation with the Duke the y«uth had
thoroughly discussed South Pacific topics- the character
of the soil, climate, &c, and had given His Grace an
idea of what plants were likely to grow of those in
the conservato ries, the conversation leading to good
results. The day before young Williams left Chats-
worth the Duke called his manager, then Jjseph
Paxton (afterwards knighte 1), and asked him what he
thou ght he had in the conservatory that would bene-
fit 'he South Sea Islands. After a careful survey
Mr. Paxtoa said he thougat he had found a plant
that might be of use, and ho suggested two of the
Mu-a Oavendishii, or the sugar banana.

The little plants were placed carefuly in a glass
case l)y the Duke assisted by young Williami, the
manager (JNI'-. .Joseph Pastou), and the head gardener,
IMr. Donald (now the ^Saperiuteudent of the gardens

at Hampton Court). I particularly mention thistheo
small event, but now attended by large res alts.

The case was shipped on board the " Camden," and,
after a long passage of eight months, arrived at Apia
XJpolu — the Navigator Islands t,or Samoa). Here the
plants fell into good hands, those of the Kev. Mr.
Mills, agent to the London Missionary Society at
Apia. On the case being opened, one of the little
plants was dead, and the otber in a weakly state; grave
doubts were manifested that it also might not survive.
However, by the care and attention bestowed upon it,
and the reviving effects of the Samoan soil, the watchers
were soon rewarded ; vigorous life set in, and from the
Chatsworth plant all the bananas of that description
came which now spread over the north and south
Pacific.

J, h. E.

THE ECONOMIC RESOUKCES OP INDIA,

BY DK. GEORGE WATT, CLE,

From lectures delivered before the Society of Arts
which we should gladly quote in full, did our space
permit, we take the following extracts: —

The Imi'ekfectly Known, or Minor Products
OF India.

There are food grains that loudly call for more
thorough investigation and more extended cultivation.
Dyes, tans, and fibres, which betoken fortunes to the
industrious persons who will carry to a practical
issue the initial experiments necessary to successful
introduction. There are minerals and ores in suffi-
cient abundance to admit of profitable competition
with the supplies poured in from foreign countries.
But above all, there are the thousand and one little
insignificant things lying at our feet which, in the
hands of the technical expert, will each come to
meet a distinct market. To Grovernment, these nn-
important industries offer naturally a great attrac-
tion, for, without capital and without expensive plant,
the poorer natives can participate in the trade done
in them. But it would be hopeless to attempt to
enumerate, even by name, the multitude of natural
or wild products in which trade might be done.
Seeds which will yet have a commercial value as
ornaments or buttons. Fibres which are likely to
be used as useful and cheap substitutes for whale-
bone and bristles. Palm spathes, which may come
into use as natural surgical splints, or be employed
as simple mechanical filters. The fibrovascular
frameworks of cucurbitaceous fruits, which constitute
admirable bath-room sponges. Scnall pieces of solah
pith to displace patent corn-plasters, or to be used
in place of wax in the preparation of microscopic
sections. The employment of pith instead of cork
for many purposes, such as for floats to fishing nets.
Fun^i and pith utilised as substitutes for felt in the
manufacture of at least certain parts of hats. The
indefinite series of uses to which the bamboo is put
in all Asiatic countries, but of which Europe is
ignorant. Indeed, the application of the bamboo to
European wants seems ao natural, that it is im-
possible to avoid the surprise that in an age of keen
competition for novelties, this has not been done
long ago. The bamboo is eminently suitable for
many details in household fittings. The thicker joints
make quaint umbrella stands; the better qua. ities
are so hard that they are used by the natives of
India as swords and knives, aud these would make
admirable and clean paper knives, cheese and butter
knives, and, cut up into smaller pieces, might, with
groat advantage, be employed as pegs by cabiuet-
makors and shoe-makers. The gums and resius which
have each their peculiar properties— properties far
better known to the simple and primitive aboriginal
inhabitants of the wild forest tracts than to the
profesbioual experts of Europe, who often value
saiaples according to a crude standpoint, via., the
colour, appearance, aud condition of package de-
manded by the trade. This standpoint is conserv-
ative to estaJDlished brands, but precludes the possi-
bility ol the propertiei ef uqw prociucta being m-

665

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April i, 1887

vestigated. The practice of the simple Santal in
mending his iron cooking pot by means of the sal
resin (the resin of Shorea rohusta) suggests a use
for that, at present, valueless substance, as it indi-
cates also a personal acquaintance with its proper-
ties. It is not at all improbable that the properties
of this and many other little-known gums and re-
sins will commend themselves in the future to persons
who may be in search of substances with properties
we have not as yet been educated to require. The
useless hog-gum (the gem of Oochlospermum Gossy-
jtium), consigned falsely as tragacanth, has been
accidentally discovered by the bookbinder to be in-
valuable for marbling purposes, and the gum of
StcrcnUa iiirns has been found to restore to tasar
silk the lusture removed from it during an improved
process of reeling that fibre. Practically, the one
requirement for gum in Europe is a strong and use-
ful adhesive mucilage, and although with care in
selection and packing, India might easily come to
play a much more important part in this trade
than it has done in the past, India has, at the same
time, gums and resins which possess distinctive
properties, each one of which finds in India a market
in meeting the demands of some indigenous indus-
try. But I have said enough to indicate the long
category of the unimportant products of India. The
bulk of these products are, however, unimportant
only in a European sense. The people of India are
indeed children of nature; they are perhaps far
more dependent upon nature than any other com-
munity in the same condition of civilisation. Natural
or wild products not only form the bulk of their
ornaments and their children's toys, but there are
few people in India who are not dependent, to a
large extent, for food on the plants climbing the
village hedgerows, or floating over the tanks which
their ancestors excavated. They are herbalists, and
their medicinal plants are all gathered from the
neighbouring jungles. To the people of India, there-
fore, the products I have, from a comparison with
the trade done in the staples of India's foreign
commerce, designated as unimportant, are by no
means so. The diffusion of definite and accurate in-
formation regarding these substances will, in some
instances, extend their use from one province to
another, and in others create a foreign demand for
them. Indeed, so important are these minor pro-
ducts to the people of India, that they may be said
to give the finishing touches to the story of India's
productive resources. They not only enter into the
everyday domestic life of the people, bat, in many
instances give that charm to the handicrafts of
India which western skill has vainly tried to imitate.
Given the raw product which imparts the actual
tinctorial principle, and the European dyer fails to
produce the desired result because he has overlooked
the laborious and apparently meaningless combin-
ations which centuries have taught the Indian dyer
to employ. The use of soap in washing the fabric
in one case, and the employment of saponaceous
nuts for that purpose in another, have as much to
do with the beautiful and permanent colours pro-
duced as have the complex series of vegetable and
mineral mordants.

Class ;III. — Fibres.

At this late hour it would be useless to attempt
to deal with cotton, jute, silk, and wool. There is
so much to say under each of these subjects, that
it would take hours to deal with them satisfactorily.
I cannot, however, pass from the subject of cotton
without reminding you that the great cotton mills
of Bombay have already given promise that each
year the Indian mills will more and more meet the
Indian market, until they begin to materially affect
the immense import trade in British cotton goods.
The imports of cotton goods into India were last
year valued at £24,282,628, a large enough trade
to invite competition in every direction. The Brit-
ish manufacturer has not so mucli to fear, however,
from native enterprise, at least for some years to
come, as from British. Just as happened with the
jute trade of Dundee, Enchshmen with their capital
^nd machinery may remove to India to manufactnre

from Indian cotton the peculiar goods required by
the people of India. When this is done, there will
be a saving in time and of freight charges and agency.
The raw cotton, instead of bearing freight to Eng-
land, and the goods freight back again to India,
together with the charges for agencies and broker-
ages which these transactions necessitate, would be
produced and manufactured on the spot, and go
direct into consumption. I have endeavoured to show
that the difference between the cost of Indian and
English labour is not so great as is commonly sup-
posed. The advantage is, however, in favour of the
mill-owner in India, and the disadvantage against
the hand-loom weaver. To put this matter clearer,
the cheapness of Indian labour is not sufficient to
enable the hand-loom weaver to hold his own against
the power^loom manufacturers ; but Indian labour
is cheaper than English, and this cheapness is
another advantage which the mill-owner in India
has over the British manufacturer.

There is no more hopeful future for India than
the opening out not of cotton mills only, but of
factories of every description. It is impossible for
India to stand still. Each year will see her becomng
more and more a manufacturing country. The
world has, however, grown tired of using cotton,
jute, silk, and wool. A distinct demand has arisen
for new fibres, and India possesses at least 300 fibres,
few of which have as yet received even a passing
consideration. At the late Colonial and Indian
Exhibition the largest and most complete displiy
of the fibres of India ever shown was placed b-fore
the public. These fibres attracted very considerable
attention, and experts from all parts of the world
were afforded every possible facility in examining
them. It will be enough to allude to three of these
fibres.

1. Sida rhombifolia. — This beautiful silvery white
fibre is obtained from the above-named plant — a
member of the mallow family. Botanically Sida may
be said to be allied to jute, and the fibre it affords,
in many respects, resembles jute. It may be grown
on the same fields, and by the same cultivators.
It can therefore be produced at about the same
price, for the fibre may be separated from the sterna
by the same simple process, namely, by retting and
washing in water. The only factor that might
conduce to make it more expensive than jute is the
fact that, in its wild state, it does not attain the
same length of stem as the cultivated jute ; but fi>'ida
has not been cultivated as yet, and there is no
knowing but that it may even exceed jute in ita
yield of fibre per acre. It may be accepted, how-
ever, that Sida fibre is, like jute, a cheap fibre,
and one that might be produced with great ease in
immense quantities, the supply being as constant
as that of jute. Its claims for superiority over jute
are very considerable. The fibre is not half as thick
as jute, and it is of a much purer quality, and can
therefore be spun into finer yarns than jute, and
thus come into textile purposes which jute has
totally failed to reach. It can take colour with
great ease. In fact, Sida fibre has been much ad-
mired by all the manufacturers who have examined
it. It is now being experimented with on both flax
and jute machinery ; and I am hopeful that, as one
of the tangible outcomes of the late Exhibition, this
fibre will, in a very few years, come to hold a
distinct place amongst the fibres exported from India.
2. Bauhrnia Vahlii. — This extensive climber be'.ongs
to the family of the pea. It abounds throughout all
the warm lower mountainous tracts, being the most
abundant climber in the mountainous forest of the
great tableland of India, and crossing the Gangetic
basin, it occurs again in all the forests which skirt
the toot of the Himalaya. Mr. lioutledge, of Sun-
derland was, I believe, the first person who within
the past few years drew prominent attention to the
fibre derived from this plant. Long before even Mr.
Routledge's attention was directed to it, however,
the late Dr. Forbes Royle spoke highly of it under
its vernacular name, and specimens were exhibited
at the Great International Exhibition of 1851. The
fibre is universally used by the natives of India for
the purpose of ropemaking, and it stands higk in

AfWL I, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

66^

their esteem. Mr. Routledge has urged its use in
the paper trade ; but although the plant is suth-
ciently abundant to warrant the idea that it might
even pay to be thrown into the paper-makers' vat,
it seems to possess such merits as a possible textile
fibre that it is more likely to find a much higher
place than Mr. Routledge desinged fjr it, i'he
rnahi fibre may be gathered in immense lengths, for
the plant is one of those gigantic climbers which,
by means of its tendrils, extends its long arms from
tree to tree, binding the forest into great clumps.
It is, indeed, a sjurce of greatest annoyance to tbe
forester, for it not only injures his trees, but has
such a vitality that it is next to impossible to ex-
terminate the plant, and a few months after it has
been cut to ihe ground, its long elegant pendant
boughs ladiQ w^th its great clusters of white flowers,
are seen waivmg in defiance from the topmost
branches of the trees. A very large and practic-
ally inexhaastiole supply might be drawn from the
forests of India, bat I have no confidence in a
large industry depending upon a wild plant. The
wiae area over which it would have to be collected,
and the complete control which the owners of the
forests could exercise over the buyer, would be
dangerous to success; therefore a tract of country,
say twenty miles, of the practically useless stony
hill sides would have to be purchased and system-
atically planted. A forest is not necessary for the
plants to climb on ; they would trail over the ground
and form with each other great clumps. From such
a plantation a nucleus of supply could be drawn
and depended upon, which would have a good moral
effect upon the persons bringing to the piauter sup
plies from the wild source. In this way it is pos
sible to procure a constant supply, and if this can
but be secured, the fibre poasesiea in itself such
high merit that it will soon make itself known iu
the textile world. It is one of the few vegetable
fibres that will stand to be dyed, bleached, and
worked up along with wool, a property which speaks
volumes in itself.

3. Caloptris gigantea. — The world has heard so
much of the niadar fiores that it may he viewed ?s.
presumptuous on my part to desire to go back upon
the unfavourable verdicts which expert.^ have passed
upon them. It is well known that tne stems of
this plant afford one of the strongest and finest of
vegetable fibres, and one of the most beautiful. The
great difficulty is to separate this fibre from the
stems, and, indeed, so great is this difficulty that
the idea has practically been abandoned. My friend
Mr. Cross, by nitrating madav fiore, has, however,
produced a substaace which can with dilficulty be
detected from silk. It has all the gloss and softness
of silk, and would seem so valuable that, in this
state, it could well aiford to bear an expensive pro-
cess of separation.

I desire your attention not so much, however, to
the possibilities of niadar bark fibre as to the floss
found attached to the seeds. This has been pro-
nounced too short and too light to be worked on
machinery. But I have be^ua to suspect that we
can correct these defects to a large extent. The
plint is wild along country roadsides in India, luxuri-
ating on every bit of waste sterile land. No person,
as tar as I am aware, has thought of cultivating it.
An important Lancashire spiuuer has assured me
that, even lu its preaCnt state, he can use any amount
of the fibre; all he requires is a uniform and steady
supply. We have agreed that this can never be
secured from a wild plant which has to be collected
by wandering along miles of roadsides. Through
the kindness and co-operation of a missionary friend,
however, I am at present having a few acres of
inferior land cultivated with madar, and we are
hopeful of being able to prove to the poor Santals
of Bengal that this crop would pay them far more
than some of the things ihey and their forefathers
have been in the habit of growing. If this can be
done, uniformity and continuance iu supply may not
only be secured, but it may be conudently hoped
that, with careful selection of seed, after a few
years, we may educate the plant into becoming
0 bedient t9 man's skill. Otir cultivated madar may

yield a floss that will have none of the defects
complained of. If this can be done, I am satisfied
my friend will do it, for I know of no more careful
and painstaking person in India than the gentleman
who has most generously undertaken to pioneer the
introduction of this new annual crop.

Class IV. — The Oils and Oil-seeds.
But I have already trespassed too far upon your
time. Th^re is much that one might say about the
existing crops and the possible new crops of India,
that one scarce knows where to begin or what to
say first. Speaking of the oil-seeds, however, the
greatest possible interest was taken at the late Ex-
nibition m the white form of linseed sent from the
Central Provinces. Were it possibe to develop this
form to the exclusion of the red, a large trade
would be done in it. The greatest danger to the In-
dian oil-seed trade is the difficulty to induce the
people to discontinue their practice of adulteration,
or to persuade them to be more careful in rooting
up different crops growing in the same field. A
compai-atively small percentage of rape-seed mixed
with the linseed renders it completely useless as a
drying oil. Speaking of the rape-seed trade, on the
other hand, few persons seem to be aware that there
is, practically, no mustard grown in India. The so-
called mustard exported from India is in soma cases
better qualities of rape, or in others the Indian
mustard — the small black and pitted sejds of Bras-
sica juiicea. It seems desirable that this fact should
oe ma,de more generally known, for suould demand
arise for Braastca aiba or B. nigra — the true white
and black mustards, these might easily enough be
substituted for the white and black ferms of B.
campestris or rape seed, which seem to find a market
as inferior mustard.— /oit'-wa/ 0/' Me Society of Artt

THE TESTS ON QUININE SULPHATE,

Although some of the f^tcts to which I propose to

efer iu coaneclioa witu this subject de not in

themselves possess any gre-it novelty, the special

iiteutiun they have lately received ill Virious quiruers

gives them a new lUter.-st at the present u'Oinent.

Ainoug all the .--aUs of cinchona alkaloi Is quinine
-uipliate IS an loubte.lly the m (St iinpjrcaut iu every
i-e.ip ct, and therefore especial aitjuiion should be
^iveu to the ui :ans or asoert lining its purity. Qjite
lately it h^s been CJiitendel, thai in regard to this
cua. aster it is t:ie duty of the puarmacist to eutorce
upon tbe manutacturer very stringent demands, and
trom an ethical pviiui, of view uoihiug can be Sdid to
ihe contrary, especially if it shouid b^ dejided upon
[herapeutoal groaudi tuac it is desirable to use
qu.nme .■'Uipha e in a state of absoiUte chemical
(jii ity. But that is a punt to be determue I by
ineiicai autaority, a id for tan pres-iuo it will suffice
to cou>i ler what is to be u ider.-.tojd by the term
purity iu this case as a mitter of practical puarmauy.
lu doing so it will be iiuporta it to bear in luiud
hat hoAfever much we may be in a position at
the present lime to defiae the pirtioalars which
are evidence of the purity or qui. 11 le sulphate,
it mu't 06 a Im ttfd that la regard to t jis .sale the
term purity has hitherto ha I omy a raUtive appli-
catiou. With oui- present kao.rlelge of the vaiious
alkaloi Is ocourring in the material whicb is the
source of quinine, it may be taken for gra.ite I that
quiuiae sulphate is not likely to be naturally con-
tamiuated with ciuchonine sulphate, or, indeed,
with any other cinohouine salt as an accidental
admixture, and heuc-, for practical purpos s, this
imparity may be to a great exteut lett out of con-
sideration. For vaiious other rt-asins, true qum-
idine sulphate m\y a.so be disr-gar. el in this respect
as be ng ai uul.neiy admixtur-, a.-d, in a g neral
Way aticnt on may be coafiaed almost entirely
to ciuchoiiidine sulphate as being the impu.-ity
most frequi-ntly present in c immercial q liuine
sulphate. The iuiriusic value of the ciuchon-
idiue salt is very much less than that of quiuiae
sulphate. Omsequjutly from this point of view
tdone iadepeadeatly of therapeutic v*lae, it is very

67d

tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [Ami t, 1887.

improtant to ascertaia the presence and amoant of
tbit» imparity ia the qaiuiae salpbate of commerce.

Wfleu we call to mial the fact that ciucbOQidiae
is almost always associttod with quiniae ia the
bark from which qaiuiae sulphate is miimfj,ctured,
and also the fact taat up tj trie yeir 13U ciuchon-
idiue WIS njt kaowu as an in iepeu leut subitvace
distinct from qiinine, it will be evident that there is,
on these grounds aloae, very g-)oJ reasjn for believing
that prior to tlie daoe meutioue 1 the article kuowa
as quiuiue suipbate was really a tnixtnre of the sul-
phates of qaiuiue and cinch )iii line. It would be
possitjle to mention in support of this view many
circumstaices recjrded oy trustworthy observers,
but I w 11 merrily rerer to the fact lately made known
by Dr. deVrij that the qiinine sulphate origiuady
manufictured oy Pelletier cuutaiuPi a cousideraOle
amjuat of cinch miline.

Wiuckier's identifioition of cinchonidine, in 1844,
was c'ji icident with the introduction of bark from
New Grenada, to supply ttie pUce of the Bjiivian
bark tbat Dad been previously used for the manu-
facture of quinine, and the fact that this New
Grenada bark contai led a much larger amount of
cincho.iidiue than Bjliviau bark was, no doubt, the
circumstance which led to the identification of the
alkdluid. Unfortunately, Winckler gave it the name
of "quiuidine, " and very shortly afterwards the
sulphate of this a'kaloid was met with in commerce
under the name of "qainidine. " At the 1851 Ex-
hibition it was shown by Zimmer, of Frankfort, and
a prize was then awarded to his firm for its produc-
tion in a separate form. Probably it had been used
long before as an adulterant of quinine sulphate,
and as the methods of testing the purity of quinine
su'phate in use at that time were not calculated to
detect the presence of the cinchonidme salt, there is
also a probability that it was often present to a con-
siderable amount in commercial quinine sulphate
as an accidental and to a large extent quite unrecog-
nized impurity, originating from the mat-rial used.
The literature ot that period indeed furnishes abun-
dant evidence of this, and several new methods of
testing were then suggested for the detection of cin-
chonidine. None of them, however, were thoroughly
effectual, and the official tests given in the vaoous
pharamacopceias were all of such a nature that a
cousiderable amount of cinchonidine salt would pass
unrecognized. That has, indeed, been the case up
to tne present time.

It is evident, therefore, that the presence of cin-
chonidine sulphate in commercial quinine sulphate
caunot be regarded as a matter of any novelty, either
as an unrecognized accident before 1814, or as a w<-ll
undei stood fact since that time; but that, on the
contrary, it was a natural consequence of the asso-
ciation . of cinchoniJine with quinine in all the
va ieties of material employed tor the manufacture
of quinine sulphate. The quesdou as to the purity
of tnis salt, apart from actual fahificatioo, has there-
fore alway.s been a question as to the actual amount
of cinchonidine it contained. It is mainly in regard
to this particular point that the value and efficiency
of the tests applied for ascertaining the purity
of qiinine sulphate require to be considere i. and
it is now just ten yeirs ago that I pointed out
the defective nature of the test prescribed in the
British pharmacopoeia of 1867. I tiien showed that
by the application of the Pnarmacopana test a sample
of quinine sulphate containing at least 10 or 15 per
cent of cinchonidine sulpate could not be dis-
tinguished from one of absolute purity, or contain-
ing no more than one per cent, and that while there
were somti manufacturers who suppue I the article
in a comparatively high state o'' purity, that obtained
from other sources often contained a large amount
of the cinchjnidine salt. The existence, even in
the past, of such diirerence.s in the qiality of a
medicinal agent so important as quinine sulphate,
and thrt potsibi'iiy of their recurrence, should cer-
tainly inluced phiramajists to give attention to this
matter, and to verify tne qadic/ of their supplies
by careful ex^ainiuatioa, not only lor the iiake of

their own protection, but also for the parpose of
enabling them to furnish a personal guarantee an to
the purity of this article.

The methods of testing quinine sulphate for as-
certaining its purity and detecting the presence of
salts of the other cinchona alkaloids are for the most
part based upon the relative solubility of those alka-
loid.- in ether or in ammonia, and partly, also, upon
the relative sdubility of the neut a) sulphates of
those a kaloids in water. As already mentioned,
the problem to be solved, under ordinary conditions,
is a simple one, and it may be stated in these terms:
What is the amount of cinchonidine sulphite present ,
The ether test was first applied for this purpose ia
1852. It consisted in shaking a weighed quautitj of
the sulphate in question with ether and ammonia
in a teat lube, anl if the alkaloid set free by the am-
monia was completely dissolved by the ether, forming
a clear solutou, the sulphate was considered to be
free fro.n objectionable impurity. But the ether
test thus applied is not sufificiently delicate for the
purpose required. Freshly precipitated quinine dis-
solves readily in a very small proportion of ether,
and the solution remains quite clear if the evapor-
ation of the ether be prevented. Cinchonidine is
also soluble in ether, but to a very much smaller ex-
tent. Thus, for example, 10 grains of quinine sul-
phate treated in this way, with I drachm of ether and
some ammonia, will give a clear solution ; but 1 grain
of cinchoiii line sulpate gives a very different result
when so treated, a large portion of the aikaloid remain-
ing undissolved by the ether. The actual limit of
-olubility of cinchonidine in ethi^r is reached when the
sulphate is in the propotion. of about half a grain to
the fluid drachm of el her. Hence it might be expected,
that when this test is applied to a sample of quinine
su'phate containing 10 per cent of cinchonidine
sulphate, the presence of this impurity would be as-
certainable. Tnat is not the case however. When
such a sample is tested in this away, the whole of
the alkaloid is dissolved, forming a clear solution,
and there is no indicaton of the presence of cin-
chonidine. The fact is, that an ether solution of
quinine dissolves more cinchonidine than an equal
volume of ether does. The practical result is that
the ether test applied in the manner just described
will not in any case indicate the presence of cin-
chonidine unless its amount is upwards of 10 per cent
at least.

It was partly in this respect that the ether test
as prescribed in the British Phaimaiopoeia, 1867,
the French Codex, 1866, and the United States
Pharmacopoeia, 1870, was defective. In each case
al-o there was the further mistake of directing too
large a proportion of ether to be used. Half an
ounce of et'ier, the quantity to be used, according
ta the B. P., with 10 grains of the quinine sulphate
to be tested, is capable of dissolving 2 grains of cin-
clionidine, and the 5 grams of ether to be used
with half a gram of the salt according to the
Codex, is sufficient to dissolve 00386 gram of cin-
chonidine, these quantities corresponding in one case
to about -0 per cent, and the other to 13 per cent
of cinchonidine sulphate that would escape recogni-
tion by the test. So far, therefore, as tnose official
standards were concerned, it is again evident that
the purity of qiuuine sulphate must be regarded as
having had up to within a very recent period only
a relative significance.

[n the German Pharmacopoeia of 1872 Kerner's
test was adopted, and it h.is since been adopted in
the Uuite.l States Phirmacopojia of 1880. It is based
upon the fact that quinine is much more soluble in
ammonia solution than any oth-.c cinchona alkUoid.
When a cold siturated solution of n-ntral quinine
sulphate, containing' only from l-7U0th to l-800th of its
wei-ht of the salt, is mixed with ammonia solution,
the'alkaloi I precipitated in the first instance is
readilv dissolved again by adding more of the am-
m )nia' solution. If a volume equal to that of the
quinine s uphate solution bu adlel the mirtire be-
comes quite clear. When, however, a sa urated
solution of ciaehouidioe suipkAte ii> treated in tixn

Amil i, mf.] ^m *fkOPitAt AGRietfttU^lSf.

en

same manner the result is very diflff^rent, because
oinchonidine is so very much less soluble iu ammonia
solution than quinine. Here then is a means of
distinguishing between these t^vo alkaloids, and the
further difference existing between the sulphates of
these alkaloids, in their solubiHty in water at the
normal temperature, admits of this means of dis-
tin tian b ing applied as a test for the presence of
cinchou di e sulphate in quinine sulphate. The way
IQ which this is done may be explained most readily
by taKing as an example the case of quiaine sul-
pha e c ncaining 10 per cent of the oinchonidine salt,
and api lying the test as directed in the German
Pbarmacopcoia.

One grim of such a salt will contain 0'99 gram
quinine suiphate, and 001 gram of cinchonidine
ealc.

The first step is to separate the two su'phates by
means of their very diffeieut solubility in water.

For this purpose the sample to be tested is shasen
with ten times its weight of cold water, and if
the two sulphates were taken up in propoition to
tbsir lespective solubility in water, the cinchonidine sul-
phate dissolved would be sevon times as much as
the quinine sulphate, since cinchonidine sulphite is
Bolub e in about 100 parts of water ; while q nnine
sulph.te reqaires about 700 parts for solution. * That
is the assu option upon which Kerner's test was
founded, an 1 if it were correct, the solmion obtained
by shaking 1 gram of quiuine sulphate containing
10 per cent cmchouidint- sulphate with 10 c. c. of
Witer w uU con'ain 0'0143 gram quinine sulphate
and O'i gram of cinchonidine sulphate. If such a
80 a ion were really obtained under the conditions
men ioned, Kerner's test would be a very delicate
one. But that is not the case. The solution of the
•a phates is not determined altogether by their re-
•pectiye solubility, and for variouB, reasons it does
DOC take place at the normal temperature iu these
proportiojs so leadily as might be expected. The
coBsequeuce is that in applying this test to quinine
BU phate containing cinchonidine sulphate only a
portion of the latter salt is dissolved, and the portion
which i-i not dissolved escapes detection. This fact
was pci ited out by me ten years ago, in the paper
whicL I read at one of these evening meetings; but
as the test is described in the German and the
United Satea Pharmacopeias it has not received
Bufficient attention. Practically considered, the result
is that Kerner's test is not much better than the
ether tdst already described, although it would be a
very delicate one if rightly applied.

16 is altogether useles* to apply so delicate a test
for cinchonidine, unless in making the solution to
which ammonia is applied that alkaloid is really
disso.ved out of the sample to be tested. This is not
done when cold water is used. Whether it be due
to the slow action of cold water upou cinchonidine
sulphate, or to the existence of a double salt, the
result is the same, pirt of the cinchonidine remain-
ing undi-solved and thus escaping notice. I may
here mention that I think there is some reason for
believing part of the cinchonidine may be present in
a free state, as it frequently happens that quinine
sulphate has a dtcidid alkaline reaction. If this be
the case the insufficiency of Kerner's test in such a
case would be quite intelligible.

The same test is adopted in the French Oodex,
and the conditions I hare shown to be necessary are
to some extent provi led for by a slight modification
intended to meet t*ie difficulty that has ju^t been
* The solubility of neucral quimue sulphate is given
somewhat differently by authorities, and it is not always
quite the same for different samples. Taking the range
of variation above-mentioned the quantities contained
in 10 c. c. of the solution will be as follows—

10 c. c. of the
For a solubility solution will

of 1 part in con ain

gram
70) parts of water at 60® F •0143

7D5 „ „ .... 'om

mentioned. That consists in warming the mixture of
quinine sulphate and water by immersing the tube
in warm water, and then cooling the solution to a
temperature of 15 ® 0, before adding ammonia to
the fliterwd liquid. It has been found, however, that
mere warming is insufficient to ensure the solution
of all the cinchonidine salt that may be present in
a sample of quinine sulphate, and that consequently
the application of the test in this way cannot be
relied upon to afford trustworthy indications of th«
purity of quinine sulphate. For that purpose it is
essential that the quinine sulphate tested bhould either
be dissolved in boiling water, or at least heated to
the boiling point with nearly enough water to
dissolve it at that temperature. It is only iu this
way that the whole of the cinchonidine sulphate can
he dissolved and brought into a condition to bo re-
cognizable on the subsequent addition of ammonia.*
Tne Commission apppointed by the Pharmaceutical
(Society of Paris to inquire into this subjrct has,
after some months of investigation, also arrived at
the same result, and therefore recommended that
the mixture of quinine sulphate and water should be
heated to the temperature of 60° 0. But that is
not sufficient to ensure the detection of all the
cinchoniiiine salt that may be present, nor do 1
think that it is in any case, from an analytical
point of view, a mode ot piocedure suffici* ntly precise
to furnish trustworthy results as to the actual amount
of cinchonidine sulphate, For various leasous,
economical or therspeuiical, it may be advisable or
expedient to recognize a ct-rtain limitation of the
purity 10 be demanded in quinine sulphate; but
that Would be most appropriately done by hpecityiiig
the amount of cincbo idiue salt thut is to be allow-
able. Such a practical regulation of the matter
does not, however, constitute any reason for making
analytical methods less precise and analytical results
less accurate than is consiscent witn the knowlelge
at our command. Any test that provides for over-
looking some portion of a substance to be detected
mu.-st be distrusted as unsafe.

In the present Biitish Pharmacopoeia the facts
that I have previously pointed out have ' ow been
tak>Tn cognizance of and in accordance wiih them
an improved modification of the ether test is adopted
for the testing of quinine sulphate. Here the im-
possibility of obtaining correct results when operating
directly upon the sulphate to be tested is overcome
by having recourse in the first instance to a fractional
solution of the salt by heating it with water to
the boiling point, and then, after cooling and recrys-
tallizitiou of the quiuine sulphate, applying the
ether test to the cold mother liquor. By this meana
the greater part, if not all of the cinchonidine salt
will be dissolved, while the proportion of quinine
sulphate remaining associated with it in solution will
be so minimized as to admit of the presence of
cinchonidine being detected by the formation of a
crystalline deposit either immediately or after the
lapse of some hours.

Taking a sample containing 10 per cent of cin=
chonidine, boiling 10 grains of it with 5 fluid drachms
of water, then coohug to 60® F, , and filtering,
such a solution is obtained. To get a good re-
sult the solution should be evaporated to about one=
fifth its volume before being shaken with ether and
ammonia, and then the presence of cinchonidine will
be distinctly indicated. Even 1 per cent of cin»
chonidine sulphate can be detected in this way with
certainty,t and it is very easy to tell whetbsr any
sample of quinine sulphate comes within the limit
of purity fixed by the Pharmacopceia of " not much
more than 5 per cent. "

In regard to the testing of quinine sulphate the
British Pharmacopceia is now decidedly in advance
of other pharmacopoeias. The ether test as there

*Even then more than one recrystallization will
generally be requisite.

fWhen the amount of cinchonidine is small it is requi-
site to leave the closed tube for twelve hours or longer

lov the lsxss»tioji, oi fht cr^stftl^ to taits pl^cfi.

672'

^s fnopit^AL Amicvtf\jm$% t^pmt t, i

app'ied is more to be relied upon than K^.rner's am-
mo ia te>t, t-ven wheu a boiling teuiperaiure is
appliO I in making the sol a do i, because the maui-
pulation IS more simple, an^l the c nchoiudiue can
be actually weighed instead of being estimated from
the quantity ot ammonia solution required to dis-
aolvo it. There are alt^o possible sourct-s of error in
the ammonia test which do not apply in the other
case. Perhaps the best testimony to the excellence
of the mo lifted ether test is, however, to be fount
in the circumstance that very shortly after the read-
ing of my paper hfire it was adopted and specially
recommended by so high an authority on this sub-
ject as Dr. He<se, who published witri that o 'ject a
paper in the Archiv dcr Phannaa^' describing a mode
of applying this tfst which has been commonly re-
ferred to since as Dr. Ht-f^se's test.

But to return to the test of the British Pharm-
acopo^i. So far as concerns the details hithero men-
tioued the principles to be obs-^rv-^d are correctly
applied ; but I think it is unfortunate that th^
addition of acid kIiouM have been directed in making
the solution, for except in so far as perfect neutral-
ization is concerntd, every drop of acid addel pro-
portionately inv<ilidates the result by intr )ducing in-
to the mother liquur so much the more q linioe, and
thus, for the ret^on already mentioned, reducing the
delicacy of the test for cinchonidine. Aoothpr objec=
tionable feature of this test is the treatment of such
a large volume of liquid with ether and ammonia.
Five ounces of the solution will dissolve at least half
an ounce of ether before there is any separation of
ether to dissolve the alkaloid, and in th»t way a liquid
will be produced which is itself a solvent of cinchon-
idine to such an extent as to inteifere with the in-
dications of its presence. The proper mode of operat-
ing would be to evaporate the mother liquor of the
crystallization to a small bulk before treating it with
ether and ammonia, and then the result of the test
would be much more distinct and accurate.
2. Determination of Caffeine.

The method adopted for th's purpose, and described
in the Pharmaceutical Journal a few weeks ago, by
myself and Mr. Cownley, has since then been
applied to the examination of a number of different
samples of coffee from various sources, and we have
found that in accordance with the view we then
suggested as being probable, the amount of caffeine
in coffee berries is n tolerably constant quantity.
For the samples examined, we are indebted to the
kindness of Messrs. Patry and Pasteur, who very
obligingly provided us with material representing the
produce of different countries where coffee is grown
npon the large scale. In these further analyses, for
carrying out u'hich I am indebted to Mr. Cownley,
the coffee berries have first been dried at 212 ' F. ,
since it was found very difficult to reduce them to
powder when in the air-drie I condition. The fixtures
in the following table, therefore, apply to the dried
raw berries, and the results previously published,
have been corrected so as to allow for the amount of
moisture in the berries.

Caffeine.
Berries dried Air dried
Kinds of Moisture at 212^ F. berries,
coffee. per cent. per cent. per cent.

Coorg 80 1-20 l-IO

Guatemala ... S'6 1'29 118

Tr.ivancore ... lO'O 1-29 116

Liberian 80 1'30 1-20

Siberian S'O 1-39 1-28

Kio 9-1 r20 —

Santos Brazil. 90 1"29 —

Maila &'Q 1*20 —

Ceylon 6-2 1-24 -^

Perak 7-3 1'22 —

Costa Eica ... 7^2 1'24 —

Pale Jamaica.. 8-7 1'21 —

Mysore S'O 1'28 —

Jamaica 9"0 1-38 —

It is evident from the results cjuoted in this table
tiMt tb9 ducsTda&t ^tatemeote bitbecto publisbed ia

reference to the amount of caffeine in coffee must be
ascribe! to defective methods of analysis, and thnt, in
reality, the determination of the amount of caffeine
in a sample of coffee by the method we have des-
cribed would be one of the most concluB'vo data to
rely upon in any question as to the adulteration of
coffee.

3. Cocaine Hydkochlorate.
In a recent number of 'Ephemeris,' Dr. Squibb
has put forward a statem-nt in reference to the con-
dition in which this salt sbouid be emploj ed in med-
icine and pharmacy, that may be cons(Ueied rather
remarkable as coming from him. He proposes that
the cocaine as extracted from the coca leaves should
be converted into hydrochlonte, and that this salt
should be reduced to a dry state by evaporating the
solution wi'h constint stirring until a granular crys-
talline mass remains. Such a product would probably
always contain a certain proportiori of uncrystallizible
material, which D.-. quibb thinks is physiologically
equal to the crystdlizable portion, and he recommends
that the whole should be mixed together for use in
medic'ue, because the shparation of the uncrystalliz.
able portion would entail coisi lerable loss. Having
lately had occasion to operate up )n a large qumtity
of crude cocaine, as it is now imported from South
America, ray experience of this article has led me to
ilisagree with the opinion expressed by Dr. Squibb,
as to the propriety of allowing uncrystallizable hydro-
chlorate to be mixed with the crystallizable salt, i
find that there is no diffijulty in obtaining the salt
in a finely crystalline condition, quite colourless and
quite free from odour. It is, indeed, produced in this
condition by several minufacturers, and for many of
the purposes to which it is applied this appears to
be the only suitable form of the salt. — Fharamaceuti'
cal Journal.

DISCUSSION.

Coffee Husks and Oatha Edclis.

Mr. Allen said he had been entrusted by Mr. Red-
house with two specimens. That gentleman had for
many years resided in Turkey and other parts of the
Eist, and he had continually evinced his desire to im-
prove their knowledge of eastern Materia Medica. A
short time ago Mr. Redhonse wrote to his friend the
Consul at Jedda, with regard to coffee and another
matter, and in reply ho had received a letter from the
Consul in which occurred the following passage : —

" I send you by this mail per sample post, a ba^ con-
taining a small quantity of the dried ' gisher ' or shell of
the coffee berry, so largely consumed both here and in the
Yemen for coft'ee. Also, by same means, a quantity of
the dried • quat ' so much chewed in the Yemen. This
last has been forwariled to me by our Vice-Consul at
Hodeidah, who saysr — 'In Yemen they always chew
gat green and fresh, but wheoecer they proceed to
the Hedjaz for Haj, or go to some other place where
gat is not obtainable, they do not fail to provide
themselves with a quantity of the gat herb previously
dried. The Arabs of the Yemen never make nor have
made a decoction from gat to drink.'"

So far as ha (Mr. Allen) could find there was no record
of the coffee husks being used as a beverage. It was a
singular thing that the Arabs should discard the seeds
altogether, and use only the husk for drink. There was
no aroma in the husks. He found that the " kat " had
been described in an interesting piper by Mr. Hanbnry,
in the Pharmaceutical Journal, [I], sii., p. 209, The
•'kat" was r-ally the Cathaedulls. The top shoots weifi
probably cut oft' in a fresh state and brought to the mar-
ket. They were very eagerly bought by the natives, both
rich and poor. The men went into the bazaars or
exchanges, and drank water and energetically chewed
the herb, an 1 thus got into a pleasant state of exhilar-
ation. It would be interesting to ascertain whether these
leaves contained an alkaloid or glucoside. In most text-
books it was stated that the Catha cdnlin was used for
making a driuking decoction as well as for chewing, but
in the" consul's letter it w.is distinctly stated that thft
Arabs do not make decoction from it. He had found

in tbe tssHool^ti meatjiou nads oi a, coQa^ wbicb ms

APkiL t, iBSy.j 1*ME tl^Ol^lCAL AG^iCttfiJkt^f,

m

wUWtttfii

made from the external parts of the berry. This was !
called Sultan's coffee and was never imported into the
West.

Poison' Cahinet.

Mr. Abbot exhibited a model of poison cabinet, which
he said was of American invention. Its working was
partly mechanical and partly electrical. The cabinet was
so constructed that only one bottle could be out of place
at one time, and the first bottle taken out must be re-
stored to the shelf before anothir bottle could be re-
moved. The invention, he said, had been recently per-
fected and patented in America.

Mr. Passmore asked wherein this cabinet differed
from one brought forward by Mr. Young, of AA'arring- |
ton, at least fifteen j'ears ago, and described in one of
the early volumes of the present series of the Phav-
macetitical Journal* That appeared to be practically ;
the same invention as the present cabinet.

Mr. Abbott said that he had not heard of the inven- '
tion to which Mr. Passmore referred. American patents ;
were not granted until the patent authorities had i
thoroughly investigated whether the invention had been
in any degree anticipated, and if it had been so antici- .
pated a patent was refused. He would make it his
business to see whether the invention of fifteen years ;
ago was similar to the present one. Of course, it was !
possible that this idea had been anticipated.

Specimens Exhibited.

Dr. Paul called attention to a sample of margosa
oil recently brought to Kn^^laud from Bombay, and sent
for examination by Mr. Charles Christy. It was remark-
able for beiu'j; exceedingly bitter. The soil was obtained
from the seeds of the uim tree i Azadirachta indicn) one
of the drugs of the Indian Pharmacopoeia, and was
valued as an anthelmintic.

Mr. Holmes said that the remarks made by !Mr. Allen
suggested some important points. The physiological
action of coffee undoubtedly iliffers from that of tea '
in several points, yet the value of these beverages is
generally attributed to the caffeine they contain. He be-
lieved that the leaves of Catlta ei/uli.s had been examined j
by Professor Schorlemmer, but he had not been able I
to procure a copy of his paper on the subject. He had l
been informed, however, that caffeine had not been found
in the leaves, and the exhilarating properties of the
leaves must therefore be due to some other principle. '
If this were the case with Catlta i-didh, the cause of
the differences between coffee and tea appeared to
h'm to be worthy of further investigation. With
respect to the margosa oil, it possessed a remarkable
alliaceous odour which he had not observed in the
bark of the tree, specimens of which were in the
collection of Hindoo jMateria Medica in the Museum
of the Society. In reference to the specimens which he
had placed before the meeting, the tree trunks at the
back wer-- those of cinchona tree, from Ceylon, princi-
pally Cinchona officinalis, Cinchona succiruhra and a
cinchona hybrid, apparently between the C. officinalis
and C. st'.cciruhrn. Some of the specimens showed
that bark had been renewed by shaving it off in-
steid of removing alternate strips,

KlLGlJlt BEES AND CUBIOtS LEAVES,

A meeting of the !Nilgiri Natural History Soc ety
was lield in the Herbarium, on Jlonday last, 3}arch i
7th, Mr. Lawson, President, in the chair. Mr. F. D.
Short of Yercaud, was elected a member of the Society.

Mr. li. Morgan sent a paper to be read on " the
Sees of the Nilgiris."' It showed that there are three
itistinct honey producin'ij Aphideue on these hills,
Apis dor.'aUi, A Indica, and A Flort-a . The first is the
l<|-gest and fiercest. Its hives are found in crevices
of precipitous rock,s, and in trees, particularly the
il Q, ami always well protected from wind and damp,
The sha]i- of the comb is semi'circular, one and a
half to I ,vo feet in diameter, and about two inches in
thickness. The average yield of honey is fromi 15 to

*Pharm, .hum., [3], vol, i,, p. 870, j

i>0

30 pounds from each hive. These bees were numer-
ous Ust year on account of the strobilanthus in fiower.
Their honey is dark, golden- brown, and peculiar in
taste. The Apis Indv'a is the commonest Indian bee.
It is very difficult to hive, always preferring natural
holes in trees, and they invariably consume all tho
honey they gather. Their hives are kept very clean,
and they are very cautious in selecting the site, as
they have many enemies to contend with in the mice,
rats, honey-bazzard and even the jackal and sloth bear.
The Apis Florea is found in the lower valleys especi-
ally about B idaga cultivation, with their hives usually
in some thorny bush. The hive is elongated and
surmounted by a dome containing all the honey about
2 to o pounds. They never stay long in one place
but keep moving about according to the flowering
season.

Mr. D. Hooper next read a paper entitled "an ex-
amination of the leaves of Gymnema Sylvestre."'
These leaves when chewed have tho peculiar jiroperty of
destroying the ta>tu of sugar and all saccharine sub-
stances. On taking some powdered sugar after mast-
icating a leaf or two it appears to be as tasteless
as sand in the mouth. A chemical examination was
made of these leaves to ascertain the constituent to
which this peculiar property was due. The paper
g!»ve the result of this examination, describing the
different principles and their manner of extraction.
The leaf was found to contain chlorophyll and two
acid resins soluble in ether. An organic acid allied
chrj'sophanic acid and containing the anti-saccharine
propertj' was discovered and named by Mr. Hooper,
Gijntneinic Acid. Other principles of the leaf were
tartaric acid, a neutral bitter principle, gum, glucose,
carbohydrate, cellulose, pararabin, and oxalate of
calcium. The last was in the form of crystals in the
leaf, known to botanists as conglomerate raphides.

Votes of thanks were passed to the authors for
their papers and the meeting terminated. — Niljiri
E.V2'ress.

AGEIGULTUBAL ENTERPRISE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE " BOMBAY GAZETJ'E.

Sir,— I see that the (juestion has been raised in
Madras whether the example to agriculturists of
successful private enterprise is more potent than that
of Government f^rms. I confess that I do not see
much analogy between the two, as the object of each
is entirely different. That of the latter should be the
encouragement of agricultural improvement by the
economical expenditure of capital and of practical
skill, and in such an institution one of the last con-
siderations should be that which is essenti.illy the
first object of private enterprise, viz., profit. A
Government farm should be an example farm, it is
true, in the sense of being an experimental one, but
as encourngemeut to capitalists to put their money
in the land instead of underground, I would i)refer
the example of a successful private uudertaking carried
out on conditions open to all possessing a fair amount
of capital and energy.

Allow me, therefore, again to ask for fip:\r.e for a
short account of Mr, IJomanji A. Dalal's FuTro fnea.V
Bahadarpur), the prospects of which have Improved
since ray last visit, a short notice of which you were
good enough to publish two years ago. The farm
covers 3,500 acres, 1,300 of which are '■his year under
cultivation. Of these, 400 are Under wheat; 3UJ under
tur (with rice as a first Crop); 150 under winter jowari ;
a small area under oih giltm, and tobacco; and the
remaining 'iilO aCres Under a mixed crop of a somewhat
Unusual liind, Vi/., rice and cotton. This I have never
.seen elsewhere, but it appears that the " bemr " soil
here i.s no rich that cotton sown alone runs to wood
and leaf. Whether an exhausting crop siach a,i rice
should be used with cotton appears doubtful, but it
is not easy to sugfrest n sub.stitute which would be
harvested early enough not to interfere with the uro-.vtlj
of the more important crop.

i>74

^■njiMMg^lHi iijli I r 1 i»-iyTyi'''"''i''»»»!°'«»«^='g»'»*»>«iiiiftWViri^rfMWrtrra^

Four years ago Ruatumpura contiined on'y a single
iamily, < u.tivating about twenty acres ; it has now a
population of nearly 500, attracted here by the liberal
terms offered by the proprietor. A school and a post-
office have already been establii-hed. The water-supply
is not good as yet, but Mr. Bomanji has spent a good
round sum on the village, well, and tank, and hopes for
sympathy and assistance from the local board. The food
grains produced on the farm are not more than sufficient
for the consumption of the colony, and exports are
confined to cotton and oil seeds. The station of
Bahadarpur is only six miles distant, but the road is
very bad, and even more disheartening than the road,
is the transit duly taken by Ilis Highness the Guicowar
on all produce carried by his own railway ! It is
melancholy to see agricultural enterprise and every
branch of trade handicapped by these obnoxious duties,
and the policy is as short-sighted and suicidal as it
is barbarous. I rode this morning over a very large
extent of waste land belonging to His Highness, still
nearer to the railway than Rustumpura, and with
equally good soil. A few roads, a few wells, and the
abolition of these duties would soon turn this bare
plain into a valuable cotton-producing and revenue-
paying district.

Mr. Bomanji has found time for a few experi-
ments, having given some attention to Nankin cotton,
linseed, safflower, and white wheat. With tobacco he
has done well, and his crop of red " hansotia " wheat
looks excellent. Mr. Bomanji himself is an Honorary
Magistrate, a member of the Local Board, and a most
hospitable gentleman, very well worthy of the success
which, I feel sure, you, sir, will join me in hoping
is before him. — G- F. S.

If fm^PiCAL AQmcistA'imtUf. [Avm j, mf.

THE MANUFACTUllB OF SCENT.

This is the time of year most perfect on the Reviera •
the sky is serenely blue, the sea rolls lazily as if over-
burdened with warmth, the scent of the orange-blossom
still lingers undisturbed by wind upon terraced hills, the
air is gently bracing, and everyone is in a good humour.

AVith the advent of the new year, the wild flowers
be"iu to bIo:)m, violets coming first in great abundance,
soon followed by hyacinths, blue-bells, narcissus, and all
their sister train of light and colour ; but iu February
the aspect is changed, the mistral sweeps along the land,
curling over the olive leaves, till the country becomes
silver-grey instead of sombre-green, driving clouds of
dust before it, and penetrating everywhere like a
thorough scavenger. A period of restlessness then
commences ; the iuvalid losys ground, and is weary of the
proximity of the sea, from which there is only one
escape to a quiet, old-fashioned Proven^'al town called
Grasse, lying under the shelter of the Basses Alps,
with fresh, invigorating air, and having for its chief
attraction the important business of mauufacturiug
scent. The position is very pleasant, at an elevation,
of 1,100 ft. on the side of a mountaia guarding off the
■North, and about ten miles by rail behiad Cannes, so that
there is a full Southern aspect which tempers the atmo-
sphere, and renders possible a great cultivation of flowers.
Giving to the lieight, the wild flowers are a little later
Oiiin "those of I he true Riviera ; huf^ acres of violets
»re priv.Ttcly grown, with innumerable beds of hyaeinths,
jcin'uni"-. »»d narcissus ; while lung before it is necessary
M) l^iive, the May blooms upiMi th'- hedges, and the
^jtider Mar of .Uethleht-m brightly gleams everywhere,
iii fleas'mt contrast to the green of spring. During
thU JteasoH the factories work to their full extent,
though IhP tren'ment is so slow, and in some instances
requires sncb <;<mstant repetition, that flowers are
only received ti^icP a week, If^ however, one should
happen to visit a fad'Jry on a receiving-day, one will
find the floors of the reception-rooms covered, per-
haps, with a mass of violets, upon which probably
recline two or three young ladies, enjoying the perfume
and delighting in the reality of an imaginative dream.
Every flower, before arriving at the perfumer3', is
removed from its stem, when, accordiug to its nature,
it undergoes one of the three processes,— distillation,
submersion in hot grease, or absorption by cold grease, all
jjiteneile wed n tU? taauufactur^ beipg made of cppj)er.

second IS
disastrous,
good-sized
warm by

The first is the costly but ordinary method of the
retort, placed over a small furnace, carrying the
vapour as it condenses into a receiver, with glass tubes
on the outside to cptch the essential oil. Verbina,
geranium, and lavender are treated in this way. The
very curious, and seemingly, ought to be
Flowers in certain proportions are flung into
kettles of hot pork and beef-grease, kept
placing the vessels in boiling water ; they
are well stirred together, and left still hot for twelve
hours, after which the mixture is heavily pressed. The
flowers are then thrown away, and the operation is
repeated with fresh ones, until the liquid grease is
sufficiently charged with odour, when it is placed iu a
cold receiver half-full of spirits of wine, which in a few
days becomes impregnated with the perfume, and is
drawn off for sale. If thi; grease is not subjected to
the spirits of wine on the premises, it is sold in its
congealed state to the London scent-makers, who treat
it at their leisure. Roses, orange-blossoms, and violets
are some of those requiring this method. The third, to
the eyes of a novice, does not appear so hopelessly
destructive or so wilfully barbarous ; yet the sacrifice of
beauty is the same. A layer of olive-oil or cold grease,
carefully prepared, is placed upon a frame, the flowers
being dotted over it face downward, and remaining for
twenty-four or thirty hours. The process is very tedious,
requiring to be repeated with the same grease many
times, after which the perfume is absorbed by spirits
of wine, as in the previous manner. The delicate
scents can only be caught in this way, — will only give
out, so to speak, their exact selves accordiug to Nature.
It is no extraction, but literal absorption, the catching
of sweetness freely imparted to the fresh air of native
hill-sides. Jessamine, tube-rose, jonquil, and others not
of tough formation, must be submitted to this treat-
ment. The industry is of great value ; there are up-
wards of fifty perfumeries ; and though the London
market is the best outlet, yet their products are being
gradually shipped to almost all parts of the world.
There is" no toil about the work, no grinding poverty
no din or rattle of machinery, no emaciated children
everything is quiet and peaceful ; in fact, if it would
not be a paradox, one might call life in these factories
the Nirvana of labour. The manufacture being a very
profitable one, the perfumers are naturally the men of
the place, and besides possessing good means, are large
owners of property at Cannes and Nice, aa well as
at Grasse. — Spectator.

Queensland SuGAU-ciiiOWERS are by no means so
depressed as might have been supposed at the pros-
pect opening out before them. A splendid growing
season, with a slightly better price for their sugar than
was previously calculated upon, bas cheered them con-
siderably ; and, but for the fact that the labour difficulty
remains unremedied, and that operations on the plant-
ations are either brought to a standstill or reduced to
a minimum, there would be little in connection with
sugar to grumble about. Beet sugar growers have
more reason to feel concerned at their prospects than
have growers of the sugar-cane. Fruit-preserving and
jam-maid. ig are the stars of hope for the sugar mauu-
facUirer ; niid here it is that beet sugar is a miserable
failure. It is not generally known that beetroot sugar
decomposes fruit, while cane sugar preserves it. Those
who contemplate the making of preserves should take
this fact into account, for it will prove a false eco«
nomy to use beet sugar for that purpose. Out of this
fact arises the query: Can a sugar that decomposes
fruit be proueriy nourishing to the human frame?
Value is not by any means in proportion to price.
For sacchnrine and preserving properties, if cane sugar
stands at 100 per cent, beet sugar is no higher than 65
or 70, and if cane sugar is worth 3d. per pound, beet
sugar notwithstanding its bright and granular appear-
ance,'is not worth more than 'Jd. The fight between
these powerful rivals is resulting in favour of Nature's
best article— cane sugar; and a few years will probably
be sfiicient to establish the cane sugar industry on a
better and more satisfactory basis than it has eyer
before rested u^oa.-^Qv-senil'indtr .

APRIL I, tSSy.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

^75

GiNGER-BEEB PowDERS — Mix J oz. of bfiused gia-
ger, I oz. cream of tartar, aud 4 drops of essence of
lemon with as much powdered sugar as will make the
packet a presentable size. Direct that the powder be
added to 1 gallon of boiling water, containing 1 lb. of
lump sugar. When nearly cold float a piece of toast
on the liquid, on which place 2 or 8 tablespoonfuls
of good yeast, and set in a moderately warm place to
ferment for a day or two ; strain and bottle. — Chemist
and Drvggist

Preservation of Flowers. — The Chronique Indus-
trielle states that flowers may be preserved, with all
their brilliancy and freshness, in the following way : —
In a well-corked bottle, dissolve si.x drachms of
coarsely cracked, clear gum copal, mixed with the
same weight of broken gla.ss, in 15^ ounres (by
weight ) of pure ractified sulphuric ether. Soak the
flowers in this mixture, take them out slowly, and expose
them to the air for ten minutes ; then immerse them
anew, and again expose them to the action of the air.
Repeat this operation four or five time.s. The flower.s
thus treated will keep for a long time if care be takeu
not to handle them too much. — Journ. Roi/al Micros. S'oc.
The Saltpetre Solution is a well-known remedy for
the cut worm ; but not everybody knows how to
apply it. We therefore give in the following
method of a correspondent of the Uew England
Homestead, even if a little out of .season. We might
forget, you know. One year ago I had a patch of
beans entirely destroyed by cut worms. I planted it
over; as soon as they came up, the worms began
again. I dissolved half a pound of saltpetre in three
pints of water, mixed that thoroughly with one-half
bushel of dry ashes, and I sprinkled the ashes on
the beans just as there was a shower coming up,
and the rain washed the ashes all off into the
ground. I had no more trouble with the worms,
but had a good crop of beans. — Soutliern Planter.

Pepper Adulteration. — A. Hilger, in the Arcliiv.
der Phurmacie, states that adulteration of ground pep-
per by means of broken pepper has lately been very
frequent. A sample of broken pepper was taken, and
on careful inspection was found to contain an admix-
ture of broken pericarps of chillies . The microscope
proved that pressed seeds of the oil palm {Elaeis (juin-
ensis, Jacq. ) were also present. Complete analysis
showed the so-called " broken pepper" to consist of. —

Per Gent,

Shells of pepper 50

Flour of oil-palm seeds 30

Dust of pepper 15

Mineral substances ... ... 4

Pericarps of chillies 1

— Chemist and Druggist.

Peach Growuvg in Ameuica. — As to pruuing, let
them alone the first year. Cut the lower limbs off
the second year, but not too much. Cut more in the
third year, and then direct the form of the tree;
but avoid, in all stages of tree, too much pruuing.
Let them grow low ; don't let the limbs crowd and
press each other; keep the tree erect, or inclining
a little to the south ; don't let the sun shine on the
bodies. Use judgment in pruning. Some trees require
it often; other sorts hardly at all. Prune iu latter
part of May or June, Don't cut your trees iu winter
or fall; it is ruinous to them, and there can be no
necessity for it. Save the soap-suds after clothes
washing, and wash down the bodies of your trees,
young and old, or get some other wash— carbolic soap,
or something else. Rub some axle-greaso on the
bodies of your young trees in the fall, to prevent
hares and mice from girdling them iu the winter.
For the first time in my memorj', the hares were
very destructive to young trees in this section dur-
ing the last winter. I had a lot of young apple
trees, one and two years from the nursery, and saw,
on the 1st of December, that somethins: was biting
them ; three were already girdled. I gave a man
a^ box of axle-grease, and had him rub it on with
his hands, "the whole lot, from the roots to the
limbs, and they were not touched afterwards, while
hutidreds were de.ttroyed at other places where they
were not tlui.s treated This is the first time that

such a thing has occurred here that I know of, but

it may not be the last. — Soxfltern Planter,

Oejient W.\SH. — Take of fresli cement three parts,
clear sand one part, and mix them thoroughly with
fresh water. This will give a grey or granite colour,
dark or light, according to the colour of the cement.
If a brick colour is desired, add enough Venetian red
to the mixture to produce that colour. The cement,
saud, and colouring matter must be mixed together.
If white is desired, the walls, when new, should receive
two coats of cement wash, and then whitewash
After ttie work has received the first coat, a single
coat every three or four years wilt be sufficient. It
is best to thoroughly dampen the wall witli clean
fresh water, and follow immediately after with the
cement wash. This course will prevent the bricks
from absorbing the w.iter from wash too quickiy,
aud will give time for the cemuet^to set. Care must
be tiiken to keep all the ingredients of the cement
wash well stirred during the apiplicatiou of it. The
mixture must be made as thck as it will admit of
to be conveniently put on witih a whitewash brush,
— Rural Australian.

The Future of the Date Palm in india. By E.
Bonavia, M. D., Brigade-Surgeon I. M. D. ( Thacker,
Spink, and Co., Calcutta.) A considerable experience
and study of the date palm has convinced Dr. Bonavia
that it is the best of all trees, " either for fuel or as a
help in times of famine, " in India, and he has done
well iu giving his views to the public on th'? subject
in this small volume. He has been at considerable
pains to collect information through Government and
private sources, aud gives some general rules for the
cultivation of the date palm in India, " aud a scheme
for exten.sive date-planting iu tracts where its presence
in large numbers would bo most desirable." There
are, as he points out, two objections to the planting of
date palms — viz., dampness of the atmosphere and soil
during ripening time, and the depre lations of wasps.
To meet the first objection he contends that, as he
proposes the date palm as a protection againts the failure
of ordinary crops through scarcity of rain, consequently
at the season when the dates would be most wanted the
dampness would not arise to run it. As to the wasps,
bethinks that there would be no difliculty in contriv-
ing a wasp-trap which would capture the bulk of them.
A« to the financial question, he says, " Any expenditure
on such a scheme, which would at the outside be ouly
required for ten or fifteen years, would be capital
well invested. Not only would the foundations of an
alternative ample supply of food bs laid, but moans
would be provided of pushi;ig population into tracts
of country which are no at lying waste for want of
labour, aud sufficient labour will not come without the
fruit of some tree which requires little labour and a
minimum of water. — Ho)ue IVetci.

Ginger. — As a rule, spices grow above ground, but
this is not the case with ginger. This product is a
root, and grows beneath the surface. It is one of the
most valuable spices, aud its uses are more numerous
and varieil than anyone of the others. Ginger was first
found near the Red Sea, and very early found its waj-
to Greece and Rome. Like many other commodities,
ib was first used as a medicine, and held in high esteem.
Soon after the discovery of America the plant was
transferred from Asia to the West Indies and the
tropical regions of the Spanish possessions of the new
world. It is now cultivated as an article of commerce
in Cochin, Bengal, Africa and Jamaica, It can pro-
bably be successfully cultivated wherever the coffee tree
grows luxuriantly. The ginger of Jamaica has gained
so high a reputation that the impression is made
on many credulous minds that more ginger is grown,
cultivated and exported from that island than from
any other pirt of the world. In 1876 there were
exported from Jamaica more than l,(5()0,UO() pounds,
valued at 5)144, OUO, or nine cents per pomd ; but the
reports ot exports vary so greatly that it is not easy
to believe them correct. Iu 1867 the exports of giuger
from .Jamaica were reported at 1,728,675 pounds; in
1872, five years later, they fell off to 599,786 pounds,
aud then four years later, 1879, they again run up to
l,603,761i pouuds. — Grocer and Cnnner.

676

^HE TROPICAL AGRICUfLTURIST. [April i, 1887

The Official Calabar Bkan is tlie seed of I'lni-
S0)iti(jma veneiwsum, a larffe pereDiiial climber fouiif'
Bear the mouth of the Niger Old Calabar, aud in
"Western Tropical Africa generally. Lagos and Gambia,
tor example, contributed specimens to the Colonial aud
Indian Exhibition. The plant has also been success-
fully cu.tivated in Ceylon, [By the Messrs, Frasers,
uear JMatale. — Ed. 0. O.] and )j;ood specimens of the
seed from that island were shown at the exhibition,
and are now deposited in the rharmaceutical Museum.
— ChuDiHt and JJiuygi.st.

Tea Cultivation in Ceylon. — Wc are indebted
to Mr. Eutherford for the ready transfer to us of
the returns he has been getting of the tea acre-
ages in the several districts with a view to ar-
riving at the total planted in 188(). These returns
will be carefully comi^ared with those furnished
for our Directoy. Meantime we may mention that
Mr. Rutherford makes out ir)2,000 acres under tea
at the end of 1886, and although our information
is not yet forward sufficiently to enable us to check
these, yet we believe, the total is very close on
the actual state of the case.

\0KTH Queensland. — After an interview with a
journalist, who is also a planter of considerable experi-
ence in India, we were gratified in finding that our
convictions with reference to the adaptability of the
.) ohnstone Iliver country for the cultivation of tea, co-
coa, and rice were substantially confirmed. In India
land suitable for rice does not favour the tea plant,
for the latter is best on hill sides, where the drainage
is good ; and the same is e(}ually true of the theohroma
cacao, the Johnstone soil is unsurpassed for fertility
anywhere, and the climate is sutliciently moist for
tea wherever the land is high enough to allow of good
drainage. The swampy portionn would grow rice to
perfection, and the back country rising about Herberton
into a lower temperature would be the verj' thing for
cinchona. The sugar industry there is working with
fewer hitches than elsewhere, and so far as that district
is concerned it would be, comparatively speaking, an
easier matter to bring in a satisfactory substitute for
it than in any other agricultural district in the North.
All that stretch of country including Port Douglas,
Cairns, the Johnstone River, and back to Herberton
is included in the above remarks, and has a great agri-
jultural future before it. — Queensland.er.

Vine Diseases. — The various diseases which afl'ect
vines, formed the subject of conferences held in
last October in Florence, where an exhibition was
also given of anticryptogamic aud insecticide appara-
tus for combating those diseases. Mr. Consul-General
Colnaghi sends a short summary of the conferences.
The diseases discussed were Fn-orwspom I'iticu/a (a
mildew; AinhracnoiU (Black rot); Mai Xrm (Black
sickness) ; and decay of the roots. The character-
istics of these are generally known. In the first
case, milk of lime and unwashed sulphur liave proved
successful antidotes, but those remedies containng
sulphate of copper have been found most ethcacious
— the latter having drawbacks owing to its deleterious
effect on the fruit. In the second case, the prevent-
ive used with most success has been the treating of
the branches and stems of the plants with acidulated
sulphate of iron. For the third disease there are
not yet any known reniedit ^, nor has the cause of the
malady been ascertained with certainty. Cutting away
and precautious against humidity of soil are recom-
mended. The fourth disease is not peculiar to the
vine, and may be produced by a variety of causes,
among which are : stagnant humidity in the soil,
want of proper aiiration, damage ])rocluccd by frost,
and parasites. As a remedy, the causes indicated
must be removed, aud the decayed parts of the plant
destroyed. It is proposed to renew the conference
this year, at which reports will be presented on various
experimental tests. (Miscellaneous .Series, 1887, No,
-7.) — Ohaniher of Commerce .Journal.

Sarsai'akilla — A short time ago a correspondent
wanted to know about the cultivation of this product
the iintes from a reliable source may be of service.
\i\ cultivation, the plant is reproduced from tUe vine

or stem, which is lifted clear from the ground. The
soil is then loosened, the vine is buried slightly into
it, roots freely, and forms new stock with new roots.
Were the plant once established in open scrub land,
its nature and habits induce us to believe that it could
be made a valuable product with comparatively little
trouble. It is also propagated from the seed which
fall around the parent plant in great numbers when
they fall in loose and rich soil. This seed is enclosed
in a fruit or globose envelope, which hangs in branches
from the vine like grapes. Each berry encloses a pit
of the size of a pea. It turv.s black upon falling
and its envelope is red. Each plant bears twice a year
Sarsaparilla can also be made to root by cuttings.
This method is more prompt than by the seed.
Accordiug to the trials wh'ch have been mide with
it, the roots by this method attain full size in two
j'ears ; hy the seed three years are necessary, Sarsa-
parilla, cultivated with skill, would give a yield of
twice what it does in its wild state. It is estimated
that if on the space of an acre, one had a thousand
plants, whether from seed, from cuttings,or from sprouts
the result would be from four to six thousand lb. of
dry sarsaparilla, of the quality most esteemed in com-
merce. When the roots are ripe they are dug and ex-
posed to the sun until they are quite dry ; in some
cases the roots are washed before drying. They are
then tied up in bundles, weighing from 12 to 20 lb.
each, for export. The bundles of South America are
packed in bales weighing from 80 to 100 lb. or more, and
imperfectly covered with skins. In the interior of the
bundles are often found roots of inferior quality,
rhizomes with adherent stems, stones, chunks of wood,
&c. The roots are furnished with a few rootlets. The
general color of the roots is dirty grayish or reddish
brown. The cortex is very mealy, and the meditul-
lium or central cord is thinner than in the Jamaica
sort.

Cheaper Charges on Tea. — We learn that the
Indian Tea Districts' Association are carrying on
an animated correspondence with the represent-
atives in this country of the great steamship lines
running between Calcutta and London, and also
with the associated inland companies, with a view
to the obtaining of a reasonable reduction of the
rates of freight hitherto charged on tea. We
hear also that the question of cheaper rates for
storing and warehousing teas in bond is also under
the cwnsideration of the Association. — H. it C. Mail.

M, Paul Bert on Tonquin Industries : Ban-
.\NAS.— M. Paul Bert, late Eesident-General of
Tonquin, forwarded to the Minister of Commerce
and Industry the following letter, which he had
addressed to the Chambers of Commerce at
Mines and Clermont-Ferrand, on the advantages
offered by the preserving of bananas in Annam : —
Hanoi, 22nd September, 1880, — Annam produces
in abundance the best bananas ; it is said that in
quality those of Singapore are much inferior to
them. At Singapore there are a large number of
houses engaged in the preserving and sale of
bananas for export, I think it right to bring this
fHct to your notice as your town possesses a large
11 umber of well known fruit preserving establish -
meiiis with a large connection. I think that at
least one of them might work the bananas of
Annam. 1 would do all in my power to assist in
its establishment, — Homikonfi Daily Press. [If really
the preserving of bananas for export is a paying
industry at Singapore, it surely ought to pay in
Colombo. The fruits split in two, lengthways, could
be spread on mats aud dried by solar heat, under
protection of wire netting. Or they could be baked
and packed in jars or tins, like tigs. The Dutch
preserved plaintains by solar heat and many Cey-
lon children in school in England were made
happy by a present of a tin of preserved plantains
from the Eev, Mr. Thurstan's Industrial School,
The latter were, we think baked and a little white
sugar scattered over the layers, — Ep.]

A1»RIL 1, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

677

COCONUT PEARLS.

A trade journal appearing in Java, gives the
following particulars regarding a peculiar kind of
pearl found in this part of the world :— It is well
known that pearls have been met with within
oysters and mussels. Sometimes even trees yield
pearls. In the Proceedings of the Boston Society
of Natural History, there is a paper by Mr. J. Bacon
regarding a kind of pearls often found within coco-
nuts. The specimens shown have been bought at
Singapore. They are said to be so rare in the East
Indies as to be highly prized by the native rajahs,
and worn by them as precious stones. Mr. liacon
himself possessed a small pearl of this sort. It is
said that, when albwed to grow, they will reach
the size of cherries. This pearl resembles the com-
mon variety in smoothness, whiteness, and scant
lustre of surface. It is harder than it, and almost
as hard as feldspar or opal. The common pearl
varies in hardness, but is never harder than feldspar.
The coconut pearl consists of carbonate of lime,
with very few organic substances remaining after
treatment with acid solutions. This organic matter
is insoluble, shows no trace of vegetable substances
after microscopical examination, and seems to be
akin to albumen in structure. In the common
pearl there is also found an albuminous substance,
but the latter remains unchanged in appearance
and lustre even after the calcareous constituent
parts have been dissolved away. In other respects,
microscopical research has brought out the fact
that the coconut pearl is formed of concentric
layers without any nucleus. The whole mass is
made up of layers of tine crystalline fibres. Pro-
fessor Bleekrode, in commenting on the former in
a Dutch scientific periodical says that Eumphius,
the famous botanist, had in his Ilcrhariiiin Auiho-
nense given full particulars of this petrifaction in
the coconut. Rumphius has even illustrated his
account of it by accompanying drawings of the two
forms in which this kind of pearl is met with —
pear-shaped and round, either of uniform appear-
ance or with red edges. Hardly one in a thousand
coconuts on the average displays this strange
peculiarity. The formation of the latter is always
a remarkable phenomenon hard to account for from
the water in the nuts generally lacking the chemical
substances favouring abnormal growth of the
kind. Rumphius states for a fact that coconuts
from JNIacassar yield more pearls than those from
other places. This scientist, in 1082, sent, as present
to the (irand Duke of Tuscany, a ring in which a
coconut pearl had been set. Similar pearl-like
formations are met with in other East Indian fruits,
such as the waringin, the pomegranate, and the
kechubong.— .SfrrtZ/.s Times.

!During our fifty years' residence in Cey-
lon we have never heard of any such con-
cretion in the coconut. If any of our
readers have been more fortunate, we shall be glad
to hear from them. There is the story of the Sin-
halese King who, to try a sage, asked him if there
was any water which did not contain fish. The sage
replied " none." The King triumphantly ordered
a coconut to be split, when lo ! cut jumped a fish !
The pearl story seems as probable. But if, as is
stated, Rumphius described, figured, and sent as a
present a coconut pearl, scepticism must give
way. Who will refer to Rumphius for us ?— Ed.]
^

PEARLS AND PEARLING LIFE.

Pearls and PKARLiNfi Liee. By Edwix W.

Streeteb, f. k. g. s. (London : George Bell

AND Sons, 1886.)
The book before us, according to the preface,
and as far as we are aware, is the only work ja

the English language which is entirely devoted to
the history of pearls. The introductory chapter is
immediately followed by one which gives a brief
historical account of pearls in connection with India,
China, Persia, Palestine, Egypt, Ancient Greece and
Italy, and Europe in the Middle Ages. This is
succeeded by a rexume of the ancient ideas respect-
ing the origin and supposed medicinal qualities of
pearls, and by a few words on " breeding " pearls.
The next chapter treats of the different kinds of
pearl-forming moUusks, both marine and fluviatile.
The writer then gives an account of the true mother-
of-pearl shell, describing its geographical distri-
bution, the different varieties, its structure, the
parasites found within the shells, and their exter-
nal enemies, their method of getting rid of ex-
traneous substances (stones, small shells, &c.)
accidentally introduced within the valves of the
shell, and the uses to which the mother-of-pearl
is put. The sixth chapter, although headed " The
Origin and Formation of Pearls," also refers to
the different kinds, such as boiiton pearls, baroque
pearls, and cog de perle, the mode of life of the oyster,
the positions in which pearls are found, Ac. It
also treats of the qualities which regulate the value
of pearls. The next chapter gives a short account
of the Sooloo Archipelago, the natives as pearl
divers, and their method of dredging. Then follows
a good description of the fisheries of North-West-
Australia and Torres Strait, and this is succeeded
by ian interesting chapter entitled " Pearling Life
at the Present Day," which is practically descrip-
tive of pearling expeditions made by ;\Ir. Streeter's
vessel, the Sree Pas Sair, from Singapore to the North-
West Australian coast and the Sooloo Archipelago.
Chapter XI. is devoted to a condensed account of
the pearl-fisheries of Ceylon and Southern fndia,
and this is followed by a re--<itme of what is known
respecting the. fisheries in the Persian Gulf, the
Red Sea, on the west coast of North America,
and at the West Indies. Pearls produced by shells
which inhabit the rivers and lakes of Great Britain
and foreign countries are described in Chapter XIV.,
and the artificial production of pearls by the Chinese
is also here referi-ed to. The different kinds of
coloured pearls, and the mollusks which pioduce
them, are then treated of. In the succeeding chapter
the most famous pearls of botli ancient and modern
times are recounted, and the immense sums at
which some of them were valued are stated.
Chapter XVII. gives the history of the remarkable
cluster of pearls known as '• the great Southern
Cross pearl," which was exhibited in the West
Australian Court of the Colonial and Indian Ex-
hibition, and valued by the owners at 10,000/. The
next and concluding chapter is devoted to the value
of pearls, and shows how their worth has varied
in this country at different periods from 1071 to
the present time.

A map is then introduced showing the principal
pearling regions. In an appendix, the works bear-
ing on the subject which have been consulted by
the author are enumerated, and a full index com-
pletes the volume.

Mr. Streeter has brought together a large amount
of information which will be of interest to the
general reader, for whom especially, and not for the
scientific, the work has been written. The most
sriginal material is comprised in the part extend-
ing from the seventh to the tenth chapter. The
chapter devoted to the Sooloo Archipelago contains
some details which, although interesting in tticm-
selves, are rather foreign to the subject of the work.

The same observation applies to the account of
the constellation Crux Avstralis, or Southern Cross,
introduced in the seventeenth chapter.

678

tH£ TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [April i, 1887.

As far as we have noticed, the various opinions
and statements set forth in the work are mostly
accurate. It may, liowever, be questioned whether
" there is perhaps no instinct implanted in the
human breast more powerful than tlie of love admir-
ation," for is not that of seU'-preservation supposed
to reign supreme ? We would point out that the
term LameUibranchiata is now superseded by that
of Pelecypoda, and with good and sufficient reasons
is adopted in the latest and best manuals on con-
chology. The bathymetrical range of bivalves far
exceeds the stated limit — 200 fathoms — specimens
having been obtained by the Challenger and other
deep-sea exploring expeditions in depths ranging
as low down as 2900 fathoms.

The book is printed in good legible type upon
toned paper, but the pictorial portion mars the
rest. The plates illustrating the Malleva, the
Meleogrina, the Unio, the Pinna, the Strombus, and
theTurbinella are simply execrable. They are printed
upon a fearful black ground (one almost expects
to see " Sacred to the memiry of," &c.), inclosed
by a thin white line with ornamental corners, and
seem to us to have a most common a^pearaisce.
We cannot see one redeeming feature in them, the
drawing and colouring of the shells being equally
bad. If another edition is called, for, fresh an i
accurate illustrations should be provided. E. A. S.
— jViiUire

[The pearl shells are beautifully engraved in Ten-
nent's Natural History of Ceylon.— Ed.]

INDIAN TEA AND TEA COMPANIES.

We reproduce from the Calcutta Commercial
Correspondence of the Pioneer, a series of sum-
mary reports on a long array of Tea Companies.
The experience of the past year, in the case of
our Indian neighbours, cannot fail to be full of
interest and instruction to Ceylon planters. The
profits made in some eases must be considered
exceedingly good : indeed, fair, if not handsome,
dividends are the rule ; but there are some ex-
ceptions ; and we may be thankful in Ceylon,
although we have drawbacks — as the present
droughty season shows — that it is almost impossible
for us to have to chronicle such an experience as
that of the Holta Tea Garden where 30,000 lb. of
tea were lost in one hailstorm ! W^e quote as
follows : —

Tfa. — The report of the Directors of the B'lasun
Tea Oompauy discloses aQ outturn of 1,054 maunds
against an estiraate of 1,000 maunds, which sold at
an avt-rage of As. 10-8 68 per lb. against As. 13 9 prr
lb. in 18S5. The gross revenue was K5t!,552 and the
expenditure E42,287, leaving a profit on the working
of Rl'l,26.'5, and after one or two small adjustments
the amount at credit of Profit and Loss is K14,122
A dividend of o per cent, has been declared, and it
is now proposed to pay a final dividend of 2 per
cent, and carry R122 forward. The dividend last
year was 10 per cent. The estimates for 1887 proviJe
for 1,000 maunds of fine tea at a local cost of R27,r)UO.

The report of the Managing Agents of the Goomtee
Tea Company shows that the outturn was 802^ maunds
against an estimate of 750 maunds, the average price
realised being nearly 8 annas per lb Last season
r,tbe outturn was 700 maunds and the average pri
As. 11-2 per lb. The revenue account sliows receipt
of R34,5iri and au expenditure of R30,577, leaving :t
profit on the season's work of E3,f)39, but the loss of
a shipment nf tea in 1885 fell to be adjusted in these
accounts, and the result is a credit balance at profit
and loss of .Rl,207, which is too small for division.

The estimates for lii:>7 provide fur an outturn
of 750 m.'iunds at a total expenditure of RSO,000
Last s ason the dividend paid was 13 per cint.

The report of the Managing Agents of the Hope-,
towo Tea Company shows an outturn of 621 maunds

against an estimate of 500 maunds, and an outturn
in 1^85 of 435 m f nds. The average price realised
was, however, As. 9-5i against As. 13-2 per lb. last
year. The revenue account shows receipts of K29,982
and an expenditure of R3 1,084, resultuig in a loss of
Rl,702 on the season's working. The amount at debit
of Profit and Loss is Rl,113. This coming season
the Manager hopes to make 050 maunds of good tea.

The report of the Managing Agents of ttie Indian
Terai Oompauy shows that the outturn was 140,010
lb., being 24,010 lb. in excess of the estimates and
22, 12l) lb. more tea than was made in 1885. The
gross average price, however, was As. 8-1 per ll>. as
against As 10-9 for the crop of 1885. The receipts
for the year were R69,375 and the expenditure R53,014
leaving a profit on the operations of R 16,361, and
the net balance at Profit and Loss is RIG, 599. A
■ lividend of 5 per ce t. was paid in September, and
it is now proposed to pay a final dividend of 5 per
c-nt. and to carry Rl,599 forward. The dividend
last season was 17 per cent. The estimates for the
enrrenr year are for 133,000 lb. at an txp^nditure of
R52,503.

The report of the Managing Agents of the Korna-
ful As.sociation shows that the outturn was 3,948
maunds, or 198 maunds more than estimated, and 166
maunds in excess of 18S5. The average price obtained
was As 10-1 per lb. against As. 11-4 obtained in 1885.
The revenue account shows receipts of Ri,99,328 and
an expenditure of R 1,4-' ,848, leaving a profit of
R56,480 ; this amount is reduced by payment of J in-
terest, commission, snd sundry instalments for new
cultivation and machinery to R29,135 as the net pro-
fit for the year, and adding the amount brought for-
ward from 1885, the balance at credit of Profit and
Lo.ss is R44.672. This sum the Managing Agents re-
commend should be carried forward as in the present
position of the Company it would not be desirable to
declare a dividend, though if sufficient capital were
subscribed to pay off the Company's debt, a dividend
might be paid out of the accumulated profits. This
subject will be discussed at the general meeting on
9th proximo. The estimates for the current season
provide for au outturn of 3,92(1 maunds at an expen-
diture of Rl.73,000 The report of the Directors of
the Teesta \alley Tea Company shows that the out-
turn was 1,716 maunds, against an estimate of J,500
maunds and an outturn in 188.') of 1,523 maunds. The
average price realised was As. 9-3 per lb. net, against
As 11-10 in 1885. The revenue account shows receipts
for R86,112 and an expenditure of R(j'5,013, leaving a
profit for the season of R2O,099. But the loss on a
shipment made in 1885 reduces this amoaut to R17,552.
An ad interim dividend of .") per cent, has already
exhausted IClG,000 and the balance of Rl,552 will be
carried forward. P'or 1887 the estimated outturn is
1,800 maunds at an expenditure of K63,OtiO. Last
season the dividend declared was 10 per cent. The
report of the Directors of the Dehra Doon Tea Oom-
pauy shows that the outturn for 1886 was 384,492 lb.,
or 57,879 lb. more than in 1885,. the percentage of
first-class teas being 51 against 45 in 1885. The re-
venue account shows receipts of ]{1, 59,316 and an
expenditure of Rl,04,233, leaving a profit of R45,083
and adding the balance from 1885 the amount at
credit of Profit and Loss is 1147,087. A dividend of
5 per cent, is recommended, carrying forward a bal-
ance of R3,187. Prices have ruled unprecedentedly
low, but the increased outturn and more economical
working has admitted of the same dividend being paid.
Messrs. Devenport and Co. have been confirmed as
Secretaries to the Selim Tea Company on a salary of
R500 a month, which is to iocUide otiice allowance.
The report of the Managing Agents of the
New Terai Association shows that the outturn m
1886 amounted to 183,130 lbs., or 23,130 lbs. in excess
of the estimate and 17,045 lb. more than the crop
of 188.">. It was sold at au average of Of, annas
against As 11-1 1 per lb. in 1885, The revenue
account shows receipts of Rl. 10,093 and expenditure
of R68.516, leaving a profit of R41,577, and adding
the amount brought forward from 1885, tho sum at
credit of Profit and Loss is R45,314. An adinterim

Ai^fiiL I, imf.] tHfii TKOPXCAL AC^MiCUtf Um3T.

675^

dividend of 5 per cent, has already been paid, and
a further dividend of I7i percent has been declared
or '22^ per cent in all, leaving a balance of K4,811
to be' carried forward, which will provide for the
cost of a new Excelsior roller and meet the cost
of improving the water-supply. The estimates for
1887 provide for an outturn of 2,100 maunds at an
outlav of 1174,000. The balance in the hands of the
Managing Agents on the 31st December was R69,990,
and bankers have been since appointed to the Company.
The garden extends to 410 acres and the block stands
at Rl,8o,01o. The report is in the highest degree
eatisfactory, and Messrs. Schoene Kilburu i!c Co. are to
be congratulated on these good results. The dividend
last year was 20 per cent.

The report of the Managing Agents of the King
Tong Tea Company for the season of 1886 shows that
the estimated outturn of 1,200 maunds was exceeded
by 127 maunds, but unfortunately the iiverage price
realised was only As. 9-914 per lb against As. 13-2 for
the season of 1885. The revenue accounts shows re-
ceipts of E65,137 and expenditure of E.G3,003, leaving
a pioiit of Rl,17-1, which is reduced in the Profit and
Loss account to R9o4, which will be carried forward.
The dividend last season was 7 per cent. The esti-
mates for the current season provide for an outturn
of 1,200 maunds at a local expenditure of R37,00O,
which includes the upkeep of the 75 acres put out in 1884.
The report of the Managing Agents of the
SingbuUi and Murmah Tea Company shows that
the outturn was 2,364 maunds against an esti-
mate of 2,050 maunds, and 696 mauuds in excess of
the season of 1885. The quantity of the tea was,
however, much below the average, selling at As. 9-6'65
against As. 13-9'95 in 1885. The revenue account
shows receipts of Rl,13,932 and expenditure of
R91,256, leaving a profit on the .season's operations
of K22,676, and adding the balance from 1885 and
some unclaimed dividends, the amount at credit of
Profit and Loss is R23,420. An ad interim dividend
of 5 per cent has already been declared, and it is
now proposed to pay a final dividend of 2 per
cent, making 7 per cent for the season, to transfer
R2,000 to Reserve Fund and to carry the bal-
ance forward. The dividend last year was 9 per
cent. The estimate for 1887 has been kept down
to an outturn of 2,000 maunds, with a view to
better quality, at an estimated local expenditure
of R65,765. The area of the gardens is now 711 acres.
The report of the Directors of the Holta Tea
Company shows that 121 000 lb. of tea were made
against an estimate of 125,000 lb. A severe hail-
storm on the 28th May destroyed not less than
30,000 lb. of tea, or the results would have been
very different. The average price of tea has,
however, been barely maintained ; but, estimating the
unsold portion of teas retained for retail trade, the
average will he not less than As. 11-lJ ptr lb. The
local retail trade has continued to make steady pro-
gress, and is receiving the closest attention. The
revenue account shows receipts of RS5,2 17 and expend-
iture R6ei,3S3, resulting in a profit on the .season of
R16,835, and adding the balance brought forward from
1886 the amount at credit of Profit and Los.s is Rl7,514.
A dividend of 5 per cent is proposed, carrying forward
K14. The heavy pruning necessitated by the liail-
Itorm will not permit of a higher estimated crop than
20,000 lb. for 1887 at a local expenditure of K17,000.
Tbs dividend last year was 11 per cent.

The report of the Managing Agents of the Spriugside
Tea Compuny shows that the outturn was 855^ m;iunds
against 800| maunds in 1885 and 780^ mauuds
in 1884. The average price realised was As. 10-8 per
lb. against As. 13-8 in 1885, and As. 11-10 in 1884.
The revenue during the past year was 1115,634, and
the expenditure K35,U91, leaving a profit on the sea-
son's operations ot R9,643, and adding Rl,442
brought forward from 1885, the amount at credit
of Profit and Loss is Kll,0&o. An ad-interim divid-
end of 3 per cent, has already been paid, and a
fu'-ther dividend of 3 per cent is now rccom-
in.uded, carrying forward Kl,005 to tin's year's
accounts. Arrangements have beeu mado to lease
49 acres of tea jdjoiuiMg tlie Coaipapy'b garisub.

The estimates for the current year provide for an
outturn of 1.000 mauuds at aa expenditure of
R41,987, showing at an average ot 10 annas per lb.
a profit of £3,013. The area of the Company's gardens
is 3585 acres.

The report of the Managing xigents of the Sin-
ged Tea Company shows that the outturn was
226,330 lb., agdust 202,970 lb. last season. The
tea sold in Calcutta averaged. As. 881 per lb.
and that in London As. 8'60 per lb. Last year
the average was As. ll'Ol. Tne gross receipts
were Rl,24,073 and the expenditure Rl,02,970,
leaving a profit ui R21,123, whicti is increased in the
Profit and Loss account to K26,379, or equivalent to
4 per cent, on the capital. The dividend for 1885 was
5i per cent. The estimates for the current season are
for 2,900 to 2,950 mauuds of ten-anna tea.

The report of the Managing Agents of the Teeo-
darrea Company shows that the outturn was 74,756 lb,
against 60,522 lb. in 1885. The tea sold in Calcutta
realised an average of As. 7^ per ib. »..d that in London
As 81. The average last year was As. 9j. The gross
receipts were R35,4:i4 and the expenditure R32,960,
leaving a profit of R2,4S4, and adding the balance from
1885, the amount of Profit and Loss is R3,022 or a
little over 2 per cent. The dividend last year was 3
per cent. The estimates for 1887 are for an outturn
of 1,000 maunds.

The report of the Directors of the Central
Cachar Tea Company shows an outturn of 395,813
lb., which sold at As. 8-2 J per ib. against 296,562 1b.
in 1885, which however sold at As. 10-4 per lb. Tl.e
revenue n-ccount shows receipts of R2,03,(85 expendi-
ture of Ri,69,U85, leaving a profit on the working of
R34,7U0, and adding the balance from 18^5, the amount
at credit ot profit and Loss is R34,989. Au ad interim
dividend of 3 per cent has beeu declared, and it i-j
proposed to cairy forward the bianee of R4,989. The
estimates for the current year provide for an outturn
of 432,000 lb. at an expenditure of Rl,70,000. The esti>
mates for the past season were for 400,000 lb. tea at
an expenditure of Rl,55,000. Last year the dividend
was 5 per cent.

The report of the Directors of the Phoenix tea
Compary shows that the outturn was 327,513 lb
against an estimate of 309,600 lb. and an outturn in
1885 of 279,670 lb. — being in fact the largest crop on
record. The average price realised was As, 7-4 per lb.
against As. 10-7 iu 1885. Tne revenue account show.s
receipts of K 1,5 1,362 and an expenditure including
depreciation on machinery of Rl, 40,824, leaving a
profit on the season of R10,538, and adding the bal-
ance brought forward from 1885, the amount at credit
of Profit and Lo^<s is R24,708, which would admit of
a dividend of 4J per cent but the report is silent on
this point. The sea.sou's profit, it will be observed,
is barely 2 per cent. The estimates for 1887 provide
for an outturn of 330,400 lb. at a total cost of
Rl,3o,700, or As. 6-7 per lb., so that, unless prices
improve, the outlook i.s not very encouraging. This
garden has paid no dividend now for tww years.

Colonial Fbuit. — At the meeting of the Royal
Colonial Institute on February 8tii, Mr. D. Morris,
Assistant Director, Royal Gardens, Kew, read a
paper on the fruit trade of this country, pointing out
that the home country imports fruit from foreign
countries to the extent of more than £75oOO,000,
much of which might as well be obtained from
colonial sources, ]Mr. Morris theu gave details at
great length as to the present state of the fruit
industry in tlie various British colonies. By means
of special cool chambers for the storage of fruit 011
board ship the prospects of the trade iu fresh tropical
and subtropical fruits would bo greatly improved, —
Gardeners^ Chronicle.

A Good A\^HiTii;wASH. — Gardeners more than most
men, except builders, use whitewash— iu i)its, green-
houses, bothies, and the various structures tound iu
gardens, both private and market. A\"e give a recipe
for whitewash, extracted from the pages of our con-
temporary, the Irish Farm, ForCi,t and Gardens, vi
Jsuuszy l^iV'Gdt \»\l a. jpuibel oi ixiMf ^■*ve»i

68c/'

TiiE T^dMCAL AGlilCOtttJfRt'Sr. tAfRiL i, iBBf.

lime; slake it with boiling water ; cover it during the
process to keepiu the steam. 8'raia the liquid through
a fiue sitve, ami add to it 7 lb. of ealt, previousl3'
well dissolved in warm water : ^ It), of ground rice
boiled t" a thin paste and stirred in boiling hot; i lb
of powdered Spanish whiting, and 1 lb. of clean
glue which has been previously dissolved by soaking
it well, and then hanging it over a slow tire in a
small kettle within a large one filled with water.
Add o gal. of hot water to the mixture, slir it well,
and let it stand a few tiays covered from dirt. It
must be put on (|uitc hot. For this purpose it can
be kept in a kettle on a portable furnace- A white-
wash made after this fashion will last for yi^ars."
Such a holdfast whitewash as these compounds would
make might be entrusted to entomb insects and their
eggs more effectually than that usually compounded
from lime alone. — Gardeners' Chronidt.

MAfRiTiu- New Ixdusieies. — Mr. Home, the Dir-
ector of the Public Forests and (iardeus of the
island, has furnished an elaborate report on the
industries which it is desirable to fuster in the
present depressed state of the sugar trade. Mr.
Home does not doubt but that in the future, as in
the past, the cultivation of the sugar-cane must be
the principal occupation of the agriculturists of the
island, but he points out that many other resources
are open to them, and recommends, moreover, the
appointment of an agricultural chemist tu advise iu
matters connected with Sugar-cane growing and its
management. I^Ir Home suggests, in addition, the
extended cultivation of coconut Palms, Cacao, or
Chocolate, Coffee. Tea, Dates, oil-nuts, Elais, Betel-
uuts, and other Palms, various cereals, starches, Tudigo,
Ana* to, oil-seeds of various kinds Bananas, Pine-apples
and other fruits. Ginger, spices, fibre-plants, Cotton,
silk, iudiarubber. Tobacco, dyewoods. and a variety
of other plants and their products — a list which
will give fome idea of the resources that are open
to the culti\utor in the tropics if other circumstances
be propitious. Cinchona does not prosper iu the
island. — Gardener,^' Chronicle.

Keeping Potatoes. — It may not be generally known
that Potatoes can be kept sound and well-flavoured
until next year's crop comes in. The following is the
method (said to be a French one), which I closely
followed with the best results : — A large boiler of
water, the water being kept up to the boiling point.
The potatoes when well washed (avoid breaking
the skin if possible] are placed in small baskets or
nets, which are then rapidly thrust under water
and there retained for about four seconds. The tubers
iu each batch on being withdrawn are spread out on
the flooring to dry ; when dry they are stored away
in a dry dark room as nearly air-tight as possible.
The potatoes by this process will have lost all ten-
dency to germination. — Journal of Horticulture.

Oankeb in Fbuit Teees. — To be brief, my opinion,
and it is a firm one, is this — Gardeners, as a rule,
epoil their fruit trees by too much kindness in two
ways: first by digging and manuring annually; secondly,
iby a too frequent use of the knife, commonly called
pruning, but which in many cases is simply cutting
into some shape agreeable to the eye. This has more
to do with canker than many will admit, The remedies
used here were net in any way elaborate. Lifting
and root-praning were adopted in most cases, iu
others all canltered wood wag cut otit carefully, the
latter and syringing with petroleum nii.-iture being
purely out of respect to Mr. Hiam's insect theory.
Might I be allowed to "blow my horn" I would
.<ay that if given healthy trees tn start with (healthy
trees should have stock and scion of an equal growth
without rupture or blister) a moderately firm snil
with good drainage, the roots being kept to the surface
by mulching, and I venture to predict that canker
would lie a thing of the past. — C. L. Kitchie, F'd-
hills House, Belturhet, Cavau, Ireland. — Journal o/
HorticvltHYc.

TuEKE are hundreds of fruit trees affected with
"what is known as canker," but which is really
ulceration. This is caused by the punctures of insects,
^Piue ^eajrs ago I bad more to do than was plea-

sant with a number of young Apple trees, not a dozen
or two of a few varieties, but hundreds, covering
many acres of ground, embracing all the most useful
varieties in cultivation. The trees were planted for
commercial pur()Oses. and perhaps no better could
be had. The soil, too, appeared of the best —
a reddish brown, sound, ye( free-working, loam, 18
inches or more deep, and naturally drained by the
gravelly brash on which it rested. The proprietor
of the trees felt certain they would eventually be
very profitable. For a time they grew well, producing
sturdy wood that was well ripened, but iu the course
of four or five years canker appeared on the branches.
They were fine trees then, with heads 1 to 6 feet
in diameter. They were pruned, the branches doc-
tored with strong insecticides, the soil over the roots
dressed with manure, but still the scourge spread,
Some we dug up, root-prune J. and replanted, but
the improvement resulting was only of a tem-
porary character. It became evident a cure was im-
possible. The trees were ruined, and the land sold.
It was purchased by a company for extracting the
abundance of iron it contained. It was full of iron,
which glistened in the stones excavated. The trees
I had to remoxe, or at least the few considered worth
removal. The worst cankered roots and branches
were cut away, and the trees replanted iu suitable
eoil. They were dressed with no insecticide, yet
they '• grew out of the canker," and have since borne
many a good crop of fruit. It was an excess of iron
in the soil, and not minute insects on the branches,
that caused the destruction of that great and once
healthy collection of young trees. It was a lesson
never to be forgotten of the importance of making
sure of the real condition of the soil and subsoil
before planting fruit trees extensively.— [I wonder if
there is much iron in the soil where canker in Cinchona
was worst. — CoK. | To return to the insects. There is
only one way in which these, if they had " caused " the
canker of the trees in their old position, did not injure
those removed to the new — namely, being shaken oitf in
transit, and I have yet to learn that fruit tree pests
can be " shaken off " so easily. I have been manag-
ing and mis-managing fruit trees for nearly thirty
years, and have been able to trace canker to other
causes, but never satisfactorily to insects. I have
seen them in cankered portions of apple tree wood
under the microscope, as I have seen others marvel-
lously like them ia the decaying wood of a gate
post ; but as I was not able to regard the mites as
the cause of the collapse of the post, I could not
consistently regard them as the originators of canker
iu the tree. This is my response to Mr. Hiam's
invitation, and his reply shall have my respectful con-
sideration, as though at present I must dissent from
his views, his researches are fully appreciated. — Jour-
nal of Horticulture.

Early Bearing Coconuts. — Mr. "SV. H, "Wright,
with whom we communicated on the subject of our
Veyangoda correspondent's letter, was good enough
to call on us with the information that the treei
in bearing in his garden could not have been more
than a year old when he put them down three years
ago. Four years is an exceptionally short time for
coconuts to bear in especially in Colombo; but the
late Mr Nathaniel Cooke had a young Estate 'iS or
4 miles from Chilaw, three years old, on which we
saw more than one tree throwing nut spathes. The
trees were close to the hiits of the Goiyas whc? were
on the land, and had probably been watered iu drjr
weather ; but they proved the early age at U'hich
coconuts can be made to bear. — Local " Examiner.'*

The V*{)LATii,nt of CaiI einK. — dir, I should feel
indebted if you will correct the erroneous .statements
attributed to me iu last week's issue concerning the
presence of caffeine in the sublimate obtaiued In
coffee roasting. The statement I made was that I
had never failed to detect the presence of OiiTi-int:
in these sublimates, thus shoi'iog that a loss took
place This you will find is diametrically opposed
to the printed matter in the Journal, — AVatsON
Will,— Ossory \\\\&, Ossory ^09A.—rharmaceutical
Journal.

April i, 1887.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

681

-♦•

lo I he Ediioy of tJic '' Ccyloii Observe p\''
COFFEE PEOSPECTS IN BRAZIL.

The Scottish Trust and Loan Company of Ccylou,
Limited, Ingram House, 165, Fenchurah Street,
London, 2nd February 1887.

Deau Sir, — I enclose a Brazilian Coffee Circular,
and you can polish up your French translating it.
There is no doubt of a very short crop both in
Brazil and Java, but whether Messrs. Berlas' ideas
are correct or not I cannot say, but. I am curious
to learn your own and your planting correspondents'
views as to the nature of the disease alluded to ;
and whether any such has been experienced in
Ceylon. — Yours faithfully,

THOMAS DICKSON, Managiwj Director.

COFFEE.
(Translated for Ceylon Obac/rer, from Messrs. JJeria
d' Co., rUo Janeiro d; Santos.)

The Journal Je Commercio in its issue of January
8th, 1887, writes thus: — "It is generally known that a
prolonged drought and after that frosts and severe
cold have done considerable damage to the coffee har-
vest of 1887- 8S. The information which we have
collected with the greatest care will not allow us to
estimate the coming harvest at more than 2^ to 2J
millions of bags for Eio de Janeiro. If, later on, un-
foreseen circumstances oblige us to modify this est-
imate, we shall inform our readers.

The " J-Stoile du >S'«cZ" a commercial, financial and
maritime review for the Empire of Brazil, writes
on the same subject : — "The news which, so far, re-
aches us from all sides is unfavorable, hence we give
with all reserve the information that has reached us
up to the 31st December 1SS6. According to this
the West and North of the province of San Paulo will
not offer the third of last year's harvest, which was
alreaily reduced, since it will not yield, for the port
of Rio only what we had foretold, namely 4 million
bags.

"The region of Campinas is especially tried and in
the western ports of the province where there is
something to hope for, the plantations are. all young.

The letters that reach us from Minas-Geraes also
inform us that it is only the new cort'ee that gives
any hope, the old, though very green and fine, has
not blossomed.

"It is the same in the province of Rio Janeiro. For
the sake of those of our readers who know the cen-
tres of production, we give the sources of our inform-
ation ; it comes from S. Sim;io, Cravinho, Ribeirao
Preto, Campinas, Ipiabas, Miracema, Pindamonban-
gaba, Guaratingueta, Campo-Bello, Rezende, Rochedo,
S. Joao >fepomuceno, Oataguazes, Providencia, Can-
tagallo, etc.

"As we said, we pubhsh this with all reserve, for
supposing it to be correct, it would allow us to es-
timate the coming crop at 2^ millions of bags for
Rio and IJ bags for Santos only. Our chief editor
has started for the provinces of Rio and S. Paulo,
and will soon verify all our information.

In the same journal is a letter from M. A. Glaziou,
Director of the Imperial gardens, a botanist celeb-
rated throughout the learned world, who for many
years had occupied himself with the Brazilian flora
and who anticipates precouise in this letter, a re-
medy for the coffee-leaf disease. The letter written
in Portuguese is too long to reproduce and would
interest only Brazilian planters, but it accompanied
a paper on the coffee disease which, adds the
^■Etoile du Sud," seemed a serious threat when the
first symptoms were noted, and which justly alarmed
the centres of production in the province of Rio.

" I will give you an extract from this paper. M. Gla-
ziou attributes the disease to a parasitic animal of
the genus AnjuillvJa which lodgea itself in the

hairy roots of the tree and there deposits its thousand

of eggs It is owing to this scourge that

the coffee tree fades, becomes yellow, loses its
new leaves at the tips of the branches and
lets its fruit drop, already dried {atropliiis) by
the deviation of the sap which the organs of
the nutrition had elaborated in the ground for
the benefit of ths normal life of the coffee-bush.
Thus attacked, the tree soon dies, bequeathing (ieguant)
to the soil, the whole of the mischief, which caused
its own ruin. From what precedes, it is evident that
the mischief is really greater than is generally believed
in Europe, and you know that since the publication

t of the Journal de Commercio telegraphic inform-
ation has reduced the total crop 1887-88 in the two
provinces of Rio and Santos to 3,500,000 bags.

I " In communicating these facts to you, I have wished
to put you on your guard against the manccuvres of
those interested in the fall, and to enable you to base
your operations on reliable documents. I hope they

' will be useful to you and remain. —Yours, &c., kc,

J. B. Berl.\."
" P. 'S'. — As we go to press, a telegram from Santos
reduces that estimate to 1,250,000 bags."

PINEAPPLES IN BADULLA,

Badulla, 3rd March 1887.

Dear Sir, — In re Irvine and his theory of pro-
babilities of fruit traffic from here by the long-
waited-on railway, what think you of a pineapple
weighing slightly over (eleven) 11 lb. which I had
presented to me by one of our workmen last
night ? It was grown in a garden not far from
Badulla : it smells deliciously as well as looks big.
Is it out of the common ? — Yours,

INQUIEER.

Unusually good we should say. — Ed.]

COCONUT AND ARECA CULTIVATION I

UNDER TANKS: A GOOD SUGGESTION.

March, 7th 1887.

Sir, — Referring to your article on coconut culti-
vation and irrigation, I must express surprise that
no one has, as far as I am aware, planted coco-
nuts under a Government tank. Mr. Akbar has to
raise water from the Maha Oya at a great expense,
both for plant and working, while in the other case
almost the only cost would be the annual water-rate
of one rupee per acre. The advantages w ould be : —

1st. Saving the expense of hand-watering the
young plants ; 2nd. Quicker arrival of the tree at
maturity ; 3rd. Larger crops.

I believe that under a tank in the Puttalam
District there is a large quantity of land that has
already been surveyed and only wails for purchasers.
I presume that the purchase money for this land
would as usual in such cases be payable in four
annual instalments, /. e., that the coconut trees
would almost be in bearing before the whole of the
purchase money would be paid.

The arecanut being a still more thirsty palm than
the coconut, all that is said above applies with
greater force to the cultivation of that tree.

E.H.

TEA FROM THE UVAH COMPANY'S ESTATES.

Glen Alpine, Badulla, 8th March 1887.

Dii.vR Sir,— In your issue of 25th February last,
under the heading ''Ceylon Produce in the London
Market," the following appears : — " Glen Alpine
makes a great show with 25 packages" orange pekoe
and pekoe at Is 5d, probably expressly prepared for
the report of the Directors of the Ouvah Company
and a «ample of what the province may be expec-
ted to do shortly in the way of producing tea."

The small break of tea referred to was not "orange
jt-ekoe and pekoe ' as described, but unassorted tea.

681

^MPidki A<}ii6bi¥mM. [APkn i, mi.

■iiwiiwiiBMM I naiirriiiifTiaifiir^ijtifinijiiMiipM

B L.l'JJ ,1 Jifflrgi<Mj!MYjiliiiniiiiiiiiiiil_

It was ill no way " expressly prepared" but manu-
factured in the ordinary way, rolling being done by
hand, and firing over ehoolas.

The Directors of this Company have never
directly or indirectly, expressed a wish to have
produce " expressly prepared " for any of their
reports, and I cannot even guess your motive in
assuming that they should have done so in this
case. Kindly give this publicity in an early issue.
— I am, dear sir yours faithfully,

JOHN KETTIE, Mamiger.

[For the description " orange pekoe and pekoe "
— which led our paragraphist to suppose the par-
cel was specially prepared— not the Observer
but Messrs. Wilson, Smithett A Co., are responsi-
ble, as Mr. Rettie can see on referring to their
circular. We are very pleased to see unassorted
teas from Uva ranking so high. — Ed.]

CEYLON JUNGLE-FOWL EEAEED IN CAP-
TIVITY AT NUWAKA ELIYA.

Galle, 11th March 1887.

Deak Sir,— Referring to your enquiry in the
Observer of the 8th March, I may mention that I
saw atNuwara Eliya years ago in an aviary or large
cage several jungle-fowl that had been hatched and
reared by Mr. George Hawkins from eggs found in a
nest in the jungle.

I was struck by this, because ' at the time the
value in England was £50 per pair. I remember
this was the statement of Dr. Buckland in a contri-
bution to some periodical.

I refer, of course, to Stanleyii. There is a more
beautiful species in South India, much more
difficult to tame, of which I secured a male specimen ;
but it hurt itself in its struggles in the small cage
in which I was obliged to put it whilst travelling,
and died. It strongly suggested that our domes-
tic fowls represent tiro species, one of which is
our Stanleyii, if we except also the Eumkin fowls,
of which a few years ago I had one specimen, and
which we do not now see in domestication, though
it originally existed in Ceylon, and appears to have
been carried to the Cape. I have seen a large cock
of this species near the Galle market, which was
said to have come from the Cape ; but this, perhaps,
is only a variety of one of the species.— Yours truly,

N.
II.

Dear Sir,— I am sorry that I cannot give
you very recent information ; but about a dozen
years since there were specimens of the jungle-
fowl of Ceylon living in the Zoological Gardens
of London, and were in capital health, quite ac-
climatized. It is probable that they were the same
taken home by Mr. Holdsworth, for he took
every care possible to get them home alive. At
that time living specimens were exceedingly rare
and valuable in England.

I have kept them in an aviary with proper treat-
ment and plenty of room. They, no doubt, would
breed in confinement, aa other jungle-fovvl have
<l"ne so<

'/■OO'lOO.

To "notJisr coneuiondeni ■we are indebted for
the following ',—

•' In the ' Life oi Vtank Bucklaiid' there in a
para, anent birds A'c, in the /^'oo in 1874, which
runs as follows; — 'Another very beautiful and
interesting bird, in excellent health, is Stanley's
jungle-fowl ; its home is Ceylon ; these birds are
worth JCoO per pair. A collector, who did not
know their value, procured seven of them alive
at Trincomalee, and had them cooked for dinner —
(■ather an expensive feed, three-and-a-half pairs of
fowl of the value of £175.' So, you see, one jungle
{ov,-l at least has gone ' bojre,' a fact which ought
i9 »niwei: your ^«9ry of the other day."

A superior waterproof paper, transparent and
impervious to grease, is made by saturating good
paper with a liquid prepared by dissolving shellac
at a moderate heat in a saturated solution of
borax. Such a mixture may be colored by the
addition of various aniline Ayes.— American
GiUtlcator.

The Cultivation of the tea plant is being rapidly
prosecuted in the Transcaspian Province. The chief
experiments have been made on the estates of
Messrs. Tchelokaieff, near Douchak, of the Brothers
Barkalaieff, at New Sarakhs, and of M. Metodieff,
near Zugdigi. So far those of Messrs. Barkalaieff
have succeeded best. There are also tea plant-
ations near Lake W&n.— British Trade Journal.

An Example to Ceylon.— Cannot the Ceylon
Director of Public Instruction follow the example
set iu South Australia ? : —

Tree Plu^nting by School Children.— The Hon,
Dr. Cockburn, having become impressed with the
beneficial results likely to follow the planting of
trees in the grounds of State schools, has caused
to be issued a circular to Boards of Advice, which
contains the following: — "The Minister wishes to
bring under the notice of Boards of Advice the
advantage of tree-planting in school grounds.
The Minister has, with much satisfaction noted
the efforts made by some of the Boards in this
direction, and feels sure that the portion of their
funds so expended could not have been better applied.
With a view to promote a general interest in this
subject, and as a means of imparting many useful
lessons to the children, the Minister proposes to set
apart a suitable day during the winter months
to be devoted to the planting of trees around those
schools where the ground has been properly pre-
pared. No ordinary lessons would be given on
this day, but the attention of the pupils would
be directed to be benefits of forestry, and, when
practicable, the trees would be planted by them
under the superintendence of the teachers. The
operations preliminary to planting, the process of
planting, and the after growth of the trees so
planted would afford an opportunity to those teach-
ers able and willing to avail themselves of it to
give a series of object lessons on forestry, which
would be of liff^long value to the children and of
ultimate benefit to the Slate." — S. A. Register.

Suoae. — The Berlin Beutsciie Zucker Industrie of the
4th instant recommends to the special attention of
its readers a letter, which it publishes from a Java
Sugar Planter. The writer urges that the German
Goverument ahould invite representatives of all Sugar-
producing countries to n Conference, for iliscussiug a
method for a general restriction of production. The
Java Sugar planter is sanguine enough to believe that
some practical plan would bo the outcome of such a
Conference, aud he thinks that if the German Beet
Sugar Association would take the matter iu hand,
the fall in prices would be arrested. Perhaps the best
demonstraiiau of the Utopjau nature of such a scheme
is to take a map of the world, and note in what
diverse places and under what diverse conditions and
interests ."^ugar ia grown aud manufactured. The false
economical steps which have lauded the Industry in
she present crisis can iie\ er be remedied by the equally
false economy of creating an artificial Mcarcity. There
arc mouths enough in the principal Bett Sugar
countries to consume far more than all the so-called
overproduction which now weighs down the Sugar
market. But. the people who are willing and ready to
eat it are prevented from doing so by the price being
artificially raised by their govennuents. In this direc-
tion lies the remedy. Continental uations might enjoy
the abundance which is at tluir doors by freeing Sugar
from restrictive and prohibitory taxes; aud there would
then be no more talk of over-production or of impractic-
able and unnatural schemes for creating, iu the midst
of plenty, an artificial scarcity, for the- fancied benefit oi
a few, while the oiaoy fu&n.-^rroducc Jlluket'a Biview,

APRit I, 1887.] IHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

sesssaas

SOME OF OUR COLONIAL WOODS.

BY ALLEN KANSOME.

Cevlon.
With the exception of satin wood, which is already
well known in the English market, none of the timbers
of Ceylon are likely to find a sale in this country,
for although there are many varieties, which from
their fine figure, and diversity of colour, are adapted
for ornamental furniture and cabinet work, they are,
"enerally speaking, of small growth, and are not found
fn suflicient quantities to be advantageously imported
into England. Moreover, some of the larger descrip-
tions of trees which are worked up by natives of the
colony, contain a great quantity of very fine grit,
which quickly blunts the tools, and would render them
very costly to work at the high wages paid to our
skilled workmen. For the reasons just mentioned, I
do not propose to describe further such Ceylon timbers
as were submitted for trial.

Victoria.

Blackwood (Acacia melanoxyJoH). — This wood is
higly prized in the colony. Being close-grained, heavy,
strong, and flexible, beautifully marked, and richly-
coloured, it is much used by cabinet-makers, coach-
builders, coopers, and by railway carriage and agricul-
tural implement makers. Samples of both old and
young trees were sent for trial; the former were
made into joiners' specimens, the latter into casks.
The figure of the old growth wood was very fine, and
the surface left by the cutters all that could be de-
sired. The casks also proved a complete success. It
is stated that timber of from ten to twenty years'
growth is the most suitable for coopers' work, and
as the tree is readily propagated, the supply could
be made to keep the pace with the demand for this
purpose. Large quantities of this timber are found
in Tasmania as well as Victoria. The wood, which
seasons well, has already being imported into England
in small quantities, and sold at the docks at from
28. to 3s. per cubic foot, at which prices it would
certainly be worth while to import it much more
largely.

Blue Gum (EiwalT/ptus ylohulus). — This is a hard
light-coloured timber of great strength, tenacity and
durability. The tree, which is found in Tasmania as
well as Victoria, attains a colossal size. By way of
testing the samples sent, a sleeper was adzed and
bored, and a panel planed. Both experiments proved
very satisfactory, the latter especially so, as the wood
was found to plane as well against the grain as with
it. Being plentiful, it is largely used in the colony
for beams and joists in buildings, and also for railway
sleepers, piers, and bridges.

Red Own (Eucalyptus rostrata). — This is a very
hard, compact wood, of a reddish-brown colour, and
is found throughout the colony, along river flats and
open valleys. It is largely used for fencing posts, and
is well adapted for engineering works and buildings
when required to withstand a vertical pres.iure, al-
though, on account of its short grain, it is not con-
sidered trustworthy to support a heavy transverse
strain. It has the reputation of being the best of
all the gums for railway sleepers, being almost in-
destructible in damp soil.

SotTTH Australia.
Blue Cruin{Evcalyptuslencoxylon). — This wood, which
is also found in the colony of Victoria, where it is known
by the name of "iron bark," is considered one of the
most valuable woods in the colony, the trees growing
to a height of 100 ft., with an average diameter of
;ii ft. It pos!5esses great strength and tenacity, and
has a close and straight grain, on which account it is
largely used by the coachmaker and wheelwright for
shafts and spokes. It is also extensively used for
railways sleepi-rs and piles.

The ^xperimtiuts on this wood were in every case
moat satisfactory.

Western Australia.
Farrah (Euciili/ptus viurc/inata.)— This timber abounds
iu the i-outh-Wt stern portions of the colony, and the
htt-ii grows on the iron-stone conglomerate bills, the

finest quality being, as a rule, found at the highest
elevations. Stems have been found measuring &a
much as 80 ft. to the first branch, with a circum-
stance of '62 ft., a height of 5 ft. from the ground.
Visitors to the Colonial Exhibition cannot fail to
have observed a fine log of this timber, 5 ft. in
diameter, which, with its polished end, of a deep
claret colour, was quite a centre of attraction in the
Western Australian Court.

The jarrah timber is hard, touch, and durable,
and being proaf against the ravages of the teredo,
and white ant, it is highly esteemed for piles, dock-
work, and ship-building purposes, as well as for rail-
way sleepers and building constructions.

To retain the valuable properties of the jarrah
rejuires a somewhat special process of seasoning!
and it is above all important that it should not be
felled during the rainy season.

The system of seasoning jarrah, which is found
to give the best results, is as follows : — About four
or five weeks before the tree is to be felled, it is
girdled ; thus effectually preventing any fresh sap
from rising, and as the leaves continue to draw the
sap out of the tree it becomes partially seasoned
before it is cut down , as much as 3 lb. of water
per cubic foot, being extracted from the standing
log in this manner- When the leaves have withered
the tree is felled, and at once removed to the saw
mill, where it is converted into .scantlings or boards
of the sizes required, which are then stacked, and
entirely covered with saw-dust until properly seasoned.
If not treated as above described, jarrah will re-
main imperfectly seasoned for many years, and if
the heart is allowed to remain in the log, it cracks
and splits to such an extent as to render it almost
useless, while, on the other hand, if seasoned and
converted in the above manner, it yields very sound
boards and scantlings.

A portion of a jarrah pile which was taken out of
Perth Bridge, over the River Swan, after having been
for 35 years and 9 months between wind and water,
was exhibited, and shows no sign of decay, nor trace
of the ravages of the teredo ; and a short piece of
saroe wood, also exhibited, which has served as a
tram-rail on the jetty at Bussleton for 42 years, shows
how very little it has sufi'ered from the constant wear
of the wheels upon it during that period.

Jarrah is frequently very handsomely figured, being
shaded, or mottled with dark waves and veins, and not-
withstanding its density and hardness, it is easily
worked by machinery. It takes a very fine polish,
and might be used to advantage for shop front fittings
counter-tops, and cabinet work. Its greatest uses, how-
ever, will undoubtedly be for sleepers and piles for
harbour work, and as it can be imported and sold in
thi.s country for £6 per load of 50 cubic feet, it will
probably, when better known, to a great extent super-
sede greenheart for dock gates, and other work for
which the latter is now generally employed.

Karri [Eucaylptus divcrsiculor) — This timber also
grows in great abundance in the south-west portion of
Western Australia, and when sawn up and partially
seasoned, so closely resembles jarrah in appearance,
that anyone not conversant with both timbers,
would find it difficult to tell them from one
another, although in many points they differ materially.
The karri grows to an enormous size, some trees being
no less than 300 ft. in height by 60 ft. in circum-
ference.

Energetic steps are now being taken to introduce
both karri and jarrah largely into this country, .nnd
those interested in karri claim for it all the attributes
and advantages of jarrah, and it must be admitted
that it stands a great transverse strain than that wood ;
but while its suitability for internal work is well
established, it is open to question whether it will last
as long as jarrah in coatact with the ground, or for
marine structures.

Karri timber, iu the shape of squared logs, flitches,
and planks of various sizes, can now be bought
at the docks at from £7 to £S per loa«| of ;"() mh'w
feet,

684

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April i, 1887.

Samples of botli jarrah and karri timber, convert-
ed into straight and circular mouldings, matcii-
boardiug, spokes of wheels, and barrels arc exliihited,
and although both of these woods were readily worked
by all the machines, the jarrah in every case left
the cutters with a smoother surface than the karri.

The treatment above described for seasoning jarrah,
is found advantageous in the case of karri, and it
may be taken to apply to most, if not all, varieties
of the eucalypti, in which our Australian colonies
abound.

Tuart {Lucah/ptiLS (jmnpJtocephala). — This is another
valuable timber tree, found principally between the
Bunbury and Bussleton districts. It is of straight
growth, and yields logs up to 46 ft. in length, by
24 in. to 30 in. square.

The wood is of a yellowish colour, hard, heavyf
tough, strong, and of close texture, and for large
scantlings, it will be found a most valuable wood,
especially where great strength is needed. The tuart
shrinks very little in seasoning, and does not split
while undergoing that process. It also stands ex-
posure to all vicissitudes of weather for a long time
without being affected by it.

The experiments showed that this wood is well
suited for wheel work, but its chief value would doubt-
less be for heavier purposes, such as the under framings
for rolling stock, ship-building timber, piles for piers,
and supports for bridges, and also as backing for
armourplated ships, as no ordinary shock or rebound
will cause it to split; and as it can be sold in this
country at from £7 to £8 per load of 50 cubic feet,
it is probable that it will frequently be used in place
of teak.

Raspberri/ Fam Wood {Acacia Acuminata). — This is
a dark, reddish-brown wood, close-grained, hard, and
having a fragrant scent, from which it derives its
name. The tree, which is small, abounds in extra
tropic "Western Australia ; it is easily worked by machi-
nery, and leaves the cutters with a very" smooth
surface ; and as it takes a fine polish, and can be
purchased in this country at the low price of .3s.
6d. per cubic foot, it should find a ready sale among
cabinet makers and others interested in ornamental
wood work.

Discussion.

INIr. D. Morris being called upon to speak on the
woods of the West Indies, said Mr. Ransoine had very
properly confined his attention to the new woods
brought forward at the Exhibition. The horse-flesh
mdiogaiiy from the Bahamas was a very excellent
wood, tough and enduring. The tree at the Exhibi-
tion was presented to Kew, and they were at first
disinclined to take it, because they were unable to
determine its botanical character; but on appealing
to the Governmaut of the Bahamas, some specimens
were sent over to show that it was closely allied
to the hracfiletio wood, which was very highly
esteemed in tbe West Indies, though it was only
a small tree. The timber of Briti.sh Honduras best
known was mahogany, and the cedar used for cigar
boxes. As in the Straits Settlements, most of the
valuable timber within reach of the rivers was al-
ready cut down, but if railways were opened into the
country a large qwantity could be brought down. It
would be useless to import any very, heavy, tough
kind of timber, as there would not be a sufficient
demand to make it remunerative ; there were excellent
timbers in the West Indies which could be easily
brought if the price offered would justify it. The
paper was very valuable, as suggesting to Colonists
what sort of timber to plant, in the manner pointed
out by Sir Charles Mills. The vellow wood of the
Cape, for instance, being applicable to so many pur-
poses, should be developed ; he had seen it growing
in Saint Helena, and had introduced it into tbe West
Indies, where it grew very well. The straight-grained
cedar, which he had already referred to, w»s easily
worked, and it might be grown in any part of the
West Indies, at elevations of from 1,000 to 4,000 feet.
In many of the Colonies there were extensive tracts,
once occupied as sugar estates, which could very well

now be planted with timber, such as the yellow wood
or cedar ; and there was no doubt the time was
coming when reaf foresting must occupy more atten-
tion in all the Colonies. The forests were cut down,
and the land used for other purposes, and when it
was exhausted by cultivation, it was often left to go to
bush or jungle, when it would be much better to
plant timber. In different parts of the world trees
could be found adapted for any waste places, some
for clay, others for rocky soil, and so on, and cedar,
for instance, would grow well in a limestone soil.
It often happened, too, owing to the change of clim-
ate arising from cultivation, that trees from else-
where did better than those which were originally
indigenous. Australiaa and Cape trees did better in
the West Indies than those which originally grew
there.

Mr. (t. N. Hooper said, as a carriage-builder, he had
not had much experience of these woods, but he left
much indebted to Mr. Kansome and to the Society
of Arts for initiating this discussion, which would
tend more than anything else to achieve the result
desired by the Colonies of finding a market for these
timbers. There had been too much laxity in pre-
paring some of the specimens sent to the Exhibition;
for instance, he heard that those from Canada were
collected in a short space of time, so that the
necessary care could not be given to them. In 1862,
being on the jury on the carriage department at the
Exhibition, he had to examine woods sent for some
of the Colonies, and published a list of those suitable
for carriage purposes; but for twenty-five years
nothing came of it. Meetings of this sort were a
much more practical way of bringing- the matter
before manufacturers and those interested in tbe
trade. Manufacturers required full information with
regard to any new wood as to its (jualities, and the
proper method of seasoning, without which a good
article might be unfairly condemned ; they also
required to know the price at which it could be
delivered, and if the supply could be depended on,
for it did not do to introduce a material and then
have to use something else. Various new proce8.ses
for seasoning timber were coming into use, and h? had
seen in America, at the Pullman works, a process which
was then new to him, but which, he was told, was
being intrcaduced here. Large sheds were used, in
which the timber was stacked and steamed for so
many hours, after which it was exhausted by a
fan, and hot air blown in. The result .seemed
very good, judging by the work turned out. which
was first-rate, both in material and finish. The cold
air system spoken of by Mr. Ransome seemed to
succeed well, certainly, if the period of seasoning
could be curtailed, it would lead to immense economy.
He could bear testimony to the excellent quality
of some of the woods at the Exhibition which
were worked up. Those in the South African wagons
were very fine, and the workmanship was also good,
and he was informed that one of those wagons had
been made by Kaftirs, under English superintendence.
He would also draw attention to the excessive waste
of timber in some of the Colonies. He had been
painfully struck by it in Canada, some of the waste
being accidental and some wilful, but the destruction
of good material was most lamentable. Two Oom-
mitees of the House of Commons discussed the
que-tion of founding schools of fcestry, fjr up to
the present young men trained for the Indian Forest
Department had to go to France or Germany for in-
struction. Much good had already been done in
India in this wnv, and tlu'i-e w <s no rene'Hi whv
equally good results should not follow in England and
Scotland, and especially in the Colonies, from at-'-ntion
being paid to the forests. He thouybt there stiould
b" schools of three grades, one of the actual work-
ing men, one for the superinten lent-, and a higli
school for proprietors of forests ami those who
worked them commercially. It occurred to him that
as all kinds of garden produce were improved by
cultivation, so it must be with trees. ISfuch of the
timber in this country, oak, ash, and elm, was un-
surpassed in quality, it being grown under conditions

April i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

685

of semi-cultivation, whereas, in a wild forest, for
every tine tree there might be 50 or 100 very
inferior. If partial cultivation had been so successful,
more careful cultivation would be naore entirely so.
After all, the most important point was to encourage
the growth and import of timber from our own
('olonies, in preference to depending on foreign coun-
tries, as vre now did so largely.

Tests of tub Bbeaking Strains of some Colonial
Wood.

Name of Wood.

X 1

I a
'■?, ^

1"'

Billian, North Borneo (a)
Karri, Westernn Aus-
tralia (6)

English dak (f)

Teak (cZ)

Yellow Deal (#)

Russock (f)

Mirabou iff)

Jarrah (g)

Kauri Pine (/;) ....

Serayah (i)

Douglas Fir (j)

Best Pine (Jc)

e9

a =^

-16"

M
o
u

M

5 cwt. 96 lb.

4 cwt. IS lb.
3 cwt. 95 lb.
3 cwt. (i7 lb.
3 cwt. 50 lb.
3 cwt. 19 lb.
3 cwt. 46 lb.
3 cwt. 7 lb.
2 cwt. 67ilb.
2 cwt. 55 lb.
2 cwt. 42 lb.
2 cwt.

Remarks. — (a) Good breaks, 12" long, (h) Very fibrous
but somewhat short break, {c) Long fibrous break.
{d) Short sudden break, (e) Good break, 6" long.
{f] Very fibrous break, 4" long, (i/) Good break, 7" long.
(li) \tity short break. ( () Fibrous but somewhat short
break. (;) Short break, {k) Very short.

All samples were sawn from plank, planed 1"
square. Bearings 2 ft. apart. — Journal of the Society
of A rts.

^

PEPPER AND GAMBIER IN JOHORE.
The great industries of Johore are the growth of
pepper and gambier, to which the Ohinese cultivators
direct their attention. Both these industries pay well,
but the profits, as a rule, find their way back to
Singapore, which had to make the advances in the first
to the cultivators. Tapioca is also successfully grown,
and a little tobacco. During the last few years
Europeans have appeared on the scene, and have
devoted their energies to growing cofiee, both Arabic*
and Liberian, tea, cocoa, tapioca, and tobacco. The
conce.ssions granted by the Government were very
liberal, and the industries went off with a big flourish
of trumpets. Unfortunately all these ideas have been
dissipated, and in consequence planting in Johore —
like tin mining in Peark and Selangore — received a bad
name. " Give a dog a bad name, and you may as well
hang him ;" others besides those who had essayed
would have made a venture, but were less bold than
the pioneers, and awaited results. Mistakes were made
and heavy losses incurred, many people in Ohina being
involved to a considerable extent. Experience has now
been gained, and I feel certain that money is to be
made out of tbe European culture of both coffee
(Liberian) and tea. But the errors of the past must be
avoided. People are for the moment afraid of embark-
ing anything, but when more results are obtained, say
in one '>r two years' time, they wil', I think. <>how
that profits are to be obtained ui'iler judicious, pniper,
and experienced management. 1 have seen several
gardens and "-states, and the look convinced hip, that
money can be made. Liberian coffee, on properly
selected ground, may, I think, ht: now writt n down
as a suecevs. (The Sultan himself h^s an estate now
seven years old, which must pay very handsomely,
to judfje by the berries one could see on the trees.
His brother, Tunkoo Mahjid, aUo possesses an estate
which pays well. If Malays, who are not as a rule
given to oTer-exertion in matters of this sort, can

obtain good results, Europeans should also be able to
do so). Tea is hardly as advanced as coffee, and is
still in a more or less experimental .stage. Good
samples have been forwarded home and been favourably
received and reported on in the " Lane." An attemp"t
is also being made to work the leaf up like a Formosa
Oolong, so as to fit it for the American market, but
complaint so far is that it is hardly pungent enough for
the American taste, which requires something of an
extraordinary strength, such as is provided by Formosa
teas. A difficulty will also be experienced by the fact
that tea grown tropically produces a larger leaf than
that grown farther north, and consequently cannot be
made to look, and roll up, so neatly as its present
competitors in China and India. To' reduce it to the
standard demanded by the New York Produce Exchange
it would have to be broken, which spoils the appear-
ance even more. These are small difficulties, however,
which further experience will probably overcome
Cocoa seems to do badly, and does not appear to be
worth attention. Enormous care is required to get it
over its critical stages, and when passed more or less
successfully, the trees are poor, weedy, seedy, and
undersized. It is not worth the attention of Europeans.
Coffee (Liberian) and tea seem to be the products that
will pay. The Arabica plant appears to be a failure,
for though its cultivation has been pursued for some
years on the slopes of Gunong Pillai, nothing worth
speaking of has yet been achieved, and the prospect for
Arabica does not seem to hold out many inducements.
Would-be planters had better turn their aitention to
Liberian, to tea or to pepper, the last of which is at
present monopolised by the Chinese, but in which a
good field exists. The present districts wbere European
planting industries are carried on are .Johore Babru,
Tebrau, Batu Pahat, Pantie. Pulai, Panggerang, and
Puloh Kobob. — London and China Express.

PROSPECTS OF CINCHONA.

The Mannheim firm of quinine manufacturers,
Messrs. Buhringer & Co., have recently issued a report
on the cinchona trade of the past year, as well as a
notice of the various alkaloids prepared by them from
this bark. I have not succeeded in obtaining a copy
of this document, and must, therefore, be content to
give you the contents of a rather brief resume which
has appeared in a medical journal. The Messrs. Bdh-
ringer point out that, with regard to the trade in,
and price of, quinine, the almost sole factor is the
importation of cinchona. They believe that the con-
sumption of quinine is steadily increasing, and is capable
of enormous, extension, the chief reason for arriving
at which conclusion is that this alkaloid is without
a serious rival ; for, although various substitutes have
been brought forward from time to time, they have
invariably been found to be devoid of some essential
qua'ity or too high in price. They go on to sav that
" the world's consumption of quinine was estimated
at 3,510,000 O'z. per annum in 1879, and afterwards
at 4,237,000 oz., but it is probably much larger. At
the conference of American wholesale druggists last
year, the consumption of quinine in the United States,
formerly estimated at 100,000 oz., was put down at
3,600,000 oz per annum, or about 1 oz. for every
twenty-three inhabitants. The demand for quinine is
certain t ■ a^radually increase in other feverstricken
parts of the globe. A large outlet is particularly looked
f ir in the rice-growing provinces of the Chinese Em-
pire, where fever is never absent, and where quinine
might advantageously supplaut opium to a certain
extent. Among the minor alkiloi.ls of cinchona bark,
cinchonine, cinchoni<Hi!e, and quinine* nre still largely
used in extra-European countries, aUhough they have
fallen out of use in Europe. Quinidine, the actiou
of which most closely resembles that of <(uinine, occurs
only in very small quantities in the present manu-
facturing barks, and its extraction no longer pavs." I
have since discussed the above statt-ments with Dr.
Paul, the cinchona analyst, and am bound to say that
he does not by auy means concur in the snrguine
anticipations as to the future consumption of the alka-
loids, nor as to its present use. In his opinion the

686

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [ApftiL i, 1887,

United States is the only country in which the fon-
sumption of the article has increased, and he freely
admits that, owiug to the openiug up of new land
iu the Far Wast and ou the banks of large rivers,
where fever largely prevails, the consumption has goue
up by leaps and bounds; and is now probably about
three millions of ounces; but owiog to iniprovud
drainage and other means of sanitation, he tiiinks
that taroughout Ei'rope fever has declined; and adtled
10 which we must not ignore many new febrifuges
which have come to the front of late years, though
not permanently. Of course ic is ratner difficult to
deal with general statements such as appear in the
summary of the Mannheim report, 8 id, until I succeed
in obtaining a copy of the origin: ' document, I fear
I cannot pretend to reconcile the l iufl ctiug opinions
of the authorities I have quoted. Dr. Paul regards
Ceylon soils, and, indeed, the generality of soils, as not
capable of yielding cinchona of a high analysis for
any length of time without the aid of manure, and
he gave me tj understand that he is now engaged iu
conducting a series of experiments with manured and
unmauured barks for South American and other
growers, the results of which I am to obtain when
completed. Dr. Paul assurer me there are very few
barks from Ceylon which can compare in quinine
analysis with the c "tivat d cinchonas f.om Bolivia,
though t le produce from S .ir, Glenlyon, Amherst, and
one or two other Ceylon estates, continues t ) hoid a
hisjh place in public estimatiou. He a. '.ured me that
the finest Bolivian barks seldom come on the opea
marke:, nearly ail being disposed af privately to a few
continental druggists, who give quite fancy prices for
what they want. Another scare iu the quinine mark-t
was recently created by an announcement in the Lan-
cet ot some very successful trials of a new substitute
for the cinchona alkaloid iu the form of jicrate of
ananonia, a combination of the al<saline base with
■picric acid. This has been largely tried, and the medical
journal tells us that quinine is doomed I But we have
heard this so frequently that I was led to institute
enquiries as to the cost of t- e new fever remedy,
when I learnt, as I fu"y ;cted, that the " new

quinine" is nearly double the price of the old article;
but then people declare that this is only a temporary
dearness owing to the enormous demand for [liciic
acuJ by the Freuch Government, thi.s same chemical
entering into the composition of new war explosive
of which large quantities are being produceil iu anti-
cipation of an outbreak of hostilities. — London Gov.

Local "Times."

_ ^

DUTCH V. ENGLISH COLONISATION.

It is universally admitted that the two great colonising
Powers of the world at the present day are Great
Britain and Holland. I do not mean by this Powers
whose sons and daughters go to swell the population of
alien flags, as iu this respect Germany can probably
show an annual emigration to the United States
equalling if not exceeding that of either of the Powers
in question to their colonial possessions. But iu
acquiring and rataining colonies both the Dutch and
ourselves now take the places once occupied by France
and Spain, and it is curious to note the different ways
in which we arrive at the one end of governing Asiatic,
or other races, so as to combine fairness to them with
advantage to the alien lords of the soil. Tersely put,
the most striking difference to the chance visitor to
Netherlauds India is that, whereas British administration
is almost needlessly unsympathetic with the Asiatic,
and social amalgamation the exception rather than the
rule, the Dutch system is that of living down to the
Asiatic standard, and disclaiming, except for official
purposes, that assumption of social superiority so
characteristic of ourselves. In saying that our rule is
unsympathetic I do not mean that it is intentionally
unjust. "We are apt, indeed, to push ideal justice on
behalf of parties accused of crime to an extent which,
to the Asiatic mind, savours of decided injustice to com-
plainants. But though we are honestly credited with a
desire to do absolute justice between man and mau, it
}3 felt that we do not make sufficient allowances for

'■!ana!W!?^H~~s

the utterly different modes of thought and reasoning
which distinguish the governed from the governors.
We insist, for instance, on an absolutely incomprehen-
sible oath being taken in our courts, because British
law provides it. AVe give prisoners the benefit of a
doubt at our assizes, becau.se a couple of Asiatic witnesse.s
are utterly unable to detail — without serious di.screpau-
cies— cert iin minor matters bearing on the case. It is
in vain to point out that perfect agreement ou the part
of Eastern witnesses, i.e., the perfect agreement expected
from educated Europeau witnesses — is to the experienced
magistra ; or judge the surest sign of concocted testi-
mony. A id so with a va t number of other matters.
We punish gambling in an open space of ground, where
nobcdy is inconvenienced, as if it were a crime, and are
powerless to deal witli clubs (Chinese) started really
for the express purpose. A newly arrived coolie, who
has never seen a watertap before in his life, is arrested
for " wasting water," while his slow mind is revolving
the question how best to stop the running. We give a
few months' (it may be weeks') imprisonment for
crimes which, under native government, would ensure
death or lengthened captivity. We are not saying that
all this is wrong ; we are merely putting the Asiatic
point of view. Some of the matttrrs complained of
are doubtless more trifles, but they are deemed very
irritating, and leud colour to the assertion that we are
" unsympathetic " in our administration.

Ttie Dutch; on the other hand, seem to us— especially
as regards social matters — to go to the opposite extreme,
Their municipal and conservancy rules are less harassing
and the native scale of punishment is more closely
followed than with us. In many cases this bears far more
hardly on offenders than with us. But it is not so much
the defendants as the complainants in our courts who
criticise our administration, and compare it unfavourably
with that of the Dutch possessions. And beyond all,
the Dutch follow local customs to an extent which
gains native good will, though holding out no example
of a higher life. In fact in many of these matters,
they leave the natives at precisely the same point as
they find them. Slovenliness of dress, an absence of
punctuality in small matters, a tendency to sleep much
during the working hours of the day, and similar habits,
proclaim to the native that the white man makes no
aft'ectation of superiority in those directions which
supplied the basis of his former victories over indolent
Asiatics. Another social custom — that of temporary
marriages between Dutch and Javanese has immensely
lowered the prestige of the former in native eyes. It
is quite true that the latter regard the marriage tie
from a different point of view to that held here, and
that these pro tern, arrangements involve no local
discredit to the woman. Sociologically there is much to
be saifl for them, as worse results invariably follow the
interning of large bodies of troops at Eastern stations.
But the natural effect is to deprive European life of
any claims to superior purity in the marriage relation,
and morals are apt to run low.

On the other hand a non-interference policy of
legislation as regards the Chinese population is bearing
evil fruit. The secret societies throughout the Dutch
territories are assuming a position which threaten
danger to the Government, and the Java papers have,
of late, drawn attention to the fact. It is becoming
increasingly evident that unless some strong means be
taken to regulate them, the eventual alternatives wi'l
be either suppression at the cost of probable bloodshed,
or riots which may threaten the very existence of the
Government itself. I would strongly advise the Dutch
authorities to establish a " Protectorate " of Chinese
and Registry of Secret Societies similar to that in force
in the Briti.sh Straits Settlements, and I concur with
the Singapore Press in thinking that such a measure is
probably the most prudent that could be taken. Eieu
now the difficulties of bringing the societies under
control would be a task of no small difficulty, but the
difficulty will increase with each year if they be left
unmolested. An additional argument is also found in
the fact that other troubles exist at present iu Java.
Taxation has been pushed by the authorities to its
utmost verge, and combined with bad crops and
depreciated prices of produce, have produced consider

Ai'ftiL h iB&f'i ^HE TnOPXQAh AGRtCUttURlST.

68^

TTi"!"' ifriiiiiOT'TrrT- iiiiiriiiTn i iniiiwi

able disaftectiou in the native mind, which the author-
ities would do well to watch carefully. Not by shutting,'
up newspapers which report any facts, but by meeting
those facts where they are substantiated by properly
devised measures.

Kevertiug to my original theme, it is not sufficient
for the Dutch to say that in most instances the lower
standard is sufficient for the natives, who are lazy and
indolent, and do no more than they are obliged to do
to obtain a subsistence. And it is to this level the
Dutch bend rather than to elevate the natives not
right up to the European standard, but at all events in
that direction. It is what is demanded in the latter half
of the nineteenth century from a nation which would
maintain its status, and Holland may possibly be called
on ere long to take considerable measures in Java to
maintain its position. — London and China Express.

VEGETATION : NOTES OF A NATURALIST IN

AUSTRALIA.

Bt Dh. J. E. Tatlob, F. L. S., F. G. S, &c.,

Editor of " Science Gossip. "

The most remarkable thing about the wild roses in
Australia is that they are acquiring the same trick
which the ancestors of the orange learned j'ears ago,
and transmitted to their descendants — that is to say,
I found them many a time bearing flowers and fruit
at the same time, and this was taking place in June
and July, corresponding to December aud January in
England. Evidently the more equable climate has
affected its habits in this respect. I observed also that
its foliage was not dropped — at least, not to any remark-
able degree. Is the wild rose making up its mind to
become an evergreen shrub, or rather, to have descend-
ants which shall be, like the orange tree ? The degree
to which plants and animals will alter their habits,
and become modified in their .structures, is only just
being taken up by naturalists. Nowhere can this
department of practical Darwinism be better studied
than in Australia. I say practical, because there is
a great deal, not only of knowledge, but possibly also
of commercial benefit, to be gained by attending to
these matters ; and I hope that the scientific societies
of your colonies will take i\o the subject. Let them
put on accurate record the exact degree to which the
imported animals and plants vary, as well as all the
conditions under which the tendency to variation occurs.
It strikes me that variation (due to ready adaptation)
will be found very frequently to take place quicker
than many geologists and naturalists have hitherto
imagined. They have hypothetically formulated mil-
lions of years as necessary ; but in most cases careful
tabulation of observed facts will reveal to us how
responsive many animal aud vegetable organisms are
to the conditions under which they leave. Look, for
instance, how quickly the European deciduous trees
imported to the Australia learned to adapt the time
when their leaves should fall to j'our Australian winter.
They made a muddle of it for a few years, and most
of their leaves fell off during your summer ; but this
was because of that acquired ancestral experience we
denominate instinct. Year by year this grew weaker
in comparison with the newly-acquired individual ex-
perience with the new conditioos of their leaves revealed
to them. And now Ihey are as well adapted to Aus-
tralian seasons as if they had always been Australian
trees,

I<9t it not be supposed that I have anything to say
against the mere act of drawing upon the " Bank of
Time" for due explanations of natural phenomena.
Time by itself can do nothing at all — although people
speak of its " tooth '' growing and eating away ,rocks,
&c. It is the number, intensity, &c. , of the events
which take place in time which makes the latter of
value.

The Australian trees transplanted to India, California,
and elsewhere have had to reverse the ancestral ex-
perience handed down to them from tint of their
not hern representatives in the Indian botanic gardens
all of their individual and infantine uncertainties in
respect of the changed seasons have beeu duly
{Chronicled,

Sydneyand its suburbs are truly wonderful as regards
the ease with which all warmth-loving forms of vegeta-
tion are induced to grow there. The old notion con-
cerning the geographical distribution of plants seems
to have been based on pretty much the same kind of
principle as that of classes in English society — that all
men " should be content with that station of life in
which it had pleased Providence to place them ! "
It was imagmetl that the reason why certain animals
and plants were found in certain places aud not in
others was that the localities where we found them
were the best for them. This teleological conclusion
barred out any further -questioning.

For almost every Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide
garden of any size (am'' ' deed, of all size) demonstrates
this. Each is a kind o!: "Noah's Ark," in which we
find gathered together (as if, also, it was a kind of re-
presentative " Little room in Jerusalem ") all the
" tribes, families, and tongues " of the vegetable king-
dom.

"What is more to the point is— such plants are doing
better than they would in their original homes.
Every human colonist will recognise the importance
of this fact, but the arm-chair naturalist, who is as
much chocked when the wild roses out in Australia
behave after the Darwinian fashion as he would be if
he saw too much "white stocking" in the muddy
streets of Paris, is unable to appreciate the point.

Thus, next to the oranges, lemons, and citrous (besides
varieties of each) which grow hereabouts as if it were
their natural home, we have loquats, bananas, peaches,
plums, and a host of other fruit native to every part
of the globe. They attain a larger size here than they
do in their native habitats — a plain proof that the old
teleological doctrine of their being found where it
was best for them to grow is not correct. The loquat
shrubs are especially numerous in all the gardens of
the Sydney suburbs, and their fruit is extensively
eaten — at which I was surprised, considering how
abundant is the choice. Grenadines also are grown,
and appear on every table dessert: but they were
too much like coarse green gooseberries for me to try
them more than once.

Driving out from Manly along the capitally-made
and well-kept road which runs to Broken Bay, and
more or less skirts the coast the entire distance, one
sees much both to admire and study. Within a mile
or two we get into the forest— and such a forest !
I had not seen anything ia all my Australian rambles
to compare with it for number and variety of plants.
The solemn monotony of the ubiquitous gumtrees has
had to give way to the healthy survivals of even more
i-emarkable types of the Australian flora. Oanksias
of several species, she-oaks or casuarivMs, abundance
of the native pine (fernelea), numerous species of un-
common gumtrees, native cherrytrees {exocarpus), and
a few solemn and stately and rare Australian palms
formed the arboreal vegetation. The ground was
occupied with a bush of myrtaceous plants {melaleuca
chiefly), and thickets of ti-tree. In places it was quite
ablaze with pink and scarl^t Epacrios, and the wild
indigo plant (hardeabergia) climbed and twisted its stems
over and within the wiry bush vegetation, and flung
its abounding spikes of brilliant purple flowers about
with botanical recklessness. Here and there the tall,
blackened stems of the grass-tree {Xauthorea) rose
from amid the bush to the heisht of ten or a dozen
feet, and their clusters of terminal foliage looked as
if they had earned for the tree a very appropriate name.

In one of the many richlj-clad dells leading to Broken
Bay, I came across a sight which gladdened my eyes,
It was what I may call a forest Zainius. They grew
in numbers, and in places dccupied the entire ground,
in company with maiden hair and other ferns. I
had never seen these plants growing in a state of
nature before, and I examined them carefully. Some
of them were bearing fruit, and the oldest of thera
had the turnip-shaped and scarred trunks (not much un-
like pineapples). These remarkable plants may be regard-
ed as intermediate in their botanical relationship between
the ferns and the pines. I regarded them with un-
usual interest, for they are the southern survivors
of a once cosmopolitan group of plants, A« far b»cb

688

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April i, 1887.

as the beginning of the secondary period in Europe
which cannot be much less than from 15 to 20 mil-
lions of jears such yamias grew in England. They
are among the most characteristic forms of the fossil
flora, of the Lias and the Oolitic formations ; and in
liie celebrated ''Dirt tied " at Tortland, in Dorsetshire,
their scarred and dumpy stems (all petrified) are so
common that the ([uarrymen call them " crow's nests. "
I have seen them in the fossil state, just as they
grew years ago, many a time — now I was looking upon
the lineal descendants of the stme group in the un-
cleared part of an Australian forest. My readers will
imderstand how in this way, many of the Australian
plants possess an interest for the geologist second to
those of no other country in the world, inasmuch as
numbers of them are the survivors of «, flora which
lias been crushed out of existence by new-comers,
and whose r*!mains are therefore only found in the
fossil state in the old werld. — Australasian.

ABOUT GREEN TEA.

To the large majority of modern English men
and women green tea is probably little more than
a namo, calling up, it may be, vague visions of old-
fashioned tea-parties and elderly ladies in turbans,
and wheezy lap dogs and card-tables. It is certainly
true that in England the day of green tea, with its
mysterious subdivisions, Twankay, Hyson-skin, Young
Hyson, and Gunpowder, is over. Possibly it has
succumbed tardily to the prejudice which in the
last century denounced tea-drinking as a pernicious
habit, leading inevitably to dram-drinking and to
other ills more numerous and more deadly than
those which Mr. Arthur Arnold attributes to tobacco.
The effects of green tea upon the nerves are known
to be more powerful than those of black tea, and
for this reason it may have attracted to itself the
bulk of the odium against tea-drinking, which has
proved quite powerless to impair the influence of its
sturdier brother. Another explanation for its decline
in favour may be found in the fact that green tea
is much more the subject of adulteration than black
tea. The latter is by no means always above sus-
picion. We read of a horrible confection prepared
out of the refuse of tea and the decayed leaves and
twigs, which is pressed into moulds, and, with a
little sheep or ox blood added to stifl'eu the mass
and perhaps make it palatable, is sold as brick tea.
It is some consolation to learn that this variety is
chiefly consumed in Northern China and Thibet.
Then, again, there is a highly-prized commodity
known by the name — given to it with an admirable
candour by the Chinese — of Lie-tea. This consists
of the sweepings and dust of the tea warehouses,
cemented together with rice-water and rolled into
grains ; and its peculiar mercantile value lies m a
certain pliability whereby, at the will of the oper-
ator, it may be converted into either black or green
tea, as may be required.

Nor are these the only ways in which the ingenuity
of tea adulterators has shown itself ; black lead,
turmeric, and mica; leaves of the beech, elm, horse-
chestnut, plane, willow, poplar, hawthorn, and sloe,
with the humbler harvest of the hedgerow ; all these
and more have been freely spoken of in connection
with black tea. But though black tea may have its
foibles, green tea has long been the established and
recognized medium for introducing into the human
system such substances as Prussian blue, China clay,
and talc. Adulteration is far more common in green
than in black tea ; in fact, it may almost be said
that whereas adulteration in the latter case is ex-
ceptional, in the former it is universal, and that
practically no samples of green tea are brought into
the market which have not been artificially coloured.
The blame for this (if blame there be) lies, in a
great measure not witu the manufacturers, but with
the public. For some reason mankind, when they
like green at all, have been found in all ages to like
it greener than nature has made it. This being so,
the tea manufacturer steps forward with his spoon
ful of indigo and soapstoue, and supplies the defi
ciency. Tea which is not treated in this way would
uot be looked at by the dealers, who know the

public and its tastes. After all, the adulteration is
a very harmless one ; even in the bad old days, when
Prussian blue and sulphate of liine were used, it is
questioned whether the minute quantity employed
can have had any injurious effects upon tea-drinkers;
and in the present day there is certainly nothing
to be feared from the materials used in colouring
the tea for the market.

The principal market for green tea is the United
States. Having fallen rather into disrepute in the
Old World, it has established itself in the New
World, where it is largely consumed and known as
"tea" simply, in contradistinction to " English break
fast tea," by which name the black teas are desig-
nated. The reason for its popularity is no doubt
in a great measure due to the intercourse with
Japan, where green tea alone is manufactured, and
which every year sends enormous cargoes across the
Pacific In the making of tea, as in everything
which this curious people do, the Japanese have a
way of their »wn. It would startle an Assam planter
to see them in picking time squatting down before
the trees and stripping the branches of the leaves,
instead of scientitically selecting only the young
undeveloped leaf, the first leaf below that, and half
the second, from which would be evolved respect-
ively " Orange Pekoe,' " Pekoe," and " Souchong."
Any one accustomed to the elaborate machines tor
"rolling" and "firing' the leaves, which are in use
on European plantations, might be amused at the
Japanese method, where the workers roll and squeeze
and twist the leaves in their hands on a parchment
stretched over a charcoal fire. Very fine teas are
nevertheless manufactured by the Japanese, and in
the celebrated district of Uji rumour tells of tea
worth 10 dols. per pound, though it is not definitely
stated whether that price has ever actually been
paid for it. Moreover, in the case of teas intended
for export, only so much work is done upon them
as will enable them to be sent to the " tea-firing
godowns ' of Yokohama, where they are worked
up for the market before being shipped.

As is now wei! kiiDwu, the difference between
green tea and black lies in the fact that in the
former fermentation has been arrested by " firing,"
the colour of the leaf being in this way partially
preserved and fixed with the latter by a much
longer process ; fermentation up to a certain point
is permitted, and the leaves are not "fired" until
they have become oxidized by exposure to the air.
In Japan the leaves, after being picked and " wither-
ed " by a short exposure, and fired in the way de-
scribed above sufficiently to stop fermentation, and
in this partially cured state are sent to the Euro-
pean tea-merchants, by whom they are again "fired."
In the "godowns" of Y'okohama hundreds of wo-
men can be Keen at work turning the leaves over
and over and round and round in large basins built
over a charcoal fire. The colouring or "painting"
IS also done at this period by means of a spoonful
of indigo and powdered soapstone put into each
basin, and thus disseminated through its contents.
But in Japan tea is not grown for export only, but
is the chief article of home consumption ; and these
domestic teas as procured in the country are prob-
ably the only samples of unadulterated green tea
which Europeans are likely to meet with. They
produce a beverage which is refreshing, quite harm-
less, and which, notwithstanding the way in which
it is prepared, can after only a short residence in
the country be readily distinguished from hot water.
— LeLoia <(; Co.'ti Tea Trade Circular.

" A NEW iNDCSTBY," the Garden says, " had just been
started in East Kent— that of growing crops of laven-
der and peppermint for the purpose of extracting the
oil and supplying it wholesale. A large breadth of land
at Grove, near Canterbury, has been planted with
lavender and peppermint by way of experiment, and
the result has proved in every way satisfactory. It
has, therefore, been determined to establish extensive
works on the spot, ia order to carry on the process
of extracting the oil from these plants, neither of
which, ic is stated, has ever boeu cultivated before
iu Kent."— ^MS</'«^t«H'

Affiit I, fSS;.] fUB TROPICAL AOmCVtWM^T.

6Sg(

THE RELATION OF HEART WOOD TO

SAPWOOD.

It is a common and ratlu-r loosely helil opinion
that the fornjation of sapwood into heartwood in
trees is not a gradual and concurrent process, but
that it begins at a certain age in the same species
invariably ; modified only in a tririing degree by the
differences of soil and climate as they may affect the
growth of individuals. Thus the larch, for instance,
must attain a certain age, no matter what the differ-
ences of soil and climate under which it is grown,
before it begins to form heartwood. It matters not
whether the growth be rapid or slow, heartwood must
appear at or within a brief period of its arriving at a
certain age, varying only in point of time in propotiou
to the difference of soil and climate as exerted on
the individual during its period of growth. In a col-
loquial sense, it may be admitted there is a general
foundation of accuracy in this commonly recognised
opinion. No doubt the indivuals of a specie.*, such
as the larch, or any other grown in the .same soil
and other circumstances, on attaining a certain age
will present relative proportions of heartwood to
sapwood sufficiently close to establish the g'Jneral
conclusion. But this is merely stating in other
words the fact that it takes so many years to
bring the individuals of a particular species to maturity.
What is really meant by the statement that heart-
wood begins to form at a certain age in any tree
is simply that it has become visible, and presents a
marketable quantity in relation to the sapwood out
of which it is formed. But this is a totally different
thing to what is implied by the statement, and also
as to what really tikes place in the growth of the
tree. The formation of heartwood, like that of sap-
wood, begins with the birth of the tree. The exer-
cise of the functions leading to the building up of sap
and other vessels which form the structure of the
newly-born plant, is the point at which the formation
of sapwood and heartwood alike begin, and the proces-
ses 3,0 on concurreatly season after season. Not perhaps
with invariable results in eveu the individuals of the
same species ; certainly not in all species alike. Some
species are slovv to exhibit the same relative propor-
tion of heartwood to sapwood that others do. And
this may, as a general rule, be taken as an index of
the longevity of a species; those, such as the oak,
which are slow in forming heartwood being longer-
lived than most, of the species of coniferra which
form their heartwood more rapidly, or in other
words, arrive at maturity earlier. But the proce.s.'s
of the formation of heartwood goes on concurrently
with that of sapwood from the hrst development of
the plant from the seed, whether growth be .slow
or rapid, whether maturity be arrived at in a few
years or after many years. Briefly, the couver.sion of
sapwood into heartwood is accomplished by the thick-
ening and indurating of the walls of the sap vessels,
and by the deposition in them of the peculiar
secrections of each species, such as gums, resins, etc,
resulting from functional action, by which they even-
tually become filled up, and their original use as
channels for the upward flow of the sap ceases. The
time required to complete the process varies in differ-
ent specit.s, and even in individuals of the same
species, according to circumstances already alluded
to as affecting comparative rapidity of growth. — Joui'-
nal of Forcstr//.

_ — ^ ^—

THE GROWTH OF LICORICE IN EUROPE:

ITS CULTIVATION IN SICILY.

Repoit h/ Consul TVoodcock, Catania,

Llcofiee grows to the height of 2 or 3 feet. It bears
a sniall yellow flower. Its leaves are pinnate. The
roots grow from 6 to 20 feet in length.

The valley of the river Simeto (ancient Symwthus) in

this consular district is rich in vegetation. Here not

only all the cereals grow to perfection under the rude

pulture of tbd rustic biciliau liUiibaudtaau, but tLt^ y/M

8?

plants with which the farmer has to contend, spring
up spontaneously. Among the latter may be classed
the licorice plant.
I In response to a question asked of a Simcnto Valley
' farmer, if the licorice plant grew upon his farm, he
j replied, " God forbid, for of all wild vegetation it is
[ the most difficult to subilue."

If any particle of the root is left in the ground, it
grows and sends up shoots. It is not cultivated in this
district ; it grows in a wild state. In the fields where
it grows are cultivated not only the various grains, such
as wheat, oats, barley, &c., and vegetables, but also
oranges, lemons, and the various other fruits of this
climate. Of course this plant is injurious to the grains
and fruits, but the thorough digging of the soil for
the roots of the licorice is beneficial to the production
of crops.

The agriculturist here uses the most rustic of imple-
ments. His plough is that of the old Romans, consisting
of an iron point which simply scratches the soil without
turning a furrow. In digging for the licorice root, the
soil is thoroughly turned over, and is ilug to the depth
of from 1 to 3 feet.

There are two species of the licorice plant here. The
one sends down a main root the depth of from 3 to 6
feet with but few lateral roots ; the other does not sink
so deep into the earth, but creeps beneath the surface
a ta depth of from 6 inches to 2 feet.

The latter plant is most productive, and is Iho most
highly prized.

Doubtless if the licorice plant were cultivated it would
yield larger results. The people here think its culture
will not pay, hence they are satisfied to collect it
as produced by nature iu its wild state. There is no
use made of the stem except for fuel.

The licorice plant grows most luxuriantly in the
valleys adjacent to streams of water. It is, however,
found among the foot hills of the mountains, but here
grows less luxuriantly. It requires a moist soil consisting
of a clay loam. The climate must be warm, such as is
adapted to the growth of oranges, lemons, aud the other
semi-tropical fruits. It cannot endure frosts or cold
high altitudes.

The root continues to grow for four or five years,
when it is considered in the best condition for gathering.
The root will continue to grow for ten or twelve years
longer, but it is not considered so rich in juce-yielding
quality.

The crop is gathered from the same ground once in
four or five years. On the average 100 pounds of the
root produces 16 pounds of licorice paste. During the
mouths of .Tune, July, August aud September, and the
first part of October the root is not disturbed, for the
reason that it is then in full vegetation, and for the
further more important reason that the ground is dry
and hard baked by the sun, and it is with much diffi-
culty and great expense that it can then be dug.

As soou as the autumn rains set in, in sufficient
quantity, to saturate the ground the root harvest com'
I mences.

! During the months aforesaid the manufactories of
I licorice are idle, doing little or nothing in the way of
I manufacture. In Catania there are some seven nmuu-
I factories of licorice, which employ from twenty to forty

hands each, aud are capable of manufacturing 750,000

pounds of the root. There is al.^o a factory in Pateruo ;

another in Oaltogerone, and another in Terrauova, in

this district.
When the roots are taken from the earth they zrc,

bound in bundles, and upon the backs of mules tranpo

f)orted from the fields to the factories. Here fch'jv lie
n .store for a time in a state of seasoning.

When the roots are sufficiently cured, men uud women
with hatchets, cut them iu bits of from 3 to 6 inches ira
length. These are then plunged into a vat of water
and thoroughly washed. They are then crushed in a
mill of rude construction. It consists of two circular
stones of la^■a. The one is in horizontal position ; the
other, perpendicular, rests upon it. Through the
centre of the upper stone is an axle, to which is attached
a luule, wliich revolves it slowly iu a circle (cart'Wb««J

i§iJ

1 frnPlQAL AQmCVtTmm% [Amu 1, mi,

like) upon the lower stone. A workman with a wooden
shovel is constantly eaiployed in keeping the roots
beneath the revoving stone. When the roots are
sufficiently crushed they are placed with water in
kettles and boiled for twenty-four --hours. They are
then removed from the kettles aud placed beneath a
screw-press, and all the juice is thoroughly squeezed
out, which runs into a cistern beneath . This juice is
pumped from the cistern and passed through a sieve
into kettles and the boilng resumed. The sediment
from the strainer i^ again pressed.

The contents of the boiling kettles is a second time
filtered. When boiled to the proper consistency it is
removed to a broad, shallow kettle over a slow fire,
where workmen with spades continue to stir it until it
becomes dense enough for paste. Then it is removed
and placed in wooden moulds of the size they wish
the cakes, or by workmen worked into little rolls or
sticks. When cold aud hard the cakes are wrapped
in paper and boxes for export.

The little rolls or sticks of licorice are placed upon
ehelves to dry. ^Vhen they become perfectly dry and
hard they are packed in laurel leaves in boxes.

In preparing the root for market, women with
knives scrape off the bark and then cut it into bits of
one half inch or longer in length, as the purchaser
may wish. These are then dried in the sun and placed
in bags for export.

In response to my question a manufacturer answered
that licorice paste may be adulterated with starch,
rice flour, wheat flour, flour of the carraba (locust bean),
or even wood ashes ; but he expressed the opinion that
the manufacturers of Oatania could not be so recreant
to honesty as to resort to these base methods.

The Chamber of Commerce of Catania report that
in the year 1883, 440,920 pounds of the root were
prepared by the manufacturers aud exported to the
United States, in value amounting to §11,580, and that
79,126 pounds of the root were manufactured and
exported to France, in value amonnting to §2,079, the
totil export for the year being 520,080 pounds of the
root manufactured, valued at §13,659.

As shown by my records for the year 1884, there
were exported to New York of licorice paste 112,746
pounds, valued at S14,96.5'85, and of the root 14,017
pounds, valued at S567'24 ; the total value of the
article exported for the year being S15,533'09. — Chemist
and Lrugyist.

AGEICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS AT SHIYALI.

The very interesting report by Mr. Krishnasawmy
Mudaliyar, of Shiyali, recently published by the
Madras Government, shows that that gentleman
continues his public-spirited efforts to induce his
fellow-countrymen to improve tneir agricultural
methods. Mr. Krishnasawmy Mudaliyar engaged his
labourers permanently, but the cultivation of rice
on single crop land affords employment for only a
portion of the year, so that it became necessary to
introduce some crop which would allow of a more
economical distribution of the work of men and
cattle. The crop selected was sugar-cane, and, to
begin with, an experiment was made with an acre
aud-a-half, which was planted in the season of 1882-83.
A three-roller J5eheea mill was purchased, and the
canen, in due course, were cut and crushed. Owing
to several causes, chief among which was deficient
drainage, and want of experience in the process of
crushing and converting into jaggery, the experiment
Was scarcely a success, although the rate of profit
is said to have been a little above the average
gained from rice cultivation. Mr. Krishnasawmy
Mudaliyar accordingly^ determined to repeat the
experiment, and this time he selected a larger area,
with greater natural advantages for drainage and
irrigation. The land was ploughed to a depth of
five or six inches, and was manured with 175 cart-
loads of farmyard manure. The planting out was
completed by the middle of May, and, alter a part-
icularly fortunate season, the cutting and crushing
were commenced in the following February. The
average yield of stripped cane was a little over 16
^OBI jpev' aes«. This yield ii jpoor eooipared witb

the 22J tons which is the average yield for the
Presidency as a whole, while in Lower Bengal, an
acre of good land is said to yield 25 tons of stripped
canes. The proportion of juice expressed to the cane
crashed was about 50 per cent, and this again can-
not be considered satisfactory as compared with the
64 per cent obtained at the Saidapet Farm. The
proportion of jaggery obtained to cane crushed was
9* per cent which compares favourably with the
Saidapet Farm results of only 8§ per cent. The
average yield for the Presidency, however, is believed
to be about 10 per cent, and this is obtained with
the native wooden mills, which are much inferior
to the three roller iron mill used by Mr. Krishna-
sawmy Mudaliyar. It is only fair to mention that
none of the canes of the best of the three varieties
grown at Shiyali were crushed, as they were required
for seed. When the results of the present season's
crop are known, we may fairly expect a higher
percentage of jaggery. We would suggest, as one
means of improving the yield, a change in the man-
ures used. An analysis of the juiee of the sugar-
cane shows that it consists very largely of potassic
salts. It is obvious, therefore, that the manures te
be used in sugar-cane cultivation are those which
are rich in these salts. We would recommend Mr.
Krishnasawmy Mudaliyar to make a few experi-
ments with bone-dust and saltpetre. The latter
might, with advantage, be used as a top-dressing.
We would also commend to his notice the trench
system of sugar-cane cultivation, which is followed
in the West Indies, and which is the most econ-
omical both of water and manure. It has, we be-
lieve, been adopted with the best results by Messrs.
Thomson and Mylne, of Beheea.

Turning now to the financial aspect of the ex-
periment we find that the total cost of cultivation,
including the subsequent manufacture of the cane
into jaggery, was R136-5-3 per acre, while the value
of the outturn is given as R168-12-0, leaving a net
profit, after payment of all charges, of R31-11-0 per
acre. We are not sure, however, whether the jag-
gery was actually sold for the amount stated above,
or whether that is simply the value placed upon it
by its owner. The point is an important one as
hypothetical valuations are apt to be misleading.
We observe that a few canes were sold for seed,
and that the rate per acre realised from this source
was R350, or more than double that obtained for
jaggery, with the additional advantage of a saving
of the expense of crushing and boiling. Here i8
indeed matter for the consideration of the political
economist. The supply, compared with the demand,
is practically unlimited. Yet custom, that element
which so constantly disturbs economical theories in
India, is stronger than the laws of supply and
demand, and we find an article fetching in its raw
state a price more than 100 per cent greater than
that which can be obtained for it when manufact-
ured. The profit yielded by 6 acres of sugar-cane
was greater than the whole of the profit derived
from 124 acres under rice crop in the same village.
The season was particularly unfavourable for rice
cultivation, and the conclusion to be drawn from
these results is, not that rice is a worse crop than
sugar-cane, but that the ryot would be well advised
to cultivate more than one kind of product, and not
place all his eggs in the same basket. It will fre-
quently happen that one season is favourable for
one kind of crop and unfavourable for others, and
the farmer who would insure himself against risks
of this nature should so distribute his capital and
labour that failure in one direction will be com-
pensated by success in another. Mr. Krishnasawmy
Mudaliyar's example has already been followed to
a considerable extent, and we consider that this fact
affords the best possible evidence of the financial
success of the experiment, for, opinions to the con-
trary notwithstanding, the ryot is very quick to
appreciate what is likely to lead to hi.s own advant-
age. The Board of Revenue, however, knows better
than Mr. Krishnasawmy Mudaliyar, or the ryots
who have followed his example, and it considers tha
sugar-cane is 901(0 unsuited to Taojore. It appear

April i, 1887.] IHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

6gi

to have failed to grasp the object with which the
cultivation of this crop was introduced, viz., to afford
employment to men and cattle when they were not
required for paddy cultivation. Sugar-cane, it is true,
is a crop which takes from ten to fourteen months
to mature, but it does not require labour through-
out the period it is in the ground, as the Board
seems to suppose. Nor should the suggestion of the
Board to use copper instead of iron evaporators be
accepted simply because the Coimbatore ryots con-
sider the former superior. Messrs. Thomson and
Mylne recommend paua made of sheet-iron, and their
experience is quite as valuable as that of the Coim-
batore ryots, and iron pans are much cheaper than
those made of copper. The report concludes with a
brief account of an experiment made to test the
advantages of preparing rice land in the dry state,
instead of on the usual puddle system. The experi-
ment was successful, but the advantage was slight,
and there are several obstacles to the general in-
troduction of the new method.

We cannot close this notice without offering our
congratulations to Mr. Krishnasawmy Mudaliyar upon
the success which has attended his public spirited
experiments. District Agricultural Associations rise
and fall with the advent of each new Collector.
They excite but little interest, and the ryots have
little confidence in them. It is to gentlemen like
Mr. Krishnasawmy Mudaliyar, then, that we must
look for the spread of agricultural knowledge, and
we wish him that success in the future which has
so Bigually crowned his efforts in the past. — Madras
Mail.

VEGETABLE PRODUCTS AND
CULTIVATION.

THEIR

If there were was one thing more than another
which struck the thoughtful visitor to the Indo-
Oolonial Eshibition of last year, it was a feeling of
surprise at the vast resources afforded by the vege-
table kingdom. Even those more or less familiar with
vegetable products of various kinds from different
countries were compelled to own that they had never
before so completely realized the immensity and diver-
sity of the means at our command. At a time
when botany, or one portion of it, is falling into dis-
repute, as witnessed by its recent partial exclusion
from the curriculum of the Medical Schools and of
the Universities, it is worth while calling to mind the
tact that it is to botanists, and to systematic botanists
in particular — to the very class whose labours just
now are held in relatively little esteem — that we are
indebted for a knowledge of these resources; not
wholly, of course, but mainly so. AVitness what was
done for economic botany in the past by the Rox-
burghs, the Wallichs, the Wights, the Roj'les. Call
to mind what has been done by the Hookers, father
and son ; by Lindley, by Ferdinand von Mueller, by
Hanbury, by Markham, and many others that might
be mentioned. Think what is being done now by
Dyer, by Morris, by Watt, by Duthie.- and it will
be seen that the botanists of what is now called the
old school have been the chief agents in bringing to
light, identifying and developing, those products, "the
importance of which has been so forcibly brought
home to us. Consider, too, for a moment on the
one hand the depressed state of agriculture, and on
the other the host of matters awaituig development,
and for which development increased knowledge, botan-
ical, chemical, and cultural, is demanded, and it will
surely be seen that this is no time to depreciate the
study of systematic botany. We cannot, however,
stop to discuss this part of the question. It may
aid others to do so, it may promote the extension
of profitable knowledge, if we make passing allusion
to some of the various conferences and lectures del-
ivered relating to vegetable products, and which are
the more or less direct outcome of the Exhibition.
:. Reports on special subjects— such, for instance, as
on fibres for textile purposes, for paper-making,
and for mats, rnpes, and basket-work, have appeared.
Dinng thj discussions that took place many inter-
esi-iag facts came out on the uses of the products

under notice; thus, on the question of vegetable fibres
suitable for substitutes for silk, a sample of Jute
was exhibited by Mr. Cross which had been subjected
to a chemical process, the effect of which was
to reduce the fibre to its ultimate fibrils, and at the
same time to increase the durability of the substance,
" This chemically treated Jute," it is stated, " was
much admired, the more so as it was almost impossible
to distinguish the fibre from Tasar silk."

Amongst substances suitable for paper-making the
bark of Bauhinia Vahlii was considered the most hope-
ful, and it seems that since the Conference a number
of paper makers and textile manufactures have applied
for and obtained samples of the Bauhinia fibre ; and
it seems likely that, as a direct outcome of the re-
cent Exhibition, this will become an important one
foj a number of applications.

On the subject of perfume-yielding oils, the otto of
Hang Hang (Oananga odorata) is said to have been the
first ever exhibited from India; while the tubers of Cype-
rus rotundus, and the oil prepared from tham were pro-
nounced quite new to Europe. The substance is said
to be largely used in Upper India to perfume clothes,
and an essential oil is prepared from the tubers.

Of oils suitible for candle and soap making, that
from the seeds of the Mahwa (Bassia latifolia) was
thought to be the most hopeful ; it was stated to be
harder than Oocouut-oil— a fact, in the candle trade,
that would make up for its slightly inferior quality :
Messrs. Price & Co. report it to be worth £35 per
ton. It is believed that is has never been, to any
great extent at least, experimented with for the pur-
pose of the European soap trade, although the people
in Guzerat and other parts of India make soap largely
of it. With reference to dye products, it is stated
by Mr. Mu Rharji, that the Charila of the Punjaub
(Parmelia Kamts-Chadalis) is employed in India to
a considerable extent in calico printing, but with the
object of imparting a peculiar perfume, and a very
pale rose-tinge to the fabric.

Perhaps one of the most important of the Confer-
ences was 'that on Tobacco and cigars. " Most of the
samples of leaf exhibited were pronounced almost un-
saleable from being packed too hard, having a bad
smell, and being often perforated, and even broken,
and indeed in many cases almost rotten, due to im-
perfect curing. ... A few samples were, however,
much admired, and one or two brokers were authorised
by the manufacturers to take steps to procure
large quantities if the price was found suitable. "
It was strongly urged that the leafstalks should be
cut off at the base of the blade and never exported
to England. It was pointed out that about 75
per cent of the Tobacco cut for the pipe is sold in
the shape of shag at 3d. an ounce, retail. The manu-
facturer sells this at 3s. to .3s. 2d. a pound ; so that,
taking the average cost of Tobacco at Gd. and the
duty at 3a-. 6d., the article is being sold at consider-
ably below cost price. This is due to the fact that
the raw Tobacco comes into manufacturer's hands in
a dry state, and the profit is made on the increased
weight due to moisture absorbed. A Tobacco must, to use
the technical expression "drink well" to be profitable,
but if the importer has to pay duty upon a heavy sec-
tion of the parent stem dangling at the end of a
long and heavy leafstalk it is impossible that he can
make a profit. Indian native leaf is also very inju-
riously coated with sand and dirt, which, apart from
the trouble of cleansing which this necessitates, greatly
increases the duty by rai.sing the weight. England
is, one might aimost say, well enough supplied with
Tobacco without the aid of India, and with numer-
ous disadvantages it is scarcely likely that India can
take an important place in the supply of Tobacco
unless radical improvements are effected. Tobacco
on importation should contain not more than 10 per
cent of water, for although the duty is raised when
there is less than 10 per cent of water, it is not
lowered when there is more. This is a most import-
ant consideration, and one that cannot be too forcibly
urged, for, as has been stated, the profit in the To-
bacco trade is due to water, but it is fatal if the
importer has to pay duty on the latter.

6gi

run TROPICAL AGRICULTURrsr. [April I, 1887.

Regarding Indian cigars, though there has been a
considerable sale of Trichinopoly and Burmese cigars
of late, it was stited at the Conference that they
could never compete with those produced in the best
cigar producing cjuntries, and their only competition
would be with those of British make. Indian cigars
are described as being too hard filled and that instead
of being packed in a bunch-like manner the filling
of Indian cigars went through the entire length : this
makes them heady and difficult to smoke. It was
" urged that every consideration should be subordinated
to the effect on duty, since it is the heavy import
duty that kdls the Indian cigar trade, and therefore
light weight was of primary importance.

Since the Exhibition closed Mr. Morris, the ener-
getic Assistant-Director of Kevv, has read an elaborate
paper on " Fruit as a Factor in Colonial Commerce."
It occupies many closely printed columns of the Colonies
and India. Its length, however, precludes us from
reprinting a paper which is of the highest practical
interest. It must suffice to say that Mr. Morris called
attention to the possibilities of our colonial empire
as a source of a large supply of fruit, illustrating his
subject by reference to the display made in the colo-
nial market throughout the whole duration of the Exhibi-
tion from various colonies, the most remote as well as the
nearest. Mr. Morris shows how most of the fruit con-
sumed in this country, that is not home-grown, is
derived from foreign countries. The value of the fruit
in round numbers is £8,000,000 sterling per annum.
This might equally well be earned by our fellow-
countrymen in the colonies, who are able to supply
lis with the fruits of tropical as well as of temperate
regions. Mr. Morris 'alluded to the inter-coloaial fruit
trade, and to the supply of the Americin market from
Jamaica and other West Indian Islands. Of Apples,
the home country imports barrels to the value of
£700,000 annually, the larger portion of which comes
from the ITnited States, Canada only supplying fruit
to the value of £91,000 annually. Mr. Morris then
passed in review the fruit-producing capabilities
of the several colonies, and showed how much their
resources might be increased by attention to fruit
culture and exportation. Mr. Morris' labours for the
development of .so-c.iUed minor industries in Jamaica
and elsewhere, as a means of alleviating the trade
depression which prevails in some colonies are so well
known and appreciated that his remaks were listened
to with much attention ; and as an illustration of
the practical character of his a Idress it may be men-
tioned that an important section of it was devoted
to the proper means of packing and shipping.

Another exhaustive paper was read lately before
the Society of Arts by Dr. George Watt on the
♦= Economic Resources of India." Heve, again, the
import ince of "minor" products was dealt with as
only a botanist could deal with them. The paper is
pubHshedin full in the Journal of the Societi/ of Arts
for February IS, to which we must refer the reader,
merely saying that the greater part of the paper is |
taken up with the discussion of products, the Europ-
ean trade in which is capable of greater extension,
or of products practically unknown in European com-
merce, but which promise to lie of very considerable
importance. The products are classed under the heads
of foods, drugs, fibres, and oils. Dr. Watt's remarks
illustrate forcibly the waste of resource that arises
from imperfect appreciation and want of application
of the knowledgfe acquired by the botanists.

Another paper of great interest in the same number
of the Journal of the Societi/ of Arts is that on Colo-
nial Woods, by Mr. Ransome. Our readers will re-
member the magnificent samples of various kinds,
many of which were alluded to in our reports at the
time, and they will be glad to have in a convenient
form the record of the experiments made by Mr.
Ransome to test their value for dififercnt purposes.
One great defect in the consideration of woods arises
from their faulty or defective nometiclat\ire. In many
cases the botanical source is not known, in others
the indiscriminate and most inappropriate application
of such terms as Ocdar, Cypress, Iron-wood, &c., is
a real bar to knowledge.

We would not in any degree impute blame to the
authors of the papers we have mentioned, that they
did not specially treat their subjects from the point
of view of cultivation ; but we must point out here
emphatically that this question of cultivation is all.
important. Cultivation is imperative, if the resources
we have alluded to are to be continuously developed ;
otherwise, we run the greatest risk of destroying
what we ought to be propagating and developing.
The necessity for cultivation is of course greater in
some cases than in others — in many cases it is pro-
spective rather than actual — but it is none the less
imperative. The first thing is to know thoroughly,
we mean not superficially, what our resources are,
and this is work for the botanist; the next thing is
to know how to develope them to the best advant-
age, this is the work of the cultivator, and he re-
quires not only practical skill and experience, but
extended knowledge of vegetable physiology, the
conditions under which plants grow, and how they
may be modified and adapted to suit our require-
ments. He must grow the best, and he must grow
them in the best way. The merchants must do the
rest. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

FRUIT AS A FACTOR IN COLONIAL

COMMERCE.

One important result arising from the recent
Colonial and Indian Exhibition is the great interest
awakened in the possibilities of our Colonial Empire
as a source of a large supply of fruit. In the Colonial
Market attaclied to the Exhibition there was shown
a succession of rich and rare fruits from all parts of
Her Majesty's possessions. The Dominion of Canada
and the West India Islands, Cape of Good Hope
and Natal, the Australian Colonies and New Zealand,
Fiji, Straits Settlements, Mauritius, Cyprus, and iSIalta,
all were represented by produce in fruit, which, for
diversity of form and of representative character,
probably surpassed anything previously seen in these
islands.

The shipments of fresh fruits from the southern
hemisphere were, in many cases purely of an ex-
perimental character ; but the results achieved were
certainly striking and suggestive, and will doubtless
lead to a trade in fruit between the Colonies and
Mother Country of benefit alike to both producer
aud consumer. At the present time we import into
this country raw and preserved fruit to a large
amount annually. Most of this fruit is supplied to
us by foreign countries. But within the area of the
British dominions is included a fruit climate as ex-
tensive as the world itself. We have all the fruit clim-
ates of the north temperate and tropical regions, and
we have also the fruit climates of the southern hemi-
sphere,! which latter can turn winter into summer, and
supply fruit in abundance just at the time we want
it most.

As compared with many subjects brought forward
and discussed at meetings of the Royal Colonial Insti-
tute, the subject which I have the honour to bring
before you to-night may seem at first sight of small
i:n ) irtance. But having regard to the interest and
ch ir n which has always surrounded the subject of
fruit, the mention of which "never fails to inspire
thoughts of classic form, artistic hue, fragrant delight
of palate, a 1 1 healthful service to the body," and
having regard also to the possible expansion and the
devlopment which the fruit trade, not only between
the Mother Couniry and her Colonies, but also bet-
ween the Colonies inter se, or between the Colonies
and iiiVr.'hbouring States, is capable of attaining, there
are few subjects that deserve more careful au'l ex-
haustive treatment at our hands.

The fruit trees that are now cultivated in England
and yield such stores of luscious food have travelled
here during thu slow progress of centuries from Easteru
countries; and, after improving them by scientific
culture and skill, we have sent them forth like oar
sons, to people the orchards of the South. Fro u
these suauy lands, where our sons aud daughters havj

April i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

6^3

made their homes, we shall draw the future supply
of fruit in quantity and quality probably exceeding
that of any fruit industry that the world has ever seen.

I believe it is Leigh Hunt who has drawn attention
to the beauty as well as the agreeableness of a well-
arranged group of fruit. He says: — "Here are the
round piled-up oranges deepening almost into red,
and heavy witli juice ; the apple with its brown red
cheek as if it had slept in the sun; the pear swelling
downwards and provocative of a huge bite in the side ;
thronging grapes, like so many tij^ht little bags of wine ;
the peach, whose handsome leathern coat strips off so
finely ; the pearly or ruby-like currants, heaped in light
long baskets; the red little moutbfuls of strawberries,
ditto ; the larger purple ones of plums ; cherries, whose
eld comparison with lips is better than anything new ;
mulberries dark and rich with juice, fit to grow over
what Homer calls the deep black-watered fountains;
the swelling pomp of melons; the rough inexorable-
looking coconut, milky at heart ; the elaborate elegance
of walnuts; the quaint cashew-nut ; almonds, figs, raisins
— in short,

' Whatever Earth, all-bearinij mother, yields,
Rough or smooth rind, or bearded husk or shell.' "

It will not do however, to spend time over the mere
question of beauty or attractiveness in fruit. We have to-
night to discuss the practical and economic aspects
of fruit and to express sympathy with a young industry
which will afford such a confederation of interests as
will be mutually beneficial to our Colonies and our-
selves.

In spite of a fairly large home industry in
the cultivation of fruit, and to which we are
naturally prepared to give due sympathy and
support, the fact is established that we are very
far from supplying our wants. "Whether we wish it
or not, we are compelled to import annually fruit
raw and preserved, as will be shown below, to the
value of nearly tight millions sterling. There is, I
believe, plenty of room for an extension of fruit in-
dustries in the United Kingdom, if only in apples
alone ; and farmers would do well to turn their attention
to the cultivation of choice fruit as a means of supple-
menting their returns from other produce. But, for
many kinds of fruit, such as oranges, lemons, pine-
apples, dates, figs, grapes, consumed during the winter
mouths, we must depend largely upon warmer and
sunnier lands ; and here it is that our tropical aud sub-
tropical Colonies have the opportunity to come forward,
each with its specis'l production, and seek a share in
what foreigners look upon as the best fruit market in
the world.

I mentioned just now that the United Kingdom
draws supplies of fruit from abroad to the value of
nearly eight millions sterling per annum. The actual
figures as given in the trade returns for 1885 are
as follows : —

Kind Value

Apples, oranges, &c £3,619,788

Nuts, almonds, &c 701,910

Currants, raisins, figs, &c 3,265,825

Total £7,587,523

I have taken the trouble to analyse carefully these
returns of imported fruits, and I find that not quite
4 per cent of such fruits are received from British
Possessions. The bulk is produced and supplied to
us by foreign States. The exact proportions in res-
pect of each class of fruit will appear from the
following table : —

RETURN OF FRUIT IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KING-
DOM IN 1885.

(Published by the Custom House, May, ^1886.)

From From

foreign British
countries. Possessions. Total.

Apple.s, raw ,£623,319 £93,712 £717,031

Oranges aud lemons ... 1,474.191 6,819 1,481,010
Fruit, raw funenumerated) 1,370,743 51,004 1,421,747
Fruit, dried and preserved 488.020 70,757 558,777

Nuts, used as fruit 363,275 79,020 417,2!:)5

Almonds 254,524 91 254,616

*Currants

*Figs

*Plums, prunes, &c.
*Kaisins

From

foreign

countries.

. I,4f8,182

187,895

94,738

965,237

From
British
Possessions.

Total.

1 l,458,18e

8 187,903

4 94,742

983 966,220

Total ... £7,285,124 £302,399 £7,587,523

Fruits from British Possessions equal about one-
twenty-fifth of the whole, or 4 per cent nearly. The
second of the above tables .shows very clearly what
a large proportion of our imported fruit is drawn
from foreign countries. The figures are : — Annual value
from foreign countries, 7,285,124i!. ; from British pos-
sessions, 302,399i. This is a very striking and suggest-
ive comparison, which it would be well for the Colonies
to carefully weigh and consider. If they can grow aud
ship, at a fair price, any of the fruit which is now
supplied to us by foreign States— and of this there
can be little doubt — they have here a fair field for
commercial enterprise, and one in which they will
receive every encouragement, on the sole ground, if
no other, ot the boud of mutual sympathy and sup-
port which binds together every portion of the Empire.
Apart from the mere increase of population, the Eng-
lish are, I believe, becoming more and more a fruit-
eating community, and this tendency is to be encouraged ,
not merely as a sign of advance in civilisation aud in
the use of lu.^uries, but also as a direct incentive
to more rational and healthful modes of living, and
to a departure from the strongly heated foods and
strong drinks which characterise our habits as north-
erners, and which are responsible, in some degree at
least, for the prevalence amongst us of intemperance
and vice. This is a phase of the subject which can
only be touched upon here. All I wish to point out,
in passing, is that an increase in our supply of whole-
some and refreshing fruit, both at home and abroad,
is one which is entirely free from objection, either
on the ground of health, morals, or political expedi-
ency. A fruit such as the banana is in itself a valuable
food, but others, such as the orange, grape, and
pineapple, are especially valuable on account of the
potash salt, the citrate, malate, and tartrate which
they contain. When fish, or meat preserved with
salt, forms an important article of diet, we are told
the blood loses much of its potash compounds and
becomes unhealthy, unless the loss is made up. Now
fruits, notably those of the orange family, supply
these essential salts in a most effective manner. Fruits
also by their flavour and juiciness serve to stimulate
a weak appetite, to give variety and lightness, no
less than elegance and beauty to an otherwise solid
diet, and they contribute in a palatable and refresh-
ing form much of the water required for the daily
needs of digesting and assimilation.

ENGLISH TRADE IN FOREIGN FRUIT.

It may be interesting, not only for fruit-growers in
the Colonies, but for home people as well, to review
the character of the dift'erent fruits that are now im-
ported into the Uniied Kingdom, to trace their origin,
as well as the special circumstances of the countries
which now hold the monopoly of supplying them.
This will afford the best means for ultimately deciding
which of these fruits can be grown in our colonial
possessions, and what are the special points to be
kept in view before a successful trade in fruit can be
maintained between the Colonies and the Mother
Country.

In the first table of statistics placed before you
to-night, I summarised the total value of fruits
imported into the United Kingdom during the year
1885. As showing the gradual but substantial " de-
vir-lopment of the trade in foreign fruit
which has taken place in this country, I urn. en-
abled, by the courtesy of Mr. Seldou. Chief of

* Subject to a duty of 7s. per cwt. imposed March
7, I860, yielding a revenue (in 1885) of 513,740.

6g4

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [April i, 1887.

the Statistical Department of Her Mvjasty's Cus-
toms, to place before you a comparative statement
showing the value of fruit of all kinds imp )rtei1 into
the United Kingdom ia the years 1S45, ISSo and 1835
respectively : —

Kind

1845

1865

1885

Apples, oranges,

lemons, &c,

£153,098

£1,131,183

£3,619,788

Nuts, almonds*, &c.

80,682

424,865

701,910

Currants, raisins,

figs, &c

618,108

1,029,935

3,265,825

Total £886,388 £3.135,984 £7,587,523

This table explains itself. The trade iu foreign
fruits iu 1865 was nearly four times what it was in
1845, while that of 1S85 was nearly double that of
1865. With the increased and improved steam com-
munication which we now have with all parts of the
world, the probability is that the United Kmgdom
Vr-ill take still larger supplies of fruit from abroad,
and the indications are strongly in favour of much
of that fruit coming from our Australian, Canadian,
and West Indian Colonies, which can supply us with
fruit equal to any now seen here. I do not wish,
however, to confiue my remarks solely to what the
Colonies can do as regards supplying the Eaglish
market. Although great interest is taken, as a result
of the Colonial Market at the Colonial and Indian
Exhibition, in the possibility of the Colonies supply-
ing fruit to the Eaglish market it must be remembered
that this does not cover the whole of the giound.
Many Colonies, such as the West Indies and British
Honduras, have developed a large trade in supply-
ing the United States with bananas, oranges, and pine-
apples; others, like Fiji, in supplying trtpical fruits
to the sister Calonies of Australia and New Zealand.
Tasmania exports its surplus fruits to Victoria, while
Queeusland sends its bananas and pineapples to New
South Wales. In the East Indies the Straits Settle-
ments export choice fruits to India, and so on through-
out our Colonial Empire interest has been awakened
iu the commercial value of fruits which a few years
ago were little thought of. While, tlierefore, in my
remarks this evening, attention is specially devoted
to the possibilities of the Colonies supplying the
English market with fresh and preserved fruits, I
shall at the same time endeavour to place before you
any local or intercolonial trade which may have been
developed in fruit, and then give a general idea of
the importance which fruit as a factor in colonial
commerce is fast assuming, and the promise it holds
out of still greater importance in t lie future.

If we turu to the second table of returns given
above, we find that apples at present are imported
to this country to the value of over 700,0007.
annually. The chief supply, to the value of nearly
500,000?., comes to us from the United States of
America. Growers in the States have practically
monopolised our market by shipments of this fruit,
which, whatever its special merit of cheapness may be, is
certainly, as sold here, inferior in flavour and juiciness to
the best Euglish-grown apples. Unfortunately, however,
the quantity of really good English-grown apples is
quite inadequate to meet the demand, and hence
we are compelled to fall back on foreign supplies.
The next largest supply of apples from abroad comes
to us from continental countries through Belgium to
the value of 100,000^. annually, while the Dominion
of Canada occupies third rank, and supplies apples to
the value of 91,0007. annually. As regards oranges and
lemons, the quantity consumed in these islands is very
large. We import annually about 500 million oranges
and lemons, which is at the rate of 10 per head of
population. More than one-half of this quautity, equal
to a value of nearly a million sterling, comes to us
from Spain. The remainder comes from Italy (Sicily),
to the value of nearly half a million sterling ; from
Portugal and the Azires, to the value of 130,000/..,
and from Turkey, to the value of 1,90007. The value
of oranges imported from Malta an I all other British
possessions taken together is only 7,0007. auinially.

The large class of fruit included in the Customs
iteturns under " unenumerated raw fruit," is composed

of grapes, French pears, apricots, plums, pineapples,
melons, bananas, prickly pears, forbidden fruit, cheri-
moyer, pomegranate, and other sub-tropical and tropi-
cal fresh fruit from the Mediterranean region, from
Madeira, the Azores, and latterly from the West Indies.
France is the largest contributor under this head, to
the value of nearly half a million sterling. Spain ranks
second, and supplies us with such large quantities of
Almeria grapes that 20,000 to 30,000 barrels of this
fruit alone are sometimes disposed of in the Londoa
market in a single day. The other uuenumerated raw
fruits are supplied by Holland, to the value of 212,0697.;
Belgium, to the value of 150,8827. Germany, to the
value of 96,1747. ; and Portugal to the value of 80,0967.
The value contributed by all the British possessions
is less than either of these — the e-vact amount beintr
51,0047.

Fruit, dried and pre.served, 558,7777., consists of dates,
canned Californian fruits, preserved ginger, tamarinds,
and a miscellaneous supply pretty equally distributed
amongst most countries of the world. Of nuts used
as fruits we import the walnut, sweet or Spanish
chestnut, filbert — Smyrna, black Spanish, and Barcelona
— Brazil-nut, coconut, monkey-nut, butter-nut, cashew-
nut, pistachio-nut, pecan-nut, and occasionally other nuts
more or less rare. It may be mentioned, in passing,
that these are not true nuts in the strict acceptance of
the term; some are seeds, others are fruits. France and
Spain, again, supply the largest quantity of these nuts,
while the West Indies and Brazil and some portions of
the East Indies supply such as are specially confined to
the tropics. The almond of commerce consists of the
kernel of a peach like fruit, probably native of the
warm and dry portions of the Levantine Mediterranean.
The tree appears to flourish where the olive grows,
and, although often seen in England, and found
hardy in the neighbourhood of towns, it only
bears in exceptional seasons, and after a
mild and uninterrupted spring. Our chief supply of
almonds, which reaches an aggregate quantity of 400
tons, and a value of nearly a quarter of a million
sterling, comes from Italy, Spain, and Morocco.
"Jordan almonds" come from Malaga in Spain,
while bitter almonds come chiefly from Mogador in
Morocco, which, by the way, possesses one of the
most charming and equable climates iu the world.
The well-known fruit called grocers' currants are the
produce of the Corinth vine, which is a seedless variety
of common grape. This particular vine is almost ex-
clusively cultivated in the Morea portion of the small
kingdom of Greece and in the Ionian Islands. We
imported in the year 1885 nearly 60,000 tons of currants,
of the value of about a million ami a half sterling.
The vineyards of Corinth grapes are near the sea and
cultivated with great care. It is somewhat remark-
able that when tried elsewhere, for instance at Sicily
an! Malta, this usually seedless grape has developed
berries so charged with seed as to be useless for
commercial purposes. The imports of raisins, or dried
grapes, are nearly 30,000 tons annually, of the value
of nearly a raiilioa sterling. Muscatels, or the better
class of stalk raisins, come from Malaga, in Spain,
and are in demand all the year round, except during
the short English fruit season. Valeutia, or loose
raisins, on the other hand, are chiefly used during the
three winter mouths v^hen the British housewife is
concerned with plum-pudding. Figs, in a preserved
state, are consumed to the extent of 0,000 tons annually,
of the value of 200,0007. They are imported chiefly
from Turkey, while the remainder comes from Greece,
Portugal and Spain.

Such, in brief, is an outline of the English trade in
foreign fruit. Summarising the results, we find that
we pi-ocure supplies of fruit from Spain to the value
of nearly two millions sterling; from Greece to the
value of one and a half million sterling; from Italy
and Turkey to the value of three-quarters of a million
i^terling each ; from France, United States, and Ger-
many fincluding Holland and Belgium), to the value
of half a million sterling each. The total value of
fruit obtained from all British possessions, as noted
above, is less than from either of these, and is only
a little over a quarter of a million sterling.

mn h i^^7'] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

6gJ

EEVIEW OF FBUIT INDDSTRIES IN THE COLONIES.

-With the exception of oue or two, most of our
Colonies are separated from the Mother Country by
such "countless miles of ocean" that it was thought
impossible to draw from them any appreciable quant-
ity of fresh fruit. But the rapid progress made in
the construction of large and swift oceau steamers
has brought even our Australian Colonies wiihin the
compass of a four weeks' voyage ; and, if we can draw
supplies of oranges, apples, and pears from the far-
off orchards of Australia and New Zealand, what
cannot be done with the production of Colonies at
less than one-half the distance ? The voyage to New Zea-
land is possibly longer than to any other British Colony,
and if, as has been proved to be the case, supplies of ex-
cellent fruit can be brought from thence, there is
suggested to us a possible opening for a trade in
fruit with our Colonial Empire at present hardly
realised. The establishment of a coloni d niarket in
connection with the Colonial and Indian Exhibition
was tha means of bringing very forcibly before us the
characteristic fruit of each Colony, and the lesson taught
by it, if rightly followed up, will tend to bring an
acceptable supply of food within reach of all classes
in the Mother Country, while at the same time it will
develop such interest in the resources of the Colonies
themselves that attention will be devoted to an almost
unworked field of productive industry.

As regards the exhibits of each Colony, which con-
sisted of both fresh and preserved fruits, I may men-
tion that a report, undertaken at the request of H.
E.H. the President of the Commission, has been pre-
pared by me, and is now in the press. This report
enters as fully into details as was practicable in the
limited space at my command. I have briefly sum-
marised under each Colony its capabilities iu the way
of fruit, and mentioned what appeared to be the most
successful of its exhibits, I will not now, therefore,
travel over the ground of this report ; but, with your
perndsdon, shall endeavour to supplement it by such
further information as I have gathered during this
inquiry, which to me has been throughout of an in-
teresting character.

CANADA.

Following the order in which the Colonies were placed
in the Official Catalogue of the Colonial and Indian
Exhibition, we begin with the Dominion of Canada,
which, as was naturally expected, made a magnificent
show of fruit, and there is little doubt the Dominion
is destined to become, in the near future, a very
formidable rival to the United States in the supply
of apples to the English market. The Canadian fruit
possesses high colour and delicate flavour equal to
the best American apples, and it is merely a question
of time whether Canadian apples are not as largely
consumed in Europe as American apples.

At present American apples are imported to the
■ value of 500,000?, while the value of Caudian apples
amounts only to 91,000/. It would be unfair to sup-
pose that Canada can produce apples only. In its
clear, bright, and stimulating climate it can grow al-
most any fruit of temperate climates, but at present,
through its horticultural societies and other organi-
sations, it wisely devotes chief attention to the improved
cultivation of the apple, and to the introduction of
new varieties or the acclimatisation of old ones. The
Province of Ontario is the most important centre for
apple growing, and in good years it is estimated that
this one Province alone will produce over a million
barrels.

AUSTEALASIA.

The Australian Colonies, although much further off
than Canada, possess one great advantage arising from
their position in the Southern Hemisphere. Their
winter is our summer, and our winter is their summer.
The Australian fruits will, therefore, come into the
English market at a time when few other fruits are avail-
able. As a writer recently remarked : " In May and
early June housekeepers ar(; sorely tried to furnish
the last course. English apples are few and shrivelled.
Those of American growth are spent. Pears are not
oa hire. The time of etrawberries has not come,

except for the ' swacczering ' classes. Grapes are in
their worst season. Tiie nuts of autumn are dry and
mustj', and oranges are over. It is at this season
that we are to be blessed with the noble and beauti-
ful growth of Australia, of which as yet only the
timid firstlings have appeared in the fruit market of
the Colonial E.ihibition."

Taking a rapid review of the Australian Colonies,

it might be mentioned that New South Wales and

South Australia are destined to produce oranges equal

to any in the English market, and in this one fruit

alone they possess an opening of great value. Australian

oranges are expected to arrive in Europe in June,

July, and August, a time when no oranges are found

in the Northern Hemisphere. Shipments of this fruit

at such a time must naturally cause a change in the

characteristics of tlie English fruit trade, but for fine

fruit carefully packed and well placed, there is little

doubt it would soon establish itself as a recognised

article of trade, and prove adequately remunerative.

Victoria produces excellent apples, apricots, cherries,

figs, melons, plums, and raspberries. Fig drying is

being taken up as a local industry, and it is to be

hoped that some portion at least of the 200,000^. we

pay at present for our supply of foreign figs will be

attracted by our brethren in this Colony._ The canned

fruit of Victoria has been pronnunced in the City to

be equal to the best Californian fruit now so largely

used in Europe ; and, after carefully testing them,

one firm has expressed the opinion that " there will

doubtless be a large trade done between the Mother

Country and the dependency of Victoria."

Each Australian Colony by virtue of its geographical
position, its climate, and soil, and the tastes and
habits of its people, is enabled to take up its own
speciil branch of fruit industry. South Australia
produce.') grapes and apples, which can be sent here
in large quantities ; but if all its pears are equal
to those which appeared in the Colonial Market, and
they can be supplied in large quantities, this Colony
will have a distinctive fruit of great value in northern
markets.

The weak points in the shipments of last year are, I
beUeve, well recognised at Adelaide, and will no doubt
be carefully avoided in the future. I am glad to
notice that the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural
Society of South Australia is taking action with the
view of securing a cool chamber capable of taking 10
tons of fruit by each fortnightly steamer from February
1 to April 30 of the current year. The first
consignment of South Australian fruit of this
season is probably, therefore, now on its way
home ; and I feel sure that the members of this
Institute, no less than English people generally,
wish every success to an enterprise which, although
primarily in the interest of trade, tends at the
same time to bind us closer together as an Empire
iu the paths of progress and in mutual well-being.
Queensland is capable of producing rich stores of
both temperate and tropical fruits, and there is a
local trade with Sydney in bananas and other fruit
which no doubt will lead to much greater develop-
ment. Pineapples of good quality and large size
are grown in the Colony, and Mr. Theodore Wright
speaks of fruit weighing from twelve to thirty pounds
in weight grown at Mackay, on the Pioneer Eiver.
While sub-tropical Queensland, with a fine dry
stimulating climate, granted only a sufficiency of
water, possesses excellent capabilities for producing
fruit with good keeping qualities, equal to the
Californian fruit, it is evident that tropical
laud must eventually become the seat of a large
fruit industry, provided a good outlet is found for it.
Western Australia, with an equally dry and stimu-
lating climate, has produced raisins and currants of
excellent quality. As regards the latter, it has been
believed that the Corinth vine has not proved a
succes.= anywhere except in the Morea and Ionian
Islands. What may have happened elsewhere I can-
not say, but the currants shown at the Colonial
and Indian Exhibition from West Australia, South
Australia, and the Oapo of Good Hope were seed-
legg, aud, moreover, were of «moh food quality that

best
Queens-

k^

^MB tropical AOKiCtrtfURlSt. iAptnL h 288^

they could hold their owu with any at present im-
ported into this coimtry.

Practically an undeveloped country, Western
Australia cannot be expected to show such an ad-
vance in matters horticultural as her sister Colonies ;
but what she has done already is good earnest of
what she is capable of doing, and it is evident
that choice and delicious fruits are to be numbered
amongst the stores of her prosperous future.

Tasmania, unfortinately, was not represented at
the Colonial and ladian Exhibition, and, in view of
her capabilities as a fruit country, this was a dis-
tinct loss both to herself and to those who feel
an iuterest in colonial industries. As regards the
importance and value of fruit culture in Tasmania,
I cannot do better than quote a few words from
the admirable Paper read before the Koyal Colon-
ial Institute by Chief Justice Sir William Dobson
on May 11 last. He said : — " As might be expected
from our climate, the cultivation of fruit forms a
staple industry. I cannot demonstrate this morecleaily
than by telling you that, besides what we consume
at home — and we are large fruit consumers — we send
away S5,O0iJ/. worth to the neighbouring Colonies in
an unmanufactured state, and we manufacture four
and a half million pounds of jam, or more than 2,000
tous, of the value of 86,000^., of which we export
72,O00L worth. We also export what is called pulp
to the value of 13,000^. This is fruit of soft kinds
that would not stand a voyage, which is boiled down
and put into casks and shipped, for the most part,
to our neighbour, Victoria, who imposes a heavy duty on
our jam, but imposes a comparatively trivial duty ou the
pulp, which her jam manufacturers convert into Victoria
jam. Our manufactories employ about 300 hands, of
whom one-third are women. In the valleys ou the slopes
of Mount Wellington, and in other moist and sheltered
spots, the little settler has his raspberry plot and his
black currant plot, for these are the most favoured
fruits for jam making. Once planted, they need little
attention, and the only labour required is in picking
and carrying to market. "

Fresh fruit from New Zealand arrived last summer
in 30 consignments, and English people were abie to
realise what the apples of the Antipodes were like,
by the beautiful fruit which Sir Julius A'^on Haast dis-
played tor some weeks amongst the other numerous
attractions of ihe New Zealaud Court. The changes
of temperature and the daily variations must be con-
siderable in a country like New Zealand, and these
are factors which must be well weighed by horti-
culturists. But it is evident that apples, quinces, and
fruits of this character can be very successiuUy grown
there. Moreover, they possess such keeping qualities
that fruit stood the long voyage without special
storage, and remained 'good for several weeks after-
wards. A writer on fruit culture in New Zealand
remarks that since New Zealand fruit reaches Europe
when there is little or none in the market it must
realise good prices. He adds: "So long as the
grower could get 2hd. per lb. for his fruit it would
pay well. "

FIJI.

Although one of the latest additions to our Colonial
Empire, the Fiji Islands are striving their utmost to
take a worthy place. They possess in their late Ad-
ministrator, and now Lieut-Governor, the Hon. J. B.
Thurston, c. m. a., an officer of great zeal and energy,
and one who is not only thoroughly conversant with
local circumstances, but who sympathises with any
well- directed efforts to develop the resources of these
fertile islauds. Sydney, in New South Wales,;js only
seven and a half days distant from Viti Levu,
while Auckland, in New Zealand, is only four and
a half days distant. Hence it is not surprising that
a trade in tropical fruit, begun in 1877, has now assumed
considerable importance. In 1885 the value of bauanas
and pineapples exported from the Fiji Islands reached
24,0O0Z. A fruit-preserving company has been estab-
lished, and the canned Fiji fruits exhibited at the
Colonial and Indian Exhibition woro attractive and
food.

SOUTH AFEICA,

\\'e come now to the South African Colonies, and,
if time permitted, I would be glad to enter fully into
the merits of the excellent collections which were
sent last year from the Cape of Good Hope and
Natal. The Cape of GaoJ Hope is so engrossed with
diamonds that it has little time for rural industries ;
but if it seriously devoted attention to the subject
of fruit, it could supply European markets with raisins
and currants, and with fresh grapes in almost un-
limited quantities.

The collections of Natal fruits were most varied and
interesting. Many were essentially tropical, others were
purely temperate fruits. The varieties indicated a
wide range of climatic conditions, while the quality of
all the fruits was exceptionally good- The yellow
peach is so abundant in the Colony that it is' often
used for feeding pigs. If dried aud exported in largo
quantities, iMatal peaches should prove a valuable addi-
tion to the food supply of this country. Fresh fruit
from Natal could be placed iu the English market
during the months of March, April, aud May. These
are probably the months we most require thenV. As
indicating the interest taken just now in colonial fruits,
a correspondent at Pietermaritzburg su^'gests that, " if
Australia can send her oranges over a far greater dis-
tance of tropical sea to arrive in good condition in the
London market, there is no reason why the Cape
should not also engage in the trade, and find it even
more profitable."

EASTERN TROPICS.

In the Eastern Tropics we have the Empire of India,
Ceylon, Mauritius, and the Straits Settlements. As
regards India and Ceylon, it is doubtful whether we can,
at present at least, obtain any fresh fruits of a suitable
character. Iu fact, they have very few fruits which
they can spare iu large quantities capable of bearing
a long sea voyage. They might, however, supply some
preserved fruits. At the Colonial and Indian Exhibition
there was shown, from India, a small dried apricot
{Primus armcnica, L.), an important article of food iu
the Punjaub Himalayas, aud in the North-West Pro-
vinces, which deserve attention as a probable source of
an import trade for the English market. This fruit is
known iu India as the mish-mush, or " Moon of the
Faithful." Dr. Watt remarks that it is largely eaten
by all classes, fresh or dried, but chiefly fresh, aud
sometimes in preserve by Europeans. Sometimes the
apricots are pressed together and rolled out into thia
sheets or " moons " two or three feet in diameter, like
a blacksmith's apron. From Afghanistan large quant-
ities of the dried fruit are imported into India, and
distributed by trade far into the plains of Bengal.

Mauritius produces most tropical fruits, such as
pineapples, bananas, litchis, gaavas. The natural outlet
for Mauritian fresh fruit would be during the winter
mouths to the Cape and South Australia. Preserved
and canned fruit might be prepared cheaply aud abund-
antly, and tor these there are markets all over the
world. Although no serious attempts have hitherto
been made to develop the fruit resources of Mauritius,
there is no doubt an external trade in fruit might be
established, which would do something to alleviate the
present depressed condition in which it is placed by the
fall in sugar.

The Straits Settlements yield perhaps the richest
stores of tropical fruits of any of our depsudencieSi
The maugostecn, durian mango, pineapplci papaw,
duku, attap, loquat, plessan, ranibustin, pumelo, baua-
nas, blimbiug, guava cherimelia, were all shown at the
Indian and Colonial Exhibition in a preserved state,
and, with other better-known tropical fruit, they formed
one of the most interesting collections of East Indian
fruits seen in this country. Singapore pineapples are
largely exported preserved whole in syrup, and the
enterprise shown by several firms in popularising this
article will no doubt lead to a considerable trade being
established in this country.

WEST INDIES.

From the Eastern Tropics, I would ask to go witli
me to the Western Tropics, and especially to those
beautiful islands dotted over the Caribbeau eea, While

Ami i, tmi fff'i fMMCAL A6Mcijtfvnmfs

^f)1

}iattuitmmm

the West has given to the East the pineapple, the
banana, and the guava, it has received iu return the
orange, lime, shaddock, and mango, and its fertile
soils and sunny climates have greatly improved them.
The Bahamas were tho first of the "\Vest India islands
to give attention to the cultivation and export of
fruit. The first cargo of pineapples was shipped to
England in 1842. Iu 1855 the shipments consisted of
16.469 dozens, of the value of 3,415;.; in 1864, of
61J500 dozens, of the value of 8,510^. To keep the
fruit for a voyage of almost twenty-eight days by
sailing vessels, the whole plant was taken up and
shipped. This was rather an expensive system, as the
planters lost the suckers, or shoots, for replenishing
their fields, and the <iuautity taken at one shipment
was necessarily small.

Of late years, the bulk of the Bahamas fruit is
shipped to the United States, and in 1885 the statist-
ics as regards pineapples stood as follows: —

Dozen Value

To Great Britain ;a,900 £4,78.1

To United States ... ... 424,063 46,062

The total value of the fruit exports of the Bahamas
averages about 54,000?. annually.

These consist of oranges, shaddocks, avocado pears,
bananas, coconuts, and sapodillas. Canned or preserved
pineapples are also exported, but it would appear
that much more might be done in this direction.
From a letter received recently from a correspondent
at the Bahamas, I learn that " Eluthera and Long
Island have doue fairly well this year, selling their
pines at 2s. per dozen. But Oat Island, with a popul-
ation of 5,000, nearly all engaged in pine growing,
has done very badly. The people had plenty of pines,
but could not sell them. When I was there in the
beginning of August there were several thou.sand
dozens still iu the fields, and the people would gladly
have sold them at Aid. or iiiL per dozen — a price which
would barely cover their carriage to the beach. Bub
no sale could be made even at that price. The pro-
spects of the orange crop are good, but so long as
the fruit is sent to market in hulk in the holds of
schooners, good ])rices cannot be obtained, and many
cargoes are dam igcd and lost." From another source
I learn " that fully one-third of the fruit crop of the
Bahamas is lost through want of care in properly
packing and shii)ping the fruit."

The other We.st India islands, with the exception
of Jamaica, of which I shall speak presently, have
not been able to establish an appreciable fruit industry.
The diflSculty is not in growing fruit, but in secsr-
ing regular and siiitable means of transit. The inter-
colonial steamers of the Euyal Mail Company cannot
be utilised, as they have a purely local itinerary.
What are wanted are rapid steamers connecting di-
rectly with the I'nited States or Europe, and provided
with suitable accommodation for carrying fruit. The
fruit trade of the several islands at present is as
follows : — Trinidad, chiefly coconuts, 43,000/. ; Tobago,
chiefly coconuts, 2,600L ; Grenada, 390?. ; St. Lucia,
404J. ; Barbados, chiefly tamarinds, 1,305?. ; Dominica;
3,4441.; Montserrat, lime.s and lime-juice, 11,000?.,
St. Kitt's and Nevis, 1,078Z. ; Antigua, chiefly pine-
apples, 156?.

Although Jamaica embarked in a fruit industry much
later than most of the others, it now occupies the
first place as a fruit exporting country. The value
of its shipments is not far short of 250,000?. ; annually,
which go principally to the United States. The chief
fruit exported is the banana, which in 1885 reached
a value of 130,0.0^. Next comes the orange, to the
value of 34,003?. Other fruits exported are pineapples,
limes, mangoes, coconuts, shaddocks, and tamarinds.
The Jamaica bananas are cultivated by both Europeans
and negroes, and, according to the season, sell locally
for 71. lOs. to 101 per 100 bunches. Small bunches,
less than "seven hands," are not saleable. The bulk
of the orange crop is yielded by self-sown trees,
growing in pistures or native gardens. When the
fruit is careful y picked by hind, graded according
to 8 ze and de ree of ripeness and well packed, it

finiift rniy m-rkpt. Tiw 49n»B4 ior Jamaicf» fruit

99

is necessarily affected by the Florida crop, but latterly
the trade is somewhat brisk, and good prices are
realised. Even with the trees at present existing, if
attention were seriously given to the subject, the
export of oranges from Jamaica might be increased
fourfold. It reflects somewhat unfavourably on the
West India islands, which can grow this fruit so succtss-
fuUy and readily, that oranges from Sicily are still
being imported into New York and New Orleans, and
thai, after crossing the Atlantic, they are placed in
the market in a better and more acceptable condition
for buyers than West Indian fruit. This is a matter
which, with a little more experience and knowledge
on the part of growers, might be greatly changed.
With suitable storage in cool chambers, Jamaica
could supply the Piuglish market with pineapples,
oranges, cherimoyer, water-lemon, sweet-cup tree-
tomato, rose-apple, limes, mangoes, and many others.
As regards mangoes, thousands of tons are produced
annually, and 1 have elesewere suggested that, after
exporting the best iu a green state, using others for
chutneys, pickles, and preserves, the rest might bo
utilised iu the production of a useful spirit, or in
the manufacture of glucose.

The rapid rise of the fruit trade in Jamaica is due to the
enterprising counsels of the late Governor, Sir Anthony
Musgrave, who secured regular and rapid communication
with the States and subsidised steamers, and connected
the fruit ports by telegraph and extended the railways.
Much is still needed in the way of roads for opening
up fruit districts, and for bringing them into closer
communication with the coast. By such means, the
fruit would be cheaply and expeditiously brought to ^
the port of shipment, and the small settlers en-
couraged to embark in fruit culture.

What Sir Anthony Musgrave did for Jamaica, Sir
Frederick Barlee appears to have done for British
Honduras. The establishment of a regular mail ser-
vice between Belize and New Orleans was the first
step in making British Honduras a fruit exporting
Colony. In 1880, it exported no fruit except coconuts.
Last year it exported fruits, consisting of bananas,
limes, mangoes, oranges, avocado pears, pineapples,
and tamarinds, to the value of 14,464?.

A very interesting attempt was made last year to
import fresh tropical fruit from British Guiana by
Messrs. Scrutton & Sons, who had one of their
steamers fitted with a cool chamber specially for the
purpose. Bananas and many delicate fruits were re-
ceived from the West Indies during the course of
the Exhibition in excellent condition. It is to be
hoped that all connected with this interesting
experiment will resolve to make it a permanent feature
in West Indian trade, and induce the English to
become as large consumers of bananas and other
tropical fruit as the people in the States.

Before closing my remarks upon the West Indian
fruit trade, I would mention that the growing of
fruit for export has initiated quite a new departure
in the methods of local trade. It is true that
fruit-growing in itself is somewhat uncertain, and
apt to suffer sudden reverses, but the fact remains
that it enables some thousands of sm.ill growers to
place land under cultivation and to utilise what othef'
wise would be simply wasted.

Again, a trade in fruit has introduced a systctB of
cash payments on the spot, with the result that the
cultivator is placed at ouoe in possession of means
for continuing planting operations and CJitending them
to the fullest extent. As a case iu point I might meu'
tion that the fruit trade in Jamaica is the means of
circulating nearly 250,000?. annually, amongst all classes
of the community, and this large sum is immediately
available, without the vexatious delays formerly et'
perienced in establishing other and more permanent
industries. Bananas, for instance, come into bearing
in about fifteen or eighteen months from the time of
planting, and as the return is usually from 1(1?. to 20?.
per acre, the planter is able, with a comparatively
small capital, to establish his land in cocoa, coffee>
outme(;9| limas, oraages^ wad coconuts, y/Ukh wboi^

the bananas are exhausted, will remain a permanent
source of revenue. It is on thi* aCi^ount that I look
upon the fruit trade of the West India islands, a
indeed many other small industries, as calculated in th ■
aggregate to baild up, little by little, and impr ve 1
cOQilition for the people of these islands — a con-
dition which ultimately will enable them to meet
much more successfully than they otherwise would
the depress on under which they are now suffering.

PEESRRVED FRUIT.

In my previous remarks I have not touched part"
icularly on preserved fruits, and on such special pre"
parations as jams, jellies, and candied fruits. Where
fresh fruit is abundant, local circumstances will deter-
mine, whether that fruit can best be utilised in a
fresh or preserved state. For Oolonies beyond reach
of a convenient market for fresh fruit, and where
sugar pf good quality is obtainable at a moderate
price, it would, no doubt, as at Singapore, be advis-
able to preserve such fruits in syrup, and export
them in that state. Taking the preserved fruits at
the Colonial and Indian Exhibition as fair samples of
productions in this class, the general impression
produced was not satisfactory. Pineapples from Singa-
pore and Bahamas were an exception, and appeared
to be fairly appreciited. Bat mxny other pre.served
fruits were not presented in an attractive and satisfactory
manner, and, compared with the general character of
preserved fruits received ia this country from California,
they were deciiedly inferior. This arose from various
causes, but it ia only necessary to mention here that
the syrup was generally too thick, the quality of sugar
used too low, and the fruit generally was put up
when too ripe, and consequently the flavour was lost.
Those who undertake to preserve fruits should obtain
a tin of Califoruian Bartlett pears, and carefully
study the nature of the syrup and the excellent man-
ner n which both the flavour and consistency of the
fruit are preserved intact. I mention this as the
highest standard I know of what a canned fruit should
be. If tropical fruit coul 1 be preserved with such
success as the Californiau fruit I have just mentioned,
it would commind relatively high prices. Sach pre-
parations as guava jelly and lovi-lovi jelly (the latter
from the fruit of Flacourtia inermis) would become
recognised articles of commerce, if prepared by ex-
perienced and skilled persons.

As regards jams, there is practically no market for
those from the Colonies. The abundance of E iglish
and continental fruit suitable for jam-making, and
th^ low price of sugar, enable Euglish-made jams to
be the cheapest, and possibly the best, of any.

There is, on the other hand, a good opening for
attractive and tastefully-prepared candied and crystal-
lised fruits, which come to us now chiefly from
France. Of candied limes, oranges, kuraquat, ro^e-
apple, loquat, shaddock, coconut, guava, mango, skil-
fully prepared, and with the characteristic flavour
of each duly preserved, there would arise a moderate
demand; but, as they would enter into competition
with candied fruit.s now so successfully prepared by
ihe French, thii? is a fine art department in fruit
itsdustry in which the Colonies can only attain succes's
when they have devoted considerable attention to
ihe subject,

There is no reason, however, why they should not
S,t once enter upon preaerving their best fruits in
syfup, and as I have pointed out above, their chief
cort!petit<3r in this brancn Is California, which has
established a T'eputation not easily to be surpassed.

Binanas would appear not to be palatable preserved
in syrup, on account of a slight astringency which
is developed in them, and, in competition with fi?s,
th'y are practically unsaleable in a dried state. Hence
l.h»» truit at present is only marketable iu a fresh
state. A proposal has been made to inaport bananas
in pulp for the purpose of making champagne. Bat
if fruit pulp, that is, fruit reduced by partial boiling
and preserved with salicylic or boracic acid were to
become a commercial article, I believe this plan would
utilise an enormous quantity of fruit which is now
i»apt«d for want of a proper outlet. Fruit pulp, if

imported in large cask^, might be very successfully
treated iu this country, where sugar is so cheap ; and
the conserve made from it could easily be put up in
neat and attractive bottles and sold at a moderate
price. In the Colonies, strange to say, sugar is much
denrer than iu England, even in those that grow sugar.
Re.^ined sugar has to bo imported, and generally costs,
for instance in Jamaica, as much as 5d. to 7d. per lb.
Again, attractive tins or well stoppered bottels would
be fully one-third more than in England : hence, it
is almost impD.ssible for the Colonies to compete with
the Mother Country in any preparations of fruit
preserved with s>igar. With fruit pulp simply packed
in casks the ease is different: and I r:ommend the
subject both to fruit-growers in the Colonies and to
m rchanta at home in search of a new industry.
Some hundreds of tons of bananas, where the bunches
are too small for export, and several thousand tons
of mango puip could be exported from Jamaica, to
say nothing of guavas, pineapples, red plums (Spoodias),
star-apples and naseberries.

PACKI.'^G AND SHIPPING FBESH FRUIT.

Before closing my Paper it might be useful to
growers of fruit in the Colonies to say a few words
as rejjards the various methods adopted for selecting
and preparing fresh fruit for export purposes. When
fruit is produced in large quantities, ' and it possesset
a distinct value in foreign markets, it is a matter
which concerns the Government, no less than the
people geuerally, to take everj' step that is practicable
and suitable to place that fruit in such a market in
the best possible condition. Great care is taken
generally in the preparation of crops of sugar, coffee,
cacao, pimento, tobacco, ginger, and other produce ;
but the careful and scientific treatment of fruit,
although capable of yielding returns proportionately
quite as large as many of these, is practically over-
looked, and C'lusequently the loss entailed upon both
growers and shippers is enormous. The fruit growers
of America, France, Spain, and Italy, who at present
command the English market, have given for many
years past the most careful attentiou to the subject,
and the result is seen in the large sums which they
realise for their shipments and the general prosperity
of their industries. It is clearly not enough to grow
good fruits, but it is necessary also to study carefully
how and when they should be packed, under what
conditions they should be shipped, aud the special
requirements of buyers in the markets to which they
are consigned. Those who study these matters most
thoroughly and effectually must reap their reward in
good prices, and their marks would become in time so
well known and trusted as to be firmly established. It
would be impossible here to enter into practical
details respecting the treatment of each class of fruit.
As regards apples : given fruit of attractive appearance
and f^ood quality, they might, as in America and
Canada, be racked iu barrels witlnut paper, but so
arranged as to lie iu tiers and keep firmly together to
prevent rubbing or bruising. Apples from Australia
and New Zealand of the more delicate sorts would be
better wrapped in paper, aud with the layers divided
by thin strips of cardboard or wood. The best New
Zealand apples arrived last year packed in chaff, but
it is a question whether this is really necessary. Fears
might be wrapped in paper and packed in two or three
layers in light boxes.

Oranges for the American market are preferred hand-
picked and with a portion of the stem attached, which)
it is believed, ensures better keepir.g qualities, aud they
are carefully wrapped in soft tissue paper and packed
in boxes or barrels. For the Euglish market " stem-cut *'
oranges are not speciallj' sought ; but the plan might
very well be tried by Australian growers, to test whether
such oran^'es arrive in better condition than those
without stem.

Pineapples will keep very well for ten or twelve days
without special stowage. The best fruit received in
England from the Azores and Madeira is packed one
;or two in a compartment in a light bo.'c, or in flat cases
with about ten or a dozen fruits. Early in the season
tbey fetch as high asSi to Si, each, but sometirass

April i, 1887.] I'HE TROPI.CAL AGRICULTURIST.

599

only 2s. 6d. each. Pineapples for the American market
from the West Indies are packed in barrels, and some-
times in bulk, but the loss, which in both cases is
great, might be saved by packing in light boxes or cold
storage. Grapes are largely received in England during
the winter months, and they come chiefly from Spain,
packed in corkdust, in barrels or half-barrels. They
fetch from 10s. to 20s. per barrel. Growers in Australia
and the Cape would do well to ship only the best
fruit, known to keep well, and possibly they would
find paper the best substitute for cork-dust. OhafF
packing or ordinury sawdust would appear not to
answer. <

So far, I have said nothing respecting special storage
for fruit during transit. This is a subjefct which has
already received some attention, but it is evident that
special chambers in fast-going steamers will become
a necessity, if trade in fresh fruit between the Colonies
and the Mother Country is to be thoroughly successful.
The question of storing fruit to keep during long
Toyages has often been discussed, and numerous experi-
ments have been tried, with results more or less satis-
factory. In the first place, it is absolutely necessary
that all perishable fruits intended to be shipped should
be gathered before they are ripe. The exact condition
when export fruit should be gathered requires some
experience ; but it is understood in the West ludian
expression of " full fruit." It is necessary the fruit
should have attained its maturity as regards size, but
not in the elaboration of the juices, which gives it its
ultimate sweet flavour. What is sought by a special
chamber on board ship is to retard the ripening process of
the fruit as much as possible without affecting its flavour
— in fact, to keep the active principles of life in the
fruit in such a state of suspense that it will travel long
distances before the ripening process is accomplished.
The question is: How can this be done most
cheaply and efficaciously ? In some experiments tried
on board the S.S. '•Jvanhoe," trading between Jamaica
and New York, a chamber was fitted to contain
nothing but nitrogen gas It was believed that if,
deprived altogether of oxygen, the fruit could not
ripen, or, in other words, it could not undergo the
slow combustion which is a necessary concomitant
to the process of ripening. This experiment, although
interesting in itself, failed, because its promoters
overlooked a well-known fact in vegetable physiology.
They found that while the outer-portion of the fruit
by means of nitrogen gas was kept from ripening,
the inner cellular portions sot up a state of incipient
fermentation, which rendered the fruit at the end
of the voyage absolutely worthless. Of other ex-
periments I need not speak here. So far as we can
gather at present, it would appear that a cool and
well-ventilated chamber, in which the temperature
is kept uniformly '.ow, and in which the air is fairly
dry, is the most efficacious of any for the transport
of perishable fruits.

Probably the first successful attempt to import
fresh tropical fruit in a specially, prepared or cool
chamber was made by Messrs. Scrutton, Sdus & Co.,
of Gracechurch Street, in the S.S. "Nonpareil," in
May 1886. The consignment consisted of 400 bunches
of bananas, some sapodilla, the bell-apple or water-
lemon, and loquat. In subsequent consignments there
were brought bananas, pine-apples, alligator pears,
bread-fruit, papavr, limes, oranges, and tomatoes.
These fruits were brought from JBritish Guiana, and
arrived in excellent condition after a voyage of
twenty-one days. The cool chamber on board the
" Nonpareil " had a capacity for nearly 1,200 bunches
of bananas, and by means of a refrigerating machine
fitted by Haslam, of Derby, a dry equable temper-
ature of about 39 to 41 degrees was maintained
during the whole voyage. This is probably the lowest
temperature necessary for fruits, otherwise it would
be frozen and possibly be spoiled. A regular tem-
perature of about 45 degrees might, under ordinary
circumstances, be sufficient to keep well-selected
and not over-ripe fruit in good condition, and espe-
cially if provision is made for keeping the air in
the chamber as dry as possible. Excess of moisture
01- want of proper ventilation very quickly affects
fruit in those chamberB, and hence it is only by

careful and systematic experiments the required con-
ditions can be exactly obtained.

If cool chambers for fruit could be provided at
a reasonable cost, there is no doubt that they would
greatly enlarge the prospects of a trade in fresh
tropical and sub-tropical fruits between the Colonies
and the Mother Country. As noticed above, a pro-
posal has been made by growers in South Australia
to engage a cool chamber on board the Orient
steamers to bring fruits to this country during the
present year, and similar arrangements are in course
of being made by other Colonies. We shall then, I
believe, enter upon a distinctly practical phase of
our subject, and the results will, I hope, be as satis-
factory to our brethren in the Colonies as they will
be beneficial and full of promise to ourselves. — ■
Colonics and India.

A Correspondent writes to an Indian paper as
follows on Wooden Labels for Trees :— The following
method of preserving wooden labels that are to be
used on trees or in exposed places is recommended :—
Thoroughly soak the pieces of wood in a strong
solution of sulphate of iron; then lay them, after
they are dry, in lime water. This causes the for-
mation of sulphate of lime, a very in.soluble salt, ia
the wood. The rapid destruction of the labels by the
weather is thus prevented. Bass mats, twine, and
other substances used in tying or covering up trees
or plants, when treated in the same manner, are
similarly preserved. At a recent meeting of the
Horticultural Society in Berlin wooden labels thus
treated were shown which had been constantly ex-
posed to the weather during two years without being
affected thereby.— Journcd of Horticulture.

We have received some packets of Gishurstine
from the Belmont Works of Price's Patent Candle
Company, reminding us of coming winter and the
necessity for providing against wet feet. Ever since
this useful preparation has been introduced we have
used it, and found it of the greatest comfort in pro-
tecting boots from the eflfects of wet. But there is
another use we applied some of it to, which the pro-
prietors of it may not be aware of. We added about
one-third of petroleum oil, and in tliis mixture we
rubbed up some red lead, xorming a paste of the
consistency of cream. This we rubbed on wooden
labels before writing on them with Wolff's pencil,
and we have found the writing last as long as the
label. It soaks into the wood and enables the pfncil
to make an indelible stain. — Journal of Horticulture.

One plant frequently met with on the siignr plant-
ations in the North is the Caladium esculentutn, an
aquatic plant, which furnishes the large Tare root
so well known to the Sandwich Islanders and the
natives of other groups of islands in the Pacific. It
is common on the Johnstone River and many places
further north, and appears to be as thrifty as could
be desired in those localities. Like rice, marshy ground
suits it best, but, like that cereal, it can be grown
on well cultivated land without much water. C iladium-
like, the large arrow-shaped leaves rise on high foot
stalks immediately from the roots; but, although the
leaf and stalks are very agreeable to the tas-te, they
are seldom eaten, as they are used for the purpose-!
of propagation, these when severed from the root
and ioserte 1 in thoroughly moist soil or mud pro-
ducfl in six months a h>>rvest of roots. It is estimated
that 1,500 persons can be fed on the produce
of a single square mile; but unless this estimate re-
presents the entire food of that number of persons
there does not appear to be much that is extraord-
inary in it. In those islands where it is common
the natives make thick paste out of the root; and
this, under the name of poe, forms their staple article
of diet. The South Sea Islanders are remarkably fond
of making a patch of cultivation somewhere for them-
selves on the plantations in the North and growing
a few sweet potatoes and their old f(ivourite, the
taro. — Queendo.iider,

7do

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST [Apml t, mi.

Ox the Devonshire coast, a sea-grass Poryhyra-
laciniata) is boiled, chopped, mixed with a small
portion of oatmeal, and made into bread, which
keeps from four to eight days, and is much used
by the poor Welsh people, most of it being sent
to Swansea. — Am. Grocer,

The strongest intoxicating liquor in the world
is probably " Sham-sho," used by the natives of
Burmah, and said to be made of rice and lime.
It is so powerful that it will dissolve a Martini-
Henry bullet in thirty minutes, and its ravages
among the natives are stated to be most de-
plorable.— Ihid.

A new industry has been started in Vermont
for collecting the cones of the white or spruce
pines and extracting the seeds from them, which
are then sent to France, Germany, and other
parts of Europe, to renew the forests there that
have been cut down. Each bushel of cones yields
about two pounds of seed. — Ihid.

Close and Open Forest Planting. — In order to
test the advantages or disadvantages of planting at
various distances, some experiments were instituted in
Germany some twenty-five years ago, and the results
have recently been made known. An area of about fifty
acres of the same average quality of soil and the
same exposure was planted, in ten-acre portions, at
distances ranging from four feet by four feet to
twelve feet by twelve feet. Careful measurement has
recently been made of the timber in each plot, and
the following table is alleged to show the results in
t-ach case. —

Average Accretion

Width of Planting. in the 2Eth Year.

4x4 feet . . . 181-4

6x6 „ . . . 152-3

8x8 „ . . . 137-3

10 X 10 „ . . . 136-4

12x12 „ . . . 112-9

It would appear from these figures that the crop
decreases in propotion as the width between the
plants is increased at planting time. But there is much
besides this meagre statement of the results at
tweuty-fivB years after planting required to enable us
fully to understand the value of this important ex-
periment in arboricultural practice. The management
of the several portions of the fifty acres under ex-
periment during the twenty-five years must form an
indispensable factor in coming to any conclusion as
to the value of these figures, which are put forward
as the ultimate result of the comparative experiment.
— Journal oj Forestry.

Wood Ashes and theib Uses. — We have had ample
means of testing the value of wood ashes or char-
red earth, both as a means of warding off the at-
tacks of slugs and other garden pests from tender
vegetables, and as a material for enriching the soil
and consequently accelerating growth. The old
remedy, freshly-slaked lime, if used in excess, is
positively injurious to some crops, and after it has
lain on the damp soil a short period it loses its
burning character, and then slugs pass over it with
impunity. Ashes of every kind have been used, bai
more especially those from wood fires, and we strongly
recommend that every kind of garden refuse be con-
verted into ashes by burning it. At this season of
the year, when the thinning of shrubberies is generally
receiving attention, any or every kind of trim-
mings may be converted into valuable ashes, as when
once a good bonfire is kindled, and a glowing red
heat is obtained — no matter how green the wood and
leaves may be — the fire will burn away as fiercely as
the driest straw-stack, if kept constantly fed with
fresh material until the whole is consumed ; and there
is therefore no more certain way of getting rid of
noxious weeds, such as couch grass, bind-weeds, docks,
etc., than that of passing them through the fire, as
it destroys all seeds that generally abound in rubbish
heaps that have been rotted away by the slow process
of fermentation, — Journal of Forestry.

Increase of Strength in Timber by Seasonino,
ETC. — It is stated as a curious fact, by a writer in
the Bidliiny News, that one of the properties especi-
ally conducive to durability in timber is its odori-
ferousuess —woods which are of this character being
the most durable. The name authority states that
the increase in strength due to seasoning in different
woods IK as follows . — Whito pine, f) per cent ; elm,
12-3 per cent; oak, 266 per cent; ash, 44-7 per cent;
beech, 61-9 per cent. The comparative value of differ-
ent woods, in respect to crushing strength and
stiffness, is thus shown : Teak, 6555 ; p:ngli8h oak,
4074 ; ash, 3571 ; elm, 3468 ; beech, 3079 ; mahogany,
2571 ; spruce, 2532 ; yellow pine, 2193 ; sycamere,
1833; cedar, 700. Regarding the relative degree of
hardness, shellbark hickory stands highest, and call-
ing that 100, white oak is 84 , whit"? ash, 77 ; dog-
wood, 75 ; white hazel, 72 ; apple, 70 ; red oak, 69 ;
beech, 65; black walnut, 65; yellow oak, 60; white
elm, 58 ; hard maple, 56 ; white cedar, 56 ; yellow
pine, 54. Ironwood, hornbeam, almond, hard beech,
teak, and thorn are of notable hardness, and, of
course, very serviceable where that quality is
essential. The finest floors are said to be seen in
Russia. For those of the highest grade, tropical
woods are exclusively employed. Fir and pine are
never used, as in consequence of their sticky character
they attract and retain dust and dirt, and thereby
soon become blackened. Pitch pine, too, is liable to
shrink, even after being well seasoned. The mosaic
wood floors in Russia are often of extraordinary beauty.
One in the Summer Palace is of small squares of
ebony inlaid with mother-of-pearl. A considerable
trade is done in Dantzic and Riga by exporting
small blocks of oak for parquet floors. — Journal of
Forestry.

Mechanism of a Teke. — A tree { and I beg my
readers to follow this attempt at explanation closely —
all depends upon it ) receives its nourishment from
the roots. These correspond to the mouth iu the
human frame. Now, as in the human frame the nour-
ishment received is, after being supplied to the blood,
exposed to the operation of air in the lungs before
it is fit to give material to the body, so in a tree,
the nourishment taken in at these tree mouths, the
roots, passes to the lungs of the tree, and there, by
contact with the air, is rendered fit to supply fresh
material to the tree. These tree lungs are the leaves.
This operation is effected by the passage upward from
the soil around the roots, through the trunk, the
branches, and every twig of the tree to the leaves, of
a large quantity of water, containing in solution the
nutriment for the tree. Arrived at the leaves, a
process takes place which separates, by means of con-
tact with the air, most of the water the roots had
taken in, from the valuable nutriment, and throws
off, in vapour, the surplus water into the air. At this
time certain constituent portions of the air are utilized
and mingled with the nourishment retained. This is
all, now a small portion in comparison with what had
arisen from the roots, yet retaining enough water to
serve as a vehicle back, returned toward the roots,
depositing in its way, in leaf, bark, and root, what
is needed there for the growth of the tree. In these
they undergo, especially in the bark, further fitting
and digesting processes before they assimilate with the
substance of the tree- The water which was retained
to L-arry them down, being no longer needed, passes
out at the roots. Of the extent of the provison made
for evaporation by the leaves, some idea may be formed
from a consideration of the number of stomata
or stomates to be found in the leaves of plants. The
number varies iu different plants, for which vari-
ation a reason may be found in the different conditions
ol ijrowth to which they are subjected in their several
natural habitats. In the back of the leaf of the apple
tree there are about twenty-four thousand stomates
to the square inch. In the leaf of the lilac there are a
hundred and sixty thousand of them to the square
inch. In the leaves of the cherry-laurel there are
none on the upper surface of the leaf, but ninety thou-
sand have been counted on the lower surface. — Journal
of Fvrestri/.

April i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

701

THE RED SPIDER- -SO CALLED.

BY A. VEITCH.

At a meeting of the Society of Florists in Cincinnati
one of the speakers is reported to have said, when
the subject of plant enemies was imder consideration,
" That it is customary to abuse and misuse the weak.
This is the case with that small but beautiful in-
sect, the red spider. Like other spiders it is carni-
vorous and never ate a plant in its life. Micros-
copic insects come to live upon the plants and the
red spider to live upon them. It is a friend not a foe."
This statement we regard as made up of fact and
fiction iu about equal parts. It is true the spider is
carnivorous and is in no way dependent upon plant
food for subsistence ; but the creature referred to here
is not a spider, but an Acarus or mite, and lives
exclusively upon vegetable products. In zoological
classification they both belong to the class Arachnida,
but the might is iu the order Trachearia, the spider
in that of Puhnonaria. The function of breathing iu
the two orders is different. In the mite it is per-
formed by air tubes distributed through the body,
whilst in the spider the air is admitted by spiricles
situated on the abdomen, and which are lined by a
membrane plaited into numerous folds, which resemble
gills. On these characters is founded the subdivision
of the class into pulmonary and tracheary Arachnidia.
But apart from all technicalities anyone with a
good pocket lens might satisfy himself that the pests
of gardeners differ in important particulars from the
spider. The head and breast, or thorax, of the spider
is connected with the abdomen by a slender cord, as
in insects. It has eight eyes, and the same number
of legs, besides two short arm-like projections, or
palpi, with which to catch and to hold its prey.
The body of the mite is not so divided ; is somewhat
oval in form and tapering to the head, which is ter-
minated by a syphon or sucker, with which to ex-
tract the juices of plants. It has six legs, but by
undergoing a transformation similar to insects an
extra pair is not unfrequeutly acquired. The body is
transparent, with dark vein-like ramifications along
the back which we take to bo the trachea. The
aged females only are red, which may have given
rise to the popular name by which they are known.
They spin webs, but not so artistically as spiders do,
as they seem chiefly designed for nests, or, when the
workers are unmolested, convenient residences for
large communities ; whereas the web of the spider
is not only a snug retreat in times of danger, but
a base from which to operate against enemies as well
as a snare to entrap unwary flies or other creatures
upon which it feeds. New Haven, Conn., 1st, 1885.
— Gardenera' 3Ionthly.

♦ —

INTER-DEPENDENCE OF RAINFALL AND TEA
PRODUCTION IN INDIA AND CEYLON.

The figures placed at our disposal by Mr. Hogarth
shewing the rainfall and tea production on typical
properties in India, deserve a more extended notice
than we gave them. With some exceptions they
shew that the winter months, December to Febru-
ary, inclusive, which are generally almost entirely
rainless, are blank months as regards tea produc-
tion ; while March, in which flushing recommences
after the pruning of November and the rest of the
cold weather, and even April, shew but small re-
sults. The real tea season is the season of summer
heat and monsoon rains which extends from May to
October. In some cases, as we mentioned, fully 40
per cent of the whole crop is gathered in the two
months of July and August, the very months in
which generally, nearly a similar per centage of the
total rainfall occurs. For India, therefore, it may
be regarded as an established principle, that the
tea harvest is not only in proportion to the amount
of rainfall, but synchronous with the laniy season.
Here, in Ceylon, owing to our insular position, our
proximity to the equator, our place in the tracks
of the two monsoons, and the consequent moisture
held in suspension in the atmosphere for tho iarfre

portion of the year, our seasons are not so sharply
defined and our^ tea harvest is distributed much
more evenly over the year. We should be glad to
receive returns from particular properties to com-
pare with those from India, but meantime general
results may be deduced from the following table of
monthly exports of tea from the island since the
new product commenced to assert its position in
our commerce : —

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702

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April i, 1887.

It will be observeil thit oui' Sguraa, made up from
the Chamber of Oommerce returns, -ihew some dis-
crepancirss when compired with the Customs figures
in the Blue Book, which are higher in every case,
but the differences do not affect the general results.
These are that the bulk of our tea goes
forward between April and September, the
heaviest average figures being opposite May
and July. This would seem to prove that our
best flushing months are April and June. Taking
it for granted that the produce exported in one
month was harvested m that preceding, our heavy-
yielding season extends, not as in India from May
to October, but from March (which is not generally
the month of drought it has been this year), to
August. In those six months (going on the prin-
ciple of crediting the export of one month as the
growth of the month preceding, we get for our
summer seasons the following averages : —

March ,,233,200

April ... ... ,,584.400

May ,,244,000

June ,,344,800

.July ,,229,700

August ... ... „ 19i5,oOO

Total... lb. 1,532,100
Of course these are the averages of the seven
years. And so, going on the same principle of
throwing back the export figures one month, we
get for our six winter months, figures as follows : —
December ... ... lb. 141,300

January ... ... „ 116,000

February ... ... ,,159,000

September „ 142,600

October ... ... ,,174,700

November ... ... ,,152,600

Total... „ 886,200

It thus appears that if April and June are the
best yielding months in Ceylon, December and
January give the lowest returns. The figures also
seem to prove not far short of two-thirds of the
tea produced in Ceylon is gathered in the south-
west monsoon period, March to August. This is
a result which will probably be considerably modi-
fied when the produce of Uva begins appreciably
to affect our returns. Meantime, the exact per-
centages are : —

March to August . . C3 per cent.

Sept. to Feb. . . 37 „ „

If the year is divided into quarters, December-toFeb-
ruary quarter gives by far the lowest yield ; September-
to-November follows with some improvement; March-
to-May comes third, but the total in this quarter
is so slightly below that for June-to-August, that
they may be regarded as almost equal.

While production in Ceylon is perennial, there is
a real lull in the two marked winter months, De-
cember and January, while the proportion of thp
harvest gathered in the six months September 0
February, is not t^reatly in excess of one-thir'l he
quantity collected between March and August. Our
most pro uctive three months are :

Apri wi'b ;in avcr-ge of lb. 284,400
Mny ... ... „ 244,000

June ... ... „ 344,000

Total ... „ 872.400

Or considerably more in these three months, than
in the six months, September to February. While our
best yielding three months are April to June, in
most parts of India, the three following months, July
to September, are those in which the greatest re-
turns are obtained, one half the whole crop being
often gathernd in those three months. In our
case only a little over one-third is gathered in three
months, the rest being so distributed that we have no
blank months,

LONDON NOTES ON PRODUCE: TEA
AND COFFEE.

There are complaints again as to the quality of
Indian teis. The Grocer, referring to last week's sales,
says: — The quality of the tea now on offer seems to
be further deteriorating, as the proportion of common
to fine grades almost daily increases; and as continued
plentiful supplies are put forward, this week amount-
ing to 23 050 packages, the public sales have gone off
with greater heavmess at again rather easier prices.
The market altogether is in a much weaker position
than before, as not only have the dealers heavy
stocks on hand still undisposed of, but the demand
from the country is decidedly less active, and orders
to buy tea are given with great reluctance. Fine
teas sell tolerably well, but all undesirable and poor
liquoring sorts have been realised with difficulty at
a frequent reduction of ^d to Jd per lb.

The price current of Messrs. Recker and Lee, of
Galveston, Texas, contains the following remarks anent
true and false cofiee, which are distinctly " pointed ":
— There is nothing more saddening to the earnest
Christian mind than the recipes for making coffee that
are given in American cookery books. With hardly
an exception, they direct that coffee should be boiled.
As well might a Fijian cookery book direct that a
missionary should be stewed. Coffee never was, and
never can be, made by boiling it. The Americans are
a nation of coffee drinkers. The annual consumption
in the United States represents over one-third of the
entire product of the world ; so that the pressing
necessity of obtaining good coffee, and knowing how
to make it, is of great importance. Thomas J. Mur-
rej"^, the well-known caterer, author and gourmet, in
a recent communication on the subject of coffee in
the South, pathetically remarks: — "What oath-
breeding formuU is followed by these coffee-spoilers I
am unable to say, but it must be a very complicated one
to be able to convert a wholesome beverage into the
vilest compound ever tasted by man or beast." This
uncomplimentary, but unhappily too tru", reflection
ia largely due to using rank, low-priced Brazil coffee.
However, a gleam of hope appears on the horizon
towards an evolution in this respect, and the demand
for rich, mild coffee is stt>adily increasing. It is a
remarkable fact that the coffee of a nation is clo.sely
associated with its religion. Speaking broadly and
geuerally, it may be said that true or infused coffee
is the result of Catholicism, and that false or boiled
coffee is the result of Protestantism. France, Italy,
and Spain produce true coffee ; while England, America,
and Germany boil their coffee. Even in the latter
Countries, when true coffee is found, it is where Pro-
testantism is weak. Higli Church households in this
country and in England frequently drink real coffee ;
on the other hand, it must be confessed that Catholic
Ireland is as ignorant of coffee as is Oalvinistic Scot-
land ; and for this exception to the general rule there
is as yet no adequate explanation.

♦

JAVA TEA.

Messrs. Gow. Wi'so i and Stanton have -ssaed a cir-
cular, with diagram, s owing thi- qu ntity import and
defivery of Java tea, d ring the last six y -.rs.

IsSl l!-82 1 88

Imports I,n6,00i 2,15^00^ 3 0 7,000

Deliveries 1,3 5 000 1,78 ,iO) 2 8 3,00}

Stjcb ai,0J0 751,' Oi) 9 4,003

18.^4 li^S) 1 86

Imports 3,5^6,0 0 3,3t4,i00 3,946,000

Deliveries 3,70,^,010 3,537,<'00 3, 76,000

Stock 87.=.,5iiO G7(V'00 _ '.'44,000

Our .liagram shows a marked inrreaae in the ar-
rivals of Java tea hi L mdon daring the set ond and
third quarters of 18S6. The above figures ar- interest-
iiie as showing a gradual d'-velopment of the trade, the
u. liveries keeping p:ice pretty evenly with the arrivals.

The direct imp jrts tn-m Java to London during
'880 were the heaviest yet recorded. As large quan-
tities have also been shipped from Java to other coun-
tries besides England, it is probable that the yield per
acre during the past year shows an increase over recent

Apml I, iBBy,1 f HE f KOmCAL AGRfCULTURIST.

yo^

iWB^^Mi>ifliii IWI^ 1 WfclWl li^iiB

seasons ; it is to be hoped that growers have by this
means been to some extent compensated tor the low
range of prices current. The contraction in value of
Java tea, however, has not been so great as in teas from
some other places. Java teas are consumed in so
many different markets that the demand from one
quarter or another will generally retard a serious and
sudden decline in prices, when caused by a drop
in similar grades of teas from other countries. This
cause has tor some time past maintained the value of
Java pekoes at a comparatively higher range of prices
than Indian growths ; it has also frequently retarded
— and at a certain period checked — a decline in the
value of Oongous and Souchongs which might other-
wise have been more pronounced. The wide area
over which Java tea is distributed thus acts as a
great and continuous safeguard. The value of broken
pekoes has been greatly interfered with by the un-
settled state of affairs in Ireland, where tucy were
atone time largely consumed, and this class of tea
being taken in fewer foreign markets than whole leaf
descriptions, has probably suffered to as great an
extent as Indian growths. Broken pekoes, however,
are now becoming more used in some of the
Continental markets. Quality. — Looking back over
the past twelve months we note with some regret
the poor average quality of a large proportion of the
offerings ; this is specially unfortunate at a time when
super-abundance of weak liquoring teas had been arri-
ving from other locaities, and had already seriously
depressed the market for the lower grades. Future
prospects. — The brightest spot in the year is noticed in
a few consignments which have stood out pre-eminently
over the rest as being unquestionably grown from good
Indian seed, and being manufactured with the greatest
attention to quality, accompanied by i^killed and care-
ful manipulation. The future of the Java tea trade
must be largely influenced by the liquoring character of
the tea, and now that imports from India have so
largely increased, and that there is every reason t'^
anticipate a still greater addition to the tea harvest in
Ceylon, this matter of qualify may become one of vital
importance to proprietors of tea estates. We would
therefore, again impress upon owners the advisability
of planting (jood Indian seed, and neglecting no op-
portunity of utilising every appliance for efficient
manufacture, and for greater economy, vrhich the
most recent scientific researches have placed within
their reach. Bulking in Java, has perhaps shown some
improvement during the past year, but still requires ad-
ditional attention in many factories. The subject is of
greater importance now than over as an additional charge
has been imposed for the performance of this operation
in England. Averat^e price; the 56,490 packages of
direct import sold in public auction during the year
realised an average of 9\A.; the average for the 31,473
packages sold during the first six months of the year
being 9|d., and of the 25,017 packages sold during the
last six months being Sfd. In 1885, 45,272 packages
of Java tea of direct import were printed for puhlic
auction ; the equivalent in chests being 39,418. In 1886
the quantity had increased to 56,490 packagee, the
equivalent in chests being 48,038,

AGJKICULTUKE ON THE CONTINENT OF

EUEOPE,

{Special Jyittn:)

Paris, February 19.
uerniau fanrJers are discussing a not unimportant
question, namely, whether large or small-breed cows
are best for milking purposes. Starting from the
term of 8 or 10 years, during which the keeping of
a milch cow is remuuerativOj and comparing "the
relative cost of their feeding and difference in live
weight when finally slaughtered for the market,
which of the two classes of cows will be ou the
vvhole the most profitable to keep, assuming the
yield of milk in each case to be equal ? Take two
pows whose live weight is 8 and Vl cwt. respect-
ively. After utilizing their milking powers during
8 or 10 years, will the superiority iu live weight,
lift^ i cwt. when laaudedl pver to the butcber, balauce

or surpass the ]L;i.c:itcr cost of food cousumed by
the heavier animal pending ten years ?

It is roughly estimated that a cow requires for
sustenance 'ij lb. of dry matters— that science so
selects for its standard — per hundredweight ; con-
sequently, a cow of 12 cwt. will require in rations
nine pounds of dry aubstancos more than the small
animal. In the course of a year the excess would
amount to 93 cwt., and if valued at fr. 2'50 per
cwt., the difference in money value would be per
annum 72 fr., or for ten years 720 fr. Now is there
any butcher to be found who would pay 720 fr. for
a live weight of 4 cwt. of a cow, after serving ten
years as a milk-producing machine? Conclusion
with German agriculturists: for milk industries
small, not large-sized stock, are to be preferred, as
they eat less into the bargain.

In France, as a rule, milk is never consumed
unboiled ; in Germany the contrary is the case.
Professor Eeichmann has determined the relative
digestibility of milk in both these states. Unboiled
new milk coagulates in the stomach five minutes
after it is swallowed ; iu the space of four hours
it is completely digested. The digestion is produeed
not by a ferment, but by an augmentation of lactic
juice and also of muriatic acid. The action of these
acids is at its maximum 75 minutes after the milk
descends into the stomach. Boiled milk requires
two hours and-a-half to be digested.

Dr. Kiiuig recommends the more general consump-
tion of butter-milk ; it is richer iu albuminoid mat-
ters which constitute the elements of nutrition than
either fresh or skimmed milk being 4 per cent, while
the others are but 3 ; naturally it is less rich iu
fatty matters, being under one per cent, while fresh
milk is 3§. Its taste indicates it contains less milk-
sugar, due to the latter being converted into lactic
acid. The stomach digests it quite as well as meat,
eggs, or whole milk, and in the neighbourhood of
towns or factories is in great demand, where it is
prepared as an appetizing and nourishing soup.

Since the close of the fifteenth century, when the
Moors were definitely defeated, till now, Spanish
agriculture remains in the same state. The realm
IS naturally rich, the climate excellent, yet the
population very sparse, does not raise sufficient cere-
als for its wants. At Florida, near Madrid, an
Agricultural College was commenced in 1h54; it is
still in course of construction, and will not be ter-
minated till the country possesses some solid gov-
ernment. It is what Liebeg wauld call the "vam-
pire system " of farming which is pursued. One
example sufhces for all. In the province of Murcia,
in the south-east of Spain, it is the old Roman
plough which is still in use. The noil is never
manured, being by nature rich ; the rotation is naked
fallow, followed by barley and wheat. There arc
no black cattle, so there is no manure ; there is uo
pasturage, save what the Merinos eke out in the
Sparta fieMs. Goats replace cows, and straw, hay.
Farm laborers are paid 2 fr., and women 1 fr, per
day. and are contented, bo as Sanoho Panza ob.
serves, when one is contented there's an end to the
matter.

The fallow receivea three primitive ploughbgs ;
in September the wheat is sown broadcast" and lightly
ploughed in, so that when the wheat rises, it has
the look of having been sown in lines, as the seed
falls towards the ridge of the furrow. As the farm-
steads are few and far between 8 to 10 miles dis-
tant, the owner never visits his fields from the time
of sowing the grain till he comes to scythe the
crop down iu June. When cut the grain lies 10
or 12 days ou the soil ; then is carted home. There
are no roads— the highway is the railroad. There
are no sjiring carts even for travelling.

The sheaves are opened out on a circular "thresh
ing " floor 66 feet in diameter; the layer of straw
is twelve inches thick; over this mass is dragged
by mules a kind of chaffer, consisting of Silcx knives
stuck in heavy blocks of wood. The result is
not only to shake out the grain, but to cut the straw
a series of riddlings separate the grain from the
laass. The straw 12 the jprovender for the nml«»

w

tm TnoPicAt A6ti6tt'tvniut, [ap&ii i, 1887.

mm

aud sheep; only rye Htraw is employed an litter.
In the absence of irrigation — and plenty of facilities
exist to execute it — there is neither grass land nor
green crops. The small quantity of manure from
the stabling of the mules is applied to the vine.

The culture of the vine is equally primitive ; there
ia one vine per each six square feet ; it receives
three tillages — between January and May, and one
manuring— stable stuff, every fifth year, on each side
of the vine alternately ; a trench '20 inches long, 8
wide, and 12 deep, receives 25 lb. of manure. The
preparation of the wine is simplicity itself. A re-
servoir in cement, cubing 60 feet, on a level with
the soil is filled with grapes and pressed down with
the hand. The mass remains thus during four days
to ferment, to allow the sugar to be converted into
alcohol. The juice is next run off, and the residue
carried to the press-vat, which also is the mill for
squeezing olives for oil. The vine is then collected
into deal vats ; German rye whiskey added to make
the liquid keep, and at once filled into barrels and
exported. The wine has now IH per cent alcoholic
strength, which the blenders water down to 8. The
residue of the winepress is either dried for fuel or
applied to the vines as manure. Were it distilled
as in France, it would yield ample alcohol to aave
^ German importations. The backwardness of Spanish
* agriculture may be judged by this fact ; many pro-
prietors are ignorant of the extent of their hold-
ings, as the latter have never been surveyed. It is
but just to add the State has promised to do so —
since four centuries.

The Agricultural Society of the Loire has taken
a step in the right direction ; it is arranging to
establish a farm, garden, and flower school to train
small farmers' daughters and servants, in all branches
of domestic economy, as applicable to their ex-
pectations in life. There is a j^reat demand for
educated helps in the rural districts, and superior
young women readily receive higher wages. The
school will effect another salutarjr end ; checking
the tendency of young women to immigrate to the
cities, in the hope to obtain higher paid employ-
ment, but which too often terminates in their ruin.
Good oaten straw, that is, free from rust and must,
is an important forage in the ration of milch cows.
Straw is accused of imparting a disagreeable flavour
to milk, and a tallowy character to butter. Such
may be produced by some other straws, or even by
that of oats if unsound. Experiments made in
Silesia confirm these views. In Schleswig-Holstein,
where the most scientific attention is given not only
to the preparation of butter, but to the feeding of
the cows, oaten straw enters into the rations of
milch stock in the proportion of 9 lb. per 9 cwt.
of live weight. Oaten straw in addition should be
chaffed and proportioned to the other rations.

The Russians have been the first to employ com-
pressed rations or cake-feed for horses during cam-
paigning. Since eighteen months trials have been
made with the fruit of the Sterculicr acnminr, or
" Kola," an alimentary product, native to North
Africa. Professor Heckel, of Marseilles, has pre-
pared cake food for horses, in which the Kola fruit
enters largely. He attributes to the Sterculia ex-
citing properties akin to oats; in the latter, the
stimulating element resides in the delicate pellicle
which coats the seed. The food has been tried on
cavalry horses at Marseilles and elsewhere, and with
satisfactory results. The exciting action on the
nerve muscles is only more immediately active in
the case of oats. The Sterculia cake is accepted as
able to replace one-half the feed of oats ; in other
words one pound of ordinary oats is equal to two
pounds of Sterculia.

In Belgium, Serradello culture continues to make
progress both as a fodder plant and for green manur-
ing. It is sown with winter rye in April, at the
rate of 33 lb. per acre. Cows prefer it to any other
kind of dry forage, and in nutritive composition it
treads closely on red clover. It is neither exacting
in point of soil ®r manure like clover. It produces
33 toua of green stuff per acre, and ploughed in ai>
a green pzauas^ ca>a be cso^tablyfoUoivfid by potaltMS.

An enormous quantity of bamboos has recently
been shipped to France, and the demand con-
tinues.— Japan Mall.

In Cask of Scalding. — In case a child or other
person should accidently drink scalding water, cod
liver oil and lime water, mixed in equal parts, should
be administered a teaspoonful at a time, to the scalded
throat, given slowly so the healing mixture trickles
down almost of itself. This not only heals the injured
part, but supports the strength of the child as food
would until other uourishments can be taken. — The
Farmer's Review, Dec. 1885

A Mixture of Zinc White with zinc chloride is
found to furnish a paint of great value both for wood
and metals, as it becomes very hard, and can be washed
or bru.shed without iujury, which qualities are, of course,
of prime importance. An essential precaution, how-
ever, to be ob.served in regard to this paint is not to
apply it in rainy or frosty weather, as it then becomes
mealy and scales off. — American Culfivafor, Jan. 1886.

Several interesting experiments were recently car-
ried on at the Cawnpore Farm, or "The Agricultural
Station," in the N. W. P. Notable among the experi-
ments was the use of wooU'-n refuse from the mills
as manure. This is probably the first occasion on
which this manure has ever been tried in India. The
experiment succeeded admirably with crops of all kinds,
and the mill-owners will, no doubt, be very glad to
get rid of the refuse, a.s it is of a highly inflammable
nature. Refuse from brick kilns, and ashes from
reeds, and grass cut green during the rains and buried,
were also tried as manures with success. The growth
of Nankin [cotton proved a failure, but the season was
unfavourable. — iJfadras Mail.

The Darjeeling Tea Season. — The tea season at
Parjeeling promises to be an early one. Rain has
fallen in all parts of the district during the past few
days, and in sufficient quantity to satisfy every re-
quirement. The trees on the less elevated parts are
quite green with new leaf, and several gardens an-
ticipate manufacturing in a few days. The cold
weather throughout has been moist, and with the
hard frost experienced in December should, with the
present seasonable spring, bring the leaf out strong
healthy, with a quick growth. A Darjeeling corre-
spondent writes : — " I should say from the forwardnes,
of the leaf that plucking will have begun by the 15th
instant on almost every garden in the district. The
oldest resident cannot recollect such favourable weather
for tea, and undoubtedly the severe frost experienced
during this cold season have done much to free the
gardens from blight. The gardens are quite clear of
the pests which have done so much harm in recent
years." — Tiines of India, 11th March.

Java Cinchona. — A well-known Java pro-
prietary planter is on a visit to Ceylon at present
in Mr. A. Kessler, who has a very large interest
in cinchona in Southern Java. This interest is
spread over some half-a-dozen estates and all but
one, consist solely of cinchona, of which as many
as 2,000 acres are cultivated. The exception is
a plantation which is divided between coffee and
cinchona. Mr, Kessler' s oldest trees are not above
five to six years, but he has already harvested a
good deal and got profitable returns. He and
other Java planters will, however, be shipping on
a much larger scale henceforward, and with a
quality of bark likely to be far richer than any
from Ceylon. Mr. Kessler thinks the returns recently
sent officially to Ceylon, of the area planted in Java
and the probable (juality of the bark, a fair ap-
proximation, and as a large holder he is naturally
anxious to see and learn about cinchona in Ceylon.
We bespeak for Mr. Kessler a courteous reception
during his trip through the Central Province com-
mencing today. He will first go to Kandy and
then up through the young districts, and, perhaps,
on to Uva. We trust he may have a pleasant
visit and gain a fair idua of the e:!itont nnder
cinchoiia bec«<

April t, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

1^0$

INTERDEPENDENCE OF EAINPALL AND
TEA PEODUCTION IN INDIA AND
CEYLON.

AN INDIAN planter's NOTES ON TEA IN CEYLON.

In our previous article we noticed the averages
of tea production in Ceylon for a series? of years
and for the months, quarters and half-years of the
period since tea became an important factor in our
export trade. Most of the tea being, as yet pro-
duced in the south-west of the island, it naturally
followed, looking at the influence of rainfall on
the production of leaf, that more than two-thirds
of our crop are harvested in the south-west mon-
soon months. We indicated that when Uva be-
comes, as it inevitably will, a large producer of
tea, the averages are likely to be disturbed.
Meantime it may be interesting to see in what
proporions monthly, quarterly and half-yearly the
crop of 1S8R was produced. (J-oing on the prin-
ciple of crediting the export of one month as the
yield of the previous month, we obtain the fol-
lowing results:—

Months Pounds Tea Percent-

Exported age.

January 364,500 452

February 530.500 658

March 1,003,600 12-43

April 815,800 10-11

May 687,400 8-52

June 1,132,000 14-02

July 778,000 9-65

August 474.300 5-88

September 476,300 578

October 626,000 7-76

November 413,000 5-12

December 777,000 9-63

Total

8,078,400

100-00

Average 673,200 8-33

It will be seen, from the above that March,
which is a month of very small yield in India,
was the second best month of J886 in Ceylon
while December which is blank in India gave us
9-68 per cent of our crop. Our best month is
June, then comes March, followed by April, July,
December and May. The period of greatest yield
in 1886 was from March to July, thus : —

March .. .. 1243 per cent.

April .. .. 1011

Msiy .. .. 8-52

June .. .. 14-02

July .. .. iV65

Total in 5 months 54-73
or considerably more than one-half, about the
proportion they get in India in June to September or
July to October. We differ essentially from India
in our appreciable percentages for December, Janu-
ary and February, viz. 9-63, 4-52 and 6-58=20-73
or with 12-43 for March ^33-16, or one-third of
the whole in the winter months.

On a future occasion we may hope to be able
to deal with the figures of tea production as com-
pared with rainfall on particular estates in Ceylon,
such as Mr. Hogarth placed at our disposal in
regard to typical "gardens" in the leading tea
districts in India. These we now proceed to notice.
Lukimpur gives the largest production of tea per
acre in any district in Assam or all India, Pre-
mising that the returns for rainfall are perfect
only from 1882, those of 1881 being imperfect
and 1880 being nil, the crop being given for the
6 years from 18^0 to 1885, while the rainfall is
shewn complete only for the four years 1882 to
1885, the monthly percentages of crop gathered |

and the averages of rainfall on a Lukimpnr estate
compare thus: —

Months. Mean percentage Average rainfall

of crop.
January ... Nil. ... 1"55

February ... „ ... 8-21

March ... -35 ... 4-20

April ... 2-243 ... 12-19

May ... 5-59 ... 11-46

June ... 12'915 ... 1255

July ... 19-2 ... 19-68

August ... 20-4 ... 20-34

September... 17-32 ... 14-79

October ... 14-42 ».. 4-19

November... 6-49 ... O-eo

December... 107 ... ^ 0'50

The average annual rainfall was lOG inches and as
our readers will observe, in this case well distributed.
Indeed, if more of the rainfall were concentrated
in .Tune and July, instead of falling in August and
September, the coincidence with the figures for
estates in Upper Dirabula would be very close. The great
difference is in the winter cold, which, in India, renders
production small from November to April, there being
but a slight recovery in May. June, July, August,
are the heaviest rainy months, and in those three
months more than half the whole crop is harvested.
All but a small percentage is gathered between
April and September, the other half of the year
from October to March yielding a percentage
which can scarcely pay for the gathering. But in
this case, we may say both rainfall and crops, are
more equally distributed over the months than is
the case in other places in Assam and Cachar. On
another estate in Lukimpur the tea season extended
from June to October, 389 per cent being gathered
in August and September, in which months over
28 inches out of an annual average of 95-5 fell,
•n this case also crop and rainfall closely coincide.
On an estate in Sylhet, where the bulk of the rain-
fall occurred between May and October, the vast
bulk of the crop was gathered between Juno and
November, the heavy months being July to October.
For an estate in Cachar with an annual rainfall
of 107 inches, there are complete figures for monthly
averages of rainfall and pejcentages of crop for
the (5 years from 1880 to 1885, and in this case it
will be seen the tea season extends from April to
September. The figures are as follows : —

Months. Percentage crop. Ave, Rainfall

January ... nil ... O'S

February ... nil ... 1*6

March ... 3-3 ... 83

April ... 9-1 ... 12-3

May ... 12'0 ... 17-7

Junn ... 15-7 ... 17-2

July ... 12-9 ... 15-0

August ... 13*5 ... 16'1

September ,-. 10-8 ... 12*0

October ... 11-4 ... 5-0

November ... 8-4. ... 1'3

December ... 1-6 ... 02

It will be observed that from November to Febru-
ary the rainfall was very slight and that as re-
gards crop December gave very little; so with
March, while January and February were blank
months. The six months of heavy rainfall extended
from April to September, May and June shewing
nearly 35 inches. The crop months extended from
May to October, the three months of May, June
and July yielding over 42 per cent of the whole.
There are figures for estates in Darjiling and the
Central Terai which shew that the climate of the
Eastern Himalayas is much more rainy than that of
the valley of the Brahmapootra. On the well-known
Geille estate the annual rainfall ranged from 86-82
inches to 132-21 ; another estate gave 85-50 to 121-61.

iofy

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April i, 1887.

An estate in the Central Terai ranged from 103-33
to 149-4:8. In another case we get a range of
89-73 to 171-52 ; sixty-seven inches of the latter
quantity having fallen in August 1882. On an
estate in the Darjiling Central Terai we find that
out of a total crop of 1,581 maunds and 5 seers
in 1882, the proportion in the four months— June to
September — was : —

June 2G6-31 maunds

July 289-15 „

August 290-13 „

September 257-14 ,,
or about two-thirds of the whol«. So generally
in other cases. One estate yielded 1,533-27 maunds
1S85, of. which the proportion gathered between
June and September was

June, maunds . . . . 338-18

July ,, .. .. 254"

August .. .. 272-5

September . . . . 200-5

or considerably Tnora than one-third of the whole.
On an estate in the Dooars the rainfall in four
years, 1881 to 1884, ranged from 112-84 to 184-49,
so large a quantity as 70'77 inches falling in
August 1882. The vast bulk of the rain falls be-
tween May and September, while the bulk of the
crop is gathered between May and October, the
percentages in July, August and September being : —
July .. .. 18-30

August .. .. 1906

September . . 15-88

Total . . 53-24
or considerably more than one-half. In another
case the percentages were : —

July .. .. 15-44

August . . . . 18-66

September .. 17-80

Total . . 51-90
Again more than half in three months.

The general conclusions are as we have stated,
that on a large proportion of the Indian tea estates,
with a rainfall of from 70 to over 170 inches o£
south-west monsoon rain, December, January and
February are blank months or nearly so as regards
crop, while the yield in April is usually small.
The real crop season extends from May to Nov-
ember, (in which latter month i^runing is usually
performed), but the bulk of the harvest is gathered
between June and October, as much as two-thirds
of the whole crop being frequently gathered in
the four months, June to September. Our Indian
neighbours are, therefore, much more exposed to
a " rush," such as coffee planters were wont to
experience, than are the tea planters of Ceylon.
The Indian tea planters, on the other hand, can
count on the enjoyment of a cold weather holiday,
extending from about the middle of November to
the middle of March.

Having thus noticed the figures which Mr.
Hogarth kindly placed at our disposal, we are
enabled, through his further courtesy, to add the
following notes of his impressions in regard to our
system of planting and manufacture in Ceylon : —

Mr. HOGARTH'S NOTES.

It is only to be supposed that a tea planter
from another country would find fault with many
things in Ceylon and it is only to be expected
that there are faults to be found in a growing en-
terprise.

The selection of suitable land, the chances tea
has of ultimately holding its own against disease,
and the time and manner of pruning, are sub-
jects that a travelling planter is cautious in ex-
^^ressing his opinion on. But there are things to
jyhich our attention has been drawn and among

these are : —

Careless planting. — Many Ceylon planters pull the
seedlings up bare of any soil, and dibble them in
like cabbages. In Assam the plants are lifted with as
much earth round them as can be secured, and the
greatest possible care is taken that the tap root is
not bent. The tap root can be cut off without in-
juring the plant. Dr. King of Botanical fame says,
but it must not be turned up.

Too early plucking. — Many planters are plucking
their plants far too young. Nothing tends to
stunt a garden like harsh treatment in its growth.
The root system is representative of the branch
system and early plucking checks the growth of
the former. The excuse given is that " funds
are wanted," but things must be desperate when
you run in the face of nature.

Economy in everything is advisable, but false
economy is ruinous. Already complaints are rife
of Ceylon teas not " keeping " — that may or may
not be from under-firing ; and in a country
where fuel is so scarce the tendency will be to
fire as little as necessary. Where there are so
many operations in the manufacture of an article
any-one of which may produce a chemical
change, it is most difficult to place one's finger
on a blot and the hint of under-firing is simply
a hint and nothing more.

A great drawback to Ceylon is the want of
power for driving rolling machines. Hard rolling
is necessary for strength, but Jong rolling is often
mistaken for hard rolling. In Assam Jackson's
Excelsior is the machine generally used ; It
requires about a 6 H. P. engine to do the work
rapidly and well. In Ceylon fuel is scarce, and
many factories rely on their old coffee wheels of
about 3 H. P. to drive the rolling machinery. This
in Mr. Hogarth's opinion, means spoiling good leaf.
You must have the means, as well as the know-
ledge, to make good tea. Kapidity of manufacture
is of the utmost importance in Assam and Mr.
Hogarth doesn't see why it should not be here.
He is very cautious about expressing himself on the
treatment of the plant, as climatic influences must
be considered, but in the treatment of the leaf
after it is plucked there can be little doubt, and
if Ceylon is to hold its own in the competition
that is likely to arise during the next few years,
he says, it must be better found in power to drive
suitable machinery. He thinks there will be a
great struggle for a few years and if you can't
afford to meet the enemy well appointed, you had
better give up tea planting. Last year has shewn
that leading gardens in Assam will do well, but
there is not middle class for teas as there used to
be, it has come to be tine and common and Ceylon
will have to choose one or other place.

On which we would remark, as we did when Mr.
Hogarth mentioned the matter to us, that many a
planter accused of over-plucking young tea, would
reply

" My poverty, but not my will consents."

So wiih the choice of land : a large number had no
choice but to transform their collapsed coffee estates
into tea plantations. There can be no question as to
the advantages of taking up plants for the field
with masses of earth about them, and in the
lower and hotter districts transplanters are largely
in requisition. In the higher and more moist re-
gions, however, neither transplanters nor shade is
necessary, and we certainly do not need to protect
our plants against that plague ol' crickets which
is so destructive in some parts of India. SeeiHg
that the cry previously was that we burnt our teas
it is curious now to have the alleged hability o
our teas to "going off'" attributed to under
firing from scarcity of fuel. Fuel and sutH

Ami 1, 18S7.] I'M ^^OPitAt At^mcvL^tjmsf.

w

cient power are, no doubt, important con-
siderations and as to quick hard rolling versus
long- continued hard rolling, Mr. Hogarth told us
that, in his own practice he found it better to
put 'sOlb. at a time into Jackson'ri Excelsior Eoller
and get the leaf rolled rapidly, than to put in
300 lb. and take time in proportion. We men-
tioned to him the very different practice of Mr.
Gow, who subjected the leaf put through his hot
air withering machine to a full hour's rolling in
Jackson's Excelsior, plenty of power being sup-
plied from the resources of Messrs. John Walker
& Co.'s Iron Works, whore the experiment took
place. If we understood Mr. Hogarth aright, hard
roUing, long continued will obliterate " tips," while
they can resist hard rolling for a short period.
As to pruning, we told Mr. Hogarth that the pro-
cess has been tried in every season of the year
in Ceylon and there is scarcely yet a concensus
of opinion as to the best period. Planters seem
agreed, however, that, thorough pruning once in
eighteen months is sufficient, if the removal of
crows-feet, blossom, fruit and dead wood is care-
fully performed vvhen the necessity becomes obvious
in the interval.

♦-

TEA :— HUGE PROFITS AND QUICK RETURNS.

Having noticed an enquiry in an Indian contem-
porary as to where the profits go between the price
the planter receives for bis tea and the retail
selling price, the idea occurred to us to send into
the East End of London, and to fin^ oat by actual
purchase, ■ first, what is the smallest amount of tea
the shops will sell to customers, and, secondly the

firices charged. It is unquestionable that the
argest proportion of the tea purchased in London
is bought in the very smallest amounts procurable
at a time, and consequently the prices charged for
these small amounts will best illustrate the profits
realised on the bulk of the teas sold over the
counter. As the result of our enquiries, we found
that the majority of East End shops sold as little
as half an ounce, these half ounces being generally
kept ready packed in paper. We heard that some
shops sold Vd. packets, more particulary to factory
hands who purchased from day to day the require-
ments for each meal separately. We obtained five
samples, and sent these to one of the oldest estab-
lished firms of tea brokers in the Lane where, there
being both Indian and China " sides," there ypas
reasonable prospects of obtaining a fair valuation.
The following is the reply we have received : " You
set us a very difficult task, we are only in the
habit of tasting self-teas, we had to bring all the
talent we could to bear from both our Indian and
China rooms. We have numbered the samples and
make the following remarks, viz. : —

Quality. Value.

..Mostly Indian
mixed, little
coarse . . 9d to Dgd
..Nearly all
China, little
isour . . .. 8d toBi'id
a .. 1 ..14 .. 2 ..China.. .. 6dto6id

4 .i 5 .. 1 .. 2 8d ..Mixed Indian

and China and
( little Oolong,

fair .. ..lOdtolQid
9 .. 1 .. 2 .. 2 8d ..Fair Indian

and China. . about lid
To the above values yoQ must add; —

Wholesale dealer . > < > 2d

Duty .i ,1 ,, . . 6d

Retail dealer, some get more .. 6d

.a . ns

<o

(OXl

6C *^ ■"

0 .

-** 'I

.S. p tfl

d

^

® a,*

^'l

oz.

d.

.0

1

.. h '

. 3 .

. 2

i. « • X-2 • • ^

to 2s 8d. It is far and away, better than any 01 your
samples."

The firm thus reporting were not aware where we
had procured the samples, nor what was oar motive
in sending them for valuation. Hence the above is aa
unbiasse'l, and as scientific and honest a report as it
was possible to obtaih.

Now if we add the wholesale dealer's 2d and duty
6d as mentioned above, to the above valuations, and
compared the results with the retail prices actually
charged, we have the following significant figures.
Sample Retail price Valuation Estimated

No. charged. Cost to Retailer. Profit per lb.
p r lb. per lb.

sdsd sdsd sil

1 2 0 1 5 to 1 5i U 6J to 0 7

2 2 0 1 4 to 1 4 u 7i to 0 8

3 L' 0 1 2 to 1 2J 9i to 0 10

4 2 8 1 6 to 1 6i I l| to 1 2

5 2 s I 7 — 1 1 —

Tbus on the samples procured by us the retail profit,
according to valuation, may be said to have varied
between 6^d, per lb. the lowest, and Is 2d per lb. the
highest, which, to use a well known aphorism, accounts
for the milk and the cocoanut.

We send you a sample of a mixed tea which costs
the dealer here Is 3d, which he sells, duty paid, at 2s
3d, for the retail dealer to sell at 23 6d.
— //. d: Colonial ^lail.

TuUl ., Is 2d

?

THE INDIAN TEA SALES SUGGESTED
REFORMS.

We insert this week a letter from Messrs. Taylor-
Colman, and Sudlow, one of the leading firms of buy,
ing brokers in this market, touching upon the size of
the sampling breaks of Indian and Ceylon tea. We
made some comments en the subject a few weeks ago
when it was first mooted, and as our opinions are un-
changed we need not refer to them, except to say that
there appears to be a singular apathy displayed by the
Committee of Wholesale Tea Dealers, the Indian Tea
Districts' Association, and the Brokers' Association.
Another season will soon open ; and as far as we have
been able to gather not the shghtest action has yet
been taken by any of the authorities abovementioned,
either with a view to remedy existing defects, or even
to discuss them with a view to such results.

The matter concerns these gentlemen much more
seriously than would appear by the amount of interest
they show in it; and weagiin urge them to take im-
meiiiate steps to arrive at a satisfactory reform of the
present regulations, as we are convinced they have,
worked their last season as they now stand, and must
as our correspondents point out, utterly brpak down un-
der the slight e*''. extra pressure. Indian n'an 6:8 may not
see any immediate cause for alarm ; but we must re-
mind them that the supply from Ceylon is rapidly
increasing — most of it, too, in rather small lots whifli
occupy as much time in the sales as large breaks do,
and the two together will, we feel sure, tax the powers
of the trade seriously as time goes on.

But we must now leave this subject to refer to thp
other more absorbing topic which our correspondents
touch upon, and which might fitly be headed, the F.thicii
of the Pulpit,

We confess we have quite expected that the present
system in the public saleroom would soon end in an ex»
plosion of indignation. ,Ve believe it was Mr. Glad-
stone who once expressed his opinion at some ec»
clesiastical gathering, that, as a rule, " the pulpit did
not get justice from the pew,"— the tea buyers evid-
ently seem to think exactly the rever.'se — in short, that
the pew does not get justice from the pulpit. We are
quite of their opinion that nothing will last but
absolute fair play. An auctioneer has, by common con-
sent and immemorialusage, a sort of prescriptive right
to present his wares' in the most attractive language
that his audience will give him a patient hearing
for, but there can be no doubt that what is
called " puflBng " on the part of the vendor is
strictly Hlo^^l sad ifflmoral, Hov far tb« pr&oticc

o'o

$

fHt TROPICAL AOmCUtTVRt^T. tAmt i, lU

■"'V"

known in Mincing Lane as "jogging" or "IrotUng"'
comes within the linaits of illegality we are scarcely in
a position to say. We would, however, give it as our
opinion that in the long run the value of tea is not one
fraction enhanced by any such practices. As anyone
whothinks calmly for a moment must see that a buyer
who is " rushed " into a purchase at a higher price
than he can resell at is practically silenced as a com-
peting bidder for some time after. The legal maxim
of caveat e?n/)fo)' is perhaps sufficient safeguard in such
cases. But anyone who is accustomed to attend the
gales can read between the lines that the head and
front of the grievance consists in this. Certain grades
of Pekoe Souchong are valued to a fraction, and when
the bottom price is, say 7d a dozen, buyers will want
it at 7d. We have occasionally been present and
observed with amusement when some desirable lot was
put up, a simultaneous shout of 7d, would spring like a
volley of musketry from all parts of the room. Of course
every bidder considered he was first entitled. But when
the smoke had cleared away the auctioneer calmly
applied the hammer to the desk as he smilingly
decided, " SJevenpence my own bid." Naturally
enough, eleven occupants of " the pew " felt aggreived,
and manifested their feeling in disrespectful animadver-
sions on " the pulpit." Our correspondents remind us
of the committee which was appointed a few years ago,
for the redress of grievances, and the abolition of pre-
ferential and favoured seats in the vicinity of the pulpit.
This committee passed a rule that no buyers should
sit in the box with the selling broker. An old custom
had been, however, for the selling broker to have a clerk
atliis side to keep a correct record of the prices, and gra-
dually this official has become a buying broker with a
preferential position, far away, the best in the room.
There can be no doubt that this is an evasion of the
rule and it should be discontinued. The record of
prices could be equally well kept in the body of the
room, and in fairness to all parties this preferential
advantage should at once be abolished. The tone of
the Indian tea sale-room has certainly degenerated dur-
ing the last ten years. It is now much more noisy and
disorderly than it used to be, and the general opinion
is that this is due in great measure to the impression
abroad that even handed justice is not always forth-
coming. We trust the selling brokers will gracefully
give way without the necessity of another trade meet-
ing and a committee of reformers. We have always
maintained that sellers and buyers had reciprocal and
mutual interests, and a little kindly forbearance on
both sides will, we have no doubt, make matters go
smoothly again. — H. & C. Mail.

THE SIZE OF THE SAMPLING BKEAKS OF

INDIAN AND CEYLON TEA, etc.

To the Editor of the " Home and GoloniaJ Mail."

Sir, — We have been expecting to see some further
discussion of this subject in your columns, as it must
be evident to anyone regularly attending the Indian
tea .sales that the present system is unworkable, and in
times of the U-af^t extra pressure must utterly break
4owJi. The buyers cannot accwnitely taste and value
tio many break.i as they have had each sale during
the last six monthN From our knowledge of the views of
irisst of the larmier buyers with whom we come in daily
contact wo boli. ve the tenHency is not to look at less
than twenty chests, indfcd, in times of pressure, it
la quite impossible to do so; therefore the question
.''hould be at once considerrd whether breaks of twenty
chest?! and under should not be treated as small breaks,
and SOlrl at the end of the sale.

There la another matter which demands immediate
redress, and that Is th'; prcsefit unsatisfactory prac-
tice of sclling-brokcra putting their own bids in first
whilst acting as auctioueere. Auyoae can see that the
auctioneer doing so has a great advantage over any other
buyer, as he alone knows the exact moment when the
hammer will fall on the previous lot, and consequently
can put in his own bid simultaneously. Friction and
'inpleasant feeling is caused by the system, and the
.^ellere' interests in the loog run must suffer, if any-
(i}V{; bvt pka^iit relstjocf f:^s^f^• A OotBinittee ^e

appointed some years ago ostensibly to rearrange the
seats of buyers in the public saleroom, and for the pur-
pose of abolishing any prefential positions which cert-
ain buyers had occupied for a considerable time. We
expressed to them our apprehension ; and also at
the same time that the old custom of " last
buyer claiming the next lot" was abolished,
that some such unpleasantness as this would be
sure to arise ; and events have but served to justify
the opinion we then formed. Nothing will be satis-
factory in practice but fair play to everybody; and
such there will not be, and cannot be, till the two
functions of seller and buyer are dissociated, and no
one be allowed to occupy the pulpit but the auctioneer.
If the selling brokers' firm receives orders to buy any
lots in their own catalogue, the bidding should in fair-
ness be done from the body of the room, and not from
the preferential position of the auctioneer's chair. —
Yours, &c., Tayloe, Colman and Sudlow.

March 2nd 1887.
.—n. d- C. Mail.

BEITISH NORTH AMERICA: A PARADISE FOR
A FARMER.

Pelee Island, which is situated in the most southerly
part of he Dominion, has a mild and most salubrious
climate. The land is all that can be desired for raising
all kinds of fruit, vegetables, roots, and cereals of
all kinds. Timbered land can be had from $10
to $20 an acre, partly cleared from $20 to $30 per
acre, and all cleared with good buildings and free
of stumps from $-10 to $75, according to location.
The whole southern shore of the coynty, extend-
ing some 10 miles, is admirably adapted for the
raising of grapes, peaches and all kinds of fruit.
Early next summer this village will have railroad
communication with the railroad system of Ontario
by the Leamington and St. Clair railroad, running
from Lake Erie to Lake St. Clair, crossing the
Canada Southern at Comber station, and thence
north to Stoney Point on the Grand Trunk rail-
road. It is said that Dr. Scudder, of Cincinnati,
has bought 5,000 acres of marsh in the island,
which has been drained by the Chatham Dredg-
ing and Contracting Company, under the
supervision of Alexander Baird, P. L. S. The
ditches are from 4 to 7 feet deep, with an
average width of 30 feet. The water in said drains
is elevated into Lake Erie by means of an engine
and large wheel, which raises 100,000 gollons of
water per minute. This marsh is ditched all
round, and will be cultivated next summer. Cattle
are at present pasturing upon it. There are large
tracts of marsh land in the county, at present
unprofitable, which require to be drained in the
same way, and will ultimately be the finest land
in the Dominion. — Colonies and India-

PLANTERS AND HIGH EXCHANGE IN
NETHERLANDS LNDIA.

{Straits Times. March 12.)
Mr. Van den Berg at the close of his pamphlet
raises a question hard indeed to solve, namely the
effect ^vhich an appreciation or a depreciation of
currency may have on the wellbeing of a country.
In British India, for example, it is generally held
among the mercantile community that the fall in
exchange has benefited trade by encouraging pro-
duction. But experts of high authority hold the
exact contrary. Equally divided is opinion in
Java. Some people there argue that the currency
policy of the Dutch Government has advantaged
the community materially by protecting the public
interest from the calamitous consequences of keep-
ing a fluctuating standard of value in silver.
Othere are equally positive that the planting in.
terest Uas beip a lossx by the GoTcromeot de U|

Apmi i, mf.] *HE TROPICAL AG^fCULttftlST.

7091

l!-?""1"

■■U-i-J-lLiLU

mination to set up gold as regulator of the cur-
rency in the Netherlands East Indies. Mr. Van
den Berg does not try to solve the question
brought up in consequence of this conflict of
opinion. He simply sets forth his own views. He
has all along regarded this topic from the standpoint
that a monetary standard should be based on
fixity of value to be kept up to the mark by
Government using every reasonable means. He
comes, hence, to the conclusion that the Nether-
lands Home Government took action honestly and
wisely in doing every thing in its power to safe-
guard the currency of the colony from depreciation
by making gold its monetary standard for the
future. This measure called for as it has been
under the circumstances has worked detrimentally
upon one section of the community. In British
India, the fall in silver, however, disastrous to the
Government finances, has proved a boon of im-
mense value to the country by stimulating exports.
In Ceylon, a new era of prosperity has set in
since tea growing has forged ahead. The Straits
Settlements have a bright future before them.there be-
ing every sign of an enormous expansion of the
trade of the colony. China too shows no sign of
its commercial, industrial, and productive capa-
bilities having in any way taken a turn for the
worse by the depreciation of the silver monetary
unit of the country. The contrast between the
universal depression prevailing in Java, and the
prosperous times falling to the lot of the neigh-
bouring British Colonies and China, has aroused,
among the * producing classes in that island,
strenuous opposition to the currency system en-
forced there. By keeping exchange quotations
high, it places Java at a disadvantage with
respect to other producing countries, where
the low exchanges ruling have marvellously
stimulated the turning out of export articles.
In Java, exchange rates have kept at almost
stationary figures during the last twelve years, so
that producers and exporters there have not
benefited one whit by the steady fall of gold prices
in the consuming markets. A consignment of
Java produce realising in London say £10,000,
does not yield the Java planters or shippers a
larger quantity of guilders than it used to do
before the fall in silver set in, namely 117,500 or
120,000 guilders Netherlands India currency. But
at the same time, a similar amount of £10, 000 re-
mitted to India at the rate of Is 5d per rupee
brings E141,1715 against 100,000 rupees only in
bygone years, when that coin stood ai 2 shillings.
The fall in exchange benefits British India producers
by about -10 %. The adoption of gold as standard
of value has deprived Netherlands India planters
of a similar benefit. They have to put up with
every fall in the gold price of their goods, with-
out finding any adequate compensation in a low
rate of exchange, by which exporters and producers
in India and Ceylon have profited so largely.
However harmful the existing currency system may
be to the planting and exporting interest in
Netherlands India, the author of the pamphlet is
dead against a return to an exclusive silver standard
of value on the ground of its detrimental effect
on the native consumers of imported articles. With
an exchange rate of 30 to 35 per cent to the dis-
advantage of importers, the i^rices of imports must
be raised proportionately, if the trade is to be
continued at all, and, the bulk of imports
being intended for consumption by natives
the latter would, for the greater part, have
to bear the burden of the general rise in prices,
consequent upon the readoption of silver as a stand-
ard of currency. Supposing for instance the native
community bo takeu as paying one hundred ml-

lions of guilders a year for imported articles, about
thirty five millions more would have to be laid out
on the same quantity of commodities, in case tho
rate of exchange be regulated by the actual price of
silver. These figures speak too eloquently to admit
of enlarging any further on the baleful effect on
the condition of the people of Java sure ta follow a
change in the direction indicated. This change re-
sulting as it certainly would in capital invested in
industrial enterprise becoming depreciated 30 per
cent in value would despoil the owners of the same
by an equivalent percentage. The same hardship
would be felt by all persons living on fixed salaries. As
will have been seen Mr. Van den Berg goes upon the
sound principle that the good of the bulk of the
community, sure to be the losers by low exchanges,
should countervail the benefit a few derive from .a
depreciation of the standard of value.

COFFEE ; A STUDY.

Le Cafe-

-EtCDE H18TOEIQUE ET COMMEKOIALE —
TOUBNAI l«8fi.

(Translated for the " Ceylon Observer " frovi the
''Indische 3Iercuur," I'Jth Feb. 1887.)

This little book written by a wholesale dealer in
coiiee, and addressed to liis juatomers is, in its
way, very interesting, as it treats rather fully of
the origin of the use of coffee in the various countries
in which it is produced, and of the different pecu-
liarities of each kind.

The writer mentions all the sources whence he
has derived his information, and happily eschews
statistics, so that the little work affords pleasant
reading to the trader as well as to the consumer.

The writer is, however, not always correct, thus
for instance in page 18 he refers to Java aud Batavia
as if they were two separate islands. He considers
that 40 years is much too long to adopt as the
duration of the coffee tree, and in page 23 he tells
us that the coffee of Ceylon and Java is yellow
or white, while the Brazil kinds are green. This
may be partly true as concerns Java ; but Ceylon
almost always comes under the head of blue. In
his account of the methods of preparing coffee he
omits all mention of the West-Indian system, and
of its being exported to Europe in parchment, (horn
shell) of which he seems to be unaware. In page
5'2 he speaks of Liborian coffee as having an ex-
cellent flavour — d' un gout excellent— an opinion in
which we of the aeaports do not join, any more
than in the expectation that this kind will be ex-
clusively the cott'ee of the future.

In page 72 he says : — " The Dutch wore so much
struck with the perfection of the Brazilian produce,
that they sent Mon. van Delden Laeine, a notable
specialist, to study the preparation on the spot.
(" Lcs Hollandais onl^te tellement pappes de la per-
fectun,de la production Bresilienne qu ils out enveyc
M. V. Delden Laorne, specialists notable pour 1' ctu-
dier sur place.")

This was not the object of the mission, which
was rather to ascertain how far the cultivation in
Brazil was capable of extension, and for the general
information of our Government.

That Brazil coffee is as good as private Java
coffee and far better than Java Government coft'ee
1 cannot admit— although I am obliged to acknow-
ledge with much regret the truth of the statement
to the effect that Government Java coffee has beea
losing in quality whilst that of Brazil has by means
of a better system of preparation been improving
from year to year.

The writer goes on to inform the lover of
coffee that he should always have a good
supply of tho raw material in store, as
ihk Aiikla impsfoveu with &ge« and ag iu fhv

yio

%'iin ruoPiQAt AomctSLttjmuT, t^mit u J8S7,

case of wine, coffee should be used when six,
eight or seven more j-ears old.

He greatly extols M.iragoi^ipe coffee for its flavour
— and predicts larKS importations of it.

That Java coffee generally goes under the name
of Chereboo coffee, I must contradict — such may
be the case in Tournai — but certainly not generally.

In page 86 he treats of Padang-cotfee and ciassses
it in appearance and flavour far behind Java, in this
the Americans will assuredly not agree with him.

Under the heading of Sumatra coffee, he says
Bugis (probably meaning Bungi) and Bally coffee
are placed, and in this he is very ill-informed-
he places both in the same class, and calls them
very bad — and names Singapore as the port of
discharge. All he says of Macassar coffee is, the
coffee of Macassar which likewise is found at
Singapore is very superior to the Bugis and Bally
coffee, it resembles that of Java, but like that of
Padang the flavour is not so fine. ("Le cafe Macassar
que 1' on trouve aussi a Singapore est tres supe-
rieur aux bugis et bally, it ressemble au Java mais,
amme le Padang, il est moin tin de gout.") Al-
together the little work impresses mo with the
idea that the writer is least posted up in the matter
of the different kinds of coffee which are pro-
duced in Netherlands India. W. H. Jk.

HINTS FOR DRAUGHTSMEN.

The surface of a sphere equals the square of the
circumtei-ence multiplied by 0.3183.

The diameter of a sphere i-quais the square root o
its surface multiplied by 0 56419.

The side of an inscribed cube equals the radius mul-
tiplied by 1.1547.

The diameter of a circle equals the square root of
the area multiplied by 1.12833.

Tne diameter of a sphere eqials the cube root of
its solidity multiplied by 1.124j7.

The circumference of a circle equals the diameter
multiplied by 3.1416, which is the ratio of the cir-
cumference to the diauieter.

The area of a triangle equals the base multiplied by
one-half of its height.

The diiiraeter of a circle equals the circumference
multiplied by 0.31831.

The side of an inscribed equilateral triirgle equals
the diameter of the circle multiplied by 0.86

Tne surface equals the product of the diameter and
circumference.

The radius of a circle equals the circumference
multiplied by 0.159155.

The circumference of a circle multiplied by 0.282
equals one side of a square of the same area.

The area of a circle equals the square of the radius
multiplied by 31416.

The squ.re root of the surface of a sphere multiplied
by 1.772464 equals the circumference.

The area of a circle equals one-quarter of the dia-
meter multiplied by the circumference.

The area of an ellipse equals the product of both
diameters and .7854.

The radius of a circle equals the square root of the
area multiplieii by 056419.

The circumfere. ce of a sphere equals the cube root
of its solidity multiplied by 3 8978.

The side of a square equals the diameter of a
circle of the same ar^a multiplied by 0 8862.

Thf sid" of an 'ascpiin' i si^n-no equ^^Ls the diameter
Hcultipied bv 0.7071 — MiiUen's Jfattern^Makiny. — Amev
ican Cultivator.

THE MAHWA TREE.

We copy the following interesting letter from au ex-
change:— Taking advantage of a wet hoUday, and
prompted thtreto by Mr. Maiden's interestiug letter
in jour ifsue of December 15, I beg leave to give
a lew additional items about the Mhowa tree, a very
old and well-kaowo friend of miue. iNeari; all tlio

wild animals of the jungle are attracted to the vicinity
of the.>e trees duriug tae tljweriug season. Ey day
parrots, miiiafi, Horiibills, pigeons, and other birdsj keep
up a perpetual motion anJ clamour as they flit about,
(liiftiug round hither and thither, and hopping from
branch to branch, feeding on the suceuient Sowers.
As night fall.s, wild hog, deer of various kinds, and
ev.-n jackals come to least ou the fallen blossoms, and
UQ% unfrequeutly the sloth bear aa<l the big black bear
meet beneath the odorous branches, and get almost
tipsy on the intoxicating mass of withered blossoms
wnich carpet the sward.

Attracted by such a surfeit of game, the tiger and
leopard will often pay a prowliug visit, aud, therefore,
every sportsman is keen to note the neighbourhood
of a Mhowa tree, and gvktj native Shikarree, or
hunter, can tell with unerriUi' accuracy in what parts
of the forest they are to be found. This, of course,
refers to the wild parts of the forests where popu-
lation is sparse.

The tree is not unlike our oak iu form, size, and
the colouring of the foUage. It fljwers in March
and April. As the flowers ripen the corollas become
fleshy and tmged with the juices they secrete; they
iheu gradually looseu from the calyx, and, falling to
the groua I, .ire, in Central India, and in many other
parts, carefully gathered by the women and children,
the grass round the tree having been previou.sly burnt
off, so that none of the precious blossoms may be
lost.

In my book ou the Nepaul Frontier, p. 106, 1 make
reference to th<i tree, and speak of the spirit which
the natives distil from it, and have said, "The peculiar
sickly .-^mell of thb mho-va, when in flower, pervades
the atDao>phere for a great distance round, and reminds
oue forcibly of the peculiar, sweet, *sickly smell of
a brewery.

The spirit distilled from the freshly-dried flowers
is called, by the natives daru. It is usually diluted
with from five to ten times its bulk of water, and
is then sold at about apenayper quart. It is largely
consumed by the lower ca»te nitives, and, iu times
of severe droughtine.ss, when nothing better can be
obtained, I have seen "Tommy Atkins'" imbibing the
vile-smeldug potation iu th:; bazaars, holding his nose
meanwhile in mute protest against the too aggressive
odoar. "One hundredweight of flowers is said to yield
from four to six gallons of proof spirit. The very
carefully-distilled and rectified spirit, if put into oak
casks, becomes of a yellowish colour with keeping,
and is said to be little inferior to the best Irish
whisky.

In France, after a long course of experiment, a
means has been fouud of rectifying the spirit, and the
bad sDiell is entirely got rid of. The result is very
go:)d alcouol. In 1884, I gather from the ladian AffH-
cvJturist, thit mhowa flowers were exported to Mar-
seilles for distillation, to the value of 6| lakhs of
rupees.

" The oil is manufactured from the seeds by bruising,
rubbing, anl su^jectin,' them to heavy pressure. It
is a coarse sort of oil," sajs the authority I am quoting,
"but in the mauufacture of soap is largely used in
the country, and also for candles. For that purpose
it would be worth in Englaud from £25 to £35 per
ton. It has been tried by candle manufacturers, and
pronounced very suitable and a valuable oil for such
purposes.''

The tree is a hardy one and even in poor ground
flourishes well. It readily propagates itself by seed-
lings. According to Lieutenant-Colonel 3Iiller, oflici-
ating Political A^eut at Bhopawar and Commaudant of
the Malwa Bheel Corps, not more than 40 trees could
be planted to the acre, and the yield per tree appeared
to vary from about 120 to 240 lb. of flowers. If it
be true that the flowers contain about half their
weight in sugar, this would mean a yield of one or
two tons per acre; but as Mr. Maideu justly say.s, the
idea of mhowa sugar becoming a commercial rival to
cane or beetroot is ludicrous. Mr. "William Fox, r.c.s.,
of the laboratory, Great Tower-street, London, submit*
ted the flowers to analysis with the following result: —
Eoney, 4203 per ceut; case £U£ar, 1*04; a^b, 2*33

April i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICaLTURIST.

^it

cellulo , &c. 42-20; water, 12-41; totil, 10000. No
grape .^^ sugar was preseut. He adds : — " It will b,^
impossible to make ordinary or cane sugar from a sub-
stance yielding the above results. The sugar coatained
in the mhowa can only be util'sed for brewing or dis-
tilling purposes. The flowers, 1 may add, are all male
flowers."

Yet another authority writes thu3: — "When dried,
mhowa flowers rather resemble inferior figs. When fresh
they have a sweet taste, but by no mems agteeab'e
odour. The fruit succeeds the blossom. It is about the
size of a very small appie, and the kernels ciutainoil,
which is of an inferior colour, and rancid ti^te, but is
very generally used by the po )rt)r natives for lighting
purposes, as well as for cooking ; and it is aNo applied
externally a? a remedy for wounds, sores, and cutaneous
diseases generally."

Lastly, I may mention that I know, from my own
experience, that the leaves anl fljwers, mis^^d with
bamboo leaves chopped straw, dry grass, dry stems
of maize or sorghum, nomitter hov dry, or oM, or
musty, forms a capital food for l>ul!o2k5 or sto.-k
generally, aud in seasons of scarcity, the tree will
withstand long continued droughts ; it should be
experimented up m, aud attempts should be made to
introduce its acclimatistation here. And this leads me
to my et cetera.

Your London correspondent went too far when he
spoke of " five mhowa trees yielding the same amount
of sugar a.s an acre of sugar-cane." Nevertheless, the
mhowa is a very useful tree. The leaves and flowers
make an excellent fodder, as has ju<t been stated ;
the tree itself is strikingly ornamental; it will grow
in poor soil, and withstmd loug droughts and extreme
heat. It is but a type of hundreds of other trees fit
for "industrial culture in extra tropical countries,'' as
Baron von Mueller terms it. — Planter aiuL Farmer.

DESICCATKD COCONUT.

It used to excite our juvenile wonder when we
were informed as to the mauy uses to which the palm
was applied by Oriental nations. That one .single
tree should in ifca various parts have so many virtues,
and be capable of so many applications was almost,
incredible. But years have passed away since then,
and such wonders have ceased to astonish. Were it
not so the modern uses of the coconut would
make us open our eyps. At one time a coconut
was a coconut and nothing more. When its milk
had been extracted, and its suow-wbite kernel eaten,
there was an end of it, e.wept as, occasionally the
shell was transformed into a child's toy or a drinking
cup. But now these simple uses are almost too rude
and elementary to be mentioned at all. This v-rsittile
fruit performs for us so many services, and has. by
the ingenuity of modern civilisation, been turned to
such varied account, that very few, even amongst
intelligent and educated people, would like to be
compelled on the instant to pass an examination on
the uses of the coconut. One of the fuims in which
it is most pleasantly utilised is that manufactured
by Messrs. Linton, Hubbard and Co., 18 and 19, Red
Lion-square, London, W. C, whose" Desiccated Coco-
nut'' (" Noix de Coco" Bratid) is so largely used in
manufacturing and culinary purposes. The Coconut
Biscuits, which are so delicious, and have come into
such great popularity within recent years, are made
of this delicate and palatable preparation ; all wcll-
known biscuit firms use large quantities of Linton's
Desiccated Coconut. It is also largelv employed by
chocolate manufacturers, and by confectioners geu«rally
in the production of those charming sweetmeats
which have displaced to so great an extent the old-
fashioued lozenges and sugar-plums that used to be
the delight of our children. Bayond these uses, how-
ever, it is worth the notice of householders, refresh-
ment contractors, and botel-keepers, as supplj-ing the
material for a great variety of dainty di.shes which
cannot fail to be acceptable to the most fastidious
tastes and stomachs. By its aid, for example, we can
have a delicious Coconut Tart, or the most elaborate
Coconut Meringue Tart ; or it may take the form of a

nutritious pudding, or custard, such as would tempt
the appetite of the most delicate invalid and do much
to supply the nourishment which such a pir.son
requires. Indeed the ease with which the " Noix de
Coco" is digested, combined wich the large amount
of nourishment, renders it peculiarly useful in hospitals
and for sick cookery every vh ere. Again, it may i. ike
the form of a tasty aud attractive-looking cake, or it
may become a speciality of the dessert-table. Woat,
for instance, do our readers think of this li'tler cip ?
" Place a layer of sliced oranges iu a deep dish,
sprinkled over with fine white sugar ; then a layer of
Noix de Coco ; alternate orange, sugar and
Njix de Coco, until the dish is full, heaping
Noix de Coco ou top. " We comjiend the idea to
those who may be on the look out for something
new aud nice whyrowith to please their guests.
Eiten with cream or milk the Notx de Coco form
a delicious dessert without any spi^cial preparation,
or it can be served iu a variety of ways. We have
indicated but vfry few. Any cook who is worth the
name will rea lily find by a littlo expe.imeui. mauy
fff ctive modes of .ealing with it, aud wilt be glad
to have added to her resources a m -tsrial which
can be so easily manipulated, and which will yield
so much satisfaction at the expense of so little
trouble.

This Desiccated Coconut or Noix de Coco, is pre-
pared in various forms for manufacturing purpo-es
and sent out in barrels of about 200 lb. each, also in
56;b.,28 1b., aud 14 lb. tins. The Noix de Coco for
making puddings, tarts, cakes, desserts, ices, &c. ,iR
also put ap in very attractive, handsome decorated
canisters of 1 lb. ami | lb. each. Again, it is supplied
in pnper packages wich attractive lable in cases of
24 1 lb. packages or 48 |-lb. packages.

In closing our notice, we may say that Desiccated
Coconut is also manufactured by several firms in
New York, but the resultint product lacks the pro-
perties of Messrs. Linton, Hubbard and Co.'s prepara-
tion ; as the American is badly adulterated with un-
wholesome compoimds, and is made principallj' from
rotten and stale nuts, which are bought for this
purpose at a cheap rate ; whereas the firm we are
noticing u.se only the best nuts procurable. Two
samples have been examined by us, aud the one of
E igli^h manufacture had a crisp snow-whiti appear-
ance and pli'asMit odour of coconu*', whi st the
American sample was ma dfestly disc )loureil, and as
manifestly not sweet. Our railway refreshment mana-
gers should certainly take note of Linton's Desic-
cated Coconut. We should state tliat this firm are
the only manu'^act jrers of this article in the United
Kingdom. — Railway Supplies' Journal.

Successful experiments are said to have been
carried on in the Island of Hawaii with tea plants
from India and Japan, the latter variety being the
better ad^ipled i.o tho soil. A large lea plancaiion is
said to be proposed. — M. Mail.

Laudanum -DRiNKiNfl Extraordixary. — A case of a
woman who had for forty years been addicted to
laudanum-drinking, and who consumed regularly
half a pint of the drug, or ton ounces, daily, was
reported to the Solihull Board of Guardians on
February 9th as having been admitted to the work-
house. The medical ofncer was instructed to con-
tinue an allowance of the drug or stop it at his
discretion. — themist & Druggint.

Tea. — In a conversation with an Officer who has
been some 12 months in Burmah, we were surprised
to find that there are several Tea gardens on tho hill
sides between Prome and Toungoo in British
Burmah. They are said to have been opened up by
Indian Planters, and are now doing very well. Thera
is a fair supply of labour at a low cost, and easy
means of transport to Rangoon by either river or rail.
Notwithstanding things are so unsettled in ]5urmah,
maizy Englishmen are arriving in the country ready
to open up trade or land. Some, we hear, have already
hit upon » " good thing."—" Ceylon Advertiser."

712

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[April i, 18S7.

MARKET RATES FOR OLD AND NEW PRODUCTS.

(From Lewis tt Peat's London Price Ctirrent, March 3rd, 1887,)

FEOM MALABAR

COAST. COCHfS,

CEYLOX, MADRAS, &c.

BEES' WAX, White

Yellow
CINCHONA BARK— Crown

QUALITY.

QUOTATIONS

■ Slightly softish to good

hard brisrht ...!£6 a £7 58

Red

CARDAMOMS Malabar

64 10s a £6

Is

a 3s

Is4da23 6d

»jd

a Is 2d

■2d

a6d

8d

a2s6d

6d

a 23 6d

■id

a7^

•2d

a4d

Id

2^

a 33 Id

S>1

a Is Ud

Do. drossy &dark ditto..

Renewed ...

Medium to fine Quill ..

Spoke shavings

iBran-h

Benew*rd

••eviiuai to good Quill ..

Spoke shavings

Branch

ITwig

;01ipved, bold, bright, fine ;

and Ceylon Middling, stalky & leau,-. _ _

Alepp'Je 'Fair to fine plump clipped Is 3d a 23 3d

Tellicherrv;iTOTl to fine ...lis 6d a Is 2d

' jBr'^wnish ...|Gd a 13 3d

Mangalore Good & fine, washed, bgt. 'is 4d a Ss 6d

Long Ceylon 'Middling to good [gl a Is 4d

Ists jord. to fine pale quill ...!7iJals5d

2nds ,, „ ;7dal3 2d

3rdsi „

4th8 Woody and hard ...
... Fair to fine plant...
... Bold to good bold

... Medium

ITriage to ordinary
COFFEE Ceylon Plantation Bold to fine boldcolory... j

Middling to fine mid.
Low mid. and Low grown '

Smalls

Good ordinary ...
. Smill to bold
. Bold to fine bold...
IMediumtofine ...

iSmall

'Good to fine ordinary

CINNAMON

Chips
COCOA, Ceylon ..,

Native
Liberian
East Indian

Native

.lo^da Ud
nda5>Jd
■2\A a 7d
73s a 83s
fies a 728
253 a 45s
9^ a 105s
SOs a 90s
75s a 80s
723 a 783
67s a 7Is
h%B a 688
90s a 110s
803 a 903
733 a 773
65s a 7l3

COIRROPE,Ceylon&Cocliin'\rid.coar3etofine3traight'C5 a £17

FIBRE, Brush

Stuffing
COIR YARN. Ceylon
Cochin
Do
COLOMBO ROOT, sifted
CROTON SEEDS, sifted
UINQER, Cochin, Cut

;Ord

to fine long straight! £10 a £35

GUM ARABIC,
NUX VO.MXOA

Rough
Madras...

Coarse to fine i£8 a £17

.'Ordinary to superior ...i£l2 a £30

.{Ordinary to fine 1 £11 a £32

Roping fair to good ...l£13 a £15
.'Middlingwormy to fine...llOsa 283

.'Fair to fine fres'h |;0' a 20s

iGood to fine bold j7.5s a .i£ 10s

Small and medium ...]3os a 55i 6d

[Fair to good bold 303 a 5Ss

Small |203a273 6d

Dirk to fine pile ... 208 a 98s 6d

Fair to fine bold fresh ... 7s a Us
Small ordinaryand fair... 3s a 63
Good to fine picked ... tjs a Ss 6d
Common to middling ... Ss a 63 3d

Fair Coast |.=is 6d a .5s 9d

Pickings|Burnt and defective ...133 3d a 43 6d
OIL, CINNAMON ...; Good to fine heavy

CITRONELLE ...jBright & good flavour

LEMON GRASS ... „ ., „ ,,
ORCHELLA WEED .. 'Mid. to fine, not woody..
PEPPER.Malabarblk.sifted pair to bold heavy
Alleppee & Cochin ,, ,, good

Tellicherry, White

MYRABOLANES

PLUMBAGO Lump

Chips
dust
RED WOOD
SAPAN WOOD
SANDAL WOOD, logs

Do. chips
SENNA, Tinnevelli

l3 a 3s
t ' a id
..ll|dal|d
403 a 553

7|d a 7id

lOd a 2s 6d
93 a 14s 6d

Fair to fine bright bold...
Middling to good small. ..|7s a lOs
Slieht foul to fine bright 3s 9d a lOs

• 'Ordinary to fine bright ... 3s a 9-*

• iFairaudfiue bold ...I»b4]03a£417s6d

• iMiddling coated to goodiSti a £7
■IFair to good flavor ...220 a £44

• 'Inferior to fine 'e5103a£16

• iGood to fine bold green. ..;8d a Is
iFair middling medium... 5d a 7d
! Common dark and small 2Jd a 4jd

■'Finger fair to fine bold 9s 6d a lOs
•JMixed middling [bright S3 6d a 9s

•Bulbs whole 7s6da83 6d

Do split 6s 3d a "s

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

CLOVKR, Zanzibar 1

■»oH PHtnha, perlb. '

., Stems...

C0CULU3 INDICUS
GALLS, Bussorah Iblue
& Turkey J^cwt.
"^cwt,
GUM AMMONIACUM per
AN IMI, washed, ^cwt.

QUALITY

scraped...

ARABIC, E.L & Aden ..

per cwt. Ghatti ...

Amrad clia

ASSAFCETIDA, per

cwt.
KINO. per cwt.

MYRRH, picked „

Aden sorts

OLIBANUM, .irop

per cwt. ,,

packings...

aiftings ...

INDIARUBBER Mozambi

per lb. Ball.& saus

Oool and fine bright ...
Common dull to fair ...

„ fresh
Fair

Fair to fine dark blue ...

Good white and green...
iBlocky to fine clean
iPicked fine pale in sorts,
I part yellow and mixed
Bean & Pea size ditto ...
amber and dark bold ...
Medium & bold sorts ...

Sorts

Fair to fine pale ...

Good and fine pale
Reddish clean
Clean fair to fine
Slightly stonv and foul ...
iFair to fine bright
|Fair to fine pale
, Middling to good
iFair to fine white ...

Reddish to middling ...
Middling to good pale ...
Slightly foul to fine
que, t red hard
age J white softish
unripe root
liver

QUOTAITONS .

FROM CALCUTTA AND
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

Ud a ll^d
8}' HlOid
2|d a Sid
93

59s a 658

483 a 51s 6d
15s a 34s
£1310/a£1410/
£10 a £12 109
£4 103 a £7
£7 108
£5 a £8
903 a 120s
38s a 803
903 a £7
.348 a 688
353 a 40s
253 a 308
10$ a 42s
W a £7 10s
70s a 100s
15s a 553
32s a 443
IBs a 173
lis a 13s 6d
23 5d a 2s 6id
2sa 2s3d
lOd a Is 2|d
l8 8da2a

CASTOR OIL, Ists per oz Vearly water white
2nd3 „ ... Fair and good pale
3rds ,, ...| Brown and brownish
INDIARUBBER Assam, per. Good to fine ...|

lb. (Common foul and mixed

Rangoon ...! Fair to good clean
Madagascar Good to tine pinky &white
Fair to ffood black
SAFFLOWER ... Good to fine pinky

Middling to fair
i Inferior and pickings
TAMARINDS ...'Mid.tofineWnctnot stony

Stony and inferior

.3^d a 4^
2ida3d
2^d a 2}d
2s a 23 7d
8d a Is lOd
Is 6d a 26 6d
23 4d a 2s 6d
Is Ud a 23 2d
£4 lOs a £5 10a
£3 53 a £4 2s 6d
£1 a £1 10s
109 a 14s
3sa63

FROM
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

ALOES, Cape, per cwt. ...Fairdry to fine bright ... 2.3s a 263
• •. Common & middling soft ^s a 223
Natal ... Fairtofine ...i25sa303

ARROWROOT Natal per lb iMiddling to fine ... 3d a 3.id

FROM CHINA, .JAPAN &
THE EASTERN ISLANDS,

TURMERIC, Madras
Do.
Do.

Cochin
VANILL0E3, Mauritius &

Bourbon, l3t.s pine crvstalised 6 a 9inch|l7s a 2a3
2nds Foxy & reddish 5 a 8 „ !10s a 168
Srds / Lean & dry to middling;

|\ under G inches ...'78 a 123
4th Low, foxy, inferior and I

j [pickings 4s a 8d

CAMPHOR, China, ^ cwt.

Japan
G5AMBIER, Cubes, cwt.

Block
GUTTAPERCHA,

Sumatra.,
Reboiled...
White Borneo

NUTMEGS, large, per lb ..

Medium

Small
MACE, per lb.

|-628 a 64s

S29 6d a 33s
29s a 303
21s 9d a 22-0
2s 4d a 33 3d

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

ALOES, Socootrine and
Hepatic,
CHILLIE9, Zanzibar

Good, pure, & dry white

pink

...;Ordinary to fine free ...

[Pressed

[per lb. Good

genuine Fine clean Banj & Macas-

Barky to fair [sar 6d a 23 3d

f^ommon to fine clean .. jld a Is 4d
.. Good to fine clean
Inferior and barky
,. 61'3 a 80's, garbled
,.;83'sa 95'8
,.|100'9 a leo's
.iPale reddish to pale
I Ordinary to red
Chips
RHUBARB, Sun dried, per. Good to fine sound

lb.

High dried

JGood and fine dry ... £6 lOs a £8 10s

Common and good ... £4 a £7 lOs
|Oood to fine bright ...32s a. 333
Ordinary and ntiddliog,,, 2o8 a 3l8 '

SAGO, Pearl, large, ?> cwt
medium ..,
small
Flour [per lb,

TAPIOCA, Penang Flake
Singapore
Flour
Pearl

I Dark ordinary & middling
Good to fine ...j

I Dark, rough & middling j
Fairtofine

Good pinky to white
Fair to fine

Bullets, per cwt.
Medium ,,
Seed „

lid a Is 3d

IdaSd

is Od a 3s 9d

23 6ia 23 ad

>s 4d a 23 4d

2s 3d a 33

Is lOd a 23 Id

Is 5d a Is 6d

Is Gd a :\i

•'d a Is 4d

Is a Is 3d
I !d II 9d

lis a 14s 9d

Us GdalSs

10s a 123

8s a 9s 6d

2^ a 2W

2id a 2Jd

12s 6d a 173 6d
26s a 27s
..|2l8a 228
..2lsaa?s

mif 3, t$$fs] tllfi tRdf iCAt AaSlC0L1?0jRlSf .

^iB

■■MMHIUiBUiMU

CEYLON UPCOUNTRY PLANTING REPORT.

LOW l-BICES FOR THE CEYLON NEW rEODDCTS IN LON-
DON— SATISFACTORY RESULTS OF A CINCHONA PLANTA-
TION AND BARK ANALYSES — THE WEATHER : .•• ROMISE
OF RICH HARVESTS.

28th March 1887.
The late newd that tea was down 2d a lb. all
round ; that cinchona had dropped J of a penny ;
and that cacao was receding in value was pretty
good for one week. The only comfort is that
that kind of thing can't go on, but a little of it
goes a long way. In these days there is really
more excitement in tropical agriculture, than in
a gambling table ; and although the planter's life
is supposed to be a quiet one and his daily oc-
cupation void of the fever of commerce, still his
waters are troubled now and again, and the fluctu-
ations in the value of his products are so violent,
as to upset his calculations and make him feel
that ordinary forethought goes for little, and that
to be in a state of preparedness for the time
he would need to be a prophet or seer of some kind.
If the mantles of these long-headed fellows could
bo imported for the rise of the planting community
what a run there would be on them, and what a
comfort it would be to get into one.

As an example of the upsetting of a basket of
eggs the following figures which are authentic, tell
their own tale. Eighteen months ago, there was
a parcel of renewed succirubra bark about, .5,000
lb. in weight, sent to Colombo, which showed
by analysis the fine outturn of 4-35, and was
sold at Rl-4.5 a pound. The Manager of that place
was more than delighted with this tine result, and
for the last year-and-a-half he has guarded and
cherished those trees, as he would an Eldorado.
He shaved them again the other day, with hope
in his eye, and a vision of funds cheering his
heart, and harvested quite as much as before. But
from the time he parted with his bark he has had
no comfort, for the analysis came up showing 2-20
as against the former 4'.35 and whereas the old
price had been Rl-45 a pound, the broker valued
the parcel in Colombo, at 34 cents if sold at once,
and he recommended that he should sell ! It is
when you extend these figures that the superb
beauty of the contrast is shown thus : —

5,000 lb. sold 18 months ago . . . . R7,250-00

6,000 lb. from same trees worth today. . 1, 700-00

difference . .

.R5,550-00

In this Jubilee year it is perhaps as well that things
should be " done handsome " and there is no one
will dispute that the figures above are a step in that
direction, as a record of the " downs " which the
Ceylon planter is subject to — the " ups " he
takes more philosophically. I suppose there is
nothing specially unique in this, others might
tell similar tales. It must, however, be a comfort
to the growers of cinchona, that if the experience
which I have just chronicled is to be looked for,
the export of bark will fall off in time, for it
would lead one to believe that one has but to
keep one's trees long enough to find them worthless,
The behaviour of the manager under his severe
disappointment is worthy of all praise. He did
not swear at the analysts, as some people do, nor,
take up his parable against " those Colombo
fellows " which is always a relief to the heart of
the stricken planter. No, he sat for a time speech-
less in the gloom of his depression, and by-and~
bye consoled hmiself with music, for which there
are historic precedents. The instrument which is
his favourite in hia darkest hours is the penny
tin-whistle, it is easily learnt, and can be carnsd
SO

about without trouble, and, as he says, "if things
go on like this, one never knows what one may
have to do to get a living." I suggested that
perhaps he might teach his dog to carry " a tinny"
in his mouth, for if he succeeded he could then
laugh in the face of adverse fortune. When
I left him his spirits were steadily rising, and
this spite of produce declining all round : but
the dog was on his haunches.

This " tropical winter," which was broken a few
days ago by welcome rain, seems to have set in
again with great intensity. Everywhere there is
blossom and flower, and a promise of a rich har-
vest of fruit. In the matter of coffee, alavanga
pruning is evidently going out, and the old methods
are being reverted to. But the bug, will that
keep away? It is about, and in pretty strong
force in some places ; but you have to look for it,
as the black fungus, which is its baneful shadow,
seems to find a difficulty in developing in these
dry days, and attention is in consequence less
liable to be directed to the presence of the plague.
If we are spared an infliction of the pest — and
even with that our place would still not be among
the highly favoured, as we have plenty of other
things to bother us — the coming crop of coffee may
be expected to be better than we have had for some
years. Peppercorn.

LETTERS FROM JAMAICA:— No XVI.

weather and crops— banana CULTIVATION — BUILDINGS,

Blue Mountain District, January 1887.

Dear Sir, — Since I last addressed you the weather
has improved, but it is not yet as settled as
could be desired for the " curing for market "
of our lower field crops. The weather is very
cool, cloudy and pleasant, with occasional light
showers , but the sun does not shine continuously
all day long : yet when it does come out it seems
very fierce for the time of the year. This month
usually brings cold winds and hot sun, as it does
in Ceylon, and an occasional " Norther," one of
which visited us on the 18th-19th and was very
strong indeed, and must have done a good deal
of damage in exposed places. What causes these
occasional wind-storms puzzles me, unless it be
the absorption of air into some place where
evaporation is constantly occurring.

Crops, judging by my own lower fields, have
been very good for settlers, especially as they
are getting 7s a tub (two Imperial bushels) for
their cherry coffee, the price in London being
still H4s per cwt. for ordinary Jamaica coffee in
bags. What prices will eventually be realized by
those who are buying largely, must be causing
anxious qualms, for it all depends on the Brazil
crop ; for if news came of better supplies down
would go the market, but we must hope Brazil
has seen its best days as regards its slave-grown
coffee, and that the West Indies, and other pro-
ducing countries, will once more have " a good
innings."

Three miles farther on brought us to our destin»
ation, "Water Valley." We passed some banana
walks and sugar-cane fields, all looking very fine,
for St. Mary's and Portland are considered the
best soil for bananas as well as for sugar, the land
being very rich and fertile. During our visit we
rode one day into Annotto Bay : it is a mere
hamlet as to size and houses, but there is a fine
church, a court-house and police-station, barring
the Fort and the old Dutch houses. It reminded
me somewhat of Matara, as there are no lesa
thaa three rivers emptying themselYcs into ibf

ju

i'HH tiROHCAL AG^iCbL-iUkiSfo

[Mm 'i, iiS7^

sea, in this scattered township, like our Ceylon
back waters. Another excursion was to Port Maria,
the " capital " o£ the Parish : this is as yet the
prettiest spot I have seen in Jamaica ; picture to
youraelf a very pretty Bay, with a small islet m the
centre, overhanging cliffs, a deep blue Mediterranean
Sea, so that were it not for tropical surround-
dings one might be supposed to be in Cornwall,
or Guernsey. Indeed the country for some miles
before reaching Port Maria has quite an English
look, favouring our Sussex and Surrey hill slopes,
and the splendid pastures in which cattle, sheep
and stock generally are seen browsing so con-
tentedly. Of course, the sugar, the palms and the
bananas break the "home spell;" nevertheless it
it is all very pretty. From the Rectory, situate on a.
hill overlooking the bay and town, the sight is
very picturesque : you thence look down upon the
pretty Church close by the sea, the fine Court-
house, the police station, Wesleyan Chapel, and
clean-looking little town, well supplied with water,
and boasting two or more fountains. Beyond is a
second small Bay or cove ; here we lunched and
could have fancied ourselves back at Kalutara, or
Bentota, as we sat under the shade of the coco-
nut trees, the waves almost washing our feet.
Another visit I paid was to " Claremont,
once the residence of the East family (of Tom
Cringle's Log fame) in the grand old times ; fancy
an upstairs house which as you vide up to it,
recalls memories of the Pavilion, Kandy, though
perhaps not quite as large, but the lower story
uninhabited and fast going to decay. These old
Jamaican "Nabobs" (to use an Indian term) lived
like princes. This property some thousand acres in
extent was bought not so very many years ago for
JE500, house and land full of valuable log wood,
trees, and valuable also as a capital grazing pen,
and Banana "walk;" but good parochial roads is
Jamaica's great want to enable planters to get their
produce safely and cheaply to the shipping ports.
This log wood, together with the bananas, has been
the mainstay of many sugar planters, since prices
of sugar fell so very low. It grows, as I have already
stated, indigenously and £1 10s. a ton can be
cleared off it, delivered at the wharf. As to sugar
not paying, I was told it could be produced for
about £10 a hogshead, nearly its present value
in the market; but when the rum is taken mto
account it becomes a valuable factor, as it can
be produced at a profit of £5, a puncheon,
thus leaving the planter something at least to
live upon. In good seasons, bananas are also
very profitable, yielding all round about £10
the 100 bunches ; the price is highest during the
summer months up to August. But in all tropi-
cal countries one must be prepared for damage
by storms floods and hurricanes, and when they
are out they sadly damage the planters' prospects.
Still we should not grumble for even European
countries are subject to like contingences, Witness
the late dreadful gales in England which have
done so much damage to shipping, and gardens
and horticulture generally, branches of fine trees
Being broken down by the heavy weight of snow.

W. 3.

CHINA TEA AND ITS BlVALS,
The cultivation of the tea plant is extending so
rapidly, and is being commenced in uo manv coun-
tries, that the Chinese tea growers will have to
look seriously to the improvement of their stock,
and the Chinese Government will equally have to
see that the export du'ies upon the leaf are not
made so heavy as to serve to place it at a dis-
advantage in its competition with the tea of India,
;apau, Jav», Ceyloo and South Africa. That tba

product of China is gradually losing ground in the
English market, and its place being taken by its
younger rivals will be seen by a glance at the
imports into the United Kingdom during the past
three years, which are as follows : —

1884. 1885. 1886,

lb. lb. lb.

China tea .. 140,284,000 136,-523,020 110,610,749

Japan tea .. 84,000 72,760 51,200

.Java tea .. 3,586,000 3,345,020 3,946,110

India & Ceylon tea 67,152,000 66,862,614 83,465,164
Thus, while the total British import has grown
from 211,106,0001b. in the year 1884 to 228,073,2231b.
in 1886, the increase in China tea is represented
in 1886 by only 326,7491b. and in 1885 there was
an actual decline in the import of 3,760,9801b.
During the same time the import of Indian and
Ceylon tea has increased by nearly twenty-six and
a-half million pounds. Last year, too. South Afri-
can tea made its first appearance on the English
market, some .5,000'b. having been imported. The
land under tea cultivation both in Ceylon and India
is meanwhile annually increasing greatly, and it is
now seriously proposed to start tea gardens in
Burmah. A correspondent of one of eur Rangoon
contemporaries, discussing the project, says that a
market would be found on the spot for all the tea
that could be produced, and there would be no
necessity for exporting any of it for many a year
to come. "The climate and soil," he adds, "are
favourable to hybridising, and in this way im-
portant improvements in quality would prob-
ably be accomplished, and the outturn per acre
would soon compare favourably with that obtained
in the best tea-growing districts of India." The
only serious difficulty in Burmah would be the
labour question, but this difficulty would not long
stand in the way, seeing the vast supply of
surplus labour so easily obtainable from the ad-
joining provinces of 'India. The probability is
therefore that in a few years more Burmah will
take a place among the tea-producing countries,
and be one more rival to China. The idea of
starting tea plantations in some of the Malay
States has also more than once been mooted, and
is pretty certain to be carried out at no very
distant date. The Chinese tea-planters will there-
fore in real earnest have to look well to their
interests. Sir Robert Hart has already administered
one much needed warning that the foreign tea
trade will slip from their grasp unless they
make serious efforts to retain it, and the
Chinese Authorities have recognised the importance
of the question by issuing a proclamation to the
tea-growers, setting forth the necessity of maintain,
ing the standard of their production, but warnings
on such matters are little heeded as a rule m
China, the anxiety of the producers being generaly
limited to the requirements of the moment. Chi-
nese agriculturists take little thought for the mor-
row, and they are not only essentially conservative
in their methods but areatly prone to kill the
goose that lays the golden eggs. In Indian tea
plantations science is brought to bear to improve
the stock and to facilitate the drying .and curing
processes ; while in China the methods of a cen-
tury back are still employed, and no effort is made
at improvement. The result is a comp aint of de-
terioration of the teas, and their gradual displace,
ment in the British markets by the carefully picked,
sorted, and cured teas of India and Cey-
lon. The latter are also making their way in the
Australian colonies. The export of Indian tea from
Calcutta to Australia and New Zealand in 1886
was 1,539,530 1b. as compared with l,8b7,92o lb.
in 1885, and 1,029,463 lb. in 1884. In 188o the
import was rather too suddenly increased, being
almost doubled, but that the leaf has grown greatly

May 3, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

7»^

in favour there is evidenced by the large increase
last year. A few years ago the Australian Colonies
drew their entire tea supply from Foochow, and
the fact that the Indian leaf has found so good
a market there ought to be a significant hint to
the tea planters of Fohkien and Chekiang, who
have so long enjoyed almost a monopoly of the
Australian demand, that this monopoly is at an end
and that in order to hold their ground they must
carefully maintain the quality of their Congous. —
Hongkong Daily Press.

»

INDIAN TEA IN THE FUTUBE.
It must be a matter for anxious thought with man.
Indian tea planters at the present time, — and parti-
cularly with those in hill districts, where the yield is
small, and the produce lacking in strength — whether
tea will pay in the future, considering how low prices
now are, and the improbability of auy improvement
for some time to come. SuppUes have been, as far as
possible, kept off the market, but prices have con-
tinued to droop, and, on the 4th instant, they stood
in London at levels of which there had been no pre-
vious experience. " Fannings "'of Indian tea were worth
7gd per pound at the beginning of March in 1884,
and last year, at the same time, they were quoted at
8|d ; but on the 4tb instant the price was 5jd. Indian
pekoe was worth Is in March 1884 and 1886, but on
the 4th instant the quotation was only 9|d. The " re-
cent movements ' are said to show "very satisfactory
results " as regards the consumption of Indian and
Oeylon descriptions. During last month the deliveries
of these descriptions in London amounted to nearly
7 2-5ths millions of pounds, or an increase of 1| mil-
lions as compared with February 18S6. So the lower
the price the greater the consumption of Indiau tea.
That tea planting properly conducted under suitable
conditions, is a profitable enterprise, even with low
prices, is abundantly proved by the dividends paid
by the Assam CompaBy, and others, as the result
of last season's working. Prices for the lower
classes of Indian teas have probably reached their
lowermost level, though it would not be surprising
if the finer kinds should experience a further decline.
"What sort of prospect then is held out by a consi-
deration of the figures available? The total ship-
ments of Indian and Oeylon teas for the present
season may be put at not over 85 millions of pounds
whilst China exports may be reasonably calculated at
say 5 millions less than last year, in other words
at 135 millions. Taking Java at 8 millious, and sun-
dries at 2 millions a gross total is obtained of 230
millions of pounds. It is admitted that consumption
has largely increased, but can it be expected to do so
in such a ratio as to dispose of the quantity of tea
which estimates for the future show ? In the way
of extension, thousands of acres have been opened in
the last year or two in Assam alone ; Ceylon plan-
ters talk of tea et proeterea nihil ; whilst even Java
adds some millions to its yield, according to present
forecasts. It is not wonderful, therefore, that tea
planters speculate anxiously as to their position iu
1890. Estimates naturally vary greatly, but some ap-
proximate idea may be formed by a careful consider-
ation of probabilities. It should be under rather than
over the mark if Indiau tea at that date is set down
at 90 millions, Ceylon at 35 millions, and Java at 10
millions. Certain sanguine spirits have even pre-
dicted that the Ceylon yield will be nearer 60 millions
than 30, by that time, but that is an exceedingly
hopeful estimate. Taking the above as approximately
correct, the rivals of China and Japan will aggregate
135 millions, as against the present 93, an increase 01
42 millions in three years.

In spite of all efforts that have been, and maybe
made in the direction of new markets, consumption
cannot possibly keep pace with such an increase in
production, and the weakest producer must go to
the wall. There seems to be no doubt as to who
that weakest producer is, as India's Celestial compe-
titor has already shewn unmistakable signs that the
pace is too severe for him, and that the more it is

increased, the further he will drop behind in the race
China tea seems to be in much the same position
with regard to Indian as cuprea bark from South
America occupies with reference to Indian bark. In
the latter case, when the value of the unit of quinine
drops below 6d. it does not pay to send cuprea bark
to the English market, though, low as prices are,
Indian planters can yet dispose of any stem bark at
a profit in proportion to its quality. In the same
way, now that Indian tea prices have dropped to
what was formerly the China level, the latter
country has to retire more and more from
competition. The question is, allowing for such
an increase in consumption as will take off
a fair proportion of the estimated increase in
yield, with a sufficient quantity of China tea be
forced out of the English market to allow of prices
retaining their present position ? It seems probable
that medium class teas, such as sell at present at
8d. to Is. 2d a pound in bond will suffer most, aa
they will be the ones to come most into competi-
tion with the average China tea. It cannot pay,
as it is, for the Chinese to export to England their
lowest classes, considersng the tax which ia levied
on every pound before it is shipped, thus at once
placing it at a disadvantage as compared with the
lowest classes of Indian tea. Really fine classes of
tea have always held their own well, and such kinda
from India and Ceylon, with their superior strength,
have little to fear from Chinese competition. Still,
the pressure in the market may lead China to make
strenuous efforts at retaining her position, either by
finer plucking, thereby making finer teas, and a leaa
quantity, or by abolishing her tax on tea. The latter
is unlikely ; in fact, a heavier tax was proposed not
long ago, and the idea was only relinquished because of
the urgent representations that any additional increase
of taxation would reduce the already minute profit
to a vanishing point, and practically put a stop to
the trade. The first supposition is more probable,
aud if it is thoroughly carried out, it would mean a
drop in fine teas corresponding to what may now
occur iu medium classes. But an effort was made
by China in this direction at the beginning of the
present season, in consequence of mliuential repre-
sentations, principally from the London trade, though
BO far without much success in inducing better
prices. Machinery, freedom from local taxation, aud
careful management are in favour of the Indian
planter ; he is prepared for the struggle for exist-
ence which has already begun ; and any proprietor
of a good garden under proper care need not fear
the result. For those, and they are too mauy, whose
plantations are indifferent, their yield poor, and
their means insufficient for proper cultivation, it
would be the truest wisdom to give up at once,
and look out for some pursuit which is' uot likely
to present such a marked example of the survival of
the fittest as, iu all probability, tea planting in India
will do at the end of a few years. — Madras Mail.

The Cow Pea as a Fodder Crop. — The cow pea
is one of the most valuable fodder plants for the South.
"We have seen a crop of peas which yielded four tons
to the acre of most excellent fodder, and it left the
ground in the best condition for sowing wheat.
Another farmer sowed peas among his corn, at the
last ploughing, covering them with the plough, and we
should estimate the yield on the ground, of both crops,
at a ton aud a half of corn fodder, and forty bushels
of peas, with the corn equal to thirty-five or forty
bushels to the acre, and a large quantity of pea straw,
which makes good feed. The common opinion that the
South is not a sto 'k country, is entirely unfoinided.
With the long growing season, the really rich, but
badly managed soil, and the great variety of fodder
crops and feeding stuffs, it is uot at all exaggerating
the matter to say, that beef cattle can be reared to
one thousand pounds weij^ht in three years, at a cost
of one cent per pound live weight, and in addition,
there is a large quantity of manure left, which ia
really invaluable to the Southern farmer. — American
Aqricuhnrii^t.

tJ6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[May 2, 1887.

PONDICHERRY STEAM PRESSED
GROUND NUT OIL.
The comparatively sudden development of the
ground nut traffic in Southern India has opened out
markets for the oil which but a few years ago were
not dreamt of, and Pondicherry has, from the early
beginning of the oil trade, taken the lead in the Indian
export markets. Last year's crushing operations were
restricted, owing to the unusually high price of the
nut, caused by a heavy export demand throughout
the whole season, and also by a decreased supply
arising from inundation damages to the crops. In 1884,
the total crop was estimated at upwards of 80,000
tons. Nearly 70,000 tons were exported in bulk and
in oil from Pondicherry alone, and this year's yield
•is expected to exceed 100,000 tons, about nine-tenths
of which will probably find its way to Pondicherry,
Just now, however, there is a depression in the trade,
in consequence of the exceptionally low quotations at
Marseilles ; still, there are buyers at growers' prices
— mostly, as yet, for crushing and for shipment in
shells to Coast ports, Calcutta, Burmah and the
Straits. It is calculated that, at KIO per candy at
the place of growth, cultivators can realise a fair profit
so that, at the present rate of R16-12-0 per candy,
either the producer, or "middle men " or both, must be
making extravagant profits. Last year the price touched
R22, and kept at above R20 for the greater
part of the season. The rapid devlopment of the
ground nut industry is traceable, in a great measure
to the comparatively easy method of cultivation.
Beyond the sowing and gathering of the crop there is
nothing to be done ; it requires no watering, and needs
no tending, and, as the coolies who collect the nuts are
paid in kind, the capital outlay is limited to the mere
cost of labour for scattering the seed. Within the
last year or two, and notably from the beginning of
the present year, nearly all the Eastern Coast ports
and Calcutta, Rangoon, Moulmein, and the Straits.
have been regular buyers of the Pondicherry oil ;
even at the current high rate of the nut, it can be
manufactured and sold at about one rupee per imperial
gallon. The ground nut oil trade is as yet but in its
infancj', and the cheapness and purity of the article,
together with its unquestioned general usefulness as
a cuisine commodity, must cause a steadily increasing
demand for it. — Madras Mail.

TEA CULTURE IN SOUTHERN STATES OF
AMERICA.

BY MBS. D. WALKEE.

In one of last year's numbers of the Gardeners'
Monthly, I gave an account of the success of our tea
plants, which this autumn are profusely covered with
bloom and buds. The bushes have much increased in
diameter, are perfectly healthy, strong and vigorous
■with dark heavy foliage. They seem impervious to
drought and floods, and vie with our native evergreens
in beautifying the garden.

Now, about planting the seeds collected last year
from our own bushes. The ground where they were
to be planted was thoroughly mulched, the soil naturally
being very sandy. The seeds were dropped on the
ground and left uncovered. No further care was given,
the weeds for the whole of the past season not being
removed .

And this time, there are a hundred or more fine thirfty
plants covering the spot; proving, indisputibly, that
tea can be grown in this State, and surely such an
industry should not be overlooked. What difficulty
could there be in importing some Chinese who are
accustomed to the manipulation of the leaves ; and, in
short, understand the proper process of preparing the
tea for market?

Assam and other East Indian teas are largely
imported into Europe, and commonly drunk. There
can be no doubt as to their excellent flavour. While in
England this summer, I drank Assam tea every day,
and thought it much superior to our ordinary black
tea, for which we pay (retail) §1-10 per pound.

Another fact is worth reporting. In England, the
duty OQ tea is twelve cents a pound ; here there is no

duty, and good tea is far more expensive than abroad.
[This note is very acceptable as keeping before the
commuGity a topic it is apt to forget. There is no
reason for doubt that the tea plaut will grow as well,
aud produce as good tea in portions of the Southern sea-
board States, as in China. The whole question is
reduced to one of cost of production. The introduction
of Chinese labor would not help the question in the
least. All experience has shown that every new locality
mustbe a law unto itself. In the early history of vine-
growing in America, it was thought essential to import
vine dressers from the vineyards of Europe. Their art
was of no value here, and vine-growing was not a success
until we cut loose wholly from the experiences of the old
world. The most successful vineyardists of to-day never
saw the old world. And this must be true of tea culture.
When some enterprising young man shall take hold of
the tea question, note well just where its weaknesses
are, and go resolutely to work to strengthen these
points, tea culture will be one of the most profitable
industries of theSouth. And that person and that time
will surely come.— Ed. G, '^lA— Gardeners' Monthly.

THE SPONGING SEASON AT BAHAMAS.

An old and valued contributor to this paper, now
Governor of the Bahamas, sends to this month's Fcnrt-
nightly Review an excellent description of those islanda,
and we shall be surprised if the varied allurements
which Mr. Blake holds out do not cause some of his
friends to go over and pay him a visit. Among other
things he describes the sponge fishery.

" From October to July the sponging season is in full
swing. There are over five thousand men and boys
engaged in the fishery, each schooner carrying a crew
of five to seven. The sponges are found all over the
banks, which vary in depth from two to four fathoms.
The fishing is managed on the share .system, the crew
being thus directly interested in the success of the
voyage, which lasts about six weeks. Arrived on the
ground, the small boats, of which each schooner carries
two or three, put off, manned each by two men, one
of whom sculls, while the other, armed with a thirty-
foot pole, bearing at the end a double hook, lies extended
over the bow, and examines the bottom through a
" sponge glass," or bucket with a glass bottom. Laying
this upon the surface, everything below is seen as
clearly as if no water intervened. Even in fifteen and
twenty fathoms the bottom can be clearly seen and
examined. The sponges when found are hooked up by
the armed pole, and as soon as the schooner's deck is
filled she sails away to a "ranche," where she deposits
her now evil-smelling load in a " crawl," or enclosure of
wattles in shallow water, where it remains for a fortnight,
during which the crew are fishing for a fresh cargo.
On their return all hands enter the crawl and beat out
the now-rotted fleshy part of the sponge, which, when
first gathered, presents the appearance of a roiind mass
of dark indiarubber freely perforated. When the
fleshy part has been thoroughly removed aud the
marketable skeleton washed, the heap is laid on h ore
in a secluded spot, while the lot that has taken its
pace remains in the crawl, and the schooner starts
agaiYi for the sponge banks, At length enough has
been giahered and cleaned to load the vessel, when the
sponges art- sorted by the crew into glove, reef. Iambs,
wool, gTai<s, ire, and each kind separately strungs in
rings of from one to two dozen. In this way they are
gold by auction in the sponge exchange, when the first
step of the preparation for the consumer is carried out
by the .sponge merchants. The sponges are exposed to
the sua to improve the colour. They are then clipped
and all irregularities and pieces of shell or rock
removed by the clipper, and once out of his hands they
are, so far as the Bahama sponge merchant is concerned,
ready to be pressed in bales and exported.

It would be a good thing if all Governors of the
Queen's dominions abroad sent to Mr. Escott equally
readable accounts of the countries which they rule. It
ib well known that they are not as a rule overburdened
with work, — Pall Mall Budc/et.

May 2, 1887.] l-HE TROPI-CAL AGRICULTURIST.

717

CASUAEINA EQUISETIFOLIA.

Wethinktbe fashoinable fad of Bengal Forest OflScers
in laying down the general principles of forestry as th^y
hold good in India according to their lights, a great waste
of time. Most of the conclusions arrived at are erroneous
and must be productive of on little mischief. F jrestry is
an eminently empirical science, cons* queutly its general
principles must be derived from actual experience, and
until we huve a sufficient store of exp-rience, it is of
no Ufa to attempt publishing a aeneral hand-book on
forestry as applicable to India. If the object is, on the
other hand, to give the general principles of forestry
as applied, say to France or Germany, it would be much
belter to translate one of the leading hand-books of
those countries on the subject, or, if necessary, to
translate extracts, rather than to attempt the produc-
tion of a faulty book, which gives itself the appearance
of being based on Indian experience, whereas in reality
all the difficult points on which Indian experience is
wanting are studiously passed over in silence. Our
remarks are called forth by some astouudingly incor-
rect statements which are given as matters of fact in
the work of a Bengal Forest Officer who is considered
an authority on most piantiug matters. This gentleman
discourses on our well-known Oasuarina in the follow-
ing amazincr terms : " ihefabidovs growth of the Causar-
ina eqiiisetifoUa reported from the Madras Presidency,
which, however, is still an exotic, &c. " Why " fabu-
lous " and why an " exotic ?" This leads to the con-
sideration of another assertion on the same suhjet
■which can ouly be propped up by a maintenance of
the most extreme views with regard to acclimatization,
or to speak more correctly, lasting introduction, namely,
that a permanent and independent position in the
new countriy's flora, like the American Water-weed in
English canals or the Australian AVattle ( Acacia
Dealbata ) on the Nilgiris. Accepting any definition
short of this, Casuarina equisetifolia is not an exotic.
Though we cannot positively assert that natural repro-
duction may be reckoned on in a Oasuarina plantation,
we have good grounds for believing it, at least in the
ordinary _ clim'ite of the M)'sore plateau and North
Arcot District, beyond which our observations hare not
ex ended. In the" Bangalore plantations it has been
planted pure and made unprecedented growth, which
we submit, is a crucial test, the more so as the rainfall
seems to be very irregular in most of them. It is
certain that in Mysore generally the tree seeds plenti-
fully and produces a crop of seedlings wherever the
ground is in a fit state to raise them. Hardihood is a
test of successful introduction, and here no arborial
species can surpass it over so large an area. Growing
magnificently along the sandy shore of the Madras
coast, it is quite at home and makes excellent growth on
the hard loams and inland climate of Eastern Mysore
whence it extends West with its graceful pine-like
foliage, in a country where- no Conifers are, into a damp
climate where few of its late companion species can
follow it. At Cotacamund, with a mean yearly temper-
ature a few degrees above that of London, the same
wonderful tree turns up again. We may well parody
a trite saying by describing it as "all things to all
climates."— ^oMi/i of India Observer. [If Casuarina
equisetifolia grows well in Ootacamund, it surely
ought to flourish at our highest elevations in Ceylon.
What is the highest elevation at which it has been
tried. There are species which grow well at high altitudes
for a few years and then die out. -Ed.]

THE USES OF LIME.

Lime should never be ploughed under, but kept as
near the sunace as possible. Your directions are pre-
cisely right; viz., "spread.it evenly in a finely pul-
verized state and diffuse it well in the soil by har-
rowmg. That is the proper practice, aud it is exceed-
ingly rare that when lime is thus used it is not found
to be of great service to the crops, especially clover
and grass. And as clover and grass are— so to speak
—the underpinning of a successful rotation, this is
exceedingly important. But farmers are much aided
by reasons why things are thus or thus, and miuute

directions how to secure certain conditions. Now, 1
would like to give M. P. R. not only my experience
during several years, but reasons why lime is useful,
and directions how to procure the requisite finely
pulverized condition, and its intimate diffusion in theoils.
First, there is a good deal of miNapprehensiun re-
garding the efltect of lime as a fertilizer. It has long
been, and now is — by many pt^rsuns — thought to be a
stimulant to the soil, and, therefore, a dangerous
substance to use. This is by no means true. It is
partly true, and as it contains a little truth, it is, like
a little knowledge, a dangerous thing. Lime is a direct
and indispensable plant food. This is evideuily proved
by the following figures, showing the percentage of
lime contained in the ash of —

Olover 27 to 40

Potato vines 39 to 46

Turnip leaves 32

Rye straw 73

Corn stalks 10^

Pea straw 38

Hop vines 17

Tobacco ... ■ 37

Moreover, there is not ft plant or any part of a
plant that does not contain more or less of lime ;
this is not surprsing, when it is considered that as
animals feed upon plants, and the bones contain
about 50 per cent in round numbers of lime ; and
if the soil is deficient in it, of course the plants do
not thrive, and cannot, however much of the other
needed elements of plant food the soil may contain.
For if one is deficient, the plants cannot make use
of the others. The lime also must be soluble, and
it is only soluble practically in a caustic or fresh state,
and is practicully insoluble in its mild or carbonized
state. For instance, if a small quantity of fresh lime
be put into a barrel of soft rain water, the lime is
dis.solved, and the water becomes hard ; but if a large
piece of marble, which is carbonate of lime, be put
into the water, the lime is not dissolved, and the
water remains soft and pure.

Second, lime is not only a plant food of itself, but
it has a strong decomposing action upon fresh organic
matter in the soil, and quickly reduces it to a con-
dition in which it is available as food for plants ;
moreover, it aids greatly in what we call the nitri-
fication of organic matter; uhat is, the development
of nitric acid from nitrogenous organic matter, and
the formation of nitrates in the soil, which can be
taken up by plants. This is the way in which it is
supposed to act as a stinjulaut; but wrongly so. It
is rather an exhaustive agent in the soil, because it
rapidly makes soluble and available organic matter,
which would otherwibe remain longer in the soil, and
only become available slowly. Lime is therefore a
most valuable addition to a richly manured soil, or
to land that is rich iu vegetable matter, as newly
reclaimed and drained swamps. But caution must be
used to feed such a soil well, as — to use a familiar
simile — its powers of digestion are very strong indeed
and it calls for more food in proportion.

Third, lime also exerts a chemical action upon the
mineral particles of the soils, diss living their sili-
cious surfaces wnich hold potash and phosphoric acid,
and freeing these invaluable substances so that they
can be appropriated by the roots of the crops. This
is not an exhaustive process, because it is exerted
upon an inexhaustible store of material, and as long
as any soil remains, this process can go on without
danger of exhaustion.

Lime is, therefore, useful in any soil in which it
does not already exist in a soluble condition. It is
more useful, perhaps, upon stiff clay soils, because it
loosens and opens them, and makes them porous and
gives admission to the air, than upon sandy soils.
It is most useful upon the feldspathic and micaceous
clay soils, or sandy loams, because these minerals con-
tain from ten to eighteen per cent of potash, insol-
uble without the help of lime. It should also, there-
fore, be used in the finist pos-ible state of division,
which is secured by air-.slaking, and be most intim-
ately diffused iu the soil, that its action may be as
effective as possible. — Southern Planter.

[8

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[May 2, 1887,

COCONUT FIBEE.

It was Linnaeas who first called the Palms the
" princes of the vegetable kingdom," but it has been
reserved to writers of the present day to designate
the Coconut and the Palmyra respectively the " prince
of Palms ;'' which of these two plants, however, is
most entitled to the term it is difficult to say for we
read that the Palmyra (Borassas flabelliformis) has
been immortalised in a poem iu the Tamil language,
and though 801 uses of the Palm have been thus re-
corded the list is by no means exhausted. Whether
it be possible to enumerate so many uses for the
Coconut Palm (Oocos nucifera), I have not been at
the trouble to inquire, but I venture to believe that
for sterling value as a commercial plant the Coco-
nut can compete any day with the Palmyra, or any
of its allies.

It would seem that with a plant so well-known
as this, and about which so much has been written,
nothing now remains to be said. It is an old story
to be told that the outer husk yields coir ; that the
inner hard shell can be, and is generally carved into
ornament-il cups ; that the kernel of the nut itself
is edible when fresh, and that it yields large quanti-
ties of oil when dried. These are facts known to
all who know a Coconut when they see it, and what
schoolboy is there who is not acquainted in some
way with this familiar nut ? But each one of its
uses might be dilated upon, and to use an oft-re-
peated term, " volumes might be written" upon each;
but our business at present is only with the husk,
apparently a miaor portion of the Coconut, com-
mercially considered A glance at the engraving, how-
ever, will show that a large trade must be centred
about these "unconsidered trifles," and that such
is the case, I shall endeavour to show by briefly
recording what I saw on a visit to the Coconut
fibre works of Messrs. Chubb, Round & Co., situated
in the West Ferry Road, Millwall. This firm is one
of, if not the largest importers and manufacturers
of Coconut fibre, and their stock of material, which
is well shown in the engraving, is a very striking
sight. The enormous heap of husk — which, indeed,
is known in the locality as the " mountain " — comes
upon view immediately upon entering the premises,
and one can scarcely, at first sight, realise the fact
that the enormous pile is composed entirely of these
apparently useless portions of the fruit. At the time
of my visit this reserve stock of husks was estimated
at considerably over a million and-a-half, and presented
an appearance as shown in the engraving (fig. 186).
which is from a photograph taken by Mr. .John G.
Hor.sey, only a week or so previously. Before pro-
ceeding to describe the various processes through
which the husks pass t^ convert them into market-
able materi:il, it will be well to say something about
the nuts themselves.

Coconuts, or as they are generally termed in the
trade Coker-nuts, to distinguish them from the
Th'obroma Cacao, which furni.shes cocoa and choco-
late, are shipped principally from Trinidad, Jamaica,
Dera'-rara, Tobago, several of the other Leeward
I<4lHnds in the British West Indies, Ceylon, Belize
(British Honduras), all round the coast of America,
and the Fiji Islands ; the quantity landed in the
United Kingdom being about 12,000,000 yearly. Nearly
all the nuts are imported in the husks or outer cover-
ing from which, on arrival, th^y are stripped by men
using two fine-pointed steel chisels, and who, by constant
practice, become so skilful in the art that many are
able to open 1,0^.0 to 1,200 nuts per day. The nuts
themselves after being removed from the husks are
generally sol 1 to wholesale fruit dealers, who, in
turn, supply th > retailors, costermongers, and others,
but they are likewise often sold uader the hammer
at public auction.

After removal from the hu'ik they are sorted into seven
sorts or varietips, known respectively as large milky
midilli' size, -mall, starters, milky crowers, green, an i drv.
Those from Trinidad are the sweetest in iJavour, and are
mostly preferred by the manufacturing confectioi ers,
biscuit-makers and others, though the Ceylon nuts run
them very close in quality. Coconuts are largely used

in the North and West of Eugland, and they are
also in great demand at holiday times, at fairs, on
race-coiorses, and such-like gatherings in all parts of
the kingdom. The husks, after the nuts have been
cracked, are stacked in the yard in the open air, as
shown in the engraving, until they are required for
conversion into fibre ; for this purpose they ai-e first
passed singly through a powerful " crusher," or "back
breaker," driven by steam power, with large revolving
corrugated wheels which flatten the husks, and to a
certain extent make them more pliable ; but after
this severe pressure, so springy is the nature of the
husk that, somewhat like a sponge, they immediately
assume their original shape on emerging from the
crusher. They are then thrown into huge stone tanks,
each holding many thousands, where they undergo
several hours' steaming and soaking. Great care and
skill are required to know how long to keep them
in the tanks, husks from different countries requiring
more or less time according to circumstances, such
as age, thickness of outer cuticle, substance of fibre,
and other peculiarities known to the manufacturer.
In the tanks the husks swell considerably, and have
to be kept down by heavy pressure. One of the
tanks filled with husks is shown in the centre of
the engraving.

After the husks are sufficiently soaked they are
ready for the mills, which are technically known as
" Teasers " or " Devils," and con.sist of cylinders or
drums, each being studded on the outer circumference
with about 3,000 fine or thick 3 -inch steel teeth,
specially tempered. The mills vary slightly according
to certain requirements. They are driven by steam,
and revolve with great rapidity, requiring the ut-
most care and constant attention of the workmen.
Each hu.sk is divided longitudinally into thin pieces,
and each piece is passed into the mill separately by
the workman between two steel rollers, the work-
man retaining a firm grip of it so as not to allow
it to pass out of his hands, but the few moments
he holds it there, the drum with its numerous steel
tpeth is revolving and combing out the irregular
fibre and refuse. After one half of the slice of husk
is thus cleaned the workman reverses it passing in
the other half. The continual feeding of these mills
gives such strength of wrist and dexterity to the
workmen that what appears a very dangerous operation
is gone through with wonderful rapidity, and each
slice of husk is passed through three of these mills
in succession, occupying but a few seconds from the
time that the crude husk is passed into the mill
until it comes out a perfectly cleared bundle of
light brown separated fibres; these bundles are next
laid out in drying rooms on heated iron tables to
perfectly dry them, when they are ready for making
brushes and brooms of various kinds.

But to return to the mills. It will be seen that
the principal atten*:ion has been given to the long
clean fibres used for brush-making, but there are
other products to which I have not yet alluded. If
a coconut husk is cut through transversely, it will be
found that immediately un^ier the outer woody coat-
ing the long brush fibres, if we may so call them,
are deposited to the thickness of about half-an-inch ;
nearer the centre, and immediately surrounding the
nut, the fibres are more irregular, somewhat matted,
and mixed with soft brown refuse. In the process
of passing through the mill and separating the brush
fibre, this finer fibre and refuse is thrown out at the
back, from whence it is collected and placed on
elevators, and carried automatically into the mouths
of double rotary screens, or " willow.s," peculiarly
made for the purpose, a spindle fitted with arms or
roads running the entire length, and after many
revolutions and much tossing about, the fibre is separated
and falls out at the lower ends clean and ready
to be dried. This fibre is used for matting, and is
not only supplied by the firm in large quantities for
mat-makers, but also to the Government for mat-making
in prisons ; it is further largely used for stuffing mat-
tresses, saddles, &c. The refuse, by a special process
of the present proprietor, is separated into two different
qualities, the ordinary coarse kind being used for

Uki i, iSSf.J !•«£ tROPlCAL AdRfC0Lt'0ftlSf,

719

general horticultural purpsses, and the granulated
for conservatory use and potting.

Enormous quantities of this Coconut fibre refuse
are produced by the firm, A heap is shown behind
the tank in the engraving, and I was imformed that
it was no uncommon thing for them to despatch 20
tons in one consignment, and that the material is
sent to all parts of the world, including America,
Africa, Australia, Sweden, (?ermany, France, Holland,
&c. — the latter countries using it extensively for bulb
growing. It is not a little remarkable that this refuse
Coconut fibre should, in some cases, find its way
back in a changed form to the countries from whence
the nuts were originally brought.

It. conclusion, I have to acknowledge my indebted-
ness to Mr. Thomas Nevell, the present proprietor,
for his kindness in allowing me to inspect the works,
for his courtesy in personally showing me over them,
and carefully explaining the details of manufacture;
as well as for much the information contained ia
this paper.— John E. Jacksox, Museum, Royal
Gardens, Kew. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

INDIAN CATTLE AND ^^ SHEEP.

In a country such as India, where the agriculturist
and the carrier depend almost entirely on bullocks
for doing their heavy work, special attention, one
would think, should be paid to the breeding of ani-
mals fitted for draught purposes. But with few ex-
ceptions the natives seem willing to allow natural
selection to work unhampered, forgetful that Nature
at best works slowly, and that much may be done
to aid her by the judicious selection of breeds, and
careful crossing. Now thsit interest is being shown
in the improvement of Indian agriculture, and that
the introduction of new ploughs, which do something
more than scratch the surface, renders it necessary
to have powerful bullocks, the ryots are beginning
to appreciate the importance of improving the breed
of their cattle. Of course it will take many years
before ruuch will be really done in this direction,
still it is encouraging to see that even a few are
willing to take steps to make use of the facilities
offered by Government for improving their stock.
The plan recently approved of by Government for
purchasing sires, and placing them in selected tracts,
ought, before long, to lead to a marked improvement
in the breed of cattle in the selected districts. The
proposal is to open a central depot in the South
Arcot District, where a number of selected stock
animals could be kept; these, when of suitable age,
would be distributed through the district, or districts,
chosen for the experiments, in the same way as is
now done with stallions in the Coimbatore district.

If this scheme is to work successfully, it will be
necessary for district oflBcials to exhibit some sus-
tained interest in the matter, for we have by no
means as yet got beyond the stage in which a little
interest shown by one in power acts as a strong
incentive to work in the way desired. If this interest
is to be an intelligent one, the district oflScers must
themselves know something of the subject, and fortun-
ately the necessary imformation is ready at hand
in the second edition of Deputy Surgeon General
Shortt'6 work on Indian Cattle and Sheep, which was
recently published * This little book gives a tolerably
full account of the various breeds of cattle and sheep
which are either indigenous to India, or have been
imported from other countries, along with practical
instructions as to their management, both in
health and in disease. The Indian ox, we are told,
is still met with wild in some parts of the country^
but we fancy it must be very rare. The only two'
instances of its being shot, which Dr. Shortt seems
able to mention, are in 1843 and 1848, and these
dates are rather a long time ago. The last case we
remember to have heard of was one in which a sports-

* A Manual of Indian Cattle and Slieep, tlieir'Sreeds,
Management and Diseases, by John Shortt, m.d., v.s.,
?.L.s., F.L.S., 4,c. Second Edition, Higginbotham & Co.,
llidiK, ISSo,

man after having, as he thought, obtained a specimen
of this rare uiiimal, learned, to his chagrin, that he
had shot not a wild ox, but one which had been
turned loose in the jungle some years before as being
too old for work. In any case, they are so rare
that thej' can hardly be considered an important
branch of Indian cattle. Of the cattle of the Madras
Presidency, the most important are probably those
of Myt-ore and Nellore. The Mysore bullock is from
twelve to fifteen hands in height and is celebrated
for his spirit and powers of endurance. The Amrit
Mahal herd is said to date back to the time of the
Hindu Government, but it,s special development for
transport service was due to Hyder Ali, who, by
introducing a breed of cattle from the Trichinopoly
district, and crossing them with the indigenous Mysore
stock produced the Hallikar breed, which is generally
reckoned the best of the various breeds in the country.
The importance to Hyder Ali of this superior type
of cattle for transport purposes was very great. They
enabled him, for instance, to march 100 miles in two
days to relieve Chilambram, and, after a repulse, to
draw off his guns in face of the enemy. The Duke
of WelUngton, when on service in India, experienced
the value of this herd, and durinc: the Peninsular war,
as his despatches show, he often wished that he
could have had Amril Mahal cattle with him in Spain.
An interesting account of tin,' mauasrement of these
herds is given by Dr. Shortt, but it is not brought
up to date, the historical account ending with 1871
since which time various changes have taken place.
The Nellore breed is famous rather for dairy pur-
poses than as draught cattle. They grow to a very
large size, sometimes reaching a height of as much
as seventeen hands, and when well bred, they can
draw very heavy loads. As milkers they are much
sought after in Madras, and some have been known
to yield as much as eighteen quarts of rich miik in
twenty-four hours. First class animals consequently
fetch high prices in the market, cows selling for
R200 each, and bullocks for from R150 to R350 per
pair. Bulls have been boueht for importation into
other districts at E300 to R350 each. Various attempts
have been made to obtain improved breeds by crossing
the better kind of cattle, and considerable success
has been met with, especially by the introduction
of cattle from Guzerat, Aden, ind England. But much
yet remains to be done in this direction. The efforts
hitherto made have been chit-fly spasmodic, and carried
out by individuals having no permanent interest in
the country. Dr. Shortt complains greatly of the
want of interest shown by the ryots — " why, they
argue, should they trouble themselves about improving
their cattle, which will cost money when they have
none to lay out, while, by following the practice of
their forefathers, things take th'-ir natural course ?"
This, doubtless, represents pretty accurately the opinion
of a majority of the ryots, but it is by no means
true of all, for many are showing a distinct and
growing interest in improved methods of agriculture
as is proved, amongst other things, by the large
numbers of European ploughs that have been sold
in the Presidency during the last few years.

Turning now to the subject of sheep, we find that
Nellore comes well to the front again. The Nellore
sheep is the tallest in India and, well fed, will
weigh from 80 to 100 pounds when alive. In Ooim*
batore there is a wool-bearing breed of sheep, and
though small, these fatten well and yield a mutton
which is probably as good as any that is to be had
in India though it is closely approached by some ob-
tained from Mysore, where there is another breed of
wool -bearing sheep. The latter breed furnishes the
chief fighting rams in India. They are very pugnacious,
and not only butt furiously, but also use their fore-
feet, and at times even bite. During Sir Mark
Oubbon's time of office there was an exper msntal
sheep farm at Heraganhalli, under the charge of a
European Commissariat subordinate officer. For this
farm merino rams were imported annually from Austra-
lia, and the distribution of the cross breeds raised
from these has improved the sheep throughout the
c9uDtry to a marked esteut, as regards both eia^

Aai!CtlLT0^fSf,

fMA* 'ii m^.

and quality of mutton and wool. The farm was given
up in 1863 because it did not pay its working ex-
peuses, but such expeaditura as thi? is repiid to a
country over and over again when the experiments
are so evidently successful as they have been in the
case of Mysore. We have not touched on the parts
of the book connected with the treatment of diseases
and accidental injuries : Dr. Shortt's reputation is a
sufficient guarantee that this will be found satisfactory.
But there is one feature of the book which we cannot
speak of with the same satisfaction, and that is the
illustrations. How an author could be persuaded to
allow his book to bo disfigured with such dreadful
lithographs we cannot conceive. We do not deny that
the characteristic features of the animals are, in many
cases, reproduced, but anything less artistic we have
seldom seen. Many of them are taken from photo-
graphs in which the picture has been blurred by the
motion of the animal, and the lithographer has re-
produced this blurring. We are quite aware of the
difficulty of getting a book well illustrated in Madras,
but if it was impossible, on account of the expense
involved, to get wood-cuts from home, we think it
would have been better to omit them altogether rather
than to disfigure with them an otherwise valuable
\io6k,— Madras Mail.

Feogs do no manner of harm in a garden, and are
probably the gardener's best friends. The food of the
frog is wholly of an animal character, consisting of
slugs, worms, and insects of nearly every kind. — Lidian
Gardener.

Disinfectants. — A great deal of disappointment
may be experienced if people do not realize that
deodorizing substances, and even antiseptics like green
vitriol, are not true disinfectants. They have their
advantage in removing evil odour, or checking putre-
faction, but they do not necessarily kill the germs on
whose life and activity many epidemic diseases depend.
Destruction by fire of infected material, and where
that is not practicable, chloride of lime is the best
germicide for general use. — Tniian Gardener.

Soil Cultivation and Insect Pests. — " At the time
of the discovery and early settlement of this country,"
(United States,) says Prof. J. A. Lintner, " the num-
ber of insects existing in the soil was very small, but.
with the cultivation of the ground this number was
increased, until now there are thousands of insects,
which destroy vegetation. Aside from the increise by
cultivation the number has been added to by grubs
and worms imported with grain from foreign count-
ries. There are 9,700 different kinds of coleopterse
or beetles and 200 kinds of insects found in apple
trees. In the Palzeozoic age there were 625 kinds of
' cockroaches." — American Grocer.

Vaeious substances have been used to make stoppers
for bottles that will replace corks, and paper has
formed the basis of many of these. We now have a
more novel use of paper in the drug business in the
form of paper bottles. The difficulty of making
them waterproof has been overcome, as well as their
tendency to be affected by spirits of any kind. The
only difficulty that remains is that they must be made
in halves, and be joined together atter taken from
the moulds where they have been enduring a severe
pressure, and where the albumen of some of the
ingredients has formed an impenetrable protection,
and it only requires that some deserving mechanic
eliminate a pidpy alloy that can be used as a solder.
— Planter and Farmer.

Difficulty of Breathing caused by Pblahgoni-
DMS. — The British Medical Journal for November
38th contains a note on difficulty of breathing pro-
duced by Pelargonium grossidarioiden, by Dr. G-. Bidie,
Deputy Surgeon General, Madras. Dr. Bidie says that
the odour which the plant gives out afterrain &c., is
agreeable to most people, but that in the case of a lady
who came under his observation it immediatly produced
dyspnoea. As the plant was in flower at the time, it^was
thought that the pollen grains caused the trouble, as in
hay fever, but on experiment it was found to be due to
the efBuvia of the leaves. Whenever plants were brought
Bear the la4y ebe vtm afCected ]>y ihsm, aod wliea out j

driving or walking she would announce the presence of
the enemy when the plant could not be seen by the eye,
and whilst other people could not smell it uutil their
attention was directed to it. This is, therefore, a
new example of an "idiosyncrasy of olfaction." — Indian-
Gardener.

Beverages of Barbary.— Besides wine from the
grape, whose preparation calls for no special notice,
there is a kind of "palm wine" or teAwi furnished by
the sap of the date palm ( Phcenix dactylifera ). Trees
in full vigoKr are selected for tapping. If the life of
the tree is to be sacrificed, the incision is made so as to
destroy the terminal bunch, but more generally the
tree is to be preserved, and in that case the cut is kept
clear of the terminal bunch, and is carried round the
st^-m. The juice escaping from the wound is conducted
by a reed into an earthenware pot ( karreri ), and may
amount to nearly two gallons daily at first, gradually
siuking to about half that quantity towards the end of
the tapping, which is seldom allowed to exceed a month.
The collection being terminated, the incision is care-
fully plastered up with clay, and after about two years,
with irrigation, the tree will resume fruit bearing.
Much of the '' wine " is drunk fresh, when it resembles
sparkling cider, but becomes insipid after losing its car-
bonic acid. Its colour is opalescent and milky. After
undergoing alcoholic fermentation, it contains 4'38 per
cent of alcohol 022 carbonic acid, and 5 60 of mannite.

The Moors make extensive use of a spirit prepared
from the water in which comb is boiled in treating
beeswax. This water, being impregnated with honey,
is allowed to ferment, and is then distilled ; the spirit
is called maharga. It is flavoured with aniseed or with
naffa, i. c, fennel acid (FcenicuCum dulce), — Journal of
the Society of Arts.

Stimulating Agents in Germination. — Allusion has
already been made to different means of hastening
the germination of seed, such as breaking the shells,
soaking in very hot water, or even boiling for a short
time. There are some substances which appear to ex-
ercise a stimulating effect in the germination of seeds
and the future growth of the seedlings. Camphor,
a vegetable product itself, appears to possess this pro-
perty in an extraordinary degree. Indeed, it has been
averred that camphor has the power of revivifying
seed, or at least of causing them to germinate when
ordinary treatment failed, Benjamin Smith Barton
was the first to point out its action upon plants at
the end of the last century ; and a few years ago a
Mr. Vogel, of Munich, carried out a number of
experiments with camphor on old seeds. Controlling
experiment, were conducted simultaneously, ordinary
water being employed instead of camphor water.
Seed of Cress three or four years old, treated with
ordinary water, germinated very imperfectlj' and long
atter sowing, while that moistened witli camphor
water germinated quickly ; that four years old in twenty-
four hours, and that three years old in seven hours.
Radish seed, which is usually regarded as useless after
it is three or four years old, was tried seven years
old, and in germinated in four days, or in a much
shorter period than good fresh seed under ordinary
favourable conditions. Seed of the Pea eight years
old germinated in forty hours, and many other old
seeds treated with camphor water exhibited equally
rapid germination. Some that would not germinate
at all under ordinary treatment, had their germinat-
ive force revived by camphor. Other seeds. Clover
for instance, appeared to derive no benefit from the
solution of camphor; but where it acts its influence
is not limited to germination, but is extended to the
subsequent growth. Humboldt discovered that chlorine
accelerates germination, and acts as a restorer where
the vital force is almost exhausted or quite lost, so
far as the usual method of treatment is concerned.
This must be used in a highly diluted form ; about
two drops of an aqueous solution of chlorine in 2 oz.
of water. Iodine and bromine arc said to possess
similar qualities. Acid and ammonia salts in very
small quantities in the water have been found to
hasten germination, but they have Qot the power ot
reviving eeeds.—I^e Garden,

May i, m?.] fm tlopicAL Aomcisvrvm^.

722

ngbfflrgMi8WttafliaBTagwia«tffll

EXPORTS OF INDIAN TEA AND OTHER

PRODUCTS IN TEN MONTHS : 1880-7.

Today concludes the Indian revenue yecar,
fend in' about six weeks hence we may look for
the Annual Report of the Customs Department.
Meantime it may be interesting to look at some
of the items in the accounts for the ten months
ended January, which are before us. And first as
to tea. Tne export of the Indian leaf in pounds
for ten months of three years has been

1884-85 ... 58,381,0001b.

1885-8G ... 63,887,000 „

188G-87 ... 73,37,000 „

It will be observed that the increase in 188G-87
over 1881-85, is not less than 15 millions of pounds.
Of the quantity exported in the latest period of
ten months, the proportions were 71,559,000 to the
United Kingdom ; 1,-120,000 to Australia and less
than 100,000 to the United States ! To other
countries went '258,000, so that out of 73j, millions
of pounds of Indian tea exported, only ij million
pounds were diverted from Britain. The local con-
sumption of Indian tea is usually taken at 2 millions
of pounds, but China tea continues still to be im-
ported, some to be consumed and some to be "re-
exported to Afghanistan and other foreign Stales
bordering on India." The figures for the teu mouths
were : —

From China
Other countries ...

Total...

But in foreign merchandise ex-
ported we find tea given at...

l.',663,000 lb,

572,000 „

3,235,0001b.
1,557,000 „

Retained ... 1,678,000 lb.

The export of Indian lea direct from India to
the United States has averaged only about 100,000
pounds for the ten months of the three past years,
the figures really showing a decrease from 150,000
pounds in 1881-85 to 9'.),000 in the latest period.
Exports to Australia have fluctuated, but on the
whole increased, beginning with 1,066,000, rising
to 1,621,000 and going down to 1,420,000. We
observe that the 73:!i millions of pounds exported
are valued for Customs purposes at R14,177,000,
or somewhat over 8 annas per lb. average.— Turn-
ing now to coffee, we find that contrary to the
process in Ceylon, there has been a steady though
not large increase in the periods of ten months,
thus : —

1884 85 .. .. 206,000 cwt.

1885-86 .. .. 211,000 .,
1886-87 .. .. 245,000 „

The total export for the 12 months will probably
range about 275,000. Of foreign coffee (from Aden
to Bombay, no doubt), India imported in the three
periods, 34,787 ; 14,000; and 19,666 cwt. In the case
of India, it cannot be doubted that a much larger
proportion of the coffee locally grown is locally
consumed than is the case in Ceylon. Of the
foreign coffee imported, the following quantities
were again exported ; — 13,600 ; 5,000 ; and 4,000 cwt.
We think it quite probable that the total coffee
crop grown in India is fully 400,000 cwt., of which
125,000 cwt, is locally consumed. — The export of
coconut oil from India has gone down rapidly and
largely, thus :—

1884-85 . . . . 1,054,000 gallons,
1885-86 .. .. 916,000

1886.87 .. .. 770,000 „

The export of cardamoms has, with fluctuations,
increased, thus:— 163,000 J 23^,000; and ;J10,000 ib, ,

The same may be said of cinchona bark, the ex-
ports being fractional compared with those of
Ceylon. The returns are 411,000; 656,000; and
568,000 lb. It is clear that even now and allowing for
the bark used up for manufacture and experiments,
private properties have but added little to the bark
from the Government gardens. The exports of
bark from India in the year are not likely to
exceed 700,000 lb., the total produce being
probably under a million. The exports of un-
manufactured coir have sunk to insio-nificance
thus :— 14,000 ; 7,000; and 9,800 cwt. °It would
appear that now nearly all the coir is manufactured,
for the figures for the article in this shape (ex-
cluding cordage which is mixed up with jute and
other rope), show up thus :— 175,000 ; 155,000;
and 170,000 cwt. But manufactures of coir (again
excluding rope) were imported thus :— 9,700 ;
11,000 ; and 11,(;66 cwt. The exports of coconuts
from India are, as might be expected, very small, rang-
ing from 213,000 to 117,000 and 164,000 ; but copra
was exported thus :— 15,000 ; 21,000 and 8,800 cwt.
Coconuts were imported at the rates following :—
15,129,000 ; 11,500,000 ; and 14,058,000 ; while the
increase in the imports of copra has been very
large : -38,400 ; 92,400 ; and 106,000' cwt. The
import is mainly from Ceylon, we suppose. Be-
sides paddy or rice in the husk, which is not
shewn separately for Ceylon, the exports of rice
to our island have been : —

1884-85

1885-86
1886-87

Quantity.

Cwt.
2,447,000
2,.5G5,000
2,450,000

Value.
R.

8,588,000

10,024,000

9,222,000

The increase in the exports of wheat from India
has been marvellous,— from 13,000,000 cwt. to
19,416,000 cwt. and 21,172,000 cwt. The total export
for the 12 months will probably be 25 millions of
cwt., against somewhat less than 20 millions of
rice. Arecanuts, or, as they are termed in these
accounts " betel nuts " are classed, curiously
enough, as spices, and some of the facts em-
bodied are curious, one being the much higher
valuation placed on Ceylon nuts than on those
from the Straits. For instance 11,533,000 pounds
imported from Ceylon in the 10 months are
valued at 1,540,000 rupees ; while 14,417,000 of
Straits nuts are down ' for only Rl, 387, 000. As
Penang derives its name from the arecanut, we
were prepared to find the Straits the great source
of supply of this masticatory. Sumatra adds a fair
quantity. Out of 26,820,000 pounds imported in the
10 months, less than half was contributed by Ceylon,
but our produce gets credited for more than half of the
whole value. Notwithstanding local manufacture of
febrifuges, India still imports quinine, some of it, we
suppose, prepared in London from Government bark,
The figures for the three periods are :— 10,707 lb,,
R519,772; 11,004 1b, R416,672; 9,320 lb. R282, 165.
Cinnamon has no heading in the imports, but
cassia lignea (coarse cinnamon from China) figures
for 13,255 cwt, 12,290 cwt, and 24,315 cwt. Castor oil
is an importaKt item in the export trade of India,
the quantity for ten months being 2,339,000 gallons,
valued at R963,G00. " Mica " (commercially called
talc) having recently attracted attention here we
may say that in the ten months the exports from
India were 780 cwt, valued at R191,700. The ex^
ports of linseed have averaged 8 millions of cwt.,
the value ranging about R47,500,000. The duty
levied on rice has ranged about R 1,000,000 or, say,
Rl, 500,000 for the 12 months. This is the only
export liable to duty, and the only imports su bun

d«ned are salt; Jifjuors, opium and a few otiiei aitieJeg,

^ii

fiiE fmmAL AoMcvvrtim^f, [May i, imi,

PEARLS IN COCONUTS.

■nifi II I ere'rr'i ■^gjaP'

A correpp indent writes : — " T am somewhat
surprised that the fact has escaped yon that thi:^
subject was fully discussed in the Ceylon Observer
some years ago, with extracts given, if I recollect
aright, from the Straits or Java papers. If such
a fact as the occasional occurrence of pearls in
coconuts existed in Eumphius' time it was sure
to be recorded by this most excellent and indus-
trious writer, and the statement made by your
correspondent that Rumphin- alludes to this fact
is likely to be correct. You will find Eumphius'
Ucvhoniiim Amhoinense in G folio volumes in
the foreign list of books in a shelf in the north
end of the Colombo Library, and a glance at the
index at the last vohime, and another at the
description of the Coconut given in double columns,
one in Dutch and [he other in Latin, will very
soon enable you to see if Rumpliius has alluded
to pearls in the coconut. If this be a fact the
hackneyed expression ' and this accounts for the
milk in the coconut ' may be changed into
* the pearls in the coconut.' And why not
Pearls in the Coco Nut ?"

On which we have to remark that we hope
to refer to Rumpliius in due time and if, as we
suppose, from the statement made not by " our
correspondent,'' but in a quotation from a Java
newspaper, the accomplished Dutchman did refer
to concretions in coconuts, we feel quite certain
that instead of asking " Why not pearls in coco-
nuts ?" he noticed the phenomenon as exceedingly
rare and very curious. And for this reason, —
that, unlike the pearl-bearing shells, which are
formed of carbonate of lime and have the power
of secreting that mineral to any extent, the coco-
nut has the slighest possible amount of lime in
its composition. " The milk in the coco-
nut " is first highly saccharine and then as
it coagulates highly oleaginous, and true pearls
can be formed neither from sugar nor oil. We
are quite prepared to learn that the concretions
on analysis differ entirely in composition from the
nacre of which pearls are built up. We have no
recollection of this subject of pearls in coconuts
having been discussed in our paper but a very
vivid remembrance of our having quoted, only to
cover with deserved ridicule, a paper in the
transactions of the Straits Asiatic Society by a
Mr. Dennys in which people in this nitneteenth
century were asked to swallow the outrage-
ously unscientific statement that grains of rice
shut up in a box developed into life and then
became pearls which increased in size with effluxion
of time ! That we believe, was substantially the
story, which even the most pronounced evolutionist
could not swallow. The question we should now
like to iisk of men like Mr. W. H. Wright, Mr,
Vy', B, Lamont, Mr. Jardinc, ^Mr. Piachiaud and
other coconut planters, is, " Have you, in all
jour Ceylon e^periensCf seen or heard oi so-Cfl.Ued
peftl'ls in coconuts? " \Va hftvs notj

HINTS TO FRUITGROWERS.

Mi'( ;'amc3 Inglis, M. L. A., delivered a lecture
iri Uie hall of the School of Arts. Paramatta, on the
9th J'ed. to the meutbers of the Cumberland
Eruitgrowet's t'nion. The hsll wevs well filled by
the more active tnember-:) of the Unicn and others
interested in the gretlt industry of Central Cum-
herland. Mr. John Nobbs occupied the chair.
We extract from the report of the Cumberland Times
the following portions of the address ; — Mr, Inglis
said that when he was contesting the election for
Mew England— which he had the honour to repre-
fteot in t}ie rarliuuent of ^'£w ^outlt Wales^-tli^

slogan or war-cry of his party was " Aiild Scotland
for New England." He told them it was his in-
tention to avoid prolixity ; but, at the same time,
he intended to take his audience with him on an
imaginary journey of 25,000 miles ; and if in that
journey he did not weary them, he would return
to the starting point and deal with matters which
might be more immediately connected with the Cen-
tral Cumberland Fruitgrowers' Union. He expected
great things from the Union. Those interested in
the fruitgrowing industry had hitherto been a hetero-
geneous mass of incoherent atoms, each pulling in
oppo.-itp directions ; but now they had determined
on unity of action. The importance of the fruit-
growing indunry it would he difiicult to over-
estimate, and the large possibilities involved in it,
and the immense proportions to which it might
attain, were already attracting the attention of
outside nations. The importance of fruit from an
economic, sanitary, and dietetic point of view, was
pointed out, and extracts quoted from the Journal
of l{paU}i\ showing how valuable an aid to health
would be the substitution of fruit as an article of diet
for the messes of bacon and grease with which the
majority of the people were in the habit of regal-
ing themselves. There was no more wholesome
and nutritious article of diet than a peach, nor
anything more delicious ; nor could anything be
more conducive to health than substituting cooling
sub-acid fruits in the dietary scale tor the different
kinds of animal food which constitutes the staple
diet of the country. The medicinal value of various
fruits was also pointed out, and the watermelon
was instanced as an example of a natural febri-
fuge and diuretic than which few were more valu-
able. The oi'ily caution to be observed was to see
that the fruit was fresh and ripe. It was a fre-
quent reproach, levelled against the people of New
South Wales, that they were lagging behind in
the race for national pre-minence. For this some
assigned one reason, some another. One said
Jennings-Dibbsism was to blame, another said
free trade was the cause of it ; but there existed
an universal consensus of opinion that there pre-
vailed among the people of New South Wales a
certain sluggishness of character and temperament
which invited the rivalry and quiescently sub-
mitted to the attempts of more energetic if less
favoured nations to distance this colony in the
race for national pre-eminence. With respect to
the rival systems of free trade and protection, he
had the courage of his opinions, and, like most
Scotchmen, held a tolerably good opinion of him-
self. He did not intend to approach these subjects
in any gingerly fashion, with his fingers encased in
plush-tipped silken gloves. The man who considered
protection to be a panacea for all political and
social evils must be either a bigot or a fool. The
cry for protection was neither more nor iess than
the wail of sluggish eneptness— the puling cry o.f
those whose want of Anglo-Saxon stamina was
betrayed in every evidence that surrounded them of
their ^vant of capacity to take advantage of the
opportunities which bountiful nature had lavished
upoii them, and who contented themselves with
praying to Jupiter, instead of throwing off their
coats and setting their own shoulders to the wheeL
Having himself boundless faith in the potential!'
ties of the fruit-growing industry in ^ew South
Wales, he desired to impart a little of that faith
and fervour "ivith which he v,'as filled to the raem-
beis of the I'ruitgroAvers' Union ; and, in order to
do that, he would endeavour to show them what
was doue in countries where fruitgrowing took the
place to which its importance entitled it among
the industries of the people of those countries. He
bad beeu 1^ peat's iu ludia, bacl been tbrou^l]

May 2, 1887.] IHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

725

Afghanistan, Persia, Abyssinia, and along the
shores of the Mediterranean, and he could assure
them that among the wild tribes of Afghanistan
the fruitgrowing industry was pursued in a way
which not only outvied but outdid modern Eu-
ropean culture, whether regard were had to
national manner or scientilic method. The Af-
ghan was an arrant thief, dirty, loud-smelling,
and treacherous, as all Asiatics are : but as brave
as a lion, as we had on more than one occasion
found to our cost. The lecturer than went on to
describe how the mountain men of Afghanistan,
rilthy and unkempt as the specimen he had told
them of, made annual journeys from their moun-
tain valleys in caravans of camels, loaded with
dried fruit, which they sold to the inhabitants of
the thickly-populated plains of India, leaving here
a bale and there a bundle, until when they reached
Calcutta they realised enormous prices for their
merchandise. The natty way in which the semi-
barbarous Afghans brought their fruit to market
was compared with the slovenliness with which
fruit was treated in New South Wales, from the
hour it was gathered to the time it reached the
hands of the consumers, in a condition more
calculated to inspire disgust than to excite appetite,
very much lo the disadvantage of the latter. The
fruit-markets in the bazaars of Asian cities were
described and compared with the abomination
which does duty for a fruit-market in Sydney,
and the Union was adjured to use every cllort,
and never to rest satisfied until a building
was erected in keeping with the admirable site
now occupied by the market bhed, a building
worthy of their noble industry and their
splendid city. Many practical hinto were given to
growers how they might, by introducing productive
trees for break winds, instead of the unproductive
hedges in vogue, add to their prolits, and the
pistachio, chestnut, walnut, almond, hazel, egg-
plant, and several species of tenniiiaUa were in-
stanced as suitable lor the purpose, and for the
products of which there was an unlimited market.
The potentialities of the fruit industry were illub-
trated by reference to tlie Vale of Cashmere, to
the Khanates of Central Asia, Merv, Herat, lyhiva,
itc, and all along the banks of the Oxus, where
fruit constituted an important staple of the food
of the people. There the value of irrigation in
fruit-growing was seen to the greatest advantage,
and their fruit was put to a use which the people
of New South Wales might well take a lesson
from. They had there a method of mixing the
pulp of fruit with the kernels of nuts, melon
seeds, and camels' milk. This was pressed and
formed into a cheese, which, when properly made,
would keep for years, and which improved with
age, and was highly nutritious and wholesome. He
had, without exaggeration, walked up to his knees
in masses of egg plums fallen from the trees in a
New South Wales orchard, and which the owner
had not even the wit to convert into pork by
turning the pigs in to eat. Now, had a daughter
of the household turned to and run the pulp of
these through a sieve, and converted it into a fruit
cheese after the manner of the Central Asians, it
would have prevented waste, which was to him,
of all things, most hateful, and turned the plums
into a wholesome article of diet. The fruitgrowing
interest in California was next glanced at, and the
amazing results of irrigation, by which the desert
had been made to literally blossom like the rose,
was dwelt on at length. The vastness of the possi-
bilities lying before the union was illustrated by
the growth of the trade in America, and statistics
showing how rapidly that trade had been evolved
li cm small beginnings. India he considered to be

the nearest and best market for Australian grown
fruit, although he could see no good leason
why fruit should not be shown in Covent
Garden market within 50 days of its being
gathered in a Central Cumberland orchard.
Having proved his position by incontrovertible
figures, Mr. Inglis said : — Before I conclude, let
me say one word about the shameful neglect of
manuring which largely prevails throughout tlie
colony. If you desire that your children should
develop into specimens of humanity like William
Beach, you will not begin by stinting them in
their food. If fruit trees are to be kept in a state
of prolific health, something must be returned to
the soil for what is abstracted from it by every
successive crop of fruit ; and in addition to all
that I have told you, ineffectively I fear, because
hurriedly — but you have been such kindly attentive
listeners that I have been impelled to go on and
to cover a more extensive ground than I had origin-
ally intended — if you desire your union to become
a powerful means for the populsion of the colony
in the pathway of progress, let me recommend you
to cultivate some of the old-fashioned, but not on
that account less valuable characteristics of sterling
manhood, such as self-reliance, thrift, industry, and
manly uprightness of thought and action, avoiding
pretence, evil speaking, and fraud in all its multi-
farious phases.

Silk. — Kecent experiments have resulted in a use
being discovered for the wild silk plentifully found
in the valley of Kyushu, and a company is being
formed to work up the material, which is found to
be well adapted for mixing with cotton and wool.
The silkworm lives on maple trees and produces a
large cocoon. — American Grocer.

A LAK&i: amount of sago has been exported of
late, owing to the immigration of Brunei sago-
workerb, and to the seasonable rains which en-
able the producers to float down the numerous
tributaries of the Padas and Klias Rivers the
sago in its raw state. The price of Sago Flour
in Singapore, has risen from *2-07 to 'II2-18 per
picul, and this has given fresh impetus to the
industry. When the price is <|Uoted at '!?2'50 per
picul, the enterprising Chinese Sago-factory mana-
gers will according to agreement made two years
ago, willingly pay a small stipulated increase of
Eoyalty to the Government on both the raw and
manufactured material. — Burnco Herald.

A Xew Foudek. — The Assistant Director of Agri-
culture in Burma, about this time last year, in reply
tu some inquiries from the Military Department with
reference to the fodder supplies of Burma, recom-
mended the cultivation of crab grass. He has just
published a report on the system of cultivation then
recommended, which was adopted this season at the
Kyauktau farm, and gave an outturn of nine tons
per acre for the first cutting in July, whilst another
cutting can be made in October. The first cutting
can either be used as green fodder or preserved in
a silo, whilst the October cutting can also be cured
as dry hay. The hay that was made last October
kept in excellent condition until the rains commenced
this year. This grass is but little valued in India,
whilst in America it is much valued as a hay crop,
and is still more valuable in Burma, as it gives twice
the amount of grain and also au extra cutting. lu
Burma it grows to the height of about three feet,
aud horses and cattle of every kind eat it with
great relish, aud will remain in good condition if
fed on it without any other grain. Its cultivation
appears to be very simple, as the land only requires
to be ploughed twice at the beginning ot the rains
with a turn plough, and then harrowed twice with a
triangular harrow, when the grass will germinate of
its own accord.— C'aJciitta Kiifjli^hmaiK

724

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[May 2, 1887.

All the Jruits that grow with a pit, a core, or with
Beecls, cau be maJe to grow without them, when it is
uuderstooJ, says the Live Stock Eecord. It is accom-
plished by reversing the scion — rooting the top end of
the plant. To do this yoa bend the scion to sprout
down and cover with dirt. After rooting, cut it loose
and let the root end be up. Apples are grown wit;hout
cores, peaches without seed, aTid grapes and other vines
also, by simply reversing the plant. — Southern Planter.

Tka. — In tlie course of a recent discussion at the
Bociety of Arts, Captain Temple mentioned a fact
which should commend itself to the attention of
Indian tea-growers. The natives of India, said
Captain Temple, were very fond of tea, but they
liked a peculiar quality, which was ascertainable
by the people who grew it. He had himself seen
in the Kangra district a native owner who made
a tea estate pay because he supplied the kind of
tea which the people of the Punjab like ;
whereas the European tea planters did not do
this, and while they were complaining that they
could not find a market, this native grower was
making a good thing. — Pioneer.

Cevlox Arrack. — At present distillers manu-
facture for home consumption principally ; would
they be able to meet a large demand for export ?
Our inquiries tend to show that they would not,
at least for some time, because the supply of the
toddy is limited and their apparatus imperfect.
Moreover, before the spirit is fit for export it must
be much more carefully rectified, and stronger than
it is made at present. The expense required to
effect these improvements would bring the price
up to at least 2s per gallon in the Ceylon market.
The additional charges for freight, &c., would bring
the iirice on the English market to about 23 6d—
quite a prohibitive sum in these days of cheap
German spirit, which is placed on our market at
about Is fid per gallon, duty unpaid. We refer
more particularly to spirit suitable for manufactur-
ing purposes, but we should be pleased to learn
that our calculations are excessive. It is far better
if we have to import such products that we should
secure our supplies from our own dependencies, and
we at present undoubtedly obtain from Continental
distillers much of the spirit that we use. If Ceyon
is able to compete with them, it is not too late
to begin. — Clu'mi--<t and Drugf/ist.

On the subject of fertilizers Messrs. Edward Packard
& Co., of Ipswich and London, have issued a circular
to "West Indian planters, in which they say : — " We
have much pleasure in directing your attention to
the following facts in connection with our manu-
facture of specially prepared fertilizers for the West
Indies. The differences of climate, soils, period of
growth and system of cultivation between those
colonies and home, and, as regards many of those con-
ditions, between one colony and another, materially
affects the composition of the fertilizer best suited
to meet the requirements of the planter, and to
give an adequate return for the outlay of capital.
Although manure manufacturers are well informed
upon the question of fertilizers for home crops, grown
in a few mouths, they are often at considerable dis-
advantage when preparing them for the very different
conditions of tropical agriculture. With a view to
placing ourselves in the best position to formulato
really suitable fertilizers, we have secured the services
of Mr. George Hughes, i'.c.s.,as our consulting chemist
for the West Indies, knowing that he has had long
and practical experience upon these important points.
We have also consulted Mr. J. McCarthy, r. c. s..
Chemist to the Government of Trinidad, especially
in reference to our cocoa manure, and the formula
those gentlemen have determined upon will be care-
fully adhered to by us. All manures will be sold
under distinct guarantee, and all exports will be accom-
panied by Mr. Hughes's certificate of analysis of a
sample authentically drawn at the time of shipment.
Onder these conditions we trust we shall be favoured
>vJtb your esteemed orders for the new year, and

take this opportunity of expressing our hope that i
may bring better times to those interested in the
success of our West Indian Colonies." — Home and
Cufouial Mail.

Indian a.nd Cevlon Teas. — Although the supplies of
Indian tea continue to be much smaller than during
thn earlier weeks of the year, tbey are apparently amply
sufficient to meet the present limited requirements of
the trade. Prices have been irregular, and the depre-
ciation in values h;is in some instances made further
progress. As was to be expected with such a prepon-
derance in the supply of very common teas, these
have suffered in value to a greater extent than
other discriptionss, so long as the supply
of very common tea outweighs to such an
extent as at present that of other sorts, none
but very low prices can possibly be anticipated, espe-
cially as many of the so-called " common " parcels are
much commoner than the bulk of Ind:'aa teas usually
coming under that detinition. Large quantities are
being Bold at the exceedingly low prices of 5jd to GJd
per lb. ; but many of these draw so thin an infusion that
they cannot be described as particularly cheap when
compared with teas at some pence per lb. more. The
better kinds of tea have fetched prices quite equal to
those ruling a few weeksago, notwithstanding a marked
dulness in the general inquiry, but the quantity of good
tea at present offerecil is comparatively small. As
there appears every probabiUty of the supplies of the
medium and better descriptions continuing on a limited
scale for the present, buyers will probably not be
wrong in holding reasonable stocks of them, as even a
moderate improvement in demand bids fair to streng-
then the present very low range of values. A larger
quantity of Ceylon teas has been brought forward, and
has fetched generally declining rates, as the quality of
most of the parcels was very poor. Increased supplies
of Java growths have also been offered, and have sold
at easier prices. At the public sales 18,407 packages
of Indian, 2,655 Ceylon, and 1,S94 Java teas were
offered. With the exception of tea possessing quality,
values were rather easier, and about ;-),460 packages
were withdrawn. — Produce Markets lieviev; Feb. 26th.

Ceylon Tea. — The event of the week has undoubt-
edly been the sale of 27 packages Oeylox Tea, " Maria-
watte " mark, in the new Andrew's patent steel chests,
realizing a half-penny or a farthing above valuation on
account of the package. There was a good competition
for these, and the prices realized showed that the con-
tents of the new packages had come to hand in excellent
condition, an 1 no doubt is entertained in the Line that
as these steel chests become more generally known
they will be favorites, and always meet a ready sale.
Their cost on the estate is said to be one rupee and ten
cents, very nearly, if not quite, the sime as wooden
chests ; and, looking to the difdeulties attending the
employment of woods for tea chests, the damage to
packages from which these are free and the greater
uniformity in weight secured, I should say there can be
no doubt that Andrew's patent steel chests will come
into use pretty generally. Previous to the sale I in-
spected the whole of the packages lying in the Cutter
Street warehouse, where I found only two that had
sustained any damage, all the others beirg in excellent
order, and their contents in good condition. As I
ne: lioned in a previous letter, succeeding shipments of
tbc.ve will have an inside coating of lead deposited oa
the steel ; but the necessity for this precaution is not
obvious, as the contents of the present chests are in
first-rate condition. There is but one change which
occurs to me as i^srhaps desirable— viz., the dispensing
with the metal rings in the wooden surface of the lids,
placed there to enable the lid to be readily removed.
The warehousemen thought these were intended for fix-
ing rop ;s through for the purpose of hoisting up the
chests; and the same idea may occur to ship's crews,
and then the fear would be that if the rings be so used
the great strain brought on thehd would destroy its
air-tieht property, notwithstanding the screws inserted
for boiling it in its place. Instead of the ring I wnuld
advise the use of a simple " thumb catch," which would
serve all the purpose of the liug without the possibility
of any misapplication of its ^use, — London Cor, LocM
"Times,"

May 2, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

725

FLORIDA ORANGE CROP,

From memorauda appended to the various reports
it appears that coaiparatively few hearing trees have
been killed. Xursery trees in many localities were
killed. The damage to older trees cannot be estimated
at present, but the general opinion inclines to the
belief that but few bearing trees were materially
injure 1. An unfavorable report (from Sumter county)
on this SHbject reads as follows : — '• About one bearing
tree in one hundred was killed to the ground, and
perhaps one-tenth of the bearing trees are slightly
killed back, some to the main trunk and some slightly
only. A great many will shed their leaves, but this
will do no harm. Some groves seem to be entirely
uninjured from the freeze and look nice and green."
To the Editor of '' J>radstre(t's."

Sill— My estimate of this season's crop was about
1,000,000 boxes ; .50 per cent of this I think had been
marketed, leaving 50 per cent on trees and in packing-
houses. That in packing-houses, however, amounts to
very little, only a few thousand boxes. That on the
trees was more or less frosted, and but very small
proportion of it can be marketed, and I think I am
safe in saying fully 'JO per cent of the frosted fruit
■will be a total loss. I hardly think the bearing trees
are hurt to any extent, and it is the belief of many
of the experienced growers that we can look for fair
crop next season. At present, however, it is hard to
tell just what the damage to trees is; in a month
or six weeks wa can answer that question better. The
nursery, or young trees, in many localities were kijled.
— Yours respectfully, A. M. IvES, General Manager,
l-'lorida Fruit E.TChange.

The price of frozen oranges has been about glGG
per box in Kew York, but no more are coming here
at present. The result appears to be that about one-
half of the Florida orange crop has been lost. Several
cargoes of foreign oranges are alreadj' well on
their way to this port to supply the deficiency. —
J)'iaihtreet'.i.

TEA IN GUATEMALA.

The d'citoiuda Star is urging the Government of
the Republic of Guatemala to foster the cultivation of
tea. It says : —

A wide field is offered to prospective tea-growers in
the large uncultivated tracts of land on the sides of
the hills and mountainous regions of the country which
are admirablj' adapted for the purpose of cultivating
the fragrant leaf. The soil is just the thing, and the
climate is all that can be desired. Herein Guatemala,
as is done in China, tea can be raised by the poorer
classes in small quantities, who can cultivate a few
hundreds of shrubs on their own lands, and either cure
the leaves themselves or sell them to their richer neigh-
bors after assorting them according to their quality. If
the large fniqueros were to assume the responsibility of
extensive tea plantations, it would give employment to
the very many destitute and labor seeking Indians who
are now very poor and desirous of having a wider field
for their labors than is afforded them in the present less
than semi-cultivated state of the country. Men, Avomen
and childeru could all alike be employed in cultivating
the plant and in picking and curing the leaf.. This
employment would not last, like in the cultivation of
the coffee tree, for two, three, four or five months, but
would extend throughout the entire year, and the benefits
arising from the constant employment of the working
classes would be incalculable towards the political,
moral and intellectual status of the country.

An idea has been formed by many people who have
given this subject their attention, that it will be necessary
to import into the country a great number of Chinese
laborers in order to make the cultivation of tea a
profitable enterprise; but such is far from being the
case. It will only be necessary to make a contract for
five years with a dozen or twenty thoroughly csperiencKd
Chinese iu order to instruct the natives here in the
various processes of tea cultivation, and, at the expiration
of that period, a sufiieient knowledge will be gained
to enablt) the project to be carried on by the Guate-
RjsUepans themselves without further aid.

The Star claims that one great advantage which
Guatemala will have over the rest ot the tea-produciag
world is that the teas produced in this country will be
upon the Markets of London and New York some
five or six weeks prior to any other kinds, and thus its
value will be greatly enh.anced.

If the climatu and soil of G uatemala is as favorable
to the proJuction of tea as it is to coffee we can see
no rea-on why tea cultivation should not become a
profitable industry, and we receive from the Jiew field
tea of as rare and exquisite flavor and quite as marked
in its characteristics as the cofl'ee there grown, and
which has for years been a favorite with epicures. We
certainly hope the Government ivill lend its aid to give
the industry a start and a foothold.— Xwmc^rw Grocer.
[Here, as elsewhere iu America, the enterprise cannot
succeed for want of abundant and cheap labor. — Ed,|

THE BHUTAN AND THIBETAN MARKETS.

About the middle of last month I visited the Hhutia
encampment of Uewangiri, and amongst other matter.s
I enquired into the subject of Tea. I found that
the Bhutias had as usual brought with them a few
bricks of the commodity they designate Tea. I ob-
tained a small quantity and noted a few i)articulars,
which may p )ssibly prove of interest.

L'. The Bhutias stated that the Tea was brought
by traders from a place called .Tanarjippoo, situated
a year's journey to the north east. To indicate the
direction, they pointed at first due North and then
due EiSt, intimating that a traveller to .Tanarjippoo
from Bhutan would have first to go North and then
East. They stated that they had given in exchange
for a brick two cloths of Eri Silk, each cloth contain-
ing as much thread as they had bought for the equiva-
lent of Rl-l in the Assam Valley. Estimating
roughly the labour of weaving at 12 annas per cloth
the cost of the Tea would appear to have been R4
per block. That this could not be its real price
in Bhutan was proved by the fact that I bought
it at R3-8 in Dewangiri. The price last year was,
as far as I can ascertain, R2-4 in the same place.
The Bhutias stated that: it had become dearer in the
interior. I enquired why they drank Tea which had
come such a distance when a much cheaper kind
was to be obtained in Assam. They stated that Assam
Tea was bitter, but that the Tea they had with
them was sweet.

3. I watched in one instance the process of making
the infusion: Two pots, one of brass and filled with
water, the other an earthen one and empt3\ were
put over a fire ; a piece was broken off a brick of
tea and crumpled up in the hand to separate the
adhering leaves and twigs. The handful so obtained
was put into the dry earthen pot and stirred up for
a few seconds till hot. Then, about a couple of
wine-glasses full of potash water (made by straining
water through ashes) was poured on the drj- tea, and
when the heat had almost evaporated the moisture,
.another spoonful of water (now hot) was added from
the brass pot. The tea meanwhile was kept stirred
to prevent its burning, and when nearly dry, a second,
and then after an interval a third spoonful of water
was added ; when this, too, was almost dry, all the
water from the brass pot was poured in, a?id a
teaspoonful of salt having been put in, the mixture
was boiled. As soon as the bubbles showed that the
liquid was boiling, it was ladled out with a .spoou
formed from a gourd into a sort of churn, made from
a thick piece of bamboo about two feet long. The
churn was provided with a wooden cover, through
a hole iu which a piston rod worked, the piston being
simply a round piece of wood roughly fitting the in-
terior of the churn. The boiling liquid having been
poured in, the churn was worked for a few seconds,
and then about a tablespoonful of ghee was added
to the mixture. The churn upon this worked vigour-
ously for a few minutes, considerable pressure being
evidently required to force the piston up and down.
The Bhutia next poured back the liquid into the
earthen pot (which meanwhile had remained on the
fire) and testec] tho te^. He statert that more salt

i26

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[May 2i 1887,

was wanted, and added accordingly about an eggspoon -
ful. The whole was hoiled again for about a minute
and then tested and pronounced excellent. The amount
was about equal to the contents of two ordinary quart
bottles.

4. Attempts have, I believe, been made to produce
from the refuse of Tea gardens a substance resembling
Bhutia Brick Tea, but so far, I believe, they have beeu
unsuccessful. It would seem, however, that the en-
deavour should not be given up, as there cau be little
doubt that if Planters could manufacture a commodity
which would suit the taste of the Bhutias, Assam Tea
might penetrate eventually iuto Oeutral Asia. Bhutia
Tea cau hardly be the produce of any country but
China, and although recent eiKjuiries tend to show
that China Tea cau be carried wonderfully cheaply
into Thibet, yet it is hardly possible that Assam Tea
could not undcr.sell it. Kven supposing that the
Bhutia's more than doubled the real price iu their
statement to me, and that in Bhutan Chinese Tea
cau be bought at Rl-8 per brick (about .')i annas
per lb.). I imagine an Assam planter, it he could
produce a similar article at all, could do so for 3 annas
a pound, or e\'en less. This would certainly enable
liim to sell with a profit, and yet at a price which
would probably induce the Bhutias to buy.

5. The obvious objection to any attempts to manu-
facture Brick Tea is that, even if made, trade with
the savage tribes on the Assam borders is too inconsider-
able to produce an eil'ect on the Tea Industry of
Assam. The objection is perfectly sound as far as
these tribes are themselves concerned, but it will not
apply if we can once break the Chinese monopoly.
If the Bhutias perceive that they can buy the materials
for the extraordinary mixture they call Tea at a
cheaper rate in Assam than in Bhutan itself, they
are certain to make their purchases here instead
of in the interior. Once introduced at a cheap
rate iuto Bhutan, it is more than probable that
our Tea would pass into Thibet, and its spread
in the interior of Central Asia would be then
regulated mainly by the cost of its carriage from
Assam as compared with the cost of carriagf. of Chi-
nese Tea from China.

6. The above considerations have led me to obtain
samples of the stixfl' the Bhutias use, and I am sending
you a small box containing three bricks of tea and
two sealed bottles of the infusion I saw manufactured.
You will be the best judge of the method iu which
to utilize the samples, should you consider the subject
Rufluciently important to justify your Inking action. —
H. Z. Dakrah, Ofl'g. Director of Agriculture, Assam. — •
Indian Tea Gazette.

SILK CULTURE IN SIAM.

In a report issued by the Foreign OfHce on the
condition of jSiam, it is stated that the culture of
silk is strictly confined to the numerous Laos settle-
ments throughout the country, and to the Cam-
bodians in the south-eastern ptovinces bordering on
Cambodia ; nowhere are any Siamese known to rear
the silkworm. The reason generally given is that
whilst the art of silk culture, which is deemed
a difficult one, has been transmitted to the Laos
through successive generations, the Siamese are in
comph-te ignorance of it. The preat centres of the
prndui'tion of silk in Slam are Korat 130 miles to
the north-east of Bankok; and Battambong, 200
miles to the south-east. Beautiful cloths, sometimes
of grent value, are woven in Chiengmai, and a certain
quantity of raw silk is said to be exported from
Hluang Prabang, on the Mekong river, to Chieng-
tuiig, one of the principal Shan States. The produc-
tion, however, is small in comparison with that of
Cambodia and Annam, and the export is, conse-
quently, unimportant, consisting entirely of so-called
K 'rat silk. It is taken to the latter place iu small
quaiititics from the neighbouring Laos and Cam-
bodian provinces, such as Buachum, Pimai, Suwana-
pbum, Si^akat, Khukan, Sangkha, and Surin, and
there sold, or more generally bartered for cotton and
other goods, to Chinese traders, who n'-soll it a

Bangkok to the exporters. At present, half the
number of families iu a village composed entirely of
Laos rear the silkworm, but they almost all, without
any exception, weave their own cloths. The silk
culture is coufiaed solely to the women, who take
a share even in the cultivation of the tree. A large
proportion rear the silkworm only in the wet
season, when the plant is in leaf, and, therefore,
obtain the seed from the few wlio rear a small
quantity throughout the year, barely sufficient to
keep up the breed, or only a small quantity of leaves
is furnished by the plants during the hot season. The
tree is called by the Laos, tun man \ and the worm,
tua 711011. There are two kinds of trees, and it appears
doubtful whether they were oi-igiually distinct. The
large kind is similar to the mulberry tree, and in its
full growth attains a height of from twenty to thirty
feet. This tree is by no means common, as it is
found very difficult to rear, requiring great care when
young, though when it has firmly taken root it
requires no attention, and is said to attain a great
age. Like the European tree, it has a small white
flower in cluster, but it bears no fruit. In Hluang
Prabang, about four-hundred and fifty miles to the
north, it is said to bear a red berry, and is probably
the same as the European black mulberry tree. It
is reproduced from cutting, and is found to grow best
on dry sandy soil. The common description of tree
is much smaller, and consists of a stem about half
an inch in diameter, with small branches at regular
intervals. Its height is generally about five feet, but
it sometimes reaches seven feet. The bark is similar
to that of the large kind, and the leaf appears to
differ only in size. It is planted on dry ground, and
requires constant watering and some care until it has
grown to a height of one or two feet, and is measured
once a year, in the sixth month before it is cut. The
shape of the leaf is cordate or deeply indented. Its
size does not exceed two or three inches iu the small
kind, while that of the larger is often more than
double. Both kinds bear leaf all the year round, but
very little in the hot season. It is from the eighth to the
eleventh month, that is to say, from June to September,
that the new trees bear a sutScient quantity of
such tender leaves as are most suitable for the
youn g worms. The silkworm rearing season is,
therefore, from the end of June to the end of
September, and two broods are generally reared. The
eggs are hatched in the period of ten days, the worm.s
are then kept on the same piece of cloth on which
the eggs have been laid by the moth for four or five
days, when they are large enough to be taken off
and placed on a round flat tray of bamboo wicker-
work about three feet in diameter, with a rim one
inch high, in which they are kept until ready to spin
the cocoon. The wicker-work is not close, but suffi-
cient space is kept for the litter to pass through with-
out the worm falling off, and the basket is then called
takreng; this precaution, however, is often neglected,
and the ordinary baskets used for winnowing rice are
commonly used. These are called kadony both by
Siamese and Laos, but in the north the rim is gener-
ally higher, and they are then called ho. The worms
are not fed for the first few days, they are then fed
three times a day. They cast off the skin four times,
and the size of the worm at the third casting of the
skin is about an inch, and it is then of the ordinary
greenish tint. The worms that are ripe are removed
to a tray similar to the one described above, but hav-
ing on its flat surface a number of concentric circles
of bamboo trellis work about an inch and-a-half high ;
there is thus between the circles a series of compart-
ments one inch and a half broad, in which worms
spread their web and spin the cocoon iu the course
of a day or night. This tray, called tcho by the Laos,
as well as the other ones containing the worms or
seeds, are all placed on a series of frames called klu'iK/,
made ia such manner as to prevent ants or other
insects from molo'sting the worms or cocoons. The
contrivance is very simple, and is constructed as
follows. A series of four or five oblong frames are
formed by four vertical pieces of bamboo, or some-
times rope, about four feet long, which are kept apart

l\f AV i,

iSS^J

fUfi f^O^lCAL AGklCdLTUHiSt.

^df

at intervals of about ten inches by horizontal pieces
two feet long placed broadwise, and rather less than
four feet long placed lengthwise. The whole is firmly
attached, and the two vertical pieces on either side are
tied together after the topmost tray, and the rope is
made to pass through a cup, generally half a coconut,
filled with water. The whole is then suspended to a
horizontal polo which hangs from the ceiling in the
corner of the common sitting-room or bedroom. In size,
the Siamese cocoons compare unfavourably with the
European kinds, being only about tvvo-thirds as large.
But in the Northern Laos provinces, where there are
two rearing seasons, one in the late summer aud the
other in late autumu, the cocoons of the first produce
are said to be of a large size. The following is a de-
scription (if the spinning machine in vogue in Siam.
It is very simple, aud consists of a thin piece of soft
wood about two inches broad ; bent in the shape of
a horse-shoe ; about ten inches from its extremities a
piece of wood of like thickness aud br=;adth, and
having a small hole in the middle, is fixed horizontally,
aud about six inches above it is a small winder placed
horizontally in the same manner. The two extremities
of the machine are fixed on two small flat pieces of
wood, having a groove on the inner side, which
enables it to be fixed ou to the rim of an earthen pot.
it thus stands over the mouth of the pot filled with
boiling water, in which a number of cocoons have
been thrown. The spinner sits before a small fire-
place, on which is placed the pot with the spinning-
machine fixed firmly on to it, and with a stick
having a small slit at the top, shakes the cocoons in
such mauuer as to collect the threads of about half
the number in the pot. Having twisted them with
the hand into a single thread, it is passed through
the small hole and fastened loosely over the winder.
It is then pulled out with the right hand, the winder
being thus caused to revolve, and is gradually heaped
up in a basket close at hand. In the left hand the
spinner holds the stick described above, with which
to keep down the filament when it becomes entangled.
Th is macihne is called by the Laos mak khuen// talok,
and its height is generally about three feet. The
method of reeling is as follows: — The thread is
reeled on a winder twenty inches long, fixed hori-
zontally on a stand, on which the thread is improved
by scraping off with a knife where it appears irregular,
and by removing any blemishes. It is then re-reeled
on another winder made of two sticks, fixed hori-
zontally on the extremities of a piece of wood about
two feet high. This is held in the middle with the
left hand, and the thread wound in zigzag fashion
with the right over the extremities of the cross sticks.
The skein thus takes the shape in which it is generally
sold. Sometimes this winder is replaced by another,
formed of four cross pieces instead of two, the
extremities of which are joined with string; it is then
laid horizontally on a stand, is furnished with a
handle, and the thread is reeled over the strings.
This winder, called ra wimj, is used both by the
Laos and the Siamese. "When it is required to twist
a double thread or tram another instrument comes
into use, A narrow stand, about four feet long, con-
tains atone end a large wheel turned by a handle; a
string is passed over the latter and round a piece of
iron a foot in length) projecting from the stand on
one aide and rounded at the end. Some rough cotton
is wc'und over the middle part in whicli the string
catches so that in turning the wheel the iron point
terolves (|uickly. The two or more threads are tied
together to the extremity of the iron instrument, and
this in revolving twists them firmly together. — Journal

of the i^ocieiy of ArU.

^ —

Sainiat-l fKB Acre. — People scarcely ttnderstaud
by rainfall in inches what this really means, but an
inch of rain means ft gallon for every two square
feet, or 100 tons per acre. — Gardeners' Monthfi/.

Tea Cultuee. — TTnless we are wise, Italy will get
the start of us in tea culture. A plantation at
Novaro has been so successful that the Italian govern-
ment is arranging to plant largely tfaf; comiug year,
smQ'ifrdeiicr*' Monthly,

Spiders. — Dr. 0. "K-Uer, of Zurich, claims that .spiders
perform an important part in the preservation of
forests, by defending the ti'ees againts the depred-
ations of aphides and insects. He has examined a
great many spiders, both in their visicera aud by
feeding i.hem in captivity, and has found them to
be voracious destroyers of these pests and he be-
lieves that the spiders in a particular forest do
more effective work of this kind than all the in-
sect-eatiug birds that inhabit it. He has verified
his views by observations ou coniferous trees, a few
broad-leaved trees and apple trees. —American Grocer.
[The many thousands of spiders whose webs can be
seen ou dewy mornings ou tea bushes, are probably
doing a good work. — Ed.]

SriiAE. — The Journal dcs Fahricant de Sucre gives an
account of a new process for filtering beet sugar
through sand instead of animal charcoal. By the
new system considerable expnse is saved, and a
brilliant yellow sugar superior to Demerara crystal.i
is produced. It is impossible to make white sugar
by this process only, aud if charcoal is done with-
out carl onataion — that is, the separation of car-
bonic acid from carbonate of lime, and the use
both of the lime aud of the re=!ultant gas in the
saccharine liquid— is substituted for ib. — Home ami
Colonial J fail.

MiLDEAN-. — AVe are often asked whjtt can be done
to master the frequent attacks of mildew on plants.
One of the most recent recommendations for this
purpose is .sulphide of potassiu-u, which is a compound
of sulphur and potassium — not potash. This used in
solution at the rate of ^oz. to the gallon of water in
fatal to mildew and fungoid parasites; and is besides
destructive to many pernicious insect pests. Lime
and sulphur mixed in the proportion of four parts
lime and one sulphur may also be used successfully
either by dusting it on the affected parts dry, or by
pouring boiling water over them and making them
into a solution. The solution must be used while
fresh, and should be applied with a brush. Some
soft soap mixed with it will make the mixture more
effectual where scale and the like is concerned. — Planter
and Farmer.

Plunging Plants in Pots — The meaning of the
term plunging— well known to gardeners — is that
the pot is sunk in some substance that will retain
moisture— soil, sand, coal ashes, sawdust, and cocoa
fibre refuse being the substances commonly used,
and of these the lastnamed is considered the best.
The effect of plunging pots is that the J^oil they
contain remains longer in an equable condition, and
plants suffer less from the frequent excesses of
moisture and drought, to which they are subject when
the pots are exposed to the air. It may be easily
understood that the daily watering of plauts is an
unnatural process, and therefore must be more or
less injurious, retarding the progress of plants sub-
jected to excess of moisture at one period, and perhaps
in a few hours to immoderate drought in the soil,
the process of assimilation being checked both when
the soil is saturated, as it must be for some time
after watering, and also when too dry ; both of these
evils being reducable by plunginsj the pots, whether in
the house or out of doors. Plants on window sills
arc especially liable to these fluctuations, and fre-
quently also iu plant houses, especially when the sun
is allowed to shine on the pots; while plants in pots
set ou the surface out of doors can hardly be got
to thrive unless closely shaded, although watered
twice or thrice a day, .suft'ering not only from alter"
nations of drought and moisture, but also of heat
and cold, the rapid evaporation through the sides oi'
the pot chilling the roots, which are again subjected
to intenae heat v/hen the moisture ha.s evaporated.
Independent of the benefits resultiug from the
plunging of pots, t'j.e saving of labour is also worthy
of consideration, being in nearly all circumstances
verj' great; and nurserymen as well as other plant
growers should take advantage of it to lessen their
very heavy labour accounts, to which watering in
summer time cause.3 a large increase-— P/anfc/' an^

pb

'^n^ ii^vx'ivii.-w AGRieULtURlSf,

[May ^, mf.

-j2^y-^^TK^t mfpi

AVastk noAT, AS MANUH15. — Mr. J. A. Price, 8cran-
OD, Pa. believes that coal dust will make an ex-
cellent fertilizer. Mountains" of it, brought from the
mines as screenings, are pil-d up in the coal regions.
Its dark colour is in its favour. Dark soils are alwaj-s
more favorable than light ones for many purposes,
by reason of their absorption of heat ; and its car-
bonaceous properties ought to give it additional
value. — Gardfiicrx' Monthh;.

NoKTH BoKXEO. — It is statcd that the British
Borneo Trading and Planting Company, to which
we have previously called attention has proceeded
to allotment, so that the Company may now be
considered as detiuitely started. Mr, Walker, who
will be the Manager in Borneo, was to leave Lon-
don about the end of February for Singapore
and Borneo, to commence active operations on
behalf of the Company. We understand the British
North Borneo Company, who have granted the
concession, accept payment for the 20,000 acres
allotted to the Company in shares. The directors
are Messrs. C. Bennett (Brolin Bennett A: Co.), E.
Locke (Taylor & Locke), J. A. Travers, and J. J.
Dunn, the concessionaire. — Straits Times.

" Cocoes" — (Where is this Coniusion to Stoi' ?).
— At a meeting of the Linuean Society on March
3rd, there was read a paper on " Disease of Cocoes
at Jamaica," by Messrs. G. Massee and D. Morris,
F.L.S. It appears that a somewhat virulent disease
has made its appearance amongst cocoes (or, as
they are sometimes called, tanias eddoes or taros)
in the parish of Portland, Jamaica, and the matter
has been taken up by Ciovernment, by whom speci-
mens were sent to Kew for examination. Cocoes
form an important item in the food supply of the
negroes, and the loss of such a food would be a
serious matter to them. It appears that the plants
are attacked by a disease very similar to the potato
mildew, and which, being a new opecieg, has been
named Frronospura trichotoma. The authors of the
paper have drawn attention to the nature of the
disease, and indicated the practical steps to be
taken in order to contend successfully with it. It
is hoped that stringent measures will be adopted
to confine the affected plants within the district
in which they were first found and that they will
be thoroughly destroyed by burning. Fresh cultiv-
ation should be started with plants from a district
free from disease.— C'oZo?iu.--- and India.

Avenues or Distkicx Roads. — The following
letter appears in the Indian Agriculturist :— •

To the editor.— Sir,— Referring to the letter on
" Avenues on District Koads " appearing in the issue
of your paper dated 1st April 1879, page 139, I shall
feel greatly obliged if you will be good enougli to in-
form me whether any great extent of the roadsides
in India have been so cultivated; and if so, the num-
ber of miles so cultivated, the aggregate number of
treea and plants now growing, the system of cultiva-
tion, whether by day labour or otherwise, the average
expenditure on each tree till maturity, and the average
estimated profit to Government on each tree at felling.

CiiAs. Stoutek,

Jany . 30th, 1?87 . Audit Office, Colombo, Ceylon,

Note. — This is rather an extensive enquiry, requiring
much time and trouble. We shall do what we can in-
a future issue to supply the information to some extent;
meanwhile some of our readero might help our cor-
respondent.— Ep. i. A.

To which we have to add that Mr.
(Stouter of the Audit Office, Colombo, is very com-
tn-chensive in his enquiries and the editor
of the Indian. Aoi-iculturist very good-natured
in not having referred him to the Agriculture
Department of the Indian Government. Since the
days of the Mogul Emperors tree avenues, on the
great trunk as well as district roads, have been
encouraged. Kecently a fresh impetus has been

sivea to tUc snterpri^. Bd it xQiaQmhexQi tiut

it is only in climates which for large portions
of the year are rainless that trees can be planted
along side of roads without serious injury to
the roads. In the hot season in India the shade
of the pipul, nini and cassia trees is most grateful.

Good ; ir True. — According to the London corre-
spoudeut of the S. M. Herald, a sugar-tree more pro-
ductive than the .sugar-cane, is attracting attention
in India. It is called the mahwa or moola tree, and
grows in Southern Hiiidustan, and in the northerly
regions abutting on the Himalaya Mountains. The
mahwa bears about a ton of blossoms, and each flower
is little else but a vegetable envelope filled with
pure saccharine matter. One ton of blossoms will
yield abont half-a-tou of sugar. The best managed
cane-plantations of the West Indies do not, at the
outside, yield more than two and a half or three
Ions of sugar to the acre. The French and German
beet -fields do not produce more than fifteen to twenty
tons of beet to the acre, which yield about 7 per
cent of sugar, or rather less than an acre of sugar-
cane. Five mahwa trees will j ield the same amount
of raw sugar as an acre of sugar-cane ; and an acre
which would contain from 200 to i-SO trees, would
produce enough blossom to give from 100 to 120 tons
of sugar, beside vvhich no expense would be incurred
either in growing or harvesting. A consignment of the
mahwa blossoms is on its way to the Continent, for tlie
opinion of the sugar refiners to be given thereon.— P/<r/i<tc
and. Fanner. [There is sugar enough in the mahwa
blossoms to render them acceptable and nutritious food
to the natives, and spirits can be distilled from the
blossoms. But the statements about sugar obtained
from them is from gross exaggeration. — Ed.]

Badvlla DisTKicT, 2(jth March. — Heavy showers,
accompanied with much thunder and severe light-
ning, have fallen over the greater portion of Upper
LJva. The electric disturbance has been very great ;
the thunder clouds seemed to gyrate round and round
from Idulgashena or Haputale to Hakgalla, across
to Idapussellawa and Maturata, and from Naran-
galla to Hewa Eliya rock, along the whole Madul-
sima range to Namunakuly and Ella rock to Lean-
gahawella and Haputale. The showers have been
heavy, but partial ; still I do not think any part of
the district can have escaped getting a portion of
the very welcome rain. The long-continued, dry
weather, amounting in some places to absolute
drought, is almost unprecedented here at thia
season, and tea and cinchona refused to Hush or to
grow ; the cold, dry wind, sometimes almost a hurri-
cane during the night, followed by scorching dry
sun without a cloud in the sky, was trying to afl
vegetation ; only coffee, where sheltered from the
wind, seeraed to revel in the dry sunshine, and
even green bug has departed, for the time being at
least. Canker in cinchona has almost disappeared,
but only the hardy acclimated varieties arc now
grown. Uva cinchona has barely "touched" the
market yet, and wise planters continue to plant
their own seedlings on the principle of the Scotch-
man's advice to his son; "Keep sticking in a tree,
Sandy, they will gi'ow when you are sleeping," No
fancy varieties of cinchona are planted here now,
costing fabulous prices for seed — say " EloO per
gram." !~ but there is no estate where thousands of
hardy, acclimated, self-sown hybrids and "sports''
cannot be planted at a nominal cost, without risk
of failure, and without hurt to other products.
These trees grow v.-hilst the proprietor " sleeps,"
but some day he wakes lip to find a very valuable
property in large, healthy cinchona trees, scattered
over his property in places where nothing else
would grow, and, even at 3d. a unit of quinine, a
very valuable accessory to the other produce oC his
estate. Let no one think Uva cinchona will sliortly
be " snufi'ed out," "cropped out," or "cutout."
Cinchona will continue to be a larji export froiS

Uva »s Ions 3,$ tha f roviace I&sts,

May 2, 1887.]

I'HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

W

CINCHONA IN JAVA, INDIA AND CEYLON.
We have already referred to the opinions of
Mr. Kessler, on the prospects of cinchona in Java
where he holds ^extensive proprietary interests.
Mr, Kessler has now returned from his visit to
our hill country and as the result of his observ-
ations and enquiries, his opinion is very much
strengthened that the future of cinchona lies with
Java. The large exports from Ceylon, he considers,
will be played out in the course of two or at
most three years and by that time, Java planters
will be fully coming on the market with their
fine barks giving results in sulphate of quinine
which will make one million lb. Java equal to several
millions from Ceylon, so far as concerns results to the
manufacturing chemist. Mr. Kessler is therefore
of opinion that the Ceylon cinchona owners stand
between two fires : — for them to harvest before 1889-90
will be a necessity, and yet by so doing freely the
market is likely to be kept in its present depressed
condition — that is, if the 15-lG millions lb. of
export can be kept up so long. Mr. Kessler is
strongly of opinion that even now, the average of
the Java bark exported is much more than 3 per
cent of sulphate of quinine, while three years
hence, he thinks G per cent would be a low es-
timate of the average result from the large bulk
of the exports. The extent covered with cinchona
in Java, he thinks has been underestimated. He
has scarcely seen anywhere in Ceylon — unless it
be on Lover's Leap and in that neighbourhood —
cinchona fields equal to those which for their
vigour and tine growth distinguish Western and
Southern Java ; but then Mr. Kessler although he has
learned a good deal from Uva planters, has not visited
the estates beyond Eadulla. The 100 acre field on
Cannaverella, for instance, we should say is

for big healthy growth

good of its

as gooa ot Its kind

as any in Java. The great dili'erence is how-
ever, that Java planters have discarded all in-
ferior kinds and give their attention solely to the
better kinds of Calisaya, more especially LeiUjeriana.
C. Officinalis is almost unknown with them : whereas
of course in the climate and soil of Ceylon
this hardy species, and its hybrid Eobusta, is the
most successful. Altogether Mr. Kessler's advice
to those thinking about planting Cinchona in
Ceylon is " Don't ", because (as he supposes) the
inferior Ceylon barks are bound to be thrown out of
competition by the superior Java. Many, however,
will doubt this — or at any rate the ability of the
Java planters to send away so much bark as will
meet an increased demand besides the deficiency
created by a great falling-off in Ceyloa exports. We
shall see.

In respect of tea, Mr. Kessler feels and acknoiv-
ledges our great superiority : he thinks there is
something in our chmate, but also that superiority
of jat must have a good deal to do with it, and
for this reason Java planters are freely rooting
out their poorer jat trees and planting anew
with Assam-hybrid plants. Mr. Kessler who
is now in his way to Europe, has been so much in-
terested in Ceylon and its plantations by this visit
that he is likely to send us contributions from time
to time on planting topics, more particularly for
our Tropical Agriculturist.

In contrast to the picture offered of the future
of cinchona in Java, is that supplied by Mr. Ham-
lin, willi his very wide experience of the same
cultivation in the various districts of India. Mr.
Hamlin does not believe that there is at present
92

any chance of Indian planters getting above a
total of a million lb. in experts, apart from the out.
turn of the Government Gardens, most of the latter
at least in the North, being utilised for local manu-
facture of alkaloids. Mr. Hamlin has left at our office
some fine specimens of bark (grown under his own
direction) six years old renewed, cultivated at (5,000
feet in the Upper Ouchterlony Valley, of which,
trees at 4 years old he gave a very satisfactory
report in our Tropical Jgriculturist. But the show
piece before us has been stripped oS a Succirubra
tree, and is 3 feet long by 10 inches in circum-
ference, while in appearance it is simply mag-
nificent, although in analysis the value is pro-
bably nil. As show barks for druggists' windows,
such pieces ought, to sell well however ; and
for 20,000 lb. of the same — to be placed on
the market gradually, — Mr. Hamhn will be dis-
appointed if the average result is not equal to
about 5s per lb. Some years ago, 10s a lb. would be
readily paid by wholesale and retail dealers for
such show barks. Mr. Hamlin promises a memo-
randum with the history of the barks in his case
of samples and when this is received, we shall send
the collection round the mercantile offices in the
Fort for inspection.

PLANTING IN NETHERLANDS INDIA.

{Translated for the Straits Times.)
A sugar estate in the province of Kedirie which
under European management, had only been a
source of loss has this year, after it had passed
into Chinese hands, yielded a splendid crop, and
given a handsome profit. Instances of the kind
pretty common in that island, show conclusively
that Chinese can make money where European
enterprise breaks down.

Kecent researches in the island of Java and
Sumatra have proved the presence of petroleum
springs there. It seems they are of soma value.
In order to ascertain the best method of turning
these productive resources of the country to account,
the Netherlands Minister fer the Colonies has des-
patched Mr. A. Stoop, a mining engineer, to the
petroleum districts of the United States, to get
himself fully posted as to the most practicable
methods of working them. Private enterprise has
already set to working the petroleum springs on
the East coast of Sumatra with every prospect of
success.

The Planters' Association at Sukabumie in Java
have petitioned the Netherlands Indian Govern-
ment praying the latter to grant a subsidy for
the setting up of an experimental plantation for
hill cultivation. A movement has also been started
for the additional purpose of securing State aid
for trial plantations in general.

LIQUID FUEL.

Details of Trials on San Francisco Bay,
For two or three years past some very interest-
ing trials of the use of oil for fuel, instead of coal,
have been conducted by the Central Pacific Eail-
road Company on the freight and passenger ferry
steamers on San Francisco Bay. When, therefore,
a short time since the use of this liquid fuel was
abandoned by the company, and the furnaces of
the boilers again altered to burn coal, it was con-
cluded that oil burning was a failure. It was
thought strange, too, because it was understood
that the oil was the more economical fuel, doing
away, as it did, with the numerous firemen on the
steamers, since the oil was fed to the furnaces by
an automatic arrangement. A number of reasons

f$0

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[May 2, 1887,

were given by the general public for this abandon-
ment of oil as fuel, among them that the supply
was insufticient ; that it cost too much, and finally,
that it burned the furnaces and boilers out so
badly that it cost more than it came to finally.

As the matter is of considerable general, as well
as local, importance, we have obtained some in-
formation on the subject, which, being mainly
ollicial, will be read with interest.

In the first place, as to the character of the
liquid fuel itself. It is not a crude petroleum, as
many suppose. It is a residue or refuse. The
Pacilic Coast Oil Co., before selling this material,
remove tlie lighter oils, which enables them to sell
the refuse at low cost. The first product removed
is gasohne of 8-1° specific gravity ; the second is
naptha of li" specific gravity ; the third is benzine
of 63° specific gravity ; the fourth is what is known
as water-white illuminating oil of 48° specific gravity.
Then they remove the standard white illuminating
oil of ii" specific gravity. This leaves a refuse
of about 26° specific gravity, which is the fuel oil
used on the steamers.

The Steameb's Records.

The liquid fuel was used on three of the largest
steamers of the company, the " Thoroughfare,"
" Piedmont," and " Solano" — the latter the largest
ferry steamer in the world. The records of the
runs and results of work on these steamers we ob-
tain from the office of the Auditor of the Motive
Power and Machinery Department of the railroad
company.

The first steamer to consider is the " Thorough-
fare," which runs from Oakland Creek to the depots
at the southern end of this city, carrying freight
trains across the bay.

Steamer " Thoroughfare," Dec. 1883, to Deo. 1884,
with coal:
6,1W) tons lone coal at S3.96 .. ^25,617 24

G2 tons Carbon Hill at S5.50 .. 500 00

Pay of firemen

Total cost of fuel and firemen
Miles run .. 22,662J
Cost per mile in cents — fuel . . 115.27
Do do — firemen 13.46

26,123 24
3,049 61

29,172 85

Total cost .. 128.73

Steamer " Thoroughfare," Jan. 1885,
to Aug. 1886, with oil :
2,135^ barrels of oil at $1.65
ll,519i do do 1.70

Pay of firemen

Total cost of fuel and firemen
Miles run .. 40,800i
Cost per mile in cents — fuel . . 50.63
Do do — firemen 5;46

^ ?,'23 16
19,582 72

23,105 88
12,227 35

25,333 23

Total cost .. 62.09

The above shows fiG G4.100 cents per mile in
favour of oil, or 51 77.100 per cent. In this state-
ment it is shown that r)8.14 gallons of oil equalled
one ton of coal.

The " Piedmont," a large steamer, is in the
ferry traffic between Oakland Male and San Fran-
cisco. She was originally devised for coal, but was
afterwards fitted for oil (as were the other steamers).

"Piedmont," Nov., 1884, to Aug., 1885, with coal :
4,029i tons Carbon Hill coal at S5.00 ... ^24.646 25
1,285 ton.s Carbon Hill coal at f>.50 ... 7,067 50

Pay of firemen

Total cost of fuel and firemen

31,713 75
7,658 04

.•59,^71 79

Miles run ... 43,525

Cost per mile in cents — fuel 72.86

Cost per mile in cents — firemen 17.59

Total cost ... 90.45

Steamer " Piedmont," Sept., 18S5, to Aug.
1886, with oil :
4.136 barrels of oil at §1.65
15,983 barrels of oil at 1.75

Pay of firemen

Total cost of fuel and firemen
Miles run ... 44,307

Cost per mile in cents — fuel 76.74

Cost per mile in cents — firemen 10.25

S 6,829 35
27,174 50

34,003 85
4,541 76

38,515 61

Total cost 86.99

The above shows 3 46.100 cents per mile in favour
of oil, or 3 8.10 per cent. In this case it took
133.63 gallons of oil to equal one ton of coal.

The " Solano " is the immense steamer which
takes the overland trains, freight and passenger,
across Carquinez straits, between Benicia and Post
Costa. The run is very short.

Steamer "Solano," Dec, 1883, to Feb,, 1885,
with coal : —

1,0274 tons Carbon Hill coal at S5.00 ... $ 5,137 50
2,090|- tons Carbon Mill coal at 5.50 ... 12,047 75
5,724| tons Empire coal at 3.79 ... 21,694 91

Pay of firemen

Total cost of fuel and firemen
Miles run ... 7,5(14

Cost per mile in cents — fuel ... 518.12
Cost per mile in cents — firemen. 113.96

38,880 16
8,476 70

47,356 86

Total cost

Steamer " Solano,

with oil :

2,395i barrels of oil at 8311.65

16,909 barrels of oil at 1.70

P?y of firemen

Total cost of fuel and firemen
Miles run ... 7,308

Cost per mile in cents — fuel ... 447.42
Cost per mile in cents — firemen. 116.26

... 631.08

March 1885, to Aug., 188C,

S 3,952 16
28,745 30

32,697 46
8,496 84

41,194 30

Total cost

563.68

The above shows 68 40-100 cents per mile in
favour, of oil, or 10 G8.100 per cent. This gives
tlie result of 94. IG gallons of oil equal to one ton
of coal.

Last month the Pacific Coast Steamship Company,
desiring to get some idea of details of cost of use
of oil, with a view to adopting it on their steamers
if possible, had Mr. .John Berminghara examine the
matter for them. He wrote the following letter to
Edwin Goodall, Secretary of the Company :

" Edwin (Goodall, Esq. — Dear Sir, — I have ex-
amined the condensed results of the relative values
of coal and oil on the " Solano," " Thoroughfare"
and " Piedmont." There is great apparent saving
in favour of oil fuel on the two first-named steamers,
and a slight apparent saving of 3 3.10 per cent, in
favour of oil fuel on the "Piedmont." I have no
means of knowing whether the price charged for
Carbon Hill coal is excessive as compared with
other well-known fuels consumed here, or to the
reverse. But there is one very important element
that has not been taken into account by the rail-
road company's statistician, and that is, the relaline
speed developed by the "Piedmont" while using
the different fiiela above mentioned. lu journeying

May 3, iBSy.l

tMS TROPICAL agriculturist;

7St

across the bay on that vessel I have been informed
by her officers that the trips were made with coal
in from 17J to 18 minutes, while with oil 19^ to
20 minutes were consumed. If t]tat be true, the
difference in speed in favour of the coal would be
almost one mile per hour, which means 25 per
cent., as it requires that percentage to increase the
speed of a vessel one mile per hour (' eight times the
power to double the speed '), so if the speed obtained
by the use of oil could have been brought up to that
obtained by the coal, 25 per cent, more oil would
have been consumed ; or, vice verm, if the coal
speed had been brought down to the oil speed, 25
per cent, less coal would have been consumed.

" It required from eight to twelve per cent, of
the water evaporated by oil fuel to perfect its com-
bustion. The rail-road statistician does not appear
to have taken the cost of that water into account-

" The "Piedmont '• had to keep her oil fuel burn-
ing all the time between trips in order to ' bottle
up ' steam to give her a spurt across the bay. I
know nothing of the relative speeds with oil
and coal in use on board the " Solano " and
" Thoroughfare," where the oil appears to be the
most economical.

" Your oil steamers might possibly use that fuel
with diminished speed, but you would have to
make provision for three tons of fresh water per
day for its consumption.

" J. Beraiixghaji."
\ A copy of the above letter was for\Tarded to
Master Mechanic Stevens, of the Southern Pacific
Co., who brings out further facts in connection with
the subject in his answer, which is as follows:

" Sacbamento, Dec. 3rd, 1886.

Geo. Loojiis, Esq., President Pacific Coast
Oil Co. —Dear Sir, — I am in receipt of your favour
of the 22nd ult., inclosing copy of a letter written
by Mr. J. Bermingham to Edwin Goodall, Esq.,
in regard to oil fuel burned on the steamer
" Piedmont."

" Mr. Bermingham figures in this instance alto-
gether from theory. At the outset he says : ' There
is a great apparent saving in favour of the oil
fuel on the two first-named steamers, and a slight
apparent saving of the three and three- tenths
per cent, in favour of the oil fuel on the
" Piedmont." '

" So far he is correct ; but he does not take into
consideration the saving effected on board the
steamer "Piedmont" by the use of oil fuel in the
reduction of firemen — an item amounting to about
$14 per day. Neither does he consider the $6 per
day whict it costs to place the coal on board the
boat — the oil was handled by the deck hands at no
estra expense whatever.

" Further on Mr, Bermingham states : ' There is
one very important element that has not been taken
into account, and that is, the relative speed deve-
loped by the " Piedmont" while using the different
fuels above mentioned.'

" The element of speed icas duly considered ; and
permit me to say, there Vas no such difference
as the gentleman mentions — coal 17^ to 18 mi-
nutes and oil 19 to 20 minutes. True, the time
of crossing of the "Piedmont" was somewhat less
with coal than with oil, but not to exceed half a
minute less per trip run on an average. In the
case of the " Solano" the speed was always equal to
and usually greater with oil than with coal, and
the steam could be increased while under way to
any pressure desired.

" In making this comparison there is another
important factor which Mr. Bermingham and others
who have manifested so much interest in the
matter seem to have entirely overlooked : that is,
tbs construction ol the " Piedmoat" boilers, Tiiese

boilers were constructed specially for burning coal ;
they are flue boilers and not adapted for oil fuel;
while with the steamers " Solano" and " Thorough-
fare" the case is materially different ; the boilers
of the latter boats are of good design or pattern
for burning oil fuel.

"Mr. Bermingham further says: 'It requires
from 8 to 12 per cent of the water evaporated by
oil to perfect the combustion. The railroad statis-
tician does not appear to have taken the cost of
that water into account.'

"Our records show nothing of the kind. They
show, however, that the consumption of water with
coal and oil was the same per trip run. True
enough, it took some steam to perfect combustion,
but it was hardly appreciable, though, of course,
it amounted to something.

" Eeferring again to steamers " Solano" and
" Thoroughfare," i will say that the saving effected
by those steamers by the use of oil was consider-
able (I believe you have the reports showing just
what it was), and if the saving by the use of oil
was so great on those boats why should it not be
just as great on the "Piedmont"? The reason,
the true reason, and the only reason, lies in the
difference in the design of the boilers. I will state
further that during the time the different boats
were burning oil, we were not called upon to make
repairs to the boilers ; while with burning coal there
is not a week when more or less repairs are not
necessary,

" I will add, taking Mr. Bermingham's statement,
that ' 12 per cent, of the water evaporated was re-
quired to perfect combustion.' Assuming this to
be the case, 12 per cent, of the water actually
evaporated during the test of oil for six days is
19,968 gallons. Our records of the test show the
same number of gallons evaporated in both cases. —
Yours truly, A. J. Stevens,

General Master Mechanic."

From these statements it will be seen that the
oil fuel was the most economical, notwithstanding
it has been given up by the company. The only
explanation of this is in the surmise that as the
company owns an extensive coal mine, coal steamers,
&Q., they can afford to use coal when others can-
not.— Mining and Scientific Fress, San Francisco,

Tobacco CtrLTivATiON in Meiningev. — The last har-
vest of the tobacco cultivatfid iu the Leimbacb district
according to the American method has recently been
sold. Though the average yield is Jess as to quantity
than in 1884 the quality is decidedly better. The price
given is 36 Mks. per centner and tax in addition.
Such a yield of the soil is not obtainable with any
oher field produce, not even with sugar beets, and it
is to be dt'sired that small agriculturists would, in view
of the low price of corn, turn their atterition to the
cultivation of American tobacco which now is only
carried on in a few places in the Salzuugen district.
The Meinuigen lowlands with their sandy soil are very
suitable for the cultivation of tobacco. If the new
method of cultivation were more widely known it is
quite possible that the growing of tobacco, which for
ten years has only been carried on at Wasungen,
Schwa'lungen, Breituugen, "Werubausen, and Helmers,
would become a prosperous industry. It is beyond
doubt that with more careful handling- the yield of
American tobacco could be materially increased. Tiiough
this method of cultivation has been followed for three
year.s, it is still new, for it cannot be mastered at
once. The method wns first adopted in Germany by
Leimbacb. German legislation did not permit the
American way of cultivating tobacco previous to 1883,
and when Herr Hartmann Schmeer returned in that
year to Leimbacb from America for the piirijose of
beginning the cultivation of tobacco, he had to obtain
the sanction of the BundQsiAih.-^KulUow' f German
Tm(k Review,

1V^

THE TROPXCAL AGKICtrLTURIST*

[Mays, 188;,

EHEA IN EGYPT.

A correspondent of the Manrh ester G7'rjrfJian, writing;
of tlio progress of this industry says that " there are over
40 millions of establishel yearling Khea plants ready for
sendi?iir to Zagalouu, near to Zagazig Station on the Cairo
Suez Kailway, and supplies of selected plants from the
same source— the Franco Egyptian Ehea Company
(Limited) — are not only being forwarded to other intend-
ing gro\v(>rs in Egypt itself, but are now ready for ex-
portation to India and Central America," Rhea admit-
tedly thrives best in Egypt, sun, soil, irrigation, and cheap
labor being in its favour. It does well so in India ; but
the plant being at its best in the rainy season, iu
India there will always be some difSculty in collecting
and preparing it for market. It is said that amazing
profits can be made from the cultivation of the new
plan) and it is expected that we shall see, before many
months are over. Ramie bpcoming a formidable rival
to cotton and even to wheat cultivation in the purely
agricultural land of Egypt. The whole of the produce
raised, however, is likely to flow to France for the
exclusive use of continental looms, unless Euglish capi-
tal and English enterprise bestir themselves.

There is room for twenty Companies of the kind,
and the native proprietors would be more willing to
invest their money in organisations conducted by com-
petent Englishmen, than embark in any enterprize
controlled by French administration. In time small
landed proprietors will begin to cultivate this hardy
plant to the almost total neglect of cotton, wheat, and
rice, which have not proved lucrative recently. It is
estimated that the yield of an acre of Rhea fibre will
produce from £15 to £20 per acre at one cutting, but
in good years from four to five cuttings can be counted
upon, or better still, the stems may be cut from
day to day as they attain a fixed standard height,
and are stripped by hand, when even the highest
estimate of profit will be exceeded. The plant is
perennial, and the two best seasons for planting out
Ramie Joots are March and September, although it is
possible to transplant the stools at almost any time
if water is abundant. — Fiji Times.

THE FEUIT TRADE OF THE WEST.

As the orange trade of this island with the States
is increasing every year, the following extract from
the Boston Evening Transcript may prove interesting
to the general reader and instructive to growers and
speculators who may be erroneouslj- anticipating high
prices this year: — "I said in my last letter that
estimates of the amount of damage done to the orange
trees were merely guesses and that the facts could
not be known until the sap started. Since that time
I have been pretty well over the State and can give
tlie results of my observations. In the northern portion
of the State quite a number of trees were killed or
severely injured by the January frost, and Jacksonville
shows thp effects of the freeze more than any place
I have visited. In the cputral portion of the State
about Ocala and Citra, but little damacre was done
beyond the destruction of the fruit on the trees. The
trees are all putting out their new growth and seem
an healthy an last February. Lemon trees, howe\'er,
♦)ftV6 beeia generally killed throughout the State.
Early vegetables were scarcelv hurt at all, and cabbages,
lettuce, turnips, etc, are simply a little backward.
Strawberrit'S are unitijured, though they will not come
in as early ^i* Ksiial, owing to the long-continued cold
Weather. Above J.'alatfed to tile soltth, one sees little
to remind him of the !o* temperature of last month,
and in another week the Mew growth of green will
assume such luxuriance in all difecllonfl that the
past will be forgotten and forgiven.

About Enterprise and Sanford pfiovt was made to
,«ave the oranges, but all iu vain. Immense fires were
lu'lt and kept burning duiing the three days of_ cold,
1 ufc strange to say, scarcely a man thought of picking
h s (Tanges after the first cold night and thus surely
feiivirg them. If the "lady from Phil.ndelphia " of
tie » Peterkin Papers" had been ubiquitous, J^our

feari^ri wigfet ''C eating eowe Fitrida oranpw sow

instead of the once-frozen-never-to-be^forgotton-delusive
fruit which is on the market. Indian River I have
not visited yet. General Chamberlain of Maine told
me on my arrival in Jacksonville that he saw one-half
inch of ice on the India River, Feb. 5, when the
South was visited by that entirely unnecessary second
edition of frigidity." — Dominica DiaJ.

DRIED FRUITS.

We quote from the New York Merchants' Review,
the following account, by U.S. Consul Ma'-on, of the
French process of crystallizing Fraits :— " The fruit is
first carefully assorted in respect to size and uniform
degrees of ripeness. Pears, pineapples, and quinces
are pared, citrons are cut into quarters and soaked
a month in sea-water, and the 'pits' of apricots,
cherries, and peaches are carefully removed. Even
this preparatory process rpquires a certain degree of
.skill, since the stone must be removed with as little
injury as possible to the form and solidity of the fruit.
This work is done mainly by women, who earn thereby
60 cents per day. Thus prepared, the fruit is immersed
in boiling water, which quickly jjenetrates the pulp,
dissolving and diluting the juice, which is thereby
nearly eliminated, when the fruit is subsequently
taken from the water and drained, leaving only the
solid portion of the pulp intact. This process of
' blanching ' must also be done with exact nicety, the
period of immersion in the hot water being determined
by the size and ripeness of the fruit. If immersed
too long, the pulp is either overcooked or is left too
dry and woody. If taken out too soon, the juices
left iu the pulp prevent perfect absorption of the
sugar afterwards, and, by eventually causing ferment-
ation, destroy the value of the product. In this, as
in other stages of the process, the only guide is
experience. A .skilful workman can tell by the colour
and appearance of the pulp when it is properly
' blanched,' and this knowledge invariably commands
employment and liberal compensation. After being
thus scalded, some fruits, apricots for example, ate
again assorted into two or three classes, according
to the degree of softness that has been produced,
for the reason that if kept together they would take
up the sugar differently, some losing their form entirely,
while others would remain sufficiently impregnated.
For these different grades sugar-syrups of different
degrees of density are required, the softer the fruit
the stronger the syrujj required for its preservation.
For the same reason each of the different varieties
of fruit requires a syrup of corresponding strength.
Pears, citrons, and pineapples, which remains hard
and firm, take best a syrup having a density of from
18 deg. to 2-5 deg., while apricots, plums and figs
are treated with syrups which gauge from 30 deg. to
43 deg. by the aerometer. The requisite syrup having
been prepared by dissolving the sugar in pure water,
the fruit is immersed in it and left at rest for a
certain period in large earthenware pans, glazed inside,
anrl having a capacity of about 8 gallons. The syrup
penetrates the pulp, and gradually withdraws and
replaces the remaining fruit juice, which, as it exudes
and mingles with the transparent liquid, produces a
certain filmy or clouded appearance, which marks the
commencement of fermentation. When this has
reached a certain stage, the vessel containing the
syrup and fruit is placed over the fire and heated to
212 deg. F, This corrects the fermentation and raises
all impurities to the surface, whence, if necessary,
they can be removed- by skimming. If the syrup ia
of proper density, this process >of .impregnating the
fruit with sugar will be complete in about six weeks,
during which time it is usually necessary to perform
this heating process^ as above described, three times.
The Impregnation of the fruit with sugar being thus
complete, it is taken out, washed in pure water to
remove the flaky particles that adhere, and is then
submitted to one of two finishing processes, as follows;
If the fruit is to be 'glaced,' that is, covered with
an ice or transparent coatiug, it is dipped in a thick,
vii5cid syrup of sugar, and left to "dry and harden
rapidly Id the open »ir; if it Js to be 'crystal

May 3, 1887.]

tHE TROPICAL AORICULTURIST.

733

lized,' it is dipped into the same syrup, but is then
cooled and dried slowly in a kiln or chamber warmed
to a temperature of 91 deg. Fahrenheit. This slow
cooling causes the thick syrup with which the fruit
is covered to crystallize and assume the usual granulated
appearance. The work is now finished. If properly
done, the fruit thus preserved will bear transportation
to any climate, and will keep, firm and unchanged,
for years. It is packed in light wooden or cardboard
boxes, and may be shipped in cases containing several
hundred pounds each." — Frodnce Markets' Review.

DE. GEORGE WATT, CLE., ON "GANJA."

At the evening meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society
held in November, Dr. "Watt, in speaking of the propa-
gation of g luja, stated that native experts \. -tu em-
ployed to go through the fields in order to cut dosvn
the male plants while they were in the young state ;
and that if one single male flower were left in a
whole field cultivated for ganja, not a single particle
of ganja would be produced, but that bhang would be
the result.

A Demarara correspondent (Mr. T. W. Hutton, of
George-town), writing on this subject, says: —

" If such is the case, can you afford any explanation
regarding the presence of fertile seeds in the accom-
panying sample of ganja, which is considered by the
East Indiin dealers here to be a very good one ?
It is received here in original packages from Calcutta,
and is labelled 'Ganja.'"

We have submitted the sample to Dr. Watt, and
he has sent us the following reply, dated ''India
Office, February 16":—

" Sir, — 1 had much pleasure in receiving your letter
forwarding a specimen of 'ganja' for my inspection,
and asking me for further information to what I
gave at a meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society re-
garding that narcotic. I was not permitted to see
the proof of my remarks made at that meeting, and,
having a pressing engagement that night, 1 had to
leave before the close of the proceedings. From both
these considerations I was unable to correct a defect
in what appeared in the Journal. In the first place,
I seem to have forgotten to conclude my remarks
with what, after all, was the important point, namely,
that the ' ganja' made in all other provinces is in-
ferior to that produced in Bengal. The Act regulat-
ing the trade in 'ganja' is only enforced to its full
extent in Bengal, and hence the 'ganja' of other
provinces costs only about one-twentieth of the
Bengal. In Bengal a licence has to be taken out to
grow, to trade, and to retail the article ; and, over
and above these chai-ges, the ' ganja ' produced has
to be stored in the Government 'golahs,' and when
removed has to pay a duty of 10*-. for |every two
pounds. Naturally only the very purest article goes
into the ' golahs; ' adulteration, it it takes place at all,
occurs in the retail merchant's shop, for while in
the bands of the wholesale dealer it passes under a
sealed permit. Every stage of the cultivation is care-
fully supervised, and in no instance are the male
plants allowed to grow up with the female, since it
has been ascertained that when fecundation occurs
the 'ganja' is injured and greatly diminished. The
sample you sent with mature seeds cannot possibly
be Bengal ' ganja.' In the second place, I should have
liked to correct a mistake made by a Bombay gentle-
man who spoke at the Society's meeting after my
departure. He referred to purchasing Bengal ' ganja'
in Bombay, I venture to think not one ounce of
' ganja' ever goes to Bombay. We have no record of
'permits' to Bombay and no 'ganja' can leave the
Bengal stores without a permit. Again< the ' ganja ' from
the Central provinces and that grown in the Bombay
presidencies is sold in Bombay for about Is. a pound,
whereas Bengal 'ganja' costs not less than iOs. a
pound. It is thus conclusive that the Bombay 'ganja'
cannot be Bengal produce.

"In a paper I read the other day at the Society
of Arts, I recommended chemi^te desirous of making
the viiry best extract of Indian hemp to pay the full

price for Beugai 'gaoja,' aud tQ ioiport tbe article

from Calcutta instead of from Bombay, when there
would be every chance that the defects complained of
in the extract as now prepared would disappear com-
pletely.

" I observe in your letter that you say the sample
of ' ganja ' sent for my inspection was obtained
from a shipment from Calcutta. There is no record
of any ' ganja ' having been exported from Calcutta to
England. Naturally the difference in price would be
prohibitive, or be sufficient to tempt an unjust
trader in declaring a consignment as having come
from Calcutta when in reality it came from Bombay.
Be assured of one point, — while we cannot absolutely
prevent smuggling from one province to another,
since all the Bengal ' ganja ' is kept in a secure
store, none of it can leave that store or ' golah ' for
England or for any other country or province except
under a permit, and only then after paying the duty
It is therefore possible to speak with absolute cer-
tainty as to whether or not any shipments of ' ganja ' left
Calcutta for England or Bombay. — I am, yours truly,
" Geo. Watt." — Chemist and Druggist.

ON QUININE SULPHATE MANUFACTURED

BY THE AUTHORS OF THE

DISCOVERY OF QUININE, PELLETIER

AND CAVENTON.

BY DK. J. E. DE VRY, CLE.

At the evening meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society
held on Febuary 9, 1887, Dr. Paul read a paper, " The
Tests of Quinine Sulphate," published on page 645
of the Fltarni. Journ. of February 12 last, in which
the following sentence struck my attention : — " When
we call to mind the fact that cinchonidine is almost
always associated with quinine in the bark from which
quinine sulphate is manufactureil, and also the fact
that up to the year 1844, cinchonidine was not
known as an independent substance distinct from qui-
nine, it will be evident that there is, on these grouuds
alone, very good reason for believing that prior to
the date mentioned the article known as quinine sul-
phate was really a mixture of the sulphates of quinine
and cinchonidine. It would be possible to mention
in support of this view many circumstances recorded
by trustworthy observers, but I will merely refer to
the fact lately made known hj/ Dr. de Vri/, that the
quinine sulphate originally vianvfactitred hi/ Pelletier
contained a considerahle amount of cinchonidine."

As I had the honour to be personally acquainted
in 1835 with Pelletier, I am indebted to his memory
to protest strongly against the underlined assertion.
I really cannot conceive how the editor of the Pharm.
Journ., Dr. Paul, could make such a statement, for in
his capacity of editor and reader of German periodicals,
he should have been ^better informed by the paper
of Dr. G. Vulpius, in No. 29 of the Pharmaceutische
Centralhalle of. July 22, 1886, p. 345. But whatever
this be, the editor of the Chemist and Druggist
can convince himself that I have said quite the contrary
in the lecture which I delivered on November 3 ,1886
to the Academie de Medecine in Paris, of which
I sent him a copy, as also to Dr. Attfleld, and some
others of my English friends. In that paper I stated
the following; —

"Since the discovery of quinine in 1820, chemistry
and its application to chemical industry have made
immense p^ogre^s, and vfe should consequently have
the right to expect that the quality of the actual
quinine sulphate was at least as good as in the time
of the discovery of quinine. Thanks to the kindness
of M. Genevois, Director of the Pharmacie Centrals
de France, I was put last May in possession of a
specimen of calisaya bark from the collection of
Pelletier himself, from which I obtained 64 per cent
of quinine tartrate. The optical observation proved
that it contained 954 per cent of quinine tartrate
and 4-5 per cent of cinchonidine tartrate, which al"
kaloid was unknown in Pelletier's time. Therefore
the quinine sulphate manufactured from such barks
could not have contained more than Z2i^ per cent of (in^
ch^nidim sulphate,"

f34

ffSS TISOPICAL A6RICULTt7RISt,

AY 3, iBBy,

Consequently, instead of making progress, we have
retrograded, for the actual commercial quinine sulphate
contains generally more cinchonidine than that manu-
factured by Pelletier. The cause of this fact is that
calisaya bark (Quinquina jaune) was orginally exclusively
used for the manufacture of quinine sulphate till
about 1849, as the first barks from New Grena;la
were introduced into Europe in 1848 by Auguste
Delondre, one of the partners of the firm, Pelletier,
Delondre et Levaillant. Many of these barks con-
tained, besides quinine, appreciable quantities of cin-
chonidine, the consequence of which was that the
quinine sulphate manufactured from these barks con-
tained more cinchonidine than that formerly prepared
from caliysaya bark. Thia amount of cinchonidine in
French quinine sulphate was the cause that ray lamented
friend. Dr. C. Zimmer, the well-known quinine
manufacturer, issued in 1851 a circular to his custom-
ers to warn them against this qiiipine sulphate,
which he supposed to have been mixed with cinchonidine
sulphate. This, however, was not so, for the presence
of such a large quantity of cinchonidine was only
the consequenee of the use of barks containing much
cinchonidine besides quinine, Zimmer's circular con-
tains the following sentence : —

"We know still little about the therapeutic action
of this alkaloid (viz. cinchonidine), but whatever re-
sults the impending experiments may afiford, such
voluntary substitution is under all circumstances un-
accountable, and makes honest competition almost
impossible."

I conclude by expressing the hope that these lines
may have convinced the readers of this journal that I
never made myself guilty of the assertion attributed to
\ me by Dr. Paul. It is, however, true that in the spring
of 1883, I communicated orally to the Society de Pharma-
cie in Paris that Pelletier never knew " chemically pure "
quinine, because the small specimen of "quinine pure "
with which he presented me in 1836 contained a " trace"
of cinchonidine which I found out in 1856 by the
use of the polariscope. But every one will agree with
me that a " trace" is quite different from "a large
amount."— The Hague, February 16.— Chemist and
Lrvc/ffist.

THE LAWS OF NATURE IN RELATION
TO HEALTH.

The abote was the title of a very interesting address
delivered at the annual meeting of the Hertford-
shire Natural History Society, at Watford, on Tuesday
last, the loth instant, by the President, Professor
Attfield, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c. Subjoined are extracts
from the address. —

The Fluids We Drink.— After showing the necessity
of water taken in one form or another, Professor
Attfield said : —

From the standpoint of nature, some little interest —
alid from the standpoint of man, a great deal of in-
terest— attaches to the use of stimulants in the fluids
we drink ; for it would seem to be not more instinct-
ive to man to cook his food than to discover in
nature, or by more or less of art to manufacture,
substances which are almost purely stimulating prin-
ciples. The instinct of man, in his uncultured and
■Bucirilised state, and in widely separated countries,
has led him to discover just those four or five plants,
which even now, so far as we know, are the only
plants that, like the tea-plant, contain one and the
same stimulant. Nearly everywhere, also, man's needs
seem to have led him to the process— a perfect natural
process, by the way ', an accompaniment of the growth
of the yeast-plant— by which sugar is converted into
the stimulant termed alcohol. What is the use of
such stimulants? Taken in excess they are poisons
Jnore or less insidious and harmful. The tkeine of
iea, coffee, mate, and guarana is least liable to be
taken in excess, and is least harmful. Alcohol is
most likely to be taken in excess, and is, therefore,
most harmful; on in the epigrammatic words attri-
buted to the Scythian prince Anarcharsis, " The first
draught serveth for health ; the second for pleasure ;

^be third for «hame; and the fourth for maduese/'

If mankind, especially in civilised countries, would
consent to live at a slower rate, the second draught would
be unnecessary, and probably even the first. But man-
kiud cannot now thus live, apparently.

Man's life was spacious in the early world :
It paused, like some slow ship with sail unfurled
Waiting in seas by scarce a wavelet curled.
Now, with civilisation has come the stimulation of
alcohol or theine. The first draught and the second
are taken by most of the youth and nearly all of
the adult of both sexes, either as theine or alcohol ;
while, as alcohol, the third and the fourth are taken
by sadly too many. Children do not need, aud, in-
deed, rarely take, either alcohol or theine, nor, for
that matter either pepper or mustard with their food.
These things are mere stimulants. They are not used
in the early life of the individual, they were not used
in the early life of the race. But swallowed in
proper and moderate quantities, at proper times, in these
days of civilisation, what office do stimulants fulfil
in the system? It would seem, as stated elsewhere
by the writer, that they do the important work of
aiding the system, whenever necessary, to digest and
to store up food, aud to utilise its existing stores of
fat and of flesh. In other words, the purpose of
stinnulants is, apparently, to stimulate the system the
better to live upon itself, and the better to replenish
its store of life-sustaining, work-performing flesh and
blood. The imprisoned miner, having no food ordi-
narily so called, but having stores on his own frame,
is able to exist for many daj'S, if only, by a period-
ical sip of brandy, he can stimulate his organs to
utilise those stores. The Indian performs a journey
of two or three days on foot without any so-called
food; but he really lives and works on the flesh
stored in his frame, and lives satisfactorily if only he
can chew his coca leaves, and so obtain the stimulus
that shall induce his flesh to yield so much extra force.
The invalid, unable to take solid food, can generally take
stimulating beef-tea, and thus stimulate his own flesh to
maintain his life until he again is able to take true
nourishment. These are extreme cases of what ap-
pears to be the ordinary action of stimulants when
taken in proper quantities. — Chemist and Druggist.

THE MOOR CULTURE EXHIBITION.

The exhibition, instituted by the Society for the
Promotion of Moorland Culture, was opened and closed
in Berlin last week. The object of the exhibition —
the first of its kind — was to bring before the public
the methods of processes by which ir. is intended to
attempt to bring our moorland into a state of culti*
vation, together with the various implements,
machinery &c. by which these methods and processes
are to find application. When it is considered that
there are 25,000 square kilometers of such land in
Germany, the greater part of which is utterly
worthless, it will readily be seen that any means
whereby such unproductive land may be brought
under cultivation (and made to yield such field and
garden products as the best of our land which has
been under cultivation from time immemorial) would
prove of immense advantage both to individuals and
the country and State generally. To say nothing of
the extra work which would be afforded to thousands
of willing hands, the fact of the acquisition to the
State of an immense tract of land equal in size to
the province of Saxony is one alone of immense im«
portancc, for it certainly might be looked at in the
light of an entirely new acquisition. To attempt
to give a detailed report of this most unique exhi-
bition iu the space allotted us would be an impossible
task, and we must content ourselves in the prosent
article by bringing under the notice of our reader.'!
a few of the most important points that came under
our notice while paying a too brief visit to the Ert-
hibition. The first group, and perhaps the most
interesting, which attracts the visitor's attention ia
that contaitnng both deep-ground and surface speci-
mens of the moorland in every part of the country,
tegether with the plants or peculiar products which

are found (hereou, Utxs, too, we £iad the valudbl

May 2, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

735

as

collections of tho Agricultural High School
well as collections from the peculiar provinces
of several well-known professors. Particularly
noticeable was the magnificent herbarium collec-
tion of Professor "Willmick. In the next group
were exhibited the various ways and means by which
the moorland is to be reclaimed. By the well-known
Kimpau process, "dam culture," the sand obtaintil
by the digging operations in connection with the
cutting of the drains is spread over the ground, a
proceeding which is said to have attained very favour-
able results. Various other plans and projects for
the cultivation of moors by dams are on view,
perhaps the most noteworthy being that of the
Schweder Techno-Oultural Bureau at Great Lichterfelde,
whose system has already met with a fair amount
of success. After the preliminary preparation of che
land comes the manuring. The substance of moorland
being of a highly organic nature, necessitates the appli-
cation of mineral matter, and moorland districts
are likely to prove good sale spheres in the future for
kali salts, tinsel phosporite, and Thomas slack. There
are here rich selections of every sort of manure,
as well as representations of the working effects of
the same. The kainite producing salt works as the
Stassfurt State works, the Lpopoldshall works, the
New Stassfurt works in Loederhurg, and the Hereynia
kali works in Vienenburg have all contributed to a
single group of magnificent raw salts ; the ground
article being also represented. The New Stassfurt
works sent besides manufactured manure, while the
Thomas slack came from Nianburg, Schalke, &c.
Among the Berlin firms representel we noticd th ;
Berhn Steam Boue-Dast Manufactory, (Dr. Wilhelm
Oohn) ; Professor Orth also exhibited some manure.
The manurical effects, however, are principally re-
presented by the show of the Bremen Moorland
Experiment Station. BulJ agricultural conversion is
not the only method of utilizing moorland; many
moors produce that valuable fuel turf, which in spite
of coal and lignite is yet thought a good deal of.
This department of moorland cultivation is not over-
looked by the promoters of the Esibition, and find-
representation through the collection of Professor Grei-
ner. Turf is put to other uses besides burning; its high
absorptive qualities make it peculiarly adaptable as a
litter material, and the show of the Gifhorner Turf
Bed Manufactory is not the least important one of
the Exhibition. Turf also find its way into the surgery,
as certain sorts of wounds and cuts are much benfited
by the application of this material. This was one of
the exhibits which particularly interested the Grown
Pri:jce. Particularly noticeable was the application
of the turf fibre to weaving. Mixed with 30 per cent
of cotton, wool, or hemp, the fibre of the turf-moss
turns out a good yarn, which, as we noticed in Professor
Gruuer's cod ction is exhibited in different colors and
patterns. In addition to what we have already men-
tioned we find on view various plants and fruits which
have been obtained by the applications of the different
methods to moorland. Among them we noticed giant
specimens of the potato, beetroot, &c- The machinery
department of the Exhibition is not the least interestin<r.
Among other firms represented we noticed the H. F.
Eckeit Co., Berlin, Glogowsky & Son, Berlin, Th. Floe-
ther, Gassen, Glaser & Baare, Berlin, Friedrich Hotf-
mau\i, Berlin, R. DoUberg, Rostock, and Orenstein an 1
Koppel, Brodnitzand Seydel, and G. W. Hall, of Berlin,
&c. &c. As regards the awards, the first prize is a
miniature picture of the Emperor in gold enamel, exe
cuted by Bastanier. The court jeweler, Paul Telge,
presented for competiti m a silver cup of the
renaissance per od, bearing an inscriptive couplet to
the effect that he who raises Germany out of slough
and moor is worthy of the title of a true hero.
There are several other valuable prizes which, how
ever, call for no special comment. — Kuhhw'i German
Trade Revieiv.

THE SCARCITY OF CUBEBS.

With a few slight mterrnptious the price of cubebs
has been steadily rising fcr many months. Geniuue
berries, almoatl free from stalks anc! dust, are now

quoted at about 22?. on this market, a price which
in recent times has seldom been exceeded. The
cultivation of the drug must have been a very pro-
fitable one during the last few years, although the
total value of the crop, compared to that of the
staple articles of Javanese produce, is so infinite-
simal that it can scarcely be considered an adequate
set-off against the evil times with which tho Java
planters have had to wrestle during the last decade
or so.

Considering the enormous prices at which the
drug has been sold during the last few years, it is
remarkable that its cultivation should not have been
extended. Many drugs shipped from India, Ceylon,
and South America have suffered such depreciation
in value lately, that they cannot leave any large
margin to growers; but we believe that if a few
planters, say in Ceylon, had commenced cubeb-
growing, when the price of the drug first began to
advance about six or seven years ago, they would
now have reason to congratulate themselves upon
the result of their venture.

Hints on the cultivation of cubebs have repeatedly
been published in trade journals, and planters in
India and Ceylon have been urged to make experi-
ments in the cultivation of the shrub ; but in no
instance does this advice appear to have been fol-
lowed, and the cultivation of cubebs for commer-
cial purposes is, we believe, still confined to the
Dutch possessions.

The eastern residencies of the island of Java pro-
duce the bold grey berries, the genuineness of which
has been a matter of considerable doubt, and is
generally disputed in this country and in America.
The small, dark-coloured, genuine berries are all,
we believe, grown in Central and Western Java,
notably in Banjoemaas and in Bantam. The shrub
is occasionally met with in the wild state, but it
is more generally cultivated, sometimes in special
plantations, but usually in the coffee-gardens. Some
years ago the Dutch Indian Government, with a
view to encourage the cultivation, distributed a large
number of young plants to coffee-growers through-
out Java. The Piper Ciihcha requires very little
attention ; it climb.s round the large trees which
are grown for shading in coffee-plantations, and
attains, when full-grown, a height of 18 to 20 feet.
The statement formerly often made that cubeb
plantations in Java were being uprooted in order to
make way for coffee-gardens may, therefore, be re-
garded as fabulous. Cubebs are also grown largely
in the Lampong districts, the extreme southern
portion of Sumatra, and in certain parts of South-
ern Borneo. The yield is collected by Chinese deal-
ers, and exported via Batavia or Singapore. Ship-
ments from the former place usually find their way
to Holland, while the cubebs exported via Singa-
pore are generally forwarded to London or New
York. An important part of the crop is consumed
in Eastern countries.

The price of cubebs has always been subject to
sudden and violent fluctuations, and extreme rates
are by no means of exceptional occurrence. Thus
we find that in 1859 and 1860 genuine berries occa-
sionally realized 11^. to 12/. per cwt.; but it miy
be assumed tliat in those days the value was more
or less artificially kept up by the peculiar commer-
cial policy of the Dutch-Indian Government, which
compelled planters to sell to them their produce at
a fixed rate, at the same time limiting the area
and amount of the production. From that time the
value has apparently been declining, for in 1865 the
price of cubebs averaged about lla. ()d. ; in 181)9,
la*. ; and in 1875, 25s. per cwt. Between the latter
year and 18S0 cubebs were a much neglected article,
and could be bought at figures ranging from 25s.
to 55.*. per cwt. The stock was never a large one
—usually averaging 125 to 180 baga in London—
and the imports were extremely uncertain. More
than ence it appeared likely that supplies would
cease altogether, owing to unremuuerative prices.

In 1879 a craze originated in America for asthma
cioarettes, of which cubeb.^ formed an important
iugredisut, and which were recommended as a remedy

73^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[May 2, 1887,

for catarrhal affections. Prior to that period the
1186 of the drug had been chiefly confined to the
treatment of gonorrhoea, though cubebs formed a
principal ingredient in some proprietary lozenges.
Asthma cigarettes soon became extremely fashion-
able in America, and a few speculators bought up
every parcel of cubebs upon which they could lay
hands on the European market, with the result of
quickly forcing up the price of the drug to 10/. or
thereabouts. The enormous demand then prevailing
for cubebs may be illustrated by the fact that in
February, 1S80, no less than 737 bags of cubebs
arrived at New York in a single shipment.

Stimulated by the high prices prevailing the pro-
duction in Java had extended considerably, but by
this time the American speculators had obtained a
tight grip of the article, and manipulated it at will,
sometimes flooding the European market with large
shipments in order to momentarily depress the value
of the drug and secure at a low rate any parcels
which second-hand holders might offer. At the same
time all sorts of tricks were resorted to in order to
keep alive the demand for the article in America ;
but the asthma cigarette craze has by this time
subsided.

Notwithstanding this the American speculators
have continued their game, and as the article is a
comparatively small one, they succeed without much
difficulty in controlling the bulk of the supply;
hence the continued dearness of the drug.

The consumption of the article cannot now be
said to be on the increase, in fact, during the last
few years, the imports in America have been fall-
ing off. At present our stock has been very much
reduced, and at the commencement of the month
amounted to only 41 bags in the first hand, while
from 21/. to 23?. is quoted for stalky to good genuine
berries. In Holland the imports during 1886 amounted
to about 200 bags, less than half of which belonged
to the acknowledged genuine variety. The 'Dutch
market is now said to be very bare, the stock at
Amsterdam not exceeding 1,050 lb., (iOO lb. of which
are grey berries. The quotations at Amsterdam for
genuine berries appear to be slightly in excess of
those prevailing here. If recent mail advices from
America can be trusted, the stock at New York is
also very low, being estimated at less than 7,000
lb., or barely sufficient for one month's requirements.
All indications, therefore, point to the mainten-
ance, for some time at any rate, of the excessive
prices now prevailing. It is true that several ship-
ments are reported on the way from the East In-
dies, but unless these should be of exceptional mag-
nitude, they will in all probability be quickly brought
up for consumption.

Arrivals of cubebs take place at regular intervals
all through the year, but the bulk of the Java crop
leaves that island between the months of May and
September, the first arrivals generally reaching
Europe in June or July. It is extremely difficult to
obtain reliable information concerning the prospects
of the crop in Java, but there is an impression
that the yield tliis season will not exceed that of
1886, when only about 200 bags found their way to
Holland.

A highly objectionable result of the enhanced value
of the drug has been the appearance on the Euro-
pean market of various species of spurious cubebs.
Formerly deliberate sophistication was seldom prac-
tised, and although occasionally a few fruits of the
riper crassipes occurred among genuine cubebs, the
only charge which could be fairly brought against
shippers was the frequency with which fruit stalks
occurred among the berries, owing to imperfect garb-
ling of the drug before shipment. At present, how-
ever, we have no hesitation in saying that more
than .50 per cent of the berries imported as cubebs
are not the genuine article at all.

Adulteration with common black pepper can be
readily detected, but it requires considerable care
to distinguish the many varieties of false berries
now so frequent. Perfectly genuine cubebs have
often been classed as spurious, simply because of
their altered appearance when over-ripe ; but Daph-
ntdium Cubeha, Piper erassipes, and /'. cauiuimi. are

now frequently met with, both in conjunction with
real cubebs and without any admixture of the true
fruit. A few years ago a consignment of nineteen
bags of spurious cubebs was stopped by the New
York Customs authorities and destroyed. It was
then announced that all cubebs imported into the
United States would be subjected to a close examin-
ation ; but if the parcels which are frequently pur-
chased in London for the alleged purpose of exporation
to America are in reality shipped to that country,
the vigilance of the American Customs officers must
have greatly relaxed of late. On the Amsterdam
market spuriou.-. cubebs are now very frequently
sold at 18/. to Vdl. per cwt., chiefly, it would seem,
for export to France. It is only fair to state that
the French druggists are said to entertain great
objections to the spurious berries, though why they
purchase them at all, knowing them to be false, is
not explained.

It is a fact that the administration of spurious
cubebs has often caused considerable inconvenience
to patients, and, if only for the s5,ke of rendering
unprofitable the wholesale adulteration now practised
at the shipping ports, it is devoutly to be wished
that extended cultivation and increased competition
will ere long again bring the price of cubebs within
reasonable limits — Chemist ami Druggist

[" Cubebs is a sore subject "with me," says a
Ceylon planter. " Years ago I resolved to go in for
them and got a plant form the Eoyal Botanical
Gardens, Peradeniya, and they declare it to be cubeba,
but I can scarcely believe it, and my time has, I am
sure, been wasted. It grows well and fruits, but does
not bear Jhe kind of fruit that books say it should."]

♦

Tea Machinery. — The London correspondent
of the Indian I'/un'ers' Gazette, writes: — There has been
a new tea rolling machiufc on view recently at the
offices of the Planters' Stores aud Agency Co. Limited
iu the City where it was seen by a good many
planters. This specimen was for hand-power. If
there is any justice in pattut law, I don't give this
machine a long life, so it is almost waste of time
describing it, further than by sayiug that it is a
Jackson's roller with obsolete motions iu place of his
drivin^' gear, and with sundry other retrograde alter- '
atiuus, made in an attempt to do as Jackson does in
another way. Apart from these advances iu wrong
directions, it has several weak points structurally, but
without a diagram these would be difficult to describe.
Mr. Jacksou will probably take no notice of so feeble a
competitor unless people haviug the ordering of teik
machinery should have le.ss tense than they arc credited
with, in which case, 'ware ! Mr. Davidson's last
improvement in his T Siroccos is a great one, and
will increase their popularity vastly. 1 have seeu the
one he has over here on show, aud its advautages
are patent at a glance. He estimates that thi . type
will turn out double the outturn of the first T Sirocco.
The original T Siroccos may be converted partially to
the new type but not completely ; certaiu great im-
provements in the new not being applicable to the
original type. The lieat being saved, le»s heat is re-
quired, ami the stoves will consequently last for years.
Mr. Gibbs' new withering appliance is so cheap and
its possibilities are .so great that it is much to be hoped
that a few enterprising managers will give it a trial
next season. Even should the dri/ing of the air by
means of the chloride of lime prove to be the failure
anticipated by many, still the heating of the air by
this little appliance and the distribution of the heated
air from it to the viachaus and c'lalloniea is so pract-
ical and efficient that it .should be put to the test on
some gardens as soon as possible. It can be wheeled
or carried along over the maehans as the leaf on each
mac/inii or portion of a /)/ ichun is withered. This will,
if the appliance is successful, at all events save haviug
to carry the leaf from the worst to the best wither-
ing machaus as the leaf is removed ' from the latter
to be rolled, aud will thus save considerable labour
and haudilug of the leaf, apart from any success in
the direction of rapid withering of wet leaf, such as
is anticipated by iuTdntor.

MAV 3; 1887.]

ei £X ^1

'^nOfiChtt AGmeULTURlS'T.

731

CULTiVATIO-N' OF IXTLE IN MEXICO.
The ixtle, or Tampico fibre, is stout, cylindriform,
and of the strongest descriptions of fibre knowa. It
has a yellowish-white colour, and varies in length
from one to three feet, according to localities where
the plant grows. The fibre designated as tula mea-
sures an average length of 21 inches, and the yanmave.
averages 30 inches. Consul Oassard, nf Tampico, states
that the ixtle is extracted from the leaf of the Agaves
Mexicans, to which species bidongs the marjuei/, or aloe,
and much resembles the latter in the form and con-
ditions of growth, although smaller in size. It has an
elongated, sharp, thorn-edged leaf, containing about
three parts of aqueous matter, and one part of solid,
which is all fibre-. On maturing, the ixtle shoots up
from its very centre a loug round flower-stem, which,
on attaining its full growth, falls tp the ground,
carried by its own weight. The special botanical name,
Consul Cassard says, is not known in Mexico. Ixtle
is its Indian name, and the Spaniards have given it
the local appellation of Lechugxdila. It grows wild
in the stony sections of the table lands of the States
of Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosi, and its most exten-
sive fields he in the vicinity of the towns of Tula
and Yanmave. Growing with extraordinary luxuriance,
in inexhaustible fields, it is never replanted, and the
cro])ped fields lie in barrenness with but a few isolated
leaTes,' growing sparsely from the old roots. To be-
come an article of commerce, the ixtle is submitted to
a very simple process of curing, which consists in com-
pletely purging from its leaf the watery matter, and
then in exposing to the sun the cleansed fibres, which
are thus dried and bleached. The contrivance used
in curing the leaf is very primitive, consisting simplj'
of a triangular smooth edged piece of iron, measuring
about sixteen inches long and two inches broad, with
a handle at one end and a hook at the other. A
board is laid at the foot of a tree, and over it cross-
wise is placed the iron or pressor, one end hooked
on to the roots of the tree, and the handle end rest-
ing in the operator's hand, with which he strongly
presses the leaf against the board, while with the
left band he draws it its full length, repeating the
operation until the leaf is completely purged of its
aqueous matter. By the above process an Indian is
enabled to clean on an average twentj' pounds of ixtle
per day. The cutting and curing of the leaves have no
special season ; both these operations are performed
while the plants ripen, and this occurs throughout the
whole year. A large trade is carried on in the export
of ixtle from DIexico. From the port of Tampico alone
about 7,000,000 pounds are annually shipped to Europe
and the United States. — Journal of the Society of Arts.

TAPEWORM REMEDIES.

Chloroform has been found very efficient against
tapeworms. Doses of 30 grains have been given, re-
peated after twenty or thirty minutes, but trouble-
some cardiac symptoms may be avoided by giving
smaller doses (a few tirops) every few minutes for a
few times. Thompson successfully prescribed chloro-
form, 5j- (by weight), simple syrup to .^j., to be given
in three doses, at intervals of two hours, in the
morning fasting, with castor-oil to follow.

An Italian physician recommends thymol as a re-
medy for tapeworm. A dose of about half an ounce
of castor-oil is given in the evening, when the patient
should abstain from food, and take, next morning,
two drachms of thymol, divided into twelve doses,
one every quirter of an hour. Abjut half an hour
after the last dose has beeu given a dose of castor-
oil should be administered. This is usually followed
by the expulsion of the dead worm. Thymol quickly de-
presses the pulse, respirati m, and temperature, and
to obviate any ill-effects from this cause frequent
doses of brandy or spirits should be given at the
sama time. The advantages of thymol are said to
be Ihat it p o luces no disturbance of the stomach, is
rapid in effect, is both a tasniacide and a tteniafuges
and, while cectaa in action, will do no great barm
U a'l error ia diaguosis Ijae been njucle.
^3

A correspondent of the Med. and Surg. Rep. states
that he has met with a case in which the adminis-
tration of the following mixture to a boy of nine
years caused the expulsion of a tapeworm ten feet
long. No directions as to the preparation of the mix-
ture are given : —

01. terebinthiuce ... ... ^j-

01. cinuamomi ... ., 33.

Mist, curcurb. peponis J^cj-

The pumpkin seeds, say 1 oz., should be beaten up
in a mortar, and an emulsion of them formed with
water, similarly to mist, amygdalae. The dose of the
mixture is au ounce every hour.

Recent trials appear to show that pelleteirine may
be used successfully .^gainst tapeworm, especially in
children. The dose for children from three to five
may be from ^ to 1 grain in solution, followed in
about half an hour by a brisk purge. The alkaloid
does not appear to have the same physiological action
on children that it has on adults. — Chemist and
Druggist.

'■ ♦

AUSTRALIAN ARGOL.

In last week's drug sales in London there were
sold some parcels of red and white argols, amounting
to half a ton, which hail been imported from New
South Wales, and whicli formed, we believe, the first
consignment which has come to this country. The
red argols sold readily at from 90s. to 97a'., and the
white at 100s. We have so loug been dependent upon
France and Spain for this important commodity that
supplies from British colonies cannot fail to command
the interest and attention of merchants. For many
years argol has been regularly received from the Capo,
and, so far, the quality of the argol imported from
South Africa has been moderately good. But with
the development of wine-growing, which seems to be
assured in Australia, the supply from that source is
likely to be an important factor in the market. The
cultivation of the vine was commenced in the Aus-
tralasian colonies nearly half a century ago, and has
since been fostered in a very enterprising manner as
well as in a scientific spirit. The methods of cultiv-
ation and the processes for manufacturing wine which
are followed in the wine-producing countries of P^uropo
have been carefully studied, and both soil and climate
seem to be well adapted to place Australian wines,
and consequently other grape products, in a com-
manding position in the near future. Some idea of
the importance of the industry may be gathered from
the fact that in the llutherglen district of Victoria
there are 3,000 acres devoted to viti-culture, the esti-
mated production of which is 7-'jO,000 gallons of wine
annually ; and this does not represent one half of the
present production over the whole of that one colony.
In South Australia, where vine-planting was commenced
in 1840, there are now about 5,000 acres undei cultiv-
ation, with an annual production of 500,000 gallons.
New South Wales has the credit of having started
the industry in Australasia, and the total production of
that colony is equal to that of Victoria, there being
several vineyards which produce 40,000 gallons and
upwards annually. It will be seen, therefore, that
with stocks representing at least three years' harvests
the yield of argol must be enormous and increasing,
The juice of the grape in the unfermentcd statd con-
tains the acii tartrate of potash in solution; but witlJ
the change of the sugar into alcohol the solvent
power of the liquid is diminished, and the tartrate
is deposited as argol within the casks while the wine
is fermenting and maturing. The norm d compos-
ition of artfol shows it to consist of acid tartrate
of potash, tartrate of lime, and colouring matter,
but tha custom in some wine-produoiug countries
of plastering the wines introduces a large percuu-
tage of earthy constitutents, including barium, so
that argols containiug half their weight of calciun*
tartrate have been met with. The argol whijh w»9
sold last week was of superior quality, ami the prictj
obtained for it should induce a constant supply. Oat)
sa!Bpl« Qi the red variety wtiioij vre recejvod wAa in

^HE TROPICAL AQPdCUVWRmf,

fiViAY 2, insp

>BB<

senii-translacent crjstalline pieces over a quarter of
an inch thick, and of a pale claret colour. Its solution
ill w;i;er possessed a faint vinous odour. The sample
yi^Med 93-5 per cent of acid tartrate of potash,
'.io per cent of tartrate of lime, the rest being colour-
ing matter, .glucose, and vegetable refuse. The
sample, therefore, compares well with other commer-
cial arg'ils, which rarely contain more than 90 per
cent of acid tartrate of potash. — Chemist and Drugykt.

CHINA GBASS OR RHEA FIBRE.

At a meeting of the Society of Chemical Industry,
bekl in Manchester, Eng., on the 2nd inst., Mr. A.
Sansone, Director of the School of Dyeing in the
Manchester Technical School, read a paper on China
grass or rhea fibre. He said that after giving the
matter considerable attention, and after e.'^periment-
ing tor several months both on green and dry stems,
he thought that if the fibre were used at all it must
be produced at a price as low, if not lower, than that
of cotton ; therefore the methods of treatment must
not be expensive. Division of labor would have to
be resorted to in order to accomplish that end suc-
cessfully. In large plantations it would be difBcult to
obtain the number of persons necessary for peeling
off the bark by hand when they were needed, while
if machines were employed a large number would
be riquirpd which would mean a large outlay. He had,
therefore, devised methods for doing the work all
the year round. One method he proposes is a very
simple one. The stems, either green or half drj-, or
even dry, are simply boiled with a solution of car-
bonate or caustic soda ; the bark can then be peeled
otf with the greatest ease. With green stems five to
ten minutes' boiling would, he said, be found neces-
sary, while the drier they were the longer they required
to be boiled. He stated that he had on many occa-
sion* peeled many of the stems in his laboratory with-
out the least difficulty. Even dry stems of several
months' standing had been peeled off in the laboratory
at the School of D^'eing after being boiled in the
model boiling kier possessed by the school. Speci-
mens were shown in the different stages, finishing
with the bleached fibre which Mr. Sansone hail ex-
tracted, with the help of some of his pupils, by a
chemical process. With regard to countries like
India, where the drying of the stems is irjpossible
in the rainy seasons, he proposed that the steas when
freshly cut should be placed in pits or cisterns with
a solution of sulphurous acid or bisulphite of soda or
lime, which could be readily and cheaply produced
on the spot. This would prevent fermentation, and
would keep the stems fresh until they could be treated
by any suitable process of decortication, rrreeii stem..!
obtained by him from Kew Gardens last summer
were kept for several weeks in his laboratory, and
were at the end found perfectly sweet. They were
afterwards treated without difficulty for the extrac-
tioa of the fibre. He had noticed also that the fibre
was even bleached to a certain extent by that treat-
ment. He suggesttd a method of ungummiug anil
partial bleaching of the fibre at the same time by
successive boiling with alkalies, atid afterward iramer.s-
iug the material in a cold sulphurous acid or
bisulphite solution, this treatment to be repeated once
or twice according to the state of fibre required. Tae
bleach of China gras?* was, he. .-^aid very similar to
that of linen and cotton, and the same precautions
should be taken in employing hypjehloritesj bleach-
ing, however, of China grass was very easily
effected, iu fact more easily than in the case of
flax. In all case? the hypochlorite of lime should
be avoided, and soda or magnesia salts used
instead. For scouring the fibre or uagumming the
bark such agents as lim >, resin, Ponp and miueral
acids could be used just as well as for other vege-
table libers. Th** dyeingaud printing processes offered
uo great difficulties, but by dyeing the fibre before
spinning brighter colors were proluced and the fibre
was more lustrous. Some colors, however, deprived
the fibre of its luster. In conclusion, he recommended
Jhe utillT-atioB of the wood residues of the stems for

industrial purposes. He had made a great many ex-
periments, and considered the material very suitable
for manufacture into a kind of wood-pulp suitable for
paper-making and for other purposes. By that
means two products would be obtained at the same
time from the same plant. — Bradatreet's.

SOMETHING ABOUT JAVA AND THE

JAVANESE LABOURERS.
A solution of the plantation labour question seems to
have been found iu the introduction of a number of
Javanese labourers for the northern plantations. Java
— or niore probably Java and Madura— including the
small islands administratively connected, had a total
population in December, 1878, of 19,067,829, and of
these 18,824,574 were natives, the rest being Europ-
eans, Chinese, and Arabs. The population is fast
increasing. In 18G3, it was 15,265,931 and the annual
growth tiad bsen up to that time large and regular.
We have no figures since 1878, but we believe that tho
increase has continued and is continuing. The area
of Java is limited. Many years ago the deusity of
population iu the purely Javanese districts w:is greater
even than in Belgium, and although a tropical country
in a high state of cultivation can produce more food
and thus support more people than one situated in a
temperate climate, it is probable that the Dutch are
becoming a little alarmed at the increase of their native
subjects. No doubt Java could spare, without percept-
ibly ati'ecting the local labour market, from 50,000 to
70,000 men anuually.

Javanese have the reputation of being strong, good
laborers. They are Mala3's, but of quite different typo
front the same race in other islands of the Indian Ocean
and the native states in the vicinity of Singapore. The
Javanese is above all things, docile and obedient. The
Dutch rule is a " paternal " despotism of the most ela-
borate kind. A writer on Java says : —

The Javanese knows no freedom. His whole existence
is '• regulationed. " If he is bound to render " culture "
service, the administration shows him to what depart-
ment to applj' himself, when and how he must plant.
If he is not bound to render culture service, but has
the position of a so-called free agriculturist, the ad-
ministration prescribes the time and method uf sowing
and planting his land. If he wishes to fix his habita-
tion outside his village, the village chief , may prevent
him. If he has a dwelling of his own, the administra-
tion decides for him what sort of materials he must
use for the roof. If he has a hanging night lamp in
his bamboo hut, he must not hang it against the wall.
This elaborate system of regulation designs to make
Java profitable to its Earopeau owner.s, is carried out
through the native chiefs, who are highly paid but
carefully watched servants of the Datch. But the
docile and gentle Javanese do not seem to resent their
subjection. They certainly thrive uu ler it. When the
islands first fell into the hands of the Dutch they were
thinly peopled. Even in 1815 the whole native popu-
lation only numbered about 4,500,000, so it has more
than quidruplel daring the present century. The fact
is that the D it^h system, which while keeping every-
one at work, secures food and the necessities of life
to the whole population, is conlucive to the nuterial
welfare of such a people, though it would gall and
embitter a more independent race.

It may be said that the Whole popuiatioa of Java is
agricultural. The populations of the three principal
towns— 'Sourabaya, 118,884 ; Batavia, 97,585 ; and Sama-
rang, /*(>,44o — are exceedingly small for a state of nearly
twenty million inhabitints. Coffee, sugar, and spices, are
the chief agricultural exports, and it is not improbable
that the increasing demands for food crops, due to the
gro.vth of population on the arei under tillage, ma^
have something to do with the willingness of the Dutch
authorities to allov the emigration of laborers.
However that may be, a sufficient .5U[)ply of Java-
nese labor would entirely remove the labor difiiculties
of our Northern planters. They are, we believe, as
good workmen as the best Indian coolies, and ar«
even more docile and amenable to control. But it
would be a singular outcome of our anti-coolig

MiV 2, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

73^

movement if it should result in the introduction of
a flood of dark-skiuned laborers, not hindered by
caste prejudices, and probably capable of being
trained ta perform manual labour of every descrip-
tion.— Planter ani Farmer.

JOHNSON-GRASS.

The followiDg letter, received by the Secretary of
the Planters' Association from Mr. D. AYilkinsou,
accompanying a small packet of the above grass
seed, was^read at the meeting of the committee held
on Thursday evening last and is now published for
general information. It will be noticed that packets
of the seed can be obtained from the Secretary
upon application to this office.
" To the Secretary,

"Planters' Association.

" Sir, — Having just received from the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, U. S. America, a small quantity
of 'Johnson Grass' Sorghvm Hodapeuse seed, I beg
herewith to forward a packet for distribution through
your Association to stock breeders and those inter-
ested in the improvement of pasturages in the
colony by the introduction of suitable grasses. Per-
haps I ought lo state something of the histoiy
and how I obtained the seed of this very highly
recommended species, and for general information,
what is known of it.

" In reading the Australian in America (by Mr.
Dow, special correspondent of the Melbovrne Leader,
a book full of useful and interesting information)
in the chapter on ' Grasses, ' Mr. Dow says : — ' The
Johnson-grass has strong, vigorous roots, like sugar-
cane, and has an abundance of long broad leaves.
It grows to a considerable height when cultivated
for hay on bottom lands, while it thrives well as a
pasture grass on the up-lauds, being hardy and
resists drought. ' Acting on his recommendation
that 'any person desirous of trying any of these
special grasses described .should apply to the Bot-
anist of the Agricultural Department of State, Wash-
ington. ' I received a most prompt and courteous
reply with some of the seed from F. C. Nesbitt
Esq. , the Actina; Commissioner of the Department,
who says : — ' I shall be pleased to send vou a large
quantity, but am forced to restrict my.self to a small
quantity by mail only, which I hope will reach you
safely and prove to be the nucleus of supplying a
valuable forage plant to your colony. ' From the
same authority the grass is thus described : — ' It
is a perennial rapid grower, having long cauH-like roots.
or more properly, underground stems, every joint of
which is capable of developing a bud. These liler-
ally fill the ground. Short pieces of roots planted
in rows two feet apart and from one to two feet
in the row quickly form a sod over the entire sur-
face. It is exceedingly difficult to eradicate. Do
not sow or plant whers you expect to cultivate the
land. Some plantations of .Johuson-prass are more
valuable, acre for acre, than the best cotton land. One
bushel of seed (28 lb.) is sufficient for an acre. Brush in
the s«ed or use the roller, as it must be covered lightly.
For h;iy, cut it as often as it obtains the height
of 24 to 30 inches. On good soil it yields from two
to three tons per acre and can be cut three times
duriiig the summer in the Gulf States. It is not re-
gar ded as being hardy north of where cotton is
successfully grown.' lu a note just received from
Mr. Holmes, whose practical knowledge as well as the
time and careful attention he has devoted to the suc-
cefsful introduction and cultivation of useful grasses
at once constitute him an authority, he says : — ' I have
sown a little of your 'Johnson-grass' to test its
soundness, but I have little doubt about it as the seed
is hard and glossy. It is a groat acquisition to our
grasses if half what they say of it be true. The oulv
doubt in my mind is whether a grass tliab stands such
frosts in Kansas. &c , will equally thrive under our
tropical sun. Still the geuus Soiyhiim is, as a rule, quite
at home in hot countries.'

" Perhaps I ought to apologise for this intrusion
* 0 t being a member of your Association, but hope

some of your members and perhaps others may be
disposed to try and prove whether this grass is adapt-
ed to our climate and soils and that it may assist
in some degree in the permanent improvement of our
stock pastures,— I have &c.,

*' p. Wilkinson."

—Fiji Times.

OLIVE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA.

The following extracts are taken from the recent work
on the olive by Mr. Cooper, San Francisco : — The common
and preferred method of propagating the olive is to
plant the cuttings, taken from the growing trees of
sound wood, from three-quarters of an inch in diameter
to one and a half incti, and from 14 to Itl inches
long. These cuttings should be taken from the trees
during the months of December and January, neatly
trimmed, without bruising, and carefully trenched in
loose, sandy soil, a shady place preferred. They should
be planted in permanent sites from February 20tli
to March 20th, depending upon the season. The
ground should be well prepared and sufficiently dry,
so that there is no mud, and the weathsr warm. In
Santa Baraba, near the coast, no irrigation i.s necessary,
but very frequent stirring of the top soil with a hoe or
iron rake for a considerable distance around the cut-
tings is necessary during the spring and summer.
About three-fourths of all that are well planted will
grow. My plan is to set them 20 feet apart each
way, and place them in the ground butt end down,
and at an angle of about 45 degrees, the top to
the north, barely coverel. Mark the place with a
stake. By planting them obliquely, the bottom end
will be from 10 inches to 1 foot below the surface.
In Europe the trees are planted from 27 to '.i'd feet
apart. Aly reasons for closer planting will be given
in a subsequent article. All trees, as a rule, should be
propagated from seads. The roots are more symmetri-
cal, the tree not so liable to be blown over, and the
growth more healthful ; but I have not been successful
in germinating them, hence I recommend the cutting.
If the trees are propagated from seeds, budding or
grafting is necessary. I have seen the statement
that it was necessary that the seeds should pass
through the stomachs of birds before they could be
sprouted, also that by soaking in strong lye the sprout-
ing would be secured. I have not seen the result
of either experiment, and accept the statement with
more or less distrust. I presume cuttings can be obtained
from any of the Mission orchards in the southera
counties.

Pbuning. — The cutting will throw up numerous shoots
or sprouts, all of which should be left to gruw the first
year. Any disturbance of the top affects the growth of the
roots, it would be advisable, however, where there are two
or more vigorous shoots of about the same size and
height from the same cutting, to pinch the tops of
all excepting the one to be left for the future tree,
so as to throw more force and vigour into that one.
In the following spring, when the ground is warm
and sufficiently dry, all sprouts excepting the one to
be preserved should be carefully removed by the
aid of a sharp saw. A post should be firmly plant-
ed, so that the tree can be well secured to keep
the trunk .straight and- avoid any disturbance of the
roots, and should be kept until the tree is four or
five years old. By adopting this method, a great deal
of time will be saved and better trees secured. The
lateral branches should be allowed to grow until the
tree is two or three years old, but in every case,
when any of the said branches are rapidly making
wood, they should be removed, and lu.t allovveil to
rob the trunk.

In the pruning during the first years, have only the
one object in view, that is, to force all the woody
growth into one main trunk. This being done, the
tree will naturally form a beautiful shape. The cul-
itvator mu.'^t not look at the tree of to-day or to-morrow,
but the tree of 10 years hence. All branches to the
height of five to five and a-half feet should be re-

oved, so as to admit of close cultivation by horses.

74<5

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[MaV 2, 1887,

Trees planted at the distance of 20 feet and well
kept will in 10 years touch each other. When this
coudition is reached they will he in full bearing, and
therefore will re(|uire constant pruning or cutting back.
It is much easier and less expensive to gather the
fruit from small trees ; besides if the pruning is intelli-
gently done, it will improve the fruit and secure a
greater quantity to the acre than can be produced
under any other conditions.

Some orchards in Europe are planted in "threes,"
that is three trees in each place planted in the form
of a triangle, and three or four feet apart. This method
would require the rows to be o3 to '60 feet distant,
and would give him about the same number of trees
to the acre as by planting at 20 feet, one tree in
each place. It is claimed that by planting in this
way no staking is required, the trees protect one
another from the most violent wind-storms, the trim-
ming is simplified, and less care and. labour required
jn the cultivation.

Fbuit-bbaring, — Trees growing from cuttings will pro-
duce fruit the fourth year, and sometimes, under the most
favourable circumstances, will give a few berries the third
year. It is the habit of the tree to overbear, and
as a consequence will give but very little fruit the
year following a heavy crop. This statement is verified
by the most reliable books published on the subject
in the French, Italian and Spanish languages. There
are, however, exceptions to this rule in California.
Mr, Davis, who had charge of the San Diego Mission
orchard in 1875, assured mo that he had gathered
from the same tree, two years in succession, over 150
gallons of berries. I have also observed that some
trees in my orchards have borue well successive years.
The fruit-bearing can be controlled by the pruning.
The cultivator will not forget that the shoots or bran-
ches must be two years old before they will give
fruit; hence partial pruning every year will give
partial crops. My oldest orchard was planted Feb-
ruary 21, 1872. At four years I gathered from some
of the trees over two gallons of berries ; in 1878
over 30 gallons each off a few of the best trees,
the orchard being then only six years old ; in 1879,
the seventh year, the crop was not nearly so large.
I had planted several thousand cuttings in the spring
of 1873, but these trees did not give at six years
a result equal to the first planting. The present
crop (1880) is quite good, the oldest orchard now
being eight years ; and I think I do not over-estimate
when I state that the yield of some of the best and
fullest will be over 40 gallons. Trees large enough
to give this quality of fruit planted at a distance of
'^0 leet, will occupy nearly all the ground, and therefore
will give all the fruit that can be produced on one
acre. An orchard bearing uniformly the quantity as
above, would give the following result:— One hundred
trees to the acre at 40 gallons each, 4,000 gallons.
This would be an enormous crop, unprecedented, and
far beyond any statistics given in Eiiropean publications.
The one-fourth of the quantity yearly would be a
very profitable crop. In estimating an orchard, the
yield of isolated trees or trees of ^ re.it age, occupying
considerable areas of ground, must not euter into a
basis of calculation of the probable production. The
tree mentioned in the San Diego Mission orchard as
yielding 150 gallons of berries was more than 50 feet
distant from those surrounding it. My agent, while
travelling in Europe through the olive district, measur.'d
a tree growing in the " Alpes Maritimes " that was
8 feet in diameter, 6 feet above the ground, and at
the ground 15 feet in diameter. Ouly a few trees of
such trees could be grown on one acre. A. Coutance,
Professor des Sciences Naturelles aux Ecoles de Medi-
cine de la Marine of France, compiled a very ex-
haustive work on the olive, published in Paris in 1877,
from which I opy and translate as follows :— « Large
pHve trees occupy 1,000 square feet of ground— that
Js, require to be distant from each other about 33
feet; will produce every second year 37 gallons of
berries, and occasionally as much as 125 to 150 gallons.
One tree. 9 years old and 9 inches in diameter, will
produce 16 1-3 gallons; one 12 inches in diameter

24 gallons. The measurement and number of trees
occupying one hectare (two-and-a-half acres) is given
as follows: — 15 trees 12 inches in diameter, 75 trees
9 inches in diameter, 60 trees 5 inches in diameter:
total, 150 trees. Product of same, 3,000 gallons of
berries. This would be equal to l.-.'OO gallons to the
acre. Another authority gives 2,250 gallons per hectare.
Still another gives 2,150. All of the above results
once in two years. Several authorities quoted by the
same author reckon 200 trees to each hectare. This
would be 80 trees to tho acre, and distant apart 23|
feet. French cultivators give the quantity of oil
contained in a given quantity of fruit as one-eighth,
and in weight one-tenth; that is, eight gallons of
berries to one gallon of oil, and about 50 lb. of berries
to one gallon of oil. Taking the average quantity of
the production as given above from a mature orchard,
we have in oil per tree two to two and a-half gallons
every second year. This result is obtained by thorough
fertilising, without which the berries would yield but
little oil. Olive trees grown from seeds are not re-
moved from the nursery until about seven years old ;
grown from cuttings they bear in Europe as early
as thej' do in Oalifornia. The newness and richness
of our soil will probably give, the first 50 years, double
the results given in those countries where oil-making
has been the business of so many generations. Our
climate is congenial to the habit of the tree ; it bloome
from the 1st to the 10th of May, and the fruit forms
from the 1st ^o the 10th of June. At this season ws
have our best weather, free from extremes of either
cold or heat. Nowhere in the world are all the con-
ditions so favourable to the perfect fruit-bearing.

Fruit-picking.— The olive usually ripens in November.
In some localities in Eastern countries, during favour-
able years, the fruit-picking for oil begins as early
as October, and for pickling in September. In Santa
Barbara the crop of last year 1880, as also that of
1878, was unusually late in ripening, not being ready
to pick before the middle of January — a delay of
fully two months — the cause, no doubt, owing to the
extraordinary rainfall of these two years. In 1878 we
had after the middle of February and up to the middle
of April, a rainfall of over 14 inches, and in 1880
over IG inches, being more than our yearly average.
The fruit should be gathered as soon as it turns
purple and before fully ripe, as the oil will be lighter
in colour and more fragrant, but somewhat less in
quantity. In Europe the common method of gathering
the berries is to knock them from the trees with
poles. They are then picked from the grouad by old
men, women, children, and cripples. This plan has
many objections, the fruit being more or less bruised,
cau>ing decomposition, and the contact with the earth
is liable to give the oil an unpleasant taste and odour.
The most economical plan of gathering is to pick
from the trees b}' hand, and by the aid of intelligent
contrivances, an active man can pick 400 lb. each day.
I have arranged on a ranch waggon platforms with
ladders securely fastened, so that the fruit from the
diflferent heights of even large trees can be gathered
from the waggon, which is driven along the rows, and one-
half of the trees picked from each side. This plan
o'niites the necessity of moving ladders, climbing,
kc. and relieves the pickers from the labour of carrying
the triiit-, as the sacks containing the same are. always
at hand on the platform. The leaves and imperfect
berries are separated by pa.ssing the whole through
a winnowing mill. This process leaves the fruit in
the best possible condition preparatory to manufactur-
ing the oil — ^ydjieij Mail.

TEA: IN'DIA, CEYLON, JAVA, JOHORE, NATAL.

{Geo. White ^ Co.'s Annual Indian, Ct^Jm and
Java Tea Report.)

London, 2, Great Tower Strkft, E.G.,

18th March, 1887.

Olosk of Last Se.\son. — Our last Amuial Report

was issued on the 20th March, 1886, when, with

decrftasing (ju an titles offered at auction, the market

was gradualVy assuming a tinner tone for fine kinds,

May 2, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

741

especially Pekoes. With some fluctuations, these
raaiutaiued a stroug position as the season advanced
aud tliey became scarcer, but prices for other grades
declined, as the export from Calcutta proving rather
above the estimate, our market was over-supplied.

lu consequence of the heavy clearances in anticipa-
tion of the Budget iu the Spriiii,' of 1885, a con'-
siderable qua ntity of duty paid stock remained in
the hands of Dealers up to the close of last season,
so that the monthly returns were no guide as to
consumption- A year of steady trade has now, how-
ever, disposed of the old stock, and figures have
become more indicative of actual movements.

The London bonded stock of Indian aud Ceylon
Tea on the 30th June, 1886, was 18,345,000 lb. a
consid arable increase on the amount in the previous
year, when it was reduced to 12,359,000 lb. on account
of the Duty scare. The stock at the end of last
month was more than seven millions over what it
stood at the close of February, 1886, though with
an increased consumption this surplus may disappear
before the close of the season.

The average prices obtained during the season have
been about as follows, viz., Ceylon, Is. Ijd. per lb. ;
India, lid. per lb. ; China Congou, 8jd. per lb.; against
Is. Sjd. Is. l|ci. and 10|d. per lb. last year, which
shows that tea generally has fallen about 2jd. per lb.

Indian and Ceylon Tea. — The gradual increase in the
deliveries of Indian and Ceylon Tea must be most satis-
factory to growers, as shewing the hold they are getting
on the taste of the British public, while the demand
from abroad is also on the increase. Not only have
the fine teas from China (partly owing to the crop
being thin iu cup) had to give way before them, but
Indian and Ceylon planters have undersold the
medium and lower grades of China Congou, and by
sheer weight of quantity forced their produce to the
front. The deliveries of Indian from the London
warehouses during February nearly equalled those of
China Congou, while Indian and Ceylon together
exceeded them by over 400,000 lb.

This result has not been achieved without some
drawback however, as the low averages obtained by
many gardens shew, and the question as to whether
"it pays" will become a serious one, especially to
some of the smaller properties in India. No doubt
the cost of manittacture has been considerably
reduced of late in the case of some of the larger
gardens, whose produce it is reported can be
laid down in London at 7id. per lb., and so tempted
them to go in for quantity. Small gardens, probably,
will find it difficult to compete iu this way, and
perhaps their best chance of success lies in striving
after quality rather than quantity.

The Indian crop this season, with few exceptions,
has been disappointiug iu quality, owing principally
to unfavourable weather for growth and manufacture,
and with the abundant supply of thin and undesirable
Tea from all quarters, lower quotations than previously
known have been recorded, common Souchong sell-
ing down to (3d. aud Pekoe at 7h<l'- per lb.

The shipments of Ceylon Tea arriving before August
were not up to the average iu quality, and prices
were, consequently disappointing. Later on, however,
they shewed a considerable improvement, aud as they
appeared to advantage in comparison with the general
run of Indians then coming forward, they secured the
attention of the trade and realised good averages until
the past few weeks. Recent arrivals have generally
shewn a falliug-oft' in the cup, as they consist mostly
of first pickings after pruning or Teas manufactured
during unfavourable weatlier.

Deliveries have hitherto kept pace with the increasing
Imports in a most satisfactory way, but as larger supplies
reach our market, it is to be hoped that growers
will continue alive to the great need of keeping up
the standaril of excellence already attained, as f\ill
flavoured parcels are usually sought aftsr and always
command good prices. During the current season
Ceylon Teas have, in many qu-irters, t:dcen the place
of fine China Congou, both for Home Trade and
Export, principally to the Continent. With the

prospect of annually increasing crops, it is most im-
portant that foreign buyers should be encouraged,
as fresh outlet both for Indians and Ceylous are
almost a necessity, unless such a low average is
established as to stop supplies from China.

Java Tea. — The advantage of having more than
one market has been particularly exemplified in the
case of Java Tea, for on several occasions when Indians
have been depressed, owing to the dulness of Home
Trade, Continental orders have kept the former steady.
Consequently the Huctuations in the price of Javas
are comparatively smaller throughout a season than
for other kinds, and the averages obtained have been
in several cases above those of some Indian invoices.
This no doubt is partly attributable to an improved
general demand following on the Teas showing better
quality, many of tUem resembling flavoury Indians
and Ceylons, to be accounted for from the fact of
the plants having in some cases been grown from
seed from these countries.

JoHOBE AND Natal Tea. — During the past season
several parcels have been shipped from .Tohore and also
from Natal. The former require more care to be exer-
cised in the manufacture before they can take a good
position on the London market. The latter, judging from
some of the small lots received, give good promise,
being well made and possessed of useful qu.ality.

Bulking and Net Weighinci. — In previous annual
circulars we have referred at length to these import-
ant matters, and in the case of the first are pleased
to note that it is receiving more attention, both in
Itidia and Ceylon year by year. The shipment of
large breaks carefully bulked will not only save the
time of buyers here, but will also do away with the
charges incurred for bulking at the London ware-
houses, no inconsiderable item in the expense of work-
ing a garden now that the average price is so much
reduced. Unless it is well and thoroughly done, how-
ever, the labour spent in bulking at the factory is
thrown away, as the work has to be gone over again
in London.

Attention should not only be given to proper blend-
ing, but the packing of Tea should also receive more
care than is at present often bestowed on it. The
appearance of the leaf is, in some cases, spoilt by its
bemg crushed into the chest, or the end of the pile,
which is usually dusty, being placed on the top. A
good " packer " would be a valuable addition to the
machinery on an estate.

Much dissatisfaction is expressed by Dealers, both
wholesale and retail, with net weighing, and at a
meeting of the Wholesale Tea Dealers' Association a
short time since a resolution was passed unanimously
that notice should be given that after this season
the Trade would only buy Indian Teas upon the or-
dinary gross and tare system, though nothing definite
has yet been arranged.

Peospects of the coming Season. — Looking at the
coming season from the point of view of the planter
and garden owner, the low range established is any-
thing but satisfactory, the more so as there is no
probability of much permanent rise. The public has
become accustomed to cheap {i.e. low priced) Tea,
and the Is. 8d. and 2,*. canisters have in manj' cases
been reduced to Is. 4d. aud Is. 6d. The best hope of
raising prices from the dead level they threaten to
fall to seems to be an improvement in qiuilitj'. For
the past few years the crops, roughly speaking, have
been alternately bad and good, and it is to be hoped
that this next season will bear out the rule, for
as the _ export increases^ quality becomes of the
utmost importance, as unless the forthcoming crop
should be better than this year's, prices may fall
even lower than they are now, and with accumulating
supplies from all quarters there is nothing to prevent
undesirable Teas falling 2d. per lb. beyond their pre-
sent value.

Manufacture— Successful manufacture is the im-
portant factor in determining the financial results
of a Season's workings, for well made tea should cost
very little more to lay down in London than rubbish.
It is well known that occasionally an excessive flush or
bad weather make it diflicult to manipulate the greea

IP

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[MaV 2, 1887*

!■ J - -.-' ji UL>_-!:

leaf properly, but (as the art of tea making is now
80 much better known than formerly) good quality
can be made under ordinary circumstances if only
care is bestowed on each different process that has
to be gone through. This is proved by the produce
of certain gardens being so well known owing to
desirable quality, and those marks which can thus
make a name invariably command pence per lb. more
on this account.

Some Planters advocate long withering, some hard
rolling if care is taken to avoid the exj^ressed juice
being lost, others believe in firing at a high tem-
perature after very full or light fermentation, but so
much depends on the state of the leaf when it is
plucked that no hard and fast rule can be laid down.

Heavily fermented Teas with bright copper coloured
infused leaves and a full rich flavoured liquor which
creams over when cool have for a long time been
in favour, and always command full prices. On the
other hand there has been a growing demand for
lightly fermented parcels with greenish infused leaves
and sharp pungent liquors, as they are found useful
for mixing purposes. Sterling quality in the cup is
the thing to be aimed at, as the appearance of leaf
is a secondary consideration.

Sorting, kc. — In sorting and classifying it is
desirable to make as few kinds as possible, especially
on small gardens, so that breaks may be of a saleable
size, say from 30 to 100 chests or half-chests. This is es-
pecially important as owing to the large number of breaks
in the catalogues it is proposed that parcels of under
twenty chests or half -chests (instead of eight as
hitherto) should be sold as small breaks at the close
of the auctions when most of the buyers have left
the sale room. Boxes of Savoury Pekoe or Pekoe
Souchong, suitable for self drinking, also sell well at
times, if not less than thirty in number. The gross
should be under 28 lb. to avoid the 1 lb. draft aUowed
in packages over that weight. Broken Pekoe should
not be sent in boxes as they do not sell readily, and thus
the extra expen.se incurred is lost.

Packages. — Complaints as to the wood used for
chests have not been numerous this season, but we
would again draw attention to the desirability of not
marking either weight or tare on the packages, as
it causes dissatisfaction to buyers even if they differ
ever so little from the Customs weights. A few
parcels of Ceylon Tea packed m A. Andrews' patent
metal chests, sold lately, appeared to meet the ap-
proval of the Trade, as they realized slightly better
prices than the balance of the break in ordinary
wooden packages. If these should come into gen-
eral use the difficulty as to even weights and tares
would be solved, much to the ajdvantage of all con-
cerned.

Short Weight.— Instances of short weight have
not been so numerous with Indian Teas as formerly,
though there have been many in the case of Ceylona,
especially purchases made in Colombo. It is to be
hoped that this may be avoided in future, by more
careful weighing at the gardens.

Figures. — There is still a great discrepancy be-
tween the Calcutta exports and London imports,
both being apparently inaccurate and misleading.
If actual weights were given, especially in the
London warehouse returns, instead of estimates,
the arrivals and also bonded stock, at the end of
each month, could be correctly ascertained.

Sales in Ceylon. — A considerable business has been
doue in the sale of Green Leaf in some parts of Oeylon,
as managers of young gardens, in accordance with
the practice of the Chinese, find it more convenient
to realise in this way than to iucur the expenses of
manufacture oil a small scale. The market in Colombo
is grailually rising in importance, but up to date
transactious thera have only been comparatively limited.
We are still of opinion that the small iots sold there
might, to advantage, be bulked, refircd, and shipped
in merchantable-sized breaks.

Comparative Quality of the Outturn of the Different
Districts for the Fa^it Three Reasons :—
Assam.

1886 Crop. — On the average under an ordinary crop
ft few gardens having sent desirable Tea throughout

some others good and bad alternately, whilst the produce
of many has all been poor.

1885 CKor.— Quality on the whole good, though crop
in some districts very short. Teas received during
August and September very fine, and even better than
those of the previous season.

1884 Crop. — Similar to previous season, many well
made, but light in cup. During August and September,
some very desirable Teas were received, quite up, if
not superior to those of the past few years.

Cachak and Sylhet.

1886 Crop. — Large supplies of undesirable quality
have come to hand, as if quantitj' had been aimed
at. Only a few really choice liquoring invoices real-
ized comparatively high rates.

1885 Oeop. — Outturn large, but the crop as a rule
poor. A few exceptions, however, which prove that fine
Teas can be made if proper attention be paid to
manufacture.

1884 Crop. — Early part of season undesirable as a
rule, with the exception of several favorite marks which
have kept up quality throughoul Later arrivals were
much better.

Daejeeling, Kursiong and Terai.

1886 Crop. — On the whole disappointing, and i'^
some cases the worst seen for many years. A few
really tine flavoured parcels received during Septem-
ber and October, also January and February, realized
extreme rates, proving that this District's Teas when
tine are much appreciated.

1885 Crop. — On the whole disappointing, many of
the invoices being dry and sapless. The few fine
Teas consequently commanded very full prices.

1884 Crop. — Quality very irregular, but on the
whole disappointing. Early arrivals good, especially
some sold in August, but September imports shewed
a great falling-off in the cup. Towards the close
some choice parcels were received.

Dooars. 1

1886 Crop. —The season opened well, but the Teas
fell off shortly after. Sufficient useful quality wa3
sent to prove what might have been done under more
favourable circumstance. Late arrivals showed every
sign of excessive flushes, and lack of care in manu-
facture.

1885 Crop. — As usual there has been much irregu-
larity shown in the outturn. With a few exceptions
the Teas lacked quality, though for a time they were
good, being full in the cup and drawing thick
liquors.

1884 Crop. — On the whole good, and a great im-
provement on previous year. Some very desirable
full flavoured parcels, especially the autumn pickings.

Kangra Valley, Kumaon, and Dehra Doon.

1886 Crop. — With a few exceptions, the former has
sent thin pointless Teas, unsuitable for this market.
Rich flavoured lots always sell well, and the few
received were eagerly bought up at 6d. to Is. per
lb. advance on similar grades, with poor quality.
From Kumaon and Dehra Doon only limited sup-
plies have been received, and chiefly of low class.

1885 Crop. — A few choice parcels were received
from the former which commanded high rates, but
the produce of the other districts has l)een poor and
in comparatively short supply in this market, a
considerable quantity being sold locally.

1884 Crop. — From the former some very choice
invoices received at early part of season. The quality
fell off later, owing to the unfavourable weather.
Recent shipments have again been good. From the
last two districts quantity received was very limited.

CuiTTAGONG.

1886 Chop.— Like other districts, the proportion
of useful to fine has been small. For a time some
good prices were paid, but the general average
must be a bad one.

1885 Crop.— Some useful Teas received, but a
large proportion has been below the average and
therefore realized low prices.

1884 Crop.— On the whole fair, but quality ir-
regular, similarly to that from other districts.

May d, 1887.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

i4i

NlLGHERKIES AND TlUVANCORE.

1886 Chop.— Only a limited quantity has been re-
ceived, and this generally of the worst description.
It is said that most of the best Tea made in the
former district is used for local requirements. From
the latter some very desirable parcels have come
to hand, similar in Havour to Ceylons.

1885 Crop. — Supplies only moderate, and as a
rule of undesirable quality, far behind that sent
Bome - five or six years ago. A good portion of the
crop Bold locally.

1884 Crop. — In short supply and quality with a
few exceptions below the average. These Teas, like
Kaugras, command very full prices when really fine.

Ceylon.

1886 Cuop.— On the wh®le the quality has been
«ood, and full prices have been realized. The aver-
ago being about 2id. per lb. above that of Indian
crowth, proves the estimation in which these are
held. Thin and undesirable shipments have sold
badly, and should discourage garden owners from
going in for qiunitity.

1885 Crop. — Still in favour with consumers, and
whenever supplies have fallen off, there has been
a strong demand and full rates obtained. These Teas
have made a great name for themselves which will
probably be maintained if the quality is kept up.

1884 Crop. — Still in favour owing to their useful
qualities. Some undesirable shipments however have
realized low averages. Demand likely to continue
for all parcels with full flavour.

Java.

1886 Crop. — Some really useful Teas have come to
hand, and they are gradually gaining favour with
home and export buyers, especially where attention
has been paid to manufacture. The quality, how-
ever, must be kept up and in some ea.ses improved
if they are to take further hold on consumers.

1885 Crop. — Since the introduction of seed from
India, and English machinery for manufacture, there
has been a marked improvement in quality, many
of the teas having full rich flavour.

1884 Crop. — These teas have gradually increased
in favour, both with home trade and shippers, as
more care has been bestowed in the preparation.
Only a portion of the crop, howover, is shipped
direct to Great Britain.

GEO. WHITE & Co., Tea Brokers.

TEA PROFITS.
C0mmunicated.)

lu an ably written communique in your issue of the
1st February, under the heading " Tea Profits," the
writer makes the perplexed planter ask, " AVhy is it
that while the retail price of tea to the individual con-
sumer remains the same, my price realised is becoming
Bmall by degrees and beautifully less, &,c,," and then,
after showing who do not make money out of the sale
of tea, he asks, '' Who makes out ot lea in this present
jubilee year of grace ."^ Who absorbs the ditference be-
tween the admittedly poor average prices realized by
the producer, and the steady rates paid by the con-
sumer?" He adds in conclusion, " The reason of the
failure of the many attempts on the part of the planter
to place his tea directly in the hands of the consumer
and so realize the intermediate profits for himself seems
very obscure, and affords a fruitful field for discussion."

1. — It is assuming too much to say that "the retail
price of tea to the individiLil consumer remains the
same." A short time back when the retail tea trade
was entirely confined to what would, in an age now
rapidly passing away, have been calle<l " legitimate
chaanels," to wit grocery stores, &c., the price to the
consumer certainly did remain the same and for a con-
siderable period even after market prices had come
down heavily. In those days the reason why the price
to the consumer did not come down pro tanto was this ;
The grocer trusted to his tea sales as to the sheet-an-
chor of his business, his profit on his tea sales was enor-
mous, ami to encourage customsrs to buy tlieir tea
from iiim he used to sell his sugar to them at a positive
loss. That, of course, msans that tea had to mikt^ twu
profits to the retailer the pfotit on sugar aa well as its
owo profit, lii>urally so loog as the grocer bad the

tea trade in his hands as a monopoly, the retail price
to the individual consumer remained the same under
those circumstances. But these huge profits leaked out,
as huge profits always will, and then commenced the
outside competition to be expected in all similar cases
in these latter days, when "legitimate trading" as
formerly understood by the adage, " let the shoemaker
stick to his last," is ancient history Drapery shops,
haberdashers, small newspapers and stationery vendors
et hoc rjenus began to dabble in packet tea. Then came
reduced ladies, with a wide circle of acquaintance, who
were not above personally canvassing for customers
for their " really delicious tea supplied direct,
so much cheaper and fresher you know than nasty,
musty shop tea with a mixed flavour of cheese,
tallow candles and bacon." For a time prices still kept
fairly well supported, as it was owing to the temptation
of the huge profit that so many entered the field — all
equally interested in keeping up the profit as long as
possible. Then began a new era, that of the big
advertizers. These men had to trust to being able to
win customers from the classes above enumerated who
were already in the field. They had to offer induce-
ments superior to those offered by those in possession of
the field. Quality everybooly boasted about, so that was
used up cry. Economy was left them, on this they
" banked " and two shilHng teas suddenly burst upon us
in all directions. Ubiquitous advertising is a most
serious expense, and it is of course impossible to say
how much a pound it adds to the cost of the tea to the
retailer as that depends upon 1 he number of pounds sold
as compared with the exjjenditure on advertising. It
might easily amount to peuco per lb. even in a large
business. For a time the reduction to 2s per lb. held
its own, till the profits even at this lower rate, per-
mitted by the further decline in market prices, tempted
other new advertisers into the field, and we have now a
Tea Company largely advertising teas at Is 3d, Is 6d, and
Is 9d per lb. " worth a shilling more at any shop."
Now, aa your correspondent points out that at Is -Sfd
exchange, a 6-anna per lb. pekoe souchong would cost
delivered in London Is 2^A per lb if we add the cost of
advertising, rent, insurance, ofiice and staff expenses,
loss in turn of the scales, making up into packets &c. &c.
the above rates as last quoted, do not suggest either
steady rates being paid by the consumer, or that any
very serious difference will soon remain to be absorbed
by the retailer. I do not mean to say that grocers in
many cases and the older advertising houses too, do not
still make from 3d to 8d per lb. on the actual book cost
of their teas according to quality, — and in the case of
some grocers, be it added, according to the customer's
ability to pay — but when advertising and other ex-
penses are deducted this profit is considerably reduced ;
and it will not be long before the new advertisers of
these, now sti 1 cheaper teas cut down the popular rates
once again.

2. — The reason of the failure of the many attempts
on the part of the planter to place his tea directly in
the hands of the consumer is explainable upon several
grounds to meet different cases. In the first place the
qualities that go to make an excellent planter do not
necessarily qualify him to make an excellent retail sales,
man, up in all the tactics necessary here now-a-days. In
the second place to open up a connection uow-a-days
means indefatigable personal canvassing for customers,
a sphere in which a planter would feel very much more
abroad than he did in ludia and which would prove
much more distasteful to him, than all the worries of
planting; or else, it means tens of thousands spent on
advertising, and as planters who have started so faf
have been without the capital to indulge in the lattef
alternative they have entered the business only td
retire from it in disgust when the nature of and the
necessity for canvassing became apparent to them, of
else to drag on in a one-horse ;sort of way without hojie
or prospects. I do not forget two or three noteworthy
exceptions, one in Belfast, one in Dublin and perhaps
another there may be, but the rule has been as above
stated, and the exceptiqus had exceptional advantages
in their favour —at all events one of the exceptions Jiad
—which conduceil to success, but which advantages
■were purely local and out of the notvaSki.^Indmi
rimters' Gautte.

744

THE TKOPiCAL AGRiCUtTtJHlST*

CMi4V a, i88^

SUBTROPICAL CULTIVATOES AND CLIMATES.*

The Gardeners' Chronicle has had the foUowiug
appreciative notice of Mr. Haldane'a book which, we
are glad to learu, has been selling very well : —

The object of this book, as stated by the author, is
to call attention to some of the lesser-known agricul-
tural industries of subtropical regions, which are
sources of wealth to the inhabitants, but which are
almost unknown to the ordinary class of settlers in
our Australian and other colonies. With the excep-
tion of Sir P'erdinaud Mueller's Sdect Extra Tropical
Plants, we had no book which dealt authoritatively
with this subject, and Mr. Haldane's carefully com-
piled and eminently practical work is destined to have
a useful career. lu it are given plain hints as regards
the cultivation of fruits, alimentary plants, condi-
ments, vegetable wax and tallow, oil-plants, fibres,
drugs, tanning materials, dye-plants, as well as tables
of the mean temperatures of subtropical count) ies in
both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. iMr.
Haldane, himself an experienced and successful
planter, brings to his aid a large and varied experience
gathered in many lands, and hence his book is not
merely a compilation, but the result of practical
knowledge and observation, which fits it in a special
manner to meet the requirements of " colonial settlers
and emigrants." The chapters on Tea, Coffee, Olive,
Fig, Orange, gave within a short compass all that is
necessary to enable an intelligent planter to draw
his own conclusions as to the suitability of these
industries to the temperature, soil, and climate of
the country in which he dwells. Cinchona, although
it bears a cooler climate than Coffee, is for some
unexplained reason left out. The chapter on fibres
is possibly the weakest in the book, for while it gives
Sorghum dura as the first on the list of textile
materials, it omits the celebrated China-grass, Boeh-
meria nivea, and passes over the Agave hemps, which
latter supply, next to hemp, the chief rope materials
of the world. These and similar omissions will, no
doubt, receive due attention in a subsequent edition,
and by means of judicious pruning in such chapters
RS those on Tobacco, Cotton, &c., the size of the
book need not be greatly enlarged. As a first attempt
to deal in a practical manner with subtropical cultiv-
ations Mr. Haldane's book is decidedly a success,
and the publishers have done everything they could
to issue a neat and attractive volume.

Febeifuoe. — Several years ago. Dr. Peraire, of
Bordeaux, France, recommended a substance known
as ursa-quinine as a febrifuge, in doses of a quarter
to one grain per diem. The preparation was com-
posed of ordinary quinine and pure crystallized
uric acid. Urea itself has also been recommended
as a febrifuge.

Oyster Culture in China, — My attention was spe-
cially called to the stalls of the fishmongers, who not
only have river and sea fish, salt and fresh, in great
abundance, but an excellent store of bamboo oysters;
and if you wonder what they are, I may as well
explain that artificial oyster culture is largely practised
on this coast, and a bamboo oyster field is prepared
far more carefully than a Kentish hop garden. Holes
are bored in old oyster shells, and these are stuck into
and on pieces of split bamboo, about two feet in length,
which are then planted quite close together on mud
flats between high and low water mark, but subject
to strong tidal currents. This is supposed to I ring
the ojster spat, which adheres to tlie old shells, antl
shortly develops into tiny oysters. Then the bamboos
are transplanted and set some inches apart until
tvitbin six months of the first planting they are found
to be covered with well-grown oysters, which are then
collected for the market. The oyster shells are turned
to very good account, being scraped down until they
are as thin as average glass, when they are neatly
fitted together so as to form ornamental windows, such
as we see in the inner courts of wealthy houses. — IFan-
derings in China— C. F. Goeden.— ^Iwiencaw Grocer.

*Suhtropicul Cultivators and Climates. A Handy-book
for Flanters, Colonists, and Settlers, By ii. 0,
jBaldaoe. Slftckwood U ^qw, im, pp> SOS.

Db. de VfiY, O.I.E., the eminent Dutch quinologist
sends us an iaterestiug commuuication in reply to a
statf^ment recently made by Dr. Paul. The latter
had qu ited Dr. de Vry as authority for an assertion
that i'elletier's original quinine sulphate contained a
considerable quantity of cinchonidine. Dr. de Vry,
however, declares that he never said so, and Judges,
moreover, from his analysis of some of the same lot
of bark as that on which Pelletier worked, that bis
sulphate of quinine could nbt have contained more
than 3| per cent of sulphate of cinchonidine. — Chemist
and Dnifjcjist.

CoFfEE. — " Of Green Bug we have all a horror. I
mean all who have any coffee left to be frightened
about. One man tries a nciv cure and finds it to
be better than anything he has tried before, yet
he never publishes it 1 I have heard of several
so-called cures lately, but surely they ought to
see the light in the daily papers ; and, if tliere
is any real yood cure, all might then receive benefit
and assist in destroying the common enemy." —
So writes a coffee proprietor, but he must have
overlooked the full particulars we gave the other
day of Capt. Bayley's successful experiments on
Nonpareil estate, and the cures he recommends ?

Cacao Planting in Dominica. — On Thursday even-
ing Mr. D. Morris, late Director of the Public Gardens,
Jamaica, and recently appointed Assistant Director of
the Royal Gardens, Kew, gave under the auspices of
the Agricultural Society an able and highly iuteristing
lecture at the Court House, on the important subject
of the cultivation of cacao as an industry in Dominica.
The Lecturer, who is on his way to England to take
up his appointment, has visited most of the islands
of the West Indies, and arrived here by the lloj'al
Mail steamer on Friday last week, it being his intention
to proceed by the same Company's boat due here to-
day. It is to be hoped that the useful and practical
hints given by Mr. IVIorris on this subject will not be
thrown away on those planters and gentlemen who
listened to him with wrapt attention throughout his
lecture ; and notwithstanding the promise given by him
to reproduce in the form of a treatise the most
salient features of the subject, wfe shall endeavour
to place before our readers in some future issue of
this paper the principal points of his discourse. To
Dr. Nicholls and the Secretary the thanks or all those
to whom the welfare of Dominica is dear are due
for having in a great measure brought about the
lecture. The former gentleman took the chair and the
latter genleman organized and carried to a successful
termination all the arrangements incidental to the uuder-
taking. — Dominica Dial.

Deugs in 1756. — Our colonial empire was still in
its infancy, although our West Indian colonies were
certainly more prosperous than they have been of
late years, and the East India Company had taken
firm root in India. Canada was still a Fi-euch pos-
session, while Ceylon, Guiana, and the Cape were Dutch
Colonies, and Australasia was practically a blank on
the map of the world. Among the products of the
New AYorld, gum guaiac, Jesuit's bark, ipecacuanha,
sarsaparilla, snake root, Peruvian balsam, and tolu
balsam are quoted, each drug at rates far in excess
of those now current. Guaiacum resin was at that
time considered one of the most active and valuable
drugs known, and was used as a remed}" in a variety
of diseases for which it is now never admiuistered.
Cinchona bark, of which so many varieties now appear
in commerce that none but a few specialists can be said
to possess a really thorough knowledge of the article,
is quoted with refreshing simplicity in two varieties
only; "Jesuit's bark opt.," at '6s. tjt/. to 4,i-. ; and
"Jesuit's bark secuud.," at Is. Gt/. to 2s 6d. per lb,
These two varieties are probably the bark known as
" Loxa," and now chiefly consumed in Fi-ance, for
until 1752, that is, eighty-five years alter tbe drug
first appeared in the Loudon Phannacopccia, the habitat
of the cinchona tree was believed to be confined to
the neighbourhood of Loxa, in Peru, where the Jesuit
missionaries first admiuistered it as a febrifuge, '<■
Chemist aid Sr:i$gi$t,

MaV 2, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

ni

— 1

— ♦

To the Editov of the '^Ceylon Observer ,'

DEW : NEW THEORIES AND OLD
PBACTICE.

Dear Sik, — Some time ago the scientific world
was delighted with a new theory on dew. The
old theory that dew came out of the atmosphere,
that it was moisture deposited from the air on
cold substances in contact with it, was said to
be all wrong ; for, according to the new hypothesis,
dew came not from the air, but from the very
substances themselves on which it was found de-
posited. The new notion was, of course, proved
true by many arguments and alleged experiments.

The Observer is not usually dry reading, but I
so exposed a copy for twelve hours to the heat
of a blazing sun, that for once it became very
dry indeed. At evening I spread it out on the
top of some stakes a little way from the ground,
and left it for the night. Next morning I found
the under half-sheet, that next the ground, quite
dry, but the upper half was as wet as could be
and covered thick with large drops of dew. This
dewy moisture did not certainly come out of the
Observer, and, as I keep a rain-gauge, it was not
rain. The following night I repeated the experi-
ment with the same result. I may add that the
surrounding vegetation cfec, was also dewy, but
the Observer seemed specially addicted to the
mountain dew.

1,700 FEET ELEVATION.
PS. — Your esteemed correspondent " W. F."
hardly does justice to the new theory ; according
to it, dew is not merely the condensed result of
moisture from the ground, but from all substances
on which it may be found.

CINNAMON AS IT WAS AND AS IT IS-
A VISIT TO THE NEGOMBO DISTRICT.

Negombo, 3rd March.
Dbae Sir, — After a period of many years I liave
come over here on a pleasure trip, and to vifit the
old places where I was interested in coconut and
cinnamon. It is a Bad sight to see the oijce tiourish-
ing Cinnamon estates, which used to give very handsome
income, neglected and abandoned. Two of the crack
estates in the Kadirana district are getting on with
peeling. I wonder how they manage to peel iu this
hot aud dry weather. I shall feel obhged if the
Superintendents of the two estates will let me itnow
through your journal how they mauage to peel
their cinnamon. Some of the estates in Katanayaka be-
longing to the natives are kept in fair order. It is
surprising how the coconut palm stands the drought
in the Negombo district ; the trees are looking fresh
and green, while at Mirigama and Veyangoda the
trees are suffering dreadfully: the leaves all hanging
down and you can hardly see the trunks of trees,
and the nuts drop aud the branches break down.
Propping up the bunches in the season does more
harm thati good. The tender nuts that drop are
sold at 2o cts. per IGO to the villagers, who turn
it to copra and sell it to traders, and the traders
mix it with good copra and sell it to the mei-chants.
Buyers ought to be very careful as to how they buy
this season copra, as these nuts that drop down
this drought are immature ; they are only fit tor cook-
m^ purposes. I have no faith in the Miri.,'ama,
Ambepussa and Veyangoda districts for coconuts^; the
trees will not last long. The way the trees shed their
branches and get th;-iu at the top,and at the age of 30
years the trees will hardly give any crop. The great mis-
take done in this district is planting on the surface ; the
soil in the.se districts is of a hard gravelly soil, so
for the convenience of the cultivators they take a

handful of, soil and place the plants. When I was
in Negombo I went alonj^ with the iate Mr,
Jeaumas to his property at Veyangoda and warned
bim as to the way the goyas were planting, Mr.
W. H. Wright is doing the correct thing iu plant-
ing deep. If he plants his coconuts 5 feet deep, he
could be certain of his trees bearing in 3 or
4 years, aud say in the 8th year he could calculate
on a good return. By planting your plants .say 4
to 5 feet deep you could put your plants all through
the year; as the plants are under ground the sun
does not affect them. I shall feel very much obliged
to Mr. Wright if he could let me know through your
journal the depth he puts down his plants. I took
a run up to Ekala. 'W^hat a change there is in the
place — it is quite a little town. I visited some of
the cinnamon estates and made enquiries for au
old friend of mine ; he was away from his estate. I
am sorry I missed seeing him. I took the liberty
as he was an old friend of mine, and went over his
estate. It is kept in perfect order, the cinnamon andco-
comutsare looking their best. Myold friend Mr.Piacbaud,
deserves credit for keeping his estate in such good
cultivation iu these bard times with low prices. I
went over the the large Ekala estite, one time owned
by Messrs. Darley Butler & Oa., but no v in the hands
of natives; it is kept in a most disertable state and the
bungalow standing on the hill is no more, where I
spent pleasant days with poor Jim Minto. On my way
from Mr. Piachaud's I was obliged to pass Mr. Drie-
berg's estate to get to the high road. I am sorry I
mi.ssed seeing him and making his acquaintance. Of the
little I saw of his property it looks well cared for,
the cinuamou bushes staud 8 to 9 teet high. I
saw gome nice species of cacao on this estate, the
trees staud 7 to 8 feet. I went to the Kesthouse and
was surprised to see the new building. It is a great
pity the old building was pulled down ; it used to face
the canal. I can't say much of the new one. I took
boat at the Resthouse and returned to Colombo and
enjoyed my trip exceedingly. — Yours truly, S.

[For aa ausw r t ) this, see page 74(3.— Eo.]

BOYAL JUBILEE EXHIBITION, MAN-
CHESTER, 1887.
(Silk Industry Sob-Section.)
To the Editor of the " Tr&pical Agriculturists
Leek, Staffordshire, 18th March 1837.
Sir, — I send you by this mail a series of circulars
which will explain the honorary work which I am
doing for the benefit of silk culture and also my
position as Chairman of the Silk Sub-Section of
the forthcoming Jubilee Exhibition at Manchester.
My friend Mr. J. F. Duthie of the Government
Botanical Gardens at Saharanpur suggests to me
that I should ask you if you would be kind enough
to help these Sericultural investigations by advertis-
ing in your paper as much of these Circulars as
you think would interest your readers and would
assist in serving the very important objects aimed
at.— Yours truly, THOMAS WABDLE.

Directions for Collecting Silk producing Lepidoptera,
The Caterpitlars or Worms ehouU be collected when
full-grown, and whilst alive put into a bottle of spirits
(gin, or common white spirit of the country). When
dead when they should be taken out, those of each
kind kept separate, and then be labelled with a uumher
(as 1, 2, 3, etc.), written in pencil on white paper,
or scratched ou a piece of tin. Several specimens of
each kind, with its numbered label, to be wrapped
together in a cotton rag aiid loosely tied up with
cotton thread or thin string, and again placed in the
bottle (a good, stout pickle bottle, with wide mouth,
is best, and easily oljtaiuable), tilling up the bottle
with spirit and corking it tightly.

The Cocoons, in good condition, to be placed together,
iu small hatches, labtillcd with the same number as
that on the worms which produce them. The batches
should theu be wrapped in coarse, cotton rag and
marked with the number on label, and tied outside.

14^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[Mays, 1887.

The JJoth< to be colkcted in perfect condition'
killed With care, so as U' t to rub or 1 reak the wings.
I'efore iheyget dry and brittle the wings to be placed
ever the back, with the underside lying flat aud upper-
most. Each specimen, wheu dry, to be placed in a
folded paper envelope, and labelled on the outside
with the same number as on the worm and cocoon
of the kind to which it refers. These moths in
the envelopes to be placed in a small square box
(9, cigar bos if obtainable), and gummed paper fixed
round the edges.

The Bottles should be wrapped in some soft wool,
cotton, or other fibre to keep them from being broken.
The bottles, batches of cocoons, aud boxes containing
the moths, to be packed in a larger box for despatch
to England.

Descriptive notes on the food plants, times of ap-
pearence, number of broods in the year, and any
other useful information should be sent home with
each box.

QUEEIES BESPECTING PLUMBAGO, CITRON.
ELLA OIL AND KITUL FIBEE.

Galle, 21st March 1887.

Dear Sirs, — Can you or any of your numerous
readers inform me, who first discovered the value
of Ceylon plumbago as a mercantile export. I have
always believed that it was the late Mr. George
Winter of Baddegama ; but I was told last night,
on the authority of a statement made some years
ago in your paper, that the late Mr. John Armitage
was the first to discover the value of this mineral ?
I suppose I am right in attributing the discovery
of citronella oil, to Mr. George Winter? — Yours
truly, X.

P. S. — Talking of discoveries, who first -discovered
the mercantile properties of kitul fibre which is
now so largely exported from Ceylon?

[For full information as to every known fact of
importance regarding Ceylon Plumbago, our corre-
spondent may consult a paper written for the Ceylon
Branch of the Asiatic Society by Mr. A. M. Fer-
guson and printed in their Transactions. A very
full abstract was printed in the Observer and is
included in the latest edition of the Ceylon " Hand
Book," From this paper our correspondent will see
that neither Mr. Armitage nor Mr. Winter can
be credited with the discovery of the commercial
value of plumbago. Our predecessors, the Dutch,
knew something about the mineral and would our
correspondent be surprised to hear that the last
King of Kandy combined dealing in plumbago with
his regal functions ! As to kitul fibre, we believe,
it first became commercially important in the lime
of Sir George Anderson, but we are not aware
that any particular name is associated with the
discovery of this substitute for horso hair and
bristles, — Ed.]

when fit for use. When a timber tree reaches
maturity it is fit for commercial use and beyond
that age a form of decay commences. — Yours,

SIGNET.

TEA AND CEITICISM.

March 28th, 1887.

Sir, — In reading the Annual Report of the
U lapusselawa District P. A. in your issue of 21st
instant, it is mentioned in 2nd paragraph under Tea
healing : — " So far experience goes to prove thul we
m ty look for remunerative returns when the trees
reach maturity."

As one interested in our future tea
prospects, I fail to understand these remarks
and have been asked by a few the mature
age of a tea tree. As a cultivator records his fruit
trees or bushes when they reach the age of lull
bearing with the fruit matured in due season, in
like manner the tea planter would say, " My
tea bushes are fully grown aud I can give a
correct estimate from the returns of manufactured
leaf." A cabbage or lettuce may be full grown

CINNAMON AND COCONUT CULTIVATION-
PRACTICAL INFOEMATION.

Negombo District.
Dear Sih, — Your correspondent " S." is pretty cor-
rect in saying that many of the cinnamon estates in the
hands of natives are in a disgraceful state : a large num-
ber have not been weeded for maoy years. All that
is done is to cut and peel ^uch sticks as nature gives
them, pruning once a year, and at the same time chop-
ping down jungle growth. The cinnamon bush being a
very hardy plant stands much neglect ; would it were
otherwise for the sake of those who do give it justice !
What is another puzzle is that though many old
estates from neglect give barely 50 lb. an acre, the ex-
port of the spice, instead of diminishing, increases. Can
this be that those estates in Awisawella, Kalutara and
Galle, planted in the palmy time of prices are now
coming into full bearing ? I fancy this is the explan-
ation. We cannot, therefore, look for a rise in prices
from diminished production. Prices are so low that
the greatest economy in working has to be practised
to give the proprietor a very miserable profit. "More
power to your elbow " is the means by which the two
crack estates he alludes to manage to peel just now.
Friction has to be used to almost every stick, yet the
colour of firsts and seconds is good, while that of thirds
and fourths is rather dull. What would you have — if the
wood now being cut and peeled were left in the bushes
it would get very coarse, and either all go to fourths
or chips ; besides, if not cut now, new wood for the year
after would not shoot up, thus a double loss would be
incurred. Better to risk a little loss in colour than the
disagreeable certainty pointed out above. I fancy, too,
that Kadirana has bad more rain in February than
some other parts where cinnamon is grown, and this
has given us an advantage; on the 9th a little over an
inch fell, aud on the 25th almost an inch-and-a-half.

Your correspondent is surprised at the healthy appear-
ance of our coconut trees contrasted with those in Miri-
gama, Ambepussa and Veyangoda. I think that those
places have had quite as much rain as we ; aud really
there has been no drought this year. Certainly, Decem-
ber was dry, but there was about 14 inches in October
and 7 inches in November, which though not quite so
much as is usual in the north-east, is very good.
January had 3'25 and Feb. 2'63. Wheu there has been
no rain for three months I then begin to talk of
drought. No doubt the water is much nearer the sur-
face in the Negombo district than in the other places
enumerated aud that is greatly to our advantage and
the soil being free the roots have easy access to it.
I cannot agree with your correspondent in his recom
mendation to plant coconuts four to five feet deep. It
is against nature aud experience ; all fruit trees are
surface feeders, where they find the nourishment neces-
sary for their growth and fruiting. A young plant
will not throw out its ruots into subsoil, as it is not
fitted to sustain it. But if from any extraordinary com-
bination of circumstances a plant so placed did escape
drowuiug or getting smothered, and did eventually
mature a stetii to the height of tlie surface of the ground,
what it w ould do would be to throw out roots into the
surface soil, iiiid all that portion below would gradually
dwindle away; so that the time it took to reach the
surface woukl be thrown away. 1 have seen many trees
that have had earth or even leaves heaped round the
stem, throw out roots over the whole of the portion
covered, while the roots below have died oft" and the
trees have broken off close to the ground. In my
opinion coconuts should not be planted deeper than one
foot below the .-urtace. Make the hole as wide and as
deep as you like; but fill it up with good earth and
manure well tramped, so that during heavy rains water
does not percolate into the hole and form a quagmire.
If the soil is very stiff, iu the second year dig the
ground for about three feet all round the hole about

May 2, 1887.J

VHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURISt.

74?

18 inches deep with pickaxes, and Hire liberally: this
will render the soil friable and the effects of the hme
will be felt another loot at least below the dug depth.
After other two years, increase the width of the circle
dug and lime til) the whole surface has been done.
Ploughing once a year after this will be necessary. My
advice, however, to those who think of planting on say
cabooky soil is don't. Moderately stiff clay, if well
worked, might make a valuable and lasting property. —
Yours, TENNAM PELLAI.

COCONUT PLANTING IN THE WESTERN
PEOVINCE.

Veyangoda, 7th April 1887.
Dear Sir, —I was very much interested in lately
reading in the Observer a communication signed
" S,"; interested, because it contained glimpses of
the past. His letter makes it very apparent that
" S." is no coconut planter. Comparing the ap-
pearance of coconut trees in this and the adjoin-
ing districts, with those of Negonibo at the pre-
sent season, he infers that those in the latter
district look better because they are planted deeper.
To anyone who has given the subject a little
thought the reason will be sought for elsewhere —
the low-lying ground which constitutes the bulk
of these estates and the free sandy soil. " S.",
too, seems afflicted with the new-born craze for deep
holes for coconut plants and suggests live feet as
a good depth. If he were a coconut planter he
would have observed that even with holes of the
usual depth plants get drowned during the mon-
soons. What the object of deep holes is I cannot
divine. The richest soil is always at the surface
and plants always seek for it there. Coconut holes
can be made too deep, but never too wide. I
would never cut holes deeper than two feet and
five or six feet wide, and I will fill them a foot with
surface soil and ashes. If holes of less width were
cut, the excellent advice of " Tennan Pill?i " can,
with advantage, be followed and an annually in-
creasing circle be dug round the trees, though as
regards the application of lime I would first satisfy
myself whether the nature of the soil is such as
will render the application advantageous. As to
ploughing, I think annual ploughing disadvantageous,
as tending to break and disturb the roots formed
since the previous ploughing. " S." seems to have
an idea that deep holes favour early bearing. The
popular belief is just the other way, I believe. A
sandy soil favours early bearing, early maturity and
early decay, while a soil with more body will be very
much more lasting, though trees planted on it
will not be so heavy-bearing at an early age. A
saudy soil will benefit the father, while the se-
cond description of soil will benefit his descendants.
—Truly yours, B.

TEA HOUSES AND WITHEKEES : COFFEE F.

TEA FOE THE FUTUEE.

9th April 1887.
SiR: — Is it not time now we have got an approved
withering machine which may be capable of im-
provetnent to do something towards putting a stop
to the mania which at present exists for erecting
palatial tea-houses'? These are made to cost a lot
of money, which is simply thrown away. The con-
version of coffee stores into tea-houses is aloo a
fruitful source of wasted capital. It was only the
other day I was told of a building of this sort,
which had, in the transformation process, occupied
a period of nearly two years, and was even now
not quite completed. I should not like to be the
unfortunate person who supplies funds for this
costly experiment. The V. A. evidently wants
waking up, but possibly there is no V. A in this case.

of Mr. Barber's stamp ? He is certainly a credit
to his class, and it were well lor his countrymen,
if they made stronger efforts than they do, to follow
his example.

With the coffee market in such a satisfactory
condition, and the prospect of still better prices,
it behoves all who have any fairly good coffee left
to preserve and cultivate it, and so come in for
a certain run of luck.

The sudden fall in tea prices is rather discour-
aging, and the rate at which production is in-
creasing, and will increase, is not likely to induce
an improvement. G. W.

Rubber Culture.— A Haputale planter writes : —
As to rubber cultivation, my advice to those intending
to plant Ceara rubber is " don't." To those who have a
large area under Oeara rubber trees only, my advice
is let it grow, but spend nothing on its cultivation,
suchas on weeding. I have not yet found that it pays,
even the cost of tapping and curing of the
rubber, and some of the trees in my charge are 5J years
old. We have the assurance that the trees give a
plentiful supply of rubber when they are older and
I have no reason to doubt it. Meantime, I am not
aware of its having proved a paying investment to
anyone in Ceylon by harvesting the rubber, there-
fore, I do not recommend its cultivation. It is my
honest opinion, there are far too many acres under
the product already and as regards rubber anyone
with land suitable for rubber would do better to
select some other product. — Yours sincerely, J.W.

Udagama. — The papers have not been troubled
with many planting reports of late from hence, and
your notice in yesterday's Observer regarding the
intended auction sale by the proprietors, of
Ginmedominie land, reminds me that a line on
our doings and prospects may be in place. We
rank, if I mistake not, as the youngest of the lower
districts that rushed into Liberian coffee or certain
fortune, and the last, unfortunately, to replace it
with tea ; and it makes one heave a sigh to think
of the amount that, humanly speaking, must
already have been realized here had the latter by
good luck been made our sheet anchor from the
first. But let prices keep up fairly, and to judge
by the working of the small quantity of old tea
lately cut down, and the promise of several young
clearings, we have quite as good a time before
us as any district in the island. As to its appear-
ance neither the Kelani or Kalutara valleys can
boast much, or probably better things in regard
to soil ; which here is usually light and stony at the
surface, with as good depth of friable subsoil.
Where we have our great full is in the even
distribution of the rainfall — equal to about IGO
inches 1 For practical evidence of this, the bushes
have continued to improve their yield steadily
at each flush since January, during a season
which, in most other districts — for drought
has probably never before been paralleled—
" tea looking as if it would die out " or " flush»
ing at a complete standstill " being the
general burden, as far as I have read, of your
planting reports of late. The flush taken from the
old bushes on this estate just before the first
general rains come, and the outcry was at its height,
was at the rate of 600 lb. of made tea to the acre ;
and this at the next, after heavy rain had fallen,
ran up to nearly double. The recent verdict of,
I may say as high, and safe, an authority on tea,
as there is out here, is that we may calculate on
a steady 100 lb. ; and witla exce|>tional facilities
for cheap transports and work generally, when a
property is in bearing, can contemplate the future
with a cheerful countenance 1 Time will, 1 am
convinced on properly opened land, proyg Iji^

^'

ffedl^JtCAt AG^ietlLtUKllSt.

[May i^ 1887

SAMPLE BAEKS FBOM THE NILGlRlS.
(Conuiiunicaled hij Mr. Hamlin.)

The sample of quill bark 3 feet in len^tli taken
from the whole circumference of the stem and which
weighs 3^ lb. is a specimen of a lart;e (inantity
I am sending home this year from the Balmadies
estate situated on the Kilgiris at an elevation of
5,600 feet. About 15 acres of 23 year old trees
were paitly coppiced and the total crop of quill
bark now going home will reach about 75,000 lb.
If you examine the sample closely you will ob-
serve a renewed strip, but as the stem was
operated on some 12 years since, the bark has
become covered with lichen and moss, closely
resembling the original.

The smaller pieces of quill bark were taken
from C. Ledgcriiuia Irees. in the Tropical Agri-
culturist of April 1885, I gave the history of
these trees which, at five years and eight months
old, gave from twenty-one trees, an average of
ll'Sl sulphate of quinine. I have only now to
add that the trees are of vigorous growth and are
bearing a fery small crop of seed — a few of the
trees, now nearly eight years old, have never
produced any seed.

[The box of samples may well be shewn now at
the Kandy Agri-Horticultural Exhibition.— Ed. CO.]

SAMPLES OF GREEN TEAS FROM AMEEICA.
Mr. James Irvine sends us a packet of samples
of green teas from Chicago with the following re-
mark : —

" Here are the samples of tea I promised yon with
Messrs. J. W. Doane & Co.'s sample memorandum.
The prices are splendid."

The Memorandum is as follows : —
J. W, DoANE & Co., (il and 63 Wabash Avenue,
Chicago, October 14th, 188G.
(Dollars and cents of a dollar.)
Value Retailer's

1 Uncolored ;

valued

0

•^ »

)i

3 „

0

4 „

)t

1 Colored

II

2 „

)>

3 „

t>

1 Basket fired

9»

'2 „

))

3 „

M

4 „

J)

1 Ooloug

>)

- »

J!

3 „

)>

i .,

«>

c.

Prices.

28

50

26

50 or 45

23

40

20

35

30

50

25

40

20

35

20

50

26

50 or 45

2i

40

20

35

60

1-00

33

60

28

50

25

40

Anyone interested can see these samples at the

Obsene.r Office.

^ — -. —

cocoNtJT 'nm\j^ and here,

{Straits Timea, March i'lat,)
A praduct of French origla i^ now beginning to
attract attention in Europe, Sevtial jcaris ago, a
French liaYai officer, Pa'Ja de la Bai'riere by nftme,
took note of the very remarkable compresaiblp,
properties of the ccllalar tissue underlying the
ba.rk of the coconOt tree, I'toni this substance,
he has prepared a material pajising by the name
of cofferdam. The cellular tissue in question has the
peculiar property of closely compreL^sing itself, and
then again expanding to the fullest extent after a
projectile had gone through it, by closing up the
hole and thereby preventing the water from forcing
its way within through the opening. It acts as an
automatic stopper. The discovery is of importance.
The subjoined particulars show that it has been

auUa SQe^ipecteaij iouud to te serviceable io m^

other direction than that of war. We may here
state that Miss Wood has discovered a stopping
material still more approaching perfection than
coconut tissue, as regards its compressible quality.
Woodite as this material is called, strongly re-
sembles vulcanised caoutchouc. Experiments have
been made in Britain with discs lined with woodite
and exposed to fire from Nordenfeldt machine guns
at right angles and under an angle of 45 degrees.
The woodite facing and the iron discs were liter-
ally strewn with projectiles. After the experiments,
when the discs were examined not a hole was to
be seen. A few discoloured spots only showed the
places where the projectiles had impacted. No
dents were noticeable. The closing up was per-
fect. Miss Wood had sought for this material with
the object of protecting torpedo boats, the hulls
of which are so light and so easily damaged by
the smallest projectile. M. Germain, a young
Frcinch chemist has hit upon the idea of turning
the fibres of the coconut to account in solving
quite another question. It is well known that very
generally 'electric batteries are at present coming into
use, for house bells and telephones for military
requirements, and for naval purposes. These
batteries contain fluid substances which might spill
or leak. Now an empty battery is utterly worth-
less for the end in view. Moreover, these fluids,
however carefully compounded are liable to give
rise to stains and burns etc. It is true that,
formerly, there was some thought of filling the
batteries with acidulated moist sand, sawdust,
sponge &c, but these substances increased too much
the electric resistance. M. Germain has fixed his
attention on the fibre of the coconut, and has
thereby achieved important results. He utilises
not the inner tissue of the nut, but the outer fibres.
The raw material is separated, stamped to powder,
and cleaned. The product turned out looks then
like powdered cocoa Its density amounts to no
more than 0.08. Its compressibleness is such that,
by pressure with the hand only, its volume can be
diminished one third. When thus compressed the
material possesses a density of 0.22, which is 3 er 4
times that of sponge. Its absorbent properties
greatly exceed those of all other known substances.
It takes up its own volume of water, and strangely
enough, its whole volume amounts then to hardly
a little more than that of the fluid alone. It is a
bad conductor of heat, but prevents from evaporat-
ing or freezing, the subdtances witii which it has
been mingled. It is periectly insoluble in most
acids, salts and lyes. Under these circumstances,
batteries without fluid adjuncts have been invented.
Some have even been put together of great power
and remarkable hghtness. The electric resistance
on application of the coconut fibres, is almost the
same as when .fluids, without fibres, are used. M.
Germain's method of applying electrically the bo
called cofferdam and woodite, makes it possible to
put batteries together, which cannot become ex«
hausted with the additional advantages of handi-
ne38 and lightness. In course of time, this will
lead to light batte.vies and accumulators, intended
as electric motors for cars, torpedo boats, and
b allOons. The above described discoveries shoW
th at •waste products often only need research con-
ducted in the right spirit, to become useful and
rscvioeable in the arts and sciencesi

THE PREVENTION AND DEBTEI'CTION OF

BLACK WEEVIL IN GRAIN BINS AND

GODOVVNS.

The black weevil is an insect well-known _ to

grain-dealers the world over, especially in " tropical

climates." In India it eats the grains of wheat

and maize, and also paddy. It is found in every

rice, pa<ddy, wheat aud uiai^e t^iu iu ^uraia.

May 2, 1887.3

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

749

Like any other iusects, the black weevil seems
to flourish particularly well m Burma. This is
owing to the even temperature of the climate,
as it dislikes the sudden changes to heat or
cold. It is impossible to estimate the amount
of damage caused by this insect in Burma, but it
is enormous.

A large percentage of the shrinkage in stored
grain may properly be attributed to this awful destruc-
tion by this insect. It is not detected unless in
very large numbers, but when the grain is cleaned
by being passed through a fan or winnowing
machine, grain which has been thoroughly cleaned
will show a large percentage of dust and a material
falling- off in the weight and bulk of grain.

The natives try to combat the ravages of
these insects by spreading the grain in the sun
and then placing gunny cloths on tke grain,
when the insect disturbed by the hf-at of the
sun, crawls out of the grain to the top of the cloth,
and is then shaken off, and the grain again returned
to the bin. This method of temporarily getting rid
of the insect cannot be followed when there is a
large amount of grain 'in store on account of the
expense of handliog the gram. The cheap and simple
method of preventing the ravages of the disturbing
of the weevil is "Naphthaline powder." The me-
thod of application is this: it is but to place the Naph-
thaline powder at the bottom of the bin or bulk of
grain. To accomplish this, take a bamboo about IJ
inches in diameter and long enough to reach from
the top to the bottom of the bulk of grain, punch
the Joints out of the bamboo so as to enable to pas;
a stick from one end of the bamboo to the others
have the stick made to fit the caviiy in the bamboo ;
pass the bamboo with the stick in it down through
the bulk of grain from the top to the bottom ; with-
draw the stick and drop into, the top of the bamboo,
about half a tea spoonful of the powder; the bamboo
then can be drawn out as the powder will be safe
at the bottom of the bulk of grain. If the bulks are
large this should be done to every 10 feet square of
the bulk. Kepeat the application every 15 or 20 days
as the powder evaporates. The weevils that can leave
the grain, will do so, and those that cannot leave are
killed by the odour of the powder. Naphthaline thus
used does no harm to the grain. Por such purposes
the grain is not affected in the least— rather improved
as it is not damaged by this cursed grain pest.

For marketable grain the colour is not affected, and
the odour will leave in a short time if fresh Naphth-
aline is not applied to it.

The quantity of powder used is infinitely small in
proportion to the quantity of grain and the powder
is entirely destroj'ed by evaporation, so that for food
purposes the effect is nil. Naphthaline powder can be
had at any respectable Meoical Hall for R250 per ounce;
a few ouHces will be suflncient for a larger quantity of
grain.

I send you this for the good of my old enlightened
friends, the Sii)halese and Moormen of your Bonn e
Island, Ceylon. J. D. W,

TBOUT FOK MADEAS HILL WATEBS.

Mr. H. tS. Thomas, f. l. s., author of the " Kod
in India," writes to us ; — " As the accompanying
papers are likely to interest not a few of your
readers, may I beg the favour of your inserting
them in an early issue. I have a subsequent tele-
gram from Mr. Le Mesurier, that the trout fry,
which are being so handsomely presented, were to
le^ve Nuwara Eliya on the 15th ultimo, but in what
numbers, and with what arrttngementa for ice and
carriage, I have no information as yet. If there
are enough to justify dividing them into two
batches, I think it would be well to send one batch
to Ootacamund, and the other to Kodaikanal, on
the Pulney Hills. If there is only enough for one
batch, I am inclined to think it will be best for the
trout, and therefore most to the public advantage,
(bat tbey should go to Kodaikaual; jbecause tlie

Kodaikanal lake is so very much richer in cphevicra.
They are bred in countless myriads on the rush
with which the whole lake is surrounded. The
trout are more likely to thrive and reproduce
where they are best fed, and if they multiply at
Kodaikanal, their progeny can easily be removed to
Ootacamund hereafter. Also the trout-like Barilins
thrive excellently at Kodaikanal, so that I have
taken seven dozens of a morning with a fly. Still,
I am afraid that there will be a good many who
will think that they ought to go to
Ootacamund, simply because Ootacamund is
the larger place, just as one gentlemen wants
one to put them in the Madras People's ParS !
I only hope we may get the little strangers safely
to their journey's end somewhere, and as it is for the
public, not for myself, that the efl'ort is being
made, I don't wish to decide the destination
without the public having their say and then if we
fail once, or twice, I shall hope they will be the
more patient of failure till at last we succeed."

Dear Sir, — Your letter to Mr. Kirwaii, of the 27th
February last has been sent to me for reply. Mr.
Kirwan was mistaken in saying that trout fry had been
brought out to Ceylon. What we got were trout ej'ed
ova (S. Fario) and so far the experiment shows every
sign of being successful. "We got them out in two
batches of 15,000 each from Mr. Andrews, of Guild-
ford, by two P. & O. Steamers. The first batch was
almost a failure, only 56i hatching out, and of the.se
about 500 have survived, and are now healthy young
fry. I turned out 200 of these into the stream that
supplies our lake here, last week and they seem to be
doing well. The rest I am feeding so as to give them
a better chance of surviving, when turned out. The
second batch was a very succftssful one, nearly 50
per cent, of the ova hatching out. These are still
in the alevin stage, but, so far as appearances go, they
will do as well as or better than the others. I shall
be very happy to send on full details of our hatch-
ing apparatus &c., if you wish it. Judging, however
from the condition in which the ova arrived and
the rapid manner in which they hatched out,
I should be inclined to doubt the possibility of
your being able to introduce trout into your
hills, by means of ova, unless a different system of
packing than that of Mr. Andrew's is adopted. Nearly
all our first batch had hatched out before they ar-
rived though very carefully looked after on the
voyage, and the second batch only came just in time,
(nearly 3,000 hatched out the first night). The longer
sea voyage from Madras, and the far longer railway
journey to the hills, to say nothing of the trip
up country, would, I fear, be fatal to the ova. Nor
was this our first attempt. In 1882, and twice since,
we tried the same experiment, but each attempt
failed and it is only at our fourth that we seem
about to succeed. On the other hand, I believe you
could transport fry from this to Madras without diffi-
culty, and if you could arrange for their transport, I
shall be happy to give you some. The best way, of
course, would be for you to get some Indian visitors
to this station to take charge of the tank, and to see
that the water was constantly changed, and the
fry fed now and then. At any rate, if I can assist
you in any way in this matter, you may command
my services. And now, per contra, may I ask
a favour from yon, and that is, can yon help me
towards the introduction of mahseer into Ceylon ?
Could you send me some fry : and give me full de-
tails of how to treat them tkc? Perhaps we could
arrange an exchange, and by the eamo hand that
you send me mahseer I could return you trout.

C. J. LeMesukier.

Dkar SlKj-^With reference to my letter of the
20th, I am going to make an attempt to send you
a few trout by Mr. J. Howard, the Manager of the
Mtirree 15rewery Co. here, on the Tith or tith proximo.
Mr. Howard is away from Nuwara F.liya just now.
BO that I cannot give you the exact date and name of
ship, but will write you again in re when he returns
to the etatiofl,— 0. J- hzUzivvxa^r'^fadras Mailf

75^

Tffg TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[May ci, 1S87.

PLANTERS IN DELL.

{Translated for the Straits Times.)
Barring estate incendiarism by BaStaks, planters
in 1 Deli are getting on very well. They will, how-
ever, have soon to look out sharp, now that
North Borneo is coming into prominence as field
for tobacco cultivation. A new company formed
for growing that article there has just raised at
Batavia the full amount of the capital required
for the purpose. From Siak, too, a keen com-
petion in the same direction may be expected
erelong. It is a pity that the economic conditions
prfevaling in Deli, favour tobacco planting ex-
clusively. The Government neglects doing anything
to bring about a healthier state of things in this
respect. So long as the east cost of Sumatra
supplies the European market with tobacco only,
that country will always run the risk of
some day finding its most fertile land be-
coming almost worthless. It is evident that
planters there should continue to direct their
energies to one main point, namely the possibility
of introducing a sound system of rotation of crops.
In Java, the exclusive growth of tobacco in certain
districts has resulted in whole estates becoming
quite worthless. Deli planters would do well to
profit by example.

Lime Joice.— Looking to the value of lime juice
in this country the Grenada Chronicle wisely ad.
vocates a larger cultivation of the lime. This
journal has aften impressed upon its agricultural
friends the advantages to be derived from the pro-
duction of limes, but hitherto with very little suc-
cess. There are acres upon acres of land in Grenada
unadapted to the production of the present staples
that would readily yield the lime tree.

Coconut Plants. — Transplanted plants of one and
two years' old will certainly bear in three years
and I take it that Mr. Wright's plants were such.
I appeal to such veterans as Messrs. Schrader,
Lamont, Jardine, Poulier, Joronis Peris, Justice
Dias, Piachaud, Shand. Stork Arc, to endorse what
I have said. Mr. Wright's treatment of coco-
nuts with expenditure ad lihllum must certainly
push the plants forward, but I should be glad to
learn from the gentlemen I have named or any of
them, whether they know of any estate in the
country that has 75 per cent of the trees on the
laud in bearing in 10 years. I trow not ; twenty
more likely excepting perhaps those in the far
famed district of Madampe audCbilaw. Mr. Wright's
venture in the vicinity of Mirigama is being cultiv-
ated, I understand, in his usual liberal style. When
it is giving a return we shall be glad to hear from
him how much it has cost him per acre and what
percentage he reaps on the expenditure. I have
nearly 30 years' experience of this district and I
have no hesitation in saying that with all Mr. Wright's
" energy " he will not bring 75 per cent of his trees
to bear in 10 years. If we live we shall see.

Allegkd Solution of the Ehe.^ Fibre Difficulty.
—If the following statement in the Indian Atjrirultnr-
ist should turn out to be correct, the importance of
the discovery can scarcely be exaggerated. Ehea
is one of the finest of all plant fibres, but it has
hitherto been one of the most intractable : —
" Many of our readers will be glad to learn that
Mr. Charles Maries, of the Durbhunga Raj, has
solved the Ehea fibre problem. Mr. Maries has
discovered a process by which he can decorticate
the fibre in the green state with extraordinary
facility, after which he works it up to the required
standard under his new process. We have seen
some of this fibre, and can state with certainty that
we have seldom seen Rhea fibre to equal Mr, Maries
Bpecimens, It retains all its strength of tension,
while the flosB is as soft ae silk. ^r. Maries, we

understand, has shown his fibre to some of our
large Calcutta merchants who deal in fibres, and
their opinion is a very favourable one indeed.
We congratulate Mr. Maries on his discovery, which
ought to prove a perfect "mine of wealth" to him.
Any one wishing for further iDarticulars should
address himself to Mr. Charles Maries, Durbhunga."
" Eevue Ageicole." — We have received the
first No. of this publication edited by Mr, A.
Daruty de Grandpre, President of the Acclimatation
Society of Mauritius, and we cordially recommend
it to all our readers. The name of the Editor is
in itself a guarantee of the quality of the contents,
for he is an accomplished botanist and throughly
at home in the Agricultural History of the colony
in all its details, and in the various subsidiary
cultures which might be carried out in Mauritius
if only once started. Among the contents there in
an excellent summary of the Sugar Industry of
Mauritius, and a very well written article upon
the manufacture of perfumes which, in the case
of Jamaica ai^pear to be a very paying speculation,
also one upon the profit that might be derived
from the pine-apple which grows almost wild here
and might with a very small amount of ordinary
care turn out excellent wine and spirits of ex-
quisite quality. The Eevue is very well printed
and we wish it every success, for it will supply
a long felt want. — Mauritius " Merchants' and
Planters' Gazette." — [The "Revue Agricole " has
reached us and we shall have some of the papers
translated and printed in the Tropical Agriculturist,
which we are specially asked to exchange, — Ed.]
Guakanteed MoBTG.i^GES, — ^lu a recent number of
West Indian Quarterly Sir John Gorrie formulates
a scheme by which money might be safely ad-
vanced on guaranteed mortgages and help to
make estates reproductive. As what Sir John
Gorrie says is closely allied to the questions which
the sub-committees on State-aided Emigration have
to define, the following extract may prove useful : —
" As recently there was some talk of buying up
Ireland, " why no give the West Indian communities
the right to borrow upon the best terms, and to
offer security such as has never been offered to
lenders on mortgage since the world began ? . . .
For the want of this privilege the poor islands,
which might have been getting their heads above
water, have been unassisted in their hard struggle
against ruin. Although such a scheme would not
be workable at home, or in large representative
Anglo-Saxon Colonies, yet it might probably be
considered with great advantage in Trinidad, Bar-
bados Demerara, and Jamaica, as well as the
smaller islands. Recent events in the former have
shown how precarious an industry is which draws
its working capital from mercantile sources. These
are so subject to the fluctuations of the money
market that no dependence can be placed upon
their permanence. A failure here or there sufficient
to alarm a Bank manager in London may dry up
in a night the fountain which irrigated a great
estate with the necessary supplies. How much
better to depend upon capital advanced upon
specific terms which cannot be called up without
giving the borrower time to turn round to avail
himself of other resources. In an ordinary case
he might find the ear of the oracle deaf to the
charmer, but if he as a borrower can come to
say that he not only gives land as security more
valuable than the sum asked for, but that a Colonial
Board will guarantee the principal and interest by
means of a fund levied, collected, and invested
by law and that the interest will be paid in
London as regularly as the dividends on Govern-
ment stock, depend on it, the oracle will be deaf no

looger, but open, gouerous, cooiidiag, aod Uj^er^L".

May 2, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

75i

THE PRESEEVATION OF TIMBER.

In buildings of timber in whole or in part, it is
coramouly found that from exposure to weather, in-
sects and other causes the timber frequently decays
in the course of a few years and has to be replaced.
To avoid this extra expense the process of inject-
ing some chemical substance into th.i timber is worthy
the attention of selectors and others, who, in erect-
ing the necessary buidlings art! sometimes obliged to
use timber of inferior quality owius^ to deficient sea-
soning or some other cause, which tends to lessen
its durability, and which, if it could be cheaply pre-
vented, would certainly he worthy of being put in
practice.

The decomposition and decay of timber is a natural
process, which, sooner or later, renders it useless for
economic purposes, but for nature's purposes the more
rapidly it is decomposed into its component elemeats
and mingles with the soil the better it is for living
Tegetation. This being the case it is evidently the
business of men to retard, if they cannot altogether
stop, decay from proceeding. One of the first and
most common of the various methods that have been
employed is to shelter it from the weather, a method
whichin the case of all, but more especially some parti-
cular kinds, enables it to remain sound for many years,
even for oenturies, in the case of some species.
Pillars of mosques in Kashmir of the wood of the
Deodar are found sound after being 400 years in use,
and, says Baron von Mueller, bridges of still greater
antiquity are in existence. Most sorts of timber, how-
ever, decay much more rapidly, some not lasting even a
lifetime, and to abate that failing and render the timber
more lasting, various substances have been used and
processes proposed, some chemicals actiug in one way
and some in another. By one process the destruction of
the sap is aimed at and the consequent drying and
hardening of the woody fibre ; in another tlie attempt
is made to destroy or alter the albuminous matter in
the sap ; while other experimentors have endeavored
to effect the object by forming insoluble precipitates
with metallic salts. To effect the destruction or eli-
mination of the sap heat has been employed from
the earliest ages, and the practice of charring the
ends of posts to be sunk in the ground has been
aniversal, and is still practised to a large extent,
thoagh it does not prove very satisfactory. A much
better method of effecting the object is to dry the
timber in the warm atmosphere of a heated chamber ;
by this means the sap may be nearly or altogether
expelled, and the timber so consolidated as to become
extremely durable if kept dry ; but the proceea, like
most others, is expensive. The total expulsion of the
sap through the production of a vacuum has been re-
commended. Various methods for the neutralisation
of the properties of the sap have been recommended,
among others floating the timber in water for a
time has been practised. Half a century ago kyanis-
ing timber was all the rage iu Britain. Mr. Kyans
process was the injection of chloride of mercury in-
to the timber, but the practice fell into disuetude
after s short time. Then Burnett proposed the in-
jection of chloride of zinc ; Lege and Pironette that
of sulphate of copper ; Payne's preparation of sulphate
of iron and muriate of lime were all experimented
with and had their day. Bethell's creosotiug process,
on the same principle, has led to an adoption of
that substance in the northern hemisphere, and also
in Austral a, though it is generally applied by afely
painting the i^urtace of the sawn timber. Th era-
tionale of Bethell's process is described thus: — " "When
injected into a piece of wood the creosote coagulates
the aUmmen, an) thus prevents putrefactive de-
composition, and the bituminous oils, being insoluble
in water and unaffected by air, r«Q:ler the process
universally applicnhle. " This method is one which
can be easily practised anywhere. Unrefined creosote
can be ob'aiiied at a low ra^f. nn'\ hii-ivIv requires
to be laid on with a painter's b.ush. It can be used
for quartering, battens, latus au 1 other limbers re-
quired for roofing and other parts of house building.
It is especially applicable to stables and other out-
buildings ; iucreasiug the endurance of the timber, and

saving it from the attacks of ants, other noxious in-
sects and fungoid parasites.

Lime is another useful preservative. It has been
observed that old lime boards hardly ever decay, and
when posts iu the ground are surrounded with lime they
remain sound for a great length of time. The scienti-
fic method of using lime is to form a solution of it in
water in which to immerse the timber, which causes
similar chemical changes as when subjected to the
action of the metallic agents or to the process of
creosotiug, precipitating albuminous matters, and thus
rendering them inactive. The timber also takes up
lime as caustic lime, and on the subsequent exposure
of the wood to the air the excess of lime which re-
mains in the wood gradually absorbs carbonic acid,
and the woody fibre throughout the whole mass be-
comes coated with insoluble carbonate of lime and
the wood may be said to be mineralised to 'some
extent. As described in the Garden, "pits or ponds
may be constructed, varying in size and position
with the locality in which they are made and the
quantity of timber to be soaked, a common pond being
quite sufficient for the purpose; all that is essential
is to have sufficient size and depth to hold the timber
requiring to bo soaked." Thus iu the building of a
farm house, if a pond is not available, a reservoir
capable of containing the timber required may be
easily formed, its sides and bottom planked or merely
clayed, so as to retain the water, of which a com-
paratively small quantity will suffice to cover the timber
when immersed. The water is first to be run into
the tank, and then suflScient lime to completely satu-
rate the water and some to spare, for as the water
will only take up a definite portion, an excess of
lime will do no harm. It requires only 88 grains of
chalk or stone lime to impregnate a gallon of water,
so that a bushel of lime will sufiice for several barrels
of water; but as it is best to err on the safe side
au excess of lime should be used.

It need hardly be expected that many persons will
take the trouble to prepare their timber so that it
may last during two or three generations instead of
only one, still there are many things, such as tools,
implements and machines, that are much exposed to
the weather which would repay any outlay that might
be incurred in such a simple process. The timber ought
to remain in the lime water for ten days or a fort-
night.— Leader.

^

FISH WASTE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE "INDIAN AGRICULTURIST"

Sir,— As British Vice-Consul in the Loffoden Islands,
I have pursued with much interest Dr. Aitken's
excellent article on the important subject of fi«h waste,
and I heartily agree with all he says in favour of
fish as a manure, and also with his remark that a
"more perfect util'satjon of the refuse would enhance
the value of our fisheries and prove a national gain."

Dr. Aitken's description of the wonderful richness
of the Norwegian fisheries is not exaggerated, but
there are one or two slight inaccuracies in regard
to the manufactures which I may correct in passing.
The oil in cod-fish is contained exclusively in the livers —
iu the flesh the quantity does not amount to 1 per
cent, consequently the onh' oil obtainable from cod is
the Irrer oil, which is used for medicinal purposes and
for leather dressing, not for lubricating. As a lubricator
it is useless, for exposure to the air deoxydizes it,
and it becomes quite viscous. In the herring the
livers are exceedingly small; the oil, therefore, is con-
tained chiefly in the flesh, and the percentages vary
from 3 per cent to 10 per cent, according to the sea-
son and the fatness of the fish.

During my visit to England last winter there was
some discussion in 2'he Times on the subject of fish
manure, as Dr. Aitkea so properly terms it. Fish cpiano
is the excreta of birds wl'ose diet consists solely of
fish. Fish manure is refwe dried by machinery and
ground to powder, it is less soluble than the guano,
or huano, which is the Spanish term. Sir J. B.
Lavves drew attention to the wonderfully similar
chemical composition of cattle and of fish, both of

753

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

[May 2, 1887.

them, he asserted, contaiuing 33 parts in 1000 of the
essential ingredieuts— nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and
potash.

One of the common sayings of my farmer relatives
is that, " Yoa must give back to the land what you
take from it, otherwise crops are uuproStabe,'' anil
this, in spite of protestation to the contrary is just
what a'jriculturists fail to do. The cattle eat the
produce of our fields, and the best of the food goes
to build up their frames, the bone, the flesh, the
blood, the hoof, and the horn. What farmers return
to the laud with such unwavering belief in its virtue
is simply the waste consequent ou this process, the
slag of the iron, so to speak, with the minimum of
the valuable ingredients and the largest bulk, but cattle
cannot be killed for the purposes of manure, and
the circle is broken because the flesh and valuable
parts, which in our turn we eat, are not returned to
the soil as they ought to be, consequently we cau
only fall back upon the equivalent of o.xen, &c., in
flesh and bone, viz., fish, which nature has provided
for us in abundance, if we will only trouble to avail
ourselves of it.

Sir J. B. Lawes, in writing to The Times, 29th Dec-
ember 1S84, said:— "The chemical composition of fish
does not differ much in some of thair most importaut
ingredients from that of stock fed on our farms." la
1000 lb. of sprats, Professor Way found 20 parts of
nitrogen, 8| of phosphoric acid, and 4^ of potash. In
the animals of the farm at Rothamsted, we found 20
parts of nitrogen, 10 to 12 parts of phosphoric acid
and 4^ parts of potash. Although varying in their
relative proportions, it will be observed that these
important ingredients are almost the same in fish as
in cattle or sheep, amount! ug iu each case to about
33 parts per 1000. In the case of agriculture long
experience has shown that exhausted soil can be res-
tored to fertility by the application of manures.

The experience of each succeeding year teaches me
that there is more thau sufficient surplusage of fish
in the sea to provide this country with all the fer-
tilising material it needs. Indeed, in the same letter
of Sir J. B. Lawes, he speaks to this effect, viz : — "So
long as fish live upon each other, the sea resembles
a soil covered by forest untouched by man. A growth
of firs will follow a growth of oaks, the hm Is at the
game time continuing to iucrea.se in fertility, Cod-
fish eat herrings, and they in their turn i at smaller
fish, but there is no exhaustion of ingredients." In one
square mile of the Loffoden fishing ground, it is cal-
culated that the cod-fish devour more herrings in one
week than are exported from Norway in one year,
viz, 800,000 barrels.

In my small district alone, the firm of J. Jensen &
Co., whose advertisement I notice in your columns,
have collected, received, and Converted into a portable
manure iu 1885 no less than 19,000 tons of refuse,
and it is .^afe to say that double or treble that quan-
tity would have been at their disposal had they pos-
sessed means of dealing with it. In September and
October they could have commanded 1000 tons per
week of herrings alone — the surplus from curing sta-
tions— had their plant suflSced to deal with it. J. Jen-
sen & Co. have grappled with and conquered the
innumerable diSiculties attending the manufacture of
such intractable articles as fish heads, backs, and entrails
into a dry, portable manure, and working day and
night for greater part of the year, they cannot at
present deal with more than 500 tons of refuse per
week, from which 400 tons of water are extracted,
leaving 100 tons of dry and portable manure. As far
as I can learn, there is not .such another establishineut
in the world, but there are places where the trade
might easily be conducted, and on a much more
important scale, were the same appliances used.

In the waters of the West Indies, on the coasts of
South America and Africa, around the Mauritius, New-
foundland, Labrador, Vancouver's Lslind, and Japan,
ft.sh abound in such exhaustible numbers that it would
pay to establish factories and employ the natives to
catch fish simply for manure. The agriculture of this
country is suffering untold things from inadequate
fertilising of the soils and unless our farmers bestir

themselves to obtain manures which will restore to
the land what has been taken from it the present
unsstisfactory condition of things will remain unchanged.
Unless land is made to produce the larger possible
crops, there is waste in every degree. Labour, interest,
rent and farming here will never hold its own against
foreign competition. — I am, &c. Tho. S. Wilson, Bri-
tish Vice-Consul. — Indian Agriculturist.

Drugs. — The most notable features in the drug and
chemical markets are the extreme scarcity of carbolic
acid, an advance in bleaching powder, and increased firm-
ness in opium. Reports from Norway confirm those
we have already published of the failure, so far, of
this year's cod fishing.* The cinchona sales this
week have hardly reah'sed anticipations, and quinine
tends flatter. Our special report from Buda Pesth
indicates a probable scarcity of belladonna. — Chemitt
dan Dn/gr/ist.

To many mechanical minds' a square hole auger
would appear an impossible achievement, but a cirrps-
pondent at Wooster, Ohio, saw the machine manu-
factured by a company there in operation. It makes
a .square hole, 2x2 inches, with smooth walls, clean,
sharp corners and no splinters, and works easier than
a 2-inch rouwd auger. The cutting is done by a
rocking motion of a cutter head with knife attached,
which cuts upward. The work is smooth and rapid,
all waste being got rid of so that choking cannot
take place. — American Grocer.

Dr. Beterixck, one of the most distinguished
naturalists in Holland, has been iuvestigating the
origin of the masses of gum coUfctiug on the limbs
of certain kinds of trees, especially plum, apricot
and others bearing stone fruits. He finds that the
exudation is due to a disease produced by the pre-
sence of parasitic fungi ; and when healthy trees are
inoculated with tho gum thus produced, they speedily
contr.ict the disorder, which is highly contagious.
The disease is disseminated by the drying of the
gum by oxidation, and its circulation in the wind,
which thus wafts the germs for many rods, so that
one diseased tree may infect a whole plantation. —
American Cultivator.

QXE elementary principle which the many culti-
vators fail to appreciate is, the grand and important
one of Draining. ^lisconceptions with referencR thereto
are common because easy. What is absolutely false
often strikes the mind more readily than the truth.
What conclusion is more natural than to think if
you thoroughly drain a piece of land that it can-
not hold water for the same length of time as nn-
draiiied land? But it is an immense fallacy never-
theless. Countenance is lent to it by the well
known fact that if you draw ofr a body of water
from a swamp by an open drain, that swamp
cannot have water in it so long as if it were nn-
drained. This obvious fact notwithstanding, it is the
well-drained land that will furnish moisture the
longest time during a spell of dry weather to vegeta-
tion of any description growing upon it. There aru
many who know this ; there are plenty of Queensland
facts that demonstrate it; and there is clear logic and
sound reason in the premises which support it. Take
a square foot of soil that is firm and close and see
what amount of moisture it contains; th^n try a similar
quantity of open and porous soil and it will be found
to contain much more moisture. Nor will the porous
soil give out its moisture half as freely as the close
soil. But what— .says one — has this to do with drainage ?
Everything, Well drained land will be porous, and
sodden land closed. The material of a sponge could
not hold much water were it pressed into close quart-
ers. Close material of any kind is a conductor of
heat and gives out its moisture quickly in conse-
quence by evaporation ; and hpnce sodden lands
rapidly, lose their moisture through evaporntion, when
Wfll drained lands will not and cannot.— P^an^er and
Farmer.

•Noted with reference to OodliverOil, of course.— Ed,

May a, ioiJ/.j

I'H.^ rKOPidAL A6^icvi/vvumf,

'lb^

PEACHES AND NECTARINES.
Many years ago the peaches aurt nectarines grown
in South Australia wore very fine both for size and
for flavour, whilst the beauty of theii extnriors couM
not be excelled. These fruits were grown chiefly in
the gardeus upon the plaius because the rich lanl
amongst the hills had not then been taken up so ex-
tensively as at present. After a time the fruits
began to deteriorate and to decrease in size, the trees
became sick, and at last the fruit was worthless and
the trees were chopped out of the ground. Why did
the trees become diseased, and why did they fail to
yield crops of good fruit even when young tre^s were
reared in their places? Perhaps it was through
neglect of the ordinary rules of the gardeners' art.
The trees were allowed to bear at three to four years
of age ; to produce excessive crops ; the land was
never enriched, but the spade was freely used and the
fine fibrous roots were chopped off in the digging ; the
trees were never pruned, or, if pruned, the work was done
any way and without method. The curl-leaf fungus be-
came introduced aloug with new varieties of peaches ; also
the shothole fungus and other destroying agents, and
no trouble was taken to cure the diseases, so that
at last they became so common that no peaches,
apricots, or nectarines could be grown with satisfaction
anyv^^here. Some people say that these trees are not
long lived, and that this is the reason ; but there are
trees that are over 30 years old at Kangaroo Island
and in the old-settled south district, where the fruit
is as good, as large, as handsomo, and as abundant
as ever. The growers in these places seem to know
the value of mulching, the danger of overdigging, the
beneficial effects of jiidicious pruning, and the folly of
allowing the tree to produce overahuudantly. Perhaps
the opossum performs a beneficial work here, for they
knock off large quantities of green fruit. As the cul-
tivators had already in their orchards more fruit-
trees than they could fairly manage, they were not
anxious to introduce new sorts ; and the result has
been that in these old and still productive orchards
they have no serious disaases amongst the trees.
Neither the peach nor the nectarine require exceed-
ingly rich soil to grow in, but they must not bo
starved, and in summer they must have a sufficient
supply of water. Both kinds of flower upoti wool
produced the season before, so that in pruning it is
necessary to bear this fact in mind. They can be
grafted or budded upon almonds, plums, or apricots ;
but the union -is never satisfactory, and the only
proper plan is work the tree upon stocks of their (twn
order. There are a great many varieties of peaches,
but it is not advisable to plant more than three or
four sorts, including those that are earliest and those
that are latest iu ripening. Nectarines are not so
numerous in varieties, nor are they so popular as a
fruit, from the fact that they are surpassed by the
peaches in every respect and are in season at the
same time. Still, they are very superior to many other
fruits, and are worth a place in a fruit garden. —
Adelaide Obsei'vei:

PRODUCTIVENESS OF THE ORANGE TREE.

There are bat few trees or plants in nature to be
compared to the orange for fruitfulness; very few so
prolific and commercially valuable Besides Its deli-
cious fruit, enjoyed both by the rich and the poor in
nearly all countries, it produces several other most
Valuable products. There are five distinct and highly
esteemed perfumes obtained from it. Mi'd.^T^he true
orange floWer odour, obtained by digesting with fat by
the process called enjteurac/e. Secoiil. — Oil neroli petale
or oil neroli begarade, by distilling the flowers of the
sweet and bitter orange respectively. Third. — Oil neroli
petit grain, by distilliug the leaves and unripe fruit.
Fourth. — Oil of orange Portugal, obtained by rolling
the fruit in a metal cup covered with small spik "S,
for puncturing the oil glands. It is called an cciwUe,
which wounds the fruit and causes the oil to flow,
PtWi,— Commercial oil of oraugCi obtained by express'
95

ing or distilling the orange peel. Besides these valu-
able products the dried peel is largely used in medicine.
The essential oils enter into the following perfumes : —

Essence of Orange Flowers. — Orange flower pomade
Iti ounces; pure spirit of wine, q.s. or 16 ounces.
Place the poma<le and alcohol into a Jar of half-gallon
capacity. Digest by m^ians of a water-bath until the
pomale is barely melted ; shake well together, and
repeat the shaking frequently until cold. Allow this
to stand a fortnight, then drain off the essence. If
this falls short of one pint, repeat with a sufiicienfc
quantity of spirit to make up that measure. A second
washing can be done aud another pint of essence
obtained, which though much weaker will be fouud
useful in a cheaper perfume.

Spirit of Neroli. — This is made by mixing oil
neroli petale, 4 drachms; pure spirit of wine, 16
ounces. Rlix and dissolve.

Eau de PoRTUGAr.. — Tbis was at one time a very
popular perfume. Essential oil of orange peel, 8 ounces j
essential oil of lemon, 2 ouuces; essential oil of bergamot,
1 ounce ; otto of rose, ^ ounce; rectified spirit at 75^, 1
gallon. It is most charming and refreshing during the
heat of summer or in the heated ball-room, Iu the
ever-popular perfume "Eau de Cologne," as is well
known, the predominating odour is lemony-orange. The
following formula for which is given in the new French
Oodex : — 01. Portugal (orange flowers), 10 parts; ol.
bergamot, 10 parts; ol. lemon, 2 parts; ol. neroli petali,
'A parts; rosemary, 2 parts; alcohol, 1,000 parts. Dis-
solve and filter. This is much simplified, and may
with age give a better result than the old com-
plicated formula?. Throughout the whole range of
perfumes known to us we think there is no perfume
so fully answers the word "refreshing" as the lemon
and the orange. The violet aud the jasmine may be
lovely, the rose ami sweet-brier delicious, the musk
and others, when artistically blended, charming, but
none have the invigorating effect upon the olfactory
nerves as that possessed by the orauge, lemon, aud
citron family. There are very few compiund perfumes
(bouquet) of any merit that do not contain one or
more of these odours as part of their composition. —
Burgoiine, i^- Co.'s Month!;/ Export Prices Current.

THE TREE TOMATO.

So much interest has been expressed with reference
to this fruit, which is occasionally seen in our own
markets, that we have thought it desirable to copy
a coloured illustration which appeared in the Revue
Hoitirole in 1830, p. 150 (see p. 383), and to request
Mr. Morris, the Assistant-Director at Kew, to give us
the benefit of his experience. This he has kindly
done in the subjoined letter : —

" A full account of this plant was given by myself
in the Gardeners' Chronicle, vol. xxi.,n.s., April 19,
1884, p. 510. It is of shrubby habit, with broadly
cordate anil pubescent leaves, sometimes a foot long.
The flowers are borne in sub-axillary cymes, of a palo
fleshy colour with bright yellow stamens. They have
the odour of Violets. The fruit is about 2 to 2| inches
long, and about 2 inches in diameter. When ripe it
is of rich orange colour. In the "West Indies it is
called Tree Tomato; in Peru (its native country) it
is known as Tomato de la Paz. It sometimes appear.9
in Covcnt Garden Market, as I am informed by the
Eli''or, under the erroneous name of Granadilla, a3
an importation from the Azores.

" \Vhen in Jamaica I wis very favourably impressed
with the value of this comparatively little knoWd
fruit, as it answers in every respect the purposes of
the ordinary Tomato, while the plant itself is peren-
nial and easily grown. The fruit is also produced
abundantly during the winter months, from November
to March, when ordiuary Tomatoes are not easily ob-
tained. Unfortunately the plant is not hardy in Eng-
Uul or in corresponding latitudes, nor will it stand
extreme tropical heat. It is, therefore, sub-trepical,
and flourishes best in hilly districts in the tropics,
with a mean annual temperature of ?ibout 68' ?ftbr,

n^

f^f fUdMCAt mnttjvtxsmwv.

[May ^, t%%i4

" During the last three years several hundred packets
of Tree Tomato seed have been distributed to various
correspondents in the Colonies, and very favourable
accounts have been received of the introduction of
this fruit to Ceylon, Southern India, and Eastern
countries. Lately Dr. Shortt, of Yercund, sent to
Kew a pot of preserve made from the Tree Tomato
fruit grown in Southern India. — D Morris, Assistant
Director, Koyal Gardens, Kew."

To this vee may add that the fruit is occasionally
grown in this countrj', as vce remember to have had
specimens sent us for identification, and they have
also been exhibited before the Scientific Committee. As
is the case with most cultivated plants, there is a
considerable amount of variation in the size, colour,
and form of the fruit. Those now figured are more
pointed than we have usually seen them.

In the Revue Horticole for 1881, p, 470, is a second
coloured plate, representing two varieties obtained
from seed of that originally figured. One of these is
yellow, and we mention the circumstance as we have
just received from Messrs. Viccars Collyer & Co., of
Leicester, a fruit under the name of Melon-Pear, which
is clearly the fruit of a Solanum, very nearly allied
to, if not identical with, the Tree Tomato and with
the " eg^ plant." The specimen sent is seedless, and
does unt admit of absolute verification, but we have
no doubt that the fruit in question is the produce
of a Solanum. Assuredly it is not a Melon and not
a Pear— sufficiently good reas()ns to the framers of
popular names to call it a Melon-Pear. It has, it is
true, much of the fragrance of a Melon, We are
promised further specimens with flowers and leaves
at another time, when the identification of this so-
called Melon-Pear can be rendered certain. Accord-
ing to an article in the INIarch number of the Ameri-
can Gardeners' Monthly/, this plant is called, in Central
America, Pepino, or Cucumber. — Gardeners Chronicle.

SEEICULTUEE IN INDIA.

The following extrncts from a letter to the Journal
of the Society of Arts from Mr Cunliffe Lister will
be of more than passing interest : —

" Chinese iassar waste is worth to-day at least 2-5
per cent more than Indian. I use considerable quan-
tities of both. It is quite a folly to suppose that
that tassar or any wild silk can bo reared to pay,
because in all cases it will cost as much, and in many
(more particularly tassai-) vastly more than mulbcrrj',
and when done, the cocoons are only worth about half
as much. Wild silk has a future, but it must be
limited beyond all question to what the jungle can
produce at little cost, and that I consider is not a very
large quantity.

Tassar might be the fashion, and might, for some
S2)ecial purposes, be as valuable as the homhi/.r mori,
but it would be of a fictitious value, as its fibre lustre
and dying properties are not comparable.

Some twenty years ago I re;id in Dr. Tre's Victionar//
of Arts and Manufactures that there was n species of
silk (the eria worm) grown in Aa.sam that was so
abundant and cheap that the natives over a large
e-vtent of country were clothe<i in it, and that it was
TO durable that mothers hand down garments to their
daUgliter.'H, Thi.i dc.')cript!on of Dr, 1 re's so e.%"actly
iJliJted and described what was wanted, that in RIarch,
ISb'.'', t wrote to tny agents in Calcutta " with a
monthly cruv it should be produced almost as cheaply
as cotton— t.iist it cai> be produced for little or nothing
is beyond dispute, of t*hy ate a\\ the poor natives
clothed in it ? *' From that day (new mote than twenty
vears ago) I have never been able to obtain any
^supply worth notice ; each year 1 nave imported tl
small quantity, but nothing of any importance. At
the present time Manchester prints have to a great
extent superseded it amongst the natives. Before
going to India, in 1S84, I had two acres planted with
castor-oil, in order that when I arrived there I might
have some eria worms reared under my own supervision,
but I soon found that it was a mistake, as they recj^uired
ih? 8?ii»e labour and atteqtjoti as the ?'o?»byjf ?«(?>•«, aud

the cocoons were only worth half the money, as
they could not be reeled, and must be ased as waste ;
80 I had my castor-oil plants dug up and planted with
mulberry.

Wild silk can be used, when produced at a low
price, but can never be a large article of commerce,
like the bomhj/x mori. In 1874 I bought 1000 acres of
land, at a cost of £3,000 or £4,000 in Upper Assam,
for sericulture, but it was afterwards found that
labour was too scarce and dear, and I then turned it
into a tea garden. Some years after that, in 1878,
I made another attempt at sericulture at Madhopur,
in the Panjab, the Government being exceedingly
anxious to promote cottage cultivation. At that time
I had but little practical knowledge of the proper
method of treating and rearing silkworms, and very
foolishly, as it turned out, imported during two or
three years a large amount — above five thousand pounds
worth — of the best Italian and French seed, which
was given out to the cottage native rearers, and for
which I got absolutely nothing in return. It might
have just as well been thrown into the sea. A very
large sum was spent in various ways (most of it very
foolishly), but all in vain. It was a complete failure ;
and well it might be, when we consider the miserable
huts in which the worms were reared, and the imper-
fect knowledge and want of cleanliness of the rearers.
There must be ventilation, absolute cleanliness, and
abundant space, if silkworms are to be reared with
any chance of success. All these conditions are wanting
in a native cottage. Although I joined the Government
in oifering prizes for the best cocoons, and everything
possible was done, no expense being spared, it was
all in vain, and I had to begin again this time, I
hoped, with a better chance of success.

In August, 1882, the Government of the North-
western Provinces gave me a grant of about 3,500
acres of jungle in the Eastern Diln, on certain con-
ditions ; one being that I was to have 3,500 acres
more when I had planted a thousand with mulberry,
and as I have planted about two thousand acres I am
entitled to a further grant. The Eastern Dun was
pronounced by the doctor of the district as so
malarious during the rains as to render its cultivation
exceedingly difficult and dangerous, and at first I
had no end of trouble from that cause. It is, how-
ever, much better now, and as the jungle is cleard
away and it is brought into cultivation, it will in time,
I have no doubt, be as healthy as any other part
of the Dun. I have built a large number of rearing
houses for silkworms, a shed for reeling the cocoons,
also a large number of workmen's houses, or coolie
lines as they are called, also bungalows for the
managers ; in fact everything has been done to insure
success, and to show, if possible, how far the first
time in the history of sericulture (at least so far as
I know) it can be carried out and made to pay on a
commercial scale. Hitherto it may be said to have
been altogether cottage cultivation. It is no doubt
a large and costly experiment, but I have great hopes
of succeeding. The mulberry plants grow most
luxuriantly, but we have not yet had sutlicienl experience
to say whether the climate will suit all description.s
of silkworms. I'ntii tlii.s year, on a small scale, European
seed has done very well, but this year the crop was
destroyed by a thunderstorm, and I am disposed to
think that there must always be considerable risk
attending .•sericulture, even under the most favourable
circumstances,

The Bengal multivoltine worm which I hare tfied
to rear during the rainy season has Hot so ft!r dolie
well. It may be the cllmatej or it may arise from
bad and diseased seed. If the muUiVoltine of Bengal
should fail, some othet species from China or Japan
will have to be tried, as it is very important to have
two cr<ips in the rainy season, as without that the
remuneration would be comparatively small. As time
goes on and my plantations grow, and are capable
of giving a sufiicient supply of leaf for rearing on a
large scale, it will be possible then to have a thoroughly
practical result that can be relied upon.

There are many problems yet to isolve,

May 2, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

75^

(1.) What part of India is best adapted for the
purpose? as you must in all cases have abundant labour,
cheap land, and above all, suitable climate.

(2.) What is the best system? cottage cultivation
or large rearing establishments under European super-
vision, similar to what is now being tried in the
Eastern Diln.

(3.) Will the climate and soil that suit one species
of worm suit another ? For instance, will the damp
climate of Bengal agree with the Italian or Chinese
worm?

(4.j What is the best kind and what is the best
system of planting mulberry? In the Dim the trees
are planted about fourteen feet apart, and the inter-
mediate space is filled with plants, which are plucked
and then removed when the standard trees are grown.

These and many other questions, time, experience,
and careful observation can alone solve. — Indian Notes
and Queries

♦

COFFEE: ASSESSMENT OF COORG LANDS-

On the 26th ultimo, the Honorary Secretary, Coorg
Planters' Association, wrote to the Secretary of the Chief
Commissioner of Coorg, Bangalore, on behalf of the
Association, to acknowledge the receipt of the minute
(vide Madras Mail of April 26) dated 18th PTarch,
by the officiating Chief Comissioner, on its memorial
praying for a reduction of Assessment on all coffee lands
in Ooorg. He said: — "As this minute has been pub-
lished ia extenso in the Madras Mail, we feel called
upon, to reply to an official document so misleading in
its statements and inaccurate in its data, as we trust
that, although the Government may not see their way
to relieving us of a portion of our present assessment,
still we shall be able to point out to them that our
claims to the same rest upon a far better foundation
than the Acting Chief Commissioner would infer.
The minute points out the many mistakes that have
been made by planters in the selection of land — •
capital borrowed at too high an interest, planting with-
out shade, want of manure, &c, — but it forgets
to add that coffee planting in Coorg was entirely a
new industry 25 years ago, and we were only follow-
ing in the footsteps of the planters of other districts,
not knowing what systems were best adapted to the
different parts of the country, and having all our ex-
perience to gain, which we have certainly done at last
after many years, but with heavy loss to the majority
of the pioneers of coffee in Coorg. It makes but
small account of our losses from leaf disease, borer,
or drought, and other climatic causes, without which
we should have no reason to complain, and coffee would
not only be a thriving industry in Coorg, but we should
now be a prosperous body of men receiving a fair re-
turn for our capital and labor, which is very far from
being the case at present. The reduction in the assess-
ment may seem too small to have any perceptible
influence on the future of coffee, hut it would have
enabled the planter to devote the money thus saved
to the purchase of manure, and the improvement
year by year of portions of his lands already much
impoverished for the want of it. We grant that
concessions have been made in individual cases, but
too late in the majority of .instances to have any effect,
and thousands of acres have been abandoned, and
thrown back on the land of Government from which
they now derive no benefit, and it is to prevent in
some measure this further throwing up of lands, and
consequent loss to Government, that we proposed a
reduction of the present assessment to an amount
which the land would be better able to bear. Little
new land has been taken up in Coorg during the last
five years, but on the contrary, many applications have
been allowed to lapse, there being no capital in the
country to open up fresh land, and hardly a single
estate has changed hands e.fcept to go into that of
the Agents, who have been compelled to take them
over much against their will, and would gladly part
with them at a heavy sacrifice if purchasers could
only be found.

"The statistics given in this minute of the average
amount of production and cost of cultivation are ,

most misleading and inaccurate. So far from the
average yield per acre being 5 cwt., it is not one and
a half, talking it all over, as is shewn from the offi-
cial figures given, which are 37,544: acres as under
cultivation by Europeans in 1884-85. and which yielded
2,006 tons, or an average of 1 l-12th cwt. per acre,
so that it took '18 acres to produce a ton. Again the
average nett amount per ton for coffee in Loudon for
the past four j'ears has been nearer £50 than £60 ;
but to take the figures given by the Acting Chief
Commissioner, Ave have at the latter price £36 per ton ,
or at present rate of exchange K520 for cost of
cultivation, which for 18 acres to the ton is R29
per acre, whereas the lowest sum on which coffee cau
be cultivated at a profit is from R60 to R120 per
acre, and the better the cultivation the larger the crops,
and consequently improved chance of obtaining a profit.
The margin therefore left of 25 her cent, out of the
London receipts as shewn in this minute, for interest
on purchase money of the estate, and capital borrowed
for carrying on the cultivation, as well as to provide
a profit to the proprietor, has all vanished, and there
is nothing left but a heavy deficit. A more accurate
statement would, however, be an average on the bet-
ter class of estates only, over a series of years of 4 cwt
per acre at £55 nett per ton, which at present rate
of exchange would give R140 per acre for cultiva-
tion, manure, cost of carriage to the coast, and curing,
and when this is all deducted it will be found there
is very little left for interest on capital and profit to
the proprietor. If the crop should, however, fall below
this average, which is too often the case, there re-
mains nothing but heavy deficit, as the estate must
be cultivated, whatever the crop may be, or allowed
to go to ruin. AVe must decline to touch upon the
point of the expensive mode of living referred to in
the minute, but it would appear to be a most uncalled
for reflection upon a large body of gentlemen, who
have barely enough to support themselves as such, and
whose incomes have been reduced year by year as the
prices of coffee have fallen in value. The Acting Chief
Commissioner assured us that, although Government
were unable to reduce our present laud taxes, still it
would be their duty to see that the wants of the
planters were attended to, more particulary as regards
our communications, which he allowed were in a very
unsatisfactory state. We maintain that this by no
means sufficiently states th? case, but that they are
in a far worse condition now than they were fifteen
years ago, and that, with the exception of the bridge
over the Cauvery at Siddapur, which unites North
and South Coorg, and its connecting line, little or
nothing has been done to open up the country. The
road through North Coorg, a most important feeder,
although commenced in 1862, is still unmetalled and
unbridged, and the causeway quite unfit for wheeled
traffic. We respectfully trust, therefore, that some-
thing will really be done to improve the state of the
communications in Coorg, which are year by year be-
coming worse instead of better under the present
regime. — Madras Mail.

♦

INSECT POWDEE.*

The Dalmatian insect powder. Chrysanthemum
cinerarisefolium, B. et H., known also by its Dalmatian
name buliack, has been cultivated for several years
past on a large scale in certain portions of California,
the cultivators being Dalmatians who have settled there.

The best soil for this plant is loam, with a large
proportion of san<l. This kind of soil is particularly
suitable for sowing, but it should be well mixeil with
old dung. The seed itself is mixed with sand and
distributed over the soil as uniformly as possible, after
which the soil is raked to the depth of about half an
inch, and then gently pressed by passing a roller
over it. Until the plants spring up, the beds must
be irrigated every evening, unless it rains. But great

* Abstract of a chapter on the subject in Die Tro-
pi.-iche Agrikultur. Von Heinrieh Semler, in Han
Francisco. Svo. 1SS6, vol. i., p. 207. Reprinted in the
Journal of the Pliannacev.tical, Society from the American
Driujcjist, January.

ys^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[MaV 2, 1887.

care must be taken not to overdo it, as the plant is
very sensitive, throughout its whole life, towards un-
due moisture of the soil. After the plants have sprang
up, they need not be watered more than twice a week.
Weeds must be kept away until transplantation takes
place, which occurs when the plant is about G inchiis
high. It is then set out precisely like Cabbage, about
20 inches distant from every neighbour, and after-
wards needs no further attendance.

Buhach is a biennial (?) plant, therefore it flowers
in the year subsequent to that of sowing. The flowers
must be cut off just when they are about to open, as
they contain the largest amount of essential oil in
this condition. The cut flowers must be carefully
guarded against dampness, and must be dried in the
shade, never by exposure to the sun or to artificial
heat. After the period of flowering is over the plants
are cut off 4 inches over the ground, reduced to
powder, and this powder mixed with that of the flowers,
in a proportion not exceeding one part of the former
to two parts of the latter. [This is the statement
made by the author of the work from which we quote.
It is made in such a manner that it appears to be
the regular process followed, there being no intention
at all to utilise the flowers alone.] The finer the
mixed powder of herb and flowers is, the more effec-
tive will it prove to be. If any one wishes to pre-
pare the i^owder himself, and does not possess a
suitable mill, he may use a mortar covered with
leather. The quantity thus worked in a mortar should
however, not exceed about 1 lb., to avoid heating the
powder. When the substance appears to be com-
municated, it is transferred to a fine hair-sieve, and
the refuse remaining on it put back in the mortar.
It is very difficult to reduce the stems to powder in
this manner, which — as the author naively but truly
states — is not a serious disadvantage, as tlie flowers
are the most valuable portion of the plant. Insect
powder should be preserved in glass or met:illic vessels,
which should be closed air-tight.

Insect powder may be used either in form of dry
powder, or by fumigation, or in form of alcoholic ex-
tract, or mixed with water, or in form of infusion.

The work from which we quote advises to make
the first-mentioned method of using insect powder
cheaper by mixing it with flour, saw-dust or wool-
ashes, which do not interfere with the insecticidal
powers. [Of course, this may be done by the user
of the powder, provided the dilution is carried too
far.] The mixture ought to he. made at least twenty-
four hours before it is to be used, and should mean-
while be kept in air-tight vessels. Experiments have
been made which show that such mixtures acquire
greater eiBciency by keeping. It was found, for in-
stance, that af mixture of one part of insect powder
and eleven parts of flour, applied, immediately af t> r
being mixed, to certain caterpillars, was just sufiS-
ciently strong to kill them. But the same effect was
produced by applying to them a mixture of one part
of insect powder and twenty-two parts of flour which
had been mixed twenty-four hours before. [The ex-
planation of this may be that the volatile oil of the
flowers probably becomes more thoroughly diffused
through the mixture in the course of time. — Ed. Am.
Dr.]

The employment of insect powder by way of fumi-
gation is exceedingly effective, particularly in closed
rooms, where the dense smoke produced by it, which
is not at all disagreeable to human beings, soon kills
all insects, particularly those having tender or soft
bodies. This method ia especially valuable for the
purpose of killing mosquitos in rooms. All that is
necessary is to place a burning c<ial in a spoon or
other receptacle, and to sprinkle insect powder upon
it. In larger rooms, the spoon may be carried about,
or several may be thus used in order to distribute
the fumes properly. After a few minutes every mos-
quito will be found dead ; and, if the fumigation be
kept up for about half aa hour, the same fate will
have overtaken also — according to the author— any
fleas that might have been present. [He savs nothing
of bed-bugs, but it is certainly worth while to try
the above method for getting rid of this troublesome

pest, which is spreading gradually into houses of
opulence and comfort, where such disgusting visitors
had been previously nnheard of ! — Ed. Am. Dr.]

The third method of employment, in form of al-
coholic extract, is the most advantageous for use in
the fields and garden.

The principal drawback connected with the use of
insect-powder is this, that its effect, when applied in
substance, is only certain when it comes in actual
contact with soft-bodied insects. In the case of hard-
bodied or haired insects it often produces only stupe-
faction for a time this drawback is to a great extent
removed by employing the alcoholic liquid extract,
which may be prepared by percolation, or, according
to the author, by macerating I lb. of insect-powder
for four or five days with 2 pints of alcohol in a warm
place, then separating the alcohol and adding 1 pint
of glycerin. This liquid extract is to be diluted with
water before use. For hard-bodied insects it may be
diluted with twenty parts, for more sensitive insects
with thirty to forty parts of water. If it is to be u.sed
out-of-doors it is self-evident that it should not be
applied while rain is threatening, nor during the hot
part of the day. The best time is early in the morn-
ing while the dew is on the ground, or durjng cloudy
day.s.

If a decoction of insect-powder is desired, this may
be readily made by pouring boiling water upon it, and
macerating in a covered vessel until cold.

In many cases a simple mixture of insect-powder
and water will be found quite effective. A good pro-
portion is, according to the author, ^ oz. to 2 gallons.
[This seems to be altogether too weak.]

The decoction, however, is much more effective. It
must be used as soon after preparation as possible,
and at a time when its effect will not be interfered
with by the condition of the atmosphere.

It should be stated that the majority of insects do
not die immediately after having come in contact with
insect-powder or one of its preparations. They are
at first only stupefied, but death usually ensues after
a few hours, and in some cases not until after several
days. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

THE UPAS TREE.

BT REV, L. J. TEJrPLIN.

Among all the deadly poisons of nature, that of
the Upas stands pre-eminent for its terrible viru-
lence. Much of fiction has gathered around this
subject, and wonderful stories have been told concerning
this tree. About 1775, a Dutch surgeon, Fcersch,
who had travelled extensively in .Tava, published an
account of the Upas poison valley. According to
this author, such were the deadly exhalations from
the Upas tree, that no living thing could exist nearer
than fifteen miles of the tree. That the whole country
within a radius of this distance of the locality where
the trees grew, was a lifeless, barren waste, strewn
with the bones of animals, birds and human
beings that had inadvertently ventured within the
deadly influence. The poison was obtained, we are
toll, in the following manner :— Criminals, condemned
to death, were given a chance for life and freedom,
on condition of their procuring some of the Upas
posion. An old priest lived on the confines of the
" vallej' of death," whose duty it was to prepare the
Upas hunters for their duties, and administer the
consolations of religion to them before they started
on their perilous journey. Here they rested till a
favorable wind blew towards the tree, when, furuised
with ;i leathern mask or cowl, and a box to contain
the poison, they set out on their dangerous mission.
If a man posse--sed a robust constitution aad vigorous
health, he might return in safety ; otherwise not. The
priest stated, that in the thirty years he had officiated,
only about one in ten who liad gone forth on this
errand, had returned alive. Nearly all of this has
been proven to be pure fiction. No such poisonous
exhalations taint the air for miles around, though
the deadly character of the juice of the tree has not
been, and cannot be, exaggerated.

Mav 2, 1887.] I'HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

757

According to Thunberg, the famous Swedish botanist,
" the Upas tree, an evergreen, is easily recognized
at a great distance. The ground around it is sterile,
and looks as if it had been burned. The sap is of
a dark brown colour, and becomes liquid by heat, like
other resins. Those who gather it, have to employ the
greatest care ; covering the head, the hands, the whole
body, to protect tliemselveh from the poisonous eman-
ations of the tree, and especially from the drops which
fall from it. They avoid even approaching too near,
and they provide themselves with bamboos tipped
with steel heads, having a groove in the middle. A
score of these long spears are stuck into the tree, the
sap runs down the grooves into the hollow bamboo,
until it is stopped by the first joint of the wood.
The spears are left sticking in the trunk for three
or four hours, so that the sap may fill up the space
prepared for it, and have time to harden, after which
they are drawn out. The part of the bamboo which
contains the poison is then broken ofi, and covered
up with great care." Again, this author says : " Per-
sons passing beneath the branches bare-headed lose
their hair. A single drop falling on the skin produces
inflammation. Birds can with difficulty fly over the
tree, and if they by any chance alight on its bran-
ches, they fall dead. The soil around is perfectly
sterile to the distance of a stone's throw." This
poison is used to put on the arrow points, and also
in the execution of criminals. When the point of
a lance that has been dipped in this poison pierce.s
the skin the individual is " instantly seized with violent
trembling, then with convulsions," followed by death
in a tew minutes. The Upas is found in diflterent
parts of the East Indies, in Java, Borneo, Sumatra
and in th'i Celebes. The leaves are figured in many
books as those of Antiaris toxicaria. Rumph de-
scribes it under the name Arbor toxicaria. The tree
grows with a rather thick trunk 60 to 80 feet high
with extended spreading branches. The bark is rough
and knotty and of a brown color. The wood, which
is hard, has a pale yellow color, and is marked with
black spots. This tree belongs to the same family
with Strycnos Tiento, S. nux vomica, S. Ignatii, S.
(Jolubrina, from which the alkaloid strychnine is ob-
tained. These two poisons — strychnine and the Upas
poison — are the most virulent of all poisons known.
From the S. tient6 is obtained the Rajah Upas, or
poison of princes. This is a climbing plant that
rises spirally around the colossal trunks of trees, and
over-tops them at a hundred feet from the ground
where they spread their large, green, glossy leaves
and hang their fragrant clusters of white flowers in
the air and sun light. It is only in the root of this
plant that the deadly strychnine, the only active
principle it contains, is found, while that above ground
is harmless ; even the sap containing no dangerous
properties.— CViWrtOH Citi/, Col.

[Our correspondent is mistaken in classing the
Antiaris with the same family as Strychnos. The
last is an apocynaceous plant — the same family as
the common Periwinkle, and Oleander. Some of
these are very poisonous. The Antiaris or Upas
belongs to the same family to which belongs the
Mulberry and Osage oran?e — Urticacese— and few of
these are noxious. The Editor of this once had a
plant of the Upas tree under his charge for a year.
It was between 3 and 4 feet high, and growing in
a 12-inch pot. He had to handle and care for it the
same as other plants. His " skull and cro«s bones "
are still in their proper places, nor does he know
that he was ever in the slightest danger of having
them misplaced by reason of any deadly emanations
proceeding from the plant. — Ed. G. M.] — Gardeners'
Month'.]/.

[We can only wondnr at the patience of the Eflitor of
the Gardeners' Monthltj, with such exploded rubbish as
this Rev. Mr. Temp; in reprorluces. Every intelligent
schoolboy now knows that the valley in .J<iva owed
its pestiferousness not to tho libolled upas trees,
but to malarious gasos from the soil. — Ed.]

Planting the Red Cedar.— -It is proposed to plant
extensively the Red Oedar in Bavaria, Tke superiority

of the wood of this treo (Juniporus Virginiana) over
all other kinds of codar is well known. — Garden. [This
Virginian juniper ought to succeed iu the hill coun-
try of Oeylon, where varieties of junipers flourish.
—Ed.]

Those Haedy Coconuts. — By a casual expression
we judge that the recent learned editorial in a Philadel-
phia newspaper on planting coconuts along the Jersey
coast, was made up by an " intelligent correspondent "
-r-that is to say, a wise reporter in a fifth story
of a printing oflice--from a paragraph in a London
paper referring to the fruiting of the Chili Pine, or
Araucaria imbricata. These fruits were said to be
" twice the size of the ordinary coconuts," and the
"intelligent correspondent " aforesaid, who (in imagin-
ation) saw the trees along the cost, got "coconut"
in his mind, and thus became a mixed being. — Gardeners'
Monthly.

Solomon's Mines. — "Foma Dabu" writes from Olon-
curry. Queen sland, to the Mining Journal : — " la
looking over the correspondence in your valuable
journal of the I9th December, 1885, the following en-
quiry interested me immensely: — 'Solomon's Gold
Mines — Where are they :" AVhilst proceeding to Aus-
tralia in the month of October, one of my fellow
passengers on board, who had for years been a rail-
way contractor in ludia, said to me, in course of con-
versation. ' As you are a mining man, I know you
are interested iu anything connected with ancient
mining ; what is your opinion about Solomon's gold
mines, and where are they situated ?' My reply to the
last question was ' Either in India or Africa ; which,
I can't say'. He said ' I know it's India, for I believe
I have found the Ophir of Israel, and shall -some day
work it. It's situated in the side of a hill, and was
vTorked as an open cast of quarry, but is now over-
grown with tropical trees and plants, but its base
still shows a reef of quartz 20 ft. wide, grand looking
quartz for the production of gold.' The place men-
tioned by this gentleman is not the Mysore district,
but in Oeylon. This may not be interesting to many
of your readers, but it shows the Ophir of Israel is
looked for in various parts of India and large reefs
found in different parts. — Madras Mail.

The Great Forestry Question. — Often the Editor
of a magazine like ours must be tempted to cry
" what is the use " and put down his pen in despair ;
yet time tells often that his labors have not been
without result. Years since we started to show that
the so-called forest science, initiated by Mar.sh in
his "Man and Nature," was a complete farrago of
nonsense. It is pretty well understood now that trees
are a result and not a cause of climate.* The
hobgoblin being out of the way, there was nothing
left for city foresters to worry about but the short
supply of timber in the near future. Thus it became
a practical question only, and trees will be planted
wherever it will pay to grow them. Necessarily, as
we then had to say, there was nothing left but senti-
ment to care for the old forests. We cannot by all
the legislation on the law-year's shelves prevent forest
fires iu old forests, and the sooner these forests are
gone and new ones planted the better for all of us.
These views also are prevailing, and though we per-
sonally get little credit, it is some satisfaction to
feel that the work has by no means been lost. The
very fact that the strange idea has become so much
a part of the general thought of the world, till its
parentage has been lost, is the more encouraging.
Forestru says : — " The writer who says that our hope
of a timber supply does not lie in the direction of
preserving the old forests, but iu producing the new,
comes pretty near hitting the nail on the head.
Little good can come from allowing timber to stand
until it has seen its best days and begins
to decay and lose strength. It is not the ' primeval'
but thi- young fonst that needs protection." This
is not only our idea, but tin; exact language. — Gardeners'
JIontld!i.—[We heartily concur.— Ed.] ■

* The opinion which we formed forty-five years
ago in Uva, when requested to spare the forest so
that a river near Kataragama might not dry up, aud
from which wo have never swerved. — Ed.J

75 8

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURrST,

[May 2, i8i%

For IirPERJtEABLE Papee, dissolve one and one-half
pounds of white soap in a quart of water ; then
dissolve two ounces of gum Arabic and six ounces of
glue in another quart of water. Mix the two solu-
tions ; warm the mixture ; dip the paper in the
liquid; pass it between two rolls (a clothes-wringer,
for example), and put it to dry. In default of rolls,
hang the paper up that it may drip well, or, better,
pass it between two sheets of dry paper. Then let
at dry in a mild temperature. — La Nature.

A Cure fob Phylloxera. — It was stated at a recen*
meeting of the Academie des Sciences that after num-
erous experiments, MM. Couasnon and Salomon had
ascertained that this insect will not resist a tempera-
ture of 45° C. (113° F.), and that even the eggs of
the creature are destroyed by immersion in water of
that temperature. Supposing the statement to be
correct, it is evident that the plan would bo very
serviceable in the case of pot-Vines. In the mean-
time, it is a long while since we have seen any Vine-
louse either on the roots or the leaves. — Gardeners'
Chronicle.

Dh. George Watt, O.I.E., who acted for the Indian
Government as Superintendent of the Economic Court
of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition (Indian section),
communicates an interesting note on Indian hemp,
supplementary to the statement made by him last
November. Dr. Watt's suggestion that only the
Bengal " ganga " should be used in medicine is a
valuable one. There are few ofl5cial drugs which are
80 uncertain in therapeutics as Indian hemp ; but this
uncertainty may, it appears, be entirely removed by
using a drug which has been carefully cultivated.
The price of Bengal ganga may be prohibitive, but the
whole subject should be considered by authorities.-r-
Vheinist and Druggist.

Australian vinegrowers will be sorry to hear that
another vine pest has appeared. This is known as
the black rot, and is believed to hare been brought
into France from America, where it has wrought
terrible havoc about the Missouri. It has now broken
out in the department of the Harault, France.
This disease appears first in a small red spot on the
grape, and rapidly infects the entire cluster. The
fruit then dries up completely. Wlien the disease
first attacks the foliage, the spot is black. Vines
growing in rather damp soil, or in regions liable to
tloodiDi by overflowing rivers, are most liable to this
disorder. The American vines are the cause of this
pest coming into France. It is not known exactly
how to meet this new plague, but sulphur has been
advised. — Leader.

Portland Cement. — This material may be used for
repairing the woodwork of hothouses and all kinds
of structures where heat and moisture cause decay in
wood. The lower part of the door-jambs and the sills
soon become decayed and dilapidated, and I find by
experience that these can best be repaired and rend-
ered durable with the above cement. Take 1| yards
of Portland Cement, mix well together, and make soft
like mortar, then remove all the decayed parts of
the sills or uprights of any parts in the woodwork,
put a few nails into the old wood to hold on the
cement, then place a straightedge in front of the
dilapidated parts, and fill all the holes up with cement ;
bevel the surface of a sill so that water can run oif.
I have used cement for repairing wood for fourteen
years, and have found from experience that the treat-
ment win preserve wood for many years although
partly decayed. — Wm. Smythe. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

The"Pituri" Tree. — A Southern India contemporary
is glad to learn that the valuable Australian tree known
as Pitini, is about to be introduced on the Nilgiris.
It is greatly valued by the natives of South Australia,
pieces of the wood beius; carried by them for hundreds
of miles for barter. It is chiefly used as a medicine,
and as a masticatory, somewhat in the same way as
tobacco, by mixing a little of it with the ashes of acacia
leaves. It is very pungent in flavour with a pleasant
aromatic odour. The scientific namc^ is Duboisia Roop-
woodii, and Mr. 6. Goyder, who made an analysis of

it, writes as follows regarding it: — " Duhoisia Hoop'
wooilii, F. Von Muller, the Pituri, Inland desert regions
from New South Wales and Queensland to near the
West Coast of Australia. This plant deserves culti-
vation on account of its highly stimulating properties,
Dvhoisia mi/oporoide.i, of East Australia and New Cale-
donia, has come into use for oplitbalmic surgery.
The alkaloid of the latter {Duhoisia) is allied to Pitvria,
the alkali of the D. Hoopwoodii. Important for mid-
riatic purposes in medicine. The tree attains in deep
forest glens a height of sixty feet, but flowering al-
ready as a shrub. Mr. Corni.sh, its discoverer, expresses
the hope that, taking into consideration the great value
of this plant, it may be protected by the pastoral
lessees and the travelling pubhc. Mr. Cornish found
the plant only between lat. 24 and 25 degrees S. and
long. 133 and 139 degrees E, " It ought to prove a
great acquisition if the plant succeeds in the Nilgiris.
— Indian Ayrieulturist.

Incidental Advantages. — What one may do has
often advantages never foreseen. A miner, for instance,
goes into a dry and arid country, wholly unfit for
horticulture, and what he needs to support him
has to be brought hundreds of miles ; yet when he
has done all he can and deserts the place because it
produces nothing, that which he has done enables
thousands to live on it after he has been obliged to
leave it. Thus the early miners in California had
to leave after the precious metals were exhausted,
but the ditches they dug were whatjthe farmer wanted.
Many of these ditches which were constructed at
enormous cost in the heydaj' of placer mining, now
that the placers are all worked out, constitute a
perennial source of increase and wealth to the husband-
man, who has succeeded to the miner and come to stay.
One of these ditches, called the Bear River Ditch
is 70 miles in length and cost 2,500,000 dollars to
build, in the year 1851; it carries about 3,000 miners'
inches of water, or about 45 cubic feet per second.
It was constructed to bring the water of the Bear
river down to the rich placer mines of Placer county,
and was used for mining exclusively, but not now
at all. Eunning, as it does, through the fertile foot-
hills of that county, it is a permanent guarantee
of fruitfulness to the vineyards ard farms which are
being planted at either hand, on lands which lie
below the level of the ditch. — Gardeners' Monthly.

An exceedingly fine specimen of the Japanese per-
simmon {Diofpyros) has been forwarded to us from the
orchard of Messrs. Johnston Bros., Wellington Point.
It measured 15 in. in circumference, and weighed 17oz,
This specimen was from one of the seedless varieties,
and consequently can only be propagated by grafting
upon seedlings of the other varieties. In flavour and
appearance the fruit is not unlike a luscious apricot.
It is a tree that should be in every garden, as it is
handsome in appearance and comes quickly into fruit ;
if we remember rightly, the tree from which this fine
specimen is sent to us is only three years old. The
tree attains a height of about 12 ft. and when
in full fruit is a most beautiful object. It requires
no particular attention besides being provided with a
good garden soil. There are several species of Dios-
pi/ros which are useful to man. The name signifies the
character of the fruit, for it is from dios fdiviue) and
ptjrus a pear. The Chinese date plum is the D. kaki,
and is well known now in our gardens ; the D. lotus
is the European lote, or date plum, to which was
attributed the power of causing oblivion when eaten ;
the D. ehenus is the ebony wood of commerce, and
and D. virgiana is a lofty tree 60 ft. high, the persimmon
of the settlers in the Southern States of America.
Those settlers who are planting orchards in this
colony should on no account omit either the
Chinese date or the seedless persimmon from their
list when ordering from the nurseryman. May is
(juite early enough to transplant, unless they can be
obtained in pots. One advantage these fruits have is
that they are so fearfully astringent that neither
insect, flying-fox, nor boy will touch them until quite
ripe, and they can be gathered when still astringent,
and will ripen in the house or during the journey
to market.— QK«ens?and«>-.

MAViJ, 3887.3

"tm TROPICAL AGRtCULTURISt.

759

THE NEW ENEMY OF COFFEE:— GEEEN
BUG.

[" OBSERVATIONS ON THE GBEKN SCALE BUG IN CONNEC-
TION WITH THE CDLTIVATION OF COFFEE, " BY E.
ERNEST GREEN, PUNDALUOYA — PUBLISHED BY THE
CEYLON GOVERNMENT.]

This little pamphlet has hitherto — somewhat
unaccountably — escaped our notice. It has been
compiled at the request of Government by Mr
E. E. Green, whose efforts have resulted in a very
interesting life history of the most recent pest
which has affected coffee cultivation in Ceylon, and
— like the locusts that ate up all that the hail had
left — has devoured all that was left by the leaf.
disease in the northern districts, and to a con-
siderable extent in other coffee-growing portions of
the country.

This scale bug is named Lecanium viride, to
distinguish it from the Lecanium coj'ece and the
Lecanium nigrum, which constituted the old black
bug known in Ceylon from the very early days
of coffee planting. The presence of all these scale
bugs is alike followed by the black fungoid growth

which induced the commonly-used term black
bug. Mr. Green gives us a description of the L.
viride, and compares it with the other species,
in size and appearance, and adds a plate of
beautifully executed coloured figures both natural
size and highly magnilied. The greater destruc-
tiveness of the green bug compared with the others
is explained by the difference in its reproduction.
Impregnation of the female of the brown and
black Lecanium is direct — the male insect being
a small winged insect, and "the eggs are not
hatched until after the death of the parent insect
whose body shrivels internally whilst the external
scale becomes firmly attached to its support and
forms a protection to the eggs and young larva."
This was well-known to all our planters but the
modus generandi of the green bug is very different
and will, no doubt, be new to many of those who
have been accustomed to consider the old and
new bug as one and the same insect.

" The eggs ot Lecanium viride are hatched under
the body^and during the life of the parent insect,
which possibly produces several successive broods.
(Since writing the above I have found immature
eggs inside the body of the parent insect after
the first brood has been hatched). This may
account for the greater numbers and destructive-
ness of the species under notice. The eggs which
vary in number, but are seldom more than
twenty, are hidden by the body of the living
insect, and are hatched in that position. The
young larvte is only visible to the naked eye as
a minute speck. It is very active and moves
freely from kaf to leaf deserting the old,
and spreading over the youug shoots where it
finally settles itself, and soon developes the scale
characteristic of the mature insect. It is
ill this early larval stage, probably that the pest is
chiefly propogated, as besides its own powers of
locomotion, it is liable to be transpoi'ted by wind,
in the feathers of birds, and upon coolies' clothing.
The young insect (as I have proved by experiment)
will live for many days without food, and might
easily be unconsciously transported from one dis-
trict to another over considerable distances."

Here then we have an explanation of the extreme
apidity with which the green bug has spread over
tbe country aocl the estraQr^ioary d^gtfuctiyenedci

with which its career has been characterized, render-
ing it by far the most formidable enemy with which
the planter has had to contend. Mr. Green puts for-
ward a supposition as to the impregnation of the
female insect which we recommend to the attention of
entomologically inclined readers. We merely quote
the paragraph with the remark, that as far as can
be learned from the text — the only reason he has
to give for adopting it as probable, is the fact of
the male insect being at present unknown : —

"It is probable that the insects now existing
though externally resembling the female form, are
asexual, and that their broods are produced by
the phenomenon known as ' Fartheno Genesis,' by
which several successive generations are fertile
without the aid of the male element (as is known
to occur in the development of aphis and a few
allied insects). Professor Huxley states that the
number of successive broods has no certain limit,
but is, as far as we know at present, controlled
only by temperature and the supply of food."

"Effect of the green scale bug upon coffee " is
unfortunately too well-known in Ceylon to need
reproduction in our columns. "The results of
manuring and liberal cultivation " may be con-
densed into a single sentence "manure has been of
use only where the trees have not quickly suc-
cumbed to the efl'ect of the bug ; on poor soil the
tree seems to be permanently injured upon the first
appearance of the pest — and manure entirely fails
to revive them."

" Will trees badly attacked by the bug, event-
ually throw it off and survive ? It is difficult to
obtain reliable information upon this question ; but
there seems to be no doubt that in some few cases
the pest has disappeared from once badly infested
coffee." Here a tew facts are mentioned as proof
which need no comment and it is when we come
to "proposed remedies" that our readers will be
interested. Writing of the remedies for the old
bug, Mr. Green says that maana grass has no
effect ; caustic lime is equally useless, the same in
regard to wood-ashes. If the caustic lime could
possibly be applied to every insect it would prove
fatal, but that is an impossibility. Acting on a
suggestion of the late Mr. Neitner in his " Enemies
of the Coffee Tree," that tar applied to the roots
and "taken up into the system of the tree throws
off the bug." " 1 have tried the solution of Phenyle
brought into notice as an insecticide " a few years
ago. It is one of the extracts of coal tar, and
probably contains most of its active properties in
a form that can be more easily taken into the
system of the tree. The mixture used consisted
of one desert spoonful of phenyle to two quarts
of water. The soil around the root of the tree
was thoroughly broken up with a digging fork,
and the liquid applied from an ordinary watering
can. My experiment was limited to a single tree,
and scarcely a sufficient time has elapsed to judge
of its success. But it has seemed to me that the
pest upon that tree has been gradually disappear*
ing although the surrounding trees have not altered
their condition. Dec. 31st. — after an interval of a
month I now find that this tree has entirely thrown
off the bug, although on neighbouring trees the pest
has rather increased than otherwise."

This is so far satisfactory as phenyle could be
obtained in large quantity at a very small cost
and we should like to hear more of this ex-
periment and of similar ones on a larger scale.
Mr. Green has also heard of the success of an
application of Schrotky's cure for leaf dis-
ease 15 per cent carbolic lime, 3 bushels to an
acre, in ten days the bug turned white and died,
and after a months the colee ig looking remark'
ably bealtby.

^]bd

mt TnoMcAL Aonici^tfunmTs tUA^ «, mf.

i^m

"Origin of the Pest:" — First attracting atten-
tion in Matale in 1882, it iiad reached Pus-
selawa in 1884, Eamboda in 1885, and Badulla
1886. The only suggestion as to its introduction
is one Mr. Green has heard from another person,
namely, that it came with Liberian coffee from the
West Coast of Africa. We append a communic-
ation on this point from a planter, who, we believe,
first pointed out that the green bug must be a
different species from the old one — even though
he had not then seen it — arguing from what
he had heard of its habits and effects at low
elevation and in dry weather. Finally we learn
that, "this species of scale bug is by not any
means confined to the coffee tree. I have found
it flourishing upon cinchona though it does not
seem to injure any except the very young trees.
I have frequently observed it upon orange and
lime trees, upon guava, and a large number of wild
plants. I have occasionally seen it on tea bushes,
but not in sufficient quantities to effect the healthy
growth of the plant."

Mr. Green deserves the thanks of his fellow-plan-
ters for giving them the benefit of his labours in
this investigation, and we may hope that he will
from time to time let us hear of any new dis-
coveries he may make elucidating questions effect-
ing the planting industries of the island. The com-
munication from a planter to which we have re-
ferred, is as follows : —

" I see Mr. Green in his monograph on the green
scale bug has just touched on my pet theory of
its introduction with Liberian coffee from the West
Coast of Africa. There is no doubt in my mind that
as regards time they made their appearance together.
In this respect my assertion is supported by Messrs.
Alex. Ross and J. HoUoway and also by W.
A. Lyford whose experience of it lies chiefly at
Amblangodde, The bug came with Liberian plants
into Pundaloya and was visible on them long be-
fore it spread to the other coffee. Still this does
not prove anything, and I think the Government
having induced Mr. Green to tell us all he can
about it should now send the "life history" to
our Consuls on the West Coast of Africa and re-
quest their investigation, and report. The Consul
for Imperial Germany told me he would willingly
do all he could in that direction if copies were
put into his hand. It would indeed be a curious
instance of the ' irony of fate ' if Liberian coffee
which was to revive the fallen fortunes of coffee
planters should prove to have been the indirect
means of destroying them altogether. Possibly Mr.
Shelton Agar might be able to tell us whether
he noticed any black or green bug on the coffee
he saw in Liberia. Scale bug of kinds and black
fungus may be met with in almost all tropical
countries, and probably everywhere in the world."
Our latest news is of a bad attack of the green
bug on 150 acres of tine coffee in Dikoya which had
always been well cultivated and generally treated
with cattle manure ', the prospect of a line crop
this year was very good, but just as the spike of
blossom appeared it got all nipped off by the green
bug. We have already referred te the way in which
this enemy has disappeared from many Uva estates
after being supposed to have fairly established
itself- We have also noticed successful experiments
by Oapt. Bayley's manager with kerosine and
caustic lime, in getting rid of the pest, which was
also killed out by the frosts of the present season
in Udapusaellawa. There is no doubt that the
owners of good coffee should be on the alert to
fight this enemy in one or other of the ways as
may be found most suitable, mentioned by us or
by Mr. Green— giviag their neighbours the beoelit I
ol (heir esperieQce. J

We have just learned from Mr. Shelton Agar that
he never saw or heard of green bug, or bug of any
kind, on coffee on the Liberian Coast. He found
some coffee leaves there aff'ected alter a fashion
that reminded him of our leaf disease and sent
them to Kew for report. The answer was that
there was nothing approaching to the Heinileia
vastatrix, and that the cause of discoloration was
one of no moment.

Crkole Corn Meal. — An experiment was being
made by a well-known Georgetown (Demerara)
establishment, to introduce Creole corn meal into
the local market. The meal is made of corn
grown in Demerara and ground by a mill imported
especially for the purpose, and it is recommended
by the Argosy as being " of decidedly superior
quality to the ordinary run of corn meal imported
from the States." It is off'ered for sale at less
than the price of the American article.

Fixation of atmospheric nitrogen of soils, says the
Agricultural Students' Gazette, is a vexed question,
and .still undecided. A large mimber of espbrimenfcs,
extending over two year-s, the results of whicb have
recently been published by Mens. M. Berthelot, tend
to show that argillaceous soils have a very distinct
power of absorbing and fixing atmospheric nitrogen.
The soils experimented with were placed under different
conditions, in closed flasks, in a well-lighted room, in
a meadow under shelter, and on a tower 1'8 metres
high, without shelter. In all cases there was a gradual
increase of combined nitrogen, and this not in the
form of ammonia nor of nitrates, but apparently of
amido compounds. Berthelot believes the action to
be due to micro-organisms, for when the soil was
sterilised by heating to 100° C. it no longer took place;
cold also stopped the absorption. He calculates that
at least 20 to 32 kilograms per hectare are thus absorbed
by clay soils per annum. Mons. Joulie also has published
the results of some experiments which appear to prove
that when crops are growing on soils there is a very
considerable fixation of atmospheric Litrogen. — Indian
Agriculturist.

NoETHEEN Plantation Expebuients. — The Cooktown
Independent speaks as follows of Mr. Dick's planting
entei-prise on one of the branches of the Eadeavour
Kiver : — " There are four acres under coffee, chiefly
Liberian, the plants varying from 2^ to f) feet in
height, according to age, (from 1 to" 3 years trans-
planted). There are nearly 100 in bloom, with here
and there the gorgeous little berries peeping out
from among the leaves. Every plant looks healthy,
and the whole forms a pretty littl< scrap of land-
scape, quite new in the Far-North of Queensland.
There are 4| acres filled with a great variety of tro-
pical fruit trees, including several species of oranges,
citrons, tamarinds, mangoes, lemons, figs, apples,
cinnamon, nutmeg, (in flower) annatto, {in .seed) gren-
adillas, mulberries, jack fruit, pomegranates, mango-
steens, pa.paw.s, a magnificent tree la len with Braziliin
apples, and a couple of very healthy looking tea
plants in bloom. There are a few peach trees, each
about 5 feet high, but neither they nor the vines
seem to thrive very well. Mr. Dick had previously
grown fine sugar cane on the levels and as an ex-
periment tried it on the high lands and ridges, reault"
ing in equal succes.s, and jjroving beyond a doubt
that there is scarcely an acre of his 640, which
will not grow almost any known tropical productioUi
The soil is execellent and well watered throughout,
but only about 30 acres are yet cleared for cultiva-
tion, the rest being used for grazing. Consideriug
the cost of labour and the expense of bringing plants
and seeds from Ceylon, India, Batavia, and China,
Mr. Dick has done wonders with his limited means,
and has paved the way for capitalists to prosecute
tropical agriculture on a large scale," We cheerfully
endorse all this, for we had the pleasure of inspect-
ing the favoured locality in May, 1883; and formed
our own opinions on the suitability of the soil,
clima'te, and locality, just as expressed ibove,
"Planter and Farmer,

May 2, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

y6i

_1uMU.

FBUIT GEOWING IN FLOEIDA.
Fiji is far behind Florida as a fruit-growing country,
as evidecce the following statements in the Scientific
American supplement of 26th Nov., headed, "Profit
of Fruits and Vegetables grown in Florida." The writer
commences: — "I now speak from my own knowledge
of what can be done at Orescent Oity, Putnam Co.,
Florida. Of the orange, banana, and pineapple, I can
speak with more certainty than of any other product.
Upon each acre of ground seventy-five orange trees may
be successfully grown. Some persons plant more than
this number per acre, but I will assume 75 as a basis
of my statement ; when in full bearing it is far within
the truth to estimate 1,500 oranges as the annual yield
of each tree, and it is not at all difficult to realise S 10
per 1,000 for them, which gives the aggregate of § 1,225
per acre. The orange tree may be brought to bear in
fii-x years ; the first crop will be light.

Pineapples are propagated by setting out the shoots
of mature fruit ; some thousands or more plants may
be successfully planted upon one acre, and, at S15
per 100, would yield an annual income of §1,050 per acre.
The banana is propagated by planting out suckers,
and will bear from the second year, and annually, there-
after, for an indefinite period. It requires no culti-
vation, and only needs to be let alone to grow, and
constantly enrich its owner. About 500 plants may be
successfully grown on one acre. As each plant produces
from five to seven bunches of fruit, it follows that the
return to the grower at, say, fifty cents per bunch
would be $1,500 to §1,700 per acre. To convince my
readers how far within the truth I endeavour to keep,
I will say that a party, in Bradentown, Florida, has
just sold his banana crop, from off one acre, for $3000.
The coconut is a good paying tree ; the yield
annually is about 150 nuts per tree; they come into
bearing seven years after planting the nut, and there
can be put about 300 trees upon one acre. They require
no cultivation. Under these circumstances an acre
would yield, at a net return of $3 to a tree, $900
per acre. — Fiji Times.

♦

Fbuit Trkes in Oalifornia.— The number of fruit
trees in California is : Apple, 2,700,000 ; peach, 1,200,000;
pear, 500,000 ; plum and pruen, 600,000 ; cherry, 400,000 ;
apricot, 500,000,; orange, 1,600,000; lime anl lemon,
500,000. It is estimated that there are 70,000 acres
of grape-vines. — Planter and Farmer.

Manilla Hemp in India.— There is reason to
believe that this fibre has been placed in a position
of importance to which it is not entitled. Traditon
has no doubt handed down the fact that it is of
great strength and durability, and capable of sustaining
a great strain. It is possible that in Manilla, where
probably fibre-yieldmg plants are not plentiful, and
in its native soil, the Miisa textilis takes a high place
among fibres, but the results of its cultivation in
India have certainly not realized the expectations
entertained of it. We have in these columns from
time to time noticed the results of experiments with
this plant in different parte of India, and in no one
case do we recollect these results to have been
satisfactory in any sense of the term. The Government
of India has doubtless spent a great deal of money
in the conduct of these experiments, and it is our
opinion that they should now cease. SuflScient time
ha^ been given to the Manilla hemp, and after many
trials, it has been found wanting in two of the
essential qualities necessary for the successful cultiv-
ation of any ecocomic plant in this country, viz., low
cost of production, and cultivation without artificial
irrigation. There are numerous plants, indigenous to
the country, which yield a fibre in every respect
equal, if not superior, to that of Manilla hemp, and
which can be grown with the minimum of trouble,
and at a very low cost, in addition to which they
have the further advantage of being known to the
people. When one of our commonest fibre-plants. Sun
hemp, (Crotolaria Junce'a), yields a large crop per
acre, at less thsn one-third the cost of a better quality
of fibre, it is time the Musa textilis was given up. —
Indian Ayriciiltwist.
96

CUBED VINE.

Another new product suitable for Oeylon cultiva-
tion has quite recently been brought to my Hotice by
a Mincing Lane broker, who inquired why no
attention has ever been given by any planters in your
island to the growth of the cubeb vine. The ciibebs
of the druggist are the product of a vine having all
the appearance of, and grown in a similar manner, to
the pepper vine ; and as we all know that pepper was
largely grown in Oeylon by the Dutch for the pur-
pose of packing amongst their cinnamon, there can
be no good reason why cubebs may not also be pro-
duced. From some cause not understood in Europe
the production of ciihebs in Java has seriously de-
clined during the last six or seven years ; whilst on
the other hand the demand for them, at any rate in
the United States, has considerably increased owing
to their recent use in the cure of asthmatic affections,
and in many cases of catarrh. From the very low
price of 30s. per cwt. the article has advanced
steadily until it stands now at £21 to £23 per cwt !
A trade report on this article says : — " The consumption
of the article cannot now be said to be on the in-
crease ; in fact, during the last few years the im-
ports in America have been falling off. At present
our stock has been very much reduced, and at the
commencement of the mouth amounted to only 41
bags in the first hand, while from £21 to £23 is
quoted for stalky to good genuine berries. In Holland
the imports during 1886 amounted to about 200 bags,
less than half of which belong to the acknowledged
genuine variety. The !Dutch market is now said to be
very bare, the stock at Amsterdam not exceeding
1,050 lb., 600 lb. of which are grey berries. The
quotations at Amsterdam for genuine berries appear
to be slightly in excess of those prevailing here. If
recent mail advices from America can be trusted,
the stock at New York is also very low, being esti-
mated at less than 7,000 lb., or barely sufficient for
one mouth's requirements. All indications, therefore,
point to the maintenance, for some time at any rate,
of the excessive prices now prevailing. It is true
that several shipments are reported on the way from
the East Indies, but unless these should be of ex-
ceptional magnitude they will in all probability be
quickly bought up for consumption." No doubt the
present high price will not continue, but the pro-
duction for some reason do'^s not seem to be on the
increase in spite of these figures. The eastern resi-
dencies of the island of Java produce the bold grey
berries, the genuineness of which has been a matter
of considerable doubt, and is generally disputed in
this country and in America. The small, dark-coloured,
genuine berries are all grown in central and western
Java, notably in Baujoemaas and in Bantam. The
shrub is occasionally met with in the wild state, but
it is more generally cultivated, sometimes in special
plantations, but usually in the coffee gardens. Some
years ago the Dutch Indian Government, with a view
to encourage the cultivation, distributed a large num-
ber of your plants to coffee-growers throughout Java.
The Pi2ier Guheba requires very little .attention: it
climbs round the large trees which are grown for
shading in coffee plantations, and attains, when full
grown, a height of 18 to 20 feet. The statement
formerly often made that cubeb plantations in Java
were being uprooted in order to make way for coffee
gardens may therefore be regarded as fabulous.
Oubebs are also grown largely in the Lampong dis-
tricts, the extreme southern portion of Sumatra, and
in certain parts of southern Borneo. The yield is
collected by Chinese dealers, and exported via Batavia
or Singapore. Shipments from the former place usually
find their way to Holland, while the cubebs exported
via Singapore are generally forwarded to London or
New York. An important part of the crop is con-
sumed in Eastern countries. In the belief that the
cultivation of this climber might be profitably carrii'd
on in the low districts of your island, such as
Kurunegala, Kalutara, Yatiyantota, and other such
localities, I paid a visit to Kew Gardens, where I

^6 2

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[MaV 2, 1887.

interviewed Mr, D. Morris on the subject. This
geutlem<in showed me colored engravings of the plan t
and aUo a living plant, not very vigorou", in one of
the glass-houses. He grew the plant in Jamaica, and
knows of no reason why it should not thrive in the
low, hot, moist districts of your island. It is pro-
pagated by cuttings, which take root very rapidly.
He thinks it probable Dr. Trimen may have .some
in the Peradeniya Gardens, but supplies might be
obtained from Batavia through some commercial
atjfncy, or better still through the Director of your
Botanic Gardens, as the Dutch Gjvernment are jealous
of any rivalry in this direction, and might throw
obstacles in the way of private efforts. It would
really seem as though this industry is worth attention.
The outlay on an experiment need be only very
trifling. I was not able to ascertain data as to yield
or age for bearing. — London Cor. Local " Times."

THE

CULTIVATION OF COCOA IN
VENEZUELA.

Report by Consul Bird, of La Guayra, Venezuela. —
TheoOroma, a Greek word signifying food of the go(U,
is the botanical name of the cocoa plant. As Strif-
fler has said—" The feculce and oleaginous matter
that are par excellence the alimentary substance dis-
pensed by the vegetable kingdom are often found
combined in the same vegetable, and nature, re-
sponsive to .the necefsities of our ephemeral existence
almost always adds to this combination some aroma,
thus blending the agreeable with the useful. This
triple combination is especially noted in the cocoa,
and for this, Linnaeus, in his enthusiasm, gave it the
name of Theobroma. Indeed, it only wants the pro-
perty of sweetness to give us an idea of the fabled
ambrosia that, with the delicious nectar, furnished
aliment for the mythological deities." This genus
comprises some sixteen species that pertain to the
warmest zone of America, and that it would be un-
necessary to enumerate. "\Ve will only consider the
two most important that are cultivated here, a know-
ledge of which will suffice for the cultivation of all.

The red cocoa, commonly known as violet cocoa, is
a plant thirteen to sixteen feet high, with upright
and slender branches. The leaves are slightly pedi-
culate, eight to ten inches long, oblong or ovate-
oblong, alternate, perfect, smooth, and of the same
colour on both sides. The flowers are small reddish
or yellow, and numerous stigmas caulinareus, pendulous,
or axillary ; the fruit reddish, high-coloured or yellow-
ish, smooth, ribbed like the musk-melon, forward
somewhat like the cucumber, but pointed at the
extremity : beans larger than the almond.

The green variety, commonly called white cocoa ;
is a plant six to ten feat high when cultivated ; but
in its wild state attains to a height of twenty-five
to thirty feet, with outspreading branches. The leaves
are very similar to those of the variety just des-
cribed. The flowers are also similar, though some-
what violet-coloured ; fruit of clear green colour very
wrinkled and resembling the fruit of the balsam-tree,
though, of course, much larger. The beans are smaller
and less nutritious than those of the former variety,
though equally esteemed.

All authors agree that — (1) the cocoa is indigenous
to the soil of America ; (2) it flourishes in the s^hade
of the forests, and is developed with luxuriance at the
bases of mountains, where it is watered b^ running
streams or near river.s, where the soil is alluvial or
mixed with sand and clay ; (3) it requires a tem-
perature that does not fall below 75 deg. Fahr. It
may therefore be deduced that for its perfect de-
velopment cocoa requires shade, warmth, and moisture.
In low land, on the banks of streams — that is to
Siy, in alluvial soil — it can always be safely, if care-
lully, cultivated. Although in such cases it is liable
to inundation, yet all danger will be avoided if the
land is well drained and kept free from the drifts
and deposits of the waters. An excess of moisture
will rot tho roots and destroy the plants • and so, if
the land does not drain well, it is necessary t» open

renches in the direction of the greatest declivity

Cocoa needs the shade of trees to maintain a,
humid atmosphere and to preserve the moisture of
ih ! soil. In a hard or clay soil, not naturally moist,
it will be impossible to grow it unless so located
that, by means of small trenches, water may be
turned upon it every fifteen days during the summer
months. A virgin soil is con.sidered best, but fertile
fallow laud, suitable for corn or bananas, is adapted
to its cultivation. In the territory of Loba, province of
Mompos, Colombia, are to be seen some hundreds
of cocoa trees upon a hill, growing vigorously with-
out irrigation. This, however, is rare. It may be
laid down as a safe rule that where the palm and
banana grow naturally the soil is well adapted to
cocoa and coffee.

The general rule is that all fruit posses.ses the
full germinative quality when well ripe ; but the cocoa
is an exception to this rule, since beans matured,
though not fully ripe, are considered best, and as in
this stage it is much easier to hull them, they are
preferred. Seed pods chosen for the purpose .should
b3 a brighter colour than the green pods, and on
thumping them with the finger wdl emit a sound
like that of a ripe water melon. The beans will be
found loose in the shell. The pods should be care-
fully opened with a knife and the beans emptied
into a tub of clear water, to remain for twenty-four
hours, in order that the cuticle around them may be
softened and easily pulled of. As they are divested
of this cuticle they should be thrown into another
tub of pure water, from which they should be planted
within six hours ; if allowed to remain longer they
turn red and are lost. The beans that, after being
peeled, swim on the surface of the water are worthless.

The beans are planted in a nursery or the orchard
itself. A good nursery is, however, considered most
proper and reliable. It should be five feet ■wide and
as long as necessary. It should be well ploughed
or spaded, covered with a brush arbour to shade from
the sun, and laid off in cross-ridges eight inches apart.
The seed should be planted four inches apart on the
top of the ridge, and a little more than half under-
ground, and all covered with banana leaves. They
should be watered every morning and evening. Before
planting they have a whitish or violet colour. After
ten hours the leaves may be removed, when it will
be observed that the seeds are rising out of the
soil, urged thereto by the germinating roots. If they
assume a greenish colour it is an indication of per-
fect germination. The irrigation must be continued,
iu the absence of rain, for six months, when the
plants are ready to be set in the orchard. It is
found best to plant the nursery in this climate in
November, to transplant in April or May. At the
period of transplanting a raioy reason should be select-
ed, each plant taken up with the earth attached
and carefully set in its place. If properly done at
a propitious time, there is no danger of losing a single
plant.

If the seed are to be planted in the orchard, three
should be placed in each spot in the manner before
described, and covei-ed for eight days to protect them
from the sun. When the plants are twenty inches
high, two plants may be drawn out and the most flourish-
ing one left. — Planter and Farmer.

AGRICCLTURE ON THE CONTINENT OP

EUROPE,

[Special Letter.)

Phosphorous orp'iosphoricacid, is.the most important
of foo 1 element of plants, and consequently an invalu-
able fertiliser of the soil. Now the greater part of
phosphoric acid, taken from the land by the crops,
is not returned thereto, and so is a dead loss for
agriculture. A little intelligent attention could readily
save a large portion of this great waste, estimated
at several thousand tons annually.

A man weighing eleven stones, represents in his
organization i^S ounces of phosphoric acid. During a
twelvemonth, he requires for his life-wants about 2 ib.
of it to replace a similar amount equally eliminated.

Mav s, mf:} l^m ^^OFiCAt AQmajhTuRlUT,

i^i

A populatiou of 38 icillions, such as that of Fracce,
borrows then from its alimentation some 80,000 tons
of phosphoric acid per annum. If the death-rate of
this population be reckoned at 23 per 1,000 inhabitants,
the amount of phosphoric acid in their remains
represents a proportionate total of the acid, definitely
abstracted from arable laud.

Per contra, the annual dejectiansof acity's inhabitants
constitutes a partial restoration of the acid to the soil
some forty per cent of it is however totally lost for
agricultural wants. The extraction of the fertilising
elements from the soil — chiefly phosphoric acid — without
any being restored thereto, was one of the main
causes of the decay of the empires of Greece and
Rome ; of the power of the Arabs and of the prosperity
of Spain. When the sources of their food-supply
■were exhausted by a vampire system of cultivation
their power and prosperity followed suit.

Moderns are more fortunate than their ancestors
in being able to secure to-day inexhaustible supplies
of phosphoric acid. French agriculturists are indebted
to the late M. de Molou, for his discovery of natural
beds of phosphate of lime. Messrs. Thomas and
Gilchrist have utilized the slag, cinders or scoriae, this
once useless out-put of metallurgic industry, but now
invaluable for its richness in phosphoric acid resulting
from the dephosphorization of iron. The employment
of phosphorus has become to-day the pahuliom vita
of crops. Continental farmers rush after the fertilizer
almost like diggers to a gold mine.

There are 'hree natural groups or sources of
phosphates ; nodules, incorrectly called coprolites
peculiar to stratified rocks, and containing 34 to 60
per cent of phosphate. When ground down to a fine
powder it is easily absorbed by plants. Its action
is almost equal to that of pho.sphoric acid when
rendered soluble in water. The second group is
called apatite. It is one of the constituent elements
of an eruptive rock, in the middle of which it is dissemi-
nated more or less frequently, but ever variable. It is
almost pure phosphate — as high as 95 per cent crystalliz-
ed, very hard, and imbediled in a vein enclosing potash.
The third source is included under the generic name
of phosphorite. In structure, it partakes of the shape-
less coprolit? and the crystllized apatite. The latter
and phosphorite even when reduced to an impalpable
powder are less assimilable than the pulverized nodules.
Their principal employment is for the production of
superphosphates due to their richness in phosphoric
aciii and carbonate of lime. However, they are the
nodules from the South of France, Nassau, and Spain,
which furnish agriculture with four-fifths of its
commercial phosphates.

As already stated, the nodules when in a .'tate of
powder, are rapidly taken up by plants. The apatite
and phosphorite present a greater resistance to the
action of the internal juices of the plant, which take
up— by the process of diffusion — through the external
envelope of the root, the phosphoric acid of the soil.
Obviously, the practical consequences flowing from
these remarks is, to reduce the fertilizers to a state
of extreme division, before applying them to the
soil. And let the dose be liberal, say 2| cwt. per
acre, which will tell on four or five consecutive crops.

The apatite and phosphorite can be quickened iu
their action if when reduced to powder they are
made into a compost and watered with urine. But
as the nodules and slag powders answer so well, and
are so cheap, there is no necessity for recurring to
the others. In the case of organic superphosphates,
the only superiority they can claim over the powders
la that of being more immediately soluble. But
against ;his advantage must be placed the greater
expense. M. Wagner of Darmstadt has clearly proved
by his experiments the necessity of employing the pow-
dered cinders in a state of great fineness. At Quareux
in Belgium, the employment of nitrate of soda with
the pulveriz 'd slag has given important results in
the culture of oats. The cinders reduced to powder
cost fr, 45 per ton, and represented about '23 per
cent of phosphoric acid.

The agricultural problem consists to produce much

*t A littls outlay • but reojuaerative crops caosot ho

produced without abundant manurings, no djoto than
could a good dinner be prepared from nothing. Here-
tofore, soluble phosphates cost half a franc per lb ;
now the insoluble acid iu the form of powder costs
fifty per cent less. The slag gave wonderful results
when applied to grass land. Near Freising in Bavaria,
a dose of 8 cwt. of the cinders per acre and cost-
ing only 9 fr. doubled the yield of hay. dissociated
with nitrate of soda equally gratifying results were
produced.

The movement of opinion for the extension of experi-
mental farms is rapidly extending. The Goverrment
accords sometimes material aid for the execution of
the experiments, but more usually lends its agri-
cultural representatives to superintend their carrying out
and to report the results. Ordinarily, a spirited pro-
prietor places some acres, and all corresponding
facilities at the disposal of the oflBcials. These experi-
mental acres are ostensibly devoted to the solution
of local or rather regional questicnSj such as the
most suitable seeds, time and manner of sowings,
manures, and the influence of climate i:c. thereon.
Each experiment is tested pending four years and
controlled by an impartial official. It is on these lines
that M. Hardou has placed five acres of his farm near
Melun to test wheat-experiments ; at first, the farmers
kept aloof, but now they watch the proceedings with
something like the interest of a horse race. Nothing
is concealed ; all accounts and projjress are open for
any person to consult, and a register is kept for
visitors to make suggestions or record their impres-
sions. In a few years when the reports on these
disinterested experimental lauds are co-ordinated, they
must give rise to a consensus of practical conclusions,
equivalent to a positive code for agriculture in general
and for the localities in particular.

Science has long ago established the indispensableuess
of nitrogen in the production of plants, and that
agriculture appreciates practically by the importance
of that element in the manures furnished to the soil.
But what is still uncertain is to know, if the atmosphere,
which is an inexhaustible store house of azote, and
offers it gratuitously to plants, is the source of
nitrogen for the vegetable world. The whole subject
has just been discussed at the Congress of Scientists
held at Berlin, so we have all that is known up to
date on the question of the absorption of free nitrogen
from the air.

We know that an electric spark couverts the azoto
of the atmosphere into nitrate of ammonia, and which
the rain brings down with it to the soil ; but it is
calculated that during a year an acre of ground docs
not receive more than 9 lb. in this form. Practice,
however, has not the less aflirmeil, that certain
plants, clovers especially, had the exceptional power
to utilize free nitrogen for the formrttion of their
tissues, while at the same time euriching the soil.
The I'esults of SchuUz's experiments at Lupitz seem
to roughly confirm this opinion. On the other band
the researches of Boussmgault are decisive respecting
the non-absorption of free nitrogen from the air.

Boussingault raised leguminous plants on a soil
deprived of nitrogen, and so they had no other sourcu of
deriving it save from the air. On analysing the plants,
he only found in their tissue a quantity of azote
equal to that existing in the seed, and so only obtainable
during the process of germination. This was precise
negative evidence.

Now the importance of these issues is plain ; if a
farmer pursues a system of culture couutiug on tbo
air to supply the nitrogen, ho may come to grief,
Dietzell unlike Bou.ssingault, operated on the arable
soil itself, and arrived at the same results as that
distinguished chemist. .Joulieand Berthelot in France,
and Frank in Berlin, obtained results opposed to
Dietzell. Doctors differ. Joulie asserted that rye;
clover and rye grass absorbed free nitrogen from the
air. Berthelot only occnpied with the soil itself,
stated, that after a lengthened lapse of time a sterile
soil, if possessed of a certain warmth, beca-ate rich
in nitrogenous compounds, Frank, with a remarkable
exactness on the same soil, cropped and uncropped
fOHQfl that nitrogen had been absorbed, but iJOW Qf

'M

'tuoPicAt AQi^CDi/tvmi^s

[May ^, 1887,

from where, he could not state. He considered the
soil to be merely the seat of the phenomena, and
modified by the covering of vegetation ; that is to say,
the more the soil was aerated the less was the
absorption of azote. Thus, two apposite phenomena
are recognized; the elimination and the fixation in
the soil of nitrogen which vegetation favors.

About a year ago M. Frank discovered certain bulbs
or nodules at the extremity of the rootlets of plants.
Some believed these bulbs were mushrooms ; some
that they were animalcules. Frank considered they
were humus in a stage preparatory to being taken
into the tissue of the plant ; others, a kind of magazine
of albuminous or plasmic matter prepared in advance
by the plant for the wants of fruit time. M. Hellriegel
sustains these fucgi-like bulbs absorb free nitrogen,
■which at best is but a gratuitous assumption. He
confounds cause with effect, since the bulbs only are
formed, or at least appear when the plant has reached
an advanced stage of its growth, when the leaves
are in full development and active function, and the
organs of assimilation at work.

Conclusion : The question of the free absorption of
atmospheric nitrogen by the soil or by the plant, has
not advanced a single step towards a definite solution.
More rigorous experiments are necessary, and in the
meantime let farmers rely on fertilizers and not the
air for azote.

E.^treme attention continues to be given by vine-
yard proprietors to the phylloxera. No further pre-
servative or remedies have been found to supersede
autumnal irrigations, followed by rich spring manur-
ings, or sulphuret of carbon or the graftings of Amer-
ican vine cuttings. Mildew and its varieties has not
been very serioun ; it was tormenting rather than a
subject for anxiety. Besides it is a meteorological
calamity, not like the phylloxera — "always with us " —
like other miseries.

In Belgium, the sugar-beet crop has suffered from
the malady of " black heart." It is a disease pro-
duced by a fungus, which settles in the heart of the
leaves, down even to the neck of the bulb, and pro-
duces black rot. Only cultivating beet on the same
land, once in three years, and removing the necks of
the roots, and making a compost of them with live
lime and earth will get rid of the nuisance.

The agronomic school at Nancy has conducted a
series of experiments on the temperature of soils.
Turf has proved to be the warmest, and sandy the
coldest soils : the latter is the most sensitive of all to
fluctuations of temperature becoming the warmest in
day-time and coldest at night, hence the most subject
to suffer from spring frosts. As a general remark it is
the water in the soil regulates the temperature: vege-
table tissues are bad conductors of heat.

Gboi-ooical Discovert in thb Sai,t Kange. — "We
eee from the February No., Vol. XIX., Part I., of
the records of the Geological Survey of India, that
Pr. "Warth has made a very important discovery of
fossils in the Salt Range, which proves that the bed
iu which they lie belongs to the carboniferous age.
The Salt Range according to Dr. '\Taagen, from whose
paper oti the Palcnojioic glacial beds of the Salt Range
we f|uote. " formed the northern store of a continent
extending from Afghanistan throughout India, and at
the Salt Range there was probably the mouth of a
great river, down which large masses of ice floated,
whilst in other parts of the world the coal measures
were being formed, and the ice masses drifted along
the shore depositing large boulders, gravel and fiUe
*ilt, " All ;thi8 points to a galicnl period at first re-
stricted to the Southern Hemisphere, and spreading
later on to the Northern one. But we must refer
our readers to the Records for the rest of Dr. Waagen's
interesting note, and only quote his concluding sei °
tence^' It has been made possible to ascenain all
this liy the assiduous investigations of my old friend
Dr. Warth, who has thus made one of the most im-
portant discoveries that ever could be made IB the
Salt JKange,"— /ntfi>tt Foriikr>

BRAZIL : DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ;
SUGAR ; LABOUR ; SLAVERY.

Central Sugar Factories.

Notwithstanding the guarantee of interest on the
capital necessary for the establishment of factories
destined to the preparation of cane sugar by means
of perfected machinery and processes, a large number
of concessionees were unable to carry out their privi-
leges by domestic or foreign capital, through which 35
concessions were declared lapsed. One privilege for
a central factory at S. Fidelis, Rio de Janeiro, was
granted with such favors as were allowed under Art.
6 of Regulamento No. 8,357 of December 24th, 1881,
except an interest guarantee, or free entry. With
this concession the number now in force is : —

With an interest guarantee :
33 factories with a total capital of ... 21,800,000$

Without guarantee :
19 factories —

52 do
The 33 factories are thus distributed: —

Province No. capital

Alagoas 1 600,000$

Bahia 6 5,600,000

Espirito Santo 1 500,000

Miuas Geraes 1 300,000

Municipio Neutro I 400,000

Parahyba 1 500,000

Pernambuco 11 6,950,000

Rio de Janeiro 5 3,450,000

Rio Grande do Norte 3 2,100,000

S. Paulo 1 500.000

Sergipe 2 1,000,000

33 21,800,000$

of which 2,400,000S has a guarantee of 7 per cent
and 19,400,000$ a guarantee of 6 per cent.

The production of sugar and rum of the factories
for the crop 188-1-85 is given as follows :—
Sugar Ram

Idlos. litres. Value.

Pernambuco 2,349,17.5 301,395 336,127$

Rio de Janeiro. 2,905,800 1,723,200 60,795

S. Paulo 429,600 480,000 112,221

Minas Geraes... 183,300 302,400 —

Ihimigration.

During the past year '2^2,727 immigrants arrived
at this port, considering as such all third-class pas-
sengers, of which 10,567 accepted accommodation at
the Ilha das Flores Government station.

There were 14,271 departures for the following
destinations: —

S. Paulo 5,163

Rio Grande do Sul 4,643

Miuas Geraes 1,434

Sta. Catharina 1,3(8

Rio de Janeiro 1,006

Parana 429

Espirito Santo 167

Pernambuco 53

Para... 26

Bahia 23

Amazonas, 19

14,271

At Santos, S. Paulo, there arrived 6,681, thus increas-
ing the total arrivals in the Empire to 29,408. Of
the arrivals at Santos 3,705 remained in the province
of S. Paulo, the others leaving for Parana, Sta. Cathari-
na and Rio Grande do Sul.

New works during the year at the Government station
cost 10,410$ and the board of the 10,579 immigrants
arriving three cost 35,747$, or 834 rs. per day per
individual ; say 2S502 per capita for the three days
Allowed tbe immisraut. Only 3 deatbe were reported,

May 2, my.] TKfi TROPICAL AGRlCULTU1^13f.

765

The Colonization Society of 1849 in Hamburg has
not faithfully executed its contract which was to in-
trocluce annually 1,000 immigrants. Under a clause
in the contract which allowed the completion in the
following year of the total for any one year, the
company need only briug into the country a sufficient
number last year to complete the contract for the
preceding. Not even so was the total made up, for
only 954 immigrants arrived for 1884 and none for
1885. A fine was imposed for non->execution of the
contract in 1884, but as no penalty is marked for
complete evasion of the contract in 1885, against which
the subvention for six months had been paid, the
minister suspended further payments to such a time
as the company shall fulfil its engagements.

The Government proposes to spare neither efforts,
aor sacrifices to attract colonists and immigrants, and
if furnished with means proposes to organize a regular
propaganda in favor of European emigration to Brazil ;
to aid in the transportation of the emigrant from his
residence in Europe to his destination in the Empire ;
to reorganize the service of surveys and sales of public
lands, so that the immigrant may meet ready and
convenient establishment.

The propaganda will promote emigration by ren-
dering Brazil favorably known and will do away with
so-called official immigration agents. Exercised un-
der the responsibility of the Government, openly,
without tricks or prevarications, the propaganda will
certainly produce excellent results, as happans with
other countries which have used it as a powerful in-
strument to attract immigration.

Oircumstances render necessary the advance or
payment of passage money. This may be effected
in various manners, viz., payment in full of passage
to the immigrant ; by a reduction on the fixed price ;
or by the advancing of the cost, in full or in part,
with an obligation of re-payment. However onerous
the assistance may be to the State it cannot be
avoided, as the sincere desire of the Government is
to develop immigration. It is not meant to pay, nor
to indiscriminately advance passage moneys ; the pay-
ment of full cost might be exclusively restricted un-
der the law of September 28th, 1885, to immigrants
who establish themselves on agricultural settlements,
the reduced price could be extended to a limited
number of immigrants who may establish themselves
in the country as proprietors, and the advance with
the obligation of re-payment would be extended to
such as fix themselves in nuclei created by Govern-
ment, and subject to colonial regimen for a certain time.

The prompt and convenient settlement of the
immigrant being the principal pre-occupation of the
Government, the pre-eminent necessity arises for its
preparation as to sales of well situated and appropriate
lands, surveyed and divided, to the immigrant. This
is the base stone of the administrative plan of the
Government. To promote the arrival of the immi-
grant, to pay or advance his passage money and
then give him an unfit establishment, is to advance
a step and immediately retreat, to the sacrifice of the
legitimate interests of immigration,

^yith these seemingly practical measures, the minis-
ter believes the service of immigration may be fairly
organized, to which a necessary addition will be the
reform of the location of services law, to the end
of abolishing imprisonment for non-compliance with
contract by the colonist, and the nullification of con-
tracts made abroad to have force in the Empire.

The Government will present a law for reforming
the land law of 1S50. The principal acts of the ad-
ministration touching the subject of immigration were
the continued suspension of the payment of passages,
because the minister on assuming office found there
were at the department applications to introduce
40,000 immigrants, while the Gorvernment only had
disposable 1,926 lots of land, surveyed and divided,
or only about room for 10,000. Various commissions
were organized to expedite the surveying of lands.
Slavery

The minister is happy to annouiace that law No,
9;270, dated !?epterober 38tb, 1885, for tbe gradual

extinction of slavery, has been met throughout the
Empire, as to its execution, with the same zeal
and respect as was extended to law No. 2,040, dated
September 28th, 1871. All classes of society are per-
suaded as to the inevitable necessity of a solution
of this great problem, with such precautions as are
necessary in a subject so intimately connected with
interests of the greatest importance, in a manner
definitive and safe, although slow.

Although the number of 60 year old slaves was not
known with certainty, the following table will furnish
an idea of the average of emancipations under law
No 3,270 of September 28th, 1885:—

Provinces. Emancioationt.

Rio de Janeiro 11,035

Espirito Santo 1,224

Parahyba 602

Pernambuco 3,204

Alagoas 1^072

Marauhao 665

Parana 278

S. Paulo 363

Goyaz 213

.Sta. Catharina 108

Minas Geracs 18,595

MattoGrosso 231

Rio Grande do Sul 213

Rio de Janeiroj Municipality 3,055

40,668
(This table adds up 40,858.)

[It is only just to call sp'^cial attention to the
fact that the efforts of Sr. Prado to collect full
statistics for the above table have been met with
something like obstruction. His native province, S.
Paulo, shows unfavorably in this matter; for with
a very large slave population, only three districts of
that province reported in seassn for the preparation
of the minister's relatorio. — Eds. 1^cws.\

The law of 28th September, 1871, ha« been scrupu-
lously observed and the following table shows the eman-
cipations under its clauses, up to the latest inform-
ation : —

Provinces. Emancipatient.

Amazonas ... ... ... 52

Para ... ... ... ... 566

Maranha... ... ,.. ... 1,408

Piauhy ... ... 710

Oeara ... ... ... ... 1,805

Rio Grande do Norte ... ... 320

Parahyba ... ... ... 78.S

Pernambuco ... ... ... 2,249

Alagoas ... ... ... ... 734

Sergipe ... ... ... ... 659

Bahia ... ... 3,202

Espirito Santo... ... ... 422

Miinicpio IVeutro. (capital) ... 754

Rio de Janeiro ... ... ... 4,115

S. Paulo ... ... 2,791

Parana ... ... 200

Sta. Catharina ... ... ... 355

Rio Grande do Sul ... ... 1,403

Minas Geraes ... ... ... 4,230

Goyaz ... ... ••• .•= 97

Matto Grosso ... ... ... 138

Total 24,165

(This table adds up 27,166.)

There have been six distributions of the emancipa-
tion fund employed, and the seventh, amounting to
2,000,000s was authorized on April 7th last.

The total cost of freeing the slaves is stated to have
been as follows : —

Emancipation fund 16,443,682 $372

Contributions from freedmen and

others 972,902,663

17,416,585$035

On 30th June last, the slave population was estim-
ated to be 1,133,228, or 107,578 less than in the
preceding year ; from the total, however, the s#x»
Agenarian elared do not eeeta to bv deducted,

ffig TftdFICAt AGniCtStfVftiQf.

tMAV 2, xgfe>

The statistics are as follows : —

? c o' o' 5- p- ? £? S g = £ ? e 5 jq £. 5-

00 u-X

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<r>- so o- a- r

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o :

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j^^oi J-- jy jf^^ 1

00 I<i K^ S o la M.'-'^^i" r" ---J"- ---'^-""2.

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o ^
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tig

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to

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en

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InS CO I— ' CC CO tc

.«5 W ►-• jWhU CO ^

g'lliiirSliSSi'iS'sisSI

03 O W 12 O? M^COJO M -:>.►- pT J
^-ior?gSS£*^0*.occaoi-aci-'Cj;C>g5-p

"be cc'h-'ov'q 2". so

to
to

e5tO i-"^ tOl—l^S^-

1 CO l-» CO to
5 H- —1 'O to 01

- ■iT'V^'cc to to *.COCC t0CCOC»t0C0-J-;JpCO0CO

'^■2li5^rSSccOcioo*.<»Oicni— ootitcoscnc:'
,j^ 01 O '-' ^ '^

The above table is stated to be defective. Nine

nroviaces forwarding defective returns, or none

at all while Ceara and Amazonas are omitted.

The emancipations are thus classified:—

With conditions 69,430

Without conditions 108,226

1/7,656
and the slaves in the Empire on the 30th June,

were : —

Men 098,635

Women 534,593

1885,

1,133,228
The free-born children of slave mothers numbered on
the 30th June last 439,831, of which 219,071 are of the
masculine and 220,760 of the faminme gender,— iZ/o JVews.

BEITISH NORTH BORNEO AND ITS

EESOtJRCES.

The following interesting paper was read at a
meeting at the Conference Hall at the Colonial and
Indian Exhibition on the 25th October, 1888, by W.
B. Pryer, c.m.z.s, f.g.s., Australia, Her Britannic
Majestv's Consular Agent for Sandakan, Eesident in
the service of the British North Borneo Company, &:c.,
&c. Sir Rutherford Alcock, K.c.n., was in the chair.—

Mother-of-pearl shells and Pearls occur more amongst
the seas of the Sooloo Archipelago than on our own coast,
though off Port Elphinstone there are large banks of
them ; the Ada Bank, in particular, hardly at all worked
at present.

The Oyster, scientifically known as 3Ieleagrina mar-
garitifera, which yields the finest shell, is also the
ew in vriiich pearlu are found Tb« eoJleetisg ie dose

by divers, who, without any aid go down to extra*
ordinary depths in the sea, twelve fathoms and over-
When the dppth is greater, or where sharks abound
a sort of drag or trawl is u^ed. Pearls of all sorts
and sizes are always being found, and are brought
chiefly by Chinese for sale iu China, where they fetch
a higher price than in England.

Keema is the fish of a large clam shell or bivalve
Tridacene gigas which often attains dimensions of four
feet or more ; wherever there is shallow coral-bottomed
sea, they abound in quantities, and are but slightly
collected. Many of these Keema shells are to be
seen in the fountains and grottoes iu the Exhibition
gardens here; off the coast of Tawi Tawi there is
one which the natives say is as big as a house. Bajau
huts are not very large however.

Borneo camjihor is obtained from a large forest tree,
which has to be felled and split up for the purpose.
It is worth from 3os, to 70s. a pound, and, like many
other expensive things, has a higher price in China
than elsewhere. It is obtained from one of our
commonest forest trees, but which has to be of great
age before it attains the proper stage of ripeness.
In many places the natives do not understand its
collection, which is somewhat of a mystery. The
Quarmote River is said to be such a district, and it
is reported that one party who went there got several
thousand dollars' worth. A very large value of this
camphor is, no doubt, not entered at the Customs, but
is simply taken out of the country in luggage boxes
and so forth.

The quantity obtained from one tree is usually
within 50 dols. worth, but a good deal more is oc-
casionally obtained. The natives say that if a man
obtains over 600 dols. worth from one tree he will
die within the year. This is based on the law of
compensation I suppose.

The one forest of many millions of acres, with
which the greater part of British North Borneo
is covered, is mainly composed of valuable timber trees
of which the best known are billian or ironwood,
serayah or red cedar, kapor or Borneo camphor, kruing
or wainscoting, Penargah or Borneo walnut, bintangor,
peune or mastwood. Chiudana, marrabow and many
others. Billian is the one of these for which, perhaps,
the best demand exists, it is well known both in
Singapore and Hongkong, which have been supplied
hitherto mostly from Sarawak, in which country now,
however, supplies are falling off. Billian planks are
greatly esteemed on account of their extreme dura-
bility, large orders for them for planking wharf
frontages at Singapore have had mostly to be cancelled
owing to the want of appliances and capital in San-
dakan, to carry them out, notwithstanding the profit
that would have accrued. The supply of this wood
in British North Borneo is very large, of the forest
trees in the district from the Segaliud to the Segama,
a considerable percentage are billian, in some places
thirty trees in a hundred are of it. The last valu-
able discovery in Province Dent, is of this timber
there in large quantities. Owing to its weight, great
difficulty is experienced in handling the logs, but the
number of rivers which everywhere permeate the
forest greatly facilitate its transport as well, of course,
as that of all our timbers. With regard to our tim-
bers generally, my hearers may judge for themselves
by looking at the benches in this hall and elsewhere
in the building as well as at the planks and mouldings
here shown, and the exhibits in the British Borneo Court.
In view of the rapidly increasing demand for planks
and other woods in Australia, India, China, the Mauri-
tius and elsewhere, the increasing difficulty experienced
in Singapore, hitherto the chief source of supply< in
obtaining wood for their mills, and the enormous re-
sources possessed by North Borneo, there seems little
doubt but that we shell in time come to the front
as one of the chief timber exporting countries in the
East, when the matter is once fairly started. I have
made an estimate of the timber growing by rivers either
running into Sandakan Bay, fairly accessible from San-
dakan, or at all events from which timber could be
obtained in Sandakan with less difficulty than Singa*
pore DOW ezperieQcei iu getting her supplies, ftcd iUs

May 2, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST*

767

result is so enormous that I am really afraicl to quote
it. The river service of the district may be imagined
when I say that I have included 73 rivers and tribu-
taties in my estimate, all reachable within a very tew
hours steam from the town of Elopuva. In most part,
of the East, even where the country is least inhabiteds
there are comparatively few places where the natives,
fields and clearings do not line the rivers, thus driving
the forest far away back, whereas with us, owing to
the lack of inhabitants, the land is clothed with fine
forest trees down to the rivers edge, magnificent timber
in fact overhanging many of the rivers for miles of
their courses ; only 10 of the 73 rivers are inhabited at
all and even on most of these the clearings are but very
few and far between. The opening of even many tens
of thousands of acres of land for agricultural purposes
would not have much effect in clearning away this
vast forest, and it may safely be said that, presuming
the larger trees in the nearer districts to have been felled
and shipped off, so many years would elapse before
the wood in the more remote districts was used up,
that the places which had first been exhausted would
again he covered with large timber trees. Not that
there is any chance of these nearer districts being ex-
hausted : in our generation at least.

Ayriculture. — Notwithstanding, however, great the
benefits may be that British North Borneo may derive
from a properly organized concentration chiefly upon
one place of her trade ; from the development of the
timber resources, and from the proper opening up of
the gold fields, agriculture will in the future prove to
be its mainstay and chief source of prosperity and
revenue, and I have always felt that the future suc-
cess of the country is bound up with the development
of the agricultural resources of the Sandakan Bay dis-
trict. The whole of the vast acreage referred to as at
present covered with timber, is exceedingly well adapt-
ed for the growth of tropical products, but the soil to
the south side of the bay is that which can behest spoken
of from actual results, and in addition to this there
is also the proximity to the town of Elopura where
supplies of all kinds, from fresh food to labour are
always procurable, as well as the facilities of transport
afforded by water-carriage there and the fact of its
already being a fairly large shipping port, which
counts for a great deal when undertaking the planting
of cheap prodeuts such as sago, Manila hemp, &c. With
the exception of tobacco, no systematic attempts have
yet been made to prove the capabilities of the soil.
"With regard to tobacco, however, a crop raised on the
Suan Lambar river in Sandakan Bay, which was sold
last week, brought very high prices.

The following figures will give some idea of what
tobacco planting means. The dividend paid by the
Deli Maatschappy Company for 1882 was 65 per cent;
for 1883, ini per cent; 1884, 77 per cent; 1885, 107
per cent. The Tabak Maatschappy Arendsburg, Eotter-
dam, paid 22 per cent in 1881 ; 25 per cent in 1882 ;
50 per cent in 1833 ; 60 per cent in 1884 ; and 100 per
cent for 18S5. The Amsterdam Deli Oo. paid 10 per
cent in 1882; 30 per cent in 1884; and 60 per cent in
1885. Besides paying these enormous dividends, I un-
derstand that the immense estates of the Deli Maats-
chappy Company, have been entirely paid for out of
profit, and only appear in their accounts as valued at one
florin. The emoluments of many of the gentlemen
connected with these Companies, also, are said to be
something enormous, being principally calculated on
the part profit system. I did hear that one gentleman
made over £40,000 last year. Trr-fits by individual
planters also, are extremely large. When in Singapore
last spring, a private planter was buying up most ex-
pensive things, horses and carriages and what not right
and left.

There is no question as to the similarity of British
Borneo tobacco to that from Sumatra.

Besides tobacco, pepper, Manila hemp, sago, Indian
rubber, kapok, gambier, coconuts, and cocoa are
among thf things that hold out most hopes of pro-
fitable cultivation. Tobacco and sugar cane are pro-
bably the best plants as regards the richness of the
soil ; tobacco, I have already spoken of, sugar cane
also flouriBhes in Sandakau Bay in a way said to be

unprecedented in the experience of several sugar cane
growers who have visited us, and the juice yielded
by it has been demonstrated to contain an unusual
percentage of saccharine matter. At present prices
for sugar, it is of no use thinking of profitable cane
growing, I suppose, but if sugar cane can be grown
anywhere to a profit, Sandakan Bay is that place,
with its good soil, favourable climate, cheap labour,
and facilities of transport and export.

I have spoken of the profitable results of tobacco
growing; pepper is hardly less profitable in places
where it thrives ; Sumatra used to be the chief pro-
ducing country, but the long-continued Acheen war,
has destroyed this industry beyond hope of recovery.
Pepper is thus spoken of by Mr. Crocker, in a memo-
randum written by him on its proposed cultivation
in North Borneo. " In June, 1880, Singapore and
Penang black pepper was selling at 3|d. to 4d. per
lb. in London ; in June, 1881, prices had advanced to
5d and 5^d. ; in June, 1882, it was 6Jd. ; in 1883, it
was the same, but in June, 1884, it had advanced
to 6^d. per lb., while last year the price had reached
yjd. ""to 7ffd." As there are no signs of a cessation
of trouble in Acheen, the pepper trade in that country
is more likely to decrease than increase. It is as
diflScult to find countries with soil and climate as
suitable for pepper growing, as for tobacco like that
from Deli, but there seems to be a great similarity
between North Borneo and Sumatra in these respects.
Mr. Crocker was chiefly the means of introducing
pepper and gambier planting into Sarawak, and as a
rHsult the revenue of that country has incresed largely
chiefly owing to this reason, from 158,000 dols. in 1875
to 276,000 dols. in 1884. This is another of those
hard facts which have a particular signification for
the shareholders of the British North Borneo Com-
pany.

For the benefit of those who have never visited the
East, I may mention that pepper grows much in the
same way as the hop vine, and like it, is trained on
poles, the only difference being that whereas the
hop vine is cut down yearly, pepper when once it
begins to bear goes on continuously, and the poles
up which it grows must be calculated to last for many
years. The initial expense of working a pepper plant-
ation is, therefore, somewhat large, as the woods
selected must be of a very durable description. The
vine begins to bear at between two and three years
of age; the pepper corns are in bunches something
resembling currants. The gardens must be well raised,
and well drained ; as the pepper roots cannot stand damp
ground. Tobacco land for instance, would not suit
pepper. At 8 dols. the picul, Singapore price, pepper
paid remarkably well. Last June the price, however,
was but a trifle below 20 dols., and since then the
growing scarcity of the article has had a strong effect
on the market, and prices rapidly advanced over 4 dols.
a picul more.

I have myself devoted no small attention and expense
to trying some of the more noteworthy plants, pepper
included, and most of them (coffee excepted") were
looking remarkably well when I left Sandakan. There
was always a good deal of difficulty in getting pepper
slips, the Chinese, the principal growers in Singapore,
being by no means iuclined to let their virtual monopoly
be infringed upon. Finally, however, by the courtesy
of a Sarawak gentleman, I received some from there.
The cultivation of gambier is usually associated with
that of pepper, and is also found to be very profitable.
Manila Hem}}, or Abaca, a well-known and highly-
priced fibre, extracted from the stem of Musa textilis,
a plant of the Banana tribe, is the means of causing
a large annual inflow of wealth to the Philippine
Islands. Musa textilis has not been found to grow
satisfactorily in any part of the world, except in the
neighbourhood of the Philippines, which have therefore,
up to the present, had virtually a monopoly of its
production. As yet but very little has been tried in
North Borneo; but if once it is largely grown there,
there is little doubt but that we should soon supplant
the Philippines, where shipping and commerce are
both exposed to so many restrictions and duties, not
to speak of extortions, that those connected with

768

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[May 2, 1887.

tbem would far rather go elsewhere if they had the
chance. A correspondent of the Hong Kong Daily Press
writes as follows, with regard to the profit to be
made on Manila Hemp: — "I have before me a pros-
pectus for the production of hemp in the Philippines,
showing a profit of something like 80 per cent per
annum. It is well known that the profit on hemp
cultivation in the Philippine Islands is over 100 per
cent per annum ; but English capital once invested
in any business in these delightful islands is seldom
or never seen again ; this I know from sad experience.

The quantity of fibre obtained from each stem is
very small, and up to the present time the process of
extraction has been a very lengthy hand-labour one ;
but a machine, lately invented by Mr. Death, con-
siderably simplifies it. The stem being so bulky, the
main consideration in the manufacture of Manila hemp
is that of porterage, and the sites of plantations
should, therefore, be selected chiefly with a view to
this end, in places affording a maximum of water
carriage. The stems are not properly ripe for cutting
under fifteen months of age, but when once ready,
the stool continues to yield a ripe stem every two
months or so continuously,

Indian Rubber is growing scarcer yearly, and as
wherever it has been found the practice has been to
cut it down and destroy it, its production seems
likely to decrease, and its price to increase considerably.
Our Indian rubber is obtained from a creeper, a
species of Willoughbeia which grows wild under forest
shade, so that if young plants are put out at the
foot of each forest tree, no further expense need be
incurred in connection with its cultivation beyond a
slight watch being kept to see that bands of native
collectors do not visit the locality, and in four years
a large quantity would be ready for collection. There
need be scarcely any limit to the size of the space
planted up with it, and the work of taking care of
a large acreage planted with Indian rubber would
seem to be particularly fitted for anyone with natural
history or sporting proclivities. There would be some
diflBculty at first in' getting seeds or slips to plant
in nurseries, but once they were obtained, all the
rest would be easy.

Sago is the product of a palm tree which flourishes
to perfection in Borneo. The following remarks by
Mr. W. M. Crocker on its cultivation will be of
interest; he says that its production in Sarawak " affords
a steady industry to some thousands of inhabitants,
all living in comparative wealth. It may give some
idea of the enormous rate of this product if it be con-
sidered that three trees yield more nutritive matter
than an acre of wheat, and six trees more than an
acre of potatoes."

The main drawback to the investment of capital
in sago planting is the length of time that elapses
before the trees are ready to cut ; but it must be
understood that when once they commence yielding,
they go on continually without cessation, so that the
only expense attending their cultivation, when once
they are in bearing, is the upkeep of fencing to keep
out pigs. It is also to be added that the expense of
planting is very small compared to the returns when
once they begin to come in. Mr. Crocker calculated
that a plantation of 2.000 acres would give a profit
of £15,560 a year. Since this calculation was made
the price of sago has declined, but there is no chance
of its not yielding a good profit to the grower. It is
also to be remembered that the sale value of a newly-
planted sago plantation would rise heavily yearly.

Amongst other things, cocoa will, I think, be found
to thrive particularly well in British Borneo, judging
from the few trees grown in the native gardens on
the Segaliud and elsewhere; while coconuts flourish
extremely well, are a safe investment, and yield some
two years quicker in British Borneo than elsewhere.

I will conclude my remarks upon agriculture by
again expressing my extreme desire to see general
plantations started on land in the Sandakan district,
and my confidence that if rightly managed they would
prove a profitable investment to their owners, and
lead up to their being the main prop of the country
geueially iu the future.— iStmiU Tmii.

Tobacco for OErLON. — The attempts now being made to
grow the tobacco plant on a good scale in this country have
induced the trade section of the London Chamber of
Commerce to offer two prizes of fifty guineas each
for the best specimen of tobacco grown in the
United Kingdom, and for that produced in India,
or in any of the British colonies and possessions.
It is stated that these prizes will be awarded as a
means of definitely ascertaining how far the above
sources of iiroduction can add to the supply of tobacco
suitable for the English market, and to what extent,
if any, these growths can compete in quality and price
with those of foreign countries, from which the con-
sumption of the world has hitherto been chiefly drawn.
Each specimen is to weigh not less than 400 lb., and
must not consist of picked leaves from a large quan-
tity. The specimens not grown in the United King-
dom shall be submitted for competition in London,
and in the bonded warehouse of either the Victoria,
the London and St. Katherine's, the East and West
India Docks, or other bonded warehouse. Specimens
of British-grown tobacco will only be admitted under
bond at the Haydon Square bonded warehouse. The
tobacco grown in the United Kingdom must be sent
for inspection on or before the 1st March, 1888, and
that of other places on or before the 1st of December
of the same year. I shall hope to hear that both
European and native tobacco growers in Ceylon will
compete for the colonial prize, as there is very little
doubt they would stand a good chance of success. In
1851 Jaffna tobacco, sent to the Great Exhibition by
some American missionaries in the north took a prize
medal ; and competent judges pronounced some of the
Triucoroalee-grown leaf first class, but spoilt by over-
pressure in the bales. This and the presence of not
more than 15 per cent of moisture in the leaf are
essential points. — London Cor. Local " Times."

Indiak Figs. — A paper by Dr. George King of
Calcutta, on " The Genus Ficus, with special refer-
ence to the Indo-Chinese species," was read at the
Linnean Society on March 17, in which it was shown
that insects play a considerable part in the fertilisation
of certain forms. Dealing with the structural peculiar,
ities of the flowers in the genus Ficus, he specifies : — 1,
male ; 2, pseudo-hermaphrodite ; 3, neuter ; and, 4, fe-
male fertile flowers. Besides these there occurs a set
of flowers originally named by himself " Insect-attacked
females, " but for which he has adopted Count Solms
Laubach's term, "Gall Flowers " (see Gardeners' Chro-
nicle, vol. xix., p. 530 ; vol. xx. p, 22, 1885)— the latter
botanist having anticipated him in publicatiou, though
King's researches had commenced earlier. As to the
question of these gall flowers. Dr. King states that the
pupa of an insect can usually be seen through the coats
of the ovary. The pupa when perfected, escapes into
the cavity of the receptacle by cutting its way through,
and fully developed winged insects are often to be
found in considerable numbers in the cavity of the Fig.
The pupa of the insect must become encysted in the
ovary of the gall flower at a very early period, for about
the time at which the imago is escaping from the ovary
the pollen of the anthers of the male flo«*er is only
beginning to shed. Thus Dr. King holds that through
the interposition of insects the malformed flowers
doubtless become functionally important in the life
history of the Fig trees. From the peculiarities in the
structure and arrangement of the flowers Dr. King
is of opinion that the evolutionary history of the genus
Ficus may be traced. On data derived therefrom he
arranges the Indo-Malayan species into two great groups,
the second of these being again divided into three
subsidiary sub-groups as follows: —
FiCDS, Linn.

Qrovp I. Pseudo-hermahphrodite ...
^ fSect. I. ...

I Sect. IL
Group II. Unisexual. -^

I Sect III

L

—Gotrienen' Chronicle.

... Galreomorphe,
... Urostigma.
... SyncBcia.
/ Sycidium.
Corwellia.

( . (Sycidiur

) ^- \ Corwelli

1 j> I Eusyce.

I. ■ I Neomor

Neomorphe

MAi ^,

*y

,,JIL' miwrnm

ICAL AQRiCtJVi

mmn iiMB»ilii<rii;fiii{Vili'ililiiniiiliijitelinat.iii,e.»i««a

PROSPECTS OP TEA IN BUKMAH-

{Communicated. )

Before we give an estimate of the expenditure ne-
cessary in opeuiLp out and maintaining a tea garden
in Burma until it becomes a profitable speculation,
we think it necessary to give our readers a clearer
insight into the enterprise, by explaining the kind of
land best suited to the cultivation of tea.

For this i^urpose, the land most suitable is high
laml gently undulating and with a rich dark, sandy
loam or a moderately heavy soil. The land chosen
should be near a road, navigable river or railway, for
despatch of the product of the garden to market, but it
is still more important that it should be near a
virgin forest for the purpose of keeping up a continu-
ous supply of timber for the manufacture of charcoal
and tea chests, and for building requirements. About
600 acres of such forest would be necessary for the
proper working of a garden of 150 acres. It is our be-
lief that such land as we have just described can be had
in any quantity in Burma.

The question of labour can be easily settled by ap-
plication to ttie numerous cooly agencies in India, who
could supply the right kind of labour at a very moder-
ate charge per head.

The seed can be procured from Assam and Oachar
through the Agents of tea concerns in Calcutta, and we
would recommend a high class China with a fair ad-
mixture of Hybrid, say 30 per cent. This mixture should
be obtainable lu Calcutta at E25 per mauud, or even
less. The implements necessary are axes, dhas and
hoes, all these are obtainable in our local bazaar at
moderate prices.

It is in the power of Government to assist intending
planters in many ways, by furnishing information as to
likely sites, opening up nurseries at central places for
the supply of seedlings at moderate prices, and more
particularly by protective measures with reference to
the labour (luestion, as was done in the early days of tea
planting in India.

\7e will now give an estimate of the probable cost of
starting a garden of l-iO acres, and maintaining ituntil it
becomes a profitable concern, keeping well withiu our
supposed capital of one lakh of rupees.

Land 600 acres (on a thirty years lease from

Government at RIO jier acre
Seed 100 nuunids at R30 or 35 landed on the

garden
Labor, cost of importing 100 coolies at R30

each
Implements
Ist yeir expenditnre from October (say

87-88) to October inclusive of Manager's

salary and bnildiugs

Total...

With this expendiure a pushing Manager should be
able to open out from 80 to 90 acres ; the remain-
ing 60 or 70 acres can be undertaken during the
second year, when the cost of maintaining the area
under plant (if 90 acres) will be R7, 560.

2nd YeAK's Exi'JENDITUBE.
Maintaining old garden for 12 months ... 7,560 0 0

Seed50 raauTidsat R35 ... ... 1,750 0 0

Coat of planting out and malnfainiDg new'

garden .50 acres for 12 months ... 6)000 0 0

Cost of importing 50 ueiv Coolies at 30

each ... ... ... ... l.&OO 0 0

Coat of Building Bungalow for Manager and

Tea Factory ... «. ... a,000 0 0

Rs

6,000

0

0

3,.500

0

0

3,noo

500

0

0

0
0

12,000

0

0

25,000

0

0

4tk Year's Expekditdbe.

Cost of working 150 acres with manufactur-
ing charges at R120 per acre ...

Deduct jirice realised by sale of 150
mauuds of Tea at RoO per maund ...

Total...

Grand Total...

5th Ye.^r'.s Profit.
.Sales of 450 maunds of tea at R60 per

maund ...
Cost of working garden CommissiDn, Freight,

Brokerage, &c.

7,500

0

0

10,500

0

0

68,260

0

0

27,000 0 0
20,000 0 0

'I'otal..
(Irand 'fotal..,

—Banyoon GcueUe. Net Profit... R 7,000 0 0

Cinchona Pkospects. — Messrs. James Cook &
Co., in their latest report, do not make much
of the probable Java exports of bark in the future
—at any rate for a long time yet. The export of
188G is in fact not likely to be much exceeded ia
1887. For last year they give : —

Private exports 1,G2G,000 lb.

Government account . . .510,000 lb.

2,172,000 lb.

1^,810 0 0
44,810 0 0

oRi) Year's E:JcPENTnl'uRE.
jiaintaining 1.50 acres at K8i per acre ... .12,600 0 0
Seed 10 maun Is R35 .. .■ ... 3-50 0 0

. 12,950 0 0

yrand Total... 67,769 0 0

n

CEYLON TEA: SPECIAL ANNUAL KEPORT.
i:^ Rood Lane, London, E. C, March 24th 1887.

Dear Sirs, — We beg to submit for your consideration
a few facts bearing upon Ceylon tea, together with
some suggestions concerning the opening up of ne
markets for British Grown tea.

At the first sight, the average price is no doubt dis-
appointing, but it must not be forgotten that the value
of Indian lea has fallen to a far greater extent. Indeed,
it is almost surprising that the value of Ceylon tea has
not been eveu further depreciated, considering the great
influx of tea from India and the additional supply from
Ceylon. These imports amounted together ui 1886 to
83,460,000 lb., against only 66,86:^,000 lb. in 1885. No
doubt a portion of the fall iu price during a few months
of the year can be accounted for by the poor quality of
the majority of arrivals during that period.

The main reason for the high value at which Ceylon
tea has been maintained is due to the manner in which
it has been advertised throughout the country, chiefly
through the enterprise and perseverance of Ceylon
Planters. Through their instrumentality it has been
introduced into localities where it had previously been
quite unknown. Once introduced, its quality commanded
attention, and met with such general appreciation that
a steady demand ensued.

The Colonial and Indian Exhibition which was opeoed
in May last, was destined to become a powerful adver-
tising medium for Ceylon tea, not only from the at'
tractive display of handsome specimens and the instruct-
ive lectures which were delivered, but especially from
the quantity disposed of as a beverage, as well as sold
iu the dry condition. An influential Committee was ap-
pointed to guarantee the genuineness of the tea, and
great care was taken to purchase the mellowest
liquoring and most delicate flavoured descriptions.
Such success followed this carefully devised scheme
that no lc3.s than 6,055 lb, of tea were used in the ia-
fusion pold as a beverage at the Exhibition, to about
360,000 people. 23,096 lb. in tiie dry state were also
sold in the building; this quantity, comprising a vast
number of small packets, exercised an important dis-'
tributive inllueuce. At the same time the article carae
prominently and favourably under the notice of thfl
press. Thus the practical outcome of this li.^hibition
was a more general knowledge of Ceylon tea, combined
with a growing appreciation of its qualities by a con-
tinually iiicreusing number of the British public, A.
powerful impetus wa.'i thus given to the trade. This was
speedily followed up by the establishment of various
a,getv.:wn fnr tbe exclusive supply of Ocylou produce,

f7d

^HE TROPICAL AGRlCaLTtrftlS'T.

[May 2, iSSt*,

Thf! growing deniaud was mc re than sus^ained, aud so
gr<nitl.v itiori'fi.'ed that Cnylon tea has sinew maintaiBcd
s) coii'paiativoly high \&ue, with the result tliat no
d'fHcultv Ims been cxptrieucod in dealing with a, supply
(inioiinting to nearly double that of ]8So.

LivKRT'ooi, I'^iXinwiioN, 1887. — It will he fncouraging
111 planters to leiirn that at the Jubilee Exhibition to be
ojjeued in Liverpool ntxtMay, arrangements have all
readj' Hen coneluded, wliereby Ceylon tea will again
be specially brought liefore the public. It may be well
to add that there is great probability of this Exhibition
being visited by an entirely different section of the
imblic to that freijuenting the Colonial and Indian Ex-
hibition of lS8fi. Hence ihere is reason to anticipate a
continuance of the beneiicial results already attained
through that Exhibition.

Quality.— After the above remarl s, it should be
hardly neces.-ary to impress upon planters the absolute
Tipcessity of maintaining the quality of their produce.
No effort ,'li<Kild be relaxed, and no opportunity missed,
whereby an improvement can be effected in the general
quality of the liquor. The greatest care should be
exercised to avoid the recurrence of so unfortunate a
del*?iioration in quality, as took place during the earlier
months of last year. There is no doubt wliatever, that
Ceyldu is capable of producing tea, the quality of
which can onlj' be pronounced as unexceptionable. If
the enterprise is to prove a lasting success, it must be
the aim of each individual planter that his tea shall
attain to the highest stanJa'd of exi eJlence.

Quantity. — There is good reason to suppose tb;it
the exports from Ceylon this year will be about
double those of 1886. So large an increase is not
unlikely still further to depress values. This pro-
bability should induce Planters to neglect no oppor-
tunity of econoniisin.', where such can be effected
without in any way depreciating the quality of the
Tea. On the other hand no expense should be
grudged, whereby actual improvement can be effected
in its liquoring qualities, an object which it is im-
po-sible to attain without a more adequate supply
of water or steam power than at present exists upon
many estates. The one great axiom to be observed
should be t/iuilifii, not qnanlity.

New Markets. — The severe drop in the price of
Tea generally, during the past year, forcibly illus-
trates the importance of opening up New Mirkets,
both by extendino; the area over which Tea is con-
sumed, and by the further development of the trade
in those countries where as yet it has scarcely ob-
tained a sure footing. The education of any popular
taste must of necessity be gradual. Its attempt is
fraught with danger lest the slow process by which
changes in national tastes can be brought about,
should be partially or it may be entirely overlooked
and forgotten. Thus it sometimes happens that a
new article which, judiciously introduced, would have
jnobably met with entire success, has through lad: of
ado/ihilnlif// Id the Jialiilii and tastes of the peo])le, enAeA
in disappointment and failure. As an instance, it
may be mentioned that where strong, pungent des-
(ripfioTps of Indian Tea have been suddenly intro-
fin.oj in ti^ose coinitries accuotomed to drink poor
GIfina Teas. t]ie experiment has proved unsuccessful
»jifl th-i!; iho.'ie liidian Teas which ultinmteJy sue.
cAbi\f?(\ have hs^n .such kinds as approached the near*
i-ci U) ^cn^ra^ characteristics, altnoagh superior in
quaJi'Cy, i«» ibe 'rca,*! pr^-yiotisly in Ubo airjoDgat tie
]))pu!atiolj;

AnArTABJiJTV.-— Ih iiie Uflitetl Stated of Alnerica (A
hivae iiortion of tiit; it'ea CotimhieA io a kind of
Oolong. There is no I'SftBOli -why Ceylon ahollld not
supply this denniud, With &n article !iot oJlly similar
in character, lait undoubtedly superior in quality -
at a i.-itn wliich should compete favoitfably 'rt'lth simi-
lar descriptions from other countries, thia T'ea is
easy and inexpensive to manufacture, and an effort
might 1,0 made to adapt a portion of the produce
of Ceylon to a market of such magnitude as thai of
the United Htates, where over seventy million pounds
of Tt-a arr annnallv cousnmed. Here, there is also
SM .-'*ei)sive sale for Green Tea — a fact of which
Jj'la.ctfis arc doaMless ■well awwp.

Distribution of Cevi,on Tea.— That Ceylon Plan-
ters are alive to the necessity of pushing their pro-
duce in New Markets is evident from the following
statistics, showing the different places to which Tea
has been exported from Ceylon during the past
year, viz. : —

United Aus- India & Mauri-

Kingdom, tralia. Eastwards, tins. America,
lb. lb. lb. lb. lb.

7,.-)8(II)00 1)8,151 24,77.") 8,117 6,(;21

Mar- Other Contin-

Haiiiburg. scilles. Trieste. Genoa, ental Ports,
lb. lb. lb. lb. lb.

7,187 4,(580 620 <.I6 10,'J5B

Their next step should be to study carefully the
different tastes of those countries whose markets they
wish to supply ;— their object being first to m/'fi their
tastes and then to iiii/irnr<' them. There is no doubt
that much time will be re<]uired for the accomplish-
ment of this end,— a circumstance which still further
accentuates the importance of immediately discovering
new outlets, in order that Ceylon Tea 'may become
thoroughly establisht'd in different markets before the
oiiti>ut ia developed to its full extent.

The quantities taken by the majority of the largest
Tea drinking countries show a decided increase; a
number of the minor consumers have also imported
more Tea. Onr principal Colonies show very satis-
factory increases, especially Australia and Canada.
The figures for the United States are also encourag-
ing. There is reason to believe that Tea ( onsump-
tion ill France is likely to increase.

Duties. — The rates of duty in some European coun-
tries certainly appear prohibitive. In most of our
Colonies, only light duties areimpo-ied. In the United
States — and practically in Canadi,— the art;cli is
admitted free, and thus our attention is again drawn
to the Markets of North America as extensive fields
for future enterprise.

Gow, Wilson & Stanton, Tea Frokers.

SUGGESTIONS KEGARDING MANUFAOTUEE

•

We trust it will not be considere 1 out of place in a
"Statistical Circular " if " c call the atHntic u of our
planting friends, in a general way, to a few points of in-
terest in regard Hto manufacture.

Plu king. — The excellence nf the tea appears to
us almost as dependent on the careful treatment of
the plant in tlie field, as on the subsequent process
of manufacture in the tea house. A proper balance must
be preserved between the leaves and roots of a plant,
as the health of the one depends entirely on the vigour
of the other. If the bushes are overphickcd the leaf
action speedily becomes impaired ; as a consequence the
leaves will be produced in smaller quantities, and the
plant.'will soon assume a stunted and unheal thy appear-
ance (planters will understand what is meant by "crow's-
feet ") while the quality of the tea, must of necessity be
deteriorated. Let the plucking be regular and often,
say once a week, and the taking of " immature " and
"coarse" leaf guarded against. Leaves should not be
stripped off promiscuously, otherwise such shoots will
be left without the power of reproduction. It is cus-
tomary on fome estates to pluck half leaves; but we feel
sure a natural and more luxuriant growth i.'^ obtained
by leaving the full leaf. AYe believe that in the pro-
cess of withering, the " stalk '" which is tender and
succulent, improves the flavour of the tea.

" Coarse " and " bard " leaf should be left on the
bushes, where it la of more value in assisting the func-
tions of the plant. If plucked it does add much io
" quantity," but it can and does damage the " rjiudity."
Indeed, it is self.ievident that leaf which toughens in-
stead of turning soft and flaccid in the withering and
fermentation, and will not even turn black in inana-
faoture, is not worth the plucking. A»ain. when
there is much "red leaf," the bulk has to be picked over,
and lUiring this operation, the tea is of necessity ex-
posed for hours to a damp atmosphere, which cannot but
injure it.

AViTHEEiNG would appear to be for the purpose of
evaporating as much of the fluids as possible without
injury to tbs ciotons pfiuciple or aroma ', or rfttfcw *9

May 2, 1887.J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

lit

induce a slight degree of incipient fermentation or ere.
me'uusi.s which isa process of slow co'ubu no-.. In cer-
tain con iitioiis of weather it is next t im - s^ib :' to <>b-
taiu the required" witlier," wituout which teas of first
quality caunot be produced. From our own observation
it occurs to us that the "jute he-sian tats " have much
to answer for. They imbibe ana retain moisture, and
leaf which in liiie weather beconns partially withered
by the evei ing, may be found, if the humidity ot the
atmosphere has increased, to be quite fresh the next
morning, and totally uufit for manufacture. This is a
serious difficulty to combat, and we would suggest a
trial of something which is less li>ilile to absorb mois-
ture. A free current of air is absolutely necessary, iiud
all leaf lofts should be (jerfectly veuiiuited aud liave
au opening along the ridge to allow th i partiiiily satu-
rated air to escape.

Rolling. — This operation requires attention as much
as any of the other stages of manufacture, but without
efficient steam or water-power it is hopeless to expect
justice to be done. Many pence or pounds are lost in
consequence of this part of the manipulation not being
fhoroiiyli.

SoiiTiNG. — A uniform standard should be maintained,
and every Tea should be good of its class, i>/^^^
should be carefully avoided, as it seriously depreciates
the value of Broken Pekoes ; even small Ptkoe Fan-
nin£;s should have the dust removed with a muslin
sieve. Small Brolcn Pehoe.-i say under a No. 14 wire
sieve if pos.'^easiiuj liquor and qualiiij are much sought
after by the Irish trade, but leaf Bro. Pekoes under
a No. 12 are more suitable to the English market.

On estates producing only a small quantity of Tea,
we would suggest that, in order to meet the require-
ments of the trade in respect to size of breaks, the
bulk should be sorted into two classes only, viz.:
Broken Pekoe (or Broken Orange Pekoe, if very
tippy) and a Pekoe Souchong ; the former, sorted
through a No- 12 wire sieve, and packed in boxes,
iiinh I- 28 lb. ijrosK, or in half chests ; the latter graded
through a No. 8 and packed in lialf chests.

Bulking. — We incline to the belief that some of
the deterioration of the tea may l)e traced to the
system of " binning," for it staiidjs to reason that
unless the bins are alisu/ulcl;/ air tiijlit the tea must
imbibe a hirge amount of moisture, to be driven off
in the hi al tiring when owing to the " steaming "
which naturally takes place, it must lose " point,"
and to some extent fla\ our. In many instances we
think it would be betto;r to sort and to puck the
tea as made, /faruii/ the hiilliiii/ to he perfurmcd in Lon-
don. Gow, Wilson ano Stanton.

24th M'lrch, 1887. Tea Brokers.

Coffee and green bug and its remedy.

A planter in charge of good coffee who is na-
turally very anxious to do it justice and to pre-
serve so valuable a culture for the proprietor,
favours us with the following notes. They were
written before he had read the recent remarks
on the subject in the Obtierver: —

" April 17th. — I am sorry to say that green bug
which has been the ruin of so many estates on the
Kandy side, is now spieadiug over Dimbula, Dikoya
and Maskeliya. Now that coffee is up to 90/ and
rising, now that blos.soms have been more like those
of old times and that leaf-disease is not so prevalent
as it was, this spread of a new pest is serious indeed.
It affects the growers of coffee directly and the
growers of tea indirectly, as the more coffee laud is
converted into tea, so much the more is the chance
of overproduction incriased. The question, therefore,
of battling with this new enemy is one of interest,
more or less »o all, and as from the reports of
.'•uccessful expeiiments carried on by Mr. Green, it
appears that there is a rrmed,y. I think no
time should be lost in ventilating the quest n.
To my thinking this can be best done by the Observer
calling on some of the oldest planters to give you their
opinidii-. I Mill sure much good would come of it. Many
plant, rs (iuid there are experienced V. A.'s among
them) look upon the attack as fatal and consider snjr

expense incurred in combatting it, as so much time and
money wasted- 'They tell you of the disastrous effects
in Matale and else^'here and will not «dmit any argu-
ments suggestive of exhausted soil, overcropping, or
climatic intlui nets— 'No, it was greon bug pure and
simjile did it.' These opinions have influenced some
planters to such an extent that, fearing their credit
might suffer, they have kept the fact that their estates
were attacked, to themselves. Others again say that
tea i.f doing so well, that they don't care if coffee does
di.sappear— to them the lesson of not having all their
eggs in cue basket will never be taught.

" I refer to these two classes of fatalist", to
show how difficult it will be to carry out atay
common line of action — and yet, if the remedy is
not jointly carried out and heartily supported in
each affected district, the cure will be difficult and
expensive, if not impossible. I have not yet ascertained
the particulars of Mr. Green's treatment, but I believe
it was by applying a solution of Phenel by the roots.
If the cost were reasonable, I am sure many would
try the experiment. Would Government allow
the materials to be imported duty free and charge a
low rate of railway freight ?* These are questions
which ought to be raised aud without any loss of time
too. The pest spreads very rapidly. I know an estate
where not three months ago, green bug could hardly be
found. It was then only on the backs of a few leaves
scattered here anu there. It is now not only all over
tliise leaves, but :ill up the green stalk as well, and
the trees are beginning to turn black.

" Some hope tbat at the higher elevations, where
the coffee is still young and vigorous, where the soil
is good aud where we are free from excess of drought,
or rain, the blight may pass away, just as in olden
days black bug did. But the suddenness of the attack
and the rapidity with which it spreads, makes me
begin to feel doubtful aud unless some common action
is very speedily resolved upon, and it is not too late
yet, it very soon will be."

We can only urge all our coffee planters to tell us
what they can of this fell enemy — what they are
doing to fight it and with what result. Let no
false delicacy stand in the way of publicity.

REVIEW OF THE CHINA TEA TRADE

FOR 1886.
London, E.G., 23rd March 1887.

The past season has been full of incilentsand mor?
or less eventful. Yet the lessons to be learned ar ;
difficult to demonstrate and in many cases unpalat-
able to the scholar. The Hankow crop was reported
of unquestionable excellence and he was con.sidered
fortunate who secured many parcels of it. It has not,
however, borne out this character. The Tea arrived
home to a poor market the result of general depres-
sion and political complications — pronounced fine by
connoisseurs in Mincing Lane it was condemned by
the Old Lady in the country and shelved and discarded
for Indian and Ceylon Teas, the lower Chinas being
considered good enough for mixing purposes. Through-
out the last five months of 188t!, holders continued to
"Bull" the market for firs crop teas without even
provoking enquiry of any importance, month on month
passed away until February when it was thought best
to be " getting on '' and the Auctions were pretty
freely resorted to and prices realized for teas costing
in China from Is 5d to Is 9d little over the price ob-
tained in July for Shuntams.

To speak of the Teas themselves, no doubt they were
fine, hut they were thin and weedy showing no mettle,
indeed scarcely a tea fit to drink by itself. There was
a great want of point no enquiries came for counter-
parts ex this ship or that, a. sign we take it that but
little satislaction was obtained from a purchase at the
supposed low price.s ruling in Julj'.

To say that the English taste for China Tea is des-
troycdis not accurate. A Rich Kaisow, Souchong, or
Moiling of ancient days would still hold its own with
either Indian or Ceylon Teas, but this dead levid of
weak ()ualitv (insipid hot water with some llavour) has

* No doubt if the P. A. applied in due form. — Ed.

m

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

[May 2, 1887.

bad the effect of sending large quantities of Indian
Tea into consumption tir mixing purposes.

General depression lias forced the retailer to reduce
his prices. Is 6d atid 2s are now the every day duty
paid prices for tea ; a curtailed profit has made the
grocer a keen buyer and as some tea had to suffer the
weak China became the butt. What does it profit a
retail dealer to select teas with no point or character
so long as it is Jd cheaper •' it is mixed off and its
little character lost in a malty Indian blend, without
undervaluing the responsibility of buyers in China the
future seems simple enough.

For thin and weak teas such as this season £45 to
£80 per ton i.e. 4ad to 8|d per lb. would we thiuk be a
full range. But we cannot believe that Cathay is
p ajed out as a tea producing country we look with
some hope to receiving fine teas again from Hankow
and Foochow.

If the China tea is to compete with the Indian and
Ceylon, the teas must be strong, and full ripe Pekoe
Souchong flavour with a cup that will give a rich cin-
namon brown when milk has been added, the tea,
taster using a little more of his mother wit, and a
little less of his scientific knowledge. Still it must be
borne in mind that the quantity of fincat tea sold in
this country is now comparatively small, Kaisows we
would suggest should be tested on the basis of Ceylon
teas, those ranging from say 9d to Is 2d ; curio leaf teas
we except as being a fancy article

Finest Ningchows. Russians may pay rates far
beyond safety for England for these. Ordinary finest
chops if well made, free from dust, strong and full
flavoured, would we think be a fair risk from Is Id at
Is 3d.

Finest Oonfaas. If quality is good and the leaf un-
mixed and well made Is 2d at Is 3d, if only fine teas
and no finest come down of this class lOd to Is

Finest Yung-Low-Tong-Ohun sou-kai, Sun-Yongs
and Oopacks generally if choice Is to Is Id. Second
chops 8d to lOd Nip-ka-Szee, and Ho-How 9d at lid
second chops 7d to Sd, Thuntams 6d to 7d if well made
and good quality. Prices for eecond crops will be ruled
by the total supplj' of the first crop.

These ideas are based on a probable supply from all
sources, China, India, Ceylon and Java, of say 230 mil-
lions and with a strong useful crop of tea to handle.
(Sigmdj 2s. McNAIR & CO.

COCONUT NOTES: feEED NUTS.

{Cnmrnunieated.)

In view of the great variety of habit and bear-
ing power in diflerent coconut trees, it is the
business of the planter to use great precaution
in the selection of seed-nuts. The usual practice
hitherto has been to take nuts for nurseries in-
discriminately from the heap, or if any choice
was made, it was in favour of the largest nuts.
By selecting seed-nuts from early and heavy
bearing trees, there is no certainty that the same
variety will be reproduced, but there is a better
chance of getting good varieties from selected
trees that show desirable qualities than by the
other system. The tree selected for seed-nuts
should be strong, full-leaved, and heavy bearin.L; ;
nuts of medium size with tliin husks and gieeu
colour. Very large nuts are not desirable, he-
cause the enclosed nut is generally small in
proportion to the bulk of the husk, and any
advantage gained in size is more than com-
pensated by deficiency in numbers.

It has been recommended in laying down a
coconut nursery to place the nuts on their side,
so that the contained water may cover the germ.
As to the welfare of the future plant, it is of
small con.sequence in what position it is laid,
because the first event in germination is the con-
version of the water into a light spongy sub-
stance that nils tlie whole cavil}', and the up-
right position has advantages in the subsequent
management of the plant, chief of which are,

that in planting out, the nut can be put deeper
in the soil, and the tender bud may be easier
preserved from white ants.

In some parts of the country the natives do
not make nurseries, but heap the nuts in a dark
corner till they germinate, the advantage said
to be gained is that no roots appear outside the
husk till they are planted out. The roots of
nursery plants have to be shaved off, and the
plant has to supply fresh ones before it can get
a hold of the soil. In one place I saw the seed-
nuts hung on the branches of a thickly-leaved
tree : I have not heard what success has attended
the experiment.

— ♦ ■

REMINISCENCES OF A VISIT TO THE
PEARL FISHERIES AND THE "BURIED
CITIES" AND TANK REGION OF CEYLON.

TrIE LONGEST DIVE ON RECORD AT THE PEARL BANKS
— THE " AKAB " DIVERS — NATIVE AND REGULAR DU-EKS
CONTRASTED — OTSTKR-BEDS AND OYSTERS.

Before resuming my notice of the truly grand
Kalawewa {wewa in Sinhalese as kulain in Tamil
always = tank), I must acknowledge a most inter-
esting communication which has reached me from
Capt. Donnan. It is to the following effect, the
date being the 18th : —

" We are now working on the Cheval, having
left the Matarakam* on Saturday last, and if the
weather keeps fine, of which there is every ap-
pearance at present, we shall do much better in
the way of revenue than I expected when I re-
commended the fishery. I have been ashore only once
since you left. You will remember that 'Arab'
diver with the nose nipper. Well, I had him along-
side this morning and told him to let me see how long
he could remain under water and I carefully timed
him, one minute and 4i) seconds, which is the
longest dive on record on these banks or bed.'^.
The other ' Arab,' with air-pump and dress, only
worked one day with it, when he only sent up
1,500 oysters, and now, without the dress, he is
sending up from 2,r)00 to 3,000 oysters per day ;
so that the helmet, dress, and air pump are not
calculated to succeed at isearl-diving. I fo^nd also
in 1884, off Chilaw, with four of Mr. Kyle's divers,
that the natives sent up more oysters per day,
man tor man, than they did ; a result which very
much surprised me at the time, and now it has
been confirmed again."

It will be observed that the so-called " Arab "
diver, really a Hindu, from the Bombay Presidencj',
remained under water for a period extending to
109 seconds, or, within 11 seconds of two
minutes. What that means, only those know
who have watched for the re-appearance of a
linman being who has remained half the time
uiiler water. It really seems " an age" to those
uho "watch and wait." Not only is 1^ minute
the loi'^^est dive on record in the annals of the
Ceylon brinks, but I suspect that if sceptical criticism
were bruu:4l>t to bear on the stories which allege
subaqueous existence by divers for periods up to
six minutes, this latest feat would be found to
tiikc rank amongst the most remarkable in the
anna's of diving where the diver has not been
artiliiiaMy supplied with air. No doubt the organs
of the Iminan body are capable of bnuig educated,
by continued practice to endurance of abnormal
conditions and of adaptation to such conditions:
to those of extreme heat for instance, if grad-
ually applied. I could, therefore, understand a
man who commenced a diver's life '-sound in
wind and limb," obtaining gradually the power

* Popularly Modregam

Mays, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

773

of remaining under water and repressing inspir-
ation and respiration for two minutes, or at the very
utmost two and a half. But those viho know that
the blood is the life, and that it must, as it circulates
be ffrated, or lungs and heart will cease to act,
will be slow to believe in a staying power under
water of three minutes, far less of six. If such
dives have ever been really made, Hie record being
accurately ktpt, the conclusion must be that in
such cases the respiratory organs were in an ab-
normal condition, or that some means of obtain-
ing fresh air were adopted. It is not obvious
how the use of a nose-compressor (made of
horn, I believe,) could have aided the man
who made the long dive. The other "Arab"
alluded to by Capt. Donnan had an imperfec
diving dress which, it will be observed, was rather
an encumbrance than a help to him as a regular
diver, in which capacity he was only thoroughly
successful when he abandoned the adventitious aid.
Much service to (he pearl fisheries of Ceylon was
naturally expected from the class of European
divers who, by meaES of external air supplied to
them, can remain not minutes but hours under
water. But the hopes entertained have not been
realized. For the ordinary operations of rapidly
collecting and bringing shells to the surface, a
regular diving dress is as much of an impediment as
was Saul's armour to the shepherd lad who slew the
giant with the simple weapons of a pebble from
the brook projected by a sling. For exploring the
banks and reporting on their condition, more might
have reasonably been expected. But a thickly
mailed and heavy booted European diver, with 7
to 1) fathoms of water pressing on him, is no light
entity to walk over and inevitably crush the colonies
of molluscs. Sir Henry Ward, in his graphic ac-
count of his visit to one of the series of pearl
fisheries in his time, did not fail to notice the
heavy and awkward movements of the regular diver
under water, as contrasted with the lithe and rapid
action of the next to nude native professional. As
a matter of fact, Capt. Donnan, by the aid of a few
well-trained and experienced native divers, who not
only bring up specimens of the shells, but report
on the conditions they have observed below, (for
the divers keep their eyes open, — very wide open,)
is better able to judge of the state and pro-
spects of a bank, than he could be by any aid
rendered by men in cumbersome diving dresses.
Most useful are such men in exploring wrecks
and in carefully and patiently building up sub-
marine structures, such as our grand Colombo
breakwater. But there are limits to their func-
tions, and those limits are reached when it is
attempted to employ them in connection with pearl
banks or pearl fisheries. In calm clear weather, I
believe the bottom is distincly visible through seven
fathoms of water, (the average on the pearl banks,)
and with a good glass to aid the eye, so, also, I
should think, are most details of coral and algas, living
and dead shells, and even the movements occasionally
of such fishes as skates and " old women," destruc-
tive enough, in all conscience, but not to be
compared I suspect to the deadly operations of
the voracious whelks, who only want a small
chip on the edge of a shell, or the incautiously
prolonged opening of the lips of its prey to make short
work of the animal, whose nacre-secreting powers has
made it so famous and so valuable. For scientific
observation, however (observation which may lead
to important economic results), I should think the
electric light might be employed with advantage.
There is very much in "the life history" of the
pearl mussel (^vicula [Meleac/ritui] margarttifera
of LiNN.Tuis), which is obscure or utterly unknown.
We know that on banks with the proper con-

ditions of depth of water and other circumstances,
but the bottom of which is merely sand, the
bivalves will not settle, because the ground pre-
sents no solid object to which the creature can
anchor itself by its byssus, or beard, an organ
which it has the power, often resorted to,
of throwing off and renewing. A sandy
bottom strewed profusely with coral or other rocky
fragments, capable of offering a steady resting-
place to the aggregated mollusks, presents the necess-
sary conditions, with, always, about seven fathoms
of water over the bank. So essential is this latter
condition that if ever the hitherto abortive ex-
periment of breeding pearl oysters artificially is to
succeed, it must be secured. Shallow estuaries,
the water of which has a warm temperature, such
as the edible oyster rejoices in, would, we now
know be fatal to " the pearl oyster." But all the con-
ditions of a coral-strewed bottom in seven fathoms of
water may be present, as they are in many places
between Aripu and Chilaw, and yet the pearl shells
will either never settle on them, or never settle
long enough or in sufficient numbers to render a
fishery of such banks profitable. Even on the
two iDanks on which the oysters do settle and
sometimes remain until they more or less attain
maturity (the full term of life being seven years,
but their fishing age ranging from 2J to 4 years),
the effects of currents by which the masses
of spat are driven hither and thither, and the
other conditions which lead the spat to settle, and
fix themselves and grow for a longer or shorter
period, — sometimes the whole millions vanishing
as suddenly and mysteriously as they came, — are
all wrapped in much obscurity and require patient
investigation.

Of one thing my recent visit and observations have
convinced me, that amongst the main reasons why,
in the midst of all their capriciousness and pre-
carious, the Modregam bank just fished and the
Chevalpar now having so successfully dealt with
are such favourite resorts of the pearl oysters, is
the Untie quaniiiy of fresli icater, with all that it
contains of vegetable and animal matter suitable
as food for the animals, which several large
rivers pour into the bay of Silavaturai. The fresh
water, of course, floats for a long period over
the salt, and Mr. Twynam told me he has
dipped perfectly fresh water from the surface many
miles from the shore. No doubt, in periods of
extreme flood, the rivers may do harii? instead
of good to the oysters on the banks, by bringing
down such enormous quantities of alluvial matter,
that the bivalves are smothered in the resulting
mud. This effect, when it has occurred has been
easily seen and duly recorded, but I cannot at
this moment recollect if due prominence has been
given to the theory I venture to advance, or sup-
port, if it has been advanced, that under ordinary
circumstances the rivers which embouch into the bay
opposite the Modregam and Cheval Pars, which are
only about twelve miles from the shore, must
have an important influence for good : pi'obably
in modifying the temperature and quality of
the sea water with which the fresh gradually
amalgamates, but especially in the quantity
of vegetable and animal matter, (lani plants,
leaves, and flowers, fresh water algffi, earth
worms, insects of various kinds Ac,) they bring
down and which, first their own momentum and
then the currents carry over the bank and de-
230sit amongst the oysters. Such is the strong belief
forced on me, and I also feel that the Pearl Banks
of Silavaturai, the "buried city" of Anuradha-
pura, and the Great Kalawewa lake, are connected
together by a chain of most interesting physical
circumstances, to which further reference may

774

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

[May 2, 1887,

be made. Meantime, let us congratulate Mr.
TwynHm and Capt. Donnan as well as the Gov-
ernor and all the inhabitants of the Colony on the
gratifying success of the Jubilee Year Pearl Fishehy.

Slavery in Brazil. — The Centre Abolicionista of
Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, is proposing to
inaugurate a popular subscription for the liberation
of all the slaves in that province, which it is thought
do not exceed 10,000. -Eio Neics.

Mysore Gold Mines.— Last month (i74 tons 7
ewt. of ore were crushed by the Mysore Gold Mining
Company and gave 90(5 3-5th oz. of gold. The
Nundydroog Company crushed 05 tons of ore in
February and March, and obtained .'J4i oz. of gold.
—jW. Mail, April 9th.

A New Industry. — Mr. Evenor de Chazal, who
is always foremost in advancing Colonial Industry,
has just obtained the authority of the General Board
to work a factory in St. Georges Street for the
preparation of wine (boistion rineuse). We have at
present no particulars as to the process, but we
are told that it is calculated to be the means of
producing a step in advance to colonial industry.
We sincerely wish Mr. de Chazal every success
in his enterprize.

"Strophantus" is apparently the latest im-
portant addition to the " Pharmacopoeia " and Mr.
Neil S. Campbell has been sending the first sjieci-
men pods to the island, ore of which has been
sent to our ofKce. Strophantus is described by
competent authority as a great improvement on
digitalis, for its influence over the heart — in-
creasing blood tension, producing diuresis, and
reducing temperature. The plant, the seeds of
which are used is " Strophantus hispidus " which
is widely distributed in Equatorial Africa.

That Cofffe Trading Cojipany has at last been
organized in Campinas, S. Paulo. The name is to
be " Sociedade Anonyma Coaperativa dos Interesses
da Lavoura " and the capital is 1,000,000$. It is
needless to predict the result. We regret to notice
the suicide, on the morning of the 19th, of Mr.
S. A. Herforth. Mr. Herforth was a partner in
the late firm of Kern, Hayn & Co., which become
seriously embarrassed through unfortunate coffee
operations some two years ago. Mr. Hayn com-
mitted suicide about a year ago, and Mr. Kern
was, and possibly still is, confined in an insane
asylum. Coffee has a good deal to answer for. —
Rio News.

Curing Cocoa. — The following advice on cocoa
fermenting occurs in a report on .Jamaica economic
plants, probably by Mr. Morris : has it been tried
in Ceylon ? : —

A very simple means by which the procesa of fer-
noeutation may be set up in small quantilies of the
' nibs,' is to put them into an empty kerosine tin or
'pan,' and then place them in the full sun, taking care
to cover the opening clo.se with a thick cloth, so that
the sun, striking on the outside of the tin, raise.s the
teinperature. Two, or at mot-t three, days i.s sufficient
for this purpose ; they should then he carefully waslied
with clean water until all the adhering mucilage has
di.sappeared, then thoroughly dried in the sun. Cocoa
dried by ihi.s method brings a much larger price than
that sent to market without fermentation, and the
practice is one by which small cultivators could not
fail to be largely benefited were it made known among
them by clergjmen and others who come into frequent
contact with the people."

The Tallow Trke ok China. — Vegetable fats and
wax have long been known, but it is only recently
that the above has attracted the attention of the
soap manufacturing fraternity. It is cheaper than
fiiiiinal tallow, and in said to bp capable of producing

very good soap. The tree wliich yielis it is a native
of China, and it is from the kernel of the fruit, say«
the Tcck/iisehe Sei/ensii'der, that the tallow and oil
are obtained. A thick layer of fallow envelopes the
nut, which also contains a yellowish aromatic oil,
used for heating and other purposes. "When the fruit
is gathered, hot water is poured over it, which is
allowed to cool, and the tallow which has congealed
on the surface is easily removed, after which it ig
again carefully melted, and run into moulds, ready
for the market. It possesses a peculiar odour, which
is not unpleasant, is crj-stalline, ot a greenish colour, and
melts at 40°. — Jiurgoyne Burbidges.

A Water Plant Catching Fr.sH.— The blad-
ders of the curious water weed — Utricularia— still
occupy the attention of the curious in the OM World.
The fact that these bladders caught living things was
first observed in this country by Mrs. Mary Treat,
of Vinelaud, N. J. ; but the fact does not seem to
have attracted the same wonderment in America as
in the Old World, where it is a continuous topic
with newspaper writers. The bladders are very small,
not much larger than small bird shot, and when the
magazines which love to put the sensational into
scientific topics talk about the plant being a dangeioua
enemy to the fi.sh culturist, we have to make all due
allowances. Very small fish are caught, and larger
ones, as Professor Mosely says, held h\ the tail till
they die ; but these unfortunates will be but a small
portion of those that would be caught and eaten by
the larger fish. Very few of the immense number
spawned reach maturity, plentiful though the stock
may seem to the fisherman. For what purpose the
bladders catch the animalcul;e and minute creatures
is not known, if, indeed, there is any special purpose
of this kind. Professor Mosely snys that it has not
been found that there is any digestive operation poing
on, as it is believed there is in some of the carnivorous
plants, more properly so called. — Itide'pendeiit.

Our Pearl Oyster Beds. — We read : — The
forty years' experience of Messrs. Barnett & Foster,
Forston Street, London, as manufacturers of sub-
marine appliances of all kinds was exemplified in
a display of divers' dresses and equipments, at-
mospheric engmes, compressing-pump^, and safety-
lamps. The last-named exhibit was certainly the
novelty of the display, and carried the palm in
point of interest. Foster & Fleuss's new lamp,
broadly described, is a modification of Foster's
submarine lamp, being, so far as the production
of the lights is concerned, an adaptation of the
well-known lime-light. The lamp may be said to
consist of two parts, the lower portion or bottom
comprising the gas reservoir ; while the upper
portion forms a sort of double hood, nearly one
inch apart, which is tilled with water to keep the
lamp cool for mining purposes, and which screws
on to the lower part, so as to form an air-tight
joint. Shortly prior to the invention of this lamp
Messrs. Barnett it Foster patented a new diving-
apparatus, which entirely dispenses with pumps,
tubes, and all extraneous arrangements. Together
these inventions represent the most noteworthy
advance in this direction of modern times ; while
at the same time they mark an important revolu-
tion in the theory and practice of submarine ex-
ploration. Provided with these truly invaluable
appliances, it is possible for a man to continue
to work for several hours at a time without any
communication with the external atmosphere,
thereby justifying the hope and belief that, with
further practice and experience, the new principle
may be largely applied in explosing and recover-
ing life after colliery explosions. — Homi' Paper.
[By means of such apparatus we ought to obtain
better knowledge than we possess of the laws
which rule the life and progress of the pearl shells,
so that the regular cultivation may yet be rendered
possible, — Ei>.]

May 2, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

7^

THE INTEODUCTION OF COFFEE CULTUEE
INTO THE ISLAND OF CEYLON.

To Mr. Advocate de Vos of Galle, we are in-
debted for the following translation of some notes
of P. A. Leape on the history of coffee culture
in Ceylon found among a collection of Dutch MSS.
Mr. de Vos found the writing very indistinct, but
he has done his best with it. Can the original of
this be in the Government Record Office '? The
letter dated •27th July 1719 was written by the
Directors to Ihe Principal Government, that is at
Batavia. As it referred to Ceylon, a copy of it must
have been forwarded in the usual course to the
Ceylon Government : —

In the " Nieuwe Amsterdamsche Courant" Alge-
mcne Handelsblad (General trade list) of the 29th
January No. l'.),704, we read under the East Indian
intelligence from Batavia of the Kith December last
year in a report of the oliicer the Heer C. "VV. P. A.
van Spall on coffee culture in Ceylon, amongst others
the followmg : — ■" That the cultivation of coffee in
Ceylon by the native population was commenced in
l(i90 when that island was under our rule: that that
culture was continually encouraged by the servants
of the East India Company with more or less earn-
estness with "the result that the exportation of
coffee in 17H0 from that island amounted to 100,000
pounds etc." This is in a certain sense — so far as
the introduction of coffee culture is concerned — op-
posed to fact. We are forced to infer that Heer
van Spall is unacquainted with a little work entitled
" Invoering van Koffy Kultuur opJava" (Introduction
of coffee culture into Java) contributed by us to the
" Koninklyk Instituut voor de Taal — Land — en Vol-
kenkunde van N. I." (The Royal Institute of the
knowledge of language— countries and peoples) and
incorporated by the Government into their memoirs
where it is said, " that 111 the year 17Ht in Ceylon,
the experiment should be tried to make the lease-
holders of legally and illegally acquired lands being
suited to the cultivation oit coffee to reserve (unite)
them for that culture."

Thus it was not before 1719 that people thought
of trying the experiment of planting; coffee in Cey-
lon. We are in a position to state what brought this
about. In the letter sent by the Directors to the
Principal Government in that year, •27th July 1719,
we read the following: — " The low and marshy lands
mentioned by Governor Rumph and Council in their
letter have made us think of coftee culture (being a
tree) which requires almost no trouble or labour, and the
Company will in the present state of affairs, profit
much if people will zealously engage in it and if it could
be obtained from its own soil and marshes. There-
fore, we cannot refrain from taking this opportunity
of submitting to your consideration what has occurred
to us in resppct of thi.s matter, viz., that this tree
prefers a shady spot or inar.'-hy soil and once
planted grows without need for any further trou-
ble, nay ought or can one prune it being in
need of no other care than only when the tree
becomes hjg and sometimes through nver-beariug Home
of its branches, which are always thin wnd long, fall
off they roust be broken to make room for the new
ones which .loon shootout from the stem. Tlie gatli'
erirg of the buries is also not much trouble ; for, to
get good, ripe and full coffee-berries, they ought not
In be phicked from the tree hut one should wait till
tiey fall oil and then collect then in a dry place
with a «<ma]l wooden rafee with teeth so close to
each other a?: Hot to aJiow the berries to pass between
them till they afe again stofed ift a dry place
under cover without anj'thin// further being required.
'J'he stones sufficiently grow of fhetffseJves H only
they are not too dry and hard of lind an we fdmd
out from the coffee seeJs forroerely brought from
Mochfl, and it is reckoned that each tree produces in
the. tlnrd year at least one and in the tenth year at least
^ lb. of cured cofiee. liemembering, therefore, the be-
nefits which will result not ^^nly to the owners and
renter" of lands but also to tije Oum])any, we tliiiit
that it is well worth trying the ezperiaient,"

AGRICULTURE ON THE CONTINENT OF
EUROPE.
{/Special Letter.)

Taeis, March 19.

M. Andourd, chemist, draws attention to the loss of
nitrogen resulting from the mixture of nitrates and
phosphates. lu one of the departments of France, a
mixture of nitrate of soda and mineral phosphate
was carefully prepared and sold to various farmers.
The mixture represented six per cent of nitric acid.
In a short time the fertilizer rapidly lost its fertility
which wen ton .steadily declining. Between the (!th June
and 1-th July, the percentage of nitrogen declined from
t)j to 3^. Another mixture at the moment of fabric-
ation, registered 2 per cent of nitrogen, lost in fifteen
day.s, something over the moiety. In some of the
samples, the alteration of the nitrogen was so rapid
that the mass was full of bubble-holes, caused by
the elimination of nitrogenized gases. Indeed some
of these were gathered in a receiver. Artificial ex-
periment confirmed the escape of nitrogenous gases
from the two mixed fertilizers, varying in the space
of one mouth, between 17 and 33 per cent.

In the case of sulphate of ammonia, the loss was
from 5 to 1.5 per cent. What then must be the loss
at the factory, where the mixture is prepared in
large (luautities, and exposed to the sun's rays? be-
cause, between a temperature of 77 to 100 degrees ¥.
the disengagement of nitrogen is very active, and
once commenceci will be kept up even when the temper-
ature falls as low as bi degrees. Slow or quick, the
elimination of tlie gas is cer'aiu when -the nitrate and
phosphate are intimately mixed. And yet the escape
of nitrogenous ^'ases can be only checked by em-
ploying the nitrate in a lumpy form, that which is
injurious to vegetation. Clearly the mixing of the
fertilizers should take place close to the time of using
them.

Since nearly quarter of a century. Saxony suffers
from a scourge of iu.-iects — nonatodia — which prey on
the roots of sugar beet, as the phylloxera does on
those of the vine ; the damage is relatively as serious
Professor Kuehen has tried sulphuret of carbon, but
not with much result. He relies on " trap plants," to
catch the myriad-enemy. The nematodes are also
partial to all crucifer;e plants ; on a soil infected with
the insect, sow white mustard, rape &c. AYhen the
latter have attained a pulling height, pull them ; cast
them away, as the roots will be a mass of the
insects. Repeat this plant-trap two or three times,
and the enemy will be extirpated, while the beet
which had fallen to seven tons per acre, will increase
to seventeen. M. Girard relies on sulphuret or carbon ;
dose, 10 ounces per square yard, deposited in the
soil, the fumes of the chemical killed the insects
right off, and the hmd, purged from the enemy, the
yieki of beet rose from two to nineteen tons per
acre, and the saccharine riches of the roots, from
■1 to VI per cent.

French farmers appear inclined to pay serious at-
tention to tobacco culture. It would seem that seed
from Southern-Russia suits best their soil and regions.
Aiany authorities m>fintain, that the Russian equals
the best secnud class Turkish t^'bacca, while tb«
plant )!♦ more hardy.

♦«--

THE JAPAN CEjUAB.
( Crypiomeria Japonlco,).

The following are extracts from a notice in h'ari'Stry
of the Japan tree from with most of the tea boxes
whie.h Ceylon is now receiving from Japan are made: —

Forty-one jfi.irs ago, or during 18-J4, the Horticul-
tural Society of Iioiidon, through their collector,- M*.
Robert Fortune, sent seeds of the nho^e. interesting
tree from Shanghai, the produce of which has nt'w in
this country attained, in several instances at least,
heights Varying from ()(' feet to f5 feel — rapid growth^
it must be admitted, for a Japanese conifer in Britain.
Delighting and thriving m(Nt luxuriantly in cool, damp
sells, the humiil atmosphere of threat Britain is
peculiarly well suited for the successful cultivation
of this handsome conifer. When seen at its best, tl}§

f At flu f.. --■«<?,

1>

Japan Cedar is a tall, portly tree, of somewhat conical
habit of growth, with a clean, straight fctera of fully
lUOO feet high, and 4 feet or so in diameter.

The branches spread liorizontally, are slightly droop-
ing with up-curved tips, the lateral ones dividing iuto
numerous frondose brauchlets, thickly covered with
bright, glossy green foliage.

Leaves fully half-an-inch in length, rigid, incurved or
awlshaped, and oppressed to the stem, obscurely quad-
rangular, and marked rather indistinctly with two
glaucous silvery lines beneath. The flowers are monce-
cious, or both male and female on the «ame plant.
Male catkins of an oval or oblong shape, and produced
iu great abundance in the a.xils of the leaves at the
extremities of the branchlets. Cones globular, about
three-(iuarters of an inch iu diameter, terniinal, singly,
and usually erect. This distinct and beautiful cornier,
although at first branded with a semi-tender character,
is found to be perfectly hardy, sound in constitution, of
very rapid growth after it has become thoroughly
established, and by no means fastidious as to soil or
situation, provided the former be naturally sweet and
healthy, or artificially made so. Although usually assert-
ed that this tree only thrives, or at least thrives best, on
damp soil and in low sheltered situations, a comparison of
the trees growing in I'enrhyn Park a?id in other situations
over the estate, hardly upholds this theory, for some of
our most luxuriant specimens are growing in deep, sandy-
loam, with the happy medium of neither excess nor
want of moisture. Judging from the specimens here,
I should say plant the Cryptomeria in good dampish,
but not stiff loam, where partial shelter is afforded,
and all the better if in a sbadyish situation — by this
I mean a northern or eastern aspect, where direct
sunshine is prevented. Better, indeed, than the general-
ity of couferous trses, the Japan Oedar seems to thrive
in the dense, still air of mid-woodland, and is even
not fastidious about the juxtaposition of surrounding
trees, so as their extending branches do not actually
commingle with its own.

Both in Japan and China, into which latter couttry
it is generally supposed to have been introduced,
this tree is largely employed for ornamental planting,
such as iu the formation of avenues for clumps and
groves, and as single specimens in the gardens and
grounds.

In Japan there is an avenue of fully thirty miles
in length closely planted with this tree, while others
of shorter lengths are not uncommon.

The timber of Cr}/2>tomeria Jcijwnica is light but
lasting, and largely employed for room-panelling, for
furniture generally, and in the making of light
packing-cases. It is white, soft, and easily worked,
with a pleasant perfume, which makes its adoption
for panelling or room furniture particularly desirable.
As might be expected, the wood of this tree produced
in Britain differs but little from foreign specimens,
at least such was our verdict after an impartial
ezaminatiou.

A. D. Webster.

Penrhyn Castle, North Wales.

CoAl.— At a recent lecture delivered in Philadelphia
by a promiaent scientist, the gentleman said it takes a
prodigious amount of vegetable matter to form a layer
of coal ; that the present growth of the world would make,
a layer only oue-eighth of an inch thick, and that it would '
take a million years to form a Coal-bed 100 feet thick. —
Journal of Forestry.

Amono articles exported from India spices figure to
the extent of 43,0G1,;^35 rupees, an augmentatiou of
nearly 100 per cent during the last live years, not-
withstanding the ilecline in the exp(»rts of pepper.
The shipments fif ginger are growing very rapidly.
About 7 millions out of 10^ millions lb, exported
7>ere sent t^« Eurojye, where a fine >fppetite for Indian
ginger .teems developing. Exports of cardamoms are
falling heavily, and no wonder, since Ceylon — which
is not, of course, included in the report — has nearly
supplanted India as a purveyor of that spice.-- C/jfWi«i
and JJruggist.

We see it asserted in a French medical journal
that a correspondent has " killed " the phylloxera by
planting Datura Stramonium among his vines. We
venture to doubt the correctness ol the assertion, or
at least to suggest that more evidence be lorth-
coming. — Indian Agriculturist.

MosQUJTOiS. — It IS .saic-l that nitre paper burned in a
room will drive out mosquitoes. AVe have not tried
this, but a mixture of equal parts of essential oils of
eucalyptus and lavender applied freely to the skin
will repel their attacks. And we can assert from ex-
perience that essential oil of lavender appUed to a bite
without delay will at once relieve all irritation and
prevent swelling.— C/itmse and Druyyid.

TiAinEu merctiauts are anxiously watching the pro-
gress of an American invention for drying wood by a
quick process in which cold air plays an important part.
Instead of wasting time and causing loss of interest on
capital in the shape of timber on hand, which needs
three to seven years to mature Uiituraiiy, it is claimed
for tha new process that it matures wooU in three day.'?.
A tree felled to-day can be ilelivered, sawn iuto shape,"
and ready for use in the building and furniture traaes
next week. — Journal of Forentry.

Tea Plants and thkih Lka'ves.— The Editor of the
Forestry replying to a correspondent, who stated
" the Tea plauts live though denuded of their leaves,"
wrote :— That "tea plauts will live without leaves"
tor a time is true (so also will plauts generally), but
that they will do so for long or indefinitely is an er-
ror borne out by everyday experience. Kespousive
action between the leaves and the roots must be
sustained, else there can be no living and thriviu"'
for any length of time in any plant. The herba°-
ceous condition of the shoots that spring from the
roots of recently felled trees enable them to lulhl
the functions ot leaves for a time, till leaves are put
forth, and prove that nature is not without resource
when by accident or design disturbance of the balance
of functional action takes place.

A SHORT time ago it was given out that paper
rails had been made and successfully tested. Kow,
the same material has been utilised lor making pipes,
and a certain quantity of such pipes ha>c been
exhibited iu Vienna. The process is as follows: —
Strips of paper, the width ol which corresponds with
the length or one pipe section, are drawn through
melted asphalt and wound upon a mandril. When
the pipe thus made has cooled the mandril is
withdrawn, and the inside is covered witn a kind
of enamel the nature of which comprises the main
secret of the invention, and is, therefore, not made
known. The outside is painted with aspualt varnish,
and dusted over with saud. Id is seated oh.it such a
pipe will resist some 2000 lb. internal pressure,
though the thickness of the stuff is only about h inch.
Indian Agriculturist.

EuCALYPTs IN Italy.— We learn from a German

authority that the plantations of eucalypts made iu

malarious districts in Italy have so far proved a

failure. The trees do not grow ; either the soil or

the climate, or both, are unfavourable. This is flome*

what wondertul in a tree that in this less favoured

climate makes astonishing progress in summer; only,

however, in the milder uisiricts, and not always iu

even them, to be spared by our severe winters, It

is not only wonderiul, but dieappointiug that a tree

which a few years ago wae trumpeted so luudly as

a specific against malarial fever, should fail in the

largest experiment ever tried y^ith it. AVe are afraid

it IS no fit subject to plant in marshes, for even if

it succeeded in growing well, the growtu would be of

such a sj,>ongy nature that winter's frost even iu many

parts of sunny Italy would be fatal to it, AVe tiud

the same autUority recommending Lanrus gla^ dulosv.s,

various American and ludiaE Acers, Halix Jioliyfouicaj

and several poplars as substitutes for the eucaiypts,

and claiming for them several febi-ifugal properties

to those claimed f''r the 'lucalypts. We are n'>t aWare

that this claim for the latter has ever been advanced

on reliable grounds, and this grand Italian experiment

having failed, we are not likely soon to have the POint

gatisfaclorJly settled.— </ou;v;fl/ of Fonatrt/,

Mav 2, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

Ill

CHINA TEAS,

We have been favoured with a copy of a Lon-
don Circular prepared by a Broking Firm for its
constituents concerned in China teas and, as every-
thing connected with the subject is of interest to
the Ceylon planting and mercantile public just
now, we append the greater part as follows : —

As usual at this ^ime of year we have the pleasure of
giving you our ideas as to the position and prospects
for the coming Tea season, and our views as to probable
safe limits, which we commend to your attention. The
political outlook is not reassuring, aud affaire at home
certainly do not show much advauce from the late con-
tinued depression in trade. The state of Ireland, too,
is most critical, and there is no certainty as to the
continuance in oflSce of the present Unionist Uovern-
meut. The position you have to face is this — the taste
of the public is fast leaving China Tea. In the coming
season 100 millions from other countries, costing the
grower no more than an all-round price of 7id to 9gd,
according to the locality, will be knocked tlowu as it
arrives at the best price it will fetch. To compete,
therefore, you must send us a better article (strength
the great desideratum), at a low cost, and even to
support present currencies much less of it. For the
coming season we estimate this supply at —

India ... ... 82,000,000 lb.

Ceylon 18,000,000 „

Java ... ... 5,00(»,000 „

Leaving 115,000,000 lb. to be provided by China to
make up our probable delivery, including E.xports, of
220,000,000 lb. Our delivery is not increasing by "leaps
and hounds," but since 1884 has remained stationary,
we, therefore, do not require 128,000,000 lb. from China,
as estimated by some brokers. We give you the usual
table of deliveries which speaks for itself.

Deliveries excluding shipments to the Continent and
elsewhere,

Ceylon. Java. Chinas.

lb. lb. lb.

6,245,000 3,677,000 98,'249,0n0
3.218,000 3 536,000 105,710,000
1,179,000 3,709,000 107,395,0(10
incl. in Indian 2,893,000 111,291,01)0
„ „ 1,787,1100 115,990,000

The Home consumption of Chinas falls off 7^ millions,
and that of Indian, Ceylon and Java increases nearly
G millions. The Chinas showing a reduction of 17J
millions in five years.

For the first two months of the year the comparison
ia even more marked:
Indian, Ceylon

and Java.. .10,741,600 12,643,144 12,236,052 15,778,098
Chinas ...18,609,600 18,283,299 17,301,221 15,176,993
Our stock of Congou on the 1st July will be rather
larger than last year, and with the experience then
gathered, we see no great chance of improvement from
our present scale of values for common Teas. In re-
gard to fine Teas, both black and red, Indians and
Ceylons have taken their place for Home trade, and
there is now hardly a quotation over Is 3d. For
months hardly a sale of fine Tea took place, except at
auction, and results to holders are simply disastrous.
NsKTHEKN Teas. — The crop of last season was un-
doubtedly a fine one, but was generally so thin as to
be very unsuitable for the Horne trade. Even with
the scarcity of fine Indians, prices for choice Chinas
could not be kept up to any tiling like old levels, and
fell away from 4d to 8d per lb. This drop in fine and
finest acted on the grades below, and brought them
dovvn too. Keemuus have suffered most in the general
depression, and finest first chops have been sold under
Is per lb.

We give below a range of prices, which with a
crop of average quality, we consider it safe to buy
at, including the usual buying and selling commis-
sions:— Finest 1st Fack. Ningihows and Kcemuns (a few
exceptionally choice parcels up to Is 6d.) Is 3d to Is
4d ])er lb.

1st I'rtck Ningchows and Keemuns, if not quite up
to fine.-t Is Id to Is 2d per lb.
98

Indian.

188G... 68,420,000
1885. ..65. 677,000
1884... 63,038,01.0
1883. ..59,096,00(1
1882 . 50,497,000

Finest 1st Puck Taow Yuens, Oonfaas, Oheong-Sow-
Kais, and Suun Yangs, also finest 2nd Pack Ning-
chows and Keemuns Is Od to Is Id per lb,

(Should the Kiukiang crop be very inferior, a few
of the choicest Taow Yuens might be bought up tJ
Is 2d per lb.)

1st Pack Taow Yuens, if not up to finest, the best
of the 1st P^ck Tong Shans, and fine 2nd Pack Ning-
gchows and Keemuns Os lid to Is Od per lb.

Good fiist Pack Oonfaas, CheongSow-Kais, Suun
Yangs, a few of the choicest Yung-Low-Toongs and
Kut Oans, and the inferior 2nd Pack, Keemuns and
Ningchows Os 9d to Os lid. per lb.

For last crops of grades below the above 10 per
cent, under last 3 ear's selling prices on arrival are
the safest limit.

Second Crops. — The best Ningchows might I e bought
up to lOd and Keemuns up to Qjd., while 7d. is the
highest that should be paid for Hankow district Teas,
These limits, however, are only safe if the first crop
prove a small one.

Red Leafs. — We have had a steady market all
through the season for these, but with aaythmg like
the same quantity next season a smart fall in values
must be expected. Paklum, the finest Tea of the
year was sold ex first steamer at ls3Jd., and there
is no reason to think that this will not again be the
top price. Soomooas, Qui Fars and Cheong Loks,
"Une Heong" was the solitary sale over Is 6d but we
should be sorry to place the value of this exceptional
parcel over Is 4d., aud the rest of the crop in pro-
portion. Pan Yongs, one of the finest Teas of the
season was sold on arrival at Is 6d., but at this price
the Trade would take no more, and the next sale for
a crack chop quite as good was Is 4d. Is 3d has been
the top price for the last fi*:e months for retail quan-
tities of the choicest chops sltlpped. If -the Colonies
can afford to pay Is 8d for a similar quality, natur-
ally they must take the pick of the crop but Is 3d,
s quite enough to pay for anything to this market
Saryunes : One or two chops that always stand out
may fetch Is. Ordinary finest first chops are not
worth over 9d, in fact at the lowest point of the
market this season they sold down to 7|d. Paklings.
The market was regularly opened at 1.=: 0|d for crack
chops aud this jn'ice may be again obtained if the sup-
ply of boxes is not overdone. Souchongs : To make
Teas with any quality at all the Sinchune district can
evidently not produce 57,000 chests. Probably with
a ,20,000 chests less crop, and a return ',to their old
standard of excellence, they would again come into
favour. As a guide we give the following limits : —
Soomoos. Crack Chops of the Oheang-Mow

class Is 3d to Is 4d.

Crack Chops of the Cheang Kee

class , Is Id to Is 2d.

The inferior class of first

Chops Os lOd to Is.

Paklums. Choicest with true Flowery pekoe

water Is 3d.

Pan Yongs. Finest Is Id to Is 3d 2nd class 9d to
lOd 3rd class 7d to 8d.

Paklings. Finest Is to Is Id 2nd class S^d to 9§d
3r d8d.

Saryunes. Finest 8d to 97d 2ud class 7d to 7^d 3rd
6d to 6J,d.
Yunghows. Finest 8d to 8Jd 2nd 7d 3rd class 6d to e^d.

Suey Kuts. Finest 8d to 9^d 2nd class 7d to HhiS.
3rd class 6d to Q~A. i

The value of second and third crops will depend,
to some extent, on their quality; but more on the
size of the first crop.
Souchongs. Choicest Is 8d. Finest Is 4d. Fine Is Id.

We have been told that at these prices "we should
not have 5 lacs of Congou," with which statement
we do not in any way agree ; but, at any rate, our
proportion of 5 lacs would be much more in unison
with our requirements tlan 1\ \ In the old days the
crack Soomoos were Viought at Tls. 17 and 18. Why
not again? Filth such as we have received at the

11^

ITHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST*

[May 2, X887.

end of this season, with a black infusion may be
knocifed off the Export altogether. Our present quo-
tations ot 4^1! to 5d should settle the question, as it
must be under the cost of production.

NETHERLANDS INDIA : JAVA.

"VYe are always pleased to see, and to listen attent-
ively to, anything that Mr. J. P. Van den Berg writes
on Java. He has lately compiled two exhaustive letters
on the financial and commercial condition of Nether-
lands India. If any one desires to make himself ac-
quainted with the present condition of Holland's colo-
nies in the East, he cannot do better than turn, when
he has an opportunity of so doiner, to any work by the
President of the Java Bank. The tolerably heavy pam-
phlet which Mr. Van den Berg has written for H. B.
M.'s Consul at Batavia, in reply to queries from the
British Indian Government, is marked only for private
circulation. We trust that it may be formally published,
as the facts are martialled in proper array, and one can
tell at a glance the economic position of the countries.
Broadly speaking, it deals first with the financial situation;
secondly, with the commercial condition; and, thirdly,
in a second letter we have some remarks on the question
of currency. We will take them in the order Mr. Van
den Berg places them before us, only regretting that
space will not permit us to do so at a length that the
importance of the subject demands.

One very import point to be noted in connection with
the finances is the extreme instability of the revenue of
Netherlands India, the fluctuations being really of a
violent nature. This is of course in larga part due to
the fact that the colony is dependent on the prices it
realises tor produce sent to Europe for sale. It has
always occurred to us, and the system has been more
than once animadverted upon in these columns, that
the custom of including the Budget of the colonies in
that of the mother country is exceedingly inconvenient,
and approximately accurate figures cannot be deter-
mined on. It must be apparent that the figures
which, at the time we write, have, say, just been des-
patched for next year (1888), can only be roughly put
down. Bj' all means let the Colonial Minister retain
the power of vetoing the colonial proposals, should he
have sufficient cause to do so ; much in the same way
as is adopted in the case of British Crown Colonies.
This is a detail ; but the suggestion is, we think,
worthy of serious consideration. We wish that the
question of the deficits were as easily reckoned with.
From 1876 to 1884 the Netherlands India have been
spending on an average eight millions of guilders more
than their revenue. The Acheen war is the primary
cause of the disturbance in the desired equilibrium.
Before it commenced " the normal military and naval
expenditure may be taken in round numbers as having
averaged f. 30,000,000 per annum. During the period of
l873-lS81the yearly average increased to about f. -50,000,
thus showing a difference of f. 20,000,000 a year, or
f. 240,000,000 in the course of the last twelve years,
■which amount maj' be taken as the usual actual cost
of the Acheen war, apart from the expenses for civil
purposes in the newly-annexed territory, which appear
under other heads of the Budget." Railways the Bata-
via Harbour Works, and the measures for the suppres-
sion of the cattle disease also made heavy inroads in
the revenue, amounting in all to some 335,000.000
guilders. In the connection of Public Works Mr. Van
den Berg contends that the money should have been
procured on loan, as circumstance-s required, and not
hav3 been charged against current revenue. To meet
all these heavy calls the Government had to resort
to new taxea, and readjust others, so that they yielded
their maximum. So much were the imposts increased
that once or twice trouble has been on the verge of
being the result. And yet the deficits were not over-
taken ; despite the fact that the system of taxation
included many items which are generally of a purely
municipal character. This may, perhaps, bo owing,
however, to the fact that the country is destitute of
any special provincial or municipal funds.

Of the commercial condition Mr. Van den Berg,
though he points out the disasters which have to be

met, conveys a more hopeful impression than moat
writings on Netherlands India have assumed since 1884.
That matters are bad in sugar, however, he
thus points out: — " On the whole the actual posi-
tion of the Java sugar industry which, as stated
in my former letter, is a matter of vital
importance to the welfare of the island, may be called
rather critical. Many estates have run largely into
debt, and unless a material improvement of prices sets
in, it may be taken for granted that the year 1887 will
bring ruin on more than one estate which till now has
been able to keep up the struggle, on the issue of which
the future of the colony so largely depends." Sugar is,
of course, the most vital interest of Java, and thus of the
whole colony. It is a matter discussed by every one
who has any interest directly or indirectly in the
colony, and the system of bounties and the production
of beetroot are more keenly studied than in this
country, deputations and Chambers of Commerce
memorials notwithstanding. Van den Bosch's system
created in 1831, and which has in the past very
largely conduced to the prosperity of the colony, is now
shown to be of no further practical utility.' This system,
as far as sugar is concerned, will be termmated in 1889,
and only coffee will then remain, which in turn will,
we presume, be likewise turned over to free labour and
private enterprise, what is to be done for the future
then ? The Acheen war seems farther off a conclusion
than it was at the commencement of the present decade.
We wish that Mr. Van den Berg had proceeded and
answered this question, as from his long experience
he would be well qualified to do.

We can only mention the long dissertation on the
question of currency which Mr. Van den Berg so ably
argues out. As a banker and a person who has devoted
considerable attention to the questions of bimetahsm,
the appreciation of gold, &c., liis opinions carry con-
siderable weight. He concludes that the disadvantages,
by raising so largely the prices of imports, would more
than counterbalance the increased rates obtained for
produce, whilst it would be unfair to Government
oflicers dependent for their incomes on silver, and to
capitahsts in Holland who have invested in estates in
Java, to upset the present equilibrium. He therefore
argues against any change in the present currency re-
gulations.— L. Sf C. Express.

THE BREAK IN QUININE.

(New York Dm;/ Kej)orter, March IQi.)
The cause of the depression in the quinine market
is one of the mysteries that defy investigation. No
one appears to have any decided opinion as to the
reason why prices should have taken such a remark-
able tumble during the past week or two, but the
impression prevails that it is due to one of two
causes ; namely, that either the small holders became
frightened when the market fell off a cent or two
at the beginning of the downward movement and have
been unloading ever since ; or that the market is being
depressed by some large operator or operators with a
purpose. In support of the first mentioned reason it is
stated that when prices were so low a few weeks ago
a I ' everj'body was talkiner of much higher prices as
;i. J inevitable outcome of the position of b irk at that,
time, many small speculators including clerks and
even truckmen connected with the large houses, and
not a few si./iilarly situated in other branches of trade
took a flyer in quinine. Without capital to hold out
for any length "i time they were forced to sell as soon
as the market devt-loped any signs of weakness, and
their iiiixiety to get out precipated the decline. Those
wh.ilio'.d to this version believe that nearly all of the
weakh.>lders have unloaded, and that in a few days
a decided change for the better will occur. There
seems to be less tangible^grounds for the impression that
large operators are bearing the market, the only cause
for such a belief being apparently the favorable
opinion of the future that such operators are believed
to entertain, because of such remarks as they may
have let drop ill confidential moments.

Probably both of those have been factors iu bringing
about the depression, but possibly the present situatioa

Mav 4, i8S;.j fm TROPICAL AmtO^tfVimBfi

iiia^aaaacaMMiiaaan

lammmimmmiiilSlsmim

of the bark marltet is at the bottom of all the trouble.
At 1) early all the public sales of bark in London fov
several mouths past the representatives of American
manufacturers have been conspicuous buyers, bidding
up prices until the foreign manufacturers had to stand
aside and let them make the bulk of the pur-
chases. During all this time reports have been
freely circulated on this side to the effect that a very
large decline in the production of bark would greatly
redace the supply for consumption this year and
must inevitably result in much higher prices for the
alkaloid. As these reports were fully substantiated,
apparently, by the very convincing array of facts and
figures accon>panying them, they had a very decided effect
upon the market for a time and when prices for quinine
did begin to advance early in the year it was believed
by many to be the direct result of the causes indic-
ated by these reports. Now, however, it would appear
that the bark situation is not so encouraging as the
people on this side had been led to believe, if the result
of the last fortnightly sale is a criterion. From late mail
advices we learn that at this sale the German man-
ufacturers, who heretofore had been virtually kept out
of the market by the spirited bidding of the Americans,
were the principal buyers, and that they got all they
wanted at their own prices. This would indicate
either that the makers on this side were satisfied to
let the ijrice of bark drop for a time, or that they
had discovered new facts which indwced them to change
their views regarding the supply. In referring to the
last bark sale a Loudon contemporary says: — " That
the affair has been badly managed on the other
side there is no doubt, for it was little short of
madness to attempt to bull the market without first
of all ascertaining the prospects of East India barks.
As it stands the shipments are fully up to last year,
and the market upset ; besides which all the advances
in prices have been not only lost, but the unit lowered
without doing the slightest good, beyond putting a
few thousands into the Oeylon planters' pockets."

CEYLON UPCOUNTEY PLANTING EEPOBT.

WEATHER CHANGES .iND PLANTERS' FEELINGS — THE LIT-
TLE MONSOON AND TEA FLUSH —THE 'SHADOW' OF
BUa — CACAO.

24th April, 1887.

A change in the weather has a marked effect on
a planter's feelings ; as well as in his ideas of the
value of estate property. After some weeks of roast-
ing weather, when all growth has been checked ;
the ground baked into the hardness of the kiln-
dried brick : the mind wearied out with an unpro-
fitable wrestle to know the future, and the solution
of the questions what will the place do ? and
what is its worth ? then comes the rain, and with
it what a change.

The soil which had looked as unfruitful as the
public highway, becomes a rich loam dropping
with fatness ; the bursting buds of promise whose
growth may almost be seen, fail to expand them-
Bcives with anything like the rapidity which marks
the opening of the vision of the cultivator ; and
where before there was but the potential grave of
a buried treasure or at best the scene of long and
unrewarded labour, there is now the site of a success-
ful venture— an apocalypse of a glorious resurrection
of buried coin.

ItiB well we have these bright days. " Look here,"
said a man to me the other day, " I would not
sell my place now for four times what it cost me."
I suppose he will stick to that— till he changes
his mind.

Certainly thie little monsoon has altered the
<6C8 of things. Teft has almost vm away with

itself ; cacao looks fit for anything ; and the
green of the foliage of the cinchona trees deepens
its shade daily. As to coffee, it has allured us
with blossoms so abundant that as " Tip Thomp-
son" used to say " you could not put another
spike on, even with a pair of pincers"; and there
is such a promise of harvest that we all are
ready to declare that even in its best days, better
was not to be seen. Bright-eyed hope is wide-
awake, we all look forward to fortunes, and the
value of estate properties has risen all round.
Pretty good results these to point to from a change
in weather.

Of course there are shadows, and the worst is
the bug. What an infliction that means, can
sometimes be calculated by a man's diminished
rotundity— a loss of flesh, as well as rupees.
In whatever form the insect makes itself felt,
none is agreeable. It is the " Kismet " of the
planter which "sits and waits;" and is as seem-
ingly hopeless to struggle against as any othei-
form of fate before which the mind of the
Eastern collapses. It is not until a man has had
a real tussle with the green bug that he knows
its power and the despair it inspires. I have seen
it attack fields of coffee which were fit almost
for a place in Paradise, and in a few months
there was little to be seen but a howling, blackened
waste, and to cure it I have never known any-
thing do any good. When I read, therefore, of the
efforts which are being put forth, by those un-
fortunates who are but making their first acquaint-
ance with this p3st of pests, of kerosine, mana
grass, lime, sulphur, manure et hoc genus omne,
it is like the re-acting of your past, a revival of
blasted hopes— a v^asting of good coin. We have
reached that startling crisis which never comes
very kindly home to our people— that of having
wholly to " lippento Providence," as to whether this
insignificant visitor will swallow up what little good
coffee is left, or disappear as mysteriously
as it has come. Of course, there is the disposition
with the price of coffee rapidly approaching 100s
a cwt. and our trees bearing an extra fine crop
to be more than usually staggered at this new in-
flux of bug and perhaps to express a puzzled surprise
as to _ what Providence is thinking about !

It is a comfort to know that the increase of
COCOA stocks in London, which has had the effect
of lowering its price so much, is not likely to go
on, and that the prospects are favourable for a turn
in the tide in regard to selling rates. This result
is ours through the misfortune of the Demerera
men having a bad cacao crop. Cacao is lookmg
as if it would do its best to supply what is wanting.

Peppbrcokn.

^

COCONUT NOTES: COPEA DEYING.

{Gommimicated,)

COCHIN V. CEYLON OIL — WESTERN PROVINCE COPJU V,
NORTH-WESTERN — WHAT THE VILLAGERS DO ? — Dlff-
FEKENT KINDS OF COPRA — A PRAO'XICAELE COPRA DRV«
ING-HOUSB FOR THE SOUTH-WEST OP CEYLON.

By last report Cochin coconut oil was selling aii
£;57, while Ceylon could only obtain £26. At no
former time has the one been so high and the
other so low-priced, the difference being equal to
45-44 per cent. It has been suggested locally, that
there may be a difference in the chemical constitu-
tion of the two commodities, but ]\Ir. Field ascribes
the inferiority of our product entirely, to colour and
smell in his report to our Commissioner. If the infe-
riority should turn out to be due to a chemical
defect there would be little hope of finding a remedy,
but if the colour and smell are the faults— the only
oue9«-tbe remedy is on the surfftce- Oeybo coeony^

w

rM fROPtCAt AGmCtJLftmslf.

ffvlAY ^, i8'Sy

WMaaiBaJei^«#Aiii*>teu«MH4«

oil may be made as bright and colourless, and when
newly drawn almost as scentless as iiltered water.
The colour and most probably the disagreeable
smell are entirely due to bad treatment. Many of
the villagers gather unripe nuts and pay very little
attention to the drying of the copra ; they thus pro-
duce a dirty half-rotten copra that sells very low.
The Western Province estate proprietors almost to a
man sell their nuts to traders, who smoke the copra
when half-dry. The planters of the North-Western
Province enjoy dry weather during the greater part
of the year which enables them to dry their copra
with very little trouble and being a long way from
the mai^ket, it goes on drying in the boats even if
only partially dry when dispatched. This is the
cleanest, the driest, and consequently the highest-
priced copra, and if manufactured separately, would
probably yield an oil equal to Cochin, but it suits
the oil-maker's book to mix all the various
qualities of copra and make one uniform quality of
oil and the inferiority of our j^i'oduce in the
European markets is the result.

When the villagers are not induced to take greater
care in the preparation of their copra by the rela-
tively low price they obtain, there is little hope of
reaching them in any other way, but the class that
own estates of 10 acres and upwards are, as a
rule, more intelligent and energetic, and generally
sufficiently awake to their own interests. Estate
proprietors say, however, that they make more of
their crops by selling them to traders than by pre-
paring the copra, and disposing of it on their
own account. This to a simple mind seems an
incredible statement, for the trader will certainly
not continue to carry on a business that yields him
no profit, while exposing him to the risk of loss in
the fluctuations of the market ; nor can the trader
prepare the copra and send it to market at a
cheaper rate than the estate proprietor. The
statement is true, nevertheless, and two causes
operate to make it 50. The experienced trader
knows to a nicety the amount of drying that will
pass muster, while the planter anxious to produce
a good quality, continuues the drying far beyond the
trader's point and in consequence takes from 5 • to
100 more nuts to the candy than the trader. This
would be all right were a close and skilful dis-
crimination exercised by the buyers, but what nicety
can be expected from those who do not take clean
and dry as their standard, but tix the price by the
mode of bringing the article to market. Thus we
find the prices stated in the market reports
as boat copra E3S-oO, cart copra R32-.50. The way
to test the value of copra would be to weigh a sam-
ple carefully, and then subject it to 2^50 degrees of
heat for two hours, then weij^h it again and note
how much it has lost. Thus it the price of the day
be IviO for perfectly dry and clean copra, say the
sample has lost 8 per cent in the process of desic-
Btion reducing the value by B3-2{) and it is dis-
coloured by smoke for which deduct lil 50 more.
fO»WngK1'70; the valuf will, thoreiore, be K33'(30
and !st> on for s'ill worse lote. The drier copra is,
it yields the .more oil in vropoftion to its \yeight ; the
cleaner it is, it ppleld? the beitcr 'iuality ; an inferiur
iiuality may suit the trader and the oil manufacturer,
but it is on the producer' of the raw material that
the loss of the difference in pricp of Oochin and
Ceylon oil ultimately falls and with him lies the
remedy, if a remedy its ever to be applied. All that
the planter can do in the first place is to dry his
own copra with due care, and thus do away with
the trader. If he then finds that he cannot obtain
the true value from the oil-makers, the second thing
is to make his own oil, and third if he cannot get
the true value in the local marliet, export it on bis
ffvD accouot'

It is possible that soil and climate may
affect to some extent the quality of coconut
oil. The best sample at the Colindies was
from British Guiana, and is described as
not only pure white, but unusually solid. But
Mr. Field has not mentioned solidity as a test of
quality, and we have the remedy for colour in
our own hands as it consists of care in preparing
the copra ; whereas qualities depending on soil
or climate are beyond our reach, as we cannot
materially modify one or the other.

As the climate of south-west Ceylon is not to
be depended on for nine months of the year, and
the other three are not altogether safe, as rain
falling on copra exposed to dry in the sun is
seriously injurious, as the heaviest gatherings of
nuts come in the wettest season, and as they
cannot be kept in husk for much over three
months without serious deterioration, I would
recommend every proprietor to provide his estate
with the means of drying his copra independently
of the weather. I have seen a perfectly success-
ful experiment in this direction with the material
of an old rusted iron tank cut up and substituted
for the " warratchy " shelf in the common smoking
shed, the seams being plastered over with tempered
clay : newly broken coconuts were then put on
and piled up to the roof, the usual fire of dry
husks was kept up night and day for forty-eight
hours, when the copra was taken out perfectly
clean and dry. All that is essentially required
is between the fire and the copra, a substance
that freely conducts heat, while turning aside
every particle of smoke. As a drying house
should be a permanent institution on every estate
of ten acres or upwards, the temporary make-
shift above described would be as little appro-
priate as a patent desiccator. 1,000 broken coco-
nuts in the shell, 2-50 cubic feet, thrown loosely
together, 3 ^ 10 x 8 feet, will give very nearly that
space ; therefore, a house 10 feet in length 8 feet
in width, will hold 1,000 three feet deep ; and
working 300 days it will dry 150,000 nuts, say
120 candies of copra in the year. Cabook walls
9 feet high and a tiled roof at 4 feet high, a sheet-
iron floor resting on iron bars one inch square,
and at 5 feet another floor of wooden spars
one inch apart gridiron fashion for the charge
to rest on : such a structure would not cost
RlOO and besides saving some labour, would
render the planter independent of weather.

TEA-PLANTING IN CEYLON.

The Y'ta-Plaiitei'i' Manual. By T. C. Owen, pp
162, with Coloured Lithouraphed Plates of an Iron
and a U'ood and Slone Tea Factory drawn to scale.
(Colombo, Ceylon : A. M. and J. Ferguson, 1886.) _

Eight years ago, on account of the depression in
the coffee industry of Ceylon, the prospects of the
c 'loiiy were of a sufficiently gloomy character. A
great* improvement has, however, been effected by
the partial stibstitutiou of tea and cinchona for coflfee,
and by the general attention given to cacao, carda-
moms, and other subsidiary subjects. Ceylon has
also been fortunate in possessing a practical scientifio
iftatitntion in the Botanical Gardens of the colony;
and its local press is enterprising and well-informed.

It is well to mention here that the excellent growth
made by t-ja plants at the Peradeniya and llakgala
Gardens fully justified the advocacy of ;tea-plantmg
in Ceylon by" the late Dr. Thwaitea in his Annual
Reports, while it is also d?ip to the Colonial OfiBce
to state that through Lord Blacliford it warmly sup-
potted the introduction of Assam tea plants into Gey-
Ion in I8li7. In 1877 Ceylon tea in commercial sam-
plea was submitted, through the Royal Gardens, Kew,
to the Indian Connnittrc of the Society of Arts, and
the ileport of thin Committee cjearl^ foreshadowed

May 3, 1887.]

TriiJ TROPICAL AGKlCULTURlSf.

7&i

the high place which Ceylon tea has since taken in
the Loudon market.

The present manual is one of a series issued by the
Cei/loH Ohsi'rver press, and is intended to be a com-
plete hand-book to all the multifarious duties of a
successful tea-planter. Colonel Money's " Essay," and
the " Tea-Planter's Vade Mecum, " both publications
having special reference to the circumstances of Indian
t'ardens, have hitherto been the only books on the
subject.

As stated in the preface, Mr. Owen's manual " is
more a compilation of the opinions of others and the
results they have arrived at than an original v^ork."
The very valuable notes of one of the earliest and
most successful of Ceylon tea planters, Mr. Armstrong,
of Rookwood, form an important portion of the book.
The compiler wisely avoids an extended disquisition
on the original home of the tea plant and on the
question whether the " Assam tea tree " and the
'* China bush " are specifically distinct. In the latest
works on the subject they are both included under
Camellia thrifcia. Griff. There is no doubt that the
Assam tea tree — for in a wild state it often reaches
■40 to 50 feet in height — is indigenous to the moun-
tainous district lying between South-Western China
and the River Brahmaputra. It is probable also,
although not clearly proved, that the China tea plant
— of a somewhat shrubby habit — is derived from the
same stock; although, as we now know, it was greatly
altered by persistent cultivation for several centuries
in a soil and climate different from those of its ori-
ginal home. The China tea plant has been found
wild in no part of Cliina. Under cultivation in Cey-
lon the Assam variety is suited to the plains, a hybrid
form IS sought for mid-elevations, while the China
variety is useful only for the highest elevations up to
8000 and 7000 feet. Mr. Owen recommends that for
all new plantations the best " jat " of Assam or hybrid
plants should be obtained, as " no amount of career
skill will make up for a bad class of plant put into
the garden at the outset." To a beginner in Cey-
lon, or to a planter, in any other country, unacquainted
■with the particular methods pursued on Ceylon
estates, the book would prove at first somewhat per-
plexing. Too much knowledge is assumed on the
part of the reader as regards the important ques-
tions involved in the selection of land, while as regards
" the details of cultivation the particular " fads " and
''fancies" of individual planters are too largely dwelt
upon. It would have been more to the purpose to
present a clear and simple statement of the first prin-
ciples upon which the growth and culture of the
tea plant, as a plant, should be based, in order to pro-
duce the best results. As regards the details of the
manufacture of tea, quoting authorities is no doubt
the best course, for the process of manufacture cou-
Bists of a series of purely empirical operations, and
a statement of principles alone would not meet the
case. After discussing selection of land (Chap. 1.),
varieties of the tea plant (Cliap. II.), seed and nur-
series (Chap. III.), lining, holing, and planting (Chap.
IV.), field cultivation (Chap. "V.), topping and prun-
ing (Chap. VI.), plucking (Chap. VII.), and manu-
facture (Chp. VIII). ,the writer devotes the remain-
der of the book to buildings end machinery (with
plans), and to statistical returns connected with yield
and cost of production.

The rapid progress made by the tea industry in
Ceylon is exemplified by the fact that, while in 1878
only 'i8'2 pounds of tea were exported, during the
past year 1680 the exports reached over 7,(X)0,(X}0
pouncltj. The probable exports in 1887 are placed at
12,000,000 pounds, while in 1888 they are expected
to reach 30,000,000 pounds. So far, the price of
Ceylon tea has maintained a slight advantage over
Indian teas— the average price during 1883 being Is.
3Jd per pound for Ceylon tea, as against Is Irfd for
Indian teas. The combined effect of large shipments
of Indian and Ceylon teas will no doubt lead in time
to a displacem.ent of much that now comes from
China. And while the general character of tea ob-
tainable in European markets will improve, there
obviously must come a fall in prices for which both
Indian and Ceylon tea planters must be fully pre-
jpwed. At the Colooiftl aad Incliaa iExbibitiou, tlsanke

to the energy of Mr. J. L. Shand, Ceylon tea was
admirably brought before the English public. Tea
from Natal, Fiji, and a small sample from Jamaica
were also shown ; but the tea from fiji possessed
such special qualities that we shall probably hear
more of this promising article.

To return to the subject of this notice, the " Tea-
Planter's JNIannal " is a useful summary of the know-
ledge gained respecting tea-planting in Ceylon, and
it embodies much valuable information for the use
of practical planters. What fault there ia to be found
is not with tlie book itself, but with the system of
cultivation it inculcates— a system which unfortunately
appears to be adopted in the treatment of most tro-
pical economic plants by European planters. These
plants are treated too purely as so many " rupee
making' machines. Too little attention is given to
the characteristics and habits of the plants as living
subjects, and too much to the details of an unsym-
pathetic and essentially artificial system, already
proved in Ceylon to be unsuited tothe coffee plant,
but into which there is now a strange tendency to force
the tea plant. As there are diversities of soils and
climates, so there are also diversities of industrial
plants exactly suited to them. "Where all such con-
siderations are ignored, there is danger both to the
plants and the planter ; and this danger ought in
the present case to be avoided. D. M.

— Nature.

N.B. FOR Cetlon Tea Pl.^nteks. — Says the
Produce Markets^ Review : —

The rapid increase in the production of Ceylon tea,
and the augmented quantities brought forward at the
public sales, will necessitate the importance of avoid-
ing smnli breaks a.s much as possible, and Importers
will study their interests by giving this subject their
attention. If the Ceylon season's out-turn reaches the
estimate of from 14,000,000 lb. to 15,000,000 lb., it is
evident that, with the anticipated larger imports of In-
dian tea, the trade will have httle time to devote to
exr-eedingly small lots. Of the 1 ,621 packages of Ceylon
offered this week, no fewer than 76 breaks consisted
of ten chests and under ; and, when it is considered
that the same expense and time are necessary to sample
and value these trifling lots as is required for parcels
of four or five times the size, it will be obvious to
Importer.s that they will consult their interests best
by combining lots as- much as may be practicable.
Very small lots in times of pressure stand little chance
of being properly tasted, whereas if five or six were
clubbed together the trade would give them a due
share of attention.

The Kalut.\ra. Tea District is described as
the scene of great activity at present — not only
among the planters in overtaking flush, and manu-
facturing tea, but in the erection of new factories
and other indispensable buildings — the number em-
ployed (artisans and other Sinhalese, apart from
coolies) is very considerable, and the money spent
must benefit thousands all along the Galle road.
The best carpenters are from Ambalangoda. A very
narrow escape from lightning was experienced hj
the much-liked Chairman of the District P. A.,
Mr. Morison, whose bungalew on Culloden— on
the top of a high rock,~was struck in his absence
and some damage done in a place where he
usually sits when at home. The electric discharge
ran from the factory chimney, down the three
wires supporting it, and killed the three trees to
which they were tied. No wonder though lights
ning conductors have since been fitted up fof
bungalow and factory. Some coolies in the factofy
were paralysed so completely that life seemed to
have departed from them ; but by the use of
mustard plasters over their bodies and whiskey
given internally, after a time pulsation \yas res-
tored, and in a few days they were about tbeit
work ae usual.

782

tME TROI^ICAL AGHlCULTtJRlST.

[May 2, 1887.

PERAK SUGAE CULTIVATION COMPANY,
LIMITED.

The annual general meeting of the shareholders of
this company was held at their offifci No. 3, Nanking
Road, Shanghai, on the 24th March.

Report. — The directors have now to submit to the
shareholders their report of the working of the company
during 1886 ; the first year of practical results from
the Gula Estate.

The principal evnts which have happened since the
last annual general meeting, held on 10th May, 1886
were made known to the shareholders at a special
meeting held on 8th October, and also by circulars
issued by the directors about that date. As the share-
holders are aware, the chief work of the directors
iu Shanghai has been to give effect to the sanction
to a debenture issue, as authorised by the shoreholders,
while at Gula the manager has been using his utmost
endeavours to carry on his work eiSciently despite
the absence of many necessaries required for the
proper equipment of the estate.

The directors are happy to be able to report that
the endeavours in both quarters have met with fair
success. They have succeeded in issuing debentures
to Bu extent of about Tls. 30,000 and hope to be able
to procure the remainder of the Tls. 60,000 authorised
as it becomes necessary for the extension of cultivation.
The success which the manager has been able to
achieve is now given in the following report : —

Canes have been cut from an area of 450 orlongs,
say 600 acres, producing piculs 12,040 of sugar and
realising (gross) $61,340 (including estimated value of
" Sugar in stock ' ' on 31st December) . The averages
given by these figures are : —

Production per orlong piculs 26'75

Average price per picul $5'09

In comparing these figures with the estimates given
in the circular of 21st September, it will be noticed
that the area of production is 12^ orlongs less : these
12^ orlongs though technically " in cultivation," i. e.,
cleared, drained, &c., have not so far been planted
with canes. The actual weight of sugar produced per
orlong is, on the other hand, slightly better than the
estimate. As to price, the average of the first six
months was not maintained in the latter portion of
the year ; this was primarily the result of a fall in
the Penang market, but was also in considerable
measure due to the straitened circumstances of the
estate, which prevented a full supply of labour being
maintained and proper cultivation of the canes during
their earlier stages — the result being sugar of a lower
quality. This trouble, however, has ceased and the
sugar now being made is fully equal to the earlier
standards. It should be mentioned that owing to the
absence of any appliances for dealing with the molasses
upwards of S7>000 has been lost to the estate during
1886.

The average of piculs 2675 of sugar per orlong from
the estate in its first year is highly satisfactory and
confirms all the opinions given as to the excellence
of Gula soil for sugar cultivation.

The failure to get money when first asked for in
May last year, and the consequent inability to procure
the labour required to cope with the cultivation, has
not only adversely affected the results of 1886, but
has interfered to some extent with the prospects of
1887, it having been impossible to carry on the work
of replanting the fields as they were cut; consequently
though the area of cultivation has been increased to
510 orlongs (=680 acres) the area planted for the
coming crop is not greater than in 1886. It is satis-
factory to be able to report that the condition of
the young canes is excellent, the "earwig" trouble
has, as the manager predicted, disappeared, and it
may resonably be expected that the estimate of piculs
28 per orlong, given in' the circular of 21st September
for the second year's crop, may be considerably
exceeded.

With reference to the necessities for the equipment
of the estate as set out in paragraph IV., of the
21st September circular, it seems possible that the
expense of a " Still," which as the shareholders know
U desired to work off the molaissef, may be tmvQi ',

negotiations are in progress which it is hoped may
re.'-ult in a market being found for the molasses, and
if these succeed there will be so much more money
to devote to the all important object of extending
the cultivation up to the capacity of the mill. The
other necessities are being provided for.

Accounts. — The year's working shows a profit of
Tls., 1,961-41, which amount is carried forward ; and
amount of Tls. 2,500 is transferred from working
account to "Estate Cost" for 47^ orlongs added to
cultivation and for sundry expenses which have been
met out of income, but which ought to have been
provided out of " Capital." Amongst the liabilities,
that " Due to agencies " is nearly covered by "Sugar
in stock ;" the other outstandings have since been
cleared off. The " Debenture loan " which appears as
Tls. 24,560 h»s since been raised to Tla., 30,300.

The Chairman said: Gentlemen, with your permission
we will take the report and accounts as having been
read. Since the date of the last report the news
from the estate is.extremly satisfactory. The returns
of last year, both as to quantity and quality of sugar,
were exceptionally good for the first year of a cane
estate. The damage done by insects to the estate
which is a common incident in first years on cane
estates has disappeared, as was predicted by the
manager at the close of the first year. There was
unfortunately a delay of about 5 months last year in
raising the necessary amount of additional capital
required to complete the estate and to carry out
extensions. This has thrown us back and the returns
on our crop last year will come in during the latter
half of this year. The danger which at one time
existed that we might lose possession of the estate
for want of suflBcient capital has been averted, and
there is now no danger of the company losing possession
and control of the property. All the work on the
estate is now going on very satisfactorily and there
is no cause for anxiety on any ground. Of the Tls.
60,000 debentures which the shareholders authorized
should be added to the capital, the Directors have
already issued Tls. oO,000 and as further applications
are now coming in the Directors wiU no doubt issue
debentures to the full amount, so that everything
that is necessary will be done for the estate. It is
a common Shanghai saying that "it is an ill wind
that blows nowhere " and it is therefore perhaps
necessary that I should mention to the shareholders,
in fact they are entitled to have the information,
that in the event of war breaking out on the conti-
nent, it must, of necessity, greatly reduce the supply
of bounty-fed beetroot sugar, and any stoppage of
that would be an immediate and immense advantage
to us, alike improving our position and prospects. I
do not think there is anything more to which I need
allude, but I shall be happy to answer any questions
you may wish to ask before putting any formal
resolutions. — Straits Times.

FOOD FOR THE GODS.
The grateful mortal who first named the plant from
which we obtain a certain very delicious and very
wholesome berry theohroma must have had a keen
insight into tb* possibilities which lay undeveloped
within the rough exterior of the pods of the cacao
plant. Crude as mnst then have been the means of
preparing the rich, nutritious berry, there must have
been unmistakable evidence of its value, even in that
condition or so ambitious a name would surely never
have occurred to the mind of its discoverer. " Food
for the gods," was his verdict upon the fruit of the
cocoa plant — fit rival to the claims of the famed am-
brosia, a boon indeed to men.

Nor, of a truth, now that civilisation has brought
its skill to bear upon the preparation of this cocoa,
does its pretentious name seem unwarranted by facta.
Under the separate styles of " cccoa" and " chocolate "
various preparations of the nuts of the cacao plant are
now made with such delicacy and skill that, whether
regarded as necessity or a luxury, iheohroma plays a
most important part in modern domestic economy,
Whether it is io the form of the cbeeripg, cotsfovtio0

Mays, 1887.]

•THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

783

cup of cocoa, the fragrant, steaming chocolate, the
sustaining, wholesome bars and " drops " et the same
toothsome dainty, or in the delicate and delicious
confections into -which chocolate, cream, cocoa-nut,
vanille, and other pleasant things enter, Theohroma,
" food of the gods," is constantly before us. The
weary workman fortifies himself for his long trudge
homeward through the snow, when the short winter
day has closed in, with a cup of cheering cocoa ;
the buttertiy of fashion sips its cocoa from tiny
Sevres cups in my lady's boudoir; the hard-worked
governess, toiling from house to house for a poor
pittance, supports exhausted nature by furtively mun-
ching chocolate as she goes, knowing well its ex-
ceptional powers ; and her pupils are not, we may
be sure, innocent of the delights of the more luxurious
forms of the sweetmeat. It is not always that the
luxury of the rich is equally the wholesome and
attainable indulgence of other and less fortunate
classes ; but in cocoa and chocolate we have not only
a delicacy fit to be dubbed theohroma, but at the
same time a nutritious food and beverage for all
sorts and condition of men.

That this is so is of course due in no small degree
to the skill and enterprise brought to bear in the
manufacture and manipulation of the material. The
mechanical requisites in the making of cocoa and
chocolate are now brought to a rare degree of per-
fection, and in addition to this the " putting up "
of chocolate by a fir.st-rate firm evidences so much
taste and refinement that the very appearance of
the boxes stimulates the appetite and acts as a fitting
herald of the dainties to be found within.

It would be difficult to find a more complete
example of the nicetj', .scrupulous cleanliness of manipula-
tion and surroundings, and for that matter of the ex-
treme delicacy and toothsomeness of the manufactured
article, than may be found in the extensive manufactory
which staTids hard by the Avon, in the good old
city of Bristol, from which emanate the productions
known all over the world, and bearing the time-
honoured name of Fry. It is not too much to say
that Fry's cocoa is a household word all the world
over. And it is no matter for surprise that such
should be the cise. Those who have been priviledged,
like ourselves, to go over the well-ordered works, and
inspect the various processes of manipulation, and
admire the all-pervading air of extreme method with
which the processes in question are carried out, can
readily understand the firm hold which Messrs. Fry's
productions have obtained upon the public. Here
we see for ourselves that the materials used are of
the best, the apparatus of the most perfect, the
employes of a class which speaks volumes for them-
selves, and the great firm whose interests they serve,
order, cleanliness, method, reign supreme, and the
outcome is not merely excellence but economy. Messrs.
Fry can compete with the world both as regards
the quality and cost of their productions — hence the
secret of their success. The public are too critical
and too well informed nowadays to be satihfied with
crude, imperfect, or extravagantly dear conditions in
the commodities which enter into their everyday life,
and they know by experience that they may safely
accept the name of Fry as a guarantee of excellence.
The Manufactory is an extensive range of buildings.
It has grown with the growth of a firm which has
been in existence more than a hundred and fifty years.
The original premises gradually absorbed the houses
right and left for a considerable distance. At the
back of these some years later was built a factory
of four floors, what then doubtless was looked upon
as a great extension.

Later on another building of seven floors was added,
double the size of the former works, and later on the
extension of the trade again compelled the erection
of yet another building of seven floors. Upou en-
tering the buildings one is at once struck with the
sight of corridors lined with oblong blocks of cocoa
and chocolate, as one ascends to the eighth floor,
where the roasting-room is reached. Here the raw
material is first utilised. In revolving cylinders the beans,
from which all palpably imperfect specimens have

been picked, are carefully roasted, a process upon
which very much depends. The nuts are shot into
hopper.s, and crushed and winnowed in order to re-
move the thin adhesive shell, the crushing reducing
the nut itself to the form of the familiar cocoa-nibs.
Both shell and nibs are articles of commerce, the
former being used in Ireland and in some parts of
the Continent for the manufacture of a cheap drink.
The clean nuts are then ground. The mills being
warm, the fatty part of the cocoa-nut, or cocoa butter,
is partially freed, and the hard dry nut is thus re-
duced by giinding to an oleaginous paste, which is
further ground to a finer paste of a creamlike con-
sistency. For storing purposes this paste is poured
into cold moulds, from which it emerges in solid blocks-
of pure cocoa. To make the famous " Cocoa Extract"
this liquid passes through some further important
stages. "Well-filled canvas bags are placed in metal
cylinders with punctured holes, hydraulic pressure
is applied to the extent of 1,200 lb. to the square
inch, and out comes the cocoa butter, when warm
as liquid as salad oil. Collected in oblong tins, it
cools to the consistency and appearance of clarified
beeswax. Solid blocks of it adorn the multitudinous
floors and passages; some of it is used on the pre-
mises, some sold for surgical purposes. It possesses
the rare quality of never becoming rancid. When
taken out, the dry mass is broken, ground many
times, and sifted with fiue sieves, constituting " Cocoa
Extract."

Not content with bringing the "Extract" before
the market, Messrs, Fry, determined to solve once
and for all the problem how to secure extreme solubi-
lity and absolute adaptability to all digestions, have,
after some research, produced what they term "Pure
Concentrated Soluble Cocoa." The already finely
ground powder is ground again and again, and passed
through sieves with 2000 holes to the inch, securing
perfect fineness. By a new scientific process the finest
flavour of carefully blended cocoas is developed, and
the result is the excellent preparation we all know.
The fancy confectionery department is more com-
plicated. The "creams" may be taken as typical
of more classes than one. The chocolate used for
covering these "morsels of delight" is reduced to
a thin and workable paste. To prepare the "cream,"
pure boiled sugar is poured into an open pan and
allowed to cool. It is then eflBciently stirred, till it
assumes the opaque creamy consistency so much
desired. By means of an adaptation from the
printing-press, hundreds of tiny moulds are " dabbed "
out on trays of powdered starch, and into these moulds
the sugar, with any flavouring or colouring required, is
rapidly poured by dexterous assistants. Thence the tiny
globes are taken to the covering rooms, where scores of
girls with trays of thin prepared chocolate perform their
part. Here again, it is only necessary to change the
mould and the particular flavouring to produce vastly
different forms of sweetmeat. There are sugar boil-
ing rooms, moulding rooms, and covering-rooms appa-
rently without number, to detail which would encroach
too much upon our space. In short, it only remains
to add that the skill and enterprise of the firm has
not fifone without its due reward. Two members of
the family enjoy the honourable distinction of being
Members of Parliaments, and the firm of J. S. Fry
and Sons is honourably known in every quarter of
the globe. — British Mercantile Gazette.

FOEEST TEEES are now felled in America with dyna-
mite. A cartridge of the explosive substance is placed
in a channel board directly under the tree to be operat-
ed upon, and when exploded the tree is simply forced
up bodily and falls intact on its side. In most instances
it is found that the tree is not fractured by the force
of the expio' ion ; a large proportion of valuable wood
at the b.^sc of the trunk can be utilized which is now
lost. For clearing forest properties this method is
admirably adapted, as it brings up the root of the tree
at the one operation, and dispenses with the tedious
and costly process of grubbing the roots of the felled
timber.— JoMrnaJ of Forestry.

784

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

[May 2, 1B87.

MARKET RATES FOR OLD AND NEW PRODUCTS.

{From Lewis d; PeaVs London Price Current, March 3Ut, 1887.)

FROM MALABAK

COAST, COCHIN,

CEYLON, MADRAS, &c.

BEES' WAX, White

Yellow
CINCHONA BARK— Crown

Red

CARDAMOMS Malabar
and Ceylon

QUALITY.

Aleppee
Tellicherry

Mangalore

QUOTATIONS

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

QUALITY

,QUOTAITONS.

CINNAMON

Chips
COCOA, Ceylon ..,

COFFEE Ceylon Plantation

Native
Liberian

East Indian

Native

COIRROPE.Ceylon&Cochin
FIBRE, Brush

Stuffing .,
COIR YARN, Ceylon
Cochin
Do
COLOMBO ROOT, sifted ..
CROTON SEEDS, sifted ..
GINGER, Cochin, Cut

Rough

GUM ARABIC, Madras ."
NUX VOMICA

MYRABOLANES

' Slightly softish to good

hard bright ... £6 a £7 5s

Do. drossy & dark ditto... Jtl 10s a £6

Renewed ... Is a 2s Gd

.Medium to fine Quill ... Is 4d a 2s

Spoke shavings tid a Is 2d

Branch 'id a M

Rene'wed 8d a 2s

>f edium to good Quill ... 6d a 23
Spoke shavings ... ... -Jd a 7d

Branch 2d a 4d

Twig id

Clipped, bold, bright, tine 2s a .3s Id
Middling, stalky & lean Sd a Is lid
Fair to fine plump clipped is .3d a 2s 3d
liood to tine ... Is Cd a 2s 2d

I Brownish ... 6d a Is 3d

Good & fine, wa.shed,bgt. Is 4d a .3s 6d

Long Ceylon -Vliddling to good 8d a Is 4d

Ists Ord. to fine pale quill ... 7jd a Is .5d
2nds ,, ,, ,, ,, ... 7dals2d
3rds „ ,, „ „ ... lijda lid

4ths Woody and hard od a 9Jd

...I Fair to fine plant 2id a 7d

...jBold to good bold ... (jtis a 82s

...Medium -tiOs a tJSs

Triage to ordinary ... 40s a .5.is
Bold to fine boldcolory... 92s a 105s
Middling to fine mid. ... 82s a 91s
ILow mid. aud Low grown 76s a 84s

Smalls 77s bd a 808

Good ordinary 68s a Ihs

Small to bold 6.3s a 71s

Bold to fine bold 90s a UOs

[Medium to fine 82s a 90s

ISmall 77s a 82s

Good to fine ordinary ... 68s a 75s
Mid. coarse to finestraight fi5 a £17
Ord. to fine long straight £10 a £35

. Coarse to fine £8 a £17

.lOrdinary to superior ... £12 a £.30

. Ordinarj' to fine fill a £32

Roping fair to good ... £13 a £15
. -Middling wormy to fine... 10s a 28s

.|Fair to fine fresh 10s a 20s

(Good to fine bold 75s a 5£ 10s

iSmall an d medium ... 37s a 56s 6d
Fair to fine bold... ...32s a. 58s

.:Small 20s a 28s

.'Dark to fine pal? ...2.5s a 102s

.IFair to fine bold fresh ... 7s a lis

Small ordiuaryand fair...i'!s a 6s
, Good to fine picked ... 6s a 8s 6d
Common to middling ... 5s a 6s 3d

JFair Coast -is Hd a .^is 9d

Pickings I Burnt and defective ... 3s 3d a 4s 6d
OIL, CINNAMON ... Good to fine heavy ... Is a 3s

CITRONELLE ...iBright & good flavour ... f I a M

LEMON GRA.SS ... „ „ „ ,, ... IJd a Ijd

ORCHELLA WEED ...|Mid. to fine, not woody 40s a .5.5s
PEPP£R,Malabarblk.yftedlFair to bold heavy
Alleppee & Cochin ,, \ ,, good ,,
Tellicherry, White

i6d

PLUMBAGO Lump

Chips
dust

RED WOOD

SAPAN WOOD

SANDAL WOOD, logs
Do. chips

SENNA, Tinnevelli

7td a Tjd

lOd a 23 6d
9s a 14s 6d

,.. Fair to fine bright bold

|Middling to good small... 7s a 10s
..Slight foul to fine bright 3s 9d a 10s
..'Ordinary to fine bright ... 3s a 9s
..Tairaniifine bold ... |£410sa£4 17s6d

..'Middling coated to good i 66 a £7
..Fair to good flavor ...[e20a£44

..'Inferior to fine £510sa£22

..Good to fine bold green... Sd a Is
Fair middling medium... jod a 7d
jCommon dark and smalll2Jd a 4jd
..'Finger fair to fine boldi9s6da 10s
.. Mixed middling [bright 8s 6d a 9s

..Bulbs whole 7s 6d a 8s 6d

Do split iHs 3d a 78

Good and finn bright
Common dull to fair

„ fresh
Fair

I CLOVKS. Ziinzih.r

j tn<l P«mb8, per lb.

' >. Stems.

COCULUS INDICUS

GALLS, Bussorah 1 blue jp.,;, ♦„ <• . , , ,

& Turkey |^ cwt.l**" " ''"^ ^ark blue ...

[cwt. [Good white and green...
GUM AMMONIACUM periBloeky to fine clean

ANIMI, washed, «)cwt. Picked fine pale in sorts,

part yellow and mixed

Bean & Pea size ditto ...

amber and dark bold ...

scraped... Medium & bold sorts

ARABIC. E.L & Aden .. Sorts ];;

per cwt. Ghatti ...JFair to fine pale '.,.

Amrad cliajGood aud fine pale

I Reddish clean ."

Clean fair to fine ...'

Slightly stony and foul .".'.
Fair to line bright
Fair to fine pale
Middling to good
Fair to fine white ...

Reddish to middling ...
-Middling to good pale ...
Slightly foul to fine
que, I red hard
age J" white softish !!.
unripe root
liver

ASSAFCETIDA, per

cwt.
KINO, per cwt.

MYRRH, picked ,,

Aden sorts

OLIBANUM, drop

per cwt. ,,

P'ckiugs...

siftings ...

INDIARUBBER Mozambi

per lb. Ball & saus

FROM CALCUTTA AND
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

CASTOR OIL, Ists per oz

2nds

3rds ,, ...

INDIARUBBER Assam, per
lb.

SAFFLOWER

TA.M.A.RINDS

lOid a Ud
al'^ a. lOJd
2ld a 2Jd
93

57s a 628

463 a 5.39
15s a 34s
£13lu/a£1410/
£10 a £12 10s
:£4 10s a £7
'£7 103
£5 a £8
90s a 1203
|38s a 808
1 90s a £7
34s a 688
35s a 403
25s a 309
40s a 448
£6 a £7 10s
70s a lOOs
45s a 5.59
329 a 449
aSsa 189
Ills a 138 6d
2s 5d a 2s 6Jd
2s a 2s 3d
lOd a Is 2id
Is 8d a 2s

Nearly water white
Fair and good pale
Brown and brownish ...
Good to fine

Common foul ami mix(d
Rangoon ... Fair to good clean
Madagascar Goodto fine pinky & white
Fair to good black
...Good to fine pinky
Middling to fair
Inferior and pickings ...
... -Mid.tofinei/flcinot stony
Stony and inferior

3^d a 4id
2id a .3d
2-id a 2|d
2s a 2s 7d
8d a l8 lOd
Is 6.1 a 28 6d
2s 4d a 28 6d
Is lid a 2s 2d
£4 10s a £5 lOs
£3 5s a £4 29 6d
£1 a £1 10s
10s a 14s
.3s a 69

FROM I
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. I

ALOES, Cape, per cwt. ... Fair dry to fine bright ...r24s a 2"»3
... Commo'n & middling soft'^s a 22s
Natal ...Fair to fine :i5s a 30s

ARROWROOT Natal per lb Middling to fine .'.[ 3d a 3id

FROM CHINA. .T.A.PAN & |
THE EASTERN ISLANDS.

► 62s a 659

CAMPHOR, China, ^ cwt. Good, pure, & dry white i
Japan ... „ ,, pink)

GAMBIER, Cubes, cwt. ... Ordinary to fine free ...|32s 6d a .^39
Pressed ...j29sa30s

Block [per lb. Good ...[22s a 23s 6d

GUTTA PERCHA, genuine Fine clean Banj& Macas-I2s 4d a 3s 3d
Sumatra.. .iBarky to fair [sar 6d a 2s 3d

Reboiled..
White Borneo

TURMERIC, Madras
Do.
Do.
Cochin
VANILLOES, Mauritius &

Bourbon, Ists IFine cry.stalised 6 a 9inch|l7s a 293
2nd3'Foxy & reddish .=S a 8 ,, il6s a 23s
3rd9 / Lean & dry to middling

[ \ under 6 inches ... lOs a 16s
4th Low, foxy, inferior and

[pickings 43 a 8s

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

ALOES, Soccotnne and

Hepatic.
CHILLIES, Zanzibar

Good and fine dry ... £t« lOs a £8 10s

Common and good ... £4 a £7 lOs
Good to fine bright ... 32s a 3.'J3
Ordinary and middling... 25s a 3l8

Common to fine clean ... Id a Is 4d

. Good to fine clean ... lid a Is .'id

Inferior and barky ...ild a 8ii

.:61's a 80's, garbled ...fes Sd a 33 9d

.8.3'sa95's ...[23 .5<1 a 2s 7d

.llOO's a 160's ...lis .5d a 2s .'>d

.jPale reddish to pale „. ^^s .3il a .3s

Ordinary to red ...Us lOd a 2s Id

Chips ... Is -id a Is 6d

RHUBARB, Sun dried, per, Good to fine sound ...ils 6d a .'Is
lb. 'Darkordinary&middlingj8d a Is 4d

Good to fine ...Is a Is. 3d
Dark, rough & middling 3d a 9d

SAGO, Pearl, large, ^ ewt.JFair tofine ... Us a 14s 9d

medium ...I ,, „ ,, ...lis 6d a 1.3s

small ...' ,, ,, ,, ... lOsalls tki

Flour [per lb, Good pinky to white ...8sa9s6d

TAPIOCA, Penang Flake iFairtofiue ... 2J^da 2id

Singapore ...I ,, ,. ... 2jd a 2Jd

Flour ..,' ,, ,, .,.|l.5s a ISsGd

Pearl ...Bullets, per cwt. ...|263a27s

.Medium ,, ... 21s a 228

'Seed „ ...'21«6da21s6d

NUTMEGS, large, per lb..

Medium

Small
MACE, per lb.

High dried

June i, my.] THE "tmnCAL AGHICULTURIST.

7^S

LETTERS FBOM JAMAICA.— No XV.

WEATHER, CROPS AND LABOUR— JAMAICA BOTANICAL DE-
PARTMENT : A CORRECTION— JAMAICA " GLEANER " ON
LOCAL TAXATION — MORE JAMAICA PROVERBS.

[This is the missing letter to which we referred
a short time ago, but its contents are still of interest.
—Ed.]

Blue Mountain District, Jamaica,

17th December, 1886.

Dear Sir,— I am pleased to be able to chronicle
an im, rovement in the weather. The rains con-
tinued very steadily until about, the JOth November.
We have since had some very fine days, but even
now it is still unsettled and occasionally showery.
The coffee in the upper fields is beginning to re-
cover from the effects of the two terrible storms
of 27th June and 19th August, and needs " hand-
ling"; but the crop will be very short indeed
except on coffee at a low elevation, which was
sheltered and escaped the violence of the storms.
It is, thereiore, a good season for the settlers, as not
only have they got a much better crop than has
been the case for some years, but the quality also
is good, for the ample supply of rain with which
we have been favoured has been beneficial, and as,
vnoreover, prices are lOs. to 123. per cwt. better
than they were last year, our Creole friends have
ever/ reason to rejoice, for " every dog has his
day," and " Bucbia" must sometimes come off
second best. I have yet to learn what beyond a
decrease in European stocks has caused the rise
in the medium qualities of coffee. It will be a
good thing for all coffee planters if it be true that
the Brazils will henceforth commence to yield
annually lessening crops, because of some disease
in the trees and the now gradual emancipation of
slaves, which will eventually enhance the price of
labour. It is time that John Bull, who paid
millions to emancipate the slaves in his own do-
minions, should put some check on slave-grown
products, and cease to allow sugar and coffee &c.,
from slave-owning countries to come to England on
a par with his own colonies, where all are free,
and already overweighted with competing with
bounty-t'ed sugar and adulterated coffees, by the
imposition of a protective duty, thus guarding
the interests of his own colonies and dependencies,
without which he would find it very hard to find
employment for his superabundant ott'spring; for,
(as an old l.i,dy in Ceylon, a Mrs. Malaprop in her
small way, once observed to a near relative of mine,
alluding to a gentleman much esteemed and
respected,) " John" is a very " populous" man.

Mr. Hart, of the Jamaica Botanical Department,
has asked me to make a correction. He writes
that in my letter No. I'd, I stated that he had been
appointed " Fm-tem" Superintendent of the
Cinchona Plantation, which I think most people
will have understood to mean that he haa been
appointed acting head of the department. But he
writes as follows, believing my statement would
bear unfavourably upon him unless corrected ;^
" I have held the appointment of Superintendent
of the Cinchona Establishment ever since 1881, and
was appointed acting head of the whole depart-
ment in Ju y last, which was probably what you
meant to convey. To friends in a similar position
in other parts of the world the statement will be
misleading, and they will think I have been
assuming a false position for the last dve years,
unless your mis-statement is contradicted." Trusting
the above will satisfy our friend's amour propre,
who has been very deservedly promoted to the
charge of the Botanical Gardens, Trinidad, on
which piece of good fortuae he is sincerely con-
99

gratulated by all his Jamaica friends, who wish
him every success in his new position.

The local Gleaner newspaper, — under the influence
of its new American editor, who, with evident Irish
proclivities, like the famous St. Kevin, of Vale-of-
Glendaloch renown, was very anxious to have '"a taste
of land" the property of King O'Toole, whose gander
he had revivified — -has started a theory that Gov-
ernment should levy a sufficiently heavy tax on
all large land-holders to compel them to
cultivate all they do not actually use, and if they
will not pay the said tax to compel them to give
back all land except they are willing to pay tax on,
so that Government may hand it over to the
native settlers to be cultivated. In this district
such lands are either " ruinate " and exhausted,
or too steep and rocky, or too high and exposed
for cultivation, so that even were the planters to
be forced to give up these lands, it is not likely
they (the settlers) would avail themselves of them,
though they mis^ht in the pen and sugar-cane par-
ishes. The plan proposed is that Government should
sell and make over these and other lands to all apply-
ing settlers in lots of 50 acres, and make them
a loan of £50 on each tenure to enable them to
cultivate it, the money, I conclude, being lent on
interest, and to be repayable in yearly instalments.
In answer to the Gleaner's plea, that most of the
people are poor, and cannot get work, or grounds
of their own, I would reply that Government have
thousands of acres which they cannot sell for even
2s or 3s an acre, that there are numbers of old
and abandoned properties, whence land can either
be purchased or rented at reasonable prices, if the
natives would but work, and avail of them. If
the Gleaner scheme were successfully carried out,
it would drive all sugar and coffee planters, i^eu-
keepers and large fruit growers out of the island,
simply because they would be unable to obtain
labour, unless it were imported at a cost that would
not pay them to keep up their properties, and make
from them a reasonable income. But would such
a scheme be likely to succeed ? Now I do not wish
to be understood to class all Creoles, that is
African descendants alike, there are exceptions to
every rule, and there are doubtless good and true
men and women amongst them, honest, even
hard-working, who lead virtuous lives, but it would
be expecting the leopard to change his spots, that
Quashie would rouse himself from his nutural
inertness and love of ease to work 50 acres of
land, and to repay Government the interest and
principal, (they deem their present taxes suffi-
ciently onerous.) I believe the majority would
soon run through the money, building houses and
in other congenial ways ; at most cultivating a
few acres as they do at present, just enough to
give them food and clothing, only working on the
estates sufficiently to enable them to indulge in
a few luxuries. In the end Government would
probably have to take back most of the land, and
what would they do with it ? Would it be worth
the borrowed capital they had lent upon it ? If,
as in some few oases, there is not labour to he
had for all from the estates all over the island,
the people can and do rent land, they could
cultivate more coffee, more fruit, more coconuts,
more cocoa and many minor products, for all
which they would find a ready sale at the various
shipping ports. If labour were ample but could
find no employment, how is it that the sugar and
coffee planters were obliged to submit to a heavy
export tax in order to enable Government to pro-
cure cooly labour, at a very large cost to thfi
colony and themselves ? No ; Jamaicans aje not
60 eager for work though they know the pla«te;f

m

fdi fMmAL AMiCVLTmi^t^ Uvm i, T8$f.

would lorefer them to coolies, for they can work
hard and well when they like, and when they get
job and jDiece-work, though for " Master " and day
wages their energies are far less active. Jamaicans
have been attracted to Colon, in the hope of mak-
ing money, their large numbers have died, and of
those who have returned many are lastingly shat-
tered in health— many of those who died have
left wives and families to tight the bpttle of
life ur>>cided by the natural bread-winner. If
tl*e- .Jamaica revenue is deficient and the land
must " pay the piper," then as suggested in my
reply to the Gleaner's article "Tax the Land," let
a sufficient but moderate additional impost be
put upon all cultivated land, and let all land-
holders, large and small, white, brown or black
pay the same rate per acre. "Euinate," reserve,
and uneultivable lands alreadj' pay a sufKcient tax,
but to force holders of large areas, obtained in
"old times" when Government was only too glad
to encourage the settlement of capitalists : to
have their properties studded over with Negro
settlers, because they cannot afford to, or will
not pay an unjust tax, would be odious. Fancy
having native grounds all over one's estate, with
free right of way? Petty larceny is rife enough
already without opening such another encourage-
ment. Another argument I read in the Gleaner
was a complaint that no sooner did a man make
money than he was taxed ; that there was con-
sequently no encouragement to the people to bet-
ter themselves and that the right thing was to tax
the land, was the only proper way to raise revenue.
How absurd ? as if it were not right that those
who can afford it should pay the taxes, not the
poor. Says the Gleaner writer, if a man makes
money and buys a horse and carriage he is im-
mediately made to pay tax thereon, and rightly
so, for he should contribute to the upkeep of the
roads which he uses and without which his car-
rage and horses would be of no use ; this is but one
example made use of tor taxing land, and making
it pay for anything else.

In my next letter I hope to be able to tell your
readers something about the " North-side " as I
am going on a short visit to St. Mary's ; it is a
parish of sugar and banana estates and " Pens,"
large numbers of coconuts are also grown. I may
also see " Castleton, " the Botanical Garden of
Jamaica. I will close with a lew more Jamaica
proverbs : —

Behind dog, it is dog, before dog it is "mister" dog.

Big blanket make man sleep late.

Cotton tree nebber so big, but little axe cut him.

Finger nebber say "look here," him say "lookdere."
—Tours faithfully, W. S.

; « ■ .

MB. VON DONOP'S LATEST EEPOET ON
PLANTING, &c., IN BOENEO.

Sppagaya Iliver.—l ■visited this river to ascertain
irl >vhat condition the property owned by Mr.
Major was in. I regret to report it is fast i'e»
turning to jtinglc though I noticed coffee, and fruit
lieeg, d'C, all battling against the grass and small
jungle growiftg tip against them. The buildings
which are all tetnporary are rapidly decaying.

The property of the China Sabah Company on
the Suanlamba river is, I regret to say, in a
similar state to that of Mr. Major's the plants 1
saw of Liberian coffee, cocoa, iXrc, were looking
ii irly healthy but unless immediate steps are taken
they will soon be choked and die. The police-
nn n are in charge of the property and live in the
bui galow. The Condenser is in good order — I
gave instructions, however, to have it carefully
pofe«l over. Tbe tobacco preee i§ also id gooa

order. There is a smail Bajow village en this river
the inhabitants of which are cutting timber for
Mr. Koh Heen's firm. I consider both the China
Sabah Company's property and Mr. Major's would
be very suitable for Chinese to cultivate. A large
acreage is already cleared of the forest but im-
mediate steps should be taken to clear away the
grass and small jungle. The land having been
cleared for some time back should render the
locality healthy.

I visited Messrs. E. E. Abrahamson & Co.'s
Timber works on the Domondong river which I
found a scene of busy activity. There are at
present 120 men cutting and hauling out timber.
Of these 90 are Chinese and the rest Malays.
The Bajows work independently and seem to take
to the business.

I had no time to visit the Blacking river but I
learn a Chinese firm employ about 200 men, Malays,
Bajows and Sulus in cutting and removing timber.
Mr. Henry Walker made a complete survey
of the Labuk river as far as Liraantic. I called
at the Governmeut station Balmoral which is at
the mouth of the Labuk. It is in charge of a
native with two policemen. I regret I am unable
to report favourably of it. No progress has been
made since my last visit when I was accom-
pained by Your Excellency. There are only 3
houses (including one belonging to Government) on
an average only 3 boats call at the station each
way per month. No fees, dutice, tfec, are
collected. There is no appearance of Bajows
who I at one time hoped might be in-
duced to settle there, for the reason they are what
they have been very i^roperly termed Sea-gipsies
and lead a roving life. In the meantime the
station costs the Government annually about #400.
The Government building is in fair order. I do
not consider the native in charge a suitable man
for the post. He can neither read nor write and
appears to have no influence or tact with the
natives and gives me little or no information of
the affairs of his district. Should the Government
decide to continue this station (which I cannot
recommend them to do) I would suggest a sui-
table substitute be put in his place. Around the
houses I noticed sugar cane growing and a few
other products. Pigs, however, appear to do con-
siderable damage. Proceeding from Balmoral (the
native name of which is Piluran) we arrived at
Galagan two hours journey. I visited Galagan a
few months ago and I am glad to say this settle-
ment formed by people of Bulungan has progressed
most favourably and will I am sure progress still
more. There are about 65 houses most of large di-
mensions,the occupants of which, putting them down
at 10 per house, Avould make a population of 650
people. There are several new arrivals from Bulun-
gan who reside in houses of their own.

The inhabitants give one the idea of being a
very industrious lot. On their first arrival they
busied themselves '^vith clearing the jungle
building their houses around which fruit treea
are thickly planted. At the present time be-
sides what might be termed an orchard, large
tracks of land are being planted with paddy which
before long will I think be an article of exports
I noticed sugar cane being crushed in the usual
native fashion. To the Chief, Dato Mumucno
Nagara I handed 2,000 sago plants which were
eagerly seized upon and with your approval I
wish to indent for a further supply from Province
Dent. I had a long evening " bichara " with
the Dato and settled many matters upon which
he wished to obtain information and vice versa.
The people of Bulungan arc not the same roverg
&i tbe otbsx iDhabitaute ot (be river; Tbey §el'

Jvus J, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

7«7

tie down in a certain locality and remain there
though they may have their paddy fields at a dis-
tance. I would recommend in the event of the
station of Balmoral being given up the two police-
men be transferred to Galagan. From Galagan
we proceeded up the river as far as Limantic,
Mr. Henry Walker being anxious to survey the
river as far as lie could m the launch. Limantic
is only a small village consisting of two houses.
Eelurning from here we proceeded down the river
to Kolapis a small Bajow village on a river of that
name. There are only two houses. I was in hopes
ai one time that this race might have settled at
Balmoral but the term sea-gipsies is a very appli-
cable term for them as they are always roving
about the sea and have not as a rule
any settled abode. From Galagan to Balmoral
two hours. From Galagan we proceeded to the
village of Tetabuan situated in the Labuk
Bay. I made this visit especially for the purpose
of gaining information concerning the pearl beds
that exist here — and which with your approval it
is intended to farm out to Panglima Butu the
Bajow chief in that district and who with his men
have been in the habit of collecting them no col-
lectmg has yet been begun but I am informed the
collection will shortly commence, I enquired from
the chief the reason he did not migrate to a better
position where he could have a plantation, he in-
formed me in reply that he was afraid to leave as
if he did somebody might come and claim the
pearl beds. The Panglima arranged to be at
Sandakan in a week's time to sign an Agreement
concerning the custody of the Pearl beds. These
people have nothing to do with the pearl beds
at the Maroap river which will be farmed out to
others. While at Tetabuan I received information
of the wreck of a "Prahu" with a cargo of rattans
from Sisip. Out of the 8 people on board two were
drowned. In reply the Panglima informed me the
reason he had not sent me information to Sanda-
kan on the subject was that there was a heavy
sea on at the time. From Tetabuan I paid a visit
to Lincabo a small Sulu village and from there
proceeded back to Sandakan. — North Borneo Herald.

Coconut Eeftjse is thus alluded to in an article in
Forestry on the Resuscitation of Choice Trees by top-
dressiu^: — Failiug loam, the uext best top-dresser is, on
the wholf, coco-fibre retu»J. It is less feeding, and
perhaps almost more conservative alike of heat and
moisture, also free from offensive odour, decomposes
very slowly, and finally forms a fine mould of which the
roots of all trees seem specially fond. [This is rather
a different verdict to that delivered by Mr. Symons. —
Ed.]

Floods in Demeraka. — Disastrous floods of an
unprecedented kind have been experienced on the
east coast of this Colony, by which the poor in-
habitants of the district are suffering severe losses
and indescribable privations. The following des-
cription of the scenes is taken from the Argosy : —
Many villages with their provision and pasture
ground annexes are (or were, for we are glad to
be able to say the rains are abating) from two to
four feet under water, the villagers' huts looking
like bathing machines in a placid sea, water up to
the doorstep, frequently above it. no road to be
seen, not a blade of grass for cow or mule, or a
dry foot of ground for the smaller stock. The
people were helpless and no hf Ip could be extended
to them in the way of relieving their lands of the
deluge ; they had simply to sit and suffer, to awake
in tlie morning with nothing to do, their farms
all lost to sight, crops ruined, and all attempts
at cultivation impossible. — Colonies and India.

The Noeth Borneo Land and Saw Mills Com-
pany (Limited), referred to in our last issue, has
been registered. The first subscribers are : — Major-
General Sir A. Anson, St. Leonards ; Mr. E. Lucas,
Kensington-square ; Mr. F. K. Barclay, Crucifixlane,
Bermondsey ; Mr. T. L. Jeyes, C. E., 9, Victoria-
chambers : Mr. J. E. Boulter, engineer, Blackfriars-
road, and Mr. J. S. H. Drake, solicitor, 50, Old
Broad-street. The first three named are to be
directors of the company, in conjunction with
Messrs. Walmisley Stanley and W. J. Tanner. The
board of directors is to number not less than five
nor more than nine, the qualification being £300
in shares or stock of the company. The director's
remuneration is to be £(500 per annum each. — L.
<& C. Express,

Ceylon Tea in America. — Of the venture of
Messrs. Pineo & MacCombie Murray we have re-
ceived some particulars : — " Office of the Ceylon
Pure Tea and Coffee Company, Philadelphia, 10th
March 1887. I send you by this mail our Circular
through which we endeavour to make known our
brand of Ceylon tea. The label is also enclosed,
and I hope it will meet your approval. We have
done what we can to advertise our pamphlets,
of which 20,000 will be distributed shortly, and
more when these are given away. We have been
at great expense in this line and can only hope
that our endeavours will meet with success. The
tea is not liked generally at first, but by talking
over the matter with people we may accustom
them to the new fiavour, and get the thin end
of the wedge in. Our business is conducted me-
thodically, and we hope to reach every respectable
family in Philadelphia through canvassers. I am
afraid the Ceylon Syndicate may be likened to a
wheel without a nave. If they had a little
capital they could boom some of the large cities
in this country with every chance of success, but
I fear there is a want of a spirit of unanimity
among planters which will always stand in the
way of any great enterprise in this line. You
will perceive by our prices that we sell teas from
50 cents to 11-10 the ruling prices of teas sold.
The profits are not so large as they would appear,
as '60 per cent commission must be given to
canvassers or retailers in any way. The |riO
is a fancy tea sent us from London of which
the sales are limited. Then we have 10 cents per
lb. to pay for delivery and packing expenses in
tin foil inside boxes, — reduce our profits to a
minimum. I may mention that even by allowing
a retailer 30 per cent, commission on sales, we
are unable as yet to do much through the trade,
as retailers make more profit out of Japans than
we can make at these prices as importers. Teas
bought by retailers at 20 cents to 80 cents sell
at 50 or 60 cents, and sometimes they will con-
sider it proper to sell the same tea to one who
can pay for it at 75 cents. There is no rule in
the retailer's business. Although they have only
one tea, they sell it for all kinds of tea and charge
according to the general appearance of the customer.
Sad, but true ! These practices are very much
against the introduction of our teas, especially as
we have to make demand, before any one will
handle them. We are prepared for uphill work,
and it is well that we are so. We are both very
thankful to you for remarks you have from time
to time made in your columns with reference to
us. We are much encouraged thereby, and we
can assure you that every encouragement given
us by you and others in Ceylon is greatly ap-
preciated by us." The pamphlet and circulars
prepared by Messrs. Pineo and Murray are very
neat and attractive and show a good deal of
enterprise on their part. We wish them all success.

^8S(

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June i. 1887.

PHARMACY IN CEXLON.

The style of bu^^iness out here is much the same
as a country business at home ; we are '' Chemists,
Druggists, and General Dealers," though in some Stores
the Oheniist's Department forms only a small part of
the business. We do not get very rumunerative
pi-ices — Euo's Salts, 2 rupees; Clarke's Blood Mixturr^,
3 rupees; Cockle's pills, 2s. 9d. size, 2 rupees, 6-oz
ordinary mixtures, 1 rupee; 8-oz, IJ rupee. The rupee
being so low in value — under Is. 6d. sterling — the prices
arc much the same as one has been accustomed to in
England. Our e.^penses in importing home goods are
very heavy; we have a C-per-cent ad valorem duty on
goods coming into the colony, which, in addition to
agents' buying commission, shipping, landing, and
railway charges, and other incidnntals, together with
SSJ per cent premium, which we have to pay in ex-
changing rupees into sterling, causes an advance on
many goo Is of 50 to 60 per cent, over London invoice
jjrices. We are in the land of " spicy breezes " ; we
do not wish to detract from the island, but cannot
help thinking there has been a mistake somewhere ;
certainly we get breezes — incidental to a hot climate,
■we suppose — the spice in them being rather conspicu-
ous by its absence.

Our beautiful scenery and foliage is always admired
by passengers taking a trip into the interior. Indian
visitors, who have been accustomed to the hot and
parched plains, say the visit to Oeylou is a glorious
change for them, and admire very much the luxriant
growth of vegetation for which our island is so fame '.
Our climate is like a perpetual summer ; the year is
marked, not by four seasons as at home, but bv the
two monsoons, the one frcim the N rth-east, which
comes in about October, lasting *ill the following April,
when the South-west comes and stays till the next
October. The burst of the monsoons is accompanied
by plenty of stormy weather, when we get, thunder
and lightning, and rain in torrents. We have several
botanical gardens in Ceylon ; those at Peradeniya are
especially good. I will send you a little paper on what
I see there at a future date. I uiet Dr. Bonavia,
Brigade-Surgeoa of the Indian Mediciil Department,
a little while ago. He has been carrying on a research
into the properties of the orauge family, find told
me of the excellent results he has observed from the
use of " Decoctiou of Lemon. " As it may interest
some of your readers, I give the recipe tor the pre-
paration of the medicine iu full, copied from a'etter
by Dr. Bonavia to the Ceylon Observer. — " To make
decoction of lemon, take one Malta lemon, or three
sour limes, cut into thin slices, rind, pulp, and all,
add three breakfast-cupfuls of water, and bnil in an
enamelled saucepan until the liquid is reduced to one
cupful, then leave it exposed all night to the air;
next morning strain through muslin, and drink the
liquid early on an empty stomach." Dr. Bonavia
adds: "In quotidian fever simply, decoctiou of lemon
given only once a day acts like cinchona febrifuge.
In enlarged spleen of recent occurrence (within few
months) the decoction has a wonderful effect. In loss
of appetite and weakness after illness, decoction of
lemon may be prescribed with marked benefit." The
wholesale houses at home seem very anxious to do
business with their colonial customers direct. We get
hosts of price-lists by every mail, and occasionally a
traveller from the old country drops in. " Siegtl's
Syrup " people have been sending their almatacs through
the post to almost every person in Ceylon, and with-
in a few days after the arrival of these almanacs all
the Stores had run out of stock. By the time
new stocks arrive it may possibly happen that the
interest of the patent-medicine-taking public will be
taken up with something else.

I notice you are altering the puhlication of The
Ohkmist and Drugoist to once a fortnight, and no
extra charge to subscribers — another instance of the
liberal spirit you have always shown to us ; a years'
numbers and the Diary, all post-fret^ for ten shillings —
marvellously cheap. i\lay you continue to go on and
prosper ! — Cinnamon.— C/;e?»t.s< mid Druggist.

DOMESTIC REMEDIES OP THE ARABIAN
DESERT.

Dr. E. Gordon Hull, in the British Medical Journil,
gives some particulars of observations on the diseases
and remtnlies current among the Bedawin of Arabia
Petrisa and the Arahah Valley, made during the
autumn and winter of 1883-84, while he was acting
as Honorary Medical Officer to an expedition sent out
by the Palestine Exploration Fund. He remarks that
chronic bronchitis and chronic articular rheumatism
are almost universal. He measured twenty-six men
and nearly all their shoulder-joints creaked and
groaned as they raised them. This will account for
the curious inability of the Arabs to move about,
or do any work in the morning before they are
" thawed " and rendered supple either by firy or by
sun. Nevertheless, the Arabs appear to be a very
healthy people.

The remedies they are in the habit of u^ing are
not many iu number, and are usually derived from
those plants which are most widely distributed. As
a diuretic, that is, for pains in the back and gravel,
they use the retem, or broom (Sparfium monoftpermvm),
making a decoction of the top shoofs in hot water,
a'ld drinking it; they say it is also purgative. This
shrub, which provides them with fuel, and their camels
with a scanty nourishment, is almost universal ; we
saw it in flower on the way to Petra, and the in-
florc-cence, which is purple and white, gives out an
exceedingly sweet perfume. I*" has a very bitter ta-'te.

Several species of wild me'on, of the family Bryonice,
allied »o the elaterium (which also grovs in these
parts), are in ci'mmon use as v)ur£:atives ; the native
method of using them is insienious. A fruit is split
into halves, the seeds scooped out, and the two
cavities filled with milk; after al'owing it to stand
fur some time, the liqu'd, which has absorbed some
of the active principle of the plant, is drunk off.
A milder remedy is camel's milk, which appears under
some circumstances to be purgative to the Arabs.

The order Composifa funu'shes several niedininal
herbs of which the Arabs m^ike u^^e. The Sanfolina
fraqrantissima, a graceful plant of a sage-green colour,
bitter tnste, and strong fragrant odour, furnishes them
in the form of an infusion, with a carminative, good
f<ir cnlic and all painful affections of the a'ldomen.
In the bizaars of Cairo the fragrant dried heads are
sold for the same purposes as camomile. I was told
that there 'are no snakes in the districts where the
plant grows, and the natives believe that the odour
of the plant is sufiBcient to drive reptiles from a house,
and it is used for this purpose in Cairo and other
towns.

Another plant of the same order is an artemisa,
or worm-wood, with a very strong aromatic odour
and bittter taste. The fellaheen use it to put in their
bedding to drive away vermin. This use of the plant
appears to be very universally known, witness the old
English rhyme: —

When wormwood hath seed, get a handful or twain,
To save again.st March, to make flea to refrain :
Where chamber is swept, and wormwood is strewn,
No flea, for his life, dare bide, or be known !

From the seeds of some of the kinds of artemisia be
which g'ow in these parts, santonine appears to ob-
tained. In the wilderness of Judsea, near to Beersheba,
we found a pretty little calendula, or marigold, very
common. It became extremely abumlant along the
Mediterranean seaboard, and is used by the natives
as a sort of tea for tl itulence and pain in the abdomen.
Knowing how largely a liniment derived from this
plant was advertised by homoeopaths, I tried to find
out if Ihey used it as an external application, but
they did not know of its virtues as such. One of Oie
commonest desert plants is the zygophyllum, so culled
from the leaves bi-ing composed of short succ ilen
jointed segments; these, bruised in water, form a
mucilaginous liquid of which the Arabs are very fond as
an application for sore eyes. It has an exceedingly
nauseous taste, but this ifact only appears to com-
mend it to the notice of the camel, who devours i
greedily. A curious tropical plant, which we fouu

June I, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

789

in the Ghor, at the south end of the Dead Sea, is
thp osher (Calhtropis gigantea), a large tree-like as-
clepiad, containing simply eDormous quantities of milky
acrid juice. Its properties are stated by Endlicher to
be powerfully purgative and emetic; but the natives
use it to give to women whose milk is scanty, probably in
accordance with the doctrine of signatories. Here, also,
grows the castor-oil plant, but its virtues are unknown
to the natives. A very striking plant, which, perhaps,
I should have mentioned before, and which often hangs
in graceful dark-green festoons from the granite walls
of the gorges of Arabia Petrtea, is the caper plant
(Copparis spinosa). The natives are very fond of the
fruit, which has a warm aromatic taste, and they
stroke the region of the epigastrium appreciatively
after eating one or two. The cortex of the root is
said to be aperient and diuretic. Another fairly-
common plant is a hyoscyamus, called by the natives
" sekharan," with fleshy leaves and purple flowers.
The dried leaves are used by the natives to smoke,
and produce a kind of intoxication or delirium ; and
an infusicu of the fresh leaves possesses strong narcotic
properties. It is nearly allied to the mandragora,
which becomes common on the limestone downs in
the South of Judtea. The Arabs are extraordinarily
susceptible to narcotics. Our tobacco they could not
gmoke at all; a few whiffs make them giddy, and
give them a headache; even a "Richmond Gem"
cigarette is too much fo them. Only two mineral
substances appear to be regarded by the Bedawia as
medicinal. One of them, sulphur, I have already
mentionfd; the other is a kind of common red coral,
found on the shores of the Ked Sea and Mediter-
ranean, aud sold in the bazaar at Gaza. As far as
I could gather, they only use this as a charm. —
Chemist and Druggist.

— : ♦^-

EUCALYPTI: BOTANICAL DISTINCTIONS OF

THE OIL-PKODUCING SPECIES.

The popular nomenclature of the eucalypts is as
confused and thoroughly bad as it could be. In the first
place the generic name of gum-tree is rather poor, as true
gum is by no means an abundant or characteristic
product of the eucalypt ; but the faults of the generic
name could easily be forgiven it, if a a happy and
discriminating series of specific names had been attach-
ed to it. Probably no great genus has ever had its
species so irritatingly mixed up by careless popular
naming. It must be allowed that the specific separation
of the eucalypts has proved a task of extreme diffi-
culty to botanists with the largest share of classifieatory
talent, and the amateur will find it a matter of some
little trouble to acquire moderate facility in distinguish-
ing many of even the commoner eucalypts without
good specimens of flowers and fruit. Broad general
characters, by which to distinguish the more nearly
related species, are hard to lay hold of, as will be
recognised when it is considered under what diverse
forms the individuals of a single species can present them-
selves according to the locality of their growth. Thus
trees which on the ranges appear as forest giants shoot-
ing up straight, with colossal smooth white trunks
are found in barren reaches near the sea as scrubby
stunted specimens, with wrinkled dark bark. An idea
of the utter confusion of the popular nomenclature,
may be gathered from the facts that there are no less
than six distinct species in Australia called the blue-
gum, the most important being the E. globulus, some-
times distinguished as the Tasmanian blue-gum. There
are three peppermint trees, namely, E. amygdalina,
E. odorata, and E. piperita ; there are three red-gums,
three mountain ashes, one of which is the amygdalina,
which has already figured as a peppermint tree; there
are nine white-gums, amygdalina again figuring in the
list; there .-.re eight ironbarks, and finally there are
fourteen boxes, very inadequately attempted to be
distinguished. The stringy-bark of South Australia and
Tasmania is the E. ohliqua, which in Victoria is mostly
known as_ messmate, while the tree called stringy-bark
in Victoria is the E. macrorrki/r.a. Under these cir-
cumstances the student of the' eucalypts will find it
discreet not to take his lessons from the bushmau or

elector, but to go audi cons\x\tihe Eucalyptographia,
and learn to ignore the popular trivial names as com-
pletely as he can.

The distinguishing characteristic from which the
genus got its name of eucalyptus, meaning "well-covered"
is the deciduous operculum or calyx-lid, which is
supposed to represent the united petals. It varies in
shape from hemispherical to elongated conical ; it is
always simple, sometimes thin, but oftener thick:
sometimes fleshy, but mostly woody ; the veins run
through it lengthwise, and are approximately parallel;
the Ime of separation of operculum from calyx tube
is nearly always distinct in the bud. Often in the
young bud a thin membrane is found covering the
operculum. The stamens are numerous and arranged
in series; the shape of the antlers was first employed
by Bentham as a diagnostic character for the syste-
matic classification of the eucaljpts, and with this
Mueller has joined the mode of opening the anthers.
The woody fruit consists of the bell-shaped calyx tube
enclosing the capsule; the seeds are mostly infertile.
The flowers as a rule are arranged in umbels, although in
a few exceptional cases they occur singly and sessile.
E. Amygdalina has an unfortunate specific name as
there is nothing the least almond-like about it. This
species is remarkable as containing perhaps the tallest
trees in the world and also trees with a larger secretion
of oil than any other known tree produces. The tree
varies considerably in external appearance, from the
giant "white-gum" form to the stunted rough-barked
form known in Victoria and Tasmania as a " peppermint "
and in New South Wales as a " messmate." Its leaves
are thin and equally green on both sides, the veins
do not spread out much, and the oil dots are abundant
and clearly visible. The flowers are small and grouped in
solitary umbels, the operculum is almost hemisperical
and almost half as large as the calyx tube, the anthers
are kidney-shaped and open by confluent slits ; the
frnits are small and truncate globular, with depressed
border and valves enclosed. This tree ranges along the
south-east coast of Australia and Tasmania ; it is always
interspersed with other trees, and its timber is not
much valued.

E. oleosa. — This species will be taken as representative
of the four species that are mixed together in the mallee
scrub; it is a dwarf, ranging from 12 to 18 feet in
height, its leaves are of an equally bright green on
both sides, the flowers occur in solitary umbels with
slender stalks and short stalklets. The operculum is
semiovate, passing into a pointed cone, and is a little
longer than the calyx tube. The anthers are roundish,
opening by longitudinal slits, the fruits are truncate
ovate with compressed border, while the valves are half
inserted and prolonged into decided points. The oil
globules are plainly visible in the young leaves, but
tend to get concealed in the older ones. This is a
desert species found in the large tracts of mallee
country in the regions round the mouth of the Murray
and inland along it and its tributaries.

E. Globulus has its leaves long, thick, and equally
green on both sides with the circumferential vein well
in from the edge, and the oil dots concealed. The
flowers are large, for the most part solitary, and al-
most sessile. The operculum is crown-shaped, and like
the calyx-tube is covered with the same blueish white
waxy bloom as gives the large ovate leaves of the seed-
lings and young trees of this species so characteristic
an apperance ; the anthers are distinctly longer than
broad, and open by parallel slits. The fruit is large
and hemispherical, whence the specific name. The
trees occur mostly dispersed, but sometimes gregarious
in the humid regions of the south and east of Victoria,
and in Tasmania. This is the eucalypt that has be-
come famous by reason of its unequalled rapidity of
growth, its fine timber and its malaria destroying
reputation.

E. leucoan/lon has its leaves equally dull green on the
two sides, th.e flowers are mostly arranged in solitary
umbels of three flowers each, the operculum is semi-
ovate and pointed, the outer rows of stamens are
sterile, the anthers are roundi.sh and open by pores at
the summit, the stigma is broadly dilated, and the
fruit semi-ovate in shape, has a compressed border, and

fgo

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [June i, 1887.

enclosed valves. This species has a wide ran^ p from
the south of Queensland to Spencer's Gulf. Like the
amygdaUna it presents two very difftreut extt rnal
appearances, one of which is known as a white gum on
account of the fmooth pale siom left by the dtcidous
bark, the other as Yiclorian ironbark on account of
the fissured hardness of the retained bark. This bark
is pretty rich in kino.

E. Qnacrorrhyza-.—Ihe leaves are long and equally
green on both sides, with the oil dots hidden, the
operculum is as long as the tube, and is concavely
attenuated to a sharp point, the anthers are kidney
shaped, opening by slits, the stigma is not broader
than the apex of the style, the fruit is hemispheriral
below with a convex border, and the valves much
inserted. The species is very widely spread in Victoria
and New South Wales, being the commonest of the
stringy barks in Victoria. The trees are gregarious,
and there is a great demand for their timber on
account of the readiness with which it splits for the
manufacture of rails and shingles. They often occur
mixed with E. Obliqua.

E. ohliqua has its leaves equally green on the two
sides, and shining with the oil dots concealed. The
specific name was given to indicate the marked in-
equality of the leaves at the base, but this is a feature
in the leaves of many eucalypts. The calyx is rough,
and its tube is longer than the hemispherical oper-
culum, the fruits are truncate ovate with the border
compressed and the valves enclosed. The trees occur
gregariously in large forests to be met with between
St. Vincent's Gulf and Gippslaud, but not spreading
far into New South Wales, they furnish most of
the ordinary sawn hardwood. The two last species
although their yield of oil is not high, offer con-
siderable advantages to the distiller by reason of
their gregarious habit and their vogue as hardwood
timber trees, which makes the gathering of their
leaves cheap.

E. rostrata : — The leaves are of the same colour on
both sides and of a lanceolate shape, the veins
are crowded, and the oil, dots though visible are
scanty ; the flowers occur in solitary umbels of from
4 to 14 flowers, the operculum is longer than the semi-
globular tube, from its hemispherical base it rises
into a beak-like prolongation, from which the specific
name was taken ; the anthers are ovate with longi-
tudinal slits, the fruit is roundish with a protruding
convex rim, and three, four or five highly exerted
triangular valves. This species is found chiefly along
the river margins of south-east Australia.

E. odorata has equally dull leaves with the veins

spread out at an acute angle. The operculum varies

in shape from broad couical to bossed hemispherical,

and is shorter than the calyx tiibe ; the antlers are

small and roundish, with pore-like slits, the fruit is

bell shaped, with valves enclosed. The species is

almost entirely confined to South Australia in the

neighbourhood of Spencer's and St. Vincent's Gulfs.

It is probable that in Victoria the E. Melhodora has

sometimes been confounded with E. odorata, to which

it is closely allied, and to which it is very .similar,

the most salient point of distinction between the

two is that the fruit of E. melliodora is decidedly

contracted at the summit, while that of E. odorata

preserves the pure bell-shape.— C7i«»iis/ and Dn(ff(/ist

of Australasia.

^^

THE SUGAR CANE AND THE SUGAE
INDUSTRY AT MAURITllUS.
(Translated for the " Tropical Agriculturist " fromthe 1st
number of the ''Revue Agrico/e.")

Mauritius, Jan. 1887.
The sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum) is a
gramineous plant, which appears ind genous to India
and Irdo-Chma, whence it has extended from time
immemoral to the Oceanic Islands.

Towards the middle of the 13th century the traders
who carried on commerce with India brought home
with them this plant, and introduced it into Arabia,
whence it was extended to many points in the basin
of the Mediterranean, notably to Egypt, Spain, Sicily
aud up to the South of France,

The sugar yielding reed was soon transported into
Madeira, thence in 1420 to the Canaries, and in 1506
the Spaniard P. d'Airan<;a introduced it into St.
D mingo, where it multiplied rapidly. Gonzalis de
Meloza established the first sugar factories there. In
1643 the English began to cultivate cane at Barbadoes,
ai d the Fieiich at St. Christopher's in 1644, and at
Guadelc upe in 1648.

For a long time the process of extracting the juice
of the cane remained in a rudimentary state. The
mills moved by bullocks or mules, were composed of
three vertical cylinders. Two men, placed one on each
side passed the canes, first between the cylinders the
widest apart, and then through those which were
closer together. As it was necessary to hold the
canes in the hand to keep them hor.zontal in going
through the vertical cylinders, it frequently happened
that the men thus employed were from carelessness,
or when overpowered by sleep, subject to having their
fingers caught between the cylinders, the rotary move-
ment of which was very rapid, and the whole arm
and sometimes a portion of the body were crushed
before theni was time to stop the mill.

Stedman, in his voyage to Guyane, relates that in
the sugar factories of that colony there was a well
sharpened axe kept near the cylinders, for the pur-
pose of cutting off an arm, in case of such an accident.

The use of horizontal cylinders and of water wheels
and wind-mills, were so many steps in advance, which
were successively realized, to be superseded at the
present time by steam power.

The process for extracting sugar from the juice of
the cane followed the same steps. At first the manu-
facturers were content to carry on the evaporation by
means of single boilers. Afterwards these were arranged
in rows (batteries). Towards 1840, Howard constructed
for refining purposes the first apparatus for boiling
in vacao, and in 1840 Mons. Rillieux conceived
the idea of employing the steam developed by
the boiling juice to evaporate another portion of
the juice, and constructed the first apparatus for pro-
ducing the two effects (appareil a double effet),
which Mons. Tischbein introduced into Europe in
1880, and which Mons. Robert, a Seelowitz, modi-
fied so as to produce a triple effect.

During three centuries, the system of "purging"
(egouttage) for the purpose of separating the molasses
from the crystals of sugar contained in the concen-
trated juice, set in a mass by cooling, remained the
same. The boiling mass was placed in forms, barrels
or cases, the bottoms of which were pierced with
holes, through which the molasses escaped. To expel,
more or less completely, the molasses adhering to
the granulations, cane juice concentrated to 32 degrees
Baume (this was what used to be called clearing
le clair(;age) or a thick layer of wet clay was poured
over the surface of the sugar, the water from which
percolated through the sugar, clearing the crystals of
molasses. The latter was called claying (le tenage).

In 1849 Mons. Serigue invented the plan of apply-
ing centrifugal force to drive out the molasses held
in suspension by the boiled mass of sugar, and
constructed the first turbine.

The processes adopted for purifying the cane juice
remained equally stationary for three centuries, and
until towards 1848 the sugar maker confined himself
to adding a little lime to the juice, though the pro-
portion of this agent, was in no degree based on scientific
principles. In 1849 Mons. Melsens suggested the use
of bisulphate of lime which was soon abandoned— as the
proper way of using sulphurous acid for depriving cane
juice of colour was then insufficiently known. Then
came carbtnatation di.scovered by Mons. Rousseau,
the application of which to the manipulation of cane
juice gave but quf'Stionable results.

In 1867 the lamented Dr. E. leery made the first
important and practical use of sulphurous acid, which
he employed in the form of monosulfite of lime, at
the same time he taught the rational employment
of sunflower paper (papier au tournesol) to test the
cane juice in regulating the quantity of lime to be
used for the purpose of separating the mucilage
from the cane juice. At last iu 1880, Messrs. C

June j, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRlCULTURXSf.

'm

Bernard and L. Ehrmann first used phosphoric acid
with the aid of which they obtained sugar that
rivalled in whiteness, the best refined sugar.

II. If from this general exposition of the origin

and developement of the colonial sugar enterprize
we pass on to what was its past history in our
colony, we shall see that it was not till towards
1735 during the time of Labeurdonnais that sugar
cane commenced to be of commercial importance
and that it was only in 1836 with the introduction
of Indian labourers in Mauritius that the sugar in-
dustry began to develope itself to such an extent
as to become in a few years the one great enterprize
which attained its apogceum in 1863, the year in
which the crop reached the figure of 316 millions
of pounds.

The principal varieties of cane cultivated at JMauri-
tius have been

let. The white cane of Ota'iti ;

2nd. the bambu cane or Batavia care;

3rd, the Gingham — or ribboned cane ;

4th. Belouguet cane, or the violet cane of Java ;

5th. Creole cane, small with very close joints ;

6th. Mozambique cane, dark in colour, and leaves
tinged with deep brown.

Of these different kinds, the white cane was most
generally cultivated, and until 1848 it formed at least
nine-tenths of the plantations. At this time a peculiar
disease, called the white disease, broke out on the
white cane, so that very soon after the planters
were obliged to abandon the cultivation of this
variety, which previously had been considered the
most advantageous. As there was then a prejudice
unfavourale to coloured cane, efforts were made to
obtain new species of white cane from Java, and two
kinds were received from that country, the Penang
and the Diard, which for many years were in great
esteem, but before long they were given up in favour
of the Belouguet previously despised, but which soon
became recognized as the most productive of all
the kinds introduced up to that time.

Previous to this period, that is to say until to-
wards 1855 the cultivation of cane was confined to
the sea coast of the island. In these low grounds,
sufiiciently watered, the cane generally flourished with
exceptional vigour, in a rich deep soil, and, without
manure, gave numerous successive crops. In virgin
soil from 15 to 20 crops, and on second planting from
8 to 10 crops. Two or three years of change of
cultivation for peas or " embrevattes " (called in
Ceylon the Angola pea) were afterwards suflBcient
to renovate the soil. So soon as the cultivators went
further from the coast, the conditions became very
much changed. The soil which was neither so deep
nor so rich, yielded, without manure, but very in-
ferior returns to those from the coast lands. The
planted canes gave but two or three crops and the
manufacture presented great difficulties, consequent
on the frequent rains, which hindered the drying of
the sugar.

Two new introductions, that of the turbine an'*
that of guano of Peru came to change this stat®
of things. Whilst on one hand, the employment o^
the turbine obviated the necessity of drying in the
sun, and facilitated the manipulation in rainy districts;
the Peruvian manure tripled the returns obtained
Jn moist and elevated regions. The consequence was
that the forests which in 1S55 still clothed a large
portion of the centre of the island were gradually
felled to make room for cane plantations.

The result of this agricultural revolution was the
displacement of the sugar industry. The island in
general was desiccated by the destruction of the
forests, the coast lands ceased to be sufficiently
watered to afford remunerative crops, and a great
tiumber of estates in this portion of the island were
successively abandoned. The aggregate produce of
the country, however, increased, as we have already
said up to 1863, the period of its apognoum. After
that commenced the era of trials. The Pnlouguet
cane after having produced so well, became effected
in its turn, as well as the kinds called Penang and
pifxCtf it became necessary to t'S'll back on the

Bambu and Gingham kinds which were notoriously
inferior, and which, after a few years, were in their turn
.ittacked by the same mysterious disease, which un-
der forms varying with the kinds attacked, caused
such disastrous loss to our agriculture. To provide
against this eventuality, which had been foreseen,
means for introducing fresh canes had been organized
on a methodical system, and over two hundred new
species or varieties were successively introduced,
which rendered it possible to form fresh plantations.

It is worthy of remark that among all the new
kinds of cane, a very few species were found fit to
be compared as regarded production to the old
kinds previously introduced and none were superior.
At the same time that our different kinds of cane
were successively attacked by disease, the planters
of Mauritius found themselves called upon to struggle
against new difficulties of another order.

The deposits of guano on the Chincha Islands
became exhausted, and Peru only exported guano
of inferior quality — which gave rise to the form-
ation of establishments for making chemical manure,
much more costly and greatly inferior to the old guano
of Peru.

It has been said that misfortunes never come
single. The truth of this aphorism has verified itself,
as far as our sugar industry is concerned. To the
diseases of the caue, and the increase in the cost
of manure has succeeded a crisis in the market
which has for several years struck at the sugar
industry in all producing countries; a crisis to which
it is impossible to assign a limit, and of which it is
equally impossible to foresee the ultimate con-
sequences.

After having viewed the origin, the developement
and the present state of our sugar industry, it
remains for us to inquire as to what are its present
necessities, and the way towards which it is desir-
able to direct it, so that it may be placed in a
position to sustain the struggle for existence, which
is at the present moment imposed on all sugar
producing countries.

0. B,
{To he Continued.)

TPvOPICAL FEUITS IN THE KEW MUSEUM.

In connection with the subject of tropical fruits
recently brought before the Koyal Colonial Institute
by Mr. Morris, and referred to in the Gardeners'
Chronicle for February 26 last, it may be useful to
those interested in the matter to know that most
of the fruits under review, as well as others not
mentioned, but which might prove of equal value, are
to be found in the Kew Museum. The collection of
tropical fruits preserved in fluid has always been a
distinct feature of the Economic IMuseum at Kew. Those
sent home by Henshall and Kattau from the Malay
Archipelago some thirty years since were not only
remarkably good specimens, but, up to a certain point,
were very complete. The addition of fresh specimens,
acquired from various collectors and botanic gardens,
as well as from the several Exhibitions — notably the
Health Exhibition and the recent Colonial and Indian
Exhibition — has made the Kew collection unique in
this respect. It may, perhaps, be remembered that
at the Health Exhibition, Siam made a great display
of native fruits, extremely well preserved in a solu-
tion of salt and water, the whole of which collection
was made over by the Siamese Commission at the
close of the Exhibition to the Kew Museum. This
collection placed many of the fruits of the East in
an entirely new light; some notes on them and othera ,
in the Kew Museum may therefore not be without
interest at the present time.

The 8iam collection included some very fine speci*
mens of the commoner or better-known tropical fruits,
such as the Mango, Mangosteen, the Auonas, &c.; but
it is to those that are less known that we wish to
draw especial attention, and for this purpose it will
no doubt lie more generally useful to the readers of
the Gai'dciiers' Chronicle if we refer to the individual
fruitb under their several oatura] orders,

79^

tHs TROPICAL AGmcvLruni^r. [juwe i, i

BixiNE.E. — Flacourtia inermis, Roxb. — The name of
Mad Apple is applied to this fruit iu the Siamese collec-
tiou, while iu ludia it is known as Oomitry Plum.
The tree is a native of the Moluccas, but seems to
be much cultivated. The fruit is about the size
of a Oherry, of a red colour, aud has a smooth skiu,
and is described by Ivoxburgh as being " too sour to
be eaten raw, but makes very good tarts." Under
the name of Luvi-luvi, or Lobi-lobi, the fruits of F.
cataphracta, Wild., are used in Java for making into
preserve : they are globular, with a sm joth purple
bkin, and are about the size of a commou Plum.
Aheria caffra. Harv. and Loud. — The Kei Apple is per-
haps better known than the last. It is the fruit of
a shrub, native of the Cape of Good Rope aud Natal.
When ripe the fruits are of a golden-yellow colour,
about the size of a small Apple. They make an ex-
cellent preserve, but are said to be so exceedingly
acid when fresh that " the Dutch settlers prepare
them for their tables as a pickle without vinegar."
Malvaceae. Durio zihethinus, L. (the Duriau). — This
wellknown fruit is included here only on account of
the possibility of the edible pulpy portion being brought
to this country preserved in syrup, like Pines. A
specimen in the Museum from the Siam collection
suggests this possibilitj', though it is probable that the
flavour of the Durian, as described by travellers, would
not recommend it to European palates.

Geraniace.e. — Averrhoa hilimbi, L. (the Blimb-
ing). — This, and the Caracnbola — A. carambola, L. —
are useful Indian fruits, valued on account of their
acid taste for making pickles as well as for preserves.
RuTACEiE. — Trijihasia trifoiiata,DO. — A spiny shrub,
native of Southera China, but now naturalised in ludia
and the AVest Indies. The fruits are about the siz<3
of a large black Currant, with a reddish skin : Iq an
unripe state they are said to have a stickly tena-
cious pulp, and a turpentine flavour, but when fully
ripe they have an agreeable sweet taste, and are pre-
served in syrup. They occasionally come to this country
in this form under the name of Lime berries. A
closely allied plant is the AVampee (Olausena Wampi,
Blanco, better known perhaps as Cookia punctata),
a small globular body, esteemed in China and the
Indiaa Archipelago.

Melaice^. — Lnnsium domesticum, Jack. (Lansa,
Langsat, or Dojku.) — A tree of India and the Malay
islands, the fruit of which is about the size of a
pigeon's egg. The skin i.s of a yellow colour, aud the
pulp of flesh white. AVhen fully ripe it is of a
pleasant, sweetish, acid taste, and is highly esteemed
by the people in the Malay islands, either iu the fresh
state, or cooked in various ways, or made into a
preserve. Duku jam was shown in the collection from
the Straits Settlements at the Colonial Exhibition,
and its flavour was certainly very agreeable.

Olacineje. — Ximenia americana, L. (the Amatun-
duluku of Natal). — It is a shrub or small tree, and
is found widely spread over tropical regions. The
fruits are fleshy, somewhat ovoid, about an inch long,
and when fresh, of a sweetish colour; they have a
sweetish, acid taste, and are generally eaten iu the
countries where the plant is grown. A form of this
species has been described under the name of X.
elliptica found in the Pacific islands, where it is eaten
in large quantities by the natives, and is said to be
extremely acid, and to possess an Almond-like smeli.
It is of a globular form, and not elliptical.

Sapindace,^. — This order coutains the well-known
Litchi and Longan, and the less known Rambutan
and Pootassan. I mention the first only to draw at-
tention to the forms iu which these fruits might be
introduced. In this country we know the Litchi
(Nephelium Litchi, Camb.) only in its dritxl state, that
is, when the outer warted shells have become woody
and the inner pulp, or aril, which envelopes the
seed, has somewhat shrivelled and become black. In
this state the pulp has simply a sweet taste, but in
the fresh state the pulp is whitish, or slightly tinged
with pink, and has a refreshing acid taste. A sample
of these fruits, with the wool}' coat removed, show-
ing the iuuer pulp preserved in fluid, from Siam, is
^bovD in the Sew Maseum, aud tbey mg^^i^ the

possibility that this pulpy portion might be preserved,
ia tins iu a similar manner to Piae-apples, and sent to
this coaotry. The fruits of the Kimbufan, or llani-
bustin (Nephelium lappaceuin, L), might also be treated
iu a similar way. The pulp makes an excellent j im,
samples of which were exhibited in the Straits Settle-
ments collection. The pulp of the Pootassan (Nephe-
lium mutabile) is similar to the last.

Otophora fruticosa, Bl. (the Phamarieng of the Sia-
mese), produces a two or three-lobed fruit aboat the
size of a Cherry, of a bright shining black when ripe,
and containing a large proportion of pulp of a pleasant
sweetish, slightly astringent taste.

ANACARDIACE.T2. — Besides the Mango and Cashew
nuts, and the several species of Spoudias which furn-
ish fruits of varied quality, two species of Bouea yield
large, pulpy edible fruits; these are B. macrophylla
Griff., and B. burmanica. Griff., both of which are
known in Siam by the name of Maprang.

RosACEy"E. — Chri/sobalanus Icaco, L. — This is the Icaco,
or Coco Plum of the West Indies and S )uth America,
The fruits are about the size and appearance of an
ordinary Plum, but vary in colour from white to yellow,
red or purple. The pulp is described as having a
sweet but somewhat austere taste, and is used either
raw or for making a conserve.

Mtetaob.'e. — In this large order many fruits suggest
themielves as being likely to prove valuable either in
the state under which they are at present known,
or under an improved condition from the effects of
cultivation. The Guava (Psidium guayava, Kadd.),
aud the Rose Apple (Eugenia Jambos, L. ), are amongst
the best known fruits of the order; these latter ho >v-
ever, are but little esteemed in their fresh state by
Europeans, iu consequence of their generally insipid
taste, but candied with sugar they are very agreeable,
and have a distinct Rose flavour. R,:Xie Apples pre-
served iu this manner were sent from Jamaica to the
Philadelphia Exhibition, and were awarded a Silver
Medal. The tree is commonly cultivated in gardens
in India, and the fruit is eaten either raw or made
into a preserve. Another species of Eugenia, namely,
E. Jambolana, Lam., is much valued in India for
the sake of the fruits, which are mostly about the
size of a pigeon's egg, but vary under cultivation,
and are eaten by all classes of the people. The tree
is an evergreen, common throughout India, both wild
and cultivated, and it is also found iu Ceylon, the
Malay Archipelago, aud Australia.

Ugni (Myrtus ugni), a Chilian shrub, has long been
valued in its native country for the sake of its
fruits, which are of brownish-red colour when ripe,
and about the size of a large black Currant ; it has
a soft juicy pulp, with a sweetish, somewhat aro-
matic flavour. It is described as being cultivated
in gardens aud used as dessert in Valparaiso, and the
expressed Juice of the fruit mixed with water is said
to form a very refreshing drink, having an odour
of Rosemary. The plant has been recommended for
cultivation as a fruit-bearing shrub in the warmer
parts of England. A fruit very similar to the Dgni
is produced by Myrtus salutaris, H. B. Samples are
shown in the Kew Museum from Venezuela. On
the banks of the Orinoco they are said to grow as
large as Sloes.

PASSiFLOEEas.— Several of the fleshy fruits of this
order are utilised in tropical countries for making
preserves, as, for instance, Passiflora quadra ngularis,
L., and P. maliformis, L., and Carica Papiya. Jam*
made from the first named species were shown iiJi
the Colonial Exhibition from Dominica, and from the
second from Natal ; both, however, lacked any distinct
flavour to recoaimoud them, aud this was generally
the case with the Papaw, which was shown from
several of the colonies preserved in various ways.
The most curious, however, if not the best in point
of (juality, were those shown in the Straits Settle-
ments collection where the fruits were cut into various
ornamental forms and preserved in syrup. Under
the name of ".scented Lemon" (a label probably
misplaced) was shown soni^ attractive looking sub-
stance tjf a bright green colour, also iu syrup^
which upoQ examiuatioa I fouQd tQ be the flowery

jvnt h tm4 ffffj fnQpicAi A6mttft'r\jmmK

79'3

of the Papaw. They were crisp to the taste, but
had no flavour besides that of the syrup. Papaw
jam and candied Papaw were amongst the other pre-
parations of this well known and appartutlj useful fruit.
COENACE^— iVvssa capitata, AValt. The fruits, which
are about an inch long and ovoid, of a green colour
and very agreeable flavour, are known in North America
as Ogeechee Limes, and are often preserved in syrup
and used as Limes.

,Sapotace.«. — This order contains several genera
which furnish valuable edible fruits, such as the
Ohrysophylhim, Oaiuito or Star Apple, Lucuraa mam-
mosa, C4riseb., or Mammei Sapote, and the AchrasSapota,
L., or Sapodilla or Naseberry. Of this frut, Dr. Watt
says that it is not much appreciated in India, 'but it
is surreptitiously sold it> the streets as Mangosteen.
The fruits of ]\limusops Kauki, L., are perhaps less
known. They are a^-out the size of a small Plum,
and are known in yiam as Lamut. Those of M.
Elengi are also edible.

EHENACK-Ti. — Besides the Persimmon (Diospyros vir-
giniana, L.), which is edible when fully ripe or bietted,
the fruit of the Chinese Date Plum (D. Kaki) is im-
portant in China. The fruits are about the size of
a large Apple, of an orange-red colour, and contain
a quantity of edible pulp. The Chinese and Japanese
use them both in the fresh and dried states and
also preserved in syrup.

ApocTNACEJi'— In this order, containing as it does
many plants with elastic milky juices, yielding rubber,
and many of them poisonous, one would scarcely ex-
pect to find many ed;ble fruits ; several of them,
however, are valuable on this account, the following
of which may be mentioned: —

Hancornui spcciosa, Gomez (the Mangaba or Man-
gabeira, of Pernambuco). — A small tree, the milky
juice of which furnishes the Ptrnambuco rubber.
The fruits are yellow when ripe, marked with red
streaks or spots, about the size of an Orleau's Plum ;
when perfectly ripe or somewhat bietted they are
said to be very delicious and are a favourite fruit
in Brazil. They have occasionally found their way
to this country, and IJhave seen them sold on costermon-
ger's barrows in the streets of London but very rarely.
The Amatuiigulv of Natal (Carissa [Arduina] griindi-
flora) is the fruit of a large spmy shrub which
makes an excellent preserve, and is much used in
Natal for that purpose ; the fruits are pulpy and
very similar to a Plum in app>^ar«ncp, about 2 inches
long and Ih inch broad. Another specie-; of Carissa,
namely, C. Carandas, L., known as the Karenja or
Karaunda fruit in India, is cultivated in many parts
of InHia for the sake of its fruits, which are used
in an unrip"^ state for pickiing, and when fully ripe
for tarts «uil je'ly.

MYRIST1CK.E. — This order is included only for the
purpose of drawing attei tion to thp use to which
the < uter fle>-by pirt of th<- Nu'meg fruit is put in
the East. Cut iuto various fantastic shapes, as re-
pres' a atious o( birds, fl^ w. rs, &c , sometimes with
the Nutmeg still enclosed, they re preservevl in syrup,
and 'orm a vi rv attractive prestrve. It has a dis-
tinct; Nutmeg flavour, and, like preserved Giu^er,
would be a u--e ul arljnnrt at dessert.

KvfnonBXA.CP.JE.— Pht/llanthus emhiica, L. — Known as
the Eoiblic M>rotialum- A tree of the dry forests
of India and Burma. The fruit i« about the size
of a small Damson. The natives ept it raw, preserved,
or made in'o a sweetmeat, while it is used by Eijropeans
for tarts and jellies. It is stated that a " half-ripe
fruit, if chewed, has the effect of making water taste
Bweet." The Otaheite Gooseberry (PhyllaTithus dis-
tichus, Muell., Arg., better known perhaps as Cicca
disticha, L.) is another valuable fruit, used in Java
for pickling. Antidesma Bunius, Spr., a native of
Java and the neighbouring islands, furnishes small
fleshy, berry-like fruits, of a bright red colour, ripen-
ing into bfack; they have a subacid taste, and are
used chiefly for preserving. Two or three species of
Eaccaurea (Pierardia) yield edible fruits ; those most
valued are B. edulis, Muell,, Arg., a Malayan species,
ksowQ as the Bambeb, the fruits oi which are about
100

the size of a large Cherry, yellowish in colour when
ripe, and containing a sweet delicate flavoured pulp.
In Sumatra it is called Choopah, and in Siam, Mafai;
B. racemosa, Muell., Arg., is also a Cherry-like acid
fruit of Java, as is also B. sapida, known in India
as the Lutco.

The foregoing enumeration of fruits is not by any
means aa exhaustive one. I have brought those for-
ward which are the lea.st generally known, but of
which the Museum contains good specimens. — John
R. Jackson, Curator, Museum, Royal Gardens, Kew.
— Gardeners' Chronicle.

THE OLIVE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

BY SIR SAMUEL DAVENPORT.

"So similar is the climate of the settled portion of
South Australia to that of countries in Europe and Asia
where the olive thrives, that some Colonists were early
induced to procure stocks from France, Portugal, and
Spain, and these were planted in and about Adelaide.
Their healthy growth and abundant fruitfulness after a
few years proved the soundness of these opinions.

" It was under,the stimulus to inquire into new pro-
ductions given by the announcement of the London
International Exhibition, 1851, that the first attempt
was made to extract the oil from the ©live. Then
the late Mr. William Giles, manager of the South
Australian Company, who, in 1S44, received from Mar-
seilles 51 plants, comprising five choice varieties of
olives, and planted them, and could now gather their
berries, employed .Mr. George Francis to express the
oil, and, at the London Exhibition of 1851, this pro-
duce gained ' Honorable mention, ' on the ground of
' its clearness, color, and flavor.'

" Since that event a gradual advance in the cultiva-
tion of the olive has been made by some individual
believers in its special adaptation for South Australia,
and now the Conservator of Forests favors its dis-
tribution in public reserves.

"Meanwhile the high prizes uniformly acquired at
International and Inter-Colonial Exhibitions in different
quarters of the globe, even in an old and eminent olive
country like France, have confirmed the highest views
held of the olive and its oil as a local production. In a
little brochure on " Olive Culture," published in 1877, at
the printing ofiice of the Soi'.th A ustralian Advertiser news-
paper, is the assertion that ' No oil that has ever been
sent into the market surpasses in quality, lucidity
and creimy delicateness of moist, delicious flavor the
oil that is now produced on the Adelaide plains.'

"There being mauy varieties of cultivated olives whose
merits fo"- quantity or quality of oil differ, or whose
rank is held in degrees of estimation relatively to na-
tional tastes. South Australia has now become rich in
the possession of olive stocks of reputation secured
to or from Mal'-i^a, Gibraltar and Lisbon : from Can-
nes 'Nice aud South of France, via IMarseilles ; and
from F.'o-p- ce and Bari via Brindisi. Some skiilec'
French pruners of the olive have also been iutroducf^d.
who-e l^bor-i. and the instruction they must imp >•
to others, cannot but prove of great advantage to tb
future cul; ivation and production of the olive,

"Had South Australia been colonized by Greeks.
Italians, or French olive growers, it most prob»b.
would, long ere this, have produced large quantiti"-
of oil and preserved olives for the various markets of
the Old World. Nevertheless, in many gardens, and
in sonae special plantations of the tree in and about
Adelaide, the silvery hue of the under surface of the
foliage, as inverted by the winds calls strikingly to
mind the scenery of wellknown localities of its
cultivation, as of Cannes or Jlentone on the
Mediterranean, or of the Upper Tagus.

•'The calcareous nature of the soil around Adelaide,
and the warm and dry climate, assist in bringing the
fruit of the olive, as to the vine to remarkable
perfection : whilst, for the benefit of the laborers as
well as of the farmers, the olive harvest conveniently
follows on the vintage, as the vintage folIow8 on the
harvest times of wheat
Druj/gist.

and other grains,"— 0'o^Cfn?«^

m& nmeAi AQmattiiftm. rjt<x« <, rm-

-gM

TEA COMIANIES LIMITED FOB CEYLON.

There is a feeling prevalent we find ameng a
nuuiber of practical men in Ceylon, who may be
said to be disinterested in the matter, that the
tea enterprise in the island cannot be put on a
satisfactory footing as regards manufacture at least,
until large central factories fully equipped with
all the best machinery and latest improvements,
become the rule in place of being the exception.
It is of no use as a permanent arrangement we
are told, for every owner of 100, 150 or even 200
acres of tea to busy himself in altering his old
coflee store into a tea factory or to spend money
in running up some ramshackle concern where
even if machinery adequately driven, were avail-
able, it is almost impossible to do justice to the
tea leaf. There is again the very real difliculty of
individual proprietors not being able to command
a sufficiency of power to drive the required machinery.
And it is now well-known that this is the greatest
obstacle of all to the proper utilisation of rollers,
dryers, etc., even when these are obtained of the best
description. Tea far more than coffee requires plenty
of motive power in the store or factory. Now, as
the public servant who has drawn our attention
to the matter, pointed out : in every planting dis-
trict where tea has become the supreme object
of attention, there are certain estates which natur-
ally fall into groups and for which it should not
be at all difficult to find a central suitable
spot for the erection of such a Factory as
would take in all their tea and where full
justice could be done to it in manufacture.
It is impossible to find waterpower enough
on each estate ; but with few exceptions
where three, four or even six properties are
grouped under one management, it ought not to be
difficult to arrange for adequate waterpower, or if not
available for an adequate supply of fuel to keep the
inevitable steam engine as well as the driers fully
supplied. There is undoubtedly a very great deal
worthy of attention in this ai'gument, whether regard
be had to practical or economic conditions. No
one can - visit such factories as those of Carolina
and Mariawatte without feeling that they must afford
great advantages in the regular, equable and econ-
omical reparation of large quantities of tea. It
may be said that while Carolina or K. A. W.
factory commands over a thousand acres of tea,
the case of Mariawatte with comparatively limited
acreage, rather tells against our argument. But
such is not really the case, for apart from the
extension of the property in new and large clearings,
the exceptionally heavy bearing of the tea there,
puts the Factory on a par with the average
that would be required in most districts for
perhaps double the acreage.

In the item of machinery and store accommod-
ation, the grouping of three to six tea gardens or
plantations into one for factory purposes, ought
to effect a very lacge econoiny. in that of store
superintendence and labour, too, we should think,
th© comparison would be greatly in favour of
grouping. But how is this desirable arrangement
to be eflected 1 It is not possible for individual
ownTship ati'l sepatate managetneht to be main-
tained with a Central Factory on Joint account
for manufacture. There must be one equal
pwnership abd one management for the whole
gioup, or else inevitably there would be collapse
and failure. The only feasible scheme would seem
to be the formation of Limited Companies to
deal with such groups of estates as clearly afford
the elements requisite to success in the utilization
of a Central Factory. In the leading districts in
India, the Tea Enterprise seems chiefly carried
f^fi tlii&ugb ihs »iiQtioy ot Limited Comps^nm, 1

and we fancy capital would be available for
shares in "tea" in Ceylon with its high
name, quite as readily as for Assam. In
such cases too as where tea is coming into bear-
ing, giving business at once, there ought to be
no difficulty in interesting London capitalists. The
proprietors of the estates to be grouped (their
mortgagees or both) would no doubt be expected
to take the major portion of the shares ; and,
perhaps, the mention of " mortgagees " suggests the
chief difficulty in the way of making any
arrangement for amalgamation of estates in the
manner described. But there must be cases where
such difficulty can be overcome, and if our remarks
only serve to turn the attention of tea estate
owners, who are puzzling their brains how to get
up suitable factories and provide machinery, to the
advantage of grouping and co-operation, benefit
may result not only to individuals but to the
general community.

> •

ESTIMATED INDIAN TEA CROP FOR 1887.

The Indian Tea Association has favored us (W.
Moran & Oo.) with a copy of their circular giving the
estimate for 1887-8, as follows : —

" The Committee has now the pleasure to hand you
the followiug estimate of the crop of 1887, taken from
figures which they have been able to collect and from
other sources:— Estimated outturn of

Crop of 1887
lb.
Assam ... ... ... 35.903,520

Oacharand Sylhet ... ... 27,631,100

Darjeeling, Terai, and Dooars ... 14,703,300

Chittagong aud Ohota Nagpore ... 1,544,000

Dehra Dun, Kumaon and Kangra ... 3,750,000

Private and Native Gardens (estimated) 1,500,000

Total .. 85,031,920
" The exports to Australia, America, and other places
(principally Bombay and Madras) during the past sea-
son, have amounted to 2,725,000 lb., and if this quantity,
together with the requirements of the Government and
the local consumption of Northern India calculated at
1,500,000 lb. be deducted from the estimate, there will
remain 80| million lb. for shipment to Great Britain
during the season of 1887."

PACKET TEA FOR NATIVES.

The Indian Planters' Gazette has an interesting let-
ter on " Packet Tea for Natives," and directs atten-
tion to the Kaiser-i-Hind Hydraulic Tea Press, the
property of a London Company, having their head
quarters at 188, Strand. These presses turn out tea in
cakes weighing Jib each cake being divided into eight
sections of equal weight, the cake being somewhat
similar in form to a double cake of chcolate as made
up by confectioners. The proprietors of the patent
are disposed to sell the sole agency for using these
presses in India. Compresped tea is no novelty, but
the promoters claim that their plan offers special faci-
lities for getting Indian tea into consumption in India.
Tea thus treated is said to lose none of its qualities,
there is no damping and tampering with the leaf, and
each packet bear? the impress of the Company. At
8 annaa per lb. retail, the purchaser would be entitled
of two .sections of the packet for one pice, which
would give 10 to 12 cups of good tea as natives drink
it. The reduced hulk would, other conditions being
favourable, probably induce the Commissariat to give
the process a fair trial, but the field to work would
unc]oubt..^dly be the native market in India, and if a
brand such as the one imder notice could onc« be
popularized through the native fairs and melas, every
bunniah's aud modee's shop throughout the country
would be selling tea, and tea, moreover, that even the
bunniah would find it difiicult, to adulterats. That
the natives of all classes have a taste and liking for
tea is well known ; but, as a rule, it h not obtiin*
&hk is £ucb /C[uautitiu> Aod at mch phct« w (o iniwff

June i, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

795

them to purchase. We know of one garden where
the proprietor has had his broken tea made up in
ounce packets, each packet labelled in two or three
vernaculars with the price, " two pice," distinctly mar-
ked on them. These packets have been sold largely
along the line of railway, and in the larger towns,
and the sale is steadily increasing. This is doubtless
one of several instances of similar enterprise, but as
yet the consumption does not affect the gross out-
turn. That it will eveniually do so, if the trade is
properly fostered and encouraged we fully believe.

TOBACCO IN NETHEELANDS INDIA.

(Translated for the Straits Timei.)
Count de Gelvos d'EIsloo has started a venture
under the style of the Borneo Tobacco Company,
of which he will be manager. The company which
is domiciled at Batavia, intends to carry on the
cultivation of land in British North Borneo for to-
bacco growing, besides taking in hand the purchas-
ing and curing of tobacco and its sale in Netherlands
India and elsewhere. The articles of Association pro-
vide for the existence of the company during thirty
consecutive years. Tbe company has acquired rights
in four thousand acres of waste land near the Ranau
River in British North Borneo. The company's
capital, has been fixed at two hundred and forty
thousand guilders in two hundred and forty shares.
The management of the company will be conducted
by one director and two commissaries. lu Borneo,
the affairs of the company will be looked after by a
manager under iastractious from the director.

TOBACCO PLANTING IN DELI.

(Translated for the Straits Times.)
The Deli Courant takes up the subject of the vast
power for mischief exercised by tindals on estates in
Deli, which the Chinese official commissioners recently
on a tour of inspection reported upon as one drawback
to cooly life ther*. The evil is inseparable from the
difficulties of getting on there with labourers, whose
language hardly any planters are masters of. But it
has been intensified by the employers leaving the hands
of the tindals free to deal with the coolies without ex-
erting themselves to keep them in check. Atp.^esent,
the assistants, from ignorance of the Chinese language,
have to rely on the tindals for interpretation. The only
remedy for this spreading evil seems to be to raise the
salary of assistants who set to work studying the
Chinese language, and who endeavour as soon as pos-
sible, however defectively, to make themselves under-
stood by the coolies. It is expected that, on estates
where many newly arrived immigrants are engaged,
the presence of European employees so qualified will
bring on satisfactory results. It is well knorn that the
Chinese tindals are most successful in impressing upon
these new comers a high idea of their power, and
of The need for their interference.

Even European assistants abuse their power over the
coolies of whom they have charge. Early, last month,
the authorities in Deli had no fther alternative than to
deal sternly with the manager of the Ludwigsburg estate,
charged with ill-treating coolies. An arrest like this
will be sure to deepen the unfavourable impression of
cooly life in Dtdi entertained in some quarters, though
bringing him to book shows that the authorities not
only have the power, but also the will to protect the
coolies. Many planters do not seem to realise this.
The arrests of several managers on similar charges
within the last few months have failed as deterrent
examples. Tliey cannot understand that the Govern-
ment will not allow coolies to be ill-treated. Under
such circumstances, those who will not hear must be
made to feel the consequences of flagrant wrong-
doing.

The tobacco grown in North Borneo turns out to be
nowise inferior to the Deli article, as is evidenced by
the high prices it commands. From all accounts, the
climate and soil of North Borneo are admirably adapted
to that branch of cultivation. Keports of the granting
of land concessions and the floating of companies to

operate there, are in the air. Tobacco growing has
irdeed come into prominence in + bat quarter. Under
the Netherlands Indian Government, as soon as a
planter begins to make money out of his venture,
the fiscal screw is at once put on. Taxes, rates, and
cesses are piled on him. Their ciuehing weight
stands in the way of sound development, and stunts
the growth of planting enterprise. Not only in North
Borneo but also in Siak, competition is epringiug up.
But, owing to the latter country being under the
Netherlands' flag, the danger is not so great. The
Government will not fail quickly to lay taxes on the
planters, when they have just started on the hard task
of bringing primeval waste land under cultivation.
For all that it is competition, however shackled. Its
inevitable effect will be to bring on increase of pro-
duction. These two factors when they once come into
play, bid fair to put an end to the monopoly hitherto
enjoyed by Deli planters, which in addition to the
excellent quality of the tobacco turned out, has had
a material efl'ect in keepiog up the extraordiuarily
high prices realised by that article. In Deli, eyes are
beginning to be opened to the necessity for turning
the land there to account for other kinds of culti-
vation than that of tobacco. It is only by resolutely
working on these lines, that Deli will continue to
be a money-making settlement, an ^exception, by-the-
bye, in Netherlands India.

PLANTING &c., IN MANILA,

TOBACCO, DYEWOOD, COPFBE, INDIGO, PEABL-SHElLS,

(Translated for the Straits Times.)
All through last year, the depression of trade had
prevailed far and wide in the Philippines. The value
of hemp exported has fallen off by nearly half a mil-
lion of dollars. The decrease in this respect, partly
arises from inferior quality of the fibre brought to
market owing to bad curing. The supplies available
either fetch low prices or are rejected, the producers
suffering in either case. Sugar shows a still more
marked falling off, it being one-tenth compared with
the export figures in 1885.

Dyewood exports have not escaped from being
affected by the prevailing depression. Neither have
those in cigars undergone any change for the better.
Several houses see the importance of turning out a
serviceable product, so as to keep up the whilom high
reputation of the Philippine article. But others setting
present gain above future loss, counteract tlieir efforts
by bringing out low priced cigars, no matter how
indifferent the quality may prove to be. The inferior
articles are exported on their account, thereby doing
wide spread harm to the reputation of a product which
had distanced all competitors up to the time of the
abolition of the tobacco monopoly in the Philippines.
The abolition of the Government tobacco monopoly
in the Philippines, has taken effect unfavourably not
only on cigars, but also on leaf tobacco exported. Four
years have passed away since that measure came into
force. However beneficial the reform may prove to be in
after years, tobacco as raw material or as cigars, still
falls short of the mark reached in monopoly times,
both in yield and quality. Growers have never real-
ised the fact that free trade in tobacco did not mean
liberty for them to cultivate that article badly and
cure it worse, but afforded them an opportunity for
turning out a product superior enough to bring
higher prices than the Treasury paid them in the
days of the monopoly. In those times, the Govern-
ment had an intere»^t iu the outturn proving of
marketable quality. Nowadays, with no influence for
good to keep them on the right path, the cultiva-
tors, naturally heedless and neglectful, grow a crop
anyhow without a thought of the care and finish
required to render the article acceptable. Their
only object is to bring it to market as soon as
possible, no matter how inferior the quality.
Sometimes the crop is sold before it is cut, neg-
lect in the case being grosser. The crop, un-
der such circumstances, fails to bring the prices ex-
pected when it reaches Manila. Cultivators become
discouraged. In place of trying to mend matters,
they grow reckless. A few growers aud dealers are

796

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTtJRrST. fJuNE i, tm-j.

more conscientious, but their efforts are of no avail
to keep Tip the reputation of Phihppine tobacco. The
EO'l and climate of the islands are as suitable as
ever for the cultivation of the leaf. The only way
to improve matters is to bung home to growers,
the need of imp'oving the quplity of their produce,
by cutting the crop in due sea&on and curing 7t i i a
businesslike manner. In no other -way can the aboli-
tion of the tobacco monopoly be expected to result satis-
factorily. In 188(j the leaf tobacco exported reached
120,793 quintals against 136,144 in 18S5. Under pre-
sent circumstances, with greed and indifference in
the ascendant among the planting community, the
experiment of free labour in tobacco growing in the
Philippines #et about with such a great flourish of
trumpets amid highly strained expectations, bids fair to
become a failure. A deplorable result truly. — Comercio.

Coffee on the other hand is recovering, the returns
showing an export of 117,392 piculs against 8>3,337 in
1885. Yet its cultivation does not seem to spread,
though the local envirocment admits of a higher out-
turn. The efforts made to mend matters have failed
from lack of push and go. A few years back, the Go-
vernment directed the provincial autho-ities to order
the natives to plant coffee far and wide. The authori-
ties turned to with a will. Coffee plants were set out
]u thousands. Glowing anticipations were built on the
prosjjects of their yielding plentifully. Other matters
engrossed the attention of Government. Interest in
the veork so vrell begun flagged. The newly laid out
coffee plantations soon went to wreck and ruin. No-
thing has been done to repair the neglect. Further
comment is superfluous.

Indigo is another export article which shows
a heav}^ falling off. In the olden time,
Philippine indigo enjoyed high repute, until a
consignment of inferior quality brought on mistrust
in markets abroad. Since then, no amount of good
faith and careful preparation can restore the reput-
ation once lost. In bygone times, the trade in this
article was of much importance to the Philippines.
Last year the exports totalled 1,284 quintals against
G662 in 1,870.

Pearl Shell figures low indeed in the export 'ist,
owing to the article being now forwarded from
Sooloo to Singapore and other po ts direc^. The
exportation of hides shows almost stationary figures
with a downward tendency. Why it should be so
is inexplicable, considering that c? itle raising ought
to succeed betttr in the Philippines with t.ieir fer-
tile soil, liberal laws, and a population open to
improving ideas. Districts of note formeily pros-
perous in the plamy days of the hide trade, have
now become impoverished.

CEYLON : NATIVE AGEICULTUEAL EEPOBT
ON THE WESTERN PEOVINCE.

THE WEATHEE — COCONCTS AND THEIE CDLTIVATION —
FEVER AND QITININE— EAKMING.

Hapitigam Korale, 30th April.

The drought broke up early in the month arxl we
have had frequent but not very heavy rain almost
daily for the last fortuight and everything is again
koking fresh and flourishing. The drought has done
some harm to weak coconut trees that were hearing
beyond their strength on heavy loams and tliin
gravels, but less than might have been expected from
the long spell of dry weather.

Since my last, several questions have been raised
about the proper soil and treatment ot coconuts. One
of your correspondents gives his vote for great depth
and width of holes, while others object to the systc m
in toto. So far as I am concerned, I only limit m^
holes in size by the cost of digging them ; I make
them as deep and as wide as I can get thf-m made
for four cents, and I fill them up with loost- earth to
within one foot of the surface by breaking down the
sides. In no case should the crown of the root he
more than one foot below the general surface. In
sandy land depth is of no importance hut in ioanis and
gravels the deeper the better, always provided the
boles are filled up to the regulation one foot. A deep

sandy loam is the most amenable to cultivation, and
givew the best return for manure; thcugh tie strong
loams have mt.re of Mitural fertility, they do not so
readily resjond to cultivation and till the trees
a lain to a wrorl age, sav fifteen to twenty years, they
suffer from drought. Cahoo"c lands are not guilty
of the general condemnation given them by one of
your correspondents. They range in quality from
utter barrenness to a considerable de^jree of fertility,
and the be.ter kinds are more responsive to cultiv-
ation than the heavy Icams.

With execption of the dwarf Maldive, I have never,
under the most favourable conditicn, .seen a coconut
tree flower before the filth year. Some one challenges
old planters to state whether thev have ever seen a
( oconut field with 75 per cent of the trees bearing in
the tenth year. I must answer that I never have
simply from the fact that I have never seen a coconut
field treated fairly during the first ten years of its
existence. I do firmly believe that under liberal and
skilful cultivation every coconut tree will be in full
bearing hefore its tenth year.

I approve of annual ploughing or digging, merely
because it cannot in general be done oft aner. To keep
the soil pulverized to the depth of eight or nine ii)ches
is the first of the two things that the coconut re-
quires to give a satisfactory result. As to disturb-
ing the roots it is a matter of no con.sequeuce ;
no coconut tree ever suffered from a defciency
of roots to take up any plant food in the soil; I
want no main roots within nine inches of the surface,
as the deeper laying mains send u^d abundance of
feeders into the upper soil.

I know no economic plant that will grow and
bear fruit on soil so poor and under such utter ne-
glect as the coconut, nor do I know any that so
immediately and so amply responds to even minute
quantities of manure. Say a ton of bone dust, costs
laid down on an estate E75. that properly applied
to 370 trees already bearing more or less, fiey
will within three years yield at least 12,000 nuts
additional to their former crops, worth at the low-
est price R300. Allowing R45 for additional labour
the cost will be R120, leaving a profit on tte in-
vestment of R180. Lime is a very good application
to heavy soils r''. put on in sufficient quantity, un-
fortunately it will not pay at the local price of the
article.

I have never seen or till recently heard of pearls
in coconuts. The testimony is too weak so far to
convince a person of a sceptical turn of mind. I
would hardly believe it if I saw it.

This is awful season for fever in this neighbour-
hood ; there is hardly a house for miles round free
from it and in some cases whole families are
suffering. My own household is laid up as I write,
except myself, and I have no patent protection.
We are consuming quinine at a rate that would be
ruinous if we had to pay the price of English dis-
pensing druggists.

I am trying to combine some farming with coco-
nut cultivation. I am still in doubt if it will pay
directly, but if not, the coconuts will get the bene-
fit of the work and manure. Local prices are not
encouraging. Our climate cannot be depended on
for any of the more valuable minor products and
however successful we may be in growing such
things as cassawa, sweet potatoes, pumkins. pine-
apples and so forth, they are not worth taking any
trouble with, ni less so far as they can be consumed
on the place. Cattle and poultry thrive on cassawa,
especially milkcows, who give a double supply
und. r this feedii g. I know no plant that yields so
large a bulk of substantial food for man or beast
with so little labour as cassawa, but its very pro-
ductiveness rendei i it an unprofitable crop in larger
quantity than required for home consumption.

The Antigua average rainfall for 1886 at 41
stations is 47 89 inches. This, we believe, has been
considered an exceptionally wet year for Antigua.
Compare Roseau Valley 208-10 ; Eoseau 94-31 !—
Dominica Dial,

June i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

797

^

To the Editor of the '^Ceylon Observer.''
CINCHONA IN MADULSIMA : INTEREST-
ING ANALYSES.

Dear Mk. Editok, — Below, you will find re-
sult of analyses of cinchona bark : Renewed and
thatched and unthatched. The bark was taken
from off trees growing together in lines, shaved
at same time. I had heard so many conflieting
opinions passed on the matter of thatching the
trees after shaving, that I sent Home samples
and had them analyzed, the result of which may
be of interest to some of your readers. Calisaya
marked No. 1 was analyzed by Messrs. Synions
& Cochran, and certified at -32. —Yours faithfully,

C. ESDAILE.
No. 1 Calisaya .. .. 0-03 A.

0-20 Cinchonidine
0-61) Cinchonine
No. 2 Succirubra , Renewed,

thatched .. .. 3-06 A.

4'02 Cinchonidine
1'77 Cinchonine
No. 3 Succirubra Renewed,

unthatched .. ,. 3"36 A.

4-20 Cinchonidine
2-98 Cinchonine
[The results here given are extraordinary. Even
the English analysis of calisaya, leaves the yellow
bark very poor, in comparison with the red barks
which are both good, the uncovered, contrary to
previous experience being the better of the two.
—Ed.]

CINCHONA BARK HARVESTING AND • ANA-
LYSES.

Maskel'ya, 23rd April 1887.
Dear Sir, — The public are much beholden to
Mr. Esdaile for his interesting communication
in your journal regarding cinchona shaving ; but
the information would be more complete if he
will kindly say if the trees experimented upon
were all of the same age and all stood under
the same conditions in respect to light and
shade ; that is, if the stems of the trees operated
upon were all under the same conditions of ex-
posure to rain and sunshine. Mr. Esdaile would
confer an additional favour if he will say if the
unthatched trees suffered more from the barking
process than those which were thatched ! And
again, did the thatched trees renew any more
quickly than the unthatched ? E. P. T.

PEPPER AND CUBEBS.

Upcountry, 23rd April 1887.
Deab Sir, — I noticed a short time ago that you
had collected in the columns of the Observer a
considerable amount of information on the subject
of Rubber Cultivation. You would, I think, confer
a boon on owners of land at a low and medium
elevation if you would do the same for Pepper.
This product has one great advantage over rubber,
that we know it has been successfully cultivated
in Ceylon. All the same, comparatively little seems
to be known about it now. I pat out a good
many plants two years ago under various con-
ditions as regards shade and soil, but their growth
is not very encouraging and this in land which
I should have imagined was admirably suited to
them and is doing well in other products. I think
it hkely enough that I may have got hold of zn
unsuitable variety as I have heard that some kirn's
do best in damp [and others in dry soil, while some

succeed best in shade and others in the open. Then
of course one would wish to grow the most
valuable sorts only. Any information about
" Cubebs " would also be of value. When so many
products are suffering from low prices, 1 cannot help
thinking that something might be made of pepper
were more information available. PLANTER,

[We thank our correspondent for his suggestion.
Everything that we can find about "Pepper,"
" Cubebs " or any other likely new product for
the Ceylon or tropical planter, we put into the
Tropical Agriculturist, and there is a mine of
valuable practical information in successive volumes
if "Planter" and others will only 'kindly consult
the index to each. We shall be much obliged
if anyone can send us extracts from contem-
porary literature in the East or West bearing of
any likely product which has been left out of r. A.
— We may collate " All about Pepper and Cubebs "
a little later on ; but certainly for the present,
the T. 4.— and every first-class estate should
have a set of the volumes— should meet the re-
rquirements of " Planter " and others s imilarly si-
tuated.— Ed.

COFFEE AND "GREEN BUG."

Mausagalla, Badulla, April 29th, 1887.

Deaji Sir, — Can you give me imformation on the
following questions ? : —

l^When was green bug first noticed in Ceylon ?

2 — Are there any cases, where the coft'ee hav-
ing undergone a severe attack of green bug, it
has eventually come round, and is now cropping ?

.3 — Has any large acreage of coffee being killed
by it?

I do not seek for a remedy, as it is, in my
judgment, practically impossible over a large area
to apply one. but for information. I would solicit
answers upon the above points. Many coffee estates
in the island were converted into tea gardens,
before the arrival of this blight owing to failure of
crops from leaf-disease ; capitalists declining further
advances against coffee cultivation, and the price
down to GO shillings ; but, given a good coffee
estate this 29th April 1887, free from leaf-disease,
coffee rising to 100s, but green bug taking the
place of H. V., what course is recommended ? —
Yours faithfully, GEO. KENT DEAKEB.

[Mr. Deaker will find on referring to Observer
of the 14th ultimo, answers to most of his ques-
tions : — (1), " Origin of the Pest : — First attracting
attention in Matale in 1882, it had reached Pus-
sellawa in 1884, Ramboda in 1885, and Badulla
1886 "; (2), we say " yes, we believe, estates in Hapu-
tale that were badly attacked are now free "; (3) yea,
in the Kandy district decidedly. There is, no doubt,
much reason for experiments in fighting green
bug. — Ed.J

Phenyls and Gbeenbug. — There is quite a run
by coffee proprietors on " phenyle" to be used as
a remedy for greenbug — so much so that, it is said,
local stocks are exhausted ! Kcrosine, Carbolic, and
Lime are however well worth trying.

MOUSAKELLIE E STATE, KeLLEBOKKE VaLLEY.

This once famous coffee plantation and now favor-
ite and very promising tea estate has lately
changed hands we hear. The purchase has been
effected by Mr. Gow on behalf of a London .'^yndi-
cale, his offer of close on B80 000 telegraphed out,
being accepted by the representatives of the late
A. H. Fryer. We do not know that we have seen
more promising tea in Ceylon than on a part of
Mousakellie, during a visit to the district a short
time ago. The property covers 600 acres altogether.

79^

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST [June i, 1887.

Artificial Eubies. — At the Academy of Science's
meeting held on March 14th M. Fremy read a me-
moir on the researches which he has made with M,
Verneuil to artificially produce ruby. An Alumina
crucible was used, so as to avoid the presence of
silica, which has the effect of imparting a lamel-
lar structure to the product. Under such condi-
tions, with alumina separated from calcium
fluoride by a perforated platinum septum, they
have obtained perfect crystals of alumina, which,
being coloured with traces of chromic acid, were an
exact counterpart of the natural stone. — Cliemi»t
<& Druggists.

Cannaveeella Cinchona Baek. — We learn that
the parcel of bark sold the other day was taken
from a portion of the 100 acres on this estate,
but most of the fields have not yet had
an ounce of bark taken from them. The
bark sold was from the older trees, from the
seed of which the clearings were planted. A
sample of the bark just sold, taken from the
bulk of the parcel, was sent to London for analysis
and showed 556 sulphate of quinine as compared
with the Colombo analysis of 5-04 sulphate of
quinine. The trees were not thatched. These parti-
culars are interesting. We certainly would re-
commend Mr. Macfarlane not to leave the trees
in his several fields much longer without shav-
ing, so as to get the full benefit of renewed bark.

Tea Machineey. — We have had a visit from Mr.
John Greig of the well-known Edinburgh firm of
Tea Machinists. Mr. Greig was a long time a
planter in Western India, and afterwards in tea
in Assam. He visited Ceylon in 1868 and made
the journey from Gampoja to Haputale to visit
poor Pitratmalie Wylie ; but within the tea era he
has not seen Ceylon and consequently perhaps,
his various machines have not attracted the notice
here to which they are entitled. Mr. Greig is es-
pecially confident about the success of his com-
bined Withering, Drying and Sifting machine (his
"X L AH") with the latest improvements. He is
now on his way to Assam to erect a large machine
of this kind; and there is one also to be put up
in Travancore in supercession of a Sirocco. Mr.
Greig has superseded the iron Hue pipes by a special
kind of fireclay pipe which is expected to prove
practically everlasting. Mr. Greig intends to spend
some time in Ceylon on his return, and we sup-
pose will then see that a proper series of trials
is given to one of the latest improved of his
machines, the working of which can be contrasted
with that of " Gow's Witherer" in Carolina Factory.

The Cetlon Tea Plantations Company, Limited.
— The possessors of Mariawatte, Dunedin, Semba-
watte and Dewalakande estates, have held their first
annual general meeting in London. The result of
the first year's working shows a profit of 20 per
cent on the paid up capital of £75.000, but the
Directors have decided to declare o :ly a dividend
on twelve months' expenditure and ten months'crops,
or on the crops actiiaUy sold to 31st December of
last year. This is equal to 12^ per cent, and they
carry forward to this year the value of 117,0001b.
of tea unsold or about R76,000 The crop from
the estates was 501,700 lb. and 69,660 lb. bought
leaf tea, making a total outturn of 571,3601b. The
average yield was 500 lb. per acre over young and
old fields. The tea was produced at 30 cents per
lb. which rate includes cost of cultivation of clear-
ings not in bearing. The average price obtained
was 65 cents per lb. — Cor. [Could the local manager
or Mr, Rutherford kindly tell us pro bono publico
what was the London report and prices for the tea
n-anufactured in Gow'b " Witherer " at the trial
duly reported by Mr. Jameson some months ago?
—Ed.]

Districts and Estates in Ceylon which for
coffee proved failures through the prevalence of
wind, have in several cases been found to suit tea
admirably. Of such is the Lagalla district in
Matale east. We hear the most favourable reports
on tea in this quarter. Mr. Armstrong has lately
been giving a report on a well-known property
there as almost "perfection for tea," and we learn
that equally good are the prospects— based on some
experience of growth along with professional reports
—on the Kalupahane Valley, Western Haputale.

The Cultdeee of Tobacco in North Borneo
seems to be advancing and we suppose all attempts at
restriction in a settlement where the great difhculty is
to attract settlers, must be regarded as out of the
question. But experience in Virginia and to come
nearer home, in Java have proved that a more ruinous
cultivation cannot curse a country or exhaust a soil.
We have only read of Virginia, but we have seen the
extensive wastes in Java and our feeling is that
tobacco culture is the least advantageous to a coun-
try which can be engaged in.

" The Tea Industry in Ceylon — illustrat-
ed in a series 'of etchings by Ernest F. Vandort."
— We have seen a series of etchings prepared
under the above title by the son of the well known
Colombo Artist, which show that the skill and
genius of Mr. J. L. K. Vandort have descended
to Mr. Eiaest Vandort, The series include well-
finished sketches of coolies engaged in the various
et.a'.e operations : — Pruning, Picking flush. Weigh-
ing, Withering, Rolling with machinery. Drying,
Bulking, Carrying boxes away, all etched round
a central coloured piece showing the bungalow
and tea field. The whole is to be framed and
sent to the Kandy Agri-Horticultural Exhibition,
where we have no doubt, it will attract attention both
for its own sake and on account of the youthful
artist whose work it is. We do not see why this
young Ceylonese gentleman should not aim at getting
on the stafi' of an Illustrated journal either in
England or the Australian Colonies.

The Development of Assam. — Under the aus-
pices of the East India Association, a meet-
ing of officers and gentlemen interested in
the commercial development of the British Empire
in the East was held at the Westminster Town
Hall on Monday, April 4th, under the presidency
of Col. G. B. Malleson, c.s.i., for tho purpose of con-
sidering various suggestions for the commercial
development of Assam, offered in an elaborate ad-
dress by Mr. Oswin Weynton, Attention was
specially directed to those unuti'ised products
bountifully furnished in the uncultivated ponions
of the tea estates, and Mr. Weynton urged that
were Assam brought into communication with the
over-populated districts of Bengal, the North-West
Provinces, and Madras, a stream of emigration would
set in therefrom that would supply the required
labour for the full development of the province's
resources, to the benefit equally of natives, Europe-
ans, and Government revenue. Meantime, the As-
sam settler must remember that he is in precisely
the position of the Australian colonists forty years
ago. The latter did not wait for that influx of
labour they knew would be inevitable, but prepared
for it in anticipation by utilising their runs to the
utmost, and though fruits, corn, and sheep increased
on their hands to an unprofitable extent for years,
when immigration did set in everything was pre-
pared for It. Assam, either hill or plain, has an
equally prosperous future before it if its capabilities
are developed with the same energy, though now
it is to most people an utter terra incognita, whose
past and varied indigenous wealth is as yet ap-
vreciated by few.

JuNftt, 1887, J

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

799

PLANTING IN JOHOBE.

[This prospectus and Company proved abortive after
publication. — Ed.]

The Johoee Company, Limited.

CAPITAL.— Ordinary Shares (of £10 each),

£600,000. Total Capital £850,096.

PROSPECTUS.

This Company has been formed for the purpose of
acquiring the valuable Concessions obtained in Novem-
ber, 1884, and May 1886, from the Sultan of Johore,
by W. McGregor Smith and Dalton Sayle, in the
name of Mr. AVilliam Keswick, of Hong Kong, and
of No. 3, Lombard Street, in the City of London,
Merchant, as their Trustee.

These Concessions comprise (with the special
privileges hereinafter more particularly described) the
right to tclect 100,000 acres of laiul (an area of
upwards of 156 square miles) in the territory of
Johore and Moar, in the Malay Peninsula, which is
distant only about 90 miles from Singapore. The
concessions are held direct from the Government of
Johore, which has recently entered into an offensive
and defensive treaty with the British Government.
Of these 100,000 acres, upwards of 80,000, believed
to be the choicest and most valuable land in the
territory, have already been selected, the survey being
now in progress as regards the remainder. A skilled
planter accompanies the surveyor, with instructions
to reject any land not of the richest character.

The tenure is for a term of 999 years, and the
property is not burdened with any fixed payment
the rent being 2^ per cent, of the gross products
on the spot.

Opium is a Government monopoly, but its cultivation
by the Company is not contemplated. With the
exception of Opium, Pepper, Gambler, and one or
two other items of an unimportant character, Export
or other Duties cannot, under the terms of the con-
cessions, be imposed upon any of the products cultivated
upon the property. As such duties, which will probably
vary with the requirements and expenses of the
Government, are chargeable to other Planters in the
territory, it is at once apparent that the value of the
concessions is enormously enhanced.

The climate of the southern portion of the Malay
Peninsula, situated within three degrees of the
Equator, and practically surrounded by the sea, is both
humid and equable the mean variation of the temper-
ature of Singapore and Johore being from 70 ° to 90 °
(Fahrenheit). The rainfall averages 100 inches, which
renders land in this territory peculiarly adapted for
the growth of tropical products, one special advantage
being that they are capable of cultivation a?? tA«7/ear
rovnd without intermission. There are no regular
wet or dry seas-ons, as in most other tropical countries,
but the rainfall continues at short intervals throughout
the year. For example, it may be mentioned that
two distinct crops of Tobacco, the same as the well
known Sumatra Tobacco grown by the various Deli
Companies can be produced in one year, Johore is
only divided from Sumatra by the Straits of Malacca.
The lands af^quired by the Company are of virgin
Boil, and contain forests of primeval timber, including
Teak, Ironwcod, India Rubber, and various other
tropical and valuable woods. Many ard various speci-
mens of this timber were shown at the Forestry
Exhibition in Edinburgh, in 1884, and a large number
were awarded prizes.

The lands are remarkable for the numerous Fibrous
Plants, such as "lihea." "Mhooiva,'' &c., which are
indigenous to the soil; "Rhea" and " Mhoorva '
are used as substitutes for Cotton, Flax and Wool,
the former being also employed for mixing with Silk.
These fibres will, on account of their low cost,
gradually but surely revolutionise the manufacture of
many descriptions of staple goods, and a reference to
the annexed report of Mr. W. E. Death shows the pro-
fits which the growth and preparation of these fibres
fX9 calculated to produce.

The long standing difficulty in connection with the
separation of the fibre from Rhea stems which has
for so mauy years occupied the attention of the
Government of India has recently been overcome, and
Machines have been invented which are able to reduce
these fibres to a marketable condition.

The lands are also specially suitable for the growth
of Tobacco, Pepper, and other products, and it is
proposed to expend the Capital of the Company now
asked for in the cultivation of about 17,000 acres in
the following proportions: —

Tobacco. Pepper. Fibres.

10,000 Acres, 2,000 Acres, 5,000 Acres

* Estimated 1
Working V £275,000 £64,000 £145,000

Capital. J
Estimated! /-3rd Year £90,000 \

Aunual I £260,000 J 4th „ £90,000 f £205,000

Profit. J "1 5th & subse- (

tquent years £140,000}
Estimated Ultimate Annual profit on Expenditure of

£500,000 £605,000.

* It must be borne in mind that a considerable
portion of Capital expenditure is returned with each
crop, aud is available with the reserve fund for the
planting of further land.

Such an Estimate of profit as the foregoing may
at first glance, be sceptically ref;arded, but in evidence
of the immense profits wl.ich are being derived
through the employment of capital in undertakings
precisely similar in character to that of this Company,
the following particulars cf dividends paid by the
Deli Companies of Sumatra, may be quoted :—

DIVIDENDS PAID BY.

In

1882
1883

18E1
1885

O'he Deli
Maatschappy.

65 per cent.
101 " ,.

77 „
107

The Tabak

The Amsterdam

Maatschappy.

Deli Company.

25 per cent.

10 per cent.,

50

30 „

60 „

30

100 „

60 „

The Returns for 1886 are not yet available.

The Singapore and Straits Directory, which contains a
record of Estates and Lands held in the Straits Settle-
ments, Sumatra, &c., shows that the lands leased by
the three above-named Deli Companies, collectively
embrace under 77,000 acres (of which it is understood
that only a small portion is at present under actual
cultivation). The total paid-up Capital of these three
Companies amounts to upwards of £400,OC J. Not only
have the Deli Companies paid these dividends, but
they have in addition set aside 15 per cent of thjir
profits towards a sinking fund for redemption of
capital. The Deli Companies' Leases have moreover
only been granted for a period of 75 years as against
999 years, the term for which the Johore Company's
Estates are held. The present price of the Deli
Maatschappy 100 guilders shares is 680.

A considerable portion of the Estate will, when
cleared for cultivation, be let to tenants, who are
readily obtainable from the Malay and Chinese popul-
ation. The rental for which it is estimated will aver-
age £4 lOs. per acre per annum.

The work of clearing and cultivating the land must
necessarily occupy some time, but with special regard
to tobacco, a crop can be rai.sed and realised during
the current year, and assuming that at least 5,000
acres — a moderate estimate— can be brought under
cultivation within the first 15 months, and that in
each following year a further 5,000 acres can be made
productive at least £100.000 net profit should be rea-
lised during the year 1888, and in subsequent years
this profit should be proportionately increased. The
following condensed summary shows the profits which,
under such circumstances, would accrue to the holders
of the Ordinary Shares, a sum of £16,000 being allowed
in the calculation for each year for Establishment
expenses.

Minimum Estimated Net Profit during 1888, say
£100,000.

6 per cent. Interest on Debenture Bonde,

;C250,000, frill abswb .„ ..* £15,000

806

^m "TkOPiCAL A6SIC0Lf UfUST. i]vm i, Mf

10 per cent. Dividend ou Ordinary Shares,
£600,000, will absorb

60,000

£75,000
10 per cent, for Reserve Fund to be set aside 10,000

Total ... £85,000

Mimmum Estimated Net Profit during 1889,
say, £200,000.
6 per cent. Interest on Debenture Stock, and
10 per cent. Dividend on Ordinary

Shares will absorb £75,000

10 per cent, for Reserve Fund 20,000

Total £95,000

Leaving a Balance of 105,000

Three-fifths of £105,000==£63,000, will provide a further
Div, on Ordinary Shares of 10^ per cent. In all

20§ per cent.

It is considered needless to pursue these calculations
further in detail, but an annual rate of increase in
profits, if only half such amount, would enable the
Company in the fifth year, namely, 1892 (when it is
presumed that the 17,000 acres will have been brought
under profitable cultivation), to divide among the
Shareholdrs nearely 55 per cent., besides having ap-
propriated to the Reserve Fund nearly £150,000.

The importance of securing skilful and competent
management on the Estates is an element of the first
consideration, and in order to make due provision for
the same, the service of three Resident Managers (one
of whom, Mr. Tom Gibson, is now on the Estates) have
been secured. The other two Managers, who have been
especially selected on account of their practical experience
in planting, &c., will immediately proceed to Johore,
both being prepared to at once enter upon their res-
pective duties.

A plentiful supply of cheap labour is available ; Chinese
coolies (the best labourers in the world for tropical
climates) are readily obtainable in Johore and Singa-
pore at seven dollars, equal to 23s. 4d. per month,
while in neighbouring countries their wages are not
less than ten dollars, equal to 33s. 4d. per month, a
difference of £6 per coolie per annum, in favour of the
Company.

One of the great advantages in connection with
these concessions is the water frontage which the
land posse.'ses. A reference to Map No. 1 will show
that the River Moar forms a water highway for many
miles through the property ; the Moar is at all periods
of the year na%'igable by vessels drawing 10 ftet of
water, while those of the heaviest draft can anchor
off the mouth of the river, which is in the direc*^
route of the China Mail Steamers. The water facil-
ities thus afforded reduce the cost of transport to a
minimum.

The Weight, says an American writer, affords the
easiest test lor the purity of guano. A bushel of pure
Peruvain guano, according to most authorities, should
weigh almost exactly seventy pounds. If heavier than
seventy-three pounds, it is adulterated with clay, sand,
marl, or some other impurity. — Indian Gardener.

Substitute Tob Boxwood are noticed by Mr, Jackson
of Kew in Forestry. — Amongst the woods being that of
Bunteria zeylanica, Gard. — A small tree, common in
the warmer parts of Ceylon. This is a very hard and
compact wood, and is used for engraving purposes in
Ceylon, where it is said by residents to come nearer to
box than any other wood known. Ou this wood Mr.
Worthington Smith gave a very favourable opinion, but
it is doubtful whether it would every be brought from
Ceylon in sufficient quantities to meet a demand.

Manuacture of Paper from "Wood. — The idea of
ntilizing wood for the manufacture of paper was first
suggested to Reaumur in 1710, from his noticing that
the fabric of wasps' nests was formed out of wood
reduced to a pulp. This industry has of late years
acquired great importaQce? and is rapidly iacreasiug,

as the supply of rags, on which paper-makers formerly
depended for their stock, is iuadi;quate to the
demand for the miuufactured material. Were it not
for this factor iu paper-making, piper would now be
one-half as much more, if not double, the price it
is to-Jay. — Jouvd il of Forcstrji/.

Tas PhannacetdicalJounud states that the admin-
istration of one drop of croton oil and a draohm of
chloroform in an ounce of glycerine having been re-
commended as useful in obstinate cases of tape-worm,
Mr. McCuUum, of Ontario, writes to .say ( Urit. Med.
Journ., June 13, p, 1231) that the vehicle only is
necessary for the purpose, since the glycerine will kill
the tape-worm quite as effectually without anajsthet-
isiug it with chloroform, or purging it with croton oil.
This property of glycerine, he states, he first observed
one day when removing a worm from the stomach
of a fish, and putting it into a drop of glycerine upon
a microscope slide, where it died almost immediately.
He was therefore led to tr^' the experiment of substi-
tuting glycerine for the nauseous male-fern dose with
good results. Sometimes he has found it necessary to
follow the glycerine with a gentle purgative, but not
always. — Indian Agricu Iturist.

According to the Paper-Maker, a paper-making firm
in New Jersey has for several weeks been turning out
counterpanes and pillows of paper. No. 1 Manila paper
is used, two large sheets being held together by a slender
twine at intervals of three or four inches. The twine
is gummed, so as to hold the sheets firmly together
where it lies. A hem is placed on the counterpane to
keep it from tearing ; the safety edge is composed of
twine. Ornamental designs are stamped on the outer
surfaces of the covers and cases, giving them a neat,
attractive appearance. When these counterpanes and
pillow-cases become wrinkled from use they can easily
be smoothed out with a hot-flat iron. The counterpanes
can be left on the bed when it is occupied, and iu cold
weather will be found a warm covering, paper prevent-
ing the escape of heat. The new paper bedclothing is
75 cents per set, and will probably become popular. —
Indian Agriculturist.

We have received Part IV of the Journal of the
Agricultural and Horticultural Societi/ of India
which, we are glad to see, contains some very interesting
papers. Mr. Wood-Mason's paper on the Paraponi/x
oryzalis, or the insect-pest of the rice plant in Burmah,
heads the .Journal. We were favoured with a copy of this
publication in pamphlet form last year. Mr. R. A.
Manuel contributes some interesting notps on some of
the silks of British Burmah. Mr. S. Jennings, well-
known to agri-horticulturists in India, has supplied a
valuable paper ou Rhea, which should be widely read.
Mr. Minchin's note on raising Rhea from seed is also
valuable. Mons. Dumaine, who is well known as an
enquirer in the sience and practice of sericulture,
furnishes some interesting particulars on the wild silk-
yiel'lers found in Hazaribagh. Dr. Bonavia, whose
prolific pen has been busy for many years in efforts
to benefit the country, has elaborated his ideas regard-
ing the value of the citron order of plants in a paper
on Citrus decoction as a fever remedy. Mr. C. Manes,
who is an authority on the mango, contributes a few
practical remarks on the propagation of this fruit tree.
But ^y far the most interesting paper in the current
number of the Journal, is the sketch of the rise and pro-
gress of the Agri-Horticultural Society of India, by Mr.
A. H. Blechynden, the able and courteous Secretary
of the Society, who for so many years has held thfs
onerous post with so much benefit to the Societj-,
and such credit to himself. He begins at the begin"
ning, describes the early struggles of the Society after
its establishment by its founder, the Rev. Dr. William
Carey, one of the greatest men, in one sense, India
has ever seen ; traces its progress, and reviews the
wide scope of the Society's labours in the fi'i-lds of
agriculture and horticulture, and in the development
of the various industries that come within it,'? purview,
On the whole, the present number of the Journal
contains about the most iuterestiug papers we have
seen iu its pages for some time p3,6t.— Indian AjricuU
turist.

June i, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

801

ARTS AND INDUSTRIES IN EASTERN

AFRICA.

Domestic arts and industries have not yet reached
a high state of development. IMost of the agricultural
implements are made from a hard wood, called "black-
wood " or"cuist ebony.'' The ]Makuas make a fine
string from the roots of a tree termed mhimlKt. The
AVatussi draw out fine copper threads, with which they
fabricate nicri/es. a kind uf ring compose<l of giraft'e-
hair bound spirally with the metallic thread, and worn
as leglets.

In I'sambara, native talent has devised more than
one form of mnsical instrument. A small clarionet,
called zuittali, about Is inches long, and with a reed
mouthpiece, gives out sounds much resembling those of
the Welsh bagpipe without the drone ; it ranks second
to the drum in puliiic favour. The jtavi/n, or :('ze, is
a doble-striuged lute, in which half a calabash serves
as a sounding-board. The /.(r«f//f/ is a shield-like board,
about 2 feet long and 8 inches wide, rounded at the
ends, into which two round notched sticks of hard wood
are inserted, so as to form a curve over it; these notched
sticks are then rubbed up aid down with smaller
sticks, so as to produce a rasping and most unmusi-
cal noise. A more capable instrument is the viriiiija, a
large, rude, paino-like contrivance, formed of two thick
banana-stems laid parallel, and of pieces of hard wood
fastened crosswise between these, made so that those
giving the highest notes are in the middle, the lower
at each side. It is played upon by striking the notes
with two sticks.

In the INIassasi district ironstone abounds, and is uti-
lised by the natives. They smelt this mineral in furna-
ces dug out of old ant-hills, and then forge hoes and
axe-heads from the iron tiius obtained. One of the
chief employments of the people of ^lakua is the smelt-
ing and working of iron, the ore of which is procured
from the hills of Ohiga. The manner of workinsr is
very similar to that practised by the Ajavva or Yao
tribe. The charcoal furnace is blown to a white heat
by four separate blowers worked by hand, consisting
of skins of a small deer, into each of which is bound
a retort made of clay, the mouth leailing into the fire.
The anvil is a slab of granite; the hammer a heavy
cube of stone, slung with fibre cord let into grooves at
its sides. Hoes, knives, aud axes are thus made at very
cheap rates.

Every woman in Chole, south of Zanzibar, appears to
be engaged in plaiting grass mats, which are largely
exportel. In this district, near each village, bark hives
are fixed on cross branches about G ft. from the ground,
bees being very numerous, and the wax of good quality,
is brought to .Samanga for barter. The Kufizi delti
furnishes an almost inexhaustible supply of mangrove
wood, which is shippped to the Red Sea and Arabia
as_ "Zanzibar rafters." In the forests and jungles of
this region the rubber vine {Landolphia ) is plentiful,
and the product is collected. The produce of the Mozam-
bique coast consists chiefly of oil-seeds (awr/c/onw aud
f/ergelim), rubber, ivory, copper, aud wax. Rubber vines I
compose much of the forest in Masisi;the trees are ,
gashed, as the escaping fluid soon assumes a pasty con-
sistence, and is then rolled into orange-like balls for sale. I
Somaiiland exports myrrh and incense; the forests of i
IJsambara afford " ebony, '" copal, '• teak, " acacia, rubber,
orchella, betel-pepper, prickly smilax, and other useful I
plants. The bagamoyo coast exports copal, grain, sem-
sem, ivory, wax aud rubber. On Lake Ugombo the hard
reed-grass called miombo, when beaten, rubbed and twist-
ed, makes splendid rope, while another reed termed
mdfte affords excellent material for sun-blinds. The finest
timber tree met with iu Gaza is a species of f/ardenia,
known as I'lnshaaatse or vuipani, furnishing planks 2 ft.
wide and 40 ft. long. In IJsambara gates to towns are
made from the wood of a species of Acacia, called
hiLonf/olo. black within and white without, which is so
hard as to almost withstand the; attacks of white ants.
The mhtingit vine ( LnndoJphia) is known from I'angani
to Handei, and the copal tree ( .s-7/aZas! ) is abudaut in
the woods adjoining the inner side of the wilderness of
l-sa,mh&Ta..—Jot(inal cf the Societii of Arts.
IPI

TOBACCO GROWING IN DELI.

The United States Tohaccn Jovrml published lately
a report by the German Consul at Singapore on the
cultivdtaion of tobacco in the Island of Sumatra.
This report gave first a detailed account of all the
localities in Sumatra suitable for tobacco raising ; it
then described minutely and graphically the process
of planting, &e., and lastly, it gave a pretty close
1 calculation of the cost of production. To buy a plant-
ation of a hundred fields, says the report, and to
I put it in a perfect state ready for cultivation, in-
clusive of the erection of sheds and houses for the
I men and tobacco, cost about from §25,000 to §.'10,000.
j The raising of the tobacco is done by coolies, who'
. receive from §2 to SS for every thousand plants, the
j price depending on the quality and yield of the crop ;
j while every plant is permitted to bear only twelve
I to twenty leaves. "We will take an average of fifteen
leaves to the plant, tliat will give 15,000 leaves to a
I thousand plants. Let us average a hundred leaves
I to the pound, of fine grade of Sumatra, and we shall
! get 5i cents (of dollars) as the price of Labour re-
; presented in one pound of Sumatra-grown tobacao.
A plantation of a hundred fields, representing an
investment of a capital of, say §30,000, will yield on
an average 225,000 pounds per crop; the interest of
the capital at six percent, amounting to §1,800, will
add another 3 of a cent. The freight-charge from
the eastern coast of Sumatra to Amsterdam has just
; been put down to §1-.^1, per bale by the Xord-
deutscher Lloyd, con.sequently the entire gross outlay
j to raise a pound and ship it to Amsterdam amounts
I to about c.7i. Considering the depressed state of
the tobacco leaf market of the United States, the
I Tobacco Journal refers its countrymen to this mine
of wealth, open to American enterprise, and is sur-
prised that the Americans generally having the repu-
1 tation for smartnes.s, should have allowed the Ger-
I mans aud other nations to get the start of them.
Likely they (the Americans) are deluded by the belief
that none but Netherlanders are permitted to acquire
land in Sumatra. On this point we dare say that
a considerable part of the tobacco growing in Deli,
1 by which name a large part of the eastern coa.st of
Sumatra is called, is in the hands of foreigners, notably
Germans and Swiss. Among the planters 'of Deli
proper every European nation is represented. We
should have omitted tliis remark had it not been that
in the report by the Germun Consul at Singapore
the contrary is intimated. A report compiled by this
official is certainly very inaccurate in several parti-
culars, and no woudor that thel'nited State^ Journal
thinks its countrymen somewhat behind the times
if such were the case.

A tobacco plantation is not a pear garden, pur-
chased in spring to sell the fruits in autumn, how-
ever, and we need not explain how much labour
and capital are required before the grounds are ready
for cultivatiou, and ready to yield the first leaf of
tobacco. But besides this, we do not understand
wliere the Consul got his statements. He first cal-
culates that a plantation of a hundred fields will
yield on an average of '225,000 pounds of tobacco,
2,2..0 pounds, or IS piculs per field ; it is generally
known that an average of 7 piculs per field is very
satisfactory, and one of 8 piculs may be considered
as very successful indeed. There are really fields
yielding exceptionally 10 or 12 piculs, but, on the
other hand, there are a great number of fields yield-
ing only 3 to 5 piculs. The freight-charge calculations
to raise a pound of Sumatra and ship it to Amster-
dam is so ridiculous that we shall say no more on
t;he subject. It may be suflicient to state that the
following expenses are omitted, viz. : — Salary of mana-
gers, clerks, mandors, &c., iu India, and iu the Nether-
lands for directors, administration, outlay of capital
on buildings aud materials, carriage, freights on board,
charges for unloading and storage, &c. It comes to
the amount of c. 18| (Netherlands currency) per pound.
Iu order to warn our American friends we add here-
uuto that with a single exception a pound of Sumatra

802

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June i, 1887.

tobacco, generally bought at the Amsterdam market,
costs the producer f.U.SO. lo f.0.90, which amount on
a produce of only 4 to 5 piculs per field certainly far
exceeds f.l.

In conclusion, we refer to the United Statis Tobacco
Joi'rnal's assertion that Americans are not accjuainted
with the fact that foreigners also are permitted to
acquire land in Sumatra. If we have to consider this
as the opinion of tobacco-men, we think it rather
naive for smart men like the Americans, which proves
at the same time that the information of American
Consular officers is not always reliable. However,
American people ought to know as well as we do
that not every part of the east coast of Sumatra
yields results like these on which the tirst-comers
could pride themselves, and that, as Mr. G. Harkemi
observes in Oe Iiulischc Mercv.uroi i'AU. 1, the results
have often proved to be very deplorable.

On this subject Mr. J. F. Cremer, member of the
Second Chamber of the States-General, late Chief
ISJauager of the Deli Company, states;— We can in-
deed reckon, on an average, on fifteen leaves per plant,
•but not that of such haves as that every hundred
make a pound; such is, indeed, the case with the
best leaves of Sumatra tobacco, but not with an
average number of leaves of the crop. For the lower
leaves of a plant, especially when gathered in a rainy
season, contain a good deal of broken and spotted or
decayed leaf that weighs much less. On an average
•we may reckon that 1,800 plants furnish 1 picul, or
125 Amsterdam pounds. For this from $2 to §8 per
1,000 plants is paid ; but as §2 to $4 is the exception
the real average is S6 per 1,000 plants, or SIOSO,
so folly S and not 5 J cents per pound. The freight
per Ge'rman Lloyd is f.55 per last of SCO K.G., or
10 bales; so not Sl'^I, per bale, but, reckoning the
dollar at f.2-50, S2-20. Therefore if these data of the
Consul are incorrect, the great fault of his com-
putation is this, that he calculates the percentage of
the capital recjuired for the outlay of a concern at fj
percent, per year, to pay the costs of European and
Chinese supervision, of drying-sheds which require
complete renewing every two years, of houses for
medical attendance, of losses (ab.scouding or deaths of
labourers), of jungle clearing and making of roads
and drains, of horses and carts, and the necesniry
drivers, of Java and Kling auxiliary workiuen for the
sorting and packing of the tobacco, with other needed
arrangements. The Deli Company yields crops from
3| to 4 million pounds. The produce was lately fully
f.l. 60 per Amsterdam pound. If this cost 7^ dollar
cents, or f. 0.1875 at Amsterdam (plus 10 per cent, for
tandil wages), then the gain per pound wouhl be
f.1.4,125 or "li to 5h million guilders. The dividends
would then be fully 250 per cent. If the Germans
and Americans are to set about colonising on such
data as supplied by the Consul at Singapore, they will
meet with sad disappointments.

" I can further inform you," continues Mr. Cremer
"that from a statement of eleven nominally working
concerns in Deli and Langkat in 1886 I perceive that
they required on an average 2,000 plants per picul,
■which cost on an average SO.IO per 1,000, without the
wages of the tandil or Chinese superintendent; with
these wages the picul yielded about S13.45, or per
half kilogram 10^ dollar cents. In 1886, on account
of copious rain, tlie crop was rather light; in more
favourable years the above calculation will hold." We
may add that we were officially informed by the
manager of the Deli Company that in the preceding
year the product of one of their estates realised f.l. 60
per pound on the Amsterdam market, while the costs
of production had amounted to f.2.25 per ponnd ; a
loss, therefore, of f.0.(!5 per pound. And yet the sale
of that product had been effected under very I'avour-
ablel circumstances. An additional proof that not all con-
cerns in Sumatra are remunerative. To conclude, we
wonder at the startling fact that the Americans, whose
Government is c(jnstantly supplied with the best and
most reliable reports on everything concerning to-
bacco culture in Deli from their own Consul in Hol-
land, Mr. Eckstein, should have allowed themselves
to be led astray by the report of the Geruiau Con-

sul at Singapore. In one of the reports of Mr
Eckstein we read, among other things, that the costs
of production on a kilo, of Deli toliacco on the
Dutch market can be regarded as 70c. or 80c.
kilogram. — London and China Express.

per

1.

11.

111.

IV.

EOYAL GARDENS, KEW.

Bull din of ]\[isce/hfveoi'.<: Jufonantion — Fibre riant.-:. —
It is proposed in the following notes to deal briefly
with fibres derived from tropical endogenous or
monocotj ledonous plants which yield what arc known
in commerce as Sisal Hemp, IManila Hemp, ]iow-
string Hemp, and Mauritius Hemp. These are used
chiefly for rope making and cordage, and are to be
distinguished from flax, cotton, and other fibres used
purely for textile purposes.

The large and increasing interests taken in fibre
plants and the numerous references made to this
establishment on the subject render it very desirable
to place within reach of cultivators in India and the
Colonies a summary of information on the subject.
The Hemps above enumerated are derived as fol-
lows : —

Sisal Hemp,
Agave rigida. Mux.
(A. ixtli, Karif.
A. elongata, .Tacobi. '

A. Sisalana, Ferrine.)
Mauritius Hemp,
Imrcrcfa (jiijantea, Vent.
Manila Hemp,
3fi'sa tcvtilia, Nees.*
Bowstring Hemp,
Sansevieriu .-.t-t/lanira AViixn.*
The fibres of endogenous plants, the chief of which
are enumerated above, are generally white if cleaned
without fermentation, but are easily discoloured and
also weakened by the decomposition of the mucilagi-
nous and saccharine matter associated with them.
Hence it is important that they should be cleaned
either by mechanical or chemical processes as soou as
possible after they are harvested. The resulting fibre
if of good ([uality, is while, bright, and glossy, and the
individual filaments are straight and free.

Although grouped together here for convenience
of treatment, the plants yielding these hemps require
severally very dilferent treatment under cultivation,
and it is important to bear in mind that they will prove
objects for remunerative culture only under certain
special circumstances.

For instance, the Agave plants yielding Si.sal Hemp
fluurish ill the dry di.--tricts of Yucatan, they require
little cultural attention, and the fibre is cleaned by
means of cheap native hhour, which is probably
attainable in few British C'olonies.

Manila Hemp is produced entirely in the Phillippine
Islands from a species of wild banana or plantain
(jrnso. tt.rtiiis). It requires rich moist forest land,
and while in its native country it is found to be
easily cultivated ; it lias been only moderately success-
ful under cultivation elsewhere. Here again the in-
dustry is supported by an abundant and cheap labour
supply, which enables the fibre to be cleaned by hand
at a cheap rate.

Bowstring Hemp is scarcely an article of commerce
at present, although locally it is used for many par-
poses, as in Ceylon, India, and the East and AVest
Coasts of Africa, where species of Sansevieria are
found.

Mauritius Hemp is obtained from Furcrira </ifjantoa,
known in the island as Jioi'.t vert, but elsewhere as
the green or f.utid aloe. It is a large unarmed
species, native of tropical America, but found in both
the East and AVest Indies and also at St. Helena.
At Alauritius it has established it.self spontaneously on
abandoned sugar estates. It is easy of cultivation,
and partakes much of the character and habit of the
plants yielding Sisal Hemp. IMachinery has been
used for preparing Mauritius Hemp, and while good
prices ruled the industry was fairly remunerative.^ ^

* These will be discussed iu Bulletin No. 4 for April.

June i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

803

v.— SISAL HEMP.

T'nder this term are iucliieled fibres derived from
probably more than one species of Agave, and it is
probable al.-o that one species of l'urcr;ea is used.
According to the locality where tlie industry is cnrried
on or the port of shipment the fibre produced in
Yucatan is called Sisal Hemp, which is the recognised
uaa\e iu the English market ; or Jeuequen or Hene(iuen
Hemp, which would appear to be the terra more
commonly used in the I 'nited States. Pita is another
Central American fibre but whether the produce of
an Agave (A. ameruanu) or of a Eromeliad (karatas
Fliniiieri) is not quite clear. Probably it is loosely
applied to both.*

As regards the species of Agave yielding Sisal Hemp
Miller first described A. ri;/ida (Diet. Ed. 8, 1768)
in the following words: — Long, narrow, stiff leaves,
" entire, and terminated by a stiff black spiue. These
" leaves are seldom more than two feet long, little
" more than an inch broad, being of a glaucous colour.
" The side leaves stand almost horizontally but the
" centre leaves are folded over each other and
" enclose the flower-bud."

This may be accepted in a large sense as the re-
presentative species of which there are several sub-
species and varieties cultivated by the natives of
Yucatan from time immemorial.

According to Dr. Engelmann (Trans. Acad. Science.
St. Louis, Vol. III., Dec. 1.^75) a common native
species in Yucatan called Chelem by the aboriginal
inhabitants is identical with Aijave riijida of Miller ;
but a number of varieties, characterised by longer
leaves or the absence of spines, have been recognised,
to which names more or less distinct are now applied.

Mr. Jjaker has given a Synopsis of the Genus,
Agave in the (rfinleiirr.-i' Cinouicle (^^ols. Vll and "\[I1I,
New Series, 1877). The plants mentioned below are
included under the Group Eiqidae, having the edge
of the thin hornj- leaf without any distinct border,
and the teeth (when present) small but distinct and
deltoid. He remarks that this is a considerable group
of which ,1. luridn and A. riffida may be regarded
as the types intermediate between the groups Americauae
and Aluidttit'.

From a study of plants at Kew, Mr. Baker was
inclined to look upon A. I.rfli, Karw., as the type
and A. riyidu, Mill., A. clotigain, Jacobi, and ,(.
Sindlana, Perrine, as synonyms or varieties. But as iu
the first place A. rif/ida. Mill., has the prioritj' in
point of time, and (if we follow Dr. Engelmann)
also represents the old aboriginal fibre plant of Yu(tatan
(the Chelein), it would be better to retain this as
the aggregate species and place the others among
the varieties whicli have arisen in course of long
cultivation in different parts of the peninsula of
Yucatan.

We have then.

A. RiGiD.\, Jim.

var. 1. A. Ixtli, Karw.; A. i.vtlioides, H. K.
leaves li — 2 ft. long, teeth distant.

2. A. eloiKjata, Jacobi: leaves 4 — 5 ft,

glaucescent and toothed.

3. A. Siiahtuo, Perrine; leaves 4 — 6 ft.
long, pale green not glaucous, generally
without teeth.

Dr Engelmann in his notes cited above mentions
that the original plants of .4. rKjida, was, according
to Miller, brought from Vera (Jruz, but his own speci-
men.s were collected in Yucatan by Dr. Schott. He
states that Dr, Perrine, and Dr. Schott independently
studied and described in Yucatan this interesting plant,
with its different forms and economic uses (Senate
Doc. 3(10, AVashington, March 12th, 1538; the latter
in the Report of the Agricultural Department at
AVa.shiugtou for 18G9. According to Dr. Engelmann,

* According to Miller Pita fibre is derived from
Fnrcrira rjiijautea which would make it identical with
Mauritius Hemp. Dr. Perrine on the other hand
mentions Aaave Ixtli "as furnishing a fine fibre called
Pita."

" both agree that there is a common na'ive ^pecies in
'' Yucatan, called Clideiii by the aboriginal inhabitants ;
" but from time immemorial a number of varieties,
" all characterised by much longer leaves, and one also
" by the absence of marginal spines, and differing
" among themselves in the ([uantity and quality of
" their fibre, have been cultivated by the natives of
" Yucatan, and are a staple product of that country
" to this day, furnishing the well known Sisal Hemp.
'• the people know them as Jfnequcn (Schott) or Henc-
" '/?'«/( (Perrine), and distinguish, as Dr. Schott reports,
" the Yavci (Yasbki) as furnishing the best quality,
" and the Saccl (Sacqui) with the largest quantity of
" fibre. Chucmnci, larger than the last, produces c'oar-
'• ser fibre ; Bahci has fine fibre, but iu smaller quan.
" tity ; Gitaiiici, with small narrow leaves and poor
" fibre, stands probably nearest to the wild plant.
" Dr. Perrine mentions another variety latle, evidently
" the Lvth of Karwinski, as furnishing a fine fibre,
" called fita. The.se plants yield a return of leaves
'• when four or five years old, and may last 50 or
" GO years under proper management ; the flowering
" scape is cut off as soon as 4 feet high, when, evidently,
" axillary branches continue the growth of the plant,
" which is thus kept so long alive by being prevented
" from flowering.

" The trunk of the wild plant of Yucatan, which
•' I refer with little doubt to Miller's old .4. rigida,
"is 1—2 feet high; leaves IJ— 2 feet long, and as
" many inches wide, contracted above the broader base
" and widest about the middle ; lateral teeth } or
•• even 1 inch apart, mostly straight, from a broad
" base 1 — 2 lines long, rather unequal, with smaller
" ones interspersed, dark brown; terminal spine 1 inch
" long, 1| lines in diameter, straight, or often some-
" what twisted, terete, scooped out at base but not
" channelled, dark red-brown, a dark corneous margin
" extending down the leaf-edge for several inches and
" bearing . the uppermost teeth. Scape 12—15 feet

" high ; flowers pale yellowish green,

•:> L oi

2i inches

" long, perigone Ki, tubes (j — 7, lobes 9—10 lines long;
" stamens inserted about the middle of the tube, ' blood-
" red upwards,' 1-inch longer than the perigone ;an-
" thers 10— 10§ lines long ; styles at last as long as
" stamens.

" A. I,vll{, which in ls72 flowered in the gardens
" of the late Jl. Thuret at Antibes, is entirely similar,
" flowers of the same dimensions, anthers a little
" larger (IH lines long) ; capsules, which grow with
" the bulbs on the same panicle, oval, over 2 inches
" long, Ij wide, very short stipitate ; seeds uncommonly
'• large, 4^ lines high, with a ventral hilum (in many
" other Agaves I find the hilum of more basal",
"a rdiaracter which may be of some value). I believe
" this is the first time that the flowers of the Ixtli
"have been described;* they identify the plant with
" the old A. rif/ida, or at least the above described
" Chelem. -4. Kartrindii, Zucc, is probably the same
" thing.

" AVith the name of hmfjifolia I designate the
"variety known as tSacci (Sacqui) and extensively
" cultivated in Yucatan ; it is principallj' distinguished
" by its much longer spiny leaves, A— oh feet long,
"3 — 4| inches wide; flowers very similar "to those of
"the wild plant, but filaments greenish. A. fo-'iv-
"c-ro//0!VZc6. Jacobi, Agav. p. 107, probably belongs here,
"and A. donnata, Jacobi, p. 10s, I would also refer
" to this form if the description did not expressly
" mention a chanelled terminal spine.

" Atjave 8is(iliina is the name that Dr. Perrine gave
" to the plant known to the natives of Yucatan as
" yaxci, the most valuable of the fibre- producing Agaves,
"which was introduced by him into South Florida
" some thirty-five or forty years ago, during his efforts
•' to pccliniatize commercially valuable tropicil plants
"in that almost tropical portion of our territory,
" efforts which were aided by Congress by a large
<' grant of land, but which were destroyed tncpther

* This rem Ilk made by Dr. Fngelmiinin l^i2 g,
however, not (piite correct. Th" ix Ho '/t.s form iA(/xie
J.rth) were fully described : nd figured ly Sir J. D,
Hooke* from a plant which flowered at Few iq 1^71.
(Eot. j\J{vg. t. 5:93.)

So4

TME TROPICAL AGRICtJLtURlSt. [June i, 1887.

" with his own life, during the subsequent Indian wars.
" With this Agave, however, he has been successful,
" as it is now fully natuaralized, and is quite abundant
" at Key AVest and the adjacent coast. Dr. Parry
"found it there in full bloom in February 1871, and
" gives the following description of it : — Trunk short ;
"leaves pale green but not glaucous, 4 — 6 feet long
"and 4 — 0 inches wide, generally smooth-edged, but
" here and there bearing a few uneiiual, sometimes
" very stout and sharp teeth ; terminal spine stout,
"often twisted, purplish-black; scape 20 or 25 feet
" high, panicle 8 feet long and half as wide. One of
" the largest plants e.xamiued had 3o branches in the
"panicle, the largest (near the middle) 2 feet long,
" upper and lower ones shorter. The flowers are
" slightlj' larger than those described, with a. shorter,
" thicker ovary, stamens inserted a little higher up in
«' the tube. The plants bore no fruit, but produced
*' an abundance of buds, by which they propagate
" themselves and from which this interesting form has
" been multiplied in this country and in Europe.

" If this plant is, as is most probable, oidy a cul-
" tivated variety of A. ri'jiila, it is of the greatest
*' importance for the study and the understanding of
" the Agaves, indicating, as it does, the extent of
"variation which they may undergo. It shows that
" the size of leaf and scap^', or colour of leaf, are of
" no great specific value, and also that the presence
''or absence of spiny teeth on the margin is not an
'' unalterable character, not any more than the carti-
''laginous margin decurrent from the terminal spine.
'' The presence of a trunk, the proportions of the
"leaf (in -1. rujiila and all its varieties the length
'"equals 12 — 11 times the width), probably the form
" oi the terminal spine, the character of the in-
" florescence, and, above all, the form and ])roportions
'* of the flower and its parts, remain constant, and
'' perhaps also the proliferous character of the iu-
'' florescence of some species.'

In a Report on fibre plants prepared by the late
Director of the Botanical Department, .Jamaica, in
1884, it is mentioned that with reganl to the value
of Aijave rhjida and its allied forms as the sources of
the Sisal hemp of commerce, there are two important
points deserving attention. The first is the universal
increasing demand which exists in all countries -for
this fibre, and the, second is the drought enduring
character of the plant aud the simple and economical
treatKient which it reciuires at the hands of the cul-
tivator.

The fibre of these Agaves under their own name
or as yisal hemp and Henequen is ([uoted at the
present time at '6'6l. per ton, which is a little over
4(/. per pound.

In Yucatan the Agaves are planted about 0 feet
between the plants each way, with intervals of l-'i
or 18 feet at certain distances for carting out the
leaves and young shoots. In regularly planted areas
there should be 4(t0 plants to the acre. Plants put
out as suckers about Ih to 2 feet high commence to
yield in the fourth or fifth year and they " continue
to do so for fifty or sixty years and even longer."
As an example of what the probable returns may
be from a Sisal hemp plantation, it is stated by Dr.
Perrine that each plant at four or five years old
yields on an average 25 leaves i)er annum, the aggre-
gate weight of which is one " arroba " or 25 pounds.
Out of this weight of green leaves there is obtained
by hand scraping one pound of clean marketable fibre,
which at ',\>M. per ton is worth a little over four-
pence per pound.

The annual gross return per acre may therefore be
set down at 400 pounds of fibre, which at 4f/. a pound,
gives a gross yield of (!/. l'6s. Ad. The actual cost of
producing and preparing the fibre would vary according
to the circumstances of the locality ; but where ordinary
facilities exist for the transit and preparation of the
leaves, and especially with the aid of simple and
effective machinery, the cost should not exceed one
penny per pound. Hence the net returns may be
Bot down at about ol. per acre per annum.

The export of Sisal hemp exceeds that of any
other article of Mexican growth, The export value

of fibres from Yucatan in 1883 reached the large sum
of (558,000/.

Dr. Schott. in the report of the Department of
Agriculture, (-'uited States of America for l8(j;t, re-
marks that " while other products of Yucatan agri-
" culture may occasionally have become unprofitable
"either in consequence of adverse climatic features
" to which the peniusula is subject, or through com-
" mercial fluctuations, the Sisal liemp has never been
'• subject to such drawbacks, a fact attributable to the
" universal usefulness of its fibre and the uuconquer-
"able vitality of the plant, which easily survives the
" effects inherent to the nature of a riverless rocky
" desert, an:l the severe trials of a six months'
"tropical sun. For a knowledge of the Sisal hemp
" plant,'' continues Dr. Schott, " its culture and uses,
" Yucatan is iudebted to the ]\Iaya Indians, the
"direct descendants of those remnants of the Toltecs
" who, after the fall of their empire in the valley
"of Me.xico, endgrated to Central America and
" Yucatan.

Au account of the Sisal hemp industry in Yucatan
has lately been published by the Government of
.lamaica. This was furnished by Mr. Stoddard, who
for a time was practically engaged in the industry.
It contains information on some points not hitherto
available. According to this writer the plant known
locally as Sacijui (probably according to Engelmann,
the variety hinr/ifuhn) is most generally cultivated.
This is said to yield the largest cjuautity of fibre,
which is characterised by flexibility, whiteness, strength,
aud weight. It has been already mentioned that Dr.
Schott selected the ]'u.cci as furnishing the best
quiility, and the Sacci (Sacqui the largest quantity of
fibre. It is, however, generally agreed that the bulk
of the fibre exported from Yucatan, and called from
the former port of shipment Sisal hemp, is the produce
of the Sacqui. The chief port of shipment now is
Pregresso.

The land which supports the fibre industry in
Yucatan is of a gravelly, stony, and in some places
of a rocky cliaracter. The plants thrive best and
yieUl the largest amount of fibre in comparatively
arid districts, only a few feet above the level of the
sea. Moist land or rich land is considered un-
suitable, for althouL,'h the plants would grow in
the lat.ter, the (piantitj' of fibre yielded would be com-
paratively small. For convenience of carriage and
general management level land is preferred.

rianlatiims are established by simly clearing the
land of trees and scrub. Stumps are uprooted to give
an even surface. Shade is a disadvantage. Plants are
generally put out during the rainy season, at 12 feet
by 6 feet (equal to G05 to the acre ) in holes propor-
tional to their sive. All fibrous roots and lower leaves
are removed before planting, to facilitate new growth.
It is estimated to cost " four shilliugs and six pence
per acre to line, dig holes, drop suckers, aud plant."
A well established plantation has au exten.sive system
of roads all converging ou the works, which latter are
placed in as centri,! position as possible.

After planting, the chief cultural oijerations are con-
fined to keeping the fields clear of weeds, and remov-
iug suckers which grow around the parent plants.
These latter are utilised to extend cultivation by being
planted in nurseries^ or are thrown away. Their re-
mov.al is considered necessary to the success of the
plantation.

A fibre plantation started with plants about Ih feet
high, begins to yield in about three years after plant-
ing. Any aijpearance of the " pole," or flowering
spike, is watched, and when 3 or 4 feet high it is cut
out. Otherwise the usefiUness of the plants for fibre
purposes would cease.

The length of leaves cut for fibre should not be less
than 3 feet ; their ripeness is judged by the colour
and by their position in the rosette. Consequently
the outer leaves are always cut first, being the oldest.
The harvesting of the leaves, which goes on all the
year after once started, is eflFected in the following
manner :— Men armed with suitable knives select ripe
leaves, cut them close to the trunk, remove prickles
I from the edge, aud point aud make them up iuty

June i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRlCULTUklST.

S05

limidlos of 50 each. Thirty sucli humlles is a day'''
task. These l)uiidles are put out ou the edge of the
cart road, and are taken up by drays, carrying l.oOO
leaves to a load, to the works. Cutters, carters, and
machinists are paid so much per 1,000 leaves.

The works are placed near a regular supply of
water. The power of the engine and the number of
machines required all depend on the size of the plant-
ation. One fibre machine is stated to be required for
every hundred acres of plants.

After the fibre has passed through the machine
it is placed on a drying stand fully exposed to the
sun and thoroughly dried. If it is desired to bleach
the fibre to a high degree of whiteness it is left out
all night and dviring the next day and carefully turned.
The fibre is made up into bales by means of a screw
or hydraulic press ; care being taken to keep the fibre
straight and prevent " fringes."

Each plant when matured yields 30 to So leaves per
annum, and the return of hemp is at the rate of
1,000 to 1,'JOii pounds per acre, or about half a ton
per acre per annum. The net return on a fibre plant-
ation in Yucatan is estimated at between 4/. or 5/.
per acre.

Plants received at Kew from Yucatan marked
"Sisal Hemp" are now growing in the Succulent
House No. 5, and lately an experiment was made to
test tne (jualltv of the fibre yielded by tihem.

The fibre was extracted by Mr. ^Y. K'. Death's fibre
machine, and the following report was received upon
it from Messrs. Ide and Christie, fibre brokers, of
Mark Lane : —

"We are in receipt of the parcel containing a leaf
" of Arjave I.rlli and sample of hemp made from
" leaves grown in the gardens. These are most interest-
" ing to us, and we have much pleasure in reporting
" favourably on the hemp. The quality and strength
" are very satisfactory, while in respect of colour,
" lustre, and fineness of fibre, your sample is superior
'• to the average Sisal hemp that comes to this country.
" The value of this article is excejjtionally high at
"present, 27/. per ton in London. You will see from
" the statistics given in enclosed circular that this
" material is an important one and is extensively used
" both in England and America. It enters into com-
•' petition with Manila hemp and was regarded as an
" adulterant of the latter in rope; but as its price
" is now nearly as high as that of Manila the rope-
" makers have not the same inducements to mix the
" hemps."

VI.— MAURITIUS HEMr.

A hemp industry was started at Mauritius to
utilise the large number oi \>\a.\\iti ol Ihirvvtni (lifiantea
Yent., which had spf>ntane<>usly established themselves
on low lying lands near the sea coast. This is one
of the oldest and best known species of Furcyno,
and is now universally spread throughout tropical
America and also in India, Ceylon, Mauritius, and St.
Helena. The trunk below the rosette of leaves reaches
a height of 2 to 4 feet. The leaves are 4 to 7 feet
long, 4 to G inches broad at the middle, unarmed,
bright green and channelled down the face. The scape
or terminal flowering stem reaches a height of 20 to
' SO feet. Like all the other Furor;eas this species pro-
duces copious oblong bulbilhi? in place of or in addition
to flowers, which falling take root and reproduce the
plant. It has often flowered uniler cultivation in
England ; the last time at Kew being the autumn of
1874.

A full account, with description, of the various
species of Eurcrrea is given by l\Ir. J. G. Baker in
Gardener^' ('hroniclr (1870, pp. fi-3, 624). Furcrwa
gif/ctiitcfi is figured in the Botanical Magazme, t. ^'250 :
Wight Ictab. 2025: Decandolle, Tlantes Grasses t. 12(;.

Although Furcrffa. qi(/'(iitea, known locally as Aln'is
vert, is the chief fibre plant in ilauritius, there is
evidence that Fv.rcrca ciihens\si is also found there as
well, as species of Agaves such as A. (inuricaxa and
others.

Bojer (Hortus Mauritiarus, p. 353) mentions the
Aloi s vert {Fourcraea f/iaantea) as common in 1837, and
gtates Oroit eur la Moutague Languo dans les enclroits

vides et les basilages des habitations dans t )us Iq.;
((uartiers d'ile." He does not mention Fi'.rci'a-uf.
<:Hlien,.'-i< at all, so the latter must be a later i>>-uduc-
tioti. P.'ants of both species have bjea received at
Kew from the ]\rauritius 1 titanic (Tirdeas.

Fi'rcnea rjigantca is supposed to h-ive been introd-
uced from South America t-) Miuritius ab nit 1700.
It has evidently found a congeniil home there for
without any effort oa the pT,rt of man it has cDvered
waste lands aad abandoned sugar estates to such an
extent as to lay the foundation of a c lusiderable fibre,
industry. The leaves are oftea 8 feet in leuGfth aud
from 6 to 7 inches in breadth. The pulp of the leaves
when crushed gives of! a strong pungent odour, and
hence this species is sometimes cilled i\\& foetid aloe.
'{'he juice is strongly corrosive ami sooi acts upon
wrought iron ; it is said to produce less effect ou
cast iron, while it is practically inoperative ou brass
and copper.

The plant grows in all soils and up to an elevation
of 1,800 feet about the level of the sea. It has,
however, more generally disseminated itself on the low-
lauds near the coast, and on a few of the ab-
andoned sugar estates that have bi'come too dry for
cane cultivation.

A fibre industry was started at Mauritius about 12
years ago when the wet or retting system was
tried. The cut leaves were first passed through the
rollers of a sugar mill and steeped in water
for some days. The fibre was then washed
and beaten out by hand in running water.
This process was soon found unsuitable as the fibre
was discoloured and rendered weak ; consequently it
obtained comparatively low prices. Attention was
then directed to extraction by means of i/rattense or
scotching machines. Many machines have since been
tried, and it is believed that the purely mechanical
difliculties connected with cleaning the fibre have been
for the most part overcome. The amount of fibre
obtained from leaves of the A Iocs vert was at the
rate of 3 per cent, by weight of green leaves. The
yield of fibre was at the rate of about Ij tons per
acre. A set of six machines driven by a steam engine
of 8-horse power (nominal) cleaned 1,15,") pounds of
fibre per day, which is at the rate of 197 pounds
for each machine per day.

At one time there were eigli.t fibre or hemp com-
panies fornied with a total capital of Kl, 182, 500. The
total quantity of fibre exported in 1872 was 214 tons,
of the value of 4,934(!., which would be at the rate
of 2U. 13*-. per ton. In 188<) it had increased to
062 tons, which sold in England at 287-. to 32^. per
ton. Some samples in 1883 sold as high as 38*'. per
ton. Since that time low prices have rul(;d, and this
added to the fact that the cost of production was
considerably increased tended to discotu-age the
industry. It is evident the industry was first started
to work off the leaves of self-grown plants which
were ready at hand in great abundance. AYhen these
leaves were exhausted it remained either to wait
until the plants were regrown or to procure supplies
of leaves at increased cost from the surrounding countrj'.
This latter course being adopted at a time when the
market value of fibre was low rendered the enterprise,
unremunerativc. In the returns of 1885 we find
that Mauritius hemp imported to this country
amounted to 255 tons of the value of 39/. per ton.
In Messrs. Ide and Christie's monthly circular, Dec.
1886, Mauritius hemp is quoted "in good demand"
at 28/. per ton.

The following extracts taken from Mr. Home's
Keport on the Agricultural llesourccs of IMauritius
will sutticiently explain the circumstances mider which
the fibre industry was started aud the causes which
have operated to produce the present depression,
which in the interest of the island it is hoped will
be only of a temporary character: —

"The industry of extracting fibres from the leaves
" of the alnl'n vei't is by no means exhausted. There
" is ground for believing that it has yet a future in
" Mauritius. The fall in the price of this fibre in
" the European markets broke several local companies
'• that were formed for tho working of tlie aloa

8o6

THE TkOPlCAL AGRICULTURIST, [Jum- i, 1^87*

" estate. There was far too much money invested
" in them for tbem to pay."

'• On many of the estates self-sown plants abounded
" in great numbers. It was from the leaves of these
"that the companies made money and paid large
" dividends when the price of the iibre was good.
" The plants had grown naturally on the land, and
" their presence on it had not cost a cent. In such
"cases results materially ditfer from these of reaping
" the crops of regularly laid out plantations with low
" prices for the produce. The soil and climate of the
" localities referred to favour the growth of the
" plants in such a degree that Httle expense need be
" incurred in introducing it to new grounds. The
" plant produces plantlets in great abundance in this
" colony. These plantlets grow viviparously on the
" parent plant, and adhere to it till they have developed
" into almost perfectly formed plants. When the
" young plantlets drop from their parent they are
" perfectly fitted to stand by themselves, Excepting
" the want of roots they are perfect. The roots are
'' emitted as soon as the plantlets come in contact
" with the moist soil, even when they are lying ou the
" surface of the ground. It seems, therefore, that to
" increase this plant rapidly and cheaply over a given
" area, due advantage should be taken of its peculiarities
" and ' the facilities which it naturally affords for
" propagation and increase."

At St. Helena Fia-cma (/lyantea has been for some
time under cultivation as an introduced plant. Experi-
ments on a small scale have been carried on, and
samples of fibre have appeared in the English market.
fReport on Resourses of the Island of St. Helena,
Colonial Office, African No. 275, 1884).

Messrs. Collyer .^ Co. reported in 1883 on fibre
from St. Helena as follows:—

" Aloe fibre (Tnrcnm gi(/<nitoa) St. Helena. Good
"length, full strength, rather dull colour, generally
" well cleaned but with some runners untouched and
"barky. Value :28^. to 30i. per ton. This sample is
" very different in appearance from the Furcrifar/i/jantra
" of JMauritius, owing probably to differences of both
" growth and treatment."

While on the subject of fibre from Furmea gujantca
it mav not be inappropriate to say a few words as
regards the merits of another si>ecies, Fiircra-a adini.ns.
This, as already pointed out, is possibly one of the
plants under the name of Cajan from which some
of the Yucatan fibre is obtained. ,. • ^

It differs from /'. qljantto. in that it has no distinct
trunk, or a very short one, below the rosette of leaves.
The latter are 3 to 5 ft. long, about 5 inches broad
at tbe middle, bright green, rigid in texture, and
armed with regular, hooked, brown prickles.

It is a native of tropical America and cultivated in
most tropical countries. A variety of this plant—
/'. ci'hcms, var. i,iermU-\B figured and described in
Bot. Blag., t. 6.543

In addition to flowers it produces bulbils on the
flowering scape, from which the plant is readily
increased. The plant is common in Jamaica, and it is
said that there " would be no difticulty m establishing
there a large area under cultivation. The fibre is
white, strong, and bright looking. It yields at the
rate of 205 to 315 per cent, by weight of green leaf .
From experiments carried ou at Jamaica under a
committee appointed by Government it was found that
leaves of Vurmm adw^isis- weighing 3(36.^ pounds yielded
•^S pounds of green fil>re, which when perfectly dry
weiched Ih pounds. This was at the rate of 2-05 per
cent, by w"eight of green leaf. In the report of the
Committee this plant and its fibre are described as

follows : — ^ F J. i^ c i.

"Silk grass (Fi'rn-fl>a cuhensis). Leaves 5 to t) feet
" long, generally armed ^^ ith strong prickles, but some-
" times unarmed or with few prickles. Common in
" Jamaica and might be largely propagated at once
«' Value of fibre— («.) 3s/., good quality, but might
"be whiter; (h.) fairlv clean, fair colour, value about
" 2fHL per ton; (r.) superior to Sisal and worth 27^
" ])er ton. A good fibre, not quite sufficiently white
" in the centre."

The above plants constitute the chief species of
Agave and Fiircraa yielding commerical fibres.

It may be mentioned here that many Agaves yield
fibre, but the fibre may, as iu the case of the Jamaica
Keratto, prove unsuitable for industrial purposes. The
Brokers' Report on Keratto filjre was: — "Little
'•strength: not an even (but a curly) fibre: towy :
"value ]-2L. to It', per ton."

Plants yielding true Sisal Hemp might be obtained
from Yucatan in large quantities. — D. M.

speedily convinced
export has indeed
year's transactions

The Tea Tiiade of China foe the Ye.^ii 188().
— Mr. E. B. Drew, Statistical Secretary of the
Chinese Foreign Customs, makes general remarks
on the foreign trade of China for 188(), in the just
published "Returns of Trade," for 1880, We quote
the paragraph on "Tea": — "The export of Black
Tea is the greatest in quantity for at least six
years, and a like remark is true as to the estimated
value of it. But if we turn to the Reports from
Hankow, Kiukiang, Shanghai, and Foochow, we are
that while the quantity of the
been great, the result of the
has been extremely disastrous
to the Chinese teabrokers and to the Foreigners
whose capital has been engaged in them. F'rora
this statement the business done for Russia, which
has much increased, .should probably be excepted.
It is enough to say here that probably the growers
of Tea and the ocean carriers are the only ones
who have been benefited by the exceptionally large
operations of the year, — unless we include also
the Government, which gets a revenue proportional
to the amount of the export."

The CuBEi! or "Wild Pei'peh, — Our Galle cor-
respondent writes: — '• I read with considerable interest
the contribution in your impression of the Kith
instant, from your I;oudon correspondent dealimr
with the subject of the cubeb vine as a product
suitable for cultivation in the low districts of tlie
island. It may perhaps be within your recollection
that I wrote ou this subject about eight or ten
months ago, mentioning that the vine, acknowledged
to be that of the cubeb, and identical in its growth
and produce with the cubeb of the druggist as des-
cribed by your correspondent, grew in profusion in
its wild state in the jungles here, especially about
Baddegama, and that the berry, which has an aro-
matic smell, and is exceedingly acrid to the taste, at-
tracted the attention of more than one European
visitor, from whom the Mudaliyar of the district
gathered the fact that it possessed some marketable
value. But beyond small parcels being collected and
taken away no inducement appears to have offered
for growing it systematicallJ^ Now, however, that
your London correspondent has fully demonstrated
the worth of a product which m.iy be very profitably
cultivated with the possession of the necessary con-
ditions of both soil and climate favorable to its
healthy growth, strong encouragement is afforded for
the development of the industrj', as a gentleman to
whom I showed the article in question has fully made
up his mind to embark in the enttrprize in a tent-
ative way. But the important ([uestion which reijuires
to be .settled is whether the kind of cubeb found in
its wild state in the jungles of the low country really
belongs to the acknowledged genuine variety said to
be grown in Central and "Western Java, although the
product in several particulars corresponds exactly with
the description given by your London correspondent
— viz., the vine attains a height of from IS to 2n
feet, climbing round large trees, it is readily propagated
by cuttings, and is so grown by natives, who utilize it
for medicinal purposes: and the berry is likewise small
and dark-colored when dried. Whether this is really
the genuine article for which a demand exists is worth
knowing. I trust tbe subject will recieve atteutiou at
the bauds of some of your readers interested in low-
country products and lead to satisfactory practical
results. "^Local " Times. "

June i, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

807

WESTWARD HO! [OPENINGS FOR YOUNG

MEN IN AMERICA.]

[To THE Editor of the " SrECXATOK."]

Sir, — It must be nearly thirty years since I first
wrote to you over this signature, but never before ex-
cept in long vacations, and from outlandish parts.
Why not keep to a good rule ? you may ask, at this
crowded time of year. Well, the fact is I really want
to say something as to this " Westward Ho !" gadfly,
which seems to have bitten young England with a
vengeance in these last months. I am startled, not
to say alarmed, at the number of letters I get from
the parents and guardians — generally professional
men — of youngsters eagerly bent on cattle-ranches,
horse-ranches, orange-groves in Florida, vineyards,
peach and strawberry-raising, and I know not what
other golden dreams of wealth quickly acquired in
the open air, generally with plenty of wild sport
thrown in. I suppose they write from some fancy
that I know a good deal about such matters. That
is not so ; but I do know a very little about them, and
may possibly do some good by publishing that little
just now in your columns.

First, then, as to cattle and horse-raising on
ranches. This is practically a closed business
on any but a small scale, and as part of
farm work. All the best ranehe-grounds are in
the hands of large and rich Companies, or million-
aires, with whom no new-comer can compete. It
will, no doubt, be a valuable experience for any young
man to work for a year or two on a big ranche as a
cow-boy ; but he must be thoroughly able to trust
his temper, and to rough it in many ways, or he
should not try it. At the end, if prudent, he will
only have been able to save a few hundred dollars.
But this is not the kind of thing, fo far as I see, that
our youngsters at all expect or want. Orange-groves
are excellent and profitable things, no doubt, and
there are parts in Florida and elsewhere^where there
is still plenty of land fit for this purpose, though the
choice spots are probably occupied. But an orange
grove will not give any return till the sixth year,
cautious people say the seventh.

Vineyards may, with good luck, be giving some re-
turn in the third or fourth year ; but the amount of
hard work which must be put into the soil in break-
ing up, clearing out stumps, and ploughing, even if
there is no timber to fell, is very serious ; and the
same may be said of peach-orchards and early fruit
and vegetable-rearing. Moreover,
places for such mdustry, such
Mountain, are for the most part
a word, though it is quite possible
other industries, and in ordinary farming, nothing
beyond a decent living can be earned, without at
any rate as free an expenditure of brain and muscle
as high farming requires at home. On the other
hand, sport, except for rich ranche-men who can
command waggons, horses, and men, and travel
long distances for it, is not to be had generally and
apt to disappoint where it can be had.

So much for the working side of the problem.
The playing side — outside whisky-shops, which I
will assume the young Englishmen means to keep
clear of— ought also to be looked fairly in the
face before the experiment is tried. Perhaps the
most direct way to bring it home to inquirers will
be to quote from the letter of a young English
public-school boy who has lately
year as a cowboy on the cattle
the big Companies : —

" Friday night we had quite a time. We went to

an exhibition of the home talent of , and really of

all show.s this was the wor.st I ever saw. One man,
the town barber, and our greatest ' society man,' played
a uigger, and played it so well that one could not
help fancying he has at onetime been a ' fprofesh.' The
rest were so dull and such sticks that it made him

the choice
as Look-out
occupied. In
to do well in

finished his first
ranche of one of

shine more than ever. After the home talent, there
was a ' social hop,' at ivhich Jerry and I shone as
being the ' bored young men.' You can, of course, see
why I was bored ; and Jerry, he is from Ohio, and of

course cannot compete with Ohio. However, as

Jerry was somewhat of a great man, the quadrilles be-
inp all called by him — i. e., he stood on the stage and
shouted, ' balance all,' ' swing your partners,' ' lady's
chain,' at the right time — we had to stay, and more
or less to dance. Jerry took great pains to find nie
partners worthy of a man who had danced in a dress-
coat. He did not succeed but once, when he intro-
duced me to a very lively little scbool-lidy, ' marm,'
I shoald f-ay; the rest were very wooden iu movement
and conversation. The school-maim amused me very
much. She had not long returned from the ■Uni-
versity, where all the young ladies, though they met
the other sex at school, were not allowed to speak to
them at other times. The girls were allowed to
give dances, but she and three or four others thought
that a 'hen-pie ' dance was too much of a fraud, so
they contrived a plan by which they couM get three
or four dancing men in without going to the door. They
fastened a pulley on to the beam where the bell hung,
and with the aid of a clothes-basket and a rope they
spoiled the 'hen-pie' with two or three young men.
This plan worked well several times, till one night
three or four of them were exerting themselves to get
a very heavy hoy up, when instead of a boy they per-
ceived the bearded face of the head master. In horror
thep turned loose the rope and fled, leaving bim twelve
feet from the ground, hanging on by bis fingers to tlie
window sill, from which, as no one would respond to
his call for help; be finally dropped. Theyounglady
told it much better than 1 have. .Jerry was very popular
as a ' caller.' I noticed lie understood his audience
well, and whenever they got a figure they didn't know,
he came in with ' giajd chain,' which they all knew
and performf-d very nicely; so you would see a whole
set lust in the intricate feat of ' visiting ' (say) and
all muddled up, when you would hear the grand voice
of .Jerry, ' grand chain,' and all the dancers would smile
and go to it, and Jerry was quite the boss. We, how-
ever, lost our reputation as good young men, aa to-
wards midnight we were overcome with a great tbirst ;
so wicked I, a hardened sinner, persuaded the social
barber to let mo have half-a-pint of whisky ; and J and
I were caught in the barber's shop, eating tinned oys-
ters with our pocket-knives, and biscuits, and indulge
ing iu whisky-and- water. We were caught by thre-
youug men wlio had ' got religion ' last fall, and who
were, of course, highly shocked ; but I thiuk they would
have overcome all their scruples hut for the steru mothers
ill the background, and they not only envied us our
whisky-and-water, but also our mothers. Half the fight
iu drinking, I think, is to have been ' raised ' to look
upon it as an every-day luxury, and not as a thing
to be had as a great treat on the .sly. Well, good-bye !
[ have written a lot of rubbish,but beyond that am fatter
than I have ever been in America."
This will probably give readers a pretty clear
notion of the social life available in the West.
It is, as they will see at a glance, utterly unlike
anything they have been used to. If this kind of
social life (and there is something to be said for it)
is what they want, in the interludes of really hard
manual labour and rough board and lodging, let
them start by all means, and they may do very well
out West. Otherwise they had better look the
thing round twice or thrice before starting. In any
case, no young man ought to take more ready-
money with him than will just keep him from starv-
ing for about a month. If he cannot make his hands
keep him by that time, he has no business, and will
do no good, in the West. — I am, Sir, Ac.

A'.icuus Viator.

Oysters. — According to recently published statis-
tics, the export of oysters from France during the
year 1885 was no less than (lOO millions, '23(i millions of
which were supplied from the famous Arcachon
oyster parks only.— M. Mail.

So8

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Juxn i, 1887.

DRUGS AND QUININE.

Mr. C. W. White, who was in Ceylon on his way
round tlie wodd about six years aj^o, is again on a
."^hort business visit here. Mr. White is well-known as
the representative of the great drug houses of
Burgoyne, Burbidges, Cyriax and Farries — from
whose monthly publication we often extract into our
Tmpii-al Jjirirulturixt with advantage to planters of
new products, the T. A. being as often honoured by
references in this Firm's London " Monthly " — also
of Burroughs, Wellcome il- Co., whosenameas manu-
facturing chemists and wholesale drug distributors is
worldknown. Mr. White also represents the house of
Messrs. Win. Harland S: Son, \'arnish and Japan
Manufacturers. We have been urging on Mr.
White to make known to his principals in the great
Drug Firms, the importance of their taking special
steps to bring the cheapness of (juinine before
masses of people in districts and countries where
a febrifuge is as great a necessity almost as
daily food. We had a notable case reported in
the English papers the other day, in which a
country druggist was tried for putting nuicli less
quinine in a preparation than was prescribed ; but
the important fact came out in his evidence that
the rule of his establishment (and of most other
English druggists' stores) was to charge Id j^er grain
of quinine prescribed, irrespective of ups and downs
in the wholesale London market. This was, of course,
at the rate of 40s pev ounce 1 Now, we have tlia
fact that in the malarious Fen, Essex and Kentish-
Gravesend districts, numbers of jjoor people have
got into the habit of buying laudanum (opium-
drinking) by the wine-glass to soothe and check
depression and other symptoms actually due to
low fever. For the same reason, thousands, if
not millions, of Chinese in the malarial fiats of
the Middle-Iungdom, have taken to opium. The cure
in both cases is plenty of cheap quinine. Archibald
Colquhoun, as we have often mentioned, found
!i pinch of quinine the most valued gift he
could make to the Mandarins away up the
Canton river and " across Chryse." In the
same way we found i\Iissionaries carrying packets
of quinine pills back from America for the
benefit of poor Chinese about the coast settle-
ments. Again when travelling in the Southern
Slates of America, we had repeated evidence of
the immense value attached to cheap (luinine :
tire ex-Surgeon General of the Confederate Army
assured us in Eichmond that Lee's Army could have
withstood Grant's invading force for another cam-
paign at least, had he (the doctor) only had ciuinine
or " bark" to enable him to put back from the hos-
l^itals and villages in the field thousands of ague-
stricken veterans. "The utter want of bark" — the
blockade being strictly enforced — "more than any
thing else" ^aid the old Doctor, " broke the power and
spirit of the South." Now we suspect that neither
in China nor in the Southern States of America,
nor yet in the Fen districts of England have the
present abundance and cheapness of quinine been
realised as they ought. In respect of China, we have
suggested to Mr. White that the big London
th-ms should employ Chinese as "medicine men"
to travel through the country with supplies of
quinine jjieparations, making known where such
could be obtained in their coast agencies. We
were interested in learning that Messrs. Burgoyne
Burbidges ifc Co., went to the expense some years ago
of printing in Chinese a list of suitable English
medicines witli exjilanations — probably the lirsl for-
eign list ever printed in Chinese -and distributed the
same by thousands if not millions of copies,
and it must be remembered that all printed
matter is venerated by the Chinese. But this
ught tQ be followed up we think, especially

in respect of quinine, by the employment of a staf¥
of " medici;*e-men " to peregrinate the provinces of
the great Empire, selling at least enough to pay the
expense of the experiment and above all making
known where the medicine to take away the taste
for " the black-smoke poison" (opium) could always be
procured. We trust Mr. White will forward our
suggestion and that it will be acted on by the
great London drug houses. To whom else are the
Cinchona planters of Ceylon, .Java and India to
look to, for to make known the present cheapness as
well as the virtues of the invaluable febrifuge which
their enterprise has lowered from lis to LSs the
wholesale price between 1H77 and 1881, to 23 or 83
per ounce in 1887.

jAMiidf, Sekds.— A correspondent of one of the
medical journaKs calls attention to the value of these
seed.s (the produce of Eugenia Jambolana) iu chrouic
diabetefi. lu what way the teeds iulfuence this
mysterious disease is not stated. — GarJenem' Clirnnicle.
[This is surely the Jambo or Eose-apple tree.— Ed.]

AitERiCAN-GRowx EHunARB.— The Xationah- Driig-
.ry/.<e states that it has received a piece of the root
of Jllu'itm jjahnatuiii, grown in the garden of Mr.
J. W, Coicord, a pharmacist of Lynn, Mass. The
seed was planted in 1884. The specimen com-
pared favourably with the foreign drug as far as
taste, smell, and general appearance were concerned.
A microscopic examination showed a preponder-
ance of starch, and less oxalate of calcium.
— Chemist & l)rng(jist.

Okyi.on Gems, etc.— a chatty writer on "Tlie Fash
ious" ia the Orerhtnd Mail writes thus in a late
Wo.— I lately had the pleasure of inspecting a large
and very interesting collection of precious stones,
brought over froni Ceylon by tlie well-known expert,
IMr. Hay ward. Here they were to be seen from their
rough state just fresh from the pits to the perfect gems
in their artistic settings, ready to wear. He most kindly
took me iutc his inner room where sapphires and rubies
were to be seen galore. It reminded 'one of some en-
chanted place where one might pick up literally band-
fuls of jewels, so plentiful were they. But first I wag
deeply interested iu an enormous hexagon crystal, one
of the finest ever seen, inside which one could dis-
tinctly detect the watery fluid. Also a wonderful
mineral known as rutile, full of needle-like sphies, that
were quite visible on looking through it. Then a curi-
ous green smoky looking stone called jargoou. I was
informed that sapphires and rubies belong to the same
family of stones, and are composed of the same ma-
terials. Certainly I never could have believed that
what looked like a diamond could possibly be a sap-
phire, nor another clearly yellow, as well as a greeu
stone ; yet such strange metamorphoses do they siiow,
and take hundreds of various shades between these
liues. One of the most beautiful novelties was the star
sapphires. These curious greyish stones are iu cabo-
chon form, and polished couically. On the top, if one
shades them from the light, one can instantly perceive
a delicate star that moves like the light in a catseye.
Of catseyes, also, JNIr. Hayward had a wonderful col-
lection, as also pearls, jacinths, mooostones, topazes,
exqui.site tourmalines, with their soft-green tint, and
chrysoberyls. Also an Oriental amethyst, which is
truly a magic stone, for by daylight it is of the richest
purple, and by candlelight a superb red. As I -xa.^ leav-
ing this very interesting collection my eye caught
what 1 took for a very tine line engraving surround-
ing, as a border, a map of Ceylon. In the centre was
the map, be.iutifully executed, and, in ornamental
eiicarcdiin'jits, a drawing of every auimal aud reptile
indigenous to the island. I was told to my very great
surprise that the whole thiug was the handiwork of
a natis'i' boy. 1 uever saw more perfect etching nor
neat drawing. [This map, we believe, is a Zoological
i\lap of the Island — the work of one of the pupils of
St. Benedict's Institute.— Ed. Local "Examiner."]

JvtitL 1, tSif.^ M{± tROPiCAL AQRiCVVfVm^,

^ffv

PLA.NTING IN NETHERLANDS INDIA.

{Translated for the " Straits Times.")
The Chinese Commissioners recently travelliug through
Java, hAve returned to Cuina direct. The Batavia JVic-
uwshlad reports that, amon^r the Chinese there, rum-
ours are afloat to the elfect that the Chinese Govern-
meut intends, shortly, to station consuls at all the chief
towns in Java. These consuls will be charged to look
after the interests of the Chinese there in every way.
It is said that plently of land highly suitable for to-
bacco cultivation is available in the islands round Lingga
and Rhio. "Where the soil does not answer, there is
coal enough underground to reward the judicious invest-
ment of capital. The Sultan of Rhio is reported to be
well disposed towards Europeans. Assistance on his
part may be confidently counted upon.

A Java Newspaper calls atti-iition to the fact, that,
though the so called betel nuts or rather arecanuts
have long been articles of trade, and have been used
for a considerable time as mt'dicine in Europe, yet betel
leaves did not reach Europe until recently. The latter
are derivable from the betel or sirih vine. Etherised
oil from them has been found useful in catarrhal
affections and as an antiseptic. Experiments made in
Germany, have proved that etherised betel leaf oil is a
sovereign remedy in throat diseases, diptheria &c. The
importation of the leaves is attended by difficulties owing
to the oily substance therein deteriorating by the action
of the air.

PLANTING : COFFEE, CINCHONA AND TEA IN

CEYLON.

We are now in the interval of broken, but
on the whole, moderate weather, between the
" little " and " big " monsoons. Already this
very moist hot weather has made tea come
on with such a rush in the lower dis-
tricts that the flushing can scarcely be over
taken. But higher up there has been dry and
less forcing weather. Everything however points to
a very busy tea season with full croppings from
all acreage in bearing. In the Kelani Valley we hear
of some wonderful returns of tea : as much as 85 lb
per acre being made in one month off tea
bushes 2| years old, while 130 acres are said to have
given 10,000 lb. made tea in the same time. This
is from propeities owned by Messrs. W. Mackenzie
and Forsythe.

Coffee also is looking up with good crop pros-
pects and high prices ; while Cinchona, reviving in
price with less supplies, is likely to be of great
help, and Cocoa is quite as promising in price and
crop as coffee. Labour supply is the present bug-
bear before many of our planters, but in a num-
ber of districts, Sinhalese can be freely availed of
to pluck tlie tea leaf and do other estate work,

QUININE.

The necessity for urging the great wholesal®
Drug Houses or Manufacturers of Quinine, to
devise and carry out some means of bringing the
fact home to the masses — especially in feverish
countries and districts — of the present abundance
and cheapness of quinine, is being afresh re-
alized out here. There must be immense scope
for extending the use and consumption of the
most valuable of febrifuges in the Fen and low
riparian or marshy districts even of England ;
also in the South of Europe especially in the
Eastern portion, and in the Southern States
of America, apart altogether from the great fields
preeeuted in Asia, Africa and Central America,.*

It would be well if English philanthropists — more
especially Anti-Opium and Temperance Societies
— rea izid that one of the best means of fighting
opmm, of putting down the taste fer it as well as
often for intoxicating liquors is by supplying cheap
quinine. In this way India (and adjacent countries)
may give the cure to China for the evil (opium)
which it has so freely bestowed on the Chinese.

to give a place
the sale of our
Messrs. Wilson
glance at the

TEA.

We omitted m our last issue
to some useful figures respecting
teas in Colombo compiled by
& Co., Brokers of this city. A
table we append shows that " during the past six
months 14, 752 packages have been offered at Pub-
lic Auction locally (against 11,637 packages during
the corresponding months last year) at rates which
must be very satisfactory to Planters. Judging
from the prices realized in London of some of the
Colombo bought teas which we have been able to
trace, we cannot but think that those planters who
have sold their teas locally have benefited consi-
derably in a pecuniary point of view" : —

Table showing the Colombo monthly sales of
seasons 1885-1886 and 1886-1887 with averages, also
London sales and averages for the corresponding
months.

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In this connection we may mention as &a in-
stance of the progress making in tea that at last
Colombo sales, tea prepared by Mr. De Soyza'e
Sinhalese Superintendent on Charley Valley estate,
Maturatta, realized over Kl a lb. Mr. De SoyzaV
extensive properties will no doubt turn out an
immense quantity ol tea b/'and-bye ; bat ittiU

A6mcttTtjmut. \JmE i, 188;

more, we may be sure that a large body of Sin-
halese ex-coffee-cultivators in the high, as well as
low country, will very soon be cultivating and pre-
paring large quantities of tea through small gardens
opened on their own account.

We have advocated the grouping of three, four
or even six adjacent tea properties in Ceylon into
one proprietorship and management so as to ar-
range for one thoroughly well-equipped Central
Factory suiScing for all. We call attention to our
remarks on the subject elsewhere, and trust home
capitalists will take an interest in the matter, as
only through Limited Companies could this great
economic reform be effected.

COMPETITION IN THE SALE OF CEYLON
TEA.

It would be impossible to deny that competition
is the very soul of trade, and that healthy com-
petition does perhaps more than anything else to
produce success. But all experience teaches us
that, when that competition passes a certain
boundary line, it almost invariably produces pre-
cisely opposite effects to those we have referred
to as being beneficial, A friend writing to us
from England expresses the fear, lest the very
numerous agencies started for the sale of Ceylon
teas may tend towards exciting a competition,
v^hich, passing the limits of prudent trading, may
constitute an element of some danger to the high
reputation at present maintained by the produce
of our island tea-gardens. He tells us that those
agencies now amount to nearly twenty in number.
The greater part of them are supported by in-
fluential and moneyed men, nearly all of whom
have an interest in the tea estates of the
island, and that so strong is the rivalry between
these agencies, that, although for the present the
field is undoubtedly wide enough for them all,
he thinks there is reason to dread a coming
time when their endeavours to out-do one an-
other may bring about results much to be de-
precated.

Certainly, if in the future. Companies formed
for pushing the sale of Ceylon tea increase
in number in anything like the ratio that the
past twelve or eighteen months have witnessed, it
will be difficult to deny our correspondent's pro-
position that sooner or later they will be likely to
perform that cutting of one another's throats which
has been proved to be the bane of so much of the
speculative tradmg which has been so rife in Eng-
land during the last half century. As yet, as we
have said, the field of operation is wide enough for
all; but we maybe sure that for some time yet to
come the adventurers with Ceylon teas must to a
great extent restrict their operations within a com-
paratively narrow circle. It requires a very large
expenditure of capital, and must probably entail a
very considerable initial loss, to extend that circle
60 as to compensate for the overworking of the
area first occupied. That area may be described
as at preeent almost confined to London and the
home comitie?. When the force of circumstances
renders necessary the extension of trading to the
more distant parts of the United Kingdom, our
friend fears lest the harm that he anticipates may
already have been accomplished by the high re-
putation of our teas being lowered by the course
forced on by the keenness of the rivalry existing
within what may be termed the Metropolitan
sphere of occupancy.

London and the home counties, it is known
^0 a very large extent direct aud guide ^he

tastes of the more distant provinces. Appreci-
ation in London means appreciation throughout
the Kingdom. If, from any cause whatsoever, — be
it that to which our correspondent makes allusion
or any other, — the reputation of Ceylon tea is
made to suffer at the heart of British trade, it
will be found, when that outer extension which
we have named occurs, that the loss of the present
standard will have inclined the extremities to view
with distaste that which has lost the imprim-
atur of the "head centre,"

All the gentlemen who have associated themselves
together to form the many Ceylon Tea Agencies
now established in London have started with the
declaration, honestly enough made no doubt,
to sell none but the highest classes of our
island produce. So long as they adhere fully
to that stated intention, the results that are
deemed probable of realization, are not likely
to make themselves apparent. But we know
too well what competition, when carried to an
excessive degree, has done in the past not to think
it wise to raise a word of warning as to what it
may effect in the future. Companies as well as
individuals must live. Their directors must be
on the qui vive to seize every opportunity of so
extending trade that they may meet their share-
holders with a satisfactory balance-sheet. To do
so under the circumstances of strong compe-
tition they must put a certain amount of driving
pressure on their employees. It is in that aecessity
that there exists the risk of those evil effects
arising to which our correspondent draws at-
tention. Those employees will almost be forced
to buy in the cheapest market, and it may wefi
be dreaded if, under such compulsion, the guar-
antee can always be assured that inferior grades
of tea may not be distributed bearing the trade
mark of Companies which at the beginning sold
nothing but the finest and made a public reputa-
tion thereby.

Directly such a result is attained, then that
boundary line that we have mentioned as existing
between healthy and unhealthy competition will
have been passed and the worst prognostications of our
correspondent will approach realization. We always
much regretted the failure to establish what might
have betn termed an official Syndicate of Ceylon
Tea-growers. That failure has necessarily led to
an extension of private enterprize which is, no
doubt, at present doing great things for our Tea
Industry ; but there is the danger we have pointed
out that that enterprize may extend itself beyond
the bounds of prudence. It is to be hoped, there-
fore, that for some time to come we may hear
of no further Companies being formed for the
sale of Ceylon teas as a speciality. To those
already established we wish every succcess, and we
are certain that they are sufficient in number for
effectual and profitable work.

CHEAP gUININE-HOW TO SELL IT 1

The purest, cheapest, simplest and most inraluable mediciue
ill the world and its growers staiving owing to defective (?)
Diachuiery at present employed in its distribution. —

Merchant,

With reference to our remarks on page 809, a
merchant writes: —

"Taking quinine, say Howard's, at 2s 8d per oz.,
surely it would pay to make up small phials —
sealed with Howard's seal — and stitch them in cards
to be sold at all Railway Book stalls and elsewhere
under the veteran Bookseller's (W. H. Smith's) world-
kuov. -1 name to prove the genuineness of the article.
A good lot could now be given for 6d and leave
W. H. Smith a vast profit in a year, and that
uet profit be might be disposed to give to bospitale

June i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

Sit

throughout the United Kingdom in honour of the
Queen's Jubilee year. This would more than any-
thing else that I can think of help to break
the necks of the members of that cruel gang (as
far as quinine in feverish districts is concerned) at
any rate (and especially cruel to the jMor .') — the
dispensing chemists in the regions referred to.
They could not complain and if they did, who
would pity them? — Or, if W. H. Smith would not
care to do this, would he allow an Association
of philanthropists the use of his vast machinery
(his bookstalls) for distribution of quinine. To
carry out the idea a few thousand pounds to float
it would be all that would be required."

ROYAL BOTANIC GAEDENS: CEYLON.

BEPORT OF DR. HENRY TRIMEN, DIRECTOR,
FOR THE YEAR 1886.

Introductory.

As I have been absent from the Colony on leave since
the middle of March, I am necessarily dependent for
much of the contents of the following pages ou the
reports of the subordinate ofRcers of my department.
During my absence the genenl oversight of all the
Gardens was entrusted to Mr. Nock, the Superinten-
dent of Hakgala, who, I am glad to be able to report,
carried out his additional duties with energy and dis-
cretion. The other members of the Establishment
have all worked well and diligently, and on my return
I have found the condition and progress of the Gar-
dens all that I could wish.

As regards the personnel of the Department, it is
with much regret that I have had to record the death,
on Oct. 10, of an old and devoted native member of the
staff, Don Seman De Silva Gunaratne, Mubandiram,
tlto principal plant collector at Peradeniya for many
years. His death is a serious loss, not only to the
Gardens, but to me personally, for he has been my
constant companion (as before of my predecessors
Thwaites and Gardner) in all my botanical tours,
when his intimate knowledge of the country and ex-
tensive acquaintance with its flora have been of the
greatest assistance. He was a first-rate and
untiring collector, and the discoverer of many
novelties. I have commemorated the name of this
unassuming votary of practical botany in a new species
of Sonerila which he collected in the Pasdun Korale.
The native rank of Mubandiram was conferred on him
by Sir H. Robinson, in 1866.

Peradeniya Gardens.

Rods and Paths. — The principal heavy work, which
has taken up the greater part of the year, has been
the re-making of some of the carriage roads in the
Garden. The greater part of the Main Central Drive
and its branch to the Museum building, the Monu-
ment-road, and that round the large circle (in all over
1,^00 yards) have been thoroughly re-made, re-met-
alled, and gravelled, and will now last for many years.
We are fortunate in possessing in the grounds an
abundant deposit of rolled flint pebbles, which form
excellent road ballast when broken ; I regret, however,
to notice that the beds of gravel which have supplied
the wants of the Garden for over sixty years are now
beginning to give out.

With the object of improving the appearance of the
entrance I planted, a few years ago, a row of Saman
trees on the opposite side of the high road where the
race-course runs alongside it. At the request of the
Race Committee I have now planted a mixed ornam-
ental hedge along the whole length of the road where
it bounds the course. This will much improve the
appearance of the surroundings of the Garden entrance.

BmLDiNGS. — These are, generally, in satisfactory re-
pair, it being always my practice to attend to small
dilapidations at once. The building, however, now used
as the Director's Office and Museum requires some
general attention, re-painting, and whitewashing, by
the Public Works Department.

The new conly liues were completed during the year,
and now consist of three substantial buildings, well
built und tiled, and containing twenty-si:\f rooms.

Their cost has been entirely met out of the Depart-
mental vote, and I am very pleised to have been thus
able to do away with the old lines, which were a dis-
grace to a Government establishment. As the lines are
very close to the high road, a dwarf bamboo hedge has
been planted, which will form a screen ; and behind the
buildings the river bank, which is here very steep, and
constantly wearing away from the set of the current
against it, haa been strengthened and planted with
riverside bamboos.

Thwaites Memorial. — This little Kandyan building
has been finally completed by the addition of four
strong seats of " Wa " wood and the erection of a brass
tablet with a memorial inscription.

Cultivation, Nurseries, &c. — New and extensive
nurseries have been formed, as planned out in
my last year's report, in that part of the Garden
abandoned in 1881 and lying fallow ever since. The
ground has been deeply trenched and well manured,
there is a constant supply of water, and the locality
is convenient for the Garden OflSce and Stores. This
nursery is 350ft. long by 70ft. wide, and contains 132
beds 28ft. long.

A raised bed has been made round the interior of one
half of Plant Shed No. 3, for plunging pans with ger-
minating seeds.

The Herbaceous Ground in the South Garden has
been taken in hand and well manured. This is very
exposed, and it is found that only a limited class of
plants will grow in it ; a large additional number

been planted during the
the beds is improving,
great number of species

of species have, however,
year, and the condition of

In the Orchid House a
have flowered during the year. Blr. Clark has effected
an improvement in the cultivation of these plants,
by obtaining Irom Horton Plains— the only locality
in Ceylon — some sacks-full of Sphagnum zeylanicum
This useful moss is, however, so rare, that it will not
I fear, be possible to use it generally. I contemplate
if funds will allow of it, the erection of a new and
more suitable house for the cultivation of Orchids,
as it is found that the present glass-roofed structure is
too hot and dry for most species.

Much attention has been paid to the flower-beds and
borders during the year, and a very large number of
new plants have been put out. The circular bed near
the Garden Office was planted at the end of the year
with a collection of varieties of Hihiscus.

The paths of the Ferneries near the Plant Sheds have
been laid with a gravel of broken white quartz, wiiich
has a clean and cheerful effect.

Labelling. — The new teak labels are gradually tak-
ing the place of all other kinds, and prove the most
durable yet tried. About 250 have been put in position
during the year. I have now a man constantly em-
ployed in painting the names, and the work will be
more rapidly pushed forward.

Visitors. --The Gardens are becoming increasingly
popular, but are perhaps better known to travellers
from abroad than to the residents in this country. No
numeration of visitors is attempted, but a bi^ok is kept
at the lodge, in which those Europeans who are not
known by sight to the gate-keepers are invited to enter
their names. In 1886 as many as 1,090 such visitors
signed in this book.

I feel sure that these beautiful grounds would be
much more frequented if access from Kandy were
easier. The distance (four miles) is beyond a walk for
the majority of persons, and the road hot, glaring,
and dusty. The railway station called Peradeniya is
a mile from the Garden gate ou the opposite side of
the river, and awkward of access. To get thence to
the Garden involves the payment of a heavy toll for
horses or carriages at the Satinwood bridge, and
neither the one nor the other are to be obtained at the
station unless previously sent out from Kandy. Since
the formation of the loop Hue this station has ceased to
be a junction, and is no longer on the main line from
Colombo to Nanu-oya, but merely a station on the
Kandy branch; and I would wish to represent that
the public would be better served if it were moved
from its present position on the Ganipol;i-road, where
it now serves no useful purpose, to a point within a

^li

THE TfJOPICAL AGRICOLTaftiST. fJt^Mft x, l88^

quarter of a mile from the Garden, viz., where the
hue crosses the Deltota-road. Tr;uus have already
several times fouud it convenient to stop here on the
occasions of the annual Peradeiiiya races and school
treats in the Gardens, and I helieve that if a perma-
nent station were placed her^ a lar^e local passen-
ger trafric would result between K;indy and the Gar-
dens, IN.B.— Ed.]

Weather. — The rainfall was much as usual, but
August appears to have been remarkably wet. Mr.
Clark's record is given below : —

188G. Rainfall. Kainy Days.

January ... 5-10 ... 8

February ... 075 ... 2

March ... 3-84 ... 5

April ... 861 ... 13

May ... 11-24 ... 10

June ... 802 .. 11

July ... 11-66 ... 14

August ... 12-88 ... 17

September ... 1163 ... 12

October ... 8-00 ... 16

November ... 774 ... 10

December ... 1-99 ... 9

Total ... 91-26 ... 127

The heaviest fall in any 24 hours was 5-82 in. on
August G-7.

2.— Hakgala Garden.
The alterations and improvements commenced in 1882
have now been almost wholly carried out under the
zealous superintendence of the Superintendent, Mr.
Nock. By the gradual way in which they have been
effected, scarcely any extra cost on the whole depart-
mental vote has been involved ; yet we have at length
what in my Report for 1881 I set before me as the ob-
ject to be attained, — an interesting and beautiful bot-
anic garden, well stocked with the useful and orna-
mental plants of the sub-tropical and warm-temperate
regions of the world, and possessing some facilities for
their culture, propagation, and distribution. Much of
course remains to be done, but it is with great satis-
faction that I see the increasing utility of the Garden
and the public interest taken in its welfare. The car-
riage drive through the Garden has been finished during
the year : the whole metalled and gravelled, the em-
bankments and verges turfed throughout, and several
culverts and drains put in. This has beeu a heavy piece
of work, and as usual labour has been lent from Pera-
deniya to cirry it out. The additions and improve-
ments to the Superintendent's bungalow have been
finally completed, and the building is now in very good
order. The long verandah has been fitted with flower-
stands, and now gives considerable additional accommod-
ation for pots, which was much needed. All the smaller
buildings were re-thatched with maua-grass during
the year. The new cooly lines commenced in
1885 were completed. They are much better placed
than the old ones, and contain ten rooms. The old
lines will now be pulled down to allow of an exten-
sion of the nurseries and kitchen garden, which are
too small, and have much deteriorated in soil. The
glass propagating house has been re-painted, and a
coating of cement laid over the brick floor. This small
house requires to be supplemented by a few brick
frames or pits, so as to enable sufficient plants to
be raised to keep up a succession of flowers in the house,
which at present has to be itself mainly employed
for propagating purposes. I purchased in London a
small " Easy " lawn-mower for Hakpala ; this ha.s
proved of great use, and saves much labour. Several
other garden implements would be supplied if my
resources were larger. The small vote for labour
renders it especially desirable to employ means of
rendering rapid and easy the work of the labourers.
I extract for publication the followinEC portions of
a very comprehensive report of the Superintendent
for the year : — [We give only a few paragraphs here. —
Ed.]

" No less than 45,948 cuttings of various plants have
been put in the nursery beds and propacating-house
24,600 seedling plants picked out in pots and pans
5,472 plants potted or re-potted, and 4';6 pans o
peds sown.

" Seven hundred and twenty plants of various species
of eucalyptus were planted in the patana round about
the new lines. Of the plants planted on the patana
above the road by the entrance gate, the junipers,
Cfl^j/f-MMs torulosa and Irenela rhomhoidea are doing
very well indeed, but the species of pinus have nearly
all died. Cri/ptomeria japonica is doing fairly well here.

" The little dwarf variegated bamboo {Bamiusa For-
tuiiei), which was brought by the Director from the
Darjiling gardens three years ago, has now become
quite established. It grows only about 4 in. high here,
and forms a very pretty edging plant.

" Visitors. — The number of visitors during the year
was 1,011, April again showing the largest number
(193) and July the smallest (35j.

" The total rainfall for the year was 86-43 in., which
fell on 211 days. The greatest fall in any 24 hours was
3-92 in., which fell from the 7th to the 8th of August.''
Henaratgoda Garden.

This garden suffered severely from drought
in the earlier part of the year, and several
palms, cacao trees, and one of the cow trees
(Galactodendron) died as well as the majority of the
foliage plants and flowers in the borders ; a fresh sup-
ply of all these was, however, planted up in the S. W.
monsoon, and the opportunity taken for raising and
manuring the beds. A new fernery was also made in
a more sheltered position.

An improvement of that part of the garden near
the river has been made by the formation of a new
path to the mangosteen plantation through the strip
of wild jungle.

The old plant-shed being in a decayed condition
a new one of a more permanent charactf'r, with brick
pillars, has been put up, but is not yet finished.

The various tropical plants of interest in this
Garden are for the most part in a flourishing condi-
tion, and notes on several of them will, as usual, be
found in the section referring to economic plants.
I regret that no more of the Lodoicea seeds have
germinated, and I fear that, as it is nearly three
years since they were planted, there is now httle
chance of their doing so. The one which sprouted,
looks vigorous, and has sent up a second leaf, stand-
ing about 6 ft. high. A considerable distribution of
seeds of economic plants, such as Castilloa and
Hevea rubbers, cacao and shade trees, pepper, ^'c,
has been made during the year, but the demandfor
such does not increase. The Muhandiram in charge
continues to give complete satisfaction. He com-
plains of a great falling-olf in the number of visitors
to the Garden, and indeed there were scarcely any in
1886. This diminution is obviously due to the
new train arrangements, by which only the
slow trains stop at the Henaratgoda station. I
would venture to suggest whether it would not be
a matter of easy arrangement, that (as is the case at
many small stations in England) the quick trains might
stop by signal to take up or set down passengers here.
The stoppage, which would not very frequently be
required, could not delay the train more than two
or three minutes.

An'uradhapuea Garden.

The rapid growth of most plants in this Garden
is remarkable, and strikingly exhibits the great capa-
bilities of the soil for varied cultivations, given only
a water-supply and ordinary attention. Though only
in the fourth year of its existence, the Garden already
begins to look stocked. As was expected, however,
many of the economic products so freely grown in
the south of Ceylon will not thrive here, and no fur-
ther attempts to grow to any advantage tea, cocoa,
rubbeii, nutmegs, cloves, etc., need be made. On the
other h.md, several plants belonging to the same class
appear to he fairly well suited here, such as cinna-
mon, breadfruit, pepper, cashew-nut, and Liberian
coffee. Of the latter, there are numerous bushes crop-
ping well, and if this cultivation prove to be per-
manently successful, no more useful introduction to
the villages of the North-Central Province couldbe
found. Of plants native to the drier tropical countries,
many succeed here much better than atPeradeniya
or Henaratgoda, such as cotton, tobacco, and numer-

JfUNfe 1, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

8t3

Ous ornamental and fruit trees and shrubs from India,
N. Australia, and the West Indies.

A large collection of additional plants and seeds have
been sent from Peradeniya during the year, and I am
glad to be able to report that the Conductor, by the
careful attention he gives to their culture, continues to
merit ray approbation.

Notwithstaudiug this success, it is disappointing to
find that, at present at all events, one object of the
formation of the Garden remains almost in abeyance.
The natives and settlers show no iuclination, and in-
deed are averse, to cultivating anything beside paddy.
Areca and mango plants are offered at a nominal price,
and jak plants free, but almost in vain. So far from
seeing any advantage in possessing these additional
future sources of food or income, it is but too evident
that the ordinary cultivator regards them with in-
difference, and would consider any ofKcial recommend-
ation to plant' them as merely an additional trouble
and hardship forced upon him by Government. But
it may be hoped that vehen the tanks are more steadily
full and paddy cultivation more regularly established
and easier, a different temper will prevail.

The vote for this Garden is very small but, as pre-
viously, I have had this year the use of a small pro-
vincial vote also, and this has enabled the Conductor's
little house to be properly finished, and lines for the
coolies to be made. We have missed this year the
assistance of prison labour, nearly the whole having
been required for the clearing and repairing of the
ancient ruius*; and in dry weather our staff of five
coolies find it difficult to keep up with the necessary
watering.

Badulla Garben.

The piece of land acquired for an experimental
garden in Badulla has been taken in hand, and a
commencement toward fitting it for its intended
purpose has been made. I find that some dissatis-
faction with the site and surprise that it should
have been selected, have been locally expressed.
Certainly, had it been possible to secure a piece of
jungle near the town I should have preferred it to
old paddy land, but none such was available, and
of the three plots of ground I had to choose from,
that selected was unquestionably the best. It is at
present of course quite bare; and several years
must elapse before any efficient shade and shelter
can be provided : but it will, I hope, prove of
some utility before it presents much beauty.

Work was commenced, on February 10th, by
putting up a temporary bamboo fence round the
grcind, and planting outside it a line of green
aloes (Furcraa (^iyantea). It is intended to form a
bank along the whole boundary, and plant a strong live
fence of Madras thorn ; and this would have been done
during the year but seeds were not to be obtained.

A small bungalow has been erected for the Sin-
halese conductor at the east end of the ground,
where are also placed the cooly lines and a bam-
boo shelter for raising seedlings, &c. In front of
the bungalow a flower garden of 47 beds has been
made, and separated from it by a hedge of Hibiscus,
a nursery of 32 beds.

By far the principal work of this first year
has consisted in the formation of a carriage
drive. In the making of this, which is nearly
completed, we have had the advantage of prison
labour, and for this and much other help my
thanks are due to the Government Agent, Mr.
jE. a. King, aud his Assistant, Mr. S. M. Burrows.
The drive is 365 yards long, and forms a direct
continuation of a new road leading by the mosque ;
it passes out of the Garden into the " Green-lane,"
This is not the course which I had planned for it,
but the change was necessitated by the abandonment
of a projected public road to the cemetery, which
was to have formed the northern boundary of the
Garden, and from an entrance gate on which I had
intended the drive to malce the circuit of the Garden.
It is hoped that this road, or some equivalent public
one, may still be made; as when the Garden gates
are put up it will not be possible for the present

* Too bad.— Ed.

garden drive to be constantly used as a public
thoroughfare. A large collection of ornamental Kbrubs,
palms, &c., sent from Peradeniya, have been pl.^nted
out along the sides of the drive, and efforts are being
made to get up a stock of economic plants and fruit-
trees suitable for Uva. A commencement of sales
has begun, and a small quantity of young trees, &c.,
supplied for planting about the town. Ordinary
garden plants appear to have done very well in the
new feeds, and Mr. Nock tells me that the show of
dahlias and chrysanthemums was really very fine.
I observe that the choeho,the ]oqna,t, avd Erythroxy-
Ion Coca are all growing vigorously. The climate of
Badulla differs from that of the other Gardens under
my charge. The rainfall is mainly under the influence
of the north-east monsoon, and is heaviest in No-
vember and December, but rain falls more or less in
all months of the year, June and July being Ihe
driest months. The mean of the years 1876-1885 was
78-62 in., falling on 91 days. The elevation of the
meteorological station— a few feet higher than the
Garden— is 2,225 feet above mean sea level, and the
annual mean temperature 72'2.
NOTES ON ECONOMIC PLANTS AND PRODUCTS.

Coffee. — The export of coffee from Ceylon has sunk,
in the commercial year ended September 30th 1886, to
the very low figure of 223,693 cwt., being over
65,000 cwt. less than in the previous one, and lower than
any year since 1846. In rightly estimating this fact,
however, one must not fail to take into full consideration
the greatly reduced area under this crop. I do not think
that there is now going on a further progressive dimi-
nution in the yield per an'e on estates in good cultiv-
ation ; ill the Province of Uva especially, as I gather
from the reports of planters and othtrs, there are
no signs now of increasing deterioration, and coffee-
growing remains a remunerative industry. The general
destruction of badly diseased coffee over many square
miles has doubtless greatly diminished the supplies of
Hemileia spores, and there is good evidence that, as
was to be expected, since the chances of infection are
lessened, the " attacks " of leaf-disease occur less fre-
quently and at longer intervals, aud the trees
suffer less proportionally. It is satisfactory to learn
that in Uva, though a considerable acreage of tea has
been planted, this has not been done to any large
extent by the sacrifice of coffee, — as in other parts of
Ceylon, — but mainly by opening new land ; for I cannot
but thiok that a general substitution of the new pro-
duct for the old one is not justified, either by exist-
ing circumstances or in view of the fu<^ure.

Apart from coffee, the increase in the exports of all
estate products during the past year is very s^^riking.

Tea. — Over seven million pounds (7,170,329), or
nearly double that for the previous one, were exported
during the financial year ; and an immense impetus to
the demand at home has been givt-n by the costly
advertisement at the Colonial and Indian Exhildtion
in London, where Cej'lon tea gained a very great po-
pularity. Otherwise there is nothing in the position
of this product that calls for any remark from mo
beyond what is contained in ray last report. The
amount of land now under tea is estimated at over
130,000 acres, but this is to be regarded only as an
approximation.

As anything relating to this product, which has
now stepped into the first rank of our exports,
has become of interest, this is the proper place
to put on record the facts with regard to the
first introduction of Assam tea into this Colony.
In December, 1839, Dr. Wallich, the eminent
Indian botanist, at that time at the head of the
Calcutta Botanic Gardens, sent to Peradeniya seeds
of the then recently discovered " Indigenous Assam
Tea"; and these were followed in February, 1840, by
205 plants. In May, the then Superintendent at Pera-
deniya, Mr. Norinansell, sent k,>_ veral plants to Niiwara
Eliya, and a man was supplied to look after them.
'I'his was after a representation to Government that
tea was likely to prove a " new and profitable specu-
lation" and a "valuable source of revenue." Again,
in April 1842, another instalment of Assam plants
was received from Dr. Wallich, and in Octobor Bom9

^14

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June i, 1887.

of these were sent to Mr. Mooyart at Nuwara Eliya
with directions for cultivating them. I ha J often
wondered what became of these, and by accident in
London I met the gentleman to whose care they were
committed, the Kev. B. F. Gopp, at that time tutor
to the sou of Sir A. Ohphant, Chief Justice of Ceylon.
He informed me that in October 1842, he received
the plants from Mr. Mooyart at Nnwara Bliya, about
thirty in number, and cleared a piece of jungle for
them on Sir Anthony's land there; they were doing
well when he left the Island a few years after. Mr.
Gepp thinks the ground was somewhere in the neigh-
bourhood of the present Queen's Cottage, and it will
worth a search to discover whether some of the plants
may not be still in existence.*

Cinchona.— In spile of the low prices prevailing, the
export ot bark continues to increase, and the enormous
quantitj of ovt-r fifteen million pounds (15,364,1)12) was
sent from the Colony during the year. This is the
more surprising, as at present the margin of profit to
the producer of bark must be very sm 11, especially
as there are scarcely any choice varieties in cultiv-
ation here. As regards the future, it appears impos-
sible to form any trustworthy idea as to the amount
remaining in Ceylon, but it must be greatly lessened
by tbis vast export of late years, during which very
little has been planted. As soon as shipments from
Oeylon drop, as they must do, prices may be confidently
expected to rise.

Cacao. — It is gratifying to see that the unnecessary
check to this cultivation has been of every short dura-
tion. The export (13,347 cwt.) for last^vear is mnre
than double that of the previous one (6,.578 cwt.). The
" Forastero " kinds (see last Report) appfar to be in-
creasing in favour with planters as being heavier crop-
pers and hardier, notwithstanding the fact that they do
not yield so fine a product as the old Red Caracas variety.
Oacao cultivation, I regret to see, has taken Httle or no
hold on the Sinhalese villagers. As often pointed out, it
is not possible to conceive a more suitable plant than
this for the villager's little garden, if only the owner
will pay it a little attention for the first two years of
its life. After th-.t, no further trouble is necessary,
and the plant takes care of itself. In past years large
qaar.iitit;s of seed have been distributed to t've
villagers in the Central and Western Provinces, and in
1884 I circulated printed instructions for their cultiv-
ation, but no results are apparent. ^ Injury from
Helopeltis is no longer dreaded, though it is by no
means infrequent. With regard to thi.'i insect, it ap-
pears from a paper by IMr. Waterhouse,t chieUy based
on specimens I gave to the British Museum, that our
Ceylon species, the original H. Antonii, is distinct from
the Java Cinchona-bug, which he names //. Bradyi, fi^
well as from H. Theivom, the destrucliv Tea-bug of
Assam. This gives some explanation of the immunity
of our tea and cinchona, for it is probable that these
species, though so much like one another, are restricted
as to food to particular plants. A large consignment
of Forastero cacao seed was sent to the Queensland
Acclimatifiation Society, and it is satisfactory to learn
that fully 90 per cent, were raised there.

India-Rubreb Trees.— The Para rubbers {TJcvea
hrasUiensis) are now over ten years old, and the largest
tree has a girth of 49 in. at a yard from the ground.
Some plants have been sent to Queensland.

The Castilloa elnstica trees are the same age. They
are- not now growing so rapidly as at first ; the largest
is 38 in. in circumference at a yard from the ground.
A Wardian case with 2-50 seed of this was sent in May
to the Conservator of Forests, Tavoy, and fifty young
trees have been planted at Kaudy. The paper by Sir
J. D. Hooker, referred to in my last report, has been
published I It is illustrated by a fine coloured plate
of the tree cultivated here, drawn by W. De Alwis,
the draughtsman of the gardens. Sir Joseph points
out that our plant, which it will be remembered is the

' *~Since writing the above, I find that Mr. Gepp
communicated these facts in a letter to the London
Times, dated August 19. He is, however, mistaken in
supposing the plants to have come f.oni China.

t Traus. Entomolog. Soc, 1886, page 457.

\ Trans. Linnoan Soc, ser. 2, II., page 209,

" Caucho " tree collected by Cross in Darien in 1H75,
differs slightly from the original Castilloa cla.itica, Cav.
(the " UK' " tree of Mexico and Central America), in
having the leaves less hairy beneath, and the seeds of
a somewhat different t.hape. He does not, however,
apparently consider these differences sufficient to war-
rant another specific name, and our plant may continue
to be called C. elastica.

Of the East African rubbers, the oldest plant of
Laudolphia Kirkii, the climbing stem of which is now
about 10 in. in circumference, produced fruit
this year for the first time. The seeds are
few in number, and contained in a thin-coated
globular berry, and each is covered with a sweet
orange-coloured pulp.

GuTTA-PEECHA Trees.— The " Gutta Taban Patih"
(Dichopsis pustidata) have attained 12 ft. in height at
Peradeniya, and the " Gutta Sundek" (Paycna Leerii) ,
which does better at Henaratgoda, are now about 16
feet-high at that Garden.

New Vegetables.— The " Chocho " of the W.
Indies {Sechium edule) has been widely distributed,
and has rapidly become common in the country. It
is liked both by Europeans and by natives, and its
easy culture is especially appreciated by the latter by
whom it is much esteemed for curries. I have no
ticed it for sale in the Kandy market at Ic. and 2
the fruit. The tree tomato {Cy2')homandrn hetacea)
has also spread rapidly through the hill-country. The
fruit keepa well after being gathered, and as it has
a tough skin, and travels well, it might he largely
cultivated in the villages for sale in the towns. The
Arracacha (A. esculenta) is not generally liked by
Europeans (though some like it), but much enjoyed
by all the natives who have tasted it. Mr. Nock
reports a good stock at Hakgala, and I am prepared to
distribute, through the Government Agents, small
quantities to the headmen of villages at 2,000 feet
or more elevation, in the hope of its culture
being taken up by the villagers. Much interest
has been excited in India by the successful
introduction of this vegetable into Oeylon, a' d in
answer to applications we have sent boxes of the mots
to the Botanic Garden at Sabarunpore, the Agri-Hor-
ticultural Society of Calcutta, and the Chief Commis-
sioner of British liurmah.

Ullucus tueberostjs. — As recorded in my last Re-
port, a few tubers of this vegetable— the "Oca-quina"
of Peru and Bolivia — were receiveil from Kew at the
end of 1885. They were sent on to Hakgala, and Mr,
Nock reports as follows : —

" Planted in a nursery bed they grew rapidly, and
the tops did not die down till November. They were
then taken up, and the crop produced weighed lU
lb. The tubers from which these wr re produced could
not have weighed more than an ounce, and they were
all very small, the largest being scarcely the size of
a hazelnut, whilst the average size of the crop pro-
duced here was about that of walnuts. The largest
—shaped like a kidney potato— was o\ in. long by
.3f in. in circumference, or 1* in. in diameter in the
middle,"

These tubers are largely consumed in Peru, like
potatoes. .Tndging from those produced here, I think
them too "waxy"' to suit English taste generally.

Fruits. — The Cherimoyer [Anona Clieyimolia) is now
well established at Hakgala ; there are numerous plants
in perfect health, and likely to do well ; the large.st
is as yet, however, only 4 ft. high.

Pineapples.— During my visit home I was succesfiful
in interesting the authorities at Kew in an attempt to
obtain additional varieties of this favourite fruit, and
they with some difficulty secured from private sources
twenty-six shoots of the following wellknowi, varie-
ties :— " Black .lamaica," " Q'leen," " Lord (hirriugton,"
" Smooth Cavenne " (which is already well-known in
Oeylon), " Black Prince," " Charlotte Rothschild,"
" Lady Beatrice Lambton," and " Enville Queen;" The
plant of the last named was dead, but the rest arrived
in excellent order, and were planted at Peradeniya
at the end of September,

pm u 1887.1

THE TROPICAL AG!?lCt7LTUMST.

S15

Oranges. — In answer to request, a fine selection of
choice grafted oraniifes, &c., of twenty-tive kinds, was
despatched from the Queensland Acclimatisation Society
early in October. I regret to say, that in consequ'^nce
of a series of careless blunders the cases coutaiuiDg
these were twice carried past Colombo, first to Aden
and then to Calcutta. On finally arriving ^t Peradeniya
(on January 2ud) they were, it is needless to say, all dead
from drought. These were intended for the new Garden
at BaduUa. Another collection has been applied for.

Jamaica Billberry {Taccuiium meridiouale).— On this
plant Mr. Nock has the following: — A few plants of
this fruit were raised three years ago, hut until this
year they remained almost stationary. They have,
however, now made a start, and look as though they
will yet do well. This plant in the mountains of
Jamaica grows into quite a big tree ; the wood is very
hard and durable, and one of the very best for
posts. It bears heavy crops of fruit, which i«t very
good cooked, at elevations from 2,00i' ft. to 6,000 ft.

Eucalyptus Plantation.— Mr. Nock reports: — The
high winds at the end of May did much damage to
the plants in this plantation. Some of them were
blown clean out of the ground, and many others lost
their heads. The trees are now nearly five years old
from seed, and the following measurements of the
fifteen kinds selected for measuring in 1884
will show the rate of growth for four years : —

1

884

1885

1886

1887

Names

Height Girth

Ht.

Gth

. Height Gth. Height Gth

ft.

in. in.

ft.

in.

ft.

lU.

m,

f^. in, in.

E. robuata

14

0 8

24

15

30

0

22

39 0 30

longifolia

14

0 6

24

14

35

0

19

43 0 26

margin ata

13

9 6

25

13

36

0

20

44 0 24

Gunnii

13

6 .5

26

10

33

0

16

40 0 20

corn u la

13

4 5

22

10

32

0

15

top bro. 20

colossea

12

0 7

21

15

30

6

18

37 0 23

vimiualis

10

9 6

18

14

25

6

19

30 0 20

botryoides

10

0 7

22

14

29

0

20

31 0 26

microcorys

9

7 5

22

12

25

0

18

34 0 24

Sieberiana

S

0 6

16

13

26

6

17

31 0 20

amyddalina

7

10 7

15

12

22

6

19

28 0 22

piperita

7

9 6

17

13

25

0

19

top bro. 19

hsemastoma

7

2 a

15

12

23

0

18

27 6 25

Lehmanniana 6

5 4

12

i)

21

6

13

29 0 IS

alpina

2

8 3

5

5

12

6

9

15 0 12

J<iicali/j)fus

acmenoides

has

commenced to grow

rapidly during the last two years. It stands the wind
well, and the growth is as straight as an arrow. At
live years old from the seed it is 32 ft. high and 28
in. in circumference at the ground. E. alpina has a
curious swelling at the base, which seems to be
natural, as all the plants have it. Close to the ground
it measures 25 in. round the stem, and 6 in. higher up
only 12 m. This and a few of the other species are
now flowering.

Conifers at Hakgala. — Though several species of
Thuja, Cupressits, Junipcrus, A raucaria, Frencla, Cri/pto-
meria, &c., grow well in the hills fas also lower down),
nearly all the pines and firs that have been tried have
been more or less failures, and I believe very few will
succeed in our climate. There is, however, a large tree
of Pinu.t hngifolia, which must be of some age, by
the OfiBco, 40 ft. high, with a girth, close to the
ground, of 6 ft. 4 in. It has produced cones freely
during the year, but none of the seeds were fertile.
Some other young plants of this species, raised from
Indian seed and planted in good soil in the Garden,
are doing well, but those in the old cinchona plot
have not come on at all well.

Seed of Pinus sinensis was obtained in 1884. The
largest plant in the garden is 11 ft. high, but one left
in the nursery bed, where there is probably better soil,
is 20 ft. high and 10 in. round the stem at base.
The plant evidently requires rich soil, as others of
the same age in other parts of the groimds are not
more than 18 in. high.

Eeceipts I'KOi-n Sales.

The commence Jient of more prosperous times is
indicated by somewhat improved returns from sales,
especially at Hakgala, where the dealings are mainly
with the planting community. At Peradeuiya the
p incipal purchasers are still travellers, and the
chief thing purchased aie Wardian cases or boxses of
orchids, &c., for taking away from Ceylon. No less
tbep tbirty-foiar of these were supplied in 1886,

The following are the receipts for the year ; —

R. c.

From Peradoniya . . . . . . 2,136 99

Hakgala 877 68

Henaratgoda 191 82

Anuradhapura . . . . . . 34 44

EaduUa 24 16

Total .. .. 3,265
[For parts omitted here, see further on.]

THE KANDY AGEI-HORTICUTURAL SHOW-

' 6th May, 1887.

The second Agri-Horticultural Exhibition of
Kandy was opened today. The arrangements for
the public were in many respects better than the
former Show : there was more room and conse-
quently less crowding. The buildings — mere sheds
— 'acked the artistic beauty or finish of those of
two years ago — doubtless the effect of the hurry-
scurry at the end — nevertheless to have got such
houses up in so short a time, and decorated them
as they were decorated said much for the energy
of all concerned, and reflected considerable credit
on the Committee.

There is so much floral wealth in Ceylon which
even in inartistic hands readily lends itself to de-
corating a building that we are all more or less
accustomed to seeing the effects in some style or
another. But I do not remember to ha^e seen
anything so perfect in form, colour, and lightness,
as a kind of canopy over some splendid ferns. It
was, indeed, " a thing of beauty " apt, however, to be
missed by the sight-seer owing to its height.

Perhaps the best Court in the Show was the one
at the East-end, filled without art treasures. Here
there were collections of native jewels of untold
vt.lue ; fine displays of moonstones ; ivory carvings
to please the eye of the connoisseur ; samples of
Kandyan painted pottery, the usually too glaring
colours considerably toned down. Heaps of em-
bossed silver work, for which some districts of
Ceylon are so famed, and a fine silver salver,
made in the Kegalle district, and lent to the
exhibition by His Excellency. There were also
rich cloths embroidered with gold, furniture, brass
work, paintings, photographs, and a book of great
beauty, gorgeously illuminated, and written in clear
characters, a gift from the King of Siam to some
of the Buc'dhist temples.

This Court was always crowded, it had colour
and glitter in it, and had evidently attractions which
were not present anywhere else within the walls
of the Show.

There was a line display of Ferns of all kinds
and the cut flowers were in greater plenty and
variety than formerly. Some of the flowers too
in pots were pretty, and told of care, but there
was much in this division of the Exhibition un-
worthy of a place.

As to the new feature — the Cattle — there is nothing
special that lives in one's memory. You saw a
notice " gold medal," " silver medal " tied on the
forehead of very ordinary animals, the owners of
which must have been more astonished than the
public, at their being deemed so highly worthy of
honour. It evidently did net want very many
high points to get a first position on the list of
prize cattle.

The Fruit and Vegetables were poor as compared
with what might have been. They were only a shade
better than the Estate Products, which may
be pronounced all but a failure. It wt*a almost
laughable, the meagre display. Whatever pro-
duct you were interested in, the poverty of
the show was sickening. As to tea, the com-
petitors were so few that the day before the
K^fhibitioQ, Irantic efforts were ]sad« to get an)^>

gi6'

^E TROPtCAL AORlCULtURlST* fjfuMfc i, ifS;/

fiodlw to exhibit, and it was quite pathetic to
see how mirierably those efforts had been responded
to and how poorly our rising product was
represented. People who had hunted round the
place in search of the tea exhibits were often like
tha ships that tried to find St. Helena and
couldn't. "But where is the tea?" they would
ask you and would find it at last in a corner of
a bench 1 I fancy a cooly could have cleared
the Show of all the tea on exhibition and had a
light load. The other products were not a whit

better.

Arts and Manufactures.

Jewelry exhibited by C.B. Nugawella, E.M. of Uda-
nuwara; Ancient Kaudyan sword (short) with elabor-
ate ivory handle and sheath ; Fret- work, ebony bracket
by A. C. Lawrie ; Porcupine quill work-box, price K200
by D. F. de Silva & Oo. ; Porcupine quill writing-desk,
by D. F. de Silva & Oo. ; Porcupine quill inkstand, by

D. F. de Silva & Co.; Kandyan pottery (20 pieces), K.
Artwork Aassociation. One pair chair designed by H.
Fraser, IMatale.and made by Thomas Fernando, Mora-
tuwa ; Eooay chair mounted with ivory from Asgiriya
Vihare ; Turkish modelled Mattress and cushions, by
Buuder Saibo (with cushions) ; Kandyan enibroidery
work (1 lady's jacket and 1 gentleman's belt), T. B.
Banabokka; Old Kandyan cloth, by Rambukv?elle P.M.;
Nilgaruuda cup, salven and plate, by T. B. D.; 2 Brass
chembuws, by V. Valoo ; Betel stand &c. by V, Valoo ;

2 Large brass trays, by V. Valoo ; Silver trays, chembuw
bowls, jewel cases, &c., copper, ebony, brass, cases, by
K. A Association; Map of Ceylon shewing some of
the principal animals and natural products drawn by
W. Francis Masnes Perera ; one pair Indian Orchids
from G.S. Saxton ; a Oentenerian, a Talipot Palm
in blossom, by E. F. VauDort ; an Ek Hunt, by

E. F. VanDort; a Tropical Nocturne, by E. F. Van-
Dort; Watercolour Pictures by Miss Mary F. A. Tench
Glenti'.t, Maskeliya ; Two Glasses with Water-colour
painting, by Mrs. F. Brame ; Moonstones from Attara-
galla, Kandy, by Sinne Marikar Madar Saibo includ-
ing the best and biggest moonstone ever confound in
Oeylon ; two Ivoty Scent Bottles, by Utumana l\Iulach-
arige Muhandirum ; Ivory Chessmen K. A. Association ;
Chessmen, by K. A. Association ; Ornamental Coconut
Ladle, by T. B. Panabokke ; 13 Clay Plates illustrating
Perehera ; Fretwork, by Mr. Wood ; Revolving cannon
in miniature by U. B. Dehigama; Ancient Iron Artis-
tic Adze bv Kotmale Ratamahatmaya ; Collection of
Brass articles from Mr. F. R. Ellis.

Native plough, by Uudawella Arachchi; Native plough,
by Rambukwella R. M., of Uda Dumbara ; Native
kake, by Rambukwella R M. ; Various instruments of
husbandry by Rambukwella R. M. of Uda Dumbara ;
Aloe fibre rope from Kadawella estate (25 fathoms) ;
Collection of paddy (native varieties) exhibited by
S. Ratwatte, Lower Dumbara ; Paddy (native, 4 varie-
ties) T. B. DimbulanaR. M. ; Paddy (native, 7 varie-
ties) by C. B. Nugawela R. M. ; Arecanuts (2 varie-
ties) by L. B. Yatiwara ; Arecanuts (4 varieties) by
S. Weerakody Mudaliyar ; Indian corn by L. B.
Yatiwara ; Indian corn by Dimbulana R. M. ; Indian
corn by Rambukwella R. M.; Small grain (8 varie-
ties) by T. B. D. ; Small grain (5 varieties) by H. Abye-
goonasekara Korale Upper Hewahetta ; Cotton, sam-
ple of crop grown in the Government Experimental
Garden, Kegalla, exhibited by S. Weerakody ; Tree and
American cotton from J. P. Cotton ; West Indian
arrowroot from J. P. Cotton ; ^Marketable leaf tobacco
by Panabokke R. M. ; Honeycombs with living bees
by Yatiwara R. M. ; Jaggery (6 varieties) by L B.
Nugawela; Jaggery by M. B. Nugawela (6 varieties) ;
Ginger by L. B. Yatiwara ; Ginger by S. Ratwatte R.
M. of Uda Nuwara.

7th May, 1887.
The tea contest, as between Blackstone and Agar's
Laud, waB said to have been very close. The matter
of two points or so, so line a thing inaeed, that only
a highly educated palate would pretend to distiu-
guigb the difiereuc*. Still tbeie ms the dilierencc,

and to Mr. Barber fell for a second time the much-
coveted gold medal. Mr. Barber may be proud of the
high place he has taken, and few, I think, wili
grudge him this honest congratulation. At the
final testings, I believe, the tasters were quite
in the dark as to what was what, or which
was which. So few teas were offered, that a
race was nowhere except between the two well-
known brands, and then it was neck to neck,
till the peculiarly fruity flavour of Ceylon
teas which Blackstone possessed in a slightly
higher degree than Agar's Land landed the formed
with " the blue ribbon." What we want now is
trial in the Colombo or London sale rooms, to
test how the tea buyers regard the award. If each
estate were to offer at the same time a break of
.8,000 lb. or so, there would be a considerable public
extremely interested in the result.

Those who have tasted the two teas, will bear me
out that for strength they are very remarkable.
It is when you try to describe such teas that you
are impressed with the necessity of cultivating the
jargon of the tea taster and you produced a result
like the following : — " Strong, little, thick, deep,
rasping, brisk, full rich powerful liquor, with great
character and fine flavour." There is in that
sentence a vocabulary enough for any man to set
up as a Colombo tea broker — and as for its hidden
wisdom goodness only knows all it means or if it
has any meaning.

To supply omissions in my last I may say that as to
Estate Products, -fancy tea was very poorly represented.
The commercial tea samples shewn were said not to
be equal to the best that could be produced, but the
average quality was good. The first and second estate
teas which secured prizes far surpassed all the others
and fairly represent the highest class of commercial
tea being good in every part. Riverside would seem
to be a bad third. Kandenuwara estate cardamoms
presented a very fine appearance, but unfortunately
the box in which they were contained could not
be opened, and was thus out of competition.
There was a disarrangement of words in the telegrams
as to prize winners in this class which has been since
rectified as follows : Mr Tatham silver medal, Cinchona
bark. Mr. Milne. Liberian coffee. Mr. E. Anderson,
Cardamoms. Wateranteune, Cacao. Roseneath, Nut-
nevs Chocolate, L d'Espagnac. The rest were cor-
rect. A complete list is sent. The chief prizes for
" Cut Flowers " were given to 1st A. Tabor, 2nd J. F.
Hadden, 3rd A. Whyte. The up-country flowers were
worth looking at. The roses raised hy Mr. Whyte in
Kandy were not so good when compared with those
from the higher districts, nor could this be expected,
and some distinction must he drawn in future Shows
between Kandy and up-country flowers. Mr. Whyte's
vegetables got mixed up with others and could not
get a prize on the first day, but on Saturday the mis-
take was rectified, and a silver medal was awarded to
him. Salem estate got silver medal for some excellent
pine-apples which many visitors were tempted to taste
on the spot. Some rare king coconuts were sent by
Mr. J. G. de Silva; best mangoes silver medal same
exhibitor, who exhibited also limes and other fruits.
Mr. W. V. Woutersz shewed " silver cotton " preserves,
jaggery &c. The pomegranates came from ISIorupola
e.«tate, Heneratgoda, J. G. de Silva. As will be seen,
there was very little shown under Class 8. (pre-
served fruits.)

The collection of Out Flowers were added to by the
contribution of bouquets on second day. Mr. A Whyte,
Waller and De Livera and others got silver medals for
the.se. Mr. AVhyte's table bouquet was in the form of a
pyr.imid terminated with fine variegated plants with
gracetul hanging palm-like leaves, and very much ad-
mired. Miss 0. Reimers well deserved the prize she got
for th' show of flowers and Mi^s Kelly received also a
silvei medal for her beautiful bouquet. Under the
head J^ive Stock were exhibited dcvii bird by Dr.
E. Fitzgerald, m.d. ; bear, jackal and porcupine (ex-
hibitor uot o»med); (brM tilk» by OriribagsiB* E. H.^

J tint i, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRlCULf URIST.

g

ly

"baby elephant by J. H. Girihagama ; best Coast bull
gold medal,) two bulls by G. Koss, Le Vallon
gold medal, he buffalo by L. B. Nugawela.
Mr. Alfred Ambrose exhibited a fine pair of sky
tumblers and pair fantails ; Jlr. Austen game-cock and
two dorking game. Mr. Woth of Kandy sent the best
pair rabbits, Mr. F. Oiidartje three monkeys, some
one sent two squirrels, Mrs. Alexander of Anuradha-
pura exhibited ducks, and ISIr. AV. E. Waller pair of
fat geese. Mr. VoUar's English bull attracted attention
(gold medal) as well as Mr. F. W. Gray's boar (gold
medal). Best Coast bull (gold medal) belonged to Mr. A.
Silva. Mrs.Shel'y sent some good fowls as alsoMr. Austen.
Amongst the Art collection His Excellency the Gov-
ernor sent a large silver dish, lent for the occasion.
Ratnapura District was to the front with a splendid
casket which was much admired, as also was '' bronze
mould for silver ornaments for the King's feet" and
"mould for silver ornaments" by Nelawala Muhan-
diram. Some one sent ancient Siamese Buddha ex-
cavated among the old ruins of a large Wihara at
Thiriyawa, near Trincomalee. " The Taj in marble "
■with cover was also admired. It was of solid marble
representing the burial place of the King and (^ueen
of Agra, near the town of Agra; and an ornamental
flower vase, Kandyan workmanship, with 15 cobra-
images around it. The jewellery was contributed by
Messrs. L. B. Nugawela and Pauabokka. " Paiistana "
was contributed by Tikiribanda Parauatalle. A beauti-
ful ebony box by L. B. Nugawela, native clay, (native
preparation). " Hand-cut " wood carving cut by Mr.
W. G. Wood, Bogambeia, Kandy. Models of ships also
by same gentleman. Some excellent drawings and plans
by Mr. F. W. Thomson, Survejor. The Artwork Asso-
ciation sent silver-work and painted pottery. There
was a large collection of old books.

Another correspondent writes : — Two picture.s of
two large groups of orchids carried the silver medal
for paintings — but no ticket seemed to be attached,
so that the exhibitor remained unknown. This
we believe is contrary to the rule which required
the name of the exhibitor to be attached. These
drawings are admittedly copies and have been accept-
ed by the judges and preimred to original designs by
native artists. We have heard it said that the copyists
are some ladies in England. There were besides, about
half-a-dozeu water colour paintiugs of local scenes.
"The talipot palm in blossom" with the lights v)f
early morning on the distant hills being particularly
effective and a sea-scape " Crossing the Surf" deserves
much attention. We were surprised to notice that
a series of etchings of much merit sent in by the
same artist was passed over, and it is not under-
stood why the prize for this section was withdrawn.
This seems a queer and novel way of encouraging
native talent. It wns a pity that the refreshment
stall was so placed that the Arts department was
at a disadvantage for the best light, it being in deep
shadow towards the latter part of the afternoon.
There was a large exhibit of Kandyan pottery in native
lacquer work which carried the prize although the
exhibitor did not profess that he did them. It was
all the work of native (Kandyan) artists whose names
even did not transpire. There was also a group of
hand-painted pottery of very original design, but
these were scarcely seen to advantage owing to their
being sealed up with other exhibits on shelves behind
a glass case. We have reason to know that they
however attracted the attention of the Governor.
Did the judges take the trouble to examine the details
of the work and thus find out its merits? There-
presentations of the biuhaleae in childhood, youth,
manhood, and old age, and the four principal pro-
ducts of the island viz : tea, cinnamon, coconut and
paddy were most original in design, and very well
carried out^ and it was explained to us that even the
conventional designs were taken from leaves and
flowers native to the island. It is very much to
be regretted that there was no recognition of the
merits of this original exhibit, nor of the beautiful
fret-wtfk exhibited by au lad ustrial School boy and
Mr. Woodof theOarh
193

LIST OF PRIZES PHESENTED BY LADY GORDON.

Class I : Garden Perennials, in pots : — Roses,
best collection of not less than 18 different varieties,
Silver Medal, Mr. A Whyte ; Begonias, best collec-
tion of not less than 12 different varieties. Silver
Medal, Mr J D Jonklaas ; C. H. Pate bronze
special award ; Begonias, best collection of not less
than 6 different varieties. Bronze Medal, Mr. A^ C.
Lavvrie, D J Kandy ; Best Geraniums, collection
of not less than 6 different varieties. Silver Medal,
Mr J V H Owen ; Pelargoniums, Silver IMedal, Mr
E J Thwaites ; Gloxinia, Silver Medal, J V H Owen ;
Amaryllids and Lilies, Silver Medal, E J Thwaites,
Bronze ; Orchids in flower. Silver Medal, .J Fenton
Wingate, Bramley estate;Puchsias, Silver Medal, J VH
Owen ; Achimenes, best collection of not less than '.i
varieties,Bronze Medal, J V H Owen ; Primulas, Silver
Medal, E J Thwaites.

Class II: Garden Annuals, in Pots.— Best Bal-
sams, Silver Medal, A Whvte ; Phlox, Bronze Me>Ial,
Mrs E R Whitfield ; Violets, Silver Medal, Mrs
T G Baker ; Violet, second best, Bronze Medal,
Mr E J Thwaites; I^lignonette, Bronze Medal, 'no
exhibit ' ; Calceolarias, Silver Medal, Mr E J
Thwaites ; Cinerarias, Silver Medal, Mr A Wliyte ;

Class I: Special Prizes. — Cyclamen, Mr E J
Thwaites, Bronze ; Tuberous Begonias, Mr E J
Thwaites, Silver ; Best Geranium plant in class,
Mrs J G Baker, Silver ; Spinosa, Mr A Whyte,
Bronze.

Class III : Ferns, in pots. — Best general collec-
tion of not less than 18 different kinds. Gold IMedal,
Mr G H Pate ; Best collection of Adiantunis, Silver
Medal, C H Pate, A R Lewis, Bronze, special award ;
Best single Fern, Silver Medal, J D Jonklaas ; Second
best Fern, Bronze Medal, C H Pate.

Class IV : Foliage Plants, in pots. — Crotons, best
collection of not less than 12 varieties. Silver INIedal,
Major Byrde ; Dracajuans of not less than (i varieties,
Bronze INIedal, Mr H Neville ; Palms, Cycads, &c. not
less than ti varieties, Silver Medal, Major Byrde ;
Caladiunis not less than 6 varieties, Silver Medal,
J D Jonklaas ; Marantaa not less than (i varieties,
Silver Medal, T C Huxley ; D F de Silva, Silver, spe-
cial award ; Alocasias of not less than H varieties,
Silver Medal, J D Jonklaas ; Cleus. best collec-
tion of not less than 18, Silver Medal, J D Jonklaas ;
Cleus. best collection of not less than 9, Bronze Silver,
Mrs Jeffries.

Class V : Cut Flowers.— Roses, best collection
of not less than 24 different varieties. Gold Medal,
Mr A Tabor; Roses, bost collection of not less than
18 different varieties. Silver IMedal, Mr F Hadden ;
Roses, best collection of not less than ti different variet-
ies. Bronze Medal, Mr. A Whyte ; Roses, best three
blooms of a white rose. Certificate of Merit, Mr R A
Ferdinands ; Roses, best three blooms of a yellow
rose, Certificate of Merit, Mr R A Ferdinands; Roses,
best three blooms of a pink rose, Certificate of Merit,
Mr A Tabor ; Roses, best three blooms of a dark-red
rose. Certificate of Merit, Mr R A Ferdinands ; Best
Dahlias, double, Silver Medal, Mr L H Kelly;
Geraniums, in trusses of three. Silver Medal, Mrs J G
Baker ; Geraniums, in trusses of three, second best,
Bronze Medal, Mr T 0 Huxley; Pelargoniums, in truss-
es of three, .'Silver Medal, Mr E J Thwaites ; Pelargo-
niums, in trusses of three, second best. Bronze Medal,
Mrs J G Baker; Hibiscus, best collection of not less than
six, Silver Medal, D F De Silva j Hibiscus, bept coh
lection of not less than three, HronZo Medal, Mr A
Whyte; Carnations, Silver Medal, Dr E LiVera ; Car-
nations second bestj Bron^ie Medal, Mrs Baker ; Phlox
Perennials, Silver Medal, Mr T 0 Huxley; Phlox
Drummoudii, Bronze Medal, Dr E Livera ; Ohrys-'
anthemutns. Si vet Medal, Mr T C Huxley ; Verbenas,
Silver Medal, Dr E Livera ; Pansies, Silver Medal, Mr
E J Thwaites j Violets, Silver iNledal, Mrs E G Hardiiige;
Violet, Second best, Mronze Medal. Mr A. Tabor ; Be??t
arranged table boucjuet, Silver Medal, MisN Constance
Reimers, Mr L D'Espagnac, Silver extra ; Best arranged
hand bouquet, Silver Medal, Miss Kelly ; Bost arranged
3 buttou-bole boui]uets, Bronz-e Medai^Mr A Vfh^tsi

M

f ft'i itkOPiCAL AGRietTLTyRISt. [pM i, imp

Best arranged collection of native flowers, Silver Medal,
D Wijej'erame ; Bouquets on second Six day, Silver
Medals, Merssrs A Whyte, W K "Waller, l)r,
Livera, D F De Silva and Gabriel Perera

Cl.vsb III : Special Prizes. — Single Fern, extra,
Silver, Mr B F Wingate ; Single Fern, extra, Silver,
Mr A C5 Lawrie.

Class IV. — Miscellaneous collection of plants, ex-
tra. Silver, Mrs W G Wood.

Class v.— Pinks, extra. Silver, Mr T 0 Huxley.

Class VI : Vegetables. — Best collection of English
vegetables grown upcountry, not less than 6 different
sorts as below, Silver Medal, IT Young and A Whyte ;
Best collection of native vegetables, as below. Silver
Madal, Nugawela, E M ; Best potatoes, 12 tubers, Silver
Medal, D W Perera, Nuwara Eliya ; Carrots, 6, Bronze
Medal : R N Knight ; Turnips, G, Bronze INIedal. H
Young, Nuwara Eliya; Cabbage, 2 heads. Bronze
Medal, H Young; Beet Root, 3 roots, Brone Medall,
R N Knight ; Clery, 2 roots, Bronze Medal, A AVhyte
Caulidower, 2 heads, Silver Bledal, E G Hard
inge : Cauliflower, second best. Bronze Med'\l
E J Thwaites; Lettuces, 3 heads, Bronze Medal
H Young ; Vegetable Marrows, 2, Bronze Medal
K M Knight ; liaddishes, 18, Bronze Medal, H Young
Cucumbers second best. Bronze Medal, M Badar Deen,
Arachchi ; Kaol-kohl, G, Bronze Medal, R N Knight ;
Yams, Silver Medal, J P Cotton, Watarauteune ; Sweet
Potatoes Bronze Bledal, Proctor Girihagama ; Pump-
kins, 2, Bronze IMedal, M Badar Deen; Breadfruit, 2,
Silver Medal, M Badar Deen ; Breadfruit, second best,
Bronze Medal, Nu-^awela R.M. ; Cho clio, .3, Silver
Medal, Mrs. W G Wood ; Clio cho second best. Bronze
Medal, D F de Silva ; Briugals, G, Bronze Medal,
J R Greve, Matale; Potherbs, Mmt, Sage, Basil,
Parsley, Marjoram, fennel, &c.. Silver Medal, H,
Young; Salad-herbs, Cress, Endive, Lettuce, Beet,
Watercress, Onion, etc.. Silver Medal, H. Young ;
Curry-vegetables, Murunga, Karavila, Podivilanga,
&c., Silver Medal, Ratwatte, R.M.

Best general collection of plants and flowers in
classes, 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 excluding roses. Gold Medal,
J V H Owen.

Class VII : Fbuit. — Mangoes, best general collection
of not less than 6 difi'erent varieties, named, Silver
Medal, J Q de Silva, Colombo ; Mangoes, best general
collection of not less than 3 dift'erent varieties, Bronze
Medal, D J Perera ; Mangoes, second best, collection of
not less than 3 different varieties Bronze Medal, Mrs.
Poloris ; Plaintains, best general collection of not less
than 4 different kinds, named, of which Suwandel
shall be one Silver Medal, A L J L Marikar ;Plantains
best Ilaubanpuwalu, Bronze Medal, J G de Silva ; Best
Pineapples, 3, Silver Medal, Salem estate, W H New-
man ; Finest " Kew " Pineapple, Bronze Meda', Mrs.
Jeffries ; Best Oranges, 12, Silver Medal, Haiiga
Duriya ; Best Oranges, second best. Bronze Medal,
Mrs. Jeffries; Limes, 2 measures, Silver Medal, J G
de Silva ; Lovilovi,, 2 measures, Broiize Medal, Major
Byrde ; Granadillas, 6, Bronze Medal, Mrs. W G

Wood; Jaks, 2, Bronze Medal, P B Dassanayake;
Ivhubarb, G sticks. Silver Medal, R M Knight; Rhubarb,

Xu>Yara Eliya; Grapes, best bxinch, bilver Medal,
\\ J y boy/a,

CJjAss VIII; PresGrved Fui'iTs, Veoetajbles, &c.—
JdJies, fruit, *c.. Silver Medal, A Alwis.

CX^s-i Vll ! Special Prizes. *-Pomagranat08, Extra
Brun/.e 3ledal, J. O de Silva j Pears, Extra, Silver
Medal, S Weerakod Mudaliyaf

Class IX. — TS'AtitE P/toum.Ts.— Best general collec-
tion of native products grown by one Exhibitor, Gold
Medal, J F Soyza ; Paddy, best collection of the
following ."iorts ;— Hatiyal, Mawi, llondaraWala, Hinati,
Elwijbalwi,-! bushel of each, Gold Medal, CBNugawak
R.M. ; Paddy, beat collection of the following sots;—
Muttu-samba, Kaivra Samba, Sulai, Carolina, or any
of them, J bu.shel of each or an^-, Silver Medal,
L B Yatiwara, R.M. ; Indian Corn, Eriugu, Silver
BI«'dal, Dimbulana K.M.; Cholum : Karal Eringu,
Silver Hkdal, Bacnbukfrella, K.iyi, ; Kurakkau, Silver,

Medal, Rambukwella R.M. ; Small Grains : Amu
IMeneri, Tana-hal, &c.. Silver Medal, L B Yatiwara,
R.M.; Arrowroot, Silver Medal, JP Cotton, Wat.aran-
teune ; Jaggery, Silver Medal, M B Nugawela li.M.;
Tobacco, cured, SiAer Medal, Pauabokka, R.M. ;
Cotton, Silver Medial, S. Vv'eerackody Mudaliyar ; Tree
Cotton, Pulun, Silver Medal, A. L. J. L. Marikar ;
Ginger Silver Medal S. Ratwatta, R. M; Areca Nuts
Silver Medal, Crystal Hill, Matale ; Betel Leaves,
Silver Medal ; T. B. Panabokke KM; Honey, Silver
Medal, T. B. Panabokke, R.M; Jungle Seeds,
Resins, Silver Medal, M B Nugawela R M ; Coco-
nuts, Silver Medal, J G de Silva ; Native Ploughs
and other Instruments of Husbandry, Silver Medal, T
B Eambukwellc R M.

Live Stock.— Ceylon-bred Buffalo, best. Gold Medal,
S Ratwatte R M ; Ceylon-bred Buffalo second best,
Silver Medal, Punchi Rala Korale ; Native Bull best,
Silver Medal, LB Nugawela RM; Native Cow best.
Silver Medal, L B Nugawela Junior.

Class X : Estate Products. — Best general collec-
tion of Estate Products from one estate. Gold Medal,
Kaudenuwara estate, Hugh Fraser ; Tea: -est set of
samples of bona JiJe commercial tea'*, broken pekoe,
pekoe and jjekoe souchoner, from one estate 5 lb. of
each grade, Gold Medal Blackstone estate ; Tea se-
cond best set of similar samples, Silver Medal Agar's
Land ; Tea: third best set of similar samples. Bronze
Medal, Riverside ; Tea: best set of samples of fancy
Teas ; 2 lb. of each grade. Silver Medal, Castlereagh
estate; Liberian Coffee accompanied by one bushel
in parchment. Silver Medal, Wm. Mihie, North Matale.
Cacao second best of commercial Cacao 28 lb., Silver
Medal J P Cotton Watarantenne ; Cardamons 5 lb.
Silver Medal, Eric S Anderson, Loloowatte estate;
"Jlysore" Cardamoms 5 lb. Silver Medal, Eric S An-
derson, KoboHella estate.

Special Prize. — Native Bull, extra William Dul-
lewe ; Paddy, extra, Gold Medal, L B Nugawela R. M.
Paddy plants, extra. Silver Medal, A Ratwatta.

Class XI : Tea Machinery. — For the best indi\nd-
ual machine used in the manufacture of Tea including
motors, see rule 10, Gold Medal, Messrs. John Walker
&: Co., for Jackson's Excelsior Tea Roller : For the
second best, see rule 10, Silver Medal, Messrs. Mack-
wood and Co., for Davidsoa's Sirocco. For the best
collection of a complete set of machinery, with or
without motors, in position as in factory, machines
need not necessarily be by the same patentee, Gold
Medal, Messrs. John Walker and Co.

Class XII : Live Stock.— Best Coast Bull, Gold
Medal, A de Silva ; Best English or Australian Bull,
Gold Medal, HJ Vollar, Pallikelly ; Best pair of cart
Bullocks, Gold Medal, G Ross, Le'Vallon estate. Best
Coast Cow in or out of milk, Silver Medal, J R Greve
Matale; Best Native C"t in or out of milk. Silver
Medal, Jacob Ambrose ; Best English or Australiau
Cow Si' .^er Medal, R E Waller ; Best Boar, any
breed, GoldjMedal, F W Gray, Kondesalle; Best Sow;
with or without litter. Silver Medal, F W Gray, Kon-
desalle ; Poultry, best pen cock and 2 hens, Fowls
any pure breed, Silver Medal, S Shelly ; Poultry,
best pen cock and 2 hens. Fowls any cross breed,
Silver Medal, GM Austen; Poultry, best pen cock
and 2 hens. Turkeys, Silver Medal, W R Waller;
Poultry, best pen cock and 2 hens, Geese, Silver
Medal, Mrs. Alexander; Ponltrv,best pen cock and
2 hens. Ducks, Silver Medal, W R Waller; Rabbits
best pair, Silver Medal, W Woth ; Pigeons, beat pair,
Silver Medal, Alfred Ambrose; Cream Cheese, best

1 lb., Silver Medal, no exhibit; F^e.^h butter best 3
lb„ Silver IMedal, Mr-". Forbes-Kobertsou ; Fresh but-
ter second best. Bronze Medal, R E Waller.

Cinchona, best collection ot Barks grown by the Ex-
hibitor, 201b. in all, Gold Medal, Frederick Tatham
Yarrow estate ; Cinchona, natural Ledgeriana liark,

2 lb.. Silver Medal, Frederick Tatham, Yarrow estate ;
Cinchona, natural, Robusta (hvbrid) Bark, 2 lb. Bronze
Medal, J Fenton Wingate ; Cinchona, natural Succi-
rubra, Bark 2 lb., Bronze Medal, J G Macfarlane :
Cinchona, Renewed Succirubra Bark. 2 lb.. Bronze

• Medal, J G Macfarlane; Vanilla, 3 lb.. Bronze Me-
'^iil, HJ Volkr, Faiiikelby; India-rubber ^ lb,

JUME I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

S19

Silver Medal, H Fraser; Omnainon, 25 lb., J F Drieberg;
Nutmegs, 12 lb. Silver Medal, Mrs. J. L. Dewar,
Koseneath ; Cloves 5 lb. Silver Medal, L. B. Yati-
wara, K. M ; Pepper 3 lb, Silver Medal, L. B. Yati-
wara It. M ; Cuca, Silver Medal, no exhibit ; To-
bacco best selection of marketable leaf under same
rules as Tea samples, Gold Medal, J. K. Ingle-
ton, RaJAwella ; Cigars, Best 100, Silver Medal, J
K. Ingleton, Rajawalla ; Best collection of Medicinal
Plants Kapok, Annatto Dye, Croton Seed, Kola Nut,
Sapanwood, itc. &c.. Silver Medal, W.F. GomeszKandy.

Class X. Special Prize. — Ceylon Chocolate, Extra,
Silver Medal, L. d'Espagnac.

This special Medal was awarded, tke Judges being
of opinion that the Exhibit was worthy of special
notice.

XI. Class. — Concentric Tea Roller, extra Silver
Medal.

Class XII : "Wild Animals, extra, Silver, W. R.
Waller.

♦

DR. TEIMEN'S REPORT ON THE ROYAL
BOTANIC AND ECONOMIC GARDENS.
The most important document in our present issue
is the Annual Report of Dr. Trimen, Director of our
Royal Botanic and Economic Gardens and of his
trusty practical lieutenant Mr. Nock of the Hakgalla
Garden. Dr. Trimen's Reports are always models of
excellence, of scientific accuracy combined with prac-
tical and popular instruction. He writes with admir.
able precision, and he does not (like his pre-
decessor) allow his love of science pre-
dominate to the exclusion of adequate interest
in the everyday work and requirements of the
planter and native agriculturist. In the latter
department as well as in the management of the
old and new Gardens, Dr. Trimen is faithfully
seconded by his Assistants, Mr. Nock (who acted
as Director part of last year, and who has simply
revolutionised Hakgalla and all for the better),
by Mr. Clark and by that fine specimen of an
intelligent, unobtrusive Sinhalese gentleman, Mr.
Ferdinandus who will one of these days well
deserve to be made a "Maha Mudaliyar." It
is particularly encouraging to learn of the progress
and good prospects before the new Experimental
and Economic Gardens started at Anuradhapura
and BaduUa, and that although the Railway De-
partment did their best to " boycott " the Henerat-
goda branch Garden, the persevering Sinhalese
Manager has done his best to keep up the
status of his charge. Under new train arrange-
ments we have no doubt the encouragement of
visitors will once more be afforded to the Henerat-
goda staff, while Colombo residents and their
guests will be able to revive the pleasure, picnic
aad other trips to Heneratgoda have so often
afforded. It is particularly unfortunate that Dr.
Trimen's Report did not see the light a Httle
earlier, in order that the press and the public might
have energetically backed up his enlightened, public-
spirited suggestion that a station for the chief
Gardens (and for the general convenience of the
neighbourhood as well) should be opened at
the Deltotte Crossing. We feel sure that the
Hon. the Acting General Manager would do
what he could to meet this suggestion had
it come before him during the recent revision of train
services. But perhaps it is not too late now ;
for, very clearly such a station would be an addi-
tional source of profit to the Government, while
one calculated greatly to benefit the poeple who
would be enabled so readily to visit the Royal Botanic
Garden near by, of which it may be more forcibly

said than of most applications of the line,— that
it is

A thing of beauty and
a joy for ever.

As regards Experimental, Economic Gardens, we
trust the Government will enable Dr. Trimen to
open two or three more branches : — Ratnapura, for
instance, the capital of the far-reaching and im-
portant Sabaragamuwa district, deserves to have
a Garden of its own ; so with Galle, or perhaps
better, Matara for the Southern Province ; nor
should the East and North be forgotten. We should
like very much too, to see a closer alliance promoted
by Government between the Agricultural branch of
the Educational Department and the Botanic-
Economic Department. No two officers in the Cey-
lon Service have a more single eye to the good
of the island and its people in performing their
duties than Mr. Green and Dr. Trimen, the re-
spective Directors, and we have no doubt that
they would be exceedingly ready to co-operate in
promoting agricultural knowledge and improve-
ments in every way possible. One way might
be by taking advantage of the Gardens to train
some of Mr. Green's Agricultural students in prac-
tical Horticulture. Mr. Nock would no doubt, do full
justice to a class of such lads and the healthy bracing
climate of Hakgala, ought to put new life into Sin-
halese and Tamil youths.

We have so far dealt with matters rather outside
the scope of Dr. Trimen's Report ; but we
must call attention to its substance (see pages
420-422) and especially to the remarks on our
staple products — Coffee (markedly encourging), Tea
(with a suitable warning). Cacao (thoroughly
satisfactory) and Cinchona, &c. In reference to
bark Dr. Trimen judges — and his opinion ought
to carry much weight in the local as well as
home bark markets, — that the quantity to go for-
ward from Ceylon cannot be kept up to recent
exports, but must soon fall off", the reserves being
largely encroached upon. What is said about Coffee
ought certainly to encourage every man with
living coffee trees to do his best to conserve,
cultivate and strengthen tnem. We have no doubt
this is being done op all sides. When R62-o0 to
R65 per cwt. for high-grown coffee is the current
rate, it requires no urging on outsiders to get
our planters to do their level best for coffee. In-
deed there is the risk of their going a little too
far in new born-zeal. Meantime we commend Dr.
Trimen's wise and suggestive words to all interested
in the prosperity of Ceylon,

DELI PLANTING.

(Translated for the Straits Times.)
The Java Bode '^alls attention to the contest
between planters and brokers in Deli regarding
coolie prices, now in full swing. To planters just
embarking in business, who find now that, under
these circumstances, labour costs twice as much as
formerly, this is a matter of the highest importance.
This unfortunate result is due to want of unani-
mity among the planters. Owing to some of thnra
falling away, they could not present a united front
to the broker's ring. Those who stood out against
the brokers to the last, are now casting about for
means to remedy the evil. This can only be done
by combined action against the Penang and
Singapore brokers, who have become emboldened
by their triumph. The planters who will not bosv
the knee to them, will have themselves to see to
the importing of coolies direct from China and
the Straits Settlements. By striking into this
course they would save a large sum of money
which, now, the brokers appropriate as advances
and charges.

^i6

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIgT. [June f, 1887.

CUBEBS IN THE GALLE DISTRICT.

Our correspoudent at Galle forwarded us the other
(lay a small tin containing a sample of cubeb pepper
gathered wild in the Galle dictrict, and asked us to
ubtain a report upon it. We at ouce forwarded the
sample to Dr. Trimen, who writes as follows: —

"[ opened the box accompanying your letter and
found within a small kind of pepper in fruit. This
is not cubeb pepper, and bears indeed no resemblance
to it. True cubebs are not found wild in Oeylon,
and is a plant about which very little is known though
the medicinal product has been common in trade
since the Kith century, I believe it is cultivated in
the .south of Java only for commercial purposes."

The sample sent us, therefore, must be a species
of wild pepper, and not cubebs at all. We should
much like to be informed as to where it was found,
and whether it is to be obtained in any quantity.
The following particulars as to the production of
cubebs, taken from the Pharmacographia, are of
interest : —

Cultivation and Froduction.—Oubehs are cultivated
in small special plantations, and also in coffee planta-
tions, in the district of Bangoemas, in the south of
.Java. The fruits are bought by Chinese, who carry
them to Batavia. They are likewise produced in Eastern
Java, and about Bantane, in the north-west ; and ex-
tensively in the Lampong country, in Sumatra. There
has of late been a large distribution of plants among
the European coffee planters. The cultivation of
cubebs is easy. In the coffee estates certain trees
are required for shade. Against these piper cuheha
is planted, and climbing to a height of 18 to 20 ft.,
forms a large bush.

DeMfiptioii. — The cubebs of commerce consist of the
dry globose fruits, gathered when full grown, but before
they have arrived maturity. The fruit is about l-5th
inch in diameter when very young sessile, but sub-
sequently elevated on a straight thin stalk. By this
stalk the fruit is attached in considerable numbers
(sometimes more than 50) to a common thickened
stalk or rachis, about Ih inch long.

Commercial cubebs are spherical, sometimes de-
pressed at the base, very slightly pointed at the apex,
strongly wrinkled by the shrinking of the fleshy
pericarp ; they are of a greyish brown or blackish
hue, frequently covered with an ashy grey bloom.
The stalk is the elongated base of the fruit, and
remains permanently attached. The common axis or
rachis, which is almost devoid of essential oil, is
also frequently used with the drug.

Cubebs have a strong, aromatic, persistent taste
with some bitterness and acridity. There smell is
highly aromatic, and by no means disagreeable. — Local
" Times"

TRADE OF THE PHILIPPINES.

MANILA.

The report of Mr. Alex. Gollan on the consular
district of the Philippines for the year 1886 states: —
I had occasion to point out in my report for 1885
that the official statistics are never published here
until about a year after the period to which they
relate. I am, therefore, only able to give the full
figures, in the form prescribed by the recent instructions,
for the year 1885 ; but through the courtesy of some
of the leading merchants I am enabled to give the
following particulars of the export trade for the year
ending Dec. 31, 1886.

The receipts of hemp from the districts where it is
grown have been : —

In 1886. In 1885.

Bales. Bales.

At Manila 342,015 302,024

„ Cebu 60,693 61,051

The local consumption of hemp in 1886 is estimated
at 5,000 bales, and the stock afloat and in store on
Jan. 1, 1887, at 26,363 bales, while 21,500 bales are
on their way to the consuming markets. The market
value of hemp at the end of the year was about $16
per bale. The total value of the shipments during
1886 amounted to about §6,000,000, or at an average
rate of exchange of 3s. lOd. per dol. (£1,1.50,000).

Coffee. — Exports have been about 7,500 tons in 1886,
as against 5,000 tons in 1885, and as the price steadily
advanced during the year from about £37 per ton
in January, 1886, to about double thit figure in
December, 1886, it is to be supposed that a con-
siderable impetus will have been given to the further
cultivation and development of the article.
Other articles of export in 1886 are : —

Articles. Quantity.

Cigars Number ... 103,000,000

Leaf tobacco ... Quintals ... 183,943

Indigo „ ... 1,284

Sapanwood ... Piculs ... 70,748

Imports, 1886.
I am sorry to say that I have found it quite impossible
to obtain the necessary data for 1886.

CEBU.

IMr. Vice-Consul Cadell writes as follows : — The
value of the exports from this district during 1886
shows a marked falling off as compared with the figures
for the preceding year, the decrease being due mainly
to the smaller shipments of sugar. Prices of this
commodity have ruled on the whole low throughout
the year, and consequently less cane has been planted
than in former years, whilst a good deal of sugar is
no doubt being held back in the provinces by those
whose means permit of their waiting for an improvement
in prices. The coming crop of cane, however, promises
to be a good one.

Keturn of principal exports for 1885-84 : —

1885. 1884.

kilos. £ kilos. £

Hemp ... 53,330,554 1,244,000 51,085,027 1,441,000
Sugar ... 204,222,480 1,936,000 122,128,325 1,375,400
Coffee ... 5,467,830 183,800 7,529,564 254,000
Cigars ... 972,975 226,000 800,093 252,000

Uwnj^anufactd. 5 g3j^3„9 290,000 1,246,470 110,000

— London and China Express.

Total ... 402,708 423,075

or a falling off of about 20,000 bales. The shipments
duriug 18S6 have been :— To United State.s, 186,211
bales; to Great Britain, 164,148 bales; toother coun-
j^iies, 21,323 bales; total, 371,082 bales,

THE INDIAN CONSERVATORY.

[by a practical gardener.]
Of recent years, amateur gardening in India has
become a very popular amusement. Many of our
compounds are gay with flowers, and our verandahs
with pot plants and foliage shrubs, but the general
tendency of Europeans in India is to cultivate our
home species, and the wide and interesting field of
tropical flower gardening is considerably neglected.
At a little cost, however, the amateur gardener
could add to his collection many a "thing of beauty "
from the plant world of India, and so enrich his
collection. I have managed an Indian conservatory,
or, as it is called a Betel House, for several years,
and my experience may be of some value to others.
The site for the building should be in the open and
not underneath trees, as the drip from the branches
in the rains, and the falling of dead leaves in the
dry season, are objectionable. The size and shape
of the structure must be regulated by taste and con-
dition ; and the material used for the framework of
building, iron, wood, or bamboo, is a question of
cost and durability. Many of us are not permanently
placed in India, and it would often be folly to
erect a heavy structure at considerable expense. To
birds of passage* I would recommend a bamboo
house, say 18 or 20 feet long, by 14 or It; feet wide.
The roof should be sloping, the ridge being 14 or
15 feet from the ground, sloping down on each side
to nine or ten feet. Care should be taken to procure
strong seasoned bamboos; those used for the posts
and for the ridge of the roof should be stout, and
those for the framework of the roof much lighter.
If the posts and the framework of the roof are given
a couple of coverings of coal tar, tl^e bouso will last

JtjMS !, J887.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

821

well for three years. The walls should be made of
bamboo trellis, openings for doorways being left at
convenient places. The trellised sides should be
clear of the ground by six inches, and also clear of
the top, where the side joins the roof by six inches.
Creeping plants should be grown on the trellis, but
they should never be allowed to surmount the trellis
and climb on the roof. In selecting the creepers,
do not choose grass and rampant varieties. Among
the most suitable are the Hoyas (nox plants), Ste-
phanotis, Cissus discolor, the smaller varieties of
Passitloras (passion flower J, the climbing fern and
some of the smaller spomoeas. The best, most
durable, and neatest material for roofing is a coarse
netting made of coir twine ; this is much in vogue
on the Bombay side though scarcely known else-
where.

The next best thing for roofing is long elephant
or Moonj grass, which must be thinly spread over
the frame, so as to admit a checkered sunlight and
a modified rain; it must be tied on with laths of
bamboo. The leaves of the cocoa or of the toddy
palm may also be used, of course tied on in such
a way as to admit partial sun or rain, but they
are not tidy. Grass or palm leaves will want re-
newing at the beginning of each monsoon, whereas
the coir netting is calculated to last for at least
three years. In tying on the trellis, &c., only use
split cane, or coir twine as these two materials
stand the monsoon without rotting. The floor of
the house should be raised a few, say six inches ;
and the best material for the floor is a depth of
three or four inches of coal ashes, which material
never gets sloppy in the rains, and if thoroughly
watered once or twice a day in the dry season,
keeps the atmosphere in the house cool and moist.
If these ashes or cinders cannot bejprocured, broken
brick is the next best thing, and then gravel or
small hnikur. Take care to have a drain round
the house outside.

Rockeries are a favourite embellishment to an
Indian conservatory. They may be made of rough
stones and rocks where procurable, but fused bricks,
which can be got anywhere, answer admirably.
Having selected the place where it is intended to
make the rockery, mark it out and remove the soil
to the depth of one-and-a-half inch, and fill up the
space with slaked lime; the object of this is to
keep white ants away. The best soil for the rockery
is a mixture of two parts leaf mould, one part
common loam, one part coarse sand. The same
soil is suitable for ferns, begonias, and other deli-
cate plants grown in pots. As you build up the
rockery, fill in the spaces between the stones with
the above soil, and water freely as you fill in, so
as to consolidate the soil, and completely fill in
the spaces. Take care that your rockery is clear
of the woodwork and trellis of the house.

In spite of every care and cleanliness, white ants
will at times appear ; but the best preventative is
kerosine oil, prepared and applied in the following
manner, the discovery of which is due to Mr. Ridly,
of the Lucknow Gardens. Take a quart bottle and
fill it one-third with milk, let it stand till the milk
turns sour; then nearly fill the bottle with kero-
sine ; let a cooly churn the mixture as cream is
cuhrned for butter ; it will form a thick, white emul-
sion which mixes freely when stirred into water.
Use a sherry glassful of this emulsion to a kerosine
tinful of water. Stir well and water the whole of
your conservatory freely with it out of a rose
waterpot. It will not harm the most delicate plants.
The floor and rockery should be saturated with this
effective insecticide ; and if this process be adopted
every two months, white ants and other pests will
give your conservatory a wide berth. The only
plants likely to be injuriously affected by this kero-
sine compound are orchids, but as they are usually
mounted on hanging blocks they are not likely to
come in the way of the mallee in his general water-
ing of the house.

Stands for pot plants should be made of wood
and painted green. Tubs and large flowerpots should
not be placed directly in contact with the ground
t)K( skould 9tan4 9t» iovsited botUe9 sunk to he^li

their height in the soil. Having described the
manner of constructing the conservatory, the next
thing is a list of some of the most suitable plants
with which to stock it. Among the best are orchids,
marantas, ferns, palms, canes, begonias, dracoenas,
diefi'enbachias, selaginellas, alocasias, anthuriums,
caladiums, colei, crotons, fittonias, poffmanias, ne-
penthes, (pitcher plants), peperomias. In the North,
West Provinces, the Punjab, and other localities
where extreme heat prevails in the hot season, and
frost at night in the cold season, matting should
be used on the roof in the day time as a protection
against the heat and at night against the cold.
— Englislunan.

^ ,

HORTICULTURE IN NATAL.

The Colony of Natal, though younger considerably
than the Gardeners' Chronicle, has had a chequered his-
tory. Our concern with it arises chiefly from the devel-
opment therein of cultural enterprise, which may be ex-
pected to increase if the unhealthy excitement of the
gold fever do not afford a check to it. By opening up
new districts and making their resources known the
search for gold may, however, effect much indicate good,
which will remain after the gold fever has subsided.
The late Indo-Oolonial Exhibition served to indicate the
resources of the colony so far as timber and sugar
are concerned. Coffee, Tea, fibre plants, Tobacco,
Arrowroot, Maize (Mealies), drugs, and fruits were
also exhibited. But we are more especially concern-
ed here with the growth of plants for horticultural
purposes. The exports of plants and bulbs in 1885
comprised 845 packages, valued at £911. This is no
doubt not a large sum, but one which serves to show
how much it is likely to be increased in the future.

" The suitability of this colony," we cite from the offi-
cial catalogue," for the growth of many plants and bulbs
in demand abroad, and especially those required for
the perfumery trade, has lately received attention.
The double-flowering Tuberose is now cultivated on
aconsiderable scale, and tubers have become an article
of export. It has been stated by a local florist that the
following plants would pay to grow in quantity if appli-
ances were also provided for extracting the perfume,
viz. : — Gardenia, Kose, Jasmine, Violet, Patchouli, Ver-
bena, Geranium, Vetivert, Iris, Oarraway, and Anise ;
and that there is every reason to believe that flower
farming will become a profitable, as it is a pleasant pur-
suit. The export of plants and bulbs averaged only
about £30 per annum till 1881 ; since then it has advan-
ced considerably, and for the last three years has avera-
ged £900 per annum."

As an illustration of horticultural enterprise we
append, by the courtesy of Mr. Adlam, a list of plants
shown at a resent flower show at Maritzburg. All the
plants named are worth cultivation, and, with few ex-
ceptions, are found within a radius of 20 miles from the
town, at elevations of from 2000 to 4500 feet. We
heartily congratulate the promoters of this show,
who seem to have done what we have so frequently
urged our colonial friends to do, viz., to promote a
knowledge of their own native flora and its capabilities
rather than to attempt a servile copy of a European
flower show. How rich in garden plants the Natal flora
is, is shown in a letter from Mr. Adlam, in which he saya
that:—

" Owing to the' gold fever, which has seized so many
in South-east Africa the country has been hunted over
by prospectors with an eye to goldbearing quartz, and
many a solitary mountain has been surmounted, many
dense forests penetrated, and rivers forded in places
in which, till now no white man has ever set foot.
Thus from time to time I have received fragmentary
imformation regarding new plants seen, and fresh
localitits for old ones, lighted on.

" Very recently some dried specimens were brought
me from the Zululand border. A showy terrrestrial
Orchid, bearing a spike of thirty-six spreading light
purple flowers, each an inch across. The two lateral
sepals are narrow and spreading; the upper .sepal,
which has a long spur, bends with the two upper petals
over the minute column, which was too decayed for
ez«ii}in»t)QS. The lip ii rfai^l(fi,ble, long, lUflvoyff

822

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [June i, 1887.

thread-like, upright. We have reveral good Strep-
tocarpi, but oue from the same locality as above sur-
passes all hitherto seen. About a foot high, flowers
very many, a deep intense blue; leaves unknown— in
fact only a scrap was given me.

" Cymbidium Sandersoui was first sent to Harvey
by the late Mr. Sanderson in 1860. In habit it is
most distinct from any other epiphytic Orchid we
have. Long spindle-shaped pseudobulbs, evidently tend-
ing to a true stem, IJ — 2 feet long, covered by a tuft
of robust two-ranked leaves. A tall scape ending in
a panicle of pale yellow flowers. I am told of a forest
where it was seen growing in abundance on trees. It
is a plant I have often searched for, but hitherto it has
never been my luck to come across it.

" Disa macrantha, or crassicornis. — I have seen this
very fine plant in the same locality from whence Mr.
Sanderson obtained his specimens, now in the Kew
Herbarium, and can confirm Mr. N. E. Brown's re-
mark, that it runs D. grandiflora very close. It is
rare, and affects deep black, rich loam on sloping hill-
sides fully exposed to the sun. It has been found
recently close to town at an elevation of 2200 feet,
and also 20 miles from here ; elevation, 4000 feet."

The following is the list of the native plants exhibit-
ed at the Maritzburg flower show in .January of this
year : —

Aristea Eckloni Galtonia candicans

Anemone Fannini „ princeps

Agapanthus umbellatus Habenaria sp.

Aloe sp. Hsemanthus natalensis

Begonia dregei ,, Baurii

,, natalensis Hypoxis latifolia

Burchellia capensis „ elata

Bauhinia natalensis Kalanchoe crenata

Brunsvigia multiflora Lasosiphon sp.

Clerodendron glabrum Lissochilus Krebsii

Oalodendron capeuse Littonia modesta

Oyrtanthus Mackeni Blontbretia Pottsii

„ collinus (?) Morrea bicolor

Ohlorophytum Bowkeri „ iridioides
Cymbidium Sandersoui (?) „ sp., large pale yellow

„ Buchanan! flowers

Calhurnia lasiogyne Nycterinia natalensis

Crotalaria globifera Nerine flexuosa

„ capensis „ pudica
Duranta sp., white flowers, Nymphsea stellata

doubtful native Osbeckia Umhlasiana

Disa polygonoides Pavetta assimilis

„ sp., white and green „ Bowkeri

flowers Phygelius capensis

Dais cotinifolia Plumbago capensis

Dianthus sp. Polygala virgata

Disperis Fanniniie Protea sp.

„ Cooperi Richardia africana

Eulophia ensata „ hastata

„ Dregei Satyrium sp., orange flowers

„ sp., yellow and maroon „ sp- wnite and pink

flowers flowers

Erythrina Humei Sandersonia aurantiaca

Eucomis punctata Tritoma natalensis

Gomphocarpus albens Tritonia aurea

„ sp., brown and yellow Vernonia mespilifolia

flowers AVatsonia meriaaa

Gerbera aurantiaca ,, densiflora

Gioriosa virescens „ „ alba
— Gardeners' Chronicle.

THE DRUGS OF MAURITIUS.

Medicinal plants have been but little studied in Mauri-
tius. A remedy for dysentery is sought in the i^n'ca
aanvage or i-pica dii "pays (Ti/lophora a^thmatica). A
decoction of the slender thread-like stem of the parasitic
tsihitrafototra {Cagsi/tha Jiliformis) is given for-
intestiual derangement, and as atonic for scrofulous and
rachitic infants. An oleoresin resembling elemi, pro-
bably produced by Canarium Uohphania, is employed in
the form of plaster as a detersive. The yellow juice
which flows from the incised stems of the guava
( Psidivm pomiferum ) is used as an application to ring-
worm, and a skin disease called tampane. The wood J

of the shrub liane poilli/ {Embelia mia-antha is adminis-
tered as a tonic, and given in decoction for nephritis.
The leaves and seed of the soifar i/ota or cacloque
(Ccesal-pinia Bonducella ) are used for certain diseases,
and the seeds, powdered and mixed with pepper, con-
stitute a febrifuge. Small senna ( Cassia occidentalis)
is used in asthma, and as a fomentation in some skin
diseases. A decoction of the root possesses diuretic
properties, and the leaves are used by the negroes,
when smeared with a little candle grease, as a substitute
for adhesive plaister. — Journal of the Sockti/ of Arts.

THE CLOVE TREE.

The clove tree (caryojihulus aromaticus) says Rum-
phius " appears to me the most beautiful, the most
elegant, and the most precious of all known trees. "
In form, it commonly resembles the laurel, and some-
times the beech. Generally of the height of an ordinary
cherry tree, its trunk is straight, and rises to four or
five feet before it throws out branches. The bark is
smooth, thin, and adheres closely to the wood, which
is hard and strong, but of an ugly grey colour, ajd ,
therefore, not suited for cabinet work. In the com-
mencement of the wet season, which is the month of
May in the native country of the clove, the tree throws
out a profusion of new leaves. Soon after, the germs
of the fruit are discovered at the extremities of the
young shoots, and in the four following months the cloves
are completely formed. The fruit, at first of a green
colour, assumes in time a pale yellow, and then becomes
of a blood-rt-d colour, if of the most ordinary variety.
It is at this period that the clove is fit to be used as a
spice, and of course, this is the period of the clove har-
vest. It is not, however, the period of the full maturity
of the fruit, which requires three weeks longer to per-
fect itself, and serve for the purposes of propagation.
In this short period the fruit swells to an extra-
ordinary size, loses much of its spicy quality, and contains
a hard nucleus like the seed of the bay. This state of
the fruit is what Europeans call the mother clove, and
the natives poleng.

There appears to be five varieties of the clove, viz
the ordinary cultivated clove, the clove called the female
clove by the natives, which has a pale stem — the keri,
or loory clove, the royal clove, which is verj' scarce,
and the wild clove. The three first are equally valuable,
as spices, the female being considered fittest for the
distillation of essential oil. The wild clove has hardly
any aromatic flavour, and is, of course, of no value.

Of all useful plants the clove has perhaps the most
limited geographical distribution. It was originally
confined to the five Mollucas islands, and chiefly to
Machian. From these places it was conveyed to
Amboyna a very short time only before the arrival of the
Portuguese. The portion of Amboyna called Leytimeer,
and the Uliasser islands, produced no cloves until the
arrival of the Dutch, by whom the cultivation was res-
tricted to Amboyna, every effort being made to
extirpate the plant elsewhere. To what distance from
the parent country the culture might be successfully
extended, there has been no opportunity of ascertain-

Rumphius informs us, that the plant is not partial to
large islands, and does not answer well in Gilolo, Cerara,
Beuroe, or Celebes. It is probable that Beuroe and the
Xula isles are the utmost western limit of the success-
ful culture of the clove. The same writer adds that
the Javanese and Maccassars, when they were the
carriers in the spice trade to the western emporia of
the Archipelago, conveyed to their own country, with
great care, youug clove plants and mother cloves, from
which trees were reared that produced no fruit. Through
the speculative enterprise of Europeans the clove has
in latter times been cultivated so as to bear fruit in
some of the western parts of the Archipelago, in
the Mauritius, and in the West Indies. They have been
cultivated for nearly fifty years iu the Mauritius,
where they bear fruit, of inferior quality and high
price. The fact sems to be, that like the grape, but in
a much higher degree, the clove may be raised at a
heavy expense, and of inferior quality, in soils and
climate little suited to it. How wonderfully restricte<l

jl/NE 1, 1887,]

THE tROPICAL AGRICULTURIST,

m

the soil and climate cf the clove is may be gathered
from this well-known fact, that, in the parent islands,
the tree yields fruit in the seventh and eight year of its
growth, and grows almost spontaneously without care
or culture, whereas, at Ambouya, where it is an ex-
otic, it does not bear until the tenth and twelfth year,
and demands very considerable attention.

The clove neither thrives well near the sea, where
it suffers from the spray, nor in the higher mountains,
where it suffers from the cold. The soil which suits
it, is a dark loam, having underneath a layer of dusky
yellow earth, intermixed with gravel. A sandy soil, a
hardy clay, and the wet ground in which sedges grow
are to be avoided. The tree may be propagated either
directly from the mother cloves, or by transplanting
the young plants found in the clove gradens from the
natural propagation of the seed. The plants raised
by the first method grow luxuriantly, but are alleged
to yield more leaves than fruit, and growing remark-
ably straight, to be difficult to climb for the purpose
of reaping the harvest. The trees propagated by
the latter method are prefferred, but the culture is
laborious, and the success of the operation . uncertain
until the plants have attained the heigh of five or
six feet. The young plants at first require the shade
of other trees, and must therefore be planted among
them. As they grow up the other plants , must be
removed, leaving here and there a few fruit trees,
Buch as the Kanari and the coconut, &c. ; the neigh-
bourhood of which, it has been discovered, is favour-
able to the clove. The clove trees must themselves be
kept pruned, and care be taken that they are not
choked with weeds, or by too many of the fruit trees
just mentioned, in failure of which attention the plants
will languish, or degenerate into wild cloves.

Such is the culture requisite in Amboyna, a soil and
climate foreign to the plant, where comparatively much
care and attention are required. In its native country,
on the contrary the clove grows luxuriantly and almost
spontaneously, being propagated and coming to perfec-
tion with hardly any culture. In its native country, the
clove tree as already mentioned begins to yield fruit
in the seventh or eighth year, but at Amboyna not
until the tenth or twelfth.

Examples are given of clove trees living to the age
of one hundred and thirty years, but the ordinary
duration of its life in Amboyna does not average above
seventy five. Much depends upon the nature of the
soil and ground in which the tree has taken root.

The clove, though generally a hardy plant, suffers
from excessive drought, and is apt to be destroyed by
the depredations of a worm which insinuates itself into
the wood and kills the tree. In particular seasons
thousands perish from this cause.

The reaping of the clove, harvest is perfectly simple.
AVhen the fruit begins to grow red, the reaping is
begun. The ground underneath the tree is clean swept.
The nearest clusters are taken off with the hand, and
the more distant with the assistance of croaked sticks.
Great care is necessary that the trees, in this ope--
ation, should not be rudely handled, as an injury offered
to them in this way, would prevent them from bearing
for years. The curing of the cloves consists in placing
them for some days on hurdles, where they are
smoked by a slow wood fire, which gives them a brown
colour, and afterwards drying them in the sun, when
they turn black, as we see them, in the article of com-
tnerce. In some places they are scalded in hot water
before being smoked, but this practice is not common.
Such cloves as casually fall on the ground, and are
picked up in small quantities, the cultivators do rot
think it worth while to subject to the process of
smoking, and they are merely dried in the sun : they
are discoverable by their shrivelled apperance, and are
of inferior value. The period of harvest is from Oct-
ober to December.

Of the fecundity of the clove it is not very easy to
speak distinctly. The produce from one year to another
is very unequal. At intervals of from three to six years
they usually yield one extraordinary crop, but then
a year now and then intervenes when they do not
V)eaT »t »U. At etbei^ time«; »g»iu; </b«y will givs a

double harvest. Some extraordinary instances of fecund-
ity in particular trees are quoted. Rumphius and
Valentyu speak of a remarkable tree, a hundred and
thirty years old, which one year gave the enormous
crop of eleven hundred pounds and another year half
this quantity. About the propotion of two-thirds of a
clove cultivation is considered to be bearing trees, the
remaining third being allowed for barren and young
trees. According to the present mode of culture, per-
haps, it would not be safe to average the production
of all trees at above five pounds.

According to the data, the produce of an acre will
be 375 lb. avoirdupois, and deducting one-eighth for
young trees under ten years, 32S lb. By a free culture,
as in the case of pepper, a much larger produce than
is here stated would, no doubt, be obtained. — Indian
Aariculturist,

New York Experimental Station.— The fifth annual
report is now before us, comprising a record of the
work done at the station, meteorological details, re-
sults of experiments, &c. The object of the station
is to ascertain and apply the principles of natural
history to the profitable cultivation of plants or the
maintenance of animals. Passing the experiments
on cattle feeding as not coming within our scope,
we may mention a few of the more important matters
discussed, such, for instance, as the relation of soil
temperature to produce, in which it is shown that
for the cultivation of Potatoes a relatively cool soil
is favourable. In the case of Lettuces, a cross be-
tween the Red-edged Victoria and the Deer-tongue,
thel atter yielding the pollen, resulted in the produc-
tion of seedlings referable to seven differnt types,
the most interesting being one which reproduced the
characters of the wild Lettuce, Lactuca scariola.
Mr. C. S. Plumb gives a summary of his efforts to
classify and arrange the synonymy of a large number
of varieties of Wheat and Oats. A curious corelation
is mentioned between the number of rows in the ear
of Barley and the tendency to tiller; thus in the
two- rowed varieties the maximum number of plants
that tillered was 28-00, while in the six-rowed varie-
ties the tendency to tiller was less, i.e., 18 '00 ; so the
open-panicled Oat averages more fruitful culms per
plant than the side panicled variety. The winter
Oats tiller far more than tha summer varieties. Mr.
Goff, the horticulturist, reports on Potatoes, root
growth orchards. Grapes, Tomatoes, insects, the in-
fluence of foreign pollen on fruit, &c. A Potato
known as "Buffalo Bill" was found to be the most
productive. It is calculated that this variety yielded
at the rate of 275 bushels per acre. As regards the
question of the relative produce of cut sets or whole
tul-ers for planting, the difference was markedly in
favour of the latter. With a view of testing whether
regularity of form can be secured by careful selection
of tubers, eyes were taken from the most ill-shaped
tubers that could be got, and others from the most
symmetrical tubers. It was found, however, in the
result, that there was no material difference either
one way or the other in the character of the produce.
The observations on roet growth have been con-
tinued, some interesting details being given aa to tho
length, ramification, depth below the surface, <.Vc.
A root of Vegetable Marrow was measured to a horizontal
length of 10 feet when it was unfortunately broken,
evidently at a long distance from its extremity.
The chief feeding ground for the roots seems to be
between 3 and 10 inches below the surface, though
others go mach deeper ; the plants that make the largest
development of stem or foliage during the summer
are those of which the feeding ground is shallowest
in the soil. Experiments made to determine what,
if any, influence on the fruit is caused by the applic-
ation of stranger pollen, led, as in former years, to
no definite result. Mr. Arthur's report on the Bean
blight (Micrococcus .amylovorus) has already been
mentioned in our columns. The report concludes with
the record of the work done by the cbetoisti,-*
Gurdtners' ChrenicU,

to4-

fMt TROPicAi AdRICULT URISf, []vm U iBSy-

mmma

English Tobacco. — The following is a letter which
appeared la the Times, and which we reproduce as being
of interest to our readers: — "It may be of benefit to
intending planters of British Tobacco this year to
learn that a parcel was exposed for sale by public
auction in the City yesterday. It is described in the
catalogue of the selling brokers, Messrs. Grant,
Chambers & Co., as seven drums of English leaf
Tobacco, per railway from AVittersham, warehoused
at Haydon Square December 2, 1886. The first four
lots sold at one half-penny per pound, and there were
no bids for the other three. The attendance of the
trade was a little below the average, and as to the
Tobacco, I think if it had come from anj' foreign
country it would not have fatched the price it did
as it was unfit for trade purposes. — J. J. Jonas, 51
and 52, Fenchurch Street, E. C, April 7." — Gardeners^
Chronicle.

The Kew " Bulletin ". — The April number contains
articles on Manilla Hemp ( Musa textilis ), which yields
an excellent fibre, the supply being derived from the
Philippine Islands. It may be grown where and in
the same way as the common Banana, and its culti-
vation should therefore be taken into consideration
in our tropical colonies, but only where labour is
cheap and abundant, and where the best methods of
preparation can be carried out. Mr. Morris gives
details as to the best method of culture and prepar-
ation, but, on the whole, the culture does not seem to
be very promising, although the price per ton of fibre is
as high as £36, or even £45 - two-thirds more than
the price of ordinary Plantain fibre, which also receives
attention in this Bulletin. Plantain-fibre might be uti-
lised for paper-making. The fibre of the Pine-apple
plant is stated to have a future of considerable import-
ance before it. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

"A Sign of the Times" may be found in a
letter from a China tea merchant received by us by
a recent mail, from which we quote as follows : —
"As regards trade, India and your rapidly develop-
ing tea trade has knocked poor old China about
Badly and it seems to me nowadays that a China
Chaasze's (or tea taster) life somewhat re-
sembles that of a ' frozen-out gardener 1' and
scented Canton teas especially are bound to
give way (as gracefully as they can) year by year
to your deliciously flavoury and pungent pekoe and
pekoe souchongs. As I could not help seeing this
about June 1885 after I had been at home 6 months,
I resolved to give up Canton, and to ally myself
with some friends — tea brokers — here, who besides
the waning China trade are cultivating the Ceylon tea
trade." Any Ceylon tea planters in want of good
London Brokers can have the name of our China
friend's firm on application.

Indian and Oetlon Tea.— The Indian Tea market re
mains generally firm, and the smaller supplies offered
haTe met with a fairly active demand. The finest
Teas, owing to the small quantities offered, have
sold more readily than other grades, and at rather
higher prices. There appears every prospect of the
comparative scarcity of these sorts increasing until
the new Teas come to band, as from the last Calcutta
advices very few lots of fine Tea appear to have
been cleared from thence of late, and the range of
prices paid at the Calcutta salee was eiceedingly low.
On the other hand, it is obvious that any material
rise in the value of fine Teas would have the effect
of curtailing the already limited demand for them,
atid thit) is the more probable as the new Ceylon
ctop, of which the first arrivals are now in the market
will continue to be brought forward freely. Buyers
of fine Tea, who are not in a hurry to purchase,
will naturally be disposed to wait and see what Ceylon
sends, as the improvement in the quality of last
season's Ceylon crop was very encouraging, and the
finest parcels are now often substituted for the finer
kinds of Indian Tea, the value of which is not likely
to advance much if the Ceylon crop turns out well.
The market has also been strong for the medium
deschptioae, particularly for good Pekoes aad Feko«

Souchongs, for which there has been a brisk inquiry
at rather firmer rates. For the cheaper kinds values
have been comparatively steady, although some com-
mon Broken Teas have sold at very low prices. Any
reaction in the values of the latter sorts could only
be brought about by a curtailment in the supplies, and
this at present does not seem at all probable. All
the better descriptions of Ceylon Tea have been in
good demand at steady prices, but commoner parcels
have sold at slightly reduced quotations. For the
higher grades of Java Tea there has been an improved
inquiry at better rates, but common sorts are less firm.
— Produce Markets' Review, April 2nd.

Useful Plants. — There are one or two plants
which Mr. R. Harding, of the Botanic Gardens, Too-
woomba, strongly recommends as likely to prove use-
ful to settlers. One is the Phi/llaria aHgusti/'olia,
which, for hedge purposes, on the Downs is unsurpassed
by any other plant. A hedge of this shrub can be
seen near the entrance gates of the gardens, where it
has been one of the ornaments of the grounds for
several years past. It grows dense and tall, and is
admirably suited for planting as a break-wind to any
garden situated upon a bleak plain. The only bamboo
he has found to withstand the cold climate is the
variegated species, which is very ornamental but does
not attain to the height of the common kind. It
is easily propagated by cuttings. For fodder purposes
specially suited for the cultivator in the interior, he
recommends the " Tonga " bean. Two seeds received
by him from Mr. ,J. H. Young, Toowoomba, have
made such marvellous growth that they cover the
ground for an area of 20ft. square as completely as
it could be done by sweet-potato vines, and the plants
are loaded with pods, although it is only three months
since the seeds were sown. This plant would take
possession of the garden if allowed. These beans
have a special aptitude for leaving behind them when
cleared away a good bed of leaf mould. — Queenslander.

The Influenck of Fokests upon rainfall is said to
be now quite observable in the Hawaiian islands. It
is recogni.sed, according to a paper upon the subject
in an American exchange, that since the plain and
town site of Honolulu have been covered with trees
the rainfall on that side of the island of Oahu has
sensibly increased. The same observation has been
made on the island of Hawaii under similar conditions.
This may be so, but we are inclined to think the time
required for observations in this case is too brief for
correct deduotions to be drawn from it, and that the
conclusion as just stated does not cover what may be
more than an ordinary recurrence of wet seasons after
a period of dryness. Some twenty-five years ago the
forests trees upon a large area of that good land which
lies north of Belfast, and south of Hamilton, in Vic-
toria, all died and the whole country was " sailing
under bare poles. " It looked very dreary, but the
fattening properties of the grass increased and the
residents became reconciled. However, the common re-
mark at the time was that the climate would deteriorate
to a dry one. About eight years after the commence*
ment of the trouble a series of dry seasons did come
round, and every one said it was the result of the
forest denudation and would be permanent ; indeed
that henceforth they must e.X2?ect a climate similar
to their northern neighbours on the Wimmera. The
supposition proved wrong, for the dry seasons were
followed by wet ones with such a vengeance that
fluke ran its ravages through the tfocks to an alarm'
ing extent. That the destruction of forest treeSj which
by attracting and entangling clouuds would naturally
produce rain, may undoubtedly alter a climate feW
will dispute, but a longer time is required to establish
the fact than a five years' obsevation in a newly in-
habited country. We are glad to see that otlr neighbinirs
on the Hawaiian islands aie continuing their experi-i
meiits and planting extensively Australian Varieties of
trees, for certainly no forest growth is so suitable for
the purpose aimed at, inasmuch ;ts once get them
establi.^hed it will probably prove, as in the case of
the coast districts of Queensland, almost impossiWs
ever again to denude the hiWs.^Qy.eenslanitr,

June i, 1887J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

825

EOYAL BOTANIC (iABDENS : CEYLON.
BEPORT OF DE. HENKY TIUMEN, DIEECTOR,
FOE THE lEAE 188(;.
(I'ontimu-d from puffc 815,)
Eoads and Fath>'. — A 'large number of npw paths,
-1 ft. wide, have been formed during the year, the
total length of such being 4-'3 yards ; 'd'd'l yards of
old paths were gravelled.

The steep and unsightly path at the south end of
the old ornameatal pond has been done away with,
and the space planted up with shrubs. A stone
culvert was built in the gully between the plant sheds
and nurseries, and a wooden bridge jnade across the
gully in the new road to the fernery ; also one by
the carriage shed, and another leading over the
water-course by the foreman's quarters. Eetaining walls
were built — one to support the road leading into the
nursery, and one just below the carriage turn.

Turf verges, 12 in. wide, were laid down on each
side of the new drive and on the sides of portions
of the new paths, the total length being 8-10 yards ;
iioS cart loads of turf were reijuired for this and the
turfing of the banks. Most of this was obtained from
the public roadsides, and the rest was kindly given
by Mr. AY. I. Cotton, from his property opposite the
Garden. The turf laid on the banks measures 1,117 j'ards.
All the paths have been repaired and gravelled,
and m est of the beds have been dug wp and mulched
■with surface soil from the jungle. A light top dressing
of lime was forked in about May, the benefit of which
was soon seen in the general healthy appearance of
the plants where it was applied.

The scrub and jungle on the north side of the
lower entrance to the fernery has been grubbed up
for a distance of 108 ft. long and 12 ft. broad. A
rockery bank has been formed here to correspond
with that on the opposite side. This has been plnnted
with mixed ferns and begonias.

A path has been opened from the corner of the
flower garden leading past the thermometer shed,
and winding through the jungle into the fernery on
its upper side. The undergrowth only has been cut
awaj', leaving all the jungle trees; and 1,2,70 plants
of ferns and begonias have been planted out under
the trees. This path not only gives a new access to
the feuerj', but affords an opportunity to visitors for
seeing something of the hill-jungle and its native trees.
Borders and Shruhheries. — The chief work done during
the year has been the digging up of the soil among the
plants to let in light and air, manuring, stiking, and
pruning and thinning out the trees and shrubs ; 53,900
plants were set out during the year, the greater part of
these, as usual, being showy garden plants and annuals,
I may mention that hares have this year been most
destructive to young plants. All efforts to get good
beds of such things as verbenas, carnations, lobelias,
&c., have been of no avail, for as soon as they begin
to 'Strike into healthy growth, they are eaten off and
destroyed. The hares have become so bold that one
night they came to a border within nine yards of
the bungalow door, and 170 plants of choice poppies,
which had been planted out some time, and had put
on three or four inches of healthy growth, were
eaten oft' close to the ground.

At different times during the year much pruning
and thinning out of trees has been done. A good
many of the casuarina trees near the gates died
during the year from the effects of a little borer.
These have been cut down and removed to the wood
pile. Fifty-nine cart loads of timber for the stoke
hole fire were cut out of the Garden from the
thinnings and pmniugs of the trees. From the
entrance gates to the old China tea plot, and running
parallel with the public road for 80 yards, a hedge
of -Di'.rrt/i^rt P/znrtjt'/'i has been planted. ' No alterations
were made in the arrangements of the beds, and they
were filled with similar plants to those of last year.
The only improvement to the flower garden was the
building of a retaining wall and culvert at the north-
west corner, and making a ])ath across the drain there.
Rose Ganlrii.—Yor the first-half of the year this
garden was very attractive. The gladiulus, pacsies,

and portulacas bloomed remarkably well, and continued
m flower for a long time. Some of the pansies attained
'2.y in. in diameter.

The rose plants for the latter part of the year
have not done well, and though they have received
every attention in the way of manuring, &c., they
have made but very little growth, and I fear the
whole lot must be taken up and new plants put in.
Urrhacrous aardrii-— The beds at the lower end of
this garden have been completed. A few plants have
been set out in their places, in the orders to which
they belong. The monocotyledons planted last year
have done very well indeed, and have flowered freely.
The planting here requires to be done persouallyj
and I have had little time during the year.

JFcather.—The weather in January was remarkable

for wet, foggy, misty days and rainy nights, and up

to the 29th of the month, the sun was but rarely

seen. February, March, and April were fine, rain

scracely ever falling before 2 p.sr. During May the

weather was variable, but up to the 16th the morninga

were generally fine, and the afternoons more or less

cloudy and rainy. From the lOth to the 28th it was

very^ wet, though heavy rain only fell on one day,

the 24th. The first h.alf of June was fine, followed

by ten days very wet rough weather. The weather

in July was most unusual, being generally wet and

foggy, with very high winds, and certainly the

roughest month in the year. August was also very

wet and cloudy for the first nineteen days. The

rest of the month was fine and bright and very hot,

the thermometer in the shade rising to 751) on the

21st, 22nd, and 29th. and on the 25th the thermometer

m the sun went up to 142-0. In September rain was

registered on twentv-throe days, heavy rain falling

on the 24th and 29th. From th ^ 14th to the 23rd

It was very fine and bright. October gave much the

same sort of weather as September, heavy rain fiiUing

on the 2nd, 12th, and 25th. November was remarkable

for the absence of the dense fogs which usually

prevail during this month. From the 15th to the

2.0th the days were very fine and bright, and the

nights cold, more like February than November.

Though it was dull and wet in December up to the

22nd, the rainfall was not heavy. The temperature

was very low several times during the month, and

on the 8th and 9th a very strong cold wind passed over.

The following table will show the monthly rainfall

from July 1, 1883, and the nimiber of days on which

ram fell during the last five years:—

'sivQ JO -o^i

"tl^JiP'JI
•s/Cbq: jo -ox

sJivQ JO -o^i

•nT3juit)a

•sKv(X JO -ON

oo O O CO 'M lO QO — ' — I t^ o. O (M
CO "Hr-I r-lrHr-IMrOtMaqC^lM

N -H oo CO CO wri lo -ti M f Ci

00

I I

CJ ~. (jq 00 (M oo

•-< bx ■^i CO ci t-

t- 1- <r. 22 M ;-H t„ CI o ira Clio
coS^§3S23S'W£Jf~'-^»-

CO '*'-"MCOtj1(M00t}iXI-*CHO

CO

CO

CO

00 ;H;iOs^(MCiCO0Or-(rfco«)iC
OD "^ "-I r-l >-l <M f-1 T-. rl (M ffg (fq

>a S ?J '^ * '^1 '^ '~ t^ i-l O f *. r-l
CO "J^ '?' 7^ V* "5 'P r— ** iM CO O >—

CO ira <!■) :^ rfi 03 lo -^ CO ^ o CO (^1

CO 'Tiocii'icot— -rcio— IXO

00 <M r-li-lrH'MrH(WMr-l'M

CO

CO

S S ■^ "■^ '^'^ o ^ '■'5 cri -H

CO -p O] -P r^ iD ■-. -f I- -^

1^ (M TO CO c; t>. '>o do CO g; cb Ci

o o

CO

CO
CO

p

CO

lb
I-'

,-1

CO
CO

CO

CO

a
o

^ cs rt vi a X

2-Q rt a,_c 3-53

.0 X(
S S

> u

o u

o
H

S <u fcln '^"-^ -* 3 "1 1/ '-' o i*

^26

1?HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June 1,1887.

The average number of days ou which rain fell
during the five years is 210'6, aud the average monthly
rainfall for three and half years is f3'!t5 in. nearly.

The wind was light or moderate until May iO, and
the direction was pretty steady from the S.E. It then
turned to N.W. and blew very strong and steady from
that quarter until June 22. From this to July b it
was unsettled, sometimes going round to S.PJ., aud
the force was light or moderate during that time. It
then settled, down to N.'W'., and continued to blow
from that quarter till October 21, being at times
very strong. From then till November 22 it was very
variable, and light or moderate in force. On 22ud
it settled down to S.E., and continued so till the
end of the year, and the force was generally light,
with the exception of December .s, i), and 10. Ou
these three days it blew very strong from the N.AV.

The greatest pressure per square foot registered
during any 24 hours was &'S'S'.i lb., equal to 4-80 miles
an hour, on June 10. This is the highest recorded
during the three and half years the observations have
been taken.

The mean daily hori:^onta] movement of the air for
the year was 2U7'4i» miles. The most windy month
Was July, with a mean daily horizontal movement of
340'.3l miles. The calmest month was February, with
a daily mean of 10615 miles.

The barcjmetic pressure aud the temperature of the
air was as follows: —

B.^ROMETic Pressure. 0,581 (ft.)

1886. Mean llauge.

January ... 24o47 ... "275

February ... 24 5.56 ... •2'6o

March ... 24-,-.57 ... -308

April ... 24-541 ... -171

May ... 24-480 ... '2:{9

June ... 24-474 ... "209

July ... 24-462 ... "152

August ... 24-475 ... •210

September ... 24-50:! ... '189

October ... 24 507 ... "191

November ... 24-523 ... "281

December ... 24-542 ... '276

'Ihe 12 months ... 24-513 ... "o'J5

Highest reading... 24726 on January o.

Lowest reading . . . 24-3;jl on May 2;!.

Tkmi'euature of the AlK,

18S6. Mean. Range,

January ... 59-8 ... 2o(»

February ... 61-0 ... 28 0

March ... 66-0 ... 30 5

April ... 05-7 ... 30-0

May ... 65-6 ... 24-5

June ... 64-5 ... 22-0

July ... 63-3 ... 22-0

August ... 62-9 ... 22-0

Heptember ... 62-5 ... 24-5

October .. C2-4 ... 21-0

November ... 64-3 ... 26-0

59-1 ... 25-0

December

The 12 months

63-0

36-0

Jlaximum temperature of air, 7S0 on March 23-24,

Minimum temperature of air, 420 on JJecember 25.

The highest temperature during the year in the
fiun'srays was 1450, on April 20 and June 27, and
the lowest ou grass was 380 on December 25.

The mean amount of cloud for the year was 7"05.
The cloudiest months were .lanuary and November,
with a mean of S'l. The brightest mouth was March,

with 47

6. — Interch.vn(;e or Plants and Seeds.

My absence from the Colony during the greater part
of the year interfered to some extent with the ex-
changes with British and Foreign (iardens. but Mr.
Clark has kept up most of our relations, and ini-
tiated a few new ones.

During the year we received "Wardian cases and
boxes of living plants from tlie Botanic Gardens of
Kew (2), Calcutta (2), .Madras, Singapore (4), Penang,
Buitenzorg (Java) (2), aud British (Juiaua; also from
Colonel Berkeley (Kaugoox), B. B. AVbite, Esq. (Scot-
land), and Messrs. WsiganUt, of Duaseldorff.

Packets of seeds were received from the following
places and persons . — The Botanic Gardens of Kew,
Cambridge, Calcutta, Buitenzorg, .Melbourne, IMauii-
tius, Hongkong, Natal, Jamaica, aud British Guiana ;
the Agri-Horticultural Society of Madras, the <^>ueens-
land Acclimatisation Society, Baron von Mueller (Mel-
bourne), T. Hanbury,Esq. (Ventimeglia), E. ^1. Holmes,
Esq., F. I., s. (London), H. Travers, Es<|. (New Zealand),
Adam & Sons (New Zealand), Dr. Henderson (Jamaica)
T. Christy, Esq. (Loudon), Messrs. Linden ((Jheut)
and Messrs. Haago cV Schmidt (Erfurt). I have also
to thank the following donors in the Colony: — Lady
Hamilton Gordon, Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Grinlinton,
I^Irs. Jeffries, Rev. G. ^Y. R. Mackenize, Captain F.
Bayley, and Messr.s. C. Badger, P. Bois, D. P\ Browne,
W.J. Cotton, W. Ferguson, f.l.s., T. C. Huxley, J.
D. .Tonklaas, W. Jordan, A. C. Lawrie, A. G. Kellow
J. Kelley, H. Nevill, c.c.s., C. Strachau, A. Tatham,
J. Wickwar, A. Whyte, G. W. AVood, and J. H
AVright.

The Parcel Post now affords great facilities for
the carriage or many sorts of plants, and a box
of CattU'jja ■■<tij) iha arrived in November in excellent
order from so great a distance as Demerara by this
means.

We have despatched Wardian cases and boxes
of plants in exchuigeto the following: — The Botanic
Gardens of Kew (3), Singapore (5), Penang, Saharun-
pore, Buitenzorg (:.'), and British Guiana; to the Con-
servators of Forests, Kaugoon and Tavoy, to Colonel
Berkeley (Rangoon), R. A. White, Esq. (Scotland)
and Messrs. Weigandt, of Dusseldorfl.

Seeds, kc, have been supplied to the Botaic Gardens
of Kew, Glasgow, Calcutta, Singapore, Penang, Hong-
kong, Buitenzorg, Jamaica, aud British Guiana, to the
Acclimatisition Society of Queensland, to I\Iessrs.
Haage & Schmidt (Erfurt), and to Messrs. A'eitch
(Chelsea).

It may be worth putting on record here that
thirteen stems of our mountain tree-feru {Aiiiophila,
crinitti), sent home at the end of 1885, with the
view of using tbem as decorative plants in the Ceylon
Court of the Exhibition in liondon, all, with one
exception, survived the voyage and recovered their
health in the houses of the Royal Horticultural Society
at Chiswick. This is, I believe, the first s-uccessful
attempt to introduce this beautiful species into Eng-
land. Four of th'^ planis are liow at Kew, two at
Glasgow, aud one at Glasnerin, Dublin.

We have made the customary (/i-ati.-^ distribution of
plants and seeds on application to public .officials and
places within the Colony. The Government Agents and
Assistants at Auuradbapura, BailuUa, Ratnapura, Ham-
bantota, and Kegalla ; the Museum Ground , Colombo ;
the Director of Public Instruction ; the Forester, North
Oe '.tral Province; the 3runicipalit3' of Kaudy ; the
Local lioard of Nuwara E!ij'a; the .Supirintendent of
Police, Galle; and the Stationmasters at Mataie aud
Rambukkana.

7. — Principat, Additions io the Coli ections.
The following list, in continuation of those of piexious
years, contains the names of sncli of the freign plants
received during 1886 as are additional to those al-
ready in the Gardens, and seem likely to succeed
here. There are not among them many plants of
economic value, but a considerable number of urna-
mental ones especiailj' among the orchids, are included,
as well as some species of great botanical interest.
I hope this year to find time to complete a Catalogue
of the present contents of the Gardens, which is
greatly needed.

(.\)— Peradeniva. kc, Gardens.
Dicotvledons.
Hibiscus liliillorus, Cav. JNIascareue Islands. (T. Han*

bury.)
Sterculia quadrifida, Br. (^tueen.sland. (F. v. .Mueller,
Theobroraa bicolor, Humb. and Bonpl. New Grenada,
kc. A wild chocolate, cultivate<l and used on a
small scale by the Indians of Central America.
(Buiteuzorij.)
(irewia catfra, Meisn. Natal (Natal)
Vepris lanceulata, A. Juss. S. Africa, Mauritius.
(Natal.)

June'i, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

827

Canariuni strictum. Roxb. S. India. AtYords black

dammar resin. Madras.
C. T\rehebethe,ne. (iaertn. Moluccas. (Kiiitenzorg.)
Dalbergia armata, E. Mey. Xatal. (Xafcal).
Krythriiia caffra, Thuub. ,S. Africa. (Natal,)
Millettia Ciffra, Meisn. Natal. M'ood very bard

("Natal.)
Calpuruia sylvatica, E. i\rpy. S. Africa. (Natal.)
Ormosia coccinea, Jacks. Trop. S. Aineriua. 1 Kew.)
Colvillea, sp. (Calcutta.)
Maniltoa gemmipara, Scbeff. New Guinea. (Bui-

tenzorg.)
Acacia Kraussiana, Meisn. Natal. (Natal.)
Acacia, sp. "Black Boy.' (Kew.)
Mouririaguianensis, Aubh>t. Guiana. (Briti.sh Guiana.)
Combretum erythrophyllum, Scud. S. Africa. A

handsome, tree. (Natil.)
Treresia palmata, Vis. Nepal, Malay Peninsula,

(Singapore. )
Burchellia capensis, Br. The " Buffeldoora " of S.

Africa. (Natal)
Exostemma caribbrerm, R. & H. West Indies. The
".TamaicaBark,"a substitute forcinchona (.Jamaica. J
Oxyanthus natalensis, Sond. Natal. (Natal.)
Pavetta lanceolata. Eeklou. 8. Africa. (Natal.)
Gardenia globosa, Hochst. Natal. (Natal.)
Ardi.sia Oliveri. (Kew.)
Mimusops Kauki, L. Malaya, Tmp. Australia. Fruit

edible. (Buitenzorg.)
Willughbeia edulis, Roxb. (W. mart.abanica, ^Vall.)
Assam to Malacca. A laige climber yielding
abundant caoutchouc, (Singapore.)
Jacaranda mimosfofolia, Don. Brazil. A beautiful

flowering tree. (British Guiana)
Aphelandra, sp. (Calcutta.)
Coleus, Many Garden varieties. (Calcutta.)
Lagetta lintearia, Lam. The lace-bark tree. A\',

Indies. (Kew.)
Piper, sp. Malaya. (Calcutta.)
Artauthe Veitchii. (Kew.)
Nepenthes margiuata. (Penang.)
Artocarpus, rigidus, Bl. Java, &c. (Penang.)
Podocarpus, sp. (Singapore.)

Dacrydium elatum, Wall. Malay Peninsida, Sumatra,
and Borneo. A handsome pyramielal coniferous
tree. (Penang.)
Cyeas tonkineusis. (Haage &, Schmidt.)
Stangeria parado.xa, T. Moore. S. E. Africa. A.
very singular fern-like cycad. (Kew.)

Monocotyledons.
Or chid err.

Bensonias, Rchb. f.

Moulmeiu. (Col.
Burmah. Col. Berkeley.)

Dendrobium

Berkeley.,
D. Brymerianum, Kehb.
D. albo-.sanguineum,

Lindl. l l\ioulmein. (Col. Berkeley.)

D. Jamesianum, Rchb. f . J

D. AVardianum, AVarn. Burmah, Assam. (Col.
Berkeley.)

Acanthephippium javauicum, Bl. Java. ) ,„ .,
Phajus Blumei, Lindl. Java. [ (Bmtenzorg. )

P. albus, Lindl. (Thuia, Rchb. f.) N. India, Burmah.

(Calcutta.)
Galanthe curculigoides, Lindl- Malaya. (Penang.)
O. speciosa, Lindl. .Java. (Buitenzorg.)
C. (Limatodes) rosea, Lindl. Burmah. (Col. Berkeley.)
Epidendrum eburneum, Rchb. f . ")
Panama. C-Weigaudt.

E. oncidioides. j
Oattleya bicolor, Lindl. Brazil.")

0. eitrina, Lindl. Mexico. WWeigandt.)

O. crispa, Lindl., var. Brazil. )

C. Gaskelliaua, Rchb. f. Brazil. ) „ „ ^^.u•L ,, ,

O. iraperialis. \ ^"^ ^- ^^ hite, Esq.)

C, Loddigesii, Lindl. S. America. (Weigandt )

C. Purpurata. (H. B, White Esq.

C. speciosissiraa, Rchb. f. \ enezuela. (R. B White

Esq.)
C. superba, Lindl. (Brit. Guiana.)
C. Triame, Linden & Rchb. f. New Grenada. Ht

B. White, Esq.)
0. velutina, Rchb. f. Brazil. (VVeigandt.)

(Weigaudf.)

Central America.

-(Weigandt.)

Malay I.slauds.

Malay Peninsula,

aang.;
)

(Kew.)

Lculia albida, Batem. Mexico.

Stanhopea alba.

S. maculata.

S. tigrina, Batem. Jlexico.

Acineta Barkeri, Lindl.

Oncidium alutum.

O. elegantissimum,

(), multillorum.

O. ornithorhynchum, H. B, & K.

(AV'eigandt.)
O. prretextum.
O. reflexum, Lindl. 3Iexico.
O, stramineum. Lindl. Mexico.
C'romeza recurva, JiOdd. Brazil
I'hakunopsis violacea, T. tV B.

(Penang.)
Oypripedium barbatum, Lindl.

(Penang.)
C. Hookeri, Rchb. f. Borneo. (Penang.)
C Stonei, Low. Borneo. (Penang.)
Billbergia Bakeri,
li.Euphemiie, E. Morr. Brazil.
B. macrocalyx. Hook, Brazil.
B. olens.

Mor.ea iridioides, L. (Dietes. Sal.) S. Africa. (Natal.)
Eueharis pumila. (Calcutta.)
Asparagus virgatus, Baker. S. Africa. (Natal.)
Forrestia. sp. Malaya. (Calcutta.)

PahiKe.
I'inauga coronata, Bl. Java. (Buitenzorg.J
P. disticha Miq. (sub. Ptychosperma.) Sumatra, (Bui-

tenzorg.)
P. parado.xa, Scheff. New Guinea. (Ptychococcus

Becc.) (Buitenzorg.)
Drymophlceus ceramensis, Miq. Ceram. (Buitenzorg.)
Ptjchandra glauca, Scheff. Malay Islands.

tenzorg.)
Arenga obtusifolia. Mart. Java, Sumatra.

tenzog.)
Caryota furfuracea, Bl. Java. (Buitenzorg.)
Sabal Ghiesbrechtii (Buiten/.org.)
S. glaucesceiis, Lodd. Trinidad. (Buitenzurs'.)
Nanorrhops Ritchieana, W. & D. Afghanistan,

A desert palm. (Kew.)-
Livistona humilis, Br. Trop. Australia (Buitenzorg.)
L- subglobosa, Mart. Java. (Buitenzorg.)
Calamus, sp. Dcmerara. (Calcutta.)
Korthalsia Junghuhniana, Miq. Java. (Buitenzorg)
I'lectocomia elongata, Bl. Malaya. (Buitenzorg.)
Martinezia Lindeniaua, Weudl. New Grenada,

(Buitenzorg.)
Attalea Guichire, Karst. Trop. America. (Buiten-
zorg.)

(Bui-
(Bui-

&c.

Philodendrum gloriosum, Andro. New (,!reuada

(Calcutta.)
iVglaonema, sp. Malaya, (Calcutta.)
Sagittaria momtevidensis, Cham. & Schlecht. S.

America and W. Indies. A beautiful water-plant.

Fig. in Bot. Mag. t. 6755. (Kew.)

Ferns.
Dipteris Horsfieldii, Br. Polynesian Islands, Molucccs.

(Penang,)
Niphobolus Penangiauus, Hk. Malay Peninsula
(Penang. )

(l>) — Hal;gala Garden.

DlC'OTVLEDON.S.

Alyssum saxatile. Eastern Europe. (Cambridge.)
Pittosporum, revolutum, Aiton. N. Zealand. (H.

Travers.)
P. tenuifolium. Banks & Sol. N. Zealand, (H. Travers.)
Viscaria corymbo.sa. Europe. (Cambridge.)
Herniaria hirsuta, L. 8. Europe. (iSIrs. Baker.)
Hibiscus africanus. (G. H. H. Austen.)
Elreocarpus oblongus, Gaertn. India, Mulaya (Madras.)
Lagunaria Patersoui, Don. Norfolk Island. (Mel-
bourne.)
Nephelium leiocarpum, F. Muell. N. S. W. (J. I'.

AVilliam Bros.)
Hardenbergia monophylla, Benth., alba. Australia.

(Melbourne.)
Rosa Banksite. (A. Tatham.)

828

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June i, 1887.

Saxifraga Aizoon, L. Europe. (Cambridge.)

S. .sarmentosa, L. China aud Japan. (A 0. Lawrie.)

Eoheveria, sp. (Oapt. Bayley.)

Melaleuca i^arviflora, Lindl. W. Australia. (J. P.

William Bros:)
Cuphea miniata (Lady (rordou and Mrs. Baker.)
Eucalyptus crebra, F. Muell. Australia. (Kew.)
E. resiuifera, Sm. N. S. Wales, Queensland. (Kew.)
E. reguans. (Melbourne.)
Begonia Kex, several vars. (T. C. Huxley.)
Epiphyllum, sp. (^Irs. Grinlinton.)
Cereus, sp. (Mrs. Grinlinton.)
Mesembryantheaium crystallinum, L. Mediterranean.

(G. W. Wood.)
Cornus capitata, Wall. (Benthamia fragifera Lindl.)

Himalaya. (Kew.)
Scabiosa columbaria, L. Europe. (Cambridge.)
Bellis jjerennis, L. Commoa Daisy. Europe. (0.

Badger.)
Antennavia Leontopodium, G. " Edelweiss." Euro-
pean Alps. (Mrs. Baker.)
Oentaurea macrophylla. (Cambridge.)
C. nigra, L. Knapweed, Europe f Cambridge.)
Chrysanthemum indicum, several vars. (T. C .

Huxley )
Clintonia pulchella, Lindl. California. (Lady Gordon.)
Specularia Speculum, DC. Europe. (Cambridge.)
Erici ventrieosa (?) (T. Hanbury.)
Azalea, .sp. (Capt. Bayley.)

Primula sinensis, var. splendens. (T. Hanbury.)
Primula sinensis, var. rubro-tigrinum. (T. Hanbury.)
Myrsine variabilis, E. Br. E. Australia.) (J. P.

William Bros.)
Phlox speeiosa, several vars. (T. C. Hu.'iley and A.

White.)
Anchusa italica, Ketz. S. Europe. (Lady Gardon and

Mrs. Baker.)
Solanum ■ vicularp, Guill. New Zealand, Tasmania,

8. Australia. (H. Tr.ivers.)
Schizanthus papilionaceus, Hort. Chili. (Cambridge,)
Verbascum olympicum. iC^imbridge.)
Linaria purpurea, Will. Italy. (J. Gray.)
i'entstemon ovatus, Doug. N. America. (Cambridge.)
Collinsia bicolor, Benth. IDalcutta. (Oamhridfje.)
Veronica longifolia, Linn. S. Europe. (Cambridge.)
Achimenes. sp. (jMrs. Jeffries.)
Achimenes, sp., double. (Ci.pt. Bayley.)
Gesnera bu'.bosa (?) (Mrs. Jeffreys.)
Oatalpa Krempferi, S. & s; . .lapan. (T. Hanbury.)
Halvia camphorata. (T. Hanbury.)
t>. hispanica, L. America. (T, Hanbury.)
S. interrupta. (T. Hanbury.)

S. canariensis, Linn. Canary Islanda. (T. Hanbury.)
Coleus, several garden vars. (A. C. ].,iwrie.)
Cryptocarya glaucescens, R. Br. Queensland, N. S.

Wales. (J. P. ^^'illiam Bros.)
Kesodaphne Tawa, Hk. f . New Zealand. (H. Travers. )
Araucaria imbricata,Pav. " Puzzle Monkey." S. Chili

(Haage & Schmidt.)
Picea Fraseri, Loud. Carolina. (Kew.)
Abies Smithiana, Forbes. W^. Himalaya. (Kew.)
Pinus Strobus, Linn. N. America. (Kew.)

Monocotyledons.

Dendrobium nobile, Lindl. China (T. C Huxley.)
D., sp. (T. C. Huxley.)

Phala*nop.sis grandiflora, Lindl. .Tava. (A. 0. Lawrie,)
Freesia Leichtlini, Klatt. Cape. (T. C. Huxley.)
Crinum, sp. (W. J. Cotton.)
Agave Xalaapensi.s. (T. Hanbury.)
A. xylinacantha, var. univitatta (T. Hambury.)
Commelyua ccelestis. (Mrs. Baker.)
Also bulbs of Hyacinths, Tulips, Crocus, kc, from
W. Jordan,

9. — Herbarium and Library.

Herhnrivm.—'DMTmg my absence the opportunity
was taken of going through, cleaning and sorting all
the duplicate .specimens of the ''C. P." (Ceylon
Plants) series, and re-arranging them under covers
for easy access, in accordance with my new Catalogue
of the Ceylon Flora. This has been completed during
the year by the draughtsman, who acts also as keeper
of the herbarium, Twelve new cabinets have beeu

set up, and the duplicates accommodated in them ;
it is a great convenience to have them thus readily
accessible, and iu a parallel series with the herbarium
itself. Aa time serves 1 am incorporating with these
the numerous duplicates which have accumulated since
I took charge of the Department, hitherto separately
arranged.

The late Muhamdirara made several collecting ex-
peditions in the earlier half of the year, and on two
occasions was accompanied by the draughtsman
several interesting and a few new plants were dis-
covered, preserved, and sketched on these excursions.

In all, the draughtsman completed fifty-eight draw-
ings of phuits during the year, in addition to seven
arge drawings of estate products, which were ex-
hibited at the Exhibition iu London, aud subsequently
presented to the Museum of Economic Botany at
Kew.

The additions to the General Herbarium have been : —
From the Kew Herbarium :— 1 1) A collection of plants

from Penang, collected by Curtis; (2) miscel-
laneous plants from the East.
From Dr. G. Watt, Calcutta, a collection of plants

fron Munipur.
From Dr. G. King, Calcutta, a valuable serious of

named specimens of Ficus.
From Dr. Engler, Breslau, Nos. 1 to 200 of his

" Araceaj exsiccatce."
LibniTi/. — The following books have been added

during the year, many of which I purchased,

cheaply during my stay in London : —
Clarke, B., New Arrangement of Phanerogamous

Plants, third ed., 188G.
Miquel, De vero Pipere Cubeba, 1839
Kegel, Monogr. gen. Eremostachys, 1886. (Presenled.)
Trimen, Systematic Catalogue of Plants of Ceylon

1885. ( Presenter/.)
Hooker, J. D., llora of British India, pt. 13, 188G.

{Presented.)
Hoilingsworth, Lists of Plants found in Guindy Park

and in the Grounds of Government House, Madras

188G. {Premited.)
Seemann, Flora Yitiensis, 18(15^73.
Lunan, Hortus .Tamaicen.«.is, 2 vols., 1814.
De Candolle, A., Origin of Cultivated Plants. English

Edition, 1884.
Church, A. H., The Food Grains of India, 188G.
Acta Hort. Petropolitani, vol. IX., pt. 2, 18S6.

{Presented.)
Icones Plantarum, Ser. 3, vol. VI, pt. 2, and vol. VII,

pts. 1,2, and 3.
Thompson's Gardener's Assistant, edited by T.Moore

1884.
N ilmorin-Andrieux, The Vegetable Garden. Eng-

li.'-h Edition, ISS.i.
Wiliiams, Orchid Grower'? Manual, edition 6, 1885.
Bull, W., A set of his Annual Ketail Lists from

1870 to 1885, wanting 1871 and 1874. (Presented.)
Plukenet, Opera omnia, 4 vols., reprint, 17G9.
Dillenius Hortus Elthamensis, 2 vols., 1732.
Hart, Botanist's Eamble in Central America, 1886.

(Presented.)
Moore, Lepidoptera of Ceylon, pts. 11 and 12

(Presrnted.)

^Luseum. — I was much occupied in the early months
of the j'ear with the formation of a set of wood
specimens for the (.'olonial and Indian Exhibition. The
actual number ultimately selected ami esliibited was
243, no duplicates or doubtfuUj' identified specimens
being sent home. As I anticipated, I was also able
to supply a set of 126 numbered .specimens in the
rough to the Colombo Museum, which were sent there
in September, ami I have left a .•iomewhat larger
series — many of which arf, however, duplicati-s of
one another, or doubtfully determined — :it I'eradeniya.
I purpose at once to arrange these here as a nucleus
of the long-contemplated economic intiseinn. They
will form a good substantial commencement, and can
be set up without nnich expense, but nothing can
be done for the conservation of more perishable objects
until some expenditure can be sanctioned for glass-
fronted, well-made cabinets and glass-stoppered bottles.

June i, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

829

And the following the uumber of purchasers:—

At Peradeniya ... 438

Hakgala ... 16iJ

Heuaratgoda ... 4G

Anuradhapura ... 37

BaduUa ... 32

Total ...

719

11. — Expenditure.
The cost of the Botanic Gardens Department for the
year has been as follows : —

R. c. R. c.

Salaries - 18,312 78

Gardeners' and Labourers' wages: —
Peradeniya ... 8,189 58

Hakgala ... 3,0U0 0

Henaratgoda ... 1,999 .58

Anuradhapura ... 999 75

BaduUa ... 1,496 98

15,685 89

Office Contingencies ... — 3,087 22

Stationery ... — 76 47

Travelling and Collecting — 1,997 1

For the Pavilion, Kandy — 2,205 0

41,394 37

HENRY TRIMEN, m.b.

JJirectoT.
Peradeniya, February 28, 1887.

PLANTING IN BRAZIL:

COFFEE— CINCHONA— TEA — SUGAR— COTTON— JUTE
— LABOUR.

[I enclose you part of a letter I re3eived from
Mr. A. Scott Blacklaw, Brazil— by last mail. You
will see by it that he gives some interesting facts
in connection with agriculture and the labour
question there. — Cor.]

I hope Ceylon has a good coffee crop this year,
for the price is to be high. Brazil is to give
a small one. The planters have no expectation
of getting even half an average crop. This is
proved to a good extent by the reports of those
who sell imported articles, machinery &c., to
planters, all complaining they can do nothing and
the promised orders have been postponed for a
year. There has been little coffee blossom. The
great blossom of October did not make its appear-
ance owing to drought in some parts and cold
and frosls in others. A few blossoms showed them-
selves in January and February but they were
like those that appear out ol season in Ceylon ;
if they come to anything like fruit they do not
pay for picking.

Coft'ee is selling in Rio at present some 10 per
cent more than the prices of same quality in New
York : you know of course the market at the latter
place rules the price of Brazilian coffee.

There is a talk of growing cinchona here, but
they want Government to take the initiative.

Tea has been tried, but the sample was rather
gross and wanting in flavour, but as a proof
that it will grow I may mention that I pass on
the railway a piece of an old tea plantation which
was abandoned some tifteen years ago and left for
cattle to graze on, in spite of the neglect the
bushes are standing up in beautiful line, and would
well repay being taken care of again.

We are an ejiterprizmg people but at the same time
a great protectionist people, and our eiiterprise
often goes in the direction of deveinping industries
whicli are protected by heavy import duties. Large
Cotton Mills have sprung up in all directions
and owing to the heavy duties on manufactured
goods these mills pay and are expected to pay
even with the prospect of having to import the

raw material. There is now a rage for Jute
Mills and already machinery from a Dundee firm
(Parker's) is being put up for a number of rooms.
These machines are made and worked by British
people at first. Cotton cultivation is not extending
and as these industries look for their profit in
manufacture only protected by import duty, we are
not to suppose that jute cultivation will extend
beyond the experimental process. Coffee and cane
are the two products that can profitably employ
the agricultural labourer in this country and will
continue to be so. Ceylon and India need not
fear competition in the cultivation of cotton and
jute. Cwffee will hold its own for a long time
here, and were it not for the large export duty
cane sugar from this country need not fear the
great beet-root competition in Europe.

The labour question is in the way of being solved
by the introduction of European families of the
country labouring class. Government pay the pass-
age from their homes to the place they choose
to settle.

The doom of slavery is now fixed and it will
be at an end by the advent of the Twentieth
Century. Benevolent people are anticipating it
by liberating their slaves on condition of worldng
for a few years, say from three to five. Almost
every newspaper contains some paragraph notify^
ing such charitable intention. Our Emperor has
been very sick for the last two or three weeks, but
has now happily recovered. The addresses which
have been presented to him since his convalescence
from all classes, both Brazilians and foreigners,
show how well he is liked and how much he would
be missed. A. S. B.

TEA IN CEYLON.

In a recent article we discussed the probable future
of Indian tea, a future which must be greatly influen-
ced by the yield of Ceylon, and we now propose to
specially consider the prospects of the industry in
that island. Some marvellous results have undoubt"
edly been attained iu the way of made tea per acre,
notably from ftlariawatte, but there are many reasons
for thinking, it unlikely that the average yield per
acre of the future, when Ceylon has settled down with
its permanent area in full bearing, will exceed that
of India. Much tea has been put down on old colfee
land, and on poor soil, and though the tea plant is
far more hardy th.'in its rivals, coft'ee and ciuchona,
yet it cannot for long give paying results except iu
good soil, or unless it is well manured. Also, though
as good land can probably be shewn in Ceylon as iu
India, yet on the whole, it is tlie opinion of such Indian
planters as have been over Ceylon tea districts, and
of not a few Ceylon planters, who have visited Indian
plantations and are therefore in a position to form an
opinion, that the average Ceylon soil is poorer than
that on which Indian planters work. The size of the
tea trees and their leaf bearing surface at Mariawatte
probably the best known of Ceylon tea estates, com-
pare unfavourably with the aspect of the tea on some
of the Niigiri plantations, though the yield of the
latter is far inferior to that of the former. The ex-
planation of this and of the strength and flavour
of Ceylon tea seems to be that the climate there
is perfection, as far as the tea plant is concerned.
But climate, though it will induce a large yieUl
to begin with, will not keep tea going for long, and
the poorer the soil the sooner will exhaustion take
place, so that it seems likely that, without heavy
iiiaiiuring, involving proportionate expense, many Cey-
lon tea estates will be early worked out. Of course
this is only theory at present, and we have no desire
to see it practically proved, as if ever a community
set an example of pluck and enterprise luuier difli-
culties it was the Ceylon planters when their coffee
was devastated by leaf disease and they turned to tea.
Still, there must be a, reason for abnormal yields from

830

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [June 1, 1887.

comparatively poor soil, and as far as can be seen at
present that reason is a forcing and, consequently.
an exhausting climate.

It is difficult, then to believe that tea will pay in
Ceylon to the extent that some of its sanguine sup-
porters imagine, though, given proper cultivation, the
Oeylon planter should in no way be worse off than
the best of his Indian brethren. He has had a good
start which is a great thing. Partly through judi-
cious advertising and partly through its own merits
Ceylon tea has taken the fancy of consumers, and is
steadily making its way on the Continent, a note-
worthy point. True, its average price has fallen to
Is Id. per lb. from the Is 3|d of 1885, but, consider-
ing the increased supply, this is only in fair propor-
tion to the fall in other teas, and the highest aver-
age price on the London market is still held by a
Ceylon estate, Blackstone, which obtained an average
of Is O^d per lb. for 20,000 lb. sent home during 1886.
The group of estates represented by the K. A. W.
mark reaiizfid Is 3|d per lb. for, 300,000 lb. the largest
(juantity sent home under one branii, and Mariawatte
obtained Is 2|d per lb. for 137,000 lb. shipped during
the same period. As to the acreage now under tea in
Ceylon, planters themselves seem to have but little
idea of what it is, and extensions are still the order
of the day. No deduction can be drawn from the
export of tea, as might be done were the plantations
in full bearing, for the greater portion is still im-
}nature, so there is nothing to go by except Oeylon
estimates of future yield, (and how these are arrived
at it is hard to say), bearing in mind that of two
estimates it is safest to take the lower. This brings
us to the figures given in our recent article on India
tea as to the probable yield of Ceylon,— 35 millions in
1890. and beyond this it is idle to look at present.
"With a poorer .soil than India, a forcing climate, and
no annual period of rest, such as the old season
ensures in the north, cultivation expenses must be in-
creased if the trees are to live and thrive, and unless
this is speedily recognised by those who are ru.shing
into tea in Oeylon they will have to face, later on
e. congested market and lower prices, both of which
may be expected, with a reduced yield resulting from
exhausted trees. — Madras i[ail.

COFFEE AND GEEEN BUG— AND THE
NEED FOE LOOKING AHEAD.

We publish elsewhere three letters on this sub-
ject from planters of very long experience in the
colony. The fact that these letters have reached
us ahnost together within the past few days
is a simple coincidence ; for, even if known to
each other, the writers, one in the Northern, one
in Uva and the other in Colombo, could have had
no knowledge, each of what the others were doing.
This preliminary remark may be needful, because a
reader of the letters would suppose that the Uva
and Colombo correspondents had sat down to dis-
pose of some of the very sweeping statements of
" An Experienced One." This gentleman's " ex-
perience " has, we believe, been confined to dis-
tricts north of Kandy, where, undoubtedly " green
bug" has done all the mischief he specifies; but
we do not see sufficient warranty for this very decided
pessimist goin;^- on to generalize, that, as it has
been in Matale, Kelebokka and the Knuckles, so must
it be in Bogawantalawa, Agrapatana and the Uva dis-
tricts. As a matter of tact, we believe, the comparison
or generalization has failed already. We think that
the period which was sufficient for green bug to
practically kill out what coffee, leaf-disease had
left in the Northern districts, has already been
exceeded in reference to the other districts with
green bug from time to time, visible, and yet no
such " killing-out," so far as our information
goes, has been experienced in any of the divisions

we have specified ? We are by no means preach-
ing tne permanency of " coffee," nor have we
based a single argument for railway txtension
or any other work on such an idea. We have
said and repeated it again and again, that, for every
acre of coffee that may disappear in Uva for
instance, the full equivalent— and more than the
equivalent— will come into cultivation of other pro-
ducts suitable to the climate, soil and other conditions.
Whatever value may be attached to our Northern
correspondent's views regarding coffee, there i.q
absolutely no justification for his closing para-
graph, seeing that the success of tea in the great
and fertile districts of Uva is now an assured suc-
cess, and that to make it fully and financially
successful, the Uva planters just want the railway
facilities which the cisalpine districts enjoy. The
one great railway blunder of the Oeylon Government
was the making of the Matale line hffore the exten-
sion toHaputale. The latter would have paid hand-
somely all through the bad years and would now be
affording an increasingly handsome income, rising
year by year, as all the Uva traffic was gradually
absorbed by it, and as the hidden valleys and
resources of this most fertile province became
more fully developed,— whereas the poor results of
the Matale branch and of the abortive Nanuoya sec-
tion have done much to damage the credit of the
colony. We are free of responsibility for this result,
for we preached in and out of season, to show where
the really profitable traffic lay. I3ut this is all
by the way. It is a fine commentary on the pessi-
mist letter before us that the writer should stand
in the way of Uva having a railway after seeing
his own district served, and at a time when Eail-
way progress in the rule in nearly every British
Dependency — in Dependencies even from whence old
Ceylon planters are returning, for the reason that
there is more life and activity here -more pros-
pect of prosperous times than in the very coun-
tries where railways are going ahead at a rate
which covers with shame the Downing Street
autocrats who liave stopped the completion of our
main line all these years.

To return to green bug and coffee, it is
absurd to tell planters with fine fields
of the staple product which is becoming so in-
creasingly valuable — and in a year when good
crops are the rule, — that if green bug is seen on
their bushes, they are do nothing, save • to grin
and look on until their coffee is swept out of
existence, meantime putting in the fitting sub-
stitute. " One Experienced" laughs at the idea of
"lime" being of use, or indeed anything else.
Now we stated the other day, on the authority
of a proprietor (name given) — a gentleman who
is not in the habits of making rash statements,
— that on his estate caustic lime had been proved
to be very effectual in checking and driving
away green bug. Tliis was in Uva. Is our
correspondent prepared to say that what did
not do with him north of Kandy, is to prove
equally useless in a different climate with soil
and coffee trees it may be very superior to the
best even under his observation ? As regards
Uva generally, we believe green bug was noticed
on several estates both in Haputale and Badulla
more than a year ago. Has it then killed out
coffee there ? Was it not rather seen on some
estates which last season gave one of the heaviest
crops they ever bore? If so, there is this characteristic
about green bug in Uva which, we believe, was not
observable in the old Northern districts, namely
that the attack comes and goes— it does not, in Uva,
as in the North when once it lias appeared, march
steadily on, killing out all before it. There is
therefore not only room, but much reason for en-

juKIi 1, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

^31

couragement, to experiment, to cultivate, to light
the enemy wherever it shews itselt with all
available forces. A reprieve of even a few years
would suffice, where there is any sign of
the enemy finally conquering, to bring the sub-
stitute into full flush. But meantime we need
scarcely say that with Ceylon coffee nearly
touching the 100s per cwt., there is no Uva,
Udapusellawa, Bogawantalawa or Agrapatena planter
who will not make sure of doing justice to all
the coffee that remains to him, before he decides to
plant up his whole property with tea or some
other substitute.

PLANTING LETTERS FROM JAMAICA— NO"
XVII.

WEATHER AND CHOPS — LEAF-DISEASE — LAEOUK.

Blue Mountain District, 25th March 1887.
Dear Sib, — The crops in the lower elevations are
now well over, that in the Top Mountain District
is just commencing. All low-lying coffee, as I have
mentioned in a previous letter has done well this
1880-87 season, as it escaped the worst of the
awful storms of June and August ; prices also have
been very good, so the settlers must have made
money. Planters were willing to buy the cherry at
a fair price, but " (^uashie " to a great extent
thought it better to pulp and cure it himself in
his own rough way, fancying he could realize more
money for it in Kingston, I have been told that
the dealers in Kingston who have got orders from
America, and a limit as to price, do not look so
much to the quality, as long as they get the quantity.
This accounts for the settlers getting a good price
for their coffee though it must be far worse cured
than the coffee prepared on the estates, with all
the necessary and proper appliances. Crop of the
real Blue Mountain berry will be very short this
year, so prices should range higher than last year ;
in fact coffee prospects for planters seem to be
brightening up, for if it be true that some disease
has shown itself in Brazil in the Brazilian coffee
fields which must prevent the increase of yield in
that immense country, (added to yearly increasing
difficulties as to labour,) and keep the production within
certain bounds, and cause consumption to over-
take production : then may we West Indian and
Central American coffee planters be thankful that
"it is an ill wind that blows no one any good."
I am glad to see that improved prices have stimul-
ated the efforts of the Ceylon planters to keep up
in a high state of cultivation, the coffee still left
in several of the high districts estates, and that
many of them were rejoicing they had not entirely
sacrificed their coffee-lields to tea. The Rev. Mr.
Abbay's words have come wonderfully true, though
I could hardly believe at the time leaf-disease
would become so destructive and cause the com-
mercial rum of so many old and tried Ceylon men,
for 1 hoped aiid believed it would pass away after
a time as did black bug, and other enemies of the
coffee tree, Mr. Abbay said, the oldest, poorest,
and low-lying estates would first succumb, but
that in the higher and younger districts with good
soil, on the western, and specially the eastern
side of the island as Haputale, Udapussellawa and
Uva generally would tight the battle longest, and
so it has turned out, but his prophetic idea that
coffee would ere this have been selling for 200s
per cwt., has not as yet come to pass ; he sup-
posed the disease would soon get to Brazil, for a
letter, a man's clothes, a parcel, or botanical
specimen, a book-packet would be suflicent to
spread the spores all over the country. God grant

that this may be averted, for so far the West Indies
and the Brazils have not been visited by the
llcmeliii ]'astatri.r, so every care should be
taken by the Governments of the various coun-
tries on this side of the globe to keep it out.
Of late the weather has been cool and pleasant,
indeed too much so for coffee fields over 4,000
feet above the level of the sea. The "Northers"
we experienced in January and February have a
very baneful effect upon the coffee bushes especially
young plants, they become dried up, withered and
look as if they had been blasted by fire instead
of cold. As my experience accumulates, I find it
takes longer to raise and bring coffee into bear-
ing in Jamaica than it did in Ceylon, for the
winters are much more marked, and vegetation
high up on the hills seems checked for quite three
or four months. It is evident to me that Jamaica
being as far north of the Etjuator as 17 degrees,
the utmost limit for the planting of coft'ee should
be 4,000 feet above sea-level ; S,000 to 3,-500 being
the best and safest elevation to select. As to
labour, it may become more scarce, especially in
the low-lands if it be true that labourers are,
being ottered a Columbian Dollar say 2s 6d a day
and their food to work on the Costa Rica Railway
the starting-point on the Atlantic being " Port
Limon," which moreover is fast becoming a very
influential port for the shipment of bananas, and
so threatens to damage our Jamaica market in the
United States, unless we ourselves extend our railway
lines into the fruit-growing districts, and connect
them with the chief shipping ports because
the Port Limon fruit being carried by rail, is
put on board fresh and in good condition,
whereas the Jamaica fruit has to be carried
in drays and on people's heads, and may
have several moves before it finds its way
on boardship. It is also said that kbourers
on the Costa Rica Railway can arrange to have a
portion of their wages remitted to their families,
this and the food to be provided by the Company,
and the better climate will, in my humble opinion,
draw many men away from the Panama Canal,
which is getting a worse name than ever, as the
agents for procuring labour, according to letters in
the newspapers state, deceive the people by assur-
ances of immediate employment, and free return
passages, whereas it seems only the strong and
hardy get employment from the contractors.

W. S.

Coffee Reiuvivus! — In our Overland Sum-
mary we allude to the special care, nay coddling
now observed of every coffee tree with any life
left in it, upcountry. A special case is brought
to our notice referring to a proprietor in a district
not a hundred miles from Adam's Peak who has
been trying for two or three years to kill out his
coffee generally to make room for the tea, and
who nearly accomplished his end last year, but who
has of late been anxiously inspecting the stumps
with a view to revival ! " Can these dry bones
live " is the question asked. Apparently they can,
for a single sucker is already appearing and with
every attention paid to it and the parent stem,
we daresay, a good few bushels at R]') per
bushel ! may yet be gathered even though
it may be to the detriment of the tea
simultaneously being plucked alongside. The moral
is evidently "Never say die" even to a dried up
Coffee stick; 'but oh!' — thinks this planter and
many other men, — ' if I had only not been in such a
hurry to supersede the old berry, I might have
got a big haul this iseason 1'

83:2

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June t, 1887.

Cacao ix Brazil. — A correspondent of the Journal
at Ceara states that the cultivation of cacao is
attracting considerable attention in that province,
particularly in the Baturitu district. — lUo A c«-.s.

Tjoa Pj;UCkixg J';XTiiAoi;j>iXAKY. — From a
medium elevation a planter reports that two of
his coolies brought in 150 lb. of Rreen leaf i)lucked
between G-30 a.m. and '6 p.m. The Hush was an
eight-day one on Jatinga-Manipura, indigenous tea,
about three years old. Has this been beaten ?

MonTdAUE Secukities. — Fiiblic Opinion has pub-
lished the first of a series of monthly tables, show-
ing the capital employed in landed securities in
Trinidad, as also the fluctuations of the rate of
interest as determined by a monthly average. The
transactions in February, 1887, fairly indicate the
ruling rates in the open market, as distinct from
the Bank rate of (i per cent. In the column of 5 per
cent, the figures represent one single transaction
between a cocoa firm there and suppliers in England;
while in the column of 7 per cent, two large loans
of *20,000 and #12,000 respectively make up the
figure $;52,00O. Eliminating these exceptions, the
ruling rates in the open market are 8 and 10 per
cent., interest at 10 per cent, being readily paid on
sums not exceeding oOO/., and at 8 per cent, on loans
in excess of that amount.

The Value of Sugar Estate3 in Bardados. — Here
is a chance for English investors. Amongst recent
appraiiements in Barbados has been the Kedland
estate, containing 204 acres of land well situated
in the viilley of St George, which has been valued
at 10,fl.-)8/., and a correspondent of the local Globe
.suggests that it would afford a good opportunity
for tlie organisation of a company to purchase the
proijerly and erect a factory thereon, as there is
a surounding acreage which would yield about 1,000
tons of sugar, the canes being sent to Eedland to
be manufactured. Another authority thinks the
experiment would be on too small a scale to pay
the expense of erecting the necessary machinery ;
unless, of course, there was a prospect of other
landowners being induced to send their canes to
the factory to be made into sugar. The proposal,
which is said to come from a practical planter,
is, however, another indication that the
idea is gaining ground amongst the planting body
tliat improved systems of manufacture are indis-
pensable if the Colony is to hold her own in the
present struggle with competition, — Colonics cO India,

Decline of Farminu Profits in Britain. — Mr.
Goschen in his Budget speech stated : —

The assessment of lands under Schedule A Avas
£69,000,000 in 1877 and £63,01)0,000 iu 188(5. That was
on lands alone. The assessment under Schedule B
which relates to farming profits, was per penny £74,000
iu 1870, £.51,000 in 1886, and only £47,000 iu 18*87, being
a fall of 36 per cent iu ten years. This is a notable cir-
cumstauce, aud one which should be taken into the con-
sideration of the Committee. (Hear, hear.) It is per-
haps what I may call the distributing classes whose in-
comes are below £1,000 who have suffered least from
the general depression. The commercial depressiou has
.struck at the top ; it has struck the great maimfacturers;
it has also affected the wage-earning classes to a
certain extent though they have been largely indemni-
fied by the fall of prices; it has struck at the agri-
cultural classes and the farmers ; but the middleman
has not suffered to the same extent. (Hear* hear.)

Tea : Indian and Ceyi.on. — There was good
competition for the small quantity of Indian tea brought
forward on Thursday, and slightly advanced rates (vere
in most instances paid. As the available stocks of the
past season's crop, held by importers, are now becom-
ing comparatively small, the market for the next few
mouths will probably be more moderately supplied,
as is usually the case at this period ; the advance in the
v»ltte of the better grades from the loweat poiut, which

was touched towards the close of last January, is in some
cases considerable, but it seems probable from the
gradual contraction of their supply, that these kinds
will remain firm, at any rate until the new teas are iu
the market. The tendency of values of the commoiif^r,
sorts is also towards greater firmness, but if the pro-
portion of the supply of these grades continues on the
same large scale as hitherto, any actual advance iu their
value does not appear prob.ible. The future course of
values, however, nmst depend on the demand, and if
the consumption coutinues on the present satisfactory
scale, prices are less likely to prove more favourable to
buyers. — /'ro'h/.ce Mufkvt J'evicir, April 16th.

TitK OnsTACLE TO AdUicuLTURE. — It is oftcn said
that the real obstacle to agricultural improvement in
India is the obstinate conservatism of the agriculturists.
The lliiulii Patriot iu an article upon the last Report
of the Agricultural Department of these Provinces
laudably endeavours ta strengthen this feeling. It
says: — ""We have over aud over again shewn in these
columns that many of the experiments conducted in
the model farm relate to matters which can have
no rsal bearing, direct or indirect, on agricultural im-
provements, and can certainly couvey no lesson to the
agricultural community. It cannot be too carefully
borne iu mind that the ordinary ryot cannot be ex-
pected to practise the transcendental agriculture of our
model farms. We used to hear much of the famous
plough invented by the North-West Department in the
time of Mr. Buck ; but we are now told that ' the
initial obstacle to improved ploughs in many places is
that the starveling btdlocks arc unequal to the slightly
increased draught.' Did not Mr. Buck assure us that
the improved plough patronised by him was admirably
suited to the weak cattle of the country? Prom what
we have said above it is clear that although the
Xorth-West Agricultural Department costs K7t',000 a
year, it has nothing to shew in return for this expendi-
ture."— Pioneer, May 5th.

" The Tea-Planter's Manual."— By T. C. Owen.
(Colombo: A. M. & J. Ferguson.) — Tea-planting is yet
in its infancy iu Ceylon, and this little book is pro-
bably the first treatise that has been written on the
subject with special reference to that colony. Mr.
Oweu, although a practical planter himself, does not
profess to speak only from his own experience — and,
indeed, it may almost be said that there is as yet no
man in Ceylon whose personal experience of tea-plant-
ing there would invest a work on the subject with any
very commanding authority. But the author expressly
premises iu his preface that his manual is rather a
compilation of the opinions of others, and the results
they have arrived at. It is this which gives the book
its special value as a practical treatise for practical men
in Ceylon, and even perhaps in the older tea districts
of India, for, indeed, it is a valuable contribution to the
library of tea. Mr. Owen has made his selections from
the recorded experiences aud deductions of others with
great judgment, and addressing as he does, practical
planters, who will not be likely to quarrel with a degree
of detail, perhaps not always necessary, he has pre-
ferred rather to risk erring on the side of prolixity
than to sacrifice any of the original authority of the
opinions he quotes by condensation. He supplements
these opiuions, however, by valuable comments derived
from his own experience and that of other Ceylon plant-
ers. The book also contains plans and specifications
of buildings required on a tea garden, which will, no
doubt, have their value to the practical planter; al-
though the erection of such buildings is far too im-
portant a matter to be materially intiueuced by hard
and fast generalities. To the general reader, however,
by far the most interesting portion of the book
will undoubtedly be the " Introduction," which is
devoted mainly to a narrative of the growth of the in-
dustry in Ceylon, and a wonderful story it is. Ceylon
therefore, promises to become a serious competitor with
India and China ; but there is room for all, and cheap
tea undoubtedly means increased consumption. There
are better days in store, then, for a colony which has
suffered so much through the decay of colfec piautiug.
'—Ulo-igow lierald, April lltU.

June i, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

833

^orr^spondi^no^.

To the Editor of the ''Ceylon Observer,''

CINCHONA "THATCHED" AND "UN-
THATCHED— AS TO QUANTITY?

Badulla, '2nd April 1887.
Dear Sir, — A late correspondent, in asking Mr.
Esdaile for explanations regarding thatched and un-
thatched trees, omitted one question, perhaps the
most important, viz. : Did the unthatched trees
produce as much bark as the thatched ? If Mr.
Esdaile can save us the expense of thatching, I
am sure we shall all be very much obliged to him.
Hoping you can find space for this enquiry.— I re-
main, &c., A PLANTER.

CACTUS AS A FORAGE PLANT FOR THE

NORTH-EAST OF THE ISLAND.

MuUaitivu Agri:- School, 5th May 1887.
Deak Sie, — In the March number of the Tropical
Ar/ricidtitrist (page 586,) I came across an extract
about a thornless species of cactus introduced as a
forage plant into the eastern districts of tlie Cape
by Mr. J. B. HeUier. I doubt not that, as you re-
mark, the plant will be found useful in the north
and east of Ceylon. It will especially be a source
of great relief here at MuUaitivu where most of the
cattle actually starve during the greater part of the
dry season. Anyone, therefore, who will take the
trouble to introduce the plant here will deserve
our best thanks. One great drawback in cattle rear-
ing here is bad feeding. Country cattle, I need
hardly Bay, would be in a much better condition
were they well fed ; and any superior new breed in-
troduced here would soon degenerate so long as the
present bad feed continues. — Yours respectfully,

E. T. HOOLE.

SERICULTUEE.

Colombo, 7th May.

Sir, — Sometime ago I had a few hundred eggs of
silkworm sent me by an up-country gentleman.
I had according to his directions kept them in a
tray, and gave their young, tender leaves of the
mulberry tree at first, and larger leaves as they
grew older. I had also to take care that no mice,
birds or insects got at them and to feed them as
regularly as possible three times a day, or four
times in hot weather. The result was that after
the lapse of about a month, I had cocoons from
which I gathered a small quantity of floss silk say
about one or one-half lb. But as I did not know
how to comb it and put it to some use, nor get
further information on the matter, I left off making
further experiments. Also, I have not been able
to preserve the eggs yet the butter-flies laid. I could
not make provision for a further supply of these
worms. There is, however one thought that struck
me forcibly and that was that if proper and system-
atic efforts were made in the rearing of silkworms
in Ceylon, silk could be easily manufactured here
as well as is done in other parts of the world. The
following passage which I lately read in a book
confirms me on this opinion: — " The countries most
noted for their silk manufactures aie China, Japan,
Italy, France and England. The rearing of silk
worms enables many persons to earn a livelihood.
Old people and children unfit for hard-labour can
tend silkworms."

I kave seen a large number of mulberry trees
growing freely in and around Colombe, and witli
their leaves, these worms could easily be fed, and,
105

if needed, more trees might be grown for this par-
ticular purpose. As the silkworms or eggs are not
procurable here, I think it would be well if Govern-
ment would order out a supply for gratuitous dis-
tribution among the people, and they will, no doubt,
give an impetus to a new industry in Ceylon. And
if eventually the rearing of the silkworms succeeds,
a person could be ordered out in order to teach
the further process of combing &c. to the people.—
Yours faithfully, A WELL-WISHER.

[We fear suitable labour is too expensive in Cey-
lon, and the Sinhalese too apathetic, apart
from questions of climate. The most promising
experiment we ever saw in the colony was at
Kowdapallella, somewhat over two years ago, with
eggs brought by Mr. Kobt. Fraser from Japan. It
threatened to break down and probably did so (?)
from the difficulty of supplying the voracious worms
with a sufficient (juantity of mulberry leaves.—
Ed.]

PECULIAR TEA LEAVES.

Kalutara, 8th May 1887.

Dio.vR StR, — I enclose some tea leaves with a
peculiar rib running on each side of the mid-rib.
This peculiarity is common over hundreds of acres
in the district. Can you explain the cause of the
appearance ? No evil effect whatsoever appears to
accompany it, but it would be interesting to know
the cause.— Yours faithfully, R. MORISON.

[We referred the leaves to Dr. Trimen, who
has been good enough to give the following inter-
esting explanation : —

"The markings on the leaf are not ribs or veins,
but linear scars or bruises. The cause of their form-
ation would, in all probability, be found by examin-
ing them when ni the bud, before expansion. Nor-
mally the youug tea-leaves in that stage are rolled
in from both aides on the upper surface, a condition
technically known as 'involute;' but it would ap-
pear that in those before us there has been a. folding
inwards instead of or besides the rolling, f accompanied
with some pressure) along the lines so clearly marked.
These lines thus produced, though not normal in the
leaves of tea are always found in those of Erythroxtjlon
coca and give them a very characteristic appearance."

COFFEE AND GREEN BUG :— No. I.

9th May, 1887.
Sir, — Be the green bug question, people are too
apt to catch at straws of hope, instead of utilizing
the short time left them to rapidly replace coffee
by substitutes, and we are often airily told, in
planting notes, that " bug has been about, but has
gone again." Mas it ?

It is perfectly characteristic of it to depart for
a short season, but the instances when it has not
returned again and again while a coft'ee tree was
left, are so very rare, that they are not worth count-
ing. Another straw is, that any coffee which has
been actually killed, was it not, perhaps, due more
to exhaustion than to bug? And a correspondent

I wants to know whether any large acreage being

i killed by it is upon record ?

I Thous.\nds ok Acres have been killed in one and
two seasons by bug, and bug alone, and as cleanly
as if they never existed ; while, in many instances,
the best coffee (such as one sees round cooly lines)
made the poorest fight, caving in in one season
only. The great and only hope for such districts
now experiencing the bug for the first time, is that
some climatic influence, such as higher elevation
affords, may obviate much destruction by the pest ;
but, if the climate fails then the fact is no secret,
which every one with experience will maintain,
that before two years have elapsed, there will be

834

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June i, 1887.

but a few desultory fragments of coffee left to
Ceylon,

There are no known remedies, and tboec who
are squandering money upon experiments, may just
as reasonably drop their coin into the depths of
the Indian Ocean. As for liinc. it is exactly the
luxury this bug most dearly loves. To the " nau-
seous gases " theory and digging round the roots
to enable their escape, I say " rubbish and fiddle-
sticks."

Coffee does not produce fi to 8 cwt. per acre with
nauseous gases at its roots, but fields with fine heal-
thy crops upon them have been, nevertheless,
attacked and killed in one season by bug.

The immediate starting of substitutes for coffee
is the remedy, solely, for properties where coffee
is attacked, but where it is still "The King"
fragile monarch tho' he be.

And until such remedy be largely applied and with
every prospect of success proved, were a Governor of
Ceylon to give even a passing thought an to Kail-
way Extension beyond Nanuoya, be the gauge
broad or narrow, it should entitle him to con-
signment to some such establishment as Bedlam.

ONE EXPEKIENCED.

GREEN BUG IN UVA :— No. II.
Dear Sir, — Yes. we have green bug here
and have had it for some time, longer than
we ourselves know, for it is so like the old black
bug which never did us any harm to speak of
and never spread over an entire estate as it did
in wet districts. Green bug, so far as I have been
able to judge, is very similar in its action, that
is to say, whilst it has diffused itself rapidly over
a large extent of country in a short time, nowhere
that I know of in Uva. has it affected more than
a few isolated patches on estates and in no case
that I know of has it killed the coffee. Weak, sickly
coffee or sickly plants of any kind are always more
liable to disease and more severely affected than
healthy plants. It would be folly altogether to
ignore and shut one's eyes to the fact that green
bug is on our coffee, but I would ask the Uva
planter to look back on the past and " seeing
take heart again." Green bug, serious as the evil
may prove, will no more kill our coffee than has
leaf-disease or black bug. Let Mr. Deaker con-
tinue to cultivate well, keep his trees well open
to sun and light, prune judiciously when his
"powder will be dry" and he may "trust in
Providence " and a good soil.

OLD UVA PLANTER*.

COFFEE AND GREEN BUG :— No. III.

Deak Sik, — Having been challenged as it were
to say something about green bug and having
been accorded the privilege of being allowed to
stand-by — and watch a considerable part of Mr.
Green's operations in working out the life-history
of the insect, I venture on making a few observ-
ations. The discussion which has arisen about the
Lecanittm viridc may be considered by many to be
rather late in the day — when about two-thirds of
the acreage of coffee in the island has been de-
stroyed by it. However, " better late than never "
may I think be exemplified here, as I hope to be
able to show that there are several reasons why
attempts to destroy the pest in certain situations
are more likely to be successful now than they
have been in the past. The principal reason which
gives planters hopes of eventually overcoming the
enemy is the very characteristic which first drew
my attention to the fact of its being a new species
of coccus — even before I had seen it, — the fact that

*Not a proprietor we may add.— Ed.

it flourished most and was more destructive on dry
low-lying estates than on high, wet and exposed
fields. The year ISfiO was a very dry one in the
Central Province until crop time, and then it com-
menced to rain, and continued doing so more or
less for about two-and-a-half years on end. In Ram-
bodde — and wmilarly situated districts — black bug
literally smothered certain fields and estatep and
did immense damage. On Weddamulle estate where
I was then stationed, there was a young field at
an elevation of about 4,300 feet, bearing a fine
crop when the bug got a grip on it, and the green
berries — rolled off — might have been swept off the
ground literally by the bushel. I don't suppose
a tenth part of the crop ever came to maturity,
and that small portion was wretched, small, de-
formed stuff. The bug in some stage was always
present for years after, though the black fungus
was not always prominent. The young bushes
were growing fast, and a day or two's sunshine
was sufficient to enable the leaf to throw off the
covering of black, but as soon as the wet set in
again, a black wave swept over the surface in a
very few days, and the result was very dishearten-
ing. The new bug on the other hand seemed at
one time likely to absolutely annihilate the trees
on the hotter and drier fields and only to partially
aff'ect those at higher elevations. The new bug
was at one/ time said to absolutely destroy the
vitality of the trees, but I am told that many
fields, given up as totally gone, have come round
again. The old bug, however much it damaged
the crop, and the foliage never got so far as to de-
stroy the life of the tree, nor did I ever see
in the case of black bug, what I have seen in green
bug, and that is the ground below and around the
trees covered with the black fungus which accom-
panies the attacks of both varieties. When the
green bug had advanced to where I was residing
it was evident that in long spells of wet weather,
a very large proportion of them turned mouldy
and died, and I learn that the cold this last dry
season has caused an immense destruction amongst
them especially where there has been a touch of
frost on the trees. This is the point where Dim-
bula and Dickoya planters, and the men of upper
parts of Uva may hope to make a successful stand.
As tar as I can learn, the bug has not spread
evenly and badly over large areas, but has ap-
peared in patches larger or smaller as circumstances
have been favourable, and these patches are at a
comparatively high elevation. The enemy is neither
so numerous nor so vigorous as it was when the
good folks of Matale and Elkaduwa and
neighbouring districts, had to retire from the
contest baffled and disheartened. The climate
of the higher districts i.s in their favour, and
they have gained the experience which was
wanting in the early days of the contest. If our
old friend Holloway could do so much in the way
of a remedy at Wattagama, the men who enjoy
the advantage of higher elevation and more favnur-
pble climate as well as being subject to less vigorous
attacks of the pest may well hope that their
labour may not be in vain. In regard to treat-
ment, Mr. Holloway only repeats what is well-known
to all agriculturists when he points out that
rendering the trees as healthy and vigorous as
possible, enables them the better to withstand the
attacks of insects, fungus and all tho other ills of
vegetable life, such as too much drought, too much
rain ; and, on the other hand, everyone who has
lived on an estate cannot but see that weakly tress
first fall victims to such attacks, sooner or later,
according to their condition. This, however, is no
argument against the late Mr. Nietner's theory.
He used to argue— and at the time being merely

June i, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

835

a listener without experience I saw no reason to
disagree with him — that the effect of manuring a
tree was practically produced by supplying it with
certain matter which was taken up by the roots
and absorbed into the sap of the tree. Takinij
this as the basis of the argument — why should it
be impossible — to salivate — so to say — a tree by
manuring it with some substance which, when ab-
sorbed into the sap, should be inimical to the
disease which it is intended to combat, or the
insect feeding on that sap. This is a matter which
must be decided by scientific botanists. I cannot
pretend to say more than that I have always
favoured the idea, and in spite of Mr. Holloway's
dogmatical assertion to the contrary still imagine
it to be quite feasible. I have used Little's Liquid
Phenyle t* a considerable extent both as a disin-
fectant and an insecticide, and the successful experi-
ments with it on leaf-disease were made on properties
then mine. When properly used, Phenyle is a
most valuable adjunct to nurseries for such small
light seeds as cinchona and seed-beds carefully
prepared can be kept free of insects in a marvel-
lous way. 1 imagine Phenyle would be very deadly
to green bug — even if it were only from the scent
80 freely evolved from its use— and within the last
few days I have learnt that Mr. Green's experi-
mental tree, still remains free of bug when the
surrounding bushes are affected in the usual way.
As Phenyle can be obtained tolerably cheap if taken
in large quantities, I should say that experiments
on a larger scale are well worth trying. In fact,
I happen to know that they are being tried at the
present moment. Perhaps Mr. Holloway may ex-
plain why he asserts so positively that green bug
was not brought over on the Liberian plants in
wardian cases ; this is the very point I want to see
elucidated, as my idea is that it did come over
in that way. EDMUND WOODHOUSE.

TEAS FKOM UDUGAMA DISTRICT, GALLE.
Daphne estate, Udugama, 10th May 1887.
Dear Sir, — Having seen one or two notices lately
in the Observer anent Udugama, I take the liberty
of forwarding for your inspection and taste three
small samples of tea from Riseland estate.

You will doubtless not fail to note the absence of
strength and presence of flavour as compared to the
average of low-country teas. The sample sent has
been handrolled and chulafired — and represents tea
made from a jir.-it yenf^i phicking. If this does not
speak well of Udugama, I am sorry I troubled you
with these remarks. PLANTER.

' On the samples, Messrs. Somerville have been
good enough to report as follows : -
Samples Deseriptiou London Colombo Remarks
No , ' ' . Value Equivalent

'"• '"'■ atExch.

1 Kroken Pekoe 1/4, 5 86 cts. Blackish well

for leaf made semi Bro.

Pekoe leaf with
tips, strong dark
liquor, burnt.
2 Pekoe"'" .^''' 'l?*-forleaf e.'icts. Blackish fairly
.'i "id J;lii iiii . madePekoe leaf

A fji; io vvith tips.strong

.,,;, .,.;,, pungent liquor.

burnt.
.3 Souchong 9d 41 cts. Blackish irregu-

lar bold Souch.
leaf plain burnt
liquor.
p. p. SOMFRVILLK & Co.

A. H. Thompson.
.V.£.— These teas would be worth nearly 2d a pound more
money if they had not been ti(r/!( in the manufacture. They
possess very fair strength. . i. . .

CINCHONA HARVESTING: RESULTS FROM
UNCOVERED TREES.
Verellapatna, Lunugalla, 10th May 1887.
Dsiit Mr. Editor, — For the information of en-
quinog eorr«gpgad@Qt8, let me reiterate io part : "1 >.'

bark was taken from off trees growing together in
lines, shaved at the same time," these lines were
not six feet apart, and vere of a field of 50 acres
in extent and (• sa la age, say rising seven years,
consequently pretty well sheltered. I perceived no
difference in appearance of trees after shaving. As
to quantity, I operated on 40 trees of each i.e., 40
thatched and 40 unthatched, and on weighing found
the difference so infinitesimal that I took no entry
of it. I think from 1 oz. to over 1§ oz. in favour
of the thatched. So on the whole my endeavours
point in favour of : do not thatch — which would
be a grand thing for all concerned in "cinchona ;"
but my advice is, do not act on results as I have
shown them or rather let "E.F. T." and "A Planter"
and others experiment a little for themselves, and
in comparison, we might arrive at some definite
and reliable facts which would save thousands in
the way of thatching. — Yours faithfully,

CHANNING ESDAILE.
P.S. — I may mention that I only got 10 lb. re-
newed bark from off the 40 trees. N.B. — -And fur-
ther, I may mention that the "Cannaverella" bark
which fetched such a handsome figure the other day
was from trees that had not been thatched. — C. E.

UDAGAMA TEAS :— BURNT !

15th May 1887.

Sir, — Almost enough to make one feel sort
of planted ".at stake." My good friend, down
at Daphne, I may say, though no sanction needed,
acted without my inspiration in sending you on
those tea samples for public disrobing. However
ruthless a little personal tiring, I have no bones
to pick, as the report you have kindly published,
and by Somerville & Co. furnished, will suffice to
help your readers to form their judgment as to
the possibilities of the district in regard to the
eventual standard of the teas from hence, and which
may fairly be put down as information likely to
be wished for, and wanted generally of any local-
ity where a special cultivation is still young.

As for the overfiring to the teas, I may not
as an excuse, but in apology as still in petticoats
in the mysteries of tea-mrking, say my instructions
were to "fire high" — as that is what is liked in
the Lane ! To find oneself at 2 a.m. pacing upt
and down a shut up tea-house with the thermo-
meter at 90 ° , imaginatively watching half-a-dozen
perspiring niggers — Indo-Aryan, or Dravidian —
squdging green leaf, demands a high figure saiis
any additional roasting.

Apropos of " yield," my last flush here from
old bushes pruned down this season for the first
time was, at an average of 3 flushes a month,
and 10 months to the year, at the rate of 1,260 lb.
of made tea per acre annually. To which you
may be disposed to add " it might be better and
might be worse !" Worse or better, tea is going to
pay here." SUPERINTENDENT, RISELAND.

The Coffee Planters of Mysore, Coorg and
Southern India generally are rejoicing in the pros-
pect of high prices for their staple and they
have generally goed crops coming in.

"White" Coconut Oil is being prepared and
shipped from Ceylon ; but it is not colour alone
that renders the Cochin oil superior. There is a
difference in the substance of the Cochin coast Oil
as compared with the Ceylon — something which
mere manufacture cannot get over. — (^om.

Grub r. Green Bug. -The question is started
as to whether green bug has not got the merit
or demerit of killing out coffee, when probably
grub waa the chief offender ? The two are not
Hflcommonly (ownd together,

836

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST [June 1, 1887.

Caustic Lime is said to have cleared out green
bug wherever it has been applied ;on certain coffee
Uva estates.

A Planter infoirus us that the condition of the
coffee in the Ooouoor llaviue is simply splendid.
The trees appear to be in good heart, and a liue
blossom has set. With coffee at 95, this means
sometliing. If it isn't, the great bumper, it is very
near it. The same favourable prospects attend the
tea, which has thrown out a fine flush. — Nihjii-i K.r-
prtss, 7th May.

CoFFKE IN SouTHEKN India. — The Weather at Seegoor
and Mussanagudi is said to be simply intolerable.
The recent showers have brought out a fine coffee
blossom and the intense heat is burning off at least
20 per cent. Many of the estates in this locality
possess facilities for irrigation. One property brings
its water by a channel which cost R15,000, from the
Pykara river but does not regret the outlay, as since
the channel was made irrigation has rendered the
crops more certain. If irrigation could be more
generally adopted on the Nilgiris, the doubts and
fears of planters considerably relieved. — Nilgiri Ex-
press. [We should doubt the success of coffee where
it has to be irrigated. — Ed.]

Tea : Mr. Whittall, representative of
Messrs. Mathcson & Co.. London, left today by
the B. I. S. S. " Chyebassa " for Madras en route
to visit Coorg and the adjacent planting districts.
Mr. Whittall who had long experience of tea in
China, and who some years ago did not, we be-
lieve, regard the Ceylon tea enterprise very favour-
ably, is now inclined, we learn, to anticipate an
export within a few years far in excess of any
figurewe have yet ventured to put forward. Seventy
to eighty millions lb. of Ceylon tea exported in
a year, say about 1891-2, would certainly bring
this colony into prominent notice, and, if Uva is
to have her due share in making up this quantity,
how in the world is she to manage for transport
is a question which may well be asked on her
behalf and dinned again and again into Downing
Street ears. A gentleman of much experience in
India, in tea and other products, tells us that he
has never seen tea anywhere, for growth at its
age, to equal that which he saw in Udapussellawa,
and that he recognised at once beyond Nuwara
Eliya, the climate and fine soil peculiar to the
very best Indian planting districts. Of course, it
remains to be seen who are to ccmsume the
80,000,000 lb. Ceylon tea, and whether they will
pay for it at a remunerative rate. Much depends
on new fields being opened, and it is satisfactory
to learn that steady progress is making in America,
Italy and France in the sale of good teas.

Tba.— Mr. Joshua Whitworth writing on the sub-
ject of tea, says: — " Why should the great socialising
beverage be made the target for catch-price adven-
turers ': Tea is now being distributed and advertised
in countless mediums and forms. There is the would-
be benefactor or compound dealer in tea and dis-
penser of presents '; in the shape of toys, china,
metal, earthenware, and other devices. Thp system
(I will not say principle 1 to my mind is utterly un-
English and un-busiuesslike. I cannot conceive any
wife or housekeeper, with ordinary intelligence, pur-
chasing tea with the primary object of obtaining a
bonus in the form of a present. She need only ask
herself who pays for such gifts. As a matter of course
ahe herself does in the inferior value of the tea she
buys- If I go to my tailor and purchase a suit, I
neither receive nor expect to be presented with a hat,
or even a pair of gloves. The two cases are parallel.
Tea is no longer considered a luxury, but a necessary
of life, as the increased rate of consumption abund-
antly testities. The figures stand thus — the home
consumption for lbS2 was lc;4,O5S,O001b for 18SC,
l78,S91,0001b,— and I am of opinion that if better
grades of tea had been sold by tlie retailers, the
iucrease ia coQsumptioa would haTO been still gteate

Tea is variously and industriously advertised— not-
ably by Loudon dealers or retailers who offer to de-
liver a given quantity free of carriage by parcel post.
Now, I contend the provincial grocer or tea dealer can
do better than this. He gets his tea direct in bulk
from the London Bonded Tea Warehouses at about
one farthing per pound carriage, while the cost by
parcel post will add pence per pound. The natural
infereuco is obvious. To ensure good and nourishing
tea, my advice to aU consumers is do not pay less than
2s Gd to ;]s per pound, and this rule will be found
wise and economical. .Statistics show that the working
classes are the largest yjro /■«/« consumers; then how
desirable it is that the sons of toil should have as a se-
quel to the day's work an enjoyable cup of tea— tea
that must soothe, sustain, and cheer. In this question
there is a large field for the exercise of women's right ;
they should one and all denounce the questionable
decoction, aad in assertmg their rights demand pure
tea. In conclusion, there is another aspect to this
contention — viz., if people would buy better-class teas,
I am morally certain that it would prove a further
auxiliary in the spread of temperance principles, ir-
respective of its health-giving qualities." — H. ^- C. Mail.

Tobacco and Coffee : the Difference of Policy.
— The following extract from Mr. (xoschen's speech
shows that although the British Government still
apparently refuse to prohibit the adulteration of
coffee with chicory and worse, they mean to pro-
hibit the adulteration of tobacco with water : —

There is one error which all parties admit to have
been made in the fiscal legislation of late years — viz.,
the rising of the tobacco duties by 4d. The tobacco
duties were raised from 3s 2d to 3s 6d in 1878, and the
fiscal result of that has been most unsatisfactory. The
first year under the higher duty was expected to yield an
increased revenue of £750,0()0,butit only yielded £500,000
additional, and in consequent years the result has been
still more unfavourable. The increase in the consump-
tion of tobacco, which was 11 per cent during the five
years between 1872 and 1876, fell to 5 per cent in the
period between 1877 and 1881. We checked the con-
sumption of tobacco ; and what was the effect upon the
quality of the tobacco and upon the smokers ? It will be
seen that the consumption has not increased in the ratio
of the population. The increase in the consumption of
tobacco before the duty was raised was twice as fast as
the increase of population, but since that time the con-
sumption has not increased as fast as the population.
The consumption per head is now less than it was. But
there is this most curious fact. It is not quite so
certain that people have smoked less pipes or fewer
cigars than before. The same thing has occurred with
tobacco as with beer. There has been an admixture ef
water to increase the weight. The workman pays 3d
per ounce tor his tobacco. When the duty was in-
creased it was supposed that he would pay S^d and that
in that way the dealers and manufactures would be able
to recoup themselves. But that is not what has hap-
pened. He does not pay more than 3d per ounce;
therefore, tobacco had to be produced at 3d. How is
this done ? It is done by increasing the amount of
water. The purchaser buys a nominal ounce as before,
but he really buys less tobacco and more water, and in
that way the revenue loses and the smoker loses, be-
cause he does not get the amount of tobacco to which
he is entitled. The price of 3d is too small to enable
the manufacturer to produce the tobacco at a duty of
38 6d, and I propose to reduce the duty from 3s 6d to
3s 2d. (Hear hear.) That I trust will be a consider-
able boon to the working classes, and although it will
not affect their pockets they will get a better article.
For we propose to prohibit by law the watering process
by whicli at present the dealer recoups himself for the
extra duty. The natural moisture of tobacco is 15 to
17 per cent, and it is increased to 30 per cent in the
process of manufacture. I was not aware that 30 per
cent of water was necessary for that process. (A laugh.)
But now tobacco is often sold containing 40 or 45 per
cent of water. In future we intend to make it illegal
to sell tobacco containing more than 35 per cent ef
water.

3UNE 1, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

837

A EEMEDY FOB SOBERS.

TO THE EDITOE OF THE " AUSTRALASIAN."

Sir, — Apropos of your remarks in The Australasian
of last week's concerning the boring grub, permit me
to say I have found the following remedy for its
attacks upon fruit trees as successful as it is simple.

Take a piece of soap 'somewhat rounded by use,
and force as much of it into the bole made by the
grub as you can by pressing the soap on or by rubbing
it backwards and forwards over the aperture several
times.

Since I tried the above plan about six years ago I
have not lost a branch through decay caused by the
etforts of the grub in question. I have had occasion
to apply the remedy to many limbs on all the kinds
of fruit trees in my garden — apples and pears as well
as stone fruits, &c. I used the soap with the idea of
suffocating the grub by hermetically seahng it up —
Yours &c., J. S. P.

FOBESTRY IN THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.
It may not be known to many of the ladies and
gentlemen who lend life and animation to our Gardens
in the cool of the evening, that the pleasure grounds
in question form but a small part of a very import-
ant system of arboriculture, agriculture, and horticul-
ture, extending over all three of our settlements.
The Forest Department has demarcated wide stretch-
ing areas, opened up many miles of boundary paths,
and planted thousands of valuable trees in waste
lands. Excellent work has been done in the new
reserves at Bukit Timah Juroug, and Bukit Mandai,
where mahogany, teak, and other costly timbers may
be seen springing up with every promise of developing
into tall and stately trees. "We think however that
a good policy has been adopte<l in planting a very
large number of native trees of rapid growth, such
as serayah, casuarina, bintaugor, kc. ; these will " form
the forest floor," and after they have been cut down
and converted into money, they will leave the land
in a much better condition than it is at present, to
be re-stocked with the more valuable varieties. The
young plants appear to be quite able to bid defiance
to the lahuiff ;* their stems soon overtop this trouble-
some grass and overshadow it with their leaves ; in-
deed it is rather curious to note that some plants
which have been grown on a patch cleared as an
experiment in the Bukit Timah reserve, do not look
so well as the others which have been left to take
their chance among the Many. No manures are used,
and as the trees are flourishing it would appear that
the soil of Singapore is not quite so poor as is
usually supposed, but of course much depends upon
the situations in which the different varieties are
grown. Thus teak and rubber trees, of which a large
number may be seen in the reserve near Cluny road,
love low lying and moist lands, while serayah, meranti,
kelat, etc., prefer the hill tops and slopes. Some
kinds will not grow on laterite, in fact a systematic
chain of experiments, (during the course of which the
influence of different elevations should be especially
studied) must be carried out throughout the Settle-
ments before we can form any real idea of the agricul-
tural possibilities of the Colony.

In the meantime it is gratifying to find such notable
progress being made with the afforestation of waste
lands. During the year 1885 over one hundred thousand
trees were planted in Singapore alone. It is not too
much to hope, therefore, that if this good work is
carried on with sufficient energy, that we may live
to gee unproductive and hideous' wa-t.v- of hdani) re-
placed by beautiful and valuable forests.

The different reserves have been demarcated chiefly
by means of boundary paths eight feet in width,
bordered for the most part by young fast growing
trees, amongst which a great number of casuarinas
may be noticed. These paths, which in Singapore
are about thirteen miles in extent, are much used by
the natives as roads, and must be of very great use
to them. Cue of these boundary paths was the means
* Our lUuppi.'—ED.

of stopping the further progress of a jungle fire which
raged for a distance of two miles along the eight foot
way without being able to cross it. The importance
of having such " fire-breaks " in a jungle or forest
country is very great.

The annual expenditure of the Forest Department
amounts to about §20,000 per annum which does not
appear to be a large sum when the work done in
the three Settlements during the years 1884 and 1885
is considered. During this time about 22,000 acres
have been demarcated, IO9 acres planted, and 107
miles of the eight foot boua<lary lines opened ; thus it
will be seen that although the department is quite
in its infancy, it has aire idy accomplished a formid-
able task, and has so im- achieved all the success
which can be reasonably expected of it. The enter-
prise is one that the Government alone is in a position
to attempt, and as the Forest Department has really
been created by H. E. Sir Frederick Weld, it should
meet with adequate support and encouragement. With-
in a_ few years these modest nursling forests will be
considered as being amongst the most valued of the
Colony's possessions, and will be a noble and lasting
memorial of Sir Frederick Weld's enlightened adminis-
tration.— Straits Times.

THE VEGETABLE PBODUCTS OF THE
STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.

Besides the many native trees which afford excellent
timber, there are other trees and plants cultivated
by the Superintendent of the Forest Department
which possess an especial interest, these are the varie-
ties which swell our export returns by providing us
with rubbers, gums, oils, spices, and other descriptions
of produce.

Rubbers are probably attracting a good deal of
attention just now in certain quarters ; the prospectus
is out of a company which intend to spend half a
million sterling on a submarine telegraph cable, and
if the capital is subscribed it is probable enough that
the malodorous and dreadfully adulterated article
known as "gutta" may give rise to a certain amount
of speculation.

The Department makes a very good show of Rubbers ;
Panama, Oeara, Madagascar and African kinds are'
all represented, the native guttas however are grow-
ing so well, that the exotics do not after all possess
a very absorbing interest.

But another imported plant the Australian Wattle,
looks as if it would grow very well in this climate,
the bark of the tree is getting into favour with English
tanners, and fast coming to the front as an Australian
export.

The specimens in the Experimental Garden are of
a most varied description; nutmegs, cardamoms
vanilla, cocoa, sugar, tea and coffee are all to be*
seen growing within a small radius. At one moment
the visitor may examine the famous coca leaf (Erythroxy-
Ion Coca) and at the next, rejoice his eyes with the
sight of some tiny English strawberries, peeping in
all their scarlet glory from beneath their protecting
leaves. And there is a splendid logwood hedge with
small delicate leaves which remind the exile of haw-
thorn sprays and distant landscapes ; the many shades
of green which it possesses contrasted in the happiest
manner possible with a delicate light brown tinge make
its colouring as beautiful as its foliage ; as this is a
rapidly growing plant it might easily be used to re-
place coarse bamboo hedges in grounds where much
attention is paid to effect.

The Superintendent has been working up yet another
question, of great interest to ladies who are gifted
with a domestic turn of mind, and that is our supply
of vegetables of which there are about eighty different
kids more or less known in our bazaars. This appears
U) be a very fair assortment, but unfortunately many
of them are scarce, others again are not very
attractive to European palate?, and nearly all are
badly grown because our Chinese market gardeners
believing that it pays them best to produce tlie greatest
possible quantity, leave their crops in the ground
until the beans, lettuces, cucumbers or whatever they

838

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June 1,1887.

may be, degenerate into aged, coarse and melancholy
caricatures of the young and delicate vegetables
which would appear on our tables, but for this
deplorable s>stem or sacrificing qci.ility to weight.
We hope that the attentiou which is being drawn to
the unsatisfactory nature of this pleasant and whole-
some article of food, so necessary in a climate like
ours, will lead to good results, although it will need
some little energy and skill to overcome the obstacles
which lie on the way of a practical solution of the
difficulty.

Considerable sitccess has rewarded the trials which
were made both in Peuang and Singapore of European
fruits and vegetables ; asparagus, gri:'en peas, lettuces,
tomatoes, turnips, carrots, leeks, pot-herbs, &c., have
turned out well, the superior elevation attainable in
Penang of course giving our sister settlement a great
advantage in these experiment.s. The peaches, apples,
and vegetables exhibited at the recent flower stiow,
were very pleasant to look upon, and it is somewhat
surpisiug that such a fine display did not attract
more general attention, especially as the excellent
condition in which these delicacies were shown go far
to prove that Singapore tables might be easily sup-
plied from Penang Hill.

The P.otanic and Experimental Gardens will be in-
complete until they possess a small but well arranged
Economic Museum specially designed for the produce
of this colony, and the plan adopted by many other
colonial gardens, might well be imitated here. Nothing
could be more convenient than to have the museum
in the gardens so that the plant and its manufac-
tured product might be compared on the spot. Thus
the gambier plant having been examined, a few minutes'
walk should bring the person interested to the museum,
where he might be left to inspect the different kinds
of bale and cube gambier at his leisure. In such a
building the visitor, after having admired the full,
well grown, clustering berries of the pepper vine in
the open air, would see a specimen of Singapore " sun-
dried," the ideal pepper, than which nothing can be
finer, being far superior to anything that comes from
Cochin China, Siam, or the West Coast ; this being
a most desirable commodity, in the nature of things
here below, non-existent in our market ; then besides
the usual " smoked " sorts, there should be good large
sample of the stewed, smoked, fermented, upripe
pepper, which loses in weight to the extent of 15 per
cent by steamer shipment to London. This particular
kind is becoming too well known in our market and
is much appreciated by the Chinese sellers thereof,
but with the European buyers transactions in such a
quality are apt to e^id like the marriage service, that
is to say, in " amazement."

In such a way an Economic Museum could be made
to fulfil its real functions, and the establishment
could not be in better hands than those of the
Superintendent of the Forest Department, who, be-
sides having considerable knowledge of the subjects
to be deilt with, seems to possess the very useful
qualification of producing excellent results with the
means at his disposal. — Straits Times.

ESTATE COMPANIES FOR CEYLON.

There are few residents in Ceylon who have
not at some period found it a difiicult matter to
invest small sums of money. The purchase of estates,
or even of a share in an estate, requires a very con-
siderable amount of capital. There are in Ceylon, and
most tropical countries dependent upon agricultural or
planting industries, few or no opportunities for small
investments. This is a more serious matter for the
poorer members of the community than appears at
first sight, as it is opposed to tho-e habits of thrift
and frugality which go far to enrich any country.

If we look back for some ten or fifteen years to
those days when .salaries were high, and remember
how few estate superintendents, dependent upon their
own ("xernons, really savi'd money, how many there
were who lived up to the last rupee of thir income,
it may occur to us to consider why this was the

case, why there was such general extravagence, not
Confined to planters onl}', but to all other classes of
the c. immunity. There is but one reison to give —
the difficulty of investing savings. In those piping
days of prosperity, when A, who had no capital, saw
his neighbour B. who had two or three thousand
pounds, buy a block of land in one of the new dis-
tricts and double his capital year after year, poor A.
felt himself unable to participate in the good things
going. Ho grew despondent 'at first, then reckless,
and probably ended by having a burst of extravagance,
scattering his savings with the prodigality of an
Aus+ idian dis-ger. When there is no other outlet for
smah capitalists than the deposit receipt accounts in
a Bank, is it to ba wondered that few are centent
with this one form of investment and have the
patience to wait till old age to save sufficient to keep
them from want ? .Just consider how much greater
interest A would have in his work could he from
time to time invest his hundred rupees in business
he understood ; how he would strain himself to in-
crease his funds and look out for fresh opportunities
for investment !

One has not to look far for a remedy for the ex-
isting state of matters. There is an excellent old
saying " Union is strength," and, were the capitalists
of Ceylon, both small and great, to bear this in mind,
the prosperity of the colony might be raised to a pitch
such as it has never yet attained.

Tropical agriculture, as we all have too good cause
to know, is subject tO great vicissitudes ; so is mining.
When a mine is opened in one of the Australasian
colonies it is seldom worked at the undivided risk
of one individual. When the scheme is matured it
becomes a company. The chances of a large fortune
may be less for the original proprietor, but the chances
of great loss or ruin are proportionately diminished.
The prosperity of our Australasian Colonies is greatly
owing to the facilities for investment afforded by
companies, the original capital of which is subscribed
for in shares of from £1 to £10 each. This gives
the small capitalist a chance, and minimizes the risk of
the richer investor. These companies are not formed
for mining investments only : banks, saw mills, manu-
factories, shops, &c., are among the number.

I cannot help thinking that were more estates
turned into companies in Ceylon it would have a
great influence in re-establishing the prosperity of
the colony. Large companies are not required ; small
companies, with capitals of from £5,000 to £20,000,
are. At first these would have to be commenced in
Ceylon itself, but they would soon attract capital from
England. At the present time, were any good tea
estates to be offered as limited liability companies, I
believe London capital would not be wanting. But
the greatest benefit such companies might confer
upon Ceylon would probably arise from the opportunity
it would give to small investors ; they would utilize
what is now the idle capital of the island, the savings
of members of the Civil Service, mercantile and
planting communities, &c. But the advantage of
forming estates into companies would not be coufined
to the utilization of capital only, an equally strong
argument in favor of such a system of working would
be in the diminution of risk. It is well known how
variable the returns are from adjacent estates. On
estate would jjay handsomely while the next estate
would seldom give a crop ; this I have noticed in
different cultivations ^iu widely separated countries.
Were estates cultivated by a co-operative system
the loss of the bad estate would not fall alone on
some unlucky investors, but would be borne by others
as well, and the consequences lessened. By not put ling
all the "eggs" in "one basket" planting would
become a much safer investment. Instead of each
individual who wished to cultivate cacao, cinchona,
tea, spices or coconuts having to open up clearings
for the same, in different parts of the country, would
it not be more to his advantage to be able to buy
shares in estates cultivating the product he fancied ?
The special cultivation would be on a larger
scale and most likely under better management than
the single investor, on a small scale, could afford.

June i, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

^39

Times, I believe, are hard iu Colombo, and estate
stock-brokiug might in time become a persuit of
consideiabie advantage to members of the mercantile
world iu Ceylon,

To recapitulate: 1 again say " Union is strength,"
divide the risk, instead of being dependent upon one
crop in one district let the planter consider whether
his capital would not be better laid out in various
crops in different parts of the country. The cost
of management may be slightly increased, but the
results will be safer and planting investments less
speculative. H.

London, April 10th, IS87.— Local " Times."
^

SILK IN INDIA.

The Indian silk industry is the subject of more
attention now than it has been since the days of its
greatest importance. Sericulttue received a great im-
pulse from tile European early settlers, who built
factories for the production of the raw material.
These factories were large massive buildings erected
iu wide enclosures and protected by high walls. The
residence and factory buildings were generally laid out
in such a manner that the whole enclosure could be
turned into a fortress if necessary. As the country
became more settled, European cipitalists stepped in,
and travellers passing through the silk districts at
the present time will observe standing monuments of
the period of keen competition. It appears to have
been the custom in those days to erect princely
mansions with imposing gateways to prove to the
rearers of the worms and to the country in general the
wealth and greatness of the owners. But there was
a business idea underlying this display of ostentation
in the jungle. The subst;intial show was meant to
attract the rearers of cocoons on the look out for
good prices. If one of these mansions secured the
title of "Burra Koti," the monopoly was secured to
the fortunate owner, and other competitors had to
retire from the scene, leaving piles of masonry as
monuments of the fruitless contest. This process
practically left the monopoly of the silk industry in
Bengal in the hands of a small group of capitalists,
carrying on operations in widely separated districts.
As the industry prospered, operations were extended,
out-factories were built, and the old contest was re-
newed. At the time of this revival Cora silk was
greatly in demand for export, thus causing a local
demand for raw material for the native looms, and
the inferior native reeled silk commanded almost as
good prices as the finer quality reeled by European
filatures. The native was thus able to raise his prices
for cocoons, and the market was immediately affected.

The European owners of filatures agreed not to
outbid each other, but to purchase cocoons at market
rates. This, however, led to no improvement, and the
manufacture of fine raw silk for export rapidly changed
from an important industry into a mere commercial
speculation, such as it is to a large extent at the
present day. Kightly or wrongly, Bengal silk has al-
ways had a bad name, but it would appear from the
prices now ruling that it is in every way as good as
Italian, if not superior. All that can be urged against
Bengal silk is that, owmg to a certain want of firm-
ness in the cocoon, the result of reeling is not all
that might, perhaps, be desired. The producer of the
Indian cocoon is in some important respects like his
brother, the cultivator of tbe soil. You may point
out to the latter how he may grow the best wheat
in the world, but unless you can prove to him that
the result will place more rupees to his credit, your
teaching will be utterly disregarded. But the moment
you show him that it is to his personal profit to use
improved seed or better methods, the cultivator is
surprisingly ready to take advantage of any counsel.
In the f-ame way the rearer of cocoons has found
from practical experience the quantity of mulberry
leaf it pays him best to allow his worms to consume
iu order to give him a certain gain, and to this
present day it has been found impossible to convince
him that it would pay to rear cocoons of the
Itahan quality. "When he once sees this he will
cbange bis traditional tactics, but aot till then. At

present, the rearer finds it pays him best to half starve
his worms ; his father did so before him, and he will
continue to do so as long as it pays. He is quite
content with the result, and it is not yet aKcertainid
by his teacher that the delicacy of Bengal silk may
not after all be due to the process of feeding and
forcing in vogue. As a matter of fact the various
worms to be seen in Bengal are of a very moijc'rel
description. Some rearers attempt to classify aud
keep the breeds separate, and succeed partially in
doiug so, but the difficulties in the way are enor-
mous. In this matter the native would appreciate
help and advice from Europeans, but unfortunately
the Europeans most capable of aiding him have no
time to devote to the subject, and still less to give
to the somewhat delicate task of popular instruction.
Duriug the past few years, however, a very cou-
siderable amount of attention has been directed to the
study of silk, and it may be hoped that the move-
ment—for it is nothing less— will not be without its
effect on the practical working of the industry. In
England quite a host of men are interested in the
future of Indian silk; Mr. Kondot, on behylf of the
French Government, has been making a searching
study of Eastern silks and dyes ; and not many mouths
a^^o Mr. Thomas Wardle, of Leek, who visited India
in connection with the silk collection for the London
Exhibition, gave a new and more serious turn to the
iu.lustrial phase of the ehquiry. The Revenue and
Agricultural Department has given some attention to
the matter, but it may be worth while to consider
whether Government might not with advantage make
silk the subject of a special enquiry, and do what it
can to turn the present movement to account. The
time is distinctly favourable for some such action, and
there can te no doubt that for want of a fixed
central agency a great deal of valuable information
is lost, and the development of the industry is re-
tarded. It would be important if a public Association
could be formed for the purpose of fostering the
study of the special subject, and in these days the
manifold difficulties and discoveries in the silk world
are adequate to the sustenance of such an Association,
and its necessary pendint, a monthly periodical. "We
understand that a laboratory for the study of Indian
silk producers is to be established at the Imperial
Museum Calcutta, and that Mr. Wood Mason, the Super-
intendent of the institution, is already engaged in
the work of studying and classifying the worms, and
in making accurate drawings of them in the various
stages of their development. He has succeeded in
rearing some very shapely cocoons, in spite of many
drawbacks, and the further results of the work will
be looked forward to with great interest by all who
have given any attention to the subject, "it is by
means of such an enquiry, carried out to its logical
si.(jueuce, and aided by a strong alliance of fellow-
workers, that we may yet hope to see a languishing,
industry revived, and the Government freed from the
rei)roach of neglecting one of the commercial re-
suurces of the country, — liidiaa DaUu News,

[What about the promising experiment by Mr. Koss
of Kowdapellella with silkworn)s brought from China
or Japan and by Mr. Kobert Eraser of "Waripolla?— Ed.]

COxMrOSTS FOE TOT PLANTS.
One of the most important matters connected
with the cultivation of imported or acclimatised
plants, — which have in this country to be cultivated
mainly in pots or restricted borders, frequently under
glass or carefully shaded houses, and liave, as a con-
sequence, to be, constantly supplied with water by
a"tificial means — must always be the constituents of
the soil iu which they are potted or planted. Although
certain p'auts — the Croton for instance — appear to be
nut over particular as to what description of soil is
used as a basis for a compost, yet even such plants
attain to different degrees of health and vigour when
the soil most suited to their nature preponderates.
Good culture in all other respects lessons the evils
arising from a misapplication of soils ; but when a plant
finds its element in this respect, and is otherwise

840

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June i, 1887.

properly cared for, its character is developed with more
freshness and vigour.

"We believe it is correct to say that the chief features
of the horticulture of the present, as compared with
that of the past, is that complicated mixtures of soils
and manures are less used and believed in as '-the
secret" of successful culture, and that the tendency
is still in the direction of simplicity in this respect.
Mixtures when compounded from fancy, and with
Ittle knowledge of the elements of chemistry, may
or may not be compounds of evil. After many years
of extensive practice we are thoroughly convinced that
the mixing of different sorts of soils and manures
for potting plants in general is an evil to be avoided,
and feel certain that a plant that thrives in loam will
thrive better in it ultimately — make a more healthy
and robust plant — if there are no animal or organic
manures mixed with the turfy loam. AVe of course
mean all organic manures of a rapidly changing
character which putrifies, even though in that process
the substances formed are highly important to plant
life. All such, and humus of every description, are
best left out of the soil in which all the slower grow-
ing and more hard wooded plants are potted, if they
are to be healthy, floriferous and long lived. By so
doing the soil runs far less risk of becoming what is
well understood by the term soured, and, of course,
unhealthy. It may be asked, are the excrements of
animals and decaying vegetation not beneficial to such
plants ? Undoubtedly they arc ; but not mixed in
with the soil in a narrow, deep vessel like a flower-
pot. Such highly stimulating, and more or less fer-
menting, substances are best applied as a top dress-
ing when the plants require it. The turfy loam
generally used for potting posse.sses, at first, much
organic matter, of a less rapidly changing (because to
some extent differently incorporated with the soil)
as well as of a more natural character ; and as a rule
no other manure need be mixed with the ball of earth
in the pots, unless it be of a less rapidly changing
character, such as ground bones. Take for instance a
Oroton and a Dracreua — plants of very diverse charac-
ters. They thrive splendidly in light turfy loam,
and require nothing else till their pots get pretty well
filled with roots. Then a top dressing of rich manure
is of immense benefit to them, which if mixed with
the soil at the time of potting, is not only unnecessary
but positively injurious. The roots which these two
plants make in the loam pure and simple, with
perhaps the addition of some charcoal and bones,
are far more numerous, and of a different character
to those produced in soil made rich and soft with
rapidly decaying manure, in which the roots are long
and less twiggy, escaping more rapidly down among
the drainage into simpler and sweeter fare.

As a rule we neglect far too much of nature's rule
of potting and nourishing her children. "We put
manure of a too gross nature into the soil ; Nature
lays it on the surface. "We give narrow, deep body
of soil, with comparatively little surface exposed to
the air, and that little is far too often a mass of
gangrene and slime : on the other hand nature, as a
rule, gives a shallow body of earth with a great wealth
of surface clothed with living verdure of some sort.
In all these respects we cannot in small gardens or
houses follow the lead of nature in the culture of plants
in pots. But the further the departure from her ways,
the more likely we are to be in error. "We can how-
ever top dress more and mix less humus i,t our soils.
AVho will say that flower-pots would not be better if
made a little shallower and a little wider ? AVith re-
gard to the mixing of stones or charcoal, or clean
broken potsherd, this can he followed without any
offence to the eye, or any extra space. This we have
come to regard as a cardinal point in the pot culture
of nearly all plants that are not of tho gro.ssest and
most ephemeral kind. Who that has had much to do
with plant growing and potting has not noticed that
a plant that has clean crocks, nr. best of all, charcoal
mixed to a liberal extent, with the .soil in which it has
been potted, has always been in a more satisfactory
condition the next time it required a shift, than when
these substances finds no place in the soil ? Take any

hard- wooded flowering or ornamental foliage plant
and in potting it fill one side of the pot with soil in
which charcoal is liberally mixed, and the other with
soil devoid of that substance, and in twelve months
when the plant needs another shift, it will be found
that there are double the number of rootlets on the
side of tlie charcoal to what there is on the other.
"Wherever a few pieces of broken pot or charcoal are
found in the ball of a plant, then; the roots are found
to muster in greatest numbers and health.

The mi.xing of the.se substances, in imitation of
nature's prodigality, is not practised to the hundredth
part in plant culture that it.s good effects demand.
Charcoal has a wondrous charm for roots, and is of
the very foremost importance in the soil of nearly
all pot-grown plants. It has a beneficial mechanical
effect; has a sweetening tendency; is highly useful,
absorbing ammonia and other plant food from air and
water and from all decaying substances in its vicinity ;
while its own character is most unchangeable. It
prevents stagnant water ; and being such a store-house,
is a safeguard against extreme drought. In the case of
nine plants out of every ten, it would be well if char-
coal formed a fifth part of the whole compost in
which they are potted. — Iiidian Gardener.

♦

Brazilian Flowers.— Travellers in Brazil speak of
Fuchsias 50 ft. and 60 ft. in height, blooming from
top to bottom ; of large bushes of Abutilon venosum,
bearing a profusion of orange bells streaked with
crimson; of huge Daturas, with hundreds of white
trumpet-shaped and sweet-scented blossoms, some 16
in. in length ; of Orchids and Ferns ; huge Arums
with shield-like leaves, large enough to cover a man ;
brilliant red and yellow Bromelias and Tillandsias ;
epiphytes and parasites of all descriptions ; Camelias
large enough to climb into to pluck the topmost
blossoms. — Indian Gafdfiier.

Tobacco. — In France, in the Pas de Calais, large
tobacco crops are reared. All about douai the plants
may be seen reaching up to between five and six feet
high, and the cultivation, treatment, and manufacture
form quite an industi y of the place. But the Pas de
Calais is appreciably colder than the South or even
the Midland parts of England. The snow rests there
in winter when our landscape is clear of it. It is
true the tobacco grown is but of a coarse kind. Still,
its cultivation gives employment and brings in revenue.
In Canada the revenue authorities are less strict.
Tobacco is viewed in that colony not as a luxury but
as a necessity. Every farmer is allowed to plant one-
eighth of an acre with the plant, and whatever that
plot produces is his own, for his own consumption.
Beyond that limit he comes under the rigid laws
and prohibitory penalties of the Custom-house, but
so far he may go with impunity. The 5th of May,
1886, may be an important date in the future history
of Engl-sh revenue ; but, if great results should be
attained, they will certainly have sprung from very
modest commencements. — PaJl MaH Gazett>\

Plants in Living Rooms — There was once, still is,
perhaps, a superstition that plants in rooms are unwhole-
some. Setting aside 'special cases it may be said that
as a general rule, plants in a living room, if they have
any, perceptible effected at all, are benefical rather
than otherwise. "We are glad to see the Faculty
taking this view of the subject. An American physi-
cian has, it seems, pointed out that by their powers
of tran.spiring moist vapour plants render great service
in rooms warmed by dry air. The value of plants and
flowers as dHasroiwul for the weak and weary is acknow-
ledged on all hands. Dr. Anders, according to the
Briti!']) Jlcdical Journal, goes further and states that
the pursuit of gardening, though naturally it favours
rheumatism, appears to arrest consumption in persons
of phthisical tendency, while the abandonment of the
pursuit in other cases led to the development of the
disease. Dr. Anders recomends a room well stocked
with plants as a complete and agreeable health-resort
free from the inconveniences of travelling and the
anxiety of separation from home. AVe concur with
our contemporary in the opinion that the Doctor has
opened up a most interesting subject for investiga-
tion.—GflroJeners' Chronicle.

Junk j, 1887.J 1'HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST*

Bit

THE PAPEB MAKING INDUSTEY OP INDIA.

India is very backward in the paper-making indus-
try, although it abounds with fibre producing plants
of all descriptions ; and there are perhaps few countries
in the world richer in these than India. Many of these
fibrous plants have been experimented upon by com-
petent men and found capable of yielding a very abun-
dant and never failing supply of suiEciently cheap and
excellent materials for paper-making of all kinds. The
following is a list of some of the most important indi-
genous plants in India which produce fibres most useful
for paper-making : —
Venday or Bhendicai (Abelmoscus esculentus)
Toothee nar (Abutilon iudicum)
Kasini or Pulchi nar (Hibiscus cannabinus)
Janapa nar (Crotalaria juncia)
Yercum, Mudar (Calotropis gigantica)
Ganja plant (Oanuabis sativa)
Coconut fibre from leaf stalks, (Cocos nucifera)
Palmyra tree fibre from leaf stalks (Borassus flabel-
liformis)

Country date palm (Phcenix sylvestris)
Betelnutpalm, fibre covering the nut (Areca Catechu)
Screw-pine fibrous leaves (Pondanus Odoratissimus )
Pine-apple leaves (ananas) (Bromelia ananas)
Common plantain (Musa paradisiacia)
Marool or bowstring hemp (Sansiveera zeylanica)
American aloe (Agave Americana)
Various kinds of Bamboos,
Rattan canes,
Sugar cane refuse,

Arrowroo*-, Turmeric and Ginger stalks and leaves,
Rice and other straws.
Grasses, various kinds.

There i» in different parts of the country an abundant
supply of certain products known to be well suited for
paper-making purposes, such as sugarcane refuse, the
common plantain leaf stalks, st'-ms, &c., all which,
owing to the fact of there being no demand for the
purchase of such materials are allowed either to rot on
the ground, or are burnt as fuel or are simply used as
manuring substances for the land. Suitable pulp may
be manufactured in this country from these or other
materials which are at present almost wasl.td and ren.
dered useless to the country ; and such manufactured
pulp may be used in this country for making paper of
various kinds required for consumption in the country,
and the surplus of pulp may be exported to European
markets and sold there for profit.

It should be noted that enormous means by which
wealth may be increased and the condition of the culti-
vators improved is lost, and vast quantities of products
are allowed yearly to be wasted and treated as useless
and undeveloped substances iy this country. For in-
stance, thousands of plantain trees on an average are
cut down for the sake of fruit every day through-
out the year. Each root-stock throws up from six to
eight stems, each of which must be yearly cut down,
and will yield from three or four pounds of very good
fibre fit for texile fabrics, for rope-making, or for the
manufacture of paper. Some very useful and tough
kinds of paper have been made in India from the
fibres of the plantain and paper of finer (juality from
the same material in France and in England. We can
easily see that an enormous quantity of valuable
produce is annually lost in this country through the
mere want of knowledge and attention, and requisite
facilities to turn it to utility.

There is an abundance of some kinds of grasses
which readily grow in different parts of the country
which yield materials both cheap and well suited for
paper-making purposes in this country. The American
aloe can be grown to almost any extent and at very
.slight expense in this country. It will apparently grow
on the roughest and coarsest soil and needs little atten-
tion or care after it has once .sprung up. We have the
bamboo growing in the greatest uljundauee, which yields
material for paper manufacture superior to any other
vegetable product which has as yet been discovered.
Thus wc have the most valuable fibre-yielding plants
euch as the plantain, aloe, and baml)oo in sufficient

quantities to produce abundant materials for the papa
trade. It is hoped that this subject will soon engage"*
the attention of those interested in such matters, and
result in the creation of new industries and the develop-
ment of a large new trade which will add materially
to the wealth and prosperity of the country.

Paper pulp is at present not only used for paper
making purposes, but it is put to innumerable other
and abundant uses in various arts and manufactures.
It is employed in the construction of even such things
as railway carriage wheels.

It was therefore justly remarked that the real wealth
of this country had yet to be found " in its fibrous
plants and many valuable vegetable products, as com-
pared to which in value the grain produce of the
country will in time be nothing." India abounds in
innumerable kinds of fibres most valuable and best
suited for paper-making, and as these fibres are pro-
curable at a comparatively very small cost, there ought
to be no reason, physical or economical, wh)^ paper
should not, with suitjble machinery, be made at a
much cheapsr rate than it can be imported from Eu-
rope where the raw materials are daily becoming more
and more costly. One Mr. Henley, who was evidently
in search for materials for paper manufacture in his
country, observed that " the east coast of the Bay of
Bengal, as well as Malabar on tfee West coast of India,
are the places where the growth of suitable materials
from the warmth and moisture of the climate, is most
abundant, and the conveyance by sea is ab the same
time most ea^y. It is to India we must look for exten-
sive and cheap supplies, for it is there alone we find
the necessary conditions of very low priced and intel-
ligent labour, with an abundance of elementary suitable
materials. " — Friendly Visitor.

VARNISH RESINS.

BY P. LUND SIMIIONDS.

The number of substances suitable for coarse varn-
ishes has lately become very numerous in Europe,
Common resin is now purified by a patent process con-
sisting of distillation with superheated steam, by which
it is obtained nearly transparent and colourless as
glass. R.'sius suited, however, for the preparation of
the finer descriptions of varnish are still very limited.
All plants produce, indeed, resins in a greater or less
degree, but the trees which produce them in sufficient
quantities to be of commercial value are to be found
principally in South America, India, Africa, and New
Zealand. These belong principally to the pine tribe,
the Dijiteraceae (only found in India and the Eastern
Archipelago) and the Legaminoaae.

Of the latter, the Hxjmenaech seem to be the trees
from which the resins most nearly akin to the true
hard, or fossil copals, are mostly derived. The copal
of Africa and the dammar of New Zealand (known
in commerce as kowrie gum), are the best known and
most esteemed.

The word Varnish covers a very wide field, as the
term in its fullest sense, can embrace all the thou-
sand and one preparations compounded for as many
different purposes. An essential quality of varnish is
that it must harden without losing its transparency,
as it must not change the colours it is intended to
preserve. It must exclude the action of air, because
wood and metals are varnished to protect them from
rust and decay. It must also be waterproof, else the
effect of the varnish would not be permanent. And
a point of primary importance is that it must po.ssess
durability. New uses an; constantly being found for
varnish, by which it embellishes the article to which
it is applied, affording satisfaction to the buyer and
profit to the manufacturer. A few notes on the chief
varnish resins may therefore be acceptable.

East Indian !!'dammar is the name applied b\' varnish
makers to the resin of Dammara orientalis, imported
chiefly from Singapore, which is strawcoloured, or, like
I)ale amber, very clear or transparent.. It is easily and
entirel}' soluble in ben/ole, ether, or chloroform, le.ss
rapidly ho in turpentine, forming a clear, nearly colour-

§4^

THfiJ TKOmCAL AGRICULTURIST. [June i, ^887.

less varnish, whicli dries rapidly on exposure to the
air. Dammar comes principally fram the Lampong
islands and Sumatra, and the yearly receipts may be
given at about 32,000 cwt. Tiiis resin is produced by
many kinds of trees in the State of Perak. The
principal are Bammar nvxta lutching I). Mcravti D.
Laiit, D. Degon, and Bammar Balk. _ It is the sap
■which exudes spontaneously, and being exposed to
the air, acquires a flinty hardness, from which the
epithet batu, or stone, is given, to distinguish it from
the softer resins. The dammar is found either in large
masses, at the foot of tress which yield it, or float-
ing in rivers, drifted to them by the floods of the
rainy season. The natives apply it to most of the
uses to which we put tar, pitch, and resiu. Most of
the family of Bipterocarpeav yield balsamic, resinous
juices, those of the genus Dipterocarp^i.^ the wood oils,
and of Vatcria indurated dammar. The natural order
abounds in Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, which are the
chief sources of the dammar of commerce. In Borneo,
dammar is generally found in the ground below the
trees, but may occasionally be seen in huge masses,
not unlike icicles, hanging from the sides of the trees.
A single piece weighing 6 cwt. has been found on one
tree, but necessarily these large masses get broken
in collection. The value of the dammar found in the
Sandakan district, North Borneo, is rarely over 10s.
per cwt. Further to the north much better sorts are
found, the dammar mata kutching (or cat's-eye),
of Palaman, brings £2 per cwt. Of resins, chiefly
dammars, we import 20,000 cwt. from Singapore, and
6,Ij00 cwt. from Java. Two or three species of dammars
are met with in British India, but are of no great
commercial value. Canarium strictum is known in
Malabar under the name of the black dammar tree,
in contradiction to the Vateriaindica, known as the
•white dammar tree.

The Sal tree (Shorcarolasta) furnishes also a dammar,
which dissolves much more freely and speedily in
benzole than in spirits of turpentine. The resin is
usually of a pale, creamy colour, nearly opaque. Shorea
sericea yields a kind of dammar which closely re-
sembles the Indian kind.

Hopea odoi'ata, of Burma and Pegu, yields the rock

dammar of commerce, a yellow resin which dissolves

readily. The trunk of Jlopea Mingarawan furnishes

a white dammar of a superior quahty. The resin

yielded by Hopea Micrantha in Borneo, Sumatara, and

Malacca is not so good, but that obtained from

Belambang is much sought after for the lustre it gives.

This resin is of a yellowish colour, and exudes in large

lumps from the trunk and branches. It is soluble in

turpentine or benzole, and forms a clear limpid varnish.

The Kauri gum of commerce is the produce of

Bammara Australis, a coniferous tree, which occurs

only in the north island of New Zealand, over a large

area of land which has been exhausted by forests in

past ages, and is now barren. The turpentine that

has exuded from the dead trees is found at a depth

of from 2 ft. to 3 ft. Tht' export of this fossil resin

has been steadily increasing the last thirty years. In

1855 only 355 tons were shipped, whilst in 1883, 1884,

and 1885 the annual shipments were over 6.000 tons,

valued at£320,000. We received in 1885, 81,000 cwt..

valued at £254,000. This fossil rosin is often found in

immense masses, larger than those of any other

known resin. Fine Blocks were shown in the New

Zealand Court at South Kensington last year, as

well as large collections of trade samples ot the

different commercial varieties.

Copal of Zanzibar.— This, sometimes called Indian
Anime, has been found to be the produce of Hymenaea
Mosamhicensk, or Trachylohium viosambicense. The iionth
American species Hymenaea courbaril also yield a good
deal of resin. The "true, or ripe copal, is the product
of vast extinct forests overthrown in former ages.
The export from Zanzibar averages about 1,000,000
pourds annually. The raw, or true copal, is called
Ohacki'Ze, corrupted by the Zanzibar merchant ta
jackass copal. Copal, it may be remarked, is the Mexi-
ca-n generic name for all resins. Manila copal derive
its name from the port from which it is shippe
there are two varieties known as bard and soft Manila

the hard resembles kowrie in appearance, but is inferior
in <iuality ; the soft is a pale yellow kind resembling
dammar. From Hymencea coiirharil, the soft re.sin known
in commerce as American copal, is obtained. The tree
is very extensively diffused over the West Indies, British
Guiana, Venezuela, Mexico, and in almost all the pro-
vinces of Brazil, though some other species of Ilymencea
probably furnish the resin. It is found in many loca-
lities in a semi-fossil state, and is obtained by digging
in the vicinity of the roots of the tree. The masses
seem to have the appearance of a stalagmitic form-
ation, arising from exudations from the branches of
the tree dropping in the soil below. Guibnvrtea co-pal -
lifrra is the principal, if not the sole, source of the
copal resin of Sierra Leone. All the resin exported
under the name of West African copal, may be looked
upon as a fossil resin, produced in times past by trees
which, at present, are extinct, or exist only in a
dwarfed posterity. The origin of the kind of copal
known as Angola, is at present undetermined. Con-
siderable quantities of copal are washed down during
the rainy season from the slopes of the mountains.
The natives subject the copal to a rude washing in
lixiviated ashes, whereby the outer crust and its im-
purities are partly removed. It has, on arrival to be
further cleansed for the trade with extreme care, and
without the use of acids, which are very detrimental
to varnishes in causing them to run " pin-holey." The
flat Angola copal is sometimes called red animi, as
it somewhat resembles it in appearance and quality.
It is principally sent from here to Europe and America.
The rounded water nodules, known as "pebble copal,"
assume this form, from the abrasion consequent on
their being washed down by the rapid mountain currents,
from the beds of which they are obtained.

The anime of commerce is a resin of great value to
the varnish maker, but it is now largely replaced by
copal. The best is obtained from Zanzibar, and is
derived originally from Trachylolnum musamJiicriixe. The
finer qualities come from the northern districts of
AYande. The imports are never very large, seldom
amounting to 3,000 cwt. Of copal, the imports occa-
sionally reach 20,000 cwt. but the imports from AVesi^
Africa are only about 7,000 cwh Of dammar the im-
ports range from 3,000 to 7,000 cwt. and of kowrie
gam, 70,000 cwt. to 80,000 cwt. annually. — Journal of
the Societi/ of Arts.

♦

ON THE USE OF SOOT.

As an April top-dressing for wheat, soot has been
applied in certain districts for very many years, with
most satisfactory results. Indeed, before the intro-
duction of Peruvian guano and nitrate of soda, it
was probably the only spring top-dressing employed;
while its use on certain soils was regarrled more as
a preventive against fungoid and insect attacks than
as a source of plant food. Doubtless it is owing to
this preventive property that soot has retained its
po';ition as a favourite dressing with many practical
farmers, so that its cost has rather increased than
decreased.

If we compare the relative amount of available
ii't^rogen compounds supplied by soot and by nitrate
of soda respectively at the same cost, the economy
is cert.iinly largely in favour of the latter; for not
only is the nitrate, on account of its richness in
nitrogen, much less bulky, and therefore less^ costly
in the matter of carriage and subsequent distribution,
but there is the advantage that it can be purchased
with a definite guarantee as to its chemical composition;
whereas soot is subject to all kinds of adulteration,
and its quality, moreover, must necep.sarily vary with
the character of the coal consumed in diflTerent localities
so that it is quite impossible to get any quantity at
a uniform standard of purity. The only ready test
of quality is its weight per bushel, for the less the
weight the richer in ammonia-salts, and. consequently,
the morp. v:ilu»ble the soot. As we shall presently
see, upon making a careful comparison of the chenai-
cal composition of the best qualities of soot with
ordinary nitrate of soda, the latter is the more
valuable of the two if we consider it simply as a

ivnn i, tiif.i

source of manure ; and, further, this op'nion has been
borne < ut by actual field experiments. If, tKerefore,
soot is to be preferred in certain localities, it must
be on account of properties other than tho^e of a
manure pure and simple. From a number of aualyses
it will be sufficient to select the two following ones
as fairly representative of average good commercial
Boot, which are placed by the side of a very poor
sample for better comparison.

Good soot. Bad.

No. 1.

4-90 ..
33-01 ..

No. 2. No. 3.

Water 490 237 2-40

^Carbonaceous matters ... 33*01 49'01 4186

Tar and hydrocarbons ... 27-42 15-83 -30

. ( Chloride of ammonium 5-69 7'49 trace

' jt Sulphate of ammonia 4-09 -81 -89

Oxides of iron and alumina 7'4S 7-70 14-16

Sulphate of lime 4-49 2-72 5-36

Sulphate of Magnesia -50 "86 'IS

Siliceous matters 12-41 13-21 34-85

lOO'OO

100-00

10000

*Containing nitrogen (in-
soluble form) 1-66 1-24 1-25

Equal to ammonia 2-03 1-50 1-51

fC ntaining available

ammonia 2'85

2-59

Total ammonia... 4-8S 400 1-74

Matters insoluble in water 74-dO 82-20 91-75

Matters insoluble in spirit 57-90 73-70 96-90

From the above results it will be seen that good
soot should contain at least 4 per cent of ammonia,
and not more than 20 to 21 per cent of mineral
impurities, such as sand, oxides of iron, and alumina.
No. 3 shows us the composition of a very inferior
quality, there being nearly half its weight of mineral
matters, while the total ammonia is not more than
1-74 percent. It is important also to notice that of
this 1-74 there is only -23 present in the form ef avail-
able ammonia, as compared with 2-85 in No. 1, and
2-59 in No. 2, samples. This comparison leads further
to the observation that even in No. 1, the be.st sample,
there is onlj' 2-85 of the ammonia present in a form
available as plant food, the remainder 203 existing
in a condition insoluble in water, and probably of very
little practical use to the growing crop.

Indeed, a glance at the above analytical results
will at once show that, so far as a source of ferti-
lisiug matter is concerned, it is only the available
ammonia that is of any manuria! value in the soot.
This ammonia is in fact, present in the form of an
aiumoniacal salt, sometimes in union with chlorine,
and sometimes — perhaps more frequentlj' — in combi-
nation with sulphuric acid, which latter is produced
from the sulphur present in the original coal.

It will be further noticed what a large proportion
of the three samples is i-asoluble in cold water ;
thus, in No. 3 there is nearly 92 per cent., in No.
2 as much as 82, and in No. 1 there is still 74 out
of 100 that is of no use as a soluble manure.

It is therefore worth while, in these days of agri-
cultural depression to ascertain whether it is possible
that good soot will be an economical source of soluble
nitrogen as compared with nitrate of scda, For this
purpose we will assume that commercial soot of good
quality, representing the mean analysis of Nos, 1 and
2, can be obtained at 6d. per bushel weighing 28 lb,
Also, that good nitrate of soda, testing 95 per cent
purity, can be obtained at 12s per cwt,

Nitiate of soda compared with ordinary soot.

Nitrate of soda. Soot,

Ijcwt, 36 bushels,

Quantity of manure per acre 1681b. —1008 lb,

Cost of manure..... 18s. 18s,

Soluble nitrogen 26 2/5 lb. 22 3/5 lb.

Equal to ammonia 321b. 27A lb.

From these figures it will be seen that, with the
it(p«&ditur& of tbe sinaQ mon^y/ the nitr&te gives

nearly 5 lb. more of available ammonia, and that, in
order to make the quantities equal, it woulr' he
necessary to apply 42 bushels of soot, costing 21s., as
against 18s. for the nitrate of soda.

In other words, the latter would appear to be quite
16 per cent cheaper than soot at 6d. per bushel, aud
that unless the price is i^d., the farmer had far
better use nitrate of soda as a top dressing for his
wheat. Moreover, in these calculations only the original
cost of the manures has been considered ; but if we
compared the extra cost for carriage and distribution
caused by the increased bulk of the soot, the differ-
ence in the expense would be still greater. Thus,
42 bushels of soot at 281b. each, would represent 10^
cwt. as against I5 cwt. nitrate of soda.

Let us next ascertain how far these chemical cal-
culations have been borne out by actual field experi-
ments, and we cannot do better than refer to a most
exhaustive paper, " On Experiments with Different
Top Dressing.s upon AYheat," by the late Dr. Voelcker,
which was published in the Journal of the Royal
Agricultural Society in 1862.

The experiments, which were carried out on the
College farm at Cirencester, include a number of
different kinds of manure ; but for our immediate pur-
pose it will only be necessary to refer to those we are
now comparing, namelj : a dressing of 1^ cwt. ni-
trate of soda gave an increase over the unmanured
plot of 10,', bushels of corn and 10^ cwt. of straw,
while 32 bushels of soot gave only an increase of 7f
bushels of corn and 6| cwt. of straw, the nitrate
thus giving an increase of nearly 25 per cent more
corn and 35 per cent more straw than the soot. Both
manures were carefully analysed, and found to be of
good quality.

These results, therefore, fully confirm the previous
calculations respecting the agricultural value of the
two dressings, and it seems therefore desirable, at
present market prices, to confine the use of soot to
those districts where it can be obtained for about 4Jd.
per bushel, and also to certain cold damp clays,
specially liable to produce mildew, but upon which soot
seems to exercise its popular property of averting this
disease. Indeed, if we refer to the analysis of No. 1
sample it will be seen what a much larger proportion
of tar and hydrocarbons there is, as compared with
No, 2 sample, there being 27-42 in one case, aud
only 15-83 per cent in the other; while in No. 3
there is only a mere trace.

It is therefore important to have as much of these
compounds in the soot as possible; and the extent to
which a sample is soluble in spirits of wine will be a
useful indication of its quality as a preventive of fun-
goid disease, as well as against the attacks of insects.

lu regard to this latter point there can be no doubt
that it must be most effective, acting both mechanically
and chemically. Further when applied in large quanti-
ties, such as forty bushels per acre, soot must supply
a warm covering and protection from cold wind to the
yotmg plants, aud its dark colour favours the increased
absorption of the sun'a heat rays.

In conclusion, it may bo repeated that as a simple
manurial top-dressiug soot cannot be economically com"
pared with nitrate of soda, except in those districts
where it can be purchased at 4^d= per bushel; but
as a useful preventive against fungoid and ii'sect at-
tacks it is likely to be etill employed with marked
advantage, even when the price is as much as fld,
per bushel, provided it is of really good quality.—
John Hughes, F.CS,, Consulting Chemist to the
Planters' Association of Oeylon. 79, Mark-lane, E,0.—

Field.

♦ — —

AGBICi'LTtEli ON TKE CONTlKlilNT OV
EUKOPE.

{Spccic'I Letter.)

pAltlB, April l(5j
An experienced authority asserts that he has irl'
creased by five per cent the yield of milk from his
cows, and which his ueighbour.s admit, by attend-
ing to the following simple rules ;— Never worry the

co>v3 Oil tlieiE goiflg or returning between tbij field

m

m& fMmAL Amtiit^itiit. uma i, tm-

^aa^i!^"^

and the dairy; milk them at uniform and unchange-
able intervals, say five in the morning and six in
the evening; let the operation of milking be per-
formed as gently and silently as possible; and to
remember that passion and threats will not win the
confidence of cows, nor will a blow in their Hank
be the means for dispelling their fear.

The only grain which succeeds in all soils is oats,
due to the great development of its roots and leaves,
that is, its organs of development. For sprmg oats,
as well as for barley and maize, the most economic
and efficacious sources of azote, phosphoric acid and
potash are nitrate of soda, the salts of Strassfurt ;
and the dephosphoration-clinkers and phosphate of
lime nodules reduced to powder. The collective
dose to apply depends on the richness of the soil
and the wants of the plant to be cultivated ; the
expenditure should, under the head of fertilizers for
top-dressing spring cereals, be about fr. 40 per acre.
For barley, the Chevalier is the pet variety ; for
oats, the Canadian or the Hallet Tartary. The
practice of farmers, residing in different and distant
districts, exchanging grains for sowing, cannot be
too highly encouraged. The vigour of a plant at
its first stage? depends uniquely on the reserve of
aliment contained in the grain. This magazined
food is destined to furnish the plant with all its
nutrition, till the moment where the development
of its roots and stem permits it to rely on the air
and soil. Hence, the importance of seed being dense,
plump, flat and heavy, and the utility of sifting out
of cereals intended for sowing all seeds either light,
small or shrivelled. In the case of oats 75 per cent
of the grains germinate, for barley 88, and maize
70. To germinate, oats must swell to the extent of
60 to 70 per cent of their weight of water, and
which is absorbed in soils of ordinary humidity in
twelve or twenty-four hours. When the soil has a
temperature of 65 or 66 degrees, germination will
take place in the course of two days, but not till
eight days if the temperature be as low as 39 degrees.
Above 86 degrees the grain will not germinate at
all. On an average the germination is effected within
six to seven days.

These conditions are modified by the depth to
which the seed is buried ; in compact clays one
inch of covering will suffice ; for soils of average
consistency '2h inches in depth, while in light sandy
land a covering of 3 to .3A inches will be required.
The growth of the plant commences by the deve-
lopment of three rootlets ; next, by the first leaf.
With a soil of 65 degrees temperature, the daily
increase of the stem is less than half an inch. Oats
require a larger sujn of heat to mature than barley,
and the average period of maturation may vary from
131 days as in P^ngland to 100 round Paris, and
only 88 at Kcenigsberg in Prussia. Oata should be
sown in 6 inch rows. Barley possesses the faculty
to germinate at a soil-temperature of i)7 degrees,
while oats can only sustain that of 85 ; this ex-
plains yy'hy in warm latitudes barley replaces oats
jn the alimentation of stock. Barley will germinate
ftfter absorbing 55 per cent of ita weight of water.
Around Fans it ripens in 96 days, while in lEngland
it takes 137, Mai^ie exacts only 41 to 50 per cent
of water to germinate; from its appearance above
ground, till coming into flower, 45 to 10.'^ days are
♦required ; 15 to IS more for fecundation, and .lO to
m days to mature- In i'rance, the total mean time
from the sowing of msA^e to it? reaping i04 to
iSO days, nnd even more are aeceasary,

Hince ten years a professional agricultural school
haa been established at Harouc, in Lorrain, by
Monsieur I'abbi" Harmand for orphan girls, and which
is conducted by the Sisters of Charity. The area
of land attached to the institution is 35 acres ; it is
worked alnioet eHclusively by the pupils and their
mistreeses. Practical everyday instruction is not only
given in household management and the elements of
ordinary education, but in kitchen gardening, dori^
culture, small farming ; the culture of fruit trees,
vines, hops, tobacco, A'c; dairy management, poultry,
and the rearing of cattle. The school ia a success,
and the girls are eagerly sought as servants and

\\m&, WquIsI it not Jbe t>m§ (o make i^xm&ts'

daughters at least as welMnformed as their helps?

In Belgium, farmers are compelled by law to keep
down weeds on their holdings, so as not to allow
propagation by the wind carrying away the seeds.
The farmers have petitioned that the State should
take the beam out of its own eye, by ordering that
all the vacant land it owns be kept clear of weeds,
and that the roadsides especially be maintained as
a model in the way of freedom from weed propa-
gation.

The truth is now making way that meadow lands
require their fertility to be as much studied as
tilled soils. Indeed, when the grasses commence to
get thin and dwarfish, when irrigation too fails,
something is wrong with the soil. It wants potash
and nitrogen, or, it may in addition be sour. If
the latter, commence by drainage and fresh limiugs ;
next apply fertilizers, such as potash or bone dust
singly, or in the proportion of two of kanite and
one of bone powder. This dosing will not only aug-
ment the yield, but the quality of the grass. There
was a time when potash alone was relied on as a
sufficient top-dressing for pastures ; it was concluded,
meadows contained a sufficiency of the othr-r elements
of plant nutrition. This belief has been of late
shaken by the failure of potash to act as a heal-all,
because when phosphates are added the efficacy of
potash becomes developed, proof that phosphoric
acid was wanting, and when co-operating witji an
alkali, the best action of both stimulants were obtained.

Tobacco culture is making rapid strides. The
secret of success perhaps lies in the preparation of
good compost or mould-manure to form the nursery
beds. The compoct should be prepared twelvemonths
in advance, and blcod and urine vvill form excellent
ingredients. The site for the beds should be such
as to secure sunshine from nine in the morning till
four in the afternoon. Many enclose the beds with
bricks or boards, so as to keep the farm-yard
manure, which ought to be two feet thick, and the
compost well together to produce heat — it is in
March the seed is sown — for the young sprouting
plants against the chance rigors of spring. Over
the trampled-down manure the compost should be
placed, the first layer three inches, and also tram-
pled, iDut the next left loose. Mix the seed with
ashes and a little of the compost, sow broadcast,
rake in, cover with matting, and regulate air and
light, till the young plants are able to hold their
own. If watering be necessary, leave the water in
the pot exposed to the sun a day before being em-
ployed.

In planting out, care must be taken to water
liberally, so that the rootlets can readily take up
sap when dibbled in the field. Water after dibbling.
Good black calcareous soil suits tobacco best. And
the soil must be kept rich by winter mauurings,
and not too often stirred, as this might induce ex-
cessive porosity, and hence dryness. The soil before
planting out cannot be rendered too friable by skim-
plough, harrow and roller. In soils not the best
for tobacco culture, such should be well dosed with
sulphates of potash and lime. Bad land produces
a tobacco without much flavour, and which burns
badly. Dibble the young plant in firmly "il by 16
inches in straight lines.

If after some days any of the plants fade replace
theiii. Hoeing, earthing, stripping off the lower
leaves, and nipping the top shoot of the plant, so
aa to leave d to 10 leaves, is all that is necessary.
The tobacco raised on plains is more aromatic than
that grown in a garden, while that produced on eonie
southern slopes is superior to both. Tobacco sue
ceeda all crops in a rotation if the soil be rich. In
Alsace it follows best after maize and beet, Both
the large and narrow-leaved varieties of tobacco aro
cultivated. In France the revenue officers insist
upon the plants being spaced at fixed distances ac-
cording to defined regions- In the south 4,000 plants
per aero ia the government number, while in the
north it is 20,000. In Alsace 12,000 plants are limited
to an acre.

The harvest generalljr takes place at the end of
August, and the plant is considered ripe, when oa
cutting tho stem a reddicb circle appears, M\t9i

JiiHi t, I

*Mii *MOPICAL AOKtcULtUl^iaf,

rntiiiiriiT[»Tonmx!TiW«w>f>iaaaBa«»a««a

being cut some leave the plant a few days to fade,
others transport it under sheds to dry, and later,
roll the leaves iu linen cloths or press thena between
bundles of oaten straw. The object is to obtain a
leaf that will be at once aromatic and burn well.
From 5 to 15 cwt. is the average yield per acre in
southern and northern regions respectively. The
question may fairly be raised, is tobacco culture
profitable ? Many farmers will not hesitate to say
directly it is not, but indirectly it is the best pre-
paration for any succeeding crop.

Dr. Hector George, Professor of Hygiene in the
Agronomical Institute of this city, draws attention
to the sanitary influence of light in favouring the
formation of blood globules, and aiding all the func-
tions of life to their fullest extent and intensity.
Light revives and stimulates energy in the animal
economy, assists to purify air by destroying malaria
germs. Light is salutary for the young by aiding
growth, and for the aged by filliping sluggish nerve-
organs.

^ .

It may be useful to dwellers in the bush to known
that carpenters frequently cut rafters according to this
rule : Multiply the span in feet by 6, and point off one
right hand figure, as in decimals. The left-hand figures
are feet and the other inches; thus, for a roof of 2Sft.
span X 6 = 16-8, or 16ft. Sin. This is not quite one-
third pitch, and makes a good roof. — Qaecittlcmdcr.

Eenjamin Hepburn, of Ballarat, Victo-ia, makes
known in the Aitstralosian the following antidote to
strychnine ; — The remedy is salad oil first, and after-
wards castor oiJ. In three cases of his own stud
greyhounds he has proved its efficacy, even although
convulsions had already commenced. He gives a
small bottleful of salad oil at one dose, and in about
an hour's time a large dose of castor oil. — Qucenslaiukr.

Local Manufacture of Quinine. — A London
correspondent interested in Ceylon writes : — " I have
been making some experiments upon the extraction
of quinine from cinchona bark and shall hope to
write you shortly on same. I have extracted the
quinine without using mlphuric or hydrochloric
acid. I am surprized that no Ceylon firm has yet
taken up this important matter of local extraction.
Bending low quality of bark home cannot possibly
pay at present prices."

The following remedy might perhaps be effective
in destroying the cabbage caterpillar. It is used for
the destruction of the gooseberry and currant cater-
pillar : — If 5 oz. of alum be dissolved iu boiliug water,
and this mixture afterwards mixed with cold water
so as to make about 18 quarts, and the fluid be
applied to the bushes when attacked, tbe caterpillar
will entirely disappear. It is a good assistaance also
against the attacks of other species of caterpillar,
the American blight, and aphides.— ^WdJtvwi'ancZe)-.

The following letter from Baron von Mueller on the
transport of cuttings is published in the Gardtmrs'
Chronicle : — " To show the facility with which cuttings
also of rather hard-wooded plants can be sent to very
long distances, I may mention that an experiment
lately instituted by me iu sending cuttings of Buddleia
Madagascariensis and B. globosa simply packed in wax-
cloth, by post, all the way to Madras, proved perfectly
Buccejsful, as etated by Mr. Lawson and Mr. Gamble,
while cuttings of the large-flowered Hypericum shrubs
of Upper India, and of some other kinds of plants,
reached me in return also quite safely by the same simple
process. The time required for the sending of these
cuttings was four to five weeks."— Quccmlander.

The diamond drill has led to a valuable discovery in
South Australia. Around the township of Hammond
hitherto the water found in any wt lis that have been
sunk has invariably been too salt for use, and very fre-
quently the residents were put to great straits when
their surface supply was exhausted. The diamond drill
has discovered beautiful fresh water at a depth of 230ft.,
which immediately rose to within 60ft. of the surface.
There are mauy spots in Queensland where salt water
Only is to be got in the shallow wells already sunk,
and we mention this success of tbe drill to encourage
f9ti\si» hae to bore down below tbe salt etratum, It

is a trouble sinking a well through strata containing
salt water, but with any of the water augers or earth
borers this trouble is reduced to a minimum, for the
salt water can be easily kept back by piping the
bore. — Queonslander.

Tea Flushing ani> Sinhalese Pluckeks. —
While in the higher districts there has actually
been a check of flushing from the drought which
followed the little monsoon, in the medium dis-
tricts like Dolosbage there has been steady con-
tinuous flushing keeping all hands so fully em-
ployed, that extra pay to the amount of 3d per
day is being freely earned— a circumstance sure to
gratify Bamasami and which will erelong induce a
big inflow of coolies to share in the rupee harvest.
Meantime many estates are able to get help from
Sinhalese, who in some cases are glad to work
along ^vith the Tamils on day's pay. Mr. Blackett
especially has quite a large force and he finds the
Sinhalese boys and lads very useful as pluckers.
Some of the 8-year old tea in this district is
simply magnificent, Mr. Blackett had the ' flush '
on one or two bushes carefully plucked and weighed
the other day, resulting m 9 ounces of leaf per
tree; equal to about 400 lb. made tea per acre for
the one plucking ! or at the rate of 4,000 lb per
annum ! ! 'What do these planters do for the country
and its people ? ' is a question sometimes thought-
lessly asked by a young Civilian or other new-
comer. Perhaps if they saw Mr. Blackett's force
of 1,200 men, women and cliildren (Sinhalese and
Tamils) and his mouthiy indent for 1,000 bushels
of rice to feed them, the thoughtless querist might
feel he had his answer.

How Moisture in the Soil Behaves. — To many it
appears inexplicable how our settlers can cry out for
rain withiu a very few weeks of the time that the fall
of perhaps several inches has been recorded. The fact
is easily explained when the extreme desiccation of the
subsoil and even the rocks is considered. Capillary-
attraction is silently but constantly at work distributing
to the most attenuated film the water in the ground,
so that once a series of years of deficient rainfall has
occurred nothing but prolonged rain will saturate the
lower ground to the point of yielding moisture to the
surface instead of drawing it downwards. AVheu pro-
longed and heavy rain falls, the water descends by gra-
vity and fills all the larger spaces in the ground, the
cracks, and even the rocks; then this same law of
capillary attraction comes to work for the benefit of
vegetation. Instead of attenuating the only moisture in
the soil aud retaining it, as is now the case, it causes
a constant film upwards to the roots of the plant
from the store pools below. It is often a matter of
surprise how the roots of a tree will discover a well
or a drain mauy feet away from the parent tree. It
seems inexplicable that there should be so much sense
in the rootlet, but a little thought about the action
of capillary attraction will explain the proceeding.
From such a well or drain there is this constant film
of water being spread out; no matter, though it is
many feet off the root, yet the moist film touches it
and the root follows the lead until the fountain's source
is reached, Besides, while the lower ground is spread*
ing out the moisture in the way just mentioned, it
must be remembered that the young growth of suc«
culent grass which has been started Into to life by the
rain falling upoa the hot surface is a powerful evapor-
ator of moisture ; the water absolutely streams through
the fresh young leaves into the hot dry air, and Ih
order to keep this up the drain upon the moisture in
the surface soil is very great, so that in a short time
the supply is ineflicieut and the grass withers. Thus
it is that the newspaper correspondents' reports of the
"drought having broken up" is soon followed by the
unexpected cry of "drought." Tin fortunately nearly the
whole of interior Queensland is iu this desiccated state,
and nothing but prolonged rains can possibly do any
real good. Even a flood would not suflice unless it
were followed by continuous rains, for flood waters
rush away before they have time to penetrate deeply
into tbe earth.— <2«e5w?«n(i<rr,

fHE TIKOPiCAL AGRiCUlf URlSlf, fjt^ffg ^, 200/

jaMJMiiaiwfli'yMlll^'iillirtW^

INDIAN TEA COMPANIES.

(From the '^ J'iuncer's" Calcutta Commercial Reporter.)

Calcutta, April-May 1887.

Tka. — The report of the Managing Agents o)' the
Adulpore Terai Tea Company shows that the out-
turn was 684j maunds, against an estimate of 700
niauiuls and an outturn in 1885 of 690 maunds. The
price realized was As. 8-1 57 against As. 10-1 last season.

'J'he report of the Managing Agents of the Bengal
Tea Company shows that the yield was 3,605 maunds,
against an estimate of 3,600 maunds and an outturn
in 1885 of 2,7'J5 maunds. The fine tea realized an aver-
age of As. 8| per lb. against As. 10 1-Gthsin 1885, and
the coarse 5"5-12ths per lb. against As. 65 in 1885.
The gross revenue for the year was Rl,37,17i!, and the
expenditure Rl,17,751, leaving a profit of K19,421, and,
adding the balance brought forward from 1885, the
amount at credit of Profit and Loss is R34,455. A
dividend of o per cent will be paid and K6,000 will
be carried forward. This is the first dividend for many
years. The area of the gardens under plant is 1,292;{
acres. The estimate for 1887 are for a crop of 3,000
maunds fine, aud 1,400 maunds coarse, tea at au out-
lay of 111,42,400. The IManager hopes to plant out 200
acres of flat laud by next cold season.

The report of the Directors of the Bishnauth Tea
Company discloses an outturn for tlie past year of
492,315 lb., against an estimate of 492,000 lb. and an
outturn of 331,412 lb. last year. The teas have all
been shipped, and so far have realized an average of
lOd per lb. against Is 3d per lb. last year. The revenue
account shows estimated receipts of K2,82,842 and an
expenditure of R2,49,582, leaving an estimated profit of
B33,260, and, adding the balance from last year, the
amount at Profit and Loss is expected to be K35,707,
which would admit of a dividend of 4 per cent. The
Dii'ectors propose to declare a dividend after realization
of the crop. The estimates for the current season are
for 7,650 maunds of tea at a cost of 3,05,700. The Cal-
cutta expenditure will be exceptionally heavy as it in-
cludes some R45,000, cost of coolies. The area under
tea is 1,550 acres. The dividend last year was 4 per
cent. The block account stands at R8,47,010.

The report of the Directors of the Central Terai Tea
Company shows that the outturn was 1,916 maunds,
against an estimate of 1,850 maunds and a crop in
1885 of 1,577 maunds. The average price realized was
As. 7-6'64 per lb. As. 9-4 last season.

The report of the Directors of the Cocheela Tea
Company discloses an outturn of 93,455 lb., against an
estimate of 90,000 lb. and an outturn in 1885 of
85,858 lb. The average price realized was As. 7 against
As. 9^ for the previous year.

The report of the Directors of the Dehing Tea Com-
pany shows that the outturn was 5,196 maunds,
against an estimate of 4,700 maunds, and an outturn in
1885 of 4,348:^ maimds. The average price reahzed
was As. 7-11 against As. 9-5| in 1885.

The report of the Managing Agents of the Dhunsiri
Tea Company shows that the outturn was 1,005 maunds,
against an estimate of 1,180 maunds and an outturn of
900 maunds in 1885, the average price realized being
A». 9 7-29 net against As. 12i per lb. last year. The
receipts for the year were E52,010 aud the expenditure
R50,913, leaving a profit of Rl,098, and, adding the
balance from last .season, the amount at credit of Pro-
fit and loss is Kl,296, which will be placed to credit
of Hew cultivation. The dividend last year was 5 per
cent. The area now under plant is estimated at 300
acres, and some 25 acres, are already cleared for plant-
ing out. The estimates for 18S7 are for a crop of 1,250
inaunds of tea at a local cost of As. 5 per lb. The Com-
pany have ordered the necessary machinery for a saw
mill to turn out 15,000 boxes a year, as a lot of fine
timber is available from the clearances, and the Agents
estimate a profit annually of at least R8,0U0 from this
aourc'e. The block account now stands at R1,56,G94.

The report of the Directors of the East India Tea
Company shows that the crop was 310.250 lb., against
an estimate of 304.000 lb. and an outturn in 1885 of
300,1901b. The entire crop has been sold at an average
of As. 8-0^ per lb. agaiiast As. 10-5| in 1885, The
feceipts for the year ^§re Bl,53i784 aod tbe expeod«

iture R1,70,4S2, leaving a loss OQ the working of
R16.698, and the debit balance at Profit and Lo.ss is
R16,549. The dividend last year was .3^ per cent.
The estimates for 1887 are for a crop of 4,782 maunds,
at an outlay of Rl, 72,000, or 7i As. laid down in Cal-
cutta. The area of the gardens under plant is 1,535
acres, and the block account stands in the books at
1110,10,060.

Tiie report of the Directors of the Majagram Tea
Company shows that the outturn was 76,693 lb. against
au estimate of 88,000 lb. and a crop of 84,8831b. in
1885. Two severe hailstorms account for the deficiency.
The bulk of the tea was sold in Calcutta at an average
of As. 6-7 per lb. aud 13,785 lb. in London at an equiv-
alent of As. 7.

The report of the Directors of the Monacherra Tea
Company .shows an outturn of 2,039 maunds, against an
estimate of 1,925 maunds and a Ci-op in 1885 of 1,8(J9
maunds. The average prices realized were : —

Fine Tea. 1886. 1885.

Monacherra per lb. As. 8-1 As. lO-o

Julnacherra „ „ 7-7 „ 9-10
Coarse Teas.

Monacherra ,, ,, 5-8 „ 6-7

Julnacherra ,, ,, 3-10 „ 6-1

Tlie report of the Directors ot the Mothola Tea Com-
pany shows that the outturn was 1,470 4-5ths maunds,
against an estimate of 1,100 maunds and a crop in 1885 of
1,351| maunds, the average price realized being As.
10-2i per lb. gross against As. 9-10 in 1885.

The report of the managing agents of the Pashok
Tea Company shows that the outturn was 1,433 maunds,
against an estimate of 1,450 maunds and a crop in
1885 of 1,369 maunds. The teas were nearly all dis-
posed of in London, and the average realized for the
whole crop was As. 7-10 net in Calcutta, against
As. 10-4 obtained last year.

The report of the Director of the Runglee Rungliot
Tea Company shows that the outturn was 1,400 maunds
against an estimate of 1,250 maunds and a crop in
1885 of 1,250 maunds. The average price expected
to be realized is As. 9-8 against As. 10-10 for the pre-
vious season.

The report cf the Managing Agents of the Sapa-
kati Tea Company shows that the crop was 107,145 lb.
against an estimate of 96,000 lb., aud an outturn in
1885 of 95,375 lb. Some 80,415 lb. were disposed of in
London at 8|d per lb., and sales in Calcutta realized
As. 8-10 per lb. The average price last year was As. 9-2
per lb.

The report of the Managing Agents of the Shum-
shernugger Tea Company shows that the yield was
3,745 maunds, against an estimate of 2,800 maunds and
an outturn in 1885 of 3,070 maunds, the average price
realized being As. 7| against As. 10 last year.

Tea. — The report of the Managing Agents of the
Bargang Tea Company shows that the outturn wag
88,579 lb. against an estimate of 7fi,000 lb. The teas
which were of fair quality were shipped to London
and have almost all been disposed of at Is per
lb. which is equal to As. lOi in Calcutta. The re-
ceipta are put down at R58,676 and the expenditure
at R3S),718, leaving a profit on the season's opera-
tions of R18,958, and adding the balance from 1885,
the amount at credit of profit and loss is 1119,947.
A dividend of 10 per cent is recommended, and the
transfer of R5,000 to a working capital account, carry-
ing forward R397. The estimates for 1887 are for
a crop of 1,100 maunds at an outlay of R43,000, Ths
area of the gardens under plant is 271 acres and the
Block Account stands at Rl,48,500. The report ia
satisfactory.

The report of the Managing Agents of the Good
Hope Tea Company ia in accordance with its name;
it discloses an outturn of 2,214 maunds against an
estimate of 1,800, a crop in 1885 of 1,616 and in
1884 of J ,301 niamids a record of steady and sub-
stantvU progress. The average prices realised were
As 9; against As 12i -m 1885 and As. 93
in 1884. Had prices kept up the results would
have beeu truly magnificent. The revenue for the
yeas v/ag Bl,03,9i^§ aud tbe es peoditurs B7&,8i^

Jmt I, 1887.]

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

847

leaving a profit of R28,114, and adding the balance
from 1885 the amount at credit of profit and loss is
E34,745. Ad interim dividends of 20 per cent, ex-
hausting R20,000 have already been declared, and a
final dividend of 8 per cent, has now been paid, a
balance of R6,745 being carried forward. The dividend
last year was 40 per cent. The estimates for 1887
are for 2,200 maunds at an outlay of R74,456. The
area under plant is 410 acres, and the Block Account
R96,383.

The report of the Managing Agents of the Mohar-
gong Tea Company shows thatithe outturn was 1,285
maunds against an estimate of 1,200 maunds and a
crop in 1885 of 1,042 maunds. The average price
realised was As.7-11 per lb. against As. 10-11 in 1885.
The accounts show receipts of R50,995 and expeu-
diture of R47,209, leaving a profit of R3,7S6 andadd-
u:g the balance from last year the amount at credit
ol profit and loss will be R3,885. A dividend of 2
per cent, has been declared andR6S5 carried forward ;
the dividend last year was 5 per cent. The estimates
for 1887 are for 1,300 maunds at an outlay of R44,652.
The area of the JMohurgong garden is 215 acres and
the Block Account R 1, 60,000.

The report of the Managing Agents of the Tezpore
and Gogra Tea Company shows that the out-turn
was 3,150 maunds against 2,318 in 1885 and 2,744 in
1884. The average price realized from both gardens
was As. 7i per lb. against As. 10-11 for Tezpore and
As. Hi for Gogra in lb85. The accounts show re-
ceipts of Rl,21,764 and expenditure of Rl,06,956,
leaving a profit of R14,808 and adding the balance
from 1885 the amount at credit of profit and loss
is R18,272; a dividend of 4 per cent is declared on
the A shares carrying forward a balance of R2,313.
The estimates for 1887 are for a crop of 2,800
maunds at an outlay of R104,G25. The area imder
plant is ()67A acres and the Block Account stands
at R6,05,350. The dividend on the A shares last
year was 7 per cent.

The report of the Directors of the Baiutbaree Tea
Company for the year 1886 shows that the out-turn
was 133,653 lb. against an estimate of 128,000 lb. and
a crop in 1885 of 124,480 lb. the average prize realized
being As. 7* against As. 9-5 last year. The revenue
account shows receipts of 1162,580 and expenditure of
R57,362, leaving a profit on the season of R5,218,
and adding the balance from 1885 the amount ai
credit of profit and loss is E.7,355. The estimates
for 1837 are for a crop of 2,000 maunds at local out-
lay of R45,000 which includes the cost of opening
out and planting an additional 50 acres. The area
under cultivation is 334 acres and the Block Account
stands at Rl, 74,242. The capital of the Company is
Rl,60,000 and there is an over draft of Rll,723 at
the Agra Bank.

The report of the Managing Agents of the Ting
Ling Tea Company shows that the out-turn was 862
maunds against an estimate of 900 maunds, and a
crop of 794 mauiads in 1885, the average price realized
As. 10- 10-22 against As. 14^ in 1885. The revenue
account shows receipts of R51,481 and expenditure
of R37,625, leaving a profit of R13,856 and adding
the amount at credit of Profit and Loss from 1885,
the available ba'.ance is R13,929. Dividends aggre-
gating S per cent, have been declared, and Rl,929
carried to new cultivation account. Ihe dividend
last year was 15 per cent. The estimates for 1887
are for a crop of 900 maunds of really fine tea at an
expenditure of R40,090.

The report of the Directors of the Leesh River
Tea Company shows that the outturn of the Kalla-
goitee Division was 1,629 maunds against an estimate
of 1,500 maunds and a crop in 1885 of 1,412 maunds.
The price obtained being As. 9-2 per lb. against
11-1 per lb. in 1885. The estimate for 1887 is for
1,700 maunds. The outturn of the Hope Division
was 394 maunds against an estimate of 382 maunds
and an outturn in 1885 of 290 maunds; the price realized
being As. 7-7 per lb. against As. 9-1 last year. The
prices realized are disappointing. The e-.timiite
for 1887 is 550 maunds. The accounts show receipts
of £5,298 on account of Kallagoitee Division and
an expenditure of £3,777, leaving a profit of £1,521
and deducting debenture interest and other charges

and adding balance from last year the amount at
credit of profit and loss is £955. The Hope Division
shows a loss of £1,056 which has been added to
j31ock. A dividend of 4 per cent has been paid, £250
taken to Reserve, which now stands at £1,000 and
£105 carried forward.

The report of the Grob Tea Company shows tliat
the outturn was 3,238 maunds against £.u estimate of
3,050 mauuds, and a crop in 1885 of 2,878 maunds.
The average price realized was As. 7-8 per lb. against
As. 10-8 last year. The receipts for the year were
Rl,22,641, and the expenditure, including interest, &c.
R1,34,4S7, leaving a loss on the working of Rll,846
md the debit balance at profit and loss is swelled to
R52,935. The estimates for 1S87 are for a crop of
3,392 maunds at a cost of Rl,15,867. The area of the
.gardens under plant is 798 acres and the Block Account
stands at R5,59,020.

The report of the Desai and Parbutia Tea Com-
pany for the year 1888 shows that the yield of tea
has been 136,226 lb. against an estimate of 136,0nii lb.
and an outturn in 1885 of 125,734 lb. The average
prize realized was As. 9-3 16-25ths per lb. against
As. ll-329-50ths in 1885. The revenue account shows
receipts of R79,982 and an expenditure of 1173,700
leaving a profit on the season of R6,282 and after
writing off R 1,416, for land purchased and adding
R-'58 brought forward from 1885 the amount at
credit of profit and loss is R5,124. A dividend of
2i per cent has been declared and R624 carried for-
w'ard ; the dividend last year was 9 per cent. The
estimates for 1887 are for a crop of 152,800 lb. from
an area of 493 acres at a local coast of As. 5-10 per
lb. which includes the upkeep of the young cultiva-
tion. The Block Account stands in the books at
Rl,50,433.

The report of th(^ Managing Agents of the Phool-
barrie Tea Company shows that the outturn amounted
to 239,374 lb. against an estimate of 273,000 lb and
an outturn in 1885 of 247,774 lb. the average price ob-
tained being slightly over As. 85 per lb. against As. 10|
per lb, last year. The Revenue Account shows receipts
of Rl,27,002 and an expenditure of Rl,01,460— which
includes interest on debentures, preliminary expenses,
and amount written off Block, aggregating R9,393— the
nett profit being R25,542, and adding the balance from
1885 the amount at credit or profit and loss is R25,G47. A
dividend of 5 per cent has been paid and R47 carried
forward; — the dividend last year was 9 per cent. The
estimates for 1887 are for an outturn of 3,550 maunds
at an expenditure of R 100,000, or a little under As. 5|
per lb. The Company has suffered a loss in the death
of its garden manager, Mr. C. H. Pillans. The Block
Account stands at R5,26,036.

The report of tbe Managing Agents of the AVasha-
barie Tea Company shows that the outturn was 2,724
maunds against an estimate of 2,200 maunds and a
crop in 1885 of 1,686 maunds, — the average price real-
ised being As. 8I per lb. against As. 11 l-6ths last year.
The Revenue Account shows receipts of Rl,10,287
and expenditure of R79,485, leaving a profit of R30,8n2
and ad'ding the balance from last year, the amount
at credit of profit and loss is R32',046. Dividends
aggregating 10 per cent have been paid, R8,010 taken
to extensions, R4,3So written off machinery and R4,651
carried forward, the estimates for 1887 are for a crop
of 3,000 mauuds at a total cost of R77,922. Proposals
are in circulation to transfer the Company to f.ondon
and to alter the capital to a sterling one of £25,000.
The area under plant is 523 acres and the Block stands
at R211,872.

A return of R16 per share has been made to the
shareholders in theGowhatty Tea Company.

Tea. — The first annual report of the Managing Agents
of the Chapdgurie, Tea Company for the season ended
31st December shows that the area under plant is 305
acrf'S, of which 170 acres were planted in and before
1884, .50 acres in 1885 and 85 acres in 1886. The out-
turn for the year was 422 maunds, against an estimate
of 340 maunds, and the average price realized, A". 65
per lb. The receipts were R 14,456 and the expenditure
R42,441, the balance being transferred to Block Account
which stands at R94,686. Tbe estimates for 1887 are

84 S

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. fJtJN6 t, 1887.

for 850 mauad8 of tea at a total cost of R58,261, which
includes cost of boiler, engine aud drying and rolling
machines, as well as of putting out 55 acres more
tea. There will probably therefore be a deficiency of
K24,2()I on this season's working, which can be added
to Elock.

PLANTING IN NETHERLANDS INDIA.

(Translated for the /Straits I'lmes, May 11th.)
In the province of Pasaruan, the Resident has
forbidden the people to take away young bamboo
Klioots from clumps of that plant. These shoots are
largely used by the natives as an article of food,
and as such are sold in the markets in hundreds.
Among the poorer classes, slices of bamboo shoots
are the only relishes to rice. The prohibition has
been promulgated to save the bamboos there from
total extermination, but will be found hnrd to enforce.
In Lhe Lampong districts, according to the Batavia
Kieutvsh/ad, disease has broken out among the pepper
plantations. The Resident of the province has forth-
with repaired to the spot to make enquiries. His
report on the subject is already in the hands of
Government. The spread of the disease will prove
detrimental to the wellbeing of the natives in that
quarter. Experiments with tobacco growing there,
have so far not led to any satisfactory results. Tin
has also been sought for in the Lampong districts
but hitherto without encouraging results.

CHINA TEAS GOING OUT OP CONSUMP-
TION.

The London Tea Broking Firm whose China tea cir-
cular we quoted lately, have since issued the follow-
ing :—

Dear Sirs, — Since wir had the pleasure of writing
you last week the position has become more acute.
It is no use China buyers any longer living in a
" Fools's Paradise," the fact stariug them in the face
is that China tea is going out of consumption with
the most alarming rapidity. For example the delivery
of congou last month (March) wasS millioiis ; if we allow
2| millions for export, it leaves 5| millions for Home
consumption against 7j millions of Indian growths,
and for the first three months of the year figures
stand thus: — Congou deliveries 1885, 33,253,000 lb.
1886,29,103,000 lb. 1887, 23,500,000 lb. If figures prove
anything this should be tolerably convincing.

In former years when prices materially gave way,
consumption quickly responded, but not so now. The
trade find that they c;in get such value in Indians at
(id to 7d that common Chinas are dear at less than
the cost of production, that is to say we take it that
' Shuntaams cannot be laid dowu here at 4^d, nor
common whole leaf red at 5d with an export duty of
Tls. 2-8 included.

At the opening of your markets it would seem
that exchange would be lower than ever before
known, freights may be, as well as Marine Insurance.
If the differences on all these are to be calculated in
the laying down cost aud given to the Chinaman
" the game is up." For there to be any safety in
the trade, you must pay the teaman (and so the
grower) a tael price that will not induce him to pluck
for quantity.

We quote a few sales made in the auction room
this week : — A choice Kiutuck said to have cost Is
Sid at lid, a few sold on arrival at Is .od. Another
bought on speculation by a well-known judge of fine
tea at Messrs. Thome's sale in June at Is 5d re.sold
at lid, an Oonfaa counterpart sold at Is 2d, at 9jd,
a choice Ningchow part sold it Is M, at lid. " Wing
Mow" a contract Pekling per mail steamer at llgd.
A choice Paklum part sold last month at Is 2d to ll^d.
♦— ; _

Coc.^o Planters are in a fair way to be
strongly congratulated in Ceylon: their product is
equally with coffee, rapidly approaching the round
lOO.s per cwt. and with the good crop prospects
which Matale aud Dumbara as well as other dis-
tricts shew, the Ceylon owners o£ cacao may well
be aatigfiej.

A TRIP

THROUGH THE
VALLEY.

KELANI

(From a Correspondent.)

I have just returned from a visit to the Kelani
Valley, one of the new and flourishing tea districts.
The estates are a good deal scattered through this
large Valley. Starting from Avisawella Rest-house, I
visited some of the estates in the neighbourhood. On
Atherfield, a few miles off, I met Mr. Ingles the
Manager formerly of Mariawatte ; this place was look-
ing well aud I was informed that 600 lb. per acre had
been taken otf this property. More land was being
opened and the only complaint had reference to the
risk of an insuflaciency of labour.

On the properties managed by Mr. Byrde I fouad
other products, such as coconut and cardamoms but the
latter, I was informed, was not productive, the elevation
being too low for this kind of cultivation. Arecanuts
I found were planted everywhere, the profits from this
cultivation being estimated at R50 per acre. Klston,
a large and fine estate with a manager aud assistant,
and close by is Farnham, managed by Mr. Willisford ;
this property looked remarkably well cared for — even
the surroundings of the buildings being all so neat
and tidy.

On Doranakande I met Mr. Grigson, who was busy
plucking, and found it, he said, hard to keep up with the
flush as many of his coolies were down with fever.
From Avisawella I proceeded to Dihawita ; on the
way I was ferried across at two places where bridges are
being built. At Dihawita Messrs. Glenny, Fielder & Co.,
have a store and agency under the management
of Mr. Ferguson-Jones. A cart road is in course
of construction between this place and Veyangoda
which is about 15 miles off, passing Springvale,
Brazenose and Dewalakande— the latter has a fine
large iron store and is a well cultivated property
uuder the management of the popular Secretary
of the Kelani Valley Planters' Association, Mr. H.
V. Masefield. At Yatiyautotte I noticed a large
quantity of machinery lying on the roadside which
I was informed was for Polotagama, where a large
store had just been completed. I also passed through
Parusella and Kelani — all very fine tea estate^'. I passed
through Ivies near the Yatiyautotte Rest-house and on
the banks of the Kelani Ganga and went on to Balgownie,
near by which is the IMorDon estate under the man-
agement of Mr. Hope who has also the opening of
Eila — a new place. On my return I visited Lavant and
Ekkioya both places being worked as one property
under Mr. Wright: this was as fine a block of 25(1
acres of tea as you could wish to see. Befere leaving
this district, I went to Mipitiyakande,and also to the ad-
joining property (Dunediu) belonging to the Oeylou Tea
Plantations Co. Here I spent some hours with the
courteous manager, Mr. Turpin, who has just completed
a fine store and was busy planting up more land. Op-
posite this estate and in sight of the Bungalow can
be seen the Degalessa estate, a large new clearing of
over 200 acres. From Yatiyautotte I proceeded to
Ruanwella, the site of a former Military station aud on
to Veyangoda. I passed through Sunnycroft and some
other places ; on the last-named place a large force of
coolies were busy planting. I also passed through
several new places where planting had not commenced
as yet, though the laud had been cleared. As I passed
through the villages, I heard bitter complaints of the
ravages of fever and passed a number of huts that had
been recently forsaken by the occupants. These huts
are built alongside the roads recently opened to the
tea estates in this district, and 1 suppose on the out-
break of fever which has been worse than usual this
year, the Sinhalese must have cleared off. On enquiiy
I was told that ' at Karrawauella there was a Doctor
and Assistant and an Out-door Dispensary. The hos-
pital, I was told, was just being built.

[It is shameful that the Government have not been
earlier with their hospital, and that, so far as we can
find, no one was sent through th^ villages in the fever
districts at the out-break, to distribute fever powders,
—Ed.]

Junk i, 1887.]

1-HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

840

DURATION OF AN ASSAM-HYBRID TEA-
BUSH UNDER CULTIVATION;

The question raised by Mr. J. L. Anstruther,
and to which we only very hurriedly responded
in our last issue, is one of great practical im-
portance. The fear evidently entertained is that
subject to the heavy and continuous pruning
which tea receives at the hands of the planter
in Ceylon and India, can it be fairly expected to
last beyond a very limited term of years. To
any one who has seen a Tea Garden after the
knife has been thoroughly applied, the doubt is
not an unnatural one. The sight of the bushes
cut down until not a single leaf is visible is not a
very encouraging one. " Can these dry sticks live ?"
springs spontaneously to the mouth of the observer.
Now we are not going to enter on the vexed question
of " pruning," further than to say that a good
deal has, no doubt, yet to be learned on the sub-
ject in Ceylon, and that it would be well for
planters in different districts to initiate experi-
ments on their own account, meantime, studying
all the literature on the subject, including the
thoughtful paper by Dr. George King of Calcutta
on " tea pruning." Already, there is considerable
division of opinion in Ceylon, some with experi-
ence averring that the " annual " pruning should
rather be one of " eighteen months " interval,
and that a slight pruning should often be suffi'iient.
This, of course, apart altogether from the im-
portant question raised in our letter " From the
Hills " on Saturday as to whether our bushes
should not be left to grow much longer
than is usual before the knife is put in
at all. Such is undoubtedly the opinion of
a good many of our Indian critics. Some have
gone the length of saying that a very few years
will show the wrong principle upon which we have
been acting, and that our bushes will then need
a long rest and do nothing or very little for two
or three years. But we do not think such gentle-
men make sufficient allowance for the wonderfully
recuperative character of the Ceylon climate,
especially in our moist region, so far as the tea-bush
is concerned, nor for the hardy character of the plant
itself as exhibited even in our poorest soils.

Then as regards the life of the bush, in Ceylon even,
we have some data to supply for the reassurance of
Mr. J. L. Anstruther and his "Job's comforters."
The first clearing in Loolcondura— 20 acres — was
felled by Mr. Taylor we believe at the end of 18(57 and
has been cropped continuously we suppose, for about
17 years. We feel sure no objection will be
offered to an inspection as to its condition today.
Then again Mr. C. Shand reminds us that he has
tea in iiakwana-on the Barra flat which was
always considered as worthless by coffee planters
— under regular cultivation and pruning from 19
to 20 years. We cannot go beyond this in Cey-
lon but the question is well asked whether the
case of cinnamon should not afford some comfort
to the dubious tea planter. The same cinnamon
bushes are flourishing today that have had their
main stems hacked and cut away periodically
for over a hundred years back and still the process
goes on with good results over the same roots
and stumps.

But it is from Northern India and Assam mainly,
that we must gain the information calculated to
relieve the suspicion that the tea-bush under
pruning is short-lived. One authority writing
on tea either in Assam or China, speaks of 100
years as the life of a tea-bush ; but we cannot
recall where we read that statement whether
in Fortune's or Colquhoun's book ? Of more inti-
107

mate bearing is the fact that the original Assam
Company began operations in the " forties", their
first shipment of tea being made in 1817. It
will be of special interest to learn whether the
clearing from which this was gathered is still in
operation and if not, what is the age of the oldest
garden in regular and full cultivation in Assam ?
This is a question which we hope to have answered
in due course by one or other of the Ceylon men now
in Northern India who get the Overland Obsevirr or
by an Assam planter who will read of this dis-
cussion in his Tropical Agriculturist.

THE LIFE OF THE' ASSAM-HYBRID TEA
TREE.

Pundaluoya, May 20th.

Dear Sib, — Can you or any of your kind corre-
spondents inform me of the " duration of life "in
the Assam hybrid tea bush under cultivation and
harvesting. I observe that " Fortune" in his book:
"Tea countries of China," states "the length of
time which a plantation will remain in full bear-
ing depends of course on a variety of circum-
stances, but with the most careful treatment
consistent with profit, the plants will not do much
good after they are ten or twelve years old ; they
are often dug up, and the space replanted before
that time." I trust for the sake of our industry,
that with us the hybrid plant will live and give
profit somewhat longer, although from a sympa-
thetic point of view the poor plant having such
a painful existence after we have once begun to
operate upon it, it might not be desirable. While
on this subject, 1 do not think that the mys-
terious mortality amongst apparently healthy
bushes all through plantations, at various ages,
has ever been satisfactorily explained. Can it be
that the bushes lose heart at the terrible future
before them, and prefer to succumb rather than
brave it, or prefer death to existence under the cir-
cumstances.— Yours faithfully,

J. L. ANSTRUTHER.-

[The existence of the " Symplocos " tree often
accounts for dying out : see Tea Planter's Manual.
As to the age of the Assam-Hybrid bush under
cultivation, we do not see why it should not
flourish and bear profitably for 30 to -10 years
and there must be gardens of that age in Assam.
We shall endeavour to make sure on this point.—
Ed.]

COFFEE, CACAO AND TEA PROSPECTS.

Our South-west monsoon, in the opinion of the
most competent local authority. Master Attendant
Donnan, may be considered to have fully sot in
at Colombo and the biggest thunderstorms of the
season may be regarded, we fancy, as being over.
But there will be some more rain yet to come,
although April gave us nearly three times its
average, and the total for the year is also above
the average. Thus the average of 17 years' rain-
fall at Colombo for the first five months is
almost exactly 32 inches, whereas to date (21st
May) we have had over 3r)-\ inches, of which no
less than 23-80 inches fell in the one month of April.
We have therefore no reason whatever to complain of
our South-west monsoon allowance at Colombo.
But the case is very different upcountry, where "a
failure of monsoon" has already been an alarming
note sounded from some districts. This cry is, how-
ever, premature ; there is plenty of time yet for
plenty of rain, and even now heavy clouds are moving
on from the Indian Ocean across the lowcountry to
the hill districts to gladden the hearts of the tea
planters and render them aa busy as possible

§p

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST* \]vm i, t

over the flushes. Already in the low and
medium districts, planters have been crying out
' hold, enough' to the tea-flushes, which many
of them have scarcely been able to over-
take witli their supply of plucking hands. Labour
seems to be the only ticklish question in connec-
tion with the future of our great tea industry
and even here, light is now breaking in from
several sides ; for, besides that coolies are re-
ported to be coming in from the Coast far more
freely than in previous years, in quite a number
of districts, Sinhalese are coming to the rescue and
showing themselves very ready to earn the tea-
planters' money. Extra pay too in the busy flushing
season is sure to be popular and must speedily
attract the poor people of Southern India in large
numbers. The difliculty of getting Tea machinery
supplied and erected in time is said to be
bothering the planters this season : every machinist
in tlie island is reported to be as busy as he can be,
while agents for home firms have also plenty of
orders ; and no wonder with the large area of tea
coming into bearing erelong throughout the island.
New life has also been put into other staples. The
high prices for coft'ee,— middling plantation Ceylon
being reported from London at 100s per cwt.— have
cheered planters with our old staple still on their es-
tates, very greatly. This is especially the case in the
Bogawantalawa and Agrapatana divisions of Dik-
oya and Dimbula, in Udapussellawa, and all through
Uva. The greatest possible attention will now be
paid to good coffee and every eft'ort made to ar-
rest any signs of the new visitant green bug. As
for the leaf fungus, it is scarcely, if at all,
heard of now-a-days, and even the native coffee
along roadsides which for years has done noth-
ing in crops, is this season reported to be
improving and shewing berries. Cacao planters
are much cheered by the good prices of their
product "cocoa," no doubt caused by the antici-
pated great scarcity of coffee— a circumstance which
may .well be expected to benefit tea, since if there
is no coffee to drink, tea as well as well as
cocoa must be taken to as substitutes.

CEYLON UPCOUNTEY PLANTING REPORT.

HOW TO MAKE TEA PAT — TRANSPLANTER— TEA PRUNING
FLUSHES G.VLORE.

23rd May, 1887.

In a late number of the Indian Planter.^' Gazette
there is a communicated article on " How to make
tea pay." The writer is treating of "plucking,"
and the following little extract may perhaps in
part explain why so many Indian tea gardens lose
money for their proprietors :— " A little rum goes
a long way : it is well to celebrate the beginning
of the season by giving the pluckers the first
day a glass of rum each, and say a bottle to
the nirdar" ! We don^t all think alike, but it
seems to me that the writer of the article
has a good deal to learn. I fancy this "rum"
dodge of making tea pay, has never occurred to
even the most nnaginative mind in Ceylon, and
I trust it never will.

It is like harking back to something old re-
ferring to the transplanter of Mr. Scoweu. But
it is a tool which only requires to be used, to
know its value and it is but lately I have taken
to use it. I had it highly recommended to me
and during the rains in April I put out with
that tool as a trial about .500 tea plants as sup-
phes a day or two after the dry weather set in,
and there was more than a fortnight of it. The
plants were left without any shade, and with the
exception of two or three, they stood as well as
If they had never been taken from the aursery.

Those that failed were evidently damaged in some
way independent of the transplanting. For Sup-
plying, it evidently means certainty, that anyhow
was the character I got of the work by one who
used it all last season. The coolies get very expert
in handling it, after working with it for a very
short time and from 800 to 1,200 plants can be
taken out in a day. The carrying out is where
the expense is, but if the estate nurseries be at all
central, even that does not cost so very much when
it is remembered that the work once done, has not
to be done again.

About tea pruning there is much to be learned.
How often a bush should get the knife, and where,
are questions which will be undecided for a long
time. It looks like as if a yearly pruning were
much too often, when you hear that " Rookwood "
has not been pruned for two years, and they are
getting over 800 lb. an acre now.

A visitor to the Kelani Valley was telling me
of the wonderful character of the tea flushes
lately to be seen there, and the more extra-
ordinary ones of which he heard. I don't care
to give the average pluckings — figures you gave
as extraordinary the other day are nowhere
near them — besides it might set every other district
" envying and grieving," but they were piled on
till at last the visitor was forced to suggest a
new system of measuring, which he had often
to adopt himself, he said, especially in a rush. He
gave the wrinkle to a man who had not been able
to get round half his place in a week, and the
growth was so rapid that he had always had a diffi-
culty in saying where the former day's work had
ended ! " Try our plan " said the visitor " give
your pluckers grass knives, stack the leaf, and
measure and pay for it like firewood" ! 1 The visitor
came from one of the old districts, the fame and
knowledge of the ways of which had evidently never
reached the benighted Valley of Kelani. There
should be no flushes lost there in the future, and
their Labour Difliculty ought to vanish.

The monsoon rains seem to be fairly in, and
Planting will soon be in full swing.

Peppercorn.

THE PRICE OF COFFEE.

Nearly a year ago the American Grocer gave it as its
opinion that Brazil had already reached its maximum
of production, a bold prophecy, truly, concerning a
country of 3,300,000 square miles, or nearly as large as
Europe, having a large proportion of its area still
virgin forest, and a population of little more than 4en
millions, including rather over a million slaves. Still,
there are many things which seem to support the idea
gathered by the American Grocer. Coffee planting in
Brazil cannot be considered a success so far as the
planters themselves are concerned when in the Pro-
vinces of Rio Janeiro, Unias, S. Pauls, and Espirito
S into nearly nineteen-twentiethe of the plantations are
iii.irtijaged. Nor can low prices be pointed to as the
causo of this state of things, most of the mortgages
being of over twenty years standing, a magnificent fact
when wfc recollect the price of coffee prior to the last
few years of depression. The emancipation of slares
has equally little to do with the planter's embarrass-
ments, as the law of free birth only came into force in
1871, and though it was estimated two years ago that
the whole of the slaves in Brazil would be free by 1895,
there have been few complaints of the great damages
which it was at one time expected would be done to
the coffee industry by emancipation. At the .same time,
if Brazilian planters, from whatever causes, could not
keep out of difficulties when they had slave labour,
it is unlikely that they will be able to do so without
it, so that, on this account alone, it does not seem as
if coffee cultivation will be extended, either by the
original planters or by fresh settlers. Vast as the forests
of Brazil are, they must remain practically untouched

ium i, i^Bfii f HE TROPICAL AMiCt^iftJm^r,

nsi

for years to come, antil the increase of the world's
population provides a class of imported labour for
Brazil as good and as cheap as that employed in
the East Indies. With this probably somewhat dis-
tant period it is unnecessary to deal.

The 1887-88 crop is estimated as a very short one,
and consequently, the price of coffee is likely to
remain high until some idea, however vague, caa
be formed of the prospects of the 1888-89 crop. This,
with a short yield the season previous, should be
large, and, if a bumper one, the last Indian quot-
ation would doubtless come down with a run, pro-
bably below 80s a cwt. But to forecast with any
chance of success it is necessary to look to the
causes of the expected shortfall of the 1887-88 crop.
Various reasons are given. " Prolonged droughts, fol-
lowed by severe frosts" would naturally have a bad effect,
but we are also told that, in parts at least, " only the new
coffee gives any hope, the old, though very green and
fine, has not blossomed." This, taken in couuection
with the accounts of serious disease, not, apparently
akin to our "leaf disease," but attacking the roots
of the coffee tree, which shortly afterwards dies,
seems to point to exhaustion of the soil, whether
from want of cultivation of whatever cause, and if
this is the true reason of Brazilian short crops then
indeed the American Grocer is correct in saying that
the maximum production has been reached, and the
price of coffee is more likely to be doubled than to
drop. In any case, as the time approaches for the
1888-89 blossom the reports of the sanguine ones are
sure to cause a fall in the quotations, which will be con-
firmed in the event of their anticipations turning out
correct. If there is another short crop East Indian
planters may reasonably conclude that the presen
Brazil plantations are past their prime, and that bum
per crops from them and correspondingly low prices,
are things of the past. — Madras Mail, May 16th.

PLANTING AND MINING IN SELANGOE
(STRAITS SETTLEMENTS) IN 1886.

Cas-PBE — Gambier — Pepfbe — Tobacco— Native culti-
vation— Mining — Kailway — Labour.
It is satisfactory to find that the agricultural re-
sourc;8 ol the Stite are being put thoroughly to the
test. Ooffee-growing presents such a promising out-
look that the cultivation of the Liberian variety has
ben taken in hand successfully by Javanese and
Tamils in two districts. At Weld's Hill, fifty-seven
acres uuder Liberian Coffee, yielded seven hundred
piculs last year. Gambier and pepper are the articles
that have been most productive in agriculture- Con-
siderable areas have been taken up for growing them.
At Klang Mr. Stephenson has already brought a con-
Biderable extent of land under pepper cultivation,
with the result that the vines have come into full
bearing, His example has been followed by Messrs.
Hill and Kathboue at Weld's Hill ; and by Captain
CbrifltiiDsen and Mr. Barugh at Batu Tiga. At Tata-
ling, Mr. I^ailey hai^ taken up a wide stretch of land
for the same purpose. Syed Zin has set to work
growing gambier, and pepper at Klang. Several
Chinese from the Straits settlements, have started
pepper and gambier plantations at Sepang in the lUu
Laugat district. They have already cleared 2,00(i acres
and have 200 coolies in their employ. They have al-
together secured 5,000 acres of land. Their success
80 far is said to augur well for the thorough realis-
ation of their aims at no distant date. In these hard
times, it is an encouraging sij^n to find Europeans
taking up a line of plantation enterprise, so likely
to yield remunerative returns as pepper growing. The
field has too long been left to Chinese to profit by
the steady and increasing demand for spice in Europe,
and America. With European skill and business know-
ledge scientifically brought to bear upon pepper grow-
ing, the pioneer planters in Selangor may count upon
lb return bancleoiue euougb to is^tisfy reaeouable es«

pectations. Tobacco growers in Deli already alarmed
and kept on the alert by competition looming in Siak
and North Borneo, will have to keep an eye also
to Selangor. Competition in their line of business in
that quarter, has every prospect of becoming for-
midable erelong. With seeds from that Netherlands
colony, tobacco plantations have been started by
Messrs Hill and Kathbone at Batu under the sup-
ervision of Mr. Toynbee, a planter from Sumatra,
In spite of planting operations having been set
agoing late in the year the crop yielded proved highly
satisfactory. The quantity and quality so answered
expectations, that several European planters have
applied for grants of land to be put under to-
bacco in the Klang district. It all depends upon the
result of the first shipment of Selangor tobacco to
Europe. Should the outcome prove satisfactory,
tobacco cultivation in that Protected State will be-
come an important branch of plantation enterprise.

The public interest has also been seen to by the
passing of regulations checking the reckless felling of
primeval forest. Measures have also been taken for
putting a stop to the destructive native system of
shifting the cultivation of hill paddy from place to
place, as the soil becomes e.\hausted. Bringing the soil
imder cultivation permanently, has on the other hand,
met with official encouragement by holding out hopes
of Government aid in the opening out of land for
growing swamp paddy, coconuts, and productive trees
generally. Native cultivators in some cases have not
been backward in taking action accordingly, tu
most of the districts, they have taken pains to im-
prove their land, and to bring an increased acreage
under tillage, with the gratitying result that swamp
paddy has been more extensively cultivated. As must
however be expected from the sparsentss of the popu-
lation, wide stretches of land available for tue pur-
pose far inland remain uncultivated. Malay indolence
and stubborn attachment to old customs, will bar for a
long while yet the march of improvement in the agri-
cultural line. Soil and climate favour laziness among
them. Paddy growing for their own immediate needs,
just suits them. Plantains aid a few other food
articles enable them to eke out a subsistence till the
following year. This easy-going system however
readily it may meet the wants of the moment, runs
so counter to the interests of the country, that we
are glad to find the Sultan of Selangor setting a
good example to hs subjects by increasing the acre-
age he has under coffee and fruit. Thf path he has
so far successfully trodden has been followed by his
son, Kajah Kah'wl, and many other planters. The
son of the late Rajah Muda of Selangor bears the
palm for intelligently taking planting operations in
hand. He has now about one thousand acres under
sugar cane, coconuts, areca nuts, swamp paddy, kc,
A high meed of praise is certainly due to him for
showing his countrymen what businesslike enterprise
can do. Another headman, Datu Dugang, has opened
out in Klang, a plantation for growing areca nuts and
swamp paiidy on 600 acres of land, by means of Javanese
labour with encouraging resultshitherto. 'J'he fruit sea-
son did not turnout well, but the paddy crop proved
satisfactory throughout the State. It was Batisfactory
doubtless as to yield, The trade returns show heavy
importations of rice, the quantity required to meet
local consumption aggregating upwards of 186,000
piculs, about two-fifths more than in 18S.5. The
population in the interval barely increased by oue»
seventh. Evidently there is every ground for encour-
aging local agricultural enterprise in this direction,
Enterprise in mining affairs has made con-
siderable head-way in 1886, judging from the tin ex-
ported totalling 9'.t,07o piculs, an increase of about
16,000 compared with the quantity shipped in 1865,
In the Kwala Lumpor district, Chinese management
has agam scored a success, where European methodg
broke down in the case of the Sunghy Puteh tin
mines. These workings started by the Selangor Tin
Mining Company of Shanghai, passed by purchase
into the hands of Chinese in 1885. The latter have
worked the mines so remuneratively ever since, by
gettii^ I't^UD mea at >Y&zk, that ^,12,^ piculs ^i tit)

tuB THoPtcAt AGmctit^isnmf. (jfwE i, ig§f

i'liiiTn'rrrniii iiYfT'i"-^--

were exported therefrom last year. Profitable re-
turns have been secured from deep as well as shal-
low workings. Three engines bought from the com-
pany have sufficed to keep the mines quite dry.
Fresh mining land has been opened out near the
railway line, and in many other localities. European
tin mining enterprise in Selangor has yet a bright
future before it. The Rawang mines have been kept
thoroughly free of water, by a 42 horse power tur-
bine and are susceptible of large extension. The re-
sult of mming operations on Mr. Cameron's concess-
ion at Clu Kerling has not proved equally encourag-
ing, owing to the ground having been only partially
tested. Chinese miners have worked successfully on
the adjoining land. There is no reason why Euro-
peans, should not do well in the tin mining line pro-
vided local circumstances be duly taken into account.

The Selangor railway from Kwala Lumpor to Bukit
Ivuda h.^s been so fruitful of controversy and difference
of opiuiou, that it is satisfactory to find the Acting
Assistant llesideut affirming its practical success so far
as local circumstances admitted. There is urgent need of
extending the Hue cithtr to Klang itself or to some point
opposite. The latter .site has the advantage from its
admitting of extension to the seaboard. The railway
taken altogether cost S7:il,473, or about $37,OOU per
mile. CoLsideriug the nature of the country traversed
and the hindrances in the way of constructing a rail-
way in an undeveloped country like Selangor, the
Engineer in charge may be congratulated on having so
creditably overcome these difficulties.

Of six weather stations, Ulu Selangor heads the Hst
with a rainfall of nearly 286 inches last year. Kwala
Selangor standing at the bottom with 67'41 inches.

The population of the State at the close of the year
may be estimated at 60,000. Chinese immigration has
helped materially to swell the number of inhabitants.
No fewer than 8,000 new arrivals under contract from
China entered Selangor in 1886. Chinese immigrants
not bound by contract totalled 5,000. The aboriginal
Sakei tribes "have been brought under control of the
district collectors, with such a marked improvement in
their condition generally, that they have increased in
number, owing, especially, to their immunity from
small pox. Not only Chinese coolies, but al?o Chinese
capitalists have set to work developing the mining re-
sources of Selaogor. They have .so little to complain of
there, that the Chinese Commissioners who recently
visited the State found their condition satisfactory.
With increased shipping facilities, the tide of Tamil
immigration continues so to swell that the number of
persons of that nationality already reaches one thousand
who earn a living as cooHes and bulloek drivers.
Messrs. Sword and Mullinghau<i have secured a three
years monopoly of the right to export tin ore from
Selangor. They have set to work smelting tin with
coal instead of charcoal, and anticipate great success
from the enterprise on the ecore of saving of expense.—
Straits Times, May -Ith.

FLANTINU IN.t)USTRy IN THE CAEOLINES.

{Translatedfpr the .■St/Vi//'? Timcf,U&y 11th.)

The Comcycii in givifig particulars o! the hoisting of
the Spanish Hag in the Eastern Oarolius islands, so re-
cently a cause of trouble with Germany^ states that
ihe Commander of the man-of-war, charged with this
(Juiy^ has forwarded to the Minister for the Navy at
MaJrW* a despatch furnishing interefliug details of the
voyage, 'i'be first island group touched at was that of
Raur composed of l7 or 18 coral islets with 600 inhabi-
tants, the handeotflest throughout tho whole of the
OaroUnes, livimj on breadfruits, coconuts, and fish.
The only trade they carry on is in copra, in barter for
tools, tobacco, and cloth. The king of the group readily
Bubniitted to Spanish rule.

The vessel then proceeded to Ifalik, a ^roup of
islets without any anchorage or inhabitants. Coconuts
abound on them. After caHing at other small islands,
she anchored off the Hogoliu group made up of eight
large islands and about two dozen smaller ones, the
former mountainouis and fertile, and abounding with
i^ater aad fruit tre^e- The iababiUutt; about 1^^000

in number, are accounted downright savages, ugly and
uncleanly. They go about dressed in skins, only those
of high rank showiug off in cloth. Their practice of
smearing themselves with fishoil renders them dis-
agreeable at close quartars. Being both warlike and
cannibalistic, the}- are continually at strife with the
neighbouring islanders. In the island of Mohen, a
Methodist missionary nameil Logan is stationed. Native
teachers under his supervision are labouring in the
adjoining islands. The mission has been at work for
three years with appreciable results. With the aid of
Mr. Logan, no less than 16 chiefs were assembled
together. They all signed a treaty accepting Spanish
sovereignty. The man-of-war then proceaded to
Jamestown on Ascension or Ponape island. It is
the largest of the Carolines, and the most important
from a commercial standpoint- Ascension is moun-
tainous, abundantly watered,most fertile, and pictur-
esque. Breadfruit abound-, and is the staple food of
the inhabitants. The pine-apples grown there proved
to be of highly superior quality. Of poultry and
hogs, there is no lack. With hardly any tillage worth
the name, the inhabitants grow sweet potatoes,
sugar cane, and coffee. They are mild aud gentle iu
disposition. The people wear European dress with
neatness and elegance. The population muster from
4 to 5,000, mostly Methodists, residing chiefly on the
coast. They go about in the neighbouring waters in
neatly constructed canoes. The exports are copra, and
vegetable marble. Their civilisation is due to the
efforts of the American mission which has been estab-
lished among them for more than 30 years, under the
management of Mr. Dean. The weekday and Sunday
schools are numerously attended. The missionaries weild
great iutiuenoe over the natives, who are too few in number
to take full advantage of the fertility of the soil. About
half-a-dozen European firms do the trading. Some two
dozen Europeans, chieliy deserters or refugees, dwell
on the island. The Spanish flag after being hoisted,
was left in charge of a petty chief. On the island of
Tomen, some ruins are met with. They consist of
double walled square enclosures built up of basaltic
stones. The outer wall is 8 feet high by 16 inches thick.
It is as strong and as solid as ever, and can easily be
turned into a fort. On leaviag Ascension, the Spanish
mission proceeded to the Pinguelap group, where the
German flag had been former!}' hoisted. Four closely
adjoining islands form the group. About fifty inhabit-
ants dwelt there. The sandy soil supported abund-
ance of coconut trees. On the hoisting of the Spanish
flag, the islanders tendered their submission. The
natives are industrious after a fashion, by making hats
and other articles of pand anus leaves. Their civilisation
has reached the same height as on Asceusion. The
chief of Lela, the easternmost of the Caroline islands,
signed a treaty, and agreed to hoist the Spanish flag.
An American widow resides in Lela, where she carries
on trade. She is the only foreigner settled there.
The islanders are civilised, owing to missionary effort.
The island is fertile and beautiful. The schools there
aupplj masters for those in the Gilbert aud Marshall
Groups The man-of-war after visiting also the Uluti
Group, returned to her starting point.

Tj;.^ EoL■LI^:(?,— We hear very good accounts of
Mcsers, Eichardson d' Kinruond's roller ; the large
quantity rolled with a moderata power to drive,
seems to be the great recommendation,

Neihkkl.^nds Indian Hobiiculxubal Sogieis.— -Tho
" Ind.-Mercuur " hears that preparations are being
made to create under the superintendence of Mr.
E. J. Voute of Zeist an establishment to foBter
agricultural interests in India and in Holland by
way of mutual interchange of plants, &c. Accord-
ingly a proof station (probably in the district of
Mistengorg) will be founded in connection with the
existing establishment of Mr. Voute at Zeist (Hol-
land). The first effort to establish a horticultural
garden in India deserves general encouragement and
support. Tne Indian Establishment has in view to
experiment with artificial manure, aud the results
oi tb« iaine wiU be published.

June i, 1887,]

ttiE TKOPiCAL AGJ^lCULTURlS'f,

853f'

PURIFICATION OF DRINKING WATER.

EDWIN J. HOWE, M. D.

The average healthy adult mau takes into his sys-
tem four and a half pounds of water daily, and with
it too often a dangerous quantity of foreign matter
and disease-producing germs. In very many homes
during the summer months, water that otherwise
would nauseate the drinker, is made cold by ice, and
then is hastily swallowed, the coldness masking its
offensiveness. Unfortunately for the health of the
consumer, the addition of ice does not render the
impurities in water innocuous, but often adds to it
its own contribution of disease-germs. Those who
have studied the subject are aware that impure drink-
ing water is the cause of many of the most common
diseases. No subject then is of greater importance
to the public than how to purify our drinking water.
Water, if drawn through lead and tin pipes, often
becomes, contaminated with these metals to a dangerous
extent. Where water remains in a lead pipe for
twenty-four hours, and is then drawn off and drank,
there is always danger of lead poisoning. It is always
safer to let the water run for several minutes be-
fore using any for drinking purposes. Boiling the
water destroys some germs, but does not remove im-
purities in solution. Analyses of water from city wells
have frequently shown it to be so impure as to be
utterly unfit for drinking purposes, and dangerous to
health. The use of rain water caught in cisterns,
with suitable precautions, will obviate most dangers
from the present supplies of many cities, but un-
fortunately, few persons can take these " suitable
precautions." A clean roof to collect the rain, clean
pipe to transport, and ;i clean, well ventilated cistern
to receive it, are essential. Water stored in a close
cistern soon becomes unfit for use. Many waters that
appear clear are full of impurities, and dangerous to
health. Dr. Ezra Hunt says : There are many waters
used for drinking, which, if kept a few days in a long
glass tube, balf full and corked, will, on opening, emit
much odour from the change in the suspended or
dissolved ingredients they contain." The large major-
ity of people in cities must depend for water on the
public supply, hence it is of the utmost importance
to the public health that the purest water attainable
be secured ; this, unfortunately, is often very im-
pure. The only safe-guard to the consumer is in
giving his personal attention to the filtration of the
water used in his household. Water slowly perco-
lated through crushed vegetable charcoal will escape
from it not only cleansed of particles held in suspen-
sion, but also of organic and other matter. The
cheepnesa of charcoal is such that is obtainable by
all classes, and when soiled, a fresh quantity can be
substituted at trifling cost. The most effective filtra-
tion is obtained by placing crushed charcoal in an
earthen vessel, so arranged as to compel the slow
passage of the water through it, as all efforts at
rapid filtration have proved inefficient. Only wooden
spigots should be used in drawing of the water. A
reservoir for the filtered water with a separate ice
chamber, will permit the water to be sufficiently
chilled and keep all ice impurities out. Such a con»
trivance requires but very little room, is easily
cleaned^ the coal renewed, and is efficient in free-
ing water from impurities. — Indian Gardener.

AMOUNT OF FAT IN FISH GUANO,

BY JOHN HUGHKS, ¥. C. S., V. I. C.

Of late years finely ground dried fish, ccmmonly
known under the name of fish guano, has been ex-
tensively used as a separate manure, with very
Satisfactory results. On naturally poor sandy soils,
as well as on the light chalk soils of Kent and
Susses, it makes a capital mabure for potatoes, es-
pecially when used in conjuuctiCn with superphosphate
and kainit salts. That fish should form a valuable ferti-
liser is nob at all singular; indeed, its agricultural
value has long been recognised by the farmers of
the sea coast in all countries, but the peculiarly
pffeo6iv§ pbaracter of decompo^iog gsb bae bitberto

prevented its extensive use, and it is only of recent
years, since attention has been directed to the
removal of tlie greater portion of the natural
moisture and the subsequent grinding into a fine
powder that the article has become of commercial
value.

The name of fish guano seems appropriate, inas-
much as there can be little doubt that fish was the
original source of Peruvian guano, the latter consist-
ing in fact of the dung of sea-fowl, whose only food
wjis fish. In the one case we have the natural dried
fish, and in the other we have the same material
which, under a process of slow decomposition in vast
heaps under the influence of a hot rainless climate,
has been converted into the stroug-smelling ammo-
niacal guano of Peru and Chili now, alas ! becoming
only too scarce.

It is well, however, to bear in mind that there are
differences in the agricultural value of the new guano
as there was and still exists in the cargoes of the old,
and that not only do the proportions of phosphates and
ammonia vary considerably in quantity, but that the
rapidity with which these constituents can be rendered
available as plant food is also likely to vary according
to the special character of the prepared fish, and more
particularl.y in relation to its freedom from fatty or oily
matter. Fat, as we all know, is a great preservative o
animal and vegetable substauc s, and therefore any
large quantity of fat or oil is prejudicial to the natural
decomposition of fish manure when applied to the soil,
and it will be desirable to encourage the manufacturer
to press out or extract by chemical means as much oil
as possible.

It must be remembered that fat has no agriculturcl
value in a manurial sense, and that its presence in close
association with an organic material rich in nitrogen
and phosphates tends very materially to retard the
natural process of conversion of these ingredients into
plant food.

With a view of showing clearly to what extent the
proportion of oil varies in different samples of fish guano,
some dozen specimens repre.senting the average quali-
ties prepared by different firms were carefully tested
for the amount of oil or fat contained, and the
results, with the relative amounts of nitrogen and phos-
phate of lime present in each, are set forth in the
following table : —

Equal to Phosphate
Sample. Oil. Nitrogen Ammonia. of Lime.
1 ... 580 ... 7-26 ... 8-81 ... 15-98
:> ... 603 ... 7-68 ... 9-82 ... 19-54

3 ... 6-96 ... 890 ... 10-80 ... 16-94

4 ... 7-30 ... 6-94 ... 8-43 ... 16-46

5 ... 8-33 ... 8-71 ... 10-57 ... 19-54

6 ... 8-90 ... 8-54 ... 10-37 .-. 18'88

7 ... 8-36 ... 8'68 ... 10o4 ... 15-94

8 ... 7-96 ... 8-71 ... 10-57 ... 30-63

9 ... 893 ... 8-69 ... 10-55 ... 18-99

10 ... 10-10 ... 8'66 ... 10'51 ... 17-79

11 ... 1-2-56 ... 8-48 ... 10-30 ... 15-06

12 ... 17'06 ... 9-45 ... 11-47 ... 914

It will be seen that the oil varies from 5-80 in one
sample to 17-06 in another, and that the specimens
which show from 6 to 9 per cent, of oil are those which
are the richest in nitrogen and phosphates combined.

In order, therefore, to keep down the proportion of
oil in commercial sanjplesj it is suggested that the
amount of this constituent should be stated in the
analysis in addition to the other itemSj and if this be
asked for by buyers, the manufacturer will, no deubt,
soon find means to reduce the fat in the best make of
fish guano. — Analytical Laboratory, 79, Mark Lane, E.O.
— Agricultural Gazette.

CULTIVATION OF CAOUTCHOUC-YIELUINQ
PLANTS.

BY TMOMAS T. T. liRnCE WARRENj

Looking at the increasing commercial importance
of india-rubber, and the few fresh sources of supply
which have been added to augment our stock of this
subi-tance, we are forced to admit that the activity of
our experts have not been marked with that succos^i
wbifb a roauufftcturpr can wish for,

S54

THE inOPiCAL AdRteULTURi8T« [jtsm h x8S^

. ■■■~'---^yJ,i',i M-rH|-| ^iilTIn

Caoutchouc is much more Widely diffused in the
vegetable kingdom than many are aware of. An idea
bxi'<ts that any plant which yields a lactescent juice
contains caoutchouc. There is an error in such a
preposition being too generally accepted, because of
the disappointment which follows an unfavourable
report ; still, it would be very unwise to assume that
any plant yielding a lactescent juice is unworthy of a
careful examination for caoutchouc. There seems to
me a great want of a reliable method for examining
the juices of plants for caoutchouc. It cannot be too
forcibly impressed upon those who are interested in
this matter, that the recently-drawn sap of a plant
should be examined, if po-^sible ; even experienced
people consider that caoutchouc is too permanent in
its character to alter. When caoutchouc is isolated
from resins, oils, and similar principles, it may be
kept for a long time, but it would be quite another
matter if these were left together for some time.
The elaboration of certain principles, or secretions,
by liiHiif/ plants, points conclusively to an idiosyn-
crasy in plant life which we ought not to ignore.
We know that vitality interferes with chemical
affinity, by preventing changes due to mere chemical
action.

A few years ago my attention was directed to the
curious changes which took place in the medicinal
activity of certain plants under cultivation, as com-
pared with the same plant growing as it were on its
own natural soil. Chemical analysis of the soil and
plant revealed the fact that nitrogenous matter was
wanting. The mineral ash of a plant gives a fair
idea of what is required in the soil so as to be favour-
able for its growth, but we must look to the sap of
the living plant to know how far climate and other
meteorological surroundings are suitable for a healthy
and vigorous growth. An abnormal development
of any part of a plant must be avoided if we wish to
maintain its original integrity.

Warm climates are more favourable to the pro-
duction of milky juices than cold climates. From
this we may conclude that, in order to arrest rapid
evaporation from the plant, which would of course
involve exhaustion, certain principles are developed
whose function is by its emulsive action to retain the
water, or to impede its evaporation, we must not
overlook the fact that excessive evaporation, per se,
is injurious to a plaut, but the cooling action due to
rapid evaporation, has the same influence as tran-
sferring a plant to a cooler region.

lu such cases, currents of dry air are productive of
muoh mischief; moist air has httle or no effect on
evaporation. When the cultivation of india-rubber
plants was first mooted, the idea was to work on the
plaut yielding Para-rubber, and considering the state
of our knowledge at that time, the error of judgment
was pardonable, still it is by no means improbable
that the effort to raise the Para-rubber yielding plant
may be again attempted.

I have often been struck with Faraday's analysis
of India-rubber juice, which was, I believe of Indian
origin. The omission of ammonia, if present, could not
have been passed over by such a careful observer..
More recently, in examining india-rubber juices, I
find that ammonia is by no means a constant in-
gredient in these juices. When a Juice has been
coagulated, the caoutchouc which separates out cannot
be 'redissolved, but if ammonia be added previously,
the caoutchouc remains blended in an emulsive form.
If the juices become acid in anyway, the cautchouc
separates out. The only juice I have examined which
contains a large quantity of free ammonia is that
obtained from the Syphonia dastica, grown in Para,
and it would be extremely interesting to know
whether, when the plant is raised elsewhere, this
ammonia is present. The juice of the Masaranduba
(Cow-tree), although as rich in caoutchouc as the
Syphonia dastica, 'and quite as good as regards
quality, is not only free from ammonia, but remained
for some months quite fluid. This juice wan also
gathered at Para. A point of singular importance
connected with the cultivation of the f^yphunia dastica,
is the fact of its juice being 90 rich in a uitrogeu

compound, when we know that the soil itself
is neither manured nor supplied with nitrogen
in any form, so far as we can tell. AVe are driven
to the conclusion that the atmosphere contributes
nitrogen to the plant.

This brings us to the consideration of the meteor-
ological conditions under which the Para india-rubber
plant grows, and will help u.s to explain why it is
that this plant will not grow productive of caout-
chouc, even when transplanted to the same parallel
of latitude. During the evening, and greater part
of the night, it is curious to note the vivid lightning
which plays almost incessantly among the trees along
the Para river; there is a decided absence of that
violence which characterises a thunderstorm ; in fact
if rain sets in, it is almost invisible. Do these
silent elective discharges in warm, damp air, assist
in generating ammonia y If it is impossible to trans-
plant the Si/phonia dastica to a suitable climat«,
with the meteorological accompaniment as found at
Para, we are certainly justified in trying an experi-
ment by supplying it with ammonia in some form,
so that under the influence of vegetation, it may
approach the assimilative action of what nature
supplies to the Para plant. I am comvinced that iu
some parts of our colonies, we may reasonably expect
that rubber cultivation can be successfully carried
out.

The Mangabeira (Mango -tree) and Masaranduba
(Cow-tree), are worth experimenting on, as their
cultivation do not require anything particularly
special but what an ordinary grower can supply,
of course a suitable climate being granted.

Analyses and general descriptions of the soils on
which caoutchouc producing plants are grown, are
indispensable, as from them any soil to which a
plant may be transferred for cultivation, can be
selected or made up so as to represent the natural
soil on which it previously grew. This assistance
would help to relieve an intending cultivator from
the onus of delay iu fruitless experimental trials and
expense.

Tnis would be a very simple matter, as our
foreign Consuls would have no difiiculty in procur-
ing authentic samples of the soil and of the wood
of the rubber plant raised on it. — Journai of the
Society of Arts.

♦

MOTHER-OF-PEAEL FISHERIES IN THE
RED SEA.

Consul Jago, of Jeddah, says that the mother-of-
pearl fisheries extend the whole length of the Eed
Sea, from El Wedj on the Xorth, to Aden on the
South. The principal grounds are in the neighbour-
hood of Suakim, Massowah, and the Farsan Islands.
About 300 boats are employed, the majority belonging
to the Zobeid Bedouins, a tribe of Arabs inhabiting
the coast line between Jeddah and Yambo.
About fifty boats belong to Jeddah, and two or three
to Confida, Cameran, and Loheiha, They are open,
undecked boats of between eight and twenty tons
burden, carrying a large lateen sail, manned by
crews varying between five and twelve men, and each
provided with a number of small canoes, which are
imported specially from the coast of Malabar, There
are two fishing seasons during the j'ear, one of four
months and one of eight monthsj during nearly the
whole of which the boats keep the sea, the crews
living on board, returning to their homes for short
periods of two to four weeks. The crews, composed
priucipallj' of black slaves, are paid by share of the
produce of their fishing, the owner of the boat taking
one-third, the remaining two-thirds being divided
among the former, after deducting the cost of food
consumed by them during the voyage, and which
consists of ilhourra, rice, and fish, with sometimes
a little ghee and dates as a luxury. Fatal accidents
are said to be unknown, and the men are remark-
able for their strength and good health. They dive
betw>. u the ages of ten and forty, and the practice
is said to have no ill effects. The fishing takes
place iu the neighbourhood of reefs, the boat an-
choring at a certain spot^ wbecce the crew proceed

J0««l, 1887.} THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

^5S

to fish in their canoes, in the vicinity. Operations
are conducted only in calm weather, when the shell
can be discovered by the eye at a depth varying be-
tween seven and fifteen fathoms. Of late years, to
assist the eye, empty petroleum tins, with the ends
knocked out, and a .sheet of glass inserted in one end,
have been used. The tin, with the glasg end below, is
submerged a little in the sea, and the discovery of
the shell thereby facilitated. During the last ten
years the find is said to have diminished ten to twpnty
per cent in quantity, owing to dearth of shells. The
value of the total harvest is estimated at 120,000 to
170,000 dollars annually, the dollar varying in value
between 3s. and 3s. 6d. The short season of four
months, which used to average between 40,000 and
50,000 dollars, only realised in 1886, 25,000 dollars.
Formerly, all the produce of the Red Sea was brought
to Jeddah for sale and export, but recently, owing to
fiscal and custom-house restrictions, only about one-
fourth now goes there, the remainder going to Suakirn
and Massowah. Shells imported at Jeddah for sale
are disposed of by public auction in heaps of about half
a hundredweight each. As preliminary inspection is
not allowed, the bidding is purely speculative, and
bidders have to take account of dirt, corals excrescences,
and inferior shells. Prior to exportation the shells
are sometimes cleaned to remove the coral and dirt,
and are then packed in barrels. Up to ten years ago
all shells brought to Jeddah for sale were shipped by
natives to Cairo to be sold there. Now, however,
the bulk goes to Trieste, a small quantity to London,
and a little to Havre ; and a few of the finest and
largest shells are purchased for exportation to Beth-
lehem, where they are engraved and sold to pilgrims.
The Jeddah shell is considered in Europe inferior to
that exported from Suakirn and Massowah, owing, it
is said in many instances, to the yellowish tint of the
former, and the fact that many of the shells have a
greenish tint round the edges. Some ascribe this to
the excessive dampness of the climate of Jeddah.
With regard to the origin of the shells, the following
distinctions are made : — Dah al ak-i shells, found on
the group of islands of this name, situated aloug she
African side of the Red Sea; Ban-adjem-i shells,
found along the same coast, north of the Khor or
inlet of Suakirn; Farsan or Yeman-i shells, brought
from the Farsan group of islands, on the Arabian
side of the Red Sea; Shehak-i shells, from the banks
between Confidah and Leet; Skam-i shells, from
El AVedj down to Hassanoe Island on the Arabian
side, and found in the neighbourhood of Kossa'ir on
the African side. Consul Jago says, in conclusiou,
that the Sham-i is the best, and the i'eman-i the
most inferior quality. — Journal of the Societi/ of Arts.

^ ■

BRITISH NORTH BORNEO.
Provikce Dent, Bukdu. — Situated about 2(j miles from
the British I.sland of Labuan, the flourishing district of
Buudu in Province Dent invites attention from its many
peculiar and interesting characteristics. In no other part
of British North Borneo have we met a community of
descendents of Chinese, who whilst still wearing positive
pig-tails have gradually abandoned the ancient teach-
ings of Confucius and who now declare themselves to
belong to native tribes. In some of their houses are
still to be found altars, idols and pitcures of the Good
and Evil Spirits which are pecular to China. Most of
them have discarded their Chinese names, and rejoice in
Malay titles and names conferred on them and on former
generations by the Sultan and chiefs of Brunei, and
very few of them can speak any Chinese dialect. The
chiefs were usually ennoHled by the Sultan because
they were the most wealthy and powerful cattle-thieves
during this and the last centuries. In Great Britain
the present bearers of titles in some of our highest
aristocratic families are the desceudents of the most
notorious cattle-lifters on the Scotc-h Borders, and so
history repeats itself in different countries. Whilst
these descendents of a Chinese race were carrying on
marauding pursuits, they were conscious that they
had settled upon a fertile tract of country, and whilst
they received empty titles of honor they had to pay
heavy and irregular exactions to the Sultan of Brunei

and to his chiefs, but still they held on with Chinese
tenacity to their adopted country of Buudu. Besides,
they were intermarried with Besayah, Dusun and Brunei
tribes and their crops yielded remunerative returns.
On the cession of Province Dent by the Sultan of
Brunei to British North Borneo about eighteen mouths
ago, the Bundu people, tried of the oppressions of
Brunei rule, gladly welcomed the advent of the white
man's administration and are new amongst the most
royal of the population in the Province. — British North
Borneo Herald.

Kus Kus Tatties are made from a grass (Andre-
pQt/on maricatus) which grows in abundance on sandy
banks in Bengal, Upper India, the Coromandel Coast
and .Mysore, where it is commonly planted to divide
fields. The roots when distdled with water yield a
fragrant oil, which is used as a perfume. An in-
fusion of the roots is also given as a febrifuge, and
a powder in biliious complaints. It is regarded as
stimulant, diaphoretic, stomachic and refrigerant. The
essence (or otto) is used as a tonic, and, finally, the
grass itself when young aflbrdsgood fodder.— Madms
3Iail.

Solvent Powers ok Eucalyptus Oil.— The solvent
power of eubalyptus oil on resins, etc., have been
given in the following order :— Mastic, sandarac, elemi,
xantorrhea, resin, benzoki, copal, amber, anime, shelUc.
cautchouc, and gutta-percha. The oil added to methy-
lated spirit, in the propotion 10 ounces of the former
to 1 gallon of thf- latter, is used to dissolve kauri re.sin,
which will dissolve in this mixture without the aid
of heat to the extent of 2 lb. out of every 2h lb.
used ; the addition of a little colophony or Venice
turpentine rendering the kauri re»iu completely soluble.
It is also used to dissolve asphaitum for photograph
varnish. In veterinary practice it is used in Australia
as an embrocation for swelliugs, bruises, or stiff joints.
In domestic practice it is emplooud for rehumatism.
etc.— Incliar libber and Guttapercha, Jonrtial.

TuE Orange oh Citeus tribe of trees are some-
what delicate trees to transplant during the dry winter
season peculiar to this colony. When once planted
on well-drained porous soil they stand hardship ni the
way of neglect as well as, if not better than, any other
tree, but cire should be taken when transplanting.
It a drying westerly wind is blowing defer planting out,
and keep the trees well protected from it in some shed,
but keep the roots moist. The best plan is to puddle
them and then throw a b ig over them. If the young
tree has only to be hf ted from your own nursery hed
to your own orchard, still this precaution of never
allowing the just exhumed roots to be acted on by the
wind or sun holds good, for nothing is more detriment-
al, and many trees and garden plants fail to grow
simply owing to the omission of this precaution. All
holes for the trees should be dug previously, or by a
man in advance of the planter. Puddling is done by
immersing the roots in a tub of liquid sludge of inud
and water, so that every root gets a coating. This is
a good plan to adopt with any trees, .shrubs, or plants
that have naked roots when taken up. The water-
can should follow the planter immediately, indeed
there should be several bucketfuls pjured into the
hole before putting in the tree and allowed to pene-
trate the soil; then when the tree is plauted and the
fine soil carefully pressed against the roots (not care
lessly trodden so as to break off half of the small root-
lets) one good watering should be given; afterwards
rake back the dry soil on the top of the moist centre,
drive three stakes in a triangular fashion round the
tree, outside of the circle of roots, and from
these stakes the strings to the stem of the tree
not forgetting to put a piece of soft material
to hinder friction of the bark by the strings. In %
week's time remove the soil from round the stem so
as to lorm a basin a few inches deep, pour iu several
buckets of water, and when this has disappeared
rake back the soil again, or cover with a gooi mulch
01 dry glass or litter, but not of manure. Apply 710
manure at the time of transplanting any of the orange
tribe, or most assuredly they will be killed.— (^JHefHS-
la^nder.

856

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.

(Joke i, 1887,

MARKET RATES FOR OLD AND NEW PRODUCTS.

(From Lewis & Peat's London Price Current, April 28th, 1887.)

FROM MALABAR

COAST, COCHIN,

CEYLON, MADRAS, &c.

BEES' WAX, White

Yellow
CINCHONA BARK— Crown

Red

CARDAMOMS Malabar

and Ceylon
Aleppee
Tellicherry

CINNAMON

Man galore
Long Ceylon
Ists
2nds
3rds
4ths
Chips
COCOA, Ceylon ...

QUALITY.

Slightly HOftish to good
^ hard bright
Do. drossy & dark ditto
Renewed ...
Medium to tine Quill
Spoke .shavings ...

Branch

Renew<-d

Medium to good Quill
Spoke shavings ...

Branch

Twig

JE6 a £7 58
£4 10s a £6
Is a 2s Gd
Is 4d a 2s
6d a Is 2d
•2d a 6d
8da2s
6d a 2s
3da7d
•2d a 4d
id

Clipped, bold, bright, fine 2s a .3

Middling, stalky & lean ~' "

Fair to hneplumpclipped

Good to fine

Brownish

Good &. fine, washed, bgt

jMiddling to good

Ord. to fine pale quill ..

COFFEE Ceylon Plantation

Native
Liberian
East Indian

Native

COIBROPE.Ceylon&Cochin
FIBRE, Brush

Stuffing ..
COIR YARN. Ceylon
Cochin
Do
COLOMBO ROOT, sifted ..
CROTON SEEDS, sifted ..
GINGER, Cochin, Cut
It
Rough

GUM ARABIC, Madras..
NUX VOMICA

MYRABOLANES Pale ..,

Pickings
OIL, CINNAMON

CITRONELLE

LEMON GRASS
ORCHELLA WEED ...Mid,

,, », rr "

Woody and hard ...
Fair to fiuephint...
Bold to good bold

Medium

Triage to ordinary
Bold to fine boldcolory
Middling to fine mid.
Low mid.audLow grown

Smalls

Good ordinary ...
Small to bold
Bold to fine bold...
Medium to fine ...

Small

Good to fine ordinary
Mid.coarse to fine straight
Ord. to fine long straight
Coarse to fine
Ordinary to superior
Ordinary to fine ...
Roping fair to good
Middlingwormy to fine.
Fair to fine fresh...
Good to fine bold...
Small and medium
Fair to fine bold ...

Small

D.irk to fine pile
Fair to fine bold fresh .
Small orili nary and fair.
Good to fine picked
Common to middling .

Fair Coast

Burnt and detective
Good to fine heavy
Bright & good ftavour .,

PEPPER,Malabarblk.sifted Fair to bold heavy

AUeppee & Cochin
Tellicherry, White
PLUMBAGO Lump

Chips
dust
BED WOOD
SAPAN WOOD
SANDAL WOOD, logs

Do. chips
SENNA, Tinnevelli

|1 a Id

„ .. „ ... I|da2d

to fine, not woody... 40s a 50s

good

QUOTATIONS

8d a Is lid
is .^d a 23 3d
Is Gd a 2s 2d
6d a Is 3d
Is 4d a .Ss 6d
8d a Is 4d
7^d a Is .5d
7d a Is 2d
ij^d a lid
lid a 9^d
id a 7d
80s a 83s
72s a 743
60s a 70s
I 01s a 107s
95s a 100s
itOs a 9.'{s
87s a 92s
84s a 87s
t5.7s a 80s
101s a 112s
953 a lOOs
S.'is a 91s
84s a 87s
fi.T a £1.="
£10 a £35
£8 a £17
ei2 a £30
£11 a £32
£10 a £13
10s a 28s
lOs a 20s
803 a 5£ 10s
Ms a 56s 6d
32s a .i8s
•20s a 28s
•25s a 110s
7s a lis
3s a 6s
•is a 83 6d
5s a 6s 3d

(5d a 5s 9d
3s 3d a 43 6d
Is a 3s

f d a 7|d

lOd a 2s fid
9s a 143 6d
7s a lOs
33 9d a 103
3s a 9s
,£410sa£41.5s

iFair to fine bright bold...

Middling to good small...

Slight foul to fine bright

Ordinary to fine bright ...

Fair and fine bold

Middling coated to good |£6 a £7

Fair to good flavor ... £20 a £44

Inferior to tine £5 10s a £22

Good to fine bold green... 8d a Is
Fair middling medium... 5d a 7d
iCommon dark and small 2Jd a 4j-d
Finger fair to fine bold 9s 6d a 10s
IMixed middling [bright 8s fid a 93

Bulbs whole 7s fid a 8s 6<i

I Do split 6s 3d a 7s

TURMERIC, Madras
Do.
Do.

Cochin
VANILLOES, Mauritius &, ,

Bourbon, Ists Fine crystalised 6 a 9inch 17s a 293
2nds Foxy & reddish 5 a 8 „ 16s a ^233
.,1 If Lean & drvto middling

I \ under 6 inches ...IDs a 16s
4th iLow, foxy, inferior and i

[pickings 43 a 8s

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

ALOES, Soccotrine and
Hepatic,
CHILLIES, Zanzibar

Qood and fine dry
Common and good
Good to fine bright
Ordliutry »nd niddliog,.

£6 10s a £8 10s
75s a £7 10s
328 a 33s
2»* a 31»

FROM BOMBAY
AND ZANZIBAR.

CLOVES. ZauEibar •!

»ii'1 P«inha, per lb. f

., Stems...

COCULUS INDICUS
GALLS, Bussorah \ blue
& Turkey /|>'cwt.
[cwt.
GUM AMMONIACUM per
ANIMI, washed, ^ cwt.

QDOTAITONS.

scraped...

ARABIC, E.I. & Aden ..

per cwt. Ghatti ...

Amrad clia

ASSAF(ETIDA, per

cwt.
KINO, per cwt.

MYRRH, picked „

Aden sorts

OLIBANUM, .irop

per cwt. ,,

P'.ckings...

sittings ...

INDIARUBBER Mozambi

per lb. Ball & saus

FROM CALCUTTA AND
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

CASTOR OIL, Ists per 07,

2nds „ ...

3rds ,, ...
INDIARUBBER Assam, per
lb.

Rangoon ...

Madagascar

SAFFLOWER

TAMARINDS

FROM
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

Qood and fine brif(ht
Common dull to fair

„ fresh
Fair

Hid a 13d
UAu. lid
2|d a a^d
9s

Fair to tine dark blue ...!57s a 628

Good white and green...
Blocky to fine clean
Picked fine pale in sorts,
part yellow and mixed
Bean & Pea size ditto ...
amber and dark bold
Medium & bold .sorts ...

Sorts

Fair to fine pale
Good and fine pale
Reddish clean
Clean fair to fine
Slightly stony and foul ...
Fair to fine bright
Fair to tine pale
Middling to good
Fair to fine white
Reddish to middling ...
Middling to good pale ...
Slightly foul to fine
que, 1 red hard
age J" white sof tish
unripe root
liver

'45s a 533
i]5sa 34s
!£1310/a£1410/
i£10 a £12 103
i£4 10s a £7
1£7 10s
!£5 a £8
903 a 1153
1383 a 808
908 a JE6 lOs
34s a 68g
353 a 40s
25s a 303
40s a 443
£6 a £7 lOs
70s a lOOs
453 a 553
32s a 443
13s a 183
lis a 133 6d
23 5d a 28 6f d
2s a 2s 3d
lOd a Is 2Jd
Is 8d a 29

Nearly water white
Fair and good pale
Brown and brownish
Good to fine

Common foul and mixed
Fair to good clean
Goodto fine pinky & white
Fair to good black
Good to fine pinky ,„

Middling to fair
Inferior and pickings ...
Mid. to fiQ^hlacknot stony
Stony and inferior

3id a 4id
2id a .3d
2^d a 2|d
2s a 23 7d
8d a Is lOd
Is fid a 2s fid
2s 4d a 2s 6d
Is lid a 23 2d
i£4 10s a £5 IDs
£3 5s a £4 23 6d
£1 a £1 lOs
10s a 14s
33 a 63

ALOES, Cape, per cwt; ...

ft •••

Natal
ARROWROOT Natal per lb!

Fair dry to fine bright
Common & middling soft
Fair to fine
Middling to fine

•249 a 293
8g a 223
25s a 303
•A\A a 3|«l

FROM CHINA, JAPAN &
THE EASTERN ISLANDS.

CAMPHOR, China, ^ cwt,

Japan
GAMBIER, Cubes, cwt. ..,

Block [per lb.

GUTTA PERCHA, genuine

Sumatra...

Reboiled...

White Borneo

NUTMEGS, large, per lb...

Medium

Small
MACE, per lb.

RHUBARB, Sun dried, per
lb.

High dried ...

SAGO, Pearl, large, ^ cwt
medium ..
small
Flour [per lb,

TAPIOCA, Penang Flake
Singapore
Flour
Pearl

Good, pure, & dry white IsasaGSs

Ordinary to fine free

Pressed

Good

Fine clean Banj & Macas-

Barky to fair [sar

Common to fine clean

Good to fine clean

Inferior and barky

61's a 80's, garbled

83's a 95's

lOO's a IGO's

Pale reddish to pale

Ordinary to red

Chips

Good to fine sound

{32s 6d a 338
!293 a 308
22s a 22 6d
23 4d a 3s 3d
6d a 23 3d
Id a Is 4d
lid a Is .3d
Id a8d
2s 7d a .38 9d
23 5d a 23 7d
Is 5d a 2s i>d
2s 2d a 38
Is lOd a 2s Id
Is .5d a Is 6d
Is Cd a .33

Dark ordinary & middling 8d a Is 4d

Good to fine

Dark, rough & middling

Fair to fine

Good pinky to white
Fair to fine

Bullets, per cwt.
Slediam ,,
Seed „

Is a Is 3d

W a '.)d
.. ,11s a 14s 6d
'" lis a 13s
■" 9s fid alls
7 83 a 9s 6d
... 2tda 2M
...2ida2id
.. 1.5s a 15s bd
... 26s a 308
.,.•218 a 22«
...laoa 6d a 22i

New York Botanical Garden Librar

3 5185 00258 2805

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